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BOOK OF 
 
 MEDITATIONS 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM MORE DECKER, M. D. 
 EMBRACING 
 
 THE GREATER 
 AND THE LESSER JOURNEY 
 
 THE OTHER WORLD 
 
 MINOR TOPICS 
 
 INTERSPERSED 
 
 WITH ORIGINAL THOUGHTS 
 
 TERSELY EXPRESSED 
 
 AND 
 POEMS 
 
- ofifi 
 
 %» 
 
 COPYRIGHT 1920 
 
 By 
 
 William More Decker, M. D. 
 
 SEP 1 3 1920 
 ©CI.A576350 
 
1 
 2 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED, NOT TO THE 
 CLASSES, NOR THE MASSES, NOT TO ANY 
 NEAR AND DEAR ANCESTOR, OR FRIEND, OR 
 
 TO ANY FAMOUS PERSONAGE; BUT TO ALL 
 
 THOSE WHO READ IT AND ARE 
 
 BENEFITED THEREBY. 
 
Introduction. 
 
 In the spring of 1919, while at Clifton 
 Springs Sanitorium recovering from de- 
 bility following the flu, I began to jot down 
 some terse thoughts, that came to me 
 unbidden and unsought; and which im- 
 pressed me as condensed truth, too good 
 to let go. I made no study of this kind of 
 composition, that now and then, flitted 
 through my mind like birds in the forest, 
 that did not stop to sing, but only as a brief 
 revelation; and I made note of what came, 
 for I knew it would never come in quite 
 that form again; and, if I did not get it 
 while on the wing, I would not get it at all. 
 
 I returned home early in June, much 
 improved in health, but not yet strong 
 enough to engage in business; and I spent 
 the summer at Rushing Waters, my coun- 
 try home (one of the sweetest spots on 
 earth in the green months) near East 
 Aurora, N. Y. ; and continued to jot down 
 my spontaneous and unusual thoughts, 
 which were akin to maxims, or proverbs. 
 I did not plan to write a book. I was not 
 strong enough to undertake it, to keep up 
 a sustained mental effort, and publicity did 
 not occur to me then. In the fall I re- 
 turned to my home at Buffalo, the Queen 
 
 l 
 
City of New York State, and began to fre- 
 quent my office and engage moderately in 
 business, after being side-tracked for three 
 quarters of a year. 
 
 We learn something from sickness. If 
 sickness is not profitable to a man, who re- 
 gains his health, there is something wrong 
 with the man. 
 
 Shortly after I began to participate in 
 business again, a friend of mine from New 
 York City called to see me. He is a rare 
 character, unlike the average man, and al- 
 ways interesting. He stands just over the 
 fence, that encloses the typical type of 
 men, where the fields are green and the 
 pastures fresh. He dares to be himself, 
 but he is nice about it. He came on busi- 
 ness, and he puts soul into business, — is 
 not narrow, stingy nor sordid; and he is 
 broader than the commercial tract and the 
 systematic forces, that operate its wheels 
 and direct its human power. Well, social 
 life is sandwiched with business between 
 the lulls, when this man comes to see me; 
 and I absorb much from him, but what I 
 give in return, that is worth while, I am in 
 doubt about. 
 
 I learned from my visitor how Theo- 
 dore F. Merseles, now Vice-President and 
 
 2 
 
General Manager of a large commercial 
 company, built up that business by apply- 
 ing the Boy Scout resolution to commer- 
 cial promotion. Mr. Merseles resolved, 
 that he would evolve, discover, create, or 
 gather each day some new, or useful idea, 
 that would improve, benefit and promote 
 the business; and that he would undertake 
 to do one good deed for the business each 
 day; and, if he failed one day, he would 
 make up by doing two good deeds the next 
 day. A splendid resolution! But only a 
 genius could do that; only a man with un- 
 usual vision, resolution and purpose would 
 be equal to the task. I am not acquainted 
 with Mr. Merseles; but I take off my hat 
 to him, and know he is a great man, for he 
 has accomplished much; but, if he should 
 ever make a confession, I believe he would 
 say, that he was not always productive of 
 the good idea each day, or, going blank 
 one day, always delivered two good ideas 
 the next day, and kept it up each business 
 ' week, for the entire year, except when sick, 
 absent from home, or on a vacation. It 
 matters not, it was a great idea, bravely 
 and nobly followed and wonderfully pro- 
 ductive. Successful men, men who do 
 
 3 
 
things, are different; and, when compared 
 with the conventional men, eccentric. 
 Variation, of the right sort in men, spells 
 progress. 
 
 What Mr. Merseles did was a fruitful 
 suggestion for me. I decided to adopt the 
 plan, only apply it to my form of litera- 
 ture; and so the Boy Scouts not only lay 
 the foundation for better manhood in 
 themselves, but furnish that which makes 
 men great, who are not scouts, but who 
 adopt their ethical principles and apply 
 them in every day life in various lines of 
 pursuits such as business, science, litera- 
 ture, etc. 
 
 But I could not keep the speed that Mr. 
 Merseles set. His speed is the high water 
 mark of energy; and few men can endure 
 the effort and the steady drive; and, if they 
 could endure, how about their resourceful- 
 ness? If that fails, if they lack diversity 
 and creative genius, the physical endur- 
 ance is nothing, for we are not now con- 
 sidering a pugilistic contest, or a cross 
 country run. Furthermore, when you 
 forage for original, brief expressions of a 
 high order, embodying more or less truth, 
 they come not. You may find your brain a 
 
 4 
 
desert, with only now and then a fertile 
 spot in it ; and so it was that I did not pro- 
 duce this sort of literature rapidly. Some- 
 times the gems of thought would come in 
 detached and unlike clusters, in the dark, 
 still and pulseless night, after slumber had 
 given the soul its freedom and the mind 
 and body rest. Then, you can think, if you 
 ever can; and, when the spell is on, the 
 body is lost sight of and the mind almost 
 seems like a disembodied, spiritual thing 
 by itself. 
 
 About the time I began to undertake 
 to evolve, each day, one or more bits of 
 good thought and record the same, I de- 
 cided to get enough of this promiscuous 
 composition together to compile a book; 
 but, as I proceeded, I changed my form of 
 composition considerably, expanding some 
 thoughts more fully than others; and, 
 now and then, a topic grew to be an es- 
 say, still clinging, however, to the terse 
 bits of thought, widely differing in char- 
 acter and not coupled with anything else ; 
 and these are interspersed in the compila- 
 tion, to relieve the plan and break up the 
 set pattern and conventional design of 
 most books. I, also, allowed more trivial 
 composition to appear, here and there, for 
 
 5 
 
diversity; and "to break the gait of the 
 regular tread"; and produce a smile or 
 frown, as the reader plays his part. 
 
 The poetry in this book, not in quota- 
 tion, is my own. The poems with a title 
 were written before the conception of this 
 book except three — Love is Supreme; 
 Mother of Mine; and Men Are Measured 
 by Their Vision. 
 
 I did not start out to write a book. It 
 came by evolution, as above described; and 
 I have named it — Book of Meditations 
 with subheadings. 
 
 I trust those who read this work will 
 find in it some cheer and comfort, some 
 truth and vision, that will abide with and 
 benefit them. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
Nature takes back all she gives. 
 
 We are all alike, yet all different. 
 
 3 More than half of life is gone before 
 we know how to use it, and some persons 
 never know. 
 
 4 Put your soul into your business — if 
 vou have a soul. 
 
 5 Man is the only life that worries, or is 
 concerned about the hereafter. 
 
 We get what we give. 
 
 7 Don't worry — you cannot change the plans. 
 
 They're God's. You might, if they were man's. 
 
 8 Oblivion is an awful thing — much 
 
 dreaded; and yet we go there every night, 
 when we sleep soundly. 
 
 9 The mind is for our good, and yet it 
 
 may do us much ill. 
 
 10 "He, that ruleth his spirit" — his mind, 
 
 "is greater than he, that taketh a city." 
 
 11 It's a great thing to be a great physi- 
 
 cian. The greatest physicians are the 
 
 7 
 
12 
 
 13 
 
 14 
 
 15 
 16 
 
 17 
 
 18 
 
 19 
 
 20 
 
 great rural physicians. Ihe great city 
 physicians are specialists. 
 
 Look at each day as an opportunity, 
 that only comes once. 
 
 Death is like going to sleep and never 
 waking up, if there is no hereafter. 
 
 Religion does not do so much for you, 
 you have got to do most of it yourself. 
 
 Doubting, you empty your heart — get nowhere. 
 Trusting, you're strong, go forward — no despair. 
 
 Is there anything that lives, that doesn't 
 live on what is living, or has lived? (The 
 Vegetable Kingdom regarded as life.) 
 
 Man is an instinct animal; but may 
 acquire some intelligence. 
 
 Sympathy is good medicine. We 
 should use more of it. 
 
 Every normal, human life is stamped, 
 at creation, with a fixed type of individu- 
 ality, which governs that life, more or less 
 completely. 
 
 Reproduction saves the world. 
 
 21 Death is life's penalty, or conversely — 
 
 the penalty of life is death. 
 
 8 
 
22 All there is to Nature is life and death. 
 
 23 All there is to revelation is Nature. 
 
 Man is a part of Nature; and the chief 
 part of revelation. 
 
 24 If there was no man, there would be no 
 
 God, for man is the only animal that has 
 sufficient intelligence to consider God, 
 hence, God is dependent on man. 
 
 25 Religion is a poetic vision. 
 
 26 I have tried to study Nature, and "look 
 
 through Nature up to Nature's God;" and 
 that is the only God I know, as I am a part 
 of Nature. 
 
 27 Variation makes evolution possible. 
 
 28 It's action, not thoughts — it's what you 
 
 do, more than what you think, that makes 
 you great, or small, wise or foolish. 
 
 29 The past is fixed like a statue in marble 
 
 — it changes not; but the future is plastic 
 and can be shaped more or less — make it 
 more. 
 
 The past cannot be recalled. It's gone 
 for ever; but the future looms big with 
 possibilities, especially for the young. 
 
 9 
 
30 When on the high tide of prosperity, 
 
 friends are with you. When the tide turns, 
 friends turn. 
 
 31 The main question is not how much 
 
 pay; but how well I can do my work. Pay 
 follows service. 
 
 32 We only have one chance at life. Life 
 
 is nearly gone before some of us realize 
 that fact. 
 
 33 What was I created for? If different 
 
 from other men, thank God, if the differ- 
 ence is in the right direction. 
 
 34 What does education do for a man? 
 
 Much, too much to mention now, but this 
 we may say — education makes man more 
 efficient and takes him out of the class of 
 common labor. 
 
 35 God can not be defined, nor fully 
 
 known; but the All Knowing, All Wise 
 God must be an intelligent revelation, 
 must be that intelligence, which is being 
 progressively revealed in Nature and in 
 man. Progressive evolution in Nature re- 
 veals God, and progressive evolution of 
 mind reveals Him more. 
 
 10 
 
36 Of all created life, man is the most like 
 God, because he is the most intelligent. Is 
 mind independent of matter? God seems 
 to be independent of matter, and capable 
 of existence apart from matter; yet, it is 
 only through matter, the tangible, that He 
 is known to man, that He reveals himself; 
 and, unless he is revealed, He is as nothing 
 — unless he acts through mankind, he is as 
 nothing. 
 
 37 Fortune favors the brave and those 
 who do things. 
 
 38 Man either takes his religion ready- 
 made, recites the creed like a parrot, or is 
 the author of his own religion. 
 
 39 The mouth-piece of God is man. Man 
 
 is God's interpreter. Why, therefore, 
 exalt God and belittle man? 
 
 40 From birth we begin the journey to 
 "that undiscovered country'' from which 
 we never return, yet that fact does not im- 
 press us deeply, until we face death and 
 the grave. 
 
 41 Successful business demands health, 
 clear head and capital. 
 
 ll 
 
42 In business there must be a blossom 
 
 before there can be fruit. 
 
 Life. 43 Life appears in many and various styles 
 
 and forms. 
 
 Life is spectacular, dramatic, many- 
 sided, reproductive. 
 
 The law of life is reproduction. That 
 is the nature and trend of life. Now and 
 then, life is baffled and prevented, or is in- 
 capable of reproduction; but there is no 
 type of life, that continues, which is not 
 reproductive. Generations come and go, 
 hence all there is to nature, broadly speak- 
 ing, is life and death — the organic and the 
 inorganic, if we leave out the soul. 
 
 44 It masters not how far your crawl, it's 
 
 how and where you come out. 
 
 45 If you want to give a fashionable 
 
 woman a nervous shock, show her an un- 
 paid dressmaker's bill. 
 
 46 Decision is the test of judgment. 
 
 Indecision is fatal to business. 
 
 47 Creative actors and original doers are 
 
 the people that make history. 
 
 12 
 
Money. 48 How far can you go without money? 
 
 We need money at every turn, at every 
 step, in business and out of business — 
 everywhere. Before you act, count the 
 cost, and again count the cost. Economy 
 is the highest type of science nowdays. 
 
 49 If you wish to make headway in busi- 
 ness and become popular in the commu- 
 nity, don't threaten, don't antagonize, they 
 beget opposition, war, enemies and illwill; 
 but don't submerge your faith and opin- 
 ions — your individuality. Be a brave, 
 strong man, when occasion requires. 
 
 50 The Jew is a Jew all the way through. 
 He is true to type because he is a thor- 
 oughbred. 
 
 Mind. 51 If we touch God at all, it is a mental 
 
 touch. If God is mind, then we are all 
 petty-gods, when right minded. 
 
 Mind seems cold, but it is not, 
 For it embraces all we've got — 
 Spirit, soul, heart, 
 Each mental part. 
 
 The dogs may bark, the serpents hiss ; 
 But man, alone, gives God love's kiss. 
 
 52 What is prayer, but faith? We do not 
 
 pray for what we have. We pray for what 
 
 13 
 
we hope to get; and what is hope, but 
 faith? How words chase words and 
 thoughts go in circles ! We expand 
 thought in waves, which move like cir- 
 cular riplets, from a pebble dropped into 
 placid water, and they go on until they 
 break against the shore. Thought has an 
 irregular coast line, beyond which reason 
 can not go. The trouble is our thought- 
 circles soon hit the short, as they start 
 not far out. 
 
 53 A good thought is only effectual when 
 
 put into action. 
 
 A business idea is no good, if not used. 
 
 Many a thought flits through the brain, 
 That never comes to life again. 
 
 54 Boys struggle to lift themselves by 
 
 their boot-straps; but, if a man undertook 
 to do that thing, he would be a fool. 
 
 Up-lift. 55 Up-lift is rising above the common 
 
 things of earth, into that cool and clear 
 atmosphere of exalted vision. If you have 
 never had an up-lift, your soul is heavy — 
 
 it has no wings. 
 
 14 
 
Persistency. 
 56 
 
 Finance. 
 
 57 
 
 Persistency is holding on and keeping 
 at a thing until you put it over; and tact 
 will change the attack, until success it at- 
 tained. 
 
 Finance is a doleful tale, if statistics are 
 correct; and yet, finance is easy. Save 
 more than you spend and your wealth 
 grows. Make safe investments with what 
 you accumulate. Reduce hazard to small 
 proportions. Guard against chance and 
 risk — they mislead. Don't go on the hit- 
 and-miss plan, it seldom wins. Yes, 
 finance is easy, if you can play the game 
 and do it well; and there is the rub. It 
 takes experience, wise judgment, shrewd- 
 ness and efficiency, also courage, to make 
 a good financier. Few men possess all 
 these qualities. Self-denial enters largely 
 into the foundation of wealth, when in- 
 comes are small, and monopoly and vol- 
 ume are potent in big business. 
 
 "Little drops of water, little grains of sand, 
 Make the mighty ocean and the pleasant land." 
 Little bits of honey, made by many bees, 
 Little bits of seeds, from the many sheaves, 
 That's the way of finance, that's the way to grow, 
 That's the truth from nature, practice, then you'll 
 know. 
 
 When everybody gives, it is easy to 
 
 support a church, if the membership is 
 
 large. When everybody buys your prod- 
 
 15 
 
uct, business is good, and though the profit 
 on a single article is small, the gains will 
 be great, if the volume is large. 
 
 Finance is easy, yet only one man, out 
 of many, makes good. It is easier to spend 
 than to save — easier to make than to invest 
 safely. New business and gold mines al- 
 lure us. Promoters paint prospects rosy. 
 The stock market tempts us and there are 
 inducements everywhere, for men to get 
 rich quick. In the face of all this, happy 
 the man, who avoids failure. 
 
 Remember, that a bird in the hand is 
 better than one in the bush; and remember, 
 also, that the hand-bird was once a bush- 
 bird and somebody went out to hunt, made 
 the struggle, braved the difficulties and 
 bagged the bird. Pioneers in business are 
 the men, who get the bush-bird; and they 
 are the fearless, daring, creators of new 
 business. Progress and variation in busi- 
 ness begin with them; but they often fail 
 to see it through. They start business ; but 
 do not finish it. They have a view of the 
 promised land, but do not always get 
 there. They have the lure of vision. There 
 must be business pioneers; but those, who 
 come after, usually gather the harvest. 
 
 16 
 
Shave or When a man's face feels like a piece of 
 
 be Like sandpaper, he says to himself — Why did 
 
 a Goat. the Lord make me like a goat? Some men 
 
 58 never shave, and others shave daily. It is 
 better to shave than to be shaved — de- 
 frauded. A man, who shaves every day 
 and lives ninety years, I wonder how much 
 hair, in linear feet, he would lose? Enough 
 to make a rope by which to hang himself 
 and a thousand feet more — not to be exact. 
 "Every little bit makes just a little bit 
 more;" and years of this sort of accumula- 
 tion finally tell surprisingly. 
 
 Hair out-lasts bones. Hair beats all 
 other physical growth of mankind in per- 
 petuity — unless the body becomes petri- 
 fied, or mummified, then, shall we say, it is 
 everlasting, because it is preserved, trans- 
 formed, or substituted. In speaking of 
 hair, I was speaking of the real thing, not 
 of a transformation, or substitution, or 
 something canned. Hair lasts longer, un- 
 changed, than any other part of the body. 
 
 Laugh and Every time we laugh we show our 
 
 Show Your skeleton, that is, if we have teeth. What 
 Skeleton. a sad paradox ! Teeth are the only part of 
 
 59 the human skeleton exposed. It would be 
 different, if we were an elephant, or a bird. 
 The tusks and the bill are exposed without 
 
 17 
 
a laugh, they are always in evidence, as 
 part of the skeleton to which they are at- 
 tached. Keep your skeleton clean, then 
 smile. 
 
 60 
 
 The line between right and wrong, 
 Is not always clearly drawn. 
 
 Fashion. Fashion is a tyrant in disguise, a trick 
 
 61 of the trade, yet the people fall in line and 
 pay the price. 
 
 62 A line may stop, but a circle is without 
 end. 
 
 63 
 
 Mechanical construction is complex, 
 but, fundamentally, it is only a circle and a 
 line. 
 
 The 
 
 Greater 
 and the 
 Lesser 
 Journey. 
 
 64 
 
 Most people like to travel. They take 
 trips, return home and talk about it; but 
 there are many, yes, thousands of people, 
 who have never crossed the ocean, never 
 been far from home, but spend their days, 
 so to speak, in their own door-yard, in the 
 town where they were born. Surprising 
 as it may seem however, the whole human 
 race is constantly traveling, day and night, 
 year in and year out, though they are not 
 conscious of the fact. All life is on the go, 
 the hermit in his isolated lodge, patients 
 
 18 
 
on beds of sickness, the prisoner in his cell, 
 the stay-at-homes, the rich and the poor, 
 whether they sleep, or wake, wherever 
 they may be — all are incessantly traveling 
 at a high rate of speed, more than 1041 
 miles per hour, if residing in the tropics; 
 and at a somewhat less rate of speed, if 
 living in the north, or south temperate 
 zones, that is, if the theory of the solar 
 system is correct. 
 
 At the equator the earth is 25,000 miles 
 in circumference, and our globe makes one 
 complete revolution every 24 hours, or in 
 one full day. Hence, all life on the earth is 
 traveling constantly, going round and 
 round without stopping; and, in one year, 
 we travel 365 times 25,000 miles, which is 
 9,125,000 miles, if we reckon the greatest 
 distance around the earth. We travel less 
 as we go toward the poles. At the poles 
 of the earth, we would go round and round 
 like a top spinning on one point of contact, 
 which does not vary, except with the oscil- 
 lations of the earth. The people at the 
 tropics go round the earth 365 times in one 
 year. In a lifetime of, say B0 years, if spent 
 in the torrid zone, we would travel 730 
 million miles. Of course, it does not seem 
 possible. 
 
 19 
 
We think in circles, we travel in circles, 
 and even the vines, with a spiral climb, 
 have got the habit of climbing round and 
 round, from right to left, as that is the way 
 the earth goes round. 
 
 The revolution of the earth explains, in 
 part, the tides, also, the rising and the set- 
 ting sun, which, correctly speaking, does 
 not rise and set, for it is fixed in its own 
 orbit, 95,000,000 miles from the earth; and 
 its location is not so changed, but that its 
 rays and warmth play upon the earth at all 
 times, in varying degrees, according to the 
 ever varying location of the earth. 
 
 The rotation of the earth brings dawn 
 and darkness, brings the sun in view, for a 
 time, and then it goes out of sight, for only 
 one-half of the earth receives the light, 
 while the other half is turned away from 
 it, so rest and sleep, wakefulness and ac- 
 tivity correspond to these regular, alter- 
 nate changes, more or less completely. 
 
 The stay-at-homes are wonderful trav- 
 elers, the world over, if they only knew it ; 
 but what we have said about travel, thus 
 far, is only a small part of the actual travel, 
 that all life on earth does. Over and above 
 all that has been mentioned, we go 17.806+ 
 miles per second in another direction, day 
 
 20 
 
in and day out, as long as we live; and 
 after death, our bodies keep up the same 
 rate of speed. At 17.806 miles per second 
 we go 1,068.376 miles per minute, which is 
 64,102.564 miles per hour, 1,538,461.538 
 miles per day, and per year, 560,000,000 
 miles, which distance the earth travels in 
 its yearly orbit about the sun. 
 
 Don't complain about not traveling! 
 You are traveling all the time and takingall 
 your baggage and your environment with 
 you. It's a free ride. It does not cost you 
 a cent. You travel vast distances, millions 
 of miles, and because you take your house, 
 your home companions, your village, or 
 city with you, the scenery does not change. 
 It is not a sight-seeing trip, but a merry- 
 go-round on a stupendous scale, and what 
 you ride, returns with you, unless you shift 
 your starting point, or travel, more or less, 
 on your own account, at your own expense, 
 independent of what the solar system is 
 doing for you. But when you go on a 
 journey, for your-self, at your own ex- 
 pense, you are constantly taking the other 
 journey also. You simply have got to 
 take the mileage stated. There is no es- 
 cape. Dead or alive, you take it. 
 
 21 
 
Travel, God only knows we travel be- 
 yond all human understanding. Scientific 
 philosophers and astronomers are author- 
 ity on the natural travel of our earth and 
 we go with it; but, oh man, How great is 
 thy faith? Let us see. What is the total 
 mileage we make traveling in the natural 
 way? The daily trip around the earth, 
 which we will call the Lesser Journey, is 
 25,000 miles in 24 hours, which is at the 
 rate of 17.361 miles per minute. The mile- 
 age made in a day, by the earth in its orbit 
 about the sun, which we will call the 
 Greater Journey, is 1,538,461.538 miles, 
 which is at the rate of 1,068.376 miles per 
 minute. Our total mileage per minute, em- 
 bracing the rotary whirl of the earth and 
 the orbital trip, is 1,085.737 miles per min- 
 ute; or per day our total is 1,563,461.538 
 miles. The big orbital trip is over six 
 times greater and faster, than the round- 
 and-round whirl of the earth, and that is 
 25,000 miles per day, speaking in round 
 numbers. 
 
 Who believes, that we travel 1,563,461 
 miles plus, per day, and every day in the 
 year? In a lifetime of 75 years, at the 
 above rate, our total mileage, not to men- 
 tion any side trip on our own account, 
 
 22 
 
would be 42,799,759,383.75 miles. Do you 
 believe it? Figures do not lie, if scientific 
 scholars are correct in what they give us. 
 No wonder, at seventy-five years of life, 
 we begin to age and get weary. 
 
 We think we make good mileage when 
 we drive our automobile at forty, or fifty 
 miles per hour; and, if we board a train, 
 that makes 100 miles per hour, that is as 
 fast, as the most of use care to travel. We 
 call such a train a "flyer." All we can 
 count, as we go between one telegraph 
 pole and the next, at the ordinary rate of 
 counting, is four. If there was a continu- 
 ous railroad track going about the earth 
 at the equator, and we boarded a train, that 
 kept up a constant speed of a hundred 
 miles per hour, day and night, without 
 stopping, it would take us 10.416/1000 
 days, that is, nearly 10% days, to complete 
 the journey round the earth, as our speed is 
 only 2,400 miles per day of 24 hours. That 
 is over 10 times slower than the daily trip, 
 which is taken by us in the natural way, 
 and we don't know, that we are speeding, 
 we don't know, that we are going. Strange, 
 is it not? 
 
 If we drive our automobiles thirty, or 
 forty miles per hour, we create quite a 
 
 23 
 
breeze going against the air, but going 
 against the air, as we stand on the crust, 
 or surface of the earth, and speed 
 1085.737/1000 miles per minute, we are 
 not so much as fanned by a gentle zephyr. 
 Wind, that attains the velocity of sixty, or 
 more miles per minute, is termed a hurri- 
 cane, and such aerial force is destructive 
 to life and property; but the speed of the 
 earth is many times more rapid and power- 
 ful, yet we experience no blow, or resis- 
 tance from the air. How great is thy 
 faith? 
 
 The air envelops the earth, and either 
 travels along with the earth, as it speeds 
 through space, or the earth in its orbit is 
 constantly passing through a continuous 
 atmosphere, that changes not in its com- 
 position. The atmosphere of the earth is 
 more dense at the earth's surface, and be- 
 comes more rarified, as the distance in- 
 creases from the earth, until, at an altitude 
 of six or seven miles, it is so attenuated, 
 that life can not continue without prepared 
 oxygen, and only then, for a short time. 
 
 The atmosphere of our earth is loosely 
 held together. It is not a chemical com- 
 position, but a mixture of elements in a 
 
 24 
 
gassy state in the proportions best adapted 
 to life. 
 
 We pass through air easily in walking, 
 not conscious of any resistance unless a 
 breeze is on, but let us increase our speed 
 and we encounter resistance from the air, 
 which increases, as the speed increases. 
 All the speed, that man creates, is opposed 
 by the air about the earth, but great speed 
 is possible because the air is so elastic and 
 yielding. Why, therefore, should the nat- 
 ural speed of the earth, which is vastly 
 greater, be an exception, — no resistance 
 from the air? To say, that the earth takes 
 its atmosphere with it, does not explain, or 
 answer the question. 
 
 The Great and the Little Journey. 
 The bigger journey sends us forward on 
 an orbital trip of 560,000,000 miles, which 
 takes one year to complete. The lesser 
 journey is being performed at the same 
 time in a circular whirl of 25,000 miles per 
 day, for 365 days, which is as much whirl- 
 ing as is good for our health; and the total 
 mileage is the sum of the two. The lesser 
 journey amounts to 9,125,000 miles per 
 year, that is, at the rate of 25,000 miles per 
 day. The greater v journey is 560,000,000 
 miles per year. In a lifetime of seventy- 
 
 25 
 
five years, the total mileage would be 
 42,684,375,000 miles. That is going some, 
 and yet we know it not. Do you doubt, or 
 question the figures? Do you doubt the 
 theory of the solar system? 
 
 It is estimated, that 500,000 tons of 
 water drop over Niagara Falls every min- 
 ute. Hence, in a day of 24 hours, 720,000,- 
 000 tons go over the Falls, or 262,800,000 
 tons are dropped per year, by this great 
 cataract. Vast, as this tonnage is, it is only 
 an infinitesimal quantity compared with 
 the total water in the oceans of the earth. 
 Three-fourths of the earth's surface is 
 water, and there are depths in oceans, that 
 have never been sounded — too deep to 
 fathom. Water is fluid and more dense 
 and cohesive than air, but liquid seeks the 
 lowest level, hence, water fluctuates, moves 
 and is on the go. Now, this stupendous 
 bulk of water in all the oceans of the earth 
 — the Atlantic and Pacific, the Indian 
 Ocean and the Northern and Southern 
 Arctic waters, is beyond all estimation, as 
 to total weight. It is so enormous, that 
 what goes over Niagara Falls, per year, is 
 a mere drop in the bucket. Now, the earth 
 whirls at the rate of 17.361 miles per min- 
 ute; and it shoots ahead on its orbit at the 
 
 26 
 
rate of 1,068.376 miles per minute; and the 
 water clings to the globe and is not thrown 
 away from the earth, by the centrifugal 
 force, as cream is whirled out of milk by 
 a similar force active in a separator; and 
 the water does not settle from the north- 
 ern hemisphere to the southern section. It 
 sways and goes in waves, and is not dis- 
 turbed, as much by the speed of the earth, 
 as by a big storm at sea; or by the winds, 
 that drive and whip up the waters into 
 foam and huge waves, mountains high. 
 
 We are led to believe, that the vast ton- 
 nage of ocean waters, is kept in place by 
 the one force, known as gravity, or gravi- 
 tation. Think of what a mighty force 
 gravitation must be, to hold the earth's 
 tonnage of waters, which is so vast and so 
 heavy, that no figures can estimate it; and 
 the waters, that drop over Niagara Falls 
 for one year (262,800,000,000 tons), are, 
 as nothing, compared with the ocean 
 waters of the earth. Why ask us to be- 
 lieve, what is unbelievable, because incom- 
 prehensible? What a strange, mysterious 
 and mighty force is gravity, if that is the 
 only force, that keeps the great waters of 
 the earth in place. 
 
 We know something about magnetism. 
 The earth is said to be a great magnet. 
 
 27 
 
The action of magnetism is pronounced 
 on metals and it has influence on the com- 
 pass, but this force does not hold the 
 waters of the earth in place. We know 
 something about electricity. We handle 
 and direct it. Electricity is positive and 
 negative in its action, and is used for heat 
 and light and power; but it does not act 
 on all sorts of material. For example, it 
 will not act on glass, or rubber, as both 
 are non-conductors. Electricity does not 
 keep the waters of the earth in place. 
 
 Gravity, — what is it? We do not 
 know. It is a force of some kind; we can 
 not account for it. Of all forces, gravity 
 is by far the most mysterious and the most 
 mighty, if it alone holds the vast tonnage 
 of ocean waters in place. Does it? 
 
 We are told that three-fourths of the 
 earth's surface is water; and all waters be- 
 long to and are a part of the earth; but, if 
 it were possible to separate all the ocean 
 waters from the land, or solid portions of 
 the earth, the earth would-not be a sphere, 
 but an irregular mass with very deep cav- 
 erns, or valleys, cutting into its surface; and 
 the size and the weight of the earth would 
 be very much reduced. Scientific scholars 
 tell us, that the land (solid portion) of the 
 
 28 
 
earth, has a density more than five times 
 that of water, but the weight of the earth 
 must be much less than the weight of the 
 waters of the earth, because of the exces- 
 sive preponderance of water, which is 
 known by its surface and not always by its 
 depth. 
 
 When oil, or gas wells, begin to empty 
 out, and sometimes before this occurs, salt 
 water enters those subterranean cavities; 
 and where does the salt water come from, 
 if not from the ocean? Vast and many 
 cavities of the earth are stored with gas, 
 or oil, and along with this, let us add, that 
 the interior of the earth is in a molten 
 state, if scientific information is correct; 
 and volcanoes are the vent holes of this 
 great interior liquid - fire. Hence, the 
 oceans, are the fluid outside of the earth, 
 and, the liquid-fire, the fluid on the inside 
 of the earth, now the crust of the earth is 
 only twenty-five, or fifty miles thick, then, 
 without doubt, the most of what consti- 
 tutes the earth, as we find it, is in a fluid 
 state; and the solid portion, or crust of the 
 earth, is a small part of it, as the earth is 
 about 8000 miles in diameter. 
 
 Gravity is not in the water about the 
 earth, hence, the center of gravity, or more 
 
 29 
 
correctly speaking, gravitation must be 
 centered else-where in the interior of the 
 earth. The diameter of the liquid interior 
 of the earth, is far greater than the solid, 
 or crust portions of the earth. The fluid 
 diameter of the earth, taking the fluid 
 outside and inside, must constitute about 
 seven-eighths of the diameter — if scholars 
 state the truth. Do they? Now, if gravi- 
 tation is not seated, or centered, in the 
 interior fluid portion of the earth, then it 
 must be centered in the solid portion, or 
 crust of the earth, which is the egg-shell 
 portion, if we regard the earth as a mon- 
 ster tgg, with plenty of deep water cling- 
 ing to its surface, as it whirls in space at 
 the rate of 1,041 66/100 miles per hour. 
 
 The law of gravitation is directly as 
 the mass, or density, and inversely as the 
 square of the distance, hence, its center, 
 must be in — what? God only knows. 
 
 The pressure, or gravitation of the air 
 at the earth's surface, is fifteen pounds per 
 square inch. That is a heavy weight, and 
 life on the earth gets that pressure. A 
 man on his back, with limbs extended, 
 gets this pressure all over the upper sur- 
 face of his body; but say we only reckon 
 
 30 
 
one square foot of pressure on his chest, 
 that would be 2160 pounds. Now, a like 
 pressure, or weight on his abdomen, 
 would be another 2160 pounds, or a total 
 weight of 4320 pounds on only two square 
 feet of his body, whereas, the total weight 
 of air on his entire body would be very 
 much greater. Yet he is not uncomfort- 
 able; and rises to his feet without con- 
 scious resistance and with perfect ease. 
 But, if two square feet of his body was 
 actually loaded with a weight of 4320 
 pounds, how about his life? Would he 
 not be crushed? 
 
 Philosophers tell us, that we are not 
 made uncomfortable by atmospheric pres- 
 sure of fifteen pounds to every square 
 inch, because we get it equally on all sides. 
 So much the worse, for pressure all around 
 is very great on the entire surface of the 
 body; but, with only two square feet of 
 pressure in front of the body, and a like 
 pressure in the rear, we are being pressed 
 both ways by 2160pounds. That pressure, 
 in a vise, would kill a man; but, in the air, 
 it is like the weight of a feather. Do scien- 
 tific men tell us the truth? Against a vac- 
 uum, the air may press fifteen pounds to 
 the square inch, but elsewhere — doubted. 
 
 31 
 
Take another illustration; a house 
 with a flat roof fifty by one hundred feet. 
 If every inch of that roof has air-weight of 
 fifteen pounds, then the total weight of 
 air on that roof is 720,000 pounds, yet the 
 architects and builders ignore that weight 
 — give it no consideration. Why? Because 
 it does not exist. It is false. If it was a 
 fact, they would have to deal with.it. 
 
 Again, heated air rises. Does gravita- 
 tion let go its grip on heated air? It seems 
 so, yet the explanation is, that the cold air, 
 being heavier, rushes in to take the place 
 of the heated air, and it is forced up, hence 
 we get circulation of air. At the equator, 
 air ascends; at the arctic regions of the 
 earth, air descends. In the temperate zones 
 of the earth, during the summer months, 
 gravitation's grip on the air is less; and 
 during the winter months it is more; and 
 so the air is in a constant state of unrest — 
 and the winds do blow, as we all know. 
 
 But we are traveling all the time and at 
 great speed. The earth goes round, from 
 west to east; and, if we start on a journey 
 on our own account, we either walk, go 
 horseback, or by coach, rail, or boat, the 
 trolley line, or the flying machine. The 
 last beats the railroad, beats all known 
 
 32 
 
methods of travel invented by man for 
 speed. 
 
 In a recent long distance test of air- 
 ships, the flight from Mineola, near New 
 York City, to San Francisco and return, 
 a distance of 5402 miles, was made in 54 
 hours, 1 minute, 36 seconds, which was the 
 actual flying time. Half of the round trip 
 — 2701 miles, or the distance one way, if 
 averaged, required 27 hours, 48 seconds. 
 That is great speed, but far short of the 
 speed of the earth. The maximum speed 
 of the airship was three miles in one min- 
 ute, or 180 miles per hour, but the earth, 
 in its lesser journey, makes 1041 66/100 
 miles per hour, and, in its greater journey, 
 the speed is greater. 
 
 We look to the air machine to prove, 
 or disprove, the greater and lesser jour- 
 neys of the earth. If it be true, that when 
 the airplane leaves the surface of the 
 earth, it becomes detached from the earth, 
 overcomes gravitation and can be driven 
 north or south, east or west, independent 
 of the motion of the earth, then it should 
 be a more, or less, accurate test of the 
 earth's motion. For example, in the recent 
 transcontinental trip referred to, the jour- 
 ney of the flying machine west, counting 
 
 33 
 
the actual flying time while in the air, 
 should have been less than the actual fly- 
 ing time on the return trip east, because 
 the speed of the earth, on its axis, its lesser 
 journey, is from west to east, moving oppo- 
 site, or toward, the flying machine going 
 west. That is, San Francisco comes to- 
 ward the flying machine, and the flying 
 machine moves west toward San Francis- 
 co; but the actual flying time west was 
 more than the actual flying time east. The 
 reverse would have been true, if our theo- 
 ries are true concerning the daily rotation 
 of the earth. And it would, also, have been 
 true, that the trip eastward with the flying 
 machine would require more time in the 
 air than the trip west, as the speed of the 
 earth and the speed of the flyer were now 
 moving in the same direction; but the facts 
 are, that the trip east was made in less time 
 than the trip west. How could it happen, 
 unless the daily rotation of the earth fa- 
 vored the trip of the machine by the rota- 
 tion on the last flying day coming round 
 in a way to lessen the distance? The fly- 
 ers say the winds favored their trip east 
 and did not favor their trip west, and that 
 made the difference in actual flying time 
 west and east. Winds may favor and 
 
 34 
 
winds oppose the flight of flying machines; 
 but, nevertheless, if an air machine when 
 flying in the air, is detached from the earth 
 and has overcome gravitation, the speed 
 west, toward a fixed point on the surface 
 of the earth, should be reached in less time 
 because, that point is rapidly moving to- 
 ward the machine; and, when the fixed 
 point and the machine are moving in the 
 reverse order, that is, in the same direc- 
 tion, the speed of the rotating earth being 
 so much greater than the speed of the ma- 
 chine, the machine could not keep up with 
 the revolving earth; and therefore, the 
 machine traveling east would not reach 
 any point on the earth's surface east of the 
 starting point of the machine, until that 
 point, going round with the earth, finally 
 overtook the flying machine coming to it 
 from the rear. Now, this is what would 
 actually take place, if the machine is inde- 
 pendent of gravitation and has motion 
 and speed of its own; and, if the rotation 
 of the earth from west to east has a speed 
 of 1041 miles per hour, while the flying 
 machine has never been able to sustain a 
 speed of more than 190 miles per hour.* 
 
 * Said Lecointe, French Aviator, recently broke the 
 world's record with a sustained speed of 190 miles per 
 hours. 
 
 35 
 
Again, if it be true, that the earth is 
 speeding from west to east, turning on its 
 axis over 17 miles per minute, whirling 
 like a huge merry-go-round, then why 
 travel with a flying machine westward to 
 reach San Francisco? Why not go up in 
 the air and wait for a short time, and San 
 Francisco will come round; and then the 
 machine can drop down on that city when 
 its passing. The time necessary to wait 
 in the air would be less than 3 hours. If 
 the earth goes round, San Francisco goes 
 round every 24 hours, that is, completes 
 the revolution of the earth's cycle; but, 
 facts are not in accord with theory. Who 
 has erred? 
 
 Again, if the flying machine is free of 
 gravitation while speeding in the air, then, 
 when altitude records are made, such as 
 was made recently by Major Rudolph 
 Schroeder, when he reached an altitude of 
 36,130 feet, or 6 84/100 miles plus, at the 
 McCook Experimental Field, Dayton, O., 
 and broke all previous altitude records — 
 the earth going on its greater, or orbital 
 journey at 64,102 56/100 miles per hour, 
 would have run away from him, and he 
 would never have gotten back to tell what 
 
 36 
 
did happen; but he came back much faster 
 than he went up. 
 
 The climb, to that high altitude, took 
 Major Schroeder 110 minutes, or 1 5/6 
 hours ;* and the earth went forward on its 
 greater journey, in that time, 117,520 
 miles plus, if it went with the speed we 
 are told it goes; and, when he dropped, he 
 came down in 2 1/12 minutes; and the 
 earth was under him, notwithstanding it 
 had gone forward 2226+ miles more dur- 
 ing the drop. In other words, if the earth 
 actually made 117,520 miles, while Major 
 Schroeder was climbing in the air, then, 
 that would be his distance from the earth, 
 or altitude obtained while in the air with- 
 out flying for it; but the altitude actually 
 recorded was 6 and 84/100 miles plus. 
 How about the greater journey, or was 
 the earth taking him along, while he was 
 climbing less than 7 miles? Theories and 
 facts do not conform. 
 
 The speed of the earth forward on its 
 greater journey, as given us, is 1068 
 56/100 miles plus per minute; but Major 
 
 * Clarence Coombs made new world record in 
 ascent climbing 6000 feet in 8 minutes with 3 passengers 
 at Hazelhurst Field, Long Island, N. Y., early part of 
 May, 1920. The record was on the speed of ascent, 
 not on the altitude; and the speed averaged 750/5250, or 
 1/7 of a mile per minute. 
 
 37 
 
Schroeder, by shutting off his engine at 
 the high point in his climb, dropped 6 
 84/100 miles plus, in two minutes and five 
 seconds, and came back to earth. The 
 rapid drop to earth was the speed of grav- 
 ity in his case. Now, that speed must be 
 equal to, or greater than the speed of the 
 earth, in order to keep up with it and land 
 on earth. The facts are, however, that the 
 speed of the drop was far short of the 
 speed of the earth. To prove it, say that 
 the Major dropped 7 miles in 2 minutes. 
 That would be a drop of Zy 2 miles per min- 
 ute, but the earth in one minute goes for- 
 ward 1068 miles plus, hence the speed of 
 gravity is exceedingly slow, compared to 
 the speed of the earth on its greater jour- 
 ney, and the wonder is how altitude flyers 
 ever get back. The speed of gravity in 
 Major Schroeder's case is a fact; but the 
 speed of the earth, as given, is that a fact? 
 
 Had Major Schroeder's machine been 
 a feather; and had the Major been as 
 small as a flea, he would still be in the 
 air, going where, oh where? For the speed 
 of gravity earthward (that's the only way 
 it acts, and the only force, that brings 
 down what goes up), in the case of a 
 feather, would be weak and slow; but the 
 
 38 
 
scientific world must hereafter consider 
 and deal with the speed of gravitation, 
 when that speed is known and becomes a 
 fact, varying with the weight of the ma- 
 chine and distance from the earth, of 
 course. 
 
 Gravity was in his favor coming back; 
 but he overcame gravity, as long as he 
 directed his machine upward. When once 
 on this earth, the conditions are such, and 
 the law of gravitation is such, that there 
 is no known way of leaving it, dead or 
 alive, hence, altitude flyers come back; 
 but while they can not get beyond the 
 reach of gravity, that does not prove, that 
 the air machine does not overcome gravi- 
 tation, when it rises from the earth's sur- 
 face, otherwise, it could not rise; and grav- 
 itation does not prevent the machine mov- 
 ing, more or less, indepedent of the earth. 
 The atmosphere is confined to the earth; 
 and the machine is confined to the atmos- 
 phere; but it has freedom, force and di- 
 rection, in its confinement; and moves 
 freely through the air and is not carried 
 forward, or whirled, while in the air, as 
 fast as the earth speeds forward on its 
 orbit, or is whirled on its axis, hence, fly- 
 ers are either carried along with the earth 
 
 39 
 
on its rapid journey forward, or the earth 
 does not make the great journey. If that 
 is not true, then the machine is not de- 
 tached from the earth, when in the air; 
 and has no freedom of its own. What is 
 the truth? 
 
 Furthermore, if the earth rotates on 
 its axis 1041 miles per hour plus; and a 
 flying machine is free of the earth while 
 moving in the air, how did it happen, that 
 Major Schroeder came down 40 miles east 
 of where he went up? The wind did it; 
 but you would expect him to come down 
 in Chicago, Denver, the Rocky Mountains, 
 or somewhere considerably west of the 
 point where he went up, wind, or no wind, 
 for the earth is turning eastward rapidly, 
 according to the best scientific informa- 
 tion given us. Now, what is the trouble 
 with all these facts, they don't agree? 
 When a flying machine is in the air, it's 
 either independent of the earth, or it is 
 not. If not, then it whirls with the earth 
 while in the air, the same as it goes with 
 the earth while on the ground; and, in that 
 case, if up at a high altitude, would come 
 down again about where it started from, 
 unless directed and driven away from that 
 point; but, if it can be directed and driven 
 
 40 
 
one way, or another from the starting 
 point on the earth, it is independent of the 
 earth; and the earth, making its speed one 
 way and the machine making its speed the 
 other way, or going the same way, then, 
 those records should not be contradictory, 
 but they are. Facts and theory disagree. 
 
 It's time the philosophers, and scien- 
 tific men got busy once more and explain 
 away contradictions and establish the 
 truth. Will the flying machine help us any 
 in solving these problems? If not, why 
 not? 
 
 When a flying machine mounts up into 
 the air, say at Buffalo, N. Y., and is de- 
 tached from the earth's surface and over- 
 comes the inertia, which it had at the time 
 it began its flight, namely, the speed of the 
 earth whirling from West to East on its 
 axis, which inertia should not last long, 
 if the machine flies in the opposite direc- 
 tion — westward, then it is making mileage 
 on its own account, and is no longer car- 
 ried eastward in the direction the earth 
 is turning. Hence its mileage should re- 
 duce the time required to reach any fixed 
 point west of Buffalo, say Chicago, for 
 Chicago is coming east at the rate of 1041 
 miles per hour and the machine is going 
 
 41 
 
west at the rate of, say 180 miles per hour, 
 so in less than y 2 an hour, the machine 
 would reach Chicago, for the distance is 
 only 540 miles by rail. 
 
 One of the two things must be true, 
 either the earth does not rotate, or the air 
 machine, while flying, rotates with the 
 earth like a fixed thing — like a tree rooted 
 in the earth. If the latter be true, flying 
 is not a separate act, or speed by itself; but 
 an act and a speed in conjunction and in 
 conformity to the rotating speed of the 
 earth. On the other hand, if flying is an 
 independent act, not hampered and con- 
 trolled by earthly influences, then, when the 
 machine breaks the spell of gravity and goes 
 into the yielding and elastic air and exer- 
 cises free motion and speed of its own, it 
 brings discredit and doubt on the theory 
 of the daily complete revolution of the 
 earth, and all on board and attached to the 
 earth. For, if the earth daily rotates at a 
 speed of 1041 miles plus, per hour, San 
 Francisco is coming east, for a period of 
 12 hours; and then going west, for a period 
 of 12 hours, to its starting point, or place 
 of beginning; and it is constantly occupy- 
 ing a different place in the orbit of the 
 little journey, day and night and all the 
 
 42 
 
time; and the same is true of all other 
 places on the earth's surface except the 
 geographical poles. As we near the said 
 poles, each way — north and south, the 
 orbit grows less, the greatest orbit being 
 at the equator. Now, with all this travel- 
 ing of cities, why could not men in the 
 flying machine wait for their coming, or 
 go out to meet the cities and towns as they 
 come round? Why travel to San Fran- 
 cisco, if San Francisco is coming to you, 
 when in the air flying? And, if it don't 
 come round, then the earth does not re- 
 volve, or the air machine travels in the 
 same direction as the earth is rotating, as 
 though attached to it, and never getting 
 any nearer to San Francisco, than San 
 Francisco gets to the machine — like two 
 fixed cities located on the earth's surface 
 at distant points. But that is not true of 
 the air-machine, when flying, so that, things 
 and facts and theories do not harmonize; 
 and scholars seem not to have gotten at the 
 truth, as yet; or, in effect, is the trackless 
 air to the flying machine, what the rail- 
 road track is to the railroad? We go from 
 point to point at the same time the whole 
 earth rotates, which, with flyers, is due to 
 the air rotating with the earth, and the ma- 
 
 43 
 
chine rotating with the air. Traveling the 
 air is not like traveling a railroad track, so 
 this assumption is not sound. 
 
 The whirling of the earth on its axis 
 would change the points of the compass. 
 It would not change the direction of the 
 needle, which always points to the north, 
 varying, of course, with the variation of 
 the magnetic pole and the side of the earth 
 on which the compass is located and the 
 nearness to the pole; but, if west was west 
 by day, it would not be west at night ; and 
 east, if east by day, would be west at night, 
 if east and west are a fixed direction in 
 space. To illustrate, place a miniature 
 man standing on a globe at the equator 
 facing north, with left hand pointing west 
 and right hand pointing east. That posi- 
 tion of the man by day, would be the oppo- 
 site by night — the right hand would point 
 west and the left, east; yet mariners ex- 
 perience no difficulties in keeping direc- 
 tions in the waters on either side of the 
 earth. Hence, east and west are not fixed 
 points in space, but constantly changing 
 in direction, or the earth does not revolve. 
 
 The compass has no celestial aspira- 
 tions, so to speak, but its longings, desires 
 inclinations and aspirations are all earth- 
 
 44 
 
ward, I take it, hence, it's up to altitude 
 flyers, to take up with them a compass, 
 that is free to dip, or turn this way and 
 that; and test what the compass will do in 
 high altitudes. Can an altitude flyer go be- 
 yond the influence of earth's magnetism? 
 He has not been able, thus far, to go be- 
 yond the reach of gravitation. Does mag- 
 netism extend as far from earth as grav- 
 itation? Are they the same? 
 
 If a compass is free to dip ; and an alti- 
 tude flyer goes up at the north pole, with 
 such a compass on board, it should stand 
 on its head with its tail up; but, if the 
 same flyer went up, that is down, at the 
 south pole to an equal height, then the 
 compass, I assume, would point in the re- 
 verse order — the point up and the tail 
 down. And, furthermore, if flyers could 
 soar beyond the magnetic influence of the 
 earth, the compass would be useless; and 
 useless in directing a flyers course, when 
 it stands on end. 
 
 An altitude flyer at the North Pole, in 
 climbing the air, would go up, and when 
 he came down, he would come down; but 
 an altitude flyer at the south pole, when he 
 went up, would go down, and when he 
 went down, would go up, that is, if the 
 
 45 
 
earth is a sphere and it does not run away 
 from him in speeding forward. Up, at the 
 south pole, is the reverse of up at the north 
 pole. 
 
 Another test of the speeding of the 
 earth on its greater and lesser journeys, 
 which has not been thoroughly tested out, 
 so far as I know, is the use of long range 
 guns, which can send a missile very much 
 higher than any altitude flyer can go. The 
 big Bertha, which the Germans used to 
 fire on Paris had a range of 70, or 75 miles. 
 The projectile of that, or similar gun, was 
 19 inches long and weighed 264 pounds. 
 Some of these big guns weighed 318,000 
 pounds. Now, any long and powerful gun, 
 that would send a projectile 24 to 50, or 
 more miles high in the air, if directed up- 
 ward in a vertical line, say in the north 
 temperate zone, or at the equator, would 
 give a reliable test as to speeding, or no 
 speeding, of the earth. If the earth did not 
 speed on its axis, the projectile would 
 come down about where it went up; but, 
 if the earth did speed on its axis at 1040 
 miles per hour, the projectile would drop 
 many miles east, or west, of where it went 
 up. It would be west, if west on the dial of 
 
 46 
 
the compass was on the left hand side of 
 a man standing at the base of the needle, 
 when the needle was over the north point 
 on the dial. 
 
 Furthermore, the projectile would not 
 return to earth, if the earth is actually 
 speeding forward on its yearly orbit at 
 the rate of 64,102 56/100 miles per hour, 
 unless the gravitation speed of the falling 
 projectile was equal to, or more than the 
 speed of the earth forward; and we know, 
 that the gravity speed of a projectile, that 
 might weigh anywhere from 50 to 300 
 pounds, would be much less than the grav- 
 ity speed of a falling flying machine, which 
 weighs several times more than that. The 
 projectile used for making the test sug- 
 gested, should be one, that would not ex- 
 plode and go to pieces, but return, as a 
 whole, or in part, as it went up. 
 
 Of late there has been some theorizing 
 and assumption, that a projectile could be 
 constructed with a series of explosive 
 cavities, which would boost it to the 
 moon (238,840 miles from the earth) after 
 the first send off; but we await results. 
 
 We leave The Greater and The Lesser 
 Journey to the fair minded reader to 
 ponder and decide, as to the logic and the 
 
 47 
 
No Love 
 Without 
 Duality. 
 
 65 
 
 Soul-Mind 
 of God. 
 
 67 
 
 Abraham 
 Lincoln. 
 
 68 
 
 facts, believing, that we have at least un- 
 settled the accepted theories; and punched 
 some holes in the scientific teachings of 
 the present day. 
 
 Love precedes life; and love makes life 
 worth living. Without duality there could 
 be no love. You cannot love unless there 
 is something to love; and that something 
 is another life. 
 
 55 If God was not disembodied, He would 
 
 not be God; but He puts himself into vis- 
 ible life in every direction. 
 
 Nature is not under a curse. Nature is 
 the soul-mind of God; and speaks through 
 the soul-mind of man. 
 
 A dual life on earth hath man, 
 Which nature holds, for a brief span ; 
 And then, it goes beyond this earth, 
 For the soul has immortal birth. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln* (1808-65)— Honest 
 Abe, the friend of humanity, the most 
 loved of all men, by the common people, 
 and everybody now, we trust. 
 
 He stood alone, strong, noble, brave, 
 steadfast in purpose, with malice toward 
 none, like a seer, who had vision of a united 
 
 * Wednesday, February 12, 1920 — 55 years de- 
 ceased. The first President of the United States that 
 I remember. 
 
 48 
 
people to follow civil war between a di- 
 vided brotherhood and nation. 
 
 He lived a life of stern reality, from 
 start to finish. Struggle followed strug- 
 gle, achievement after achievement. The 
 man forged out of Nature with a soul, that 
 only God could give, to meet the crises of 
 the time in which he lived. His life is a 
 gospel lived, which can never die. 
 
 Who can behold his character without 
 tears in their eyes and devotion in their 
 heart? 
 
 69 All the good mental traits in man are 
 
 found in God. 
 
 70 Mind is the source of character. 
 
 71 The word variation is written over all 
 
 creation. 
 
 72 Without some kind of duality, some- 
 
 where, there can not be life anywhere. 
 
 73 Thought is the function of the soul- 
 
 soul-mind. 
 
 74 The chief objection to a rooming house 
 
 is, that roomers start rumors, that are not 
 boomers, but doomers of the business. 
 
 49 
 
Conform- By far the great majority of men and 
 
 ers and women are conformers, not reformers. 
 
 Reformers. The reformers are few and far between; 
 
 75 and reformers are, also, transformers and 
 originators. 
 
 Center of I do not know, but I believe, that the 
 
 Thought center of thought and the center of sleep 
 and Sleep. are one and the same center in the brain, 
 
 76 or closely related; and the ultimate and 
 final center of vision is not remote, but 
 near-by. 
 
 Were it not Some lives are run more by instinct 
 
 for Instinct than by reason. 
 
 We Would We would all be good, except the de- 
 
 All be praved and vicious born, were it not for 
 
 instinct, which is at variance with the kind 
 
 77 of civilization and moral status we have. 
 
 The man, who has established craving 
 for intoxicating liquor, has established an 
 artificial instinct in himself, caused by tis- 
 sue changes, which the drug produces. In- 
 stinct, artificial or natural, is organic and 
 histological. It's seat is in the anitomical 
 man and not in the soul. The soul is 
 often weaker than instinct, or may be- 
 come so, by degeneration and depravity. 
 When an artificial instinct is established, 
 that person needs help, for he seldom has 
 
 50 
 
78 
 
 sufficient will power to break it himself; 
 and will go down. The natural instincts 
 are persistent enough, but the artificial, or 
 acquired instincts, are more so. 
 
 Trivial things may be great in influ- 
 ence. 
 
 Bread 
 Requires 
 
 Three 
 Lives. 
 
 79 
 
 It takes three lives to make a loaf of 
 bread. The germ life, or seeds of the 
 wheat, furnish the flour; the yeast plant is 
 the life of the yeast; and then there is the 
 soul-life of the cook. The first two would 
 accomplish nothing without the third. 
 
 Thought Creation of the universe was not spon- 
 
 Precedes taneous, accidental or by chance. Thought 
 
 Creation. precedes action, thought precedes crea- 
 
 80 tion. All nature is evidence, and so is man. 
 
 Love 
 Requires 
 No In- 
 structions. 
 81 
 
 There is no one thing more productive 
 of good and evil in the world, than love. 
 
 Our colleges and universities teach 
 most everything; but there is no chair on 
 love. Love requires no instruction. You 
 can't educate instinct; and the great uni- 
 versal instinct is love. To give instruction 
 in love would be as foolish, as to undertake 
 to teach a man the way to his mouth. 
 There is instinct love and soul love. In 
 most human lives the two are blended. 
 
 51 
 
Great and 
 the Near 
 Great. 
 
 82 
 
 Greatness has its stress and strain, 
 Its tides, its glory and its wane. 
 
 The Near Great — 
 
 A step would make them great; 
 And that step is their fate — 
 
 because they can't take it. The way is 
 not clear. Something opposes. The oppor- 
 tunity comes not. They lack the courage, 
 the initiative, sufficient following, re- 
 sources, financial or otherwise — some- 
 thing prevents, that one, last step. 
 
 Advice to 
 Young 
 Ladies with 
 a Cold. 
 
 83 
 
 Advice to young ladies in love, that 
 have a cold. Accept only sanitary kisses. 
 Lovers are restricted and only allowed to 
 
 Whisper in your ear, 
 Kiss the cheek, that's near, 
 Forego the wet nose, 
 And lips like the rose. 
 
 Isn't that enough? 
 
 Why pass your cold along 
 To the whole family throng? 
 
 Love is contagious and begets con- 
 tagion. 
 
 Spirits — The best side of humanity is Godlike. 
 
 Dual The worst side, reveals the evil Spirit. 
 
 Opposite. There are two spirits, dual opposite spirits 
 
 84 — good and bad. 
 
 52 
 
We Know There are more unsolved problems in 
 
 and We science, than in religion. We meet the un- 
 
 Don't known at every turn. We don't know 
 
 Know. what electricity is. We don't know what 
 
 The Great- magnetism is. We don't know what grav- 
 nessofOur itation is. We don't know what light is, 
 Ignorance, nor the make-up of the sun. There is so 
 85 much about air, and the ether of space, 
 that is not understood. We do not under- 
 stand the germination of seeds, nor the 
 origin of infinitesimal life everywhere. In 
 fact, there is very little, that we know from 
 start to finish, and can fully account for. 
 What we really know is only one drop in 
 the bucket, compared to what we do not 
 know; and that greatly over-states our 
 knowledge. No wonder we thirst for 
 knowledge; but we must have a knowl- 
 edge of our lack of knowledge, in order to 
 thirst for knowledge. The man, who is 
 educated up to his ignorance, is well edu- 
 cated. 
 
 Instinct If man did not have as much instinct 
 
 as a spider, a beaver, or a crow, though 
 86 different, he would be a physical and a so- 
 cial failure, to say nothing about other 
 possible attainments. 
 
 53 
 
Life — Visi- 
 ble and 
 Invisible. 
 87 
 
 Invisible life far out-numbers visible 
 life. If invisible life should suddenly be- 
 come visible, the people of the earth would 
 all run and hide, faint away, or suffer 
 nervous prostration. 
 
 If each individual of the entire invis- 
 ible world, became as large as a cat, there 
 would be nothing left for the visible world 
 to eat, for the invisible world would over- 
 populate the visible world. Consider the 
 ravages of only one specie of visible life, 
 the Warrior Ant of Africa, when it turns 
 out in full force to take the life out of 
 everything in its course, even that of ele- 
 phants and men. How fortunate, that in- 
 visible life, being so great in numbers, is 
 so small in size. 
 
 There is more or less exchange going 
 on in life, constantly, that is, the visible 
 only remains visible, for a short time, and 
 then becomes invisible; and the invisible, 
 life, some of it, only remains invisible for 
 a short time, and then becomes visible; 
 and so life is always passing each way, 
 over the boundary line between the visible 
 and the invisible worlds; only the invisible 
 world; at any one time, far exceeds the 
 visible world, for there are vast millions 
 of various and unlike microscopical forms 
 
 54 
 
Know 
 Thyself. 
 
 89 
 
 of life, that never cross over into the vis- 
 ible, as visible life, except as seen under the 
 microscope, yet, they are essential and 
 necessary, directly or indirectly, to the life 
 and growth of plants and to the life of 
 man and animals. It is also true, that in- 
 visible, bacterial life, destroys visible life, 
 and some types of invisible life are more 
 deadly to mankind, than the fierce and 
 deadly wars of nations. The flu, for ex- 
 ample; and so it is, that invisible life is 
 good and bad, just as we are. 
 
 88 People, who make a success in the 
 
 world, on their own account, know the 
 meaning of service and self-denial. 
 
 "Know thyself" — not an easy ac- 
 quaintance. Analyze thyself — difficult job. 
 Why continue blind to thine own faults, 
 as most of us do? Be as critical with your- 
 self, as with those with whom you come 
 in contact — good advice; but difficult to 
 practice. 
 
 Abundance Between too little and too much, there 
 
 is Found. is abundance — a good deal, enough for all ; 
 90 but you must get it while the picking is 
 good. 
 
 55 
 
Ultimate 
 Founda- 
 tions do 
 not Exist. 
 91 
 
 92 
 
 Light — 
 
 Influence 
 
 of. 
 
 93 
 
 Preachers 
 and 
 
 Teachers. 
 94 
 
 That which is your foundation — the 
 earth, has no foundation. It moves con- 
 stantly in unseen, ethereal space. Ulti- 
 mate foundations do not exist, that is, if 
 our present day, scientific knowledge is 
 correct. 
 
 "It doesn't matter" is no matter; but 
 no matter is often much matter. 
 
 House plants are ever turning toward 
 the light. They have no brains, but they 
 seem to know, that their life depends on 
 the light, and that they can not thrive 
 without it. What a lesson, in a few words, 
 is here embodied for mankind. Light for 
 humanity, in mind and for the body, will 
 do as much — strengthen and preserve us, 
 make us healthy and wise. 
 
 Preachers and teachers are under-paid. 
 Do the American people fail to grasp the 
 importance of education and religion? 
 There is a shortage of 300,000 competent 
 teachers in our nation at the present time 
 — January 1920. Remedy — more up to 
 date practical piety, sobriety, variety, re- 
 liety, headed by good business sense and 
 efficiency with the conviction, that relig- 
 
 56 
 
ion and education are the foundation of 
 manhood and brotherhood. 
 
 The religion should be of a kind, that 
 is useful every day in the week, and not 
 for one day in seven. Its gaze should be 
 forward and progressive; not backward 
 and statical, i. e., sternly and rigidly fixed 
 for all time. 
 
 The education should be of a practical 
 and experimental sort, based on truth and 
 facts, also, liberal and broad. 
 
 Thirty Protestant Churches join — 
 Friday, Feb. 6, 1920— the union of "United 
 Churches of Christ in America, for the 
 furtherance of the redemptive work of 
 Christ in the world." We wish them great 
 results for good. 
 
 And the Protestant Churches are, also, 
 planning to raise this year (1920) a big 
 fund, a generous amount, over $1,000,000,- 
 000 to finance their campaign, for moral 
 and religious betterment of mankind now 
 on earth. 
 
 That looks like business. The churches 
 are reforming, conforming and pulling to- 
 gether, for one common, great cause. The 
 world is much in need of goodness. The 
 old devil, we heard about so many years 
 ago, seems to have come to earth again. 
 
 57 
 
Unknown 
 — How to 
 Find. 
 
 95 
 
 96 
 
 97 
 
 Death 
 for Life. 
 
 98 
 
 Faith 
 Cures. 
 
 99 
 
 We don't work from the unknown to 
 the known. We always work from the 
 known to the unknown. That's how we 
 find the X in algebra; and that is the way 
 we find the X (the unknown) everywhere. 
 
 Every birth means a death, sooner or 
 later. 
 
 Blessed is the man, that can give and take, 
 For self alone ; no, for his comrade's sake. 
 
 We can endure a bit, if a good sport, 
 
 We gather more, if we don't play too short. 
 
 We must live to die, and we must die 
 to live. 
 
 The blossom lives; but it dies for the 
 fruit, the fruit lives; but it dies for the 
 seed; and the seed dies and gives back the 
 life again. 
 
 We have in our midst a so-called 
 healer, from London, England, who is in- 
 dorsed by the Episcopal clergymen of our 
 city, and he holds meetings in the St. 
 Paul's Church daily. His coming was her- 
 alded by the press. The lame, the blind 
 and the chronically ill, that medical skill 
 had not cured, were invited to visit him. 
 
 58 
 
This is his first week in town ; and afflicted 
 humanity have rushed to see him. The 
 police are in charge of the church to main- 
 tain order. 
 
 The healer uses no visible means of 
 cure. Medicines, massage, baths, electrici- 
 ty, exercise, diet — all that's practiced in 
 the art of healing, is ignored, and only 
 silent prayer is offered in behalf of those, 
 who get under his spell. He believes in 
 Christ, as the Saviour of the world, physi- 
 cally, as well as spiritually. That Christ 
 can restore health to morbid and diseased 
 anatomy now, as in the past, in answer to 
 prayer — if the suffering one has sufficient 
 faith in Christ — or the medium — the 
 healer. 
 
 This man of prayer and faith affirms, 
 that he is not in line with Mrs. Eddy, for 
 Mrs. Eddy was not in accord with Christ 
 in healing the sick. Christian Science 
 holds, that the spirit — the immortal mind 
 is everything, the body is not real — there 
 is no nerves or pain, no flesh or organs in 
 mankind to get out of order; and ill health, 
 is morbid mind. Set the mind right, then 
 all else will be healthy and normal. Per- 
 haps we misunderstand Mrs. Eddy, as 
 she is not clear. We quote from Science 
 
 59 
 
and Health — "The truths of immortal 
 mind sustain man; and they annihilate the 
 fables and mortal mind, whose flimsy and 
 gaudy pretentions, like silly moths, singe 
 their own wings and fall into dust. In 
 reality there is no mortal mind, and con- 
 sequently no transference of mortal 
 thought and will power." 
 
 The healer calls on God, or the Son of 
 God, to make diseased people well, and to 
 do it immediately. Superhuman power, if 
 it acts, it must work miracles in trans- 
 forming diseased bodies into healthy ones. 
 If withered limbs are restored, if hardened 
 arteries are made young, if the blind are 
 given sight — what is all this, but miracu- 
 lous healing? And, if a little prayer, by a 
 stranger, who has no greater faith in God 
 than many other good men and women in 
 the world; and, who has no special favors 
 from the spirit-world, .can bring about 
 such results, then God, knowing the great 
 need of humanity, how sorely they are af- 
 flicted, should not withhold himself and 
 wait for some petty new-comer, who im- 
 plores him to act and do these marvelous 
 cures. It looks as though God was cold- 
 hearted and unmerciful, not to do all in 
 his power without special request from a 
 
 60 
 
mere man, who is completely helpless in 
 and of himself, who has no magic power 
 over himself, or anybody else; and, who 
 must sleep and eat to live; and, who must, 
 also, suffer and die, in course of time, the 
 same as other men. The healer is as 
 human, as the flesh he seeks to heal. 
 
 Faith has wonderful influence in busi- 
 ness and in all the pursuits, ventures and 
 activities of life. It imparts zeal to life; 
 and, with love, is the essence of devotion. 
 The greater faith, the greater the results, 
 in health or disease, in business or religion. 
 As thy faith, so shall it be unto thee; but 
 no sane man believes in the impossible; 
 and no right minded person believes, that 
 God, or Christ, restores the lungs of a con- 
 sumptive, heals leprosy, destroys the 
 poison of diphtheria, releases the valves of 
 a human heart, crippled by rheumatic en- 
 docarditis, or puts life into a palsied limb, 
 any more than He changes the laws of 
 gravity, when you go over a precipice* 
 Mind influences the body, and so does 
 faith, which is a mental act; but this influ- 
 ence has its limitations; and is not always 
 active. There are conditions in disease, as 
 elsewhere in the universe, that faith and 
 God fail to change, otherwise, faith would 
 
 61 
 
rule science, natural law and even death. 
 But faith is not the cure. It is essential 
 to the cure. It is the means to the end — 
 the connecting link between God and man. 
 We frequently hear this expression — "All 
 things are possible with God." That is 
 man's conception of God; but God fixes 
 his limitation, or conforms to limitation; 
 and He is none the less God, for so doing. 
 He is the more logical, the more natural, 
 the more understandable God in conform- 
 ing to limitations. God does not restore 
 sight to an eye blinded by a cataract. He 
 does not give motion to joints, that are 
 anchylosed. 
 
 If bitten by a rattlesnake, 
 
 Or you take poison by mistake, 
 
 unaided faith and prayer will not save you. 
 
 Grant, that God is all powerful. That 
 he can do this and that; but, if he don't 
 and never does, what good is the can? 
 Christ healed the sick. He was therefore, 
 a healer. He said to one of his patients — 
 "Thy faith hath made thee whole, go thy 
 way, sin no more." Faith in God and 
 prayer is a noble and a blessed thing. It 
 does very much for us both in health and 
 disease; and, if we had greater faith and 
 were given more to prayer, we would be 
 
 62 
 
better men and women, and the whole 
 world would be better; but we must be 
 sane in our reason, and in our understand- 
 ing of both God and man; and remember, 
 we too are gods, for we are like God and 
 He is like us; and, therein, is our oneness 
 with God. 
 
 God, when rightly understood, does 
 the sane thing, the understandable thing, 
 if our vision was only clear, and our 
 reason was devoid of error and far reach- 
 ing and broad enough, it would be so. 
 God is like man — a reasonable, intellect- 
 ual and a rational God, otherwise, we 
 could not understand him at all. He acts 
 through man, for the good of man and to 
 work out the divine plans; and man acts 
 through God, for his own good — for 
 guidance, solace and up-lift. Man is the 
 only intelligent outlet for God; and, were 
 it not for our intelligence, there would be 
 no, known God. Think of these things. 
 Think of the dependence of God on Man. 
 Man is the mouthpiece of God. The hu- 
 man race, His actors on the great stage 
 of visible life. Sane and sound intelligence 
 should not misjudge God and give him 
 credit, for what he does not do, or demand 
 
 63 
 
of Him what wise, human beings know is 
 impossible. 
 
 Habits. There are habits and habits, and differ- 
 
 100 ent kinds of habits. There are good habits 
 
 and bad habits; and a good habit does not 
 
 cost as much as a bad habit, in the long 
 
 run. 
 
 Wood-alcohol, in whiskey, takes the 
 lives of 71 people in 7 eastern cities and 
 Chicago, in 48 hours ; and nearly one hun- 
 dred and fifty (150) others are made blind, 
 paralyzed, or ill, and the death list is grow- 
 ing; Sunday Press, Dec. 28, 1919. 
 
 The rat is caught with rat-poison; and 
 man is caught with whiskey poison. Both 
 like the bait. Some people had rather take 
 strong drink and die, than drink water 
 and live. Prohibition is no hardship, for 
 men and women who have not got the 
 drink habit. The danger of a habit — the 
 fact, that some bad habits shorten life and 
 kill, does not prevent the formation of 
 those habits. Habits are not formed sud- 
 denly. It takes time and money to paint a 
 nose red with alcohol. A habit is preceded 
 by custom and practice. A custom does 
 not become a habit until it has been prac- 
 ticed so long, that it controls and impels 
 
 64 
 
the life. Habit is a habit, when the grip 
 on life is so strong, that the life can not 
 easily break it, or has not the will power 
 to overcome the habit and cease to be an- 
 noyed by it. A man with a habit is not a 
 free man. A good habit may hold a man, 
 as well as a bad habit; but a bad habit 
 lowers a man mentally, physically and 
 morally; and he is gripped, swayed and 
 held by it, until his freedom is completely 
 lost and his career wrecked, unless he re- 
 forms, or breaks the habit, before it ruins 
 him. 
 
 Habit, when it goes so far as to con- 
 trol and impel the life, is similar, in its im- 
 pelling force, to instinct. Instinct is natu- 
 ral, but habit is acquired, yet both govern 
 life — the one for good, the other chiefly 
 for ill. 
 
 The time to prevent a habit is when the 
 custom and practice, whatever it may be, 
 is becoming an appetite, or a practice, that 
 is rapidly, or gradually getting you in its 
 grip. The time to prevent going over 
 Niagara Falls is before you reach the 
 breakers — then you are gone. But while in 
 the stream, safe distance from, the rapids, 
 pull for the shore, pull hard, and keep pull- 
 ing, for you are drifting, drifting, to your 
 
 65 
 
doom; and only a strong, determined and 
 incessant pull, for life, will save you. It's 
 so with the whiskey habit — the worst and 
 most fatal. 
 
 Habits must be deceptive and insid- 
 ious in their formation, otherwise they 
 would be cast off, or broken, before they 
 become a prison chain, or a death sen- 
 tence. Look out for deception. Do not be 
 guilty of that practice on yourself. "To 
 thine own self be true, and it will follow, 
 as the night the day, thou canst not then 
 be false to any man." 
 
 A man under the influence of liquor 
 is not natural. He is false to himself and 
 false to the world. 
 
 Modesty. The ^ rst dress worn was a fig-leaf — no more, 
 
 It covered a bit not covered before. 
 
 101 
 
 Has the word lost its meaning? Is 
 modesty obsolete — a thing of the past? 
 Who blushes nowadays? Who is shocked, 
 or chagrined at what may,, or does take 
 place in society, or on the stage? And the 
 daily news journals describe and portray 
 events unscreened, and in plain words. 
 No sub rosa, no reading between the lines 
 — it's all laid bare and picturesque. Nude 
 
 66 
 
art is here in all its beauty and enticing 
 allurement; and it is taken from nature — 
 the real thing. Stenciled knees (female) 
 are the latest fad for Venice, Cal. ; but the 
 exposed stenciling is extended to nearly 
 the branching of the thighs; and then be- 
 hold the eyes of the opposite gender, who 
 are, also, garbed like Adams, with a plus, 
 in that famous garden of innocence where 
 there was no modesty, as now, for the 
 word had not been coined; but how about 
 the innocence, these latter days? 
 
 It's all in getting accustomed to nudity. 
 The unclothed beast and animals in na- 
 ture have no modesty, and the same is true 
 of the various wild, uncivilized races of 
 mankind on the earth. Absence of cloth- 
 ing, exposure, does not shame them in 
 the least. Modern society seems tired of 
 restraint and is breaking, more or less, 
 the fetters, or restrictions, which civiliza- 
 tion, culture and refinement are imposing. 
 Note the absence, or scanty dress of the 
 ladies at the Blue Bird Ball recently given 
 in New York City, also, the terpsichorean 
 feats, with feathers, by the fair sex in 
 California — their exquisite graceful forms 
 loosely, scantily and thinly veiled. Then 
 there is the stenciled shoulder — latest 
 
 67 
 
London fashion among women. The 
 back is naked to the waist-line, with a 
 rooster, or some bird, stenciled near the 
 shoulder, or on the upper part of the back. 
 Probably the greatest venture in living 
 art appeared at a Frisco ball, not long ago, 
 where a maid danced in a "silver sheet", 
 and nothing more. As shown in the press, 
 she was not half dressed, and the "silver 
 sheet" did not cover her feet, nor hide her 
 meat — and no one was shocked. Is mod- 
 esty a thing of the past? Are we going 
 back to nature, or are we going mad? 
 
 102 There is one way we never lose, and 
 
 that is the way to our mouth. 
 
 103 Who has not been mortified by mis- 
 
 takes? Do not let your mistakes worry 
 you over much, for mistakes become 
 teachers, when they benefit us. 
 
 104 The greatest act of woman is mother 
 
 of men. 
 
 105 A man, who ignores a woman is unnat- 
 
 ural. He has forgotten his birth-place. 
 
 63 
 
Going it 
 Alone — 
 Joseph, 
 Lincoln, 
 Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 106 
 
 I am moved to tears, when I read the 
 biblical story of Joseph. That story should 
 be staged in every church. My eyes will 
 flood, when I read the struggles of Abra- 
 ham Lincoln, for knowledge, and his deeds 
 of kindness. He had a great heart, that 
 went to the heart of the American people, 
 and abides there, in a truer sense, than any 
 other national character, that ever lived. 
 
 Washington was great, but he never 
 got the love of the people, as Lincoln did. 
 I am in sympathy with any brave, true 
 man, with a vision and a purpose in life, 
 who struggles, often unaided and against 
 obstacles and, some day, put it over. I 
 have had a taste, and know the meaning 
 of going it alone. 
 
 Love is the most natural and influen- 
 tial thing in the world, yet we can not 
 handle it, as we do bread, or money. It is 
 spiritual, and who can define it? It has a 
 physical setting. We all know, yes we all 
 know; but who can explain, who dare ven- 
 ture a clear, comprehensive definition of 
 Love? 
 
 Mad Love. Love makes some young men mad — 
 
 108 insane. It does not have that effect on old 
 
 men. Love starts in the seat (that is near 
 
 69 
 
 Love, Who 
 Can De- 
 fine It? 
 
 107 
 
enough for suggestion) ; and goes to the 
 head. It starts in the physical and influ- 
 ences the mental; and that is why it makes 
 some young men unbalanced. 
 
 Somehow they get the idea, that there 
 is only one woman in the world, and that 
 is the woman they love. Women, physi- 
 cally, are about the same; and there are 
 many women, that can respond to love 
 and meet the demands of a man, and make 
 him contented and happy, then, why go 
 insane, if one woman, out of many thou- 
 sands, turns you down and is not respon- 
 sive? That one woman may be a little 
 taller, or a little shorter; she may be a little 
 fatter, or a little leaner, a little richer, or a 
 little poorer, than some other damsel. 
 Again, her eyes may be blue, or brown, or 
 black, deep set, or large, wide, full, shy, or 
 gamy, with lashes and a brow that add 
 to her beauty. Her nose may be aquiline, 
 cogitative, or celestial (up-turned) ; and 
 her teeth may be like pearls, regular and 
 shapely, with mouth small, or wide, lips 
 that curl and glow, or thin and bleached, 
 with teeth like an ancient graveyard. And 
 the smile, her temper and her ways go 
 with that peculiar grace beyond words to 
 describe, or so eccentric, as to interest and 
 
 70 
 
attract the man, that is keyed to that sort 
 of female composition. There may be 
 dimples, or none, receding chin, or other- 
 wise. She may be a rustic, rural, nut- 
 brown maiden; or a cultured city girl of 
 song and story. Diversity has no end in 
 feminine quality and anatomy, as in all 
 life; and how fortunate it is so. Hence, 
 all men may find in woman, that which 
 charms, or attracts them ; but, if such a wo- 
 man will not marry, though that woman 
 warms his heart and is his choice, why go 
 mad and kill her, kill himself, or kill both? 
 Such tragedy does actually occur; and it 
 occurs yearly and repeatedly in various 
 parts of the world. So love may become 
 desperate, destructive, tragical. Jealousy 
 is an evil spirit — despotic, revengeful. 
 Men, dominated by jealousy, are changed 
 in character to a serpent, a mad bull, or a 
 tiger, and something awful happens. Man 
 kills the woman he loves above all others, 
 or the other fellow, because she does not 
 consent to matrimony. If she did marry 
 such a man, what then? Would obedience 
 to love make her safe — make her happy? 
 Doubted. Love doth make him mad be- 
 cause he is an animal, a beast; not a man, 
 high minded, noble, brave. 
 
 71 
 
Thousands of women are waiting, for men of 
 
 noble parts, 
 Then, why become defiant, if one should break 
 
 your heart? 
 
 Men expect so much of women, what 
 have they to offer? 
 
 109 College students are given diplomas 
 
 they cannot read. That is dead language 
 — silence profound. Why educate men be- 
 yond their understanding? 
 
 110 There is no good religion without love; 
 
 but there may be love of a kind, without 
 religion. It is no more difficult to under- 
 stand religion, than to understand love, if 
 we go at it right, and simplify it. 
 
 Ill Any religion is a good religion, that 
 
 makes mankind better physically, men- 
 tally and morally. They are all ready 
 made. Look them over and take your 
 choice. For you, the best is that which 
 warps your mind and conscience the least. 
 
 Billy Sunday now has audience. When 
 
 Sunday he began as an Evangelist; and, for some 
 
 and the years after, the orthodox, creed-bound, 
 
 Church. goody-goody church-members of the va- 
 
 112 rious denominations were shocked by his 
 
 72 
 
utterances and performances, and were of 
 the opinion, that he would do more harm, 
 than good, that he was vulgar and sacri- 
 legious and they refused to hear him, or, 
 if they heard him, went away to condemn 
 and ridicule him and saw no more of him. 
 To hear him once was enough. The regu- 
 lar clergymen were the most shocked and 
 the most critical and bitter in their denun- 
 ciation of him. But Billy dared to be him- 
 self. He had the courage of his convic- 
 tions and bravely and fearlessly went for- 
 ward with his message to fallen humanity. 
 The common people, the slum people, and 
 the unpolished people, who seldom, or 
 never went to church, understood him. 
 They sat up and paid attention. He gave 
 his message to them in their own lan- 
 guage; and they were moved and struck 
 the trail, for better living and higher life. 
 
 The Rev. Billy Sunday is mightily in 
 earnest, rapid in speech, unique in action, 
 strong, vigorous, forceful — puts life into 
 his sermons, is a great actor, dramatic, 
 spectacular from start to finish. He works 
 with his head and works with his body, 
 all at one time. He is never dry or stupid; 
 and often surprisingly thrilling and amus- 
 
 73 
 
ing. He makes his hearers laugh and weep 
 and tarry at the mercy seat. 
 
 Other great evangelists have been in- 
 fluential with large audiences and accom- 
 plished much good in the work. Moody 
 spoke to large gatherings of people in Chi- 
 cago, New York City and many other 
 places; but Moody convinced the people 
 by his simple, plain, serious speech. He 
 was much in earnest and imparted that 
 earnestness to others; but he was no per- 
 former, no actor, no orator. The educa- 
 tional center at Northfield, Mass., was 
 founded by Moody and his soul goes 
 marching on. 
 
 Biederwolf is another worthy evange- 
 list. He is eloquent, logical, oratorical and 
 polished. His addresses are clear, emo- 
 tional, stirring and convicting. His illus- 
 trations and metaphors are well chosen, 
 and he uses them to drive home his theme 
 to the hearts of men. I heard Biederwolf 
 a few years ago at Birmingham, Ala., one 
 Sunday afternoon, when he spoke to a 
 very large audience of men only. His in- 
 fluence over those men was marvelous. He 
 held their attention from start to finish; 
 and a strange and unusual spirit seemed 
 to attend and impress all lives present. 
 
 74 
 
Personally, it took me hours to recover, or 
 shake the spell. The response was great. 
 The men went forward from all over the 
 house, for better living. I have heard 
 Moody and Sunday, Talmage and Beecher, 
 Newman and McCabe of the Methodist 
 Church and other well known preachers; 
 but, that sermon by Biederwolf, was the 
 best I ever heard. 
 
 All great preachers and evangelists are 
 great in their own way; but, of all those, 
 that have come and gone, and of those in 
 action now, none have eclipsed, or equalled 
 Billy Sunday in his endurance, courage 
 and rapid fire of words, his spectacular 
 action and zeal; and none have reached 
 the great audiences, that he has reached 
 throughout the United States; and none 
 have equalled him in the completeness and 
 perfection of his systematic and orderly 
 supervision and direction of the great 
 assembly of people. 
 
 Everywhere great tabernacles were 
 erected to accommodate the people, that 
 came to hear him; and large sums of 
 money were raised to defray expenses of 
 all sorts. He filled the tabernacles, he won 
 the people and has achieved more, as an 
 evangelist, than any other one man, that 
 
 75 
 
ever lived. If he was crude, or vulgar, 
 shocking and eccentric, it matters not, for, 
 in his way, he rose to great power and in- 
 fluence for good — never dreamed of by the 
 regular church ; and came through unspoil- 
 ed. He exalted not himself; but gave God 
 the glor}^. 
 
 One of our city clergymen, in a recent 
 sermon; made the following statement; 
 and it must be correct. "In 1909 the aver- 
 age increase in membership of all the Pro- 
 testant churches in the United States, that 
 had a settled pastor, was two new mem- 
 bers for each church." I assume, that the 
 church membership has not increased 
 since that date, as the clergymen are much 
 alarmed about church attendance and the 
 unconcern of the people. 
 
 Billy Sunday demonstrated that, the 
 churches do not reach the masses. He also 
 has made clear to thoughtful men and 
 women, who analyze his manner of 
 preaching, that dramatic action on the 
 platform is instructive, entertaining and 
 impressive; and that truth can thus be 
 portrayed, arrests attention, and makes a 
 deeper impression on mankind. And this 
 leads me to consider — Drama in the 
 Church. 
 
 76 
 
Drama The Passion Play is profoundly dra- 
 
 in the matic. This play was first given in 1633 
 
 Church. at Oberammergau, in Bavarian highlands 
 
 113 by the natives of that village, as gratitude 
 to God following the arrest of a plague, 
 that devastated that section of the coun- 
 try; and it has been repeated every ten 
 years since, until recent time. Thousands 
 of people, from all parts of the world, have 
 seen The Passion Play; and thousands 
 have been deeply impressed. Only good 
 has followed this sort of sacred, dramatic 
 art, presented by those common people, 
 unskilled as actors, who put their whole 
 soul in what they personated and believed 
 in its holiness. 
 
 It seems strange, that the church, 
 knowing the effect of the Passion Play, 
 did not repeat it the world over in the 
 churches, for the good of the people every- 
 where. The sacred drama, or any moral, 
 or religious truth, can be more forcibly 
 brought home to the minds of men by use 
 of the drama, than in any other way; but 
 it has taken ages to arouse the church to 
 this fact. The church is just now begin- 
 ning to understand the power of the sa- 
 cred drama. It took a world war, the 
 
 77 
 
worst war of all time; and the social and 
 industrial unrest, now on, following that 
 war, to arouse the church to use the drama 
 to combat that unrest.* 
 
 At Seattle, Washington, the Rev. Dr. 
 J. E. Crowther, the mayor of the city — 
 and all well meaning people of that local- 
 ity, faced a serious condition. "The city 
 was full of labor propaganda of the most 
 vicious sort, the streets full of labor agi- 
 tators, who spread their destructive gos- 
 pel. There was a continual undercurrent 
 of unrest, dissatisfaction and criticism. 
 Mingled with it was a feeling of despair 
 on the part of the helpless ones among 
 those who were being swept along with 
 the tide. They didn't know whom to be- 
 lieve, what to trust, and what action to 
 take." 
 
 "The ministers of the churches tried to 
 meet the situation by preaching long ser- 
 mons about it. This didn't work. The peo- 
 ple were up at high tension. They wanted 
 something spectacular. The sermons bored 
 them. If they wanted talk, the soap-box 
 agitator on the street corner could give 
 
 * The Passion Play is now being given, for the 
 first time, in America (1920). 
 
 78 
 
it to them in a manner more entertaining 
 and considerably more colorful than the 
 preacher in his pulpit.'' 
 
 "So the clergymen turned to the most 
 popular form of entertainment — the 
 stage," and it worked. "The little pag- 
 eants were taken out of Bible history. 
 Instead of taking a text in the Bible and 
 elaborating on it from the pulpit, the min- 
 ister dramatized his text. The appeal was 
 now to the eye, the ear, and the dramatic 
 instincts, all at the same time. The con- 
 gregations quickly responded to the new 
 portrayal of religion, that could be linked 
 up to present conditions." 
 
 "There was, at first, opposition from a 
 number of the Bishops of the churches 
 against the popularization of Biblical sub- 
 jects by presentation on the stage." "For 
 years the criticism against the Church has 
 been, that it detaches itself from the so- 
 cial and economic life of the people; and 
 limits itself to the religious life only. That 
 criticism has to a large extent been a just 
 one. The religion of a man cannot be sep- 
 arate and apart from his daily life." 
 
 79 
 
"The Wayfarer," the biblical pageant 
 written by Dr. J. E. Crowther, which was 
 recently given at Seattle, Wash., wonder- 
 fully influencing the people there, has been 
 taken up by the Industrial Relations Com- 
 mittee of the Interchurch World Move- 
 ment, and is now (Dec. 15, 1919) being 
 given at Madison Square Garden, New 
 York City in which eight thousand peo- 
 ple take part. 
 
 "The bigotry, narrowness and non-pro- 
 gressiveness of the churches has been 
 against the greatest good of the people in 
 all generations; and it is gratifying to note, 
 that the Industrial Relations Committee 
 of The Interchurch World Movement, has 
 come to the decision, that, in order to 
 present the vital question of the day to 
 large masses, they must make an appeal, 
 first to aesthetic sense, and allow reason- 
 able conclusions to grow out of that. 
 They, also, agreed, that the ordinary meth- 
 ods applied in church propaganda were 
 not the best under current circumstances; 
 and so they arranged, as above stated, 
 to re-create the innumerable dramas in 
 Bible history and link them up with the 
 problems of to-day."* 
 
 * All the above quotations taken from the New 
 York Times Magazine, November 30, 1919. 
 
 80 
 
The community, the town, the city, are 
 no better than the moral status of the peo- 
 ple that constitutes the inhabitance — no 
 better than the character of the masses. 
 Hence it is the business of the modern 
 church to reach, instruct, enlighten the 
 people in the way of right doing — in bet- 
 ter living and thinking. To this end de- 
 nominational differences should be set 
 aside. Creeds, and non-essentials should 
 be ignored and all denominations pull to- 
 gether, as one church, for one purpose — 
 the moral and social up-lift of the people. 
 
 "The immediate necessity of organiza- 
 tion of the scattered religious forces of the 
 Protestant denominations throughout 
 the United States, so that they may com- 
 pete successfully with the work of other 
 denominations, was urged by Dr. E. Earl 
 Taylor of New York, general manager of 
 the Interchurch World movement, at the 
 federal council of churches, which contin- 
 ued its session here today."f 
 
 The signs of the times, in the religious 
 field, is looking better, because it is shap- 
 
 t This quotation appeared in The Buffalo Evening 
 News, December 11, 1919, under the heading — SEEK- 
 ING RELIGIOUS UNITY OF DENOMINATION. 
 The federal council of churches was in session in Balti- 
 more, Md., December 11, 1919. 
 
 81 
 
ing toward united action, for the common 
 good. 
 
 Every church should be a theatre; and 
 one of the best plans, for greater and bet- 
 ter effort on the part of the Protestant 
 christian world, in reaching all classes and 
 conditions of social life, is to have great 
 centers of worship, preferably located in 
 the parks of the city, where there is ample 
 ground for an enormous auditorium, 
 where drama can be staged. In this local- 
 ity, also, should be the schools of the city, 
 under religious management and instruc- 
 tion, where all branches of knowledge are 
 taught, as the church and the school 
 should be under one general supervision. 
 The city should donate the ground for 
 such educational centers. 
 
 If the parks of the city are not properly 
 located for secular and religious centers, 
 then centers of ample capacity should be 
 donated by the city, in various quarters, 
 making an equal distribution of centers 
 according to the population and the cen- 
 ters of population. 
 
 There should be clergymen enough to 
 properly conduct these educational cen- 
 ters, so that they may alternate in render- 
 
 82 
 
114 
 
 ing service to the people without overtax- 
 ing their physical and mental endurance. 
 
 The municipal authorities and the peo- 
 ple should be united in this work; and the 
 organization should be such, that all 
 would have to contribute toward the main- 
 tenance of these social centers, as the 
 centers should not only functionate as 
 stated, but they should, also, afford ample 
 accommodations for social welfare and 
 physical culture and sports. 
 
 May this religious and social reform 
 come speedily. It is up to the church. 
 When the clergymen down their denom- 
 inational differences and pull together for 
 the common good, this new order of things 
 will prevail. The people are ready for it. 
 They are waiting. 
 
 The church should not bar its doors 
 against the people with rituals, creeds and 
 orthodoxy. The church is for the many, — 
 
 Not only for the few, 
 That pay rent for the pew. 
 
 115 The first business of the church, the 
 
 nation and the government should be so- 
 cial welfare — the betterment of the 
 masses. 
 
 83 
 
116 
 
 117 
 
 Miracles, 
 Myths, 
 Mysteries. 
 118 
 
 A nation, a church, or an individual, 
 that looks backward, is doomed. There is 
 only one way to look; and that is forward, 
 in the direction of progress. 
 
 Christ did not write, nor read. Had he 
 written, he would have read. 
 
 Christ is either a myth, or a prodigy. I 
 regard him as the latter, with mythical 
 attributes given him by the writers of the 
 scriptures. 
 
 Miracles, myths, mysteries — the three 
 M's, get nowhere. They only smudge, fog 
 and blind our vision and understanding. 
 It is what we know, not what we do not 
 know, that helps us. 
 
 Who cares whether Christ walked on 
 the water, or turned water into wine, or 
 not; and did various other things contrary 
 to science and nature, that does not help 
 the moral up-lift of mankind, or teach us 
 anything we can make use of. "Behold I 
 show you a mystery." What of it, if a 
 mystery is forever to remain a mystery 
 with mankind? Such acts do not 
 strengthen my faith. They strengthen my 
 doubt and unbelief. The divineness of 
 Christ is nothing, without his humanness 
 and naturalness. 
 
 84 
 
Golden 
 
 Rule 
 
 Week. 
 
 119 
 
 Men pray — "Not my will, but thine be 
 done." That is submissive; but how are 
 we to know the will of God, unless He 
 makes it clear to us mentally? And, if his 
 will is always to be carried out, indepen- 
 dent of our own, why pray, "thy will be 
 done," for it will be, regardless. God does 
 not need to be reminded to exercise his 
 own will; but He needs to know our will- 
 ingness to act in accord with his will, when 
 He makes it known. When the will of man 
 and the will of God are connected up and 
 are continuous and in harmony, that is as 
 near righteousness as we ever get. 
 
 The Golden Rule League of America 
 is a new league with an old precept, which 
 has never been equalled in fairness, justice 
 and righteousness; and they have re- 
 quested the people all over the United 
 States to observe the week beginning Sun- 
 day, January 25, 1920, as the Golden Rule 
 Week, that is, the people are requested to 
 put this rule in practice, as far as possible, 
 for seven days. No restrictions, however, 
 as to its continuous practice whenever pos- 
 sible throughout life. 
 
 Some man, or woman, has slighted, ig- 
 nored, or snubbed me. There looms up in 
 
 85 
 
my mind hatred and revenge. I desire to 
 retaliate, to do the mean thing to them, 
 because he, or she, did the mean thing to 
 me. That is opposition, contention, dis- 
 cord, revenge and war — if it go that far; 
 and all, that precedes, is a good start, for 
 that ultimatum. 
 
 You have wronged me, therefore I 
 wrong you. You strike me, therefore I 
 strike you, Demon after demon — both 
 bad. 
 
 Because you do wrong, that is no 
 reason why I should, also, do wrong, even 
 though you have wronged me; but we do. 
 We have all got a temper and we are all 
 sensitive; and feel hurt, when the social 
 set forget us; or when we have not been 
 treated by our associates, or others, ac- 
 cording to our own estimate, as to how 
 we should be treated; but in judging 
 others, we forget to judge ourselves, as we 
 do them — in other words, we forget to 
 render unto mankind what we want them 
 to render unto us. 
 
 I much prefer not to be slandered, mis- 
 represented or deceived, therefore, I 
 should not slander, deceive, or misrepre- 
 sent my neighbor. What I will not allow 
 him to do to me, I should not do to him. 
 
 86 
 
You like to be well spoken of and en- 
 joy friends, therefore, you should speak 
 well of others, or hold your tongue; and 
 exercise a friendly disposition; but choose, 
 of course, your own personal friends. 
 
 Law deals with the criminal, for the 
 safety of the community. "He that tak- 
 eth life shall lose his life;" and so the 
 Golden Rule is not applied in dealing with 
 heinous and base crime; but had the crim- 
 inal obeyed the Golden Rule, he would not 
 have committed the crime. He would not 
 murder, for he, himself, desires not to be 
 murdered. The Golden Rule is a personal 
 thing — "as ye would." It starts in your- 
 self, not with the other fellow. You must 
 apply it, practice it, yourself, to get the 
 benefit. When two men come together, if 
 both believe in the Golden Rule, justice 
 and righteousness are supreme; and fel- 
 lowship evolves, if they blend well. 
 
 We like toleration and patience, broad- 
 mindedness and forgiveness, for petty of- 
 fences, therefore, we should not be narrow 
 or bigoted, and should be forgiving and 
 tolerant, also patient with our fellow men. 
 
 Whenever and wherever the Golden 
 Rule is put into practice, in sincerity and 
 in truth — it settles controversy and brings 
 
 87 
 
peace. It drives out hatred and brings in 
 harmony, friendship and love. It is the 
 true foundation of the peace of the world 
 and the brotherhood of man. 
 
 If the human race cannot live the 
 Golden Rule, then there is no religion, 
 worth while, that will ever do more for 
 mankind. There is no heart, or goodness, 
 in any religion without the Golden Rule. 
 Let us follow it the best we know how. 
 As far, as we put it into practice, it will 
 make us better. It is so simple, so clear, 
 so well understood; and yet, so difficult to 
 practice. "He that ruleth his spirit" — 
 mind, "is greater than he, that taketh a 
 city." 
 
 We append the Golden Rule as it is 
 written in the VI Chapter of St. Luke, 
 31st verse — "And, as ye would, that men 
 should do to you, do ye, also, to them 
 likewise." 
 
 120 The opinion we hold of ourselves deter- 
 
 mines largely the opinion others hold 
 of us. 
 
 121 Don't misjudge a man because he does 
 
 not agree with you. You are not always 
 right, and that difference may be valuable 
 
to you. Remember it's variation and dif- 
 ferences in the world, that accounts for 
 progress. 
 
 122 We judge men, not by their culture 
 
 and intelligence; but by their ability, their 
 efficiency and what they achieve. 
 
 123 Five minutes is as good as an hour, if 
 
 it's long enough. 
 
 124 Life starts with a germ, so does 
 disease. There is life to live and life to 
 kill. We find similars and opposites every- 
 where in Nature. Antagonism begins 
 early. 
 
 125 A man, that cures, is a curious man. 
 Some say he is a Doctor; but a Doctor 
 must be wise and efficient, as well as curi- 
 ous; and keep mum his patients' confi- 
 dence. 
 
 When a When the average physician dies, 
 
 Physician whether he has a city, or a country prac- 
 
 Dies, the tice, the loss to the world is far greater 
 
 Loss is than we assume. To alleviate suffering, 
 
 Great. to cheer and comfort the sick, to combat 
 
 126 disease and restore the ill to health, is ser- 
 vice of a high and noble order. It's hu- 
 
 89 
 
mane service, for humanity, from start to 
 finish all the way through. It's personal, 
 altogether personal; and can not be other- 
 wise. The stress and strain is great; and 
 the physician, who wisely and well follows 
 his profession, is, also, great, though he 
 may not be famous, or regarded as great 
 in the community he serves — he is, how- 
 ever, loved and appreciated by those he 
 has greatly benefited. And, when he dies, 
 the loss is not only the loss of his person- 
 ality; but the loss of all his accumulated 
 knowledge; medical skill and' resources. 
 That means much, for he has learned from 
 experience with disease and various disor- 
 ders of the human system, what treatment 
 is best to pursue; and he has some pet pre- 
 scriptions, some specifics on which he has 
 learned to rely, as decidedly and, often 
 times, positively efficacious and curative. 
 There are many physicians, who are not 
 writers, or contributors to medical science 
 and literature; and those, who are, do not 
 empty out their medical and therapeutic 
 attainments, as you would squeeze water 
 out of a sponge; but they hold precious, 
 some of their valuable and reliable discov- 
 eries; and these are not given to the world, 
 nor to the medical profession as common 
 
 90 
 
knowledge, hence, when medical men die 
 the loss is great. In their mental store- 
 house, or private entries, they have great 
 treasures the world knows not of; and 
 when their life ends, all this "cream of the 
 cream," so to speak, oi their medical 
 knowledge, is lost — gone forever, unless, 
 in later years, some other Doctor of Med- 
 icine brings it back to earth again; and 
 how can we know that, if no records are 
 available? Medicine would have been far 
 more advanced, than at the present time, 
 had there been a way of avoiding this 
 great loss ; and, if there was a way, of get- 
 ting out of the medical profession, now 
 alive, what is in them; and that could go 
 on, generation after generation, the med- 
 ical profession, in its rapid advancement 
 toward pacific medication and efficiency, 
 would astonish, not only the profession 
 itself, but the whole world. 
 
 127 To prevent stockings from "running," 
 
 don't wear them. 
 
 128 A Quaker in church only speaks when 
 
 the spirit moves. Out of church he speaks 
 only when the tongue moves. 
 
 91 
 
129 
 
 130 
 
 131 
 
 132 
 
 133 
 
 134 
 
 World War 
 and the 
 Church. 
 
 "Education in China" — That's what 
 women have at home among the plates 
 and platters, tea-cups and saucers. 
 
 A knocker is a wrapper; but, when 
 worn by the ladies, it's a Kimono. How 
 peculiar the English language! No won- 
 der people misunderstand each other. 
 
 We meet and yet we have no meat to 
 eat — more English. 
 
 The black bear saw the white bare legs 
 of Mary — more English. 
 
 Civilization is a curse, when it bars, or 
 hampers, the domestic and business life of 
 men and women. We are too much civ- 
 ilized, too much governed. 
 
 Why cage a bird and not allow it to 
 mate; and take its liberty to hear it sing? 
 Poor thing! 
 
 There is always a mystery in life some- 
 where, if not everywhere. 
 
 A world war could never occur, if the 
 church reached the great mass of people 
 and had them well in hand. The church 
 never has and never will reach the major- 
 
 92 
 
ity of the people until it reforms in doc- 
 trine and practice. The church has been 
 going backward, while everything else of 
 an intelligent character, has been going 
 forward. The church is statical, non-pro- 
 gressive, because, like the ancient Chinese 
 nation, it is facing backward, and taking 
 the past as complete and final authority. 
 
 Bolshevism. Bolshevism is murder, robbery, loot, 
 136 tyranny, chaos. Leaders in Russia are 
 Lenine and Trotzky. "Bolshevism, as we 
 all know, demands the destruction of cap- 
 ital and the return of all the products of 
 labor to the workers themselves." 
 
 "We knew, that communism, which 
 we now call Bolshevism, was the death- 
 knell of progress." — Quoted from The 
 World Tide by Editor Metropolitan, 
 Dec. 1919. 
 
 Debts the A debt is what you owe. It usually 
 
 Chief means money — not always, but most al- 
 
 Cause of ways. A money debt implies credit. The 
 
 Panics. source from whence the money came had 
 
 137 faith in the borrower; or the borrower 
 
 gave collateral, or that which is regarded 
 
 as security of a satisfactory sort, that is, 
 
 it was accepted by the source, that fur- 
 
 93 
 
nished the loan, otherwise, the money 
 could not have been borrowed. 
 
 There is a safety limit to credit and to 
 borrowing; but the practice has become 
 so generally and universally followed, for 
 many years by individuals, and by com- 
 mercial business of all sorts, and by Gov- 
 ernments the world over; that it has been 
 largely over-done. Now, nearly all busi- 
 ness, manufacturing industries, railroads 
 and corporations of all sorts, and National 
 Governments everywhere, are in debt. 
 Most all real estate, the earth round and 
 over, is mortgaged; and towns, countries, 
 cities and states are in debt. Credit is over- 
 done, largely over-done ; and over borrow- 
 ing and over-credit is the cause of finan- 
 cial panics. They have got to come, they 
 will come, so long as debts exist every- 
 where, in all lines of pursuits and indus- 
 tries — men are in debt everywhere; and 
 there is nothing, with few exceptions, that 
 men handle, or produce, that has not an 
 obligation attached to it — and, worst of 
 all, is the Governments of men. 
 
 Conditions are such, in the financial 
 world at large, that if "Call money'' and 
 debts due, were generally demanded a 
 panic would result. Credit is abused and 
 
 94 
 
misused; and the borrowing habit has 
 brought the financial world to the border- 
 land of a world wide calamity, intensified 
 by war. When borrowing becomes exces- 
 sive with all men and all nations, then, 
 sooner or later, the business and financial 
 world must suffer. Call it oposthotonos, 
 to use a medical term, which is a backward 
 convulsion in the spinal column of busi- 
 ness ; and there is no cure, until we cure the 
 habit of borrowing and doing all kinds 
 of business, big and small, on credit. Debts 
 are paid at one source by borrowing from 
 another source, and getting a longer, or 
 fresh run of credit; and debts are paid 
 with debts and there is no end. Men come 
 and go; but debts, like a well fed brook, 
 run on forever. And the great and small 
 governments put unborn generations in 
 debt, for ages and ages. Is it just to 
 heavily and financially burden the unborn? 
 
 If you had to pay the debts of some 
 ancestor of yours, that lived two hundred 
 years ago, how would you like it? But 
 Governments have license and are run as 
 though perpetual; and, so it's quite the 
 thing, for Governments to load posterity 
 with debts, forever and forever; and there 
 is no way of escape from this sort of in- 
 
 95 
 
justice, for it happens before we enter life; 
 and we must submit and carry the load 
 until the next unborn set arrive and be- 
 come active on the stage of life. 
 
 The United States went to war ostensi- 
 bly for freedom of the seas and for peace 
 of the world; but the deep, basic motive 
 and purpose was to save the credit of Eng- 
 land and other powers, that owe our Gov- 
 ernment $10,000,000,000; and it cost us 
 $23,318,323,000 to do it. Total gross debt 
 of the United States Sept. 1st, 1919— 
 $26,600,000,000. 
 
 Government A government for the people and by 
 for the the people sounds good; and it has given 
 
 People and rise to much lofty and beautiful oratory; 
 by the but is it true? Is there any such govern- 
 
 People. ment? Somewhere in North America a 
 
 138 government of this kind was undertaken 
 and succeeded in part; but it is not now 
 as true to type as in former years; how- 
 ever, it stands as the best example of that 
 form of government, that has, thus far, 
 been established on earth; and, if it con- 
 tinues to develop, for the people and not 
 against the people, it may maintain its 
 early character and reputation; but there 
 is danger. 
 
 96 
 
Directly, the people have little to do 
 with government, for the people and by 
 the people, as now conducted, except at 
 long intervals, when the political parties 
 line up for election, the people vote, but 
 not directly. The people vote for electors ; 
 and those chosen in each State vote for 
 candidates for President and Vice-Presi- 
 dent, hence, "strictly speaking, there is 
 no popular vote for President and Vice- 
 President." 
 
 Then there is Congress, consisting of 
 both the Senate and the House of Repre- 
 sentatives. There are two Senators from 
 each State, elected by the State Legisla- 
 ture; and there are about 400 members of 
 the House elected by the vote of their Con- 
 gressional District; and thus it happens, 
 every four years, the Government goes 
 over to the political leaders of one political 
 party, or another; and they run the gov- 
 ernment — not for the people, but for the 
 party; and the Government is manipu- 
 lated, keeping in memory, of course, the 
 constitution and established laws; which 
 leaves plenty of room for departure, inno- 
 vation an* 4 the unusual and unexpected. 
 
 Abor .11 there is, for the people in a 
 goverr t by the people and for the 
 people, as we know it now, is the debts. 
 
 97 
 
The debts are for the people to pay and 
 they are paid by the people; and the debts 
 are made independent of the people. This 
 is also true of all governments headed by 
 Emperors, or Kings — of all monarchial 
 governments. All national Governments 
 spend the people's money without the con- 
 sent of the people. The people have no 
 voice in the debt making — yet they must 
 carry the load however heavy and galling; 
 and whether they feel it is just or unjust, 
 righteous or unrighteous, or know it to be 
 wasteful and prodigal. 
 
 This helplessness of the people, in a 
 government for the people and by the 
 people, is inconsistent and paradoxical. 
 To illustrate: 
 
 "During the war the Government 
 shoveled money out of the Treasury and 
 dumped it about the country in cartloads, 
 as though it were dirt. A system of "cost 
 plus contracts" was adopted, under which 
 the more money a contractor spent on his 
 job, the more profit he got from the Gov- 
 ernment, and it is a pity the people cannot 
 even yet see how those contractors gird- 
 ed themselves for the fray and, under the 
 very eyes of government inspectors, 
 squandered by the billions the money that 
 had been raised in the patriotic loans and 
 
 98 
 
taxes of a hard-pressed people. We ceased 
 to count in millions, and through the 
 hundreds of millions rose into the billions. 
 Much of the expenditure was without sub- 
 stantial result except the enrichment of 
 war profiteers and war workers of all 
 degrees." 
 
 "But it had the result of burdening the 
 people with a debt they will not be rid of 
 for generations, of increasing taxes to an 
 unheard-of degree, and of destroying every 
 public and most of the private standards 
 of thrift and economy. The inflated 
 prices and wages, that were paid for shody 
 material and skimping work, were spent 
 as easily as they were made. Normal 
 values were destroyed, extravagance, and 
 needless luxury became common, the cost 
 of the necesssities of life was correspond- 
 ingly inflated, and a fearful burden was 
 imposed upon those who still had to buy 
 these necessities, but who had not been in 
 a position to profit by increased prices and 
 wages." 
 
 "So it will be seen, that what happens 
 in Washington in the next few months, 
 and years, is very distinctly your problem, 
 having its direct relation on your happi- 
 
 99 
 
ness. The Government must learn respect 
 for the people's money, and remember that 
 every appropriation, no matter how ur- 
 gent the appeal for it may be, should be 
 considered first in the light of an over 
 burdened people's capacity to pay."* 
 
 This first business of a government, for 
 the people and by the people, should be the 
 social welfare and bettermen of the people; 
 but that, in all existing governments to- 
 day, comes last, if it comes at all. 
 
 A government by the people and for 
 the people, should not declare war without 
 the consent and the direct vote of the peo- 
 ple; for the people constitute the army and 
 
 sacrifice themselves to defend and sustain 
 their country and the perpetuity of their 
 Government ; and the sacrifice in blood and 
 money is met by the people. Those, who 
 pay the price, should have a voice. Many 
 horrible, unnecessary and extravagant 
 wars would have been avoided, if put to 
 the people — if the people had been given 
 a choice. 
 
 * Taken from an article that appeared in the Wo- 
 man's Home Companion, May, 1920, under the title — 
 "Two National Problems and How They Affect You 
 Personally, by Miles Poindexter, U. S. Senator from 
 Washington. 
 
 100 
 
Wars of nations have been waged un- 
 der five classifications — 
 
 1. Religious wars; 
 
 2. Wars for trade and territorial 
 advantage — monopoly. Finan- 
 cial wars; 
 
 3. Wars to throw off the yoke of 
 oppression and bondage; 
 
 4. Wars of usurpation and those of 
 anarchy and revolution; 
 
 5. Wars for preservation of justice 
 and right — and the maintenance 
 of national constitution and 
 unity of states — 
 
 All of which, in the loss of life and prop- 
 erty and the financial costs, have been 
 enormous. 
 
 The animal in men, the greed and av- 
 arice of men; and the "rule or ruin" princi- 
 ple; and that other infernal statement, 
 that "might makes right" — are the un- 
 savory, incentives of war, that is, of most 
 wars. 
 
 An enlightened nation, that believes in 
 the brotherhood of man and the father- 
 hood of God; and that cherishes the gold- 
 en rule, is a safe Nation, in times of Na- 
 tional peril, to decide the great question 
 of war, or no war ; for, if war, they pay the 
 price in life and money. The great sacri- 
 fice is all their own. 
 
 101 
 
A government, for the people and by 
 the people, should give the people the 
 square deal. The cost of maintaining a 
 government in peace, or war, is paid by 
 the people; and it is not fair to the people 
 to squander public resources and revenues 
 from the people, in prodigal extravagance 
 and wasteful expenditure. A govern- 
 ment should not be careless and extrava- 
 gant with the use of peoples' money, be- 
 cause the people can furnish more money, 
 like bees, that are forced to make more 
 honey, when the hive is robbed. 
 
 A government should be run like any 
 other great business, that is successfully 
 and efficiently conducted, so that loss, 
 waste and prodigal extravagance is 
 avoided. To this end the budget system 
 of Government expenditure should be 
 adopted. In addition, there should be a 
 small, well paid body of men commissioned 
 to give their entire time and attention to 
 the study of economics and efficiency in 
 operating government affairs; and these 
 men should be efficiency experts on the 
 ways and means of operating government 
 business — not with authority to act, but 
 with authority to report to the people 
 openly, in the public press, that which 
 
 102 
 
would save time and money, and prove 
 more efficient and productive, for the good 
 of the Government, and for the good of all 
 — the people. In other words, it would 
 be the sole business of this commission, to 
 report, how the business of the Govern- 
 ment could be run and conducted in a busi- 
 ness way; and suggest means for adoption 
 to that end; and, also, point out, what is 
 obsolete, unnecessary or extravagant, or 
 defective and wasteful in operation, so that 
 the leaks can be avoided. This commis- 
 sion, in the course of time, would make 
 clear, what is needed to meet the over-head 
 expenses of Government, when wisely, 
 economically and efficiently conducted— 
 as any great, progressive corporation and 
 manufacturing plant, that is up to date, is 
 run. 
 
 This Expert Commission on Govern- 
 ment would belong to the people; and be 
 elected directly by the people every three, 
 or four years, as follows. Each State 
 would nominate one candidate, then all 
 the voting population of the nation would 
 ballot for the candidates on a set day, and 
 the five, receiving the largest number of 
 votes, would be elected to office. Vacan- 
 cies during the term of office to be filled 
 
 103 
 
by appoint of the President. Each Govern- 
 ment expert to receive a salary of $10,000 
 per year. At the next election, the active 
 members of the Commission would be can- 
 didates for re-election, for a second term 
 only, along with the newly chosen candi- 
 dates — so that they could be kept in office, 
 for a second term, if they served well. 
 
 In the same manner the people should 
 vote directly, for President and Vice-Pres- 
 ident, that is, each state nominate candi- 
 dates and the people vote directly, for the 
 chosen candidates, on a set day. 
 
 According to this plan, States are not 
 obliged to nominate candidates for the 
 presidency. It is optional whether they 
 nominate or not. 
 
 The number of candidates, to be voted 
 for, could be lessened by half, if State 
 elections took place, prior to the general 
 election. Then only the successful candi- 
 dates of each State would be voted for at 
 the general election. 
 
 Those candidates elected by the people 
 at the general election, in all probability, 
 would be elected by minority vote of all 
 the States, except the vote of the State, 
 that nominated or elected them, which, 
 we assume, would give them a majority at 
 
 104 
 
the general election. It matters not. The 
 candidate receiving the majority vote of 
 the people, from all the States, would be 
 the choice of the people; and serve for four 
 years. 
 
 This would do away with the dark 
 horse, intrigue and political strategy now 
 common at conventions where Presidential 
 candidates are chosen by vote. 
 
 The President to receive salary of 
 $200,000 per year; and Vice-President 
 $25,000 per year. High officials of Gov- 
 ernment are under paid. They are paid 
 stingy salaries. Extravagance in Govern- 
 ment is not due to extravagant salaries; 
 but occurs in other ways. 
 
 A government, for the people and by 
 the people, should not be so administered 
 as to antagonize the people in their peace- 
 ful, social and business affairs. 
 
 A meddlesome government, that 
 probes home life and legitimate business 
 life, that becomes a book-keeping govern- 
 ment for the people; and gets its chief 
 revenue by taxing thrift and efficiency in 
 business, will, sooner or later, encourage 
 dishonesty, chill thrift and provoke ani- 
 mosity. 
 
 105 
 
We Don't 
 See and 
 We Do See 
 139 
 
 If, out of every hundred men at 35 
 years of age, 40 are in moderate means, 5 
 dead and 35 have saved nothing; and if, 
 out of every hundred men at the age of 65 
 years, 36 have died and 54 are dependent 
 on children, why tax thrift? Why, Why, 
 Why, when there are other, much more 
 simple, less complicated, less expensive 
 and better ways of raising all the funds 
 needed by a government, and abundantly 
 giving all the revenue required? 
 
 1 The expenses of a government must be 
 met; but, if it requires the ill-will of the 
 people to meet it, then what becomes of 
 devotees? 
 
 Government, for the people and by the 
 people, should be so administered, as to 
 encourage loyalty and devotion from the 
 people; and whatever antagonizes the 
 people, in their own Government, antag- 
 onizes that Government. 
 
 We don't see the wind, but we do see 
 what it does when it blows down a tree, or 
 wrecks a house. We don't see electricity, 
 but we do see what it does when lighten- 
 ing strikes somewhere, or when the elec- 
 tric spark fires the gasoline in your auto- 
 mobile. We don't see germs of disease 
 
 106 
 
140 
 
 The Other 
 World- 
 Immor- 
 tality. 
 
 141 
 
 with unaided vision; and there are disease 
 germs, that have never been seen under 
 the microscope; but we do see their ill 
 effect on life. We don't see the soul of 
 man; but we do see what it does when it 
 loves or hates, when it is honest, or dis- 
 honest. The unseen things are always 
 back of the seen. How slow we are to 
 learn that fact. I have not said much, but 
 in these few, simple words, I have 
 preached a sermon, which ought to do 
 much for you. 
 
 All things we see, in our fair land, 
 Not instigated by the mind of man, 
 God thought and wrought the working plan. 
 
 All there is to life, if we cut out im- 
 mortality, is rotation of crops (human, or 
 otherwise), and good and bad living. 
 
 We do not know where it is located. 
 Some people believe it is up in the sky — 
 far away. In biblical stories, those who 
 were translated, went up. There is no 
 record of people leaving this world, going 
 down. In mythology the gods went both 
 ways. The god of Hades went down into 
 the lower world — into regions of darkness. 
 When Hades stole Persephone, he made 
 off to the lower world; and, in course of 
 time, she was allowed to return to the up- 
 
 107 
 
per world, for six months in the year, 
 order of Zeus — the god of light, or day. 
 But the "other world", if it is anywhere, 
 must be everywhere. 
 
 There is only one way to the "other 
 world"; and that is the way of death. You 
 must die to go. That is why everybody 
 dreads the trip. It's a one way transpor- 
 tation. You can never return and can only 
 take the journey once. In this respect it 
 differs from all other journeys. It's final 
 and forever. No baggage of any kind is 
 allowed to go with the passenger; and he 
 must travel alone and unattended. It's a 
 solemn, sad, lonely journey; but all, who 
 live, must take it. They have no choice 
 in the matter. It is positive and impera- 
 tive. No material — nothing, that you can 
 handle, or touch, or see by natural vision, 
 goes over into the "other world." Millions 
 have passed over, generations have come 
 and gone, for many ages; and that "other 
 world" is not over-populated; and, what's 
 more, over-population is impossible. Only 
 souls journey to that undiscovered and 
 mysterious country; and what is a soul? 
 Man's soul is a spirit; and a spirit, if it's 
 anything, must be a mind; and spirit, or 
 mind, being immaterial, does not occupy 
 
 108 
 
space, hence all the human beings, that 
 have lived and died, in all the ages past; 
 and all the millions, that may live and die 
 in all the ages to come, will not occupy, 
 as much space in the "other world", as one, 
 only microbe. Heaven will never be over- 
 populated. 
 
 What concerns me, above all else, in 
 regard to the spirit world, is the question 
 — if it be true, that the spirit is the mind, 
 can mind functionate independent of mat- 
 ter in the spirit world? Flesh and blood 
 are not allowed over there, neither are 
 brains, hence, unless the mind can act in- 
 dependent of matter in the spirit world, 
 there is no self-consciousness; and, if there 
 is no self-consciousness in the other world, 
 it's a delusion. God will be lonely sur- 
 rounded by a lot of unconscious spirits. 
 And who cares about the future world, if 
 his spirit is to be unconscious forever? 
 
 "Oh home of the soul in my visions and dreams, 
 Its bright jasper walls I can see; 
 Till I fancy but thinly the veil intervenes 
 Between the fair city and me." 
 
 The author of the above song, in his 
 "visions and dreams", likens the "home of 
 the soul" to a city walled about with pol- 
 ished jasper; but why think of that home 
 
 109 
 
as a walled city? It has no sewers, electric 
 lights, policemen, or trolley lines, and is 
 not walled about, as ancient cities were. 
 A city has location and limitations, but 
 the "home of the soul" is not citylike, ex- 
 cept, perhaps, in population (disembodied), 
 so that the poet let his fancy run wild; and 
 only poets can do that and get away with 
 it. In one line the poet sees the "bright 
 jasper walls;" and in the next line he fan- 
 cies a thin "veil intervenes between the 
 fair city and himself." The poet had a 
 spectacular and glowing vision, but it is 
 not plausible, or rational, and does not 
 help us to a true understanding of the 
 "home of the soul." 
 
 "When we've been there ten thousand years, 
 
 Bright shining as the sun; 
 We've no less days to sing God's praise 
 
 Than when we first begun." 
 
 "Bright shining as the sun." Impossi- 
 ble. Why compare the soul to the sun? 
 They are in no respect similar in lustre, 
 heat, function or size. 
 
 "Sing God's praise." We do that here, 
 and may continue to do that here-after; 
 but, if that is the only occupation of the 
 soul in the "other world", God will go 
 crazy from incessant and excessive music 
 
 no 
 
— song-worship. Can a soul, without a 
 body, sing? Has it a voice? Who knows? 
 
 After ten thousand years, "we've no 
 less days to sing God's praise than when 
 we first begun." There is no record kept 
 of time in the other world. Eternity is 
 endless; and on this point the poet seems 
 to have scored true. But vision and fancy 
 is about all poets, and other authors have 
 to draw on in contemplating and depicting 
 the life after death. Writers seem help- 
 less to give us anything reasonable about 
 the future world, taken from natural life 
 — from creation, and what is in evidence 
 here on earth. God has revealed so much 
 on the physical side of life, that evidence 
 of immortality from this source is far bet- 
 ter and more convincing and reliable, than 
 poetic fancy, visions and dreams. But, be- 
 fore we go further, let us define, as clearly 
 as possible, the words, soul, spirit and, al- 
 so, heart, for the average mind does not 
 have a clear idea of these terms, as com- 
 monly used in the church and as they ap- 
 pear in literature. Soul and spirit are syn- 
 onymous terms and the distinction, if any, 
 is not clearly defined. The same is true of 
 heart. For example, we cite the following 
 statement, taken from the Bible — "As a 
 
 ill 
 
man thinketh in his heart, so is he." When 
 heart is mentioned, my first thought is of 
 the physical heart, which keeps the blood 
 circulating through the body; but that 
 heart, the physical heart, doesn't think. 
 Hence, what does think? There is only 
 one part of a man that thinks, and that is 
 his mind. Therefore, the sentence will be 
 understood, if we say — "As a man thinketh 
 in his" MIND, "so is her That part of the 
 mind, which is emotional, which is de- 
 votional and sentimental; and, which loves, 
 
 is the heart-mind. 
 
 What is the soul? If we turn to the 
 dictionary, we will find this: "Fervor; fire; 
 
 grandeur of mind or other noble manifestations of the 
 heart, or moral nature." Again we find this 
 definition of the SOUl: "The moral and emo- 
 tional part of mans nature; the seat of the sentiments 
 or feelings." 
 
 These definitions make the soul quite 
 similar, or identical, with the heart; and 
 the soul is not a thing by itself, inde- 
 pendent of the mind, for "grandeur of the 
 mind" is characteristic of the soul. 
 
 The most clear definition we can give 
 of the soul is to say, it is an attribute of 
 the mind, therefore, when we use the 
 word soul, to avoid confusion, we should 
 say soul-mind. 
 
 112 
 
Spirit in the dictionary, is defined as — 
 
 "The principle of life, conceived as a fragment of the 
 divine essence, breathed in man. 1 ' Another definition 
 runs as follows : "A peculiar animating and inspiring 
 principle; dominant influence; genius; that which per- 
 vades and tempers the conduct and thought of men." 
 
 It is evident from these definitions, that 
 the spirit is, also, mental, and, therefore, 
 in speaking- of spirit, it would be much 
 better understood, if we used the com- 
 pound word spirit-mind. 
 
 The word spirit is derived from the La- 
 tin word spiritus, that is "the breath of life, 
 mind, soul, spirit;" and we can, also, add 
 heart, so you see, that all these terms 
 (heart, soul, spirit, life, mind) all have a 
 somewhat similar meaning, and are all 
 comprehended under spirit, more or less; 
 but all these terms, independent of the 
 mind, would mean nothing. Let us, there- 
 fore, when we speak of heart say heart- 
 mind, when we speak of soul, say soul- 
 mind, when we refer to spirit, say spirit- 
 mind, and there will then be no confusion. 
 Go to the Bible again, and read, using the 
 words as stated; and you will have a much 
 clearer light on the text, if not a revela- 
 tion. 
 
 If there is any distinction between soul- 
 mind and spirit-mind, or between the soul 
 
 113 
 
and spirit, it is this — When the soul leaves 
 the human body it is a spirit; and when the 
 spirit is in the body, it is a soul: and the 
 mind goes with the spirit, or there is no 
 immortality. Consciousness, self-identity, 
 goes with the spirit, or there is no future 
 life of any kind worth consideration. Self- 
 consciousness is the all important thing in 
 the future life; and, if we do not have it, 
 in some form, what then? 
 
 "Although the human soul is united to 
 the whole body, it has, nevertheless, its 
 principal seat in the brain, where alone it 
 not only understands and imagines; but, 
 also, perceives"; — Descartes 5 * 1 ; and, we 
 may add — creates. 
 
 "Descartes originated distinct meta- 
 physical dualism, which holds, that spirit 
 and matter are two radically different 
 kinds of substance — the former character- 
 ized by consciousness, the latter by exten- 
 sion — "which means taking up space by 
 
 * Princ. of Philos. (tr. by Veitch) IV, § 189. Des- 
 cartes (Da-kart). Born at LaHaye, Touraine, France, 
 March 31, 1596; died at Stockholm, Sweden, Feb. 11, 
 1650. "He revolutionized the science of thought;" and 
 is sometimes referred to as the father of modern philos- 
 ophy. 
 
 114 
 
the cohesion of solid, separable, movable 
 parts — molecules. f 
 
 There is more duality in the human 
 soul and body, than Descartes dreamed of 
 in his philosophy, which was good, so far 
 as it went; but it did not go far enough. 
 
 Let us detour in our line of thought, 
 for a short distance, so that we may return 
 laden with more information and light on 
 immortality. We glean from the physical 
 side of life. 
 
 Internally, the human body has several 
 dual parts, namely, right and left brain; 
 right and left lung; right and left kidney; 
 right and left ovary, if female; and right 
 and left testacular gland, if male. 
 
 Externally, we, also, have double or- 
 ganization, namely two eyes, which con- 
 vey light to the retina and sensation to the 
 brain; two ears, which convey sound to the 
 right and left ear-drum and sensation to 
 the brain; two nostrils, which convey air 
 to the right and left lung, through the one, 
 branching wind-pipe; and sensation of 
 odor to the brain. There are right and left 
 
 t Extension of space, to make clear from extension 
 of matter, is denned as the continuity of unsolid, insep- 
 arable^ immovable parts. Why parts? That spoils the 
 definition. 
 
 115 
 
groups of perforations at the base of the 
 skull, through which the nerves of smell 
 pass to the brain from the right and left 
 nostril. 
 
 The mouth, in conjunction with the 
 nose, makes two ways for air to reach the 
 lungs. If the nose fails to convey air, the 
 mouth affords another way for air to reach 
 the interior of the body, and vice versa. 
 Wise and ingenious forethought on the 
 part of the Inventor of life. 
 
 Then, in the female, there are two 
 breasts — right and left (rudimentary in 
 man), so that there is dual provision for 
 food, when baby arrives. 
 
 Again, the human life has two arms 
 and two legs, which are ample and double 
 provision, for what they are capable of. 
 
 But the nervous duality, wherein the 
 soul-life functions in the human body, is 
 the most wonderful, the most spiritual and 
 the most God-like of anything from the 
 physical side, possessed by mankind, ex- 
 cept the soul-mind itself. 
 
 The cerebro-spinal nervous system, is 
 dual, in that it has nerves of sensation and 
 nerves of motion and these act from the 
 brain to the body, from above downward. 
 
 116 
 
The will, volition and consciousness pre- 
 side over this nervous system. 
 
 But there is another nervous system, 
 which acts independent of the will; and it 
 is called the involuntary, or sympathetic 
 system. This acts while the other nervous 
 system rests. Every sleep would be a 
 death were it not for this special nervous 
 system, which keeps the heart going- and 
 puts our physical house in order, while the 
 strong, energizing brain and will-power 
 sleep — night after night, and wake, strong, 
 brave and well — refreshed and renewed in 
 youth, ready for what may come. Sleep 
 provides a glorious resurrection of physi- 
 cal life; and, why not say, soul-life also? 
 
 Yet, another duality common to man 
 and life in general, which is the greatest 
 duality on the physical side; and which is 
 not altogether physical; but, more or less, 
 divine and super-human, namely — the re- 
 production of life. Life can not be pro- 
 duced without life; and life is not human 
 in its origin. Man is not the Giver of Life, 
 only the transmitter. Two lives must blend 
 to give us one, or more lives. A bit of male 
 life — the sperm cell, must blend with a bit 
 of female life — the germ cell, to produce 
 a life. Now, the parties to this union are 
 
 117 
 
each dual in their own personality. The 
 female life contains both male and female 
 life, only the female life is accentuated, or 
 predominates, hence the female. The male 
 life contains both male and female life, but 
 the male life is accentuated, or predomi- 
 nates, hence the male. Now, when these 
 dual lives beget a life, there is a duality in 
 the germ-cell (female) and a duality in the 
 sperm-cell (male) ; and when these two 
 combine, there is an excess in that com- 
 bination of either male, or female life. If 
 the excess of life, in the fecundated germ, 
 is male, than the offspring will be a fe- 
 male : and, if the excess, in the impregnate 
 germ, is female, then the new life will be 
 male. Gender goes by opposites; and, as 
 there is dual life in each gender, that be- 
 got, so there is dual life in each gender 
 begotten ; and this double duality, in each 
 personality, that begets ; and the blending 
 of the two, to beget one life, makes a 
 double, double duality of life in genera- 
 tion ; and in this lies one of the chief secrets 
 in the endless variation of life, from 
 different parentage; and, also, though 
 strange but true, from the same parentage. 
 
 There is duality of mind, as well as 
 body. Mentally men and women have 
 
 118 
 
much in common in thought, action, and 
 conduct; but there is a marked difference 
 in the average male mind, and the average 
 female mind, which needs no explanation, 
 that is, it's an accepted fact. 
 
 Again, it is not uncommon to find 
 double personality in one individual, 
 whether male, or female gender. Further- 
 more, psycologists tell us, and it is now 
 generally accepted, that humanity has a 
 conscious and a subconscious mind ■ — a 
 dual mind common to all of us. Verily, 
 "The highest study of mankind is man," 
 for we can not study man, in his entirety, 
 without the study of God also. 
 
 Now, that we have brought to your at- 
 tention the duality of man both physically 
 and mentally, let us return to the main 
 line of our topic. 
 
 As the mind in the body is dual, the 
 mind outside of the body (the spirit- 
 mind), we assume, is, also, dual. That is 
 the logical conclusion, for how could it be 
 otherwise, if the mind of man is like the 
 mind of God; and it must be so, only dif- 
 fering in scope and accuracy. Man's mind 
 has its limitations, while God's mind is 
 boundless. Man's mind does not always 
 detect error, while God's mind, we believe, 
 
 119 
 
is perfect and incapable of error; and 
 though dual, active in every possible di- 
 rection. And God must be the Mother- 
 God, as well as the Father-God in thought, 
 for thus He made us. 
 
 God works by similars, duality, oppo- 
 sites, dissimilars and variation, and thus 
 man works. The universe, and all created 
 things, and life in the natural world, reveal 
 the mind of God, the Creator, as plain as 
 A. B. C. — not, that we understand, it all; 
 but we understand enough, and so much, 
 that we can not deny and must admit, that 
 super-human intelligence, wisdom, fore- 
 thought and plan, adaption and fitness, are 
 displayed everywhere — abundant evi- 
 dence, and convincing evidence, of a first 
 cause — the Master Mind, who evidently 
 foresaw what he was doing from the be- 
 ginning to the end, and brought law and 
 order out of chaos; but the origin of such 
 intelligence, wisdom and knowledge, who 
 can fathom, who can have the least, or 
 remotest conception — it is utterly impos- 
 sible, for mankind to grasp. 
 
 Man's mind, to a limited extent, vary- 
 ing, of course, with men — (their intelli- 
 gence, genius, intuition and their attitude 
 toward God), is like the mind of God, or 
 
 120 
 
may become so, more or less, imperfectly; 
 for the workings of the mind of man are 
 similar to the workings of the mind of 
 God; for man, also, creates, plans, invents, 
 reasons, and considers adaption and fit- 
 ness. Man's creation of machines, that 
 knit, that fly, that talk, that travel, below 
 or above water; and many thousand other 
 inventions and creations, are evidence, 
 that his mind works, in creation, as does 
 the so-called Divine mind. This fact can 
 not be intelligently disputed. Only an 
 ignoramus, or a fool, would fail to see the 
 likeness between God and man. 
 
 Now, if the disembodied, invisible mind 
 of God, the Creator, can work everywhere 
 in the universe unseen, does that not show, 
 that the mind of man, though set in a vis- 
 ible body, can continue to work after it 
 has left the body? If God, from an invis- 
 ible world, can act in this visible world 
 (the earth) without an organized body, 
 then why will not man do the same in re- 
 verse order; for, if God's mind can act in- 
 dependent of a perishable body of flesh and 
 blood, so will man's mind continue to act, 
 when he has laid down that body. It's a 
 poor rule, that don't work both ways, 
 whether we consider the natural, or the 
 super-natural. 
 
 121 
 
It is very wonderful how mind came 
 to inhabit matter. Matter is dead; and 
 dead matter was organized for life. This 
 step in evolution no man understands — the 
 step from dead to living matter, that is, 
 organized matter. 
 
 Progress is by evolution and variation. 
 That is the way God works and that is the 
 way man works; and though we under- 
 stand not what life is; and though we un- 
 derstand not how dead matter was made 
 to live, we may clearly trace the steps in 
 evolution from dead matter to the mind 
 enthroned in that organism known as 
 man. 
 
 Matter came before organization, and 
 matter was organized to accommodate 
 and display life; and organized matter, 
 possessing life, was capable, at first, of 
 only three chief attributes, namely, func- 
 tion, growth and reproduction. This is 
 true of the vegetable kingdom. In the 
 vegetable world we have life, a great varie- 
 ty of life, variously organized, with vary- 
 ing functions, conditions and periods of 
 growth; and variation in the manner of 
 reproduction, etc.; but nothing more. 
 There is life, but no mind in the vegetable 
 
 kingdom, but God's mind is manifest 
 there. 
 
 122 
 
Now, a step higher in the organization 
 of dead matter, brings us to the animal 
 kingdom. This kingdom is more or less 
 dependent on the vegetable kingdom, 
 which preceeded it. 
 
 In the animal kingdom we have a high- 
 er type of life, than in the vegetable king- 
 dom; but, like the latter, it varies in or- 
 ganization, in function, growth, and re- 
 production; and the lower types of life, in 
 this kingdom, vary but little, from life in 
 the vegetable kingdom. But the animal 
 kingdom possesses locomotion, greater 
 and more complex organization, respira- 
 tion, digestion, sensation and, above all, 
 this one new thing is added, namely, in- 
 stinct, so called, which is the fore-shadow- 
 ing of mind; and God's mind is, also, mani- 
 fest here. 
 
 Life feeds on life; and the life in the 
 animal kingdom feeds on life in the vege- 
 table kingdom; and, also, feeds on life in 
 its own kingdom, as the robin feeds on 
 the worm, the cat on the mouse, or rat, and 
 man eats fish, beef, poultry — all kinds of 
 life. Life keeps life alive. However, 
 broadly speaking, both kingdoms are 
 much alike in the main characteristics. 
 
 123 
 
There is life in the organized matter of 
 both; and both functionate, grow and re- 
 produce under varying conditions, with 
 
 great variation in individual lives ; and, al- 
 so, variation in classified groups, but what- 
 ever these variations, or differences, there 
 is only one great difference, in the main, 
 which the animal kingdom possesses over 
 the vegetable kingdom, and that is in- 
 stinct. 
 
 The vegetable kingdom has organiza- 
 tion, life, function, growth, reproduction. 
 
 The animal kingdom has organizaton, 
 life, function, growth, reproduction and 
 
 instinct. 
 
 There is this about instinct. It is an 
 impelling and controlling, embodied influ- 
 ence on life, difficult to define, which seeks 
 gratification, and impels the life to action 
 along rational, intelligent lines; but it has 
 its limitations and is exercised in special 
 ways, largely according to organization 
 and function, hence, as organization and 
 function vary, the instinct varies. But 
 there are animals, that display more or less 
 intelligence, which seems to be a super- 
 instinct, or a little more than ordinary in- 
 stinct. They evidently learn from experi- 
 
 124 
 
ence; but the animal kingdom, if we leave 
 out man, has no soul center, that has intro- 
 spection, no concern about this life or the 
 future life, has no knowledge of death and 
 is not capable of worship, experiment, edu- 
 cation; and has no mentality, that can 
 overcome instinct, no knowledge of right 
 and wrong, no moral sense, no ambition 
 for greater and better things — in a word, 
 no mind; but the mind of God is more fully 
 revealed in the animal kingdom, than in 
 vegetable kingdom. 
 
 The third step in the life of organized 
 matter brings us to man; and this step is 
 more than a step, for between organized 
 animal matter and man, there is a great 
 gulf — a wide distinction, a break in evolu- 
 tion, which scientists can not account for. 
 They have searched, far and wide, the uni- 
 verse over, for the missing link; and have 
 not found it. Organically, man belongs to 
 the animal kingdom; but he is so far above 
 and beyond any life below himself, — so 
 superior and exalted in his make up, as a 
 whole, that he is classed by himself; for 
 in man, the acme of physical creation 
 seems to have reached its climax. 
 
 And what in man gives him this superi- 
 
 125 
 
ority of life? The mind. And what is 
 mind? We do not know. 
 
 Man stands at the head of the animal 
 kingdom. All life below him is subject 
 to his will. He is the only life, that habit- 
 ually walks in the erect position. He is 
 the only life, that laughs and weeps, that 
 suffers remorse, that has a conscience, and 
 desires and hopes for immortal, eternal 
 life. He is the only life, that talks, that has 
 a language, that grows and unfolds, as 
 thought unfolds in invention, knowledge, 
 discovery, investigation, analyzation, ex- 
 perimentation, truth, in fact, as the evolu- 
 tion of the mind goes on. Verily, he is the 
 Lord of the earth, in that he rules, to a 
 large extent, all other life; and in that he 
 meets conditions, more or less, perfectly, 
 as they arise; and he has the power of 
 adaption and preservation and creation, 
 using the things that are; but his organic 
 life has limitations and must die. Here 
 he is helpless and ceases to rule. He can 
 not conquer death. 
 
 In death, what dies? When a vege- 
 table dies the organic ceases to act, organi- 
 zation breaks up, disintegration takes 
 place, and matter reverts to its source. 
 Carbon lets go its combination in the veg- 
 
 126 
 
etable and returns to carbon; sodium, in 
 the combination, is released and returns 
 to sodium; and the same is true of all the 
 elements in the vegetable, they all revert 
 to where they were before they were taken 
 up and embodied in the organic, function- 
 ating life. 
 
 If the vegetable is eaten, it becomes 
 digested and eventually reverts to elemen- 
 tary matter — its source. It may nourish, 
 for a time, the life, that eats it — the carbon 
 going to the fatty tissue because it already 
 has carbon, is made up, in part, of it; and 
 the nitrogen goes to the lean tissue, for it 
 contains nitrogen; and the phosphorous 
 goes to the nervous tissue, for it contains 
 phosphorous and so on; but finally the veg- 
 etable, though eaten, reverts to its source, 
 that is, to elementary, dead matter. 
 
 If the vegetable is pulled out of the 
 ground and deprived of nourishment it 
 dies. If it receives no water, or light, or 
 air, it dies. Death is a cessation of func- 
 tionation beyond the endurance of the 
 plant. If the organic system of the plant 
 can not act, that is, functionate, it dies. If 
 it can not take on what it requires, and is 
 unable to give off the waste in its tissue 
 organization, it dies. Hence, death, in the 
 
 127 
 
vegetable, results when its organs are 
 damaged, or destroyed beyond repair; and 
 the plant can not continue to function; or 
 when nourishment, water, light and heat 
 — one or more of these essentials to growth 
 and function, are not supplied, or withheld, 
 for a sufficiently long time, then death fol- 
 lows;* and matter reverts to its source by 
 disintegration. 
 
 All that has been said of the vegetable, 
 is more emphatically true of the animal. 
 The vegetable gives off through its leaves 
 gases. It does not eliminate waste like 
 the animal; but it must eliminate, though 
 in less degree, in its own way. When an 
 animal dies there is cessation of function, 
 disintegration of organization, and matter 
 returns to its elements. 
 
 Animals die daily. They are constant- 
 ly taking on and giving off to live. They 
 take on to supply the waste. They take 
 
 on to build up and to sustain life; and they 
 give off to save life; for, if they did not 
 
 * The cactus-slab, the seed of wheat, and other 
 seeds, will live many years, sometimes ages, deprived 
 of most every thing essential to growth and repro- 
 duction, and will germinate, when given a chance; but 
 these are the germs of life, not the growing plant; and 
 favorable conditions prolong their vitality. These may 
 seem to be exceptions, but are not. 
 
 128 
 
give off, they would die of self-poisoning.f 
 Die from lack of elimination; die, for what 
 is to be given off, is already dead — it has 
 already become detached in the organism, 
 and more or less broken up and in the 
 process of elimination and disintegration, 
 which, outside of the body, will continue 
 until the limit is reached, if not reached 
 before. Hence, death is not the horrible 
 thing we think it is, for man, in part, dies 
 daily; and complete death, organically, 
 only differs from partial death, in degree. 
 All that dies, in us, is our anatomy, the 
 organic man. We die, as dies the veg- 
 etable, as dies the animal. The part, that 
 dies, is only the organic part, that returns 
 earthward, to its source, to that which is 
 already dead. 
 
 Man possesses, broadly speaking, all 
 that the two Kingdoms below him pos- 
 sess, and more. 
 
 The comparison is as follows: 
 
 Vegetable Kingdom — organization, 
 function, reproduction, life, death. 
 
 t Hibernating cold and warm blooded animals 
 seem to be an exception; but they are only partially 
 so, as function of some sort, is active though feeble, 
 irregular and curtailed — only so during the hibernating, 
 period. 
 
 129 
 
Animal Kingdom — organization, func- 
 tion, reproduction, instinct, life, death. In- 
 stinct is the new thing given to the animal 
 kingdom, not possessed by the vegetable 
 kingdom. 
 
 Mankind, compared to the two pre- 
 ceeding Kingdoms — has organization, 
 function, reproduction, instinct, mind 
 (soul-mind), life and death. Only the or- 
 ganic matter dies in all three kingdoms; 
 and mind, the soul-mind, is the special gift 
 to man. 
 
 This classification, condensed, reads as 
 follows — 
 
 In the Vegetable Kingdom there is — 
 Organic Life. 
 
 In the Animal Kingdom — Organic 
 Life, and Instinct. 
 
 In Man's Kingdom — Organic Life, In- 
 stinct and Mind. 
 
 To put it in another way — The veg- 
 etable has function. The animal has 
 function and instinct. Man has function, 
 instinct and mind. 
 
 Organic function is common in all 
 three kingdoms; but mental function is 
 only true of man. Here is another dual- 
 ity; and duality appears in man only in 
 the possession of instinct and mind. 
 
 130 
 
We have set man aside, in a kingdom 
 by himself, notwithstanding the fact, that 
 organically, he belongs to the animal king- 
 dom, because he possesses, what the other 
 two kingdoms do not possess, namely — 
 mind, self-consciousness and reason. 
 
 It is wonderful, and profoundly" im- 
 pressive, when you consider all the evolu- 
 tion of creation on a progressive scale, 
 from dead matter to living vegetable mat- 
 ter; varying in many thousand ways in 
 organization and function, followed by 
 the evolution of the animal kingdom, 
 which is a much higher scale of life; and 
 which, also, varies in many thousand 
 ways in organization and function along 
 a continually increasing and unfolding 
 plan of life, to which instinct was given, 
 which varies, as life varies; and then, fin- 
 ally, when organic evolution was brought 
 to a climax, it was displayed in a new crea- 
 tion — man, to whom was given a soul- 
 mind. Think of it, all this vast array of 
 evolution, wisely planned, on a progres- 
 sive scale, that transformed dead matter 
 into living matter, — life, life, and more 
 life, varying, ever varying, but always 
 ascending and expanding. 
 
 Until the living woke the dead, 
 Until soul-mind in man was bred. 
 
 131 
 
Now, let me ask, would the All-Wise 
 Creator have done all this to destroy it 
 with death? To let man be blotted out 
 and die, as dies the vegetable? A thou- 
 sand times no, so says our aspirations, and 
 desires, so says our heart-mind, our di- 
 vine-mind. If it were otherwise, God 
 would appear unreasonable and foolish. 
 
 From the foregoing, it is evident, that, 
 if evolution of life had stopped with the 
 vegetable kingdom, there would be no 
 knowledge of God. What does a cabbage, 
 or a tree, know about God? 
 
 Again, if the evolution of life had 
 stopped with the animal kingdom, there 
 would be no knowledge of God. What 
 does a cow, an owl, the dog, the whale, an 
 elephant, or the gorilla know about God? 
 
 The ant, the spider and the bee, 
 Know not God shapes their destiny. 
 
 It is only when we come to man, 
 that God is known — that we find life, in 
 which the divine spark seeks and recog- 
 nizes the Divine. Likes have affinity for 
 likes. The spirit given, seeks the spirit 
 giver; and the spirit-mind is the soul- 
 mind. The Divine-mind is incarnated in 
 the mind of man — as much as he is able to 
 take on, or according to instinct, educa- 
 
 132 
 
tion and mental genius, with which the 
 life is endowed. 
 
 Search everywhere, the whole earth round, 
 In man, alone, is God's truth found. 
 
 Herein we see God's dependence on 
 mankind. We are dependent on God, 
 yes; and he is dependent on us. Why, 
 therefore, belittle man and exalt God? 
 If we believe in and recognize God's de- 
 pendence on us, then we are exalted, 
 then knowing, that he is in accord with us 
 and we are in accord with him, there, 
 springs up in our mental heart, respon- 
 siveness — admiration and love — all em- 
 braced in the so called uplift of the soul. 
 
 Only the chords, that are keyed alike, 
 vibrate. The wireless message is only 
 caught by the receiver, that is in tune 
 with the transmitter; and like truth holds 
 good in psycology — in the realm of mind, 
 as in the realm of matter (physics). 
 How perfectly simple, and natural is this 
 gospel, when you behold and accept it. 
 It's plain and easy to understand. Not so 
 with the ready-made relgions. 
 
 "Let each man think himself an act of God, 
 His mind a thought, his life a breath of God." 
 
 — Bailey's Festus. 
 133 
 
"A sacred spark, created by his breath, 
 
 The immortal mind of man his image bears ; 
 
 A spirit living 'midst the forms of death, 
 
 Oppressed, but not subdued, by mortal cares." 
 Sir H. Davy — Written after a dangerous illness. 
 
 We may gather somewhat of a new 
 view of immortality from an old illustra- 
 tion, namely, the silk-worm and the but- 
 terfly. The silk-worm, we assume, and it's 
 probably true, does not know why he is 
 created, nor that his life is soon to under- 
 go a physical transformation and pass out 
 of existence, as a worm. If he did know, 
 he might worry about it, and be in doubt, 
 as to his future life. 
 
 The silkworm is a complete organic 
 life, that functionates according to its or- 
 ganization and instinct. He has locomo- 
 tion, eyesight, digestion, sensation, and 
 is completely formed to live and to do ; and 
 he takes care of himself and feeds and 
 feeds and feeds and grows ; and then there 
 comes a day, when he begins to form his 
 own sepulcher — formed of pure white, 
 soft, durable and costly material, that is, 
 yards of silk web, lined with a hard, water- 
 proof casing, into which he retires and 
 seals the door — and alone, in that dark 
 grave, his life, as a worm, goes out; and 
 after a lapse of time, there emerges from 
 this grave another life of different forma- 
 
 134 
 
tion, organization and function. This life 
 does not crawl as did the worm, for it has 
 wings and can flit in the sunlight and 
 among the beautiful flowers. This new 
 life not only has wings, but it has a differ- 
 ent body, different legs, different appetite 
 and feeds on food the worm knew not of. 
 It, also, has a new head and new instinct. 
 The old life is blotted out — the worm life 
 and instinct; and a new life with a new 
 instinct is born; and this new instinct is 
 the thing I wish to emphasize, for it is 
 suggestive of psychic life, soul life. A rad- 
 ical, wonderful change took place when 
 the worm died and the butterfly lived — 
 ushered into life to generate and give back 
 the life, that was given him; but the most 
 wonderful change was in instinct. 
 
 All the worm was used up, trans- 
 formed and given over to the butterfly, or 
 silkworm fly, as nothing remains, but the 
 empty grave, when the fly comes forth. 
 But the new life is less bulky, less in size, 
 and more attractive and active and agile 
 than the worm, and lives a superior life. 
 Now, all this physical transformation in 
 life, death and life, is a fact known to us 
 all; but do we understand it? No. We 
 only know, that the worm lived, lost his 
 
 135 
 
personality, so to speak, lost his identity 
 and passed away — ceased to exist; and 
 then emerged physically transformed into 
 a very different form and life, than that he 
 first possessed; and he knew it not. He 
 feared not, he was conducted through, 
 made over and translated, and lived again 
 more glorious than before. 
 
 Now, if the creator can do all this with 
 a worm — in a corporal, physical way, us- 
 ing material things, that we see and han- 
 dle, will he not do as much for mankind? 
 Will he not take care of the soul-mind, 
 when the material body fails? Why fear? 
 Why doubt? 
 
 "That which is born of the flesh is 
 flesh; and that which is born of the spirit 
 is spirit." Remember likes go to likes. 
 The earthly body — the organic, material 
 body, goes back to its source, to earth; 
 but the spiritual (the soul) does not go 
 down, it goes to its source — the source of 
 all spiritual life. Herein is shown one 
 of our dualities — we have several. Re- 
 member the worm-life did not stop with 
 the worm. It went on until a life was 
 evolved — that gave life ; and God does not 
 let the soul, that longs for immortality, 
 and the only soul on earth, that knows 
 him, or ever thinks of him — that took 
 
 136 
 
ages to incarcerate, go down and be blot- 
 ted out forever, with the death of man's 
 body, which can only live at best, for a 
 few short, troublesome, eventful years. 
 
 It is no more impossible, for God to 
 save the soul, when the human body dies, 
 than to save the fly, when the worm dies ; 
 and we know, that he does that, for it 
 takes place before our own eyes and we 
 must believe in spite of the mystery — in 
 spite of our not understanding how such 
 things can be; and in spite of the fact, 
 there is no one, that can explain such 
 transformation to us. 
 
 What keeps us alive? On what does 
 our life depend? 
 
 It takes two lives to beget a human 
 life; and when that life begins on earth, 
 why does it live? The common belief is 
 that life possesses within itself the essen- 
 tial agents and power to live; but that is 
 not so. At birth, man would not live an 
 hour, if it were not for what he takes on 
 from without his organism. Organism 
 means — collection of vitalized organs in 
 one body. 
 
 The fact, that man lives at all, is due 
 chiefly to what he takes on from without, 
 not what he possesses within. 
 
 137 
 
About all the known powers, that exist 
 in the universe, which powers man makes 
 use of to operate his own mechanical in- 
 ventions, motors, and machinery of all 
 sorts, are necessary to operate his own 
 body — which, on the organic side, is only 
 a motor, a machine, which must function, 
 operate and run because of essentials, 
 which are supplied from without; and 
 without this supply from without, life is 
 impossible. What man creates in a me- 
 chanical way, out of material things, God 
 creates in a vital way, also, out of material 
 things — matter; and both depend on the 
 same powers to functionate, to be useful, 
 to get results, either vital, or mechanical. 
 
 We cannot live without air; and air 
 originates outside of the human body and 
 is used by man for power to run his own 
 mechanical inventions; and God uses it to 
 run his own organic invention — life; and 
 when we die, the air does not die. 
 
 We cannot live without water; and 
 water originates outside the human body 
 and is used by man, as power, to operate 
 his own inventions; and God uses it to 
 opperate his vitalized, organic invention — 
 man, and when we die, water does not 
 die. 
 
 138 
 
We cannot live without electricity; and 
 electricity is used by man as motor power. 
 The brain is sometimes referred to as the 
 human dynamo; and the nerves carry 
 electric messages, or sensations, to and 
 from the nerve centers, to all parts of the 
 organism; but when we die, electricity 
 does not die. 
 
 We cannot live without light ; and light 
 comes 95,000,000 miles distant to benefit 
 us, to give us vision and sustain us; and 
 light is sometimes mechanically used by 
 man as power; but when we die, the light 
 does not die. 
 
 We cannot live without food; and 
 man's food is organized material — life, 
 from the animal and vegetable kingdoms, 
 which is consumed as fuel, to keep man's 
 organized, mechanical life going, to sup- 
 ply it with heat, and nourishment, to off- 
 set the waste and elimination, that is con- 
 stantly going on. The same food can be 
 used as fuel, to furnish heat for motor, or 
 mechanical power; but wood and coal are 
 less expensive; and the vegetable kingdom 
 is the source of this organized material, 
 so that the supply is abundant. 
 
 The food taken by man is organic life 
 — vegetable and animal. The organic life- 
 
 139 
 
food dies, the human organic body, which 
 it supplies, also, dies. Likes supply likes, 
 likes go to likes, likes act alike. The food, 
 for the organic, is, also, organic; and all 
 that is organic decays. Man's food is 
 from without, like all the other things on 
 which his life depends; but food is the 
 only thing from without necessary to the 
 life of organic man, that dies. All the 
 other enumerated agents, air, water, elec- 
 tricity, etc., on which man's life depends, 
 do not die, for they are not organic; and 
 these forces, or powers, which man makes 
 use of to operate his own mechanical de- 
 vices, are all invisible, except food, as 
 water becomes invisible as steam, or when 
 it evaporates; and not one of these forces 
 decay (except food) ; and we do not know 
 the origin of any one of these invisible, or 
 Visible forces, nor how the supply is kept 
 up, except food, which is the dying supply. 
 
 Man invents an electric motor. It is 
 made up of parts; and is a perfect, organ- 
 ization of inanimate parts; but it can not 
 operate itself. It has no power within 
 itself to function. Not until the electric 
 current, from without, is turned on, is it a 
 useful thing, a thing of action. It is much 
 the same with our organized life. It's no 
 
 140 
 
good — it's a failure, without the energiz- 
 ing, invisible, God given, undying agents 
 from without. Without these, man's or- 
 ganization fails. He can not live a day. 
 
 Man, organically considered, is a living 
 machine. He is made up of organized 
 parts. He must functionate, or die. The 
 cessation of function is the beginning of 
 destruction. If his lungs are consumed 
 by consumption, he dies. If his kidneys 
 undergo organic change, and sufficient de- 
 struction of tissue takes place, he dies. If 
 his heart is damaged by rheumatism, be- 
 yond capable efficiency, he dies. If apo- 
 plexy occurs in the brain; and the blood 
 pressure acts too much on certain centers, 
 he dies. If he does not properly eliminate 
 deleterious material from his system, au- 
 to-intoxication and poisoning takes place, 
 and he dies. And so it goes — blood poi- 
 soning, infection, disease germs (bacteria), 
 to say nothing about accidents, kill him. 
 There are so many things to cripple, stall, 
 and put the human machine out of order, 
 it's quite remarkable how we endure and 
 continue to live; but it's the outer things, 
 that give us life — or sustain life, more than 
 the inner things. The inner things die; 
 but the outer things never die. 
 
 141 
 
The mechanical power devices of men 
 must be kept in order to functionate. If 
 they are not lubricated and fed they do 
 not work well, or quit action. If the mech- 
 anism becomes foul, worn, defective, or 
 gets out of adjustment, the machinery 
 fails to act. If the fuel is not good, in- 
 adequate, or not supplied regularly in the 
 right way, and in sufficient quantity, the 
 mechanical organization will not continue 
 to operate. All the mechanical devices of 
 men are dead without the forces from 
 without to set them going and keep them 
 going; and these are, the undying, invis- 
 ible forces, on which man's life depends, 
 strange as it may seem, nevertheless, a 
 truth, that cannot be denied, or set aside. 
 
 There is not enough life, in life, to sus- 
 tain life, without the organic, living, dying 
 food from without, which feeds the living, 
 dying, organic man; and this is not enough 
 to keep life going. Life, also, requires to 
 live, the other powers from without — the 
 undying powers; and these do more for 
 life, than life itself, though the powers re- 
 ferred to are not regarded as life. Give life 
 perfect and complete organization and 
 health, with all its functions working nor- 
 mally and at best, with food and all the 
 
 142 
 
outside powers, or forces, supplied regu- 
 larly, in sufficient quantity — pure and 
 wholesome, without any disagreeable 
 change; and life cannot endure long, for 
 man's body, in spite of life, like all func- 
 tionating machinery, must give out, for 
 there is a limit to endurance; and, in time, 
 it will wear out and cease to live, whether 
 diseased, or not. 
 
 The life in the vegetable is a mystery. 
 Life in the animal is a mystery. Life in 
 man is a mystery; and life, wherever you 
 find it, is mysterious. 
 
 The vegetable cannot live on the life 
 within itself. It is dependent, for develop- 
 ment and the continuation of life, on the 
 powers from without. The same is true of 
 animal life, hence, man is not far removed 
 from the vegetable and animal; as to his 
 higher and superior organization being 
 able to overcome death of the body. He 
 dies as dies the vegetable. He dies as 
 dies the animal; and his organic life, while 
 it lives, lives chiefly on, or because of the 
 undying, mysterious forces from without; 
 on which it lives, for a short span, and, 
 without which, its own life, would not sur- 
 vive over night; and these forces run wind- 
 
 143 
 
mills, electric motors, and power plants of 
 all sorts. 
 
 Instinct is the greatest endowment 
 given to the animal, the automatic attach- 
 ment to life, that makes the animal supe- 
 rior to the vegetable; and mind is the great 
 gift to man, that exalts him above the ani- 
 mal; and gives him a vision of his Creator. 
 
 Man is the oracle of God; and, in all 
 life, the only intelligent outlet, for the 
 Divine life. 
 
 In human life, there is no soul-life 
 without the mind; and mind and soul are 
 identical, or linked together so closely and 
 intimately, as to be inseparable. 
 
 There can be life without soul. The 
 vegetable is dual. It has a root and a 
 shoot. The one goes up, the other goes 
 down. It has life, but no soul. 
 
 The animal has dual life — body and 
 instinct, and lives without a soul. Soul is 
 not necessary to life on earth. 
 
 Man has a triple combination of body, 
 instinct and soul; but the body is not de- 
 pendent on the soul for life; and the soul 
 does not prevent death of the body. 
 
 The human body is dual; and the soul- 
 mind, like the body it inhabits, is, also, 
 dual. It can be positive, or negative, it 
 
 144 
 
can favor, or oppose, it can love, or hate, 
 it can be honest, or dishonest, evil or good, 
 etc. 
 
 The soul is the man at the wheel. The 
 automobile has an engine and various 
 mechanical parts, which makes It a com- 
 plete unit for service; but it has no power 
 in and of itself to function. The power is 
 in the vaporized gasoline and electric 
 spark, which fires the vapor. They ener- 
 gize the automobile and set it going; but 
 it cannot direct and guide itself. There 
 must be a man at the wheel. He is the 
 soul that runs the auto, slow or fast, back- 
 ward or forward, safely or unsafely. He 
 may give it a long run, or a short run. He 
 may damage the machine in the way he 
 cares for and runs it, or he may wreck it. 
 And thus the soul may run the human 
 body. It dominates, controls, directs, and 
 operates the life of man on earth. The 
 soul is at the wheel of the organic, func- 
 tionating, mechanical body of man. The 
 soul, through the will-power drives the 
 body and has complete control of it, as 
 to the work performed and as to its speed, 
 conduct and character. 
 
 The energetic soul-mind would soon 
 tire out and kill the body, were it not for 
 
 145 
 
sleep, when the soul leaves the body, or 
 becomes dormant, or latent; and the body- 
 rests and recovers its fatigue and exhaus- 
 tion. But the instant sleep is over, the 
 soul is at the wheel of life again; and it 
 runs the body wisely and well, or into 
 trouble and disaster. A man is never bet- 
 ter than his soul. 
 
 "Were I so tall to reach the pole, 
 Or grasp the ocean with my span, 
 
 I must be measur'd by my soul ; 
 
 The mind's the standard of the man." 
 
 Watts — False Greatness. 
 
 In life we find variation in organiza- 
 tion and function in both kingdoms — veg- 
 etable and animal. In the animal king- 
 dom, we find variation in instinct; and in 
 man, variation in soul-mind. It is this 
 variation, that accounts for progress in the 
 world. 
 
 The soul-mind, operates the organic, 
 living, dying bodies of mankind through 
 thought and will; and the body is respon- 
 sive to the soul; but the endless variation 
 in soul-minds accounts for scientific dis- 
 coveries, invention, creation and the rev- 
 elation of truth, that is steadily unfolding 
 through the ages, as generations come 
 and go. 
 
 The body of man has reached its climax 
 
 146 
 
of development. It is all that it ever will 
 be; but the soul of man is yet young, and 
 will continue to develop, in this life, and in 
 the life to come. 
 
 At birth the human babe has abundant 
 organic life and instinct, but no soul, un- 
 less it be latent, hidden and inactive. 
 Baby sleeps and eats, but has no mind. If 
 it was born with a soul-mind its growth 
 would be stunted; and the soul-life-force 
 would kill the body — the organic life- 
 force. 
 
 The involuntary brain and nervous 
 system are active before birth and in full 
 force at birth; but the voluntary, is not 
 developed at birth; and the voluntary 
 nervous system does not act rationally 
 until the voluntary brain directs its ac- 
 tion. The voluntary man becomes the 
 Good Samaritan, or the one, who passes 
 by on the other side; the righteous or 
 the unrighteous devotee; the good or the 
 evil spirit; or, to use a figure of speech, 
 angel or devil. Herein is revealed an- 
 other, and the most wonderful duality of 
 man, for the soul-mind can not enter the 
 voluntary brain any faster than it devel- 
 ops; and, if it never develops, the soul- 
 mind is shut out of that life, or can only 
 
 147 
 
functionate in a restricted, irregular and 
 unrational way, as in the natural born 
 fool. The soul is restricted and can not 
 function normally in an undeveloped, ab- 
 normal, or diseased brain, hence mental 
 weakness, foolishness, or insanity. The 
 fault is not with the soul, but with the in- 
 strument. Restore the diseased brain to 
 health, and the soul will again function 
 rationally — sanely. We do not treat the 
 soul mechanically, or medicinally, we treat 
 the instrument. Soul can only be treated 
 by Soul. We do not breed the soul, we 
 breed the instrument. The instrument 
 with only three strings, will not give the 
 music of an instrument of fiv& strings; and 
 a defective, imperfect, or unsound body, 
 will discord, curtail, or spoil the music of 
 the soul. Herein is a revelation with 
 plenty of room for expansion. On the 
 other hand, if the voluntary part of the 
 brain is of a superior order and develops 
 normally, and the soul-mind is endowed 
 with special traits of genius, or intuition, 
 the outcome of the soul-life is far beyond 
 and above the ordinary life. 
 
 The instrument may be defective, but 
 not the soul. The soul would functionate, 
 if it could; and death of the entire body 
 
 148 
 
(organism) is death of the instrument 
 only, not death of the soul. 
 
 You may know a man's soul by the way 
 he drives his body. Conduct reveals the 
 soul and fixes character. The unseen is 
 revealed in the seen. Straws shows which 
 way the wind blows, so does the weather- 
 vane; and even the little ripples of water 
 on the surface of the otherwise placid 
 pond, reveal the direction of the unseen 
 wind. I believe, that most, if not all of the 
 unseen, is revealed in the seen, if we only 
 could discover it; and so is the soul. 
 
 How did we come to possess this double 
 brain and nervous system — voluntary and 
 involuntary? It was not our own creation. 
 We did not make it, or find it ourselves, 
 hence, from where did it come, if not from 
 a super-human force — God the Creator. 
 
 What is the soul of man? We don't 
 know. The nearest we can come with one 
 word, is life, with two words — eternal life. 
 To venture a more extensive definition, 
 let us say — soul is the adynamic, invisible, 
 undying power from without the human 
 organism, that dwells with man on earth 
 during the life of the body; and which 
 controls and guides the life of man, for 
 better or for worse, until death of the body 
 
 149 
 
severs the union; and then, the undying- 
 soul, set free, lives on and on forever. The 
 soul-mind at death of the organic man, 
 becomes spirit-mind. It's life, life, life un- 
 dying, immortal, eternal life. God, who 
 made possible soul-life on earth, would 
 not destroy that life with the death of the 
 body, which so soon reaches its final 
 doom and destruction and decay, so far as 
 each individual, corporeal life is concerned. 
 No, that would be folly. God, it is logical 
 to assume, does not start anything so no- 
 ble, intelligent, ingenious, emotional and 
 devotional, as the life of man, with a soul 
 akin to the soul of God, and not complete 
 its course; but let it go out in its earthly 
 evolution, like a falling star into the black- 
 ness of darkness forever. No, likes go to 
 likes; and, if God has eternal life, so does 
 the spirit-mind of man. If God is undying 
 life, then the spirit-life of man is undying 
 also. Remember all the powers from with- 
 out the human body, that sustain, our 
 temporal life, are undying, except the or- 
 ganic, dying food, that feeds the organic, 
 dying body; and the soul of man is su- 
 perior to all these exterior, undying pow- 
 ers; for it was life, before it came to life in 
 man; and it will continue, as life, after its 
 earthly dwelling place is destroyed. You 
 
 150 
 
cannot destroy life itself — the vital power 
 and spark from without the human organ- 
 ism, any more than you can destroy air, 
 water and light. Spirit-life is undying, if 
 God is undying. Only organic things die. 
 Life is not organic. Life knows no death. 
 
 Spirit-life — invisible, undying, inor- 
 ganic, adynamic life, dwells with the vis- 
 ible, organic, dynamic, dying life, so long 
 as the organic life lives. There can be life 
 without soul, but there cannot be soul 
 without life. Spirit is life, which is inde- 
 pendent of matter. If that is not so, then 
 there is no eternal life and no God. When 
 a soul becomes incarcerated, it is fixed dur- 
 ing the life of the organism. It does not 
 travel about; and God could not be God, 
 if he was not more than one soul in one 
 body. Soul-life is one thing, organic life 
 is another thing. Do not confound the 
 two. They are unlike, distinct, and separ- 
 ate, though both, for a time, are in the 
 same body. Soul-life is no more like or- 
 ganic life, than light is like the eye. Light 
 is from without the eye; and the spirit- 
 soul, the soul-light in man, is also, from 
 without the body — both are undying pow- 
 ers. Herein we see again the dual life in 
 man. 
 
 151 
 
You find God when you find your soul, 
 For they are like in kind. 
 It's true today, as true of old — 
 Soul is immortal mind. 
 
 Some people must be shown; but the 
 great majority of real things can not be 
 shown; and we repeat — the unseen forces 
 are the greatest forces — gravitation, elec- 
 tricity, vital and atomic forces and others. 
 
 Nobody doubts the fact of the radio 
 message, which travels unseen at the rate 
 of about 186,300 miles per second; and it 
 could not be seen, if its speed was as slow 
 as the speed of a turtle. 
 
 The union of atoms and the disunion 
 of atoms, especially the latter, is evidence 
 of great force. Our explosives, some of 
 which are very powerful, exert that pow- 
 er, heat and light, when the atoms are in- 
 stantaneously liberated, or set free from 
 their combination. 
 
 The unseen forces, which we under- 
 stand, in part, and know about, show how 
 the unseen forces, which we do not under- 
 stand and know scarcely nothing about, 
 are possible. 
 
 Adaptation, cause and effect, the fit- 
 ness of things, the dependence of one 
 thing on another, the revelation of intelli- 
 gence and wisdom everywhere in nature 
 
 152 
 
and in life, reveal a supreme, master-mind 
 back of all the seen and unseen and per- 
 vading it all; and this we call spirit, this 
 we call God. Call it what you will, it's 
 there; and spirit-mind is the greatest un- 
 seen force of all, for it's back of all; and 
 among the living seen and unseen things, 
 man is the most God-like; and that is why 
 — because of his likeness to God, he may 
 know God; and the more like God he is, or 
 becomes, the more he knows God. 
 
 There must be a mind to know a mind, 
 there must be a soul to know a soul, for 
 only likes, that know, can know. And, if 
 God hears and answers prayer (all those 
 who pray think he does), then there is com- 
 munication between this world and the 
 next; and Sir Oliver Lodge is rational and 
 in accord with all who pray; only he af- 
 firms, that disembodied minds, may, also, 
 like God, communicate with minds on 
 earth — and, if the disembodied mind of 
 God can do that, why not the disembodied 
 mind of man; God, in all probability, is 
 as much on earth as elsewhere; and the 
 souls of the departed may dwell among us. 
 
 We find no mind in pumpkin vine, 
 We find no mind elsewhere, 
 Until we come to man designed, 
 By God's mind, everywhere. 
 
 153 
 
It's in the stars and in the sea, 
 And everywhere displayed; 
 But disembodied and unseen 
 Until mankind was made. 
 
 O mind of God, and mind of Man ! 
 It's mind, that mind doth know, 
 Hence, without man's mind, understand, 
 God's mind could not be known. 
 
 O mind of God and mind of man ! 
 Their likeness makes them blend, 
 For only mind can understand 
 The mind, that has no end. 
 
 Oh little mind, that dwells on earth ! 
 Your stay is for brief years ; 
 But death, though dark, is but a birth; 
 And then, God's life is yours. 
 
 It's life, undying life, that lifts 
 The Soul out of the clay ; 
 And death, but consummates the gift 
 Of immortality.* 
 
 Did you ever consider your own na- 
 tivity — your condition before and after 
 birth; and the wonderful change, that 
 takes place, in organic life, at birth? Prior 
 
 to birth you are in your chrysalis stage 
 of life. You have eyes, but you do not 
 
 see. You have ears, but you do not hear. 
 
 You have kidneys, but they do not act. 
 
 You have digestive organs, but you do 
 
 not digest. You have lungs, but you 
 
 do not breathe. If you did breathe, you 
 
 * The title of this poem, by the author, is — Mind 
 of God and Mind of Man. 
 
 154 
 
would drown yourself, for you are living 
 in a globe of water, which is the very best 
 medium possible for your welfare, prior 
 to birth, and of great assistance to normal 
 labor at birth. 
 
 The Creator planned all this; and he 
 made ready, that is, prepared you, for the 
 change in your life, which would take place 
 at birth; and, what you are before birth, 
 and what you are after birth, are most 
 wonderful; and clearly show premedita- 
 tion and fore-thought, inventive genius 
 and wisdom on the part of the Creator: 
 for every detail is attended to as carefully 
 as you, yourself, would prepare for a diffi- 
 cult and hazardous journey. 
 
 Think of it — the eyes are made in the 
 dark, but they are perfect optical instru- 
 ments, for use in another state of exist- 
 ence, which is to come, when we are ush- 
 ered into light. 
 
 The lungs are correctly and perfectly 
 formed for breathing air, where there is 
 no air; and, when completed, tucked aside, 
 left in a compacted and collapsed state, 
 ready for use, when we are brought into 
 a new world, where voices and music float 
 on the vibrant air; and we must breathe 
 
 155 
 
that air, through the heretofore inactive 
 lungs, or die. 
 
 Surprising, as it may seem to the un- 
 informed, the circulation of the blood 
 through the heart changes in a surpris- 
 ingly short time. If this fails, we get blue 
 babies, and death follows. At birth, the 
 blood discontinues its circulation through 
 the navel; and the opening in the heart, 
 necessary before birth, is closed, and the 
 blood from the heart is now sent to the 
 lungs for air and back to the heart, before 
 going into general circulation. 
 
 The digestive tract, with its accessory 
 organs, is made ready for future use, 
 where there is no food, that can be taken 
 into it; and hence the salivary glands, the 
 stomach, with its gastric juice, the liver 
 and pancrease, are of no use — inactive, 
 until there comes a day when we are fed 
 in another way; than, through that long 
 and slender chord — the vital highway, that 
 connects mother and child, through which 
 air and nourishment from the placenta are 
 conveyed to you while yet unborn, in the 
 womb-cocoon stage of your life; and then, 
 at birth, the whole thing changes. The old 
 plan of life is given up and the new plan 
 of life is taken on. Wonderful, beyond 
 
 156 
 
words! Understandable? Yes and no. 
 We understand much; but there is much 
 more that we do not understand; but we 
 see enough to know, that only God could 
 do these things. 
 
 There is so much to life prior to birth; 
 and so much in the radical change, that 
 takes place in life at birth; and so much 
 to life in the development of soul-mind, 
 that no man can fathom, or embrace it all, 
 simply behold, understand a little, and 
 wonder how all these things are possible. 
 
 Birth of the body is like coming from 
 one world to another ; and we are made 
 ready for it, and we know it not. We come 
 without our knowledge or consent. It's 
 a long time after birth before we know 
 anything about our nativity. But the great 
 point I wish to convey is the preparedness 
 of our organic life, for the advent into the 
 present life; and that it was well and wisely 
 planned and ingeniously and safely car- 
 ried out. And when the change did come, 
 all the inactive, living organs were brought 
 into play, and sustained, with one excep- 
 tion, by the undying, energizing, ethereal, 
 seen and unseen powers, from without our 
 corporal, organic self. 
 
 Now the changes, that take place, when 
 
 157 
 
the organic life and the spiritual life sep- 
 arates, in after years, because of the death 
 of the body, in all probability, are just as 
 completely thought out, premeditated and 
 planned, as the change from the prenatal 
 state to the natal state; and, if so, death 
 of the body is not death of the soul; and 
 the change, from this life to the future life, 
 is no greater, or more radical, than those, 
 which took place when you were born, but 
 differ in kind. 
 
 Why is it, that with so much revelation 
 of truth in nature and in life, we do 
 not learn to discern the Divine life every- 
 where, both without and within ourselves; 
 and place our confidence and faith in what 
 He is doing for us, for when we grasp our 
 oneness with the Source of Life, we feel, 
 that we too, are eternal? 
 
 One of the best evidences of an ex- 
 panding, growing soul-mind, is, that it has 
 not only revelation, but inspiration. I am 
 a very ordinary man; but I must confess, 
 that I, now and then, have inspirations; 
 and there are many other men and women 
 in the world, who have had the same ex- 
 perience. 
 
 I recall an inspiration, that came to me, 
 unexpectedly (and that's the way inspira- 
 
 158 
 
tions come) while in charge of a confine- 
 ment case. The labor was a regular, nor- 
 mal labor and all went well. When the 
 baby was born, I placed it on a small, 
 woolen blanket, spread out on the bed- 
 side, which was to be its swaddling 
 clothes. The baby was healthy, and well 
 developed, bui it did not breathe. There 
 it lay. It did not cry, it did not breathe; 
 but it was rosy, and as much alive as any 
 babe, that was ever born. It was in this 
 world, where it had arrived in perfect con- 
 dition, but it did not use its lungs. It did 
 not take on air, as you and I make use of 
 it; but life was perfect. 
 
 In the little while, that this condition 
 lasted, I had a revelation of how life goes 
 on prior to birth; and it seems to me, that 
 I was a bit nearer to God, than I had been 
 before. I could not wait long. The pla- 
 centa (after birth) was still in tack (at- 
 tached to the mother) ; and the supply of 
 air was still being conveyed from mother 
 to child, through the unibilical chord. I 
 pinched the cord and cut off the prenatal 
 circulation and immediately the babe took 
 its first breath of air and cried; and I 
 turned it over to the nurse. 
 
 Life does not begin with the first 
 
 159 
 
breath, and life does not end with the last 
 breath. 
 
 The march, from the cradle to the 
 grave, has been going on for many ages 
 and will continue for countless ages more. 
 The young grow old. Generations come 
 and go. Across the stage of life, the great 
 procession of humanity goes marching on, 
 the ranks are ever being filled, as fast as 
 they are depleted, we can not retrace our 
 steps — none turn backward, and the great 
 caravan moves on unceasingly, as of old, 
 with all its joys and sorrows, with all its 
 burdens and cares, with all its sins and 
 
 errors, with all its faith and prayers. 
 
 The living tread the paths their dead 
 sires trod. 
 
 "O Time and Change ! — with hair as gray 
 As was my sire's that winter day, 
 How strange it seems, with so much gone 
 Of life and love, to still live on ! 
 Ah, brother ! only I and thou 
 Are left of all that circle now, — 
 The dear home faces whereupon 
 That fitful firelight paled and shone. 
 Henceforward, listen as we will, 
 The voices of that hearth are still ; 
 Look where we may, the wide earth o'er, 
 Those lighted faces smile no more. 
 We tread the paths their feet have worn, 
 We sit beneath their orchard-trees, 
 We hear, like them, the hum of bees 
 160 
 
Blossom 
 days and 
 Wedding 
 days. 
 
 142 
 
 And rustle of the bladed corn ; 
 
 We turn the paees, that they read, 
 
 Their written words we linger o'er ; 
 
 But in the sun they cast no shade, 
 
 No voice is heard, no sign is made, 
 
 No step is on the conscious floor ! 
 
 Yet Love will dream, and Faith will trust, 
 
 (Since He who knows our need is just,) 
 
 That somehow, somewhere, meet we must. 
 
 Alas for him who never sees, 
 
 The stars shine through his cypress trees! 
 
 Who, hopeless, lays his dead away, 
 
 Nor looks to see the breaking day 
 
 Across the mournful marbles play ! 
 
 Who hath not learned, in hours of faith, 
 
 The truth to flesh and sense unknown, 
 
 That life is ever lord of Death, 
 
 And Love can never lose its own I" 
 
 — Whitiier, Snow Bound. 
 
 In floral life, the blossom-days are the 
 wedding days. Behold the beauty and the 
 fragrance, the brilliant display, the vary- 
 ing dates and costumes, the winged at- 
 tendance — the humming birds, the busy 
 bees and the gorgeous butterflies; and 
 then, there is, also, the honey-dew, am- 
 brosial feast. Oh how wonderful, how de- 
 lightful is all this! 
 
 New Life I can remember when there was no po- 
 
 cn Earth. tato bug, destructive to the potato plant; 
 
 143 no boll-weevil, destructive to the cotton 
 
 crop; and we all can remember, when 
 
 161 
 
there was no flu germ, so destructive to 
 human life. We know not, how these new, 
 undesirable creations of life, come to earth; 
 but we do know how life, which benefits 
 and exalts mankind, comes to earth, name- 
 ly, — it is thought. "As a man thinketh," 
 so is he. If we think good thoughts, we 
 are good. If we think bad thoughts, we 
 are bad. If we think creatively, we create. 
 If we think destructively, we destroy. 
 
 And then, new life, also comes by birth, 
 and always come through the "mother of 
 men," that precious, sweet, incarnation of 
 love. Thus Christ was born, who, so many 
 people believe to be the Saviour of the 
 World; and so many more do not so re- 
 gard him. And from the same source — 
 the mother of men, came the Apostles, and 
 all the great men and women, who have 
 lived and died, and all those of the present 
 time, and all those yet to come must enter 
 this world by way of the homemaker, the 
 comforter, the dearest life on earth; and 
 the only inlet for life on earth — that thinks 
 that has the power of thought; and, 
 through thought and action, shapes the 
 destiny of mankind. 
 
 The nearest God-like life on earth is 
 human life; and mankind, through 
 
 162 
 
thought, may keep in touch with the Giver 
 of thought; and, by so doing, will do bet- 
 ter thinking and enjoy better living. 
 Don't forget, that the best, that comes to 
 earth, comes through the best, that earth 
 can give; and that is woman — the mother 
 of men. 
 
 Reason must be original and creative 
 to be philosophic; and must reveal, or at- 
 tempt to reveal, the unknown. 
 
 True philosophy must make clear the 
 causes of phenomena, or advance plausi- 
 ble theory. 
 
 145 There is nothing, that man does, which 
 
 is not subject to criticism; but criticism 
 may be, for or against, favorable or unfa- 
 vorable. 
 
 The most variable thing in creation is 
 life. 
 
 My Visit The nearest I got to the great world 
 
 to the war, was Newport News, Va. I went 
 
 down there in August, 1918, while the 
 greatest heat-wave known for many years 
 was on, to visit my son, who was a 
 Lieutenant in the army, stationed at Camp 
 Stewart, just prior to his departure for 
 
 163 
 
France. There were a number of camps 
 in this locality, and soldiers were to be seen 
 everywhere, on the streets and in public 
 places; and there was so much saluting by 
 officers and those in lower rank, that I got 
 the habit and was called down. 
 
 The bugle call was heard night and 
 morning; and there was great activity 
 both on land and in the spacious harbor of 
 Chesapeake Bay. Here, the warships, that 
 were anchored off shore, awaiting the time 
 of embarkation of United States troops, 
 made a profound impression on me. These 
 great floating monsters could, also, be seen 
 maneuvering, from time to time, the on- 
 looker not knowing for what purpose. 
 
 Here, I got my first vivid impression of 
 the meaning of camouflage. The stripes, 
 the saw teeth, the confusion and perplexity 
 of light color and design, peculiar mark- 
 ings of the warships, that appeared more 
 like a Japanese puzzle, than like sea-going 
 vessels, showed how deception is practiced 
 in war; and that things are not what they 
 seem. Of course, camouflage is common 
 in life; and war only accentuates decep- 
 tion, which has been practiced since the 
 human race began. 
 
 I visited the officer's quarters, at Camp 
 
 164 
 
Stewart, and took lunch with them; and 
 was impressed with the plain, board tables 
 and benches for seats, the non-breakable, 
 metallic lunch set, which is very compact 
 and very simple. There isn't any luxury 
 in war, either at the mess or elsewhere. It 
 is stern, sober, exact, severe, but spectacu- 
 lar. 
 
 There was not a tree in Camp Stewart, 
 not a bit of grass anywhere, only un- 
 painted, plain, board buildings ; and a great 
 expanse of bare ground, surrounded by a 
 high board fence to keep the men in and 
 the chickens out. The mid-day sun poured 
 down, hot enough to cook an egg (hardly) 
 and the soldiers were wet with perspira- 
 tion; and everybody mopped their faces, 
 and there was not enough ice for the 
 camps, hotels and domestic use, as the de- 
 mand was greater than the supply. 
 
 While waiting outside the officers' 
 quarters, I heard some melodious strains, 
 coming from another part of the camp, 
 and my curiosity tempted me to go for- 
 ward and discover the source of the music; 
 but I had not gone far, before a soldier on 
 guard exclaimed — "You can't pass this 
 gun, sir!" He said nothing about himself, 
 
 165 
 
League of 
 Nations. 
 The Peace 
 of the 
 World. 
 
 148 
 
 in fact, the gun was more impressive, and 
 I did not pass it. 
 
 I see no joy in a soldier's life. I see 
 nothing in war, over which to glory. 
 
 The peace of the world, that is a Uto- 
 pian dream, much desired, but impossible 
 so long as Governmental powers disregard 
 the Golden Rule; and are always conniv- 
 ing how to get the best of each other; and 
 how to get more territory and more peo- 
 ple in their control. 
 
 The League of Nations, for peace, 
 must take in all the powers. on terms of 
 justice and right; on grounds of common 
 interest; and must be a harmonious body 
 of nations; but what the world war did 
 was to stir up the Hornets Nest of Europe, 
 unsettle nations all over the entire earth, 
 create enormous national debts, and put 
 the financial world on the verge of ruin. 
 In the face of such deplorable world wide 
 conditions, the peace of nations is impos- 
 sible; and what will probably result is par- 
 tial league of powers — the strong powers 
 combining against the weak and maintain- 
 ing peace because of their strength; and, 
 if need be, by force of arms. There were 
 leagues of nations before the World War; 
 and there will be Leagues of Nations fol- 
 
 166 
 
lowing the world war; but this does not 
 make lasting peace. Only an iron hand, 
 by combined powers, will keep and pre- 
 serve order; when there is so much ani- 
 mosity and dissatisfaction in Turkey, Aus- 
 tria, Germany, Russia and a lot of minor 
 powers, that have been emptied out and 
 more or less exhausted; but which boil 
 inwardly with resentment. The condi- 
 tions following the world war are vastly 
 worse, than the conditions, that preceded 
 the world war; and the forcing of helpless 
 nations into a compact against their wills, 
 will not be a League of Peace Loving 
 Nations. 
 
 It seems strange, that any nation can 
 go into war with unselfish intent, like a 
 Ministering Angel of Mercy, with no ter- 
 ritorial desire, with no desire of indem- 
 nity, solely for the good of mankind and 
 the peace of the world; and why should 
 such angelic goodness, stoop to earth to 
 soil its wings with the depravity of war? 
 
 The only peace, that can follow be- 
 tween man and man, or betwen nations, 
 is that which believes in mercv, fair deal- 
 ing, justice, honesty, truth and right — all 
 of a high order — all strictly moral and 
 ethical — all Divine. But how can hatred, 
 
 167 
 
Drama of 
 Life. 
 
 149 
 
 brutality and war be regarded as Divine? 
 How can disease, corruption and sickness, 
 of all sorts, be regarded as Divine? 
 
 Wars always have been; and wars will 
 continue throughout all time, unless we 
 get a Heaven on earth; and who believes 
 such blessedness possible? The trouble is 
 generations come and go; and each gen- 
 eration starts life afresh, with no experi- 
 ence, unlearned and ignorant; and with 
 more or less human depravity, due to the 
 animal instinct in man. And then, there 
 is racial differences, climatic, social, relig- 
 ious, political, momentary and govern- 
 mental differences; and differences, if too 
 divergent, do not make a durable, practi- 
 cal, compact, or league; but an incoherent 
 body, that will soon go to pieces, if formed. 
 
 A League of Nations, if comprehen- 
 sive, is a League of Coercion — the big 
 toads in the puddle, holding the little toad 
 in subjection, because the big, are strong 
 and the little, are weak. 
 
 What a little part any one man plays 
 in the revolving years, that run on into 
 many thousand centuries, for his days are 
 so soon numbered; and then he is out of 
 the race, in time and place, forever. 
 
 168 
 
Those 
 
 Sensitive 
 
 Persons. 
 
 151 
 
 The foregoing is a fact well known to 
 us all; but, nevertheless, all of us, who are 
 normal, healthy and happy, dislike to be 
 blotted out — to become extinct, even 
 though we are only one drop in the great, 
 continous, repeating drama of life. The 
 actors drop out; but the play goes on. 
 
 150 Did you ever chase a big word through 
 
 the dictionary? If you did, you em 
 where you began. 
 
 It's what you think, or do, that makes 
 you happy, or unhappy. Trivial things 
 make some people happy, and trivial 
 things make them unhappy; so these sen- 
 sitive persons worry much, and grieve 
 much over what they consider as slights. 
 Someone has not conformed to their stan- 
 dards of how they should be treated; or 
 passed them by unnoticed, or has done 
 this, that, or the other thing, that has 
 offended them. These human thermome- 
 ters are always showing changes in tem- 
 perature and temper; and most of the time, 
 their sky is over-cast and storms threaten. 
 They are the personification of April 
 weather — fickle, changeable, damp and 
 dreary; and the weather changes sudden- 
 ly; and unexpectedly the blue sky takes 
 
 169 
 
on a somber hue. They cross bridges be- 
 fore they get to them, borrow much troub- 
 le, that would never come, if they let it 
 alone; and do and say much, that they are 
 sorry for afterward. 
 
 The most charitable we can be, with 
 these peculiar characters, is to say, that 
 they inherited their sordid disposition, or 
 got the habit of wrong thinking. There 
 is so much in this life, that is pleasant and 
 cheerful to think about, why think about 
 the unpleasant and uncheerful things un- 
 less it is unavoidable; but turn away from 
 that line of thought, when it comes, as 
 soon as possible, for it's morbid, degrading 
 and makes you miserable, also, those about 
 you. 
 
 If healthy, it's so easy to be happy, by 
 thinking of the cheerful things; and by 
 trying to make others happy and cheerful 
 and contented. 
 
 The unpleasant things will not enter 
 your soul-mind, if you keep it full of the 
 joy, comforts and good cheer of life; and, 
 when your own life is sunny, you make 
 all about you radiant and cheerful. 
 
 It's impossible to be on both sides of 
 a cloud at one and the same time. If you 
 are on the sunny side, you don't see the 
 
 170 
 
clouds, at least, they do not annoy you; 
 but it's easy to have an eclipse and smudge 
 the sunshine in your soul-mind, by letting 
 yourself down to the low level and dark 
 corners of gossip, envy, jealousy, petty 
 grievances, that are largely false, that is, 
 of your own conception; and, then follows 
 nagging and back-biting, and you make 
 yourself the miserable creature that you 
 are. Your life is what your thoughts are. 
 Like begets like. 
 
 "Laugh and the world laughs with you," 
 If sour, you sour life's cream ; 
 And that, which gladdens heart of youth, 
 Will keep the soul of age more green. 
 
 We get, what we impart of cheer, 
 
 You make the thorns, you get the sting ; 
 
 And, if we find life is severe, 
 
 We fail in Love's sweet comforting. 
 
 Similars If you were asked whether there were 
 
 and more similars, or opposites in Nature, what 
 
 Opposites. would you say? I would say more simi- 
 152 lars; but opposites are always, or most 
 always, found somewhere. And, when 
 you find an opposite, it may be one oppo- 
 site, or many; but opposites, as a rule, are 
 not as numerous as similars. If opposites 
 preponderated, the similars would be over- 
 powered, blotted out, or so much opposed, 
 
 171 
 
as not to progress in evolution. In life, 
 opposites stimulate and strengthen evolu- 
 tion, if not too numerous and powerful. 
 Hence, similars and opposites appear on 
 the stage of nature, as one of the acts in 
 the Survival of the Fittest; and the simi- 
 lars are most always the fittest, as shown 
 in contest with the opposites. 
 
 Opposites play a part in the develop- 
 ment of the latent forces in Nature and in 
 man; but the big thing in Nature and in 
 life, is similars. 
 
 153 There is reverse and opposites in 
 
 mechanics, in all nature and in life. You 
 can reverse an engine and run it back- 
 ward; and human life is run backward or 
 forward. Running backward may put you 
 down and out. Running forward is haz- 
 ardous, but far more safe. "Safety First" 
 is a good motto, in the running of a life, as 
 in the running of a railroad. 
 
 Two ways, limbs branch, that's true of growth; 
 But man must choose, he can't do both. 
 
 *54 Choosing 
 
 Making choice is choosing, 
 A most important act. 
 Choosing is refusing, 
 And that requires tact. 
 
 172 
 
At least, there must be two 
 To make a choice between ; 
 And it is up to you, 
 As to a reigning Queen. 
 
 Choosing brings decision. 
 It comes to us each day, 
 It comes in still, small voice, 
 It comes in bold display. 
 
 A step and we must chose, 
 Our judgment is at stake; 
 And, if we err, we lose, 
 Ah, what strange tracks we make ! 
 
 We meet dividing ways, 
 It's up to us to choose, 
 Oh, for an onward gaze! 
 To us, that is refused. 
 
 Which course will bring success, 
 And which a sad regret? 
 It's dark, I must confess, 
 And I am choosing yet. 
 
 Why falter? You must act. 
 Go bravely on — fear not! 
 Courage will help each act, 
 Hope, ponder, cast your lot! 
 
 173 
 
Decision brings relief, 
 After the die is cast, 
 It may, also, bring grief; 
 But sorrow seldom lasts. 
 
 Choose wisely, so they say, 
 But whence comes our wisdom? 
 Light brings the dawn of day, 
 Only light brings wisdom. 
 
 Choosing, or refusing, 
 That's life at every turn, 
 We're making, or losing, 
 And so we live and learn. 
 
 Through knowledge we advance, 
 We gain a little light; 
 But still we must take chance 
 In future's starless night. 
 
 We do not choose our death, 
 We do not choose our birth; 
 But we choose all that's left, 
 Except what comes, on earth. 
 
 Choosing is refusing, 
 Ah, the unspoken voice ! 
 It's doing, or undoing, 
 According to our choice. 
 
 174 
 
Acting, ever acting, 
 We know not what is best, 
 Choosing, ever choosing, 
 Until our final rest. 
 
 Ah, who can know the end, 
 When the way is hidden? 
 We act, and then we mend — 
 So much comes unbidden. 
 
 I knew a man*, that prayed, 
 In making up his mind; 
 And then, the choice he made 
 Was regarded Divine. 
 
 Oh, pilgrim of the night ! 
 Treading through earth's span, 
 I trust you'll have some light, 
 Enough to see God's hand. 
 
 * The author's father — Hon. George Graham 
 Decker. The prefix to his name came when he was 
 elected to the New York State Legislature. Father 
 prayed daily. Took all his troubles to the Lord and 
 made an honest endeavor to live a conscientious life. 
 There was no question about his sincerity and religious 
 faith. 
 
 175 
 
155 Dreamland 
 
 Dreams are so enchanting, 
 
 They set the mind arranting, 
 
 On all things worth the granting. 
 
 The optimistic dream, 
 Is like a radiant beam, 
 Where flowers bloom unseen. 
 
 Our life, without a dream, 
 Like garment, without seam, 
 Is lean, yea, very lean. 
 
 Dream is inspiration, 
 It wakes imagination, 
 And leads to exultation. 
 
 Dreamland is ever young, 
 It's full of songs unsung, 
 And love and hope begun; 
 
 The castles built in air, 
 The flitting fairies, fair, 
 Are not all bubbles bare; 
 
 But parables of seeds; 
 
 The beginning of great deeds; 
 
 Forces moulded to our needs. 
 
 Oh sweet, happy dreamland! 
 In step, with music of thy band, 
 We mount the sinking sand. 
 176 
 
156 The Unspoken Language 
 
 There is an unspoken language, 
 Known all over the earth, 
 By the cultured and the savage — 
 Long unknown after birth. 
 
 But when our latent powers wake, 
 When maiden beauty dawns, 
 When young men linger at the gate, 
 For that dear, not a faun — 
 
 When clear eyes speak, as no one can, 
 And faces redder glow, 
 Then you begin to understand 
 The love you did not know. 
 
 And this unspoken language speaks, 
 In thoughts and deeds and sighs. 
 It lifts your soul to lofty peaks, 
 Or darken the blue skies. 
 
 It stirs, as nothing else will stir, 
 The inmost heart of man. 
 Your course in life, it oft may swerve, 
 Perhaps, to distant land. 
 
 Ah, who can tell, what may befall 
 Those who, speak not a word; 
 But feel the tug, that pulls us all, 
 When love, true love is heard? 
 
 177 
 
157 
 
 When Down and Out 
 
 Turn to the past, oh no, it's cast 
 
 Eternal as the hills. 
 
 We mould each day, life's plastic 
 clay — 
 
 We mould, for good, or ill. 
 
 When down and out, don't sit and 
 pout, 
 
 Life is too short, at best; 
 
 But make a drive, go in to thrive, 
 
 Work with a will and zest. 
 
 Take up Life's thread and weave 
 
 your web, 
 Some fail to act, 'tis true; 
 But those, who plan, they understand, 
 That they must put it through. 
 
 In every age of life is staged 
 A moving picture show. 
 Some play it well, some find a hell,* 
 So little do we know. 
 
 * To some lives come losses of all sorts, poverty, 
 heavy burdens, severe trials, illness, betrayal, deep sor- 
 row, etc. This is hell on earth. We recognize no other 
 hell. 
 
 178 
 
158 Love is Supreme 
 
 It's better to have loved and lost, 
 Than never to have loved at all. 
 It's better to bemoan your loss, 
 Than have no love joys to recall. 
 
 Some birds, that mate, then, soon 
 parted, 
 
 Will never sing again, but die. 
 
 The pangs of the broken hearted, 
 
 Ah, those who feel, can not deny ! 
 
 But love is earnest, love is deep, 
 It moulds the life of flesh and blood, 
 It cheers the soul, or makes us weep, 
 It forces life to high tide's flood; 
 
 And all we feel and all we do, 
 
 When full orbed love knocks at our 
 door, 
 
 We welcome, as glad tidings new; 
 
 And tread with joy the floral floor — 
 
 Where bees get honey, birds do sing, 
 For earth is heaven, life is spring, 
 When Love puts on the wedding ring; 
 And marriage doth its Eden bring. 
 179 
 
159 
 
 The White Cross 
 
 Out of the battle gore, 
 There came a cross of white; 
 And this same cross, it bore 
 Man-form of radiant light. 
 
 Though dead, it came to life, 
 Its gaze was far away. 
 He said — enough of strife, 
 It's time all men should pray. 
 
 I live and always live, 
 
 I stand for peace on earth, 
 
 It's love, not hate, I give, 
 
 Oh man, how blind from birth ! 
 
 In war we crucify 
 The best, that life can give. 
 Hear the dead millions cry — 
 Enough of carnage, live! — 
 
 Not like mad dogs, that bite, 
 With hatred in your heart ; 
 But like men, doing right, 
 For love of truth and art. 
 
 "Peace on earth," I bring, 
 That is the light I shed. 
 Let men rejoice and sing — 
 My cross is white, not red. 
 
 180 
 
"Good will to men," I bring, 
 With love and reason crowned. 
 Oh brothers, why not sing, 
 And cease to hate and pound? 
 
 "I came to save the lost," 
 To give you truth and light, 
 To lead the way across 
 The darkness of the night. 
 
 War rules, by force of arms, 
 It crushes with its blows, 
 It kills and spreads alarm, 
 It wrecks where'er it goes. 
 
 Force must be met by force, 
 That is the war of men; 
 And war will end, of course, 
 When justice comes again. 
 
 "Light of the World," gone out, 
 The cross has turned to red, 
 War has turned men about, 
 The Son of God is dead; 
 
 And peace can never be, 
 Until the cross glows white, 
 Then, through the clouds we see 
 Christ, and believe he's right. 
 
 181 
 
160 
 
 What Does a Frog Say? 
 
 What does a frog say, when he croaks. 
 Is it a laugh, is it a joke? 
 
 Mysterious language, it's true, 
 
 Heard in full moon, or night's dark 
 hue. 
 
 It may be note of rejoicing, 
 
 Like the cock, that hails the morning; 
 
 And it may be he's lonely, 
 
 And he croaks, for himself only; 
 
 But I guess he's wooing, don't you? 
 And wooing is love, love for two. 
 
 161 
 
 Our Lives are Like the Rainbow 
 
 Oh heaven, thou are weeping! 
 
 Yet, through thy tears so bright, 
 Is revealed to mortals 
 
 The bow of radiant light. 
 Oh bow of matchless beauty! 
 
 Born of water, sun, and light, 
 Thy beauty is the richest, 
 
 While the clouds are yet in sight. 
 
 182 
 
Our life is like the rainbow, 
 
 Full of beauty, light and tears, 
 Only we have knowledge, 
 
 And life is full of fears ; 
 But our life is the richest, 
 
 Most beautiful and bright, 
 When we smile through our tears, 
 
 While the cloud is yet in sight. 
 
 162 The Moon 
 
 The lesser light — the silver moon, 
 So far away from earth thy home, 
 Stationed alone in heaven's dome, 
 We wonder at thy strange cartoon. 
 
 And thou dost come in crescent form, 
 And each night show a fuller growth ; 
 And with they growth, more light for- 
 sooth, 
 Until full orbed; but pale by morn. 
 
 And when thou growest to thy full, 
 Begin to wane and grow less bright 
 Until thy rays are lost in night, 
 And all thy reign of splendor null. 
 
 Oh moon, thou dost but typify, 
 The coming and the going day, 
 The tide, that comes, then ebbs away, 
 Unfolding life, that soon must die. 
 
 183 
 
Yet, lovers seek thy radiant smile, 
 In thy enchantment, glow in heart — 
 Come nearer, nearer, less apart, 
 Until they cease love to beguile. 
 
 Oh moon, kissed by the sun of day, 
 If that's the kiss, that makes you 
 
 glow, 
 No wonder lovers learn to know, 
 That kissing has a warm x-ray. 
 
 But, if there was no shining moon, 
 No scenic beauty in pale light, 
 Would lovers quit, grow cold at night, 
 Or woo and coo, and spoon and. spoon ? 
 
 Mother of Mine 111 
 
 163 Oh mother of mine, I loved you ! 
 When on thy breast I fed. 
 Thou gavest me such tender care 
 Rocking my cradle bed. 
 
 Oh mother of mine, I loved you ! 
 
 When as a child I played ; 
 And you took part and cheered my life, 
 
 And daily for me prayed. 
 
 * Mother was 88 years old on the 23d day of June, 
 1919. She died on Monday, July 21st, 1919. Her maiden 
 name was Catherine Hasbrouck More. John More, 
 mother's great grandfather, came to America from 
 Scotland. The Deckers came from Holland. 
 
 184 
 
Oh mother of mine, I loved you ! 
 
 When bumps and trouble came; 
 And when the Doctor called me ill, 
 
 Your comfort soothed my pain. 
 
 Oh mother of mine, I loved you! 
 
 When helping with my books, 
 Rejoicing, when I won reward, 
 
 If not, those troubled looks. 
 
 And all through life, Oh mother dear ! 
 
 Thou has been true to me — 
 In manhood's struggles, when in doubt, 
 
 And in prosperity. 
 
 Oh mother love, that changes not ! 
 
 That watches through the years, 
 That cheers and comforts, strengthens 
 hope, 
 
 And weeps when we're in tears. 
 
 And when they told me thou wert dead, 
 Great sadness filled my heart. 
 
 Mother, that precious life gone out, 
 Of which I am a part. 
 
 I had been long regaining health, 
 When death knocked at thy door; 
 
 And so I did not see thy bier — 
 I saw thy face no more ; 
 
 185 
 
164 
 
 But that dear face in memory dwells. 
 
 Love has no death, I know; 
 And when I too am laid at rest, 
 
 Where thou art, I will go. 
 
 Visionary People. 
 
 A visionary person is one who sees a 
 thing before it's born. That is foresight. 
 An inventor has foresight, so has a poet; 
 but a poet looks both ways — fore and aft, 
 and he is not as practical as an inventor, 
 but has much more liberty, or license, and 
 deals with the unreal, as well as the real; 
 while the inventor must make his vision 
 realistic and practical, or lose his reputa- 
 tion. Visionary people, if they bring to 
 earth what they see in the clouds, or else- 
 where; and it's good and useful, are bene- 
 factors of the human race. We all have 
 hindsight, that is common; but foresight 
 and vision of a high order, are uncommon; 
 and such attainments enrich the world and 
 promote prosperity. 
 
 Men are Measured by 
 165 Their Vision 
 
 Behold, mountains round about us, 
 Great walls, that shut us in, 
 Sky-lines we see, but what's beyond? 
 Oh scale the peaks, begin ! 
 
 186 
 
If you're content to pitch your tent 
 With walls on every side, 
 Then don't lament your confinement, 
 If you've not far to ride. 
 
 Don't hamper thought and stay its wings, 
 Like birds within the cage. 
 Ah liberty is sweeter far 
 Then self-imposed bondage! 
 
 By their vision, men are measured. 
 If short, they go not far. 
 If broad, they have faith and courage, 
 And pass obstruction's bar. 
 
 Lofty the vision Moses had — 
 Freedom of Israel; 
 And Field, Atlantic Ocean spanned 
 With lines elec-trical. 
 
 Be bold, fear not, decide with care ! 
 Then falter not, but go 
 With the vision and decision, 
 Courage triumphant know. 
 
 187 
 
INDEX 
 
 Page No. 
 
 Introduction 1 to 6 
 
 Journey — The Greater and The Lesser 18 to 48 64 
 
 World— The Other, Immortality ,.. 107 to 161 141 
 
 MINOR TOPICS 
 
 Abundance is Found 55 90 
 
 Billy Sunday and The Church 72 to 76 112 
 
 Blossom Days and Wedding Days 161 142 
 
 Bolshevism. 93 136 
 
 Bread Requires Three Lives 51 79 
 
 Conformers and Reformers 50 75 
 
 Death For Life 58 98 
 
 Debts, The Chief Cause of Panics 93 to 96 137 
 
 Drama In The Church 77 to 83 113 
 
 Fashion 18 61 
 
 Faith Cures 58 to 64 99 
 
 Finance 15 57 
 
 Foundations, Ultimate, Do Not Exist 56 91 
 
 Government For the People and By the People 96 to 106 138 
 
 Going it Alone — Joseph, Lincoln and Washington 69 106 
 
 Great and The Near Great 52 82 
 
 Golden Rule Week 85 to 88 119 
 
 Habits 64 to 66 100 
 
 Ignorance, Greatness of Our, We Know and We Don't Know 53 85 
 
 Instinct, Were it not for, We would All be Good 50 77 
 
 Instinct of Man 53 86 
 
 Know Thyself 55 89 
 
 Life 12 43 
 
 Life, Visible and Invisible 54 87 
 
 Life, New On Earth 161 143 
 
 Life, Drama Of 168 149 
 
 Love, Mad 69 to 72 108 
 
 Love, Without Duality, No 48 65 
 
 Love Requires No Instruction 51 81 
 
 Love, Who Can Define It? 69 107 
 
 Light, Influence Of 56 93 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham 48 68 
 
 Laugh and Show Your Skeleton 17 59 
 
 Ladies, Young — Advice to with a Cold 52 83 
 
 League of Nations, The Peace of the World 166 to 168 148 
 
 Miracles, Myths and Mysteries 84 118 
 
 My Visit To The Great War 163 to 166 147 
 
 Modesty 66 to 68 101 
 
 Money 13 48 
 
 Physician Dies, Loss is Great 89 to 91 126 
 
 Persistency 15 56 
 
 Persons— Those Sensitive 169 to 171 151 
 
 Sensitive People 169 151 
 
 Shave, or Be Like A Goat 17 58 
 
MINOR TOPICS— Continued 
 
 See, We Don't and We Do. . 
 
 Similars and Opposites 
 
 Spirits — Dual, Opposite 
 
 Soul-Mind of God 
 
 Thought and Sleep, Center. . 
 Thought Preceeds Creation. . 
 
 Uplift 
 
 Unknown, How to Find 
 
 Visionary People 
 
 World War and The Church. 
 
 THOUGHTS— ORIGINAL, 
 TERSELY EXPRESSED, or BRIEFS. 
 
 POETRY 
 
 Choosing 
 
 Dreamland 
 
 Love is Supreme 
 
 Men Are Measured By Their Vision. 
 
 Moon— The 
 
 Mother of Mine 
 
 Our Lives Are Like The Rainbow . . . 
 
 Unspoken Language, The 
 
 What Does A Frog Say? 
 
 When Down And Out 
 
 White Cross, The 
 
 Page 
 
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