'^'^ ^ ' H THE SHAFTESBURY SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY KNOWN AS THE STORY OF O^R ;0Ai5TnNcna The Doctrine of Diversity EDMUND SHAFTESBUFIY ':£ d^CiiJA^/i^ , Ww>t^ ^ -^ HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY ^ ^ A STUDY OF \ ,' What We Are ° ° ° Where We Are Our Origin and Destiny . / In one volume of Ten Tomes; containing five hundred General Problems: one hundred Major Problems^ one thousand Lessons; and numberless Suggestions, Queries and Propositions SHAFTESBURY COLLEGE Washington, D. C. (Lo^o^ .^/.^ C/6?^' Copyrighted 1893 BY SHAFTESBURY COLLEGE All rights reserved copy'righted 1894 BY SHAFTESBURY COLLEGE All rights reserved /2-dZ0'/6 TOME ONE. THE FIVE HUNDRED PROBLEMS INTRODUCTION. The earliest and the latest studies of mankind are in philosophy. The only real student, and the only complete man, is the philosopher. Non- education is not a bar to philosophy; while education is often a help. Nature and instinctive thought are greater instructors than universities. In view of these facts we publish this course of study in such a way as to stimulate the deepest original thinking on the part of our home pupils. PHILOSOPHY. The Shaftesbury System of Philosophy is so comprehensive that much is left to the life study of each pupil. In the years to come the deeper problems will receive profound attention, and the philosophical mind will obtain surer hold upon the simple mysteries which overwhelm man. THE PHILOSOPHER. The philosopher is the wise man. He thinks much ; writes some ; talks less. He loves Nature, children and simplicity. He gradually withdraws from the artificial world, and turns to art, and becomes artless. He scents the perfume of the flowers, listens to the music of the trees and brooks, watches the drifting skies, and is lost in the perspective of the stars. He is happy because he is not artificial. His temper is sweet because he is philo- sophical. His stature is grand, because he is growing heavenward. OPPORTUNITY. The great need of the day is an opportunity for study at home. The majority of men cannot go away to college, they may and should be given the privilege of self-education ; for, in many instances they are endowed with gifts of mind, which, when favored by circumstances, are sure to place them among the great men of the world. The majority of the mighty geniuses HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY- TOME ONE. of the earth, like Shakespeare, never attended university or college. The Shaftesbury College seeks to open the way to all men and women of ambition, who wish to receive a thorough education. To maintain the standard of our course we ask all our pupils to study faithfully, patiently, persistently and not to complain if some of the way is hard. HOME-COUESES OF STUDY. One of the movements of the age in the line of education is the estab- lishment of schools by correspondence, under the auspices of prominent institutions and backed by the most learned men. There is hardly a pro- fession which is not represented in this movement. Previous to this inno- vation it was impossible for the vast majority of ambitious young men to obtain the kind and degree of education they desired. Even if they were able to save the money necessary to pay for the instruction, the cost of board, time and travel completely barred them. A "home course," or education by correspondence, is an undoubted blessing. It enables the pupil to study, without giving up his work ; the merchant to attend college with- out leaving his store, the professional man to retain his position, or practice his profession, while delving into those problems which furnish ideas and material for the very work in which he is engaged. THE SHAFTESBUEY HOME-COUESE. It is true that the study of Philosophy is higher, grander, and more beneficial than the others ; but it is at the same time true that it calls for deeper thought, more exact judgment on the part of the student, and a longer period of investigation. To meet these exigencies the Shaftesbury course is many sided, and intricate in its construction. Thus there are some thoughtful men who have spent their lives almost endeavoring to obtain light upon the very problems which we present ; they would prefer to attempt the answers without help or suggestion from us. For them Tome One is specially prepared. There are others who, after attempting to satisfy themselves that they are or are not qualified to meet so great a task as the Five Hundred Problems, desire to select the pith and essence of the study, and concentrate their efforts upon the most important portion of the work. For them Tome Two is specially arranged ; but it goes further than Tome One, in that it contains THE FIVE HUNDRED PROBLEMS. not only the One Hundred Major Problems, but admits for the first time in the Course a series of running suggestions, calculated to awaken the mind, stimulate thought, and urge specific investigation. GREATNESS OF THE COURSE. Had the Home-course in Philosophy stopped here, it would quite equal the most complete correspondence courses of other schools. But it is only on the threshold of its greatness. The eight Tomes which follow are an unfolding of life itself ; an encyclopedia of existence ; a volume in every page ; a wealth of fact in each of the one thousand lessons ; so stated that unnecessary verbiage is omitted, and knowledge made clear. Each sentence and paragraph has been carefully stripped of pedantic phrases and wordy expressions, in order that the truth might be preserved in its simple strength; for it too often happens that a valuable fact is lost by being buried in a chapter of words. To accomplish this, many thousand pages of manuscript have been written and discarded in the reduction. In the hundreds of lessons in the eight Tomes which follow the two examinations, are many quaeres, suggestions, and propositions calculated to stimulate thoughts and originate ideas in the pupils; so that no mind, however unpretentious, can pass through these lessons without a remarkable growth ; while the greater thinkers will find even more important helps to the plane of advanced learning and enlarged usefulness. The construction of this vast system of education is, therefore, many-sided and intricate. PROCEDURE— SELF-CRITICISM. We advise all pupils, whether they desire to graduate or not, to obtain a good-sized blank-book, and attempt to answer the questions of Tome One. Write the answers in ink, so that they may never be erased. Preserve them as a monument to mark your first step in the School of Philosophy. Those you cannot answer, leave unanswered, as a future evidence of your deficiency ; and, in as far as you "are able to solve the others, write carefully the replies. When the Course has proceeded further, and your mind has grown, make a new set of answers, and compare results. The difference will be your actual progress. Without this record, you will never realize how rapidly the mind improves; for one is apt to think that what he knows to-day was always a part of his general knowledge. HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME ONE. COLLEGE EXAMINATION. If you prefer now, or at any time, to send your answers to us for judg- ment, we will carefully examine them, and send you a certificate of the First Examination, giving the actual percentage attained by you. The answers must be seamed, stitched and bound together; and will be retained by us as a manuscript volume. These suggestions have reference only to Tome One. Other steps, varied and interesting, are provided in each of the succeeding Tomes. It is our desire, however, to bring each pupil into habits of exact thought and study at this time, and the successful students will make frequent use of pen, ink and blank-books of record. HOW TO PEEPAEE ANSWERS. In forwarding the answers to us, the limit of words expressed in figures must be carefully preserved. Each question must be answered with suffi- cient fullness ; and yet must not exceed a certain number of words. Short answers may be evasive and may be charged to ignorance ; while long answers show an inability to state the matter with directness. Example : Question 1 is marked 12-30. This means that the answer must contain not Jess than twelve words, and not more than thirty. In sending answers, do not repeat the questions. Use only the num- bers. Write very plainly on paper 7 inches by 11 inches; on one side only. Leave one blank line between each answer. Or use a blank book. On page one of your answers copy and sign the following : STATEMENT. My full name with address is.. The answers following are all my own. I have used the language of no other person. While my thoughts may have been stimulated by the ideas of others, I have carefully examined them, and have thought out the answers in my own privacy. We encourage our students to meet others and study these questions mutually. To be a thoughtful inquirer is no small honor. THE FIVE HVXDllED PROBLEMS. 6 SPECIAL NOTICE! For rules regarding Certificates of llerit, Certificates of Honor, Grad- uation in Philosophy, and the winning of the Great Diploma, as well as the attainment of the Degree, see liules of Graduation, at the end of Tome Ten. THE FIVE HUNDRED PROBLEMS. LESSON I. 1. What is a human being ? 12-30. 2. What is a beast ? 8-20. 3. What is vegetation? 11-27. 4. What is instinct? 15-40. 5. What is the Soul ? 16-42. [Note. — We believe absolutely in the existence of God, and in His inspired Writings. But we claim that Philosophy should not base its proof upon religion, inspiration, revelation, or the Scriptures. There is no mental satisfaction in accepting a fact unsupported by reason. We shall accept no answers in the spirit of "I cannot tell except from what I read in the Bible."] 6. What is the substance of which the Soul is composed? 14-30. 7. If you were to realize the presence of a human soul, what as you now think would be its size, shape, appearance, and condition? 12-50. 8. If souls are co-extensive with the body, what becomes of that part which is co-extensive with the arm or limb, after amputation ? 8-20. [Note. — These questions have held the attention of the wisest men of the world. They are intended to start the mind into the deepest thinking.] 9. How do you satisfy yourself that forms of created life, other than human beings, do or do not have souls? 50-100. 10. How do you satisfy yourself that a human being does or does not have a soul ? 50-100. 6 1I03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME ONE. LESSON II. 11. How do you satisfy yourself that the brute species of savage humanity do or do not have souls ? 10-40. 12. What precise act constitutes the birth of a child ? 4-16. 13. At what time before the birth of a child would voluntary destruc- tion of it constitute wilful murder? 4-17. 14. What chemical process occurs when a child is conceived? 50-100. 15. What is the chemical condition of two men, one of whom is im- potent, and the other of whom is capable of paternity ? 40-100. 16. Does the soul of a child enter it at the time of conception, quick- ening, or birth ? State reasons. 10-20. 17. Is the seed of man inherited, or is it formed at the time of puberty, at the time of desire, or spontaneously at the time of commerce ? State reasons. 10-20. 18. When a Soul was imparted to the child, was it the creation of a new life? State reasons. 10-24. 19. Was the Soul created from nothing, or had it some part in a pre- vious life? 10-20. 20. How do you satisfy yourself that you have or have not previously lived as some form of life, in tree, flower, bird, or animal ? 20-80. LESSON III. 21. How do you satisfy yourself that you have or have not previously existed as some human being? 28-70. 22. How do you satisfy yourself that Homer, Virgil, Dante, and Shakespeare may or may not have been the same soul-life? 10-30. 23. Is the Soul of the off-spring part of the soul-life of the parent? Reasons. 10-25. 24. If the Soul is a new creation, fresh from the hand of God, how do you account for criminal tendencies which are handed down from parent to child? 10-40. 25. If a criminal whose off-spring was sure to become criminal, should be given the opportunity of extensive parentage (as in some countries) would you assume that he carried in his body the seed of many lives, to which God would impart Souls that must eventually commit crime? 10-40. THE FIVE HUNDRED PROBLEMS. 26. Is a criminal disposition always inherited? Or may a long line of moral ancestors precede crime ? 4-28. 27. Apart from the Bible accounts, how long has the human race existed? 10-20. 28. How long has the earth existed ? 10-30. 29. How long has the earth been habitable by man? 10-30. 30. How long has the earth been habitable for vegetation? 10-30. LESSON IV. 31. What does science show must have been the order of creation on earth? 10-40. 32. Was man evolved from any lesser type of creation, or created outright by some Jiatf 10-70. 33. Are natural laws the same in all ages? 10-16. 34. How much of the human body is identical with vegetation. 10- 40. 35. Should man attempt to learn why he is on earth ; or should he accept his condition without question? 10-40. 36. Should he study the processes of life which lead up to God, or should he veil his mind from the past? 10-20. 37. Is God a being, a person, a spirit, a power, an essence, or a law ? Reasons 20-100. 38. In early life what was your first idea of God? 10-30. 39. If that idea has changed, when, how often, and from what causes ? 16-40. 40. If fixed natural laws exist, how do you explain omnipotence? 10-40. LESSON V. 41. If God is a person, how do you explain omnipresence? 10-40. 42. Is God material in whole, or in part? G-12. 43. Has matter always existed? 6-12. 44. Of what value is matter either to the spiritual of earth or of Heaven ? 10-40. 45. Of what value would be the power of the spiritual without matter? 10-30. 8 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME ONE. 46. Accepting the theory that all solids were once liquids, all liquids once gases, all gases once ether, how do you explain the formation of the universe and its worlds ? 40-200. 47. If the gaseous condition was attended by heat so great as to destroy all germs of life, how do you explain the survival of the seed-germs which caused the earth to teem with every species of creation as soon as it had become cool ? 20-40. 48. Accepting the theory that the universe is gradually losing its heat, explain how and where it goes ? 20-50. 49. What is your theory of the origin of this great fire? 10-40. 50. What purpose do you see in the long lapse of time, occupying millions of ages, in which this conflagration of the universe was in opera- tion, and ending only in the cooling of some orb on which man might dwell ? 10-40. LESSON VI. 51. What impression is made upon your mind by the theory that you are, always have been, and always will be, in the ever present? 10-30. 52. How many religions have you ever heard or read about, and what are their chief characteristics? 20-100. 53. In what eight respects do all religious, whether savage, pagan, Mohammedan or Christian, perfectly agree? 32-65. 54. What is the necessary origin of all religions ? 15-60. 55. If eight human beings, children of the most cultured, learned and civilized parents-, were cared for by dumb nurses and attendants until they were able to live by their own efforts ; and, without having heard a human voice but their own, were placed on a deserted island where they remained all their lives, — do you think they would have a religion, and how would it originate? 25-100. 56. How do you satisfy yourself that there is or is not an innate religion in the heart ? 20-60. 57. If fear of injury to life, liberty, limb, or property were entirely removed, what effect would this have upon the religious zeal of humanity? 10-60. 58. What is superstition ? 5-20. THE FIVE HUNDRED PROBLEMS. 59. What proportion of superstition is found in the most civilized religion? 4-20. 60. If the Bible, under repeated attacks, shovild fall as an inspired Avork, what basis of religion would remain? G-30. LESSON VII. Gl. In what respect are the laws of nature cruel and terrible? lO-liO. ()2. How far may a person, by the utmost care, avoid the cruelties and terrors of Nature ? 10-25. ()o. Assuming that the Creator gave three laws to Atoms — attraction, repulsion, and revolution — and gave a Divine mission to Atomic life, how do you explain the process of all growth ? 40-100. ()4. What is a chemical atom? 10-20. G5. What is a chemical molecule ? 10-20. G(). What is a chemical element ? 1 0-20. G7- How far does chemistry prove the existence of the atom, molecule, and element? 25-GO. G8. How much of life and matter is left to the operation of natural laws? 10-40. Gl). What evidence have you of a special adjustment of natural laws to suit the needs of life ? 20-SO. 70. Is cold water heavier than warm water, and how do you explain it? 15-35. LESSON VIII. 71. Why does congealed water expand and become lighter than warm water ? 10-25. 72. If the law of contraction and increase of weight had applied to ice, what would have been the effect upon the life of the world? lG-40. 73. What is the action of gravity? G-24. 74. By what process can gravity operate ; or, how is it possible for one object to draw another to itself? 8-32. 75. Describe the general result if the law of gravity should cease its operation? 10-40. 7G. Why is the earth round ? G-20. 10 H03II: COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME ONE. 77. Is it probable that the inclination of the earth's axis which causes the seasons, is the result of special design ? State reasons. 6-20. 78. Of what advantage, if any, is the succession of seasons to man ? 10-24. 79. How do you satisfy yourself that the earth is or is not solely intended for the dwelling place of man ? 20-60. SO. Accepting the theory that the body of man is of the earth, and the mind and soul are phospho-electrical, has man any existence apart from the earth? State reasons. 20-60. LESSON IX. 81. Is human life of advantage to any purpose of the Creator, if so, state how? 20-35. 82. What is your description of the vital spark or glame? 10-20. 83. Assuming that phosphatic foods are necessary to the operations of the brain, and that without them the mind is weakened and rendered subject to sin, how do you explain the influence which the mind has over the soul ? 20-35. 84. What is the process of thought? 15-30. 85. What is consciousness? 10-25. 86. What is a train of thought ? 10-25. 87. Describe the chemical process by which a sound body affects the mind? 10-30. 88. If a wise man, of great brain power, were to avoid eating phos- phatic foods for a year, what would be his mental condition? 10-20. 89. If the mind originates thoughts and deeds of wickedness, what effect on the soul has this condition of the mind ? 10-40. 90. Is the spiritual stature affected by the wickedness or weakness of the mind? 6-20. LESSON X. 91. What is the difference between the mental condition of an idiot and of a wild beast ? 6-30. 92. In insanity, what part of the brain is affected? 3-18. 93. Would derangement of the cerebellum or medulla oblongata affect a man morally? 6-18. THE FIVE HUNDRED PROBLEMS. 11 94. Supposing a child had been fed on proper food, but liad never read books, talked with others, or seen life about them, what would be his mental condition ? 2-12. 95. Accepting the theory that vegetation is identical with a part of the human system (digestion, respiration, and circulation), what degree of consciousness and feeling would trees, flowers, and vines possess? 10-30. 90. Would an idiot, possessing no life in the cerebrum, recognize im- pressions received through the hearing, sight, smell, taste, or touch? 3-10. 97. Accepting the theory that sound is vibratory movement in mass of any matter, how do you explain the action of hearing? 10-50. 98. Is the sense of hearing the result of the action of sound upon the brain, or was the faculty of hearing created by design? 10-40. 99. If no form of life existed capable of hearing, would sound ex- ist? 3-10. 100. Accepting the theory that the senses of taste and smell are chemical changes affecting certain nerves, describe their process. 10-28. LESSOX XI. 101. How is taste a protection to the stomach ? 6-10. 102. Assuming that the chief natural functions of all life is the acquisition of food, explain how the five senses of animated life are aids? 25-60. 103. What impels the root of a tree in dry soil to go a long distance for water? 10-25. 104. What process akin to taste impels the root of an onion and the root of the beet in the same soil to select separate food? 16-40. 105. Wherein does the digestive action of the plant and man perfectly resemble each other? 6-30. 106. What is the sense of touch ? 6-30. 107. What process occurs along the nerves from the foot to the brain when the sense of touch is communicated ? 6-40. 108. What part of the brain is affected ? 6-16. 109. Is the sense of touch a sense of development purely ? 4-12. 110. Describe the process by which a man dwelling in the dark would become blind. 6-24. 12 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME ONE. LESSON XII. 111. What effect would use have upon the origin as well as the devel- opment of the sense of sight? 10-30. 112. Accepting the theory that non-use of the sense of sight for gen- erations not only would result in blindness but in a total wasting away of the eyeballs, how do you satisfy yourself that the eyes are or are not origi- nated by the action of the light? 15-60. 113. Accepting the theory that exposed flesh will weave a covering of skin by union with the air, and thus limit the body in size and shape, how do you satisfy yourself that the human body is not the result of uses and tendencies? 15-60. 114. In view of the fact that the Bible account of the creation is con- strued in accordance with the meaning of the original language ; and that what seems in the translations to imply that the universe, earth, and man were created in six actual days, when in fact all theologians of education believe the time to have been long periods of ages; would it be contradictory to the Bible to assume that man was the result of long processes of devel- opment? 10-40. 115. Judging from the standpoint of science, what are all the ways you can mention in which man may have come into existence? 20-60. 116. Accepting the theory that God did not create the forms of life, but merely charged Atoms with PUL, or purpose (see later questions), would not this ever present purpose in all life account for the obedience of the matter to the law of necessity ? 10-40. 117. Do the dormant muscles of the ear of man indicate a former use of the ears, obedient to the law of necessity in a wilder state? 10-40. 118. If man did not come into existence immediately upon the fiat of God, does science indicate development from the protoplasmic cell, through processes confined to man alone ; or through the lower forms of animal life? 10-60. 119. Was man, when the species of man came into existence, much lower in the scale of civilization than his average has been for the last three thousand years ? State reasons. 10-40. 120. How do you account for the origin and existence of savage men? 10-50, THE FIVE HUNDRED PROBLEMS. 13 LESSON XIII. 121. What is the instinctive law of defense? 10-4(\ 122. AVhat is man's chief means of defense? 10-30. 123. Name all domestic animals, or those regarded as capable of being tamed, and state the means of defense of each. 46-100. 124. What extraordinary means of defense have been given to some sea life? 20-60. 125. Assuming that all life is made for the good of man, why are deadly serpents allowed to exist? 15-40. 126. Why are poisons made to grow? 10-30. 127. Why are dangers from hundreds of sources set about man? 20-60. 128. Why is the patient, helpless, sweet-tempered sufferer, who lies upon a bed of sickness, tormented by day with flies, and stung at night by mosquitoes? 10-40. 129. Why were four beautiful children, who, on seeing a bright dia- mond as they thought, placed their lingers to it, stung to death ? 10-40. 130. State the one hundred most serious dangers to life? 100-200. LESSON XIV. 131. When is man justified in killing a human being? 20-40. 132. What disposition should organized society make of the mur- derer? 10-30. 133. If A. intends to kill B. is C. justified in saving B. from other- wise certain death by killing A. ? State reasons. 10-30. 134. What is C.'s duty ? 6-20. 135. If A,, a powerful man, intends to unjustifiably chastise B., a weak man ; and the latter's brother is able to save him from severe bodily harm, only by killing A., what may he do, and what should he do? 10-30. 136. What would be man's duty under the same circumstances if his wife, mother, sister, or daughter were the intended victim ? 6-20. 137. To what extent may a man injure another to defend himself from slight bodily harm ? (5-20. 14 SOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME ONE. 138. la a community where law does not exist, or is ineffectual, how may an aggrieved person punish a criminal ? 6-20. 139. In a community where law does not exist, or is ineffectual, when murder or other heinous crimes have been committed, what is the duty of peaceful citizens ? 6-20. 140. What is the general effect of unpunished crime ? 6-20. LESSON XV. 141. Assuming that the criminal disposition of humanity is stronger and weaker alternately in periods of seven years, what duty does a person of criminal tendency owe himself? 8-24. 142. How far is crime a disease ? 5-30. 143. Accepting the theory that fear of punishment deters a criminal, is imprisonment merely a sufficient safe-guard to society ? 4-24. 144. May a person who inherits a criminal disposition completely eradicate the same from his nature? 5-28. 145. Assuming the theory asserted by some that a criminal is partially insane, and that this form of insanity may be checked by the fear of punish- ment, as the facts seem to show, how far is the person responsible for per- mitting this insane tendency to obtain control of him? ■ 10-35. 146. Accepting the theory that a large portion of the insane are deterred from acts of violence by the fear of punishment, how far is insan- ity a voluntary giving way to passion ? 6-20. 147. How far is a person responsible for his crimes who, through a determination not to be thwarted in his purpose, becomes headstrong and violent on the slightest provocation? 10-35. 148. A child is allowed by his parents to have his own way in all re- spects ; at the age of eight, while associating with other boys is surprised and angered at being thwarted, and kills a companion. Who is to blame, and why? 4-12. 149. A child from early infancy is incorrigible ; whipping lightly or severely does not affect him , coaxing, persuading, and kindness are in- effectual ; he steadily grows worse. AVhat is the duty of his parents ? 8-30. 150. AYhich is the more serious offence : injury to the body through violence; or injury to the reputation through slander or libel? 4-12. THE FIVE HUNDRED PB0BLE3IS. 15 LESSON XVI. 151. If a man is justified in protecting his body from anticipated injury by punishing the aggressor ; what is his right as to a slanderer who has and will continue to do injury to his reputation? 10-40. 152. As libel is more harmful than slander, if a man were sure that he could prevent an unjustifiable and criminal libellous attack, by adopting the same means as would be allowed when in fear of physical assault, what would be his right? 10-30. 153. If a man publicly libelled another without right or cause, and was afterwards killed by the aggrieved party, who was tried for the offence ; what would be the duty of the jury ? 6-30. [Note. — These questions are not based upon the existing laws, but upon the principles which should underlie all human law.] 154. Assuming that one murderer is put to death to prevent more murders by him or others, is his death justifiable when this end is certainly accomplished? 4-16.] 155. Accepting the fact, which statistics abundantly prove, that slander and libel cause thousands of murders annually throughout the civil- ized world ; and that law is practically ineffectual in dealing with slander and libel ; how can you satisfy yourself in accordance with the principles involved in the preceding question, that one who ruins a reputation which is more valuable than life should or should not be summarily punished by the party injured? 10-60. 156. If the slaying of the libeller is sure to prevent more murders, especially by its public example, how do you satisfy yourself that such slay- ing is or is not justifiable? 10-60. 157. What is the difference in the gravity of the offence between the unjustifiable killing of a savage Indian and an intelligent animal? 6-30. 158. How do you satisfy yourself that a human being is or is not justified in killing another human being for the purpose of food when life can be saved in this way only? 10-50. 159. If a hunter kills birds or other life for sport merely what offence if any is committed ? 6-25. 160. When is it right to destroy harmless animal life ? 6-20. 2 16 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME ONE. LESSON XVII. 161. Is it right for a strong nation to destroy the government of a weaker nation for the purpose of advancing the cause of civilization? 4-30. 162. How do you satisfy yourself that it is or is not right to take animal life for the purpose of food, assuming that vegetation furnishes a more complete and healthful food? 20-45. 163. Name ten causes of human association. 20-80. 164. What form of government is most conducive to happiness? 6-30. 165. What is the chief end of government? 4-20. 166. On what principle should people who pay no taxes be permitted to vote? 8-30. 167. What class of persons should be deprived of the right of voting? 168. What plan do you suggest by which the chief burdens of tax- ation may be borne by the rich alone? 20-80. 169. Has a government a moral right to limit the accumulation of wealth in private individuals? 4-18. 170. Is it advisable for the government to permit corporations to con- trol enormous properties? 15-50. LESSON XVIII. 171. Is the intermarriage of races advantageous to a people? 4-20. 172. If a nation by thrift and superior intelligence had made itself superior to other nations, what would be the effect if it permitted foreigners to enter its land without restriction ? 6-20. 173. What would be the effect of the immigration of 200,000,000 Chinese into the United States? 10-40. 174. If at the present rate of increase the negro population of the United States should reach twenty millions in number, what would be the effect upon the nation at large ? 6-30. 175. What would be the effect upon locations where they swarmed in lawless bodies, refusing to work and living by depredations? 10-50. 176. Accepting as a fact the statistical report that five million negroes are born annually, ninety-four per cent, of whom become illiterate and pre- datory, what effect must this condition eventually produce ? 14-60. 177. What is the solution of this problem? 6-30. THE FIVE HUNDRED PROBLEMS. Vj 178. If negro children refuse to attend school, or to be obedient in school, how can they be educated? 6-40. 170. What races in the United States should be prevented by law from intermarriage? 4-12. 180. Is it possible that the negro race may ever be blended into the nationality of the United States ? 3-12. LESSON XIX. 181. Has the government a moral right to compel an able-bodied person to work? 4-16. 182. Accepting the fact that imprisonment is sought by vagrants what better method of punishing them may be devised? 10-25. 183. Is the increasing army of tramps a danger to the happiness of the people? 4-16. 184. How should they be dealt with ? 10-40. 185. If man is able to work, but will not when asked, should he be supported by charity? 6-12. 186. What is the chief cause of poverty? 8-30. 187. What is the chief cause of prosperity? 8-30. 188. From what races do the majority of tramps come? 10-18. 189. Is the acquisition of wealth generally compatible with honesty? 6-16. 190. What is envy? LESSON XX. 191. How does it arise? 4-21. 192. Does it exist among animals ? 6-12. 193. Could progress exist without it ? 4-11. 194. What is hate? 4-18. 195. How does it arise ? 4-20. 196. What animals are free from hate ? 20-40. 197. What Indians are free from hate ? 10-16. 198. What Turks? 9-15. 199. What Russians? 6-10. 200. What is dishonesty? 10-20. 18 ROME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE ONE. LESSON XXI. 201. What is the cause of it ? 12-22. 202. If a large sum of money were placed in the way of one thousand average human beings, who knew that it could be taken with no chance of detection, what probable number would yield to the temptation? 12-25. 203. How far does the knowledge of dishonesty prompt the hatred of mankind ? 6-20. 204. What proportion of the civilized world hate? 6-24. 205. What proportion are free from sin ? 1-3. 206. If envy were removed from the heart could sin exist ? 3-16. 207. If man was made a free moral agent, could he exist on an equality with others ? 4-20. 208. Could he, in his freedom, make progress without exciting the envy of inferiors? 3-12. 209. Assuming every person living to be honest, how could freedom exist without sin ? 6-20. 210. Start at that point where all are poor and possess equal oppor- tunities and faculties, equal ambition and energy, equal merit and tact, — they all adopt the same methods at the same time for securing a share of the wealth of the world; in ten years would they be equally situated? 4-16. LESSON XXII. 211. Describe the probable course of events. 30-100. 212. What part would accident play in the distribution of wealth among men equally endowed and of equal opportunity ? 10-30. 213. What is the doctrine of chance ? 10-30. 214. How far may a man control the circumstances which surround his life? 10-40. 215. Is there a divinity which shapes our ends, rough hew them how we will ? Explain. 6-24. 216. What basis is there for the semi-mythology which states that there is a good and bad angel attending each person? 16-40. 217. What basis is there for the belief that our lives are affected by the stars and planets under which we are born? 16-40. 218. What is petty superstition ? 10-30. THE FIVE HUNDRED PROBLEMS. ^ 16 219. How does it originate? 10-30. 220. Wliat part does it play in the origin of religions? 6-20. LESSON XXIII. 221. Name the twelve principal superstitions of the day ? 19-60. 222. Is the belief of the Indians as to a happy hunting ground a religion or a superstition? 6-18. 223. How do you account for the absolute faith which some people have in the common superstitions of the day? 15-30. 224. Supposing a number of good people have been impressed with certain superstitions, which they have handed down to their children and preserved in writing ; and that their descendants retain absolute faith in them, even regarding them as sacred, until it became impossible to shake their belief in them ; could these superstitions be regarded as inspired doc- trines of religion? Explain. 10-30. 225. From what roots are the words Jehovah and Jupiter derived? 4-18. 226. How did the old mythology originate? 15-40. 227. What is paganism? 6-18. 228. How do you account for the fact that all nations and tribes have some form of religion ? 12-35. 229. By what means do many religions seek to impress the people ? 12-60. 230. What are miracles? 7-28. LESSON XXIV. 231. Have they ever occurred except in connection with religion? 4-23. 232. What miracles of the New Testament may be explained through the process of natural laws ? 10-28. 233. What cannot be so explained? 10-28. 234. What has been the purpose of miracles ? 6-30. 235. Accepting the theory that the Divine Power could make itself felt and known beyond all doubting, is it not reasonable to suppose that miracles were due to some process of natural laws which are not fully known to us? Explain. 10-45. 20 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME ONE. 236. Is it possible for a man by laying his finger lightly upon a table to cause the table to move by reason of some power stronger than that of his muscles? 6-12. 237. Have you any knowledge or belief that this can be done? 3-15. 238. Assuming that it is possible can you account for it. Explain. 18-75. 239. What is electricity? 12-60. 240. How is it generated ? 6-35. LESSON XXV. 241. What qualities does it possess ? 10-50. 242. How is light generated ? 10-25. 243. State the essential difference between electricity and fire. 15-45. 244. Is electricity created or merely collected ? 4-40. 245. What is its condition when dormant? 6-19. 246. State the essential difference between electricity and phosphorus. 15-45. 247. In what substances is electricity not found ? 15-60. 248. What is the origin of phosphorus ? 249. What relation has phosphorus to life ? 12-30. 250. What species of life are not dependent upon the presence of electricity? 6-40. LESSON XXVI. 251. Accepting the theory that phosphorus is dormant electricity and that the form of electricity known as Glame is present in all life is it not true that electricity and phosphorus are closely allied to the source of life ? Explain. 20-80. 252. Separating in the mind the action of phosphorus from the element known as phosphorus how closely does it resemble the aurora borealis? 12-30. 253. Accepting the theory that the aurora borealis is the PUL glow of Atoms, explain the process by which it occurs ? 20-40. 254. What is human electricity ? 12-40. 255. In what parts of the body is it generated ? 1 1-28. THE FIVE HUNDRED PROBLEMS. Si 256. What parts of the body are phosphoric ? 11-28. 257. Accepting the theory that vegetation is the first step in the life of man what phosphoric tendencies are therein shown? 12-30. 258. Accepting the theory that the life of vegetation centres in it? seed, and that this seed furnishes the best food for animal life including man, without which the latter could not exist, is it not true that the power of man should be drawn directly from vegetation ? 8-40. 259. Accepting the theory that thought is phosphoric activity of the brain and nervous system how do you satisfy yourself that the mind and soul may or may not be electrical forces ? 6-30. 260. Is any man able to investigate the minutest processes of life ? 3-12. LESSON XXVII. 261. Is he able to investigate the larger life of the universe? 3-12. 262. Although witnessed in its effect what force does man know less about than electricity ? 12-30. 263. Accepting the theory that electricity is the first immediate essence of all life, and the most difficult to understand is it unreasonable to assume that this power is the direct agency of the Creator ? 6-30. 264. What is light ? 6-25. 265. How is it destroyed ? 6-25. 266. How do you account for the transparency of an object? 12-30. 267. How for thetranslucency? 12-30. 269. How for refraction ? 12-30. 270. What is heat? 12-30. LESSON XXYIII. 271. What relation is it to light ? 12-30. 272. What relation has heat to vegetable life? 12-30. 273. What is animal life ? 12-30. 274. What is chemical heat? 12-30. 275. What is spontaneous combustion? 12-30. 276. What is fire? 12-30. 277. How does it differ from heat and light ? 12-30. 278. Describe the process of frictional heat? 12-30. 22 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME ONE. 279. What is the essential difference between sound and light? 12-30. 280. Was the larynx created by design ? 6-15. LESSON XXIX. 281. What is the origin of song? 12-30. 282. What is harmony ? 20-60. 283. What are the uses of music ? 15-75- 284. What is fragrance? 12-30. 285. What is the office of colors? 8-35. 286. How many elementary colors are there? 6-15. 287. What is white? 6-15. 288. What is black? 6-15. 289. What relation has color to light ? 9-35. 290. What causes the growth of flowers? 6-28. LESSON XXX. 291. Is the beauty of flowers only relative ? 3-12. 292. Were they designed for the happiness of man? 4-12, 293. What is meant by happiness ? 6-20. 294. How does it differ from contentment ? 8-30. 295. Is any human being perfectly happy? 3-12. 296. What circumstances are necessary for perfect happiness ? 12-40. 297. What is the chief source of happiness ? 3-15. 298. Describe a person perfectly contented ? 30-100. 299. What relation has wealth to happiness? 8-40. 300. Is abject poverty compatible with some degree of happiness ? 3-15. LESSON XXXI. 301. What effect has contentment upon the health ? 8-20. 302. Describe the process? 12-30. 303. Need a person ever be unhappy ? 3-12. 304. What is health ? 8-30. 305. What is the cause of age ? 4-16. 306. If without calcareous deposits old age could never come to man, THE FIVE HUNDRED PROBLEMS. 23 would it be reasonable to assume that death need never occur except by accident? 3-20. 307. Is it necessary tliat the body should die? Explain. 3-25. 308. How do you satisfy yourself that it may or may not be the intention of the Creator that man should discover the means of perpetuating his life ? 5-20. 309. Accepting the theory that the Soul is but an electrical force, is it not probable that the discovery of the real nature of electricity would dis- close the nature of Soul-life and of God? 10-30. 310. What is death? 4-20. LESSON XXXII. 311. What is its purpose? 10-30. 312. What natural reason has man for thinking that he is immortal? 19-60. 313. What reason for thinking that Soul-life hereafter will dijfferfrom its life in the present body? 20-()0. 314. With or without the aid of religion, would not a man yearn for the hope of a life hereafter? 19-20. 315. Would that yearning give birth to some code of living as a means of attaining such a life ? 7-25. 316. Does not all human nature look for some signs or promise of Heaven? 6-10. 317. What does the word Heaven mean? 5-14. 31 S. In the darker ages of the world where life was in constant danger would not human beings be led to see such signs of promise both in nature and in the circumstances about them ? 6-20. 319. Would not such impressions grow into a religion? Explain. 11-30. 320. Might not such yearnings be inspired ? Explain. 8-24. LESSON XXXIII. 321. Would such inspiration be incompatible with true religion ? 7-30. 322. What is inspiration ? 12-40. 323. What may be inspired? 12-3(). 24 HOME COURSE IN PllILOSO THY— TOME ONE. 324. Is not all inspiration from God ? 3-15. 325. Taking the world altogether, is good or bad more prevalent? 3-20. 326. Regardless of laws or commandments, what acts of man are wrong jserse? 14-50. 327. Allowing a man of safe judgment to be the judge of his own conduct, what effect would obedience to his own moral code have upon the salvation of his Soul ? 12-30. 328. What has right and wrong to do with Soul-life? 16-40. 329. How can weakness, errors, and imperfections originating in the flesh affect the character of the Soul? 10-30. 330. Describe the sins of vegetation ? LESSON XXXIY. 331. What crimes may a tree commit ? 10-40. 332. How is an animal punished who wantonly kills a child? 6-25. 332. What right has the spider to entrap the fly? 10-20. 334. The very small fish are eaten by the small, the small by the large, the large by the larger, the larger by the largest, the largest by the shark, what right has each to devour the other ? 6-30. 335. What lesson is thus taught ? 10-40. 336. The pet cat devours the pet bird, causing a whole household of human beings to mourn, — what lesson is taught? 10-30. 337. The law of hill is universal, — how does it come to be so? 6-40. 338. The human mother loves its offspring, — what love is that? 10-39. 339. The lioness loves its offspring, — why ? 6-30. 340. Human beings and animals quarrel for possession, each in the same spirit ; why this resemblance ? 6-24. LESSON XXXV. 341. Both classes are jealous, revengeful, envious, playful, wilful and lazy in degree; what does this indicate ? 20-40. 342. In what respects are human beings of the same creative mold as birds? 12-40. 343. How do you account for it? 12-40. 344. How does man resemble fish ? 12-40, THE FIVE HUNDRED PROBLEMS. 25 345. In respiration, circulation and digestion man is identical with vegetation ; what does this indicate? 10-30. 340. What is human marriage ? 10-40. 347. What is bird marriage? G-30. 348. Wliat law of nature prompts the bird couple to keep their mar- riage relations inviolate? 10-35. 349. What is the moral life of the noblest bird, as compared with man's morality. 10-35. 350. Without taking into consideration the responsibility due to su- perior intelligence, state the ten classes of beings and created life, including vegetation ; and place the Caucasian race in its proper relative rank of morality? 10-40. LESSON XXXVI. 351. Is it incompatible with religion to assume that Soul-life is present in all creatures. ? 6-30. 352. What is man's moral status compared with that of woman ? 10-30 353. What his comparative natural intelligence? 10-30. 354. What is love? 6-40. 355. Eunuchs and men having no semen never exhibit the slightest evidence of love ; what does this fact teach ? 10-60. 356. A boy and girl of good disposition show affection for each other until they reach the age of puberty; then they fall in love. Describe fully the two conditions? 20-80. 357. Animals of the higher order, and birds especially, fall in love, court, appear at their best, and win or lose the female ; all in the same nature as men. What explanation for the similarity ? 10-40. 358. Apart from law or custom, is it right jper se for one male ever to cohabit with two females in any class of beings? 4-12. 350. What is flower marriage? 360. Should a widow or widower ever re-marry or not? Explain. 15-40. LESSON XXXVII. 361. Is divorce ev^er right per se, or not? 10-80. 362. Explain the full chemical process of generation of life? 50-200. 26 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE ONE. 363. What is post marital love? 10-40. 364. What is man's duty as to marrying ? 6-40. 365. What is nature's primary object in promoting love and marriage ? 5-18. 366. Is it wrong per se to avoid parentage ? 6-20. 367. Are there too many persons in the world? 2-10. 368. Is it the design of Nature to increase the number of men, or to better the quality of the race ; or does she simply furnish the laws of life, subject to man's control and choice? Explain. 15-60. 369. Some philosophers advocate the legal prevention of parentage among the criminal and almost worthless classes. What are your views ? 16-40. 370. How could such a law be enforced? 6-40. LESSON XXXVIII. 371. What is character ? 10-100. 372. What is the chemical action of appetite? 10-30. 373. Is instinct in man superior to his judgment as to choice of foods? 10-35. 375. What is temper ? 10-30. 376. What is its philosophy ? 6-25. 377. What is mercy? 10-35. 378. What is its philosophy ? 10-32. 379. If humanity escapes justice what is the process? 16-40. 380. Why are the elements merciless ? 10-30. LESSON XXXIX. 381. Cannot all exhibitions of natural mercy be ascribed to accident? Explain. 10-40. 382. What is culture ? 10-30. 383. When man allows himself to drift to Nature is the tendency good or bad? 6-20. 384. Why is this? 12-40. 385. Can you see in life two tendencies ; that which is toward Nature, leading to depravity ; and that which is from Nature, leading to culture ? Explain. 25-60. THE FIVE HUNDRED PROBLEMS. 27 386. Is or is not man at his best the creature of his own choice? 4-12. 387. Can a lazy man excuse himself for the crime of depravity? 4-12. 388. If a savage in a most barbarous state is a stepping stone toward a moral being, is he more than vegetation at his death? ()-12. 389. Accepting the theory which nature seems to teach, and the Bible asserts positively, that only the worthy are saved, would absolute depravity in man, followed by death, as of a tree, be an illogical process? 4-20. 390. What right has any person to assert that a being, who happens to have the shape of man, must therefore have an immortal soul? 4-30. LESSON XL. 391. What reasons are there for stating that such an assumption is or is not an unwarrantable conclusion ? 20-00. 392. Taking the human race as a whole it possesses extraordinary intelligence, but name ten animals which possess greater intelligence than the lowest races of men ? 10-40. 393. Name some form of created life which is higher in the moral scale than man ? 2-S. 394. Why do some theologians dispute the doctrine of the Bible as to man's destruction ? 6-20. 395. Are mystery, awe and threats of punishment calculated to prompt men to abandon sin ? Explain. 7-40. 396. If no laws existed, and no Divine Message had ever come to men, how long would a community do without government? 7-25. 397. What natural principle would soon establish a code of ethics? 4-12. 398- How many ways are there of governing a small band of people who are left to themselves? 6-19. 399. What people would soon control ? 4-18. 400. If a man, by referring to some unknown power could perform acts beyond human explanation, would he be credited with super natural gifts? 7-20. LESSON XLI. 401. Iq a semi-savage age, when all ordinary means of government fail, would a person be deterred from committing sins which are beyond detection, by the command of such a person? 4-16. 28 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME ONE. 402. In such an age, would a man desiring power probably yield to the temptation of awing the people by supposed miraculous acts ? 6-20. 403. What nations and peoples in the world's history have been prominent in such acts? 100-400. 404. Accepting the historical present known fact that no nation nor people has been exempt from this method of surpressing crime and prevent- ing many undetectable wrongs, is it not proper to conclude that such acts were inspired? 6-20. 405. Has not each religion been adapted to each age and people? 7-25. 406. Need any religion be wrong, whose underlying principle is perfect morality ? 6-15. 407. If the Old Testament served its ages, and is now revered as the historical Word of God ; if the New Testament is adapted to the present age and is making the world better; does it matter by what instrumentality God caused them to appear? 4-20. 408. Supposing science and reason should succeed in their assaults upon the Bible, would the true philosopher have less reason to revere it as the instrumentality of God suited to the work of its special era ? 6-15. 409. Is it probable that Soul-life can ever be any different from what we find it now? 7-15. 410. What reason is there to support the philosophy that the soul passes on from life to life until it becomes worthy of heaven? 10-60. LESSON XLII. 411. If according to Victor Hugo's philosophy, the Soul lives again on earth, but fails in its memory to recall its preceding lives, what difference is there between such failure of memory and annihilation ? 4-25. 412. If the soul passes from earth to Heaven, but becomes a new being, knowing no sin, nor sorrow, and nothing of earthly life, what is the difference of such a state and annihilation ? 4-20. 413. What is the tendency of worlds ? 6-40. 414. What is the condition of the moon ? 6-40. 415. What is the destiny of worlds which are losing their heat? 10-60. 416. From a study of Nature what is the probability as to the peopl- ing of other worlds ? 6-40. THE FIVE HUNDRED PROBLEMS. 29 417. What is ihe probable number of inhabitecl worlds in space?12-40. 418. A satellite has its planet, planets have their sun ; is it probable that the solar systems of space have some central seat of government ? 4-20. 419. From the study of natural laws, is it not a certainty that all matter is governed ? 6-28. 420. Name any matter that is free from government? 6-75. LESSON XLIII. 42 1 . Accepting the theory that the universe has a centre of government, by what laws (of those known) would the solar system be governed ? 20-80. [Note. — The Shaftesbury Philosophy declares that there are no laws in the universe which are not visible to man, in 0])eration or effect ; that all existeuce, past, present and future, will be found to conform to those laws ; that electricity, ultra- microscopic life and ultra- telescopic life are the three divisions of the unknown, and embrace all that is now unknown to man; that electricity is God direct, and Soul-life is PUL-glow, or the appear- ance of phosphorus, or dormant electricity ; that man will yet learn more of this vitality ; that ultra-microscopic life will be better known ; that disease and age will be better overcome ; that ultra-telescopic life can be different from the sun and earth in size and extent only ; that the seat of government is the home of God, consisting of a mass of matter exactly like the earth and sun ; but larger than all the solar systems combined ; that the latter were thrown from the central mass in Atoms charged with three laws (attraction, repulsion and revolution); that every law of life, chemistry and electricity may be perfectly accounted for by these laws and by these alone ; and that the human body is but a form of vegetation, serving as a vehicle for the birth and transition of the soul. Acting on this philosophy we expect the remain- ing questions to be answered on the hypothesis of the truth of the philosophy.] 422. Is it reasonable to suppose that the soul is hidden in this life? 4-20. 423. Is it reasonable to suppose that there are laws whose effect is not seen by man? 4-2(). 424. Have you ever had evidence of Soul-life? 4-16. 425. What is spiritualism ? 10-80. 426. What of its claims are grossly improbable ? 10-25. 427. Where do these spirits dwell ? 6-30. 30 HOME COURSE JN PHILOSOPHY— TOME ONE. 428. What is the origin of spiritualism ? 7-25. 429. What conditions make it possible ? 13-29. 430. What minds are led to believe in it? 10-40. LESSON XLIV. 431. Taking the whole scheme of spiritualism as a system what hope does it give man? 12-28. 432. Have you ever seen a spirit? If so state the circumstances fully. 1-35. 433. Have you ever heard any authentic account of the appearance of a ghost? 1-12. 434. May the appearance have been due to electrical disturbance of the nervous system ? 1-12. 435. Are ghosts associated with horror? 1-10. 436. Explain the chemical process which occurs when an insane man sees images of horror ? 30-90. 437. When a fevered brain sees apparitions? 20-70. 438. When a drunken man sees snakes? 20-60. 439. When a fervid actor sees his counterpart before him? 15-35. 440. On what natural law may a person honestly believe in spiritual- ism to a degree admitting of no change of mind, and yet be in error ? 28-64. LESSON XLV. 441. Is the sense of sight essential to Soul-life? 4-16. 442. How can the physical brain perform the ultimate act of seeing ? 5-29. 443. Between the inner photograph of the object on the brain and that which is conscious of the appearance, what occurs? 20-60. 444. Assuming that consciousness to be Soul-life, is the power of sight inherent in the soul, and separate from the physical sense? 4-40. 445. Would the Soul, or electrical essence, if freed from the body, see trees, sky, flowers, and beings ? 6-20. 446. What is darkness, affirmatively described ? 20-40. 447. On what physical law would the Soul see in darkness as well as in light? 12-30. THE FIVE HUNDRED PROBLEMS. 31 448. Accepting the theory that AE, or Atomic lines, are light to Soul- life, what condition must exist in order to produce " outer darkness ? " 1 8-35. 440. Do the five physical senses, although different in their percep- tions, impress the mind in the same part of the brain, and excite the same consciousness? 10-40. 450. Assuming that Soul-life must exist under physical laws, but without the aid of the physical body, of what use would smell, taste, hearing and touch be? 16-45. LESSON XLVI. 451. If Soul-life is electrical in its nature, is it dependent upon matter ? 6-20. 452. Why is electricity not material ? 10-40. 453. Is the speed of electricity due to its affinity for matter, or its inability to find affinity in matter ? 6-20. 454. Although the speed of light is far greater than that of electricity, why is it that man cannot learn as much of the latter as of the former ? 1 2-35. 455. Assuming that all the senses, except that of sight, are merely guardians of the stomach and the safety of the body ; and that they all centre in the mental sensation, called knowledge ; would not the Soul, when freed from the body, obtain all knowledge direct, and in the same manner as the brain wovf hnows after the sense nerves have impressed it? 6-25. 456. Noise tires, poison wounds, heat burns, cold freezes, odors annoy, all because the access to the mind is by means of the body ; but what effect would the cold realms of space, or the sun's fire, have upon the Soul- substance? 16-42. 457. Does the Soul occupy space? 7-17. 458. May it grow old ? 7-21. 459. Assuming that God has made no laws except those which He has manifested to man, how can He be omnipotent? 9-41. 460. On what known law would the soul leave the body ? 6-27. LESSON XLVII. 461. What is the chemical process of the passage of the Soul from the body ? 34-70. 462. What sight would be necessary in order to see it? 14-56. 3 32 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE ONE. 463. How can life be checked in a tree ? 6-28. 464. How may a tree, once dead, be revived? 9-40. 465. By a slight pressure on the throat the breath is closed out, and the heart ceases to beat. Efforts are made to revive the vitality, but no man has ever been able to bring the dead to life. " She is not dead, but sleepeth," is to be taken as stated ; unless the Soul, departed, may be called back. What must be the chemical process by which the Soul again possesses the body? 26-41. 466. By what law may the Soul pass through solid walls? 16-34. 467. What is glame in the universe ? 12-24. 468. What is the Law of Glame as to PUL ? 4-17. 469. In the ultimate process of development, when Atoms have thrown off their PUL life in the act of creating souls, all atoms must retain the two laws of Glame and MOT, which alone produce vegetation. ' What is the destiny of the orbs of the sky ? 470. Acting under this well proved law what must be the influence of the universe on the soul, after it is released from the body ? 7-24. LESSON XL VIII. 471. When PUL leaves a planet, what two laws govern its Atoms? 4-10. 472. Under such conditions, when the planet has given vip its PUL in the Divine commission of creating Souls, and the Souls have passed to their attractions in space, what must result from the restless laws remaining ? 20-60. 473. Under the common movements of physical laws, how soon would a planet dissolve? 7-31. 474. Why must all suns eventually pass through planet life ? 24-70. 475. Assuming heaven to be a mass of matter greater in bulk than all the worlds in space put together, why must all Atoms having PUL fly from Heaven ? 20-70. 476. Why must all Soul-life be irresistibly drawn toward Heaven? 20-60. 477. Why must all PUL-less Atoms be attracted through space to Heaven ? 20-50. THE FIVE HUNDEED PROBLEMS. 33 47S. Assuming that PUL-less Atoms are capable only of vegetation, and that the absence of PUL prevents animal growth, what must be the material life in Heaven ? 4-30. 479. Under the law of attraction wherever PUL is, Atoms, Molecules, and particles tend toward each other. Explain why all planetary orbs must be hollow? 12-3o. 480. Assuming electricity to be without heat except when it produces friction or causes chemical action ; and accepting the theory that insulated electricity, and that which is capable of generation are conditions of PUL- mass attached to Atoms ; what attributes of electricity must be lacking in Soul-life? 16-40. LESSON XLTX. 481. Why is the theory of positive and negative electricity unsound? 16-50. 482. If PUL is the motive of all life, tending to create the Soul in the vegetable Hesh of man, and PUL-mass, or mechanical electricity (as seen in the clouds and in mercantile use) is an accumulation of PUL-Atoms sep- arated from their purpose, would not the very essence of their purpose cause them to be urged to a re-distribution among general Atoms, thus restoring an equilibrium? Explain. 11-17. 483. When electricity is freed what becomes of it ? 9-22. 484. Owing to the inconceivable number of changes in the combina- tions of Molecules, all grades of human and animal life came into existence ; there being no shape imaginable which does not live. But one grade of life is not evolved from another ; nor is one race of man the outgrowth of another. Intellectual improvement is not radical exchange. The Indian may be educated, but under the most favoring circumstances civilized man would not be evolved. Inter-marriage produces nothing higher that the sum of two conditions ; as two metals produce one of intermediate value. All life came into existence at once, but in larger size than we now see it, owing to the super-abundance of PUL, much of which has become Soul-life, and passed to its eternal home. In the chaos of life, all suffered. For every human being that grew to maturity, millions were overwhelmed, until the conditions were in equipoise. Man's superiority, and not man himself, 34 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME ONE. has been the evolution of the ages. All this is well proved in the common history of the earth. Animals of enormous size no longer exist. What then is the destiny of animal life, including insects, birds, fish, beasts, and the flesh of man ? 20-100. 485. What is the destiny of vegetation ? 7-30. 486. With what is a drop of blood charged in addition to its chemical parts? 2-10. 487. How do you satisfy yourself that the happiness of the Soul is or is not its chief destiny ? 20-60. 488. Of what would such happiness consist ? 12-40. 489. If God has found pleasure in the construction of the universe, would it be reasonable to suppose that Soul-life would take pleasure in some measure of activity ? 8-30. 490. Draw a word picture of the life of the Soul in Heaven. 100- 300. LESSON L. 491. After all PUL has become Soul-life and all suns and planets have been called home to the centre of the universe, do you think God will send new worlds into space to repeat the history of the skies ? 8-35. 492. Assuming the law of gravity to be the law of PUL and Glame, or that Glame attracts PUL and Heaven draws the Soul to itself exactly in the same way that gravity attracts any object capable of evolving electricity, would the Soul in leaving the earth be drawn to any intermediate world? 9-28. 493. If so, what must be the conditions of that world? 10-40. 494. Accepting the theory that a vast majority of human beings are endowed with imperfect or unworthy Souls, and, in the wasteful profusion of Nature, are resolved to matter to be cast and re-cast in better molds until the law of rectitude shall triumph, what must follow dealh ? 28-70. 495. Is consciousness of earth and earthly ambitions, hope, and loves, necessary to happiness hereafter? 12-25. 496. If not, what is the difference between the triumphant resurrec- tion of the Soul, and annihilation ? 20-70. 497. A noble horse, galled under a life of continued torments, dies ; THE FIVE HUNDRED PROBLEMS. 35 another noble horse is born and takes his place, but his life is all pleasure and joy; how can the first be happy in the second? And, likewise, how can a human Soul forget earth and its existence, and be happy in a life to come? 20-60. 408. Apart from the Bible, how do you satisfy yourself that the Soul, after death, does or does not pass at once to a consciousness of happiness ? 25-50. 499. How do you satisfy yourself that there is not a personal devil? 20-60. 500. Apart from all religions, except that of AE, or Nature's God, what must the Soul attain in this world, in order to be entitled to life after death? 50-100. End of First Examination. All subsequent examinations must be based upon these questions, or variations. If you find the examination too hard for you, it is an evidence of the distance which you have to travel. If any one question enchains your thoughts, you are a philosopher to that extent. If you find many of them following you in your spare moments, and seeking to be pondered on, there is no doubt as to your nature. The thoughtful man is a philosopher. The five himdred questions embrace every problem of every age since the world began, whose assumptions have not been discarded by universal consent. They reach into every department of science, except that of psychological pedantry, whose dry bones rustle in the aimless breezes of the mind's graveyard. To answer correctly, or half correctly, these great ques- tions, is to be the triumph of your life. End of Tome One; oi:, The Five Hundred Problems. SPECIAL NOTICE ! For rules regarding Certificates of Merit, Certificates of Honor, Grad- uation in Philosophy, and the winning of the Great Diploma, as well as the attainment of the Degree, see the Rules of Graduation at the end of Tome Ten. TOME TWO. MAJOR PROBLEMS, WITH SUGGESTIONS. THE SECOND EXAMINATION. In this, the second examination, the minor problems are omitted, and the major problems brought to light. The answers that reach us are usually defective in the latter province. How they are deficient may appear from the following statement : — This course of study is for home thinking, and home investigation, and solely for self-improvement. The attempt to pass an examination, pure and simple, and for no other end than to pass it, for a reward, title, or degree, that must be empty unless merited, is not to be encouraged. In that effort a dry, pedantic book-worm might find technical answers which, from the standpoint of dictionary definitions, would be called correct ; yet, on the other hand, the mind of a Tyndall, Huxley, or Agassiz would make answers that would fairly teem with the spirit of philosophy. Take, as an example, the first question : What is a human being ? A student of the true philosophical spirit will write the question at the top of a page in some large blank book ; will then think it over daily in connection with other questions ; will, in the course of general reading, catch ideas and information that help to unfold the problem ; will think, develop, evolve knowledge ; establish comparisons, linger over thoughts and facts presented by his general reading, — and all persons read some, — until he will have a small essay prepared as an answer to the question . This essay must then be condensed to thirty words; a practice not only commendable but highly edu- cating, in that it trains the mind to make words valuable. We have seen an essay of one thousand words trimmed to twenty, and made great thereby. Suppose your answer to the first question should contain several hun- dred words; this, condensed to thirty, would be more valuable to you, for in condensing it you are compelled to weigh every word and every thought even. The greatest value is in the hard training and deep thinking neces- (36) THE 3IAJ0E PROBLEMS. 37 sarv. It is well to retain the original essay ; and to send the answer to us. Remember that great scholars are inured to hard, exacting, plodding work, with pen and brain ; they are eager for deep study. Scholars who have received high marks in some university, often won- der why they are not regarded as they hoped to be by the scholarly class. It is not an evidence of your profound learning that the ignorant wonder at your abilities ; we know a school-master who was looked up to as a mental phenomenon, simply because he found an answer to a mathematical problem, which was afterwards discovered to be wrong. The gaping astonishment of a clientele is no indication of your genius, unless the general world is affected by your abilities. Does every year find you further advanced toward national fame ; or, if fame be not your seeking, toward a broader field of power and usefulness? Do you impress yourself upon the solid thought of mankind? If you are not accustomed to hard training and deep thinking, or have grown into looser habits since your earlier scholarship, you will not come easily into the next immediate steps in this course of Philosophy. The hasty will blame, but eventually our sturdier pupils will thank us for insist- ing upon exact scholarship. FIRST STEP. Requirements, a. The previous answers to the Five Hundred Ques- tions of the FIRST TOME, will be retained by us. They will be returned to you, if you desire ; but other answers must be forwarded in their stead, or the same returned in plainer handwriting, or in typewriting. In reading your answers, where the writing was careless or difficult to read, we were compelled to mark it as nothing. It requires a week to read, study, and estimate the answers to five hundred philosophical problems ; two assisting ; and if you choose to wTite carelessly, where a few minutes extra time w^ould insure carefulness, we cannot be blamed for passing the answers. 6. We advise, but do not require, all pupils, whether they desire to graduate or not, to obtain a college marking on the problems of Tome One ; and then proceed to solve the Major Problems of this examination. c. In case any pupil decides to submit to us their answers to the Major Problems, a written notice must be forwarded in substance as follows : " To the President of Shaftesbury College, Washington, D. C. You are hereby 38 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOFHY—TOME TWO. notified that I have carefully read the Procedure and requirements of the Second Tome ; that I heartily approve of your purpose and methods of ex- acting the highest Scholarship from Home Pupjils in Philosophy ; and I will endeavor to comjyly with all the requirements therein, to the end that I may in every way be benefited by the deeper education thereby residting. Sign full name, state and address. The foregoing must be copied in full. SECOND STEP. Requieements. a. Whether or not you elect or abandon the first examination, procure a record book of :not less than three hundred pages, each page to be as large as possible, and in no case smaller than seven by fourteen inches. b. Write at the top of each page in good red or carmine ink, the number in figures, of each question in the Fiest Tome, and the question after it. The Major problems are to be placed one only on the page ; but the Minor Problems may be written two to a page, the second question to be written half way down the page. If you desire, it is well to devote one page each to a question. This requires a book of five hundred pages, and it may prove bulky. One page to a question will please many who propose to make their work thorough. If you decide to write the Minor Problems two to a page, the book must contain at least three hundred |)ages. c. Glance daily at one or more of the questions you have written; and let no day pass without entering some fact or thought in the record book. Use a pencil at first, or write in black ink, upon thin paper caught at the inner edge of the book by a line of mucilage. At some subsequent time write youx fixed thoughts in black ink on the page itself. d. The entries in the record book are to be thoughts, ideas, theories, or facts gathered from reading or conversation. They come at unexpected moments; make a temporary minute at once. Weekly (not Sunday) papers often contain articles on science, or facts gleaned from greater works. Daily papers are sewers of public and private gossip ; Sunday papers are veritable THE MAJOn PROBLEMS. 39 gush ; a man who reads either will waste the chief function of his brain. Weekly papers contain all the news ; and, as generally constructed, much of the free wealth of the world's literature and science, although their editors often are ignorant of the fact. Nearly every town has its public or private library ; or its kind hearted literatus who is only too glad to loan that special book which you may desire. e. This plan of acquiring and fixing knowledge leads to the grandest scholarship. It is not for a day, but for all time ; to be continued for years after you graduate from these studies ; to be independent of your degree, for the winning of that degree is not to mark the time when your mind is to cease improving. THIRD STEP. a. Separate the one hundred questions of the second examination, which constitute the major problems, from the five hundred questions of the first examination, consisting of all the problems, major and minor. 6. On your record book retain all the members of the five hundred questions in their order ; and, in black ink, write the numbers of the one hundred questions of the second examination immediately after the red ink number. Thus each minor problem has its red ink numbers, and each major problem has two numbers. As an example, question 21 would be the sixth major problem, and have the number G in black ink. c. The following are the numbers of the major problems, all the omitted numbers being of minor problems. NUMBERS OF MAJOR PROBLEMS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 21, 22, 31, 32, 37, 38, 41, 42, 51, 52, 53, 54, 63, 64, Qo, 66, 69, 70, 73, 74, 70, 80, 85, 86, 07, 98, 103, 104, 100, 110, 110, 120, 125, 126, 141, 142, 157, 158, 161, 162, 167, 168, 185, 186, 189, 100, 207, 208, 213, 214, 227, 228, 230, 240, 263,264, 265, 266, 275, 276, 270,280, 280, 290, 307, 308, 309, 310, 325, 326, 345, 346, 371, 372, 385, 386, 389 390, 405, 406, 409, 410, 415, 416, 445, 446, 461, 462, 473, 474, 485, 486, 405, 406, 499, 500. 40 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TWO. SECOND EXAMINATION. THE ONE HUNDRED MAJOR PROBLEMS. Directions. The figures at the end of each question, show the limit to be observed in the answer ; which must not be too long or too short. The limits are not the same as in the first examination. Thus at the end of question 1, in the second examination, the figures 30-70 appear. This indi- cates that the answer must not contain less than thirty, nor more than seventy- words. The figures at the beginning of each question present, first, the number of the major problem ; and second, in parentheses, the original number of the first examination. These separate numbers should always be preserved. In sending answers, do not repeat the questions. Use both numbers. Write very plainly, on one side only, on paper 7 by 11 inches. Leave one blank line between each answer. When these rules are not observed, or the writing is not plain, the answers are considered as not having been made. On page one of your answers, copy and sign the following : STATEMENT. My full address is, The answers following are all my own. I have never had direct help from any person, nor do I use the language of others. [Name] Bind or stitch the answers together in order that we may preserve them as a manuscript volume. SPECIAL NOTICE. For rules regarding Certificates of Merit, Certificates of Honor, Gradu- ation in Philosophy, and the winning of the Great Diploma, as well as the attainment of the Degree, see the Rules of Graduation, at the end of Tome Ten. THE MAJOR PROBLEMS. 41 THE MAJOR PROBLEMS. LESSON LT. 1. (1). What is a human being? 30-70. There are four classes of answers to questions of this kind : purely physical, religious, scientific and philosophical. A philosophical answer is creative; the others are generally reflexive. We desire all that makes an answer complete. By philosophical, we do not mean fanciful, weird or inven- tive. Every human being should be willing to contribute from theresources of his nature, something to aid in enlightening the truth seekers of the world ; and that something should be substantial ; not a filmy possibility, nor a mere probability, nor a strong ray of encouragement as an ethical guide — but a fact seen, or pointed to by a concurrence of probabilities. Some of the non-christian religions that are springing up to-day are beautiful specimens of guess-work, of would-be's, or of gauze fabrics, without a single tangible thread in their texture. The soul, standing on the threshold of the unknown, shrinks from such fairy shrouds. 2. (2). What is a beast? 20-50. Questions, because they are hard to answer, stimulate thought. A com- parison of this and the former, will force the answers into philosophical channels. Is it right to assume that shape declares the animal and the human ? Why should intelligence be the criterion ? Many tribes of men are less intelligent than the noble animals. Try morality ; yet all men sin ; while some animals, as the horse, cow and sheep, are higher moral beings. Try reason ; what do we know of the reasoning faculties of animals ? They are dumb, or partly so ; their occupations do not require the use of an extensive vocabulary ; they reason as far as they know, and man does not do even that. His wisdom is borrowed, he adds to what he finds, his nature lies that way. " I had a horse who learned, by association of sound and sight the names of one hundred objects, and he remembered them. From what I could observe, I believe he grew more intelligent, by reason of this process ; if so, the convolutions of his cerebrum (the human part of the animal), must have deepened and grey matter must have been deposited."* *Ediniind Shaftesbury. 42 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TWO. It is very clear that the cerebrum or human part of any so-called beast may be increased in size and the power of reasoning made stronger. That animals do reason, there can be no doubt. A so-called beast with cerebrum, cerebellum, and medulla oblongata, is in every physical, mental and moral sense, a human being. What is a human being ? Many beasts are humane. What is a beast ? Many so-called human beings are mere beasts. Behind the curtain that separates one species of creation from another, there is a chasm as impenetrable as the sky. We do not know the beasts and perhaps they do not know us. In the subsequent Tomes we publish the Shaftesbury System of Philosophy, which takes a decided stand on these problems, — one and all. That you have different views, will not affect your standing, so that the views are reasonable. Your opinion and argument may be equal to that of any other person who ever lived. For this reason your mind should be free to act apart from the pronounced views of any person. LESSON LII. 3. (3). What is vegetation? 25-60. It is an interesting question to determine how far man is non- vegetable. The embryo of the child, of microscopic size, was a particle of vegetation. By the process of hunger and feeding, other particles were added, but none that were not formed in some plant. Man adds to his body by eating food ; to not eat is death. If he were to subsist on fish, fowl and animal life, he would be eating the bodies that subsisted on vegetation. Let all plant life cease, and fish, fowl and animal life would die. Man has bones ; trees have trunks, limbs and branches. Man has skin and hair ; the tree has bark and fibre. Man has lungs ; all plants have leaves, which breathe air. Man has blood, which circulates to carry the particles that build up the body ; trees and all plant life have sap, for the same purpose. The blood of the plant is yellow and is suited to the duties it has to perform ; the red blood of man is yellow in fact, as the microscope will show, and is suited to its duties. The growth of the body of man, as of plants, is due primarily to the law of capillary attraction. Man is a moving plant, and has machinery to direct his movements. Animals who lie dormant are close to plant life ; the action of the heart being scarcely perceptible. It may be said then that the heart is required to supply the forces of movable life. The blood has a partial cir- THE MAJOR PROBLEMS. 43 culation, under the law of capillary attraction. The fibres of the roots of plants select the food of the plant from the soil ; the fibres of the nerve life of the stomach do the same thing for the body; both discard useless or refuse matter in exactly the same way. 4. (4). What is instinct ? 40-GO. Discussions under these Major Problems are intended to stimulate the minds of our pupils. In no case must our language be used as answers; for it may be the opposite of the answers required. Thus the cut and dried definitions of the books might be given and no good attained on the part of the copyist. The answer of the present question is an example of our mean- ing. The dictionary tells us that instinct is a natural inward impulse ; unconscious, involuntary, or unreasoning prompting to any mode of action, whether bodily or mental, without a distinct apprehension of the end or object to be accomplished, — words that have more sound than information. Sir W. Hamilton says : "an instinct is an agent which performs blindly and ignorantly a work of intelligence and knowledge," — a thought of great strength and beauty but not philosophically correct. Darwin pays : "the resemblance between what originally was a habit, and an instinct becomes so close as not to be distinguished," — an approach to the law of life. All these definitions tell us what instinct does, not what it is ; and this is true of most definitions. A philosophical answer must describe instinct, and its operation is but a part of the description. LESSON LIII. 5. (^1). How do you satisfy yourself that you have or have not pre- viously existed as some liuman being? 70-120. G. (-2). How do you satisfy yourself that Homer, Virgil, Dante, and Shakespeare may or may not have been the same Soul-life ? 30-70. These two questions, while belonging to the same class of inquiry, are widely different in their purport. Do not for a moment imagine that the Shaftesbury Philosophy asserts that we have previously lived in some other form. The present questions invite an investigation and discussion of the probabilities. We must lay aside all beliefs, in seeking to get at the truth. We know that present man is an addition to past man. The healthy son of intellectual parents is more readily educated than the healthy son of 44 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE TWO igaorant parents. Form, nature, habits, and tendencies are transmitted. A great musician married a barmaid ; their child was not musically inclined; he married ; his son was a barkeeper ; but his son, the great grandson of the musician, had all the musical genius of his ancestor, although not one rela- tive between them had given the slightest evidence of such genius. How did that gift come to light, after its long burial ? Every person has the power to so subject his animal nature as to develop a partial clairvoyant condition ; whereupon scenes of former days come back to him. Greatness in special talents is successive, not contemporaneous. The poets of the world have followed one another, and close together. If, as may be possible, the spirit leaves the body before death, or is caught imme- diately upon death by a growing body, many successions of greatness may be explained. Frederick the Great died eight years before Napoleon the Great was a soldier. Shakespeare died when Milton was eight years old. Frederick and Napoleon were the two greatest warriors of modern times ; Shakespeare and Milton were the two greatest poets of all the Christian centuries. Every human being who subdues the physical supremacy of the body has an awakening within of a newer, fairer, grander life ; another self, laden with the heritage of other times. What are they and whence are they ? It is true that cited cases sometimes prove nothing. LESSON LIY. 7. (31). What does Science show must have been the order of crea- tion on earth ? 40-90. We think the solution of this problem may be found in the growth of the lower life of to-day. All flesh may live on flesh and vegetation; the latter not on the former. Flesh is founded upon vegetation ; and could not have preceded it. It either was created simultaneously with, or after vege- tation. If at the same time, it must have perished instantly. It is true that all Nature teemed with life of every character, and all forms of creation sprang into being. The only question is, was one form of life dependent upon any other form ? Was vegetation first, man second, fowls third, fish fourth, the brute creation fifth, insects sixth ? What relation of dependency did one bear to the other? THE 3IAJ0R PROBLEMS. 45 8. (32). Was naaa evolved from aay lesser tyj^e of creation, or created outright by some fiat? 70-150. The account in the Bible may be strictly true and agree with any view Science chooses to take. To say that God created man out of the dust of the earth, does not fix any fact except that man was created, and all know that. Every particle of matter in the composition of every being may be traced to the soil of the earth. Man must have come into existence in one of the four following ways : a. Either God took actual soil from the ground and made and molded it into a human body by a miracle ; h. Or man evolved from a lesser type of creation ; c. Or the germs of the human body were let loose in matter and sprang into being as soon as the conditions were favorable ; d. Or all atomic life is charged with the development of the Soul, and has spent millions of years in working up from the chaos of matter, through the over-growth of vegetation and flesh, to the higher types of moral man and the attainment of its end. LESSON LV. 9. (37). Is God a being, a person, a spirit, a power, an essence, or a law ? 40-80. If God is a law only. He is no more to us than the power of gravita- tion ; and soul-life hereafter must exist under exactions that have no source. A power is a larger existence than a law. An essence is still larger, and implies a ruler whose presence is diffuse, and may be felt rather than known. If God is a person, we may connect the Bible statement, and assume that the framework of the soul, man's body, is made after the image of its Crea- tor, who is in shape like man. This is the most satisfactory of all beliefs, for then God may be known and seen and loved. There are men we know who are so lovable that we have often hoped God might be known in the hereafter as having the image of man. If He is a person, and if the accepted theories of most religions are true, that these bodies of ours will rise in the flesh perfected, then it must follow that God is a person of flesh. Is such a doctrine tenable ? Or is He a spirit, — a distinct, visible life, having a more concentrated existence than an essence ? Or, finally, is God 46 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TWO. a being ? — sonae form of life, having shape, size, limits of occupation, and a place of residence, from which He rules the universe ? Is His rule lim- ited? Is He at war with any power? Are there other rulers who defy Him? Can such a being rule a distant orb by any known laws ? Are there certain possibilities of man not yet discovered, whereby communication might be established between this world and others ? 10. (38). In early life what was your first idea of God? 30-40. The importance of this question is greater than would appear at first thought. If there is any such thing as natural religion, or innate religion, it must descend to the new-born generations. Instinct may be to habit what natural religion is to ancestral belief. The great difficulty of solving this question is the fact that outside impressions partly affect the innate religious spirit of the child ; yet, in spite of this, there is great value to be attached to the testimony of children. As we grow older we forget our earliest ideas. LESSON LYI. 11. (41). If Grod is a person, how do you explain omnipresence? 30-60. It may be that all our beliefs are wrong. It may be that those whose faith is founded upon a rock will wake up in the hereafter to more reality than they have ever dreamed of. And yet it may be that the acceptable soul is to be evolved on earth, and will dwell liere in a perfected body, made so by man's discovery of the laws of perpetual life. 12. (42). Is God material in whole or in part ? 12-30. By material we mean made of the substance of the earth. Is His a body of any of the chemical elements, molecules or atoms ? If so. He must be subject to the laws of matter ; He could not enter a room except as we can by the open door. LESSON LVII. 13. (51). What impression is made upon your mind by the theory that you are, always have been, and always will be in the ever present? 30-70. We only know the present. The past is brought into our minds by making it for a moment the present. To-morrow is cut off. Do you believe that, if you were to die at this instant, you would depart from the still ever THE MAJOR PROBLEMS. 47 present. Even if you were to lie unconscious in your grave for ten thou- sand years, and were then to awake, would not instant death at this moment seem but a lapse of a second of time before the next awakening ? If we sleep soundly from Monday to Saturday, would not Saturday seem but Tuesday ? Do you believe that a person is ever unconscious to himself ? You are alive to-day; you are in your grave one million years, and awake to consciousness ; will it not seem like one continuous existence, a minute only between ? 14. (52). How many religions have you ever heard or read about, and what are their chief characteristics? 50-120. This question will require some reading. Call on any educated clergy- man ; he will start you on the right road. It is necessary for you to know something of all the religions of the world. LESSON LVIII. 15. (53). In what eight respects do all religions, whether Savage, Pagan, Mohammedan or Christian, perfectly agree ? 40-80. At one time, and until recently in the world's history, the chief study of mankind was man's destiny hereafter. There are eight agreements in all the religions of the world. Your best plan is to submit the question in writing to as many clergymen as you know, or dare ask (some are narrow), and ask to be directed to the latest or best books on the subject. Every minister is familiar with the books required. They are many and varied. By far the best method, is to meet them personally and discuss the question in ten different meetings, each person agreeing to read some, between the meetings. We invite discussion of all these questions. 16. (54). What is the necessary origin of all religions? 60-80. This is a question which every theologian, every church and every thinking man must face sooner or later. It is not a question, the solution of which is to do the damage that is feared, nor should the solution be de- layed because of fear. As long as the human body bears evidence of such marvelous construction, and shows in every line an unerring design ; as long as flowers bloom ; so long will all worthy human beings believe in the ex- istence of an ooanipotent God. And wherever you find an infidel, you will see a floating face, a mask, rather than a reflection of the being within. 4 48 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE TWO. Theologians of to-may make their greatest mistake by teaching opin- ions, and in suppressing enlargement of thought. If on the other hand they taught neither creed nor tenets, the religious nature would assert itself and demand them. Unchain the churches from all dominant beliefs, and men will rally to create new ones. You cannot destroy the religious hun- ger of the human race. Having come to the front in every tribe and nation on earth, and in every period of the world's history, it is absurd to think that it is now about to depart forever. If every ruler and every religious teacher liv- ing, should conspire to-day to abolish all churches, destroy the Sabbath, and order all religion off the face of the globe, the mighty spirit of man's wor- ship of God would reappear like a great ocean unveiled by the passing fog. An honest inquiry into the origin of religion can do no harm. LESSON LIX. 17. (63). Assuming that the Creator gave three laws to Atoms — attraction, repulsion, and revolution, — and gave a Divine mission to Atomic life, how do you explain the process of all growth ? 100-160. 18. (64). What is a chemical atom? 20-40. LESSOX LX. 19. (65). What is a chemical molecule ? 20-40. 20. (66). What is a chemical element ? 20-40 These four questions present a connected line of study. Xaturally the first recourse is to a dictionary, then to some enclycopedia, and finally to chemistry, in arriving at the answers. We doubt if any chemistry or phys- ics states the information required by Question 17. The Shaftesbury Phil- osophy maintains, and proves as far as proof is possible, that all existence of a material nature is traceable to a single Atom. This Atom is spelled with a capital A to distinguish it from the other uses of the word. The Shaftes- bury Atom is an ultimate indivisible particle. A chemical atom is a com- pound particle. In general usage an atom is any small portion of matter ; as "there was not an atom of anything to eat in the house." The Atomic Philosophy has engaged the attention of the world for two or three thousand years; it simply claims that all matter originates from ultimate indivisible THE MAJOR PROBLEMS. 49 particles. On the other hand there is but one other theory which asserts that matter is infinitesimally divisible ; but this latter claim has very few supporters, while the science of growth, as well as all reason, are against it. If there is an ultimate indivisible Atom, there need be but one kind to account for the multiform processes from which all life and growth come. Assume that all the universe at one time consisted of Atoms merely, and let these Atoms be charged with the two laws of attraction and repulsion, chaos would fill the sky ; add revolution to these particles, and at once the two greater laws would become intricate, ever restlessly making life. Apart from Atomic union, there is the chemical life, described as con- sisting of atoms, molecules and elements. LESSON LXI. 21. (69). What evidence have you of a special adjustment of natural laws to suit the needs of life? 80-140. The Philosopher must sooner or later determine in his own mind one of two great questions ; has the purpose of life drawn to it an adjustment of the natural laws ; or has nature been adjusted by special design to suit the needs of life? The inclination of the earth's axis produces the seasons. Other planets are not so favored. The earth is drawn to the sun and held from it. Suppose it did not revolve; it would have seasons; but, if it traveled about the sun, winter and night would be three months long ; sum- mer and day, spring and dawn, autumn and twilight, each three mouths' long ; making the contrasts too severe. Man would sleep in a dormant condition through the winter. Suppose the earth revolved as now, but that its axis perpetually faced the sun in its largest ocean ; the earth's inhabitants would be a different class of beings, if indeed they could exist at all. If the equator were continually to the sun, eternal winter would prevail in those great countries where man is not progressive. Take up the study of physiology ; you can borrow books in your locality. There are twenty-four remarkable processes, which we shall expect you to find. In all there are one hundred and thirty marvels of accident in providing man with the possibilities of existence. Find them all. 22. (70). Is cold water heavier than warm water, and how do you explain it? 40-70. 50 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TWO. The mere explanation that cold water contracts and therefore gives smaller compass and greater weight, only states an occurrence or a process. Why does cold contract? Some things are colder and lighter than others. What is cold? Absence — no, a diminution, — of heat. Ice has some heat at 32° and less at zero, and less at 40° below zero ; the heat is diminished. Heat vibrates the Atoms; how does a less degree of vibration make an object either more compact or heavier? Water at 33° is heavier than at any higher temperature ; yet at 32° is lighter as ice than is water at 200 degrees ; that is, ice will float on hot water till it melts. Is that a special adjustment ? Yet, if ice were heavier than water, as according to the law of cooling it should be, it would sink to the bottom of the river ; and the top again freezing would sink, until the river was solid ; too much ice to thaw out in summer. The salt ocean does not freeze, and man may voyage across it ; the river does freeze and man may walk across it. Take the law of gravity out of water, and we would have no clouds, no rain, no replenishing springs, no pure water. LESSON LXII. 23. (73). What is the action of gravity ? 40-90. Very few questions are as hard to answer as this. We do not ask for the law of gravitation; that, we know, is the attraction of one object toward another. If two bodies as large as the earth were hung in space, and noth- ing else existed, an influence would be exerted to cause these bodies to approach each other; at first so slight that it might require a million years to move one per cent, of the distance ; but steadily they would move in a straight line, centre to centre, until with the speed of light they would meet exactly half way. Their coming together would not be a crash, but a sun- burst of fire. The largest meteor striking our atmosphere, is turned to fire by frictional heat. If an object, one-tenth the size of the earth, were to fall toward it, the law of gravity would be exerted by both ; the earth being drawn out of its course. So when a man falls from a balloon to the ground, he draws the earth to him in the proportion of his relative weight. If two men were to leave the two extremes of the moon and be hurled to the earth, although hundreds of miles apart at the start, they would be attracted toward each other, and would be in each others arms before reaching this planet. THE 3IAJ0R PROBLEMS. 61 All the planets of the solar system are revolving about the sun. We are told in physics that gravitation holds them to their system, which is true ; and that the law of centrifugal force keeps them from going into the sun, an explanation that is both unreasonable and untenable. There is no such thing, as centrifugal force ; and it will be abandoned ere long, as the claim of the existence of centripetal force has already been. The latter is familiarly illustrated by a ball tied to a string ; if made to revolve the ball seeks to fly from the centre; and this seeking is called centrifugal ; when in fact it is string force. The ball without the string would go as a stone would go, wherever it was thrown. The string determines its direction and limit of movement. But the absurdity is still more apparent when we are told that the ball is held to the hand by the law of centripetal force ; a seeking of the ball toward a centre. The string alone holds the ball, and if it happens to break, what phase of the law of centripetal force will cause the ball to seek a centre? It is just as reasonable to assert that these two laws apply to a calf running around a pole and held to a certain orbit by a rope. The earth is undoubtedly attracted to the sun, but there is no similarity between such attraction and centripetal force ; for a ball held by a string and let loose will fly off as if thrown ; while the earth if equally free would go directly toward the sun; thus causing the law to contradict itself. Gravity is exerted by the sun toward the earth ; but what keeps the earth in a circle ? Centrifugal force does not, for that seeks to send an object in a straight line not from the centre at all, but from the circumference. Place a marble on a stick six feet long, and swing the end of the stick forward ; the marble is impelled in a straight line from the end of the stick. So is a drop of water from the rim of a wheel. If the earth was thrown from the sun as a drop of liquid, (an impossible action) it would have left it in a straight line and have returned to it in a straight line. At no time could an orbit path have been developed. The centrifugal theory has not been accepted by the great scientists ; as it cannot be sustained by argument or example. Likewise the attraction called cohesion, whereby molecules are said to be kept together. Such an attraction cannot be proved, and experiment dis- proves it on every hand. The molecules of iron are said to be held together by the law of cohesion or adhesion ; we break the iron ; but the molecules 62 n03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TWO. are strangers henceforth. Attraction of gravity is not so easily destroyed. Cohesion is simply a fixed position of the particles, more or less inter-woven and made strong in mass ; fire often welds them by interweaving the parti- cles. So ice is said to derive its solidity from molecular attraction, when it is simply the partial interweaving of particles coming into a state of rest and clinging to each other. 24. (74). By what process can gravity operate ; or, how is it possible for one object to draw another to itself ? 40-60. Gravity cannot be a blind law ; nor can it operate by an intangible pro- LESSON LXIII. 25. (79). How do you satisfy yourself that the earth is or is not solely intended as the dwelling place of man? 60-100. We know that the earth is part of the solar system, consisting of the sun and the bodies of matter which revolve about it, held under its influence by the attraction of gravitation. That the stars are suns is probable ; that the nearest of them are many times larger than our own sun is true ; but that they have planets revolving about them is not known, and it seems probable that they are merely light givers. They are so enormous in size that their heat must be intense. The moon is a waste and barren satellite ; apart from the Bible account, its creation is manifestly to light the earth at night. The stars may have been designed for the same purpose. They are about the earth in every direction ; and this planet is either in the centre of them or they have no limit in number or in space. The latter theory is contrary to the evidence of law or sun life. Time may be conceived as a succession of events, and eternity as a never ending succession ; but pure space is pure nothing. The stars may be as numerous as the sands of the sea ; so are the particles in a drop of water ; but all matter and all spirit-life have their limits somewhere; else we are hemmed in by a past without beginning, a future without ending, an infinitesimal smallness without a unit, and an infinitesimal greatness without a boundary. Time can have no limits ; matter must. There may be other systems like ours, set like gems in the archipelago of the sky ; but, unless the universe is without design, the orbs that support life are few. In our own planetary system, there may be others besides the THE 31 A JOE PROBLEMS. 53 earth ; but those between us and the sun are too hot, and could only grow pigmies ; while the giant planets must grow, if at all, giants of coarsest grain . To speculate among the distant suns, if they have planets of proportioned size, their average human being could sit astride our earth, and throw pebbles to the moon. 26. (80). Accepting the theory that the body of man is of the earth, and the mind and soul are phospho-electrical, has man any existence apart from the earth ? State reasons. 60-100. This opens the whole inquiry as to the future dwelling place of man, on the one hand ; and the material composition of the mind, soul and body on the other. The elements of the body are from the earth and resolvable to the earth ; the elements of the mind and soul are as evanescent as the mental power of a strong brain made idiotic. Where has it gone, and what went ? The physical brain shows scars, and mind seems only the intelligence of matter ; and matter is restored to the earth which gave it. Or, if something in the material earth has borne into being an immortal soul, will that soul event- ually discard this planet ? If not, will it come here to live as a material body raised after death, and made death-proof against accident or design ? or, will it dwell here as a spirit? or elsewhere? or, will immortality be dis- covered by some future race ? LESSON LXIV. 27. (85). What is Consciousness ? 25-70. 28. {S(S). What is a train of thought ? 30-55. Whenever there is a feeling of being, there is consciousness ; nor is it confined to creatures that move. Phospho-electricity is a thinkalile combina- tion. It is known that every part of the body where gray matter is found, has power to think. In animals, that which we call instinct may be con- sciousness. The brain may reason, but consciousness does not ; it simply experiences the sensation of knowing. The seeds of plant life, the flowers of all vegetation, are producers of phospho-electricity. The grain of wheat is an exact production of the human body in all its elements, even to the proper proportions. The almond nut is the brain and nervous system of man; the walnut is in shape, a miniature brain — pictures of the two looking alike at a casual glance. The brain gives birth to the soul ; the seeds of flowers furnish the substance that makes the brain ; between the beauty of a 54 HOME COURSE IN PEILOSOPHY—TOME TWO. perfect flower and the glory of an immortal soul, there is not an unleapable gulf. LESSON LXV. 29. (97). Accepting the theory that sound is vibratory movement in mass of any matter, how do you explain the action of hearing? 40-60. 30. (98). Is the sense of hearing the result of the action of sound upon the brain, or was the faculty of hearing created by design? 10-40. When two questions are placed together without notes or comments between, they should be answered as carefully as though each question had been discussed. The discussions are to be regarded as suggestions only, which may be right or wrong ; they are in no sense answers to our questions. Are all the senses the result of the action produced by the meth- ods of matter in approaching man ; or were they created by design to enable man to interpret life about him? Would the activity of light create eyes in all their wonders of perfection, and the non-activity of light — darkness — destroy the eyes ? Is there latent in every drop of blood a power of unfolding active forms to meet the demands of every phase of existence ? LESSON LXVI. 31. (103). What impels the root of a tree in dry soil to go a long distance for water? 25-40. 32. (202). What process akin to taste impels the root of the onion and the root of the beet in the same soil to select separate foods? 40-60. LESSON LXVII. 33. (109). Is the sense of touch a sense of development purely? 12-30. 34. (110). Describe the process by which a man dwelling in the dark would become blind ? 20-40. LESSON LXVIII. 35. (119). Was man, when the species of man came into existence, much lower in the scale of civilization than his average has been for the last three thousand years ? State reasons. 50-100. 36. 120. How do you account for the origin and existence of savage men? 50-100. THE MAJOR PROBLEMS. 55 Questions 33 and 34 refer to the great problem, whether the inherent nature of man causes his own development, or is he made and endowed by some design acting without himself. These we have hinted at in previous discussions. They are in line with the inquiry in questions 35-36. What is known as the Darwinian theory, that man evolved from lower animal types, is not affected by these questions. Any pupil is free to believe in that theory if he can make it appear reasonable. An opinion, merely for the sake of having an opinion, is no adornment to the mind ; and in the setness of opinions, regardless of reason, many persons are made narrow and shallow. Some do not believe the Darwinian theory because it is shocking ; others do, because it points to the probability of a more glorious man. In the succeeding Tomes we shall lay down a succession of laws, and abide by their conclusions. But apart from that, no matter what his origin, man became man in some way and at some time. If he was created outright, he must have been in as perfect a condition as now ; and his nature fell. We know him well for three thousand years, and there are but few of him of whom we can be proud. The Greeks were the brainiest people who ever lived ; the Romans emulated their example. Christ and his followers were surrounded by humanity as full of nature as may be found in Palestine to-day. Europe was then peopled by tribes and hordes of barbarians; cruel, criminal and wicked as man can ever be. The most moral people that ever lived occupied New England in the fifty years from 1700 to 1750. When their influence shall have died out, if ever, the bestial barbarism of the middle ages, now prevalent in part of Europe, will overwhelm America. Which way is man tending ? If he seeks the mountains his better nature is roughened and barbarism develops. If he gossips or reads the daily papers for gossip he grows wormy through and through the core of his soul. If he seeks for goodness and peace, mercy and love, he will find all, and will grow nobler day by day. Is man then the creature of his own making ? Did his life within develop his senses, his shape, his culture, his better and his meaner self? If the human race has not been cut off at any time in the past, the non- discovery of America, the simplicity of the early language, and the limited scope of man's operations, point clearly to his existence as a civilized being 56 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TWO. for not more than six thousand years ; probably less. Pre-historic man was a barbarian. Nine-tenths of humanity to-day are felons and would be pronounced guilty of every offense known to the decalogue, moral law, or the criminal code if the facts were known. Most of them would reek in crime, if left to their natures; for they are retarded in civilized countries by the strong arm of order. Whence came this degradation ? Has the good that lives in the hearts of some men and women, been working up and out through the long lapse of age ? Or is it the remnant of a better nature ? Which way is morality tending ? There can be no civilization that is not moral. The inventions of the age, if used as instruments of crime, would be bar- barous devices. The Gatling gun is a multiform tomahawk. LESSON LXIX. 37. (1'^'5). Assuming that all life is made for the good of man, why are deadly serpents allowed to exist ? 25-60. 38. (126). Why are poisons made to grow ? 25-60. There are three phases to this line of inquiry. Were these dangers created by design, and if so, for what purpose ? Or, is it possible that vege- tation and lower flesh creations, like man, are diverse, haviug the best good and the worst evil ? If so is it due to growth in every direction at once, matter being free to drift into every nature ? Or, is there a process of evolu- tion in lower life, the sweet and pure coming from the bad, or the reverse ? May man some day conquer the earth, kill out its vermin, neutralize its poisons, exterminate all savage beasts, and render death by accident impos- sible ? Is it God's intent that the body should die in every case ? LESSON LXX. 39. (141). Assuming that the criminal disposition of humanity is stronger and weaker alternately in periods of seven years each, what duty does a person of criminal tendency owe himself ? 24-50. 40. (142). How far is crime a disease ? 30-70. In war, thousands are slain ; in disease, life is often a mere thread ; in ignorance, sickness quickly becomes master of the body. One human life is of slight consequence when the lives of many, more worthy, are at stake. Eccentricity exists by sufferance. A musician whose peculiarities had been tolerated for years in the East, on the ground that he could not be as others THE MAJOR PE0BLE3IS. 57 were, went West with the same oddities, now confirmed as fixed habits. He was given a dose of Western horse-sense, and made up his mind to be as other men were. Yet, in the East, had he committed murder, he would have been acquitted on the ground of insanity ; and he kneiv it ! In the West he would have been dealt with as he deserved, and he knew it ! Eccentricity is insanity, no doubt ; but, as in most cases of insanity there is responsibility for the crime. Men are as they are permitted to be. If a boy, as most boys do, grimaces and plays the fool to attract attention, he is sooner or later corrected by his parents or the good sense of some companion, generally a girl ; yet, if he has talent, no one cares to .correct him, and his boyish capers go into mature life with him. Then the same tom-f oolery is called eccentricity. So a woman knowing that tears will affect others, develops a disposition to go into hysterics, until her mind is unsettled. As seen in English and American strikes, women are more fiendish than men. The same women, in the time of plenty, become frivolous; in time of sorrow, religious; in time of quarrels, hideous. Every insane man and woman, has had an hysterical mother ; and every hysterical mother has permitted herself to develop her emotional nature at the expense of her reasoning faculties. The solution is obvious. Women who are excessively emotional, should never marry ; or, if married, should bear no children. We heard a woman of sane mind advise a wife of sane mind (whose husband was addicted to attending the lodge at night), to fall down in hysterics just before he started. She tried it several times. A son born soon after became insane. We can all make ourselves insane at will. Observation shows that a criminal tendency is stronger in periods of seven years. Life in the material construction of the body renews itself completely in periods of seven years. Until the age of seven, we are like our maternal ancestors; from that age to fourteen we follow our paternal ancestors in disposition. The reason is clear. Which side is the criminal, depends upon a long past. A boy, descended from a wicked paternal line would be more vicious from seven to fourteen, twenty-one to twenty-eight, thirty-five to forty-two, forty-nine to fifty-six. Many and many a time have we heard confessions from men and women of the truth of this, in their own lives. Self- study is an imperative duty. Remember that to turn the eyes inward may save many a wrong act ; and, above all things, remember that insanity is born of the freedom that you choose to give to your emotions. Develop the 58 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE TWO mind by four hours daily study ; the body by four hours daily exercise in the open air, and the emotions by talking to seven persons a day on an average, and an inherited tendency to insanity may be checked. One should think of or study seven different subjects daily. We know good men who believe that when temptation to commit crime is strong, suicide (but not the slaying of others) is justifiable ; making one less criminal in the world and possibly sparing innocent lives against his hand. The maudlin sympathy of juries, and jail-visiting women ; or of the public, toward insane criminals ; has developed a race of cranks, whose deadly work will be seen more in the future than in the past. Cranks and tramps are self-inflicted pests, made possible by public inactivity, increasing every year, drawing their numbers from the ranks of those who would otherwise be decent, and sure to remunerate present public tolerance by blotting out innocent lives. A few new laws, well executed, would suppress both evils. LESSON LXXI. 41. (157). What is the difference in the gravity of the offense between the unjustifiable killing of a savage Indian and an intelligent animal ? 12-30. 42. (158). How do you satisfy yourself that a human being is or is not justified in killing another human being for the purpose of food, when life can be saved in this way only ? 50-70. This kind of inquiry is not a pleasant one to contemplate. The law per- mits such killing. Is it permitted under all the religious codes ? Is it right per se ? The old case of two men upon a raft is again before us ; not that any two of us will ever be upon a raft, without food and water ; but that a law is forced upon us. Cases of this kind have happened ; men both on land and sea, have been forced to eat one of their party to keep alive. Is it right per se ? If one man's death will save a dozen lives, are they justified in killing him, or should they wait until the weakest dies of emaciation before they dine; or should lots be cast for the sacrifice; or should human flesh never be tasted ? We in our warm homes, with potatoes and corn meal in plenty, are more established in our opinions than if we were starving in Northern Siberia. LESSON LXXII. 43. (161). Is it right for a strong nation to destroy the government THE MAJOR PROBLEMS. 59 of a weaker nation for the purpose of advancing the cause of civilization ? 30-50. Civilization is a moral movement whose whole purpose is to educate man, and elevate the human race by so doing. 44. (1G2). How do you satisfy yourself that it is or is not right to take animal life for the purpose of food, assuming that vegetation furnishes a more complete and healthful food? In the first phase of the inquiry we are brought to the fact that animal life is disappearing from the earth. In the ages of the long past, enormous brutes, birds, fish, and dragons dwelt here. In size they were already re- duced when man appeared. Had they not been so diminished, the human race could not have secured a foothold. Overteeming life was natural and necessary. Since the advent of man, animals are decreasing in numbers ; and this is not only because of man's war upon them, but for reasons related to the progress of the human race. The body of man is absorbing flesh life, not by eating it, but by absorbing that on which it feeds. In a very brief period the flesh life of sea, air, and land has been decimated in America. This is the tendency ; and it is a fact that the substance which makes human life is drawing, through chemical processes, all the flesh life of the earth to itself. The time will come when the only flesh in the world will be human. The question arises, can man live without using flesh for food ? Can a horse, a sheep, a cow, an ox so live ? Why is the ox so strong, the horse so spirited ? A human being must have phosphatic food ; and all meat con- tains this necessary substance. So do the grains if properly selected. But vegetables, fruits and white flour cannot supply the needs of the human body, unless enormous quantities are eaten ; therefore a meat-eater who turns vegetarian, becomes ill, and can never after be convinced of the value of that class of food. A very slight change in the grain foods would sup- ply more phosphates than meat. Vicious tempers, and certain unmention- able sins, may be completely cured by abandoning meat ; as may also the appetite for alcohol. But animals are raised expressly to be killed for food. Does God in- tend this ? LESSON LXXHI. 45. (167). What class of persons should be deprived of the right of voting ? 30-50. 60 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TWO. Have the ignorant, the foreign born, the negro, the anti-racial, a right to vote in a government seeking to attain the highest ends of civilization ? 46. (168). What plans do you suggest whereby the chief burden of taxation may be borne by the rich alone? 80-170. America is to furnish to the historian the model of nations. She must cut sharp lines in several directions. Compulsory education to a certain limit, must be insisted upon ; and fur both sexes. The right to vote must be given in the form of a certificate and indented photograph, after exami- nation as to the voter's ability to read and write. No foreign-born person who comes to America, after a date to be fixed, shall be permitted to vote, except upon a long term of residence. An anti-racial citizen has no right to vote in any republic. By anti-racial, we do not mean sub-divisions of the Caucasians. The white race, including the people of nearly all Europe and Western Asia, is the foremost race of the world, — the Caucasian. The American, or red race, is doomed to extinction ; yet it peopled a hemisphere. The Negro, or black race, is the problem of the new world. The Malayan, or brown race, must give way to the march of time. The Mongolian, or yellow race, is too numerous to become a problem for many centuries yet. The first duty of every Caucasian nation to itself and to the anti-races, is to prevent miscegenation and immigration ; and certainly to prevent citi- zenship. The Caucasians will eventually occupy the earth ; and their march will be rapid as soon as they are educated. If the white nations were to form a federation of nations and to compel the next generation to receive a thorough common school education, a half-century hence every race on the globe would be in subjection to the Caucasians ; and the next step would be the repetition of the history of the American Indians. The millions of dol- lars that have been expended to convert the Indians to Christianity, and the mere handful that have in fact been converted to Christianity of the "happy hunting ground" order, represent the missionary work now in progress among the anti-racials. The benevolence and charity of the church are com- mendable, and their efforts to christianize the world should be seconded by all men ; but they are working among anti-racials and natural results alone can follow. One great result of missionary work will be the march of the white race into the lands of the anti-racials — the first step toward extinction ; and I THE MAJOR PB0BLE3IS. 61 there are men living to-day who will witness the next steps in this grand Caucasian march. The Negro problem is the most interesting chapter, or serial in the coming pages of American history. The whites have wiped out one race till its remnants are but mementoes of the original ; the next con- flict will be less bloody ; but, unless nature contradicts her motives, none the less certain. God never intended two races to live together ; neither as slaves nor as associates. Any species of serfdom is slavery ; and any slavery implies laziness on the part of the master, a crime against the soul. There is no labor so low that a nobleman cannot perform it. Abraham Lincoln and his wife, in an humble cottage, performing all the duties of life with no servant excepting their own hands, were not degraded by honest toil. Lazi- ness destroys the pith of men and women. There is no reason why we should import anti-racials to do our menial labor. But there are millions of Negroes in America. Many of them are allowed to vote. A bestial crime against nature, was never more hideous than this unnatural and ungodly sin against the liepublic. The wrong has been done; it must be imdone : first by each State forbidding the right of State suffrage to Negroes and half- breeds, and making miscegenation a capital offense ; next, by constitutional amendment of the United States laws ; and third, by exportation and exclu- sion. This will not be accomplished until Northern citizens move to the South, and a Caucasian federation is organized. Every statesman foresees this future. A Caucasian federation would be a stimulus and a pride to all white people; and coupled with education would result in ennobling the race. But poverty will always exist as long as racial pride is dragged in the mire. The voter must settle this racial question, and then the matter of tax- ation will partly settle itself under American conditions. Laws should be passed which divide all classes into taxable and non- taxable. The non-taxable should be divided into industrious and their dependents, on the one hand, and non-industrious on the other. Voluntary non-industry of a non-taxable person should be a crime, punishable by some method that would make the crime odious even to an unsensitive tramp. An industrious married man should never be taxed until he owns, free of all incumbrance, a house and lot, and has in some government savings bank the sum of three thousand dollars, on which the government should pay interest while all the minor children are being educated, in good faith, and until a 62 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TWO. common school education is completed ; after which the principal should be repaid, one-tenth per year, with interest. LESSON LXXIV. 47. (185). If a man is able to work, and will not when asked, should he be supported by charity? 20-40. Our discussions are given merely to excite thought, comment, and oppo- sition at times. As long as the non-industrious classes are able to live with- out working, charity will be a failure among them. A member of the industrious class who is not able to work, (and all men who desire to work can find it on the farms) has the strongest claim on the charity of the fortunate. He who tries but fails is always worthy. In communities where beggars are allowed on the street, or tramps permitted to go from door to door, it is the solemn duty of all persons to support the lazy and fraudulent claimants to charity. The community made the beggars by inviting the lazy to beg. Let charity be withdrawn absolutely from the non-industrial class, and they will disappear from the face of the earth. An industrial person has no right to complain of hard times ; for farming employment is always plenty ; and on the farm a family can get food, shelter, and clothing three hundred and sixty-five days in the year, with happiness thrown in. There is an endless opportunity for the poor to farm on shares, without a dollar of capital ; but they huddle in the cities, expect more work than there is, get wretchedly poor, and try by force to solve problems that grow deeper every year. The products of the city manufacture cannot be used until there are more farmers to use them. 48. (186). What is the chief cause of poverty ? 100-200. In answering this question you are expected to take into consideration the conduct of the poor in times of fair opportunities. LESSON LXXY. 49. (189). Is the acquisition of wealth generally compatible with honesty? 20-40. What honesty really is, may have something to do with the answer. 50. (190). What is envy? 20-40. What is it, as it exists in the human heart, not in the dictionary ? How came it ? Is it a process of reasoning ? THE MAJOR PROBLEMS. 63 LESSON LXXVI. 51. (207). If a man was made a free moral agent could he exist on an equality with others ? 40-50. 52. (208). Could he in his freedom make progress without exciting the envy of inferiors? 20-40. Can you tell us why every successful per- son excites in the hearts of his inferiors a meanness of disposition that is the strongest evidence of depravity ? LESSON LXXVII 53. (21o). What is the doctrine of chance? 40-70. Superstition instead of reason governs the conduct of most people. The superstitious person is the least successful in life. Events not thought out are apt to go astray. Keason need rarely ever err. Superstition is helpful, only by chance. This word chance represents that which happens. Would you land number thirteen in a row of one hundred of whom one was to be condemned to die ? Test the doctrine of chance ; cut out one hundred pieces of card, all alike, write a number on each ; scatter them upside down on a table ; let some person, blindfolded, draw one ; write down the number ; replace it and scatter them again ; so proceed until one hundred drawings have been made ; look at the record ; what number was most frequently drawn ? Is that to be the lucky number of your life ? How often was the number thirteen drawn ? How far may a man control the circumstances which sur- 30-60. LESSON LXXVIII What is Paganism ? 20-40. How do you account for the fact that all nations and tribes have some form of religion ? 40-GO. LESSON LXXIX. 57. (239). What is electricity ? 60-100. 58. (240). How is it generated? 40-80. LESSON LXXX. 59. (263). Accepting the theory that electricity is the first immediate essence of all life, and the most difficult to understand, is it reasonable to 54. (214). nd his life? 55. (227). 56. (228). 64 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TWO. assume that this power is the direct agency of the Creator ? How may it be ? 70-100. If the Creator has determined to hide Himself from human knowledge, He has succeeded. If we could see the whole sky we should know God. If we could get a microscope that would show us the smallest particle of matter, we should know life. If we could catch an electrical spark and hold it loag eaough to know what it was, we might know thought. Is electricity accumulated dead light ? Does it come from the sun ? 60. (264). What is light? 100-200. The main discussion of this question must be confined to two lines of inquiry ; is light an agitation of matter, or is it a force in itself ? Sound is undoubtedly mere agitation of some form of matter ; nothing is conveyed. Light at the present stage of the earth's history does not come altogether from the sun. Scientists tell us that all substances that give out heat and light, have derived them from the sun in some past age of the universe ; and that the coal beds of the earth are store-houses of the sun's rays. The theory is pretty ; but if light is mere agitation, it cannot be said to be derived from the sun, except as it comes directly from it. The senses are affected by movement ; the movement has an impelling cause ; the cessation of the impulses is the inspiration of the senses ; life is movement ; the rocks alone are dead ; there are ways of interpreting life, by receiving and trans- lating the meaning of movement ; these ways we call senses ; the yearning, intellect, mind, life of a person can be no greater than the power of the senses to interpret movement. On the other hand, if light is the onward move- ment of some ethereal substance, its sudden cessation when obstructed, must carry force to the obstruction. Is this the depositing of electricity ? LESSON LXXXI. 61. (265). How is it destroyed ? 30-70. 62. (266). How do you account for the transparency of an object? 30-70. The tremendous force of the sun's rays may partly disintegrate the blood-corpuscles of the human body. Eruptions caused by the sun's heat are the most persistent. Often the brain is affected when no sunstroke is noticed. Is this power that of agitation only? The soil on which the sun THE MAJOR PROBLEMS. 65 shines at once destroys its rays ; so any opaque object does this. If the light is a force, whither went it ? How may a candle throw a light for two miles, and yet convey no heat ? And how may so tiny a light be sent with equal force in one thousand million directions at the same time, even while others are shining, and must throw rays in every possible cross- direction ? Sub- stance, lighter and thinner than glass, will destroy the fiercest rays of the sun, while a tiny candle shines through many successive panes of glass — how do you explain it? LESSON LXXXII. 63. (275). What is spontaneous combustion? 40-80. 64. (276). What is fire? 100-150. That the two are akin in principle can be readily seen. If the last match, or fire producing agency, were destroyed, how could we obtain fire ? When we strike a match the friction produces agitation, and material which is agitated is sensitive to oxygen, or easily unites with it. Phosphorus at a very low temperature unites with oxygen; therefore a slight agitation pro- duces fire. Why should not a war of the particles in themselves, or even a rubbing together of two bodies produce agitation? If two sticks are violently rubbed, are the particles not agitated ? LESSON LXXXIII. 65. (270). What is the essential difference between sound and light? 30-60. 66. (280). Was the larynx created by design ? The former question should be carefully considered. In the latter we are shown the existence of the instrument that creates sound. Observation makes it clear to us that sound is an agitation, in this case of air by the larynx ; and the only doubt remaining is as to the nature of the matter under vibration. Is it the whole body of air, or the oxygen in the air, or the ozone in the air, or the nitrogen, or the inner air, known as ae, or particles within and between the molecules ? The sole purpose of the larynx is to vibrate the air, and so make tone. There is some reason for arguing that the senses of taste and smell were evolved from an inward force, demanding the power to discriminate between proper and improper foods. All matter is not food for the body ; there is a series of selection from the time of hun- ee HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TWO. ger to the satisfyiDg of it. The ear catches the sound of running water ; drink is more important than solid food ; the eye finds the food and water ; the hand plucks the berries, not the leaves ; the senses of taste and smell make the last selection from without ; the nerves of the major stomach, like roots of plants, select from the selected soil the particle desired to make blood ; in the second stomach another selection is made ; along the intestinal canal the last selection completes the process begun by the ear. All this is necessary, and necessity may have forced the senses into shape and life. But the larynx is strictly a social organ. In primitive man it uttered the cry of alarm. It is an organ of air ; as the eye is of water. Fish do not require a larynx, a communication affecting the body of water, as a blow, would excite the eye, if not the body itself ; a sharp explosion often bursts the eye-balls of fish, and destroys the fish themselves. Here we see an adaption of created life to surroundings and require- ment ; would, in man, the desire to speak evolve the larynx ? Is creation charged with the po^yer to develop every faculty necessary for use ? If so a man need but will his destiny ; and his own determination may extend to the perpetuation of life mortal and immortal. LESSON LXXXIV. 67. (289.) What relation has color to light ? 40-80. That there is some relation is seen in the fact that light is necessary to color ; if affected by it ; affects color ; and the eye which is the organ of light is often color-mixed, or color blind. 68. (290). What causes the growth of flowers ? 30-70. LESSON LXXXY. 69. (307.) Is it necessary that the body should die ? Explain. 40-70. 70. (308.) How do you satisfy yourself that it may or may not be the intention of the Creator that man should discover the means of perpetuating his life? 70-200. The average of human life is growing longer, and the growth is steadily increasing. If death is to be postponed, the first step must be to delay the approach of old age and its infirmities. To be old and helpless is not desir- able. The cause of old age is the osseous tendency of the body; this tendency is due to the calcareous deposits derived from meat, raw water and THE MAJOR PROBLEMS. 67 boiled water. Eating juicy fruits and drinking distilled water will dissolve the calcareous deposits and prevent accumlation. Old age, if a person is otherwise careful, is impossible. The Kalston Club is engaged with this question, and is successfully proving these facts. But let us assume that we may avoid the dangers from all sources where man's foresight may save him, and ask, is earth the goal of our ambition ? LESSON LXXXVI. 71. (309.) Accepting the theory that the soul is but an electrical force, is it not probable that the discovery of the real nature of electricity would disclose the nature of soul-life and of God? 30-()0. 72. (310.) What is death ? 40-100. This question refers to the separation of the soul from the body. At what time and by what act does the soul depart ? If when the heart ceases to beat, or the lungs to breathe, the soul departs, how then can it be more than flesh ? Does the immortal part of man depart at the time of hopeless insanity? The mind is gone. Few animals ever become insane; and plants never ; yet all vegetation breathes as do the lungs ; and on ceasing to hold the spark of life, all things die. LESSON LXXXVIL 73. (325.) Taking the world altogether, is good or bad more pre- valent? 50-120. It is better to analyze this subject in four ways : first, all mankind, including the five great races, Caucasian, Mongolian, Negro, Indian and Malayan, should be considered ; second, the relative morality of each; third, the forces of Nature and the chances of happiness derivable from all pro- cesses, due regard being had for the dangers that environ us; and fourth, the great Caucasian race. Assuming that the Indians were savage by Nature, they are excusable for their cruelties, as would be the savage beasts ; except- ing that the latter rarely kill to torture. The Negroes are excusable, as are all pagans, on the ground of ignorance. But the standard of right is never mistakable ; and races that are naturally criminal and beastly are wicked, no matter how far their ignorance may excuse them from punishment. But the great question is that which involves the morality of the white race : this the 68 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TWO race of the New and Old Testaments, the race of civilization, progress, and ethics, the only responsible and inexcusable race on earth. 74. (326). Regardless of laws or commandments, what acts of man- kind are wrong jje?' sef 50-100. It may be seen that the Shaftesbury theory does not make an excusable sin right. Murder is murder, when innocent blood is shed, even by the zealot who is taught that it is right. There are many acts of modern life that are wrong by law, but not^jter se ; there are some that are not forbidden by law, yet are wrong. LESSON LXXXVIII. 75. (345). In respiration, circulation, and digestion, man is identical with vegetation; what does this indicate ? 30-70. Be careful to distinguish this line of inquiry from questions of a similar import. On examination they will be found to extend into diverging lines. The present question is one of the most difficult in this study. 76. (346). What is human marriage ? 40-70. Is it the union of two souls ? Is it a contract ? Is it dissolvable for cause ? Does marriage constitute the union of two beings for love, for home, for power, for comforts, or merely to answer the demands of life ? Does it extend beyond earthly life? Two persons actually love each other, and are not legally married ; two others hate each other and are legally married ; what marriages are these? LESSON LXXXIX. 77. (371). What is character? 100-140. 78. (372). What is selfishness ? 40-90. A race of beings entirely unselfish would be without ambition ; no thought of self would imply no care of self ; and hence no attainments. LESSON XC. 79. (385). Can you see in life two tendencies : that which is toward Nature leading to depravity ; and that which is from Nature, leading to culture. Explain. 60-100. A civilized man, college educated, who goes into the mountainous parts of the earth will soon lose his finer nature and become roughened. It is THE MAJOR PROBLEMS. 69 claimed that many of the clay eaters of the south have descended from the aristocracy of former days. 80. (386). Is or is not man at his best the creature of his own choice? 20-40. Some are endowed with the disposition to improve themselves ; others desire to improve but lack the energy to do so ; and still others are perfectly indifferent to all the finer impulses of life. The last class is not teachable. Charity is supporting to-day thousands of miserable wretches who have scorned to lift a finger to help themselves except for the immediate present. Among the better classes, this indisposition is found in its usual proportions; and indicates that proneness to laziness is a disease. Indeed it is getting to be the opinion of medical men that all divergencies of life are forms of disease ; crime, literary genius, laziness and others. The question now is, may a man choose to make himself active, who is naturally indifferent to his success ? It is a deep and intricate problem, LESSON XCI. 81. (389). Accepting the theory which Nature seems to teach, and the Bible asserts positively, that only the worthy are saved, would absolute deprav- ity in man followed by death, as of a tree, be an illogical process? 20-50. The question, whether the brutes of the human species are possessors of immortal souls, is an issue from this inquiry. But, assuming that man is not depraved until his own acts so make him, may he become unworthy of life everlasting ? 82. (390). What right has any person to assert that a being, who happens to have the shope of man, must therefore have an immortal soul ? 40-60. The question carries its own discussion with it. The answer must not be sentiment merely. LESSON XCII. 83. (409). Has not each religion been adapted to each age and people? 40-70. There is either a general religion that springs up in each being, assuming such shape as is forced upon it by its environments ; or else, there is but one religion based upon goodness per se. This issue must be settled. 70 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TWO. 84. (406). Need any religion be wrong, whose, underlying principle is perfect morality ? 20-40. LESSON XCIII. 85. (405). Is it probable that Soul-life can ever be any different from what we find it now? 30-70. A tree gives up its spirit when it dies ; although its lungs are dormant in winter life. An animal gives up its spirit at death ; although in winter some hibernate and are dormant like the tree. A human being, like the tree and animal, gives up its breath when death comes ; although in the trance state it is dormant. We do not believe that the soul is the breath, nor are the two co-extensive ; neither do we believe that the soul remains in the body always as long as life lasts. In this view we are not alone. Hence arises the query, is this life Soul-life ; or is the latter entirely after death ; or, if the soul now lives, are we given tastes of its future ? 86. (410). What reason is there to support the philosophy that the soul passes on from life to life until it becomes worthy of Heaven ? 60-100. LESSON XCIV. 87. (415). What is the destiny of the worlds which are losing their heat? 80-200. 88. (416). From a study of Nature, what is the probability as to the peopling of other worlds? 40-100. These three questions are related. Heat must have a source either ever active, or imparted at some past period. It is but chaos seeking to adjust itself. From the time when God let matter loose in the universe, charged with its mission, the sky has been seeking to arrange itself according to its laws. It is not probable that new forces have ever been let loose since that day. Suns are losing their heat, and all the worlds of space are giving up their activity. How long it will require to end this existence is incalcu- lable. Either all human life is confined to our planet, and it has been taken by accident or design out of myriads of worlds ; or other orbs are peopled by beings like ours in effect. If there are peopled planets, then they must be occupied by beings born upon them out of the processes of life ; or by re-embodied Souls migrating from other worlds. The problems are full of meat and thought. THE MAJOR PROBLEMS. 71 LESSON XCV. 89. (445). Would the Soul, or electrical essence, if freed from the body, see trees, sky, flowers, and beings ? 20-50. 90. (446). What is darkness, affirmatively described. 40-100. The agitation of atomic matter, in seeking to adjust itself to its laws, results in what is known as light. Certain agitation produces light ; certain other produces darkness. When the nerves of sight are affected, light is also affected ; what is seen is dependent upon the agency of seeing. To the blind there is no light. Sight is purely material ; if the Soul is spiritual, or ethereal, can it see objects composed of the material ? LESSON XCYII. 91. (416). What is the chemical process of the passage of the Soul from the body ? 70-200. 92. (462). What sight would be necessary in order to see it? That the Soul on leaving the body gives evidence of its departure is claimed to be settled, if its departure is coincident with the leaving of the breath. Many wonderful reports have come to us of the movements of the spirit for three days after death ; and evidences, not so much of spiritualism, as of spirit sight and impressions, are numerous. If you believe there is any difference between the process of breath-departure and soul-departure, state the chemical action which occurs at the time ; also if it is possible to behold the soul with material sight. LESSON XCVII. 93. (473). Under the common movements of physical laws, how soon would a planet dissolve ? 40-60. 94. (474). Why must all suns eventually pass through planet life ? 100-300. Suns are necessarily chaos. Planets derive their light and heat from suns. The former must fade when the latter cease to throw off sufficient heat to support them. But what about the latter ? LESSON XCVIII. 95. (485). What is the destiny of vegetation. 50-100. Many hints regarding this inquiry may be found in previous discus- 72 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TWO. sions. It is true that vegetation must have preceded animal life, for the latter subsists on the former ; it is true that animal life, under the destructive agencies of man, is passing from the earth. It remains to be seen, what is to be the fate of planetary plant life. But the question has a broader scope : that which touches the hereafter. Can matter ever cease to exist ? If so, by what process can it be reduced to nothing ? If it is to live in the hereafter, is it possible that flowers can be suppressed ? 96. (486). With what is a drop of blood charged in addition to its chemical parts? 40-90. An answer to this question must state the chemical composition of a drop of blood, as well as the humanity within it. Is a whole human body contained in each drop ? LESSON XCIX. 97. (495). Is consciousness of earth and earthly ambitions, hopes and loves, necessary to life hereafter ? 30-60. 98. (496). If not, what is the difference between the triumphant resurrection of the Soul, and annihilation ? 70-150. A sick lamb, placed in early life in a separate pasture with a colt, be- came so attached to his larger friend that in after life parting was pain. Nearly all animals possess the spirit of affiliation; and, when we consider their mental endowments, they are not surpassed by their human superiors. Few, if any, of the religious teachers of the world declare that animals live hereafter. Probably all plant life knows something of the love of associa- tion. It is hard to separate any created thing that breathes, from the great pulse of life. Death parts us all. The unknown opens up a new classification ; and we all ask what it is, — no one answering. Are we to be re-embodied ? If so life will be full of joys and love in those whom we may be glad to know; but what about the wayward brother who died on the gallows, unrepenting ? Are we to live in spirit only ? If so, will the spirit of Smith who meets the spirit of Jones, remember the detailed life of the latter as lived in the body ? Memory is short on earth ; and the bliss of the ever present may have no memory in the life after death. Obliterate memory from the mind, and the Soul of to-day would be a stranger to the Soul of yesterday. i THE MAJOR PROBLEMS. 73 LESSON C. 99. (499). How do you satisfy yourself that there is or is not a personal devil? 75-200. There must be some way of accounting for the deviltry in the human heart. It is an almost impossible thing to keep from sin. Our pupils must account for this condition fully and satisfactorily. 100. (500). Apart from all religions, except that of AE. or Nature's God, what must the Soul attain in this world, in order to be entitled to life after death ? 100-200. The instrument of unknown forces, man is lost in the mysteries that surround him. In sorrow he pleads, in distress he despairs, in prosperity he becomes indifferent. Better man has the divine sweetness of flower life; and meaner man the cruelty of the hidden thorn. Behind life there is some power which makes the bad, not necessarily one and the same, and yet pos- sibly so. We are the creatures of a thousand incidents ; to-day driven by fear into a holier yearning ; to-morrow bright with inspired hope ; and after- ward tossed into some tempestuous sea of doubt. We love and hate; do good and commit sins ; submit to the teachings of wisdom and yield to direful temptations. Death closes out all defiance of fate in the breast of true men and women. We are afraid of the step that means nothing or everything. Knowing that our grasp on the raft of this life is fast weakening, we grope distressfully among the gulfing waves for some rope, whose end is anchored on the shore of the unknown continent, and strive to obtain a firm hold, ere the raft goes to pieces. This is religion. Is there not great reason why man should be a religious being ? Instead of a uniform revelation and command given to the world, we find every phase of divine worship abounding on earth ; each species being suited to its people, tribe or nation. In the service of any school of worship, the man within is the ultimate answerer. Does this inward guard speak alike to all ? Is there a duty which all men owe themselves, their fellow beings and their God? Is the Kingdom of Heaven to be one day opened to all these reeking souls, whose fairest breath is fouler than the stench of hell ? END of the second examination in the Home Course of Philosophy. 74 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TWO. The remaining eight TOMES contain the study proper, or OUR EXISTENCES. Whatever opinion you may have of them, they are but the outlines of life|as viewed by the Shaftesburian Philosophy. They cover much ground that is new to all the world, yet keep within the limits of science and the weight of probabilities. They are the result of deep investigation, made by one who had no opinions to sustain, and none to change. The fact that their influence upon all time to come is destined to be great, prompted the utmost care, research and deliberation in their preparation. There are two channels of truth : one which carries the processes of inspiration, sustained by examination and proof. All else is a shoreless sea. We hope to touch the spring that sets in motion the larger machinery of the mind of each of our pupils, so that their thought, and inspired study, may lead them with us into all the realms that remain undiscovered. SPECIAL NOTICE. The rules regarding Certificates of Merit, Certificates of Honor, Graduation in Philosophy, and the winning of the Great Diploma as well as the attainment of the Degree, see, at the end of Tome Ten, the Rules of Graduation. Th^ ^HAPTnai^URq vSCMOOl^ OF PMlL,030PMq KNOWN AS THE STUDY OF Our BxiaTmcn*^ 76 A POEM OF LIFE. H poem of %ifc. By Edmund Shaptesbury. I lie in the shadow of life's early morn And catch the first gleamings of glories new-born. The freshness of earth and the blue of the sky Are fairest when mirrored in boyhood's bright eye. The innocent hour of life's sinless domain Is purer by far than the joys that remain. It came like a dream, like a dream passed away, And left but the shadow of swift fleeting day. 1 lie 'neath the sky where the clouds idly sail O'er the land of my fancy, sweet life's promised vale. Fair meadowland, fairyland, dreamland of youth, Th}' rose was my fancy, its thorn was thy truth. No more is the time when the heart's pleasures burn, And joys btit half -tasted will never return. It came like a dream, like a dream it has gone, The flower of my youth, the rose with its thorn. I lie in the bosom of life's tossing sea And wonder what danger the wave brings to me. Ambition's bright treasure lies over the strand And my bark proudly sails toward that far-away land. I reach it and claim it as earth's dearest prize ; But ere I enjo}^ it the fair image flies. It came like a dream, like a dream it is fled, And in its pale embers ambition lies dead. I lie in the fever of life's waning hour. And painfully gaze where the dark heavens lower. The uplands are fading, the mists bathe the sight 'Till earth and its glories are shrouded in night. Proud life remains fettered on Time's barren shore. And waits for its waking, in shadows no more. It came like a dream, like a dream will depart And silence forever the sorrowing heart. A Personal Statement. PART ONE. THE AUTHOR. Were it not for the persistent requests received from friends whom I have never met, 1 should not make, at this time and place, a statement of myself. At the most it can only satisfy curiosity ; and I have at all times considered it out of place. It is to save myself from a flood of correspondence, and to evince a desire not to offend those who are kind enough to express confidence in the books I have already published, that I give them " a little account of myself." In doing this I am compelled to use the personal pronoun. My first desire is to be judged by my works; and my second is to have them estimated at their actual value. I make no claim to special literary merit. My position is that of a collector of facts, with no theories to support and none to demolish. I do have a fixed opinion as to the manner in which a scientific work of this kind should be written ; and that is, to make the style simple, and use only such words as may be understood by the average reader. For scientists, the use of technical terms may be a convenience and a necessity ; but they destroy absolutely the value of a general book. It is no easy matter to reduce to common phraseology the great facts of science ; nor to speak of things known only to histology, in language that was never before applied to them. To do this, several words and terms have been either coined or taken from common parlance; and, to this extent, scientists who wish to hide their knowledge, may seriously object ; but to the facts stated no scientist who has kept pace with the learning of the last twenty years, can offer any refutation. To reply, or even refer, to the unusually kind expressions contained in the letters received would be immodest; and the requests for a description of my personality could not be gratified, chiefly for the reason that there is nothing to be described. I am a very commonplace individual, with a remarkable love for continuous and assiduous toil. I have but one merit, (79) 80 A PEE SON A L STATEMENT. if that can be called a merit, and that is my determination to shut my mind against all opinions and theories. All investigators, after acquiring a fact or two, form an opinion and build a theory ; and all subsequent facts are delved out of the earth only in the pathway of that theory. Even the most honest scientist, while anxious for the truth, is biased by an opinion already formed. My period of labor has extended over many years, beginning at an age when I could not believe it possible, were it not for the existence of manuscripts that can leave no doubt open at the present day. To my memory I cannot tell when I commenced ; for, as in all persons, it drifts away to a clouded beginning. During a long and clearly defined period I have done much of my work through others ; especially in the reading of books and tiresome experiments, where only a grain of wheat might be found in a bushel of chaff. In consequence of this there are many who are entitled to credit who cannot be named, on account of numbers, — no less than two hundred having assisted in almost as many lines of study in one period alone, — while others of greater prominence have aided in the experiments. PART TWO. THE INSTIGATION. Why one person is inclined toward one pursuit in life, and another has his whole being drawn in an opposite direction, involves the study of what we are. Deeming it a matter of greater interest to my students to learn something of the first impulses that directed my life toward this line of investigation, rather than to discuss things merely personal, I will state briefly the early struggle that occurred, and the course it gave to a very ordinary mind. Before doing this, it is proper to say that I have long withheld from my friends, excepting a few, what in any other place would be an idle account of a trifling experience which I am satisfied has happened to thousands of others. Victor Hugo declared that he had lived many times before, but that the memory could not go back so far even as to the beginning of this life ; A PERSONAL SrATUMEXT. 81 many things of five and ten years ago being readily forgotten. I mention this not to present at this place the question of other lives, if such there have been ; but to discuss the phenomenon of memory. At the age of five years I stated in all its elaborate details an event which occurred more than three years before, when I was in ray second year ; and, while forgetting the first statement of it, I have never forgotten the earlier event, so deep an impression did it make on my mind. This piece of inemory served to strengthen my belief in the other recollection which most amazed me ; acting as a verification of the latter. After passing my sixth year I do not think I allowed the thought to again escape my lips until I was stricken with typhoid fever, nearly six years later, and was supposed to be dying. To my nurse I confided the story, and from her learned of many things I had said on the same subject when I was too young to think seriously of anything. I will say here incidentally that I am satisfied that infants, even at the time of birth, have greater mental conception than is generally believed. It is well known that the head, long before birth, is excessively large as compared with the rest of the body. It is also a well known fact that the ovum contains a single germ, from which originates the brain. That this embryo life has consciousness, will be shown in the TOMES. Finding that other children did not have their minds burdened with thoughts that ran in this channel, I became frightened lest my own mental faculties might be errant ; and, whatever conclusion I might reach, I resolved not to subject myself to the criticisms of others by saying anything more on the subject. For years I pursued the study of the question. What are wef and was afraid to trust my own consciousness, until, more than fifteen years thereafter, I confirmed the evidences of my memory. To repeat the story of a life and the process of investigation that were as charming as an unfolding panorama would take volume after volume. As an illustration I will take a single example : There were two opinions prevailing as to the basis of matter; one declaring that there must be a unit or indivisible particle in nature ; and the other that the smallest particle was divisible and its points separable, and so on forever and forever, there being nothing so small that it could not be sub-divided without limit. Finding that these two theories were guesswork, I spent many years in an experiment 6 82 A PERSONAL STATE3IENT. in photo-microscopy, practically to no purpose. The chief point gained was already partially known, that a ray of light will disclose nothing smaller than, or as small as, itself. I became satisfied that a microscope of 500 diameters is, under certain conditions, as valuable as the largest known ; and that the largest only develops a blur, owing to the attempt to use rays of light to see things smaller than the light itself. Nothing daunted, I proceeded in another line of experiment. I knew that if there were atoms, or ultimately indivisible particles, each must be within the range of a modern microscope, provided a way could be devised for making them visible. The first direct step was taken when decaying food in a dark room was found to furnish a phosphorescent light strong enough to enable it to be photographed. All investigators of the habits of bacteria know that this can now be done, and it is no longer a novelty. The next step was a process entirely original with me ; and I am now able to say absolutely and without reserve that the ultimate atom is not so small as imagined ; that the blur of a large diameter microscope is due to atomic conditions which prevent their appearance from lack of minute light; that phosphorescence, while it excites atoms, is not light; and that the operation of light, heat and fire, growth and electrical phenomena are capable of proof. A subject that required many years of investigation was evolution, involving the theories of natural selection and the survival of the fittest. Without opinion or belief either way, I proceeded to take advantage of the work and achievements of others as a starting point , and followed through a series of experiments, which will be stated ; and came to an absolute conclusion that man is not evolved from the earlier forms of creation, but is one of a simultaneous and diverse species of life. This I call the DOCTEINE OF DiVEESITY. I come now to the more serious phase of my life. When a boy I had a solemn respect for truth and purity that to me in after years seemed unac- countable. It resulted in the acquisition of fixed moral ideas at a very early age ; and, although I went out into the world and became a part of the great seething mass of humanity and was swayed by all the temptations of life, I was never able to eradicate these ideas, nor to escape their influ- ences. A PERSONAL STATEMENT- 83 While under the sway of this power, aud thirsting for special knowl- edge, there came to me, as has come to nearly all others, the call of life. It was a voice from within, and it pursued me year after year. I repelled its invitation ; in fact, I ran away from myself to avoid it ; but each new circumstance offered greater opportunities for the fulfillment of destiny. All the while my eagerness for knowledge and my keen desire for experiment were furnishing me with the means of carrying forward what must now be accepted as a life work. Imbued with a steadfast faith in the destined purpose of my own existence, I have taken steps to lay before the world a course of procedure that must stand or fall on its own intrinsic merits. My duty is to state it, and to help it; with the results I have nothing to do. I am satisfied that religion is breaking into fragments, and that union is necessary ; that human society exists on a wrong basis ; that avarice and hatred are the prime passions resulting from this wrong ; that pedantry is too often taught in the place of knowledge ; that few persons know what life is, and how to live it ; and that the great facts of the mind, the soul and the universe have not yet been told. To assume the task of meeting the demands of these needs may seem the height of audacity ; and I willingly agree with any view in that direc- tion. Still I am convinced of the absolute truth of all that is unfolded in the eight tomes following; and, while the author is unworthy, the facts themselves are monuments of strength, the bulwarks of Nature, which time alone can make manifest to mankind. Edmund Shaftesbuky. TOME THREE. THE MYSTERIES. LESSON cr. TOPIC 1. GENERAL. Man does not know why he was created, why he will die, whence he came, where he is, where he is tending, nor anything concerning the life which is in him. Surrounded by a wealth of space and matter, he is abso- lutely helpless. What he has guessed at and written in the millions of books, he is not certain of ; for the next great discovery may overturn his most assured fact. If it had been the intention of the Creator to hide the mysteries of life from man, nothing could be more perfectly done. In spite of the boasted knowledge of the world, and the wonderful progress of the sciences, we can safely assert that man knows nothing; except it be that he has a partial comprehension of the operations of matter. LESSON CII. TOPIC 2. SPACE. The earth we inhabit, compared with the visible orbs, is too insignifi- cant to be mentioned in connection with them. It is an infant in the Solar System, whose entire family, stretching hundreds of millions of miles in space, is so small a part of the sky that a grain of sand compared with the earth is in larger proportion. The dimensions of the universe are so enor- mous that, if man were a giant standing with one foot on the sun and the other reaching across space to the utmost star, and had a body correspond- ingly large, he would be lost in the contemplation of his own insignificance as compared with the architecture of the heavens about him. Astronomy, with all its complex computations, leaves us in dense ignorance of the sky, its nature, dimensions, and purpose. LESSON cm. TOPIC 3. IMMENSITY. Starting with the fact that man is enveloped in mystery, we shall show (84) THE 3IYSTERIES. 85 that this condition is intended as his lot ; and, if this is proved, it will do much toward shaping our motives of living. If it had been intended that man should not know how large is the universe, could that fact be more completely hidden than it actually is ? If it had been intended that the immensity which surrounds this tiny earth should be ultimately known, by what avenue of approach can that knowl- edge be reached ? It is absolutely certain that the physical body can never leave the earth. The discovery of the uses of steam and electricity, while great in a small sense, are not analogous to extra-terrestrial transportation. It is equally certain that the telescope, in scanning the sky, is under the ban of limitation, owing to the fact that the concentration of the rays of light is not great enough to throw the diverging rays sufficiently close together to transmit details long distances. There is no means of communication with the orbs of the sky ; and, as we can neither go there, nor even look into their affairs, the conclusion is evident that we are shut out of all knowledge of other worlds. We assert that this complete hiding of what is around us is intentional. LESSON CIV. TOPIC 4. RAY OF LIGHT. What are called senses are, with the exception of sight, related to our immediate surroundings. We must touch and taste by contact ; the essence of smell excites the nose, and hearing depends on vibrating air actually striking the ear. The only sense which may relate to distance is sight, and that may compass millions of miles. Take sight from all mankind, and life would be vegetable in its nature. Sight depends on light ; and the latter is a collection of rays, if our claim is true. What a ray is may well puzzle the world. Not long ago light was considered a substance, as heat is to-day by a few ; and the nearest explanation of light is as errant as is the claim that heat may be the substi- tution of one force for another. LESSON CV. TOPIC 5. ORIGIN OF MAN. Any statement that man was created out of the dust of the earth is 86 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME THREE. clearly true ; and the correctness of the assertion is not affected by any the- ory, tradition or account. The Jewish statement in Genesis does not con- tradict, nor is it contradicted by any theory ever advanced by civilized man. There is a wonderful wisdom in the general nature of the story. The fact that man exists is a verification of his creation ; and that he is a part of the dust of the earth is self-evident. Here no mystery exists. It is the method and process of his origin that no mind can discover. How man came into the universe is not known, and the smallest fact that might shed even a ray of light on the subject is completely hidden. No silence could be more perfect, no darkness more obscure. Religions are barbarous in proportion as they attempt to satisfy the hunger of the soul as to the origin of man ; that religion is most advanced and civilized which declares that man was created from the dust of the earth ; and does not specify the details or process of his origin. The purpose is plain ; of one fact we are sure : man is denied all knowledge. That it is not accidental, but intentional, we shall endeavor to prove. LESSON CVI. TOPIC 6. WHY WE LIVE. With due reverence for the faith of the noblest of earth's people, we assert that no human being has any knowledge of why he lives ; indeed religious faith is silent on the subject. Life at its best is full of suffering and disappointments ; and dangers face us at every turn. Water drowns us, cold freezes us, fire burns us, the sun strikes us, gravity destroys us, gases poison us, collision demolishes, a blow fells, hunger famishes, and a trifle chokes us to death. Even if we avoid the dangers from accident and natural causes, there are designs upon our lives from almost every species of created existence. Wars and private murder have slain millions times millions ; a little heat of passion ends in death ; our pet animals may slay us ; bees sting to death ; wolves devour ; the snake or spider may poison ; the porcupine is armed with quills designed to kill ; all untamed animals are the enemies of human life ; and even herbs, weeds and flowers may make a deadly concoc- tion. From birth to death our existence is a matter of daily uncertainty, filled with worry and fear. What is the meaning of all this ? Are we living for our own pleasure THE MYSTERIES. 87 or for our good, here or hereafter ? No one has been narrow enough to pre- tend that there is the slightest knowledge on the subject. Are we living to please, satisfy or gratify any being or Creator ? No one has ever given us any information regarding the matter. We are shrouded in mystery as pro- found as the blackest night. There is no way of knowing ; it is intended that we should not know. LESSON CVII. TOPIC 7. WHY WE DIE. After life's dream we all must die. Why ? Is the reward of the pains of birth and living, death ? If there is a life to come why should the shrunken body go down into the grave ? If perfection is beyond death of what service is this life ? How can a period of existence devoted merely to a struggle to keep alive aid an existence that might originate without it ? Speculate as we may there is not the slightest clue to the purpose of death ; and that this is God's design toward man we shall attempt to show. LESSON CVIII. TOPIC 8. OUR DESTINY. No religion is perfect, and none can have an honest origin, which under- takes to settle the problems that areactually purposely hidden from man. That knowledge is denied is posted on every corner of the universe and in every pathway of the sky. It is our purpose to show this fact and then to show its significance; after which it will be easier to see what gates are open. The world never had more learned men than to-day; never more learned and holy religious men : ask any of them what they know of the destiny of man, and how they know it : and the answers will disclose nothing. LESSON CIX. TOPIC 9. ANIMAL LIFE. Surrounded as we are by every species of existence, associating with some, given rule over many and power to destroy all in the unequal struggle of mind over force, we are yet unable to probe the mystery of the best understood life among them. The horse, man's best animal friend, is a sealed book. We know his habits, his likes and dislikes ; but we do not know what he is, his mind, thoughts, feelings, nature, consciousness, nor the slightest phase of his life. The fly is a comrbon nuisance, but why it exists, 88 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME THREE. its nature and consciousness, are hidden from us. The bird is often a pleas- ing friend, yet its real self is beyond the guess of the ablest scientest. There is a purpose in all this mystery. We are surrounded by super- abundant life, with no knowledge of what it is. LESSON ex. TOPIC 10. THE VITAL SPARK. The human body is coming to be partly known, yet the most important knowledge is forbidden : the spark of life. All things that grow are depend- ent upon the vital energy which rests at the fountain head. If the seed takes root this energy must originate the process ; if the tree dies, something goes out that the chemist's art has never touched. We know what chemical elements compose the dead body ; but no analysis ever peered into the living organism. All that is most important in knowledge, that which would give us a possible clue to what keeps life in the body, is denied us. A veil of impenetrable thickness hides it from our view ; knowledge is impossible ; and the design of creation is maintained. There is a reason for this mystery. LESSON CXI. TOPIC 11. REPRODUCTION. Since chemistry and the microscope have delved into the smaller worlds we have learned all about the processes of germination, except the one fact that alone may enthrall our interest, — what germination is. If we had acquired some knowledge of the spark of life it is probable that we would be still in the dark when we came to apply it to the investi- gation of reproduction. It is true that chemistry dissolves the ovum and tells us all about its composition ; and that the microscope reveals the minute particles which make up this tiny world ; but absolutely no light is thrown upon the problem of reproduction. Even the flower dust that impregnates its kind is seen, and the processes of germination are known, but what that germination is remains a mystery. We are helpless. LESSON CXII. TOPIC 12. PROTOPLASM. When the discovery of this primitive life was made and enlarged, the THE MYSTERIES. 89 world of science waited to learn the one last fact of all. They have waited in vain. The development and growth of protoplasm are known, as the existence of man is known ; but the origin is hidden. We know that all animal life is composed of protoplasm originated in some plant ; and that man and plant are in fact alike, — elaborated proto- plasm. In expectant triumph we take a drop of protoplasm and subject it to analysis ; find four chemical elements, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, and carbon, the common food of all life; look at these for the distinctive feature that gives protoplasm its nature ; and see no more. All is gone ; all is mystery; the basis of life flies from before the chemist, and leaves only four barren elements. Analysis destroys protoplasm before it is analysed. LESSOX CXIII. TOPIC 13. MIND. Every particle of animate matter is furnished with consciousness, or a perception of self -being. Supreme in mental development is man. The faculties of his mind include the power of memory, accumulation, and reference to experience ; and from these he elaborates the breadth and depth of its full scope. Yet he does not know why he thinks, how he thinks, with what he thinks, or what thinking is. All the pedantic books on the sub- ject never offered the slightest explanation of these problems; and it is safe to assert that the mind and all its processes are among the deepest mysteries of life. LESSON CXIY TOPIC 14. CHEMISTRY. No science is more important than chemistry, yet it explains operations merely. It describes no energy, it tells no fact, it sees no element. Take oxygen for instance, the most active of the elements ; we know its attributes by its operations; but no eye ever saw oxygen. Nitrogen, hydrogen and carbon are the associates of oxygen in all life ; and the four form the basis of existence. They are, therefore, the vital elements. Man has studied them with the most eager interest, but he knows them not, and knows of them only by their operations. Assuming that he might know them, he would still be ignorant of of why they came to be what they are. 90 HOME COUESE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE THREE. LESSON cxy. TOPIC 15. THE EARTH. It is said that man is conquering the earth. When will he know more about it than that with which he comes in contact ? If knowledge is pur- posely denied him, the denial can refer only to things with which he does not openly associate. He belongs on the surface of the earth within limited range. Where he cannot go he cannot know. The poles are, therefore objects of his solicitude and speculation; and he spends time, money and lives in seeking to go where he cannot stay. From inference we believe the poles to be fields of ice ; some learned men argue that they are open seas ; others that, owing to their position, they must be lands of equable temperature and full of delight ; still others that the north pole is a magnetic realm, splendidly equipped for an ideal life. In the present state of travel, we know simply nothing of the poles. The interior of the earth is likewise a realm of speculation. If it is solid, what is it? If it is hollow, how thick is the crust? Man does not know. LESSON CXVI. TOPIC 16. GEAVITY. If a man drops from a balloon, he will go toward the earth and be killed. Why he cannot remain suspended in space, like the earth, he does not know. What compels him, against his will, to go to the ground, is not even a matter of speculation ; he simply does not know anything about it. No string is attached to his body whereby he is drawn down ; no force or energy is exerted, that he can see, feel, hear, taste, or smell ; his five senses are unable to realize the reason, and he has no other sense to employ in the investigation. Even if a two-pound weight is lifted up two feet and let go it will seek the earth, and its effect will be marked if the foot is in its way. Everything goes to the earth ; even air and gases have weight. This is called the attraction of gravity ; two words that mean abso- lutely nothing if we seek them as aids to the great mystery they describe. LESSON CXVII. TOPIC 17. COHESION. There are many things which man believes he understands ; but there are few concerning which he knows less than he does about cohesion. He THE MYSTERIES. 91 can explain many of the operations of electricity, light and heat, while hav- ing no knowledge of the forces themselves ; but he has as yet been unable to formulate even the most meagre laws concerning the operation of cohesion, while the force itself is as mysterious as is electricity. Many scientists have supposed cohesion to be an energy which must be subject to certain laws ; and, in pursuing their inquiries, they have expected to collect this energy for use; as heat and electricity have been employed. A drop of water has slight cohesive strength among its particles ; a piece of cast iron has more ; a bar of wrought iron has remarkable tenacity of its particles ; a diamond still greater cohesive strength. Weight is quite independent of this power. The law of cohesion is necessary to life ; growth, form, even existence itself, depend upon the operation of this hidden force. It is the union of atoms into molecules, the union of molecules into elements of matter, the union of elements into bacteria, devs and angs, material substance, and life. But what it is, remains a deep mystery. LESSON CXVIII. T()PIC 18. EXPANSION. It would seem that a force so necessary to commercial operations, and so much used in daily life as that of expansion, would be understood; yet the profoundest mind can only tell us what it does, not what it is. Take, for instance, the action of air under the law of expansion and contraction, — they are both one, — and we are told that heat expands the air, making it lighter, and causing it to ascend ; or, we are told that the molecules which compose the air are driven farther apart by the action of heat, thereby increasing the bulk so that the specific weight is less, and the warm air rises. These explanations explain everything except the great original fact of expansion . The operation of a force is not the force itself. A savage, witnessing for the first time the death of a fellow-being from a gun shot, might easily understand the fact of killing, and yet be mystified as to the originating force. The expansive forces of steam, gunpowder and dynamite are of extraordinary importance ; and we are told that they are caused by a chemical disturbance which results in a sudden flying apart of the molecules which compose the substances ; but no one has attempted to explain in what manner or why the molecules fly apart. 92 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE THREE. Contraction is the same operation as expansion, being a lesser degree of the latter, as cold is a lesser degree of heat. The withdrawal of heat causes a contraction of the bulk of a gas, liquid or solid, and a correspond- ing increase of specific gravity. Yet when cold solidifies a liquid, the solid expands ; ice being lighter than water ; solid iron being lighter than molten iron ; and the rule holding always true. This sudden reverse of the law of expansion, as far at least as ice is concerned, holds the key to the possibility of all life on earth ; for if ice were to sink in water, man could not live except as a tropical savage ; and we doubt if, even then, the rains, which make existence tolerable at the Equator, would be possible. Perhaps the law of expansion and contraction is as well known as any of the forces of Nature ; but it is certain that man is absolutely ignorant of the energy itself or its true cause. LESSON CXIX. TOPIC 19. HEAT. That heat, fire and light are forms of activity among the molecules and particles of matter, there can be no doubt. Scientists of late years are beginning to formulate well grounded theories as to the nature of heat in its operations ; but not as to the force itself, its origin and exhaustion. Heat and life are co-extensive ; without heat, life would become abso- lutely extinct; with too much heat, life is destroyed; with too little heat, life is held in abeyance. If the time ever comes when the mystery of life is to be solved, either in plant, beast or man, the discovery must be made on the lines of the causes and operations of heat. Fire may or may not be visible to the eye ; when visible it is called light ; when invisible, heat ; all light is fire-agitation ; all heat, fire and light are either the same or related forces ; yet how they originate, what they are, and in what manner their energies become dormant, must be termed the mysteries of abounding existence. LESSON CXX. TOPIC 20. ELECTEICITY. It is but a step from the consideration of heat to that of electricity ; for they seem to be in some way related. THE MYSTERIES. 93 Edison, the man who has drawn from this energy the grandest results of invention, when asked what electricity is, said : " I know something of what it will do, but no one knows what it isj" It can be safely asserted that electricity is the mystery of mysteries among the forces of Nature. We may temper the heat and cold, and at our leisure examine their workings ; we may operate with every degree of light from the dim candle to the dazzling arc ; we may call the colors into our darkened room, so as to study them socially as well as leisurely; we may, in fact, deal deliberately with nearly all the forces of life and matter : but electricity is sure to elude our search, and to run from our scrutiny. Because its rapidity of movement causes friction and consequent agita- tion of molecules or atoms, we are wont to speak of it as light, or lightning; because the same friction causes fire and heat, we suppose it to be akin to flame ; yet the probable fact is the electricity is no more related to light, heat or fire than is gravity. An object passing swiftly through the air will pro- duce heat ; even a comet being turned into a ball of fire on entering our atmosphere. It may some day be learned that electricity is a quiet indwel- ling energy, aroused to speed and flame only when diverted from its nature. In the meantime it is shrouded in mystery. LESSON CXXI. TOPIC 21. COLOPv. As if to paint the earth, air and sky in endless beauty, color was made to meet the eye. It is an agency so entirely unnecessary to the needs of life, and so perfectly in harmony with the sublime yearnings of the soul, that more than mystery attends its existence. It happens so easily, that we may call it accident; it comes and goes, and changes so readily, that it may be unreal ; yet its form, regularity, and endless blending are proofs of substantial design. Color is not light ; yet on the withdrawal of light the most beautiful colors disappear both apparently and in fact. The perfectly white ray may be separated into the three elementary colors, the seven primary hues, and multitudes of shades. Without learning what light is, science has gone a great way toward the discovery of the causes of color variations, but not the causes of color. The mystery seems too great for man to learn. 94 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE THREE. LESSON CXXII. TOPIC 22. FRAGRANCE. Some may plead that the endless odors of the earth, of food, flower, and chemistry, are necessary for the aid of man in selecting his food. The nose is necessary for the interpretation of fragrance, as is the eye for color; and the nose is generally prompted to warn us of the poisons of air, food and drink, as well as to allure us to the more palatable of these; yet many deadly things are not detected by this organ. Of all the senses, that of smell seems to answer more nearly than the others to the claims of evolution. For the interpretation of food it does not seem necessary, although it stimulates the appetite by exciting the medulla oblongata, which controls the stomach. It is well known that a fragrant odor, as of cooking meat, will excite the nerves that run from the nose to the medulla oblongata, that the latter will excite the nerves that lead to the stomach, and that the stomach will deposit the exciting gastric juices which cause appetite, and support life. Apart from the delights of food aroma there is a fragrance of leaf, tree and flower, which can have no relation to the appetite of the body. It seems to feed the soul. Whence comes it, what is it, and how dies it, are mysteries. Chemical analysis can obtain no grasp on odor, aroma, or fragrance. LESSON CXXIII. TOPIC 23. DISEASE. There are schools of various kinds throughout the civilized world which prepare physicians for the practice of medicine, and nominally to baffle the diseases of the human race. Full of ambition to do good to his fellow beings, the young man enters the school, only to discover that the more he learns the less he knows; and he is compelled to content himself with an acquisi- tion of the names of the complex parts which constitute the body, and the nomenclature of medicines. These are the "technical terms " of his pro- fession. The body of man, that which is physical or animal : to a layman seems but a simple machine, capable of much use and abuse ; yet, within a brief limit of time, it has furnished to the medical profession a vocabulary of words capable of filling a large dictionary, including more terms than were known to the English speaking world in Shakespeare's day, and requir- THE 3IYSTEEIES 95 ing a generation of time to be conned and mastered. Whether this cumber- some vocabulary is in part unnecessary, or hinders the progress of practical science in its war upon disease, need not claim our attention, it simply serves to demonstrate the fact that every new advance in this direction, instead of solving the mysteries of disease, only tends to deepen them. The happiest discovery of the age is the relation of bacteria to disease ; yet the result thus far attained has accomplished little more than a certain degree of caution in the prevention of illness. While we know the effects, we do not know the cause, nor why the cause is permitted to exist. In almost every decade some sanguine soul declares that sickness is unnecessary and must eventually be driven from the face of the earth ; yet ninety-nine persons out of every hundred die from diseases which defy the best medical skill of the age. The learned man has to tell us what disease is ; and the philosopher, why it is. LESSON CXXIV. TOPIC 24. RELIGKW. If all religions were swept out of the world, or if the doctrines of inspir- ation and deistic authority had never been known, the extraordinary advances of science would bring the most civilized and intelligent minds to one of the following conclusions : 1. All creation must be controlled by one" Supreme Being. 2. All creation must be controlled by two Supreme Beings at war with each other. 3. All creation must be controlled by an Intelligence which exists only in the operation of its laws. No matter what conclusion is most acceptable or most reasonable, no specific proof is furnished as to which is the true one, while abundant evid- ence prevails to show that there is no escape fr ^m at least one of them. It is immaterial, as far as man is concerned, w^ ich is true ; for his place in Nature cannot be affected by either choice, -de either is, or is not, destined to live again ; and on the solution of this ..remendous alternative rests the basis of every form of religion, past, presei t and future. The mystery of religion begins whcin belief is formed; and, as it is man's first nature to believe something, tie whole race is therefore instinctively religious, always has been, and always will be. 96 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME THREE. The strength of religious belief is no evidence of the truth of religion generally, or of the superiority of any special form or kind ; nor is the wide diversity of belief any evidence of the falsity of general religion. If one will carefully study the whole subject from the standpoint of exact fair- ness to all people, he will be satisfied that belief is most assured where it has the least reason to be; that ignorance makes one most positive in every belief ; and that the broadest, noblest, most intelligent minds accept religion as a standard of morality, conforming their lives to its demands, and abandon- ing all haggling over the technical questions of creed, doctrine or tenets. A fool knows ; an ignorant person believes he knows ; a wise man desires to know. In the meantime the mystery which envelops the world, is as deep as ever. The fool will never know that he does not know ; the ignorant mind will always wear the serenity of shallow consciousness ; and the wise man can never know. There are numberless people who believe certain religious doctrines as strongly as others believe claims exactly opposite; and the sincerity of both is beyond question. Hundreds of religions have followers who place implicit trust in some doctrine that is fatally antagonistic to others. The question of which is right is always settled one way : " mine is right, all others are wrong." Civilization cannot be relied upon to eradicate false or absurd beliefs. The Mormons are sure that the Book of Mormon is of divine origin ; and, no matter what deception may have been practiced upon a pre- ceding generation, I am sure that hundreds of intelligent men and women believe this to day, as sincerely as the most devout Christians believe that the New Testament is inspired. It is an easy matter for people a long distance away to scoff at those who belong to the Mormon church ; but, while they consist of all classes, the best of them are intelligent, humane, gentle and of the highest integrity. They have been taught the Mormon faith from childhood ; and the earnestness with which they cling to their belief, furnishes a modern illustration of the dangers of positiveness. A book that seems certainly a stupendous fraud, is clothed in the holy garb of religion, and becomes the basis of a new Church ; teaches the noblest moral- ity, except in one particular ; and is cherished by a large following. Its increase has been marvelous, even against the opposition of national force ; had it arisen at the time of the decadence of Greek and Roman paganism. THE MYSTEEIES. 97 wlien the world was ripe for a change, it could easily have become dominant; and an origin which is now open to attack, would have been accepted as loo sacred to be questioned. These things are mentioned, not to raise doubts as to religion, as will be seen in the subsequent Tomes ; but to show how little is actually known, and how much is hidden from man. If we shall come to see that mystery is the earthly lot of the human race, and shall conform our lives to that fact, a grander philosophy will spring up in the soul. Had it been the intention of God to make any religion apparent to man, that intention could easily have been confirmed in a thousand ways in every age and generation. In our day we have the Jewish religion, which depends upon the Old Testament and rejects the New ; the hundred forms of Christianity which depend upon both ; and some which are based upon the New alone; to say nothing of that enormous proportion of the world which worships other deities. It is not only fair but necessary to admit that each worshipper is as sincere as his antagonist, and that each thinks he alone is right. Notwithstanding the accumulated diversity of beliefs, new deilominations, sects and schisms are continually coming forward ; Christian Europe is an armed camp ; and the United States is tossing in the throes of social and racial hatred. In the mad rush for wealth, religion as well as morality are brushed aside; under the influences of luxury, the well-to-do classes consult only their tastes and convenience in worshipping God ; clergymen modify their ministrations to suit merely the comfort of their parishioners ; and the general trend of the Christian religion is slowly but surely drifting toward lax creeds on the one hand, and hairsplitting disquisi- tions and disputes upon unimportant tenets on the other; while the Divine command, "On earth, peace, good- will toward men," is poorly administered. " God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform." A TALK WITH OUR STUDENTS. At this place it is essential to outline the duties which properly belong to our students in Philosophy ; and it is unnecessary to say that all who read these pages are regarded as our students. Many guiding hints have already 98 H031E COURSE IN PHILOSOFHY—TOME THREE. been given them as to the course of procedure. Let, then, every person who takes an interest in these studies and problems take an active part in advanc- ing the school of philosophy, by contributing some thoughts to its literature. REQUIREMENTS. 1. It is expected that every reader of these pages will send at least one original Large Essay, selecting the subject from the following list of MYSTERIES. Topic 1. THE GENERAL MYSTERIES OF LIFE. Topic 2. SPACE. Topic 3. IMMENSITY. Topic 4. A RAY OF LIGHT. Topic 5. ORIGIN OF MAN. Topic 6. WHY WE LIVE. Topic 7. WHY WE DIE. Topic 8. OUR DESTINY. Topic 9. ANIMAL LIFE. Topic 10. THE VITAL SPARK. Topic 11. REPRODUCTION. Topic 12. PROTOPLASM. Topic 13. MIND. Topic 14. CHEMISTRY. Topic 15. THE EARTH. Topic 16. GRAVITY. Topic 17. COHESION. Topic 18. EXPANSION. Topic 19. HEAT. - Topic 20. ELECTRICITY. ( Topic 21. — COLOR. Topic 22. FRAGRANCE, Topic 23. DISEASE. Topic 24. RELIGION. 2. Any one or more Topics may be chosen. 3. The essay must be scholarly, thoughtful, and sound in reasoning. 4. Speculative Philosophy is not permissible. We do not care to read essays dealing with theories, fancies, or pictures of the imagination. THE MYSTERIES. 99 5. If authorities are quoted, due credit should be given; includiug the name of the author, his work, edition and page. 6. Any Home Student in the Shaftesbury School of Philosophy who complies with these conditions will, on reaching a certain degree of scholar- ship in his essay, receive a Certificate under the seal of Shaftesbury College ; and for every essay so written, a separate certificate of honorable attain- ments will be awarded. 7. All essays shall remain the property of Shaftesbury College, and shall constitute a part of its original literature. 8. The student who becomes the author of any essay in philosophy, may request that his name shall or shall not appear as such author, in case the essay is published ; or he may use a nom de plume for publication only. 9. In writing an essay on any subject, it is especially desired that the ideas should be as nearly original as is consistent with reason and truth. The fact that we are conscious of the correctness of our own views, need not influence another who does not share that consciousness. Our purpose is to excite in the minds of ambitious thinkers an extraor- dinary desire to learn lohat we are, and why ive are ; and, in order to leave the mind of the student free from opinions, bias, or limitations, the whole field of research and knowledge is open to him. That happy condition of the mind which enables it to throw off all chains and think as freely as the sun shines, is the first stage in true philosophy. For Rules as to Small Essays, see end of Tome Ten. Our pupils are entitled to life membership in the Shaftesbury School of Philosophy ; and there is, consequently, no period of time when they cease to belong to this school. The winning of the Degree does not graduate them. The mind may go on gathering its store of knowledge ; and, little by little, those who grope in the darkness of these mysteries may gain some degree of light. We desire to place our pupils in communion with one another; to allow them to exchange views, to contribute to each other's fund of information, and to prove of mutual mental benefit to each other. But more than this we hope to furnish to all our pupils, from time to time, new information on all the great subjects discussed in the following Tomes. In order that we may do this, we request that they shall keep us informed of their address, in case of change. L.ofC. TOME FOUR. BEGINNINGS. LESSON CXXV. The Child-Germ. — Surrounded by a world of complex life at the present day, we wonder at its conditions, and inquire what it is all for. There is the earth, a great round mass floating in the sky, in the midst of myriad others. There is the land, full of incipient life ready to spring into spontaneous existence, even if all created things were annihilated on its surface. There is the water, teeming with protoplasm from which all else follows. There is life, active and dormant, in every conceivable shape, and adapted to every possible purpose, with every shade of intellectual power from the mind of man to the simple cell that drifts in a multitude of waste. The human form, now developed in maturity, was a child some years ago ; the child was a babe a minute old ; the babe was a living organism in the body of its mother ; the organism was a tiny cell, as fascinating to the gaze of the scientist as a complex being ; and this cell is the beginning of a human life. The first problem that faces us is the question : — Is the primary life cell originated by the parents or has it been transmitted through the parents ? If the former is true, then the body is capable of creating the seeds of reproduction ; but if, instead of originating, it merely transmitted them, then the life of the child was in the single cell from which its parent sprang, and that parent's life was in each previous cell, back to the beginning of the race. In other words, the identical germ of a child born to-day was contained in the cell of its ancestor thousands of years ago. It is important that this problem be settled one way or the other ; and our students are invited to express their opinions, no matter what view may be stated here. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXXVI. All Life Originates in a Cell. — This statement is not strictly true, if we look upon life as mere vitality ; but if by life we refer to an organized being, then it is absolutely true ; and as such we regard it. (100) BEGINNINGS. 101 Every organized being has life, and every living thing is an organized being, whether it is classed under the animal or the vegetable divisions. Thus, a leaf, a flower, a root, a stem, a seed, a tree, a man, horse, insect, bird, fish or worm, is each in itself a living being, and is derived from the same kind of beginning, a cell, — a tiny drop of matter too small to be seen by the naked eye. While it is a settled fact that man and plant-life, fish and fowl, and all existence may be traced to protoplasm, or cell-organisms, it is an open ques- tion, and one worthy of our closest consideration, whether the same protoplasm may develop into either animal or vegetable life. This we ask our students to answer. For Essays ou this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the eud of Tome Ten. LESSON CXXVII. Life Consists of Three Requisites. — First, every organism, whether a cell or higher type, must be capable of taking food, assimilating the necessary portion, throwing off the waste, and yet retain its individuality. Even the tiny cell can do this easily. Second, every organism must be capable of possessing functions ; or specific duties to be performed. The cell is the simplest example of func- tional life. Third, every organism must be capable of reproduction; that is, it must possess the power to throw off a part of itself and thereby produce another organism like itself. This act is, in the cell, very simple ; and in the higher types very complex ; yet the most complex form of reproduction is but a multiplying of one act, called fission, or the separation of one cell into two, each a perfect cell. This marvellous fact must be remembered. Question. — Would any two of the foregoing requisites constitute life ; and if so is such an organism to be found in Nature f For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXXVIII. Reproduction in all Cases Consists of Cell-division. — Living things all originate in the cell ; and when the cell comes into being it first begins to assimilate food in the form of protoplasm. This food increases its bulk, and immediately it gives birth to another cell by merely dividing itself in two. This is the simplest form of reproduction known. 102 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE FOUR. In that most intricate and complex form of reproduction which occurs in the human race, the child-life originates in a single cell called the ovum or egg. The cell is contained in its receptacle amidst protoplasm, from which it draws sustenance and grows. The single cell divides into two ; each into two again ; the four become eight ; the eight become sixteen ; and so on, little by little, until the object takes definite shape, and becomes visible to the naked eye. This human ovum resembles all cells ; and, when it divides and sub- divides, the mass of new cells all resemble each other and the original. Question : Does each new cell possess the potentialities of the first cell, or ovum, from which it sprang f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXXIX. Protoplasm is Essential to all Life. — There are many so called chemical elements in the mass which constitutes the substance of the earth ; of these, four are called the vital elements. They are oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and carbon. While promising our students to avoid scientific names and terms, we are compelled to use the four words which express these most important elements. They are, indeed, common to all readers of fair intelligence. As the four vital elements are necessary to all life, and as each cell is dependent upon these elements we may safely assert that there is a mysteri- ous connection between them and the life of man. No course in philosoph- ical training could omit the study of these great essentials. The difficulty of the physical problems of life, rests in the inability of our chemists to tell us what these elements in fact are. We catch a small mass of protoplasm and study its active life. Desiring to know what it is, as well as what it does, we subject it to the chemist's art; we analyze the little mass and find oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon. We put it back, but it is dead and will not again live as proto- plasm. No chemist, no scientist has ever been able to analyze protoplasm without destroying it. The vital principle escapes and, in its departing, leaves no record of what it is, whence it came, or whither it went. How often the great scientists of the world have yearned for some evidence of the nature of this strange visitor ! BEGIXNINGS. 103 QuESTiox : From what source comes the vitality of protoplasm f ^ For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXXX. The Cell Contains a Nucleus. — The human ovum is a simple cell; the study of its nature soon involves us in some very obstinate difficulties. Every student who is in earnest will obtain a blank book and make drawings of the things which we shall describe. It is far better to endeavor to originate these drawings without the aid of others ; for the mind is often inclined to wander from the propositions of science, unless ?ome very exact- ing demand is made upon it. It is not necessary to make the drawings accurate. Nature herself is profuse in her freedom of lines and contour. Take a pencil, with a rubber conveniently at hand, and draw a circle about an inch in diameter ; the size may vary, and the drawing may be far from round. Imagine this circle to be a globule of protoplasm enlarged many hundred times ; or in other words your diagram is the covering or outer surface of a highly magnified cell. Within your circle make a mass of very light lines to represent the protoplasm which is enclosed in the cell- cover. Now comes the interesting part. Anywhere within the circle draw another circle almost but not quite as small as you can easily make it. This smaller circle will be near but not too close to the outer covering. It is called the nucleus. QuESTiox : Hoiv is the nucleus originated f. J For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXXXI. The Cell-Nucleus Contains the Vital Principle. — This fact is now well known to all scientists. Several propositions face us : the nucleus may be wanting, while the cell contains vital protoplasm ; the potentialities of the cell may produce the nucleus ; and the nucleus, when present, always con- trols the cell. Let us see what this interesting agent is. To the scientist the constant use of the microscope is second nature. Microscopes have always been serviceable, even when they were of the most primitive construction. The first authentic use of the instrument is recorded in the book published in 1()71 by Athanasius Kircher, a polisher of lenses. Although he could magnify but thirty-two diameters, or about one thousand 104 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03JE FOUB. times, he was able to discern the minute life of protoplasm. Since then the power and clearness of the microscope have been increased almost at the will of man ; but the largest magnifier is not necessarily the best. At the present day, by the aid of the microscope, we are enabled to see the cell, its nucleus, and the contents of the latter, though not their struc- ture. It is well to remember, therefore, that the dividing line between the power of the microscope and its limitation is found in the attempt to discover the structure of the contents of the nucleus of the cell. This is the point where the mystery of life begins. Imagine your pencil to possess a power beyond that of the best micro- scope : take, as it were, the nucleus which you have drawn, out of the cell in which you drew it. At another part of the page make an enlarged nucleus, and mark it properly, so that in the future you will know that it is a magni- fied portion of the first cell. It may be a large ring. Within it draw about ten worms, or worm-shaped creatures ; make them very black, and allow each to be not quite as long as the diameter of the nucleus ; although they lie curled in various directions. Do not attempt to see these clearly in the mind, but first draw theni as well as you can. Scientists call these worms idants, and the units of which they are composed, ids. They are in fact vital molecules, and such we will call them ; for the term molecules will be used freely in this study, while ids and idants will be abandoned, together with thousands of confusing words useful only to technical science. Question. — How do the vital molecules multiply f For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXXXII. A Vital Molecule is Composed of Atoms. — In another part of the page draw a worm-shaped object, and mark it as being a magnified portion of your diagram of the nucleus. Now make another drawing of the worm divided into ten round parts. These ten parts, when together, constitute the worm; therefore, in a single nucleus, there are one hundred vital molecules. Various scientists claim that there are in the neighborhood of a hundred, a few more, or few less; but I am satisfied that in the nucleus of the human ovum there are always exactly one hundred vital molecules, unless the cell is diseased. Let the next drawing be that of a single vital molecule, made very large. BEGINXINGS. 105 It is here that a new step in scientific research must be taken, or the pursuit of further light be forever checked. It is an easy matter to say in a general way that the vital molecule is composed of Atoms ; for the chemist has often said the same thing of his molecules, although he has assumed the theory without any positive knowledge on the subject. I do not propose to deal in speculations in a single instance. Before proceeding further, let us see what we have. In the first place we find that all life, whether animal or vegetable, originates in the cell. In the second place we find that this cell, — a globule smaller than the eye can detect, — consists of an outer cover, an inner mass of protoplasm, and a nucleus. We next find that the nucleus contains exactly one hundred little specks, almost too small to be seen with the most powerful microscope, called vital molecules. We are compelled to call a halt, or else resort to other means. Question. — Has the jprevailing use of the numeral one hundred any relation to the molecules f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXXXIII. The Cell Produces the Nucleus. — While many authors assert this fact, and others are silent on the question, it is in several ways provable; indeed, if we had no positive knowledge on the subject, the course of cell- reproduction clearly shows it. As soon as the cell is formed and commences to grow, it divides, and two cells are seen, each with a nucleus ; while the parent cell retains its nucleus complete with one hundred vital molecules. It is true that the daughter cell does not always have a nucleus ; and, when it does, it is not formed at once ; but it is clearly true that the protoplasmic mass within the cell originates, or in fact creates the nucleus. The power to do this is marvelous, as are all the operations of life. QuESTiOX. — What is the differeyice in potentiality between a nucleus-cell and a non-nucleus-cell f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXXXIV. The Nucleus Controls the Cell. — We have seen that the cell produces the nucleus ; and there is abundant evidence that the latter controls the former. As the Shaftesbury Philosophy argues the principles of morality, 106 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE FOUR. religion and government in the larger life of the world, from the evidences seen in primitive existence, it is important that these little things should be carefully studied. Every man and woman of normal constitution is a free moral agent ; and the fullness of this freedom causes a clash between individuals. One man's rights must cease where the next man's begins ; hence comes the conflict that has made the world red with crime. To avoid the committing of sin, the best men of all ages have attempted to make restraining laws and moral codes ; yet it has been difficult to ascertain what are wrongs per se, and what conduct should prevail. It is proper to state here, and to confirm in later pages, the great fact which pervades our Philosophy, — that the rules of individual, social and national life are to be found in the Atoms, molecules, and cells from which all life springs. These small beginnings are our ancestors and our parents. The wonderful organism, known as the human body, — the temporary home of the Soul, — originated in a single cell ; and the grandest genius that ever lived is no greater than the aggregate of cells of which his body is composed. All his powers and faculties were once potentialities in a single cell. I have drawn rules from the conduct of small life, as I call it, and have carefully compared them with similar rules applied to larger life, as of people and nations ; and I am absolutely certain that Nature has formulated her laws for mankind in the tiny organisms ; with this advantage, — as men are not infallible, they may be mistaken in their conception of what laws and customs are best for themselves, but as the cell life is fresh from the hand of its Creator, there can be no mistake. It may be argued that cell-life is full of inherited evil, and therefore cannot be infallible ; but this inherited evil is a dormant potentiality, and is never manifest in the cell, nor even in many successions of aggregations that follow. We shall fully meet this argument hereafter. Having said this much, we will recur to the cell itself, and here find a lesson worthy of careful thought. It appears [that in the cover is a mass of protoplasm ; the cover serving merely as a boundary of the mass. In this protoplasm is a vitality which escapes on our attempting to analyze it ; but which will receive attention later on. As long as the cell is alive, the Atomic members of the protoplasmic body are imbued with intelligence, and BEGIKNIAGS. 10*7 this intelligence is individual ; that is, each Atom possesses intelligence. Almost immediately they have an understanding among themselves, which results in the selection, and possibly the election, of one hundred molecules, which instantly come together as the cell-nucleus, and ever thereafter hold control over the cell. This selection may occur in each new-made cell. Question. — Does the nucleus body elect a head or leader f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXXXV. It is the Purpose of the Governing Board to Preserve the Indi- viduality of the species of life from which it originated. — We have called the one hundred vital molecules, selected by the cell as a nucleus, the governing board ; and such it, in fact, is. It is an aggregate of many powers and of many purposes ; all of which are communicated to and appreciated by the cell atoms. In other words it is an emphatic expression of the cell itself, condensed into smaller space for the sake of greater power. In this governing board is an energy of knowledge, a dynamic force of intelligence, which is the sum of all the faculties of its ancestry. Thus, if the cell is from human parents, it carries in all its Atoms every tendency of character, mind and physical development, which the parents possessed. How this occurs, we shall consider herafter. If the skin contains the pig- ment which colors the Negro, it will not be forgotten in the cell ; and each cell parent will transmit the same memory to its daughter cell ; a thousand new cells will catch it, and thus multiply the fact, keeping pace with the growth of the human child. All this seems wonderful ; so it is ; but we shall endeavor to make it exceedingly simple in its fullest details. Question : How can intelligence multiply f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXXXVI. A Cell Aggregate is a Hereditary Mixture. — The flower of an apple may receive the vital dust from an adjoining apple tree ; and, upon maturing, the apple will produce seed that will contain the characteristics of both trees. A small limb from each tree, if planted or budded on root stock, will grow into the same kind of a tree as that from which it is cut, and will produce the same kind of apples ; but if a seed of the apple which grew from the mixed 108 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME FOUR. flower, is made to grow, it will be sure to produce a tree whose fruit will be the result of the mixture of the two trees. A Negro intermarrying with a white person will produce a mulatto ; an Indian a half-breed ; an ass and mare, a mule ; and so on. These are prominent characteristics, and might be readily reproduced. The more intricate process appears to be that by which character, traits of mind and heart, love of avocation, and criminal propensities are transmitted. The mixture of hereditary tendencies furnishes an interesting study. The mother often reappears in the daughter ; the father in the son ; or both par- ents reappear in either. Why is this ? If both parents are equally consti- tuted the child should represent both equally. I have noticed that if the mother is weak in general vital vigor, a son would resemble the father ; and a daughter partly the father and the maternal grand-parents, if the latter were vigorous : otherwise the father entirely ; the reverse being true in case of a son whose father was weak. This fact and many others prove that the single cell, from which the offspring originates, must carry in itself alone the tendencies of previous generations. Question : How does the cJiaracter of a grand-parent get into a single ome 'preceding cause is necessary to cause fire. The earth cannot originate any chaos sufficient to impel Atoms from itself. Reflected beams have a vibratory only, and never an onward, activity. A sun is essential to the creation of a planet. Question. — What is the origin of a sun f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLVI. The Sun is Atomic Chaos. — The sun is not solid, not molten, nor gaseous. Gases are composed of molecules. There is not a molecule in the sun. All the Atoms there are endowed with the three laws, and the agita- tion is too great to permit any rest or cessation of the chaotic condition. In order to obtain this repose the Atoms are compelled to leave the sun and to find a resting place somewhere in space, where, owing to a decrease of agita- tion, they may unite into molecules, the molecules may form structures, and the architecture of the sky may be undertaken. Every sun, therefore, is Atomic chaos. Under the gaseous theory, it is supposed that all space was occupied with a gas ; or that all matter was so hot that it was rarefied and extended in space; from which condition it gradually became condensed, and BEGINNINGS. 127 solids were found in the shape of globules, the sun being the largest globule and the last to cool. A claim has been repeatedly made that the first drop to cool became a sun ; which, being molten matter, threw off great drops into space and thus made planets. It is supposed that these drops were thrown off by centrifugal force during the revolution of the sun ; but the sun has no revolution. The planets, too, have ejected drops of themselves and formed a few moons. This theory is open to many objections. The sun has no revolution and could not have thrown off drops by the principle of centrifugal force. It has never yet reached a molten condition, as all observers agree, and "drops" could not have been formed. Planets could not throw off moons by the principle of centrifugal force, for the force is not sufficient ; and, if it were, all planets would have been reduced to a uniform size, or the process of throwing off moons have been continued on a more numerous scale. The sun is not in the same condition as the planets; nor is it possible to place the sun and a planet on a par with each other, either in energy, life, or character. The former is a source of energies ; the planets merely receivers of the powers given it. In other words every sun has given birth to the planets which compose its system, by a process of creation as elaborate as any pregnancy in nature. Question, — Why are the various theories of creation that have prevailed f For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLVII. The sun is parent to the planets. — Having energies on a scale exclu- sively its own, and being a giver of forces, the sun must stand as the originator of its planets. The process that has been going on since the birth of the sun, is going on to-day ; and we will call it planet-building, with all that is implied in planet life. It consists of the expulsion of Atoms. Let us go back to the time when the sun was alone in its system. Atoms were sent forth into space in splendid profusion ; and their lines extended hundreds of millions of miles of radii through the sky. The first condition was that of the sun alone in its system ; the second was that of the sun in the center of millions of miles of Atomic sea, or what is best called iE, — a term that will be fully explained. In this condition the Atoms were free to combine. In a crowded arena the Atomic laws must have operated speedily. Nothing is 128 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME FOUR. more common to au Atom than to combine with another of its kind ; indeed, it is almost impossible to avoid combination. Molecules were formed freely in all parts of the sky ; and the third condition produced. Molecules have an attraction for each other that is readily asserted, and structure of masses began, leading the system into the fourth condition. The attraction of gravity produced the fifth and last condition. This is easily understood. The drifting, floating masses in the sky, no matter how small, came together by the opera- tion of gravity, and orbs began to appear. This fifth condition has never ceased. The large telescopes show us that these small masses are still in space ; and they are of every conceivable size from a large planetoid down to the smallest meteor. The sky is full of them. That the greater number of larger ones have " settled down " is probable ; but the smaller ones are constantly drifting to the planets. Thousands of meteors come to this earth annually ; and, in conjunction with Atoms from sunshine, are slowly, imper- ceptibly, but certainly adding to the size of our globe. Revolution, the law of the Atom is not the law of the sun itself; if it is communicated to a planet it must originate in the particles from which the planet is builded ; and such is the case. The earth and planets revolve. The laws that hold a satellite in its orbit are simple and well understood. Question. — What laws hold the -planets in their orbits around the sun, and how do these laws operate f For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLYIII. Growth. — There are several distinct steps in the process of growth : 1. Atoms. 2. Molecules. 3. Structure. 4. DEVS and ANGS. 5. Vegetation. 6. Animal Life. These may be mechanical or vital. Mechanical growth begins with Atoms; they come together as molecules; the molecules form masses, called structure; and here all growth ceases. It may be stated then that mechanical growth consists of three steps. The elements enumerated in chemistry are in this stage only; although the chemist pre-supposes his molecules. The really interesting steps in growth are seen in vital life, and are four, five or six in number ; having the full complement in the last. Of Atoms we have treated ; but we will give the definitions. 1. An Atom is a single ultimate indivisible particle of matter. BEGINXIXGS. 129 2. A 3Iolecule is a combination of two or more Atoms. Although two particles will make a molecule, the latter generally consists of a large number of these units. 3. A Structure is a definite agreed and pre-understood union of molecules tending to a fixed shape and character. 4. DEVS and ANGS are vegetable combinations of structures, appear- ing: as cells. 5. Vegetation is cell-multiplication. 6. Animal Life is a higher form of vegetation, being separated by well known laws. Each of these six steps is the necessary precursor of the next. Atoms are essential to molecules ; molecules ase essential to structures ; structures are essential to DEVS and AXGS ; their cells must precede vegetation ; and the latter is the only means of existence known to animal life. It is but a succession of larger development. Question. — Hoiv does animal life differ from vegetation f For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLIX. All Life May Come From Atoms. — Chemistry tells us that there are about sixty elements, of which all matter is composed, and from which all structures are made. A chemical element corresponds to our molecule. It is a noticeable fact that recent experiments have led chemists to reduce the number of elements. Of the seventy or more which were recognized some vears ago, more than ten were discarded before the present generation. The reason for this reduction in the number of chemical elements is stated to be, that what were once supposed to be elements are now known to be combina- tions of others. Chemistry admits that its elements are molecules, and are therefore composed of particles. This conclusion was accepted before the discovery of Atoms was made, and is well confirmed. The great problem of science related to the question, whether the particles which united to make the elements or molecules were of various kinds. In answer to this important query, let us think of the purposes of creation, and the necessi- ties arising. Man is the ultimate pet of earth, or else general life is the only aim of the Creator. To bring about either of these ends, complicated 9 130 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPSY—TOME FOUR. existence and complex structure are necessary. These are found every- where. In tracing backward as far as science has been accustomed to look, we find a general tendency toward simplicity, though not decided until we come to the cell. Reasoning still further in the same direction, the investi- gator has concluded that the composite particles must be very much simpler. It is either true that an assortment of kinds, natures, or energies are to be found among the Atoms ; or else one kind of Atom has, by its power of com- bination, constituted about sixty well-known molecules, which are known as chemical elements by reason of the regularity of their habits. Which is true ? Question. — Wkat are the now recognized Ghemical elements, and what are their attributes f For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLX. Original Variation. — As original variation is not necessary, it may be asserted that it does not exist. We know the fact to be that all Atoms are uniform in size and shape. The laws of Pul, Glame and Mot may not all be present in one Atom ; but that does not establish variation. Each law, when present, is uniform in its action. Is it possible for gold to come from the same Atoms as water? We know that the molecules of one are quite different from those of another ; but need the particles which constitute the different molecules be themselves different ? Our knowledge of the weight, color, shape, and quality of a substance must come to us by one of the five senses ; these senses are affected or excited only by some kind of action operating against the nerves which constitute the sense ; and gold merely excites them in one way, while water does the same thing in another. Thus cream may become heavy butter, or very light frothy cream, according as its structures are combined. It would be no more surprising to find that gold and water, or all the forms of earth, are made from the same original particles, held together in different Av.ays. Question. — Hoio does gold differ from water in its chemical units f For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXI. First Molecules. — Take your pencil and draw an Atom in your scrap book. To this Atom attach a second at the end, the Pul being held to the BEGINNINGS. 131 Olame. This is not a molecule, but a straight line. It is light or sunshine when it is made to vibrate by a pushing energy behind it; otherwise it is a line of 2E, or the ether which pervades all space between the orbs of heaven. The reason why it cannot be a molecule is because it does not form a unit or singleness of combination; but ou the other hand, is part of a continuous thread. Now make a triangle of three Atoms, each attached to the other at the ends by the laws of Pul and Glame. You have a most dangerous molecule, one that is all repulsion. Let a quantity of these be free in any place, and they would fly from each other; while, from the peculiarity of their combination, they could not be separated. It requires the most intense fire to break the triangular molecule, for no single Glame-end is strong enough to draw away any Pul-end when once attached. INIake a drawing of all the possibilities of attach from other Atoms, remembering that they are apt to be under the influence of others also. Next make a chain of tri- angles, one within the other. These come about by accident, and render the links very solid, suitable for the building of gold or other heavy metals. Squares, rings, and similar shapes should be drawn, and looped in the form of chains in about one figure in ten. Thus far you have very primitive combinations; the usual forms are exceedingly elaborate, and have cubic dimensions. QuESTiox. — How many varieties of simple molecules can you imagine f Send diagrams of them. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXII. Complex Molecules. — The Atoms come together in many ways; and, by reason of their peculiarly advantageous shape, are able to present beautiful and complete forms. They make themselves into a ball that seems perfectly round, into stars, into wheels, rods, spirals, and other shapes that seem to present a means of strength. Behind their molecular combining there is the ever present exhibition of an intelligent purpose; from this there is no escape. Indeed, I am quite sure that the single Atom has mind, if it has a Pul-end. A Pul-less Atom is chiefly a non-vital substance, like a mineral. There are certain fixed shapes which these particles take, and adhere to with a mental tenacity; though if one Atom is dislodged it may become part of another molecule of an entirely difi^erent nature. The separa- 132 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME FOUR. tion of their existence from the condition common to all, does not occur until the molecule is formed. Then their intelligence is increased many fold. They seem to agree upon a certain line of action peculiar only to the powers of the aggregation which has been established ; and from this purpose they never turn. It is the superiority of mind over matter. Question. — What complex molecular shapes can you suggest f For Essays on this sulDJect, see " Eules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXIII. Molecular Intelligence. — Whether we call it mind, feeling, conscious- ness, or other name, the little cell is full of purpose and intelligence. It knows volumes for so small a creature. Back of the cell are the molecules that compose it. We must assume that purpose and consciousness are given to the cell just as it becomes a cell, or that these attributes existed in the molecules before they combined to make the cell. The latter is true from all sides of view. It is the intelligence of the cell that urges it onward to a supreme end ; it is the intelligence of the molecule that impelled it to form the cell ; it is the individual intelligence of the Atom that compelled it to enter into a combination to make the molecule ; and back of the Atom is the Supreme Intelligence that endowed it with its laws. If we take intelligence out of primitive matter, we must close our eyes to every act and fact in nature ; and if we preclude a Supreme Power, we are not inheritors of that first attribute of simple life. A most beautiful exhibition of this intelligence is the unity of agreement among the particles as soon as they form the mole- cule. They are contented and peaceful among themselves, while united in the aggregate of a common purpose. They never fight or seek to undermine the government under which they exist. When two or more similar molecules are formed they seek each other. Why is this ? Is there a law of attraction which operates to bring like near to like? I believe it to be an exercise of intelligence. We see this in even large masses of water, which to us are fractions of a drop. If hopelessly apart they remain so, except as they become united by evaporation ; but let one fraction touch another, and they embrace at once, the whole becoming a single drop. This explains the law of cohesion, and is well understood to do so. Question. — What is the result of molecular affinity f For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. BEGIXNIXGS. 133 LESSON CLXIV. Cohesion. — Take a lump of loaf sugar. The mass is composed of molecules of various kinds, suited to its combination. Crush this to powder; the molecules still are held together, though in many masses much smaller in size. Place them together ; the sugar is now powdered ; the molecules are not free to act on the entire quantity, though holding together in smaller masses. Heat will set the molecules free ; they will then obey their own laws ; the whole quantity is united by molecular attraction, and many form one com- pact lump of sugary substance. Add other molecules, and the result may be a more adhesive lump as of flexible candy. Subject to a greater heat and remove before the water is lost ; a brittle candy is formed. The heat permits the molecules more or less freedom to seek each other, and the result is affected by it. If molecules are so heated as to set them free without destroying their own structure, (and thereby reducing them to Atoms), they will come together in that condition which most suits their shape. Compactly built molecules are heavy in themselves, but may be angular in shape and make a weak mass, as in the case of some kinds of rock. If their shape is such that they may interlock as they unite, they will be very strong and hard to separate, as in the case of a diamond. Cohesion is perfectly explained by the law of attraction in Atoms, the ends being so exposed that they may form the affinities in molecules which they hold as particles ; but the selection of molecules for like molecules is explained only under the law of intelligence, which is also an Atomic law. Question. — How is it that chemical compounds are composed of different molecules which hold together in masses f For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXV. Capillary Attraction. — Take a lump of loaf sugar, and place one edge of it on water. The latter will climb up the sugar and saturate the entire mass. Why is this? Why should not water obey the law of gravity and refuse to rise ? In the lump of sugar are many small spaces, lined with molecules for which water has an affinity. The molecules of water, having more freedom to move, seek the others and proceed to ascend the lump. I know that there are several theories which are used to account for the 134 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME FOUR. phenomenon of capillary attraction; but I am satisfied that it is due solely to molecular attraction. Question. — What are the various kinds of capillary attraction f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXVI. Gravity. — Nothing has been more difficult to understand than the action of gravity. It puzzled the minds of men, until the discovery that the earth was round compelled men to seek a law that might explain it. The wisest men of the time of Columbus argued that if the earth was round, the water would flow off, and men on the other side must fall into space, or else walk upside down. The fact makes a phenomenon acceptable ; so time went on, until Newton discovered the so-called law of gravity. In consider- ing this, let us keep in mind that the absence of gravity would mean much more than we imagine. We must also remember that so destructive a prin- ciple would be an effectual bar to growth, union or existence. As intelligence is the basis of all matter, it could be trusted to originate the law of attrac- tion ; after which cohesion and gravity are easily explained. Question. — What is gravity f For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXVII. Intelligence the Primary Law. — As nothing is furnished in Nature, except under the demands of necessity, it is safe to conclude that the three laws of the Atom may be reduced to one, and that intelligence. If intelli- gence is the cause of each step in growth, and gives to a mass its supreme purpose of building life, why could it not give to the Atom its law of revolution, and its law of Glame or attraction ? What the fact is we need not discuss at this place ; and, whether we conclude that the other two laws are originated by intelligence (Pul) or not, the cause of investigation is neither aided nor hindered. Question. — What is your theory f For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXVIII. The Absence of Gravity. — Supposing the law of gravity to not exist^ what would be the result ! In the first place we must discard all idea of attraction ; for minute affinities could not operate without affecting the BEGINNINGS. 135 mass ; and, as soon as the mass is affected, gravity is established. But let us imagine that the mass is constructed while yet no gravity exists. We lift a chair from the floor; it remains in the air. We set it against the wall; it stays there. We throw a bucket of water into the air ; it will be found there ten years hence, not even being able to evaporate. Evaporation is an exercise of the law of gravity, the air falling lower than the rarefied vapor, causing the latter to rise. We read a newspaper and place it before us without a table ; no shelves are needed, for books, papers, and things in general will stay where they are placed. We may hang our clothing on the atmosphere, place our collars, cuffs, shoes, hats, and multitudinous details in any altitude of the room we may please, and always find them at a glance. Our dinner need not be served on a table, nor even on plates, for a slice of bread may rest on nothing in front of us, the butter float near by, the knives, forks, spoons, meats, gravies, and desserts lie at hand ; although a mechanical operation would be necessary to get the sauce on the pudding, for it would not fall if we tried to pour it. If we try to walk we must be careful, for the least spring upward would leave us in the air ; nor could we get down again very easily. A friend who tried to pull us down would pull himself half way up, and both would be suspended in the air, longing for earth. And at night when we lie down to sleep, we may rest on a bed of air with no drafts about us, for without gravity the wind could not blow. QuESTiox. — Mhat kind of growth can you imagine in the absence of gravity ? For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXIX. Orbital Revolution. — Two bodies in space, free from all influences of attraction, except their own, would come together in time, no matter how far away they might be at first. The coming together may not result in a collision, for the intelligence which rules the universe would establish a law which would hold the two bodies together by the attraction of orbital revo- lution. Thus the earth is held to the sun by attraction, but is prevented from rushing directly toward it by the law of orbital revolution. This law is supposed by many scientists to operate among particles or units of matter ; the claim being that, as the heavenly bodies exist under this law, so must 136 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOWIE FOUR. the Atoms be grouped into stars, planets, and satellites. Such is not the case as I know by personal observation. Question. — What exact operation of this law holds the earth from the sunf For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays" at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXX. Operation of Gravity. — Two free Atoms left to themselves would come together ; two apples suspended in space would come together ; two rocks in the air come slightly toward each other in the act of falling. No matter how far apart two Atoms may be they can feel the power of attrac- tion. If two particles can so distinctly feel this energy, more than two can certainly do so. Molecules come toward each other, by the same law of attraction which is multiplied by the increase in the number of Atoms, each armed with the same tendency. As the combinations increase the energy becomes greater, and gravity must result. As would seem the only rational conclusion, the attraction is greatest when the objects are near each other; the power decreasing as the distance increases. The momentum and acquired speed must be added to the energy of attraction, causing a rapid increase of progress. Objects free to adjust their position with relation to each other, will obey the law of gravity according to their respective weight. Thus iron will sink in water, water will sink in oil, oil will sink in air, and air will sink in some of the gases. Question. — Are the heavier substances of the earth farthest from the surface f For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays" at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXXL Gas. — It has been said in a general way that the molecules of a mass, approach each other under the law of their affinity ; but, in the case of the triangular Atoms, the rule seems to be reversed. On examining the facts, we find that the Glame-ends had attracted the Pul-ends and thus temporarily exhausted their power of attraction. The Pul-ends, being still vigorous, were exposed. If the triangular molecules approached each other under any affinity, the exposed Pul-ends would cause a separation. This is called a gaseous action. A gas is any condition wherein the molecules are so arranged that their Pul-ends are exposed to each other; or more Pul-ends BEGIKNIA'^GS. 137 than Glame-ends are outward in the molecule. The intensity of the gas must depend on the number of such exposed ends. Gases being generally lighter than air for their bulk would naturally rise. They are necessary to the intermingling of matter so as to promote growth. QuESTiox. — How Diany gases are there, and what are their properties f For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXXII. Ice. — Heat applied to water is merely molecular activity causing a restlessness of the mass and rendering the separation of its parts possible. Such activity must be imparted from molecular or Atomic classes ; or in other words, it takes heat to make heat. Water is interesting to study, for it is composed of molecules whose Atoms have neutralized ends; that is, each molecule is so constructed that nearly an equal number of Pul-ends and Glame-ends are outward, thus causing the mass to be almost free to separate in small quantities, and permitting it to do so in quantities larger than drops. For this reason water has no cohesion in the latter case. Heat is never absent from water, not even in the coldest ice we ever handled. It is present in the form of activity, showing that moving Atoms are constantly at work in its mass. At the freezing point this activity known as heat, is so far lessened that the slight cohesive power which results from the little advantage arising from the small super-number of exposed Glame-ends, is allowed to bring the molecules together, changing the water to ice. Ice is, then, merely the cohesion of water. Question. — Why is ice transparent, or translucent f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXXIII. Steam. — Reversing the process we find that water is a very unstable mass, owing to the easy manner in which its slight cohesion may be over- come. The more heat is applied the more the particles fly from each other ; first as vapor, mist or fog ; then as steam. In the latter case the heat becomes so active that a number of the water molecules are destroyed ; the Pul-ends already exposed are reinforced by the reversal of the adjoining Atoms; triangular molecules are formed and the mass seperates into all man- ner of parts remaining under the strain, while the activity is maintained. QuESTiox. — Are any water molecules lostf For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 138 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME FOUR. LESSON CLXXIV. Explosions. — Any mass that is so constituted that its molecules may be reduced to a triangular shape will explode. The substance may be solid, dry, damp, or wet. The energy of an explosion depends upon the number of Pul-ends which are made to face and repel each other. Question. — How many explosives are there, what are they, and what are their properties f For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXXV. Interior of the Earth. — The earth originated by the union of small masses, to which constant addition is always being made, and will be until the sun goes out. These masses were at first solid, that is the interior was not hallow. The question arises, is the earth now solid or hollow? The theories of scientists lean both ways, the prevailing idea being that it is in a molten condition within. Let us examine it. When masses first united they may have been either molten or solid, and in any event the solid parts were heated. As more masses joined the growing orb, the collision must have caused intense heat. Thus this globe grew by addition of part to part, almost as all things grow. During its chief period of formation the whole mass was in a state of constant unrest, every part being free to do as it chose. It is more than probable that, when the size had increased, the law of attraction operated on the entirety for the economy of position. Free matter, obeying the law of attraction, must seek a center from all directions ; on this principle globules are formed. But another law comes in : particles are most strongly attracted when the mass is greater. If any object is free to go to a small or large orb, it will seek the latter; the energy of the former increasing the speed of movement. In the interior of a large globe the central mass is without influence on the outer or surrounding portion; but is influenced by the superior weight of the latter. The center of gravity of a a large globe is not the center of the globe itself. For the core the center of gravity would be half way between itself and the circumference. It is probable that particles would, unless forced to the interior, seek to ally them- selves with those nearest the outer crust, or to the place of heaviest mass. If this is so, the earth is a mere shell, having a hollow the diameter of which is seven-eighths the diameter of the entire earth. The inner surface of this BEGINNINGS 139 crust would be red hot, having had no opportunity to cool. Under the law of attraction of matter, if the earth contracted in cooling at the surface, molten lava would be forced outward through openings, as of volcanoes ; and on the line between the cool and the hot there would be smoke, cinders and ashes. Question. — If such is the condition of the earth, what is the thickness of the shell f For Essaj-s on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXXVI. Cold. — We know that heat is activity, or the unrest of matter. But we see that the tendency is to come to a rest. This approach to stillness is called cold. Absolute cold does not exist anywhere in the universe, unless space is devoid of Atoms ; for where Atoms are there is activity. From these little messengers we get many lessons of life. Action is living. The lazy man has no place in the economy of Nature. The body requires that constant activity be maintained in all its masses, or death ensues by reason of mere rest. We may call it a chill if the temperature drops below about 98 degrees ; or being frozen to death, if it drops to 32 degrees. It is certain that life cannot exist below the nineties. We feel cold if our body loses even one degree of heat, although it may live in a surrounding temperature of forty below zero, if it is active. The most remarkable fact in this connection is the uniformity of heat maintained by the blood in sum- mer and winter ; it never varying from about 08 degrees, if in health. Cold is a relative term, referring merely to a reduced quantity of heat ; not the absence of heat, as the school books put it, for we cannot find such a condition. Question. — \VJiat becomes of escaping heat f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXXVII. Vegetation. — We have seen that there are six steps in the progress of growth : Atoms, Molecules, Structure, DEVS and ANGS, Vegetation, and Animal life. Every one of these steps is a species of life. There is no dead matter except Pul-less Atoms. The first associate life is that of vege- tation. It is companion to man, and the only vital companion of animal creation. Not only is this true, but a greater fact appears : all animal life 140 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME FOUR. is dependent upon, and is composed of, Vegetation. Kemove the latter from the earth, and what would man feed upon ? Why meat, fish, and fowl, of course. Fish live upon other fish, and these upon vegetation. Fowl live upon animal life that feeds upon vegetation. The ox does not eat meat, and meat-eating animals would die for lack of food if the vegetable kingdom became extinct. Question. — What is the longest succession of animals that you can mention that feed upon meatf By that we mean animals that feed upon other animal life, and so on. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXXYIII. Man's Food. — Man himself is a vegetable in the sense that his body is composed of vegetable protoplasm. He eats meat, and his stomach is adapted for both kinds of food. He craves meat more decidedly than vege- table food. Being adapted to it, craving it, and having a long ancestry of example in favor of it, there seems no reason why he should not have it. He should eat meat if it serves the purpose for which food is used. The only question is, whether vegetable food would be more beneficial, or make him a better man ? Question, — What would he the effect if man were to live wholly upon Tneat f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXXIX. Meat-eating Animals. — A dog lives upon meat if he can get it ; so does a cat. Neither of them are fit for the food of man ; nor is any flesh that has fed upon flesh. I have fed pigs upon flesh, and find their own flesh almost alive with bacteria. It is understood by all mankind that flesh- eating animals are unfit for food, that they are disease-creating, taint and rot more readily, and destroy life in a short time. This being true, the question arises, what lesson this teaches ? Question, — What is trichinosis, and how does it originate f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXXX, Origin of the Meat-habit. — If meat taken from an animal which has lived upon meat is unfit for food, then the eating of flesh is a step half way BEGINNINGS. 141 between good and bad food. It is not, however, to be inferred that because this is so, meat is not proper food. We hold that it is, and often necessary to give strength where grains are not relished. Man, in his savage state, did not cultivate the grains ; he must, therefore, have depended upon birds, fish and fowl, all animal food. His present body bears evidence of his flesh-eating propensities, especially his canine teeth, which are known to have been much longer in his early history. His emancipation from barbarism has been attended by a steady departure from a wholly meat-diet. If this is true, the nobler man is a child of direct vegetation. Question. — What do you know of pre-historic man f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXXXI. Comparison of Food. — I have devoted many years to the examination of the problem whether meat should be discarded or not ; and have had the benefit of thousands of reports from men and women who have aided me to get at the facts, rather than to support a theory. I knew that the gentle animals ate only vegetable food ; but it is not safe to compare animals to man, or to look to the former for example. They follow an instinct ; are short lived ; and many of them supply man with food. As soon as a person who is accustomed to meat, turns vegetarian, he is apt to become sick. He forgets two things ; first, that his ancestors were meat-eaters, causing him to have a stomach for it ; second, that meat contains elements which are ready for his body, which he will not know how to obtain at once in grains. For example, let him abandon his regular diet, and take the vegetables and bread ; he will have neuralgia of the most distressing kind ; or the food he needs will not be present in his new selection. Meat is ready-made food, containing all the elements required by the brain, nerves, muscles, and general body ; the grains are natural food, suited to our life only when a proper selection is made. Question. — What grains are an equivalent to meat f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXXXII. Decay. — Bacteria and disease-germs have an affinity for meat and not for vegetation. There may be several reasons for this ; but, as the duty of bacteria is in part to destroy and remove matter not fit to remain, their ready 142 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME FOUR. attack on flesh is noteworthy. It is true that their eagerness for it, causes putrefaction. While fresh vegetation may decay, the grains do not. Meat readily taints and putrefies. If you cut or scratch the skin so that blood is exposed, one or more species of bacteria, which infest the air, will quickly seek it. If the exposure is slight the vigor of the tissues may expel the invaders; but if a large cut is made the chances are strong that blood- poisoning will set in. Instead of a large opening let the tiniest scratch be exposed to meat that is ever so little tainted, — meat is often tainted when we deem it fresh, — and bacteria will leave the old for the new. A sore will follow; abscesses may form ; and evidences of a most virulent type of small life will be present. They are taken in the blood and soon destroy it. Many a surgeon has lost his life by a slight cut or scratch, during the dissection of a human body. Question. — What causes decay in vegetation f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXXXIII. Savage Food. — Man's flesh is most dangerous to the surgeon, and is most easily a pray to bacteria. In following out lines of inquiry I find that^ not only is this true, but also that meat-eating people are most subject to contagious and putrefective disease. Exceptions may be found to every rule; in the case of vegetarians, good health does noij always follow; but ninety-nine per cent of those who die of cancers, consumption, diphtheria, small pox, and contagious diseases, are meat eaters. All infectious diseases are caused by the destruction of the body through the presence of bacteria, or meat-eating germs. If man were wise enough to know how to select and combine the grains so as to prepare a food the equal of meat, which is possi- ble and simple to do, he would rarely ever die of an infectious disease. Until he can obtain this knowledge, meat must remain his food. It was undoubtedly the gift of nature during the period of liis savage existence ; it is to-day the necessary food of ignorant people, and low forms of animal life. Question. — What evidences are there that the ancestry of civilized man was barbarous f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. BEGINNINGS. 143 LESSON CLXXXIV. Two Influences Behind Life. — A ray of sunshine, as we have stated before and shall repeat later on more fully, brings to the earth certain vital Atoms. Unmistakable evidence has been obtained to prove that vital life comes from the particles, that the seeds of intelligence, which pursue the course of growth until they create all species of living things, are contained in the sunbeams. While these Atoms are alike in size and fchape, and are operated by the same laws, their intelligence is of two species. This intelli- gence is called Pul, or purpose, and represents the purpose which is present in the particle itself. As such minute life cannot originate itself, there must be two influences at work in the universe, behind this earthly existence. It will be profitable in other pages to analyze and study the sunbeams. At this time our attention is required on a different line of investigation. Question. — How is if possible to trace the cause of so small a thing as an Atom f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essaj^s," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXXXV. DEV-Atoms. — A few words, necessary to new ideas, have been coined for this work. DEV is one of them, and refers to any cells that are enemies to the life of man, as bacteria and their species. Such cells are constructed from evil Atoms, or particles having an evil purpose. In the venom of snakes these DEVS are most abundant. It is known that, in such a case as common hydrophobia, the bacteria themselves do not cause death ; but they emit a poison that permeates the entire system and the most horrible agony follows. This poison is called by some scientists, the breath of the bacteria. It is in fact true ; and this breath consists of original DEV-Atoms, which the bacteria have a faculty for absorbing in their systems until they are con- centrated, A DEV, then, is an evil germ, composed of structures from molecules which consist of DEV-Atoms. A DEV- Atom is a single particle of matter, of evil purpose, destined to find its way, if possible, into a DEV ; and into general life through the ordinary channels of growth, QuESTiox. — Is it possible to remove evil from the world f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 144 SOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY—TOME FOUR. LESSON CLXXXVI. Flesh DEVS. — Even if DEV-Atoms do not find their way into DEVS, they will follow a certain instinct which drives them to meat. A piece of flesh, exposed to the air, will draw from the sun or shadow the DEV- Atoms which are always lurking about. They are not merely forces or energies ; there is an ever asserted intelligence in their conduct. I cannot believe that they are blind forces, for accident could create nothing but accident. The positive exhibitions of intelligence displayed by these and other Atoms lead us to the conclusion that we stand in the presence of a power, not distant but at hand, which portends and intends more for us than the divinations of religion ever indicated. If there is a keen, active, urgent, energetic and unrelenting knowledge in and about us, crowding our every act to the consummation of some purpose for which we shall be held responsible, watching us at every step, looking into our brain and heart, noting each impulse, or measuring every design of good or evil, and clinging to each cell that constitutes a distinct life within us, we should know it, learn more of it, and adapt ourselves to such a moral and physical code as will enable us to abide by the good and avoid the evil. Question. — Wkat is the measure of intelligence possessed by an Atom? For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXXXVIL Vegetable ANGS. — There are destroyers and builders all about us; and wherever there is life there is contact with either one or the other. The microscope shows that bacteria consists of two classes, the destroyers and the builders. It was supposed for a long time that both classes were ani- malcule of a smaller kind, but a doubt arose, and the next claim was that the builders were vegetable, and the destroyers, animal. As microscopes improved, it was clearly seen that all bacteria Avere of the vegetable kingdom. Investigation has confirmed the theory that there must be good and bad protoplasm, good and bad cells, good and bad bacteria : the good being de- signed to build life, the bad to destroy it. Even bacteria is necessary to the existence of man ; but, like the great world itself, there are all classes ; the good aiding each other to build up, at the same time carrying on a war- fare with the bad ; the latter working separately to destroy. From this BEGINXIXGS. 145 comes the lesson that all good people should unite; for all the bad cannot. If there is lack of union among the good, the progress of a better hope for the race will be delayed, or possibly destroyed. We come to the interesting scientific fact that there are good cells, good Atoms, and good bacteria. The latter we call ANGS. They are only of vegetable propensities. Question. — IFAy should DEV8 he present in the world? For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXXXVIir. Law of Growth. — It is true that all cells are of one tendency, namely vegetable. It is also true that DEVS and ANGS are cells, and that their next step is vegetation. This would argue, and almost prove, that good and bad life tend to vegetation, and thence to animal substance ; but the study of their habits under instruments which even children can use and under- stand, shows the importance of facts rather than theories. The law is this : DEVS and ANGS are both of the vegetable kingdom; ANGS are cells, which, by their own union, grow to plant life and flesh ; DEVS become flesh-eaters, and never actual flesh ; although they may dwell in flesh life as poisons. They have an affinity for flesh, seek it, associate with it, eat it, taint it, and abound in it. They destroy what ANGS build up. This is the whole basis of disease, the most striking example of which is deadly consumption. They seek with double energy the flesh of animals that have been fed on flesh. Question. — How did it come about that all civilized nations have discarded the flesh of all flesh-eating animals f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CLXXXIX. Influences of Food. — ANGS build up the body directly from vegeta- tion, and DEA^S invade it in the form of malignant diseases. All flesh is subject to their devastation. ANGS come to earth on missions of peace, gentleness, and good-will. They will not engage in the construction of venomous snakes, savage beasts, or fiend-like men. They carry with them a spirit of intelligence, which is a fixed purpose; and from this arises all the good there is in life. DEVS are equally intelligent. The principles of good and bad, existing under other names, have been recognized in all ages by men of wisdom. All scientists, 10 146 SOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE FOUR. no matter how atheistical, or theistical they may be, have declared that a fixed, certain intelligence governs matter, as well as mind. These universally acknowledged facts should not be forgotten ; they play a vital part in our philosophy. We seek not only the truth, but also that truth which is sup- ported by universal evidence. If food itself consists of cell-life which is composed of intelligent forces having the power to exert influences both good and bad, the presumption is clear that we are influenced by what we eat. Question. — At what time in the life of the child is mind created? For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXC. What We Are. — With a clear presumption in favor of the influence of food over body and mind, let us go further and examine the facts. I have evidence sufiicient to fill volumes to prove that the nature of the food we eat makes us what we are. I will go still further and assert that body, mind and soul are created from, and part of, the food we eat. I do this unre- servedly. Before these Tomes are concluded I will offer such evidence as cannot be disputed and as will leave not the shadow of a doubt as to the great facts. Question. — Is not this daim in accordance with Theology f For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXCI. Mind and Matter. — We all know that the body is constructed from the food we eat. Mind, as we shall see it again, is but the collective intelli- gence that comes from lesser life. Man may be roughly compared to an Atom ; his head is the Pul-end ; his legs the Glame-end ; his vital centre, the torso, is the Mot part. His legs carry him to an object, under the direction of either Mot orPul, but by the superiority of the latter when free to be exercised. It is not true that the mind of man is always superior to his body. He is the creature of his bodily wants. Question. — In what respects does the mind yield to the body? For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXCII. Mind in Food. — Permit me to choose your food, and I will make you an idiot. Give a man white-bread for six months, and he will become in- sane, provided the flour is the finest and whitest in the market, and no other BEGINNINGS. 147 food is taken. Feed your children on buckwheat cakes, pan cakes, white bread, sweets and tea or coffee; then send them to school; and I will guarantee that they will be at the foot of their classes, have headaches, neuralgia, dyspepsia in time, and be stupid generally. Feed people ex- clusively on rice or similar food; they will sleep long and often, think but little, and sigh for opium, tobacco, or narcotics. These things are not occasional happenings, nor are they accidents. They represent a great fact : mind is in the food we eat. The mental clear- ness and every responsibility of a man depends on the quantity of phosphatic foods he may eat. Between that perfect proportion of proper foods from which all functions arise, and that gross inadequacy of nutrition which destroys the balance that adjusts our natures, is the long road known as the gradation of degrees of insanity. Question. — What is insanity f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXCIII. Soul and Matter. — In these brief lessons we cannot elaborate all the facts stated. So important a study as the Soul must be reserved for other portions of this work. At this place it is well to lay down some of the fundamental principles on which rests the main structure of our philosophy. In doing so briefly, we feel sure that all reasonable students will await the production of the substantial proofs which must be furnished before any fact can be said to be well-established. We know that, as far as this life is concerned, the soul is co-extensive with the body. Religious teachings show this; nor is it otherwise than consistent with their views to assert that the breath of life comes from the food we eat. Question. — In how many ways is it possible for the soul to be imparted to the body f For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXCIV. The Disposition. — So closely allied to the food we eat is the nature of every function of the body, that even our moods, passions, feelings, long- ings and aspirations depend upon the same source. We know that meat will make a dog ugly and a cat savage, even though the same chemical elements might have been easily obtained from grains. A man fed upon too great a 148 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME FOUR. proportion of meat drifts to a beastly disposition. The effects of grain eating, if the equivalents of the body are selected, is to calm the nerves, subdue the passions, reduce the criminal tendency of the thoughts, and make gentle a stormy disposition. Question. — Whence arises the human disposition? For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXCV. Crime in General. — From experiments that were started a quarter of a century ago, I have sufficient data already to prove in hundreds of cases, that, while the criminal tendency originates in previous generations, it is aggravated by meat food, by lack of a proper balance of nutrition, and by the heat of the blood affecting the brain. Question. — How far is a person, under these circumstances, responsible for his crimes f For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXCVI. Natural Crime. — By this is meant that evil of youth, which has blighted many noble lives. Under our advice, in connection with an organ- ized society, one hundred fathers tried the experiment of allowing their children no meat, until after the age of puberty. The proper equivalents were found in grains. No more conclusive proof of the influence of food over health, disposition, criminal acts and habits could be found. Without a single exception the children passed safely the trying period of their lives; nor do I believe there exists to-day, in any part of the world, such men and women in the aggregate as these people will become. There can be no doubt but that meat is a grossly improper diet for children. Question. — What foods in the vegetable kingdom are equivalents of meat in supplying the needs of the body f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXCVII. Origin and Destiny. — On becoming convinced that good and had influences have taken possession of this fair earth ; that DEY- Atoms and ANG- Atoms come to us from the sun ; that they speedily organize them- selves into molecules and hasten to make structures, so as to enter upon the battle of life, each with the other as full-fledged DEVS and ANGS ; that BEGINNINGS. 149 the intelligences of good and bad filled the brain, body, heart and soul of man in their unceasing warfare for supremacy; I resolved to study the source of these influences and their destiny. With untiring diligence, extending through hours of the night and day, for weeks, months and years, wearing out a most vigorous constitution, I have plodded on and on in these studies ; never forgeting that primitive life is in the Atom, and that it is to that volume we must turn for much of our knowledge. I have studied the Atoms of the sunshine until I am convinced that they are sent to us by a conflict of supreme powers. Question. — Is it possible to conceive two supreme beings ; if so in what way f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXC^VIII. Conflict of Supreme Powers. — I was taught by a good clergyman that there was no personal devil ; so I learned to believe that the satan of the Bible was a typical thing, and that hell was in our own hearts, not in the realms of the universe. It is pretty well settled to-day in modern religion that there is no hell, no devil, and no destruction in the hereafter. That this is a compromise between the direct statements of the inspired writings and the consciences of the present century, is too apparent for discussion. Is it warranted? The influence of this good teaching upon ray young mind was such that it required years to believe that the Atoms of the sunshine were com- posed of two classes. It seemed crude as well as cruel that evil should be in the world; and especially intelligent evil full of malignant purpose. Alas, the bright enthusiasm of a hopeful dreamer was doomed to face the stern facts of reality. Question. — What and where are the Biblical references to a devil? For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXCIX. Duty. — Impelled by an awful realization of these new truths of life, I could not resist a duty. I was haunted night and day by the demand, from what source I know not, that these things should be proclaimed ; in times of labor, study and research a certain influence hurried me on, aided and cared for me, and made the task an easy one. To bury what I knew to be new 150 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME FOUR. knowledge seemed like placing a beautiful babe, full of life, beneath the sod. My chief hope is that another world in this may spring forth in the chaos of your life, and prove both beautiful and inviting ; opening the way to happiness because of its beauty, and affording a realm of employment for the faculties with which you are endowed. Question. — What duties await youf For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CC. Inspiration. — Much that comes to man is impelled by a power whose influence we shall discuss in another place. When complete possession is taken of his mind and heart by a supreme power, either of good or evil, we say that he is supernaturally inspired. Bad comes from a bad influence, and good only from a good influence. The product is the evidence of the source of a thought. There is a kind of inspiration which foret-ells or foresees the facts of science long before they are discovered through the channels of investigation. The power is given man for a purpose. Question. — How many forms of inspiration can you mention f For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. CONCLUSION OF TOME FOUR, In this Tome are seventy-six lessons, in Philosophy, and as many ques- tions, for your consideration. Please remember that it is not what a man reads, but what he digests, that makes him what he is. The man of one book is most to be feared, for, having nothing else to read, he peruses and studies it over and over, until it is a part of himself. So these lessons should be read at least six times each. As the membership in this School of Philosophy is for life, and as you will add to your knowledge year by year, the best thing you can do at first is to answer these questions in your scrap-book to your own satisfaction ; then to ours. For every essay you may send us, or for every question you may answer, if due thought and scholarship are shown, you will receive credit under the plan stated in TOME TEN at the end. Special Notice. See Kules of Graduation at the end of Tome Ten. TOME FIVE. DEVS AND ANGS, THE DESTROYERS AND BUILDERS. LESSOR CCI. Bacteria. — As we have already stated, there are six steps in the pro- cess of growth : Atoms, Molecules, Structures, DEVS and ANGS, Vege- tation, and Animal life. The present Tome will be devoted to the study of that minute but numerous and active life which constitutes the fourth step. Of late years many scientific works discussing the very recent discoveries of bacteria have appeared ; and, as bacteria is the general scientific term for those combinations of cell-life which may build np or destroy the human body, we may use that word to represent both DEVS and ANGS ; but the employment of the numerous terms which have been recently coined, numbering many hundreds, would bury the study so deeply beyond the understanding of the average mind, even of students, that the instruction would be practically worthless. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON ecu. First Glimpses of Bacteria. — A professor of anatomy in Leipsig, named Christian Lange, wrote a preface to a book previously prepared by Kircher, in the year 1671, in which he declared that fevers were the result of putrefaction caused by worms or auimalculse. Kircher made use of simple lenses magnifying thirty-two diameters, and obtained results which in recent years, have been found to be true. The learned men of his day, and especially the scientists whose lenses were imperfect, refused to believe his statements. Some years after a young man living in Holland, by name of Anthony von Leeuwenhock, who had learned the art of polishing lenses, constructed the first good microscope that was ever used ; by the aid of which he discovered in water, in an infusion of pepper, in the intestinal canals of flies, frogs, pigeons, fowls, and horses, very small but active forms of life. Although he placed before the Royal Society of London a full (151) 152 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE FIVE. description of the movements and habits of the minute forms, the other scientists of his day refused to credit his observations, on the ground that their own lenses failed to show such results. His microscope was better than theirs. He says in one of his letters : " I saw several thousands in a single drop of water, or saliva which was mixed with material taken from the incisor or molar teeth." For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON cciir. Early Theories of Putrefaction. — In the material taken from the teeth of an old man who had never cleaned his teeth, were found an incon- ceivable number of living animalculge which darted about more quickly than those seen in water. In a letter to the Royal Society, dated October 1, 1692, he speaks of small round animalculse, each having a diameter one thousand times less than a grain of sand. In 1713, after finding similar organisms on the surface of greenish water, he came to the conclusion that the organisms seen on the teeth found their way into the mouth through the medium of drinking water. Another investigator, named Nicolas Andry, evolved the germ theory of putrefaction and fermentation. He maintained that air, water, vinegar, fermenting wine, beer, and sour milk were full of germs ; that the blood and pustules of small-pox also contained them, as well as various other contagious diseases. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCIV. Contagions. — With a kind of prophetic instinct Varro and Lancisi claimed that the dangerous character of marsh or swamp air was due to the action of animalculse. In 1726 an attack on this theory (which was founded upon actual observation), was made in the form of a satirical work ; which circulated so widely that the germ theory of disease was completely discredited. In the lapse that followed this assault from a species of ignor- ance which prevails in every age and generation, nothing was done until Linnseus, one of the greatest geniuses that ever lived, proved that the theories were in fact correct. This great scientist was at first ridiculed, but Marcus Plenciz recognized the importance of his discoveries and saw their practical operation in connection with putrefaction and contagious diseases. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. DEVS AND ANG8. 153 LESSON CCV. Specific Infective Germ. — PJenciz was the first to insist upon the specific character of the infective germ in each disease. For scarlet fever there was a scarlet fever germ, which could never give rise to small-pox or other disease. He explained a fever as dependent on the growth of a certain germ which had become lodged in the body in sufficient numbers to over- come the healthful agents of life; and showed that, as it required time for the numbers to multiply, the fever would appear only after a certain number of days. He claimed that the differences in the character of the symptoms and the severity of the same disease were due to the health of the constitu- tion and surroundings of the patient. In this way he unconsciously set up the theory of warfare between the builders and destroyers in the body, a theory that all physicians recognize to-day as true. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCVI. Bacterial Creatures. — At that time, however, and for many years afterward, these claims attracted but little attention ; but between that time and the year 1831, certain earnest investigators pursued the matter for their own gratification, until at last a large mass of facts had accumulated. The first attempt to reduce this chaos to something like order was made by Miiller of Copenhagen, who devoted himself to the work in hand with an untiring energy. His observations proved to him that there were many classes or species of minute life under two general divisions of builders and destroyers. After his work many advances were made, and the chief question which troubled those who followed him was as to the origin of these minute forms. Some very wise men asserted that they were the result of spontaneous gene- ration ; others, equally capable, said that they must be the children of pre- existing forms. We will not spend the time to state the various arguments advanced by those who maintained different views. The most important fact was that all science recognized the existence of bacterial creatures. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON ccvn. Greenish Scum. — If you possess a microscope and desire to investi- gate for yourself, place a piece of cloth under water running slowly from a pipe and allow it to remain for half a day with the water passing through it. 154 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE FIVE. At the end of that time you will find upon the cloth a collection of greenish scum, which is capable of being washed and preserved. The next step is to give it an opportunity to grow, which will require a few days in a place which is warm and light. The sunshine must either fall upon it or be near by as in a place shaded from the sun, or in a room where the sun has been shining ; for the Atoms are now to be taken from the light which has been brought to us by the sunshine. Under a fairly good microscope you will see a little species of life which has already obtained a world wide reputation. It has been deemed of so much importance by the United States Government that thousands of dollars have been spent in studying its habits, preserving its photograph, and making a large number of beautifully colored plate pictures, showing it in various ways. The name of this celebrated creature is Amoeba. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCVIII. Cell Life. — The amoeba is a little cell and looks like a lump of jelly. It has the power of traveling rapidly by simply rolling itself over and over. It eats by surrounding its food, instead of opening its mouth and taking it in. If you, who have no microscopes, will make a little bag about six inches long, four inches wide and not very thick, and place some fine sand within you may illustrate, on a larger scale, the manner in which a cell eats its food. Imagine some sand or a pebble to be near the bag, which the bag desires to possess. With your fingers press the middle of the bag until it is as thin as you can make it, then double the bag around its imaginary food, which disappears within the mass. The amoeba can make its own arms and legs at will, and withdraw them at will ; it does this by thrusting out any part of itself it pleases, and then resuming its former shape or tak- ing some new form. For so small a creature it shows the most marvellous intelligence. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCIX. Human Nature of Cell Life. — When it is quiet, if any external ob- ject touches it, it will respond at once. It has the power to eat without a mouth ; it can make itself into any shape it pleases ; it is without nerves, but very sensitive; it grows easily and rapidly by its propensity for sur- DEIS AND ANGS. 155 rounding things ; it is neither male nor female, yet gives birth to children. If you want to know how this is done take a soft mass of clay or putty and divide it into twelve equal parts. Put two of these parts together to repre- sent the parent, .and divide each of the remaining ten parts into two ; these twenty smaller masses representing the food which the amteba is to eat. Let the parent amoeba approach one of these smaller parts ; it instantly wrajjs itself around it. Do this, and press the mass into one general mixture ; you will then realize how easily this simple cell devours and digests its food. If there are any stray particles or unnecessary matter in the food, the amoeba will cast it off as an excretion. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCX. Cells as Parents. — Now permit the mass of clay or putty to surround another portion of food and blend the same as before. The cell is getting large. Permit it to take two more good meals and we will iind it too bulky for one amcBba. Slightly elongate its shape and gradually press it around the middle until it has grown very narrow; continue this until it separates entirely. There are now two cells each of the same size, and the parent is as large as when it began to eat. Allow both these cells to continue the process of eating, growing and separating, and you have the whole story of the multiplication of small life. It is necessary for our students to do more than merely read or study ; we strongly advise them to get some clay or putty and make the foregoing experiments. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXI. Lowest Form of Life. — The amoeba represents the lowest form of what is called life, and scientists, as a rule, claim that it is the beginning of life. In order to do this they assume that molecules are passive agents of growth, having no activity of their own. In the light of the most recent investigations by Koch, Pasteur, and others, it is becoming settled that molecules and Atoms are both active and aggressive in the formation of cells, following the laws of their own affinities. But, as far as representative life is concerned, the cell is undoubtedly the most primitive form. It is independent, full of activity, and it pursues the object of its existence, which is reproduction, with unremitting determination. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 156 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME FIVE. LESSON CCXII. Combinations of Life. — The next step in the scale of cell-life is the combination of cells; and the first creatuire beyond the cell is called the olynthus. From these types we might proceed to enumerate the various grades of life, but it is sufficient to state the principle which underlies the rise in the scale of being. As the cells increase in number and become more elaborate in their formation they are said to occupy a higher plane. From the multiplication of cells we obtain all the intricate parts of a com- plex body, such as that of the higher animals or man. Thus, the skin con- sists of the weaving together of cell structures ; the muscles are threads or strings made of cells and united together like a rope of many strands ; the bones are originally formed of cells in a gelatinous mass, and become hardened by calcareous deposits. The weaving, building, knitting, and general formation of the arteries, veins and organs of the body proceed upon this same principle ; and the complex variation of all the parts, each suited to its own special function, displays a degree of intelligence that one cannot easily comprehend. This intelligence is present in every particle of the minute life which dwells within the body. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXIII. Does Cell-life Teach Evolution. — Owing to the fact that cells are necessary to vegetation, and vegetation to animal life, the theory has been recently advanced that man is evolved from the amoeba , thus going back somewhat farther than the theory suggested by Darwin, although in the same direct line. Life at the present time is exceedingly diverse ; it is difficult to imagine any shape, size, or species of life that does not exist. If man were to endeavor out of his own fancy to create new combinations of shape, he would find that, somewhere in the realms of nature, just such forms actually existed. Life, therefore, is diverse. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays" at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXIV. Evolution and Diversity. — If there is any reason for believing that this extraordinary diversity of life has at any time been less than it is, since life first appeared on the earth, then that fact might be used as an argument to show that all this variation originated in a simple and single form. As DEVS AND ANGS. 157 far as we have any definite knowledge of the past, the evidence is that life is less adverse to-day than then, so that the argument would not be sus- tained. But what is a long period to the mind, may be short in the history of the earth. If a single cell is the progenitor of all species of life it must be true that new possible beings are now being projected in the uncounted millions of cells that are born in a small compass in every second of time. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essaj-s" at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXV. Man and Cell-Life. — Leaving for the present the discussion of the origin of the human race, let us pursue the study of this primitive form of existence. If you will imagine yourself more than twice as tall as Mont Blanc and correspondingly as large, and make yourself believe that you are trying to discover a little child lying at your feet, you will get an idea of the difference in size between a man and the tiny life known as bacteria ; and therefore appreciate the difficulties which even the recent investigators have had to meet in order to study them. In order to grow they follow the plan adopted by the amoeba; but they do not grow as readily. The conditions must be favorable. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXVI. Rapidity of Increase. — The bacteria increases with a rapidity that is inconceivable, if the food which they require, and the conditions that are necessary, are not denied them. As soon as one is born, its very first act may be to give birth to another ; a slight constriction is seen around the middle, a partition forms, and there are two instead of one. These either fall apart, or else cling together forming little chains, threads, or colonies. In order to appreciate what is meant by rapidity in the growth of bacteria let us take the following illustration. A man who has one dollar is told that by doubling it a certain number of times he will have a fortune before he is aware. Allowing one second for each subsequent dollar to become two dollars, we will see how long it would take to produce a million. In the first second 1 becomes 2 ; then 2 becomes 4 ; then 4 becomes 8 ; then 8 becomes !(>; then 16 becomes 32; then 32 becomes 64; then 64 becomes 128; then 128 becomes 256; then 256 becomes 512; then 512 becomes 1024; then 1024 becomes 2048; then 2048 becomes 4096; then 4096 158 S03IE COURSE IN FHILOSOPHY—TOME FIVE. becomes 8192; then 8192 becomes 16,384; then 16,384 becomes 32,768; then 32,768 becomes 65,536; then 65,536 becomes 131,072; then 131,072 becomes 262,144; then 262,144 becomes 524,288; then 524,288 becomes 1,048,576. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXVII. Dangers. — Instead of one we have more than one million in twenty- seconds. Supposing each one of these should double itself, in another twenty seconds we would have 1,000,000,000,000,000. An eminent biologist has stated that, if the conditions were favorable, a single life, measuring less than a thousandth of an inch in length, would require but five days to completely fill all the oceans on the surface of the earth, or a space equal to that occupied by the entire surface of the earth, including land and water, for the depth of three-quarters of a mile. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON ccxviir. Intelligent Cunning. — So determined to live are these bacteria that, if the favorable conditions are withdrawn, instead of dying, they will collect and concentrate their vital powers in a small space at one end of each of the bacteria, then surround this by a thick cover, and await the return of favorable conditions in order to again enter upon active life. They require warmth and moisture in order to thrive. Great heat kills them by separating them into their molecules and atoms ; but extreme cold generally causes them to concentrate their powers in the nucleus heretofore described. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXIX. Conflict of Devs and Angs. — While bacteria are not as simple in their construction as the amoeba, they differ chiefly in the fact that, instead of being one cell, they are many. They are, however, as simple as the amoeba, when we examine their mode of living. They move freely, grow rapidly, and reproduce themselves in the same way. It must not be supposed for a moment that all bacteria are dangerous to life; for the fact is quite the contrary. It is clearly settled that without the aid of bacteria man could not live. Instead of being the organic ancestor of the human race, they are in fact the daily and hourly companions of his very existence. The ANGS DEVS AND ANGS. 159 are the necessary builders of his body, and have many interesting and exciting battles in their efforts to drive the DEVS out. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXX. Value of Angs. — Let us see what the ANGS are doing every day for man; and then ask ourselves the question whether the doctrine of evolution, which assumes that man is descended through previous types and species, from this little organism, is more reasonable than the claim that the life of man has been co-extensive and always cotemporary with the activity of bacteria. In the first place cell life carries nutrition to every part of the body, builds up tissues, supplies new ones in place of those which are broken down, heals all the wounds of the body, and is in every sense the architect of our life. In the second place if there is any poison or dead organic material in the body, they tear it to pieces and make use of such portions as they can receive as food and drive off what remains. So eager and willing are they to do this that they fight to the last, and die fighting for their great companion, man. They are not overcome except by superior numbers. In the third place if there is any filth or dead matter in the air or elsewhere, they will disorganize it and set it free in the form of elements not harmful to human life. In the fourth place they seem to be conscious of the fact that the material on which man feeds is comparatively limited in quantity ; they therefore, as soon as either vegetable or animal life ceases, proceed to set all the particles free and thus prepare it for living again. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXXI. Limit of Food. — When man dies his body passes through the process of decay, through the activity of bacteria ; if this were not so and all life, after death, remained intact, the supply of food would soon be exhausted. We know that but a small portion of plant life, but the grain of the plant, but the kernels of corn on the stalk, but the fruit on the tree, are suitable for food ; and that these elements are not plentiful is seen in the fact that crops continu- ously raised from the same land, after awhile exhaust the soil. From this we learn that life is not change, but that change is necessary to supply the needs of life. It has often been argued that because all things that live are, after death, restored as food for other life that follows, man only lives again 160 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE FIVE. in the separated parts of other beings, in trees, plants, animals and other men. This argument is refuted by the fact that nature exists for man and that her operations, instead of being mere wanton change, are all for man's good. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXXII. Mysterious Activities. — That which we call life is a collection of activities, mysterious even when best understood; and, when death follows, the work of the bacteria begins. Every particle of the mass is torn asunder and, after a sufficient lapse of time the whole disappears as completely as though it never existed. Of all the millions who have dwelt upon the earth within the last six thousand years, but few survive even in their bones. Occasionally a trace may be seen where the conditions of decay were not favorable. Where the temperature is too cold the bacteria do not thrive, and putrefaction is suspended. For this reason when meat or other food is placed on ice it will keep longer than when warm. Ice however is not a destroyer of these living germs, either good or bad. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXXIII. Human Bacteria. — Having glanced briefly at the good work done by our friends, the ANGS, we will say as we temporarily leave them, that no more interesting evidence of their friendship for us can be seen than when we watch the warfare which goes on between them and the LEVS while the body is suffering the pangs of contagious diseases. If we could look at the back of the hand when slightly moist we would find that hundreds of DEVS are striving to enter the portals of our flesh; but the ANGS have so com- pletely encased it with skin that they find no means of admission ; they are on the alert however for a slight scratch or bruise, whereupon they immediately take possession of the food which they always find in blood. Unless by a life of indiscretion or disobedience to the laws of health, our vitality has been considerably lessened, thereby requiring elsewhere in the body the service of the ANGS, these good friends will immediately congre- gate at the place exposed, and proceed to drive out the DEVS. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. DEVS AND ANGS. 161 LESSON CCXXIV. Wars in the Small Worlds. — The lesson that we learn is an impor- tant one. A weakened constitution may yield readily to the approach of disease. Except in the case of blood poisoning, venomous bites, and similar dangers, a vigorous constitution will never yield to the encroachments of any contagious disease. This fact is so well known that physicians act upon it in the treatment of their j)atients. Where the constitution is badly broken, it is impossible for the general body to spare the services of these agents which are required to build its tissues. But, when the vitality is strong they make short work of the invaders. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXXV. Species in Small Worlds. — The large number of different species of bacteria, each of which preserves its individuality under all conditions seems to present an array of dangers which imperil the safety of man. They are found everywhere and manage to live under many discouraging circum- stances, although in a low temperature or dry atmosphere they are inactive. They prefer warmth and moisture and will seek the latter in the soil, in fruits, vegetables and plants, in the mouths of men, in the tissues of the lungs, along the digestive canals and on the skin. They are intelligent enough to select a means of travel, which is common dust. When they find moisture they cling to objects ; but when they perceive that the moisture is being withdrawn they become inactive and cling to fine particles of dust, seeming to know that sooner or later the dust will light upon and cling to moist surfaces, where they may again become active. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXXVI. How Life is Invaded. — A.11 uncooked food without any exception whatever, carries bacteria into the stomach, either good, or bad, or both. In this form they are not dangerous. They are quite different from the trichinse of pork, for the latter take up their abode and multiply in the body, while the former are assimilated as builders or hurried out if they are enemies. If we take a mouthful of any fruit, thousands of bacteria will accompany it to the stomach ; if they are friendly agents they will be simple forms of cell life like the larger cells of which the fruit itself consists, and both will 11 162 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE FIVE. be advantageous to the health of the body. Scientists divide general bacteria into the two classes we have mentioned, called the friendly ones, or wholesome vegetable cells, and the unfriendly ones, or poisonous cells. That the latter are bent on the destruction of man's life we shall see directly. We do not say this speculatively, but assert it as a fact. The only reservation is the doubt whether they have been sent upon earth solely to destroy or harass man. That he is the object of their attack is unquestionable. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essaj's," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXXVII. Cholera Devs. — The study of cholera has excited perhaps a more general interest than any other disease excepting only consumption. In fact since the great epidemic of 1832 in Europe, it has had a peculiar fascination for skilled investigators. Before the three last epidemics (1865, 1873, 1884) cholera usually came to Europe from the east — the caravan routes through Persia, Asia Minor, and Russia. In Asia it breaks out regularly at certain seasons of the year, and a single epidemic has more than once decimated the population in various localities. The germ which gives rise to the disease is a DEV, shaped like a slightly curved rod. It is necessary for it to enter the stomach and pass into the intestinal canal in order to originate the disease. Once there with the conditions favorable it begins to multiply in the same way as the little cell life we have already described. A strong constitution is able to throw them off, and a person in average health only may delay the progress of the disease for a few days. In some cases it requires only a few hours for the body to become overwhelmed with the so-called poisons set free by the germs as they grow. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXXVIII. Dev-Poison. — The most serious injury arising from the invasion of bacteria is not their destruction of the body by direct attack, so much as by the escape of a mysterious poison which some investigators believe to be in the nature of a gas. As gas, however, must necessarily consist of Atoms or molecules, it is more correct to say that the discharged poison is either malignant atomic or molecular life. Observation shows that DEVS feed upon the latter material, or, in other words, contain a concentrated mass of malignant Atoms or molecules. These are not brought into the body by the BEVS AND ANGS. 163 germs, but must be found there ready as food ; thus confirming the theory of all physicians that the body must be diseased in order to yield to the inroads of any contagion. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXXIX. Increase of Devs — DEVS cannot thrive except upon DEV Atoms and molecules. If the latter are not present in the body there can be no spread of the disease by the multiplication of the germs. The fact that in the presence of such food they multiply rapidly and thrive, proves conclu- sively that they take in and assimilate such food ; by doing which their size increases, each body divides and enormous numbers are born. The germ consists of its food, and both are alike in their nature. We assert, therefore, that, preceding any disease, the body must have been inhabited by malignant Atoms, who bide the time when a larger type of their own life shall appear. They are food for such type, but that is only a step in the process of growth. In the process of digestion all bacteria throw off part of the food which they take in; and we believe this to be the deadly poison which seems to prove fatal. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXXX. Horrors of Devs. — The little curved rods, which in a few days or hours, may throw a victim into the horrible agonies of cholera, increase so rapidly that they are often discharged from the body in armies of living germs. They rarely multiply except in the intestines, but they can remain alive a long time in water and wherever there is moisture. If the clothing is moist, the disease may be conveyed in it for long distances ; but if it is thoroughly dried, the germs are totally destroyed. Cholera is a filth disease and has often been attributed to bad food, sewer gas, impure air, and living in crowded tenements. These conditions do not cause cholera but prepare the body to receive it. It is now absolutely certain that no other germ, nor any other cause, can give rise to this dreaded disease. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXXXI. Problems of Cholera. — Many experiments have been made with these curved rods taken from those who are stricken with cholera. It is known 164 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE FIVE. that, like nearly all bacteria, they may be cultivated outside the body ; and great interest is taken in what are called pure cultures. Cholera germs grow luxuriantly on blood and in milk. While they feed upon ordinary drinking water it is a curious fact that they cannot live in distilled water. There is at the present time no absolute cure for the disease. For Essays on this subject, see " Eules for Essaj-s," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXXXII. What Cholera Teaches. — We know that there is a certain species of bacteria differing in its intelligence, habits, and purposes from all kindred species of DEVS ; that this particular kind is the cause of cholera, and of no other contagion. It lives to kill the human body; and the only question remaining is, was it sent into the world for that purpose ? If we conclude that it was, we must decide what power sent it. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXXXIII. Man's Enemies. — Applying every known principle of being we must conclude that the cholera DEV was created to kill man, that it has no other object in living. Against this claim is the possibility that it is a furnisher of filth; but filth is the work of the DEVS; and the two consort together to slay a human being. Still it may be claimed that careless habits, neglect of health, laziness and immorality destroy or lessen the vitality of the body, and so invite disease. Admitting this to be true, it is certain that the predisposition to all that is bad is due to the presence of DEV- Atoms in the blood and body. There is the invasion of the Atoms, their awaiting the approach of the DEVS themselves, their union and the emission of free DEV-Atoms. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXXXIV. Activities as Poisons — There are various kinds of poisons. The mere activity of structures and molecules will destroy the body, as it will any material which comes in its way. Thus chemicals, acids, fire, heat and similar activities tear and destroy the fibre of matter. It is not the nature or essence of a chemical, so much as its action that tears and destroys. Imagine millions of molecules, star-shaped, with points or teeth like those JDEVS AND ANGS. 165 of a buzz-saw, attacking any part of the inward organization of the body ; — how soon would its tissues be dissolved and death ensue? For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essaj's," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXXXV. Dev-Atoms as Poisons. — When a sunbeam brings a million Atoms to the earth, less than half of them are DEV- Atoms ; coming with an evil purpose. This is not a theory. It is the first and foremost fact of the existence of man. It is the cause of his misery from the cradle to the grave. These evil messengers do not blend easily with the ANG-Atoms. There is war between them ; war in the sun ; war on the way hither ; war on earth. One species may be imprisoned by two or more of the other; but, when free to engage in single combat, neither is able to master the other; hence the war in the sun, and the danger in the sunbeam. As soon as they are here they affiliate with the predecessors of their kinds. They form molecules, structures and DEVS ; while their foes form molecules, structures and ANGS. Until this fourth stage is reached neither is pre- pared to cope with the other. For Essays on this suliject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXXXVI. Excretive Poisons. — In the case of cholera the DEVS must find the body well stocked with broken down tissues, so that they may thrive. As they make their progress, multiplying and extending their invasions, they dissect these weak tissues, excrete DEV-Atoms and charge the circu- latory system with the terrible poison. All the blood is at work carrying friendly matter to the body, but at the same time is loaded with these excre- tions. The face of the victim changes countenance, and shows an anxiety which he cannot understand. The poison is gnawing at the stomach, the bowels throw off millions times billions of the DEVS, yet they multiply, and the blood becomes loaded. The ANGS fight for their master, but, alas ! a secret enemy has been lurking in the citadel of life for many months awaiting the attack, and now the eyes are sunken and horribly hollow ; the skin becomes cold ; the nails turn purple ; the evacuations are like rice water ; the system collapses and death ensues. In the economy of life there is no place for the belief that the agonies of this disease are evolved from the love of God to man. For Essays on this subject, see " Pailes for Essays,'" at the end of Tome Ten. 166 H03IE COUESE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOBIE FIVE. LESSON ccxxxyii. Filth. — An eminent scientist recently told me in Europe that further proofs of the doctrine of evolution were found in the development of bacte- ria ; and asserted that the latter were evolved from filth. If a man does not wash himself freely he will carry about on his skin a mass of bacteria. That is filth, but it did not create the bacteria, it simply permitted them to remain. So if we do not clean our houses, sweep our floors, or wash our clothing, we will be surrounded by filth, and become diseased ; but we do not create anything , bacteria are abundant and their presence constitutes filth. If we eat decayed meat, we eat bacteria. All filth consists of decay caused by these germs, or else the germs themselves. From what could they be evolved? Not from a perfectly harmless species; for the drawing motive of change from a good to an evil intelligence did not exist in so small a world. The proof is overwhelming that evil is sent to this earth ; and the doctrine of evolution of DEVS could not affect that fact, if the doctrine were true; while the fact destroys the doctrine, as far as the creation of the evil is concerned. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXXXYIII. Typhoid Devs. — We have learned that the cholera DEVS are little curved rods. We now find a short, thick rod, distinctly rounded at the end, and called the typhoid germ. They are rarely single, but have the habit of collecting in clumps. It is one of their peculiarities to throw out long, wavy threads, and to have a snake- like movement. They form an acid excretion that becomes a poison. Like all DEVS, they hate the light, although their Atoms were forced to the earth in the sunbeams. They seek out the dark places for their habitation, and use holes and corners as means of rest whence they bide their time to go out and do all the harm of which they are capable. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXXXIX. The Lessons of Typhoid. — First there is the deliberate invasion months before, and possibly years ; for, no matter how many germs of this disease one may drink, they will either die or pass away, unless the prepara- tion for their growth '^s been previously made. Thus if the body is loaded DEVS AND AXGS. 167 with weak tissues, ready to go to pieces under attack, due to breathing foul atmosphere, or to eating half rotten food, bad meat and the like, the typhoid DE V will have a happy time. He requires several days to get a good start, to form his thread-like, snaky tail, and to arrange his forces. During this period of preparation, the victim feels but does not know that something is occurring within. The DEVS are now ready to slay their prey. They form little towns and cities, in each one of which millions reside, all working twenty-four hours a day ; these are called ulcers in the intestines ; but, on the breast and neck, they are rose-colored eruptions. They go to the brain and destroy the thought molecules ; a dreamy delirium follows ; the head seems to swell until it fills the room ; people and objects become large and fantastic in shape ; and the mind wanders into that condition which the physicians call tvphomania. Still the DEVS keep multiplying, life is overwhelmed, the excretions pass off themselves from the body in a thin, dark, fetid and offensive fluid ; the tongue is filled with changed blood, now almost black, which shows how completely the enemy are in possession ; and death ends all. Why this fell destroyer ? Why did not that young life remain on earth and fulfill the hopes of those who had borne and loved it? The wanton purpose was formed before the earth came to exist. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXL. Consumption. — This dread disease, known as tuberculosis from the fact that little tubercles are formed on the lungs, is probably the most wide- spread and deadly of the ills that attack human life. A tubercle is a little hill, or mound, in the nature of an ulcer. These ulcers are now known to contain living germs, full of vitality and reproductive energy. They are so small that it was for a long time difficult to distinguish them ; but they are not only recognized but even cultivated and stained with aniline color, which they absorb, and by which their movements and growth may be observed. A tubercle DEV is long and thread like, almost like the snaky tail of a typhoid DEV. This distinct species is born to attack the lungs, just as the cholera and typhoid DEVS were born to attack the intestines and blood. Thus we see as far as we have gone, that man is under the surveillance of evil intelligences of the most terrible kinds. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of To je Ten. 168 • H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME FIVE. LESSON CCXLI. The Yellow Tubercles — All dry particles are apt to be the carriers of consumptive-DEVS. They cling to moist surfaces^ and, when the air is moist, they do not float in it. As soon as the air becomes dry they rise on the particles of dust and are carried about until they find some moist surface whereon to cling. This is often the lips of a human being ; but, if they enter the nose, they are retarded by the spongy filters therein. Once in the mouth, they are drawn into the lungs by the mouth-breathers; ninety- seven per cent of humanity inhaling through the mouth instead of the nose. They go with the air directly to the lungs themselves ; but, even then, they will not live, unless bad food, meat, or air has conveyed DEV-Atoms there, and prepared the tissues for easy dissolution. Nearly everybody inhales consumptive DEVS daily. The safety is in the maintenance of the general tone of the lungs. But, supposing they find the tissues rotten, they at once get a hold, and begin to build a little city. Its color is grayish-yellow, it is of cheesy consistence, and of the size of a millet seed, plainly visible to the naked eye. Clusters of these tubercles, or mound cities, are of a decidedly yellow hue. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXLII. Progress of Consumption. — There must first be a weakness of the tissues of the body; and next the actual consumption-DEV. It is pretty sure to be at hand when needed by its co-conspirators. It is breathed into the small bronchial passages, and lodges in the minute cells. If the ANGS are not already overpowered by previous debility, or by inflammation from colds or illness, they make quick work of the intruder, he is slain, and his evil Atoms are hurried out of the body. Not so if the friendly ANGS have all they can do to attend to the general welfare of the body. The DEV finds permanent lodgment and commences to eat the weak tissue. Soon he divides, and two are there to eat. Each divides, and four are there. More come; ere long the village is established, which grows to a town, the town to a city larger than London in population ; they eat and tear the tissues into shreds, and a grayish-yellow mound, of cheesy appearance, is raised. The appearance is due to the thready DEVS and the shreds of tissues torn apart by them. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. DEVS AND ANGS. 169 LESSON CCXLIII. Fatal Progress. — Unless the vitality of the body is revived the disease is sure to make steady progress. Its only cure lies in the effective- ness of the ANGS. To organize a regular warfare, form armies, and engage in pitched battles with the DEVS, is the only means of saving the life of the patient. The destroyed tissues are breathed off and float in the air as fine shreds, and of course cannot be restored; but the wound heals as soon as the DEVS are driven out. This has been done many times. Oxygen is also fatal to this species of bacteria, if it can be brought against them in great quantities. But in most cases the tubercle sends out its agents, conquers new tissues, forms new cities and involves the whole body. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays" at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXLIV. The Attack on Life — A young lady of gentle birth, of refined edu- cation and excellent accomplishments held the love of her family and friends. Her life was devoted to good and to the suppression of evil. For the cause of human purity she could not be spared. There were hearts whose hopes were wrapped around her happiness. Yet a tiny DEV, so small that it defied science for many years to find its like, lodged in the tissue cell of her innocent, blameless body, and reared its family of evil doers. One morning in the early spring a slight cough attracted the attention of those who loved her; yet she paid no attention to it, while the flowers grew at her feet and nature smiled brightly for her and those she rejoiced to be with. Not a suspicion lurked in the minds of her friends; though the wicked destroyers were building yellow cities in all her lungs. Resolved to take the fair young life they worked away all summer, and when autumn came the victim was helpless. With difliculty the breath came and went, the skin lay like a veil of alabaster on her shrunken form, a hectic flush painted the hue of life on her cheek within a frame of death, her eyes looked back to earth as she clasped the hand of one with whom she longed to stay, and so the sacrifice was made. Born of the spirit of hell, imbued with an intelligence that knew only malice, these DEVS wrought her ruin and gloated in the suffering they caused to others. I cannot believe that God gave her volun- tarily to these torturers and murderers. Her death satisfied no law of 170 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME FIVE. divine life. It was wanton slaughter. From a far off realm in the sky comes an influence of evil, whose terrible operations we shall further witness. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXLY. LfCprosy. — There are some diseases which remain limited in scope, and depend for their reproduction upon the preservation of a very unusual species of bacteria. Such is leprosy. It has reappeared of late years, and its germs have been detected and cultivated. They are of two kinds, the tubercular and the anesthetic. Instead of dwelling in the lungs the leprosy- DEVS select the tissues under the skin, causing brown or purple irregu- lar spots on the face or limbs. The horrible changes of the features are due to the thickening of the skin in places, causing a mixture of melancholy and joy, according to the folds affected. The eyelids ulcerate in the latter stages of the disease. In order to prove that leprosy is caused by DEVS, it is only necessary to tie a rubber band tightly around a mound or tubercle, then cut it open. Millions of DEVS may be seen in the fluid. They are somewhat like the consumptive DEVS, though shorter and more pointed. They furnish another evidence of the evil influence which would destroy man if it could. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXLVI. Lockjaw^. — If one should cut the hand or foot and accidentally rub some common soil upon the place of the cut, a new species of bacteria might be admitted to the system. It is old in story, but new to the scientist. In 1884 Nicolaier, while working with soils obtained from the fields and from the streets, found that these when inoculated into certain animals, produced effects different from those produced by soils taken from cultivated gardens and from woods. In about three days the hind-quarters of the animal became paralyzed, first the one near the inoculation, then the other ; then rigidity and loss of motion followed throughout the body, which became curved in the agony of convulsions, and ended in death ; thus resembling the progress of the disease in the human body. The DEVS which thus lurk in the soil are among the most terrible of the foes of mankind ; for any wound which is exposed to contact with soil, may absorb these DEVS; and, once in the system, there is almost no cure for lockjaw. They are DEVS AND AXGS. 171 shaped like long delicate threads, having spores at the ends. Oxygen is their mortal foe ; therefore, if the wound is left open, or kept exposed to the air, lockjaw cannot occur. Whence came they, and why have they caused so much agony to the human race ? For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essaj's," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXLVII. Dangers of Lockjaw. — A horse which, in the stable and in the field, always collects a certain quantity of earth on his skin and in his hoofs, may be easily inoculated with lockjaw-DEVS ; he, in turn, may readily inocu- late a man or another animal by a kick with the sharp iron of his dirty shoe. Gardeners, agricultural laborers and all who work with horses or in the soil, bear on their hands a virus which only needs a bruise or a cut to allow of its setting up . the terrible symptoms of lockjaw, or tetanus. Physicians state that such people and also children who play in the soil, furnish many cases of this disease. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXLVIII. DEVS For Poisoned Arrows. — Savage tribes, who are almost part of the soil, know the fatal effects of soil-poisoning. Dr. Ledantec, in an interesting account of the poisonous arrows used by the inhabitants of Santa Cruz, of the Solomon Isles, and of the New Hebride.s, speaking of the deaths from this cause of Bishop Patterson and Commodore Goodenough, with their companions, shows that they all died of lockjaw, in its most horrible forms ; and that this lockjaw was caused by soil adhering to the points of arrows. These instruments were made of reeds, each having a sharpened fragment of human bone at the end. The arrow-head is smeared with a sticky substance and then dipped into the soil taken from the edge of a mangrove swamp. Stanley also speaks of the same means of death employed by pigmies who dwell in the dense forests of Central Africa. How came these DEVS in the rich loam of the earth ? For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXLIX. Diphtheria DEVS. — Although it has long been known that diph- theria was an extremely infectious disease, it is only in recent years that physicians hav^e obtained any reliable information as to the nature of the 172 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY—TOME FIVE. specific poison which has caused so many deaths. I personally knew a family consisting of eight children, seven of whom died during one epidemic of this malady; and, during the last twenty-five years, the deaths from this alone have reached an enormous figure. The strange fact connected with the discovery of diphtheria-DEVS, is the peculiarly distinctive character of the species. It has habits of its own, and does not appear to be even remotely related to any other; thus furnishing clear proof that it could not have been evolved, but must have become one of many diverse species, with an intelligent purpose to attack man where others might not reach him. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCL. The Latest Science — From the most recent investigations it appears that diphtheria DEVS are found only in the false membranes of the throat, and that at this place the poisons are originated which permeate the system and cause death. This poison gives rise to heart failure, through its ready action on the nervous system ; although its interference with the nutrition of the tissues often causes paralysis. Diphtheria-DEVS are little thin rods^ nearly straight, with the ends slightly swollen. They cannot obtain a foot- hold in the membrane of the throat as long as it is healthy; but must always be preceded by inflammation, sore throat, ulcers, or similar disturbances. Still they lurk about, ready to obtain an entrance to the portals of the body, and kill the innocent. They serve no purpose, aid no good cause, help no sanitary law, but slay merely from a wanton hatred of mankind. No good power could have created them for the purpose of torturing the innocent. They add one more to the armies of evil that daily approach this planet. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLI. Hydrophobia DEVS. — Dogs are the friends of man, yet sometimes acquire a species of DEVS that can have no superiors in the work of causing the most horrible sufferings to humanity. It seems as if the emissaries of evil had not already invented a sufficient variety of perils to which to subject us; but must also lie in wait to make the attack through the agency of our most faithful friend, the dog. The isolated cases of hydrophobia seem so scattered that the danger of the disease is not realized until we learn of the number who apply for the Pasteur treatment. It then DEVS AND ANGS. 173 becomes known that in a single nation there are thousands of mad dogs stricken every summer, and the records are replete with the report of cases. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLII. Origin of Madness. — No more puzzling proposition could be advanced than that which demands the origin of this malady. In 1884 Gibier was able to demonstrate in the third brain (medulla) of animals suffering from hydrophobia, small round bodies. This indicated that it was located in the vegetable brain, and further investigation has confirmed the fact. The medulla, we know, controls respiration, digestion, circulation and the auto- matic actions of the senses, as pricking up the ears, weeping, sneezing, coughing, chewing and biting. That the malady is old may be learned by examining the writings of the renowned physician Sasruta, who lived more than nine centuries before Chirst. He describes dogs, jackals, foxes, wolves, bears and tigers, suffering from the disease, foaming at the mouth, running about with their jaws open, tongue hanging out, saliva dripping, tails down, sight and hearing affected, and snapping at one another. This description suits the madness of the present day. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLIII. Fatality of DEVS. — We may consider it a settled scientific fact that hydrophobia is not of spontaneous origin, or evolved from other species; although the latter fact would only add to the strength of the theory that an evil intelligence is at work in the universe, designed to attack man. These DEVS are grown from DEV-Atoms, and are banded together to do injury to the human body; acting their part by special assign- ment. We have seen that the horse, man's close friend, is made the agent of the transfer of tetanus, or lockjaw. The dog is closer to man than any animal, and is selected to carry the fatal malady of madness. These DEVS must first find lodgment in the animal, and impregnate its saliva, before they can reach human life. When they do succeed in their great purpose, they take leisure to develop and multiply, and in due course of time they make their presence known. Hydrophobia possesses a deep and melancholy in- terest on account of its mysterious and prolonged latency, the horrible intensity of its paroxysms and its certain fatality. The most venomous 174 HOME COUESE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE FIVE. reptile or insect may inflict a wound for whose effects an antidote may be administered, but the virus of a rabid animal is almost without parallel. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLIV. Smallpox. — Year after year new light comes to the world from the story of bacteria. It is well settled to-day that the little spots on the face, which resemble flea-bites, and which accompany smallpox, are filled with DEVS. They commence at the face and soon spread to the whole body, becoming larger as the DEVS multiply, until their own numbers mingling with the torn tissues form pus, when they suppurate and become extremely irritable. Encased in the compass of the pustule, they attack the surround- ing cells ; the ANGS defend their great master ; a battle ensues, causing the most aggravating itching ; and the life of the patient depends solely upon the energy of the ANGS ; and this, in turn, is directly related to the vigor of the health. Here again we see the work of an evil intelligence. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLV. Malaria — Wherever certain DEVS are able to find the combinations of heat, moisture and vegetation, they thrive and become the poison known as malaria. The removal of decaying vegetation, such as grasses and weeds, carries these DEVS away ; but the burning of the green weeds, which are of DEV-growth, is a sure prevention of the further formation of malarial influences. I have known of communities where this law has been observed, and malaria was completely destroyed. They spring from vegetation, first causing the cells of the plants or weeds to become rotten, then escaping in fuller growth to seek their abode in man. Thus far we have learned of DEVS which attack the intestines, the stomach, the skin, the lungs, the throat, and the brain ; now we have those which lodge in the liver, travel to the stomach on the bile, and go into the general system, causing chills, fevers, congestion, and sometimes death. Like the DEVS of consumption and hydrophobia, they serve no purpose for the good of the world, and exist merely to kill or injure the human race. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLVI. Sores. — The ulcers, tumors, cancers, and similar sores which infest the DEVS AND ANGS. 176 body are known to all recent investigators to be filled with millions of DEVS in every drop of their contents ; and, indeed, all pus is so composed. Many of these sores are undoubtedly the results of disobedience to the moral laws; but I have carefully examined the question as to whether they were created solely as means of punishment, and am satisfied that their origin is in no way connected with the sins of which they take advantage. They existed before the com- mission of the sins, they may be transmitted without reference thereto, and the innocent suffer as readily as the guilty. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLVII. Scrofula — This is a transmission of DEV-germs from an ulcerated or cancerous ancestor. They are life-long companions to the blood ; and, at any time when the tissues of the body become weakened, owing to a decreased vitality and the reduction of the army of ANGS, the scrofula DEVS take possession, form lumps, sores and ulcers ; and make life miserable. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLVIII. Intermarriage. — Tissues are weakened by the marriage of blood- relations; and, as nearly all blood carries some of the scrofula-DEVS of a beloved ancestor, little pimples, sores, white-heads, black-heads, and ulcers are sure to appear. Nor do they depend upon the intermarriage of human beings in order to develop scrofulous humors. I have given special atten- tion to the study of breeding, more particularly swine, but sufficiently to satisfy me that cattle follow the same law. I find that some hogs and cattle consort with their closest relations, and that the meat of their offspring is sure to load the blood of those who eat it with humors, appearing on the face as pimples, and even causing ulcers and running sores. A certain lawyer who purchased and ate swine thus reared, was accidentally bruised at the ankle ; a sore formed ; it would not heal; the leg became endangered; and amputation followed. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLIX. Erysipelas and Blood-poisoning. — The whole science of surgery, as well as its practice, has been revolutionized by the discovery of the fact that the open wound, when exposed to the air, is sure to become the feeding ground 176 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME FIVE. of bacteria. I knew a butcher in perfect health, who was wounded in the leg by a falling knife. He paid no attention to it, although the application of an antiseptic wash would have removed all danger. In a few days he died of blood-poisoning. If we scratch a humor and expose it to the air, erysipelas is apt to set in; and the watery fluid of this condition, is known to contain DEVS. These dangers may befall the stoutest and healthiest. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLX. DEVS In Vegetation. — We might pursue the study of man's evil spirit through the process of other diseases ; but enough has already been adduced to show that there is an agency at work at every hand, designed to destroy life, and, more than that, to cause untold misery and horrors to many an innocent victim who had transgressed none of the laws of life, of Nature, or of God. It might be supposed that the evil spirit would stop here ; but the facts are overwhelmiogly otherwise. In the world of vegeta- tion, lurk poisons of every variety and degree of virulence. The mush- room is imitated by the toad-stool, and hundreds of lives have paid the penalty of the mistake. Warlike nations have had the kind services of these DEVS in their plan to kill one another. All of them are useless as medicines, and none serve any good purpose. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXI. Weeds — Man plants his garden and goes away to let it mature. On returning, he finds only a mass of weeds. The DEVS have been there; their home is among the weeds ; they will choke out every flower, fruit, vine and plant that bears good to the human race. They are merciless, relentless, active and determined. What a hopeless struggle there would be for ex- istence, if man were unable to fight down these enemies. Now tell me what brings weeds into the garden, what brought them into the world, what pur- pose they serve, and you will have answered the first great question of the birth of man. Too long has the answer been, — they teach man to labor. This determines nothing. It is not philosophical. In all ages the man who reaps the greatest benefit from the tilling of the soil does the least work. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. DEV8 AND ANOS. 177 LESSON CCLXII. Insects. — Of all the tortures of a light nature which surround man, are those committed by the flj, gnat, flea, mosquito, and other small insects. They show no mercy to the sick, the aged, or the helpless sufferer. They irritate the peaceful and arouse in all a hatred of Nature for permitting such pests to have existence. It is said that they protect man ; but facts of recent date prove this to be wholly untrue. Man is compelled to protect himself from them where he can ; but when he is too poor they irritate him by day, and poison his blood by night. They carry on their surfaces multi- tudes of bacteria, and may inflict a fatal case of blood poisoning whenever they light upon an exposed wound or scratch. In every sense of the word, they are the mortal enemies of our race. The claim that they eat putrefy- ing food, that would otherwise poison the air we breathe, has been exploded. I know that they attack the ANGS whose great office is to devour such food, or else set it chemically free; and, if no flies existed, the bacteria would the more quickly dispose of the rotten carcasses, and putrefaction. Even in the earth, where no flies can come, the decaying bodies are all set free as chemical elements by bacteria, who work to disadvantage. I have placed two pieces of meat in adjoining rooms in summer, with all conditions equal , except that flies are admitted to one room and barred from the other. In the latter case the bacteria made more rapid work with the putrefaction. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXIII. Milk. — The first food of human life is milk; and it is the first to suc- cumb to the invasion of DEVS. There was a time when popular notions controlled science ; among them being the idea that thunder, lightning, or some similar agency caused milk to become sour. The presence of bacteria is sufficient of itself to sour milk, and exposure to the air or to the surface of cans or receptacles that have been exposed to the air, will cause milk to sour. Take a jar that has been scalded thoroughly, so as to kill the DEVS cling- ing to its sides, and seal the milk within it, and it will not sour, even in a thunderstorm. On the other hand, permit even one bacillus to enter it, and in a few hours the microscope will show an enormous progeny. I have noticed that DEVS are more abundant than ANGS in the milk, the propor- tion l)eing nine to one. I have also noticed that, after a thunderstorm, the 12 178 HOME C0TJB8E IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME FIVE. ANGS are less numerous in certain localities, that seem to mark the path of the electric fluid. It may be that they are slain by the lightning, or driven to other parts, or absorbed in the flashes, or separated to their elements ; but it is a fact that something has occurred to them. It is quite probable that the DEVS are left free to attack milk or other food, and thus account for the change produced by thunderstorms. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXIV. Poisonous Effect of Lightning. — Some people believe that a thun- derstorm clears the air, burns up the poisons, and makes the conditions more healthful. If any person will carefully examine the facts he will find that two causes operate to purify the air: one is the usual change to a cooler quarter, the other the cleansing effect of falling rain. As against these good offices, is the rank poison of electricity. Now I do not wish to assert that all electricity is alike; I simply say that atmospheric-electricity is poisonous. It removes in 'some way the ANGS that befriend man ; but does no harm to DEVS. It increases putrification, as well as turning milk sour under certain conditions. It leaves both an odor of decay in the air of a closed house, through which it has passed and an oppressive feeling, which is perceived by those who enter, and have not been affected by the fluid itself ; while persons struck by lightning, if they revive, always complain of nausea and a bad odor. Not only because lightning has felled trees, destroyed innocent life, and inflicted injury to all kinds of creation, do I deem it an enemy ; but, for the reason that it is the friend of the little DEVS, I assert that it is the spirit of evil, consorting with evil for perni- cious ends. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXV. Cheese. — When made from fresh milk, just from the cow, and with its cream, there is no better food for man. Any other kind of cheese is unfit to eat. It seems that, under varying conditions, there are several species of DEVS which make their home in this strange mass of attraction. Hold a piece to your nose; — the familiar smell of the fresh, pure cheese is still there. In a few days it begins to get "old." The odor has changed and a certain "fragrance," appreciated by those whose appetites have become DEVS AND ANGS. 179 vitiated, now drives out the original purity. It is "strong." Its peculiar flavor is due to the filthy excretions of bacteria. Take up any book that shows the experiments of microscopists, and you will find abundant proofs of this ; or, better still, procure a microscope of your own, and look at the green spots that are supposed to make "green cheese" valuable, and you will see these germs very clearly. What is called blue milk is caused by these DEVS ; as is also the phenomena of bleeding bread, or the superstitious miracle of the " bleeding host." Ask any owner of a microscope to let you satisfy yourself, or else seek information from the governmental authorities of any country, if you care to obtain the fixed facts. In Limburger cheese the soft or fluid mass is a graveyard of dead aud dying DEVS, with multi- tudes of living ones. A man might as well devour the pus of ulcers as this filth. It is true that he gets the same ingredients in either case, and that they do not harm him except in the way mentioned in the next lesson. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXVI. Ferment- DEVS. — Nothing can be more clearly settled than that fermentation is merely a certain kind of bacterial growth ; without which nothing could ferment. In the simple stages the DEVS are large and easily watched. They are not ANGS, but out and out DEVS. For this reason alone it is a natural law that fermented liquors are mild poisons. As soon as they enter the stomach in the form of wine, cider, or beer, they are absorbed into the blood and travel to all parts of the body. What ensues ? DEVS like DEVS; ANGS like ANGS; ANGS and DEVS dislike each other. This is always true. When the invaders, travelling in the blood, seek to lodge in any cell or tissue, their old time, eternal enemies repel them; but to do this a pitched battle is necessary. All through the body the excitement runs high, the face is flushed, the blood is erratic, and a momen- tary feeling of exhilaration pervades the senses. Soon the invaders are expelled, the excitement subsides, and the weary tissues seek rest. A col- lapse follows. No special harm has been done, except as appears in the next lesson. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays,'' at the end of Tome Ten. ISO HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME FIVE. LESSON CCLXVII. Bacterial Battles. — A few ounces of fermented liquor taken daily into the body can do no harm, unless the ruin of inferior parts of the body is considered harm. Thus, in the general circulation of the blood, there are parts where the ferment-DEVS obtain a foothold, and are not as easily expelled. The nose is one of them. In a few weeks or months little white pustules form in the pores of the nose; and have come to stay; but the end of the nose is the seat of a very quiet war, the only indication of which is an occasional itching. Look in the mirror daily, and you will find the nose becoming slightly inflamed by the excitement, and its redness never gets less. There is no remedy for an alcoholic nose. So in other parts of the body of a very, very moderate wine drinker, there are deposited similar DEVS who do not come there for a merely temporary residence. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays,' ' at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXVIII. Alcohol-DEVS More than twenty years ago I delivered a lecture before a temperance organization of which a Mr. Flynn was president ; in which lecture I stated certain results of a scientific investigation, calculated to startle those who heard them. The lecture was repeated there and else- where, and there are many living to-day who recall it. I state this to show how long my mind has been impressed with the fearful truths from which I have never had occasion to swerve. Then and now the one law was and is presented : that fermentation is bacterial multiplication, and alcohol is the winged escape of the spores. I know that this idea is new to science, as it was twenty years ago when I first publicly stated it ; but I beg to submit my proofs, and shall state only the facts that are well known to all scientists, leaving the conclusion as the only thing neio. In other words I will draw my conclusion from well established facts ; and will show that it is the only conclusion possible. Nothing can be more important to mankind than this investigation. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays" at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXIX. Science I will quote from a well known author (the celebrated Pasteur): "Fermentation may be considered from two points of view — first, as merely a chemical process which is started by the products of micro- DEVS AND ANGS. 181 organisms ; second, it may be looked upon as due to the action of living cells, special fermentation being induced by special organic forms." These cells are composed of a granular protoplasm surrounded by a definite envelope. When these vesicles or cells are watched during their development, growth and multiplication, there may be seen, at or near one or the other extremity of each, small protoplasmic bodies, which are projected beyond the general out- line of the cell, and which gradually but surely increase in size. Ultimately there is a constriction, more or less marked, between the original cell and the bud, and the bud grows to the size of the parent cell ; the same process is repeated time after time, until there is formed a chaia or series of ellipsoidal or rounded yeast-cells. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXX. Brewing. — Let us see what takes place in brewing, a process which, though uQtil recently incompletely understood, has long been carried on, on an enormous scale in most northern countries. Malt is barley in which a certain proportion of the starch of the grain has been converted into sugar by the process known as " malting." This consists essentially in moistening the grain several times, keeping it at a temperature high enough to promote its sprouting, during which a substance called diastase is developed as the result of the vital activity of the cells in the germinating grain which acting on the starch converts it into sugar. As soon as this takes place the sprout- ing is stopped by raising the temperature and then by drying the grain to kill the young plant and so prevent further sprouting. To obtain a fer- mentable liquid, a solution of the sugar and of the other soluble constituents of the malt is made in hot water; this is allowed to cool. A certain quan- tity of "high" yeast is then added to the solution, and during the process of fermentation the temperature may be increased. After a time little bubbles of carbonic acid gas are seen to rise, the yeast increases in quantity and gradually rises to the surface, whence it is skimmed off, and may be again used to set up fermentation, if still pure. The fluid becomes bright, clear and sparkling (from the presence of carbonic acid), and contains a certain proportion of alcohol ; whilst the sugar, if the fermentation has been properly carried on, has almost entirely disappeared. This is what is known as "high yeast" fermentation. It goes on most readily at a comparatively 182 E03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME FIVE. high temperature, and the yeast rises to the surface as it is formed, bringing up with it a certain proportion of the impurities contained in the liquid, the heavier particles falling to the bottom. The process goes on rapidly, but unless great care is taken it is said that there is a danger that impurities may get in and that secondary fermentations may be set up, though this is a posi- tion now scarcely tenable in these days of India Pale Ales. For Essaj-s on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Teu. LESSON CCLXXI. Low Ferment. — The "low" fermentation is brought about by a ferment which acts more slowly, at a much lower temperature, and through the agency of yeast-cells that sink to the bottom as they are formed. This fermentation of beer must be allowed to go on at a certain temperature, and the fluid is not completely ripened until the end of about fourteen days. This low temperature is maintained in the small breweries by inverted cones of metal, containing ice, which are allowed to float in the fermenting liquid ; they are kept constantly supplied with ice, and the number used is regulated according to the temperature of the external air. In the larger breweries the same results are obtained by passing currents of purified cool air over the surface of the fermenting tanks, which, as a rule, are underground, so as to allow of the temperature being maintained at an extremely equable level. Formerly all beer was made by the high fermentation process, a system that still prevails in England, but in Germany, Austria, and Scanda- navia, and also in France, the low fermentation has almost entirely ousted the high form. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXXII. Spores. — At one time it was supposed that there was no development of spores ; but, thanks to the researches of Reess, by whom the presence of spores within the cells of certain forms of fermentation was demonstrated, and to those of Hansen, who was able to confirm their observations as regards spore formation, and also to demonstrate the presence of typical chain- mycelia, as well as of the budding form, these organisms have been put into a separate family, and the question of the existence of spores has been settled. They are of the vegetable class, as are all disease germs of every JDEVS AND ANGS. 183 class. The next great fact is already known : that is the habit of spores when attacked by heat or cold. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXXIII. Spore-habits — The purpose of the spore is to protect the life it bears. No greater proof of minute intelligence has ever been shown. If we attack by heat or cold certain cells or bacteria, each will instantly form a spore, into which its powers of endurance are stored ; and, when a favorable opportunity occurs, the spore will send forth the cell-life again. In scientific works true spores are described as " special protoplasmic cells, which are first developed in the mother cells, and are then surrounded by a very thin, but hard and dense membrane. It is this dense covering that protects the delicate protoplasm within, against the action of the numerous destructive influences to which the spore is exposed. Thus cholera germs will survive the cold ; and lodged as spores in frozen water, will reappear as cells at a warmer date. Some spores are killed at a moderate high temperature ; others are able to stand a boiling heat in dry air. Moisture and heat are most fatal to them ; for which reason a good steaming is the best known process of disinfection. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXXIV. Nature of Spores. — A bacterial germ, capable of becoming the agent of death, may be attacked by heat or cold, and compelled to form a spore. If the germ itself has caused considerable difficulty to discover and study it, the tiny spore (or nucleus, as we called it in our lesson on the amoeba) would naturally be more difficult to investigate ; and so it is, but its nature is quite well understood. While it is a part of the cell, it is unlike it in one chief respect — its intensity or vitality is greater. This would naturally follow, as it carries the concentrated vitality of the whole cell. Now to review : Science tells us that fermentation is organic life. Science tells us that each organism in the fermentation may form a spore. Science tells us that the spore is of greater intensity than the organism from which it is concentrated. 184 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME FIVE. Science tells us that a moderate heat will set free the spore-part of the cell. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXXV. Spores in Distillation. — If a moderate degree of heat is applied to ferment-cells, the spore is set free and rises, leaving the dead protoplasm of the original cell behind. This is called distillation, or the separation of alcohol, in a more or less pure condition. As we had a right to expect, we find that alcohol is of a more intense vitality than the ferment from which it is taken. It holds the same relation to fermented liquors that the vitality of the spore holds to the vitality of the entire cell ; or that concentration holds to the mass from which it has been concentrated. If a man drinks fermented liquor he deposits a very small number of DEVS in his body, but they are cell-DEYS, and, in a limited quantity, are harmless, except as to discolora- tion of the nose, which cannot be said to affect the general health. But if he drinks alcohol, he deposits in his body the spores of the ferment-cells. Any man who would deny this must understand that it is as clearly settled to-day as that we live, that there can be no fermentation without organic life called DEVS, and that there can be no alcohol without fermentation. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXXVI. Brain Images — When the spores, or alcohol come into the body, they excite the enmity of the ANGS, and a battle ensues, as in fermentation. The brain is the freest battle-ground, and the powers of thought are inter- ferred with in the cerebrum, the powers of muscular control in the cerebel- lum, and the involuntary acts proceeding from the medulla. During the battle the man is said to be drunk. At length the DEV-spores are ejected, or else they are scattered throughout larger areas of the body where they keep up a constant irritation. It is rarely ever true that all are ejected, even in the moderate use of alcohol. But, when the quantity is increased, a permanent excitement remains. An affiliation occurs between the DEV- Atoms and the alcoholic DEVS, by which a "desire " for a greater affiliation is created, and the habit known as alcoholism ensues ; growing on itself ; and ultimately demanding more spores, or disrupting the harmony of the system in ca*e of denial. At length the spores crowd every nook and DEVS AXD AKGS. 185 corner of the body of the victim and make themselves manifest in the blood, brain and senses. From this source arises the well-known brain images. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXXVII. Optical Contortions. — Something cannot come from nothing. A man sick with fever, whose brain sees horned images within itself, but which appear to be in the space about him, is not visited by spirits from another world. They are in his brain, either along the optic nerve, or in that part of the brain which interprets the sense of sight. So, when he hears strange sounds, they are delusions of hearing. A man suffering from the horrors of delirium tremens, often sees images larger than himself, which he supposes to be before him, not in him. That they are in him is not disputed. Two most important facts now appear. First, the object seen is an actual snake, dragon, or whatever it may be, lodged in the brain, undoubtedly smaller than even the smallest microscopic DEV. Second, the brain is proved to be a greater magnifier than the most powerful microscope ; for this spore-DEV, under such an instrument, would look exceedingly small when seen at all ; while, in the brain it is magnified to dimensions that are comparatively enormous. Although several intricate problems are involved in this fact, the principle is of vast importance to philosophic science. It attracted my attention more than twenty years ago, and led me to believe that the power of the optic nerve could discern the indivisible Atom. It also proves that the brain generates Pul-glow, and furnishes its own photographic light ; for I have evidence from many drunkards that they see snakes and dragons as well in a dark room as in broad day light. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXXVIII. Alcoholic Intelligence. — I believe all matter capable of action, to have intelligence. Few things are more active than alcohol. I consider it the invention, or rather out-growth, of that influence of evil which has been so thoroughly proven in this Tome, to exist on every hand. If the hydro- phobia-DEVS are cunning enough to select man's dearest animal friend as an agent by which to attack his life and happiness, it is not improbable that a more subtle species of these messengers of the arch-enemy should 186 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOWIE FIVE. select man's appetite by which to invade his body, destroy his usefulness, his mind, his happiness, and his life. Turn any way we please, every portal of the body is open to the attack of this enemy, through some species of its greater self. It is not accident, it is not a blind law, it is not an im- pulse of nature, it is not a rule of health, it is not for the welfare of man or the consistency of life; it is a deliberate, defined, fixed and relentless pur- pose to make man miserable, to rob him of joy, and to shorten his oppor- tunity for preparing himself for the better life to come. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXXIX. Philosophy of Evil In the food he eats, the water he drinks, on his skin, at his lips, clinging to his teeth, lodged in his throat, hiding in the lungs, lurking in the stomach and intestines, traveling in the blood, are DEYS. He cannot get rid of them ; his only hope is to escape their assaults, by his friendly affiliation with the ANGS. In these little messengers of divine good- will, lies man's only safety. If the DEVS were only in larger shape, as in wolves, lions, tigers, and beasts of prey, he could fight them in open warfare, and know his chances hour by hour. But the evil one is far too subtle to expose his deadly agents. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXXX. Hidden Evil. — Wanton cruelty is a hard term. Nature is the child of forces, not their parent. The good and bad come into being, side by side, and struggle for supremacy. A child is attracted to the rose ; its petals are finely colored, clustering in an array of beauty that no human skill can equal ; to the eye it is of velvet softness, sweet and lovely ; its fragrance is exquisite perfume ; so the child, innocent of the rule of life, clutches eagerly at it. The hidden thorn, lurking close beneath the radiant flower, pierces the flesh of the hand that sought to claim it. This is wanton cruelty. It is not a law of mercy. It is far from the law of justice. No element of protection demanded the exercise of cruelty. It teaches no lesson, except to shun the beautiful things of life. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. r>EVS AND ANGS. 187 LESSON CCLXXXI. The Porcupine. — A man pursuing a porcupine received a shower of quills. Each quill was barbed, so that the sharp end pricked its way into the flesh, while the barbs held it from being withdrawn. He pulled at them, but in vain. The very fact of his pulling, and the mere action of the circu- lation of the blood, caused the quills to move; and they could move but one way, — toward the vital parts of his body. Such is the construction of the quills of this malicious creature, that, unless they are torn out of the flesh by hard force, they will work to the interior of the body and destroy its life. It may be argued that this is but a natural means of defence; all creatures being kindly provided by Nature with some such means ; but the claim is not true. A porcupine, under attack, is no safer when it throws barbed quills, than it would be if it threw merely pointed ones. Its safety or danger is determined at the time of its conflict with man, not when he goes home to suffer the tortures of a long and deadly agony while the implements of defense are working their way to his heart. Nor is the life of the porcupine of any use to mankind, or Nature. For Essays on this suliject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXXXII. Venom — In collecting data from a thousand sources I am surprised at the frequency of the attack of snakes upon human life. We hear but little from them in our more civilized or thickly settled communities, and therefore do not realize that there is such a danger. To us, perhaps, the story of the Rattlesnake, the Moccasin and the Copperhead, is one that is read only in books ; but the venomous reptiles have slain their quota of innocent beings. A more cruel or unjust death cannot be imagined. Instead of defending themselves by this supposed attack they invite the hatred of mankind and make their own extinction a necessity. Nor is their bite a momentary means of defence. Its fatality appears many hours afterward, not when given. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXXXIII. Neutrality of Venoms. — A man who has been bitten by a deadly snake, is able to drink all the alcohol you can pour into his stomach, without showing the slightest symptoms of intoxication. All doctors who have 188 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME FIVE. treated patients of this kind, know that a gallon of whiskey can be taken into the system, without fear of making the person drunk. One medical work says; ^'You may fill him with whiskey, then let him swim in it, and it will not make him drunk so long as the poison of the snake remains in the system. This is about the only thing that whiskey is really good for." The poison of the snake is a venom filled with DEVS, who increase rapidly and emit a poison in their excretions. Whiskey, or any alcohol, consists of spores loaded with another species of DEVS. In the conflict that occurs, one species neutralizes the other, and thus the ANGS are enabled to come in and expel both. Many lives have been saved on this principle. So when meat, or other matter that may decay, is placed in alcohol, no DEVS from without or within dare attack, and the substance is preserved. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXXXIV. Natural Dangers. — Apart from the efforts of an evil influence to slay man, he is in the way of many natural dangers. There are blind forces at work all about us ; and one who attempts to interfere with them must expect to place himself within the reach of their operations. The difference between a DEV-danger and a blind danger is this : the former seeks, by its own intelligence to destroy man ; the latter destroys him only when he places himself in its way, and is called a natural danger. It may, in every instance, be turned into account as an agent of usefulness for man's welfare. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXXXV. Purpose of Lightning. — I am satisfied that lightning is not a blind force, but an intelligent expression of evil. There are many reasons for believing this, that need not be stated at this time. On the other hand I believe that phospho-electricity and vital electricity are agents of a beneficent purpose, at war with the larger fluid, called lightning. This question prop- erly belongs to another field of discussion. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXXXVI. Beasts of Prey It is said that wild beasts as a rule do not attack man, except in self-defense, or to satisfy their hunger. The facts are BEVS AND ANGS. 189 not quite as satisfactory as we would wish to find. It is certain that, when wild beasts have once tasted human flesh, they prefer it to all other kinds of food ; and kill wantonly to obtain it, although other food may be more conveniently near. Another fact is that such beasts prefer solitude when not hungry ; but, as they are generally hungry, man is nearly always in danger. The great fact is, they exist. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the eud of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXXXVII. Origin of Animals. — Enough evidence from geology is at hand to prove conclusiv^ely that, when the earth was young, it teemed with an immense exuberance of life. Its excess has almost entirely disappeared. Where has it gone? In the morning of the world trees were gigantic, leaves and foliage grew to enormous size ; and animals were giants in stature, and superabundant in numbers. A luxuriance of growth that would be the marvel of Nature at the present day, then filled this planet. The vegetable-cells are to-day less, and animal life is reduced. Were plants then poisonous, and animals beasts of prey ? In the struggle of vegetation to gain the supremacy, the good succeeds ; but, among animals, the savage species easily overpower their mild and peace-loving opponents. What chance has a horse against a ravenous wolf clinging at his throat; or a cow against a tiger ? For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCLXXXVIII. Evolution of Beasts. — If mild and savage animals peopled the earth together, the latter must soon have conquered the former, except in rare districts. If the more savage species were first to appear, the tamer kinds could not have been evolved, for two reasons: the tendency of all wild animals is to retain their savage natures, even under cultivation by gentle methods; and, as soon as milder species appeared, they would have been destroyed by their enemies. If the gentle animals came on earth first, the savage might have been evolved from them, for it is the tendencv of tame animals to become wild when left to themselves. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 190 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE FIVE. LESSON CCLXXXIX. Evil in Evolution. — If the doctrine of diversity is true, there are germs of all kinds of life everywhere present in the earth and in the air ; and need only the mere opportunity to grow, in order to appear ; so that, if every species were extinct to-day, or could be annihilated as by fire, all of them would re-appear as soon as the conditions favored their growth. If, on the other hand, the doctrine of evolution is true, the mild, gentle, tame creatures designed as the companions of man, must have preceded the savage beasts. In either case the doctrine of evil remains equally intact ; for, under the theory of diversity, good and evil come to earth hand in hand, the one from a beneficent source, the other from an evil origin; while, under the theory of evolution, the good precedes and the evil follows. We cannot get away from this ever pursuring spirit of bad. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXC. Primitive Man. — Evil is an energy that cannot die. We are forced to the conclusion that creation is diverse, and that species are not evolved from a single original kind. Man must have come upon the earth as a primitive being, quite different from that nobler type now seen ; but the evolution has been confined to his own development from a less to a more cultured state. The most extended claim of Darwin goes no further than to prove a modification of incidental parts of the structure confined to a single type. Nor does he furnish the slightest evidence of any modification which bridges two species ; while, on the other hand, the pages of his book abound in proof of the fact that sterility bars the crossing of species; show- ing the intent of Nature to maintain the law of diversity. For Essays on this subject, see ' ' Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXCL Order of Creation. — All species of all classes of created beings were ready to begin life at one and the same time ; each awaiting only the condi- tions that favored their appearance. It would, therefore, be necessary for vegetation to first gain a secure foothold on the earth ; not only to provide the necessary food for the creations that followed, but also to adopt itself to the natural conditions that appeared. At this time the germs of all the species of life were ready to begin growth, but the opportunity was lacking. DEVS AND ANGS. 191 So, for millions of years, vegetation flourished alone on the planet. The water became at length suited to its life, causing fish to appear; the air was favorable for birds; the earth for animals, all species being produced at once, the savage slaying the gentler kinds, the latter continually re-appearing until man came to protect them. For Essays ou this subject, see "Rules I'or Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXCII. Suffering of Primitive Man. — There can be no doubt, whether we obtain our evidence from the Bible, from science, or from nature, that all kinds, races and types of humanity were launched forth upon the earth at one and the same time, and as the last division of life that was to appear. The cruelty of creation may be understood from the vestiges that now re- main. Instead of the few races that seem supreme, there may have been hundreds, all warring and jumbling against each other and brute creation ; killing without thought of mercy ; tearing, rending, torturing, in the mad effort to preserve life ; and filling the air with one continual round of shrieks that circled the globe. Any man who will take the trouble to study the history and habits of the tribes that occupy the earth at the present day, will be convinced that good and bad, weak and strong, slayers and slain made the kaleidoscopic story of a horrible past. Had man been exterminated countless times, the diverse germs of all his species would have taken root as often in the soil of existence, and kept him in his place as the pet creature of the universe. Tor Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXCIII. Evolution and Diversity. — Of the possible hundreds of types of primitive man, all but five have disappeared. The seons of time have wit- nessed the reduction of diverse creation. Evolution teaches the constant variation of species and the development of kinds, thus multiplying differ- ences. Diversity teaches the opposite, or the reduction of differences, tend- ing to the final sole supremacy of man. Under evolution there must be sub-divisions, or extinction. Under diversity man is the focus of the centralization of existence. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 192 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE FIVE. LESSON CCXCIY. Deathless Energy. — Geology tells us that whole species have become absolutely extinct ; that the gigantic beasts of earlier periods are without representation at the present time. The intelligence that made up the mass of being lias not been lost. Somewhere in beast or man that deathless energy still lives. To determine its nature we must apply the principle of good or evil, that which serves man is good, that which serves him uot is evil. Earlier creation was the inspiration of wickedness, as far as savage life was concerned ; and that energy, when so much of it was annihilated, reappeared in man. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXCV. Brute Origin. — Bacteriology teaches us that the enemies of man, in small life, are first the tenants of beasts. The Bible account of creation, as well as both nature and science, agree that beasts preceded man in the order of time. The energy of evil in man is clearly of brute origin, and it is equally clear that evil arises from brute energy. The two dividing forces of the universe, while passing through vegetable protoplasm, became sepa- rated in lower animal life; the evil becoming concentrated in the brute, while the good passed on to a fairer type of vegetation. Had man never tasted fleshj I doubt if he would have ever sinned. The shape of his stomach and his ready assimilation of meat prove his present adaptation to flesh as a food ; but these are evolved from a vegetable condition. If there is a personal devil, he must have tempted man through flesh as the forbidden fruit. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXCVI. Philosophy of Cruelty. — Desiring to adjust all nature to God, theo- logians have, in all ages, asserted that the dangers of life are warnings to men to turn from their sins. The effect of the warning has been to caution men against the consequences of sin ; the consequences have all and always pointed to punishment ; and the punishment has been declared to be a consignment to the power of evil, even to a personal devil. When the children scoffed at Elijah, they were turned over to the devil, who appeared in the form of bears. Take punishment for sins out of our creed, and the DEVS AND JA^GS. 193 evil oue must be discontinued. Remove this evil one, or the agency for evil, or the intelligence which originates all the cruelties of life, and you must remove every form of creation that works ill to man. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON ccxcvir. Crimes of Nature. — I do not believe that God created the savage natures of wild beasts, for they are the enemies of peace, of good-will to men, of happiness; I do not believe that He created the poisons of vegetable growth, which aim the arrows of their malice at the heart of man ; I do not believe that He created the bacteria which, at every opportunity, seek ad- mission to the sacred temple of life in order that they may swarm in the vitals of the body; I do not believe that the venom of reptiles is the gift of a divinely benign creator, calculated either to bring peace to man or to serve any purpose of chastisement. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXCVIII. The Extinction of Man. — We learn from a study of the earth that a flood at one time over-spread its surface, and long after it was fit for the habitation of man. The Biblical account seems verified both by geology, and by the fact that history goes back but a few thousand years. Man was practically annihilated. Had every person been destroyed, the germs of the races would have sprung from the protoplasm that abounds in all water; and the negro as well as the Caucasian would have re-apj^eared. If the billions of souls who dwelt on earth were drowned by the upheaval of new continents and the sinking of old, the act itself was either cruel, or wantonly cruel. It was cruel, if the race was guiltless. But if every man and woman had grown so bad that the whole race, excepting eight, deserved death, it was an act of wanton cruelty to create a race that must eventually be destroyed. Whichever way we look at it, a loving God could not, and did not conimit the act. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCXCIX. The Purpose of Creation. — The more we examine the complex re- lations of creation the more difficult becomes the problem of the origin of 13 194 E03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE FIVE. man, and the purpose in giving him being. With a disposition to be happy, he is not. Yearning for an escape from misery, he walks into the valley of its shadow throughout his life. When actually the happiest, he is the child of a fear that happiness forebodes sorrow. Instead of enjoying health, he must guard himself against exposure to disease, which, like a gaunt spectre, haunts him at every turn. In disease there is malice and wanton cruelty ; and the story of man is an epic of horrors. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCC. Double Creation. — I much prefer to believe the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, as to the origin of cruelty to man and his consequent misery. Not the traditions of history, but the facts of the world, as stated in the Book of Books, are most consonant with the truth as we view it. Cain did not marry his sister, and could not have married any person else, if creation was not diverse. The race was not, therefore, originated in one man and one woman. If God had power to originate the race, Satan was either permitted to overcome God's creatures, or else he had a defiant power. It is not possible that God permitted the ruin of his creations. The story of the misery and suffering of untold millions cannot be ascribed to the doc- trine of man's free agency; for, had the first two human beings averted their ruin, some descendant ere long would have fallen ; and the downfall of the race would have been a foregone conclusion from the si art. All through the Old and New Testaments, the assertion of a personal being, the arch-enemy of God and man, — is a fixed part of the writings and religion of the race. The belief in God stands or falls with those writings ; they must be accepted or God must be discarded ; if accepted, no man has a right to discard the plain assertion of a personal devil, under the pretense that it is a myth, an allegory, or a figure of immorality. A double influence has oper- ated in the act of creation. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCI. The Father of Devs. — Before accepting the conclusion of this Tome as your belief, it is strongly urged upon you to read three times every lesson in the Tome. Not only is the assertion of the Bible an absolute theological DEVS AND ANGS. 195 proof of the existence of a Father of Evil, but every fact of man's life and the existence which surrounds him, confirms the proof. On no other basis can we explain why we are as we are. This proof we shall carry along with us in the succeeding Tome. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. END OF TOME FIVE: THE DEVS AND ANGS. Special Notice. For rules regarding Certificates of Merit, Certificates of Honor, Graduation in Philosophy, and the winning of the Great Diploma, as well as the attainment of the Degree, see at the end of Tome Ten, the RULES OF GRADUATION. TOME SIX. EVIL. LESSON CCCII. Preponderance. — Which more abounds in the world, evil or good? People who are optimists prefer to believe what they do not know. In your answer to this, it is necessary to enter deeply into an examination of the facts, and lay feeling aside. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCIII. Relation of Evil to Good — The study of the moral side of these related principles is necessary to every thinking being. The chief occupa- tion of every philosopher and every great man has been the examination of the origin of evil and the value of good. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCIV. Investigated Facts Evidence of the condition of the world is far more important than the proof of argument, or the deductions of reasoning. What the world really is, is of far greater importance than what it may be or ought to be. " The world is growing better" is often said by those who either wish to think so, or who desire to be regarded as charitable and sympa- thetic. To arrive at conclusions based upon a knowledge of investigated facts, I have, for many years, studied people, and employed others to do so. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCV. Ever Present Evil. — The evil which we are now to discuss is not an attack upon man by the agencies of an influence which pervades the universe; but it is the presence of that influence in and as a part of man himself. In the preceding Tome we ascertained that a long and varied array of agencies were constantly assailing the life and happiness of man ; and this array may be called one of two classes of evil. The second is more serious, inasmuch as it constitutes man as a part of that evil itself whose agencies attack him. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. (196) EVIL. ig? LESSON CCCVI. Man his own Enemy. — If we consider a human being as that which is good, then the evil within is at enmity with the better })art. But if we regard him as that which is evil, then the good is his enemy. Thus, in accepted theology, the devil hates an angel ; and an angel is incapable of hatred ; while both are enemies, each to the other. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCVII. Double Man. — Man may, after all, be a double being. If he is the outcome of an effort to create goodness, with evil intruding in his makeup ; or, if he is a creature of wickedness, with the good sent to save and claim him ; or, finally, if he is an incongruous mass of conflicting elements, strug- gling for supremacy, each over the other; then he is a double being. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCVIII. Creation. — It is important to settle the purpose which caused his creation. Of what value is he to the universe? He cannot be the favored organism of an all powerful Divinity ; for he is the most unfortunate of beings, the unhappiest of creatures, the wickedest of animals. To have been created against his will, and then subjected to punishment for violat- ing laws which he is not able to understand, is proof positive of the mishap of his creation. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCIX. Incongruities The supernatural horror with which weak minded persons approach the discussion of the incongruities of religious tradition, does more harm to the cause of right than is easily imagined. God never intended to bridle men's thoughts, nor to hood them in ignorance. If religion is the supreme law of life, it is superior to all vicissitudes. Men may dis- cuss, dissect, abuse and bandy about the most sacred things of God, creation and eternity; and , on the principle of moral gravity, that which belongs to the top will find its status there without any doubt whatever. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 198 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SIX. LESSON CCCX. Associates. — We are unfortunate in our birth, and associated with misfortune all through life. We are double beings, at best composed of good and bad , weighted with mysteries as to why we were even created, and fears as to what our destiny may be. A religion that assumes man to be at defiance with his Creator is inhumane. Wherever the source of right may be, it pities the misfortune of our creation, and extends only the spirit of sympathy to those who err. Under these circumstances every man has the privilege of becoming an associate with the influences that control him. He defies no being in so doing ; but declares only his intention of dissecting the annals related to him of his past. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXI. Innate Religion. — All Scriptures are inspired by some degree of innate religion, born of man's moral instinct, which is the gift of God. So strong is this instinct that, if the human race and its writings were swept out of existence a thousand times, there would spring up in as many times, a perfected system of religion. If men and atheists to-day had no Bibles and no Christianity, every tenth person on the globe would, in the next three days, be employed in formulating a code of ethics, and rules for attain- ing the blessings of eternal life. This spirit is the foundation and sub- stratum of humanity. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXII. Fear. — I have no tolerance for the bigotry that pins the right of sal- vation to a belief in creeds, doctrines, or inspirations. Innate religion is superior to all ; and that excellent thing known as good common sense must some day join forces with such religion, and together with it enter upon a new crusade against wrong, leaving the posterity of superstitious fear far in the rear. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXIII. Errors The greatest book in the world is the Bible, whether as a religious or a literary work. Too much cannot be said in its favor ; and he EVIL. 199 who attacks it exposes only its humanity. Owing to the fact that many marginal notes of earlier copies have been proved to be now in the later text, and that errors of translation have caused diverging texts, each equally authentic on its face, we are not in a position to accept every line and word as infallible ; nor do the scholarly clergymen of any denomination. I once heard a well educated preacher quote a text that ninety-nine ministers out of every hundred in his denomination well knew it to be spurious; and, on being told that such was the case, he shouted : " I accept the Bible as it is, as it was taught to me in church and Sabbath-school, as my mother taught it to me from her knee ; and, when I come to die, I shall shout for the Bible, every chapter, verse, line and word, as I was taught it." His religion is a species of that kind which draws to its fold weak men and women, but bars out those who would be its abiding strength. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays." at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXIV. First Man. — The story of man's origin could not be told without myth. If the early account had begun with the point where human history properly begins, it would have served the purpose of Holy Writ. A mystery so deep as the origin of man, would not be given to the world in such an off-hand manner and by such a bungling process of so-called inspira- tion. God has wrapped this fact in the deepest mystery ; nor does any theological scholar, of whom there are thousands in the church, believe the account of creation to be more than a Jewish tradition, which had been told from parent to children, for many generations. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays" at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXV. Beginning of History. — I have carefully examined the whole sub- ject, and have collected evidences which are too numerous to be stated here, which convince me that the authentic writings of Scripture, commence at a certain period after the flood, and not at the so-called first chapter of Genesis. This period is at that jilace in the story, where human history properly begins. So important do I regard the evidences of this fact that I shall embody them in a subsequent work. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 200 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE SIX. LESSON CCCXVI. Myth. — The theological students either accept the Old Testament as Jewish sacred history, or, as an inspired work, except in so far as errors have crept in ; but no scholarly preacher believes the account of creation to be anything more than tradition, although of so strong a nature as to permeate the writings of the Jewish church. I believe that the writings of the Old Testament have been added to, over and over again ; and that the tradition of Adam was no part of the necessary religious belief of the early Jews. The persistency with which ignorant preachers defend everything and anything of this kind, drives the best men away from the church. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXVII. Living Proof. — Instead of relating the story of the creation of Adam, and the taking of his hone to form Eve, the whole narrative would have been better stated, by merely asserting that the human race exists, and there- fore must have had an origin. The creating of a single pair, the tempting of Adam and Eve, the driving of them from the Garden of Eden, unless the whole is a typical story, carry discredit on their face, and makes the Creator a being of very limited power, and His chief work a failure. It is not calculated to convince one of the omniscience and omnipotence of a Supreme God. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXVIII. Type of Man — A better type of n)an never existed than that which lives to-day. Instead of a perfect man in the dawn of the race, and a sub- sequent fall, the opposite must be the fact ; for there has been a steady aggression of civilization and morality through all the ages. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXIX. A Myth Necessary. — It was necessary for some religious leaders, in the ages of superstition, to account to their followers for the beginning of all things ; so the myth of Adam and Eve was added to Jewish history. All peoples have a tradition ; all religions originate in some account of man's origin ; and the steps which preceded the birth of human history, and of which man could not at any time have had the slightest knowledge, are yet EVIL. 201 included in all their definite details in the primitive chapters of superstition. Hence, a myth is the human part of religious history, and is necessary to satisfy the cravings of men ; but it offers no solution to the mystery of life, nor does it belong to the teachings of religion. For Essays on this subject, see '■ Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXX. Primitive Failure. — If the myth of Jewish tradition were to be translated into a plain statement of facts, the story would be faithfully re- peated as follows: God, a being of love, and omnipotent in every act, made this beautiful earth and clothed it with all kinds of life, adapted to the use, comfort and happiness of man. A portion of the planet w^as furnished in an array that paralleled Heaven, and so perfectly adorned in mountain, field, garden, lake and stream, that it was beyond speech in its lovliness : so it was called paradise. This display of wisdom and power was designed solely for the crowning work of creation, — perfect man ! For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXXI. Human Nature. — The glory of all this effort of millions of years came at last, and what was he? A piece of clay as full of human nature as any of us. Eve was his wife. Both were contented, happy, joyous, in- nocent. Yet Eve committed a sin grave enough to warrant the doom of all the millions of the human race that followed; Adam committed a crime that branded him as the betrayer of all mankind ; Cain murdered his own brother and married his own sister; and Abel, the only preserver of the laws of God, was not permitted to live. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten LESSON CCCXXII. Fallen Man. — It is puerile to argue that fallen man alone was sinful. Tlie first two human beings who ever lived, fell immediately, and at the very first opportunity. They did not go through the process of being tempted, of dallying with sin, of resisting to the last spell, and yielding only after a hard struggle ; but they proceeded at once to betray God and obey Satan. The whole family were a discredit to the race, and as bad a lot as could be found in the dregs of creation ; even Abel not having the alertness to defend his life and the religion he represented. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 202 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SIX. LESSON cccxxiir. Unity of Religion. — In the name of the best religion that has ever been given to mau, — Christianity and its Old Testament support, — I ask all who love their fellow beiogs to draw together in one large religious life, to unite under one creed, to discard myth and superstition, and to throw out of their belief, or demands for belief, the tradition that makes God a faulty creator. The line of demarcation is precise, and can be easily perceived. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXXIV. Factions. — I have led the discussion of DEVS through many pages of proof in the preceding Tome, and have indicated by what means I reach the conclusion that a special influence of evil is operating somewhere in the universe against man's happiness. Had I made the assertion without hav- ing offered the train of proof, the conclusion would have been open to dis- pute ; for no person has a right to set up claims based upon no apparent evidence, even if he is himself convinced of the truth of all that he states. There can be no doubt that two influences pervade the earth and solar system ; how far beyond they exert their power is not pertinent to this present Tome. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXXV. War in Space. — The evidence furnished by the Atoms of a ray of sunshine proves conclusively that there is war beyond the earth. The two classes of bacteria, known as DEVS and ANGS, are, even in cold science^ considered as evidence of the two influences affecting man's life and safety. We shall see in the pages of this Tome, that there are sufficient evidences now obtainable to prove the third step, or that man is a combination of the two influences. The origin of all this must be the war in space. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXXVI. Evidences of War in Space. — Accepting the fact, which we shall nevertheless proceed to prove, that man is doubly created, or a combination of the two influences of good and bad, let us examine the claim that war exists in space. In the first place the life of the planet feeds all the life on EVIL. 203 it, and itself is fed by all that comes to it from without and beyond. Man is a part of the earth, and the earth is a part of the universe. Evil and good are here, but they came from the universe. Man's double nature, the counter agencies ever present in growth, and the conflict of Atoms in the rays that are pouring upon the earth from the burning sun, are three facts, any one of which settles the question of war in space. Nor is there any evidence, belief or theory extant among men that contradicts the claim. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXXVIT. Two Influences in the Sun. — No scientist denies that our life comes from the sun ; all assert that, if the sun should be blotted from the sky for a brief period, all life on this planet would die. We are nourished con- stantly by the influences, direct and indirect, which come to us from the great center of our system. What we are, then, is of solar origin ; good and bad alike. This specific claim is also proved in the analysis of the Atomic structure of a ray of sunshine. The Dev- Atoms and Pul- Atoms are enemies. If they are enemies on earth, they are in space, and certainly in the sun. There is no escape from the conclusion that they represent the two influences which compose the sun's life. For Essays on this subject, see '' Rules for Essays, " at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON cccxxviir. ^A^a^ in the Sun. — Astronomers are practically agreed that the sun is not a solid mass, nor even molten matter ; but a gas passing through the throes of a terrible conflagration, or Atomic conflict. Under some peculiar religious instinct, many tribes worship the sun; and, in this, they are prob- ably nearer right than civilized man would suppose, while clearly wrong. If there are, as there are, two influences coming to us from the sun, and if these two influences stand for intelligence, both good and bad, then the two master forces of the universe are there engaged in a pitched battle. For Essays on this subject, see ''Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXXIX. God. — I have many reasons for believing that there are two forces in the sky, and some evidence pointing to others still. I am satisfied that but one God is the author of good ; and, in the lessons of this philosophy, I 204 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SIX. shall refer to Him as God ; believing in all the attributes ascribed to Him in the Old and New Testament. I am equally satisfied that there is a per- sonal arch fiend, at defiance with God, having attributes of great power, and capable of interfering with His purposes toward man. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXXX. The Evil One. — Through the remaining Tomes of this philosophy, I shall refer to him as the Evil One. He is as much a personalty as God, is as spiritual as He and as far related to the material. He is not a force, an essence, an operation of law relating to sin and its punishment ; but is as real as God Himself. You cannot discard one without discarding the other. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXXXI. Proof of the Evil One. — Before I shall have finished the lessons of this Tome I will prove in many ways the existence of the Evil One. At this place it is proper to refer to the conclusions of the Bible, although proof from that source is not in the least degree necessary to establish a fact that Nature proclaims in all her works. Until a very few years ago, no attempt was ever made to abolish the idea of a personal devil. Now it is a floating question ; but the drift of the churches is toward the idea that Satan is a superstitious fear. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXXXII. Conscience. — If any fact is stated and re-stated in the Bible with convincing clearness, it is the assertion of a personal devil. Of course it is more agreeable to those clergymen who prefer to sugar-coat their dogmas, for the relish of their parishoners, to believe that Satan is an inward fear, a tinge of conscience ; but, in so doing, they disbelieve the Bible, contradict Nature, and belie man. A clergyman may be misled by Theological Seminaries, and be partly honest in such belief ; but he must lay aside his Bible for all time to come. Even the revised version of the Lord's Prayer reads : " Deliver us from the Evil One," instead of "from evil;" and the original text leaves no doubt upon the matter. The turning and twisting of conscience does not satisfy the minds of our most scholarly theologians. I have talked with EVIL. 205 many of them, and find a prevailing belief in the text of the Bible as it is written, not as some prefer to interpret it. For Essays on this subject, see " Rviles for Essaj-s," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXXXIII. Dual Creators. — If it is true that two forces united in the creation of man, a single Being did not become responsible for his sinful condition. This union in creating was not a harmonious one ; but a conflicting meeting of the Atoms, Molecules, DEVS and ANGS, just as we know they exist in nature. It was a conglomerate mass of parts, representing two great forces; one of good, the other of evil. On no other basis can man be built. No other principle explains his dual nature. Taking up the Hebrew text we might almost expect to find the statement that not God but the gods created man. For centuries, the idea of one God has prevailed in translating the old Hebrew text, and the plural word elohim, meaning "the gods," is always read as God. It is not possible at this day to translate "gods" to any other word than God. The ending " im " in Hebrew is the same as our plural " s." Chei'uh is a singular word, cherubim is plural. Seraph is singular, seraphim is plural. Elohim is the only word in Hebrew used for the general term God ; yet it is singular in English translation, but always plural in Hebrew. To one reading the latter text, it is always "the gods created the heavens and the earth." Christ on the cross used the singular of this word, referring to His Father, the only good God. But Genesis says the (elohim^ gods created the heavens and the earth, if we read it in the text in which it was written. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the cud of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXXXIV. Pagan Gods. — In the height of civilization in Greece and Rome, all men were not bad. Great minds flourished. Ethics was taught and practiced. Yet the greatest of the world's intelligent men lived under a pagan regime, and believed in a plurality of gods. No other pathway led to salvation. Jove and Jehovah, while not ascribed to the same roots, sounded near each other ; one pagan, the other Hebrew. The idea of more than one god is, or has been, well nigh universal. Taking man for all in all ; taking the Bible as it reads ; taking the world as it is ; there is no conclusion so reasonable, so satisfactory, and so Biblical, as that man is the outcome of a war of forces. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 206 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SIX. LESSON CCCXXXV. Sun Battles. — Tracing backward in a succession of facts, it is less necessary to theorize. We will not now review this succession, but leave that for another line of investigation. The facts of life and Nature all point in one direction, like a concentration of roads leading to a central city : we are sure that the conflict in man, in Nature, in bacteria, in Atoms, in sunshine, originates not here but beyond. A telescope is not necessary to tell us that the sun is the seat of a tremendous conflict. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essa3'S," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXXXVI. Forces Beyond the Sun — Something cannot originate from nothing. The sun is but one of millions of similar bodies, all acting independently of each other, and all in a kind of harmony. Behind these representative con- flicts are forces that cause them. To the eye of man, scanning the field of the sky, it seems as if the sun was the author of all that is. Sun-worship is far more excusable than image-idolatry, for it is but one step removed from the great authors of our being. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXXXVII. Dual Intelligence — We are not so much the result of a creative hand as a part of it. We may be called the result of a conflict, but a part of the forces at war. For the time being, we will speak of these forces as two intelligences, one good and the other evil. The good leads to a settlement of the conflict of the universe, the bad to its opposition. In this war the minutest portions of matter are engaged in the purposes of the fight. Thus the Atoms of peace seek to deter, drive away and neutralize the power of the Atoms of war. The latter oppose that purpose. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXXXVIII. Indestructible Matter. — A war of elements must result at first in Atomic separation ; or, in other words, must prevent union in molecules and subsequent growth. This is the condition of the sun. Not a cell, nor a molecule exists there. All matter is reduced to its primary state, its first condition. Man is destructible, so are molecules, and all intermediate growth; but Atoms can never die. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. EVIL. 207 LESSON CCCXXXIX. Purposeless Atoms There is some reason for believing that the Atoms of peace are gradually overcoming the Atoms of war, and reducing them to a vegetabJe and mineral state, from which we obtain mechanical matter. If this is true it accounts for the lessened condition of life on earth, the diminution of food for man, and the more peaceful state of civilization. It points two ways : backward to a barbarous })ast, and for- ward to a less devilish earth, possibly to angelic man. At the least, it is food for thought ; being supported by all discoveries in Science and nature. The DEV- Atoms become purposeless in time, as they are robbed of their intelligence. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXL. Death of Satan. — We shall have occasion to adduce certain proofs through well known facts, to show that souls which are not fit for eternal peace are destroyed soon after death, their halos or soul shape being disin- tegrated and lost, while their Atoms are robbed of their Pul. In an earlier work this has been discussed. As Revelation predicts the ultimate destruc- tion of the devil, it is not at all uareasonable to assume that the life of man is a conflict which is being waged to that end. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXLI. Three Facts of the Universe — Accepting the fact that there are two intelligences at war in the universe, we are led to inquire how the dis- agreement came about, what parties are engaged in the conflict, and what was the origin of each. These are profound problems, although the facts which warrant the inquiries leave no doubt as to the general nature of the answers. There must be a power behind life. It cannot be a single, undisturbed power. It may be supreme, yet must be engaged in a battle of millions of years' duration, to throw ofl^ a lesser power that, as the Bible repeatedly states, is able to thwart its immediate plans. In briefer language : there is a power, it is supreme, it is being temporarily opposed. All religion, all life, all Nature, teach these three things; and no mind denies them or any of them. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 208 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE SIX. LESSON CCCXLII. Extent of Evil. — What the Supreme God is and what the Evil One is, belong to the study of Destiny in the last Tome. For the present, let us examine the extent of evil in this our life. No new idea can originate on earth, or in the mind or heart of man. All is repetition from a far broader source. "There is nothing new under the sun" may mean all that it says, and includes the greater fact that what is new is from, or from beyond, the sun. For Essays on this stibject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXLIIL Man Invents Nothing. — An invention is merely a discovery. The thing supposed to be invented, may be an idea, a process, or a bringing to light of a buried fact. We cannot believe that the desire or impulse to kill originated in man. It is but the expression of a purpose that has been aiming toward its consummation in the life of man for untold years. In the whole category of crimes that have infested the reign of the human race since its first inauguration, there is not one which man himself has invented, originated, or started in operation. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXLIV. The First War Marshalled in the sky to oppose a reign of peace, the hosts of the evil one dared only approach the armies of God on the frontier of space. Heaven itself is so far away that we cannot see it. The solar system is on the edge of creation, with millions of out-posts beyond, so grand is the architecture of space. It is here that the evil one dare make his battles. To protect the courts of Heaven, the armies of God have met the array of evil far from the central gates of creation. The armies are Atoms, for the reason that has been stated. Each Atom is an intelligent representation, charged with a purpose, good or bad. The very fact of meeting involves concentration and immediate conflict. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXLV. Origin of the Suns. — The intense activity in a sunbeam, which we call heat, and which is capable of destroying the blood corpuscles in man, or sun-stroke as it is called, present the faintest possible idea of the con- EVIL. 209 flagration now operating in the great orb of fire itself. That war is the meeting of the two armies of the sky. Their meeting is the fire which we call the sun. In no other way could the sun have originated. As the battle progresses the Atoms are scattered through space in the form of sunbeams which agitate all AE. The latter is the network of good Atoms which con- nect every orb of the sky with Heaven, and God with man. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXLVI. Earth is a Reflection of Other Life. — As we are, what we are, why we are, the forces of mind and matter must answer. The problem which most concerns us is how far we are responsible for our destiny ; how far our crimes are ours ; and what choice we have in the matter of sin and its results. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays" at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXLVII. Man and Evil. — The Evil One did not create us ; God did not create us. We are a combination of the essential life of each ; the aggregation of opposing influences, not the union of any. Which is superior is an open question ; which may become supreme is the only leading inquiry of life. No man can afford to relegate to the rear, a problem that more materially affects his earthly success than any other ; not to speak of happiness here or- hereafter. For Essays on this subject, see 'Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXLVILL Supremacy of Evil. — A subject that might well employ a thousand men to investigate, had, years ago, instigated me to seek the aid of others to collect facts and obtain evidences, calculated to shed light on man's nature. Is he in the possession of the Evil One, in whole or in part ? The facts of history are respectable proof of the surface nature of humanity. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON^ CCCXLIX. Man's Surface Nature — The outer appearance of so complex a being is decidedly against him. First, there is Jewish history. The good men are few in number; and, considering the fact that less than one person in a million is mentioned, and the majority of those mentioned are not good ex- 14 210 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03JE SIX. amples of virtue or morality, the retrospect is bad in the extreme. That the masses reeked in sin and crime may be learned from the following words from the sixth chapter of Genesis, commencing with the fifth verse : 5. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth ; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air ; for it repententh me that I have made them. Here we see a connection between the DEV-life of beasts and fowls, and that of man ; the former being a step in the process of the latter. After the race was destroyed, and a new one had spread over the earth, the wickedness of Sodom stood as a type of new man. The favored good man, Lot, with his wife and two daughters, furnish a study similar to the first quartette of beings. We have seen that Adam and Eve were traitors and heretics of the most wretched type, that Abel was not capable of sustaining the religion confided in him, and that Cain was a murderer. Now we learn that the second quartette of favored humanity was worse. Lot's wife com- mitted a sin that was severe enough to result in the forfeiture of her life ; Lot was a drunkard, and, with his two daughters, committed the horrible crime of incest, resulting in the birth of two bastard children. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCL. Humanity of Religious History. — The one fact which most stamps the Old Testament as a reliable and highly authentic book of records, is its marvellous human nature. It presents no polish of sentiment to cover the moral putrefaction of men, but goes to the sub-stratum of degredation, throws the filth to the surface, and allows the stench to permeate the atmos- phere of time. Had it painted man as a moral being, it would have encased him in a shell that must have coffined his nature ; and stamped the impres- sion of falsity on all history. No book ever written has so faithfully presented man as he is, as has the grand old history of the Jewish religion, tradition and all. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. EVIL. 211 LESSON" CCCLF. War If two beings occupied this planet, and had no companions, they would sooner or later discover one another. Broad as the earth is, they would be interested in each other's possessions, and take an inventory of the things that seem to be greater sources of happiness or comfort, than those belonging to the allotted domain of each. These things would be coveted, not because they are in fact better, but because they seem so, and therefore excite the desire to have them. Until the evil that is born in man's nature is taken out, there could be no adjustment of possessions. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLTI. The Social Problem. — We hear continually of what is called the social problem, and the demand for the re-adjustment of society, so that it may rest on the basis of equality. Such a problem is rooted in the construc- tion of man's life, and even the life of the earth. Two trees are not capable of equal growth, side by side, even under the same material advantages ; yet trees are of gentle disposition, and types of peace and good will. The earth is not large enough for any two persons. Even if all the comforts of life were distributed with equal favors, the dispute as to the size of the territorial possessions would precipitate war. The sun never sets on the British posses- sions, while Russia has more territory than she can rule ; yet the law of fear keeps them from further encroachments. There is no way of reforming the social relations until you reform the nature of man. Take away the evil which constitutes a part of his construction, and the good will assert itself by desiring to give rather than Lake property and rights. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSOX CCCLIII. National Crimes. — A nation is an aggregation of evil influences, in- spired by fear. "In union there is strength." It is not the strength of good, or for good, but a combination of force intended to overpower a similar conibination ; perhaps for the purpose of conquest, or suppression of enemies, or to secure happiness and freedom ; in either case it is created to operate against an enemy, and through fear. National government is a union of social elements, prompted by fear. This accumulation of strength is never reasonable. All history shows that a nation desiring the property 212 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SIX. of a lesser power, and being able to take it, will never hesitate to do so. In modern times the most civilized nations do this under the plea of advancing the cause of morality or education ; one incident of the conquest being the acquisition of wealth, taken without exchange, from the unfortunate party. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLiy. Horrors of War. — What was the moral condition of the men as indi- viduals, who invaded the territory of weaker tribes, may be presumed; their national cruelty is well established. The conquered parties were often unprepared for war ; they tilled the soil, planted, sewed and reaped ; had homes ; were virtuous and relatively moral ; worshipped as best they knew ; yet the civilized Romans landed, without warning, upon their soil ; debauched their women ; killed their fathers, husbands and brothers, for the mere sake of seeing the red blood flow, and agony pinch their faces ; and took back to Rome the best of their unwilling foes, to spend a life in torture. What was it in the nature of man which prompted this national crime? For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLV. Cruelty of Women. — We speak of women as gentle; so she is, if a condition or circumstance appeals to her ANG-nature. But history, national and social, depicts the cruelty of women in blacker and more tempestuous colors than the average fiend of man deserves ; though both are bad enough. What prompted tradition to place the fall of man at the foot of women ? Why are the wicked women of Jewish history guilty of all the crimes enumerated in the penal code of the modern world ? The daughter of the Roman emporer who deliberately drove her chariot over the body of her father, bursting the flesh and spattering upon her robes the very blood that had given her life, was a type of woman that has lived in all ages. How much of bad and how little of good there is in the one combination of the two warring forces of life which is called an individual, depends upon the proportions of matter that preceding generations may have acquired ; or it may be the outgrowth of one life. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. EVIL. 213 LESSON CCCLVI. Extremes of Morality — A man is more just than woman ; and, on the moral side, more consistent. He is either a preponderance of good, or of evil. Woman is swayed by the circumstances that enact her daily history; now good when her dormant devil is not influencing her; now fiendish in the extreme. I have seen a coarse-grained, ngly, repulsive female, take her last loaf to an unfortunate girl, and, with hunger gnawing at her life, feed it to one of misery's offspring ; while the next month she strapped her drunken husband to a wall, and left him to die in agony. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essaj'S," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CJCCLVII. Envy. — I investigated a case of a woman who was, above all others, supposed to be docile, sweet and humane. Her face was that of one who had lived a half century. Its contour was regular, and even beautiful ; the soft, white lines indicating refinement, peace and philanthropy. One day she appeared in a dress of beautiful texture, that far outshone her neighbor's. In this distinction she seemed proud. The neighbor at once proceeded to equalize the social unevenness of the case, and soon had a dress of greater value and beauty. The sweet, pale-faced lady at once became chagrined, and sought revenge. As she afterwards stated, a different being took pos- session of her. Her mind was never clouded, though her judgment was ; but her moral nature simply gave itself up to the Evil One, who proceeded to overturn, by one act, the record of a lifetime. She resolved to get rid of the dress; and, knowing that the possessor could and would replace it, she made an assault upon her life ; not by open and ordinary methods, but by procuring and caging a venomous reptile, whose sting meant a death of agony. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLVIII. Duration of Morality — It is a presumption of life that the longer a person is moral, the less likely he is to become immoral. Nevertheless, the DEV-Atoras are in his nature, circulating through his blood, and that they possess the power to take possession of him is too well established to be in dispute. The case of Judas Iscariot has been cited as that of one who had 214 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY—TOME SIX. been respected and moral up to a given period of his life; and then the influence of the Evil One became concentrated in his nature and overturned the life time of good. There are unlimited examples of men and women who have suddenly been overcome and have gone to the bad. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLIX. Slavery — There is no species of tyranny so despotic as that of the Evil One. Man, to be a free moral agent, must be without temptation. A girl is not free who is solicited day by day, and allured by every color of fascination to depart from what she instinctively knows to be right. Freedom of choice between sin and purity must be as absolute as the impartiality of a judge. What would you say of the child who was con- stantly coaxed to make a selection of a certain thing, while being told that it must make up its mind freely as between two things? For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLX. Crime is an Impulse. — It often happens that the mind acts without deliberation; yet slowly and cautiously. It is not the operation of dethroned reason or temporary insanity; but a lapse of mental realization of the thing to be done. A cashier had been for days making careful preparation for a trip to Canada, with a sufficient amount of the bank's money to enable him to live comfortably for the rest of his life. By some accident he was suspected and watched. At the last moment a bank official, a friend of his, intercepted his departure. "Do you A;now; what you are doing?" The cashier said he did not ; for weeks his mind had been in a daze, although in normal health. I have no doubt that more than half the crimes of men are com- mitted while the moral nature is in a state of vacuity : crimes not intended, and most bitterly repented. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXI. Crime-mania. — The woman who steals from the shop counter things that she will never need, cannot be called insane; although, judged by the rules of mental derangement, it would seem that the stealing of a ribbon worth fifty cents, by a person of great wealth, is evidence of unsound mind. It EVIL. 215 is probably a moral vacuity, caused by an inward influence ; or a convolution of the brain peopled by DEV- Atoms. The wealthy woman is not punished ; as her affluence is proof in court of her lack of criminal motive; yet there are thousands of unfortunates who linger in jail to-day for misdemeanors committed while under the influence of crime-mania. We do not claim that they should go unpunished; for the safety of the general public demands that they be separated from the rest of mankind. Yet it is hard to deal harshly with them. No doubt long before the case has come to court the offender has awakened from his moral lapse, and asks himself the ques- tion : "Why did I do it?" For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CXC^LXII. Effect of Punishment. — Three classes of persons may come under the penalties of the law : those who are instinctively criminal, those who suffer a moral lapse, and the insane. No highly civilized community ever seeks to punish the insane ; the policy is to care for them, while protecting society. It is, however, undoubtedly the fact in not very remote periods that they were executed and thus disposed of. To-day, when a high official is struck down, the plea of insanity becomes an unpopular defense, affecting judge, jury and experts ; and the assassin is executed. Men who have studied the effect of the knowledge that a crime by the insane is punishable, are of the opinion that the reason is not often so completely overthrown as to not appre- ciate the danger of crime. This is illustrated in certain localities where juries are notoriously opposed to a plea of insanity as a defense to a charge of crime. The decrease of insanity is noticeable. For Essays on this sutjject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXIII. Deterrence. — It is not easy to account for the connection between fear of punishment and deterrence from crime ; unless we accept the theory that ' a cautious intelligence is at work in the non-mental life of the insane, and that the Evil One is thus guarded. A wild beast who killed a human being while the latter slept, did not know the difference between right and wrong; and on this principle we determine the moral responsibility of a man who kills. If he has as little intelligent conception of his act as the wild beast, 216 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SIX. he is called insane. Yet it is certain that repeated punishment for a crime will deter the beast, and the insane. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXIV. Kleptomania. — Most clearly is this principle seen in cases of klepto- mania. The wife of a wealthy merchant had a mania for stealing handker- chiefs, which she did so cleverly as to avert detection for a long time. When discovered she was told that if she did it again, she would be publicly prosecuted in the police court. This had no effect, except for a brief time. Four more commissions of theft were subsequently discovered, showing that the threat had little influence on her. Finally, under the advice of a physi- cian, she was arrested and convicted in court. The disgrace was so effectual that the kleptomania subsided. Four other instances of the same kind have come to my notice. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXV. Moral Insanity. — There is little if any doubt but that the certainty of punishment has reduced the crimes which the insane are prone to commit. I suppose that if the criminal law were to make every kind of killing of a human being, except in self-defense, punishable by death, the decrease in mental derangement would be marked ; and murders by the insane would fall off eighty per cent. The question is well worth considering. I talked with a young man who had killed his wife and her sister. He admitted that the knowledge of safety from punishment assured to the insane, had preyed upon his mind until it had brought on a temporary derangement, during which he committed the deed. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXVI. Is Crime a Disease ? — The mind is a most delicate instrument, capable of enduring but little strain in some instances. The judgment is never per- fect, for this instrument is not in absolute poise. At times the good sense that we are so proud of, leaves us ; and we commit some blunders, in the more serious cases ; or errors of judgment in lesser instances. There can be no doubt that the devil catches us at such times, probably having lain in wait for these favorable opportunities. Under a severer strain the reason EVIL. 217 may be completely overthrown. Yet it is not the fact that ordinary crime is a mental disease, so much as a moral deficiency. In typhoid fever and similar ailments the blood is attacked by DEVS, or bacterial enemies ; in mental disease the mind is out of poise ; in moral disease the intelligence of DEV-Atoms is in control of the machinery of mind and body. Much of that which experts determine to be insanity is the influence of evil which dwells within a man. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules Cor Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXVIL Revenge. — If crime is a disease, the word "revenge" must be Avritten over the pages of life and history, and the clearance judgment, "not re- sponsible," placed in blood-red ink across the text. We do not realize what this word includes, nor how much of human action is due to its inspiration. It may require years of living, with limited experience ; or less time and more knowledge of humanity ; to enable one to gauge the horrible expanse of this cloud over the moral nature of man. From the child of tender judg- ment to the man or woman of mature years, I do not believe the DEV- influence, called revenge, is entirely lacking in the heart. Where we feel most sure that it does not dwell, the proper stimulus will call it into activity. For Essays on this suljjeet, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXVIII. Enmity. — The man or woman who says " I have no enemies," is either worthless or inactive. There is a vital dearth. The least moving about will raise up foes ; success makes bitter enemies; while failure leaves only the sting. A person who undertakes to go through life with a good word for everybody, and surrounded by an unbroken halo of friendship, knows not how slight a thing may make the best companion a foe. If you treat all well, some one will be jealous for not being preferred. If you are uniformly kind, some ugly spirit receiving only that treatment which he is accustomed to expect, will become vicious because of no better treatment. Your ill-nature may help to make enemies ; but the moral condition of your foes has more to do with their bitterness toward you than has your own conduct. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 218 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SIX. LESSON CCCLXIX. Fiendishness. — There is often no limit to the aggressiveness of revenge. The woman who threw vitriol into the face of a young man's sister, and dis- figured her for life, thinking that she was some new sweetheart of his, and therefore her rival, was set down as a fiend. Some said she was possessed of the devil; a very homely way of stating that her evil spirit was prominent at the time she threw the vitriol. I have accounts of over thirteen hundred cases of vitriol throwing, by women in the United States, in the last twenty- five years; all of them totally unjustifiable, and fiendishly atrocious. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXX. Strikes. — In a recent strike a workman's wife was teaching the Sabbath school lesson of the coming Sunday to her child; and moralizing upon the wickedness of hating; when the street suddenly became alarmed by the approach of strangers. They were called "scabs," and the strikers sprang upon them like tigers. The women joined in the affray, urging their husbands and sons to kill the strangers. The wife referred to came on the scene with a kettle of boiling water; and, while the infuriated demons held the men, she proceeded to pour the scalding water down their backs, deaf to the screams of the sufferers. The strangers proved to be her relatives, who had come to the town to find her, and share some of their good fortune with her. The strikes of the past have done much to acquaint the world with the malice, revenge and fiendish hatred dwelling in the hearts of women. They have thirsted for blood and incited to murder on the least provocation. The Evil One is not in them but a part of them. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXXL Recklessness. — When the good is in control, the man or woman is ordinarily lovable. When the impulse comes and the evil is ascendant, there is often a recklessness of action which takes into account no after effect, except that of personal safety. The devil seems inclined to help on the destruction of the soul and body of a human being. The first instinct of an animal, when about to attack, is personal safety. The tiger in the jungle of India never leaps for its prey without carefully measuring the proba- bilities; and if the leap is unsuccessful, he sneaks away without a second EVIL. 219 trial. When the young of cattle is the object of the assault, the herd form a ring around it, with their heads and horns outward. The tiger leaps over the barrier, snatches the prey, and leaps out with it. He will not make the leap, unless he has estimated the distance, and made up his mind that it can be accomplished. So in human beings the same class of cunning and caution always prevails; and beyond it few criminals ever calculate. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXXII. Cunning. — The stealth that is allied to crime is of the lowest animal origin. Annals of crime show that the greatest intellectual shrewdness is found in the weakest minds. A person unfamiliar with the habits of the negro would be easily misled by their perfect assumption of innocence; and many a detective has been out-generaled by the guilelessness of the weak- minded Chinese. Some birds will fly flutteringly away from their nest, as if going to it, and lead the hunter in the wrong direction. The bear-cub will go sound to sleep apparently, when strangers approach, and as soon as the intruder is within strikiug distance, the cub will spring out of its sleep, without warning. A man on the verge of a crime is capable of the utmost innocence. A woman who was about to poison her sick husband, chided the nurse for leaving the dangerous medicine in the room for fear it might be given to the invalid by mistake. The world well knows of the habits of animals and men in the line of low cunning. This shows that the intelli- gence of brutes and human beings is of the same order when influenced by the spirit of cunning; and that the DEVS of both S])ecies are clannish by nature. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXXII r. Seven Years' Period of Crime. — Any person who will study self for a while will be surprised at the periodical return of a criminal tendency. In France it is accepted as a fact that crime is more abundant in the nation as a whole, and in the individual, in alternating periods of seven years ; the first period of childhood being either vicious or good, the next the opposite, and so on ; the mother's moral character being supposed to predominate in the first period. How far all these claims may be true, it is hardly of suf- 220 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE SIX. ficient importance to determine, except in so far as self-study may be a necessity. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXXiy. Renewal of the Body. — The popular idea has been for many years, that the body sheds its tissues every seven years. In very active organisms the entire body is renewed in much less time ; while a very lazy person would carry some of the same tissues for many years longer than seven. It may be that there is an average of that number of years ; but the only fact of value is the renewal of the general structure, elements and Atoms of the body; giving to man the opportunity for building of better material. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXXV. Food and Crime. — What a man eats makes him what he is in body, mind and soul. His body may be ruined by a singleness of food elements, as, for instance, white-bread alone. His mind is also the tool of the stomach. To prove this, feed your over-smart fellow on rice and thin milk for six months. He will not be able to study, to think, to exercise judgment ; but will have a desire to sleep twenty hours out of twenty-four ; although the health of the body will not be affected. If you cannot get sleep at night, try the rice diet. The soul is likewise the slave of the stomach. This is a broad statement ; but it is capable of proof. Feed any ten persons you may select, on hog meat, with little other food, except bread and potatoes, and, in a few years, you will find them possessed of selfish, filthy and low animal natures. Feed dog meat, uncooked but highly seasoned, as in red-meat sausages, to ten moral persons for two years ; at the end of the time you will have a class that no Sunday-school influences could affect. The moral status would be bestial ; and if soul-status is allied to or dependent upon the moral condition, the food that goes into the stomach has much to do with the education of that nobler being. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXXVL Growth. — It becomes the duty of every person who professes to live for a better life, to study the processes of growth going on in the body, and EVIL. 221 the changes that accompany the constant renewal of its parts. In this growth, and in these changes, lies the possibility of ennobling the flesh, the mind and the soul by clean food and pure elements. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSOX CCCLXXVII. Transmitting Crime. — It is quite well understood that the man of vicious tastes as to food and drink will transmit vicious seed to his off-spring. Measured by a moral code, such a person should not be permitted to marry or to transmit his seed, but the time is not now, and may never be, ripe for the prevention of crime by the castration of criminals. The absorbent tendencies of men and women must necessarily be sent down to the next generation. The amalgamation of the good elements, as indicated in the '* Ideal City," might some day present moral strength sufficient to prevent the transmission of crime from criminals to their offspring. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXXVIII. Slum-life. — Go to the slums of New York, or to parts of Hoboken, Jersey City and Brooklyn. The fearful images of men and women, of which there are at least five hundred thousand in the places named, appal the brain of one who might try to think well of mankind. These people are not foreigners, but natives ; they multiply rapidly in a vermin-like manner, and with as little love between the offspring and parent. As children they are knocked about, with not only none of that moral culture which is necessary to make them citizens, but they represent an accumulation of bestial degrada- tion that the generations of the last seventy years have been developing. They are not yet a problem, for the breadth of the country has been assimi- lating them for some time, without modifying their evil influences. The devil has been, and is, at work on the vitals of the best nation that ever existed. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXXIX. National Bacteria. — Every large city is a crime, — a national off'ence. Sodom was the representative of this species of crime. I recently passed and re-passed several times through the city of Naples in Italy. The masses of humanity that reek in the putrid licentiousness, dishonesty, and 222 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE SIX. filth of that great city cannot be classed as human beings, without insulting the men and women who have lived for the purity of home and the religion of morality. The face of a cur is quite different from that of a decent dog. The countenance is not a false sign. When every respectable line in the features is turned awry, and the looks betray the desire to murder at the first favorable opportunity, the acclamation that pronounces man the noblest of animals, falls dead from the lips. We have learned that the human body is infested by DEVS, or bacteria that are incubating and accumulating, await- ino- the time when, by numbers from without joining those within, the forces will be sufficient to overwhelm life. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXXX. Fate of Cities. — The type of destiny that awaits the great cities of the earth, is clearly portrayed in the DEVS of the body. These should be carefully studied, in order to see the duplex life that lays the foundation of destruction. In any contagion, debility within must coincide with the assault from without. Thus, the cholera germs may be swallowed freely by a person of robust health. No one need fear any infection, if the general vitality of the body is normal. In order to succumb to disease, there must have been in the tissues of the flesh, an army of DEV- Atoms quietly at work, undermining the walls of the cells, and sapping the resisting strength of the body. Then the DEVS themselves enter, in the form of bacteria, the enemies unite, and the great citadel of life is leveled to the earth. So the great cities of the earth have perished. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXXXI. History of Cities. — No city that ever fell, — and what one has not? — has failed to succamb to their influences. Athens suffered from bacterial energies within, which made the assaults upon her from without more swift and deadly. Rome was overrun by her northern foes, but only after the mob- bacteria had sapped her vitality ; nor was the mob-DEV necessary, for such rulers as Nero and Commodus were but products of the same vermin, and were capable of rendering the body-politic inert against the bacteria from without. Paris has twice succumbed to this loathesome disease ; and is EVIL. 223 to-day carrying in her entrails the most virulent bacteria, whose toxine poison is in the moral sentiment of all classes. For some years these species of DEVS have been drifting America-ward ; and, by the slow but steady pro- cess of incubation, have been accumulating numbers and energy. They are born only in large cities; they often wear white shirts, and call themselves, well-dressed, but never respectable. They are the offspring of alcohol- DEVS, and their blood relation to these fellows is the only tie of affiliation, affection or love that can germinate in their breasts. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXXXir. Towns and Crime. — A walk through the slums of any great city will show you who and what these bacteria are. None of them are possible in villages or towns ; for there they will not grow. A large city is not only a crime against the nation of which it forms a part, but is also a destroyer of homes and family ties, both in and out of itself, a hiding place for criminals, a garden of disease, and a monument to the selfishness of man. I do not believe that the way to Heaven lies through or from a large city. To claim that business honesty and social purity are possible in such a place, is but the utterance of a pallid sentiment, generally hurled with indignation against one who asserts the facts in the case. The building of villages, towns and cities after the plan suggested in our "Ideal City," will be strongly urged; for the largest of them will not be great enough to admit city bacteria within its area. For Essays on this subject, see '• Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXXXIIL Heredity in Crime. — If you will study the faces of the classes called "toughs" in large cities, and they are of all ages from infancy to senility, you will wonder why an intelligent government permitted these bacteria to be born. It is not any man's right to kill them; nor is it the duty of government to do as the more enlightened (in this respect) pagans of the Ganges did, — destroy their children. The right and ability to propagate should be destroyed. Some years ago a body of physicians investigated this proposition, and reported it as both humane and desirable. One doctor differed only as to the degree of the operation ; suggesting that for the first offence involving moral turpitude, half castration should be the penalty ; for 224 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY—TOWIE SIX. the second offence, complete castration. The dangers to life and health were carefully estimated and deemed but slightly possible. I wish to have our students in philosophy discuss the question. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXXXIV. Self-knowledge of Crime. — It is an easy matter to exclaim in an ebullition of zeal, "I am but a poor sinner;" but to believe it, and to act upon the belief, are somewhat harder matters. Yet there is in one person in every two a decided tendency, not merely to sin, but to commit crimes. This is born in them, and hovers like a cloud over their lives. I cannot help believing what so many have declared, that their chief brooding in their penitentiary homes was over the injustice that instigated the commission of crimes which they did not try to commit, but were driven to by the impulse within. A clergyman told me that a man of thirty joined his church, and for years lived a very exemplary life ; but one day came hurriedly to his house and exclaimed, " I am in trouble ; I have not done any wrong, but I was born of criminal parents and am under the influence of a desire to do evil." His mind was perfectly sound, but the dog-meat of crime lurked in his flesh. By agreement, when the impulse was active, he was given a com- panion who, like a good angel, walked with him through the valley of his tribulation. If more Christians would do this for their fellow-men, life would not hang so like a pall over the hearts of the unfortunate. If good men will commence to cvit off the propagation of crime at its fountain-head, criminal parents, and then walk more with the unfortunate, the world may be made better. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXXXV. Grades of Crime. — There are laws which proclaim the crimes which are considered penal in the nation's eye; but there are offences which are not punishable by law, yet represent greater moral turpitude than any of the others. The man who sells alcohol DEVS, and the man who drinks them ; the murderer of reputation; and the scandal monger who writes or pub- lishes a so-called newspaper, are criminals in the sense that they are dis- honest in their souls, and a lie on the face of creation. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays" at the end of Tome Ten. EVIL. 225 LESSON CCCLXXXVI. Alcohol-DEVS — Nothing new can be said on a subject that is the source of soreness to everybody. It is simply a part of the evil that is arrayed against the life and happiness of man. The bacteria-growth that changes the grain to the ferment, and the spore separation that follows the ferment, are disguises of evil in the form of DEVS, designed to achieve the downfall of as many of the race as may be induced to sacrifice purity of flesh for pleasure. I know that there is a sentiment in favor of the use of alcohol ; and I know that men whose mixed constitution predominates in favor of DEVS and who are under the control of the Evil One, burst open with indignation at the persecution of those who sell alcohol-DEVS ; yet the fact remains that the traffic is purely of the devil, by the devil, and for the devil. You may commence with the growth of the grain, and follow its history with the microscope until it enters the brain of man ; and you will see the evidences of the truth of this assertion. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXXXVII. The Alcohol Drinker. — Physiology tells us that the body of the babe is a miniature collection of the traits of its ancestors. The drinking of alcohol-DEVS is making a bonded warehouse of the body, wherein are stored bacteria, spores, and general DEVS, to become an accumulation of venom for future action. The first glass, plants only a few millions, it is true ; but these keep up au agitation for further affiliation, and others must come. After several permanent colonies are planted, a general cry goes up for "More DEVS!" — "More DEVS!" throughout the whole body. This thirst is designed by Satan to grow on itself, without hope of decrease, until the victim is prepared for the loss of his soul. By experi- ments mentioned later on, it has been determined that a drinker is incapable of forming a soul fitted for Heaven. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXXXVIIL Natural Good — The best temperance lecture I ever knew, was the advertisement of a manufacturer who established a large business in a town, and advertised for five hundred workmen, "beer and liquor drinkers need not apply." He made a temperance town of one that was quite the opposite. 15 226 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SIX. I learn that nine business men out of every ten refuse to employ beer or liquor drinkers. This position, as soon as it is made unanimous, and it is practically so now, will quickly separate men into two classes, — the decent^ and the DEV-drinkers. Thus that principle, which is known as natural good, aids the accomplishment of a high moral end. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCLXXXIX. Wealth and Honesty. — It is quite common for the poor to assert, that no person can honestly make a fortune ; owing to competition, and the necessity for shrewdness in order to trade successfully. In discussing the philosophy of honesty with their scholars, many Sunday-school teachers take the broad ground that it is proper to "put the best foot forward," and not deception. The young minds of boys and girls are lead to regard it as not only proper but a necessary duty, for merchants to show their best samples, to put the large apples at the top of the barrel, the sound and attractive strawberries over the small ones, and the nice things in front of the bad. A certain deacon who keeps a large grocery, so arranges his potatoes as to keep the best, largest, cleanest on the visible side of the pile, while the small and inferior ones are concealed, and are sold to customers. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXC. Slight Dishonesty. — At this place we are not to discuss the rule of honesty ; but wish merely to call attention to the quiet and insidious ways in which the spirit of evil obtains a foothold in the conduct of men accredited with holy lives. As soon as the mind is made up to the belief that it is right to sell inferior goods on the appearance of the best, the only remaining step toward actual dishonesty is the statement that "the goods run about as you see them." There is but one road in the life of rectitude, and it is the straightest line that the mind can conceive. If the best apples are on top,^ say so. A grocer who says, " This is not a fair sample of the fruit, the best are on top for looks," will never lack for trade, as he will have the confidence of his customers. It does not excuse a man, because he thinks the public are quite familiar with the custom of deceiving. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. I EVIL. 227 LESSON CCCXCI. Honest Affluence. — Many people who have acquired wealth have been honest in doing so, while the majority have not. I knew a lady who was urged to teach six young ladies at her home in a city. The next year she had a class of twenty. In ten years she was the principal of her own seminary with a very large annual income ; and, to-day, is wealthy. The only dishonesty probably practiced by her is in allowing the young ladies to graduate in a "popular" way; that is, by not acquiring an actual education. It is very unpopular to compel a girl to study or think hard in a seminary course. Yet this slight dishonesty did not affect the accumulation of a fortune. In the building up of great wealth, even where there has been general honesty, it is possible to find the process of growth tinged with hues and tints of deception that seemed to come as a matter of course. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXCII. The Policy of Honesty. — In an age of universal malice and trickery the influence of a man known to be honest and not stupid, is widespread and permanent. Such a man could get more for his goods and would hold a fixed patronage longer than any of his competitors. An honest lawyer of reasonable ability would never suffer for business; an honest doctor of skill would be overrun. In some kinds of business there is no opportunity for integrity, as in liquor selling, stock-gambling, journalism, and politics. The principle of " honor among thieves" is the usual standard of these classes. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXCIII. Evil is not a Blind Force. — We have elsewhere stated that any oper- ation of vital Nature that may be turned to man's good, is a blind force ; and death occurring from such operation would not be chargeable to an evil intelligence. Thus a falling stone which kills the person beneath it, is but the operation of gravity, a law that is essential for the life of man. Thei •' are many non-malicious forces in Nature. Evil, however, is not such; it is always intelligent, and often intellectual. No scientist ever watchfd the movements of the deadly bacteria without pausing to reflect on the mental acuteness displayed in their mode of living. All instinct is intelligence. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 228 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE SIX. LESSON CCCXCIV. Intelligence and Intellect. — These two words, both from the same root, mean different things. The sap of the tree has intelligence ; also vegetation, from the cell to the gigantic elm, is an aggregation of intelli- gence. This division of life can never be called intellectual. The latter term cannot be denied to many species of the animal kingdom. While the vegetable growth obeys an intelligent force as an aggregate, its cells show intellect of a very keen order. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXCV. Difference Between Animal and Vegetable Intellect — The latter as an aggregation of cells, shows intelligence in itself, and obeys a law higher than itself ; but its cells are individually greater in intellectual forces than the growth of the vegetation. This is due to the presence of so many Pul-less Atoms ; which, later on, we shall show to be DEV- Atoms deprived of their purpose. On the other hand there are no dead Atoms in flesh ; for as soon as they are deprived of their Pul, and become material only, they are thrown off to feed the life of vegetation. This fact has been known for centuries, and written of in one way and another. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXCVI. Flesh is Intellectual. — Whether a thing of flesh can reason or not cannot be hastily decided. It is often stated that man differs from an animal in that he possesses the faculty of reasoning, and of logical deduc- tions; which faculty is denied the animals. A question of this profundity should be carefully examined and investigated before declaring it to be settled. It is true that we are not the same order of reasoning beings as animals ; but the gulf that spans the difference in species shuts out all real knowledge of the mental operations within. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXCVII. Mental Concealment. — Hold a bird in the hand and study its life. It has your confidence and you have its. The little ways and evidences of spirit, its bird nature so to speak, are seen on their surface only; the EVIL. 229 thought that glistens in the eye remains an absolute mystery. So the favorite dog, the ceaseless friend and companion of its master, is understood by its habits ; but no one knows what it thinks, what it plans, or what it hopes. Between man and man the same gulf often exists in lesser degree ; and long experience is sometimes necessary to enable one to read another. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the eud of Tome Ten. LESSOX CCCXCVIII. Intellect Necessary to Evil. — There are two ways of looking at this proposition : it is supposed that one who commits a crime, is or is not responsible, according ao his mind is clear or clouded. Insanity is said to remove all claim of actual guilt. On the other hand, we find the greater fact to be that mere intelligence is incapable of sin or crime. These dis- tinctions, while subtle, are fixed and well defined. We are next confronted with the difference between the evil life that haunts all flesh, and find two purposes present. For Essays on this subject, see '' Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCXCIX. Two Purposes of Evil. — The first purpose is to kill the human body ; the second is to incite hatred, and through hatred to destroy man's power to develop a soul. In other words, a personal being, called the Evil One, who is at war with God, is manifest in Atoms, in Nature, in life, and in man ; and is resolved to thwart the purposes of the Creator of Good, by preventing the development of perfect souls, capable of furnishing happiness to God and of being happy in Him. No greater fact is apparent in the universe; and if this is not proved, nothing is or can be proved. Man, as soon as he is bora, is under attack ; if his body escapes, his soul is in danger of destruction. The Evil One seeks only to thwart God. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the eud of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCC. How Man Originated. — The soundest and safest argument presumes that God did not intend to create man ; but that, in the conflict between Him and Satan, the affray resulted in the ITars of the Sun; and the Atomic armies, representing the life of each great Combatant, have continued, and are still continuing, the struggle for supremacy, with the ultimate victory 230 H03IE COURSE IN PSILOSOPHY—TOME SIX. already ascertained. The fact that God is opposed or defied, does not destroy the idea of his omnipotence ; nor does it lessen His power because millions of years may be necessary in order to overcome His arch-enemy. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCI. Man the Result of Conflict. — If God was all knowing, and could look into the seeds of time. He would not have created the first man and woman; for He must have foreseen the fall, the treason, the murder, and His curse of these created beings. He would not have permitted the millions of men and women to live and fill the earth, if He could have foreseen that all would become wicked, and their extermination would be necessary. Nor could an all-just, all-wise, all-powerful God have created the suffering, miserable, tortured races that struggle to exist on the face of the globe. They are no credit to wisdom, but a living monument of the conflict that made their existence possible. " I do not, can not, will not believe that God created man to be subjected to temptation and afterwards to be punighed in hell," is the cry that, in these modern days, has modified the plain, direct teachings of the Bible. Clergymen, without right, turn and twist the text to suit the idea that ultimately all souls are to be saved. One who pretends to teach and preach the gospel of Christianity, has no right to contort the direct statements of the New Testament ; and especially of Revelations, the parting words of which warn all men against taking from or adding to the prophecy therein. It is clear that God either did not intend to create man ; or, if He did, the Evil One has thwarted His pur- pose in part. I prefer to believe that we are the result of a conflict between the two Combatants, and that the battle is raging, not alone in the sun, but on earth, and finally in the hearts and bodies of humanity. From this conflict some souls are born to be saved; and the vast majority are to be lost. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCII. Proof of Man's Danger. — I do not ask or wish any person to accept these claims, either now or upon absolute proof. I simply say that they are not theories. To understand them, it is necessary to re-read the pages of this philosophy many times; to re-read the Bible again and again; and to EVIL. 231 consult the facts of life. Not only do the proofs exist in our minds, souls, and bodies; and in all Nature; but they walk hand in hand with the assertions of the Bible. I seek to go back to the word of God as it is, and was; not as modern society in the churches seek to interpret it. It was written for man in language that the peasant can understand ; why conceal it on the plea that it should only be read when a great scholar stands by to say that this means that? Before forming an opinion on man's origin, I ask every student of these pages to think for himself, and let no word of mine influence him. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCIII. The Darwinian Theory. — In the absence of all theories, a remark- able work by a learned and honest scientist, Charles Darwin, was given to the world. Although he himself states that his conclusions are suggestions and surmises, without actual proof, the great colleges are teaching the sur- vival of the fittest, the evolution of the species, and the descent of man to all young minds. There is not a scientist or professor who will not exclaim, " Why, a few years ago most people objected to the doctrine of evolution ; now it is generally accepted as true." I have given the fullest attention to the propositions and proofs furnished by Darwin and his successors; and find that professors of Darwinism are more opinionated than the great scientist himself. He distinctly declared that no direct proof could be advanced. He drew his conclusions from facts within the limits of species. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCIV. The Limits of Species. — The acceptance of the Dawinian theory in no way conflicts with the Bible, or any phase of religion; and only colors any account, tradition, or myth related to the beginning of our race. It is neither necessary nor unnecessary; in the way or out of the way; a help or a hindrance. It solves no mystery, sheds no light on the one greatest fact of creation — How it originated — and leaves us as much in the dark as ever. Investigators and students lose sight of a principle that is the only proved thing in life: the limitation of species. In a meeting of professors of great learning there was one question put which checked all theorizing : 232 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SIX. "Is there any evidence of a species breaking over its limit?" Darwin pleaded for a larger limit to the divisions of life: "there are too many species," he said. A species should contain more than a small class of variations. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCV. Diversity. — As we know life, it is full of every kind of diversity, both in and out each and every species. This fact should not be forgotten. This diversity is and has always been growing less, and tending toward a unit. While this fact at first sight tends to confirm the operation of the doctrine of the survival of the fittest, the pages of geology show that differences have been decreasing, while Darwin expressly undertakes to prove that, in spite of the survival of only the fittest, the differences have been increasing. This diversity is so great, even now, that all life seems to be the sun of several species. This seeming ceases at the door of proof. There is not one particle of evidence that any species is the sun of others. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCVI. Improvement of Species. — It is true, and abundantly proved, that a species in its own limits is capable of every kind of variation, improvement, and modification. This is the total of Darwin's discoveries. It is all there is of the Darwinian theory ! I often have successfully challenged any person to go beyond that. Darwin never went outside the limits of species. No fact ever tended to go beyond that. His learning and his life were crowded with evidences and theories confined to operations within the species. For instance, he attempted to show that man might have been a modification of the ape ; and admitted that it would require millions of years to establish the variation necessary to a single step between the nearest approach to man and the first of the so-called missing links. As there are at least three of these missing connections, not less than thirty million years would have been required to cause the evolution of a savage out of a highly developed ape ; and untold hundreds of millions to have evolved the ape from the next preceding type. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. EVIL. 233 LESSON CCCCVII. Evidence. — While species respond to influences within their own limits, they return to their former type when left to themselves. This may be witnessed in the breeding of animals under the care of man. That the species are limited is well proved by their condition ; and the claim that the gaps may represent extinct races is not sustained by any fact ; it is merely pointed to by the evidences of variation seen within the species, — an elasticity of modification that always rebounds. In the hopeless search for the missing evidence, great satisfaction was evinced vipon the discovery of the skull in the caves of Engis ; this single fragment of a head being supposed to represent pre-historic man as less than a savage and more than an ape. The skull was not found entire ; the best judges of such anatomy inferring what might be the whole skull, and assuming a fact from the inference. Even if the skull stood for the fact as desired by men who sought to enforce a theory, no single piece of evidence of so frail a nature could establish a fixed doctrine; for abnormal development is always possible. But the evidence is not weighty. A student who will investigate the claims of this discovery will see on what slight facts a great theory may rest. Before entering upon the study, lay aside two influences : first, the thought that the doctrine of evolution is true, or new, or fascinating ; second, the abruptness of learned men who say ; "Pooh! there is no doubt about the Darwinian theory ; anything to the contrary is not worth reading." A large field of authorship is o})en to one who will give the facts to the world, in an elaborate volume, devoted exclusively to the subject. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCVIII. Waste of Ages. — Old as the world is, it is not yet old enough for man to have been evolved, even from the serpent ; to say nothing of the steps long prior to that era. God, if He created all life, could not have wasted ages in a useless and senseless process of change. If so wonderful and complex a being as man could have come from a unit of protoplasm, he could as readily have sprung from the same unit, simultaneously with all forms of diverse life. Instead of following in lines of succession, it is more rational, and more in accord with existing facts to believe that he is co-ex- tensive with life, not one of many lines of evolved life. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 234 E03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SIX. LESSON CCCCIX. Newness of the Earth. — The chronology of the Bible under different translations varies the age of the earth from six to ten thousand years. This supposes that Adam was a fact, and God made the earth in six actual days, instead of eras or periods of geology. The more we examine collat- eral history, the more astounding is the harmony of all things with the Bible. The unearthing in recent years of pillars, columns, cylinders, and fragments of tombs, bearing inscriptions that cannot be subject to the cry of forgery, without exception, shed new light on that hoary account of Hebrew history, and compel the reverence of scientists. Few have ever thought of the evidence furnished by history itself, and man himself, of the age of the race. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCX. Age of the Human Race. — That our ancestors may have been less cultured than we are, is not disputed ; but we assert that the savages are not of our race. They play their part in the diversity of life, and give way to others. Geological races of so-called men may have existed, and have walked on all fours, tearing their food with large canine tusks, clawing their enemies and brushing off flies with their tails; but civilized men never ap- peared until, in the long struggle for existence, the Caucasians secured a foot-hold on the planet, and protected it by their superior intelligence. As such a race have they existed longer than the Bible chronology. Two thou- sand years ago Greece and Rome flourished. At that time more than two- thirds of the world were unknown to civilization. This hemisphere is but four hundred years old in history. Passing from the cultured era of twenty centuries ago, we may extend our glance back one thousand years beyond ; and, though the haze of distance veils the sight, we know that Europe was bar- barian, and the operations of civilized men were confined within a narrow section of the earth. All evidences are lessened, history is meagre, and lan- guage, — that key to mankind, — is dwarfed to a small vocabulary, showing the limited use of words and terms. If no other evidence were at hand, the gradual shrinking of language would point conclusively to the primitive ondition of the people. A few thousand years back, all history, language, inscriptions, tombs and architecture, cease absolutely ; bearing most certain EVIL. 235 testimony to the fact that humanity, as a civilized race, has not been on earth longer than the records of the Bible indicate. Nor does geology dis- pute this fact. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON ccccxr. The Reason Why. — We are, therefore, opposed to the theory that millions of years have elapsed since civilized man first appeared on the earth ; and to the claims of evolution, except as stated under the doctrine of diversity. Yet neither of them affect the ccmse of all life ; and particularly the origin of man as he is. It is only in the study of existence that these matters appear important. The chief thing of interest to man is to find out why he is as he is. No one claims to be sinless. The most are frank enough to admit that an evil nature is rampant in human life. The common inquiries are, is it inborn, or is it the result of surroundings ? For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXIL Is Evil Inborn ? — A child raised in surroundings that influence its life only to good, as many have been raised, gives evidence of its inward state. The children of holy parents have been known to become criminals. Facts may be made to point both ways. The off-spring of moral parents- ought to possess native goodness, unless influenced by surroundings of evil ; or they may bring to light the evil of past generations. Some men have attempted to raise children under careful nurture, allowing no evil to be said or done in their presence. The mind and heart are made purer by such care; but, when the first association with the world is had, the dormant evil is almost of spontaneous growth. A youth unprepared for life, is soon overwhelmed. It seems that the best training is that which instils into the mind the knowledge of sin, its part in the body and life of every being, and its attempt to destroy the soul. I firmly believe, and I have many reasons for so doing, that a child should be cautioned against the efforts of the Evil One, and should be encouraged to carry on the fight (that must eventually absorb its life) between the good and the evil which dwell within its body. Properly trained in these matters, with its spirit of resolution steeled against yielding to a personal tempter, it is more likely to lead a pure life and eventually to develop a soul that may inherit Heaven. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 236 S03II: COUBSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOMi: SIX. LESSON CCCCXIII. Conflict of Intellects. — The DEVS within us are highly intellectual, and become more so as they combine to make animal life, and less so in vegetation. For this reason physiology teaches us that meat makes brains. In the seed germ of grains is a little drop of vitality containing phosphorus, which is generally thrown away in bolting the flour. This vitality is capable of building the brainiest minds of earth ; and is free from DEYS. The phosphorus from meat is more acute for evil ; less tendant to honesty. Whatever may be the cause, the body is sinful, and the representatives of evil are not blind forces, but active intellects prepared to war against the tendency to good that dwells within man. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXIV. Tortures. — Vegetation is gentle. The animal kingdom is consistent in some degree. Its cunning and deception are nearly always strategic. Few animals torture. A tigress loses its young by theft. She overtakes the aggressor in time to see the cub killed before her eyes. It is doubtful if, even then, she is inspired by revenge. Her purpose is to kill merely to get rid of the enemy, or for food. Some of the apes are revengeful, though they rarely torture for the purpose of torturing, and causing suffering, regret, and remorse. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXV. Human Fiends. — Ascending the scale of intellect, we find that when a being is capable of prolonging the sufferings of an enemy, he is called human. The rule is the chief, and, in some instances, the only guide to a human mind. We call those men human who, in Montezuma's time in Mexico, cut their fellow beings to pieces while alive. It was in the name of religion, but in the spirit of evil, that they tied them in public places; stripped their bodies naked; and proceeded to carve their flesh with sharp instruments, while the agony of the sufferers brought the chief joy of life to the fiends. Where are now the millions whose lives were thus destroyed, and where are the millions more who played the part of butchers ? For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. EVIL. 237 LESSON CCCCXVI. Sufferings. — The American Indian was not unparalleled in atrocious cruelty, but has furnished some examples of the evil intelligence which may absorb the good in a being. He was accustomed to so torture his foes, that a highly enjoyable occasion was made of the ceremony of death. Burning alive was the usual thing, except in battle, when scalping was immediately necessary. To be put to death by fire is not always the most terrible of tortures, for smoke fills the lungs and renders the victim unconscious; but the Indians were careful that no such blessing should be the happy lot of one whom they wished to punish. Very slow fires were burned, and some- times the lungs were shielded from the danger of suffocation. In Mexico they often laid their victims on beds of coals, where they could linger for hours and days. For Essays ou this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXVII. Thirst. — The most terrible of tortures were committed by beings higher in the scale of humanity than savages. In Asia the art of inflicting cruelty is an accomplishment that has never been excelled in its degree of fiendishness, unless by the religious leaders of modern Europe. They dis- covered the art of boiling alive, over a slow fire, while the victim's head was kept above water. They learned that death by thirst was about as horrible as the fiend within them could devise. They tied the poor fellows to a seat or compelled them to stand, and caused fresh, cool water to trickle down before them into a goblet. In a day or two the agony of thirst would appear, and its cruelty would steadily increase until the victims would become hopeless maniacs. Who suggested these tortures? How came they in the human heart? For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXVIII. Crucifixion. — To nail a man, head downward, to a tree or cross was a common and favorite diversion of the men of old. The custom prevailed before, and for a long time after the time of Christ. Many of the victims lived for days. Not alone the agony of the pain caused by the torn and swollen flesh, but the fever of thirst, the tortures of flies and insects, and 238 HOME C0VB8E IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SIX. the pangs of hunger drove the mind of the sufferer to such horrible dis- traction that the eyes would burst in their sockets. What was there in the human breast that could invent such dire cruelty ? Man never tortured ani- mals, and animals never tortured man, except in the rarest instances. The evil intelligence originates in a being with a soul, and is operated against another being with a soul. How do you account for this spirit of malice? For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXIX. Civilized Tortures. — Before the discovery of America by Columbus, that hemisphere was a crowded scene of fiendish human activity, born of hell and long since dumped into hell. There was not a ray of moral light in the limits of the entire horizon. I do not believe, and if my own senses have not played me false, I hnow that not one of such masses of humanity ever formed or can form a savable soul. The solemnity of this fact requires further analysis in the subsequent Tomes. To-day, with the exception of a few moral Caucasian spots, all Asia and Africa are hot-beds of fiendish cruelty. The best Asiatic I ever saw was a religious convert to Christianity, and a hypocrite of the finest type. In a certain narrow zigzag strip, the pathway of civilization crosses Europe ; and here, because of its advanced culture of mind, history paints the blackest picture of human deviltry. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXX. Scale of Civilization. — Thus we see the steady progress from low ani- mal intellect, accompanying merely the attack on life, to the highest culture accompanying the most complete methods and implements of torture that could be devised. Draw the curtain over the continent of America during its ages of crime; shut the thought from universal Asia, with its centuries of cruel tortures culminating in the crucifixion of Christ, in an age when the blackness of moral barbarism shrouded the earth in one long spell of night; hide Africa and the vernal climes that breed the pestilence of sin ; and look at civilized Europe in her best robes. She wore the garments of religion, and taught the doctrine of peace on earth. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. I EVIL. 239 LESSON CCCCXXT. Religious Tortures. — Under the subject of Religion we shall discuss the moral reasons that impelled the fanatical leaders to torture their fellow- beings. At this place we will present only a fact or two, to arouse the in- quiry,, how man could be so fiendish. Passing the dark ages when less than one per cent of all people died a natural death, except in happy infancy, we will come to the dawning of the great modern era of supreme intelli- gence. Here we find that the sweet gospel of love and peace was transferred to men, women and children on red-hot irons and sharp-pointed instruments. Burning to death was less a matter of grave concern than the annoyances that kept the convert alive. If you desire to know something of the unpleasant feelings which these religious leaders were able to generate, make a thumb-screw (a very simple device), and attach it to the thumb of either hand, close behind the nail. Ask yourself if you believe some impossible and absolutely unimportant and immaterial tenet or dogma of the Christian religion. If you hesitate about answering, turn the thumb-screw a little tight. It will make you howl and scream in an agony that you never dreamed the human heart could invent. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXXII. Effect of Example. — Your howling will arouse the neighborhood; but so much the better. You are an example to ail who do not believe this particular tenet ; and the sufferings caused you will be the result of their adherence to the great tenet. For two or three hours you have screamed and howled with pain ; the fibers of flesh, nerve and muscle are lacerated and torn ; and being more sensitive here than in any other part of the body, they are agonized by the least touch or jar. After a while ask yourself the question, do you believe this, that or the other thing ? Do you believe that if you pay one shilling your soul may be saved nntil you pay another ? Did you not hear somebody say something against our holy religion? If you hesitate, turn on the thumb-screw a little harder ; the blood-vessels burst, the fiesh flies apart, the nerves are lacerated ; and the serene brow of one who serves a Master of love is lighted by a throb of pleasure, — you are about to tell a lie to escape the torture ! For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays,'" at the end of Tome Ten, 240 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SIX. LESSON CCCCXXIII. Falsehoods. — There can be no doubt that millions of falsehoods have been told by tortured victims, in order to purchase freedom from suffering. Confessions to anything asked have been made, in the hope of further im- munity ; only to be followed by judgment of guilt on self accusations, clearly false. Then came the long imprisonment in sightless dungeons, where the fair form of divinity rotted, inch by inch, in years of delirium. In the days of religious supremacy, any suspicion, envy, jealousy, revenge, served to instigate some enemy to inform against another; then followed the secret inquiry, the false charges, the tortured confessions, the dungeon and insanity. Flesh was worthless, and minds were immured in madness. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXXIV. Channels of the Past. — It is through such channels as these that our religion has come to us; but, as it is all there is of religion, we must accept it or nothing. What was the moral value of the people who could invent the rack to stretch a five foot body to eight feet of length ; a wheel on which all the bones were broken, and from which the sufferer was dropped to the ground to squirm like a worm and move as best he could ; a band of steel-points to go about the head and pierce the skull when tightened; a body of knives to embrace the heretic; a skin-flayer to peel the cuticle off in strips; and numberless instruments designed to cause man more misery than he already had ? ^ For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXXV. Plain People. — The leaders of modern religion who used the rack and its kindred, to torture the human body are all dead. Their spirit lives to-day in many a fanatic of prominence. They cannot be called scars on the face of nature, nor any of the names that moralists would fling at evil doers. These men were not possessed of the devil ; but were made up of his Satanic material, body and soul. Until Luther hurled his opposition at the infamy of the church, I do not believe that, in the thousand years preceding, one per cent, of the leaders of religion escaped the pangs of hell and eternal destruction ; and this belief some devout priests share at this day. The popes were not the channels through which the religion of Christ i I EVIL. 241 has come to us. To find the great conduits of the gospel of peace and salvation, you must search among the peasant homes, and mountain shep- herds ; for absolute goodness dwells only in the plain people of a land. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXXVI. Where Morality Thrives. — In simple lives, in humble homes, in quiet nooks and corners of the earth, the spirit of peace may be found, and only there. True life is not on the sea, nor in the cities. It is a part of the earth itself, amid vegetation and flowers. Man's hope is through asso- ciation with Nature in her open avenues of growing life; his food and his religion are found nowhere else. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXXVII. Philosophy of Punishment. — It is hard to say that a criminal should go free; but the philosophy of punishment presents a proposition that, at first sight, seems to favor the theory of escape from the consequences of crime. The final and the great punishment of the evil-doer is the destruc- tion of his soul ; for no man can live in the happiness that may follow death, unless he is morally able to develop an immortal soul. The death of the evil doer is the end of him forever ; and the end of his soul, except the tortures that occur in the disintegration of the spirit. Of this we will see the process later. This act of soul- destruction is simply the breaking up of a tiling that has no hold on its own life. But, before death, the punish- ment of crime is an act directed against the evil life within the body of the criminal, by the evil life within the body of the punisher. Let us examine this proposition. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXXVIII. Evil Against Evil. — A parent who strikes a child is pitting evil against evil ; the bad within against the bad within. A person whose whole constitution is of the ANG disposition, would not think, and much less execute, an act of punishment. In comiuunities where the devil is admit- tedly the reigning influence, and the ordinary vices are patted on the back as companion traits, the law is in the hands of criminals ; and the evil of the heart delights in private murder and public lynchings. From this 16 242 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE SIX. temper of malice down to the operation of ordinary justice, the same prin- ciple prevails. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXXIX. Prevention of Crime. — Philanthropists have again and again declared that the sole purpose of punishment should be the prevention of crime; and this requires the interference with the criminal as the first step. If a man commits one murder, he is either to be executed or imprisoned to prevent a repetition of the offence; although the chances are much against his repeating so horrible a crime. All are agreed that he is to be put out of the way or kept out of the way. A further and greater purpose is the deterring of others from committing a similar offence. Both purposes are humane and necessary to the safety of society. No fact is better known than that the devil would quickly become rampant in people, and override even the sanity of the mind, if Nature's first law, exact justice, were not enforced. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXXX. Exact Justice. — If a man places himself beneath a falling mass, he is crushed to death. One who jumps into the ocean can avail nothing by long, heartfelt prayers for mercy as against justice. If the hand is placed on burning coals, all the dissertations on benevolence, forgiveness, and loving- kindness cannot save the flesh from burning. The inexorable law of exact retribution is never so positive as when it is incapable of feeling. So revenge should never guide the administration of justice. The most perfect punish- ment is that which has no flexibility ; and the weakest is that which horrifies by its revengeful aspect. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXXXI. Inflexible Justice. — While there are grades of temper and malice in the commission of offences, the very fact that there exists the possibility of leniency, mercy or escape, always accelerates the disposition to become careless and reckless. Very little good in the way of prevention or deter- ring others, is accomplished by the so-called mercy theory. It is but a compromise between the desire to save society and the fear of hurting too EVIL. 243 much the feelings of the offender. The true type of punishment must be inflexible justice, entirely devoid of the spirit of revenge or the desire merely to make one suffer, except as an example to others. Let it become known that crime is absolutely punishable and this form of mental disease will be greatly a thing of the past. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXXXII. Capital Punishment. — The problem of legislation is the right of government to take life ; not the propriety of the custom. A voluntary murderer can never, under the remotest possibility of circumstances, inherit eternal life. His soul is an out-cast of the universe. His body is of no use to the further development of the soul-life ; for the latter is doomed beyond recall. No man who slays a voluntary murderer is guilty of an offence, in the eyes of a law higher than that of earth. A man, a body of men, or organized government may dispose of the living carcass in any way they deem proper; but a mistake of individual or of fact makes every person engaged in the transaction a voluntary murderer. For this reason a judgment of court is a necessary condition precedent. Here is the law of ages. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXXXIII. Propriety of Capital Punishment. — The right is one thing and the propriety is another. A law that is so administered that escape or leniency is possible, must be practically ineffectual. Certainty of retribution is the only preventive of crime. The claim that, in the olden days, when the gibbet and the axe were constantly in operation, moral degradation was most abject and crimes most frequent, is grossly illogical ; for the wickedness of men was not caused by their execution. The punishment of criminals, being the act of evil against evil, is not a moral force ; it may deter the commis- sion of sin, but cannot plant the seeds of good. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXXXIV. Publicity. — The chief wrong done to the public is the advertising of the details of execution. There is to most criminals a fascination for the morbid; and, in the moral lapse that comes to many morbid minds, the 244 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY- TOME SIX. worst of crimes are committed. To nearly all murderers the thought of notoriety is almost akin to that of fame to the great. One is but the deformity of the other. Many men and women seek notoriety first as a stepping stone to fame. The glorification of some brutal murderer, through that putrid excrescence of social impurity, called by Dickens a sewer, and generally known as a newspaper, always tempts men to commit murder. If the fact could be made known to all mankind that such a crime was surely punishable, that retribution was certain and swift; if the execution were before a private jury of death; and if the law should compel the daily papers to remain silent, or merely report the fact that Murderer No. 9 was executed; the morbid appetite of boys and girls, and growing as well as grown criminals, would have less to feed upon. I doubt not that, in a few years, the necessity for capital punishment would practically disappear ; and the question would settle itself. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXXXY. Morbid Appetites. — The mental balance of a person in perfect health is never at its best, unless the moral nature is highly developed. Insanity is the work of DE VS. It begins in what is called a morbid appetite ; a craving of the evil within for association. If the good is predominant, it craves the beautiful, the sweet, the pure ; and grows on its feeding. But there is a spirit of sin in most hearts that reaches out, through the three func- tions of life, for a friendship with the evil that stalks abroad. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXXXVI. The Three Functions of Life. — When the Evil One has so far obtained possession of the body that the DEVS within reach out for the friendship of the DEVS without, this eagerly sought association is effected through man's three divisions of life, — the mind, soul and body. The latter is manifest through the stomach, its great feeder; and vicious tastes, culmi- nating in a special thirst for alcohol-DEVS, is the result. The heart craves feelings of the most morbid character, loves gossip, accounts of tortures, fights and murders. The mind not only seeks impure literature, but finds it ready and waiting. Other mental DEVS had gone before and prepared the food for what must surely follow. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. EVIL. 245 LESSON CCCCXXXVII. The Insane. — Either by a concurrence of the derangement of the three functions of the body, or the co-operation of any two of them, the mind may be, and generally is, somewhat affected. Of course it is well-known that most cases of insanity are the result of vices. Others, supposed to be the result of goodness, are in fact, the unnatural assumption of goodness. Thus a person who has been bad for a life time, suddenly becomes reformed. The new wine in old bottles must cause a severe strain, or burst the recep- tacles. So goodness does not suit unnatural conditions. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays,'' at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXXXVIII. Morbid Minds. — The devil, in his attempts to gain ascendency over the life of man, takes advantage of every circumstance that favors his ad- vent. Goodness batters down the obstacles of opposition, and comes into an open warfare. If evil approached in its own guises, it would rarely be admitted ; for no man would willingly invite a serpent to his bosom. Therefore, it comes through appetite, or thoughts or feelings. Reciprocity is clearly illustrated. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXXXIX. Reciprocity. — If a boy has a craving for some hoodlum literature, as the dime novels for instance, he will find the thing printed and on sale. If a young man is ])rompted by the Evil One within him, to desire sensational items of police doings, he will find that the devil within some other human being has already anticipated his wants. The obscene DEVS in all classes, create a demand for stuff which the obscene DEVS of certain men prepare and place on sale. Climbing the scale of supposed civilization we find that this evil influence is able to adapt itself to every class and condition of humanity ; and, under the pretense of education, to spread the putrid germs of moral disease into homes, among men, women and children. This guise of the devil is the newspaper. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXL. Sewerage — I believe in the weekly paper as it is generally found in American homes. It must be encouraged, and made to prosper sufficiently 246 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE SIX. to be able to give up the questionable advertisements which appear in it. Obscene and medical matter are generally found in the weeklies, to the annoyance of the majority of the subscribers. The pictures of people said to be cured by patent medicines, are as offensive to the readers who see them on the parlor table, as if the same horde of imaginables had come in a body to spend the week there. A single step will make the weekly papers a blessing and a means of education. Not so with the dailies and Sundays. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXLI. Sunday Journalism — In the first place, laying aside the general objections to newspapers, there are special features connected with Sunday papers that prevent any moral person from reading them. It is claimed that they do not represent work done on Sunday, but are prepared on Satur- day. If this were true, it would still be objectionable ; for he who works so hard on Saturday as to be exhausted on Sunday has desecrated the Sabbath; and anybody who knows newspaper men is aware of this fact. The claim is not true that the work is all done on Saturday; it continues all Saturday night and into the forenoon of Sunday for many of the attaches. The first objection is, its Sunday-breaking. The second, it breaks the Sunday for others, who spend hours in reading stuff which they think is true. Third, it has kept many a man away from church-duties, home- duties, self-duties. Fourth, its sewerage is to the pure atmosphere of the Sabbath morn, as bacterial malaria from a death-swamp, is to the mountain breeze that bears the perfume of flowers to her who brightly trips along the meadows at the sound of the church-going bells. I insist that every student of these pages shall bar forever from his home and his eyes, all Sunday papers. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXLII. Daily Journalism. — Some years ago I made war on the iaewspapers, as mere sewers of moral filth, and they replied. I can prove by indisputa- ble evidence, as caa every person living, the following facts: the articles supposed to be news are enlarged from small dispatches, in many cases; many so-called special dispatches are pure inventions in the office of the papers; generak press dispatches are enlarged from a few lines; interviews EVIL. 247 in nearly all cases are concocted by reporters ; interviews that are not wholly in vented are nearly always grossly and falsely exaggerated; supposed events are pure inventions in many cases ; nine papers out of every ten are blackmailers, and are paid to suppress articles that are infamous lies; the orders from the owners of the papers compel the reporters to hunt sensa- tional articles in preference to news; the men engaged in the publishing, editing, and writing for the daily papers are, as a rule, unfit for church, home, or social affiliations; a man who will cater to the morbid lust for putrescence is a blackleg at heart, and dishonest from core to skin ; a writer or reporter who will assail that which is more precious than life, — reputa- tion, — is an outcast from the world, both physical and spiritual; the reporters, almost without exception, are in fact men who are denied admis- sion to the homes of decent people; the falsehoods of newspapers have been responsible for every business panic that ever spread over the country ; they are an injury to honest business; if daily papers were suppressed, it would be impossible for gamblers in stocks and foods, outside of certain cities, to thrive or even exist; the daily paper takes an hour or two of valuable time each day to read, supplants intellectual reading with gush, sensation and false- hood, teaches morbid cravings for gossip, excites political animosity, personal hatred and feelings of revenge, and, under the pretence of keeping a man informed on matters that bother rather than interest him, it implants its own devilish inspiration into the lives of those who otherwise would rise to a superior plane of life. There is not one honest reason why a man should read a daily paper. The weeklies supply him admirably with current history, and the monthly magazines furnish that which is reliable and permanent. For these reasons all who inhabit our "Ideal City" must discard daily papers. For Essays on this subject, see "Roles for Essays," at ihe eud of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXLIII. Border Land of Civilization — In Korea, that mid-way country between civilization and barbarism, the personality of the devil is amply visible; yet, cruel as these human beings are, they are no worse than modern Europe and America. Take away the influence of the Prince of Peace from the hearts of our best men and women, and the horrible cruelties of the darkest eras of the world would instantly reappear. My claim is this : 248 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SIX. cruelty and hatred are not dependent upon civilization, but upon moral education. The devil is alike in all ages, all climes, and under all degrees of civilization. Let me tell of the doings of humanity as swayed by the devil in Korea, at this very day and hour ; and let some of our students ex- plain this phase of the human heart. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXLIY. Treason. — In Korea the body of the dead rebel, Kim Ok Kiun, was brought to Korea, cut into six pieces, and the bloody head, the hands, the feet and the trunk were carried over the country and hung above the gates of the cities as a warning to rebels. Not only this man him- self was killed, but his whole family, and all his relatives have been terribly punished. ' His father did all he could to prevent his boy from rising against the King ten years ago, and after his rebellion went into retirement. He was old and blind, but after Kim's death he was dragged out and his head was cut off. The men of the family even of the third and fourth generations were executed, and the women, including Kim's seventeen-year-old daughter, were given over to be the slaves or concubines of the officials. After this rebellion the mothers, the wives, and the daughters of all who have taken up arms against- the King will become the common property of the Govern- ment and of the magistrates of the provinces in which they live. They will be dragged from their homes to be concubines and slaves. As their beauty wanes they will be handed from one high oflicial to a lower until they de- scend to the bottom dregs of the Government service. They will have no rights that anybody will be bound to respect, and their only chance of happi- ness will be in death. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXLV. Method of Capital Punishment — The criminal is not allowed to stand or sit in the cart. He is tied to a cross which is built up just over the wheels and nailed to the cart. This cross is so high that when his arms are stretched out and tied, his toes are still six inches from the bed of the cart. A block is then put beneath them, and this block is so short that the tips of his toes barely touch it. The road grows rougher as it nears the West gate, and from thence to the execution ground it is filled with ruts and great EVIL. 249 rocks. At the West gate the block is knocked out from under the toes of the prisoner, and he hangs by his arms and his neck. The bullock is then whipped by the driver, and the cart bounces up and down over the rocky- way to the execution grounds. Here the criminal is taken down from the cross. He is stripped of his clothes and laid upon his back in the dust of the road. The executioner is always a murderer, and the weapon is a sword, which is so blunt that it mashes rather than cuts the head from the shoulders. For Essays on this subject, see ' Rules for Essays." at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXLVI. Small Offences. — Death is often administered in Korea, even for slight offences. Yet most of the people are refined and of elegant manners, love poetry, and have souls almost as lofty as those of Americans. Still, these punishments are such that they would be a disgrace to the most ignorant and savage nations of the African wilds, and I wonder if after all our humanity is not civilization veneer, and whether we would not be quite as bad had we not for generations been studying how to do better. We are the same Christian people who burned witches at the stake only a generation or so ago, and our great-great-grandfathers punished the least stealing with death. What was common in feudalism would be disgraceful now. Korea is practically a feudal nation to-day, and it is in fact in the same state that China was about four hundred years back. Korean thieves are decapitated for their crimes. They are only cut into two pieces, however, and the law provides that their bodies need not lie on the execution grounds longer than two days before their relatives can take them away and bury them. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXLVII. Theft — The thief, when he is first taken, is flogged by the officers. He is then asked as to his crime, and after this, is taken to the house of the judge. The judge demands what he has done with the property, and if the thief replies that it has been sold and gives the name of the party who has it, it is confiscated. He is then taken to jail and kept there for one hundred days. At the end of this time the police give him the option of life or death. If he accepts life he becomes a servant of the jail for the rest of his existence; if death, he is strangled. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 250 HOME COURSE IN PEILOSOPHY—TOME SIX. LESSON CCCCXLYIII. Strangling. — This strangling is done in a curious way. There is a hole in the door of the cell just large enough for a piece of rope about the size of a clothes-line to pass through. A noose is made at the end of the rope, and this noose is placed around the criminal's neck. The other end is put through the hole in the door or the wall, and the police pull at the rope until they bring the man's chest and neck above and below the hole and until the neck breaks and the man is dead. The question as to whether a thief be strangled or decapitated depends upon the nature of the offense. Strangling is much the more respectable way of dying. Sometimes this is brought about by hanging. The thief's neck and hands are tied to a post, so that his feet are some distance above the ground. About his ankles a stout rope is then fastened, and to the end of this a stone, several times a& heavy as his body, is hung. Of course, the man dies. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXLIX. Suffocation. — Another method of execution is by suffocation, and this, strange to say, is done with paper. The man is laid flat upon his back, and a sheet of Korean paper is spread over his face. This has been soaked in water, and fits over the man's face, being pressed down so that it makes a veritable death mask, shutting out every bit of air, and the man dies. Anyone who has seen the paper of Korea will appreciate how easily this form of execution could be carried out. It is made by hand. It is as thick as a sheet of blotting paper and always as strong as leather. When moisture is applied it becomes exceedingly soft, but does not lose its strength, and it would make an excellent molding material. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCL. Torture — The Korean policeman who arrests a man as a thief when he knows him to be innocent is liable to be caught by the man's family, and his eyes may be burned out by them with red-hot pokers or iron chop-sticks which have been heated in the coals. His eyes have not seen truly in arrest- ing the wrong man, and it is thought just that they be put out. Another way of performing this punishment is by laying the policeman on the ground with his face upward. A tube of bamboo, just about one inch in EFIL. 261 thickness and as long as a lead pencil, is fitted over the eye and the other end of it is pounded with a mallet until the eyes are squeezed up into the bamboo tubes. Such cases are not uncommon, but a policeman who inten- tionally arrests an innocent man is liable to this treatment. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLI. Confessions. — The torturing of prisoners to make them confess is common in Korea, and it is wonderful what inventions of torture are some- times in use. Think of tying a man's bare feet to a stake in the ground and burning his toes with powder. Think of all sorts of flogging and pinching and cutting, and you can get some idea of the powers of a Korean magistrate. In the prisons you will find iron chains, stocks, and all sorts of manacles. These Koreans know how to whip so that the flesh is ravelled off of the bones. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLIL Paddling. — This is the most common form of punishment in Korea. These paddles are about six feet long, five inches wide, and perhaps an inch thick in the centre, tapering down to a thickness of perhaps three- eights of an inch at the end. They have small handles, and they are made of a white, hard wood, which is very flexible and elastic. The paddling kesos have a regular guild of their own, and the business often descends from father to son. They are wonderfully expert in the use of the paddle, and the officers carry from two to a hundred of them with them, according to their rank. The man is tied to a board, which lies on the ground on two small blocks of wood. His body is bared from the waist to the ankles, and he lies upon his belly on the plank. There is a rope around his waist which is fastened through a hole in the board, and there are also ropes about his feet, which bind him so tightly that he cannot move. The keso stands behind him with his paddle, and the officers look on to see that he is properly whipped. Often a half dozen men are paddled at the .same time in this way. If there are no planks handy, they are laid flat on the ground on their faces, and their feet are sometimes fastened in this position in wooden stocks, so that they cannot move. They are laid out in rows and each man has his paddler beside him. Each paddler's arms are bare to the shoulder, and they work in unison. 252 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SIX. They have their paddles raised back over their heads as far as their arms can reach, whea they are ready for action, and they bring them down at the cry of the under officials, who, with swords at their sides, stand at the head of the line of half-naked men and yell out a sort of a chant, which sounds something like this: La-hoo-aa-hoo-oo. The paddles are raised at the first la, and as the final oo-oo is uttered they are brought down with a crack like a pistol on the skin of the men, and the executioners grunt with the exer- tion. They have a way of pressing the paddle down on the quivering flesh, and of pulling it ofE with a rub before they raise it. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLIII. Sand-Punishment. — The first strike usually makes a blister, and at the close of the second the paddle is wet with water or blood. As these executioners drag it off, they rub it into the sand, pressing it there until the keso again cry La-hoo-aa-hoo-oo. Then the paddles are raised again, and, as they are brought down this time, they are covered with sand. They pound the particles into the flesh, and as the men drag them off they take away the skin as though it were sand-papered. Words can give no concep- tion of the punishment, and when you remember that any official has the right to paddle any man below liira, and almost any one of prominence can paddle those of lower rank, you can get some idea of the condition of affairs in this country. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLIV. Proof of the Evil One. — As it is, sometimes men are killed by paddling. Fifty blows would surely do it, and the ordinary dose is about twelve strokes. Much paddling will reduce the flesh to a jelly, and even after slight punishment men have to be lifted up and carried away. They cannot rise of themselves. The paddling goes on in the army, and a General or a Colonel can paddle a private, and the privates paddle the citizens, and so it goes. There is such a thing as bribing the paddlers, so that they pretend to kill the man, but moderate the stroke as it comes down and only punish him slightly. In fact, bribery is possible from the top to the bottom of Korean official life, and there will have to be an entire EVIL. 253 reorganization of the whole system of government here before the people can have prosperity or peace. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLV. Lax Laws. — Wicked and corrupt as is the great nation of Korea, it is a type of the crystallization of evil in all our great cities. Let the law become lax, and dishonesty will ride rough-shod over the whole people; vice, with all its hideous heads, will rise to swallow the good, to destroy honor, virtue, decency, and industry. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLVI. Growing Lawlessness — Under the pretence of freedom, but in the clearly apparent guise of licence and licentiousness, the devil in man is rapidly over-awing the law of America. This claim has been made several times by prominent men, free from motive to mislead; but the Evil One speaking in the mouths of the newspapers, and his other agents, has charged the statesmen with being pessimits, calamity-talkers, and the like; the result being that those who love and would aid to uplift humanity are cowed and become silent for a lifetime. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLVIL Names of Evil Origin. — Have you ever noticed that, when a man or woman takes a noble position in the world, the Evil One, through the news- papers and his other agents, at once invents a name to be applied as an epithet to the better one? The vocabulary of the press, gamblers, bar- tenders, and the morally disordered, is composed almost exclusively of epithets invented by the devil to be hurled against good men and women. I have collected over four hundred of these opprobriums. The most striking example of noble courage is the power of a good person to with- stand an epithet. A clergyman told me he could not openly support the cause of temperance, for the papers called him a " crank." Another refused to be known in a crusade against gamblers, because the press would call him a "reformer." I declare here and now most solemnly that a clergyman who refuses to take an OPEN PUBLIC stand against the agents of the Evil One, against gambling, intemperance, sensational journalism and 254 ROME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE SIX. vice generally, oan never enter the kingdom of Heaven ! The reason for this assertion I will present in later pages. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLYIII. Change of Opinion. — It is because morality, for the peace of its supports (?), makes compromise with evil, that lawlessness is fast controlling this country, and wearing the garb of license, stamped freedom in bold letters. All persons, except those of the most disordered moral condition, know that liquor-selling is a crime. The time was when the public mind did not admit this. Now, since so many homes have been ruined and so many bright lives blasted, all decent people confess that it is the direct work of Satan; and that bar-tenders and dealers are criminals and unfit compan- ions of men. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLIX. Sensationalism. — What alcohol is to the body, sensationalism is to the mind and heart. The sewerage of moral slums, called the newspapers, is the growing rampant monster of the day. It makes intemperance, crime, vice and debauchery easy. As the DEVS first weaken the physical tissue of the flesh to make them an easy prey to putrid diseases that follow, so the newspapers weaken the mental tissues of the brain and the moral tissues of the heart by their sensationalism. The result of this weakening is to make bad people an easy prey to vice ; but the graver result is the veil of tolera- tion it throws over the character of the good, so that every person exclaims: "There is so much bad in the world, that my influence cannot count much either way." Thus toleration comes about, and the vicious sensationalism of the press is accepted as a thing that cannot be helped. It is pure lawless- ness. Hence we have one instance of an open defiance of the criminal code, as well as the law of Heaven; against which the people, in their present moral condition, are perfectly helpless, because they are part of and partly believe in sensationalism. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLX. Gigantic Combinations. — The common law, founded in natural justice, provided against perpetuities, on account of the dangers they created EVIL. 255 by reason of the enormous power. Tlie jjeople did not forsee the vast com- binations of wealth now possible ; but the nature of the evil is the same. The legitimate earnings of the farmer are denied him by the lawlessness of these giant evils ; trade and business in their lesser and therefore more healthful channels are choked ; and all classes are affected by it. There should be a limit to combinations. The people seem helpless, owing to a wicked political system, which is controlled by demagogues. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXI. Alcoholisnn — In spite of a strong moral sentiment against it, liquor- selling is an open defiance to the law, and. is increasing. The interests of the brewers and distillers compelled them to combine ; and they and their rank and file control a large share of the political legislation of the country. In several large cities they are in absolute power. In smaller cities and towns, they are the rulers. I write this particular paragraph while in a small city where there are eight churches, many very respectable people, and large business interests. Yet the streets are never free from men reeling in drunkenness ; the council is controlled by a brewer, who is notoriously ignorant; the brewer's son is postmaster, having, by a change of party, dis- placed a respectable person in the office ; the postmaster is under indictment (and has been since convicted) for inciting a riot of drunken foreigners; and, what might be otherwise a beautiful and prosperous city is cursed by these DEVS. For Essays on this subject, see " Riiles for Essays,'' at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXII. Defiance of Law. — I travelled in more than one hundred counties of a strictly temperance state, — that is, temperance as far as the statutes were concerned. Public prosecutors, all the officers of the law, the press and the people openly defended the defiance of the law. The latter classes were powerless, because public sentiment was the devil's strong right arm. For Essays on this subject, .see '■ Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXIII. Gambling. — This vice is openly supported, heralded and praised by the public press. Gambling is able to defy the law because it rests on four 256 HOME COUBSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE SIX. giant pillars: politics, greed, the press, and the devil. Hardly a town or city is free from it. If sentiment downs it in one form, it will reappear in another. Being the offspring of evil, it is shrewd, and it seeks the channel of nobility as a disguise of its course. Thus the grandest of animals is made to play a part in the crime of men. All daily papers record in ad- vance and afterwards the doings of the horse-race gamblers ; men, women and youth are notified, excited, tempted ; the press leads thousands to their ruin every year. So the white-blooded criminals who sit in Wall Street, and in exchanges all over America, and who speculate on breadstuffs, and the products of labor and business, are gamblers, one and all ; unfit for Heaven and destined to eternal destruction. No law can reach them ; and their criminal transactions have precipitated every financial panic of the last thirty years. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXIV. Lynching. — The slowness of the courts in punishing criminals, has compelled the public in hundreds of localities to permit lawless executions. The people are either powerless to enforce the laws or else to prevent this lawlessness. The open defiance of government is notorious. And, in all these lynching states it is everywhere an undisguised fact that the law is in contempt. People kill at will, overpower constables and sheriffs, sneer at the courts, and openly express their defiance of all law. In other words justice may prevail only when they choose to permit it. This spirit of evil is, I know, increasing; for I have carefully canvassed the states through agencies of the most reliable kind. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXY. Profanity — Any spoken thought that comes from the devil within man is profanity ; and it generally is aimed at the good. In hundreds of towns I have heard the most horrible language from those who pass along the street, under windows, and near women and children. There is a species of human vermin who stand on the curb stones, spit tobacco, swear in every breath, talk filth and eye every woman who passes. I have listened to many such vermin. North and South, East and West, and find them all alike. One noticeable feature of all low creatures, is the fact that when a respect- EVIL. 257 able person has just passed, they curse him. Few men know how often they have been cursed; for they do not hear it. The law is openly defied by these profane criminals, and there seems to be no remedy. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essaj's, " at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXVI. Immigration. — As a rule in these days ninety-five per cent, of all immigrants are criminals. The people of America do not seem to have the power to check the tide ; and the next generation must pay the penalty. The law is defied and no remedy is at hand. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXVIL Loafing, — To get rid of a tramp a woman or weak man will feed him. Twenty years ago the tramps were abundant; to-day there are twenty to one of that former time. They are increasing. They are a professional class, determined to defy the law. What home in the city, in the town, in the village, in the fairest of earth, the country, is a safe or ha]jpy one, when at any hour of the day or night a lazy, insect-laden mass of filth and rags comes through the gate and takes temporary possession of the premises. For the safety of the people, as well as to put down a growing evil, every tramp should be fed at one place only in each locality, after which he should be compelled to work for the public. The cause of the evil is the feeding of the tramp. A man or woman commits a public offence who feeds a tramp. They know where they may be fed; and if a neighborhood were to agree to feed none, the pests would prey elsewhere ; and, if likewise treated, would soon go to work. The law is now defied. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXVIII. Obscenity — There is everywhere a distribution of influences that create a taste for the obscene. In books, pamphlets, newspapers and other periodicals, this taste is catered to in order to create a demand for reading matter. Certain authors write filth in the form of novels, send copies to the government, seek to get the book suppressed so as to advertise and sell it. It is a sad reflection on the domination of evil, that, when an obscene book is suppressed, it is eagerly purchased by the public. Thus in enforc- 17 258 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE SIX. ing the law, the government becomes helpless. On all sides we see the growing spirit of lawlessness. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at tlie end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXIX. Politics. — A good man, while he is in duty bound to take part, has no place in politics. The machinery of all parties is lubricated by dollars, corruption and liquor. The first thing a party does in opening the campaign work is to collect dollars , not a cent of which is spent honestly. What is called campaign literature is a continuous mesh of lies, distorted facts, and libel. Not until the honest men of all parties come out of party allegiance, lay aside selfishness, and work for principle, can the combined power of the press and rumshop be overcome. A free man has no right to be a partisan, and is laying the foundation of his own disasters. For Essays on this subject, see " Eules for Essays,'' at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXX. Strikes The doctrine that one man can compel another to pay or to accept a price that is not the result of mutual agreement, is anarchy. The fault of laborers is their political partisanship. If the good people of all classes will come out of parties, and unite for the principles laid down in our Ideal City, the labor question would settle itself. As it now is, the gigantic combinations of labor are treasonable conspiracies against estab- lished government, organized by a few men, who are officers of labor societies, and enemies to the cause of labor. I believe in eight hours as a day's work, in a Saturday half-holiday, in wages much higher than those now received, and in rewards to laborers in the form of old-age pensions, paid from taxes levied on excessive incomes; but I am sure that there is a growing defiance of the law among strikers that will ere long overcome temporarily the government itself. Thus on all sides, the lawlessness of the people of America is taking advantage of freedom, and is eating away the foundation of society. People who deny this are either ignorant, or are the friends of anarchy. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXXI. Tolerance. — It has been wondered at why the immoral and indecent sheets called the newspapers are tolerated ; but the wonder ceases when we EVIL. 259 know the constitution of man, and the insidious purpose of evil to over- whelm his soul. Few dare to assail the spirit of fiends, others do not care to be covered with mud, so the evil takes advantage of this knowledge and the crime thrives. Tolerance permits all evil to grow until the good is killed. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXXII. Curiosity — To be merely interested in an event is proper; but the evil that instigates man to his own doom makes use of this propriety and lures its would-be victim to dangerous ground. Curiosity is the father of scandal, gossip, slander and quarrels. No person has a right to interfere with the affairs of his neighbor until they affect the public or encroach upon the rights of another. One man's privileges end where another's begins. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXXIII. Interference — Curiosity leads to inquiry, then to suspicion, then to remarks that are a plain interference with the affairs of others. The re- marks are to third parties ; they become confidences, and therefore general ; they grow into lies, and incite gossip and enmities. They started from the unwarranted interference in matters that were absolutely none of the busi- ness of the first meddler ; but, being agencies of the Evil One, they are not suppressible. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXXIV. Gossip. — No more insidious, wicked or malicious element resides in the blood of humanity than the spirit of gossip. It is as incurable as sin. It places no responsibility on the morality of man ; for it is the Evil One himself, present and active in almost every thought and breath. The very people who gossip the most, and serve up the reputations of men and women on the soaking toasts of malice, are the first to censure gossip when reminded of its evils. You may be sure that persons who set themselves up as hor- rified by the fearful malevolence of gossipers, are the first to commit the act. There are some acute minds that can decry the evil in a moral breath, and, instead of gossiping outright, insinuate more than their worst words would 260 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SIX. imply. This system is the elaborate work of the DEVS that inhabit the flesh of mankind, and serves to keep alive the malice that makes life intoler- able. The proneness to gossip can never be cured; or not until these agents of the Evil One are made a minority in the body of the individual. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXXV. Education. — All intelligence is capable of imparting education to that which is intellectual. Intellect is a capacity to add to that intelligence which is known as instinct. Thus the intelligent forces of vegetation be- come intellectual in their animal after- growth ; and develop into reasoning faculties in the higher organism called man. Therefore vegetation may be trained, and animals and men may be educated. The two latter classes are constantly subject to the influences of both good and bad. A dog, who is a worthless cur, has many a follower in the human species ; the currish nature being the result of ancestral education in part. The constant danger of bad or evil training is a source of peril to all, and should be met by increasing watchfulness over ourselves, and over others in our care. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXXVI. Drifts. — Left to self a person drifts, and always one way. There is no down grade to morality. Even in refinement and culture, the positive efforts of training are necesssary ; for, as soon as these efforts are withdrawn, the body grows coarse and the mind rough. The bad weeds that choke a beautiful garden are exemplified in the coarseness that overwhelms the accomplishments of mind and body. Let a refined man go to an uncultured locality, and he soon falls in line with the sneers that are made at every suggestion of improvement in human personality. It is not nature, but the people who live in the midst of, but cannot appreciate, nature, that may be charged with inspiring the evil that undermines the good. Wherever we turn the same story is repeated always ; the two influences are at work ; the larger DEVS and ANGS make up the physical, mental and moral existence of every man, woman and child on earth. The only question involved in the life of an individual is, What proportion is good and what bad ? For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. I EVIL. 261 LESSON CCCCLXXVII. Personality. — What are you? The answer is your safety or your extinction. Life cannot drift always; for the Evil One means to annihilate all whom he may control. God never created a soul to be damned ; Satan does. The God-given part of the soul is choked as a weed in the garden. He never made the bud to be blighted, the blossom to be blasted, the fruit to be withered, the tree to be destroyed by insects, nor the flower to hide the thorn. God is all-good, all-wise, all-great. Man is not His off-spring ; but, like all life, is the result of a conflict of forces in the universe. The image of the Creator, man may meet and see Him beyond the grave ; the image of Satan, he must account to the devil, if he affiliates with him in the flesh. Your personality is double; as life advances you assume one image or the other; if you are positive in your dislike of goodness, culture and moral stature, the Evil One is your absolute and unchangeable master; if you are careless and merely drift, the incline is always down; you will never float up stream. The peace and rest and happiness of self-effort to attain goodness, are works of God, imprinted on an eternal soul. What is your personality ? For Essaj's on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXXVIII. Battle-grounds — There are two moral battle-grounds on which the conflicts of immortality must be fought. One is within the quadruple exist- ence of every human being ; and the rules which govern the engagement are known as religion. This will be discussed in the Tome entitled " Good." The less important, but more terrible, battle-ground is in the life about us. The demand of God is for warriors willing to face the malignity of the assaults from the devil and his DEVS. I assert that the religion of the world has been in the hands of those who are agents of the Evil One. All through the centuries of the dark ages the haters of purity were the leaders of the church. When Whitefield and Wesley aroused the latent forces of good in England, they found the clergy asleep, stupid from beer and wine, and lethargic to every moral impulse. The administration of religion con- sisted of a machine-service, unthought sermons, and unfelt prayers, — all a mockery at God. If the rules laid down in our subsequent Tomes are true, and if their demonstration is absolutely proved, as the facts conclusively 262 HOWIE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SIX. show, it must be true that lethargic ministers and church leaders are in- capable of forming eternal souls. The examples of Christ and all his disciples are set as types of the clergy. No man has a right to accept the ministerial position for its salary and its quietude. The life of the preacher demands an open declaration of war, and an array of the forces of evil against those of good. The malice of the agents of sin must be quickened and uncovered. The friends of God must not only compel the friends of Satan to show themselves, but must show them to all mankind. The first duty of the clergy is to uncover the enemy. This produces attack and war. What of that ? No bitterer things can be said of a good man to-day than were uttered against Christ, his disciples and his followers. Good never follows compromise with sin. Wesley was confronted with domestic troubles, a vicious wife, an accusatory press, a hostile ministry and a denunciatory public ; he uncovered the enemy. All historians to-day, friendly and unfriendly, declare that Wesleyism changed the face of English religion, politics and society, all for the better. Had he never been abused he would have been inefEectual. Hundreds have followed in his steps ; have uncovered the enemy ; and have won immortality. Outside as well as inside the church, the call is for reformers ; men and women capable of uncovering the enemy ; willing to be attacked and abused. In temperance reform, Gough laid a foundation of moral supremacy that has changed the face of America, and averted the fate of this country from that of Europe, where all classes drink liquors, have inflamed faces, are mentally stupid and morally lax. Gough arrayed against him the whole enemy : the saloons, criminals, newspapers, drinkers, politicians, gossipers and liars. The papers charged him with every crime possible ; dogged his footsteps with reporters, detectives and other crimioals; concocted lies of the most scur- rilous stripe; and squirmed as he kept on his way without noticing them. Look at the uncovering of the devils caused by the purity of Washington. If you will glance over the copies of the press of his time, you will lose all faith in human nature when you read that he was accused of the most heinous offences known to the criminal code. So Lincoln was charged, not alone by the press of the opposition and of the South, but by his own party editors, with being a traitor and a criminal. No pure life has escaped. No aggressive defender of good can, or ought to hope to escape. As long as EVIL. 263 the enemy lie hidden, rest in ambush, or dwell in the peace of compromise with good men, they are dangerous. Their malicious blows fall harmless when they are compelled to strike in broad daylight and from an uncovered position. I now declare what I know must be an absolute and unvarying truth, that the peace of God is only purchased by war with the devil ; and that clergymen who administer religion in a machine-like manner, who eat, sleep and pray in a routine course of life, who do not come out and uncover the enemy, will not, cannot, and never may, inherit immortality. Upon them rests the chief responsibility. But all who would live beyond the grave must fight openly here the arch-enemy of life. Even if the doctrines of the Shaftesbury Philosophy are not considered, the proof is otherwise abundant that humanity is a conflict of the two forces of good and evil ; and one must overwhelm the other. Who will give their lives to the battle to uncover the enemy ? For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. END OF TOME SIX EVIL. For Graduation and Diploma, see Tome Ten. TOME SEVEN. LIFE. LESSON CCCCLXXIX. Impressions — Let any person sit down, think very deliberately for a while, and then make a note of the impressions they have of life. Three things will predominate : selfishness, the ever-present and fear. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXXX. Origin — Few will think of what they are. Archimedes offered to move the earth, if someone would provide him with a fulcrum, on which to place a lever. Suspended in mid-space, with no communication with the world beyond, we are unable to obtain a starting point on which to base the proofs of things most interesting to know. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXXXL The Span of Life — In this Tome we will consider all that occurs in and about man from the cradle to the grave ; leaving the preceding and suc- ceeding eras for other pages. The present is called the span of life. It begins where the vital cell is organized, and ends when the body has passed all the processes of decay, and been assimilated by mother earth. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXXXII. In the Loins of the Father — All flesh, all vegetation, all life in fact, consists of a collection of cells. Their accumulation, addition, and variety of differentiation, cause all growth, shape, parts, and conditions of the body. The muscles are long lines of cells, in threads and bundles. The skin is an interweaving of surfaces, to serve as a covering. The bones are cells and their mineral deposits produce hardness. In the functions of the body each plays its part, under the influences of a fixed intelligence, which is the sum of many Atoms having an individual purpose. When a boy approaches the age of puberty, there commences to unfold a certain number of spores, which contain ids and idants, inherited from his father, mother, and their (264) LIFE. 265 ancestors. These little structures are not the boy's creation, nor his devel- opment. They have not grown in his body. The great fact concerning them, is that they are the only identical particles which remain from the bodies of his parents. The germ spore from his father contained one hundred : the sum and substance of all his ancestry. This hundred imparted their own increase during incubation ; the number which was to become fixed in the life of the boy, became established during pregnancy ; and he went forth into the world charged with limited possibilities. In all the growing years of boyhood these ids are incubating, stimulating the growth of the young body as they themselves are approaching maturity. They then make their presence felt in no unmistakable terms. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXXXIII. Paternity. — It is, as we have carefully explained in Tomes Four and Five, the nature of a cell to multiply by division. Under the stimulus of excitement, the vitality of the germ-spores causes a rapid increase in the bacteria growth within the organic parts. The pressure is so great that few men are able to control themselves ; social vices, and even crimes, are charge- able to this tremendous energy within the loins of man. The ids form cells, each containing one hundred ids, and being a reproduction of the life of the whole man, with the sum total of his ancestry. The creation of any one such cell is the whole act of paternity. Its union with an ovum is an act of nature. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," as the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXXXIV. Maternity. — A girl is likewise the sum total of ids. Under a sepa- rate intelligence the cell from which her body was developed, has expanded into a mass, whose parts and purposes we will consider ere long. The duty of maternity is to furnish a receptacle for growth. It does not contain the life, nor the seed; but is merely a sack, an envelope, into which the seed may be deposited, be nourished, and grow. Whether this process occurs by the union of parts of two beings, or in one progenitor, it always requires the seed and receptacle. Thus paternity may be said to be the development of the seed, and maternity of the receptacle to receive it. The life of the new being is wholly originated in the loins and supplementary organs of the 266 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE SEVEN. father, and consists of a cell, having a nucleus, the latter containing the one hundred ids, or sum total of his ancestry. This is the new being, the new life, the child. The mother creates no life ; but, taking the nucleus from the father, she nourishes it from her own blood, and imparts to it the due proportion of her own character and nature. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXXXV. The Child-cell Draw a circle ; in it place a smaller circle ; in the latter make one hundred dots. Here is the new-born child. The circle is the cell; the inner circle is the nucleus; in it are the one hundred ids containing the sum total of the lives preceding. In fact the cell is not round but oval or long, and has a tail, or hair, to enable it to swim. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXXXVI. The Egg. — By a law of special intelligence, the parts of the mother, called ovaries, are devoted to the one duty of making little receptacles, so as to be ready to meet the seeds of the father in case any come along. Woman is merely a receptacle, as far as her special anatomy is concerned. The ovaries themselves are receptacles for developing and containing the eggs ; each egg is a single receptacle for the seed of man ; the fallopian tubes are receptacles for the passage of the egg and generally for the union of the seed with the egg ; the womb is but a receptacle for the development of the egg after its impregnation ; the woman herself is the receptacle for the growing child ; and, after birth, her breasts are receptacles for collecting the food on which it must live. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXXXVIL Ovarian Life. — There are two sets of ovaries, the right and left. The right contain cells of eggs, intended and constructed to influence the ids of the seed of man to form a male child; the left ovary being the originators of female children. In simple words, these eggs develop in a procession- like order; one being full grown each month, one being half- grown, one a quarter, and so on, down to a general mass. There are thirteen months in a woman's year, and thirty years or more in her maternal life. Each ovary is about three-quarters of an inch thick, and one inch to LIFE. Q^Q^J one and a half inches long. The most highly developed egg when ready to descend to the womb, bursts open the ovary, and escapes, leaving a distinct scar. The right and left alternate. The two ovaries are shaped like the two testicles of man, and are called the female testes. Like man's creative organ, they develop a cell, with a nucleus; but this cell is devoted to its own multiplication, and development, following the ])roce?s which we so fully described in Tome Four, in relation to protoplasm and the amoeba. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXXXVIII. Conception. — In the walls of the testes of man the seed-cells are being formed, while in the testes of woman, there are likewise growing receptacle-cells, on exactly the same principle. The egg bursts from the ovary, is caught by the hairy lining of the passage and passed slowly along. The seed of man is supposed to have already entered the womb; and, gallant in all phases of life, it is more than probable that it will climb the tube to meet the egg. Being smaller and energetic, it pierces the cover and proceeds directly to the nucleus of the egg. Its own nucleus contains one hundred ids inconceivably small. The union is completed by amalgama- tion, or the formation of a single mass, having the complex relations of mind and matter interwoven in the most intricate manner. This is concep- tion. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCLXXXIX. Increase The first law of increase is to divide. There are two cells instead of one. The child was contained in the one; but it is equally contained in each of the two. In thus multiplying, it doubled all its ids. Again they divide : and what was one is now four, ids and all. This multi- plication is all there is of growth. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXC. Differentiation. — Another law now enters to prevent uniformity ; for if the ovum grew merely, it would be a mass of jelly-like flesh. The ids are charged with an intelligence that is most amazing ; it is deeper than the deepest thoughts of man, more subtle than any cunning that humanity ever exhibited, and more skillful than the deft fingers of expert lace-makers. 268 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SEVEN. This intelligence is diverse and simultaneous. It can build all parts of the body at once. The varieties of shape, thickness, length and breadth in the union of cells as masses, is called differentiation, and accounts for all the nerves, tissues, veins, muscles, vessels, ligaments, skin, bones, and organs of the body. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essa5-s," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXCI. Colonies. — Intelligence never acts singly. No better word than colony could be used to represent the union of action displayed by these bits of forces. One hundred of these colonies are sent out by the one hundred ids which become the basis of the human body. After a few days the ovum is a multiple cell-life ; the number of new cells being already enormous. The id which represents one process of development will collect its cells and form a colony ; while each and every one of the ninety and nine others will form as many distinct colonies. A unity of intelligence prevails in the colony, all Atoms and cells being enthusiastic in the work to be done, and operating together in the utmost harmony. Over and above all is the unity of the assemblage of colonies, called the foetus. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXCII. The FcEtus — By the laws of differentiation the human shape is soon developed, and dwells amid a mass of blood in the growing receptacle. The colonies attend to the work of building each part perfectly. All the while it is growing in the globe, drawing blood from the veins of the mother by the umbilical cord, through which the circulation is kept up, in and out of the new life. The story is told when the process of cell-multiplication, differentiation and colonization is made clear. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXCIII. Quickening When the foetus is a little more than half-grown in point of time, the heart of the child begins to beat ; and this may be de- tected by a practiced ear placed upon the abdomen of the mother. This is called quickening. It means that the colonies engaged in the building of a new life, have progressed so far that they may set up a separate organic existence, complete in itself, though not ready to embark upon its destined LIFE. 269 existence apart from its source of nourishment. At this time the heart im- pels the blood of the child through all its veins, draws it from its own abdomen, instead of its stomach, — a fact somewhat true of the human body in real life; and returns the blood to the umbilical cord from which it came, and whence it goes to enter the system of the mother to be thrown off in the excretions. It cannot breathe, for it does not require air to purify its blood ; but it takes food, circulates it as blood, and expels it : all this is necessary to life. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXCIV. Birth of the Soul. — It is a question of some importance to the race to ascertain when the soul enters the body ; for a child of seven months is often regarded as a mere embryo, and cast from the womb on mere pretence of saving the life of the mother. Of course it is proper to protect the mother first ; but in many cases the child is not thought of. To take the negative side to begin with, it is certain that the child is only a vegetable flesh growth, before the time of quickening. Does the soul enter the body when the heart begins to beat, or when the child is born and can inhale the air of life, or when intelligence comes ? For Essays on this subject, see '' Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON COCCXCV. A Human Being. — One is none the less a human being because he may or may not have a sound mind, intelligent reasoning faculties, or a soul. I have endeavored to study the problems of soul existence under many new phases ; having done, in part, in this direction, what others have so well done in the investigation of the properties of electricity. That the soul is the immortal part of man no one will deny ; but that it is always immortal is open to inquiry. One of the ablest physicians in America told me that he did not believe the soul was immortal, because sleep, a blow, or insanity was capable of bringing absolute unconsciousness ; during which there was no evidence of other than physical life ; the person being mere nothing. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXCYI. Unconsciousness — In sound sleep we are unconscious. Does the soul sleej)? No, it cannot be physically weary, and cannot need sleep. 270 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SEVEN. If it were capable of being psychologically weary, or morally tired, such exhaustion could not always coincide with the desire to go to sleep. Half the atheists of the world have been made so by this one fact : sleep of the body proves the non-existence of the soul. A blow or accident may put a person in a state of unconsciousness, lasting for many days ; and the evi- dence is clear that the soul gave no manifestation of its existence in any way. Here are two absolute proofs of the non-existence of the soul. Another appears in the form of madness. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXCVII. Madness. — A soul must be a responsible essence. It must be a life that can be charged with the fullest responsibilities for its acts, that may be rewarded for its deeds of goodness, or punished for its neglect to fight off the DEVS in its moral system. A person born an idiot, is not such a life. One who is of sound mind and of wicked disposition, does not become a saved soul by entering an era of idiocy. One who is of sound mind and of good disposition does not lose his soul by becoming a mental wreck. Insanity seizes us as it finds us, and for the time all life of a spiritual nature ceases. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXCVIIl. Idiocy. — If a child is a born idiot, it became so when it quickened. If it lives and dies a man of no mind, it is merely a flesh-vegetable, and no more human than the three month's fcetus. If it is born clear-minded, and afterwards becomes an idiot, it stands just in the same place as it would have, had it died when it became idiotic. Thus a born imbecile is never capable of eternal life ; and a child or mature person, who becomes de- ranged and remains so until death, is practically dead when insanity begins. If there are moments of lucid intervals, or a return to mental soundness, the thread of life is resumed where it was interrupted ; and, taken as a whole, the person will be judged. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON CCCCXCIX. Bodies or Souls ? — During that long period of insanity when the mind may have remained for years clouded and empty, and when the soul LIFE. 271 gave no evidence of its existence, but one conclusion is possible : there was no soul. This fact is not disputed by the Bible, is hinted at by psychology, and is proved by physiology over and over again. But the sentimentalist will cry, "It is horrible to think that a dear friend who becomes insane is eternally damned." As will be seen in Tome Ten, no such conclusion is warranted. The fact is simply one proof that the human body does not contain a soul, nor does it exhale one until after death, or as it dies. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON D. When the Soul Takes Life — It is not at the time of quickening, nor at birth, nor when responsible intelligence is fixed, or when the mind decides to give its life to a new era ; but it is at the moment of death, that there is a possibility of the soul taking on its own life. In this claim I have no oppo- sition in any creed or religion, and those who think I have, are requested to read every word of this Philosophy with the utmost care, and to read all sources of supposed opposition. Do not take any single statement of mine by itself ; but hold the whole Philosophy together as one harmony of doc- trine. I not only have no actual opposition to the assertion that the life of the soul begins at the death of the body, but I have proof after proof of the fact, and know what I am saying as absolutely as the scientist can know the simplest thing in life. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DI. The Agent of the Soul — We have seen that a human being is not only the result of a conflict that is going on between two forces of good and evil, but is really a part of the conflict, and is composed of the essence and nature of each of the great combatants. More than that we shall see that man is a being of very high intellect, and that this intellect is the agency destined to determine the fate of his soul. He is, in fact, the creator of his soul. God does not create him or it. The devil does not originate either. The conflict of the two creates man ; the double purposes of good and evil are present in his body and mind and moral nature. Each is seeking to win. If the devil succeeds, the result is the ultimate futility of the existence of man to give birth to a soul at the time of his death. If good wins, an im- 272 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SEVEN. mortal spirit rises from the ashes of the dead and takes its flight toward its great Affinities, God and Heaven. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DII. Metamorphosis. — Nothing can be more beautiful than this thought of metamorphosis. From the worm the butterfly emerges. From the frail human body, the soul is born. Death gives way to life. The spirit comes into being when the vital energies of body and mind and moral nature yield up their essence, and a new combination, called an immortal spirit, wings its flight to God. It accords with our dearest sentiment; it makes the Bible clear on every page; it explains all the doubts of scientists; it sweeps away every physiological illusion on which atheism hangs its objections; and it impresses on mankind the only doctrine of religion that must inspire inherent goodness. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DHL Birth. — Passing from this discussion, the purpose of which was to settle the question as to when the soul was born, we will accompany our foetus into the world. It has quickened, its heart has commenced to beat, and it ceases at once to be a mere plasm of vito-vegetation. It is a being, to some extent independent. It grows rapidly, is active, turns over in the womb, and at or before the time of birth it places its head at the out-let (called presentation), and is eager for life. Physically helpless and weak, it has mental strength, which it cannot translate to those around it ; but which came to it months before. It is not so remarkable that a foetus should have consciousness as that the born child should remember it. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON Diy. Child-mind Far out of proportion to its general body is the brain of the new-born babe. Its mind should be studied by psychologists. There are phenomena which escape even its mother. In its fresh waking moments look into its eyes and try to fathom the depth of its thoughts. The gleams of consciousness are full of meaning, and the strength and clearness of its mental operations may be made to appear by many simple experiments. LIFE. 273 There is no doubt that one knows and realizes more than can be remem- bered. The activity of the brain, called memory, is a function of exercise merely ; and is but distantly related to the origin of thought. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DV. First Knowledge. — A brain of flesh can realize no more than its surroundings. The child-brain quickly grasps the situation, in wonderment at first, and then it tires of the old for the new. In the first three months of its life, it may make or lose the progress of years afterward. That is, if its intelligence, helpless as the child seems, is carefully fed, between its sleeping and eating periods. I have seen the most remarkable evidence of child-thought made manifest in infants who otherwise might have developed into stupid feeders. History furnishes evidences of precocity at the age of two or three, that would have done credit to one of maturity. Biography tells the same story ; as in the case of Ruf us Choate and others who at the age of five or six read Greek and Latin authors. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DVI. Child-idiocy. — It is not only true that the first three months may help to advance the child in after years; but the neglect to interest the infant may mar the growth of the brain. Intellect is a thing that is easily modified by its surroundings and comes and goes with the concomitants of life. The illegitimate child of an Emperor of Russia, who was kept con- fined in a cell where he could not see the operations of existence about him^ and where he could not talk with others, became blighted in mind, like a withered bud, for lack of nourishment. In a few years his idiocy was established; and was directly traceable to the fact that the brain had no associations on which to think and grow. So, if one is placed in the dark always, the optic nerves waste away, and the eyes become blind. Use and exercise are necessary to the development of any organ. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DVII. What the Brain is. — In proof of the doctrine of universal intelli- gence, one has only to examine the brain of any animal or human being. Physiologists agree of late years to the statement made by us years ago 18 274 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOBIE SEVEN. that the brain is not confined to the skullj but is located throughout the body. It consists of the cerebrum, cerebellum, medulla, spinal cord and ganglia. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DVIII. Location of Mind. — As the concentration of the blood is at the heart and lungs, whence it proceeds to all parts of the body ; so the mental con- centration is in the skull ; but gray matter in the nervous system anywhere, is brain, mind, feeling, and thought. Some claim that all li\;ing flesh is mind ; I deem it only intelligence, but am sure that mind is confined to the ganglia which contain the gray pulp. These ganglia are nervous centres, and are scattered throughout the body. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DIX. Mind and Flesh. — Through reliable aids, I have collected certain facts which bear upon the presence of mind, not in the flesh, but in the nerves of the flesh ; proving that the mental structure of our organism is an entirety, and a halo, or indivisible whole. A tooth, on being extracted, leaves the scar or wound in the gums. If the tooth is dead or nearly so, its absence is never felt ; but a live tooth, if extracted while aching, will leave behind a faint feeling of its presence, as though it were still in its place and aching. Some have ached severely after being pulled ; but the fact always is that only a live tooth has made itself felt after extraction. The principle evolved is that the nervous intelligence remains intact, for some time after the part that contained it has been removed ; but if the part had died, an opportunity for the concentration of the intelligence in the adjoining parts had occurred. Out of many illustrations of this principle sent to me from authentic sources, I select a few that I have verified repeatedly in experi- ences. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DX. Mental Entity. — The first of these is the following: A man, whose thumb had been amputated ten days before, complained one morning of a very severe pain in the end, just at the junction of the nail with the flesh. He was at his office at the time ; and, so severe was the pain, he called upon LIFE. 275 his surgeon. — " When did you first notice the feeling ?" — " About ten o'clock. I was so sure the thumb was on my hand that I unwrap2)ed the stump and looked at it." — " Where is the thumb now ?" — " In my garden. It was buried the day it was amputated and I have not thought of it since." — " I have had my attention called to this phenomenon before ; and I wish to go with you to investigate it." — They went together, and found the gardener digging where the thumb had been buried. It was exhumed with the greatest care, and a sharp stone was found embedded under the nail. For some reason the thumb had been preserved from serious decay. It was re-buried, and the sufferer found relief in a few hours afterward. A boy lost a hand by accident at a machine. In the excitement that followed, neither he nor those who aided him, paid any attention to the lost hand. It was in freezing weather. Several days afterward, when the pain was much subdued, he suddenly burst out crying, and gave every indication of suffering excruciating pain in the place where the hand had been. The doctor came and declared that the boy's reason had fled; but the boy insisted that his hand was on his arm, and that it was being mashed, and pinched and torn. For nearly an hour he continued to roll in agony ; until an old soldier-surgeon came in and threw light on the mystery by stating that he had known of similar cases, and requested that the hand be found. Several of the neighbors went to the mill, and began a search for the missing member. In a few minutes it was found in the jaws of a cat, who had been gnawing on it for some time. The remains were put in alcohol, and the boy became calm. A middle-aged, unmarried lady passed through an experience which many a soldier can verify. Her left limb was amputated above the knee, and the member was buried. Some weeks after she complained of a strain between the ankle and knee, as if the limb were being twisted. No one paid any attention to this, until she had been kept awake for several nights. The leg was then dug up and found to be twisted by the weight over the foot, which was lying in a contrary-wise position to the knee. On properly re-burying it, they learned that she was feeling better; and in a few minutes was free from acute pain. The exhuming was kept secret from her, in order to test the question of imagination affecting the belief. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 276 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY - TOME SEVEN. LESSON DXI. Mental Wholeness. — If Pul-glow can be understood as a pres- ence, the mind may be realized. You may call it a knowledge or a con- sciousness; it is the same. It is not matter, but holds the same relation to flesh that the intelligence of the Atom holds to the Atom itself. For Essays on this subject, see " RiUes for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXII. Evolution of Mind — Man cannot boast of being the only mental life in the earth. Without mentality in his food, he would be less than a vege- table. He is the sum of millions of molecules, and his mind is evolved from the aggregation of intelligent matter, which is thus brought together. Intelligence is everywhere present, in all plant and flesh life ; in types it is limited by the scope of the life itself ; in man it is a possibility merely. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXIII. Grades. — In smaller life the mind is smaller, and often more intense. In the ant there is greater proportionate intelligence than in man. The Atom is endowed with thought ; but, like all small species, it is limited to its activities. Through grade after grade, there is no end to tlie variations of intelligent action, yet the mind is everywhere limited to the life-scope of its possessor. Thus, the spider cannot think beyond its web and environ- ments ; man may think only where he can go ; Heaven is his mystery ; the hereafter is not now known. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXIV. Brain. — That which we call the brain is an organ of flesh. It is a concentration of mental batteries and storehouses, from the body. Yet it is not different in real fact from the ganglia which are everywhere scattered through the body. It is a storehouse that may or may not contain the mind. It is the house, prepared by the minute intelligence of the flesh particles ; its inmate may never come ; or, if come, it may depart before the brain dies. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LIFE. 277 LESSON DXV. Ganglia — These are physical intelligences, composed of the essence of the brain, and charged with the life of the nervous system. In an idiot they attend to their mental duties ; although they are scattered throughout the body. They are concentrated vital matter. In a larger sense, the spinal cord is of the same order of mind. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXVI. Medulla. — The most interesting part of the brain of flesh life is the medulla, situated between the spinal cord and the cerebellum. By it alone, man may live ; but only as a vegetable. Its functions are sufficient proof that we are of the same kinship as the tree , that all flesh-creation is but a diverse part of all vegetation. Man with all his vital energies alert, cannot suddenly check the greater brain, without risk of death ; yet its action may be gradually lessened, until all life is carried on by the medulla. This brain determines whether we shall breathe or die, whether the heart shall beat or cease, whether the nerves of the stomach shall assimilate food or not ; in other words it has absolute control over the organs of respiration, circulation and digestion. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXVII. Vegetable Man. — That we are relatives of plant life is seen in the action of the medulla. A tree is a unit of being, not a congregation of particles. By a concerted action its sap is drawn through the roots to the entire tree. Where is the controlling intelligence ? Yet the sap is proto- plasm, like the blood of man ; and it moves by the law of circulation, just as the blood moves through the body. Both have the same purpose, — to convey particles to build up the tissues of the great life of tree or body. The propelling and moving power of the two systems vary, and herein is the only dijfference, — a very small one. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXVIII. Respiration — The lungs are a large tree, beautifully patterned after the oak, with trunk, branches and leaves. The latter breathe. So all plants breathe through their leaves. Deny them air ; and, like man, they will die. 278 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE SEVEN. Even fish cannot live in water from which all air has been extracted. Where in the tree is the central intelligence which controls its respiration ? It cannot be by mechanical or natural forces that the tree breathes, for once let its spirit depart, and no law of capillary attraction will draw a single particle to its general body. Man and plants are alike endowed with the function of respiration. For Essays on this subject, see " Pailes for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXIX. Digestion — The inner surface of the stomach, through which the fibers extend in their search for food, is like the outer coating of the roots of trees. The fine fibers are little root-threads that reach after the fine par- ticles of food which are to join the sap or blood and be carried into the life system of the tree or body. How do the oak roots know what tiny grains are necessary to build the giant species ? How do the elm roots know what its greater life needs ? How do the fibers of the stomach know what selec- tions to make for the proper construction of flesh ? A central spirit, or intelligence is present in each. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXX. Cerebellum. — The tree has neither cerebrum or cerebellum ; its spirit goes only to the medulla. As far as respiration, circulation and digestion are concerned, man is the co-equal of the plant ; and knows neither more nor less. Flesh-life begins with the addition of the cerebellum, or little skull brain. It is located under and back of the great brain. It is the power that drives all the voluntary muscles of the body. The medulla moves the involuntary muscles. The cerebellum may be the agent of the cerebrum in its orderly operations, or when sane ; it may be its agent when disordered, and kill without responsibility ; it may act as an independent organ. In idiots, the large brain may lack development, yet the cerebellum would cause the body to walk, run, stand, sit, go, come, build or destroy; while the medulla attends to digestion, respiration and circulation, even in cases where the mind is partly or totally affected. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LIFE. 279 LESSON DXXI. Animal Life. — As the presence of the cerebellum marks the dividing line between the plant and the animal being, so its predominance determines the rank of the beast from that of man. The human is approached as the little brain gives way to the greater ; for owing to the size of the latter the possibilities of mind are presented. The back of the head yields to the development of the front, and animal nature is lessened even in man. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXXII. Cerebrum If the soul is apart from the flesh, either as a fact or a possibility, it must have its source in the greater brain. Although the horse and dog have more common sense than man, they are not called reasoning beings, and therefore have always been denied the right to develop or possess an immortal soul. They do not appear to exercise their faculties even if they have them; and corresponding to this deficiency is the small comparative size of the cerebrum. Yet all animals are like man in this regard, except in the relative proportion of the brain. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXXIIL Wonder-life. — We possess bodies whose parts are of wonderful make, of most excellent design and purpose ; yet the mangy cur who is kicked from our steps is as beautifully, as wonderfully constructed in every part and detail. We asked once, What proof have you of the immortality of man? The answer was "Because a body so admirably constructed, with all its intricate organs and parts, could not be made to perish forever." Yet, low down in the scale of life, wonders of construction as great as in man may be found ; even the medulla, the cerebellum, and the cerebrum performing their functions as well as in the human species. Man's place in the Hereafter cannot be reasoned from the intricacies of his physical con- struction. Even the best types perish; and these wonders dissolve. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXXIV. Thinking. — The more the cerebrum develops the more it thinks. Thinking develops it; and events develop thinking. Occurrences must 280 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY—TOME SEVEN. involve the faculties of a being in order to develop the cerebrum. For this reason every form of life has its limitations, and the mind is narrowed by them. Yet a dog thinks, though we can only interpret it by its surface reflections. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXXV. Tracing the Mind. — Feed rice and nothing else to a growing child for five years, commencing at the age of six. At that time he was ready to go to school, had given evidence of a good mind, and was mentally very active. After he has had rice for a few weeks he cannot study or even think. He gives up school. His body may grow fat, but it cannot acquire much strength. He is inclined to stay in doors and sleep by day as well as by night. In five years, if he yet lives, he will be insane. On examining the rice, it was found to contain no appreciable amount of phosphorus. A man would have died on it in much less time. Take a grain of wheat, and you will find a certain amount of phosphorous (in combination of course) in the corner of the kernel-. Remove this, and feed the flour to a man for a month. During that time he will become sleepy, lose his memory, and be stupid generally. During the next month feed him the wheat with the phos- phorus in each grain. He will begin to grow bright and active, to think and remember, and have back his old ambitions in life. In other words take phosphorous out of food and you will take the mentality out of it ; you will dwarf the minds, the intellectual and moral responsibility, and make man a stupid animal, desiring only to sleep. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays" at the end of Tome Ten. LESSOX DXXVI. Phosphorus. — All chemists admit that this element presents, even in its commercial condition, many difficulties which make it the most remark- able substance known. Nature does not intend that it shall exist in a separate form; but assigns it duties in regard to other things. Henry Wurtz, a chemist of world-wide reputation, says : Phosphorus to the chemist presents the greatest difficulties and perplexities. It is generally cast in the form of sticks, which, on account of its dangerous inflammability, must be kept under water; as the least friction will cause it to burn. Once on fire, a piece of it will burn on water. A little above blood-heat, it LIFE. 281 becomes oily ; this remains so even below the original temperature ; but, upon being slightly shaken, it becomes solid again. Its contrarieties show great activity and danger. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten LESSON DXXVII. Dangers. — If taken into the system, it proceeds to accumulate the greatest irregularities. Wurtz says : A peculiar feature sets in, — namely, jaundice, from fatty degeneration of the liver ; a garlicky breath ; lumin- osity of the eructations ai:d sometimes of the secretions ; profound dis- turbance of the nervous system, such as delirium, convulsions, coma and nervous prostration. After death there is found a profound structural dis- integration of the tissues, with special tendency to fatty degeneration of many of the organs, and extravasations of blood into their tissues. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXXVIII. Phosphorescence. — This is a most puzzling phenomenon. It has been ascribed to the slow combustion of phosphorus with oxygen. In fact so certain were scientists that this is the fact, that they made the assertion positive. Of recent years they have all changed their minds. No man's opinion is respected more than Wurtz's, and we quote him once more : Phosphorescence is a term applied to a very wide range of chemical or j)hysico-chemical phenomena, including all those in which light, resulting from some process within the body that emits it, is unaccompanied by heat. But the phosphorescence of phosphorus itself is truly slow combustion, pro- ceeding only in the presence of oxygen; whereas in the greater number of cases classed under the term phosphorescence, no oxygen is present, many occurring in vacuo. Moreover it has been shown that the light evolved is of a diferent nature from ordinai'y light. No more interesting and no more obscure kinds of phenomena are known than those that are vaguely classed under this term, ^phosphorescence. These phenomena are exhibited by bodies belonging to all three kingdoms of Nature — mineral, vegetable, and animal — and by the two latter in both life and death, and during both life and decay. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 282 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY—TOME SEVEN. LESSON DXXIX. Brain-light. — Our object in quoting direct from science is to fix the fact that the light which comes from so-called phosphorescence may or may not be combustion ; if combustion it must be classed under the ordinary rules of light. Several books and learned writers of articles state that this phenomenon never resembles true light, except when phosphorus itself causes it ; some slight heat being detected ; but in a vast majority of cases its approach to ordinary light is not even claimed. If we look into the eye of an excited person or animal, a gleam of light is visible ; especially in a dark room. Two things are true : a person may excite in his own brain enough light to see in the dark, and anybody may see the two gleaming eyes of another if the latter is laboring under excitement, A woman who had entered and locked the door of her bed-room, before lighting the gas, saw two luminous eyes in the further corner of the room. Having seen the eyes of a cat in this condition several time, she did not become alarmed at first. As the eyes were elevated at a place where there was nothing for a cat to rest upon, she was instinctively led to unlock the door and go out. A man was soon discovered standing in the corner. After his arrest and conviction he was told of the phenomenon which led to his discovery ; and stated in reply that he could see nothing in the room at first ; but, feeling the eyes of the woman upon him, he noticed that they suddenly emitted gleams of light. This was attributed to her excitement when she saw what was supposed to be a cat. There are many proofs of brain light. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXXX. Food. — What is called phosphorus is more or less related to the brain food of man. As a mineral it is poisonous. As a vegetable it is designed for man. Its activity is so great and varied that volumes might be written on it. Without it the nerves and brain could not have been made, nor could vitality, sufficient to run the machinery of the muscles, have been created. In other words, it is the life which gives the nerves their power to move the muscles, the organs their energy, the brain its gray matter, and the mind its vigor. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LIFE. 283 LESSON DXXXI. Seed-life. — When a plant forms its branches, leaves and fruit, it is actuated by this phosphoric principle. To prove it take all the phosphates out of the soil and make it as rich otherwise as you please ; nothing will grow. The birth of the seed is the crowning work of the plant or tree. This occurs by the concentration of the particles of phosphorus which have been operated in the growth of the plant. It gives much of its vitality to make the seed, having done which it often seems satisfied. Thus, if a rose be plucked before its seed is formed, or before it ripens, the bush seeks to ripen others until the seed is created. It is well known that many flower- ing shrubs will not continue to evolve blossoms if the first installment are allowed to go to seed. Upon examination of the seed it will be found that phosphorus has been deposited. The first step in mind-life, and soul-life if you please, is the seed, and generally the flower or blossom precedes this. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXXXII. Steps Commencing at the flower which marks the coming seed we find the first step toward the creation of mind ; for the seeds collect the phosphorus, without which no mind could ever have sustenance. In the seeds and the grains, or in the flesh of animals fed upon seeds or grains, we find phosphorus prepared for the body of man. If he eats it in abundance his mind will be active ; if he denies himself his thoughts will wander, and the mental control of the body will be lessened. If he thinks hard or excitedly his brain will glow with Pul and his excretions will show an unusual loss of phosphorus. The more of this he eats the greater will be the activity of his mind and the healthier his thoughts and plans. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXXXIII. Responsibility. — Disease of the muscles follows from lack of nitro- genous food ; the tissues everywhere break down if not fed, and the brain and mind, deprived of phosphorus, become abnormal. Irritability follows excitability under slight provocation, and ill-temper, ill-nature, sin and crime. I am sure that much of the savage ignorance and wickedness of the world are due to feeding on meat, which (if itself is not fed on seeds and 284 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE SEVEN. grains) must fail to supply the brain nutriment necessary for the highest mental responsibility. Argue this question as we may, the facts are too clear to admit any doubt as to this proposition. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXXXIV. Soul Nutrition. — Whether the soul is co-existent with life or a meta- morphosis after death (and the latter we shall show to be the fact) it must depend in a great measure upon the care of the body and the nutriment of the physical brain. The problem is an interesting one and worth examining. It may be true that a simple-minded, honest, harmless fellow is capable of forming an immortal soul, although his goodness depends upon his weak and inert mind. With that we have nothing to do at this time. The drift of morality is generally affected by the physical condition and care of the agents of moral growth, such as pure blood and normal life. It does not follow that good health means good morals, for the reverse is more often true ; but it is well settled that what might have been a good life has been turned to the bad by insufficient nutrition of the brain and body, and espe- cially by deposing the sway of the mind. It requires something like a healthy body to make a sound brain, and both must be fed. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXXXV. Phosphorus and Mind. — Whether the commercial phosphorus con- tains all the life-giving properties demanded by the mind, or, like proto- plasm, is deficient in the one mystery of existence when analyzed, remains to be seen. It is hardly probable that Nature would permit man to approach too near to her processes, especially when the secrets of the soul's origin are concerned. We know one thing beyond doubt, and that is that without phosphorus there can be no mind and no spirit. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXXXVI. Flower-life. — Of all the created forms of the vegetable kingdom the flower is the sweetest and most beautiful. It seems like the bursting forth of the better hope of man in an emblem of his happiest prospect. It is the child-life of the fruit and seed, and creates the messenger which carries in its tiny cells the nourishment of the brain, whose functions are to make the LIFE. 285 soul possible. Each flower, however rich or humble it may be, is kin of the angels and the breath of God. It it closest allied to the beauty of heaven, and is a letter in the alphabet of immortality. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXXXVir. Forces — The human body is a collection of the forces of nature. When man seeks to invent a machine he must obtain a motive power, an engine and an engineer. In former days the steam boiler furnished the energy ; but now electricity has been utilized. Man is a complete electrical machine, and this agent furnishes all the motor ])Ower of his existence. The heart is the engine, — for its size the most powerful ever made. His mind is the engineer; but as this officer often sleeps or lapses in his duty an auto- matic officer, called the medulla, attends to the engine, so that the machine never stops. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXXXVIII. Pigment There are in the earth certain fixed molecules, so arranged in their composition as to reflect back to the eye the rays of light in a fixed mode of vibration. These molecules are called pigment or paint. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXXXIX. Color. — As taste is a vibration of active particles and molecules against the tongue, interpreted by the nerves to the brain and there made conscious, so color is a similar vibration of Atomic lines against the optic nerve. The irritation of this nerve is light, and the mode of irritation is the color of that light. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXL. Skin — The body is protected by an outer covering called the skin. This is a cloth of very elegant texture, woven by the fibrin of the blood with the nitrogen of the atmosphere as we might weave a garment to wear. It is made by Nature to suit every condition and climate. Sometimes it is covered by hair to protect it against extraordinary cold, and, where exposed, the body has a growth of hair in special places, as on the face and head. The skin changes its shape to suit the form of the body ; but its most marked variation is its color. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 286 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SEVEN. LESSON DXLI. Skin Color. — There are two layers to the skin : the under or real covering being called the cutis. It is very sensitive ; and, were it not for its outer cover, the cuticle (little cutis), it would be a source of constant agony. This we know when the slightest scratch removes the cuticle, and exposes the tender skin beneath. The cuticle is a protector simply ; if the body is subjected to hard usage in any part, the cuticle thickens ; as is seen when walking with bare feet for a few days. In the deeper cells of the cutis are the pigment particles, or coloring-matter ; and the activity of these determines the color of the skin in a race or individual member of a race. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXLIL Complexion. — This pigment has much to do with some important considerations affecting our position among created life. Physiologists as8ume that all members of the human family, from the savage wild-man to the intellectual Caucasian, are endowed with the same fundamental quan- tity and quality of pigment; but that the action of sun and climate regulates the race-color and complexion. Thus one may be white who lives in a country where the sun is not active; another may be black whose skin is subjected to the intense heat necessary to draw the dark pigment to the surface. If these propositions are strictly true, then we are all one great family, bound together by ties of blood and common interests. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXLIII. Skin- Colors — It is true, as may be easily seen among Caucasians, that the action of the sun affects the complexion. In summer we are tanned ; and physiologists say that the pigment has been drawn to the surface of the skin. This is not true. Pigment, as may be easily proved, comes from the deep cells of the cutis and saturates the thick under skin, not the outer cuticle. The tanning of the summer sun affects only the latter, and is not skin deep. Pigment is a ■permanent color ; tan is temporary. The hue of the negro never leaves him and cannot be scraped off. We shed our cuticle constantly, flake by flake, and with it goes all temporary stains. Freckles are examples of real pigment from the cutis beneath. They are LIFE. 287 abnormal developments of this coloring matter, and are located in the cutis; the wearing away of the cuticle does not remove them. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays, " at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXLIV. Changes. — If a white man goes to the equator to live, he becomes dark and swarthy. Examination will show that his color is not due to a drawing of the real pigment from the deep skin, but to the painting of the outer skin with the combined action of the air and sun. When he returns to a colder and less exposed climate, this paint will be removed, the time depending upon its hardness and depth. I have seen a sailor, who had crossed the equator many times, remove a deep tan by years of confinement in doors. The Jews of the northern climes are white, and of the southern climes are swarthy. A reverse of countries will always partially counteract these conditions. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXLV. Temperament Color. — We may say that all beings have pigment ; that of the Caucasian is called flesh color. But intermarriage has intro- duced some of the pigment from other races ; and once in the blood it will be transmitted through the ids to all generations in an almost mathematical proportion. The food we eat also deposits pigment in the cutis. Thus let a manufacturer of chocolate add mineral coloring matter to it ; let a white person eat or drink it constantly ; and soon the general hue of the under skin will change; and exposure to sun or weather will draw this pigment to the skin in the form of freckles. Temperament is an eliminator or dogger of the skin and its substance. Very morose people have sluggish livers, and the pigment from the food, which should have been excreted, remains in the blood and becomes a part of the cutis ; thus making all sorts of hues and complexions, even in the white race. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXLVI. Evolution in the Species. — There is abundant proof of a continual influence of change which may be called evolution in the species ; but there is not a single fact in Nature which indicates an evolution of the species. 288 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE SEVEN. Each is bound by its own limitations, fixed, unapproachable and eternal. Modifications, under influences, will vary the individuals; and breeding, in certain apparent limits, will vary the types ; but a species never oversteps its bounds. It is to these evidences of evolution in the species, that the world owes the doctrine of sjjeculative evolution, founded upon facts that have no breadth of scope, although clear and certain as far as they go. The clearest refutation of Darwinism is the now well authenticated fact that, as soon as the modifying influences are withdrawn, even the species rebounds to its fixed normal average. Thus man's intellect is evolved from his activities under the culture of education. Let the influence be with- drawn, and humanity relapses to a fixed average mixture of good and bad, living chiefly in the senses. Morality is the evolution of the good seeking to extricate itself from the meshes of the bad. For Essays ou this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXLYII. Races. — A mark is set on each of the five great divisions of humanity. The Caucasians are those people whose cutis is saturated with the flesh-colored pigment, called white; the Indians have a cutis of red pigment ; the Negroes of black ; the Mongolians of yellow ; and the Malayans of brown. There are other divisions of the races, but these five include all mankind in the general divisions of earth. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXLVIII. Fixed Types. — These are fixed types, and are incapable of fluctuation, even under the influences of sun and weather. Thus no amount of indoor life will eradicate the yellow from the Chinese, or make the negro paler. Where offspring from intermarriage is possible, the result is a mathematical one. A white and black will produce a half-breed, or mulatto ; a white and mulatto will produce a quarter-breed, or quadroon ; a white and quad- roon will produce an eighth-breed, or octoroon ; and so on. No matter what the climate or sun or temperament may be, the result is an exact division of pigment-matter by arithmetical rule. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LIFE. 289 LESSON DLXIX. Characteristics. — So fixed are the characteristics of each of the five great races that it does not seem possible that they are descended from one original parent. The Bible declares in the most positive terms that Cain, the earliest of the Caucasian born, went into the land of Nod and took to himself a wife; a statement which is as authentic as the Jewish tradition, and which must stand or fall with it. Without the tradition we have no account of the origin of man ; with it we are positive that more than the Caucasian race existed from the beginning of humanity. No amount of explanation or side-tracking of this statement will change the face of it. Not only this, but the law of - necessity, paramount in all times, confirms what the fixed characteristics of each race teach, — that the doctrine of di- versity applies to man, that the races sprang from original varieties of life, that they have never been related, that they never can or will become amal- gamated, and that the purposes and possibilities of each are widely different. We have hoped and even now wish otherwise ; but, as we do not make or mold the laws of life, we must accept the facts as we find them, and conform our conduct to the demands of Nature. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DL. Two Divisions — I find but two divisions of human beings : the Caucasians and the anti-racials. In the latter I include all the races of the world outside of the Caucasians. The race of Holy Writ was Caucasian. The twelve tribes were Caucasians; and the attemjit to account for the races of earth, the Indians, Negroes, Mongolians and Malayans, and their branches, on the theory that they are descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel, is both un-Biblical and unscientific, as well as untrue from every point of view. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLL Caucasian Supremacy. — All civilization of the past and j)resent has been confined to the Caucasian race. I defy any person to mention an anti- racial who is capable of real civilization, even under the softening influences of moral culture. No matter how many they may adopt of the improve- ments of invention there is always the uncertainty in the eye and the reserve in the heart ; and when left to themselves they relapse to their average con- 19 290 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SEVEN. dition. On the other hand, the Caucasians were the chosen people of God and the earth. Christ and His apostles were all Caucasians, as were the Greeks and Romans, who bore the banner of culture and knowledge in the dawning era of the new cycle. The nations of progress and moral hope have been, and always will be, exclusively Caucasian. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLII. Fixed Barbarism. — Out of unnumbered millions of American Indians of the last three hundred years a few score have been civilized (?). This small handful, if left to themselves, would quickly pass to their average racial condition. To hold them up as a basis on which to place the hope that other anti-racials may be likewise civilized is to select a falsehood for the first premise of an argument. Even if the other anti-racials are semi- civilized, they are also semi-barbarous ; and their best condition is but a degree of savage life. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLIIl. Negroes. — This race is held up as an example of the possibilities of ultra-civilization. For this reason I have had the most exhaustive examina- tions made of their habits, their progress under the impulses of culture, and their moral status in every phase of life. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLIV. Imbecility. — In a murder trial, where the defense was the mental irresponsibility of a full-blooded negro, I heard physicians of undoubted fairness, one being a government hospital surgeon, declare that sixty per cent, of all negroes were imbeciles ; and this statement was concurred in by medical experts on the other side, who testified that such imbecility, while it made crime easy, did not wholly excuse the criminal. It was further stated that of the other forty per cent., no full-blooded negro was free from some mental deficiency. A share of this taint passed into the offspring of alliances with the Caucasians. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. I LIFE. 291 LESSOX DLV. Fear The degrees of fear furnish the whole moral and religious code of the negroes and their anti-racial offspring, until a major part of the blood is Caucasian, when they seem to come under the rules and influences of this race. The relaxation of fear leads to every kind of crime ever written or known ; while the sway of fear holds them to a severe moral life. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLVI. Slavery — Every negro I have ever met who graduated from slavery was honest, obedient, sincere and polite ; and every negro who was other- wise trained, was a thief, sullen and treacherous. This is not an argument for slavery ; but a representation of the' control which a severe discipline has over those who are not mentally prepared to care for themselves. The freeing of millions of irresponsible anti-racials was a necessity, but at the same time a fearful crime against civilization. I am of the North, and hate human slavery. Nevertheless I sympathize with a country whose progress is blighted by a cloud, the gloom of which palls the very heart of patriotism. This freedom takes the fair goddess of liberty by the throat, and imbeds the dagger of hatred in every respectable life. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLVII. Hatred — I will tell you why lynching will never be suppressed in the South. Once in conversation with a Northern man, a violent defender of the negroes of a section of America of which he knew absolutely nothing, I made the proposition to him that we visit in person the best representatives of Southern Africans. We avoided the settlements known to be notoriously lawless, and found a very respectable and even model colony. Their decency was said to be due to the fact that they were only one generation removed from the slaves of ante-bellum days. We found an old negress bewailing the death of her daughter, the victim of drugs given her by a married neg'ro to hide her shame with him. We found that fifty-eight children out of one hundred were bastards, and all by colored parents. The entire colony were thieves, and nearly one-fourth of them lived by their lawlessness. That very week an old negress had received the wages for a month's hard labor (the old women seem to work hard) ; and was robbed of it by four relatives, 292 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SEVEN. all ugly, vicious men. The colored parson had been in jail for chicken stealing. The children did not and would not go to school. All the darkies who worked, sought immediate payment, and would not return to work as long as the money lasted. They ate cake and pies, and drank whatever they could get. The records showed that, during the ten preceding years, these anti-racials had caused the death of eighteen whites, and forty-eight of their own race ; had done nothing for their own advancement; had raised at the rate of seven children for every loss by natural death; had supported a lively church with a steady decrease of morality ; and were in every sense a blight on the country, a disgrace to the human form, and a thoroughly hated people. As they would not work, it was hard to handle the crops ; for their presence deterred white laborers from mingling with them, or coming into the country. The only negroes who are better than these, in the South, are those who are scattered on plantations, far from the influences of one another. It is a pleasing fact that, individually, they often labor right along during a season. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLVIII. Religion. — I have tried to analize the sincerity of those who profess to be converted. We know how easy it is, in times of distress, to turn to the church; and, in times of prosperity, to forget our vows. In this respect the negroes are thoroughly human. Many of them have been baptized a num- ber of times. It is easily proved that they will, as they go from place to place, seek the acquaintance of the church, profess never to have been bap- tized and be received anew. Thus it seems that their chief purpose is to attract attention and to be fondled. In the narrow channels of slavery discipline they knew no motive, but clung faithfully to their faith. This was training rather than religion. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLIX. Honesty Very few Caucasians are honest. The same rigorous training that shaped the minds of the slaves has made white men trust- worthy. A dog or horse is capable of dishonesty ; and very few, if any, animals of prey have an honest drop of blood in their bodies. Stealth is LIFE. 293 the first exhibition of deception ; some animals resorting to every trick that could suggest itself to a human being, in order to reach their prey ; and when subterfuge fails they pretend to sleep, and thus capture the unsuspect- ing wanderers. Pages could be written of the tricks of animals, and the wonderful ingenuity of their minds. It would not follow, therefore, that the Caucasians and anti-racials are brothers because the spirit of dishonesty is common to both; for, on this argument, the Caucasians and animals of the lowest types could be made of one blood. While not excusing the prevalance of this sin among the noblest of earth's races, it is yet a fact that the negroes are naturally and instinctively more deceptively dishonest. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLX. Moral Deficiency. — I do not regard the negro, considering his status, more culpable in crime than the white race. His fault is one which may be corrected outwardly rather than inwardly; and herein lies the test of the development of the future soul. To hastily present a rule for experimental purposes in determining the greatest problem of existence, would degrade any study or theory; and for this reason the most careful application of this test has been made under my supervision, as far as life affords the oppor- tunities. A steady and unvarying uniformity of result must have some permanent value in the philosophy of life. For the good of our common humanity, is it not your duty to investigate these problems for yourselves. Nothing is valuable that is wrapped up in one mind, or one school of thought. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXI. Test of Humanity Let us first understand the test which is to be applied to humanity, and then we will apply it. The proposition is this : A created being whose moral nature may be educated from inward influences, is capable of developing an immortal soul; all others are not. This is stated in simple language so that it may be easily understood. The operations of this test have occupied many years of the profoundest study and investiga- tion. Many proofs will be given in a subsequent Tome. The abstract propositions of dry ethics form no part of this study. Living humanity in all phases should lie before us on the dissecting table. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays" at the end of Tome Ten. 294 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SEVEN. LESSON DLXII. Outward Morality. — A tree has intelligence, both as an entire being and in all the details of its life ; but it is devoid of moral nature. It is capable of being led in many directions of growth and culture, but this is due to the fact that its intelligence seeks the easiest means of expression. A bird, if judged by the wrong it does, is a higher moral being than man ; yet it often practices deception. It is a monogamist, remaining faithful to its marriage vows; it loves, affiliates, mourns, and shows many passions. Its life is affected by outward influences, and never by inward morality. A horse is a moral animal ; remembers the consequences of previous acts, and governs himself accordingly. The famous St. Bernard dogs possess a real love for human beings ; but repeated tests show this to be an outward education, prompted from an instinct within. An ordinary dog is trained to not steal when hungry, and will sit in the presence of meat a long while before he will touch it. He remembers previous correction. His fear of giving offence, and not a moral impulse, keeps him honest. This is training or discipline ; and its natural hardihood made our American slaves the best moral people of the earth in their time ; and even sailors are classed among the most honest of men. This animal morality is not born of impulses within ; but in the case of beasts and certain classes of humanity, is the result of severe discipline, originating in fear and becoming a fixed habit or second nature. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXIII. Experiment. — Put a sum of money in a place where a person knows there is not the slightest possibility of its being missed, and where detection of theft is out of the question. Who would not take it? What motive affects the negro? Discarding those who are known to be dishonest, and whose faces are crime beaten, I have often tested the good old honest darkies. It is a fact that slaves will not steal, even when detection is out of the ques- tion; but the reason for this has been stated. The negro, left to the rebound of his real nature, is universally dishonest. Among large numbers I have often heard the remark : " There's an honest face," but the owner of the best negro face of to-day is as ready to steal as any other. The chief fact is the readiness with which they steal. The slow process of temptation LIFE. 296 which often operates in the moral nature of a dog is wholly dispensed with in the case of anti-racials. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXIV. Trained Honesty. — A. Chinaman, coming from a country where petty offences are punished by terrible tortures, would naturally possess a second habit of honesty ; and such appears to be the case with the imports ; but let them once understand that the consequences of crime are graded to the offences, and that detection is difficult in this country, the rebound of their nature will be quickly seen. We must learn the difference between trained or animal morality on the one hand, and conscience from inward impulses on the other. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at tlie end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXV. Conscience As we shall see in the subsequent Tomes, there are two kinds of conscience ; one that results from outward training, and one that originates from within. Among the children of the best families of New York are those who would suffer from the pangs of conscience, if they were to steal ; and this without reference to the question of detection. A boy once told me that he took a dollar bill from the money-drawer of his employer ; a week passed ; it was not and could not be missed ; vet he thought of it night and day, and had no relief until he put it back ; then a load fell from his heart. Among other children of New York City, as I know from personal investigation, and as many others know, there are thousands who are trained to steal. It is their avocation, their religion, their day study, thought and care. If they succeed in their thefts, a happi- ness of heart and buoyancy of countenance are at once visible ; but let them fail to steal on any day they are conscience smitten ; they suffer in the same way as the children whose education has made theft a sin. Words cannot depict this operation of conscience ; and before any moralist seeks to pass judgment on these facts, he should visit the wretched hovels of New York. With this knowledge before us we must modify our definition of conscience. The weightier problem is presented : if conscience is a second nature, may not the good as well as the bad be the result of mere training? For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays,'" at the end of Tome Ten 296 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE SEVEN. LESSON DLXVI. Inherent Conscience. — The consequences of wrong doing, unless they are material and immediate, have no weight with an ordinary negro, nor with any anti-racial, whose ignorance has not been duped by some horrible myth. The '^ night doctor" keeps many darkies indoors; but this is only after dark. Indians were rarely deterred from crime by supersti- tion. The Mongolians, until they throw off their superstitions, which are founded upon the densest ignorance, refrain from certain deeds ; but no act of morality on their part indicates the slightest presence of inherent good- ness. Judged by every test, these Asiatics are saturated with gross natural wickedness as a mass; and the best of them possess nothing higher in the scale than diplomatic morality. The negroes are far lower than their Mon- golian relatives. On the other hand, through repeated tests under circum- stances that admit no doubt, many Caucasians have been found whose re- ligion is innate, who are honest for the sake of being honest, who account daily to their God as to one who is pleased with goodness ; and here are evidences of inherent morality and true conscience. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXVII. Depths. — Any person who is at all familiar with the inner lives of some men and women, must know that there is such a thing as a real desire to be good, regardless of ostentation, reward or punishment. Many a time in the depths far beneath the surface of human action, I have heard the remark, " I do not care so much for the consequences as I do to live aright." Among the plain people, the great middle classes, such lives are abundant. The strata beneath them are generally mentally diseased, as there is no other excuse for abject poverty ; and the upper classes are nervously diseased, living on the excitement of a false ambi- tion. As in the past, so now and always, we must look to the great middle classes for the truest evidences of moral worth. They are the channels of all religion, civilization and progress. Had they been edu- cated earlier in the world's history, instead of being purposely kept in ignorance and under the heel of religious superstition, the face of this planet would have been changed. Among them may be found that which is lacking in all anti-racials, — an inward, inherent desire to be good for the LIFE. 297 sake of being good. This is the test of soul-possibility ; that is, without it, no human body could give birth to an immortal soul. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXVIII. The Immortal — The horse is a noble animal, in growth and structure a type of physical perfection, in skill and action an example of bodily achievement; yet, with an organic completeness as com})lex as man's, he is not a created being whose moral nature may be educated from inward influ- ences ; he is not, therefore, capable of giving birth to an immortal soul. He may be bred and trained to beauty of form and growth ; so may a tree. All animals, less than humanity, are likewise soulless ; at least to the extent of becoming immortal. We are left with the human species as the only possible soul-bearers. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXIX. Degrees of Humanity. — Excluding the approaches to the human family, — and they seem of all degrees of intelligence, — we find the five great races of men before us, to answer to the question. What hope have you of immortality ? Were the races separable, the study would be far easier; but they have much in common, love, hatred, avarice and instinct; they are all human, if these are sole evidences of humanity. Yet we find in the study of love among men, every degree of this passion from the tender, bird-like caress, to the brutal animal coarseness; establishing not a common humanity but a common nature among all races and all life. We find that the dog, horse, cat, elephant, and all aniinals acquire a fixed hatred for human beings; that avarice is very common among some animals and generosity among others; and that instinct is the guide of all beings pos- sessing a medulla oblongata, or similar intelligence. With the exception of a higher degree of reasoning faculties, the ties that bind us to the anti-racials, also bind us and them to the animal kingdom generally ; and in every class there are innumerable grades and degrees of the same passion and emotion. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXX. Mother Love — From the common breeder of the lowest classes to the society woman who does not desire children, we see exhibited imme- 298 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SEVEN. diately after birth in the average cases of all grades of females the same mother-love, fondness and natural affection which tempt the lioness to defend her young at the cost of her life. Paint this tenderness in what- ever poetry you will, call it far more refined and delicate in one race than in another, or in women than among beasts, it is the same in fact always and everywhere. The hen is patient, loving and most careful of her chicks; the dog-mother exhibits extraordinary intelligence in her affection for the big-headed pups who draw their life from her mammals ; the cat is the queen of mothers for some weeks; the cow and horse are happy in their exhibitions of affection for the young; and the birds set many moral examples for the women of our race. The sacrifice of children, the throwing of them into the waters, or tossing them to wild animals to devour, are acts of barbarity reserved for the human family. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXXI. Sensualism. — We employed a colored girl, young and well built, descended from a mulatto and black. In three days she was in love with a young mulatto, who before that time had given his heart, his life, his soul's devotion to a long succession of darky queens. Among this race, love may spring forth in a minute, burn with an intensity that outparallels the records of the past, and change to coldness with equal speed, if a new charmer appears. Birds are true to their mates. The dog travels to all mates. The negro adds wrong, bigamy, adultery and incest to his full fledged dog disposition. Fear of the law alone checks his animal nature. In the examination of thousands of cases I have never yet found one instance where there was a single indication of anything more than sen- sualism, — a thing often called love. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXXII. Barbarism. — The evidence is likewise conclusive of the marital love among Indians. Burning with a nature common to all created masculines, animal or human, they sometimes pretended to woo ; but their brute passions made a slave of the female, whose toil and drudgery were but part of the cruel lives inflicted upon them. Among all races, except the Caucasian, LIFE. 299 women and wives are degraded. Love cannot exist until the fairer sex are in their proper place. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXXIIL Love. — I do not believe that the real passion of love is known to animals or anti-racials. Among the latter it is incompatible with their natures to place woman where she belongs. Neither by instinct, education nor moral culture do they know how to respect their wives or daughters. In the great empire of India, even under sway of the British, the old custom of selling a daughter or wife still prevails. For a few hundred rupees one can buy for his concubine a beautiful girl just budding into womanhood ; and when he is tired of her, she may return home to be sold again. We must learn the difference between passion and love. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXXIV. Puberty. — Connected with the testes of woman, is the ovarian system with its nerves that lead to the genital organs. In man, in similar testes, are nerves that lead to his genital organs. Long before birth the ids that carried the power of developing this sexual system were hidden away in little spores of cells; all through the years of youth they were developing the fruit of their own existence; and at a proper state of maturity they ripen. The period of ripening varies with the person, ranging from eleven to seventeen years of age. When the process commences, it is called puberty. New cells are rapidly formed, growth increases, pressure and excitement ai'e brought to bear upon the nerves; they, by sympathy, extend to the entire body; brain, heart and breasts being involved ; and the person is ready to fall in love. Nature is at the helm, and her great goal is re-production. The strongest impulse in a healthy life during the first few years after the age of puberty is to re-produce ; and this is the animal part of love. For it no one is to blame ; without it no man can feel the passion of all passions. For Essays on this subject, see "Rides for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXXV. Dual Sensations — There are, in all bodies capable of bearing an immortal soul, spiritual doubles of the form senses of the cerebrum, or great 300 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SEVEN. brain. We learn that there are five senses : taste, smell, sight, hearing, touch. Taste is the direct agent of the medulla, and part of the digestive system. It awakens no spiritual feelings. Smell is dual : it conveys information to the medulla, and also carries the fragrance of beautiful flowers to the mind. Sight is the great sense of the brain, and the closest ally between Nature and the soul. Hearing, like smell and sight, is dual, and in its higher aspirations interprets beautiful music and pleasant tones to our nobler being. Touch is contact, either common-place and material ; or sensitive to the feelings of a finer nature. Sensualism is the excitement of nervous touch. Love is the combination of the diviner parts of these senses. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXXVI. Diverse Life. — In diverse life we would expect to find a commonness of all things; and nowhere exclusive possession. If we saw that love and hatred were parts of the nature of the Caucasians only, we would know that this race was a distinct creation, and not a diverse part of other classes of beings. If we found that mother- love existed among negroes only, and not among Caucasians and all animals, we would be sure that the negroes were <}reated by themselves under a separate fiat. The great fact is that all life is diverse ; that even vegetation is inseparable from the animal kingdom ; that what appears in the human being is present in degree in some grades of animals ; and what appears in animals is present in some grades of humanity. Under the law of diversity there is an overlapping of all the a,ttributes. A man of the noblest character may be free from the sensualism of the beast, but some man will possess it. All things are common ; but individuals may be free from that which most prevails in their species. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXXVII. Soul- Attributes. — As the vegetable kingdom, the lower animals and man possess in common all the attributes of life, we would expect to see evidences of the soul in all creation. By analysis we know that the body is necessary to the soul, and that vegetation is necessary to the body. In plant life we see the first glimpses of the beauty of the soul in the flowers that please the eye, whose fragrance is more wonderful than man's deepest invention. In animals we find the dividing work of the Evil One, the con- LIFE. 301 centration of that which is bad ; yet among these dumb creatures are evi- dences of a thought, a glimpse beyond the grave. Up the scale, through horrors of savage creation, we come to man, the highest result of the war between the forces of good and evil ; and we have no right to be surprised if we find a soul-yearning present in many specimens of anti-racial life. The very law of diversity implies that. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXXVIII. Anti-racials. — In lesser degree than the Caucasians, the anti-racials possess certain soul-attributes. Their best individuals are morally far better than the worst Caucasians, although the latter are capable of greater advance- ment. These facts should be carefully understood. With the attributes of soul-life overlapping everywhere, the only question is, Are the anti-racials capable of giving birth to immortal souls? In a large volume which I hope one day to publish and present to these students of philosophy, I shall examine the question very fully. Enough has already been stated in this work to raise a doubt as to the right of the opposing races to dwell upon the earth. It must be remembered that the Caucasians are just beginning their education, and that in their long lapse of ignorance they were powerless to meet their enemies. To-day they are insinuating themselves into the national life of every government of earth. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXXIX. Extermination. — The American Indians are practically extinct. Three other races remain to oppose the Caucasians: all three grossly inferior in body, mind and morality ; all obstacles in the way of progress. If no off- spring were born, it would require but one generation to end them, as far as a future race is concerned. What rights have the Caucasians ? In the first place they have no rights at all, until they qualify themselves to use them. There are certain things to be done in and among themselves before they may claim power over their fellow-beings. When they have done these, then I assert that they shall have the right to exterminate in one generation, without bloodshed or cruelty, all the anti-racials of earth, and prepare the way for the onward march of the religion and civilization that are destined to conquer the earth. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 302 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SEVEN. LESSOX DLXXX. Caucasian Unity. — In the first place a canvas or census should be made of all the Caucasians in the world ; and the facts proposed should be placed before them. A law should be passed prohibiting inter-marriage. It is already a felony in some parts of the United States for a negro and white person to marry. In a part-breed where the predominance is Caucasian, the person should not be classed as an anti-racial. By law and common consent to princijjles of unity, all Caucasians should be banded together for the pur- pose of carrying religion and civilization throughout the world. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXXXI. Education. — The next great step is compulsory education. Crime and ignorance go together. Morality must take the place of superstitious religion, and education should be made compulsory. Certain common courses should be required of every child, and no trade, occupation or pro- fession should be permitted until a fixed standard had been reached in all cases. No boy or girl is educated who cannot read the pages of history in the average size books, and understand the meanings of all the words ; besides which mathematics, grammar, rhetoric, anatomy, and the laws of health are requisite in every common education. Beyond these the course may be optional with the scholar. I believe the thorough study of anatomy to be one of the surest means of preventing the development of morbid minds and criminal tendencies. So much depends upon compulsory educa- tion that it should be ordered by law in all states, as it is now in many ; and the law should be rigidly enforced. Anarchy can have no foothold in a country of educated people. But the law is not enforced. Over half of all the children are growing up in ignorance, even in states where compulsory education is ordered by law. People are careless. The slums are not send- ing their children to school. They should be made to do so. It is these children who breed crime, and through whom the criminal classes are pro- pagated. They are the bacteria, the bacilli, the DEVS of earth. At what- ever cost or trouble they should be educated or weeded out. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LIFE. 303 LESSON DLXXXII. Marriage. — Neither an ignorant person nor a criminal should be given permit to marry. As already suggested, a certain fixed standard should be required as a common school education ; a certificate of which should pre- cede the right to enter a trade or profession, to vote or to marry. These claims may be attached as visionary. I shall be disappointed if the agents of the Evil One do not attach every good proposition. But it is not vision- ary to claim that, before a person embarks on the sea of life, he should have a reasonably strong ship, and should know the early principles of sailing. People jump into matrimony as a child jumps overboard; the question of swimming never having been considered. But marriage means more than it seems. It leads to joy or sorrow in two lives ; to good or bad offspring ; to home or hell ; to the making or marring of one of the functions of a nation's life. Why should ignorant people marry ? They follow merely the dictates of selfishness, and are unwilling to provide for their future off- spring. It is not true that great men are sometimes born of ignorant par- ents. There is no evidence of even a single case of such birth. Ignorance begets ignorance and crime. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXXXIII. Divorce. — I believe in marriage not only once, but always. Milton would have married a dozen times, if necessary to preserve his home. Once let the law prohibit marriage except to persons properly educated, and the divorce courts will reduce their work. It is a disgrace, not on individuals, but on the law- makers and on the nation behind them, that marriage is so easy to accomplish ; but as long as it is looked upon as a mere contract and so constructed in law, divorce is its twin-sister and a proper and justifiable proceeding. Some people cannot possibly live together ; their presence is actually obnoxious, while agreeable to others. The law that permitted such a misfit should sunder it. In other cases, drunkenness, crime, and brutal abuse fill the home life of some innocent wife ; her duty to herself requires legal separation. No civilization and no God of justice ever intended that a human being should go through life linked to the devil. A person whom the looseness of the law has led into a mesalliance, and who eats the dead fruit of a blighted life rather than seek to undo the knot and enter upon a 304 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE SEVEN. career of honor and usefulness, is unjust to self and the world. Better still reform the law of marriage and make divorce impossible. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXXXIV. Principles — Principles are one thing; their enforcement another. When I state a philosophical principle, I do not always mean that it is enforcible ; but that its practicability must sometimes depend upon condi- tions precedent. Every principle is right ; if it is not enforcible, the people are wrong, not the principle ; and the longer the people remain wrong, the unhappier they will be. Misery is born of error. This life is full of sorrow ; but every ill is traceable to some wrong which the people refuse to make right. All ills could be suppressed, if the good men and women would lay aside the fear of the devil's abuse, and unite in a series of con- sistent efforts to suppress them. Throughout this philosophy I have laid down the principles of life, things founded in right ; and confidently expect that the time will come when they will force themselves to the front and become law ; and this, simply because they are right. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXXXV. Heroic Government. — I believe in a government of stern heroism, founded not upon the consent of ignorant voters, not upon the consent of the slums, not upon the consent of sensational newspapers, not upon the consent of bartenders, drunkards, gamblers and law-breakers, but upon principles ; upon laws of rectitude, promulgated not by demagogues and politicians, but by the representatives of good people drawn out of all the parties and banded together for the one common purpose of purifying the nation. How the foundations for such a government may be laid is told in the Ideal City, following this Tome. Once founded, it is not a difficult matter for good men and women to enforce all the principles of this philosophy. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXXXVI. Parentage. — ^I look into the laws of Nature and find that it is more difficult to stop a stream once started than to choke it at its fountain-head. Let us select one thousand criminals; for their crimes we have a right to punish them ; after their terms of imprisonment they go forth upon the LIFE. 305 world, and many become fathers and mothers. Children born of criminals have a hard fight against the DEVS which are lodged in their bodies in fear- ful majorities. Try ever so hard the tendencies crop out ; in some mental lapse the good influences are forgotten ; the nerves give way and the deed is done. Why permit the parentage of criminals? Let the law read, as many eminent physicians have advised, that all male convicts shall be deprived of their testes, whenever their crime involves such moral turpitude as may be inherited. The operation need not be dangerous, and the convict suffers no real loss. As a eunuch his life may be far more blessed than as a criminal. The drift of medical opinion favors this procedure, and it will one day become the right-hand law of civilization ; on the principle that the pre- vention of crime is far more humane than the barbarism of cells and scaffolds. For Essays ou this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXXXVII. Racial Extinction. — Let us apply the heroic principles of humanity and civilization to the lawless herds of negroes who infest the South. They are in our way. They are of no use to themselves, nor to mankind. Yet they are not to blame for being in the world. Their ancestors were imported by crime from Africa. We cannot send them to that tribal country ; for there their relatives are engaged in a warfare that removes the surplus population through murder and torture. We cannot thrust them into a colony in this country, for the Constitution guarantees them liberty and pro- tection in the pursuit of happiness. We do kill them openly and privately; but this is wrong, even if they are guilty. With inferior mental endow- ment and a dwarfed moral stature, they do not stand on the same plane of responsibility as we do ; and more should be forgiven them than us. That they are hounded, cursed and hated, is too true ; and this breach widens per- ceptibly as the horrible increase of their population carries the stench of immorality into the homes of would-be law abiding citizens. The problem is a deep one. They are bringing children into the world faster than the most prolific Germans or Irish, the rate being more than two to one. That the census does not and cannot report them, may be seen from comparing the reports with the known facts of any locality. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 20 306 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE SEVEN. LESSON DLXXXyill. Eunuchs. — A. eunuch is a gentleman deprived of his testes, or repro- ducing seeds. In all times he has been happy, healthy, and prosperous. Although in many countries eunuchs have been used as women's attendants, in many ages and climes they have been honored with high official rank. They outlive the average man ; and, knowing nothing of the loss of their seed organ, they are contented and happy all through a life, generally to them free from irritability and care. I suggest that a law be passed in every negro state of the Union, requiring that all male anti-racials two years old and under, shall be made eunuchs. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DLXXXIX. Legality. — This cannot hurt the feelings of the parents, and will not be objected to by the infants. That it is legal I am advised by several excellent constitutional lawyers. It cannot oppose the Constitution of the United States, as it is a state law. To meet the sensualism of negroes, nearly all Southern Legislatures make rape punishable by death. This does not conflict with the Constitution, on the ground that each state may legislate for its own individual government. The castration of negro infants is an act of humanity and of the highest civilization. Mo7'e than that it must be done. In the country where these anti-racials dwell the human heart is a solid rock of hatred ; and no person is justified in repelling a remedy that is the least objectionable of all thus far suggested. I advise no one to depend for facts upon newspaper reports ; either visit the South, as I have done, or else write to reliable clergymen who live there. - For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXC. Indifference People sit idly by and are unwilling to make the effort necessary to eradicate a growing evil. They believe in the doctrine that death will remove them from these scenes and leave the problem for others to solve. This is dishonest. Whoever shirks a responsibility is downright wicked. It is easier to permit intemperance, gambling, newspaper-sensa- tionalism, indecent houses and prevalent crime in politics than to fight them ; but the man or woman who tolerates these or any of them, even by inactiv- LIFE. 307 ity, runs the risk of losing the life to come. We are in the world to fight the devil, and no one has a right to shirk the duty God has imposed. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXCI. Colleges. — A certain fixed compulsory standard is necessary for ordi- nary success in life. An ignorant man is an incubus on society. But, beyond the limits of the standard of compulsion, a voluntary or elective college course may be wise. The question presents itself. What is the best method of university training? For Essays on this subject, see " Rules f(jr Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXCir. Judicial Minds. — The more a man learns, the more sides of life he sees, and the more he compares. The habit of comparison leads to the judicial mind ; this develops reasoning ; the wrong ideas are made clear ; and such a man rarely becomes a criminal. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXCIII. Observation. — In the normal child, knowledge is acquired first by observation — through the senses ; this acquisition leads to the development of that complex series, the power of retaining, that of recalling and that of recognizing impressions, which altogether make up what is known popularly as memory. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXCIV. Relations. — But in the process of mere acquiring, the observed things are compared and in that of recognition, things or impressions are recog- nized largely by their relations ; this involves, the examination of things apart from other things, of their differences as well as of their relations, the formation of intellectual images and the separation of essentials from non- essentials ; whence the wonderful and perplexing queries with which a child assails those who can be reached ; all of this leads to the formation of con- clusions, of inductions, of general principles ; thence to application of prin- ciples to matters not so familiar — to the formation of deductions and to the encouragement of a lively imagination. This briefly is the succession, whether the child be of savage or of civilized parentage. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 308 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPBY—TOME SEVEN. LESSON DXCY. Education and Crime. — Left to itself, the mind, seeing things wrongly, makes no effort to see them rightly ; fails to apprehend their rela- tions, and makes inductions which are absurd and are liable to become dangerous as guiding principles of conduct. We may laugh, or in better temper we may smile sadly as we read of Kaffirs who worshiped an anchor as a powerful fetich, because the man who had knocked a chip from one of the flukes, died suddenly ; or we may be amused by the folly of a savage, who recognizes a demon in the gentle breeze, which, blowing on his neck, gives him a cold ; but these can give a reason for their belief and conduct equally good with that which most of us can give for many beliefs influ- encing our action. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXCVI. University Education As all know who are at all familiar with the problems attending the management of universities, there are two very decided opinions as to what should constitute the higher and broader educa- tion of young men and women ; but more especially those who are to bear the brunt of the battle of life. These leading opinions represent, first, the old school, or abstract education ; and second, the new school, or useful education, known as utilitarianism. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXCVIL Abstract Knowledge. — In presenting these two views I can do noth- ing better than to repeat the exact words of John J. Stevenson, Ph.D., LL.D., of the University of the City of New York: "^'The old school finds the best means in the study of abstractions ; it holds that the study of languages, especially of the classical tongues, affords the best basal training; it would place the child in earlier youth at this study to sharpen the intel- lect by dwelling on niceties of expression and on the recognition of delicate distinctions, so producing exactness of thought and precision of statement while strengthening the verbal memory ; with this study, though subordi- nate, is to be associated that of mathematics, with excursions in other direc- tions ; but emphasis is laid on the classical work because of its humanizing effect; the lad is preparing to read ancient authors in the original, to become LIFE. 309 acquainted with the philosophy, and to partake of the refinement found only in writers of antiquity, when the influence of the shop and the love of money were not reflected throughout literature." For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSOX DXCVIII. Concrete Knowledge. — The new school asserts ''that Greek and Latin are taught as mere abstractions, that instead of Greek and Latin, there is taught a universal grammar, for which German or English could be used, for which Goethe or Shakespeare would answer as well as Sophocles or Horace. They assert too, that this method of training is unjust to man ; that thereby it is possible for men to enter the Christian ministry or to be admitted to the bar, even though ignorant of the simplest process of nature and of the most common-place facts in agriculture and mechanic arts : that men who pass through college courses and enter upon business pursuits, show unfit- ness for concrete things, and lose valuable time in learning to utilize their mental training. They maintain that a study of God's works of creation is a vastly better occupation for the present and for the future, than is the study of human intellect, which, by some accounts, has fallen sadly from its first estate, and by others has risen none too far above it." For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DXCIX. True Knowledge. — As in very many other cases, the truth lies between these extremes, but it lies nearer to the modern school than to the other — a truth which has gained recognition rapidly during the last score of years, as appears from alterations in the college curriculum. The times have changed and our methods must change with them. Two centuries ago, Latin was the common language of learned men and its place in the curric- ulum was as important as that of French and German should be now — and for the same reason. But that reason no longer avails for the retention of Latin in its exceedingly prominent place. Greek is necessary still for the theologian just as is Hebrew, which is begun usually in the seminary, though a wise regard for the needs of theological students has led some colleges to place it among the electives. The great value of Greek and Latin as now taught lies in the polish imparted ; the teaching does little toward expanding the intellect, it tends rather to make the mind great in little things ; its place 310 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SEVEN. is not at the beginning but at the close of training. The intellect must first be shaped, then polished ; the great effort prior to the college course must be to develop ; true training will endeavor to assist, not to thwart nature. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DC. Readiness. — In the steady times of peace the routine steps to great places in life are not favorable to persons of genius. While no man nor woman need fail to obtain a good living and a happy home, the greater gains are the results of accident or notoriety. It is in periods of upheavals that the strongest come to the front. War, revolution, national throes, or social disorders will present opportunities to those who are ready to accept them. But if one is content to achieve a better end — happiness — it must be founded on a basis of philosophic principle. This involves readiness for life's demands. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays,' at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCI. Success. — A person is successful in secular life who makes sure that he will have a home, be well fed and clothed, and be happy as long as he lives. As will be seen in the Ideal City, every toiler who is educated, tem- perate, honest and industrious, should be guaranteed a home and pension. The reasons are plainly stated, and are founded on natural principles. This is material success. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCII. Vital Success. — Beyond the material is the vital. The former urges us to care for the body and earthly happiness, and this is right. Any relig- ion that preaches poverty or the neglect of the good things of life, is wrong in its first principle. Money, goods and chattels, so far as they lead to com- fort, are worthily sought. But when life is done, something follows : either the loss of the soul or its safety. Life is a failure that is not built upon a foundation other than material prosperity. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCIII. Riches. — Pleasant and grand as it seems to acquire wealth, it is never- theless a source of constant misery to those who possess it. I am not one of LIFE. 311 those who, being poor, assail the rich. On the other hand, I have all and more than I need of this world's goods. I see what plenty and poverty- each may bring ; and I know from a thousand observations that happiness lies midway between the extremes. The pursuit of wealth is the doom of the life to come and much of the life on earth. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCIV. Integrity. — To earn a slight advantage it is almost always true that a young man will lay aside all considerations of honor and honesty. Take the thousands of reporters on the sensational, or daily press. They know that they are expected to falsify, and that promotion is a premium on dishonesty; and few resist the temptation. In all kinds of trade "business is business;" which means "cheat all you can but do not get in jail." The slight profit made from food-adulterations tempts men to poison the blood of their fellow- beings for a few pennies. So brokers gamble in bread-stuffs reckless of principle. The great Michigan fires of this summer destroyed nearly two hundred human lives and forty million dollars worth of the best timber in America ; all because a few men wished to conceal their stealings of lumber. This avarice, minus honesty, is exactly of the same stripe as the morality of reporters, adulterers and gamblers. It is present in the hearts of nearly all men, and is the hybrid offspring of wealth and city life. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCV. Character — There is that real thing beneath the cover of external appearance, called character. It is the measure of morality. If the possessor is honest and sturdy in natural forces the character is strong, the stature grand. If he is honest and simple, or without resoluteness, the character is weak. If he is dishonest, it is bad. He knows what he is ; all the decep- tion which he shows to the world cannot change his own opinion of himself. For Essays on this subject, see '' Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCVI. Reputation. — Many bad persons have good reputations. Many good persons have bad reputations. The world is the judge. It consists of all kinds of characters ; and their agreement is the reputation of the judge, A good report makes no impression upon this jury. What is said that injures 312 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SEVEN. is all that they know, hear, or care to listen to. For instance, a paper pub- lishes a lie ; on the day it is read, it is accepted ; the next day it is proved false; the proof is uninteresting. Out of ten thousand scandals carefully followed, the truth was either suppressed, or was inserted in small type in an out of the way place in the paper. Good reputation, once assailed, whether justly or not, has no hope before the jury called the world. No clearer proof of the prevalent presence of the devil in the hearts of men, could be found. In reality, before such a jury, reputation means nothing. A man's knowledge of himself is his true reputation. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCVII. Selfishness. — Self is the first thought of all mean people. Why not take an interest in some other person who is worthy of your care ? Many such exist. Go to the plain people, the great middle classes, and find some honest face to study, some life to make glad. Exclusiveness is not Heavenly. For Essays on this subject, see "Eules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCVIII. Sorrow. — If you are poor you have made, not mistakes but blunders, in the past. The Evil One has drawn you into a wrong mode of living. If- you have lost health, it is the fault of yourself or some one responsible for your care. Sickness is unnatural. If death has robbed you of a dear one, ask yourself these questions: first, will that soul live after death? — sec- ond, will my soul survive this life? — third, will we meet beyond? Only the universal "yes" will bring comfort. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCIX. Responsibility. — Around you in this life are faces who do not count the consequences of reckless living. They say to themselves : " God made us ; whatever we are He is responsible ; He could not have made us to be destroyed ; if we are born with sin it is not our fault ; if we live according to our natures there can be no punishment for what we cannot help, or can- not choose to help." Thus nearly all people sin and care not for the con- sequences. Their assumptions are erroneous. God did not make them. They are the result of a conflict between the forces of God and Satan, with the latter ascendant in all ages since the world began. Souls do not all live LIFE. 313 after death. Those who pass the metamorphosis became eternal spirits. That others fail and perish I will prove to be true beyond all doubt. For Essays on this svibject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCX. Clearance — Every human being must fight for a clearance from the entanglements of evil in this life. Like the slimy bodies of venomous reptiles coiled about the heart of some fair existence, the influences born of our ancestral enemies are entwined around every good purpose in life. Passive indifference to the necessity of a constant warfare means the loss of all hope hereafter. I speak as one who might deal with mathematics. A certainty of result is no more an ethical than an arithmetical prospect. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXI. Superstition. — The fear of the unknown has lead to many attempts to construe occurrences into omens of good or bad. How much real truth is there in superstition? Its origin is due to ignorance. If all the facts of life and death were laid open to the knowledge of the mind; every super- stition would vanish at once. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXII. Friday. — Few persons are willing to commence an important under- taking on Friday. Sailing vessels do not start out on that day, and the large passenger steamships, if you will observe their lists, are not booked to leave on that day. The captains tell me that sailors are superstitious, and if they were required to sail on Friday, would be less valuable and trust- worthy in a storm ; and this fact keeps patrons from placing their lives in charge of a superstitious crew, especially when choice of other days may be easily had. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXIII. Events — Many very sensible persons are able to trace unfortunate events in their own lives to Friday, and as the day and misfortune coincided, the inference is drawn that the former caused the latter. The most faulty arguments in the world are those which are proved by instances. Let any person assert a belief or theory, and somebody may easily sustain or defeat 314 SOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE SEVEN. it by citing certain instances; the person who has the best memory will win. JSTow if I were to attempt to prove that Friday is sometimes unlucky I would cite a few well-known facts bearing upon that view. Moscow was burned on that day; Lee was defeated and he surrendered on Friday; Richmond was evacuated on Friday; King Charles I. was beheaded on Friday ; Julius Csesar was assassinated on Friday ; Joan of Arc was burned to death on Friday; the battles of Marengo and Waterloo were fought on Friday. It is true that the value of these events as omens will depend upon the person who construes them. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXIV. Omens — If I were to assert that the great events proved that Friday was a lucky day, I would quote other facts equally well known. Washington was born on Friday; Shakespeare was born on Friday; Columbus set sail on Friday; and discovered America on Friday; the Bastile was destroyed on Friday; The Mayflower landed on Friday; Queen Victoria was married on Friday ; Napoleon was born on Friday ; the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on Friday ; likewise the Battle of New Orleans; the Declaration of Independence was signed on Friday. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXV. The Crucifixion The fact that Christ was crucified on Friday is the origin of the superstitious dread of the day. He represented what was divine in the universe ; He was undoubtedly hated by Satan ; and His death was the work of the agents of evil. That this hatred culminated on Friday may or may not have been accidental; that the day was the triumphal period of those who despised good is the only fact known. If you will watch your impulses during the week you will find in a large majority of cases that your efforts seek to culminate on Friday. This is true in all lives. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXVL Rule — I find the impulse to execute plans on Friday to be unusually strong. While even a prevailing similarity of results may not prove an assertion, the following rule has been sustained by a sufficient number of LIFE. 315 facts to make it worthy of attention : When any evil is commenced on Friday, it involves disaster to all concerned in its inception ; but when good is commenced, the enterprise is fruitful of ample bounty. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXVII. Thirteen. — A man, a college president and personal friend of mine, told me that he sat at a Christmas dinner in India, when the total number present were thirteen. He observed it; and, while concealing the fact from the others, he avoided activity in the meal. Before the next Christmas returned every person of the twelve was dead ; many being victims of the cholera. Christ and his disciples numbered thirteen ; Iscariot being sup- posed to be the thirteenth. While an occasional event seems to point to the number as unlucky, I have collected, through others, as many incidents as I can ; and there seems to be no real reason for believing it to forebode ill. Christ knew the nature of the men He was selecting ; and, in a time when nearly all were evil-hearted, He found a remarkable body of good men; the proportion of one in twelve being a very small percentage of bad. Iscariot filled a mission expected of him. In our day we find the number thirteen an emblem of many great and good things; it is the baker's dozen; the alternate number in the eighths of a hundred ; there are thirteen weeks in summer, autumn, winter and spring ; there were thirteen States in the Union at the time of our Independence; thirteen stars in the flag; and there are and always have been thirteen stripes. To any one who will study events it will clearly appear that the superstition concerning this number is ill-founded ; while Friday is conflict day between good and evil. For Essays on this suVjjeet, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXVIII. Acumen. — Let us remember that if all our deeds are good, every day in the week is full of luck ; and there are no ill omens which honest pur- pose need fear. But aside from that, many lives are hampered and much usefulness destroyed, by the fear of superstition. Be strong enough to rise above this nonsense. The notions, impressions, whims, fads and omens of a day do much to narrow your existence. I declare, with absolute certainty of knowledge, that there is no truth in the superstitions that haunt hu- manity. A philosopher should have mental acumen ; let every man and 316 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE SEVEN. woman cast these vague omens out of mind forever. Then a more reason- able success will follow all efforts to rise in the world. Where stupidity has feared to venture, acumen has gone nobly on and achieved many well- earned triumphs. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXIX. War. — All existence, as far as we can know, is war. There is no peace. There can be none. If one is poor, the war against starvation or suffering is most constant and oftentimes piteous. If one is rich, the war against the approach of thieves is equally acrimonious. Selfishness reaches out on all hands to seize the acquisitions of others. What is a dispute be- tween individuals becomes a battle between nations. All over this round earth the possessions of governments are guarded by hostile soldiery. There is no peace. So in the lives of human beings, the day of rest never comes until death closes the lids. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Teu. *■ LESSON DCXX. Activity. — The mind and all the organs of the body are soundest in health when life is active. Moral and physical safety depend on the unremitting watchfulness against enemies, and warfare upon them. Do not be afraid to fight. Let your wounds be in front. Your body is in a state of war, as well as all the forces of earth and sky. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays,'" at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXXI. Greatness. — If you would live in this world you must fight the DEVS that infest your body. If you would live in the world to come, you must fight the devils that are in and about your moral life, and in the society of which you form a part. You know how eagerly they invite you to willingness ; how hotly they overwhelm you if you yield ; how savagely they thrust at you if you defy them. Peace comes only with death. Great- ness is founded on warfare. The crown of success is the victory of life over evil ; and every hard fought moral battle may place a jewel in its con- stellation. There is no other greatness. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LIFE. 317 LESSON DCXXir. Infancy. — The child is helpless. What he may become is the respons- ible charge of others, — a duty that no one can shirk. The influences we throw about children for good or bad are placed to our debt or credit before the coffin lid shuts out our face from the gaze of parting friends. The only safe way is to exert a positive influence of good over all young people ; do not let them drift ; turn their faces to the right ; be not content to care for your own, but organize a society intended to teach all parents the necessity of shaping the moral natures of all children from earliest infancy. It is a solemn duty. Let no one shirk it. For Essays on this suliject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXXIII. Youth. — In this, the summer season of life, the doctrines of growth, health and direction are most easily impressed and absorbed ; and, if the child has been cared for, the man and woman will be safe. As a sound body is the best gift of Nature, every boy and girl should know what health really is, how it is acquired, and how lost ; for, when the bones and tissues are hardened with age, it is difficult to court the forces of mother earth and woo them to our lives. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXXIV. Maturity. — At that precise period in every career when the respon- sibility of body, mind and moral growth is charged directly to the one being who possesses them, the fateful war is fully on. The weak may fall by the wayside and be lost forever ; the strong must conquer now or never. All who are in mature life should consider carefully the provisions of Tome Nine, and act upon them at once. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten, LESSON DCXXY. Age. — When your body came into the world it was a conflict of vital forces, one seeking to maintain its energy, the other preying upon it. In youth the glame is far more energetic than in age ; consequently the body grows till its fullness of shape is capable of absorbing the energy of this glame ; then it holds its own. In this body are organs, bones, veins and tissue. The food we eat contains something intended to become bone 318 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SEVEN. deposit. Until growth ceased and the bones were hardened by this deposit, it was all absorbed ; but after that it travels in the blood, finding lodgment wherever it can. Thus we begin to grow old when growth ceases. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at tlie end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXXVI. ' Cause of Age Scientists call this deposit calcareous matter. Imagine a vein through whose walls the rich blood flows freely ; we say it is the vigor of youth. But the blood, every year, leaves a very small quantity of cal- careous matter in the vein itself. For many years it is not noticed, like a pipe whose inner surface becomes gradually coated with lime. Through the heart these veins run to supply the valvular action ; upon their clearness of surface depends the organic and tissue supply of the whole body, for the heart pumps the blood to all parts. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXXYII. The Heart. — Calcareous matter first affects the heart. The little tubes or veins become gradually clogged, requiring ten, twenty, or perhaps fifty years to interfere with its regular action. Li its effort to distribute the blood the heart overworks part of its veins, or its valves. Valvular defects are very common. Degeneration of the tissues is still more prevalent; and irregular action may be easily detected in many cases. When the heart cannot supply the demands of the body, some part suffers ; a break down follows ; and disease is settled there. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXXVIII. General Breaking Up. — The brain, organs, tissues, and veins are gradually filled with calcareous deposits. After about forty years, the flexibility of the brain is lost, the tissues stiffen, and the mind becomes obstinate. New ideas are not easily absorbed. Only the old rules of conduct remain, and the thoughts are fixtures. Every improvement must be supported by a well-known fact. It is said by able physicians that the aging of the mind and body after a person is forty years old, may be deter- mined by the obstinacy of the brain, and its inability to accept progressive ideas. This condition does not come on, in some cases, until the age of sixty or more. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LIFE. 319 LESSON DCXXIX. Weakness. — If the propulsion of the blood through the body is attended by less energy, it must follow that all the functions are weakened ; and this is made general by the clogging of the system with calcareous deposits. It is not so much a gradual weakening, as it is a succession of colds or disturbances which are sure to leave the body in greater decrepi- tude, like a series of steps toward the grave. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXXX. The Warning. — We wonder when we are to die. It may be sud- denly, and without notice; or through a steady decline. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the warning comes clearly in some form or another. The energy of life is so far diminished by disease that rest is welcome. Those who, in health, dread the fateful hour, are made willing by the softening hand of disease. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXXXI. The Allurement — There is a quietude in the jaws of death that blinds us to its terrors. Those who suffer agonies are few in number. Even in moments of torture, the nerves are deadened. A slight cut hurts more than the plunge of a knife. Men whose legs are crushed feel nothing, while the sprain of an ankle is excruciating suffering. To burn at the stake seems the extreme of anguish, but the moments of agony are few ; one breath of smoke often producing unconsciousness. The man who looks into the eyes of the savage beast about to crunch him to jelly, feels the pleasur- able sensation of allurement to death. The mouse suffers nothing in the claws of the cat, and the bird goes willingly to its fate. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays,'' at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXXXII. Pain — Nothing can be more intense — and at the same time superficial — than pain. It is electrical life in the network of nerves which dwell in the body. A slight agitation draws the current faster, and we suffer ; a severe overflow of the current exhausts it. The easier is harder to bear than the greater. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 320 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SEVEN. LESSON DCXXXIII. Unconsciousness The mind may become unconscious in health ; the body never. The latter suffers paralysis, from which it rarely recovers. The mind, when conscious, is a battery charged with electricity held in poise. A blow may disturb the balance, and the entity is lost. The vital supply may be deficient, and sleep follows. During this period the medulla attends to its duties, and the physical functions are promptly performed. The being is none the less perfect because the mind ceases its activity. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXXXINT. Thought. — The blood flows through the brain day and night, in wak- ing and sleeping; although in the latter state, its flow is less. During thought an acidulous fluid washes the brain, as saliva does the mouth during mastication. This comes from the blood ; but when the mind sleeps the wash is discontinued, just as saliva is absent from the mouth when the latter is quiet. A thought draws this fluid from the inflowing blood, and a small tidal wave sweeps over whatever part of the brain is active. The wash is electrical and phosphatic. It is clearly demonstrated that it draws phos- phorous from the blood. This process is discontinued when the mind rests. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXXXV. Sleep. — At will we may keep the brain awake for a certain time. At length exhaustion wraps it in slumber. If the wash ceases to flow as rapidly as it should we become stupid. If it stops we sleep. As it diminishes we feel drowsy. When it recommences we wake. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXXXVL Dreams. — No person on the way to sleep ever dreams. There is, between the graded diminution of the wash over the brain and its cessation, a steady falling into slumber that admits of no dreaming. While asleep we never dream. It is only when the wash is excited to flow over the convolu- tions of the brain, that the phenomenon occurs. Dreaming is an inability to awake while the flow is coming on. It is abnormal, for there should be a steady process of emerging out of slumber as the flow spreads over the brain. Sometimes it is caused by the previous day's excitement, sometimes LIFE. 321 by partial unconsciousness, or imperfect sleep, followed by a tendency to awake ; sometimes by pressure of tlie blood upon a certain brain- convolu- tion, causing a dream of something that is foreign to our experience ; in all of which cases it is precipitated by some acidulous flow drawn from the blood. We immediately awake fully or partly. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXXXVII. Somnambulism. — We have seen that the medulla controls the func- tions of the body during sleep and unconsciousness. In such a state the cerebrum or thinking brain, and the cerebellum or muscular brain, should sleep. The two work together, but may work apart. Thus, if the cerebrum sleeps, and the cerebellum awakes, the muscles may perform some work ; the man may arise with his cerebrum asleep, while his cerebellum will operate the muscles of the feet, legs, arms, or general body. He may walk out of a window, climb roofs at night, and take his way amid dangers, some- times in perfect safety. This condition is abnormal, and may be trained out of a person, by forming the habit of doing nothing thoughtlessly. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXXXVIII. Cause of Sleep. — How much accident and how much design influenced the inclination of the earth's axis, is a fruitful inquiry. We find that the revolution of the globe produces night and day. Had either pole been turned toward the sun, external heat might have fallen upon one continent; while, midway off, vernal spring had dwelt evermore ; toward the equator, the twilight of early winter would have marked the zone beyond which only night and perpetual frost could be found. The earth would then have been the home of people who never slept. As it is, the recurrence of night and day compels alternate periods of work and rest, of waking and sleeping. The latter are physical habits, first induced by night, and now confirmed as fixed nature. There is no doubt that the rest we have, superinduces greater mental value during wakefulness. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXXXIX. Deductions. — I talk with certain learned men, some of whom are phy- sicians, who tell me that there is no soul, no life after death, no existence sepa- 21 322 H03IE C0UE8E IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SEVEN. rable from the body. This belief is shared by many able men. To me it is perfectly clear, and I am certain of it beyond all doubt, that there is no soul until after death. When the mind sleeps, the deathless soul is not present ; when a blow renders the brain unconscious, no soul asserts itself ; when sickness or mania clouds the mind, there is no soul. So when the worm sleeps no butterfly appears ; and none can until the worm is gone. Then comes the metamorphosis. The crawling caterpillar, the chrysalis- tomb, the beautiful winged butterfly, are types of mortal and eternal life, fair in all hope of blessed immortality. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXL. Contemplation In this world we are the conflict. In pain we are born. Sorrow treads the roadway by our side ; its gaunt finger pointing to the tombs of shattered loves and yearnings. We are filled with wonder at the vast realms of the unknown which close us in on either hand. Mystery is written on every flower, in every star, at every smile or tear that bathes the face. Nothing is understood. So when death enters at the door, and lifts his bony hand to us we take it helplessly, and follow the grim messenger to the waiting grave. Ofttimes, in the sadness of some twilight hour, sitting in melancholy contemplation, we study ourselves apart ; analyzing our char- acter by the light of our own conscience ; and wondering how a thing of such imperfect mould can dare to venture where the shadows hide the land- scape. Still on we go, day by day moving toward our final resting place. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXLL The Last Day. — The warning came and we believed it not. But the herald tells us of the day, and we are waiting at the bed. Around are tearful eyes as tender of their love as when the light first broke across our face. The parting words are feebly said. First comes the little child, whose tiny fingers toy in bony hands; then the grown daughter, with counte- nance that is forced above the tears to look through them to meet the filmy gaze ; the wife sits at the bedside, bowed in grief that finds no words ; and the aged mother brings her furrowed face to where she can see the lines of death playing fast around the mouth and brow. The clock ticks the seconds. LIFE. 323 the diamond dust of time that crowds the ages on, and all are waiting for the kingly tread of death. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXLII. The Last Hour — The knock is heard. Hushed is the room. All eyes are fixed upon one pallid face. The dying man is conscious of it all. He knows the very heart-beat of each friend who lingers at his bed. He cannot see, but he perceives. An acute mind in the instant seizes upon his senses, and he reads the thoughts of all as clearly as though they were stamped in bold relief against the wall beneath a blazing sun. That spirit of life which emanates from the medulla is about to leave the body in which it has dwelt these many years. Unconsciousness and sleep no longer invite the medulla to its steady work, for now it must stop and all will then be over. The weakening pulse tells us that the heart is failing, the breath scarce comes at all, and the last throbs drop from the dying frame like the motions of a loom that gently comes to rest. We place our hand against the heart; one — two — three; "I am dying," breathes the conscious man; four — five ; the beating almost stops; six ; "he is no more;" we wait for another stroke of that tireless engine, but it will never beat again. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays,'' at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXLIII. After Death. — The hands are folded on the breast, the eyes are made to close, the jaw is bandaged, and the cooling form is straightened for the coffin. One by one the tender friends kiss the still warm lips, and some clasp the hand that had supported them in life ; soon all depart — all, save one. The shades are drawn, and quiet gloom haunts the place that often had been full of joy in other years. A woman rises from the bed, goes to the window, looks out at the sky as though the departed soul had winged its flight to other realms ; then sadly drawing the shade again, she takes her place near the clay that held her universe of love. No tears flow now ; the anguish of her soul is far too deep ; she throws herself upon the dead, her lips touch his, as they utter but one word, " husband." For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 324 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME SEVEN. LESSON DCXLIV. The Funeral. — Malice is now silent on the lips of the human devils who magnified the bad and scorned to believe that good was possible. Flowers fill the room with their better spirit. The limbs are rigid, and the hand chills the touch. Prayers and blessings, song and sorrow, make the solemn quartet of respectful ceremony. None look upon the dead as one that lived. He is remembered, and this looks like him, but it is not the mortal who moved about through the house and out into the wide world. Something has happened to the body since it lay in death. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXLV. The Grave. — It is clay now, cold and unsuggestive of life. At the burial ground they lower it to its narrow cavern, the rites are said, and the earth falls in clods over the silent house. The mound that rises above the dead will sink towards the clay it covers, when the autumn rains have soaked the loam. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXLVI. After the Grave. — The cutting of the soil with spade and shovel disturbed the workers whose home is in the sightless ground. With the quietude of many days and weeks they are emboldened to inquire what dwells within ; but time may not admit them yet. A tinier life, so small it cannot be discerned, makes ingress to the silent sleeper, and brings its many millioned brood. The feast is almost endless, so it seems to the hun- dreds and thousands of generations who come and go in continuous succession. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXLYII. Time — Kains and sunshine have beat upon the grave, year after year. The coffin has fallen apart. Worms are everywhere tenants of the sepulchre. The skeleton is bared of all that clothed it ; for the f casters, tugging away at the tissues of flesh, released every fiber, and disintegrated the wonderful workmanship of a supreme creation. The child that came in perfect form to bless a long time happy home, and grew to noble stature, admirable in every part, has succumbed to the rotting ground. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LIFE. 325 LESSON DCXLVIII. The End Some generations after, a rough laborer, tearing up the ground to make way for the march of progress, came upon a handful of bones. He gave no thought to what they were, and idly tossed them by. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXLIX. Philosophy of Death. — -What is he who died, and where is he now? At the moment that he closed his eyes, did permanent unconsciousness seize him, and end all thought and knowledge ? Did he, as he lay on the bed, know that a life-long friend mourned his loss? What knew he of the crushed heart that fluttered over his silent form? Did he leave all, and go beyond the limits of earth to the Home of homes, or was he in the home that sorrowed for his loss ? How easily millions die ! What awaits them at the portal of the grave? Immortality or Annihilation? For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. TOME EIGHT. THE IDEAL CITY, LESSON DCL. Plan — I shall divide this Tome into lessons, and state the propositions of an ideal mode of living and the nature of a model community under a model government, in a series of principles which must be recognized where- ever happiness is sought. To all these principles the attention of each student is called, in the hope that some philosophical essay may be the product of each lesson. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLI. Practicability. — The question of practicability is a serious one when laws are considered ; yet whenever a living principle — a thing of right — is found to underlie the proposed law, the waiting to discuss whether it is policy to make it, is always a compromise with crime, a yielding to the sug- gestion of the Evil One. Whatever is right should go through to the end destined by God and Nature. The propositions of The Ideal City are based on the eternal principles of life and government, any variance from which must involve unhappiness in the home and disaster to the community. These principles are not now enforced, but should be. They will not be enforced next year ; nor until a band of dauntless men and women are found who will give themselves to the task of laying the foundation of a com- munity, by establishing an heroic government after the manner herein des- cribed. For Essays on this subject see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLII. The Founders. — Every person willing to offer allegiance to the Prin- ciples of Right, stated in Tome Nine, may become a founder or an inhabit- ant of an Ideal City. No others are accepted, unless of immature age. The possibility of such a city depends upon a general spreading of the Principles of Right, and their acceptance by a large number of people. It f326) THE IDEAL CITY. 327 will then be an easy matter for a sufficient number of persons to so arrange their circumstances as to organize a community. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLIII. The Principles — As the Ideal City is supposed to aim at the acquisi- tion of happiness through the adoption of principles, and, as it is not possible for people at once to found a community under these rules of right, I request that all students conform their present mode of living as much as possible to these principles ; not asking any to make a personal sacrifice, except of habits that are positively sinful. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLIV. Land — A city, as is generally understood, is a collection of houses closely situated for the convenience of those who wish to be in a limited general compass either for business or sociability. It means the exclusion of land, air and sky ; and, in large settlements, an unhealthy shade. As such I do not intend it. Life without land is narrow and selfish. Our ancestors roamed at will over mountain and field, acquired glame from air and sunshine, appetite from the health of Nature, and conscience from com- munion with the flower-life that ])aid homage to God. I do not believe the man or woman really exists who lives in a crowded city. One of the requi- sites of the Ideal City is land. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLV. The Estate. — The land owned or controlled by the citizen shall not be less than one fourth of an acre, or about eleven thousand square feet. This is called an estate. It is a large piece, some will say. What is called an ordinary town lot is half as large; and two lots are not more than the aver- age well-to-do housekeeper generally seeks. As there may be philosophy in one's mode of living, on the one hand, or a dull lack of comprehension of the fairness of life on the other ; so a home may be built to bless or to curse the builder and his family. I prefer to choose the philosophy of blessing. For this reason every estate in the Ideal City should be not less than one- fourth of an acre, and not more than two acres. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten . 328 S03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE EIGHT. LESSON DCLYI. Crowded Life — In a city as commonly built, partition walls separate one house from another on the sides ; a damp and shady back yard presents a gloomy rear ; while the front is a sea of pavement, holding up the filth of passing animals, and holding down a poisonous soil, one odorous smell from which shocks the coarsest nostrils. Beneath the cellar is the same sepul- chered soil. Trees and grass are a rarity ; and, when found, are loaded with the dust and bacteria of the general city. Even the water and drain- age, when good, are not safe. The gas that forms in the sewers of large cities, always escapes into the soil, and never fails to find its way into the house. It is a virulent poison, loaded with bacteria, which get into the lungs, on the food and in the drinking water. The body of every man, woman and child who dwells over sewer-saturated soil is in a constant war- fare between life and death. You say the soil is not saturated with sewer-gas. To prove that it is, stand near an opening dug in the street or under the house ; the gas is so rank that you cannot breathe it. No sewer pipes can be made tight enough to exclude it. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLVII. Philosophy of Living. — In towns where the houses are not crowded, and the drainage is not overworked, the sewer gas rarely ever saturates the soil. It is carried off in the moderate use of the drains. But the greater advantage is in waving trees and moving grass ; they purify the air just as a flowing stream purifies the water it carries. Human exhalations are death to man and life to trees and vegetation. Each kingdom supplies vitality to the other , and absorbs that which the other exhales. Man is necessary to plant-life, and cannot live without the latter. Nine-tenths of philosophy relates to living ; and Nature must be the boon companion of man. City life is grave life to the thousand blessings that bubble up in the human heart. That person is morbidly constituted who prefers the city to the open land. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLYIII. Labor. — I believe in work; not hard, slavish drudgery, that strains the muscles and deforms the body ; but a graded scale of activity suited to THE IDEAL CITY. 329 one's avocation, and ranging from labor to exercise merely. If, in the social plan, one is destined to toil for a living, the work should not be arduous nor overtaxing to the body. The flesh has rights which, while they have not always been respected, must be understood before society can be said to rest on a proper basis. This terrible inequality of the several parts of the social fabric will yearly present a graver problem to thoughtful men and women; for, as men are educated, they see; and gross injustice can live only by the tolerance of the ignorant. Looking at principles as our guide, we find that Nature decrees activity for all; idleness for none; a limited amount of work for those whose avocations do not involve labor ; and a relief to all men and women who are held under the strain of severe toil. Intelli- gence, in a word, insists that the whole plan of toil shall be revised ; and to do this the Ideal C^ity exacts certain demands. It is not necessary to wait for the building of our city before attempting the reforms of life. Let each do his share now as far as circumstances permit. To lay aside the doing of a good deed until opportunity smiles upon the time, is burying the limited treasure in the enemy's ground. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLIX. The Day. — From the age of twenty to sixty the day should be divided into thirds. Eight hours' sleep are most conducive to health; less than this saps the nervous forces ; more than eight hours' sleep locks up the vitality and produces stupidity; except in youth and age. From twenty to sixty every person finds forty years of ideal life possible ; and much more time after that if he lives wisely. There should be a period of eight hours' daily devoted to some duty or avocation ; if to hard labor the time should never exceed a third of the twenty-four, except in such enterprises as afford pleasure. The remaining third of the day belongs to culture. By this is meant the satisfying of some law of improvement, including pleasure, joy, moral taste and ethics. Thus the day of twenty-four hours has three divisions of eight hours each : one division for sleep, one for duty, and one for improve- ment. Let us see what is meant by the last. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 330 HOME COUBSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE EIGHT. LESSON DCLX. Improvement. — That which brings honest joy is an improvement to health, mind and heart. The playground is the theatre of Nature. There is nothing sombre about the soul. The body only is plunged in gloom. Inactivity is buried, and age is the ground of sepulcher. The mind of one who rests too much is moody and sick; from this habit comes insanity. Let us get all the sunshine we can, both from the sky and the deep welkin of our souls. A man or woman who would make life philo- sophical must cultivate pleasure, thought, ethics and moral taste ; and through these the real inner existence. With eight hours daily at one's dis- posal, it ought not to take more than a year to unbury a hidden form. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXI. A Buried Existence — I have travelled everywhere in search of a man or woman who has dug out this hidden form , but nowhere have I found one. Country life is mismanaged ; city life is too much on the surface. The farmer digs for vegetables ; the citizen cannot dig at all ; so the buried existence remains under ground, unknown to humanity. Do you wish to prove that it is a real existence, a form as substantial as the body ? Let us take shovel and pick, and hunt for it. Resolution is the shovel and per- sistence is the pick. Few persons can make a resolution. In the solitude of some hour when a gentle spirit whispers the word, the angel within us forms it into a flame of resolv'e ; we are sure that nothing can daunt us — nothing, not even life or death can swerve us frona the determination ! — when the devil, breathing one of his coined words into the voice of some innocent agent, says "silly" — "crank" — or calls a name that blows out our flame in the instant. Thus Satan rules the world through his epithets ; and he has a nickname or slang word for every pure motive in life. How long could you support a good work, after the devil, through some innocent friend, had called you a "crank," or a "reformer?" It is against abuse that the battle of the soul must be fought. I am sure that no person can inherit immortality who is not willing to endure abuse. This then is the first step toward un- burying the hidden existence. Resolve to do it, and resolve to persevere. Be willing to be abused, and remember that attacks from the Evil One are battle scars for Heaven ; without which true souls cannot be made. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at ihe end of Tome Ten. THE IDEAL CITY. 331 LESSON DCLXII. How to Unbury It. — If you desire to uncover this hidden existence, you must make the most of what opportunities are offered you, in the way of adopting the Principles of Right, stated in Tome Nine. You must then examine the circumstances of your present life, and determine in how far they may be modified to meet the suggestions, or any of them, made in the Ideal City. Do not make any rash or ill-considered move. Stay where you are until you can do better. If you see your way clear to organize a small or large company to found an Ideal City, or to move to one founded by others, then accept the opportunity of entering upon this larger life ; until then, endeavor to adopt as many of these principles and suggestions as you possibly can. These are the early steps, and the only steps. Use your shovel and pick daily — your resolution and perseverance. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays, ' at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXIII. What It Is. — The dirt will be thrown aside, and some mud may fall on you ; but you will find a new existence — a buried form, laid away in all lives, and rarely, if ever, unearthed. It is what I call the existence of a philosopher — of that second self of every man or woman who desires to extract from life the highest pleasure and practical happiness ; and to cast away the shadows that infest the present mode of living. Nor is this ideal being far away. I will guarantee that if you dig but a few days — read and adopt the Principles of Right and some of the easier suggestions of the Ideal City, you will obtain such proofs of this buried existence as will convince you of the absolute truth of it all. This philosophy is not a series of ser- mons, nor is it ethical advice, but an exposition of the wonders of human nature and the possibilities of human experience. I plead for a new order of things in and out of the church, in and out of religion, in and out of society. Do not let the Evil One suggest to you that this aims to compete with religious works ; its department is exclusively its own ; it coincides with exact rectitude wherever found, whether in mathematics, chemistry, biology or humanity. With these constant cautions before you, lay aside all thoughts except to achieve a broader pleasure in life, to find and to adopt your new existence. Let us examine some of the steps thereto. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 332 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME EIGHT. LESSON DCLXIV. Location — We have thus far learned that the Ideal City must consist of estates, none of which must be smaller than one-fourth of an acre, nor larger than two acres ; and that life herein must be divided into the thirds of a day. To find such a location as will favor the binding of an Ideal City is quite an easy matter. I have seen more than a thousand favorable places ; every state in the Union having them. The earning of a living is at the present time so intimately connected with one's place of residence that it controls the whole matter among the dependent classes. Assuming for the purposes of the present consideration that a person has laid away ten thous- and dollars or more, or that the locality is convenient to one's avocation — as in the suburb of a town or city — we find the only other requisites to be pure air, good soil, and good water. We must have plenty of pure air, free from malaria or poison ; soil that is capable of bearing fruits, vines, flowers, trees, and vegetation ; and water, either pure or capable of being distilled or puri- fied by the Ralston process. The location is then complete. For Essays on this subject, see " Rviles for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXY. Cultivation. — An inert person is not happy, is not healthy, is not nor- mal. Life demands activity, real, earnest, but not exhausting. From the soil we sprang, through the processes of vegetation we have our beiug, in the flowers we have the mirrored embryo of the soul ; and among our ancestors and co-relations we should spend some minutes every day of the growing year. The Bible decrees it, principle teaches it, and experience confirms it. Every man, and every women even, should spend a few min- utes or more in the laboratory of Nature, if only to train a vine, trim a limb, or stir the soil about some struggling bush. How much better to occupy oneself in the cultivation of the land. "God made the country, man made the town." For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXYI. Noblemen. — All ages, all countries, all bards, and all wise men have declared that the tillers of the soil are earth's noblemen. There is some reason for this unanimity. In the first place, all religious tradition places the crown of honor upon the farmer ; in the second place, all human beings THE IDEAL CITY. 333 are dependent upon his toil. Let him cease and there would be no food in the world ; even the cattle would become extinct, as far as man's meat is concerned. But more than this, the tiller of the soil is the only actual pro- ducer in the world. He makes something out of nothing. The miner is a finder of hidden wealth ; the farmer is a maker of it. The artisan may turn one thing into another, but he originates nothing. For Essays ou this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXVII. The False The farmer who turns his land into commercial produc- tion merely, makes less money, lives less, and enjoys less. Out West they raise large fields of corn, receive a grossly inadequate price, and buy their food at the stores. Few of them know what fruit is. In the South they attempt to force the soil to yield one crop o.nly, chiefly cotton, and live as paupers as far as food is concerned. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXVIII. The True. — Whether the estate is one-fourth of an acre or two acres, in the Ideal City, or a large farm in the country, the land should be used first to raise everything that the soil and climate afford toward home support. This is the first law of land tillage. The residue of the land, or parts of it, may then be turned to commercial purposes. Figure this problem in any way you will, the result is always the same : a farmer who does not follow the inevitable law and demand of Nature is sure to live less comfortably, and to be poorer financially. Ignorance of fine farming is the chief reason for the general reversing of this rule ; but let every man learn. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXIX. Needs The first needs from land are food, shelter and clothing. This is the sum of life. They should be procured with the least possible strain upon the muscles. A farmer who has been educated can easily reduce his hours to one-third of the twenty-four. Getting up at daylight and grinding the bones till sunset in summer is barbarism. All shelter comes from land, in timber and minerals. Learn to make the most of it, and get better houses. Clothing is the direct or indirect product of the soil; if you buy it from the stores, do something toward furnishing it to 334 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME EIGHT. the factories in the form of raw material. How much food are you com- pelled to buy, that you cannot possibly raise ? It is better for your land and for your health that you produce a varied crop. Single crops exhaust the soil. The deadest land in America is in Virginia, — once the richest. They raise one or two kinds for commercial purposes, and live on hog and hominy. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXX. Supplies. — What a wonderful variety of food you can raise on an acre ; enough for summer and winter. Wheat, corn and beans are man's best foods ; wheat and beans supplying more nutriment than meat. But there are three hundred things that an acre or two will produce. What you cannot use, sell or exchange for what you cannot raise. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXXI. Ideal Products — Apples, pears, peaches, plums, grapes, apricots, oranges, — what of these can you raise, and in how many varieties? Did you ever try to eat small fruits from the bushes and vines, and notice how different they taste from those that are bought and eaten after their glame has departed? If fruits are neglected the body suffers; and the physician gives some drug in its place. How many men and women have lost all desire for wholesome fruit? Raise all the varieties of vegetables and grains you can. I know ladies of culture and wealth who believed that God commanded the race to till the soil as a part of life's religion, who raised fruits and vegetables for the mere glory of being real producers. One summer they cultivated, from the seed-potato to the digging, several bushels of potatoes; and found the work (?) mere exercise, or varied pleasure. One very delicate woman, of great wealth, raised a mess of green peas each spring ; the slight effort being nothing more tiring than a game of croquet with a parson. It is everybody's duty to do something; and, once started, the love of the principle will extend the labor. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXXII. Poverty. — Poverty is a crime. When the pilgrims came to this country, they were met by hostile Indians in the dead of winter. To-day THE IDEAL CITY. 335 we think we cannot live without money and the products of factories. What money had the pilgrims, or their descendants for many years? Where were their factories? In the midst of alarms they were happy. Their offspring were for many generations the noblest heritage of man. Their existence was the crystallization of all the moral forces then on the earth, and no age has equalled them. Privation was outbalanced by genuine comfort. Go back to any page of Xew England history, when money and the products of factories were alike unknown, and tell me how much inferior was their condition to that of the hundreds of thousands of miserable wretches who starve half the year, huddled in diseased tenements in large cities, because work is scarce or wages low. The men who got their living from the soil alone became the progenitors of a sturdy race of long lived sons ; those who supplicate the white hand of capital to-day for starvation wages are breeders of invalids and imbeciles. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXXIII. Source of Prosperity. — But we hear the remark that farming is overdone, the products do not bring enough to pay for the cost of labor. The colonial farmers had no market. The mistake of the American farmers is their commercial idea, — a belief in raising to sell. The principle is wrong. A tiller of the soil must first look to his home supply, and place in his house and barn a year's wealth of food, for himself, his animals and fowls. If he has no house worth calling a home, he can easily exchange his surplus products for the materials and labor. Thus he has shelter and food. He need not suffer for clothing. In the country he is king, in the workshop of the city he is serf. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXXIV. Large Cities. — The large cities are the curse of the nation. They make crime and sensationalism possible, as well as trusts and combinations of capital. I admit that for the sake of amassing wealth the large city is a great convenience; but where one succeeds in his ambition, a hundred souls are damned, and a hundred hopes of prosperity are buried in the sepulcher of toil. For the reckless and unscrupulous rich the cities are 336 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME EIGHT. gods of worship. For health, home, happiness and Heaven, humanity must go elsewhere. These are serious words and true words. The soul's path- way lies not there. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays,"' at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXXV. Ideal Settlement.^A large collection of small sized farms, centering to an Ideal City, is the model plan of national life. It is not a new idea, for time has marked many such settlements. They exist in America to-day, in part; the essential principle being absent in the lives of the inhabitants. Let us decrease the size of individual farms, and increase the size of the town lots. No man needs over ten acres of land, and forty should be the limit. On forty acres he can raise all that he needs, and produce a large, surplus to sell or exchange. With a little education as to economy of plans he can do all his work in eight hours a day, and straighten that bent form into the erect stature of manhood. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXXVI. Common Interests. — The individuals of a community owe each other certain duties which should be enforced by law. While one may be ambitious to maintain health, the neglect of sanitary regulations by others may defeat the most careful plans. It is only by union that the best interests of a community are preserved. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXXVII. Weeds. — For instance, weeds are the DEVS of the garden. They ripen, produce their seed, and decay. Wherever there are weeds there are bacteria; and without bacteria there can be no malaria or common fevers. Miasma rises from weeds by the aid of moisture. Weeds furnish the germs of poison, even before they ripen and decay ; food-bearing plants do not. If a careful man has his weeds mown frequently, they will die out, as their seeds do not mature ; but a careless neighbor will let his ripen, and the wind will scatter them to the adjoining land. No weed should ever be permitted to be half grown, and all should be cut before they are six inches high. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. THE IDEAL CITY. 337 LESSON DCLXXVIII. Drainage. — The best possible system of draining the land and of carrying off the sewerage of the house by safe underground pipes, should be adopted. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end ot Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXXIX. "Water — Well water, spring water, and all land-locked water is dan- gerous. The house should be supplied with some pipe system of filtered water. In the country the good effects of pure air are overcome by well water and ignorance of wholesome foods. Mutual interest should be fostered, and combination for all the blessings of health is an imperative law. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXXX. Drinking Water Necessity compels men to accept the inevitable ; indifference permits them to tolerate dangers, after the law of grim necessity becomes inert. The recklessness of health is seen in the lives of men everywhere, especially on the farm, and in cities almost as often. The first requirement of a building location is its nearness to a well. The problem of obtaining drinking water is one of the greatest in every family life. The well is, for the time being, a blessing for which all persons should be thank- ful. It cannot be improved, until circumstances are more favorable to im- provement ; but first, last and always, it is dangerous. It is merely a hole in the ground where water naturally falls. Any hole, shallow or deep, will serve to collect water. A well reaches a stratum where the flow is perma- nent. All this water has originally come from the clouds. For Essaj's on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXXXI. Nature's Still. — As we have stated before, the pure water rises from the general quantity in vapor, and, falling to the earth as rain, is free from the dangers of all ordinary water. It has lost its disease germs which seek to destroy the body, and it has left behind the calcareous deposits which produce old age and clog the arteries of heart and brain. Distillation could do no more, and no less. Rain water, if it can be obtained in a pure state, is the most valuable of man's physical blessings. It is hard to get, for it becomes contaminated from contact with dirty roofs and deleterious matter. 22 338 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME EIGHT. It is hard to keep, for bacteria seek it eagerly, owing to its purity. Yet it has furnished the human race with much of its purest water. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays, " at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXXXII. Lakes and Reservoirs — Under ordinarily favorable conditions the water of city and town water- works is nearly pure rain water; and is vastly more healthful than well or cistern water. It is exposed to the open air, oxygen, sunshine and glame. By its settling and commotion it loses much of its injurious matter. Moving water in the open air purifies itself. Dead water, held in cisterns and wells, is not so good ; though cistern water is much safer than well water. The latter is the cause of disease and death in many a household where the solemn reaper should not have entered. But the helplessness and indifference of the general public, when muddy reser- voir water is served them, permit the abuse of an otherwise great blessing. There should be some person who has the energy to arouse the people from their apathy, and to see that pure water is provided. Our demand is, — the purest water that is obtainable. Money has no place in the discussion. You may pay ten dollars or twenty dollars a year for water ; what is a hundred dollars ; what are nights and days of untiring exertion, compared with that vacant chair at the table? Count the deaths of the year in your community ; a large majority of them were caused by impure water, either directly or indirectly originating the fatal illness, or weakening the tissues until they became a prey to the ravages of disease. If ignorance was the weapon, who was the murderer? If indifference to the dangers of drinking water was the blow that slew the life, who is indictable at the bar of God ? It is an easily known fact, that the water you drink daily is not healthful, — is, per- haps, dangerous. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXXXIIL Distillation. — All Nature seeks to distill her water. The clouds and rains are the world's still. But the fruits that hold their juices are smaller types of the great process ; for only the purest water of earth enters the grape, the apple, the peach or the pear. Here are the four best fruits of the earth ; the apple being king. Let them be raised freely. Let every home have its small orchard. Let every man, woman and child be the planter of THE IDEAL CITY. 339 an apple tree ; not one capable only of producing sour and disagreeable apples, but a standard variety indigenous to the soil. And all fruits should be raised, for their health and their distilled juices. It is a part of the doc- trine of proper living. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXXXIV. Orchards In the Ideal City we may see only a dream for many years to come, if we look for its entirety of construction ; but the day is not far distant when the good sense, the moral sense, the religious sense, the common sense of the more thoughtful classes will cause them to see the greatness of so important a movement as the partial building of our Ideal City. The first step is the demand for more land to each home. I would strongly advise every head of a family to plant a standard apple tree as soon as he gets the land, a tree whose fruit is juicy and palatable, not sweet nor very sour. The planting of this tree I would have made as important as any event in home life. The site should be well marked, the soil dug deep, loads of good earth placed at considerable depth, and the utmost care taken of every detail. So every member of the family, the wife, the hus- band, the grandparent, and the children who are old enough to understand the value of fruit, should plant some tree, and be ever after credited with the deed. It may be argued that it must require years before the fruit is to be had ; but years slip away very quickly and time will bring its rewards. Fruits are the medicines of Nature, the stayer of disease, the prolongator of youth, and the bar to the approach of old age. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXXXV. The Planting. — Get a record book — a Family Record — of heavy and durable paper. In it credit to each member of the family in turn the great deed of planting at least one tree in the home-orchard. How beautiful the thought that one roof shelters you and yours, that you have a home which you really own, that it is surrounded by spacious land on all four sides, that a home-garden grows near the windows, in which the beauty of flowers smiles back to the eager joy that lights your face as you watch them, and that, somewhere on the most blessed spot of earth, a home-orchard is planted and hurrying to mature its fruit for your health and pleasure. Now let the 340 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE EIGHT. planting be thorough and scientific. Procure, regardless of the few extra cents of cost, a fine type of tree from a responsible nursery ; not from trav- eling salesmen or lurid pictures. Write to the nursery man ; tell him what you want, and what it is for. While the tree is coming, prepare the soil ) but be sure to have the tree as large as can be safe to ensure its thriftiest growth. I have my way of preparing the soil, and my reasons for it ; which I will state. I believe in great care and effort, because the better develop- ment of the tree in after years will repay the slight additional cost of the planting. My attention, some years ago, was called to the unusually luxuriant growth of an apple tree in the corner of a farm, while others around it had long been dead. On inquiry I was answered by certain mythical tales of the wonderful age of the tree, which I could not believe. It was found, how- ever, that the tree had been planted three generations before by the grand- father of the owner ; and that, before planting, a hole six feet deep had been dug and the first six or eight inches had been filled by small stones, to serve as a drainage to the roots. Above this the very best soil had been placed, to give the roots free action. I have known of others who have adopted this method and in every instance the tree grows more rapidly, bears earlier, and produces annually larger crops. So I advise the planting of the apple tree as a great deed, and it should be done with due ceremony, a record being kept of the time, place, kind of fruit, and the name of the planter. All honor to him or her who pays homage to the planter of the fruit-tree ! For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXXXVI. Small Fruits. — The blood needs distilled water, and the nerves and brain require phosphates. Both these necessities are found in the large, juicy varieties of blackberries. 1 hardly like to call them fruit, for they contain the richest elements of the body. ISTot the small, hard black- berry, nor the thick-cored blackberry, nor black raspberries; — but the large, juicy thorough-bred blackberry. Raspberries are not good, even at their best. I once said, and I still repeat, that if people were to eat blackberries, fresh from the vines in their season, and preserved in a natural state through the autum, winter and spring, there would be few invalids on the face of the globe. Let it then be considered honorable to plant bushes ; and to cultivate small fruits abundantly for the ideal home. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. THE IDEAL CITY. 341 LESSON DCLXXXVII. Old Age. — It is by these means that the body is cleansed and protected from the dangers of drinking water. The latter contains so much calcareous matter in some instances, that those who are compelled to drink it becomes old and wrinkled at a premature age. The juices of fruits, especially of apples without their skin, are very effectual in counteracting and dissolving the old-age deposits in water; so that a person who eats fruit freely will not suffer from this mineral impurity in the water. But what of those who drink well water and eat little or no fruit? For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXXXVIII. Soil Dangers. — There is another and far more serious danger in well water, and sometimes in cisterns and reservoirs. Take a handful of earth and let it come in contact with a scratch on the flesh ; a slight inflammation will follow. If the scratch be deep enough, or much of the blood be ex- posed, lockjaw is almost always sure to follow. Such fatal maladies as diphtheria, cholera and small pox, and almost without exception, typhoid fever, are caught from drinking water. The surface of the soil is loaded with disease germs, and every rain carries them down to the strata beneath, whence they find their way into the wells. There are springs, brooks and little rivers below the surface of the earth ; they flow long distances, and may carry the germs of disease a long way. Even vaults which are sup- posed to be far enough off not to contaminate wells, may and often do deposit their poisons in the soil directly above the strata, or one of them, which lead to wells whose snpplies are fed from the waters which flow in these channels. Well-water therefore is death- water. Those who drink it are engaged in a constant warfare between DEVS and ANGS ; and, when a crisis comes, the end is more certain. With the superior advantages of health in light, air and food, the farmer or rural citizen is under the ban of death water. Towns, villages, and settlements often present an alarming fatality at certain times. The water they drink makes epidemics possible. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays." at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCLXXXIX. Ideal Water By slight expense a number of families may coml)ine to procure distilled water. It can be made and delivered for one cent a 342 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPSY—TOME EIGHT. quart ; and if the still is owned in the family, the cost is practically nothing, after the first expense of buying it. The boiling of the water destroys all disease germs, and evaporated water leaves behind all mineral deposits. The steam, when condensed, is free from the dangers which lurk in nearly all waters. Years of life and health are purchased by taking Nature at her word and procuring by her own process the pure fluid of the earth. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXC. Ice. — All ice should be made from distilled water. Freezing does not destroy the germs of disease. Such measures of government as may secure honesty and purity, should be provided by a board of governors. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXCI. Stores. — The establishment of a new mode of life for the purpose of overcoming the evils which almost overwhelm humanity at the present time, should be properly commenced ; for, after an evil has become embedded in the very heart of the customs of a community, it is then too late to cry reform. The commercial world is at this day burdened with a criminal class of wealthy manufacturers of adulterated foods ; and more particularly in America than in Europe. This country is so free and so full of freedom that almost any crime may be committed without fear of punishment. Bad milk is knowingly sold, even when the milk man takes it from diseased cows. Butter is so freely adulterated in this land of freedom that, by actual obser- vation in the best markets, eighty per cent, of that which is offered as prime butter is impure or is a clear adulteration. The sausage-varieties of food are made often of dead and diseased horse flesh, even by some of the so-called reputable makers. These are merely units in the hundreds of cases of food frauds. For this reason, among others, the time has arrived when people should organize for protection from this era of freedom. For such ends the Ideal City is to be created. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXCII. Board of Governors. — Let us believe that the people are sufliciently interested in the new philosophy of life to contemplate the organization of an Ideal City. Before the first step is taken a board of governors should be THE IDEAL CITY. 343 self-constituted, having jurisdiction only over a single community. The character and honesty of the members of the board should be thoroughly known. All hangers on, who follow like vultures in the wake of every reform, should be made known and eliminated from the prospective com- munity. The reason why the board should be self-constituted is that no irresponsible parties would engage to become the founders of so great an interest. For Essays on this subject, see '' Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXCIII. Government The method of government must be left to the judg- ment of the self-constituted board, except where this philosophy expressly provides the requirements; in which case there must be no conflict. The laws herein laid down are not ephemeral or empirical ; they are deductions from the fixed principles of Nature ; and, until humanity is willing to go to the great mother of us all for the laws of life, there will always exist the fearful inequalities of health, wealth and government which make the rich miserable and the poor envious. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXCIV. Justice — Mercy is always a merit, even at the ex])ense of justice, when but one person's misconduct affects but one other life. There the line must be drawn. Mercy holds no place in the consideration of questions which affect a community. The exactitude of the laws is the greatest pre- vention of crime in human government; and, if the purpose be to save men from becoming criminals, this principle must sway all courts and executives. A man who wrongs an individual may be shown all the mercy of which the heart is capable, providing the wrong goes no further ; but he who is a public menace should be shown all justice and no mercy. The reason is two- fold : first, the exactitude of the law, as soon as it is known to be all justice and no mercy, will deter men from entering a career of crime, while the feeble hand of mercy encourages men to become criminals; second, the thorough administration of justice, unalloyed by the soft taint of milk-sop mercy, will rid the community of criminals who could not be routed in any other way. Come into the police court; here sits a man before whom so many cases of crime are brought that he is nauseated with their stench ; he 344 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME EIGHT. is said to be better qualified to judge of men and motives, and the measure of justice necessary to protect the public, that his judgment is called in- fallible. In ordinary life he was less than an ordinary man and lawyer, or he would not have accepted so pitiable a position in order to gain a liveli- hood. His judgment, good or bad as it may be in the average channels of intercourse with men, is warped by the one-sidedness of his experience. He sees, hears, knows only crime, crime, crime ! There is brought before him a sleek young man charged with keeping a gambling outfit. He is convicted and placed on the mercy of the court. It is his first offence, and first offences are shown great mercy. The usual plea is made, the defendant is stated to be a young man who is sorry for his crime, who will surely reform now that the law has spied him out ; and it would be a sad miscarriage of justice to plunge him in prison with low offenders, or experienced jail-birds, and thus make reform forever impossible. So the tired judge takes his personal bonds, and a life of crime is given a long boom from this simple-minded nonsense. Every act of mercy shown toward one who is a menace to the community is an act of gross injustice toward that community. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at tlie eud of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXCV. Public Offences. — Happiness is the right of all who live. It is denied to all or nearly all who live. One who will analyze life must conclude that it is wrongly borne. One who will look long and patiently into the operations of Nature and all her forces, must agree with the primary fact that happiness is everybody's right. Between a human being and the enjoyment of that right, stand two barriers : one, the moral wreck of self; the other, the long list of public offences which cast a shadow over all living. If we are blessed with a home, it is beseiged by human vermin, called tramps ; if property is saved by hard toil, the highway robber, or midnight burglar threatens its safety and our lives ; if we visit a strange city, there are expert criminals who decoy and rob; if a public gathering calls out large numbers, the thief is in the midst ; if a settlement of pleasant homes is established, with schools, churches, and life's beautiful attractions, a rum seller opens his shop to allure the father, the brother, the son ; if the minds of the young and old are becoming cultured and their dispositions sweet-tempered through the influences of good literature, some THE IDEAL CITY. 345 newspaper pours its hell-broth of lies and sensationalism into the lap of refinement and drives all hope of purity from the lives of the people ; if character has grown to the citadel of fame, the black-hearted slanderer is abroad like a bastard pestilence to devour the work of a lifetime. The great public at large are helplessly bound and unable to shake off the fetters of this degrading slavery; the reason is, indifference. To tide over a small evil, for the sake of quiet slumber on the edge of the abyss, is the political economy of the uninteresled public. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXCVI. Tramps. — Look at the childish policy displayed in dealing with tramps. They are said to be harmless; yet, in the United States in 1893, they criminally assaulted more than three hundred women and girls, murdered over one hundred men and seventy-eight women ; caused several persons, through alarm, to lose their reason ; drove away or prevented many others from working ; and destroyed nearly half a million dollars worth of property. Sitting in a home where, of all homes, one should be happy and contented, the wife, the daughter, is terrorized by the horrid image of some hideous tramp passing the window, and sneaking to the kitchen. The invalid, for whom in days of peril during the crisis of the fever the street was roped to prevent the annoyance of the noise of wagons over the paved street, is compelled to see the ugly, crime-stained faces of desperate tramps stealing past the window, and lurking at the open door; and this many times during her convalescence. The mother whose prayers ascend to Heaven for the welfare of the unborn child must mark her offspring with the stealthy eye, the filthy face, and threatening gaze of men who scorn work and openly advocate indecency. The little boy or girl, left in the yard or at the door to play, is terrorized by the tramps and their unwashed stench. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXCVIL Cowards. — This tramp-system is wrong, is admitted to be wrong; but is growing. Its growth is due to the fact that a single family gives food, drink or clothing to them. There are added yearly to the tramps of the country not less than one hundred thousand recruits, due simply to this 346 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME EIGHT. one weakness. It is not charity which prompts one to give to them ; it is fear; and, being fear, it is cowardice. Whoever feeds a tramp at the door, or on private premises, is a coward and a public offender. The house becomes marked, and the great brotherhood of won't-works visit it. The proof of this is easily established. Once a certain street was cleared of tramps by the agreement of all the families to deny all who called. The vermin-laden fiends kept clear of the entire street, and some enjoyment of life was afterward possible. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXCVIII. Solution. — Justice proclaims that he who will not work shall not eat; that it is a sin to feed one who refuses to labor. This law demands respect. Let it be once known that nothing shall be given and tramps will forsake their profession. In the knowledge of the absolute hopelessness of obtain- ing donations from door to door, there would be no case of real charity to arise ; for the actual, honest unfortunate would not adopt the method which has given rise to the most degrading system of liberty ever known in any age, — the freedom of depriving homes of their peace and comfort ; for the most uncomfortable of all homes are those that are invaded by tramps, where, when the evening hour draws on, the stealthy tread is sure to take us una- wares. I believe that it is the intention of Nature to deprive her criminals of the powers of reproduction ; that the first law of Nature is labor, not severe or drudging, but honest ; and that he who despises labor or refuses to work, in as far as he is able, is guilty of crime against the great author of our bodies. God and Nature gave us muscles ; their use is law to health and honesty ; their disuse is disease and wickedness. Idleness leaves us prey to sin. Until the muscles are eliminated from our constitution we are not entitled to the right of discarding their use. The solution of the tramp question is justice; exact, unvarying, unremitting justice; justice that de- nies food to the viciously idle, and that compels the honest and unfortunate idle to seek aid through channels that do not give opportunity to the vicious. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCXCIX. The Unfortunate Of all the tramps in the country, one in a hundred may prove to be honest and unfortunate, — a real object of charity. It is THE IDEAL CITY. 347 better that ninety-nine guilty men shall be fed, than that one innocent man shall be turned away hungry from our doors, — so say the philanthropists. The father who seeks work, the wayward brother who is returning to his home, the husband who labored for his wife and children, — may be plodding wearily back to his family; and to permit him to starve would be both in- human and monstrous. With this theory all persons agree. But there is neither need nor possibility of any man, either the vicious fraud, or the genuine sufferer, being in a position to starve. There is no philosophy which teaches such doctrine. Of all men who are entitled to sympathy and charity, is that one who has been an honest laborer. But of him we shall speak in subsequent lessons. In the Ideal City he will never be an object of charity, for we do not believe in poverty. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCC. Imposters. — The principle which we gather from Nature's law is, that all who beg from door to door are imposters ; although in the ordinary usage of the word, they are not so in fact. A principle can have no excep- tions , therefore the system of begging should be eliminated from every community. It is a habit of the lowest degradation, both to the asker and the giver. It presents misery in a form often concocted for the purpose of appealing to the heart. When abject poverty is honest, it is chargeable to the fault of government, and there the responsibility should be placed. No begging should be allowed in any community; all tramps, beggars and givers to tramps and beggars are alike guilty of crime that is wrong per se. This rule has no relation to the duty of alms-giving and charity. Its pur- pose is to eradicate a system that is dangerous to life and the enjoyment of home, and that encourages laziness, filth and viciousness. Were it not for the fact that the gentle humanity of nearly all men and women is touched by the sad misfortune of others, the nuisance would be short-lived. For the sake of real charity, let us abolish all begging. In the Ideal City it is a wrong to give to beggars ; and both the giver and receiver are to be punished. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 348 ROME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME EIGHT. LESSON DCCI. Alms. — All persons who have plenty should give from their store to some common fund, from which others less fortunate should be permitted to draw, not as a privilege but as a right. The transaction should be charita- ble as far as the alms-giver is concerned, but a legalized pension in its rela- tion to the receiver. What may have been the custom of the past, the prin- ciple is not disturbed by its application in such form as to prevent fraud and vicious idleness. To give alms is a duty imposed in all religions ; and, if it were not, the broad general religion taught us by Nature commands it. The fortunate in this world's goods are never genuinely happy unless they give and give freely. It is unsafe to shut one's soul against the appeals of the miserable ; no one can afford to do it. For real honest happiness go to the man or woman who seeks out misfortune and voluntarily alleviates it. The difference is a broad one : the beggar plies his trade as an avocation, and the alms-giver is never begged of. All honor to those who search for the haunts of misery, either in person or by some indirect method, and vouchsafe to help the needy. I like the ring of that wealthy American woman who never gives to those who ask, but gives freely to hundreds of patient toilers. At an example of true method, the following case will throw light on righs charity : a man on a street car heard the conductor tell an acquaintance that he had been watching night after night at the bedside of his sick wife, and working by day in order to earn money to keep the wolf from the door. It was an instance of genuine merit. The facts were found to be true and abundant relief was given. To a man of sober habits who is willing to work, tbe deepest pocket of charity should be outpjured. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCII. Poor-Houses. — At first thought a poor-house is a blessing, for it pro- vides a place of refuge for the unfortunate ; but we will have none of them in our Ideal City. There are but two places in this world for human beings : in jail or at home. A poor-house is another name for a jail. A visit to the prisons, asylums and poor-houses of our beloved laud presents little choice between them. They are charities to the public or to the indi- viduals ; and necessities under our system. Of all the wretched prospects of age is that which makes a public or private alms-house possible. To that THE IDEAL CITY. 349 dismal end the fearing heart beats the tattoo of many a weary march through life. It is abominable, horrid, awful. The home is the place for the sick, the old and the decrepit. The church is the general home of the religious, but its practical beneficience should place a frame over all who are not grossly unworthy, and twine garlands of love at every cottage door as at every palace. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essaj's," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCTII. Producers. — The body is supported by the food that is eaten ; food is produced by labor ; all are consumers, some are producers. The producer is the true laborer. All that we eat, drink, wear or use, comes from the soil. Every particle of the silks, woolens, or cottons that make up our cloth- ing came from the soil by the industry of man. So all that constructs or adorns our home was taken by human industry from the soil. We and our property, our gold, our diamonds, our vast buildings, all came from the lap of earth by the toil of humanity. To the earth we are indebted. The noblest laborer is he who is closest to the earth in his daily duties ; and the food-producer ranks highest of this class. City life is the life of pov- erty for the poor, and unhappy wealth for the rich. Say what they will, there are no happy homes where there is no land and no growing nature sur- rounding the dwellings of the rich ; and city contamination taints the sweet- est of budding womanhood and pinches the growth of every young man's heart. I would much rather see one continuous city of two-acre estates, extending for hundreds of miles, than the dense mass of mingled poverty and affluence. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCIV. Classes. — The world is made up of all classes, but foremost among them is the vast majority-class of men and women who toil for the long working years of a dreary life and suffer in old age for the comforts and necessities of the humblest existence. I am not of the laboring class, for I have been a student and writer ; but I have planted scores of trees that are now blessing others ; I have tilled the soil, worked with the hammer, and given my muscles liberal exercise in honest duties, yet I am not in or of the so-called laboring classes. With means more than sufficient for my support. 350 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME EIGHT. I am not of the wealthy classes. My sympathies are with the rich and poor, the toiler and the misguided. I speak for no class, but for all. Whatever principle underlies human conduct, and human duties, is philosophy. No broader, deeper principle can be known or imagined than that he who works should win. Socialism aims at the levelling of all classes to one common equality ; but Nature decrees otherwise. Anarchy would place the rewards of industry at the mercy of the mob. Classes and social separation are imperative as long as mental and physical endowments are unequal. Real equality is the placing of every man in his proper division of society ; the cur in his manger ; the toiler in his home ; the rich man in his palace. What can be honestly and fairly acquired should be freely enjoyed. For Essays on this subject, see "Eules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCV. Pensions. — Whatever may be the decree of special self-constituted judges as to the rank and rights of each man, there is a judgment in the very heart of Nature which declares that he who works should win. I therefore say that the reward of labor should be competency for all the years of life and age. No one can assert that there is not wealth enough in the world ; there is more than enough. At a time when political parties are clamoring for more money to carry on the commerce of the states, the banks in individual states of the Union are holding millions upon millions of surplus cash. Nor is money alone wealth. Our forefathers were happier than we are, yet had no money with which to do business ; prospering nevertheless. A man may have a home with land well stocked with trees and gardens ; yet the money that bought it may have purchased hundreds of similar homes. A pile of buildings is but constructed of rock and timber, and the man who counts his wealth by millions may not possess a dollar in actual cash. The earth itself is wealth, its surface and subsoil, its rivers, quarries and mines, may be sources of greater income than hoarded cash. There is, in this great world, enough of food, home, land and comforts for all. For this reason the man who works should win. His recompense should be a life- long pension. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. THE IDEAL CITY. 351 LESSON DCCVI. Social Selfishness. — By what narrow policy the rights of toil are denied is seen when we understand the drift of the human heart. The rich are not made wealthy by their own merit. That a man should amass a fortune beyond a certain limit of accumulated wealth is grossly unnatural. It is charged to his superior mental astuteness. Grant that ; yet that any mental power should extract, under the name of fortune, the juices of the great body of national prosperity in undue proportions, is due to the error which is the basis of commerce, and which the people are powerless to over- come so long as demagogues and politicians are permitted to control the fabric of government. Because men are selfish they take all that they can get; and most of them dishonestly. Because selfishness is a sin, it is wrong to thus out proportion the advantages that fall to the lot of the few; yet no wealthy man is expected to take less than he can get, whether honestly or dishonestly. As long as the suffering public tolerates the wretched system that makes enormous fortunes possible, so long will the dishonest rich sap the life-blood of national prosperity. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCVIL The Remedy There is a remedy. It is not a dream, or a vague philosophy; nor does it depend upon the adoption of the plan of an Ideal City. In one movement of the masses of the people, orderly and by the ballot box, the mountains of inequality could be easily leveled to their proper height, without disturbing the prosperity of the rich. In order to arrive at the justice of this, let us find the principle. The toiler receives a minimum return for his efforts; never enough, even if he is richly paid. If he is a skilled artisan, his brain has wrought more than his hands. Leaving out of consideration the speculator, who is a ghastly specter in the commercial world, we find the man who reaps returns from his business; the man who becomes rich from the happy conclusions of his ingenuity, and the man whose intellectual prowess has struck a popular chord that rings dollars into his purse. The fortunes become so great that only dissipation could scatter it. Yet for every ounce of muscular labor, and for every wave of brain effort employed in these enterprises, thousands upon thousands of other men have made double and treble the toil of brain, 352 KOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME EIGHT. heart and mind, with absolutely no return. It is not merit that brings enormous wealth ; and if it were the result it is out of proportion to the merit. But, granting that all men should be permitted to honestly acquire wealth, — and I do grant it as society is now constituted, — a proportionate responsibility should rest upon them. Here alone is the remedy of the times. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCVIII. Taxes. — Sober toil should of itself exempt a man from all taxation; both himself, his family, his property, home and savings. Such must be the law in the Ideal City ; but such should be the law in every state, county and town, now and always. I do not believe that any home should be taxed ; yet orphans, widows, and poor toilers must respond to the yearly visit of the collector, while uncounted millions are wasted in the hands of the reckless rich. They say we must have taxes in order to support the government ; that equal taxation is the same to rich and poor if the percentage is the same for all. This fallacy is too absurd to be called reasonable, yet it is tolerated by the people. Let us see its error. A man has a home which is valued at one thousand dollars, and is taxed twenty dollars, or two per cent. ; he pays one fiftieth of his property, to be sure, but he does not pay it out of his property, but out of his earnings. Let the earnings cease, and his property is valueless to produce the tax, except by its sacrifice. The man who is worth a million dollars generally avoids a large proportion of valuation; but, assuming that he pays two per cent, on the million dollars, he has in the average run of probabilities, an income of one hundred thousand, out of which to pay twenty thousand. The poor man earns six hundred dollars, of which he can spare not a cent more than the twenty dollars ; or, in other words, he gives up all that he can spare. The rich man can easily give up, not only the twenty thousand, but the hundred thousand, and half his prin- cipal, without one iota of suffering for the next fifty years. His two per cent., therefore, should have been increased several fold ; while the poor man should have been relieved entirely from his taxes. This law is the demand of all true philosophy, and must some day be the basis of taxation. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. THE IDEAL CITY. 363 LESSON DCCIX. Equalities — By the study of averages drawn from life, not from school-books, we may easily arrive at the justice of taxation, and a scale of equalities. I find these things to be true : First, all homes, up to the com- fort limit, should be exempt from all taxation, indebtedness, execution, or mortgage. A man should not be permitted by his act, except with the con- sent of the Governing Board, to dispose of his home. It is his, for him and his family ; and as a home, it is part of the community, the basis of church- life, school-life and national prosperity. False values may make a corner lot worth more than one not so conspicuously situated ; but whatever is the comfort limit should become the dividing line of non-taxation. As money is now estimated, a family can live on forty dollars a week ; therefore, the sum of two thousand dollars per year as income, and the value of a home below the comfort limit should be exempt from taxation. A graded or sliding scale should be placed on the excess. As to incomes, three per cent, should be charged on the third thousand, four per cent, on the fourth. thous- and, five per cent, on the fifth thousand, six per cent, on the sixth thousand, seven per cent, on the seventh thousand, eight per cent, on the eighth thous- and, nine per cent, on the ninth thousand, ten per cent, on the tenth thousand, eleven per cent, on the eleventh thousand, twelve per cent, on the twelfth thousand, thirteen per cent, on the thirteenth thousand, fourteen per cent, on the fourteenth thousand, fifteen per cent, on the fifteenth thousand, sixteen per cent, on the sixteenth thousand, seventeen per cent, on the seventeenth thousand, eighteen per cent, on the eighteenth thousand, nineteen percent, on the nineteenth thousand, twenty per cent, on the twentieth thousand. At this stage we may pause to reflect. The man who receives an income of three thousand dollars per year, pays only thirty dollars to the government, and has two thousand, nine hundred and seventy dollars to spend. Surely he has enough, and he will not miss his thirty dollars one-tenth as much as the poor homesteader who pays twenty dollars from his six hundred. But, if he is fortunate enough to have an income of ten thousand dollars, he is to give up a trifling, — a tenth. Yet he has the sum of nine thousand dol- lars left on which to live. Now which is better, to squeeze the blood from the laborer, or reduce the fortunate man's income to one hundred and eighty dollars per week, or more than twenty-five dollars per day. Surely justice 23 354 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME EIGHT. has but one answer. But the poor fellow who is in receipt of twenty thousand dollars a year must give up twenty per cent. ! Yes, justly he should. He has at his control, the splendid sum of sixteen thousand dollars a year, or three hundred and twenty dollars a week. Shall the increase of taxation keep pace with the increase of income ? Most assuredly. If it is fifty thousand, the tax should be fifty per cent ; and here the limit of in- crease should be reached. All excess of this amount should be taxed one- half. The enormous flow of fortune every year into the hands of one man should not be stopped, for it is his right, at least under the present system ; but, as the whole of it comes from the public, at least one-half of it should be paid toward the support of that public which makes such enormous con- tributions possible. This is justice to all, and a burden to none. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCX. Corporations. — Vested rights cannot be infringed. What is must be respected. What may be begun should be controlled from principle, lest errors arise, and conditions like those which menace our country be here- after avoided. Let us see what benefit to the public accrues through the use of corporations. The government itself is a natural corporation ; for it represents that which cannot be individual or separable. Such enterprises as may not subsist by the union of individuals should be recognized as cor- porations. But the laxity of the law, otherwise known as American free- dom, permits these organizations to exist as a shield for commercial con- spiracies. In their smallest type we see the distant mine enterprise, — the organization of some territorial or state company with the usual sure thing. Good names are placed at the head, stock is issued in the best engraving, and the special advantages of this particular company are so many and so exceptional, that even shrewd men are entrapped. But the thousands of dollars paid in are drawn from widows and unsophisticated people who seek a larger income for their investments than the legitimate use of money will warrant. The bubble soon bursts ; no one is hurt to a large extent ; and no one is responsible. The corporation is a corpus, a body without a soul, and soon a corpse. A corpus is a live body, and a corpse is a dead one. These schemes are on foot every year ; and, by plausible arguments always un- answerable, always new in this case, old victims are often caught. But the THE IDEAL CITY. 356 use of corporations for ventures in a more legitimate way, is the greater problem of our day. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXL Large Combinations. — It is true that many of the successful enter- prises of commercial life are due to combinations of men and means that would be unwieldy and impracticable in the hands of individuals. Thus the giant mills of a town may help to build the town ; and the establishing of the company is called an enterprise, a great piece of spirited industry, full of good to all concerned. What are the good things accomplished by this great corporation ? First, it builds up the town. How ? It makes real estate higher ; that is, the man who would buy a home must pay an exorbitant price for the land, which generally bars him from the convenient district of the town, forcing him to shabby quarters in crowded lanes or streets. The advance in the price of real estate is merely a profit taken from the pockets of the poor and given to the land sharks who prey upon every town. The mill corporation has done the plain classes, the royal plain classes, only injury ; and benefitted those who at their best are the serfs of honest toilers in the records of Heaven. But it increases the population. How? It intro- duces a mixture of floating scum into the heart of what should be a home community ; not that all floating laborers are objectionable, but that among the good are evil elements, criminals and floaters. The corporation pays a minimum price for all labor; the rule is not what is the labor worth, but what is the lowest price it can be forced to accept. From early morn till late in the day these bread winners toil for little pay, and, when the Sabbath comes, they are unfit to worship God in the spirit of peace, because they have given more than they have received, and their vital powers are well nigh exhausted. Labor produces all the wealth of the world, and no toiler can be at peace with society when the comforts of life are showered in the lap of idleness. The large combinations raise the price of land to the detriment of the worthy classes ; import undesirable floaters into the city ; keep the people poor ; and cause the erection of tenement houses and hovels where sunshine and happiness should meet in the attractive garb of homes, gardens and orchards. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 356 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME EIGHT. LESSON DCCXII. Throttled Industries — How is it that great corporations keep the peo- ple poor ? They throttle business by absorbing its subdivisions. I have seen a dozen prosperous factories, all paying good wages, crushed out of existence by one large combination capable of doing the business of all ; and the well- to-do small manufacturers compelled to go to work for the larger. This is and has been the story of commerce and manufactures. What is gained by the giant corporations, except to themselves ? In what way does the public reap one ounce of real benefit? It is true that one such monster factory absorbs the business sometimes of two hundred small ones; the two hundred represent as many proprietors with homes and families, as many well-paid foremen, as many well-paid book-keepers, and a large number of happy all-the-year-round artisans, most of whom have homes and families. The statement is not overdrawn ; it represents facts known and seen by personal observations. Then comes the big mill, the piece of enterprise, that raises the price of land and brings in a floating population ; it closes the small factories, destroys home-life, prosperity and happiness. I have seen rank weeds growing in the gardens where flowers once bloomed when the giant combinations were unknown ; and broken panes in the windows where roses nodded to every passer-by. Of what use are these absorbers of industry? They are colossal monuments to the selfishness of man. Every thought behind the motive that impels the enterprise is to kill the weaker ones ; to crush out all competition. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXIII. Dangers of Combinations. — Legislators are the most human of mor- tals in the sense that they are the most easily tempted. They are politicians ; and honesty is as foreign to their hearts as sunshine is to the mountain caves. I am unwilling to believe that a politician is honest, unless it can be shown that a gambler or a liquor-dealer is honest. There are, however, many legis- lators who would not steal nor tell a lie, who, nevertheless are willing to accept a retainer as counsel for some great corporation. A bill offered by Senator Beck in the most dignified and honorable body of legislators in the world, the American Senate, was overwhelmingly defeated, although the bill THE IDEAL CITY. 357 provided merely that no Senator should, while holding office, accept a retainer as counsel from any corporation whose interests were properly subjects of legislation by that body. It is the fact that nearly all legislators are retained by nearly all the large business combinations of the country, and many are retained as counsel who are not lawyers. Whatever motive may actuate the man who receives money under such circumstances, it is well known that those who pay are intending to purchase favorable legislation. It is a bold man who dares to vote against a corporation, and an honest one who cannot be silenced ; for these giants are both dangerous and dishonest. If their acts were the deeds of an individual, the penitentiary would embrace them. Nothing but harm is the fruit of large business combinations, and they should be held under the strictest surveillance. The remedy is by taxation. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXIV. Corporation Tax — AVe have seen the natural principle which under- lies the taxing of incomes ; the property tax is next to be considered. The home, the land, the private library, furniture, clothing, and tools of all per- sons should be forever free from all taxation and indebtedness ; unless the value of the home exceeds the comfort limit. All property otherwise should be taxed as follows : one per cent, on ten thousand dollars in value, two per cent, on twenty thousand, three per cent, on thirty thousand, four per cent, on forty thousand, five per cent, on fifty thousand, up to one hundred thousand dollars ; and all property owned by one individual, firm, company or corpora- tion, in excess of one hundred thousand dollars in value, should be taxed five per cent., in addition to the income-tax, except public carriers and ship builders. "This is too much," you will say. It is not too much. "It will destroy many large enterprises." It will not destroy any necessary enter- prise for the slight advance in the prices asked will hardly be felt. A con- cern with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars ought to sell five times this amount annually ; one per cent, added to its selling jirice is scarcely felt, nor would five times that amount ; yet one per cent, would pay the tax. All unnecessary corporations should be destroyed, but their vested rights are inviolable. Taxation alone can reach them. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 358 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME EIGHT. LESSON DCCXV. Floaters. — The happiness of a land is in its homes, and its garden plots. Cities are unnatural, unless spaciously laid out. I very much favor little enterprises, little business establishments, little factories, and a large number of proprietors, and well paid employees, each having an opportunity to rise in the world. As it now is, all but the diminutive few must be toilers. There is less opportunity for the poor man in America than in England. There even the highest title is attainable, as in the cases of D'Israeli, Gladstone, Tennyson, and Bright, who from various beginnings rose by their personal merits alone, until they were offered peerages by her royal majesty, two of them accepting the same. With a large number of small business proprietors in this country, the question of labor and its strikes would be settled, and every toiler might look forward to prospects of future advancement. But the present system makes laborers mere floaters ; wanderers from place to place in the search for work ; uncertain whether their tenement or hovel residence shall be for ten years or a month. These floaters are always a menace to the established artisans ; for a stranger may dislodge a resident whose associations are almost as hard to break as the act of living itself. Men should be trained to love some spot of earth as their home, to rear their families, to achieve an honorable age, and there pay the debt of nature. It is pitiable to see offspring scattered, and parents far away from their loved ones. As home marked the infancy of the new gen- eration its ties should grace the age of that which is passing, and will soon be unknown to earth. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," as the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXVI. Resources. — By the justice of this method of taxation a large revenue will come to the possession of the government. It should constitute a pen- sion fund, to be used as all pension funds may be, in caring for the worthy. In England if a soldier, sailor, or other dependent of the national service shall have remained a certain number of years, he is entitled to an honorable pension. Officers, authors, poets, and distinguished personages have received very flattering pensions in all countries, excepting perhaps, in America. If honor deserves support, merit should in the highest degree ; and the worthy laborer is the most meritorious of men. The sources of revenue should be THE WEAL CITY. 359 the direct taxation of property and incomes ; and from these there will be more than enough to carry on the government. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXVII. Citizenship. — Three things should be necessary to citizenship : home, education, and character. The home should be in accordance with the ])]ans of the Ideal City ; character should consist of a clean life and honest toil ; education should embrace practical knowledge. We have sufficiently con- sidered the problem of home, and will give some attention to the require- ments of character and education. In a general way all persons are agreed that character is based on industry, sobriety and honesty. By industry is meant a willingness to work, unless one is in receipt of an assured income. Laziness is the cause of nearly all the poverty of the world, while ignorance covers the remaining ground. An indolent man at once must lose his citi- zenship. Honesty is the sum of one's daily life. Sobriety is temperance in its fullest sense. The devil finds a word for every good man and good deed, and his majesty has invented a vocabulary of epithets which the newspapers — his authorized agents — apply to the earnest workers of reform in this line. Still the heart goes on in every honest man and woman, fighting and hoping. I do not propose to argue the temperance question, but to state it and to pass it. It speaks for itself in every page of the history of all communities. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXVIIL The Temperance Problem — The good in food is composed of ANGS, or builders ; and only when the DEVS assail it, is it possible to start fermentation. This fermentation, if left to itself, becomes decay. The collection of DEVS in large armies, wherever decay has begvm, is an interesting excitement for the stomach and blood of a human being; but animals discard it. The spirit of evil is more intelligent in man than in the brute, and leads him to consort with the DEVS of fermentation; and all the while the devil himself smiles with glee. He plants in the minds of his worshippers the most powerful weapon ever wielded against sobriety, — the profound disgust of DEV-drinkers for those who talk of temperance. This disgust is offensively energetic. It drops from the lips of society 360 HOWIE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME EIGHT. women, like oozing blood from the wounded doe; and all the more com- placently they set the wine and beer before their sons and daughters. The same sons, in alleys, doorways, or behind screens, pouring and passing the whiskey, sneer at and curse the so-called "cranks" who speak of temper- ance. All people who take pride in terming themselves decent, are smart in their expressions of disgust for those who are said to be "meddling with other people's business." Happily for the world of to-day, the blighting of the life of the drinker comes before his marriage, and less injury is done to others. The women have retaliated on the opposite sex; time was when they were beaten by drunken husbands, now the mothers and daughters of nearly all fashionable society tempt the men and boys with wine and liquors, and start many an otherwise hopeful life on the road to ruin. I do not speak altogether from report, but from personal knowledge in a large number of cases ; comparing which with reports from authentic cases I am satisfied that of our American mothers and daughters, there are two million of the fair sex who place intoxicating drinks before their sons and husbands,, and are filled with disgust for those who would save them the consequences of this crime against life. As all persons should relate the summary of their experience and knowledge in this most interesting line of investigation, I will state what I have actually seen in the lives of others. Of my most intimate acquaintances none have ever become drunkards. I have helped to save a considerable number from this fate, and always shall do whatever is in my power. There are men whose lives I have watched, as they came under the influence of the gilded saloon, and I have seen their children leave school for the shop in order to earn money to keep alive. I per- sonally know of two hundred and thirty-four young men who have lost their positions by reason of their habits of drink. I know a bright fellow of twenty years, who was working his way up in a banking house, with a certainty of a fine life position ; one day his employer saw him coming from a saloon, where thirst had tempted him to take a glass of beer; that night he was discharged ; to-day he is a house-painter with an uncertainty of work always harassing him. I know an employer of thirty men, who himself is a drinker of beer and whiskey; he discharged twelve of them because of their convivial habits. On being asked why he blamed others for what he himself was guilty of, he said : " My business requires men of clear heads I I THE IDEAL CITY. 361 and regular habits. I have drank liquor enough to know the value of sobriety." A woman set wines, champagnes and beer before her son ; on being blamed for it, she answered angrily, "Oh, I am glad I am not a temperance crank." In four years after the son was hung for murder. Every priest whom I have known were heavy drinkers. One lived but a block away. One day I saw crape on his door. " Bright's disease," I said to a friend, and so it was. Another priest died two years later; I pre- dicted the cause. An editor of a prominent daily, a splendid gentleman in physical form, a heavy beer and liquor drinker, was stricken with paralysis. "Bright's disease," I said; and so it was. Of the business men of the great cities, the majority are cut off by their liquor habits. Old age is confined to the temperate. A few weeks ago a drunken father lay against the fence, half-drunk, surrounded by school children. He had a family and was reputed to be a gentle and moral man ; so that the children loved him. But in this beastly state, the result of a glass too much, he rolled out the most horrible filth, which the lads about him repeated. He blasphemed God in the presence of those to whom he had taught the precepts of Godliness when he was sober. The damage done by that half-hour of crime cannot be repaired in a life-time. I have seen men, carrying their earnings toward home at the close of the week, have to pass the gauntlet of the saloons ; and finally yield, enter, and spend all their money with the slums of the town , while wife and children suffered for food. The curse of the most horrible and torturing destruction shadows the life of him who sells and him or her who places liquor before another. I would rather be that man who has foully butchered his mother, wife, sister and babes, than the woman who places wine or beer before her family or guests. As for saloon keepers they and all their attaches are not only cursed in this world by every breath that is pure, but the miserable, reeking, slimy heart that beats the pulsations of a rotting body, will meet its fate in the clutches of the prince of hell and be torn inch by inch, fiber by fiber, tissue by tissue, into its eternal destruction. There is no excuse for any alcoholic beverage, from the weakest to the strongest. None shall appear in the Ideal City. He who would have citizenship must touch neither beer, wine, nor liquors; and this regulation should be a perquisite to the right of pension. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end ot Tome Ten. 362 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME EIGHT. LESSON DCCXIX. Education. — The third requisite of citizenship is education. This should be compulsory. No child, under any circumstances, sick or well, should be exempt, unless the sickness is an absolute prevention. The poorer, meaner, more abject a child may be, the more reason why it should be com- pelled to receive an education. Less discretion should be given to parents. The interests of the state are at stake. The education should be continued as long as it is within the limits of practical knowledge, such as will make a man useful to himself and the community. The mind should be carried past that age where it may become the prey to sensational literature. The judgment should be matured in ordinary matters. Legislation and a system of surveillance will readily accomplish this reform. Not only the right to vote, but the right of citizenship should depend upon affirmative evidence, home, education and character. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXX. Support. — All men should be divided into workers and non-workers. Every worker who can produce evidence of his three qualifications of citi- zenship should, after passing the age of forty-five, and never before, under any circumstance, be placed on the pension roll of the government, to re- ceive adequate support for himself and wife as long as either may live. This support should be paid from the resources of taxation. The proposi- tion is a new one, but by no means a dream. The time will come when it will be realized. It is founded in the eternal laws of justice and equality. Its adoption is but a question of time. Let the people be educated to the idea, and in their hands rests the power by easy stages of legislation to effect a revolution in the existence of society and the relationship of the classes. To one who will cast off the yoke of cheap partisanship, and ac- cept their own status of life as the basis of a broader statesmanship, the task is easy, quick and effective. It is the duty of every good man and woman to talk, to preach, to encourage, to insist upon this as an early reform ; and that without reference to the building of an Ideal City. Let such a bless- ing come afterwards. Seek out one man or woman and secure a hearty pledge of loyalty to the support of this doctrine ; let each agree to make two converts to it ; and quietly persist until the times are ripe. In a year THE IDEAL CITY. 363 you will have a thousand workers secured through the fruitage of your influ- ence. AV^hat a duty is yours ! God calls you to the work, and you are com- manded to perform active labor in the field of a moral revolution. Do not let the warning pass ! For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXXI. Hours of Toil Every man and woman should arise at six o'clock, breakfast at seven and begin the duties of the day at eight. A full hour should be taken at noon. All pensioners should sleep in the middle of the day ; as age demands an extra hour ; this should follow lunch. Toil should cease at five o'clock, thus completing the third of the full day. Supper is to be at six, and the hour of retiring is to be at or soon after ten o'clock. I believe in the half-holiday on Saturday. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXXIL The Sabbath I cannot recognize a man or woman as honest who does not become either a parishioner or member of a church. A parishioner is one who belongs to the congregation, and is in duty bound to attend regu- larly, and to aid in the maintenance of the church. A member is one who is a convert to the religious belief of the church. How any human being who draws the breath of life from the gift of God, can ignore his duty to the church, I cannot easily conceive. All who live in the Ideal City must belong to the church system which is a part of its existence. The church system recognizes every denomination that is not in conflict with the law of the land. Citizens must belong to some specific church as an attendant or member, or must belong to the general Church of AE, which is described in Tome Nine. On the Sabbath day all must worship ; and all who can, must attend church, as the most solemn duty of the week. All business and all pleasure seeking must cease. Those who cannot respect the Author of their bodies, should go to other places if they wish to desecrate the day of holi- ness. If holidays are needed, the Saturday half-day, and the full Ralston day, which comes on the fourth of every month, will amply provide the opportunity. l*ov Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 364 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME EIGHT. LESSON DCCXXIII. The Church. — The church itself owes a duty to the community. It must not participate in the government of the people, but must be a con- tinual working force for human good. It must carry into every home a thoroughly practical religion. My idea of the duties of church and pastor is that the former owes a daily allegiance to every man, woman and child in the community ; and the pastor is a soldier charged with the command of an unceasing warfare against evil. To preach from the pulpit is his great pro- fessional dvity, and for this he must be equipped in mind, body and voice, but his command is war, war, WAR ! He is never victorious, but is to be always conquering. The church must be organized as strongly as a corpora- tion, and be the centre of a system of constant surveillance over the lives of the public. It should, in a religious way, know in how far the secular laws are obeyed or ignored. It cannot shut its eyes to any immorality or breech of faith. The execution of the civil and criminal laws is its duty to know and to compel by the moral force of its vigilance. But the most practical work of the church is its care for the poor, the distressed and the unfortu- nate. Its agents should be men and women, tried in their moral character, who should be paid salaries to keep a daily record and constant watch over all families. No human being should be unknown. The secular law should compel the church to do this, and the first duty of religion is to do it. There need be no denominational interference, under proper regulations. The church is not constituted to serve easy essays on ethics to members who are comfortably seated on soft cushions ; for attendance then is but a fashion. The care of unfortunate tramps, beggars, and sufferers should, by law, be forced upon church committees, who shall so administer their duties that the public are relieved from the annoyance ; and the public should, in turn, stand behind the church in all its great labors for general individual good. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXXIY. Poverty. — There are two causes of poverty : laziness and ignorance. The former is well understood ; but one does not easily associate ignorance with poverty. The poor farmers of America are generally ignorant. The poor laborers, housed in hovels in great cities, are grossly ignorant. In the first place, a city is not the place for the poor. It means pestilence and death THE IDEAL CITY. 365 in unusual proportions. The starting point in life of all poverty is in the crowded dwellings of towns and cities. There the young are neglected, and crime as well as the lowest degradation are bred and nourished. There is land enough for all, and to spare. The government in its generous offer of a section of one hundred and sixty acres to each settler, gave too much. Its purpose seemed to be to aid in commercial farming ; whereas, with twenty or forty acres, a man could raise enough to support himself and family in royal fashion. Even in states where rain is exclusively depended on, the irrigation system is the rational method, and could be easily arranged for twenty acres. Crops should always be assured, and drought should never be a factor in the result. Farming for home support, with all varieties of grain, vegetables and fruit, should be the chief object of the owner; then the vicissitudes of the market would not cause that eternal round of anxiety which makes the life of the farmer miserable, and the grain speculators in large cities, who rob the farmers, would be compelled to give higher prices or abandon their white-hearted enterprise. There is no excuse for poverty, as long as land is as plenty as it now is in the world over. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXXV. Drunkenness. — The cause of drunkenness is the meat habit, notably the pork habit, and the old cheese habit. From meat to rottenness through putrefaction caused by DEVS is but a step, as may be proved by experi- ment, and all cheese is the home of bacteria. Like begets like ; the DEVS of meat and cheese eagerly associate with the DEVS of fermentation. The wily bar-tender knows this, and places red sausage, free pork-sausage, and horse-meat sausage, as well as a variety of all the meat mysteries, before his customers. The German, who drinks uncounted millions of DEVS in every mug of beer, also likes frankfurter sausages and lim- burger cheese, or similar microscopic worlds of densely packed inhab- itants. Like likes like. If these statements are in need of verification among the uneducated, it is a simple matter to obtain convincing proofs of their truth. Almost any large microscope will reveal the constit- uents that dwell in cheese, and the very largest will show the minute bacteria that exist in the freshest meat. The more alcohol a man drinks, the more love he has for old cheese and horse-meat sausages. If he will take the rank 366 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME EIGHT. pus from an ulcerated sore and examine it under a microscope with the deli- cious mass of cheese that attracts and excites his appetite, he will find the pus and the cheese to be practically alike, and composed of DEVS that have an affinity for alcohol-DEVS. The love for fermentation in beer, wine or liquor, is not the love of the man himself, but of the dev-life within him. The cure is to abstain from all meat, old cheese, and stale food ; to drink distilled water, eat rolled wheat, and bathe the body morning and night, with a clean change of clothing. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXXVI. Club-rooms. — Every club-room in existence, where men spend their evenings for social purposes, is a standing advertisement of the fact that their homes are not attractive to them. The furniture and carpets, pictures and general adornments may be all that the heart could wish ; but the wife^ the children, the associations of home, are not as attractive as the stories, the cards, the wine, the bleared faces of the roues who are club men by pro- fession. From an intimate knowledge of club-life, I am sure it is the destroyer of homes and happiness, the enemy of masculine morals, and the foe of religion. In its dry heat the hopes of the first love of the heart are parched, and sentiment is turned into ridicule. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXXVII. The News. — The decency that once shone as a jewel out of the dust of human associations is no longer to be found. The scavenger is abroad with malice, and, because good people hate filth, they are afraid to begin the work of exterminating him. Not only are men and women afraid of the mud from the sewerage of the daily and weekly papers, but officials and even courts are corrupted by this fear. This trepidation is cowardice, and in the case of judges it is perjury; for they are sworn to administer justice impartially. There are few if any judges who are not awed by the prospect of attack from malignant papers. It is but a question of time when the masses of the people will rise and overthrow this, of all systems of license, the worst. Public endurance has tolerated it long enough. In our Ideal City, there shall be no newspapers; but any person may be licensed to pub- THE IDEAL CIIY. 367 lish a weekly, or semi-weekly history of events, free from libel and sensationalism. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXXVIII. The Plain People. — All persons of wealth have every right to make such use of their property as shall suit their desires. He who gets may spend. The more elaborately and luxuriously they live the more of their money is put in circulation. The changing styles and wanton waste of clothing merely help trade and manufactures, and would result to the good of the working classes were the giant combinations out of existence. There should be no envy for the rich. Society has many blessings. In as far as it tends to remove the boorishness from human bodies, to refine tastes, and create a desire for the aesthetic, it is not only an advantage but a necessity. There is, however, a class of people whom I wish I could induce to study themselves a little more, and add some of the charms of good taste and refined culture to what is already the best moral temperament of the age. They are the plain people. Plain in heart and mind, plain in home and dress, plain in social cordiality and cheer, plain in words and manners. On either side is a distinct class : on one, the upper social rank, so-called, charged full to the neck with false manners, selfishness and sickening fads ; on the other the beer-drinking hovel-dwellers. No matter what display of comfort the home may have, the beer-drinker is a hovel-dweller. But there are millions of plain people in America who belong to neither class ; they form the grand middle population. They are the wholesomeness of the nation, the good sense of the government, the honesty of the church, the yeomanry of the land. They win our battles in war and carry on every moral crusade in times of peace. Their homes dot hills and valleys, north and south, east and west, in towns, cities and country. When we step from the beer-scented hovel of the brute, or the sepulchred insincerity of the exclusive, it is a pleasure to enter the house of the plain. It is like coming from an arid desert into a meadow-land, flowing with cooling streams, fanned by the rocking branches of heaven-kissing trees, and sweet with flowers and grasses. Welcome is so plainly marked in the eye and so warm in the hand that it need not be uttered from the lips. The tidy rooms, and plant-hidden windows are cosy and comfortable ; the walls, in spite of their 368 KOMJE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY—TOME EIGHT. closeness, stretch away into the breadth of palace chambers ; the rug, rough- woven, is rich as tapestry ; and the common chairs are more inviting than the carved oak of more sumptuous life. May such homes and such people, whether rich or poor, dwell always within the limits of the Ideal City. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at ttie end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXXIX. The Burden of Years. — In infancy, childhood and youth, our parents cared for us ; to respond is our duty and should be our pleasure. What- ever may be the infirmities of mind or body in the aging years, patient respect is a bounden duty. The mother cannot be too highly honored or the father too deeply venerated. There are no other words that can express the double duty; honor for the mother, veneration for the father, and the golden clasp of love binding the two always and evermore. Fortune smiles sweetly on the son or daughter who places father and mother uppermost in the heart, and puts God but one step above them in the scale of love. To prolong their lives, to add to their comforts, and to fill each day of advancing age with its fullest measure of joy, should be the study of every child. When the fond hearts shall beat no more, the words of kindness and the deeds of tender affection shall come back in lines of fire and blossoms of pearl, — beautiful reminders of unforgotten duties filling a brief page of life's history, and then closing forever. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. TOME NINE. GOOD. LESSON DCCXXX. Evidences. — Man is so much the creature of his inheritance, that it is difficult to determine his responsibility for the ignorance or knowledge that may make all the results of his life. It is no easy matter to accept the clearly understood proffers of good, when the inherited impulses are for evil ; and where the knowledge of good is quite lacking, the only natural course is the bad. Beneath the conflict of humanity are certain influences, springing from mysterious sources, and lending a motive to that superstruct- ure of life, called ethics. These influences are called evidences of the sup- ernatural. From them have been built all the religions of the world. It is the duty of every thinking man and woman to examine these evidences, and be led to their natural and philosophical conclusions. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays" at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXXXI. The Human Heart. — That part of our humanity which we call the heart, is but the operation of the nervous system ; the organs of the material heart being in no way involved, except as the body itself is included in the control of the nerves. In the interlacing of all the departments of life, our complex body is dependent upon all its parts. There are three brains : the first brain is the cerebrum, and thinks for us ; the second brain is the cere- bellum, and directs the voluntary action of the muscles by feeding their movements with nervous life ; the third brain is the medulla, which directs the involuntary action of respiration, digestion and blood circulation. This wonderful little medulla is the central point of a system of nerves to which all automatic information is carried ; and from which all responses are made with amazing promptness. Its chief object of interest is the diaphragm, a large muscle called the floor of the lungs. In all normal conditions the diaphragm is fed by the medulla ; and our emotional as well as affectional con- dition depends upon the steady current of electrical fluid which this third brain sends to feed this giant muscle. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 24 (369) 370 n03TE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. LESSON DCCXXXII. Seat of Life Imagine a large and powerful muscle extending across the body, just above the stomach and below the lungs, and attached to the abdominal walls from every side. It is a muscle, fed like all muscles from the nervous forces of the body ; its movements are dependent upon attached muscles which furnish a leverage for action. This diaphragm in sleep, when the system is quiet, rises and falls with a beautiful and unvarying rythm, as steady as the best regulated machine ; for all the while the fluids are fed smoothly from the nerves, and controlled in the medulla. In the morning on waking, a slight draft of air irritates the surface nerves that lead to the medulla ; and this irritation causes a sudden ^hilling or check to the flow of nerve-fluid that feeds the vitality of the diaphragm ; instead of the steady current, it is checked for an instant, and then the accumulated quantity is discharged like a clap of thunder; the diaphragm under this rush gives a great jump and expels an undue amount of air, called sneezing. The respiration depends upon the diaphragm, for with every descent it draws in air, and with every ascent it expels it. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Teu. LESSON DCCXXXtll. The Spirit of Life. — The large muscle, known as the diaphragm, breathes for us in just such manner as our natures are. If we are tired, the vital flow, or nerve-fluid, is weak, and the diaphragm is short and slow ; if we are full of vigor and rested, it has a large and steady strength in its motion ; if we are faint, it almost ceases, sometimes being so quiet as to resemble death, and then we say the breath has stopped, for the spirit of iife has fled ; if we are excited, the diaphragm is overfed by nervous vitality from the medulla, and is quick and erratic in its action, after which comes the weariness, seeking to strike a balance ; if we are depressed, the breathing keeps company with the feeling. The diaphragm is distinctly the organ of breath ; and the ancients called the breath the spirit of life. Soul, spirit and breath are in many languages synonymous. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXXXIV. Seat of the Emotions. — As may be easily proved over and over again in daily life, if discouragement comes to a person the medulla, or GOOD. 371 third brain, feeds less vitality to the nerves that move the diaphragm; and the latter reduces its action to a minimum. In some cases of extreme sorrow the keenest observation fails to observe any breathing, and the diaphragm seems to have stopped, except in an occasional catch of the breath, followed by its escape as a sigh. Sorrow undoubtedly shows itself in the restrained breathing: in a most marked and unmistakable manner. If one is affected to tears the action must be first founded in this organ of breathing. The tears are excited from the tear-sacs near the eyes, but the nerves which lead to the medulla are first affected and the diaphragm sets up an erratic motion. Bring news of death to one and the intelligence will travel to this third brain, whose vital supply to the diaphragm will be stopped and resumed by intermittent action, causing the organ to breathe in exactly the same way; the air will be caught cpiickly by the fall of the diaphragm and let out at once. This is the process known as weeping, and its excitement to the nerves affects the glands in the nose and near the eyes, resulting in tears. All weeping, sobbing, crying, hysterics, convulsions, coughing, sneezing, hiccoughing, and laughter are various actions of the diaphragm playing tricks on the respiration ; they all need air, and furnish a sort of alphabet in the art of breathing; yet all depend primarily on the nerve-fluid which the medulla feeds to the dia])hragm and the manner of feeding it. Laughter is itself an interesting study. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXXXV. Laughter. — Whatever the cause of happiness or pleased surprise the physiology consists merely of an overflow of nerve-fluid to the muscles of the diaphragm, compelling it to move more rapidly. As depression, dis- appointment and sorrow lessen its action, so a pleased feeling hurries it. To be happy is to breathe more air, to be unhappy is to breathe less. A sudden accumulation of pleasure sends more nervous-fluid to the diaphragm than it can use in any ordinary breathing ; so it jumps, hurries, vibrates and shakes, in its joyous action; the breath being thus intermittently jarred produces the emotion of laughter. Let the vocal cords be open and the -air will cause a soundless or aspirate laughter; when closed, they cause a falsetto laugh; when in a vocal position they produce ordinary laughing. There is no joy and no sorrow that does not at once go to the diaphragm and 372 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE NINE. affect the breathing. And this is human. No animal is thus endowed excepting the dog. Joy vibrates his diaphragm and wags his tail by the action of the medulla ; sorrow depresses his organ of breath and shuts the tail between his legs. While all animals express their pleasure and gloom, the dog is the only one having an emotional constitution. For this reason he has often been a part of the religion of certain tribes, and notably of the Indians who buried him in the grave with his master in order that he might be with him in the happy hunting grounds of the spirit world. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXXXVI. Origin of Emotions. — The physiology of our emotional nature is one distinct fact, and its origin is another. It is not difficult for the most inexperienced investigator to satisfy himself that the diaphragm is the direct cause of all the physical exhibitions of emotion, even to the action of the bowels. Many religions, as well as the Hebrew, locate the feelings in the bowels because they are often moved by any excess of joy or anxiety. Their movement is due to the physical operations of the diaphragm. Nearly all persons who are affected by worry are thus affected. Of course the diaphragm is the centre of the torso, and practically the seat of life of the entire body. We know that it is controlled by nerves, the same as other organs are controlled; that the medulla will carry on its necessary movements, even if the brain proper is unconscious ; but the mystery comes when we try to discover the connecting link between a piece of information, good or bad, and the medulla. We are told of joyous news ; the cerebrum receives it, and at once the medulla catches it. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXXXVII. Consciousness. — A step farther back may be taken. The medulla acts directly upon the breath, and the cerebrum acts directly upon the medulla. Indeed they are inseparable in the sense that the latter knows all that the former thinks; but the medulla is separable in that it will carry on all the functions of life without the aid or even consciousness of the cere- brum. Animals are not thus constituted except in degree, and the difference is practically a wall between the species. The solution of consciousness is in the Atoms, and its conferred intelligence; the aggregation of these Intel li- GOOD. 373 gences makes the molecule with its fixed habits, the structures, the vegetable cells, the animal cells and the concentration of intelligence known as mind. Consciousness is never absent from matter. It thinks and knows at least passively, under all circumstances ; its harmony of interpretation is the brain of animal life. That such a being as man should exist is the most logical and most to be expected event arising from the combination of intelligences. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXXXVIir. Man as we Find Him. — Heisinhimself the proof of his own diversity. How, then, can all men be equal before God, except in the enjoyment of general rights. It is rare that two men can be found who are equal even in simple endowments. Agreement is the most amazing tribute to civilization. Naturally all men should differ, for they are diverse by nature. No one can be blamed for self -attention, self-interest and selfishness when all minds run in varying and opposing channels. That people do agree, do yield to a com- mon purpose, is due to the law of protection or the advancement of self- interest, which could not be possible except under a united effort. The desire for gain is further evidence of difference and engenders disputes and quarrels; having probably caused nearly all the murders and general crimes of the world. In olden times, as well as at the present day, the holding of property must be considered as the natural interest around which varying desires converge. To have owned property or to have carried jewels or money was always at the peril of life unless the possessor was amply pro- tected. That robberies are less frequent to-day is due to a better system of protection, yet no man ventures to openly receive money and carry it, un- guarded, across fields or in dark streets at night. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXXXIX. The First Sin — The first crime of nature is theft. People and prop- erty are the world, the earth, government and existence. People desire property. Two may wish the same, or one may wish that which another owns. The conflict is inevitable. In the olden days might necessarily made right; and no man had a right to keep that which he was unable to protect. This was natural. If, in the open freedom of all living, a poor man accumu- lated little or much, some stronger or more alert fellow would surely get it 374 B03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. away; either by cunning or wit or stealth, or assault, or murder. It makes no difference how it is taken, it is always theft to receive that which belongs to another. This is the first crime in every heart, in every life, in every age, and would be the first if the world were to be created anew. That it led to murder, personal injury and a general lack of safety, proved a serious ques- tion to all thoughtful men who wished some reasonable degree of protection in life. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXL. Human Devices — The human brain is so constituted that it devises means to accomplish every end. I doubt if any necessity could exist which man's ingenuity would not overcome. True he has never established com- munication between this and other planets, or reached the poles of earth ; but these are not necessities. We know that bodily protection is the first great demand of all life ; we know that police guard every town and city to protect property and to prevent theft ; we know that government is organ- ized chiefiy for the purpose to determine the rights and enjoyments of owner- ship ; we know that jails are built to incarcerate petty thieves, robbers, house-breakers, highwaymen, train-desperadoes, forgers who seek gain, murderers who kill for money, and all classes of criminals whose efforts have been to obtain property unlawfully. But human endeavors are in vain. The fear of detection deters most law-breakers, but detection is generally impossible. In old English days, they hung a man for a petty theft as a terror to all offenders ; but because detection was rare, and should be deeply rewarded. In barbarous countries the thief is often tortured ; and this is done not as a fit punishment for the offence, but because detect iuu is difficult, and the warning should be severe. Yet soraelliing is lacking. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXLT. Origin of Law. — A long way back in the dawn of human intelligence, men were sorely troubled over this problem. They were robbed of their sheep and cattle, and often driven from their homes. So they wandered over the face of the globe, and became, as history shows, a migratory people, seeking security and property. All wars of families, tribes or nations have relation to the possession of lands or values. But migration did not GOOD. 375 settle the problem ; for they must wander together in bands for protection ; and when a new location is found, individual differences are sure to arise, Man is diverse, and cannot easily agree. This is seen in the communities or colonies sent out in modern times : they are disintegrated by local disputes and differences. The means must strike deeper than fear. True it is that detection and punishment are strongholds of menace against crime ; but there always come opportunities where there can be no possibility of being discovered. Your life and all lives have had many such opportunities. For Essays on this subject, sec " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXLII. Dependence Man cannot always hold guard over his associates. He cannot be in the kitchen and see the ingredients that enter the cooking, or their composition before they were purchased ; so he may be poisoned without much fear of detection, even to-day ; and so easy was this in olden times, that the position of "taster" was a common and responsible one; if the food was dangerous the " taster " would be stricken first and his death would serve as notice to others. Man cannot examine the bolts, locks, screws and nails that make him secure at night from the house-breaker ; some servant may remove or weaken the screws by day, and aid the burglar by night. There are roads to be traveled that are not always protected, and risks are common everywhere. This was so in a marked degree in ancient times, for the patriarch lay down to sleep without doors or bolts or guards. From the beginning of the race all men have been more or less dependent upon the mercy of others. Yet this dependence compelled them to face the necessity by means of greater subtlety ; and they were equal to it. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXLIII. Motive If you were to go to the city of Naples in Italy you would at once learn the moral degradation of the people from the fact that num- berless beggars are allowed by law to ply their avocation. Let us leave them and seek the average face of the better classes. We select a fellow, and ask him at night to show us the city and the character of the people, at the same time giving him ample compensation from a large bag of gold, which he knows that we are carrying about. After escaping all the dangers of such 376 HOBIE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. a visit in such a Sodom, we ask him to spend the night with us and to sleep in the same room as a guard against robbers. He is a stranger to us, and we to him. Out of one hundred thousand such men with such opportunities, how many do you think would refuse to help themselves to our gold and escape while we slept soundly ? If one, what one, and how can he be known in advance? If any man will, under circumstances where detection is alto- gether impossible, refuse to take gold and escape, what motive would restrain him ? There is but one, and the keenness of human intellect long ages ago discovered that motive. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXLIV. Mystery. — To the most intelligent being, life is a profound and unsolv- able mystery. To the less thoughtful and less investigating people of earlier ages, the mystery was so deep that any gleam in the dark was called a ray of light. In such circumstances it was not only an easy matter but a natural consequence that the keener men should separate themselves from the less shrewd. As no two are alike, and as all minds are diverse in their intelli- gence, even when all are low in the scale of education, it must follow that some are brighter and clearer than others. These, if other things were equal, would soon acquire superior estates and a greater share of the prop- erty to be had ; they would rise in caste and seek to maintain their position by affiliation with others of the same motive and rank. Having done this, they would soon become the advisers of others, less fortunate ; would excite more or less respect through awe, and would be listened to. This evolution of mental supremacy over others leads to the general control of the body politic. Such unfolding of social relations is not a theory, but a living fact stamped on every page of history, in every age, and among every people. It is the most important fact of our present lives. And neither to-day is the mystery that dwells in lesser minds any the weaker because the general average of intelligence is greater. More of the old-time obscurities have been cleared away, but the spirit of superstition is just as strong. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXLV. Advantage Minds are always superior by reason of their astuteness. The keen brain sees its advantage in some occurrence, behind which no GOOD. 377 investigator can go to find the cause. There is now known to scientists a familiar example of this in bread, which has become infected with bacteria. The dough set aside in bake-shops over night to raise has not infrequently been found in the morning resplendent with colors which fairly rivalled those of the rising sun. There is a species of bacteria in every good collection, and veritable Nestor among the forms known to man, which has a curious ecclesiastical history. Among all the innumerable natural phenomena which, by their striking character, infrequent occurrence, and lack of apparent cause, were in early times relegated to the domain of the supernatural, none perhaps was more strange and uncanny than the sudden appearance on the moist surfaces of articles of food of little bright-red shiny droplets, which, gradually spreading, at length formed large shiny, deep, rich-red masses, looking very much like drops, or masses, or clots of blood. The story is long and tragic of the dire calamities, unmentionable crimes, and swift retributions which these strange appearances of blood were supposed to foreshadow. This miracle of the bleeding Host has appeared again and again in the hands of the priestly defenders of the faith as a most potent evidence of divine intervention with the affairs of men. The consecrated wafer placed over night in the moist and bacteria-laden air of the church edifice would in the morning be found besprinkled with bright red drops. What could it be but blood? No human hand could have come near the place, and so what else could be believed but that it was from the hand of God ? It was one of those early miracles in which both priest and laymen could alike share in believing with perfect honesty. The divine finger pointed, but to what, it was the office of the priest to say. How many lives were sacrificed and homes destroyed through that most honest of ecclesiastical delusions, the miracle of the bleeding Host, it were useless now even to conjecture. To-day we cultivate in our tubes the tiny bacteria which, growing in masses, made the drops of blood, and the last elements of romance and tragedy seem to disappear from the story as we name them — Bacillus prodigiosus. For Essays on this subject, see '' Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXLVI. The Supernatural — We thus find in the study of humanity, — first the universal desire for property which causes theft ; second the same 378 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE NINE. desire for property which devises means to secure protection against theft; third the futility of punishment to provide such protection; and fourth the use of the supernatural as the last resort. That keen men would see the eflEect on the minds of others which supernatural references must have, is perfectly apparent; that they would follow the advantage even to estab- lishing a code of spiritual laws is not merely reasonable but absolutely certain. History tells us that every phenomenon in nature and every unexplained fact in ordinary life was made the basis of some spiritual warning to the guilty. The past is full of such experiences, and all ecclesiastical books not only admit but record the abounding evidences of these attempts to produce goodness by awe, and to use every occurence as evidence of the dreadful visitation of vengeance from the hidden powers. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXLYII. The One Man. — The process is simple, short and effective. The parents of one generation would easily listen to the counsels of one man in their midst; whether he spoke from his own claims, or assumed to be author- ized by a higher power. There is always one man at the beginning or head of every moral movement ; his followers are his believers ; and there has been no age in either dark or bright history when one man, teaching or representing a moral idea, could not gain attention, gather together a band of followers, and establish a religion, a sect, or a church. That this is so speaks of the necessity of morality as an inculcated force, and of the recog- nition of this necessity by the masses who wish protection from the conse- quences of others' immorality. The darker the age the greater the power of one man in the development of religion ; but the time will never come when this power will be denied any man or woman. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSOX DCCXLVIII. Attachments — I do not believe that the spontaneity with which a religion arises is due to the religious temperament of man in his better nature ; nor do I believe that it is forced into him by the desire for safety to his body, for life is the highest stake of such a fear, and means little to most people of the great world. There is something else. No doubt the love of gain and the steps which by it are made necessary, even to the incul- GOOD. 379 eating of supernatural fear, have been the direct causes of moral and religious codes ; but there is something else. When night comes and the curtains of the skj are drawn tightly around every home, the air seems awake with other sounds than those which the ear is accustomed to listen to by day ; the imagination makes sport of the frail and never reliable nervous system ; and a strong desire for friendships, associations and protection brings people under one roof. Families remain together. The heart forms attachments for familiar places and faces, and love is developed. All life is more or less subject to the sway of its attachments. Sheep and cattle, horses, dogs, and all species of the animal kingdom are attracted to their own kind, and even to their enemies. A dog and a cat, thrown constantly together from early life, will remain friends ; a sheep and a cow, or a sheep and a dog, or a sheep and a bull will form such attachments; and travellers have written of some very unusual associations of which I know nothing. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXLIX. Grief. — That death is intended for man has been assumed from the fact that the race has furnished no example of unlimited longevity. All who live to-day expect to die, and are ignorant of the mode of procedure which will follow the act of dying. If material evidence of a conclusive nature had been given them of the future they would live quite differently in this world. If the next abode were far up in the sky and yet within sight ; if its portals, its occupations, its inhabitants, were all in view ; if the voice of the Supreme Ruler could be heard, not by one, nor by a few, nor by a sect or a select people, but by the great broad masses of humanity ; if what awaits us in the world to come were so plainly set forth that the most humble mind could not mistake it ; then men and women would all live accordingly and adjust their conduct to the known facts. As it is, there is no knowledge except through faith, and faith is sometimes uncertain, as when two thoroughly sincere clergymen of absolute honesty are both pray- ing at the same time, one for rain and the other for dry weather. There is one bond that brings all to a level, and it is Grief. To this add the mystery of creation, the mystery of our being, the certainty of death and the uncer- tainty of the hereafter, and the sorrow of parting is intensified. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 380 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. LESSON DCCL. Man and Animals. — A human being is an animal to which an emo- tional nature and a contemplative mind have been added. If he is destined to become immortal, it is through these two channels that we must catch glimpses of his immortality ; and by their aid we must acquire a knowledge of the natural foundations of religion. We have seen that the mind of superior man has been able to sway and lead the emotions of his followers ; we have examined his motives to do this, and the emotional faculties that are thus affected. Emotion has been mistaken for repentance, and religious sorrow. It is but the natural function of the respiratory organ, the dia- phragm ; but still it is an attribute of humanity, not found in its real nature in any animal. Thus man may be said to be an emotional animal, capable of contemplative thinking. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLI. Broken Ties. — When some loved form is lowered into the grave, the contemplative mind asks. When next shall we meet ? When, amid the grati- fying pleasures of a successful life the hand of death is heard knocking at the door, be its rapping ever so gentle, the contemplative mind asks. Who departs hence ? The religion of the church, and the atheism of society clasp hands over the coffin of mutual love. There all look forward to the same goal. Under such circumstances, in such lives as we live, with such natures as we have, fearing dangers on every hand, is it a wonder that an individual who claims to have come nearer the light of truth than his fellow- men, is able to attract a following, especially when his doctrines teach others that sin is wrong, even if it is never detected by human eyes. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLI I. Inherent Good. — It would well repay any student of philosophy to examine the question, how much inherent good there is in the human heart. It is possible to develop a perfect code of morals and a religion of the highest type from the mere desire to educate men to be good in order that inward fear might prevent crime. I know of irreligious mothers who make their children believe that if they tell a lie some terrible monster will devour them ; but if they always tell the truth some fairy will bless GOOD. 381 them. Between the fear of being devoured and the pleasure of being blessed the children are not left a large margin of choice. Had the fairy part been omitted the other consideration was sufficient to inspire truth- telling, but the offer of the blessing of itself would hardly have been strong enough to hold back the lie. The threat and the promise are the two chief elements in all religions, and there is not one on the face of the globe which is constructed on any other basis. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLIII. Motives. — No theologian believes in a religion without the threat; the very word religion itself is law, and takes its meaning from the Greek, to have a care. Wherever found, whether among the barbarous or the civil- ized, religion is a collection of the laws of conduct and penalties for disobe- dience. It is an effort to suppress inherent evil ; all admit that ; the only question is, what is the real motive, not in accepting or administering the laws, but in originating them ? Did the first great leader of every tribe or nation really desire to draw men to a happy immortality ? or did he desire to make the world better for the good it would do here? or did he wish to protect himself and others by inspiring criminals with a supernatural fear ? or did he seek to gain power for himself by playing upon the credulity of others in matters that always obtain a following ? That these motives have existed, and do exist to-day, no one can doubt. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLiy. The Three Schemes. — He that is good because he honestly believes he will be punished in a never ending or, at least, most horrible manner, is not good for the love of it. The fear always stands forth like a wall between his wish and his act, and force prevails over his moral nature. He that is good because he is promised a reward, be it happiness, satisfaction, peace of mind, or a glorious hereafter, is good from selfish motives, and not from spontaneity. It is possible to divide the motives of morality into three great schemes : either that goodness is insjiired by fear of punishment, or by promise of happiness as a reward, or by its own immediate satisfaction prompted by that sense of justice which honest conduct alone can generate. Let a man test his nature by committing sin ; he will feel an immediate 382 SOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE NINE. unrest that dwells over him like a burden. Let him hunt for equivalents for moral conduct in the shape of promised rewards, and the transaction will savour of the nature of exchange or bargain and sale. But let him be ruled by the simple dictates of absolute honesty, and he will do good and be good for the immediate pleasure which he feels. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLV. Genuineness. — I am delving in the substratum of the human heart. I find there certain laws, as fixed as eternity, and I care not how they strike, or whom or where. The time is come when the motives of goodness, the basis of morality, and the truth of conscience should be unveiled. There are thousands of creeds in the world, and only one in life. There are relig- ions as diverse and varied as man, and only one law of God to humanity. Men are scheming and planning to remodel the tenets of faith, to add here and subtract there, to twist the reason to one set of ideas, and relax its tension on another strain, all to attract to themselves some power over a handful of believers. And all their labor concentrates on the fear of pun- ishment for sin, and the reward of happiness for holiness. Hearts thus won are never held. "Why do you live a holy life?" asks one. "Because, if I do not, my soul will be eternally punished." — " Why are you holy ?" " Because I shall merit eternal happiness," — The third says : " Because it is right," and the third is genuinely good. I would not trust either of the others under temptation ; they are not on the right road to Heaven. Nor do I believe the third would ever backslide ; for when a person gets far enough along in his fight with Satan to realize that goodness is inspired by itself, the devil leaves him once and for all. What this moral condition is, we shall endeavor to learn. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLVI. Spurious Religion. — If any religion states as a matter of fact that punishment after death follows a life of sin, it records what is necessarily true ; but if its incentive to morality is the threat of punishment, the devotee of such a religion will never succeed in averting his fate. There must be a higher standard. It is a noteworthy fact that the lower down in the scale of human degradation a nation may be, the more does its religion abound in GOOD. 383 punishments, horrors and fearful omens ; while its promised rewards are gilded with hues of far greater resplendence. Coming up the scale of civil- ization step by stej) we approach the third inducement, goodness for the sake of goodness, and hajipiness is stated as a fact, rather than as a reward, while punishment is a logical consequence rather than a foreboding threat. For Essays on this subject, sec " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLVII. Miracles. — Leaving the quality of religion for the present, let us dis- pose of the motives that have given every nation and tribe some form of worship. From evidence easily within control of every body, it is apparent that men have become religious leaders merely for the sake of power. This is true to-day in a marvellous number of instances, great and small. It is true as far back as history runs. Temporal power has been hard to attain ; but all keen minded men, failing to impress their fellow- beings in civil or military transactions, have assumed to teach them the supernatural, have claimed authority from God ; and, in order to impress the people, these leaders have resorted to claims of miracles done apart from observation, or agreed to by coadjutors, or made through trickery in open sight. Of this there is not the slightest doubt. All nations, all history, all religious accounts are agreed that such is the case. Nor is it unnatural. What could be more logical than the desire for power, and the adoption of measures to acquire that power? Without pronouncing all miracles to be frauds, I simply say that theologians admit that all frauds resort to claims of miracles. They at once invest the man with authority, and who can be accredited with greater authority than he who offers proof in the shape of super-earthly deeds. An astronomer, able to predict the eclipse of the sun at a given hour and day, proclaims himself the messenger of Divinity, in proof of which he calls upon the j^owers to hide the face of the sun, — and it is done. He who reads history knows that not only this but numberless other so-called miracles have been performed and great power over men thereby achieved. The rich pagan countries to-day are infested by such frauds, whose tricks are open to the keen-eyed ; and during all the long centuries since the birth of Christianity, its own great leaders and teachers have confessedly yielded to the same temptation. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 384 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. LESSON DCCLVIII. How Man Came. — We have already found abundant motives for the invention of religion by spurious teachers. Whenever such a person appeared and pretended to be the agent of the Divine Being, he would at once be assailed with questions which we all would like to have answered : the solution of the mysteries that surround us. Foremost among all, is the inquiry, How came man upon the earth? So all religions answer the great problem ; some minutely, and some vaguely ; but none have failed to meet the inquiry. As surely as the parent must bring forth' a child before parent- age exists, so surely must every religious leader in the dawn of the religion answer the question. How came man upon the earth ? Herein all religions agree, though the details of the account may vary as widely as the poles; and each tribe have its fixed belief in its own account. Even if the first leader should be honest, he would not answer the question, but would sug- gest possibilities ; and these would be repeated as facts, and go down into tradition. It is thus very easy to originate a fixed account, without any actual moral turpitude. And nothing is easier than to originate a complete religion, based, of course, upon the general fundamentals of all religion. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLIX. •Easy Origin of Religion. — In 1811 a man by the name of Solomon Spaulding wrote a romance, the central figure of which was a character named Mormon. Of this fact, there is absolutely no doubt whatever. It was an account or record of certain ancient people in America, abridged by an assumed prophet Mormon, said to have been discovered by Joseph Smith, at Cumorah in Western New York, and translated by him, who thereupon founded the Mormon Church in 1830. The fact that the book was a mere novel, of the romantic order, has had nothing to do with its acceptance as an inspired work ; and so deeply implanted is the belief that it is the word of God that no Mormon, man or woman could be shaken in their faith in it ; for generations have been reared in the sunlight of its sacred truths; mothers have repeated it to children clinging to their knees and lisping the prayers it teaches ; grandmothers and fathers, bowed in reverent age, have tottered to the verge of the grave, pressing the volume to their hearts and, with upturned faces, poured all their faith Heavenward, dying in perfect peace,. GOOD. 386 with no shadow of doubt as to the origin of the book. Now let us suppose that this Book of Mormon, which is the most open fraud of modern religion, had appeared six thousand years ago as the only moral guide of the early world ; where would it be to-day ? Its sixty centuries would have been freighted with struggles, disputes, persecutions, arrogant faiths and all manner of gloomy fears, driving men to the acceptance of the book ; and it would have displaced all opposing works; it would have been the creed of all ages ; its supporters would have been the grandest men of all ranks and professions; and no person could be saved who did not believe in it. Or, supposing that, just before the dawn of the Christian era, when religion had rotted in men's hearts and the world was ripe for any change, the Book of Mormon had appeared. Would we not all be Mormons? You cannot despise or disparage the Mormons of Utah. They are not thoughtless or weak-minded ; nor are they the scrubby set of folks their enemies have called them. I know many of them personally. They are honest, industrious, God-serving and God-fearing. In manners and morals, in heart and hand, they are clean and pure ; and an acquaintance with them will only add to one's good opinion of humanity. There are among them a very large proportion of well-educated, brainy thinkers, who will compare favorably with the world's best men and women. Yet, without exception, they believe in the Book of Mormon, as a work inspired from God ; and so thoroughly do they belive in its sacred origin that no fact could change them ; nor could any evidence find a channel of entrance into their minds. Yet I know that the Book is a pure concoction of falsehoods, invented by the creative ingenuity of an ordinary man, who never intended to lend his fancy to such a stupendous result. Now let the centuries pass away, and all evidence of Spaulding be buried out of sight and reach ; would not the book be so sacred that a breath of doubt would be deemed heresy, especially if the accessions to the church had become as numerous as those which greeted the purity of Wesleyism. What lesson is taught by this modern giant? For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLX. The Heart's Response. — The fact which I desire to impress is the €ase with which any religion may be originated. I do not hold up the 25 386 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. growth of the Mormon church as evidence that the Christian religion may- have arisen from a similar pretence, or that the Hebrew Church may have been the outgrowth of schemes started by pretenders ; but I add it to the evidence already overwhelming of man's ready response to religious teachings. It is not the nature of Mormonism that draws people to it, but humanity's religious response that makes Mormonism possible. It is not the skill of the miracle-maker that induces a large band of followers to set up a church; but the response of mankind to tenders of instruction on Divine themes. The fact that fraud, pretence, invention and trickery can lay the foundation of a time-abiding religion, is paramount evidence of man's willing nature to be led into moral restraint for self-good. No other phase of life stands out in such bold relief as this, and it tells the story which the many lessons of this Philosophy have emphasized, — that man is two-fold, good and bad : the good struggling to come up through the bad and to shine above it. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays" at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXI. The Bible. — A work of this kind is purely secular ; and, from the secular side of ethics, it is expected to deal with the problems of the Bible's origin, and the Christian religion. In a later and specific volume I shall state reasons and evidences which I have collected from personal research, showing that there can be no doubt as to the historical authenticity of the Old and New Testaments. There are scholars who, no doubt, have devoted more years to theology than I have ; but with equal opportunities at my control, with a more intense interest to know the truth, with a willingness to sift all true and false testimony on both sides, and a cool resignation to facts, I have delved in many usual as well as in many unexpected quarters, and I am sure of my ground when I declare that the New Testament is, in its four gospels and in Revelation, an infallible book of inspiration ; while the Old Testament is, what it purports to be, a religious history of the Jews. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXIL Inspiration. — Attempts have been made, time without end, to bolster up the faith of men in the Bible by declaring it to be the inspired word of GOOD. 387 God ; and the question of belief in this inspiration has and is separating many a brother from his co-worker in the church. If men will but remem- ber that the stability of religion is not in its teaching, but in the response of the human heart to religious proffers, all schism and bitterness would at once cease. It is an attack on the inherent goodness that flourishes in the presence of all moral suggestion, to question the inspiration of the Bible. It is not material to the issue. Suppose the entire work to be of fraudulent origin, yet to contain the noblest moral code of all the ages. Regardless of its origin, its contents are emanations from natural goodness.,, For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXIII. Satan and the Bible. — The Bible is full to the brim of that very morality which awakens in men's hearts a response to religious teachings. Now we know well enough that if its doctrines are adopted the result must be eternal life, and we know that Satan will be overthrown in our hearts.. In other words the Bible is the open and relentless enemy of the devil. Do you imagine that Satan, who seeks conquest, not self-destruction, was foolish enough to originate a system which must aim at his own overthrow ? He would not instigate a work like the Bible, for he could not. His great mouthpiece is the newspaper. If wicked men, for the purpose of power, assume to be religious teachers and do in fact promulgate moral doctrines in order to win the confidence of righteous people, such morality is the inherent goodness that dwells in the meanest mortals in some degree at least, and often seeks to escape from its surroundings, while their false life is the wick- edness that remains. The lowest criminal is capable of parting with some goodness. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXIV. Theology. — The term theology is sometimes applied to objective relig- ion. Whatever its meaning is, it is at fault for having existence. I include in theology all discussion of authors, authorities and origins ; I include in religion all experience and discussion of man's moral response to suggestions of goodness, from whatever source they may come. Theology has undone a major part of all the good that religion has su(!ceeded in accomplishing, 388 H03IE COURSE IK PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. and the world is in that moral status when it must dispense with either the- ology or religion. That which is good can never die, but it may lie crushed to earth unable to rise except after long lapses of life. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXV. Objective Religion. — The present lessons are so important that I shall take unusual pains to be understood, before proceeding too deeply with them. Religion is sometimes termed objective and subjective ; the former referring to the consideration of God's relation to us, and the latter being the expe- rience in our own lives and hearts of our relations to God. I do not believe there is in fact any such thing as objective religion, for it is not religion to discuss and dispute and doubt and differ in creeds. All this haggling I call theology, or the devil's attempt to dethrone goodness as the supreme ruler of the heart. The only religion is subjective, or that which is felt, known and experienced. There can be no harm in discussing religion, for religion is moral harmony, and theology is moral discord. Religion is the effort of inherent good to come out of its human sepulchre ; theology is the effort of evil to shut in this sweet life of religion. As a test of the vast difference between the discussions of theology and religion, I have many times precip- itated these among all classes of believers, with a steady and unvarying uni- formity of result : discussions of religion always led to harmony and gentle loving-kindness ; discussions of theology always led to bitterness, ill-feeling, and the hot flush of anger. No two persons agree as to the questions raised by theology ; all agree on every phase of religion. Try this problem, and bear in mind that the successful clergyman is he who is able to avoid all the- ology and cling only to religion. I assert again, and will abundantly prove, that theology is the cloak of the devil, under which he disseminates church division, and undertakes to grind to powder the great bulwarks of life. What good is there anywhere with which Satan has not formed a copartner- ship ? Under the cloak of charity how many criminals have sought public confidence. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXVI. Creeds. — Let us see how terrible has been the work of theology since GOOD. 389 the dawn of Christianity ! The great broad church is supposed to represent peace ; or, at least, if peace cannot be found in the sacred domicile of the church, where shall we look to find it? Nowhere. Yet theology has, as its first great blow against the peace of the world, divided all church-goers into two great classes : those who believe in the Old Testament to the exclusion of the New, and those who believe in the New, with or without the Old. The Hebrews, the Jews, the Old Testament adherents by the millions, reject the divinity of Christ, or reject New Testament history altogether ; while millions of others are exactly opposed to this doctrine of rejection. Now both cannot be right, and to declare that either side is wrong will precipitate discord. This is theology, and the work of the devil. Religion tells us that the inherent goodness of man responds to every moral teaching of the Old and New Testaments, no matter how it came to be written. Church- members who rest their soul's salvation on theology are lacking in religion, and will never see God. Any man or woman who dares to say that the Old Testament is the only authority, or the New Testament is the only authority, or who seeks safety in correctness of creed, is an unforgiven sinner. For Essays ou this subject, see " Rioles for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXVII. History of Creeds. — Jews and Gentiles are theologians; yet both classes are holy and sanctified in proportion as they lessen the difference betw^een the Jews and Gentiles in their minds and hearts ; nor can they come into perfect peace with God until, in their souls, there are no Jews and Gen- tiles. Now again, taking the Christians as the great representative body of New Testament followers, we find them arrayed in certain grand divisions : there is the Apostle's Creed, a summary of the Christian faith; the Athana- sian Creed, which is still read in the church of England ; the Nicene Creed, which is held as authority in the Roman and Greek churches, and in many Protestant churches; these three being the general grand creeds. Then there is the Creed of Chalcedon ; the Creed of the Council of Trent ; the Russian Creed ; the Lutheran Creed and its various divisions, such as the Augsburg Confession, the Articles of Schmalcald, the Catechisms of Luther, the Confession of Lower Saxony, the Suabian-Saxon formula, the Torgau formula, and the formula concordiaj ; the Calvinistic Confessions of Bale ; 390 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. the Tetrapolitan Confession ; that of the Helvetic churches ; the Palatine Catechism ; the Expositio Simplex ; the Formula Consensus ; the Gallican Confession ; the Belgic Confession; the Scottish Confession of 1560; and the great Westminster Confession, and Catechisms. These are the leading creeds of Christianity ; but represent only the grand-divisions of theological war. The denominations are smaller fragments of Christianity. But take a glance at the fearful scheme of the creeds of the grand-divisions, and tell me how much religion there is in any one of them, or in the hearts that promulgate or seek to keep them alive. Imagine a mother, laying her babe to rest in the lap of earth and seeking comfort from the great Source of all sympathy; and not knowing by what Articles of faith she should approach her Father. The wrath of God rests on the head that propagates the theology of Creeds, — for the heart knows nothing of the kind. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXVIII. Denominations. — Theology stalks like a dry spectre amid the dead leaves of denominational churches; and religion lies smothered in the heart's yearnings. The Roman Catholic has its fixed belief, as unchanging as the polar star ; and its creed is war against the Protestants ; yet both originate from the same Bible and Testament. It has the strongest church government on earth ; yet, while it has less internal dissension than any of the Protestants, is continually involved in quarrels over theology. On the other hand is the great Protestant division of Christianity with its hundreds of denominations ; and among them where you find the least creed you will see the most religion. Theology and religion are as diametrically opposite as Satan and God. Creeds are the holiest words of sin, born of disputant minds, and never knowing, or known by the heart. The Baptists have so many factions, at serious war with each other, that no one knows to-day what is meant by the denomination ; they offer the most conclusive arguments supported by impregnable facts to sustain their claims of immersion and communion, while opposing denominations offer on the other hand equally conclusive arguments sustained by equally impregnable facts, to prove that the Baptists are altogether and hopelessly in error. I have carefully read and studied the opposing arguments, and find both sides perfect in logic and in data. GOOD. 391 and unassailable in their conclusions ; yet they prove each other to be wrong, by evidence on each side so convincing that not the slightest doubt exists as to the result. Arrayed against each other are the ablest men of thorough honesty, and the most splendid scholarship. Gladstone, the great commoner of England, estimates about four hundred Protestant denominations, and more coming every year. Theology is grinding religion to powder. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essaj-s," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXIX. The Grinding — What is this grinding all about? There is no religion in it ; nothing but disputes as to what God said and did not say, what He meant and did not mean, what He wrote and did not write, what men were inspired and what were not, and all about authors, authorities and origins. This grinding has made the church one broad battle field of blood and hellish war. It was theology that burned religious men at the stake ; it was theology that plunged Europe seventy-six times into the horrors of war; it was theology that massacred the good people of the cities or immured them in dungeons to starve and perish ; it was theology that shone in the blood-shot eyes of that long array of repre- sentative churchmen who devised instrimients of torture wherewith con- fessions, recantings, creeds, articles of faith and miserable prayers were wrenched from the lips of earth's fairest humanity; it was always theology on the one side, dressed in the garb of pretence and clothed with authority to commit, in the name of the church, crimes that would put to the blush the most devilish butchery of the darkest barbarism of Africa ; while on the other side were patient goodness and honest seekers after religion. Look to your creeds, and you will find not one, coming to you from the past, that is not stained with the innocent blood of countless victims, and tainted with the blasphemy and perjury of hypocrites whose worthless souls long since perished in the flames they kindled on earth. There is no religion in theology. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXX. Disbelief. — When I hear a man ask, Do you believe that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, or do you believe in the account of such a Book of the 392 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. Bible, I at once set that man down as a theologian, and not as a follower of religion; nor can a soul be saved that desires to have such queries disputed or discussed or cleared up. One man says, I do not have that peace of mind which I would be sure to have if some learned doctor of theology would only tell me how to answer the attacks which I hear made on the Bible. The attacks made on the Bible are no concern of yours ; the grand Book speaks for itself and can take care of itself. Whatever it is, however it came to be as it is, it is stronger than any argument which you or the greatest minds can devise in its favor. Remember this, that no attacks were ever made on religion. The atheist, the infidel assails only the defences of theology; and thus hell wars against itself. The Bible is the great vehicle of the best moral system ever devised, and it is human in all its pages. It is the mirror of life reflecting the human heart from all sides. It is desecration to defend that which is beyond assault; and theology to-day, full as it is of shambling excuses for the so-called discrepancies of the Book, is but a puff of conceit. For Essays on this subject, see " Eules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXXI. The Dark Religion. — I have laid these facts before many thoughtful clergymen; I have told them that theology is grinding religion to powder; that in Christian Europe the great lands of civilization are an armed camp ; that churches are splitting and falling apart ; and more than two hundred earnest, honest ministers have told me in confidence that they were tired of theology, that they looked for the day when religion alone would be the goal of men's hearts. So I plead for one church and a universal world- wide religion. The time will come when another Luther will protest, and men will open their eyes to the facts. It is not in the barbarous lands of anti-racials where evangelization should be carried; but in the home countries of Christianity, where darker sin prevails than the world knows of elsewhere. For Essays on this subject, see " Eules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXXII. Missions. — Even in glorious America, from which are sent missionaries to all countries and peoples, — even here the discussion and quarrelling go GOOD. 393 on concerning such matters as the inspiration and authorship of portions of the Old Testament, while the professions of gambling, politics, drunkenness, libel and countless crimes are flourishing with unabated increase. If ever missionaries were needed in America, they are needed now. Sin is darker here than in any country on the globe ; and it is far more dangerous amid civilization than in darkest Africa. I impugn the honesty of any set of men who will sit in comfort amid the increasing wickedness that is entrapping our young men and women, and will nevertheless plead for millions of dollars to save a handful of debauching negroes or lecherous Mongolians from a fate that was long ago sealed over their destiny. The great head of one of the greatest denominations of Christianity, visited Asia after millions of money had been spent there in missionary work, and declared that not one ray of real hope could be seen in all the great system of evangelization. While any man who will travel over the earth must conclude that missionary fruits are only numbers, not actual converts to God, and are rotten to the core ; yet the evangelization should not cease, for it carries the Caucasians over the world, and plants colonies for future nations. As far as accomplish- ing any religious good is concerned there is no hope of it. The millions of money sent to missionaries abroad belong in America. Let the wealth of charity be used to save the boys and girls of the coming generation. They need clothing and care and education. Are not the white Caucasian children of America as worthy of saving as the outcasts of barbarism? To this question the answer always is, we are doing the best we can. This is not true. I assert and will prove by overwhelming evidence that the so-called converts to missionary Christianity are insincere tricksters of the lowest classes called fallen, or outcasts, or those who have been expelled from caste, equal to the most worthless outlaws of human society in America. If the sending of needed money from this country for such purposes is deemed God's work, then let those who advocate it find for it a proper time ; and that time is only when our Caucasian boys and girls are amply cared for in this country. In the name of justice and on behalf of the deluded con- tributor, a commission should be appointed consisting of honest and non- sectarian men who shall personally inspect the mission fields of the world and report not merely the quantity of results but the quality also. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 394 H03IE CO UBS E IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. LESSON DCCLXXIII. Inspiration of the Bible. — While Christian Europe is an armed camp, while force and even law are being used to hold up the creeds that prevail, while the denominations are splitting and falling asunder, the haggling goes on about authors, authorities and origins. Man's moral nature never asks if the Bible is inspired. It is strange that, after all these centuries, it is reserved for theologians of to-day to attack the Scriptures. The Word of God has furnished solace to all human yearn- ings, time without end ; yet, in this our age, it is under the cross-fire of professors in theological seminaries, and free thinkers by thousands in all the great and small denominations ; and from the theological schools there will go forth a new army of non-religious theologians who will undertake to settle the inspiration and authorship of this great gift of God to man ; thereby adding fuel to the heat of doubt now prevalent. I appeal to all persons to look to the human heart for those underlying principles which must eventually settle these questions; and I will endeavor to state them as clearly as possible. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essaj's," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXXiy. Authorship. — Is the Bible the word of God or of man? If it is the word of God it was inspired to man. If it is not the word of God, it is merely the emanation of man's good impulses to conquer sin. If it is the word of God then the promises of immortality for the good and destruction for the bad, are to be regarded as settling the only two great problems that harass the soul. If it is in part the word of God and in part the word of man, then which is which? Now this is theology. It can do no good, and is not, in fact, man's business. Religion is subjective and relates to man's duties to God. Theology is objective and relates to God's duties to man; with which man has absolutely nothing to do. Theology can never settle the question of the authorship of the Bible; and for many reasons. In the first place, it is as impossible to determine who wrote the sublime work as it is to know how the flowers grow. The books ascribed to certain men may or may not have been their actual composition, whether inspired or not. A book may be dedicated to or named after some GOOD. 395 principal personage. The tremendous church- splitting question whether Moses wrote any or all of the books ascribed to him is not religion, but theology, and therefore the work of Satan. The same difficulty is only intensified when we attempt to determine the problem of God's inspiration of the Scriptures. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXXV. The Rule of Guidance. — There are persons who believe that God inspired every word of the Old and New Testaments, just as it is now written and presented in English. Such belief is well. It does no harm, and indicates merely the subjective or religious state of the believer; and if, at the great judgment day, it should be found that the head had erred, surely no sin can be charged to the heart. My rule of guidance is this : wherever there is doubt in the head and none in the heart, let the heart rule. It is pure religion and the only pure religion that exists. A poor old man, reading a serious misprint in the Bible and believing it, was far more religious than the clergyman who muddled his brain by a long disputatious explanation. The reason of this we shall see a few lessons hence. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXXVI. Rule of Inspiration — In the light of modern knowledge it is well established that many marginal notes and statements have been added to the original text of the Bible, and printed into the authoritative versions. The way this came about is very simple and of common and easy occurrence. A man who owned a manuscript copy would write along the margin or near the text such observations as occurred to him ; or such truths as had been related by others. When time had elapsed, some worshipper would recopy the whole, and thus thousands of additions have been placed in the general Scriptures. We know that the good fathers of the early Christian centuries were either deceived by forgeries, or were cognizant of them ; for instance, we find in Josephus an acknowledged forgery of a reference to Christ, that has stood for all the centuries, until research showed it to be an interpolation. It was done by some persons in authority who thought it strange that 396 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. Josephus should never have heard of Christ; so added a few words of reference in a very ingeuius and deceptive manner. The forgery is so plain that all religious investigators admit it, and all denominations have so settled the matter. Much also is known concerning the interpolations and spurious additions that have accidentally crept into the now fixed text of the Old and New Testaments. From the nature of these I have laid down the following rules. First, it seems that, in order to impress upon the ignorant classes the supreme authority of God, it was necessary to relate such marvels as would most deeply convince them. Nothing so impresses ignor- ance as the claim of miracles. The rule, therefore, is that all allegations of wonders and miracles are to be accepted as interpolations. Second, all allega- tions of God's promises to .makind, of His relations to us, of hope here and hereafter, and punishment for sin, are to be regarded as inspired and directly spoken by Him. In other words all the religion of the Bible is from God; all the theology of the Bible is a spurious addition or mere history and tradition. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXXVII. Miracles There are many historical and philological reasons for believing that all the miracles of the Old Testament, except where God or angels appear to men, are interpolations. Nothing is more easily explained than that God or Christ might appear in the spirit or in flesh ; but these are not miracles. The so-called miracles and the histories and traditions are not to be considered as either divine or true. They stand for what they are worth on their face. I am sure that the account of creation and the records of miracles have kept many strong men out of the church — men as full of religion as any who are in the church. No man has a right to fence just so much literature in the limits of the Bible and say that it is the full quantity of God's word, neither too much nor too little. The Book had been growing for centuries, and was a varied and shifting collection of writings, some hav- ing been added and some having been taken out, when a fixed quantity was agreed upon as the Scriptures, but even here men could not abide by their agreement. Who says that just the present number of books must constitute the Bible ? Who says that any or all of these books are inspired ? The books GOOD. 397 themselves do not — what right has man to do so ? It is more a sin for man to declare that God inspired that which He never said was inspired, than to say it is not inspired. Let us then accept as God's every word that is addressed to the heart or to the religion of man, and go no further. Here is absolute safety, and here we find nearly all that the Bible teaches included within one rule. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXXVIII. Uninspired Text. — God never intended to write a history of any man or any set of men. If the Israelites were a chosen people, and all peoples claim to be favorites in choice, they were a very unmeritorious race. God could not write a history that began in obscurity, proceeded in mistakes, and ended by losing ten-twelfths of the chosen people. The account in Genesis is on a par with hundreds of traditions as to the origin of the human race. It is obscure and clouded, full of no information, and grossly burdened with a low order of tradition, compared with which the Chinese, Japanese, and Norwegian accounts are sublime. God never put those chapters in Genesis, and Moses never wrote them. That is absolutely settled. There is not either in or out of the church a thoughtful sensible man who believes that these chapters belong in the Bible. The story of the first man Adam, of the rib-bone, of the first woman, of the Garden of Eden, of the tree, the tempt- ation, the eating, the serpent, the exclusion from the garden, the marriage of Cain, and so forth, is an account of low tradition, absurd on its face, and God's blessing cannot rest upon those who try to force men and women to accept such a story as a part of their religious faith. As a tradition let it stand for what it is worth on its face, but the Bible proper begins after this tradition ceases. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXXIX. Human Religion Every man and woman is a conflict of the two forces which are let loose in the Universe. All that is good in the heart is of God , but the Atoms, which are the agents, or in reality the very breath and life of God, are sent forth into space to meet and thwart the purposes of 398 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. Satan. They meet him on the frontiers of the sky; and the union of the Atoms of God with the Atoms of Satan, occurs upon the great battle-globes of the universe — the suns. There the fight is waged with intense energy -, and, locked in each other's embrace, these messengers fly forth from their battle-globes out into the lines of space, where they accumulate in quieter material groups, reserving the continuation of the war to the intelligence of the Atoms. A good intelligence can never die, but may be overwhelmed, or held in check. Its awakening to life and activity is due to some excitant cause of a moral nature to which it responds. This response is religion, and no work or book ever given to man has such power to excite this response as the Bible. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXXX. Free Agency Let any student of man and his motives examine this proposition, and apply it to human life in all its phases, and he will be sur- prised at the constantly brightening light which it sheds on all the problems of morality and religion. It explains what we are, why we are here, and what is our duty. It is useless to preach God's love and take our idea of God from the Bible, unless we regard man as the conflict of two forces, good and evil. The theory of free-will and free agency do not apply. It was originated as a guess to explain why an all-powerful Creator established a race of beings knowing that many of them must su£fer destruction, and the best of them must endure the pangs of living this life and passing through all its miseries and conflicts. There is no such thing as free agency. The good in us is oppressed and held in check by the bad, and the bad by the good. Each is as free as either of two combatants who are held by the throat, trying to choke the other to death. Neither can be shaken off. There is no free agency to this. The safety of either depends on alertness and watchfulness and constant conservation of forces. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXXXI. Human Duty. — I shall discuss in Tome Ten the problems of salvation, and shall base man's only hope on his success in exciting into life and activity the religious nature which is a part of himself. One chief paramount duty GOOD. 399 rests on every man and woman. This duty is not a law nor a command but a necessity, and a logical necessity. It needs no articles of faith, no creed, no theology, — nothing but a plain, direct, simple, God-inspired religion. It is a duty whose observance must break creeds, destroy differences and draw all men into one universal church. For that this Philosophy pleads and asks all good people to lend a helping hand. Then the world may be conquered. This duty, we have said, is a logical necessity. If an enemy has you by the throat, and that enemy is smaller and weaker than you, but far more active, you have but one duty to perform, and logical necessity tells you what it is. The tentacles and wiry claws of the enemy may be wound about your neck and imbedded in your flesh. I do not think Satan can be overthrown by one act or one overthrow ; but his claws and fingers and long, far-reaching, all-embracing arms must be out-rooted one by one, until the soul is free. We are not ourselves apart from this double life ; therefore when we think and ponder over these things, we sometimes look at them from the evil side of our hearts, and sometimes from the good. Our duty is to feed, nourish and excite only the good that constitutes part of our double nature ; and on this basis the present Philosophy is constructed. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXXXII. The Process of Duty. — It is a clearly established fact that human nature is but an aggregation of intelligence ; that from the good Atoms and their progeny emanates the better side of life, which is an intelligence of harmony ; while the bad Atoms and their progeny have set up a government of their own in the body, whose purpose is to hold sway over their mortal foe. All things feed, all natures feed, all minds feed. What is fed to and accepted by anything excites that thing to life and strength and activity. If we feed our evil side it thrives. If we feed our good side it thrives. If we feed both they thrive. As the claim is strongly urged in Tome Ten that a destructible soul only emanates from the bad, and an immortal soul is metamorphosed from the good, and one must yield to the other, in the light of such claim it is the most solemn duty of every living human being to feed and nourish and cultivate the immortal side of the life and body entrusted to us. This process I shall call moral nourishment. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 400 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. LESSON DCCLXXXIII. Moral Nourishment — When death comes the life gives up itself, either as a destructible soul, or as a metamorphosis. It cannot divide then ; nor can it divide now. It must yield up itself as one thing or another. To become metamorphosed as an immortal soul it must have overthrown and subdued the evil in this life; and this subjugation generally requires time and completeness. It is not a question of majorities. If the good pre- dominates by the percentage of fifty-five to forty-five, the margin is too narrow. The dominant sway of goodness must amount to supremacy of control, so that at no time could there be any doubt as to the result of temptation. Such supremacy is not obtainable in a day. It is the result of long-continued moral nourishment. Let us see how we shall feed this better-self. There are in life, and in every phase of life, two distinct classes of food which may be fed or denied our human souls, and the study of these are now in order. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXXXIV. Code of Religion. — Laying aside all books and all aids from literature, let us take our code of religion from the heart, from humanity's demands, from Nature and from the God-life which is instinct in every good motive. This code is composed of natural principles ; but excludes no other, and includes the good in all others. Its first principle is the discarding of all nourishment that may excite into being or may maintain any evil in our body or heart. After that we find the positive demands of morality. The two sides constitute the religion that must, and the only religion that can, make the metamorphosis of an immortal soul a possibility. This code should be printed, engraved or enlarged in some form and hung in promi- nence in the sleeping-room of every person who hopes to extricate the soul from the meshes of evil. It consists, in the first place, of such fundamental principles as are found to have universal existence ; and of these there are eight which are emanations from the intelligence of the God-Atoms in our natures, and eight which are emanations from the devil-Atoms in our natures. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. GOOD. 401 CHART OF RELIGION. The One Fact of the Universe : There are two influences at conflict on the frontier of space. The One Fact of Earth : Man is aggregate Atomic life, composed of the elements of this conflict, ever at war for supremacy. The Problem of Salvation or Destruction : Immortality is the reward of a good life ; and, in order to be attained, the God-nature in man must achieve complete mastery over the devil- nature. Death ends man ; death ends, therefore, the conflict ; and death ends all hope for the unsaved. EXPRESSION OF the OF THE GOD-NATURE. DEVIL-NATURE. The Church The Drin king-room is the house of God. is the house of the devil. The Bible The Newspaper is the agent of God. The Honest Man is the agent of the devil. The Liar is the representative of God. Charity is the representative of the devil. Gambling is the money-changing of God. Cleanliness is the money-changing of the Filth [devil. is next to Godliness. is the association of flesh-devils. Love Hate is the voice of goodness. Activity is the voice of evil. Laziness is the work-shop of God. Harmony is the work-shop of the devil. Discord is the peace of God. is the clattering of the devil. 26 402 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. LESSON DCCLXXXV. Natural Principles The sixteen principles which underlie all life and all motives, are seen to be the following: For God, — the Church, the Bible, the Honest Man, Charity, Cleanliness, Love, Activity, and Harmony; for the devil, the Drinking-Room, the Newspaper, the Liar, Gambling, Filth, Hate, Laziness, Discord. If the Chart of Keligion is enlarged and hung in your sleeping-room, it will convey to your mind, as the first impression of the morning and the last at night, the immortal laws of your double being ; and that which is first conned at dayrise abides longest through the working hours of life, while the heart absorbs the last impression before sleep. As some affirmative action is necessary to the soul's salvation, this, which comes nearest and closest to our real selves, should be made the foremost of our duties. For Essays on this subject, see " Kules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXXXVI. The First Principle. — This is the Church. So long as it is the home of peace, it is the house of God. A large proportion of thoughtful people do not respect the church, because it is too often the house of theology. Let its clergymen preach religion and it will draw all men unto it. But even as it is, it represents the best of earth. Many of the choicest persons of every community are church goers, and all wish to be. It is an underlying prin- ciple of morality that all good-seekers should band together and meet at such time as all may; which is on the day set apart to church attendance. See that this is done. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXXXVII. The Second Principle. — This is the Bible. Because the most civil- ized minds of all ages — the Greeks and Romans — were without the Bible, they were pagans. But, as far as the times permitted, they were believers in the same fundamental laws of morality which have always prevailed among decent humanity. Without the Bible to-day, the civilization under which we live would have evolved some religion, based on the eight laws of right. No matter what has been the literature of a people they have had a religion, and that religion has always been commensurate with their mental strength. A barbarous people would evolve a barbarous religion ; a refined GOOD. 403 peojjle a refined religion ; an intellectual people an intellectual religion and so accordingly. The Bible represents the lowest ebb and the highest flow of the sea of moral progress. As a history of the mutations of the human soul, it is a wonderful composition ; and, on its subjective side, it is the rev- elation of God's purpose to man. A copy should be in every room of the house, and on the desk of every oflice. There are times when a glance at its pages will stir the soul to nobler action. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXXXVIII. The Third Principle. — This is the Honest Man. Honesty excludes theft, subterfuge, strategy and diplomacy. Of all the codes and creeds of the world, none has any moral basis that is not built on honesty. If the attempt were to be made to reduce all religion to one word, Honesty would be that word. It represents, in its highest meaning, the Justice of God and lifis ; and is opposed to freedom, or the right to do as one pleases regardless of the privileges of others. Thus it is opposed to all those conditions of free- dom which trammel on the general rights of the public. God is honest in that he is just. If a man disobeys the law of health the punishment is sure, because it is God's law and is just. If another exercises a freedom that gives license to lawlessness, the chance of punishment is slight, because man makes the law and trusts its execution to human effort. Not so with the laws of God. Honesty, therefore, is sublime when it stands as the expression of justice. Man cannot be just, because he is not perfect, but he may be honest ; and, in so far as he cultivates this principle, he builds for immortality. I insist on absolute honesty ; on all honesty, direct and open honesty ; even though it leads to trouble. Religion without it is bar- barous ; with it, glorious. The world needs this more than any creed. It should be taught and preached and practiced as the one great thing of life. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCLXXXIX. The Fourth Principle. — This is Charity. Misdirected charity is a sin. Help to the lazy is unjust, and therefore un-Godlike. Do you think you are better than the Creator? He permits the lazy to starve. Justice, if it prevailed, would soon drive the idlers to work, and create influences of production and trade that would aid prosperity. But the weak whimper 404 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY—TOME NINE. and give for the sake of charity, or through cowardice, as to the tramp. This is false charity, and is a sin. I do not believe there is true charity in any act of life that does not hunt out the beneficiary. To sit still in our homes, and take a small percentage from over-large profits, is an agreeable method of assuming to be charitable ; but the proper method is to tabulate the homes of every street in a certain limit, to have a census of all who dwell in each home, to allow no strangers to come to that limit, unless their coming and going are known, to compel all who are ill to submit to treat- ment for restoration to health, to compel all idlers among the poor to work, to force all children to keep clean, be decent, and go to school ; and then, as the poor must be known, they may be cared for. This is the duty of the church, and it will save many dollars of taxation. It is practical religion, as compared with theoretical theology for which I have a profound disgust. What about saving the souls of the unfortunate ? Theology calls at their homes, when the flour is out and the faces are pinched with hunger, and asks: "Are you saved? Are you christians? Do you go to church ? " — to all of which the famished family answer, always in looks and sometimes in words, " None of your business." And the answer is right. Theology has no business there. Practical religion will find them health, employment and food ; and, for the good thus rendered, the well-fed stomach will give strength of reply to the heart. Let charity begin at home, and aright. Now I know that the foregoing plan is practical and can be carried out. I have seen it tested many times. I will agree to go to any irreligious starv- ing family, and, by first feeding and helping them on in life, I will gain the way to their religious natures. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXC. The Fifth Principle. — This is Cleanliness. It means simply that the three-sided nature should be kept clean. God demands it, and no religious person can deny it without risk. Our triple life consists of mind, body and emotions. Cleanliness of mind has relation to what we think, and say and read. It is easy to think evil ; but a quick act of the will is sure to drive out the thought. Unclean thoughts will not often return their visits if we bar the door to them. Our words are messengers of the mind, our tones of the heart. Never listen to, nor utter, words that are unclean. The joke is witty, I GOOD. 405 but, if not pure, it leaves a stain. In reading be choice to exactness. Drop that nasty sheet with heavy headlines. Drop all newspapers, unless you can satisfy yourself that they can do you some good. The cleanest of them are loaded with lies, sensations and filth. Drop that nasty novel. What a draught on the resources of filth in the minds of people is the desire of the novelist to have his obscene book stopped by the government, so that it can- not go through the mails ; for then the people buy it. Curiosity and a love of filth pay for the enormous edition that enriches the obscene writer ; none of which would be known except through the channels of the newspaper. Be clean of heart ; let the emotions outgrow passion. Be clean of body ; clean morning and night. I believe in the Godliness of daily bathing. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXCI. The Sixth Principle. — This is Love. It is more than the absence of hate. It is the voice of goodness, speaking in every act of life. It is capable of the highest cultivation from efforts alone. We should love flowers and music, for they represent harmony. We should love all the world, and give it some of the sunshine of our hearts, through individual efforts. It is wrong to ignore the lowly; we may pity them, but that is empty. Love fills pity with the sweet essence of practical religion. If everybody were to set about to do a little good for others, the whole earth would blossom in a day into a garden of human flowers. Why not try it? Not alone, but through an organized movement. If you love God, you will love the lowly. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXCII. The Seventh Principle. — This is Activity. It is clearly known to-day that mental energy keeps the body in health. It employs many of our faculties. An early rising, plenty of air and exercise, some plan of self- improvement for the day, some good to be accomplished for others, this is the practical religion of activity. It cannot safely be omitted. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXCIII. The Eighth Principle. — This is Harmony. It is the first knowledge of the soul. Have you ever laid aside the evil motives that crowd yovir life, and given yourself up to a strong fight to quell the devil that is in you ? 406 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. By keeping the mind clean, and associating only with the influences that excite the inherent goodness that dwells in the better nature of every individual, the response is clear and ringing. The good seeks to come to the surface. Feed it, and the devil within you will have no control over you ; for God is stronger than Satan. You are a part of God, and a part of the devil. In-as-far as evil is driven out, the sense of harmony becomes manifest through the presence of good. God is all peace, all evenness, all harmony. There is no average human being who cannot prove this by experiment ; for, as soon as the discord of evil is quelled, the notes of all action of mind and body and heart come into tune with divine peace. How often I have seen a young man led away from a life of gambling and drink, to the cleanly walks of morality and the glow of the cheek, the lustre of the eye, the glad bearing of the frame, told the story of harmony with God. I had rather meet such a new made being than the monarch of earth's proudest empire. There are two emblems of harmony that all should learn to love : music and the flowers. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXCIV. Music. — In its best it is grand, in its worst it is never wrong. The words may add filth to the association of song, but the music itself is incap- able of such descent. All solemn services begin with music ; and all meet- ings should include this art. The mind should educate itself to an appreci- ation of the noblest compositions of the great masters, and not be swayed by the catchy rhythm of cheap airs ; although all are beautiful. As harmony is the great attribute of the soul, and as music is the art of harmony, it should be cultivated in the highest degree as something to be listened to, enjoyed and appreciated. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON LCCXCV. Flowers. — Vegetation is a lesser degree of the conflict of natural Atoms ; and only in spots does its harmony appear. Wherever the phos- phates concentrate, there the elements of brain and soul appear as flowers. They are the harmony of color and form. One who loves flowers cannot be very wicked, for such love is inspired by the better value that dwells in the heart. I believe each flower to be the winged messenger of God to human- GOOD. 407 ity, and each thorn the arrow-head of the devil's malice. Flower-worship is God-worship. Nothing that belongs to Nature is so close to the Creator as the beauteous form of harmonic colors and design. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays." at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXCVI. The Ninth Principle This is the Drinking-Room. It may be in a hotel, at a bar, in a private house, or wherever the alcoholic liquor may be found. A street alley is a drinking-room if beer or other similar beverage is taken there. Aside from the moral question, it is clearly a fact that alco- hol is a pure food in the control of and completely possessed by DEVS. These messengers of his Satanic majesty seek to poison the best nourish- ment of the body. They prefer rye, corn, wheat, barley and similar grains, and the best juices of the best fruitfj. These they turn into DEVS, and it is then possessed of the devil. On the moral side, as on the physical, the re- sult is the same. On the mental side, a man is not full brained who will taste it, or offer it to others. Evidence of this is found among men in such abundance that the fact of a man's being willing to drink is openly ascribed to his mental weakness, rather than to moral deficiency. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXCVII. The Tenth Principle. — This is the Newspaper. If any evidence were lacking of this being the agent of the devil, the case could be proved by the fact that it attempts at times to cloak itself in good clothing. Thus we find occasional defenses of the good, sometimes a sermon, and often an appeal to charity; though all the charity dodges of newspapers are so openly hypocritical on their face, that, in spite of mock solemnity, they are accepted by the public as advertising schemes. There is no newspaper not open to conviction on the following charges : first, it publishes all news, regardless of the question of morality, if the matter is only interesting; second, it publishes thousands of statements as facts, without knowing whether they are true or not. These two charges convict everyone of the best and so-called cleanest of the sheets ; and, without considering the low order of intellectual sewerage that flows through the chief efforts of newspaper writers, the fact of moral indifference alone is sufficient to ostracize every newspaper of America from the home and atmosphere of all decent people. 408 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. I except none of the dailies. It is your duty to organize a movement having for its object the following distinct features: first, the founding of weekly newspapers called by no other name than " The Weekly History" of whatever the city or town may be ; second, the publication in such paper of only such matters as educate, inform, instruct, entertain and amuse the public, and the exclusion of libel, slander, crime, court records, gossip, and the slush that now fills more than half the reading columns of so-called respectable papers ; third, an organized support by all decent people of such Weekly History, by agreeing to trade with those merchants who adver- tise in the Weekly History, and absolutely refusing to trade or deal in any way with those who advertise in dailies. That this can be done is assured ; for there is a moral sentiment rising rapidly in America against the thieves of private life, the murderers of character, the scavengers of filth, the lying curs, the vultures of indecency, the cowardly hounds of the lowest stripe, who constitute not a set but a universal caste of soulless devils called newspaper men. Having not one particle of respect for the truth, being willing to publish anything that is interesting as news, these outcasts of respectable homes, one and all are hated by the good and bad alike, and lack every element of respectability. They are sneaks in the drawing, if ever they get that far, and are braggadocios in front of the bar. I am sure there is not an honest man connected with the furnishing of news for daily papers ; and I am glad to say that the editors of the weeklies are, as a rule, honest and honorable. I ask you and all those friends who come under your influence to discard the daily and Sunday papers as indecent ; and to help build up the weekly paper in your town or county. Will you do this ? For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXCVIII. The Eleventh Principle This is the Liar. He is everywhere, after gossip and slander, plying his avocation for the mere pleasure it affords the devils within him. The good part of a human being never told a lie. It is the work of the evil side. The latter never told the truth. When you are good enough to entertain some friend who, after the generalizations of the conversation are over, plunges into a dissection of the character and doings of other people, you can see the devil shining in the evil lustre of the eye. It is worth the while to watch for this, for you GOOD. 409 will never come nearer to a personal knowledge of the appearance of Satan. We will suppose you have before you the queen of all gossips, an idle woman, and some character or reputation to dissect ; as soon as she ceases to flatter those whom she is to besmear, then comes the devil in the lustre of her eye. It is so clear, so distinct in entrance that no one can fail to recognize it. Liars are all of them of one stripe, and the remarks con- tained in the latter part of the preceding lesson will apply to the real character of these moral vermin. I do not believe a liar ever saw or ever will see the Kingdom of Heaven. Every law of life and salvation is against it. For Essays on this subject, sec " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCXCIX. The Twelfth Principle. — This is Gambling. It is the devil's ex- change. The good part of a person never desires to gamble. The law of chance, like the doctrine of superstition, belongs to evil. So frequent is this sin, that it is almost universal ; its latest appearance being at the horse-race. Every person present at such a race is an abettor to the crime of gambling, and equally a criminal. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCC. The Thirteenth Principle. — This is Filth. If you will take any part of the scrapings of refuse matter from the surface of the body and examine it under a microscope, you will find a cheesy mass of broken down tissues in and through which numberless animalculse and bacteria are crawl- ing. Your skin is loaded with DEVS. How long do you wish to keep them there? They do more or less harm to the body and to the blood. A good bath cleanses the skin and carries them off. I am sure that the clothing which has been worn against the skin during the day is not fit to be worn at night, and that night clothing should not be worn by day. The well washed face, hands and body are gifts to our better self. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at ihe end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCT. The Fourteenth Principle, — This is Hate. In a certain portion of Russia a sect of earnest people are trained in their religion to eradicate all hate from their hearts. This is an example of religion. I ask that every 410 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE NINE. student of this Philosophy may resolve to expel all thoughts and feelings of hate from their minds, hearts and lives. Shall this be done? What a mighty tidal wave of reform might sweep across America if the principles furnished to man by the instrumentality of God through Nature were observed in the lives of everybody. The time is sure to come when these rules of conduct must prevail. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCII. The Fifteenth Principle. — This is Laziness. No human being has a right to be idle or lazy. Then the mind is occupied by evil, and the heart is filled with designs of ill. A busy man or woman has no time to be idle. The laborer remains the laborer all his life because he must spend his even- ings out, or else in the gratification of his appetite or low mental tastes. Were he ambitious he would drop the newspaper that does him no good and all injury, and take up some line of thought or study, whereby he may rise out of his humbler calling. From laborer to employer is open to any man who will seek self education at home evenings. The busy wife has hours a day for scandal, but none for study. Let her store the mind with knowl- edge gleaned from little moments, and she will become a power among her sex. For Essays on this subject, see " Kules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCIII. The Sixteenth Principle. — This is Discord. It is the unrest of an unsaved soul. The Christian has it, the church member has it, as well as those who are classed as the un-Godly ; for it does not follow that the soul is saved because the name is enrolled on the church records. There are many church members who will never see Heaven or taste immortality, and many without the church whose names are recorded in the Tome of the angel of God. Salvation is nothing more nor less than the harmony of life, and that harmony can only come from the good part of our nature. It is the music of the strings of the many-toned instrument which constitutes human- ity. It is the blossom amid the thorns of life's garden. The supreme con- trol of self, following the overthrow of evil, is so well felt and understood that all doubt is discord. If you do not know that you are at perfect peace, you may rest assured that you are not. There is not the shadow of a doubt GOOD. 411 as to the perfect harmony of a saved soul. Time strides along with giant step, and leaves no opportunities behind. Soon the portcullis will fall. Hell is not a pleasant prospect. Your duty to yourself is now. It makes no difference what your choice of church may be ; your soul demands imme- diate action. I am not a preacher, and never have been, nor an exhorter. I am dealing with this subject from a secular and philosophical standpoint, as a man might deal with the question of the time a train leaves the city for a certain station. The conclusion is as mathematical as it is religious, that harmony is necessary in the human soul before death, in order to enable it to inherit immortality. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCIV. Summary. — I have dealt with the great principles of natural religion. The question may be asked. Where did I get them ? The answer is plain, I got them from Nature. Does this Nature dispute God or the Bible? No, it is the extraction of the good forces of Nature, of which God is the author, and the Bible the exponent. Is the Bible inspired by God? Yes, every word that relates to man's spiritual being is the direct inspiration of God ; and whether the rest may or may not be does not concern any man living. The Bible is a moral guide in its least proportions, and, in its greatest, it lights the pathway to Heaven, and points out with vivid distinctness the road that leads to Hell. Is there really a Hell? The final Tome will speak of that, and of human destiny. In closing this Tome, let me state certain con- clusions drawn from these great underlying principles of right. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCV. First Conclusion. — In the first place, as I have repeatedly shown, I do not believe that God is capable of making an imperfect being like man ; and no plea of purpose, or hidden motive can be safely advanced to excuse Him for creating so fearful a work as the average human combination of the world. That God is all powerful in His own realm and over His own forces, I do not deny ; but that there is a counter influence at work to thwart His plans and purposes no theologian does, and no religionist can, vouchsafe to dispute. The only question is merely one of time. I am satis- fied that God did not make man to fall, which would have been a merciless 412 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. and cruel creation ; but that man is a part of the two forces in conflict, — part God and part Devil. All persons admit that he is so now ; I claim that he was made so. The desperate and horrible struggle against sin, and sin itself, must be the creation of God, or else the war of forces. That the latter is true there can be no doubt ; whichever way we turn for evidence, the same truth appears. In the conflict of Atoms, in the chemical conflict of molecules, in the conflict of health and disease, in the conflict of tissue- builders and pathogenic bacteria, or Angs and Devs, in the conflict of vege- tation, of growth and attack, of weeds and plants, of flowers and thorns, in the conflict of sin and morality, of temptation and purity, of crime and holiness, of the church and the drinking-room, of the Bible and the news- paper, of honesty and falsehood, of charity and gambling, of cleanliness and filth, of love and hate, of activity and laziness, of harmony and discord, there is one continuous and unbroken chain of evidence sustaining the claim that humanity is a conflict of God and the Devil. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCVI. Second Conclusion. — Accepting the well understood fact that the human heart is the camping ground of these two forces, the great question arises how far man is in danger of the results of a condition that he did not originate and cannot avoid. I will admit that if God created man and, hav- ing power to hold him pure, permitted him to fall, then man is an irre- sponsible agent of his own ruin ; and eternity must replace him on the pedestal from which he departed. But such a theory is the guess of the dark centuries ; and is splitting and dividing churches and creeds as the real religionists come to see that it is a falsehood on its face. The Bible holds the key to the solution; for, wherever it throws light on the matter, it speaks in undeniable terms of a personal devil, and of the final destruction of unsaved souls. All theology, all religion, all inspired words, all the teachings of the Bible, all Nature, and all life declare in open language and in unwavering harmony that the good alone shall triumph and inherit im- mortality. As the triumph of the good is merely the survival of the better part of humanity, it is the only possible conclusion that can be drawn, — that immortal life cannot be attained unless such triumph be achieved. For Essays on this subject, see " E,ules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. GOOD. 413 LESSON DCCCVII. Third Conclusion — We are next led to the question, How far is man responsible for his own salvation? This life is undoubtedly a key to destiny. There is no future problem for the wicked ; there are no future temptations. Good only can survive mortality. The present existence is neither a trial life, nor a probation. God is not cruel enough to compel any being to endure that accumulative misery of body, mind and heart, which He had the power to avert. If the Devil can win men to sin so greatly that God repents the creation of man, then He is powerless in this regard. Theolo- gians say He is powerless by his own decree ; seeking to put men to the test of their own volition. Even if such theology is true, it leaves the struggle entirely to the human being, and clothes him with the responsibility. But such theology is weak. It is neither stated in, nor suggested by, the Bible. If we look at life either as the key to the solution or as a forerunner of the hereafter, we find the true principle ever present. The ability to emerge from entanglements is the sole responsible factor of the result. Man has always been entangled. There are not figures enough in arithmetic to repre- sent the numbers of millions that have been overwhelmed by Nature, in the struggle to emerge from the entanglements of barbarism. The elements have slain millions. The seas have engulfed millions. Beasts have devoured millions. Barbarism has tortured millions. All the ages the one story has been. What is man doing for himself ? The horrible hell of bar- baric tortures was neither the creation nor the offspring of God. And so, if death is merely the cessation of a life of terrors, there is less cruelty in the annihilation of the wicked than in permitting them to live on earth : they suffer more before death than after ; and if they were to live eternally, forgetful of having lived here, such new life would be an oblivion of this ; and oblivion means annihilation. Thus the way to destruction after death, seems to be free from all theological objections. But our question is of higher moment, — How can man emerge from himself ? Or, how may the good within him triumph over the bad ? That this can be done will appear in our next Conclusion. The fact that it is possible makes man the arbiter of his fate, and the only being responsible for his salvation. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 414 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. LESSON DCCCVIII. Fourth Conclusion. — My fourth conclusion is, that the better part of man is able to emerge from, and triumph over, the evil that is within him. No person, of genuine honesty, has yet had the hardihood to deny that he is possessed of evil tendencies; and I would not believe the person who declared that there was no devil within him. The absolutely holy and the perfectly sanctified are stupid people of sluggish minds and lazy bodies. Activity is the test of genuine goodness. It is only through active morality that salvation is won. Work, and fight, and pray, are the insignia of every good man and woman ; habits that must be worn openly and always. Moral action is of three kinds : labor in the heart, warfare in the world, and a constant reaching out for help from above. The day should begin with, continue with, and end with this triple activity. There is no other way of emerging from the entanglements of evil ; and no other way has ever been offered by religion or by theology. But, you ask, what was the fate of the countless millions who reeked in crime, bloody orgies and inhuman tortures, who never knew that this was the only way ? They are at rest ; and their vital energies, never fit to metamorphose into immortal souls, have long since been disintegrated into Atoms and caught up into life again, as unrecogniz- able as the particles of matter that leave the dissolving flesh. What was the fate of the mariners, whose thousands of vessels were wrecked upon hidden rocks, long before the perils of the ocean were revealed through charts ? Safety in maritime adventure has been compelled to emerge from its entanglements by the diligent search of man. So goodness is left to its impulses ; and probably no century has failed to produce its millions of good men and women. We are discovering no new principle ; but are seeking to throw all the light possible on the path, and the only path, that is safe to travel. Let us imagine that you desire to enter upon, or to keep in such a path. Your desire to do this is the labor of the heart; and that is one- third of the whole victory. Does any one believe that a person is to be saved who has no desire to be saved ? All goodness is the fruit of a heart whose desire is to be good. The wish is the seed of success. This desire, is either present, or absent. If it is absent it may be stimulated by the Chart of Religion. Have some person make a large copy of this Chart, and be sure that it hangs in your room. Your life is double ; it contains GOOD. 416 the Expression of God-nature and the Expression of Devil- nature ; all of which appear in the Sixteen Principles on the Chart. You must stimulate the one side and suppress the other. This is heart labor. You may aid it by good thoughts, good reading, good deeds and good associations. This is inward action. The second action is outward. It is warfare. People will argue that there is no need of fighting sin, if one is only good. Such argument is the lowest order of hypocrisy. If you wish to know how the devil appears in his finest dress, watch the eyes of any so-called moral person who is told that salvation can be attained only by warfare. The person will either sneeringly brush the assertion aside with an exclamation of " Too foolish to answer/' or will draw numberless examples from life of such a one, who is good and does no fighting, and such another one who is sweet and docile and respected, and never makes war against sin. These arguments are of the Evil One. Satan suggests to the so-called sanctified man or woman the use- lessness and the danger of making open war against sin ; so they take life as it comes, expecting the reward of immortality. It will never come. Your interests are to be with God's or against God's. He hates the Drinking- room, the Newspaper, the Liar, the Gambler, the Nasty, the Revengeful, the Idler and the Brawler. His only agents are the good men and women of earth. His interests must be yours ; and you dare not deny it. You may be ever so good ; but your goodness is mere stupidity, if you do not make your interests God's interests. You hope to go to Heaven ; but to whose Heaven ? If not God's, whose ? If God hates sin, and His only warriors against sin are men and women, are they to discard His interests and then hope for his Heaven ? Deep down in the great heart of Nature the eternal principle of Justice cries, "No !" You will never see Heaven, will never taste the bliss of immortality, if you do not commence at once an open warfare against the eight great foes of God. This may only be accomplished by combination, — that great law of growth and achievement. You must first work within yourself ; then fight by yourself to win others to join you ; and always pray. Prayer is the third action. It should be a distinct expression of a desire to be good, and a strong seeking after help to stimulate that desire. Such prayer should be addressed to God alone ; for from the fountain of all goodness comes the greatest help. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 416 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. LESSON DCCCIX. The Fifth Conclusion. — My final conclusion is, that combination is necessary to a person's moral welfare. A hermit may worship his deity in the wilderness, but his retirement is a crime against society. All long con- tinued seclusion, even at home, is a moral wrong, and a willful defiance of Nature and God. The Sabbath should be devoted to the special cultivation of our better selves. People should, on that day, combine, meet, talk, plan^ worship, teach, be taught, and associate with all that is good — with flowers, music and every noble influence. Private devotion and seclusion are neces- sary to every life, but there should be a time and place set apart for such duties. Every person should be fixed in some combination with others, arranged on a business basis, the object of which is to engage in open war- fare against the eight representatives of Devil-nature, which appear on the Chart of E-eligion. You may think this kind of fighting is a hardship. So is life. Better a hardship and Heaven, than rest and decay. THE HARDSHIPS OF MORAL WARFARE. 1. Accepting as true the principle which is the truth of truths, that no person will inherit eternal life who is unwilling to openly wage war against evil, let us see how easily the hardships may be borne. There is a logical order in all things, and we should find it in this. Senseless fighting is useless and fruitless. The first thing to be done is to commit to memory the following RESOLUTION : " I resolve to fight for morality by fighting against immorality. In this warfare I will remain active to the end of my life. If, in seeking to suppress sin, I am called by any epithet or abused in any manner I shall regard such malignity as positive evidence that I have uncovered the Evil One, and such abuse shall not deter me from my fixed purpose of fighting sin as long as I live." It is your duty to copy this in your private record book, and to sign it in ink. You have then taken the first step. 2. The second step demands that you procure an associate who must be thoroughly in earnest. No books and no fees are necessary ; nothing but pen, ink, paper, and genuine earnestness. Do not have an associate who is over-earnest, and then luke-warm. The case is a solemn one. As soon as the second step is taken, you are ready for the third. There are two persons now instead of one, working to accomplish substantial good. GOOD. 41T 3. The third step is to double the number of your members. To thi& end a meeting should be held some evening. This Philosophy will furnish ideas, themes, topics, arguments, and facts without limit. In it is every- thing. If there is needed any argument for any good thing, or against any bad thing, or in explanation of any subject in life, you will find it in this Philosophy. Have the book in your AE meetings, as we propose to call them. Before two persons may hold an AE meeting, they must each have added one to the number, making a total of four. At the second meeting each must have added one again, making eight. At each meeting this doubling process must be maintained until the number equals a hundred. Any person of intelligent understanding may become a member. AE is the term applied to the breath of God, or the Atomic life which extends every- where through space, connecting Heaven with Earth, and uniting man with God. It is upon this universal ether that all prayers are carried from the heart of the worshipper to the ear of the Father. It is the most solenm word that we can utter. When pronounced, it is of two syllables, contain- ing the first two sounds of every life. The vowels are given their natural sound, the same that prevails all through Europe, and in the English and American Universities. A being Ah, and E being Aye, rhyming with day. The pronunciation, therefore, may easily become universal and world-wide. It invites the union of all churches, the amalgamation of all creeds, the abolition of theology, the universality of religion, and the spread of church harmony in place of what is now church dissension. Many able thinkers agree with me in the soundness of these claims. I feel sure that they must eventually prevail. They accept the entire Bible: They believe that the historical matters belong there for historical purposes; that the theology is intended to represent the progress of objective morality ; but that the relig- ion is all that concerns any church, any member or any preacher. That is all that God ever intended to be used in the efforts to attain salvation. Had the historical and theological" portions (most of which are interpolations and marginal notes) never been permitted to enter into the teachings of the churchy dissension would have been impossible. The religion of the Bible should be the religion of every human life. Clergymen who preach theology never have much, if any, spiritual success. Keligion is food to the hunger of the soul. 27 418 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. 4. The fourth step is practical religion, or open warfare against the Evil One. What shall be done ? First, look at the Chart of Religion, on the evil side, and learn what representatives of the Devil may be most easily attacked. The heaviest forces of Hell are at the top of the list of eight ; the weakest at the bottom; although all the evils are strong. Discord is the easiest to manage, comparatively speaking. Discord is everywhere present. You will find the Devil at work in your own heart trying to keep you from fulfilling your "Resolution," trying to prevent those who have signed the "Resolution" from keeping its terms. Some who are present at one meet- ing may be absent at another; thus showing that the Evil One has controlled them. iJarmoni/ conquers Discord; and ijTarmow^/ requires that each per- son who has signed the "Resolution" should attend all meetings, and be evermore united. The next expression of Satan is Laziness. As far as your " Resolutionists " are concerned they must not bear evidence of being possessed of this malign influence. Cultivate Activity always. A lazy per- son will not feel much like coming out to the meetings of the "Resolulionists." Then we come to Hate. Drive it out of the heart. It is the voice of your arch-enemy. Filth, too, is a sin. Bathe frequently enough to keep clean, and be always neat. The lower four, just mentioned, have reference to yourself, as a conquest ; the upper four require the aid of your organization in open attacks upon those influences which keep the world bad ; gambling, lying, sensationalism and alcohol. All horse-racing, all foot-ball, all base- ball, all "sports" so-called, are the inseparable companions of gambling. Your work is to make this known, to teach it to all children, to help make laws suppressing it, and to see that they are executed. But this is the old method. It is a step only. You are next to divide your county into dis- tricts ; draw all people to you, who will come ; then publish once a year the list of those with whom you will trade or associate ; and a list of those who are gamblers or who support gamblers. By this means the "Resolutionists" will soon be feared. A "Resolutionist" is one who has signed and who lives up to the Resolution referred to in the early part of this lesson. Lying may be so treated. The Newspaper will ridicule all who seek to do good. The attack of the press is the most wholesome sign. It proves the correctness of your position. I wish you could see the multi- tudes of letters and hear from the thousands of good people who tell me GOOD. 419 that the Newspapers are the curse of America. If a vote could be taken, every good man and woman who breathes would desire to vote against this evil. But, then, the devil steps in and says: "Better the good-will of a dog than the ill-will." So all classes try to buy peace by flattering the press. Even judges attempt the same thing. The time for that is passing. In good homes, in bright and sunny homes, in Christian and even in non-Christian homes, the sensational ])aper never a])pears on the table. One thousand homes agree that no paper of the sensational kind shall enter the door ; but more than that, they agree not to trade with those who advertise in a paper that publishes anything more than the history of the week, and good litera- ture. And this is the natural principle and the test. Local societies should be in earnest, and should seek members from all who believe in purity. If your are afraid to antagonize a paper, that fear will carry you to the broken bridge that terminates the road of life; and this Philosophy is not for you. If you prefer to wait until others originate a purist society, the result is the same. You are a coward. Your duty demands that you call one other to your aid ; each to find another ; and so on. A business man is not honest who advertises in a sensational paper ; a woman is not honest who either reads one, or admits it to her house. Kef use to trade with the one, and to be social with the other ; and let them know the reason why. All worthy people, who are not cowards, will join you. Help to build up the trade of good papers, and of honest tradesmen. What is sensationalism you and your society should judge. Patronize your weekly paper, if it is a good one; but insist that its columns shall be free from corrupting advertisements and sensational news, such as reports of crimes, scandal, court trials, horse racing, and the general sewerage that flows through such channels with its vile stench. Our great enemy is the drinking-room. It is supported by drinkers. There is, here, as in dealing with all sin, a natural principle underlying the treatment : uncover the devil. By this is meant, do not permit the enemy of goodness to lurk in the dark, to hide in society, or to be covered by cus- tom. Uncover him, and array him against the good. Open warfare is never dangerous. Better be in a scanty minority with God, than to belong to a majority sustained by the approbation of evil. Uncover the drinker. Keep the enemy uncovered, exposed and disgraced. This is the natural method of treatment. Purists' meetings should be held every week. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 420 S03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME NINE. CLOSE OF TOME NINE. In the last words of this important Tome, I wish to summarize the five Conclusions as follows : First Conclusion. — God did not create man, but is the author of the good that is in man ; and the Devil is the author of the evil. Man is the result of the conflict of good and bad. Second Conclusion. — Immortality is absolutely dependent upon the triumph of the good over the bad. Third Conclusion. — Man is responsible for his fate. Fourth Conclusion. — Moral activity in this life is the only hope of immortality. Ififth Conclusion. — All moral forces should be combined. I ask for the abolition of theology, for the union of all churches, the practice and preaching of religion, the moral education of the young, a fixed membership of every good person in some Purist Society, and an open and unceasing warfare against evil by uncovering all evil doers. I warn every person against the discussion of methods, and the reasons of action. It leads to hot-headedness, flushed faces and dissension. In the midst of a meeting, some man or woman, offended by a hair's breadth of opinion, will arise in supreme dignity and quietly leave the room, never to return, and possibly never to give any reason for the action. Satan seeks to foster discussions, in the hope that they may lead to dissensions. A person who is all good is all harmony, all peace. As long as DEVS are in the flesh, discussions and dissensions are possible. Teiumfh of Immortal Hope. The soul is the metamorphosis after death of the triumph of the good over the bad. This must be achieved before death, as the act follows immediately. Such triumph is known to all who die in hope. It is achieved only when hate and discord cease to dwell in ovir natures. It is known by the great fact which tells us that our earthly existence is IN HAEMONY WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF RIGHT AND AT PEACE WITH GOD. End of Tome Nine, TOME TEN. DESTINY. LESSON DCCCX. Outlines In the closing Tome of this Philosophy I am to consider the question which is the least understood of all, the most discussed, and the most earnestly studied. So much speculation has occupied the attention of contemplative teachers of all ages on this particular problem, that, if nothing were to be added, the time would be wasted. And, if argument and proof were to repose on the statements in the Bible, particularly in Revelations, the present work would be merely a review. The Bible reveals practically but two things in our destiny : first, the reward of immortality for the saved ; second, the destruction of hell for the unsaved. These two declarations as to destiny are made repeatedly with the most absolute posi- tiveness and the utmost plainness. Of the truth of the statements there can be no doubt, unless the Bible is wrong. Revelations is but a beautiful elaboration of the two directions of destiny, the two possibilities of fate. But we are to study this problem apart from the Bible, as though it were unknown to that Book ; through immediate processes affecting life, death and the evidence therewith connected. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXI. The Ephemeral. — I do not care for theory. If a fact is obtainable, I want it, no matter what time, money or effort it costs. I do not wish to be charged with representing any certain religion, because I have caught some fact belonging to that religion. For instance, I have traced certain phe- nomena which follow death, and find evidences, not of spiritualism, but of the vanishing of the human soul ; yet some thoughtless people have charged me with being a spiritualist. I am not. I do not believe in spiritualism. I have examined the whole system thoroughly, and believe it to be ephemeral; and I find that the members of that organization, when honest, are dupes. Every honest spiritualist I have ever known has gone down, down, in material prosperity and mental health ; and has become in advanced life a wreck in every sense of the word. For Essays on this subject, see " Pailes for Essays," at the end ol Tome Ten. (421) 422 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TEN. LESSON DCCCXII. Difficulties. — I place no value on theory or speculation ; therefore I discard the nonsense called Theosophy. It is an example of what I have repeatedly referred to as theology, and it claims to be nothing more. Con- taining no religion, and no pretext of any, but being purely an example of the extenuated lengths to which theology may go, it must be discarded by every being who hopes for salvation. Were the morality of the world de- pendent upon this descendant of Brahminism, the people would be about as far advanced in civilization as are the disciples of Brahminism in India, who are hopelessly barbarous. Brushing aside all temptation to speculate, I find many serious difficulties portending at the opening of this study. We are after facts, and these facts must come from our immediate knowledge. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DC(^CXIIL Origin of Facts. — A series of statements advanced as facts and sup- ported only by the declaration of the author, might be accepted by the thoughtful public on any theme excepting that which deals with the destiny of the soul. So anxious are all men to know something definite and certain concerning the fate of humanity, that nothing can or should be accredited unless the proof is offered as collateral with the statement. The same evi- dence as would prove the case in court is asked in such instances as this. We are led at once to the origin of facts. Whence come they ? They are either direct occurrences or deducible from direct occurrences. As both we shall examine them. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXIV. Plan of Proof. — The unusual steps necessary to arrive at evidence, require a mind capable of collating them, and one capable of understanding them. What might be a most conclusive instance to me, might not be ap- preciated by one whose mind did not understand the reason of its value. To one who had never needed gold, the metal would appear of little importance. Having come to a positive conclusion, through evidence of absolute certainty, as to what destiny awaits each and every mortal being after this life shall have ended, I am left to two courses ; and these I shall pursue. First, I shall narrate the facts as far as I know them to be true ; DESTINY. 423 second, I shall endeavor to carry the pupil with me through the processes by which I have obtained the facts. This I do, not because I care to prove to others that I myself am correct ; but solely because I wish to offer the hope of immortality to the good, and the warning of destruction to the bad. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXV. Fullness of Life — By this method we shall first proceed to the nar- rative form. The most striking attribute of man is his fullness of life. This completeness makes him an entity, a unit. We know that he is but a mass of Atoms and molecules, yet there is an agreement of the individual particles by which a general intelligence rules the body. It is as though one man and another and another were to meet in a general assembly, others uniting until there was no recognition of individuals ; but a harmonious unanimity of the crowd in all that it did which was the general act of the union. For Essays on this subject see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXVI. Man's Divisions — In this world man is fourfold ; that is, he has four beings. His first is vegetable ; his second is physical ; his third is mental ; his fourth is spiritual. The latter is that form of spirit essence which is called the human soul. It is that which is destroyed after death by the force of Satan, if man remains wicked ; and it gives way to the metamor- phosis by which the immortal soul is evolved. The human soul is not the same as the metamorphosis. It is simply the essence of this life, and is not properly called a soul ; but as the term is so used we repeat it for convenience. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXVII. Man's First Division. — Any collected intelligence is soul-life in material shape. The automatic processes of existence, emanating from the medulla at the base of the brain, are functions that are found in the vegeta- ble world, except that in the animal kingdom they are manifest in nerve- life. It is the nature of their intelligence which causes them to maintain that entity known as vegetation. The first soul, therefore, is the commonwealth of universal life. It is in the cell, before it is advanced far enough to be called the vegetable cell, and it carries the burden of intelligence in all plant 424 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE TEN. growth, through to the organized mass called flesh. To the first soul belongs the duty of differentiation. From its several and aggregate action come all varieties of species, variations of kind, and modifications of growth. I can hardly conceive anything more interesting than the study of this universal soul. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXyill. The Universal Soul. — We find in physiology many valuable facts, -concerning the medulla, most of them being proved by direct experiment. As every spiritual essence must have a seat, we find the first soul located in the medulla oblongata, in animal life. That it is an active form of vegeta- ble intelligence, all scientists are agreed. Its source of vitality is glame, as in the tree or plant. Why the tree feels and perceives through the fibers of its roots what particles of soil that particular organism needs, cannot be explained except on the ground of vegetable intelligence. The root fibers are the nerves of digestion to the plant or tree ; and, if the universal soul prevailed in animal life, we should expect to find them in or near the organs of digestion in man. So we do. The fibers of the stomach are swayed by the influence of the medulla, or the seat of the vegetable soul in a human being. But the plant does something more than to digest or select its food particles. It needs air and breathes to get it. Its leaves are the best breathers known. But man carries his leaves within ; they are his lungs, and with the main trachea, or trunk, bronchii, or branches, and all the small boughs and twigs, the breathing system of man is a perfect tree ; the air cells being the leaves. The same soul-nature that controls vegetable respi- ration, likewise attends to animal respiration. But again the tree is fed by sap ; so is the body ; the sap carries food-particles, or tissue-particles to every part of the tree; so does the blood of man. The fact, in short, is this : there are three functions which make up the whole entity of plant, life-digestion, respiration, and circulation ; and these three functions, inher- ited as they are from the vegetable intelligence which the flesh possesses, constitute a universal relationship throughout all creation. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. DESTINY. 425 LESSON DCCCXIX. Universal Relationship. — The smallest cell-life has great proportion- ate powers of digestion ; it circulates its protoplasm freely, even to excreting the unused portions ; and it breathes gases, being poisoned by some and aided by others. The lowest grade of life is that which possesses but the first soul ; and the first soul may be described as that having the three functions of respiration, digestion, and circulation. Man is kin to all things and forms that live. Nature is one universal brotherhood, through which per- vades this entity of intelligence, called the first soul. Where vegetation does not exist this force is not known, for it is absent. In the air, in water, in food, in blood, in tissues, it is everywhere ; and may be truly said to be the aggregate of vegetable intelligence. Let us look more closely into its nature first, and then into its habits. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. • LESSON DCCCXX. Nature of the Universal Force. — Draw in your record book a rough sketch of a tree or plant. Surround this by a hazy cloud, so drawn as to seem to dwell in it, and to emanate from it, by ever lessening density. This is the collective glow of the millions times millions of Atoms, held together in the tree life. Draw a solid ball, on a blank page. Around this ball draw a circle just as close as you can without touching the ball ; another around that, not quite so close, and others, until the page is filled by circles growing thinner, lighter and farther apart as they become distant from the center. This diagram will be referred to several times hereafter, and is called the soul-circles, or the law of soul-energy. Its loss of strength should be borne in mind, as represented by the weakening and thiuiiing of the outer circles. That the diagram strikes home to the mind may be proved by using it as a means of transference, which we shall discuss later on. If you are interested in phenomena, take a sheet of perfectly white paper, two feet square, draw the central ball in solid black, exactly one inch in diameter, then grade the circles in thickness or thinness as just stated, trim the paper to the outer circle so that the sheet itself will be round and two feet in diameter, and hang it on a sheet of black cambric eight feet square, the lower part touch- ing the floor. This is called the proportion of twenty-fourths. The center 426 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TEN. of the diagram will be four feet from the floor. Sit in such a position that the light will be overhead, or to the left side. Look at the central ball for eight minutes as steadily as possible, then dim the light one-half ; the air will begin to be full of the outer circles which would have belonged to the diagram, had you made it as large as the room. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXXI. The Receiver Experiment. — That this diminishing circle strength is in harmony with your own soul, may be seen by, diminishing the light another half, or one-fourth of the original light, after a steady watchfulness of eight minutes. In this one-fourth light look for eight minutes more, or twenty-four in all, and dim the light to one-half of the fourth, or one-eighth of the original full light. If no thought or no interruption has broken the intentnessof your experiment, you will find the air full of a general Atomic- glow, or strange light. That this peculiar effect is not due to the constitu- tion, temperament, or gift of any body, may be easily shown by the fact that every person, old, young, man, woman, or child, will easily experience the same results. The glow is exceedingly fine, but perfectly distinct. That it belongs to the air is proved by having a glass receiver in the room from which the air has been exhausted ; the vacuum is clearly distinguished as lacking this glow. The value of experiments with the soul-circles will be seen later on. I use the word soul as implying force, energy, or intelligence; not as referring to the immortal part. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXXII. Union of Intelligence. — Having examined the nature of the universal soul, we will consider its habits. Its central energy is co-existent with the thing that lives, and it weakens as it leaves it. It seems to be a diffused thought force, not capable of reasoning but of knowing. This knowledge is so exact that it rarely ever makes a mistake or varies from its purpose. Hence come the certainties of reproduction in the preservation of its kind. Thus the soul-intelligence of the apple-tree is locked up in each cell of the tree itself. Plant it on most any root by the process of budding, and it will continue as the same intelligence, selecting the exact food particles from the ground that are needed to preserve the kind, and arranging them in DESTIXr. 427 the necessary manner. But let the seed of the apple be the result of the flower impregnated from another variety of apple, and the two kinds of trees will be represented in a union of their intelligences; causing a variation from the original stock ; and this union of thought or knowledge will work in harmony to the end of time to preserve that stock, until another mixture comes in. For Essays ou this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXXIII. Growth-Variation The rose is but the result of the intelligence behind its life, working to maintain it. Put in the ground two stems or two seeds, one of the rose, and one of the blackberry. They will both thrive in the same soil, but the separate intelligence of each, even if they were tied together in one confined cube of earth, would draw certain particles of food and arrange them in their certain ways, until the two distinct plants had been developed. This intelligence is the aggregation of the pul of Atoms, held together by a harmony of purposes. The whole secret is explained by the pul of a single Atom. It is a creature of purpose, from which it never strays. The first soul is the larger collection of purpose. It is not only universal, but it is variable without limit. It could, should it choose, create any shape, form, color, force, habit, or energy it wished; and it has wished to create an endless variety of life. To it we owe all diversity, all size, all shape, all kinds, classes, species, types and modifications. An energy of this kind is worth observing, and it may be easily observed. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. * t LESSON DCCCXXIV. Origin of the Soul — Still referring to the medulla-oblongata, or the seat of the vegetable part of man, as the centrality of the first soul ; and not intending to claim that this energy is the immortal part, let us examine further into its history. That it came to the earth from the sun is well settled; that it represents the conflict of the great battle going on in the sun, is undoubtedly true ; what the powers are that are beyond that conflict, we shall study a few pages later on. The nature of this universal soul is the reproduction of the nature beyond the sun's conflict ; and from it we get a key to the history of the embattled forces. This we shall consider shortly. 428 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TEN. Confining ourselves to this planet, we find the universal soul is seeking union and the strength that this union brings. Here is a ray of light. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXXy. Soul-Union. — Fire is the excessive activity of molecules and Atoms, and represents motion and disintegration. The motion causes unrest, dis- cord and separation of the particles which constitute the whole. It is chaos of the most chaotic kind. Many tribes believe that fire is the work of the devil. The Mongolian races, almost as a whole, believe that fire is a conflict of God and the devil. We believe that it is a conflict of the Atomic sub- stance of God, sent out to the very frontiers of the sky to meet the Atomic substance of the devil. Thus the instinct of the semi-savage may/eeZ that which civilization knows to be true. In the sun we find the only Atomic conflict, from which the parties involved seek to escape and carry on the war under circumstances permitting greater deliberation. All the while these Atoms, knowing the value of union, are endeavoring to form larger relations. Hence molecules, masses, structures, vegetation and man. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXXVI. Limit of Life In this union the original law of their being is clearly exemplified. The father of the Ang- Atoms, is God ; of the Dev- Atoms, is Satan. The union of these infinitessimal particles is a reproduc- tion of their paternity. Thus the ultimate combination of molecules, cells and flesh tends always toward the shape that is stamped on the intelligence of the paternity. As the seed of the rose finds its limits in producing another plant whose shape and flower are like the paternal shape and flower, so the extreme goal of creative intelligence — man — is only the limit of its life, — God. And as the rose is the metamorphosis of the sweeter life in the plant, so the beautiful soul, cast for immortality, is the metamorphosis of the human body. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXXVII. Origin of Life. — The Atoms, when free from the more terrible conflict that rages in the sun, set about establishing their affinities. The Ang-Atoms have an aversion for their enemies who seem to cling to them under all DESTINY. 429 circumstances; but they free themselves somewhat as they become human food. The poisonous vegetation is Dev-growth; but the vegetable food that supports the life of man is nearly free from the enemy. In the flesh of animals the Dev- Atoms find opportunities of attacking life; and who ever eats the flesh becomes more or less the victim of the enemy. Young cats and even children fed on meat, become possessed of certain influences, called fits, spasms, paroxysms, or convulsions. A kitten fed on raw meat is apt to die in a wild fit. Vegetation does nothing like this. He who would be free from the contamination of Devs should let meat and alcohol alone; and his life will be sweeter, his habits cleaner, and his soul purer. How- ever this union goes on, and at last when man is at his best, he approaches the shape and look of that creative source that sent forth these Atoms into space, — God. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXXVJII. Shape of the Devil. — But Satan must resemble God, or else the Atomic structure of man is, by a large proportion, of the Ang-division. Many men are thoroughly the offspring of the devil, and their faces are hideous. Nearest to this face and eye, closest to the criminal gaze of a lecherous soul, is the glare of a snake. Either by photographs for exactness, or by the memory of the eye, compare the glance of a hell-locked gambler, or a gossiping woman who feeds on purity of character, with the lurking dead, stare of a venomous reptile ; and the resemblances are so strong that one may be interchangeable with the other. I regard the shape of man as God-like; and do not belive that the cradle held the criminal. The hideous countenance of maturity is the result of after development. The venom of the serpent is pure Dev- matter, composed of the poisons sucked from earth and insects. The conclusion seems warranted that the devil, in his earthly guise, is a snake; and that the reptiles seen by the brain of a drunken man concur in proving that alcohol is the essence of Satan. The instinctive theology taught in the Hebrew tradition in Genesis, representing the devil as a serpent, gives us a triple proof of the nature and form of the great enemy of God, whose purpose seems to be to destroy every soul that he may. Thus, whichever way we turn, the proofs accumulate in support of our Philosophy. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 430 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TEN. LESSON DCCCXXIX. Death of Animals. — This first soul, or the universal intelligence of life, is in concentrated form in every tree, or plant, or life. To test its nature, there are several experiments open to all persons. One of very- common occurrence is known to physicians generally, for they advise it strongly to patients of low vitality. Go to any slaughter-house and stand by an animal just as he is killed. The Soul-circles, which represent the vegetable vitality, will suddenly spread and dissipate in all directions; their movement being felt in slight degree by any person, and in very marked degree by one who has educated his own vital faculties to the sensitive point by practicing the exercise of the Diagram of the Soul-circles. Butchers imbibe a large share of this vitality, by being near dying animals. The flesh and blood are charged with it, especially if immediately cut apart. There are thousands of patients, who drink the warm blood of cattle, for its vitality. But if an animal dies of a lingering disease, its vitality is oozing away constantly; and the flesh of any animal that died a natural death is not only lacking in vitality, but is utterly unfit for use. All these facts are of common knowledge. For Essays on. this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXXX. Persons who Differ. — Try the experiment with the diagram of the circles for a few weeks, until the vital intelligence is very sensitive to all influences ; in the meantine conserving all the health of the body, and avoiding meat, but eating plenty of whole wheat. At no time sleep less than six hours in the twenty- four, nor more than eight ; the latter being the natural division of the vital day. It will be remembered that we were dealing in twenty-fourths ; and that in our earlier pages, we found that one-third of the day, or eight hours, was the natural division for sleep. The nearer we comply with the law of twenty-four and of eight, the more closely we may study our natures. After a few weeks of experiment, bring two persons into the room, whose vitality seems to be widely variant ; that is one who is sickly, and one who is vigorous. The latter is full of glame, the former lacks it. When you come to the third watching for eight minutes, and the light is diminished to an eighth, you will see the vital circles about the bodies of the two persons; and, having brought two DESTINY. 431 who are not of like vitality, the difference will be so apparent as to alarm you. For Essays ou this subject, see " Pailes for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXXXI. Glame. — The law of glanie is not only seen in its operation, but its existence is proved beyond the shadow of a doubt. Glame is the synonym of vitality, and it is seen as a phospho-electrical emanation like a cloud from the body of a healthy person. Probably everybody has felt the vitality of a strongly magnetic man by merely standing in his presence. This force consists of strong circles with larger centre, and greater diameter; it reaches a long way. All persons within the circle influence give up their own vitality for the time, and live in the strength of the stronger. It can be broken only by the use of magnetic lines, which are simply emanations of will-power urged to certain ends. But one may increase the vitality or glame, by certain exercises, which collect the phospho-electrical force from the air. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXXXII. Increase of Glame — So simple a work as the General Membership Book of the Ralston Health Club contains truths and exercises of the most tremendous value. It is there said the glame is in the air. That this is true we can see in the dim pul-glow of our own senses. It is said that a certain closing of the hand, after an inhalation of pure air, on which the sun has recently shone, will, if accompanied by slight energy of the will-power, result in the lungs and blood absorbing this glame. The exer- cise is founded on the absolute truths of Nature, and is the strongest act of the human body. That we live in the midst of this glame or vital, uni- versal energy, I have seen hundreds of times, and all may see who will. That the exercise causes the body to absorb the vitality is seen by the additional circle-power. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXXXIII. How Vegetation Dies. — No matter how complete a life may seem in its shape and functions, or how favorable may be the opportunities for thriving, if the vitality gets low the result is death. The soul of the tree, 432 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TEN. or plant, or flower, leaves it, as the vapor leaves the pond ; it dissipates, weakens, and is gone. With vegetable man it is the same. It was the first of life, and is the last to go. The mind may give way, but the medulla keeps up respiration, circulation and digestion. The muscles and nerves of the muscles may be stopped by paralysis, but the medulla is in charge ; it will keep up the vegetable life of the idiot and the paralytic, with the same per- fect regularity of habits that is seen in any living body. When the medulla stops the heart, all is over. Man, therefore, is in the power of his first soul ; his mighty brain cannot exist of itself, as the medulla can ; and the muscular system plays an inferior part to this species of vegetation. For Essays on this subject, see " Kules for Essays," at tlie end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXXXIV. Inclusion. — We have seen that there is a universal soul, that prevails wherever there is life, — in cell, plant, animal and man. We have also seen that man includes this together with three other attributes. Leaving that which is solely vegetable, and universal, for one addition, we find the second soul. This is always added to the first. Thus an animal may be of so low an order as to have no brain stronger than the cerebellum, but it will also have a medulla. To understand the doctrine of inclusion let us examine it. That life which is of medulla energy (the term is merely explanatory, as plant life has no medulla, but merely the energy known by that term), is vegetable ; that life which has medulla energy and cerebellum energy, is of the lowest order of the animal kingdom ; that life which has medulla energy, cerebellum energy and cerebrum energy, is of the highest order of the ani- mal kingdom ; and that life which has medulla energy, cerebellum energy, cerebrum energy and mind energy, is a human being. This is the law of inclusion : the greater includes the less, with the universal soul as the under- lying life of all. In the law of inclusion we see the remarkable fact that the greater is dependent upon the less, and cannot exist without it, while the less may in every instance, exist without the greater. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXXXV. Dependence Thus any life which is ruled by the medulla energy may thrive of itself, as the plant and tree ; but it has no power of self- protection. Believing that vegetation is nearest to God-life, and reaches the DESTINY. 433 essence of divinity through its climax of growth, — the flower ; and know- ing that only in flesh do the Dev-bacteria thrive, 1 draw the lesson that God is peace ; that divine existence is harmony ; that self-protection is not provided because it is not needed in the great hereafter. Activity implies attack and defense, and muscular growth. Add this function to any vegetation, and the lowest forms of the animal kingdom are the result; and, in the brain of man, it is called the cerebellum or little brain. It is, in the order of intel- ligence, an advance in the scale of being, but the greater, which includes the less, is dependent upon it. Man may live after he is paralyzed, but not after his heart ceases to beat For Essays on this suljject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXXXVI. Man's Second Division. — If the first soul is vegetable, and is centered in the medulla ; the second soul is physical, and is centered in the cerebellum. The medulla is the upper portion of the spinal column; the cerebellum is the under part of the brain at the back and base of the head ; and is above the medulla. All physiologists are agreed that the latter con- trols the system of respiration, circulation and digestion ; and that the cere- bellum controls all the voluntary muscles. The action of the diaphragm in its respiratory movements, is said to be muscular, but of the involuntary order ; so the heart and the stomach are said to be representatives of invol- untary muscular activity. They are involuntary because the intelligence of the medulla directs them, and leaves them no choice of action. On the other hand, the cerebellum is the seat of the intelligent control of all the muscles through the motor nerves. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXXXVII. Low Animal Order. — A thing that lives and moves must be, at least, endowed with a medulla and cerebellum. All the scope of its life is nar- rowed by these two energies ; and we see myriad illustrations of this low order. The principle is discerned in higher animals and in man. A human being, whose cerebellum is of large comparative growth, is beastly in looks and nature. The receding forehead and increasing pof-terior skull are sure indications of animalism, and generally of a very low order when found in a human species. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays, " at the end of Tome Ten. 28 434 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TEN. LESSON DCCCXXXVIII. Man's Third Division. — Animals that posses a cerebrum rise at once out of the lowest order, and are endowed with the faculty of great improve- ment. Owing to the variations of shape, it is difficult to class the brain material throughout all animal life; but a close examination of the habits- of any specimen will quickly determine its brain endowments, of which a certain degree of proof is found in the brain itself. In man and in all highly endowed animals the divisions of medulla-oblongata, cerebellum, and cerebrum is as marked as if they were separate bodies. This third soul is partly a reasoning, and partly an intelligent force. It directs the move- ments of the muscles for an intelligent separable purpose, while the cere- bellum seems to co-ordinate them as one, and cause the body to have a general activity, which in the lowest life is slow and sluggish. In proportion as the cerebrum is developed, the powers of educating of training the intelli- gent action of the muscles is increased. Thus a cub, a kitten, or the young of any animal, wild or tame, will play, and is more or less tractable ; while those that lack cerebrum energy are incapable of movement, except as an entity, caused by the co-ordinating influence of the cerebellum. So human beings, who are not very intelligent, become unusually skilled in their motions through the instinctive intelligence of the inferior brain, which develops skill by the law of habit. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," kt the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXXXIX. The Force of the Physical. — As symbols are useful to excite the mind, and as certain lines excite certain functions, we will, for convenience of terms and for nearness of approach to the fact itself, adopt the square as the diagram to represent the second soul. Draw on a square white sheet of paper or cloth, a small black square one inch in size. Surround this by a series of lines, representing hollow squares, each diminishing in thickness, and distance, as it departs from the center. I have made many curious experiments with this diagram. One of the simplest is to call in a laborer, and let him look at a series of diagrams, one of the circle, one of the square, one of the star and one of the chain. He will choose the peculiar vanishing effect of the square. It accords with the superabundance of his physical DESTINY. 435 force. So, at a theatre, he will be most impressed with the hard action of the clog dancer, than with the fine curves of the dainty movements exhibited by one who appeals to a different taste. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXL. The Force of the Mental. — The mind in control, constructs a being quite different from that made by the influences of the physical brain. The latter is in straight lines, as in all physical action and all mechanical force. The cannon-ball is shot, the blow is struck from a straight line originat- ing movement. But Nature abhors straight lines, and will not use them. Left to herself, she builds curves. All her orbs are round, all their orbits some form of a circle or curve. So she throws the spent cannon-ball into a parabola, and destroys the line made by man. All flowers, all contour of the human body represent the varying shapes of some curve. Nothing made by Nature has a straight line. That is evolved from the animal energy of the physical brain ; and for that reason the squares are merely combinations of straight lines. Hence the effect our soul-squares have on the muscular man. The mind is more intricate. For Essays on this subject, see " Pailes for Essays," at tlie end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXLI. Thinking Energy. — In arriving at conclusions regarding a force, great care should be taken to study it from its various bearings; and the student should not confound one standpoint with another. Thus the Atomic shape might be quite different from the molecular shape, and yet both might be true. To a thoughtless student, or to one who only reads a book once, many inconsistences of statement or description might seemingly arise. It is necessary to read every word, and to re-read an important work several times, in order to know from what standpoint the subject may be studied. The collective mind is an energy of quite a different kind from the Atoms and molecules that compose it. It is a larger intelligence and of a higher order of harmony. Its two great attributes, are intensity and diff'usion. But, before we examine these, let us find the diagram that shall stand as the symbol. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 436 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME lEN. LESSON DCCCXLII. The Soul There are no longer eighths, as in the vegetable soul ; nor the ultimate three-eights, or twenty-four. The law of five prevails, and is the symbol of the mind. The selection of any number for merely symbolic use would be childish. The value of the five is tested by its effect on the mind which uses it; and there must be some reason for such effect. I will speak of both. In the first place, the immortal being is composed of five energies; and of these the mind is the central force; it is midway the extremes; it is the middle of the five, both in the scale of being and by the logical order of life's procession. My use of the word soul as applying to energy may be objected to as confusing ; but I have explained that. No one will be lead to believe that when I speak of a tree or flower as having a first soul, that I mean the same or anything like the human or the immortal part of life. I simply find that all creation is of one Creator, and necessarily related. There are five orders of human experience; and, for convenience, I call them the five souls ; four only belonging to earthly existence. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXLIII. The Center of Life. — The mind being the central experience of a human being, I call it the third soul ; and, except as to mere names (which may be varied at will and applied to any and everything, so long as the meaning is clear), all persons will agree with this five-part arrangement. It is apparent that the first is automatic life, or vegetable energy; that the second is physical life ; that the third is mental life ; that the fourth is moral life ; and the fifth is spiritual life. Man's five souls are, therefore, as follows: first, the vegetable soul; second, the physical soul; third, the mental soul ; fourth, the human soul ; fifth, the immortal soul. To study the destiny of each, it is necessary to know them, their habits here, and the prospect of a hereafter as indicated by the laws of the present. In this order of five, the mind is always in the center, no matter how we may look at it. It is higher than the vegetable and physical, and is lower than the human and spiritual. Of course this holds true only in a full rounded human creation ; for in beasts the mental is at the top ; it is the last and DESTINY. 437 ultimate goal of the merely animal creation. No one can deny that the beast has a cerebrum and an intelligent mind ; but he is not human. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXLIV. The Merely Human. — In the beast the mind, or third-soul, is the ultimatum. It is the end-all, not being human, a beast cannot feel ; and being unable to feel, he cannot think ; therefore he is not a reasoning being. By feeling we mean to experience emotions. In the intricacy of inter-rela- tionship between the medulla, the diagram and the cerebrum, the sympathy of emotional action should occasionally be seen over-lapping the species ; so some animals give a show of feeling, but not of the human order, though it often touches the great cord of humanity. A beast is a three-part being. Man is either a four-part, or a five-part being. If only a four-part, he has a human soul, but not a spiritual soul. That there are persons who are merely human, there can be no doubt, and the Bible teaches immortality only to the good. For Essays on this suhject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXLV. Destiny of the Races — This Philosophy is of and for the Caucasians; and, in the study of destiny, time and space permit only the opportunity to discuss the future of every man, woman and child who belongs to this race. That some who think before they deliberate will charge me with a cruel creed, because I declare that the Caucasians are the ultimate race of earth. I do not doubt ; but the investigator has no right to be moved by careless con- clusions. If one chooses to place implicit credence in the Bible (and such faith is noble), let him explain Cain's going into another land to get a wife, unless the Caucasians were God's chosen race. However, I have a chain of proofs, involving facts of indisputable strength which I shall, at my leisure, collect together in one large volume, and probably publish ; in which case it will be presented to the owner of this Philosophy. What I now intend to say is, that the anti-racials are human beings merely ; and are four-part cre- ations. Their human soul is the ultimate attribute of their existence ; and, when death comes, it ends all. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 438 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TEN. LESSON DCCCXLYI. Diffusion. — A negro, Mongolian, or other anti-racial, who dies, gives up his four-part existence. He is as in sleep, unconscious. Death brings a distinct relief to his warring nature, for it gives him oblivion. The essence of his vitality does not linger (except in very rare cases), but dissipates, dif- fuses, and is lost. So with all human beings, or those who are merely human. The proofs that I shall adduce in this Tome will relate only to the discordant lives of Caucasians, and not include the destiny of anti-racials. I will say here that I do not believe that all human beings are saved to become immortal. If God inspired the Bible it is time the words so plainly uttered should be accepted. Here is the newspaper report of the words of a Meth- odist Bishop, " I do not want to go to Heaven if God is to exclude any man or woman that lives, I care not how ignorant or how filthy they are in their souls, or whether they are cannibals, fetich- worshippers, or barbarians, if God permitted them to come into being they should share the blessings of immortal life." Probably the report was erroneous ; but I have heard such clap-trap from preachers who hope to win the applause of the wicked. The Bible says one thing more than another, and repeats it in a thousand ways, that only the saved shall inherit immortal life. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXLVII. Re -incarnation. — When the soul leaves the body of any anti-racial or Caucasian, whose existence is four-part only, it remains on the earth, until it may be re-absorbed in Atoms and molecules, and become re-habilitated in other beings. This is diffusion, and is no more a- re-incarnation than is the substance of the human body. All flesh disintegrates after death and dif- fuses through all nature ; in the air, water and soil ; and, through the origi- nal vegetable process, it again enters the flesh state. But it might and prob- ably does re-appear in a million beings. This is all there is of re-incarna- tion ; unless the direct will of God decrees otherwise. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten, LESSON DCCCXLVIII. Beliefs. — All forms of tribal religion, suited of course to the exact degree of intelligence in each tribe, are instinctively correct in one or more matters. Thus, among all anti-racials is some belief in the passing of the DESTINY. 439 soul into other forms of life. One believes in transmigration, pure and simple ; and so strange a notion as this may be accounted for on the instinct- ive theory that the actual occurrence often inspires a subtle knowledge of itself. This is universally true. The anti-racials who believe in re-incar- nation are correct as far as soul-di£fusion after death supports the fact. Of this we shall see much more. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCXLIX. The Five Points. — The law of five is an interesting study. Man, when perfect in a creative sense, is of five parts, of which the mind is the center. For him the five-pointed star is the symbol. There are five races on earth. Every man has five passions, each two-sided; and no person has been able to reduce them to less, or increase them to more. They are five. Man has five divisions of his hand, each of which serves a distinct act of usefulness. He has five senses. In counting he uses the two fives on his hands as the basis of all enumeration. Thus tens and ten times ten form the numerical tables of the civilized world ; and five is the most convenient mental conception of a ready sum, as the five cent piece, the five dollar bill, the five franc piece, the five lira, the five pound note, and others. The smallest English bill is five pound. These examples count for but little, as compared with the five parts of life, as well as the five passions, and the five senses. Yet it is not altogether for this reason that we have selected the five pointed star as the symbol of the mental soul. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCL. The Frontiers of Space. — The sky is so large to us that we cannot realize its size. The small bacteria who dwells by the million in a single drop of water might consider the drop large; and the earth could not be comprehended by him. So man, on this little globule called the planet, figures the mean distance of the sun as 92,500,000 miles; and is lost in his efforts to measure the nearest star beyond. Yet the stars are all seen in Heaven. As the inhabitants of that glorious realm look off across the sky they behold all the lights that we behold. We see not Heaven; but we see the stars that are seen in Heaven. They connect us in their way with the dominion whose outer courts they represent. A star is a light, a guiding 440 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE TEN. light. The mind is a guiding light. It is a star whose brightness shines between the earth and immortality, and whose intelligence may light the path that leads to Heaven. The stars above are great globes. The mind is a globe of light, a star in its functions, and is the midway glory in the scale of man's five-part life. For this reason we adopt the star as the symbol of the mind; and yet there is a stronger reason to be told. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLI. The Mental Diagram. — Take a piece of yellow cloth, and cut out a five-pointed star, twenty-four inches from tip to tip; allowing the center to present the appearance of a globe. Sew the edges so as to preserve a smooth line, free from fringing ; then attach it to the centre of a light blue sheet, eight feet square ; and place it against the wall. The yellow may represent the sun, and the blue the sky. Watch it, in a full light, for eight minutes, then dim the light one-half; again watch it for eight minutes, then dim another half, being one-fourth of the original ; again watch it for eight minutes, and dim to an eighth light. At each stage there will appear certain phenomena, which you are to explain, if you will, in essays sent to me. If you add to this experiment a strongly magnetic brain, you will set up a pul-glow that is most brilliant. In this pul-glow you will be able to do what the disordered brain of a feverish person always succeeds in doing. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLII. Illusions. — Can you tell me why the victim of delirium tremens sees snakes, and a variety of forms, some large enough to fill a room? Or why a fevered brain, as in typhoid, will see the most wonderful illusions? Or why a mad brain is the seat of demons or extra-physical forms? Or why, in the embrace of death, the last gaze may sometimes rest on a hitherto vinknown shape. Where are these illusions? They are not nothing. There can be no such thing as something originating from nothing. To simply say that it is merely the imagination of a sick brain is childishly absurd, even for a thoughtless person. What creative faculties have been bestowed upon such a deficient brain that it is able to trick Nature? If the great mother of us all is unable to make something where there is nothing, how do you suppose an individual can do it ? But you say the snakes are not real. DESTINY. 4:41 Then he does not see any. Then the bacteria revealed by the microscope are not real. Then the revelations of any magnifying lens are simply the imagination of a something or nothing, — an indefinite unknown. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLIII. Brain Reality. — The truth is plain enough to go without stating. The brain of every human being is capable of becoming an enormous magnifying glass; and an examination of its structure proves this. Its increase of vision, even under the most trivial excitement, is out of all proportion to the expected ratio. The reason for this is not hard to under- stand if we examine the optic nerve. Man, in his normal mental state, would be in misery, if he were to see all that the air and ether contain. Providence has been kind to him, at least in this regard. But sickness of the brain opens up an avenue of new suggestion. For Essays on this subject, see '• Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLIV. Microscopic Brain-power. — I have, on previous pages, referred to an illness, nigh unto death, which occurred when I was about twelve years of age. Like hundreds of thousands of others, I had typhomania, or mental delusions. Young as I was I knew that the distinct things seen by my brain were illusions only in the sense that others could not see what I beheld; but they did not have my brain for their microscope. Admitting that the fevered blood pours into the brain, and in and around the optic nerve, exciting, stretching and enlarging it by the process known as inflam- mation, we have only to imagine what must be the tissue irritation in each microscopical cell-structure of the nerves of vision. In the best blood of ordinary flesh are specimens of life that are unusual to engage. The blood is active in sickness, even fevered and excited. Around in the atmosphere are Atoms and molecules of uncounted numbers. When the brain sees the so-called illusions, it does not see the room or the things and people in the room ; for the reason that it is gazing through its magnifying function, so peculiar to disease, and is capable of beholding only things of microscopic size. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 442 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TEN. LESSON DCCCLV. Revelations — A boy of twelve cannot, even in typhomania, be carried into a new world of vegetation and animal life without desiring to get at the cause. I am sure that I was not in my right mind, that is, I was not as I usually or normally was. I was the victim of illusions ; of this there can be no doubt; nor do I pretend to have been in mental health. But when the brain is so far over-excited as to see the elemental Atoms of a ray of sunlight, the combinations of all sorts of Atomic and molecular growth, to see foliage, flowers, and verdure altogether too magnificent to be described, and to find the bacterial basis of what has since been proved to be a true science, the idea of illusion is explained only on the ground that a disordered brain may become an enormous magnifying agency. And this fact has been proved in many ways by others. All careful investigators accept it as the only explanation of what is otherwise an absurdity. That there is beauty in lesser life is easily seen. The most gorgeously attired woman is put to shame by any one of the thousands of insects which escape the ordinary vision. I sometimes wonder why so much of splendor is lost to us, if this smaller life was created for us. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLVI. Mental Colors. — It being true that an excited brain is capable of a microscopic vision, I learned to believe that such a power could be stimulated and yet not cause the brain injury. I knew that people, under nervous excitements, often saw images, and that they could develop the power to a most remarkable degree, during the frenzy of a nervous tension, as in spiritualists' seances ; and I reasoned that this ought to be done by some normal process, and for the good of scientific research, without material injury to the brain tissues. The theory was plain enough. It was and is clearly philosophical and logical. But how couJd a person bring a gentle strain to bear upon the nerves of sight, so as to excite and enlarge their tissues. There are many ways, of which the yellow star and blue back- ground is the most effective and general. The brain is exceedingly agitated by these colors ; but its microscopic power is proportioned to its ability to excite pul-glow, otherwise known as magnetism. For this reason the two books on magnetism have been used to lead up to this study. It is only the DESTINY. 443 experimental side. Many may not care to risk the eyes, or even to put to the test a theory that is acceptable on its face. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLVII. Abnormal Perception. — The mind is either normal or excited. When normal it is supposed to use only its fine senses as a means of communication with other people. If their thoughts are to be known to us they must tell them either by the voice, by action of the body, or by message, employing some form of writing. A mind is said to be abnormal when it perceives the thoughts or acts of another by any process that does not use the senses. But this claim is worth examining. Assuming from this standpoint that all perception is abnormal, unless it is usual, we will divide it into two parts . first, microscopic enlargement; second, vibratory intensity. The former we have discussed and will leave for a while. The latter has given rise to an unusual amount of scientific research, and psychical societies have been organized for the purpose of collecting reliable evidence of the phenomena. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLVIII. Intense Mentality. — In the first place, let us disabuse the mind of the notion that the mental condition is necessarily abnormal because it is able to perceive without seeing or hearing. If a person is speaking to one who is bright and quick, the thought will be received long before the words are all spoken. If Mr. A. meets B. and says, "Why, my dear Mr. B., I am ," it is not a difficult matter for B. to finish the sentence. And, in complicated statements, many a quick mind has helped the speaker to find the word and even the thought which is needed. But more than this is true. Telepathy is necessary in every instance when spoken or written thoughts are received by another. Thus you, who read these sentences, must have the power of telepathy to some degree, or you would not under- stand these things. You may prove this a hundred times a day, even in the simplest matters. A letter from one whom you wish to hear from is the easiest of all things to read ; yet some of its contents may not be perceived until after a second reading. Many people read page after page of a book without perceiving the thoughts. So in conversation, telepathy is necessary, or the speaker must repeat his remarks frequently. Nothing is more com- 444 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TEN. mon in life than the hearing, but not perceiving, a spoken thought. Thus two persons, who are not specially interested in each other's remarks, will talk, and each say '^'What?" a hundred times an hour; whereas, if the mind is keen in interest, its intensity will grasp the slightest thought and word. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLIX. Catching Thoughts. — Lawyers, whose interest in a case on trial is very intense, and whose judgment is not stupid, know what questions to put to witnesses on cross-examination in order to detect truth and falsehood. Having an acquaintance with many advocates whose so-called intuitive powers in this direction are means of great success in unearthing perjury, 1 have found that an honest desire to get at the truth, coupled with an intense interest in the result, will create telepathy in the legal mind in a degree greater than usual. But honesty, I am sorry to say, is not required between two criminals ; and telepathy may be the result of years of criminal train- ing. A successful card player knows the mind of an amateur, almost as an open book. A detective, to be successful, must be a telepathist. So auctioneers and tricky tradesmen are enabled to be successful in raising their prices when they read the desire for the goods in the mind of the purchaser. These are examples of intense telepathy. But all persons possess the faculty in some degree, or they would not understand a spoken or written word. The eye is one degree removed from the brain in the exercise of the art ; and the ear is two degrees removed. A speaker who holds the eye of his auditor is able to succeed in making his meaning clearer than one who reaches him only through the ear. It is a hard strain to listen and to understand, with no other aid. A test of the strain of ordinary telepathy is found in church during a sermon. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLX. Organized Science. — The word telepathy strictly means distant feel- ing ; or the recognition of thought by a sympathetic process, without the use of the ordinary channels of sensation. While we claim that this mental sympathy is necessary even to the understanding of a very ordinary remark, yet so many instances of unusual mental intensity have come to the notice of scientists, that they have deemed it necessary to organize special societies of DESTINY. 446 psychical research in order to distinguish between the supposed and the real exhibition of this power. Many investigators of high social and scientific character had convinced themselves of this phenomenal keenness of mind ; but no serious and organized attempt at investigation was made until, in 1882, the Society for Psychical Research was founded in London, under the presidency of Professor Henry Sidgwick. He and his colleagues were the pioneers in the research, and their example has been widely followed. Two years later an American society under the same title (now a flourishing branch of the English society) was founded in Boston ; and there are at the present time societies with similiar objects, at Berlin, Munich, Stockholm and elsewhere. Moreover, the Societe de Psychologic Physiologique, which was founded in Paris, under the presidency of M. Charcot, in 1885, has devoted much attention to some forms of telepathy. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXI. Normal Transference. — It was Professor Barrett, of the Royal Col- lege of Science, Dublin, who, in a paper read before the British Association at Glasgow in 1876, first isolated the phenomenon from its somewhat dubious surroundings, and drew public attention to its importance. Up to that time *' community of sensation " or thought-transference seems to have been known only as a rare and fitful accompaniment of the hypnotic trance. But in the course of the correspondence arising out of his paper, Professor Barrett learnt of several instances where similar phenomena had been ob- served in the waking state. The Willing game was just then coming into fashion, and cases had been observed in which the thing willed had been performed without contact between the performer and the person willing, and apparently without the possibility of any normal means of communication between them. Later, in the years 1881-82, a long series of experiments, in which Professor Sidgwick, the late Professor Balfour Stewart, the late Edmund Gurney, Mr. F. W. H. Myers and others joined with Professor Barrett, seemed to establish the possibility of a new mode of communica- tion. And these earlier results have been confirmed by further experiments continued down to the present time by many observers, not only in England, but in this country, and in every part of the civilized globe. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 446 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TEN. LESSON DCCCLXII. Normal Experiments The exceedingly sensitive condition of the brain of a person in the hypnotic state has made thought-transference very easy. We shall explain the double process later on. But science found that fifteen per cent, of all the people (according to the average report of these societies), are endowed with the ability to receive the thoughts of others by telepathy. The English Society for Psychical Research instituted so many experiments that it has required volumes to report them. They found that sounds, numbers, visual images, smell, taste and pain, as well as emotions, could be transferred to others in a normal state, simply by uniting the mental energy of several persons and directing this union of force toward the mind of one person called the percipient. For Essaj's on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXIII. Pain. — To show what percentage of result was thus obtained, a single series will suffice. These experiments were carried on at intervals, inter- spersed with experiments of other kinds, by Mr. Guthrie at Liverpool, dur- ing nine months in 1884 and 1885. The percipient on each occasion was blindfolded and seated with her back towards the rest of the party, who each pinched or otherwise injured themselves in the same part of the body at the same time. The agents in these experiments — the whole series of which is here recorded — were three or more of the following : — Mr. Guthrie, Professor Herdman, Dr. Hicks, Dr. Hyla Greves, Mr. R. C. Johnson, F.R.A.S., Mr. Birchall, Miss Redmond, and on one occasion another lady. The results are given in the following table : 1. — Back of left hand pricked. Rightly localised. 2. — Lobe of left ear pricked. Rightly localised. 3. — Left wrist pricked. " Is it in the left hand?" pointing to the back near the little finger. 4. — Third finger of left hand tightly bound round with wire. A lower joint of that finger was guessed. 5. — Left wrist scratched with pins. ^' Is it in the left wrist, like being scratched?" 6. — Left ankle pricked. Rightly localised. 7. — Spot behind left ear pricked. No result. 8. — Right knee pricked. Rightly localised. 9. — Right shoulder pricked. Rightly localised. 10. — Hands burned over gas. '^ Like a pulling pain . . . then tingling, like cold and hot alternately," localised by gesture only. 11. — End of tongue bitten. DESTINY. 447 *' Is it the lip or tlie tongue? " 12. — Palm of left hand pricked. "Is it a tingling pain in the left hand here? " placing her finger on the palm of the left hand. 13. — Back of neck pricked. " Is it a pricking of the neck?" 14. — Front of left arm above elbow pricked. Rightly localised. 15. — Spot just above left ankle pricked. Rightly localised. 16. — Spot just above right wrist pricked. " I am not quite sure, but I feel a pain in the right arm, from the thumb upwards to above the wrist." 17. — Inside of left ankle pricked. Outside of left ankle guessed. 18. — Spot beneath right collar-bone pricked. The exactly corresponding spot on the left side guessed. No result. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Teu. LESSON DCCCLXIV. Visual Images. — The experiments which follow were made by Dr. Blair Thaw, M.D., of New York. The series quoted, which took place on the 28th of April 1892, comprises all the trials in which Dr. Thaw was himself the percipient. Dr. Thaw had his eyes blindfolded and his ears muffled, and the agent, Mrs. Thaw, and Mr. M. H. Wyatt, who was present but took no part in the agency, kept silent, except when it was necessary to state whether an object, card, number, or color was to be guessed. The objects were in all cases actually looked at by the agent, the "color" being a colored disc, and the numbers being printed on separate cards.* 1st Object. — Silk Pincushion, in form of Orange-Red Apple, quite round. — Percipient : A Disc. When asked what color, said. Red or^ Orange. When asked what object, named Pincushion. 2d Object. — A Short Lead Pencil, nearly covered by the nickel cover. Never seen by percipient. Percipient : Something white or light. A card. I thought of Mr. WyatVs silver pencil. 3d Object. — A Dark Violet in Mr. Wyatt's button-hole, but not known to be in the house by percipient. Percipient : Something dark. Not very big. Longish. Narrow. Soft. It can't be a cigarette, because it is dark brown. A dirty color. Asked about smell, said : Not strong, but what you might call pungent ; a clean smell. Percipient had not noticed smell before, though sitting by Mr. Wyatt some time, but when afterwards told of the violet, knew that this was the odor noticed in experiment. Asked to spell name, percipient said : Phrygian, Phrigid, or first letter V. if not Ph. 4-^h *See Dr. Thaw's paper, Proc. Soc. Psych. Research, vol. viii., pp. 422 et seq. 448 HOME COURSE IN PBIL080PHY—T0ME TEN. Object. — Watch, dull silver with filigree. Percipient : Yellow or dirty ivory. Not very big. Like carving on it. Watch is opened by agent, and percipient is asked what was done. Percipient says : You opened it. It is shaped like a butterfly. Percipient held thumb and finger of each hand, making figure much like that of opened watch. Percipient asked to spell it, said : I get r-i-n-g with a W at first. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXY. Distant Influences. — The cases thus far described are very few com- pared with those that have been reported and verified. They relate to per- sons who are immediately present within the sound of the voice, or in the same atmosphere of influence. The record of results from a distance con- sists of two classes : first, experiment ; second, spontaneity. That such dis- tant influences are possible is too well settled to be any longer in dispute. We are confronted by a large body of evidence for the spontaneous affection of one mind by another, and that at a distance frequently of hundreds of miles. It is difficult to resist the conclusion, in view of the close similarity, in many cases, of the effects produced, that the force operating in these spontaneous phenomena is identical with, or at least closely allied to, that which causes the transfer of sensations or images from agent to per- cipient within the compass of a drawing-room. The evidence relates to spontaneous telepathy rather than to results forced by experiment. But it is probably true that experiments have been comparatively seldom attempted. And if account be taken of the various drawbacks incident to experiments at a distance, the amount of success already achieved, though no doubt less in proportion to the number of serious and well-conceived attempts than is the case with experiments conducted under the more usual conditions, is yet far from discouraging. For trials at a distance are tedious; they consume much time, and call for long preparation and careful pre-arrangement. The diffi- culties of securing the necessary freedom from disturbance are probably increased when agent and precipient are separated. The interest in such experiments is difficult to maintain apart from the stimulus of a rapid suc- cession of trials with an immediate record of the results. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. DESTINY. 449 LESSON DCCCLXAH. An Experiment in Mental Intensity. — The English Society for Psychical Research has succeeded in verifying so many well-defined cases of distant influence, that I will leave the student who cares for mere accumula- tion of evidence, to address that association, at 19 Buckingham Street, Lon- don. But as one or two good cases are sufficient for these lessons, I will narrate an English case, a Paris case and an American case ; all of which I am satisfied are strictly true. The English case is as follows: On November 16, 1886, Rev. Clarence Godfrey wrote to the English Society the following account of an experiment which he himself instituted: "Retiring at 10.45 [on the 15th of November, 1886] I determined to appear, if possible, to a friend, and accordingly I set myself to work with all the volitional and determinative energy which I possess, to stand at the foot of her bed. I need not say that I never dropped the slightest hint beforehand as to my intention, such as could mar the experiment, nor had I mentioned the subject to her. As the 'agent' I may describe my own experiences. LTndoubtedly the imaginative faculty was brought extensively into play, as well as the volitional, for I endeavored to translate myself, spiritually, into her room, and to attract her attention, as it were, while standing there. My effort was sustained for perhaps eight minutes, after which I felt tired, and was soon asleep. The next thing I was conscious of was meeting the lady next morning {i. e., in a dream, I suppose?) and asking her at once if she had seen me last night. The reply came, 'Yes.' 'How?' I inquired. Then in words strangely clear and low, like a well audible whisper, came the answer, 'I was sitting beside you.' These words, so clear, awoke me instantly, and I felt I must have been dreaming ; but on reflection I remembered what I had been 'willing' before I fell asleep, and it struck me, 'This must be a reflex action from the percipient.' My watch showed 3.40 a.m. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXVII. Result of the Experiment. — Mr. Godfrey received from the per- cipient on November 16, 1886, an account of her side of the experience, as follows : "Yesterday — viz., the morning of November 16, 1886 — about half- past three o'clock, I woke up with a start and an idea that some one had 29 45 O HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE TEN. come into the room. I heard a curious sound, but fancied it might be the birds in the ivy outside. Next I experienced a strange restless longing to leave the room and go down stairs. This feeling became so overpowering that at last I rose and lit a candle, and went down, thinking if I could get some soda water it might have a quieting effect. On returning to my room 1 saw Mr. Godfrey standing under the large window on the staircase. He was dressed in his usual style, and with an expression on his face that I have noticed when he has been looking very closely at anything. He stood there, and I held up the candle and gazed at him for three or four seconds in utter amazement, and then, as I passed up the staircase, he disappeared. The impression left on my mind was so vivid that I fully intended waking a friend who occupied the same room as myself, but remembering that I should only be laughed at as romantic and imaginative, refrained from so doing. I was not frightened at the appearance of Mr. Godfrey, but felt much excited, and could not sleep afterward." At the request of the Society for Psychical Research, Mr. Godfrey made another trial, without letting the per- cipient know of his purpose. On the 7th of December, 1886, he succeeded perfectly. Mrs. , writing on December 8th, states that she was awakened by hearing a voice cry, "Wake," and by feeling a hand rest on the left side of her head. She then saw stooping over her a figure which she recognized as Mr. Godfrey's. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXVIII. An American Case. — Out of innumerable cases in this country, the following may as well be taken as any other, as it is more easily verified, not only by reference to Mr. Haynes' journal record, which is open to the public, but from the Proceedings of the American Society for Psychological Research, pp. 444, 445. Mr. Gideon Haynes was warden of the Massachu- setts State's Prison, and the account is in his own words: "The following is an account of the affair made at the time: 'The fol- lowing very singular incident I can vouch for as having actually occurred. I refer to it, not to illustrate a supernatural or any other unusual agency, as I am a sceptic in such matters, but as a remarkable instance of hallucination or presentiment. I received a message from the wife of one of our convicts, in prison for life, that their only child, a bright little boy five years old, was DESTINY. 451 dead, he having accidentally fallen into the water and been drowned. I was requested to communicate to the father the death of the child, but not the cause, as the wife preferred to tell him herself when she should visit him a week or two later. I sent for him to the guard-room, and after a few ques- tions in regard to himself, I said I had some sad news for him. He quickly replied, "I know what it is, Mr. Warden; my boy is dead!" "How did you hear of it?" I asked. "Oh, I knew it was so; he was drowned, was he not, Mr. Warden?" "But who informed you of it?" I again asked. "No one," he replied. "How, then, did you know he was dead, and what makes you think he was drowned?" "Last Sunday," he said, "your little boy was in the chapel ; he fell asleep, and you took him up and held him. As I looked up and caught sight of him lying in your arms, instantly the thought occurred to me that my boy was dead — drowned. In vain I tried to banish it from my mind, to think of something else, but could not; the tears came into my eyes, and it has been ringing in my ears ever since; and when you sent for me, my heart sunk within me, for I felt sure my fears were to be confirmed." What made it more remarkable was the fact that the child was missed during the forenoon of that Sunday, but the body was not found for some days after. The foregoing is copied from my journal, the entry made on the day of the interview, and I can assure you is strictly correct in every particular. "Gideon Haynes." In answer to inquiries as to the name and address of the percipient, Mr. Haynes writes : — "His name was Timothy Cronan. He was pardoned in 1873 or 1874. Mr. Darling, the oflicer in the guard-room to-day, occupied the same position when I had the interview with Cronan. He was present, and remembers distinctly all the circumstances of the case, which were discussed by us at the time. Cronan served some ten or twelve years. . . . He has not been heard from at the prison since his discharge." For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXIX. The Paris Case 1 have an authentic Paris case, the truth of which oanaot be in doubt. Dr. Gibotteau, in the year 1888, made the acquaintance 452 H031E COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TEN. of a peasant woman, who was in his charge in a Paris hospital ; and who claimed to be able to direct her thoughts to any person. She gave Dr. Gibotteau several illustrations of these powers, and he believes her preten- sions to be well founded (^Annales des Sciences Psyehiques, vol. ii. pp. 253— 267, and pp. 317-337). The following instances of hallucinatory effects of a more ordinary kind are taken from the same paper. In the last case, it will be observed, the experience was collective. In none of the three cases were the percipients aware of Bertha's intention to experiment. It will be seen that in the second case she succeeded in producing the emotional effect desired, though the imaginary object by which she intended to inspire terror was hardly of a kind calculated to frighten a hospital surgeon. Dr. Gibotteau writes : " I am a good sleeper, and I do not remember ever waking of my own accord in the middle of my sleep. One night, about 2 or 3 o'clock, I was abruptly awakened. With my eyes still shut I thought, ' This is one of B.'s tricks. What is she going to make me see ?' I then looked at the opposite wall ; I saw a circular luminous spot, and in the centre a brilliant object, about the size of a melon, that I stared at for several seconds, being wide awake, before it disappeared. I could not distinguish any form clearly, nor any detail, but the object was round, and parts of it appeared to be less luminous. I imagined that she had wished to show me a skull, but I could not recognize it ; the Avail was lighted up in that place as if by a strong lamp; the room was not completely dark, because the window had outside blinds, and the curtains were drawn back ; but this brilliant object did not seem to give out any light beyond the area of which it occupied the centre on the wall. That was all. I waited a moment without seeing anything else, then I went fast asleep again. The next day I found B., who had come to visit the hospital, and I questioned her cautiously. She had tried to show me first of all some dogs round my bed, then some men quarrelling, and finally a lantern. That was all. It will be seen that though the first two attempts failed, the third succeeded perfectly. Here is another account of a fright. One evening I was entering my house, at midnight. On the landing, as I was putting my hand on the door-handle, I said to myself, ' What a nuisance ! here is another of B.'s tricks! She is going to make me see somethiug terrifying in the passage; it is very disagreeable.' I was really a bit nervous. I opened DESTINY. ^453 the door suddenly, with my eyes shut, and seized a match ; in a few minutes I was in bed, and, blowing out my candle, I put my head under the bed- clothes, like a child. The next day she asked me if I had not seen a skeleton in the passage or in my room, and been very much frightened. It need hardly be said that a skeleton was the last thing in the world that could frighten me ; and frankly, I think that I am not more of a coward than the common run of men." For Essays ou this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXX. Explanation. — Before entering into an analysis of the cause and pro- cess of operation of this power, I will repeat the claims of others who undertake to explain this apparent mystery. It is now universally agreed that there is an inner air, an ether, or AE, which is universal, and fills all space. This is called the thought-media, or seas iu which the vibrations of the brain may send its waves of influence. The physical changes, which are the accompaniments of thought or sensation in the agent are transmitted from the brain as undulations in the intervening medium, and thus excite corresponding changes in some other brain, without any other portion of the organism being necessarily implicated in the transmission. This hypothesis has found its most philosophical champion in Dr. Ochorowicz, who has devoted several chapters of his book, De la Suggestion mentale, to the discus- sion of the various theories on the subject. He begins by recalling the reciprocal convertibility of all physical forces with which we are acquainted, and especially draws attention to what he calls the law of reversibility, a law which he illustrates by a description of the photophone. The photo- phone is an instrument in which a mirror is made to vibrate to the human voice. The mirror reflects a ray of light, which, vibrating in its turn, falls upon a plate of solenium, modifying its electric conductivity. The inter- mittent current so produced is transmitted through a telephone, and the original articulate sound is reproduced. Now the equilibrium of the nervous system, he sees reason to believe, is profoundly ajffected. The nerve- energy liberated in this state, he points out, " cannot pass beyond " the sub- ject's brain " without being transformed. Nevertheless, like any other force, it cannot remain isolated ; like any other force it escapes, but in dis- guise. Orthodox science allows it only one way out, the motor nerves. 454 SOMi: COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY—TOME TEN. These are the holes in the dark lantern through which the rays of light escape. . . . Thought remains in the brain, just as the chemical energy of the galvanic battery remains in the cells, but each is represented outside by its correlative energy, which in the case of the battery is called the electric current, but for which in the other we have as yet no name. In any case there is some correlative energy — for the currents of the motor nerves do not and cannot constitute the only dynamic equivalent of cerebral energy — to represent all the complex movements of the cerebral mechanism."* For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXXI. Rule of Experiment. — The foregoing explanation may seem to be theory only. I have made a large number of experiments based on my own previous evidence, which I wish to see, if possible, verified in others. This having been repeatedly done, I lay down certain laws, which I personally know to be correct. Before stating them, I will give a description of certain general experiments, also the rule which governs the experiments, and the process by which any person may test the double-law of telepathy. The time should be at night, the nearer to midnight the better. The nerves are extremely sensitive between eleven and one o'clock. Other times will do, but this is the best. The room should be above the first floor. No noises from without should be heard. A party of four should comprise the experi- ments : one to be the percipient, and three the agents. The former should be blindfolded, and the ears should be packed to prevent hearing. The three agents should keep together, and should be persons who are capable of holding their thoughts within control. They should remain behind the percipient, and be perfectly agreed in all they do. The mental energy is best exerted when the will power is so intense that it does not doubt its ability to impress itself on another. By this rule it is certain that thoughts, feelings, words, signs, visual images and even colors, sounds and smells may be trans- ferred to the mind of the percipient ; and each one of the party may act as such. Failure is more apt to occur in the first hundred experiments, but patience should be long and persevering ; for science knows no haste and no rest. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. * De la Suggestion mentale, Paris, 1887, pp. 511, 512. DESTINY. 465 LESSON DCCCLXXII. The Double-Law. — Any person who is able to exert a vibratory intensity to the thought movements of his brain will produce an extra- impression on the excited brain of some other person. This proposition involves a double-law. It is an open question who is the stronger, — the one of sensitive mind or the one of intense mind. Both are subjective. Both laws exist in all persons. It is not, who is sensitive or intense in mind, but how much ; for the dullest of people have some intensity, and the stupidest of brains must be somewhat sensitive. It is when the extraordinary degree appears that it is said to overleap the normal and become phenomenal. This rule prevails in all mental life. The poet is but an extra- normal jingler ; a degree of the highest rank of the weak mind that makes foolish rhymes. Shakespeare was a genius, but the weakest normal intellect of his day was but a lesser degree in his scale. So in insanity, all minds are more or less unsound ; but only the deficiency that overleaps the normal is said to be insanity. If this proposition as to degree could be understood, the diffi- culties of telepathy would disappear. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXXIII. The Brain Tissue. — The relation between phosphorus and thought is very close. A man who thinks hard draws phosphates from the blood and excretes them. This can be proved in two ways, and is accepted as con- clusive. A piece of phosphorus glows with a wavering light. This can be tested by scratching a match on the wall in a dark room. To understand thought better draw the brain of a man, in a rough sketch ; put a faint out- line around it for the contour of the head ; then draw a fainter cloud all around the head, extending from the center of the brain in radii which are each the diameter of the head. These radii must appear as clouds of the same kind as the waving phosphorus. A scientist of my acquaintance used to put phosphorus on a globe to illustrate the wavy action of thought, and sought to maintain the claim that, when we think, the phosphorus is a halo, or cloud, emanating from the brain. But the nearer fact is that the thinker is surrounded by a mental cloud of pul-glow, which is not apparent except to a brain the magnifying power of which has been developed by the exer- cises previously given. Thinking builds brain tissue, by using it and 456 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— T03IE TEN. creating a demand for more ; the demand always supplying an excess. It is on this principle that exercise builds up the muscles of the general body. for Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXXIV. Intelligence, — Commencing with the Atom and following it through all its stages of combination, we find an ever present Pul-glow, called pur- pose or intelligence, increasing as the combinations increase. While no part of the body is free from this intelligence, it concentrates in certain places from which it acts as a governing mass. Each governing mass is a ganglion, a bag or sac containing gray matter and white matter which feeds on and is stimulated by phosphorus. Such a mass is a union of molecules of pure intelligence. They are scattered all through the body, but there is always a tendency for like to seek like ; and the gray matter of the body is collected in great masses in the head, acquiring the name hrain. In order to under- stand what is meant by mind, multiply the single intelligence of a pul-atom with the number necessary to form a molecule; remember that an unlimited number may dwell in a single molecule, and be so arranged that all pul-ends are outside, or exposed, thus forming an aggressive element of the highest mental endowment ; that such molecules are white if pure pul, or gray if only pure in part ; that the brain is made up of convolutions, each of which is composed of uncountable millions of pul-molecules ; and, if you have fol- lowed the course in Higher Magnetism, you will have no difficulty in under- standing exactly what the brain is. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXXV. Thought. — All thought is the result of stimulation, and is in fact but a response of the mind to such stimulus. The course of thought lies in the gray matter that occupies the brain and body ; in other words we are what we are ; we think as we are ; we are as we think. In the millions times innumerable millions of little DEVS and ANGS that make us what we are, there are stored away in each one of us more possibilities than the world has yet witnessed, — potent agencies for either good or bad. No person living need be humble or dwell in mediocrity. These possibilities need only some stimulus to unfold them, to call them into life, A word, an event, an occasion, a deep entrancing thought may seize upon some dormant life in our DESTINY. 457 character and awaken it to a blazon of glory. Each one is endowed with a divine faculty; but nearly all go down to the grave in obscurity. We will call the brain of man a fathomless sea of untouched thought, awaiting the influence that shall call forth the response. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXXVI. Thought- Waves The ocean is a mass of water; a wave started from the shore rolls out to sea and is lost only by the dying of its own force. The air is a mass of gases. The voice causes the exhaled breath to tremble by waves of sound, and these waves roll on through the air, until they perish. Within the air is an ether, so fine that, as it travels through solid iron, it seems to roam in great hollow chambers. This ether is to the mind what the air is to the voice. A word sets the gases in motion ; a thought vibrates the ether. An examination of the brain proves this. Its indenta- tions, grooves, hollows, convolutions and waves are like a disturbed sea crested with huge billows, interlaced with finer cross currents in every possible direction ; whereas an unused brain, like that of an imbecile or a child, is as smooth as an unruffled lake. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays." at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXXVII. Process of Thinking — The blood supplies every tissue of the body. Its ceaseless current is laden with the materials that build the brain. A thought excites the blood, and the blood often excites the brain to think. The blood pours over the brain an acidulous fluid, called a wash, which deposits phosphorus to be absorbed. That part of the brain which thinks, as it receives this strong excitant, contracts and expands with great rapidity and more or less energy, — the latter being dependent upon the width of the vibration. In the voice the same principle holds true : the breadth of the vocal wave determines its force, without varying its 2)itch. The pendulum is an example of this: if it is of uniform length it requires the same amount of time to swing one foot as to swing twenty feet; but in the latter case the intensity of the swinging power must be exceedingly great. A weak tone has narrow vibrations , a weak thought excites the brain to narrow waves. The habit of intense thinking may be cultivated to a very high degree, and is essential to success in mental achievements. In proportion to the growth 458 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TEN. of this power the thought-waves become broader, have more carrying energy and affect a recipient brain more intensely. Tlie imperial minds are those whose thought-waves are broad and therefore far-reaching and irresistible. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXXVIII. Distant Thoughts — A wave sent forth upon the ether that pervades all matter and all space, travels exactly as sound moves through the air. A tone dies by interruption or by a gradual loss of its energy. The sound awakens a response in all strings that harmonize with it. This is well known to the musician, and enters into the construction of instruments. If you strike but one note on a piano, the third, fifth, and eighth notes above it will commence to vibrate and give out distinct sounds. This may be easily tested by holding bits of paper against them. So, if a violin and a piano are in the same room, and a note on the piano be struck, the same note on the vio- lin will vibrate, if the note be fixed. Two pianos a hundred feet apart are capable of exciting this secondary vibration in each other. In thinking it is the same, the ether being far more flexible than the air. If a mind is capable of sending out thought- waves of great breadth, that is of vibratory inten- sity, there is no reason why such waves should not set in motion a similar part of the brain of another individual a long distance away. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end ot Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXXIX. Sensitiveness. — The reception of a thought- wave depends entirely upon the sensitive condition of the brain of the recipient. This sensitive- ness may and should be cultivated, as there is no possible harm in it. It is merely the concentration of mental energy, made possible by riveting the attention so as to drive away all other thought-waves and counter influence. Any bright piece of glass is sufiicient. Steadily gazing at it, in a room free from all noise and distraction will produce such sensitiveness as to enable the mind to throw out grasping pseudopods and thus absorb the thought. Speaking of this, the English Society for Psychical Research says (see vol. viii, p. 436) : " It should perhaps be said that there is nothing in the expe- rience of the many persons who have so far tried crystal ga:zing, at the instance of the S.P.R., to indicate risk of injury to health. It is no doubt not advisable for an invalid, or for anyone suffering from headache, or undue DESTINY. 459 fatigue, to try the experiment. Indeed, the experience of Mrs. Verrall and others is that success under such conditions is unattainable. But with ordi- nary care to avoid straining the eyes, no evil effect, it is thought, need be apprehended ; and there is probably no form of experiment which at the cost of so little trouble may be expected to yield results of so great interest and value. There is of course no magic in the crystal ; a glass paper-weight, a mirror, or a glass of water will serve the purpose equally well." For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXXX. Destiny of the Mind. — Is the power of telepathy a remnant of a pre- vious age when fewer words were used ; or is it the dawning of a new agency which may help man to attain a better authority over the world ? It must be remembered that the human race once depended on its physical strength more than it does to-day. The mind may, by its skill, defend the body bet- ter than can the prowess of the muscles. One hundred civilized men are stronger than ten thousand savages. An idea may hold a nation in check. If man, then, has taken the decided step which has advanced him out of the status of a physical animal, why may not the onward march of mental ascendency place him another step forward ? The indications point that way. The ability to read men's minds is the negative side of telepathy. What do you care for the contents of others' minds, if they contain nothing worth having ? It is the positive side that is worth cultivating ; not the ability to read the minds of others so much as to compel them to read yours ; to have thoughts whose importance shall sway others, and compel obedience. I have spoken of the skill of gamblers and other criminals in knowing the minds of others ; but this always a])pears as a negative gift. I have never seen a gambler who had the slightest control of the mind of another. For Essays on tliis subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXXXI. Ghosts. — A positive mental condition never sees a ghost; a negative mind is easily wrought up to such visions. What ghosts are, we will discuss later on ; the ability to see them is now before us. Crystal gazing, if em- ployed in lonely buildings at late hours, will develop such an extraordinary sensitiveness that almost any kind of an image may be conjured up. Like dreams, I find that visions and illusions occur when the acidulous was-h is 460 HOME COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TEN. flowing over the convolutions in an attempt to act upon them. It is the fric- tion of the mind's machinery, trying to induce the activity of wakefulness. At such times the brain is overexcited and abnormal results follow. Of the hundreds of people who have seen ghosts all have seen them, as far as I can learn, during the waking moments that followed lethargy, or after periods of excessive nervous strain, wherein the mind was overwrought. Both for mental power and freedom from this negative contortion, I advise every stu- dent of these pages to cultivate the strictest honesty, and the most active goodness ; such qualities are safeguards against the terrors of illusions. No good person ever suffers from his mind's caprices. The guilty conscience of the criminal heart is ever seeking to run away from itself. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXXXII. Man's Fourth Division. — In the preceding pages we have considered man in his first division, as a part of the universal soul of Nature ; in his second division, as a moving being, and therefore physical ; in his third division, as a thinking being, and therefore mental. In the symmetry of the system we proceed to his fourth division, and find him a moral being, and therefore human. Any created life that is moral is human. Man is at least of four-fold existence ; and is inclusive. He cannot be human without being mental, physical and vegetable. This law of inclusion is important as lead- ing to a better conception of the rare man, the five-fold being. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXXXIII. Nature of Humanity To be human is to feel emotions, from which emanate reason. We say the animal thinks but does not reason ; this is be- cause he is not contemplative. The order then is this, the emotion, the rec- ognition of it, contemplation, reason. Animals live to eat. In order to eat, they must be strong enough to go and to capture the food, sometimes after a struggle. In order to be strong they must exercise ; therefore they play. The sum total of animal nature is to eat and to play. Man, left to the influences which culture seeks to overcome, drifts toward the animal occu- pation ; he eats from three to five times a day, and plays the rest of his waking time. His humanity is lessened, and he calls himself "hardened," or schooled against diversity ; but he is merely dropping to the animal part DESTINY. 461 of himself. He rises in proportion as he feels ; and he is perfectly human when his moral responsibility measures strength with the passions and emo- tions of a perfectly developed humanity. This leads us to an examination of the passions and emotions. For Essays on this subject, see " Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXXXiy. The Passions. — There are five passions in a human being; and each passion has its dark side. The first passion is love, and its dark side is hate ; the second passion is hope, and its dark side is grief ; the third passion is pride, and its dark side is shame ; the fourth passion is resolution, and its dark side is fear ; the fifth passion is excitement, and its dark side is depres- sion. By unfolding these with the opposites, we find ten separable systems of emotions, each system having ten emotions in its group. Instead of theorizing on the passions, I have made a chart of actual life as it is lived ; or, in other words, I have set up a practical existence as against a sermon. For years I have made use of real human experiences and know whereof I speak, when I say that the chart and the instructions concerning its applica- tion to life present a system of actual value to every person. For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. LESSON DCCCLXXXV. The Emotions — Taking the passions and their opposites as the basis of ten groups of emotions, I have made what is called a Chai't of Human Life, involving one hundred sections. They are placed in their ten groups, the order being purposely arranged so as to bring the groups into a scale of value ; the group that should claim the most frequent attention being placed at the top. These are to be studied subjectively ; and their meaning should be understood only in their subjective sense. The titles are appeals only to our feelings. The first are called, " The Ten of the Cross ; " the second are called, " The Ten of the Star ; " the third are called, " The Ten of the Heart ; " the fourth are called, " The Ten of the Shield ; " the fifth are called, "The Ten of the Wreath;" the sixth are called, "The Ten of the Anchor;" the seventh are called, "The Ten of the Knife;" the eighth are called, " The Ten of the Pistol ; " the ninth are called, " The Ten of the Gallows ; " the tenth are called, " The Ten of the Coffin." For Essays on this subject, see "Rules for Essays," at the end of Tome Ten. 462 H03IE COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY— TOME TEN. LESSOX DCCCLXXXVI. Chart of Human Life — As was recommended in the Ninth Tome, charts should be liung in the sleeping room of each student in Philosophy. 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