V 
 
COMPILATION OF THE LECTURES 
 
 GIVEN. BY THE SPIRIT-BAND 
 
 THROUGH THK MKDRIMSHIL* OF 
 
 MRS. MAGDALENA KLINE, 
 
 AND WHICH IS CALLED 
 
 THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL. 
 
 "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of Heaven, having the Everlasting 
 Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the Earth, and to every nation, and 
 kindred, and tongue, and people."— John the Seer: Eev. xiv. 6. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 NOV 341882 
 
 BOSTON: 
 COLBY & RICH, PUBLISHERS. 
 
 1882. 
 
y 
 
 Copyrighted, 1SS2, by Mrs. Magdalen a Kline. 
 
DEDICATED TO 
 
 MRS. MAGDALENA KLINE, 
 
 THE MEDIUM AUTHOR, 
 
 AND TO 
 
 MRS. JOHN EDSON, 
 
 THE PUBLISHER, 
 
 AND TO THE WORLD, 
 
 IN WHICH ITS DESIGNER SHALL WORK OUT EFFECTS 
 IN ABUNDANT BLESSINGS FOR ALL PEOPLE. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 "Presumptuous skepticism, which rejects facts without examination of their 
 truth, is in some respects more injurious than unquestioning credulity." — BARON VoN 
 Humboldt. 
 
 " To the making of books," said one of old, " there is no end." 
 And here comes another from the press, claiming the patronage of the 
 public. Who wrote it ? for what purpose was it written ? and what 
 considerations entitle the medium, or rather the unseen authors, 
 to a hearing in this period of art, science, and literature ? Have 
 they something new to communicate, — something that will enlighten, 
 build up, and spiritually benefit humanity? These are legitimate 
 inquiries. 
 
 This volume consists of a series of lectures and messages, 
 written and delivered in public through the mental organism of Mrs. 
 Magdalena Kline, — a trance, clairvoyant, and inspirational medium 
 with no advantages of education. She is a resident of Van "Wert, 
 Ohio, and the presiding genius over an interesting family. 
 
 Mrs. Kline was born in Germany, and, in early life, was put to 
 hard, exhaustive labor instead of the high school. Her life lias 
 been a rough pilgrimage, and the sea upon which she has sailed 
 threatening and stormy. Though originally endowed with good 
 natural abilities, and a quick and accurate perception of things, she 
 was exceedingly ignorant of books, of history, of modern culture, 
 and the wisdom of the world generally. She knew nothing of 
 Spiritualism when becoming a medium. The gift was thrust upon 
 her. When her vision was opened, enabling her to see clairvoyantly, 
 she was terribly frightened, and, running to a neighbor's house, said 
 she had seen a "ghost," and declared that her house was " haunted." 
 Friends acquainted with these phenomena quieted her, and, after a 
 few seances, she gave most excellent tests in the way of seeing and 
 describing spirits. But, when her hand was controlled mechanically 
 to write good, fair English, she of herself could not write a word of 
 
 (5) 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 English, nor could she speak it in only the most crude and broken 
 manner. And, yet, her communications with their tests and prophe- 
 cies, afterwards literally fulfilled, astonished both investigators and 
 believers. If the story of ordinary life is instructive, the story of a 
 medium's life, impinging upon and largely over-shadowed by the 
 spirit-world, is almost infinitely more instructive ; and for the reason 
 that it reveals character under the influence of different psychic 
 forces and psychological tendencies. If mechanism reveals the ma- 
 chinist, so do mediums reveal, speaking in general terms, the moral 
 qualities and characteristics of their controlling intelligences. We 
 judge spirits as we do mortals, by their fruits. 
 
 Each individual is not only a radiating center of force but a 
 spirit, — a conscious spirit, now, though incased in a mortal body. 
 And it is too plain to require proof that wherever the soul or mind 
 ran reach there it can observe ; and wherever it can observe there it 
 can induct ; and wherever it can induct there it can discover. This 
 Baconian train of reasoning, made practical, bridged the two worlds, 
 — the today and the tomorrow of existence, — and opened wide the 
 gates of immortality. 
 
 If " holy women of Palestine," intuitive and mediumistic, were 
 the first to announce " He is not here, but risen,'" so good and true 
 women in this morning hour of the spiritual era are first and fore- 
 most in the mediumistic demonstrations of a future conscious exist- 
 ence. 
 
 Mrs. Kline, the medium, and Mrs. John Edson the publisher of 
 these lectures and teachings, are not only excellent women but, if 
 purity of life counts anything in this transition age, they are orna- 
 ments to society. Mrs. Judge Rose, of Van Wert, writes the fol- 
 lowing of Mrs. Kline : " The greatest proof to me of the truth of 
 Spiritualism is the development of our own medium. I have known 
 her for full twenty or more years, three of which she lived in my 
 family, and was married at my house. I know her to be a good, 
 honest, and upright woman, thoroughly reliable in every respect. 
 . . . She has frequently seen my beloved companion, Mr. Rose, 
 in spirit life, and through her I have received from him the most 
 convincing and satisfactory messages. . . . Some have taken 
 issue with the spirit-teachings of Mrs. Kline's band, called "Jus- 
 tice Band," because they speak so reverently of God, of Jesus 
 Christ, and urge the necessity of living holy, self-sacrificing lives. 
 From conversing with different spirits, through a variety of mediums, 
 I confess that I was inclining towards infidelity, if not atheism ; 
 but the first written communication that I received from my bus- 
 
PKEFACE. 7 
 
 band was in relation to the divinity of Christ. He informed me that 
 he found things in the spirit-world much as he expected, except one 
 thing, and that was in regard to Christ, who was really divine ; and 
 he was now compelled to return to earth and, so far as he could, 
 eradicate the infidel ideas he had inculcated. This has been a part 
 of his mission for the last fifteen years." 
 
 It is simply but justice to myself to say that I did not hear 
 these lectures delivered, nor have I had time to read them ; hence, 
 though writing the preface, I must in no way be held responsible for 
 the doctrinal teachings, methods of expression, or style characteriz- 
 ing this volume ; neither does the medium claim responsibility, for 
 she was but the passive instrument. Those who dictated these les- 
 sons and messages, and urged their publication, must bear the respon- 
 sibility ; and from this, I am credibly informed, they do not shrink. 
 These heavenly intelligences — " Justice Band" — do not choose to 
 give their names to the public, nor reveal their individualities in this 
 volume of lectures and essays, only so far as to inform us, by way of 
 inference, that they are ancient spirits, speaking when upon earth 
 several of the oriental languages. And the structure of those lan- 
 guages, as well as the German of the medium, is largely unlike that 
 of the English ; hence, the necessity of charity in pronouncing judg- 
 ment. Husks are of not so much importance as the corn they 
 cover; and so it is not so much the language — the external verbi- 
 age — as the thoughts, ideas, and moral precepts that these ancient 
 spirits desire to impress upon the human mind. 
 
 Highly exalted spirits and a growing class of Spiritualists see 
 the almost perfect identity between true religious Spiritualism, and 
 the Christianity of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. This Christianity, 
 under whatever name, will live forever, because true in fact, and 
 divinely beautiful in practice. 
 
 Spiritual phenomena demonstrate the fact of a future existence ; 
 and they further demonstrate that various grades and kinds of spirits 
 have access to and influence mortals. Hence, the Apostolic admo- 
 nition : " Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits." 
 
 And again: "All our fathers were under the cloud. . . . 
 And did all eat the same spiritual meat ; and did all drink the same 
 spiritual drink ; for they drank of the spiritual Rock that followed 
 them : and that Rock was Christ." — 1 Cor. x. 1, 2, 3, 4. 
 
 "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have com- 
 manded you : and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the 
 world." — Matt, xxviii. 20. 
 
 " He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do, and 
 
8 PREFACE. 
 
 greater works than tliese shall he do, because I go to the Father." — 
 John xiv. L2. 
 
 It is perfectly evident that the disciples believed and taught that 
 these "works/' "signs," "gifts," were for all future ages; for, in 
 Acts ii. 29, Peter says : " The promise is to you and to your chil- 
 dren, and to all that are afar off." 
 
 Only a rational and spiritual religion can stand the test of sci- 
 ence and searching investigation. Creeds are the tares to be burned. 
 And Christ, compared to a refiner's fire, is continually coming. 
 
 " They cry : ' He comes ! — 
 The signs are sure, — all lands are armed for war, — 
 The mystic number is fulfilled, — He comes ! ' 
 
 We answer : O that he would come ! We want 
 The Christ ! We want a God to burn the truth 
 Afresh upon the forehead of the world ! 
 We want a Man to walk once more among 
 The wrangling Pharisees, to drive the beasts 
 And money-mongers from the temple courts ; 
 To bring the Gospel back again, and prove 
 How all unlike our bigots are to Christ ! 
 We want that Christ again to tell the ' saints ' 
 Their sins ; that they were sent to bless the poor, 
 And they have sold themselves unto the rich ; 
 That they were sent to preach the works of peace, 
 And they have filled the world with war of words ; 
 That they were sent the messengers of love, 
 And they have driven love out of their creeds ; 
 That they were sent to teach men not to lie, 
 Nor tremble when their duty led to death. 
 O for the Christ again ! " 
 
 The Nazarene, born in Palestine, and crucified upon Calvary, 
 lives now in glory, and makes radiant the Christ-Heavens. And 
 " Behold, I make all things new " is as much the vision of today as 
 in the time of John the Revelator. This is the "second coming" 
 of Christ, — a coming in power and glory, — a coming in the clouds 
 of heaven, with holy angels and ministering spirits, — a coming in 
 spiritual victory to enlighten and redeem humanity. 
 
 J. M. PEEBLES. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 BY GEORGE WASHINGTON, 
 
 Who was the forerunner of Jesus; 'and, therefore, did materialize many times, 
 through or b}- using the uiediumshii) of Mrs. L. E. Lewis for his special labors. 
 
 The earth revolves constantly, and moves around on its axes. 
 Time never ceases ; eternities are formed and brought forth as the 
 earth can be mantled with the material qualities that are needed to 
 call forth the products to supply the demands of man, of beasts, and 
 of all in which is the breath of life. 
 
 Man, the master, set over nature's and earth's products by the 
 Divine Will and Wisdom, is not called into actual, physical life, and 
 of the consciousness of the facts surrounding him, until the corres- 
 ponding conditions will justify such an act. To retrace the evolving 
 of worlds requires more study than we wish to launch upon the 
 minds of mortals now, for the geological processes are too numerous 
 to give a comprehensible statement for the limited abilities which 
 mortals possess to grasp. Therefore, in all these writings, we have 
 only spoken of those things which duty, in accord with law, demands 
 of us, and in regard to the present eternity, which is near its close 
 now. It was estimated that the labors of the plan could be performed 
 and finished in six thousand years ; therefore, we have compelled 
 forth the review of all the past works wdiich are in progress upon 
 earth ; and all the revelations required to complete the former pro- 
 phecies are given ; also, countless lesser transactions are being per- 
 formed daily by the celestial harvesters everywhere all over earth, 
 so that the wheat and cheat can be cut, gathered, and sejmrated. 
 
 Xew worlds have been forming, and are now clad in sufficient 
 material textures ; so that when this process is declared finished, and 
 parts of the earth pass away, new worlds will be ready to be in- 
 habited by those who shall come after (for the end is not yet), — male 
 and female, of superior qualities, and of a special, divine creation. 
 
 The parent pair of the race that has been born in the present 
 eternity, according to law and divine decision, and the plan of this 
 eternity, had to take upon themselves the greatest parts of the labors 
 and enact them, and also to see them transacted upon earth ; and 
 these compact, co-joined labors are now in transaction to be finished, 
 even now ! (9) 
 
INSTRUCTIONS. 
 
 The contents of this volume were given inspirationally through 
 the mecliumship of Mrs. Magclalena Kline ; hence, wherever it is 
 read, it will bestow a benefit, for it contains leaves from the living 
 Olive Trees, which are thus diffused for the healing of the nations ; 
 and as time passes, and the mists clear away, this book will be under- 
 stood in its bearing upon mortals and their encumbered conditions, 
 and also in its bearing upon their final redemption. Then, all who 
 shall read the book, and comment upon its contents, — which are so 
 arranged as to dissolve conditional difficulties, and unite the good and 
 true, — they shall also speak of Mrs. Kline, the medium-author, 
 through whom these heavenly issues were given for the emancipa- 
 tion of mortals from captivity into the enfranchisement of heavenly 
 freedom ; and it shall be remembered that these issues were given 
 under similar oppressions and conditional encumbrances of this 
 medium to those which are to be conquered and subsided by them. 
 This will answer the question which has often been asked, — why we 
 permitted or tolerated so many hardships for our medium. Also, 
 Mrs. John Edson shall be remembered as publisher of the first edi- 
 tion of The Everlasting Gospel ; and for furnishing the means for the 
 first edition, as well as transcribing part of the manuscript for the 
 I press. These laborers have earned a great reward, which shall be 
 given them in the heavenly kingdom ; also, all who labor and have 
 labored in the Lord's vineyard ; and all who aid now in gathering 
 the harvests of earth shall be richly rewarded in heaven. 
 
 This work has long been promised to mortals ; and many seers 
 and susceptible persons have had glimpses of The Everlasting Gospel, 
 that should, in its own time, bless the world ; and many who have 
 longed to see and read it are now in the immortal worlds, wonder- 
 ing as they behold reality, and perceiving faintly how the plan of 
 God with man is being completed. (io; 
 
INSTRUCTIONS. 11 
 
 The price of this book shall be three dollars per copy, the pro- 
 ceeds of which shall belong to the medium-author, for use if needed, 
 but more particularly for further editions or additions of The Ever- 
 lasting Gospel which we shall write, as this book contains only con- 
 ditional fragments, serving as an index for further works, and for the 
 enfranchisement of mortals, as before stated, and for the subsiding 
 of conglomerate conditions, and the healing of many ill diseases. 
 It will, therefore, cause in effect abundant blessings for all the people, 
 as we said before, and is a legal issue in compliance with the demands 
 of mortals at this time. 
 
A PRAYER.* 
 
 "When you assemble together for meeting, repeat these words for 
 a prayer : — 
 
 We have convened together for the purpose of gathering mate- 
 rial to fill out the warp of time, so that the useless tissues can become 
 useful when filled out and woven into a substantial web, which can 
 be taken from the conditional loom, in which it has long been hang- 
 ing, and brought into the world's markets, to be appraised, and sold, 
 and used to benefit humanity. We are placed on earth to be useful, 
 and to learn that life is sweetest and most real when we are active 
 in doing all we can to improve the condition of the world ; for then 
 are we great, though ,we may be suppressed and poor in goods and in 
 the estimation of the world. We are mighty, although we work in 
 weakness, and sow in that which seems dishonor in the eyes of the 
 world ; the seeds from which will be reared useful material for the 
 rising humanity with which they can build ; and with which life's 
 incompleted webs can be completed. Then, let us consider the value 
 of time, and the importance of meeting together in the presence of 
 the angels who are God's ministers to us. May we heed each les- 
 son well, and ponder upon each word until it becomes aglow in our 
 memory, and so well adjusted in our minds that it will remain with 
 us, to aid us in the duties of life, and also to be a preventative 
 within against the assaults from the mortal and immortal adversaries, 
 who are termed opposing influences, which are brought to bear upon 
 the people in different ways. They come from the great world's 
 tide, and so try men and their motives. Life is everlasting, is real, 
 is earnest; and, therefore, time, life's most valuable companion, is 
 the same, and must be made use of in a proper way, lest there will 
 be remorse and punishment for the neglected duties and wasted time. 
 We appeal to mortals instead of their appealing to God, for it is on 
 earth where the will of God shall become practical, and His King- 
 dom become established ; and mortals must look around them, and do 
 their part in their department, so that God can do His in sending 
 down to them wisdom, honor, riches, and blessing. Yea. Amen. 
 
 April 11, 1880. 
 
 * Note.— A few prayers only are given in this connection, to show that our ser- 
 vices for worship or the reading of lectures were always opened by prayer, not 
 written, but spoken inspirationally by the medium, therefore could not be given iu 
 connection with the lectures. (12) 
 
A SEQUEL TO THE LORD'S PRAYER. 
 
 Our Father, who art in Heaven, we, a portion of thy children 
 who are on earth, raise our voices to Thee in gratitude for Thy great 
 and constant care over us, and also for the many blessings which we 
 receive from home. With true gladness do we behold the Kingdom 
 of Heaven established and recognized on earth; we behold Thy 
 will, and in a measure, and according to our strength and understand- 
 ing, try to do it, the same as Thy children do who are in Heaven. 
 We are truly thankful for the bread we eat, which is provided for 
 us by Thy power and wise management of the natural forces, with 
 the labor of our hands and minds ; and pray that blessings may 
 crown all our efforts in our combined duties here. 
 
 We know that Thou dost forgive our sins, seeing our inabilities to 
 perceive Thy will aright ; and we also forgive everyone who tres- 
 passes against us, or infringes ignorantly, or by a perverted impulse, 
 on our rights, in accordance with our knowledge of right and wrong. 
 We thank Thee, O Father, that Thou dost send Thy angels to guide 
 us on earth, — these, our sisters and brothers, who are not encumbered 
 with material bars ; who are able to show us the dangers, and aid us 
 when we meet with temptations, that we may not become their 
 victims ; that by their aid, according to Thy provisions, we may be 
 delivered from evil ; and, when divested from ignorance, we may be 
 able to see the light of truth shine around us on our pathway ; that 
 by it we may discover why we are here, and what we are to do, so 
 as to crown our Creator and to be an honor to Him, and a joy to the 
 guiding angels, and a blessing to humanity ; also, to be partakers 
 ourselves of Thy riches according to the merits of our labors. And 
 for all Thy mercies, which are ever extended toward mortals, and its 
 Thy brightness is seen and felt on earth, shalt Thou be glorified and 
 praised by all Thy children forever and ever, as Thy power, will, 
 and wisdom shall be comprehended by them. Then all will worship 
 Thee in spirit and in* truth ; and in doing so Thy will is done not 
 knowing or seeming, being led by a desire to be true and good, which 
 will be the crowning of Thy labors, and Thy glory shall fill Heaven 
 and earth forever. Amen. 
 
 August 24, 1879. (13) 
 
LECTURE I. 
 
 A FEW WORDS OF EXPLANATION ON THE FOLLOWING POEM. 
 "THE BIRD OF PARADISE." 
 
 Having been told by my spirit-daughter to write down what had 
 been shown and promised to me about the bird, and to have it pub- 
 lished with the poem in this book, I will say that for the last four 
 years I have had one hour of each day set apart and devoted to medi- 
 tation and spirit-communion with the unseen. During this hour I 
 sometimes have had visions of spiritual things shown to me. 
 
 Nearly a year ago, during one of these hours, as I sat quietly by 
 myself in meditation, a paper was placed before my spirit-vision upon 
 which was a printed poem. I could see the words and lines quite 
 plain clairvoyantly, and yet I could not read them, for a misty-like 
 vapor seemed to cover them, which prevented me from doing so. I 
 wondered somewhat at this, but I thought it would all be explained to 
 me in due time. This vision was shown to me at several different 
 times. Sometime after I had a sitting, or seance, with our medium, 
 when my spirit-daughter Effie controlled and talked with me. She 
 said, during the conversation, that she had some verses which she 
 desired to write for me, and would do so as soon as permission was 
 granted her. I asked her if the verses were those in the poem that 
 I had seen in the visions. She said yes. I asked her why I could not 
 read it. She said the reason was that the time had not yet come for 
 me to read it. During another visit to the medium, Effie brought a 
 bird and placed it upon my shoulder. The medium described it as 
 being snow white, but with wings faintly variegated with gold, and the 
 tints of the rainbow colors, and that it was beautiful beyond descrip- 
 tion. Effie said it was the Bird of Paradise, that it was a token of a 
 work that would be given us to do. At one time my husband and 
 daughter both told me they were afraid that the bird or poem would 
 never be given to me. I felt very sad at this, and wondered what it 
 all meant. June 27, 1881, the poem called " The Bird of Paradise'' 
 was written by my spirit-daughter for me, and with these explanations 
 
 (13) 
 
16 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 will be published in this book. The bird is an emblem of the ever- 
 ] as ting gospel which is now to be given to the world. The poem will 
 explain itself to all who carefully read it; and may everyone be bene- 
 fited by a careful perusal of it. Mrs. John Edson. 
 
 THE BIRD OF PARADISE. 
 
 By Effie Irene Edson, to her Mother, Mrs. John Edson. 
 
 by permission. 
 
 Look at its beauty, O ye friends on earth ! 
 
 For on this mundane sphere it doth have birth, 
 
 Now in these days of heavenly revelations. 
 
 'Tis of all hues, all shades are therefrom reflected; 
 
 'Neath its great wings all beings are protected. 
 
 'T is the emblem bird of gospel and law, 
 
 We view it with pleasure, we view it with awe. 
 
 In its flights down to earth's habitations, 
 
 Glad tidings it carries with eager delight, 
 
 It flashes like lightning, and scatters earth's nigM. 
 
 Oh, the dazzling splendor, as it wings the air! 
 First as one bird, then as the pair. 
 Oh, united power, how strong and how pure ! 
 For all ills and deformities it is a cure. 
 The promise of God will be realized sure. 
 
 The justice and mercy this force brought declares, 
 It breaks man-made webs, and removes all the snares ; 
 Spread subtly out in conditions, 
 The lessons contained here may mortals perceive ; 
 And through them strength and truth receive. 
 
 The Paradise bird not a clove, yet it brings in its bill 
 The branches of olive which mortals need still. 
 Kind words it whispers, and sweet consolation, 
 That cheerful become to those in desolation ; 
 And hope sparkles over the lonely and sad. 
 
 Its shades throughout this volume are reflected, 
 
 They can be traced here, criticised, inspected; 
 
 Those changing hues, in all their heaven-born splendor, 
 
 Appear to mortal view by careful sight, 
 
 While flashes from its heavenly home rend vails asunder, 
 
 And fills the searching minds with much delight. 
 
 As lightning, it divides from east to west 
 
 The atmospheric elements, and its behest 
 
 Is levied upon all that dwell beneath the sun. 
 
 These works of power and wonder with speed are done. 
 
 Gaze north and south, behold the aerial change! 
 
 By force of laws mind powers are enhanced. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 17 
 
 Not in the distant future, friends of earth, 
 
 Comes this great change for which this bird had birth; 
 
 No, it is nigh ; the wise behold afar 
 
 The glimmer of the rising morning star ; 
 
 As in the firmament it doth appear, 
 
 And signals loud that now the time is here. 
 
 The time, friends, when He, the Morning Star, 
 Calls mortals to appear before the bar ; 
 That they be judged for all the good and ill. 
 The wicked heed it not, are bold to have their will 
 Until the sentence passed is set in execution, 
 And minds and elements whirl on a revolution. 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 REGARDING THE LEADERSHIP IN SPIRITUALISM. 
 
 God gives no right to angels or men, only that of exerting the 
 powers they possess, in order to represent and wield actively the wis- 
 dom imbodied in that which constitutes their office ; and the benefit 
 thus accomplished for the human race, or the whole family created by 
 God. All this defines lawfully their position. In the just measures 
 of immutable law no one merits any title of honor, or possession of 
 treasures, or of true happiness, unless it has first been earned and 
 justly deserved. All laborious careers acquire a brilliancy according 
 to the magnitude of the good that has been or is being achieved by 
 the representative angel. 
 
 In this day, when a change of earthly customs is being indelibly 
 marked on nature's constitution, the moral and religious truths need 
 to be set forth for discussion by the leading minds — one as a repre- 
 sentative in each department — who are capable in all just measures to 
 represent truthfully and comprehensively their side of the question. 
 This course is required in order to have the principles belonging to 
 each department brought forth. If the word leader is offensive, let 
 it be given in some other way ; but try to advance and not retard the 
 universal cause by disputing about the authority. In order to accom- 
 plish the work of design now at issue, no one must crave or desire 
 honor, or fear authority. The chief of all must be universally the 
 servant of all. But the interior elements are in confusion, caused by 
 the warring ideas regarding the demolishing of old things and erecting 
 therefrom a new order of things or customs. Therefore, our watch- 
 
18 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 word to you, Spiritualists, is to be united firmly, and let each one per- 
 form his duty just and well ; and let the signals from above be fully 
 heeded ; and let the leading mind that is best qualified for the purpose 
 be officially installed in each degree of labor which is required to 
 accomplish universal liberty ; which must be known and understood, 
 and acknowledged by all, as a platform, lest false pounds should be 
 given when the triumphs were nearly achieved, which could then with 
 great difficulty be won. Therefore, it is not everyone that has uiedi- 
 umistic powers that is a fit subject for a leader or teacher; far from 
 it. Many are chosen that a few may be elected. Those who stand 
 the persecutions of their allotted time of provocation, and do not fall 
 victims to temptations when pressed with physical needs, those who 
 can be sifted thoroughly and yet retain their gifts unblemished, but 
 which will have grown brighter and stronger through trials and sitt- 
 ings, they shall stand, and they only. Then it is required that all 
 presented and represented problems shall, by those who fill the phys- 
 ical office for commissioned messengers from the worlds above, be 
 demonstrated clearly and comprehensively as to that which they repre- 
 sent, so that there cannot exist any doubt or difference of opinion ; but 
 that the gradation differences of the orders of progress shall become 
 distinctly understood, and the respective representatives of each 
 grade likewise. Only in this way can the victory be won over error 
 and misconceptions, and in consequence of this comes discord. Then 
 confine yourselves to your duties, w r hich are herein made plain to you. 
 The best methods employed to bring the surest and speediest results 
 are to have places appointed, whereby the universal aid of all who are 
 concerned in the spread of truth and the subduing of error can be 
 obtained. All mediums who have a special calling to represent and 
 demonstrate problems as stated should meet, and should be by learned 
 and competent committees examined and tried, and after due trials 
 let it be decided whether they are capable or not of filling their 
 respective offices, to which they have been appointed by the angels or 
 spirits. Then those that stand shall teach ; the others can serve as 
 it were in circles and at home until they attain to clearer views and 
 stronger powers, thus acquiring the ability to do more, according to 
 truthfulness and honesty of purpose. The quicker this plan can be 
 put in action the better it will be for securing the desired ends, for 
 which the angels labor with mortals on earth. Your Guide. 
 
 Life's trials are gems of great value, although their rare beauty 
 is not seen by the beclouded minds of those afflicted by the trials that 
 are necessary ; yet they are so beautiful ! The angels know the beauty 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 19 
 
 of the gems which are created by trials, and preserve them for the 
 patient sufferer. Therefore, they rejoice when mortals are patient, 
 and take all with which they chance to meet with gentleness ; and can 
 perceive the use and the strength derived from each separate trial. 
 Do not doubt nor fear when obstacles of interference are thrown in 
 the path you wish to pursue. You do not see the subtle emergencies 
 which you would meet with at a place and time when you could not 
 compete with it. Therefore, to be detained w r ould be a blessing ; and 
 often from seeming losses come great gains ; and priceless lessons can 
 be learned when quietly pondering, when the path of pursuit is block- 
 aded. Therefore, be thankful for whatever comes, and learn to say 
 from your heart: "Thy will, O Lord, be done." By being schooled 
 to see that earth-life is made up of trials and disappointments for the 
 physical man and woman, you will learn to appreciate the realization 
 of things which you have really hoped for. Do not think they will 
 never come, if there should be delay, for surely they will come some- 
 time ; but it will be in God's own time ; and you will realize all you 
 have ever longed or hoped for. But it may not be while you are a 
 pilgrim on earth, and disfigured by the earth-form. Keep this in mind, 
 that all will sometime and somewdiere be realized. Look aloft, and 
 see the star of hope brightly beaming above you while you think 
 darkness is drawing nigh. 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 MISUNDERSTOOD AND MISCONCEIVED. 
 
 Waves set off from the great world's tide 
 Are viewed as great, or else as mites ; 
 Extremes as foam appear, are tossed 
 By unsteady minds at any cost. 
 The shadow of the wave is seen, 
 And eager eyes are dimmed by the view; 
 They thus adjust what first they glean, 
 And are at labor ere they know 
 What they are doing. 
 
 This, friends, is the common experience of all who are first 
 aroused by visible or invisible beings to observe a new act which, by 
 the natural law of progress, according to divine wielding, is enacted 
 on earth ; and many who are to labor in actual work in such degree 
 so as to bring it to a recognition and to a place as progress demands. 
 Many, I repeat, run, they cannot stay to walk; and thus they get 
 
20 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 ahead of the rolling in of the wave, and waste their strength and 
 means to have a place made for the shadow which comes before the 
 real. This is because they are so eager to learn. The more wonder- 
 fid and marvelous these shadows appear the more conjectures are 
 provoked forth ; therefore, there is a greater amount of misconcep- 
 tions. It is even so with Spiritualism today. The movement is like 
 that of a mighty wave which is to flood the earth for a renovation 
 and a union of religious opinions ; for, in fact, a number of things of 
 importance are to be accomplished by the coming in of this wave ; for 
 it is the largest one ever set off from the conditional tide, and enforced 
 on earth, and brought into practical use. It is but little understood 
 as yet even by those who bear the name of Spiritualists, and claim 
 the ministry of spirits to be their accepted religion. But they have 
 misconceived that which they have seen and learned of it, and do not 
 in a great measure know what they do. The majority of them hold 
 the idea that a knowledge of continued life after the timely dissolution 
 is enough, and to hold circles and to give room thus for these spirits 
 to come so that intercommunion can be made possible. To them this 
 is all that Spiritualism implies. There is nothing more to do when 
 this is known than to eat, drink, and be merry ; for they think Hell 
 is bridged over, and that Heaven is open, and the spirits are free agents 
 subject to nothing, but are at liberty to roam over earth, and assist 
 when they see proper in all the affairs of earth. 
 
 All who have no higher conception of Spiritualism than this are, 
 as it is truly said, deluded ; for the sparkling glimmers, or the fore- 
 runners of the great wave, blinded their vision ; and what they saw 
 and learned in this way was not the truth, only a mockery of it. The 
 worst feature about it for all such is that they will drift into cold 
 materialism, and yet are not aware of it ; having no knowledge of the 
 facts at all, they grow mighty in their supposed wisdom and power. 
 They set God their Creator aside, and deny Him by whom God was 
 made manifest on earth, and who also was the mediator for the great 
 accomplishment of the bringing together God and man, so that the 
 man of clay can be transformed into an angel of light. These, they 
 say, are all natural changes. Yes, my wise friends, so far as your 
 dim eyes can see, they are natural, and would have ever remained so 
 if it had not been for divine interposition. Tell me what it means 
 when one nation and race after another has to be brought near and 
 engrafted into the divine body, so that all in due time will become 
 heirs of salvation ? Explain this, you who have studied, as you claim 
 to have done, the signs of and pertaining to Spiritualism. When you 
 can do this, you can understand about the elementary spirits, sylphs, 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 21 
 
 and all sorts of objects not tangible in form or spirit. Spiritualism 
 is not sent to create any more mists around mystic forms, but to clear 
 the mists away, and to reveal the true nature of that which had been 
 misconceived and misunderstood. Much trouble is incurred by not 
 g >ing slowly on with the tact of the mills which grind over the con- 
 ditions, and send forth whatever there is in regular seasons for each 
 grade of material. Alas, there will be agitation until the clearing up 
 of the foam is done, and the true ideal can be seen in its full beauty, 
 then it will be hailed with delight by all who are pure and true. If 
 we were to tell all how our labors are conducted here, and how we 
 instruct, — for our ways differ greatly from the ways of the world in 
 the teaching for growth, both intellectual and spiritual, — and also tell 
 you how mortal degrees of scholarship and religious growth stand in 
 relation to these here in the spheres, it would not help you. You 
 would have learned something which of itself is of no use to you, only 
 as you grow pure, and live according to the principles of purity, truth, 
 and justice in all you do or desire. As long as you are incongenial 
 witli the co-relative grades, you will be dissatisfied with yourself, also 
 with the knowledge offered you for study. You love the material and 
 the precious now and its enjoyments the best, and therefore you be- 
 long to those grades, and your experience system struggles, which you 
 of course feel, but which do not admit of an explaining, because it is 
 a force without form which is acting upon you, and as long as you do 
 not understand j^ourselves, you cannot understand these, for they are 
 parts of your nature. Only then when you search yourselves and find 
 this force, when you observe and can learn by observation the harm 
 which such a force may have done, then you can call it forth and bring 
 it to become an object, and as the tangled condition threads are wound 
 together, which are of similar tissues, and which are produced from 
 the system, then only can this be cured and a change will be wrought 
 in your whole being. The old desires and the extremes of ambitions, 
 if there should be any, must be thrown away as dross, as a reactive 
 counterpart to former displays in worldly measures. Let them be 
 displayed for the welfare of the unfortunate. Seek to be great by 
 being the servants for others, and ministering in all the ways open to 
 you to the wants and demands of the people, in work, in care of them, 
 in teaching them, in tying up their wounds, and in paying the costs 
 of their fare if it should be in your power to do so, for this is religion, 
 pure and undefiled, and is acceptable above worship with words from 
 the lips when the heart is not in it. Spiritualism is a harbinger .of 
 light. The things which lie obscured in the minds of earth's people 
 are brought forth by it, and the light from Heaven shining thereon, 
 
22 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 aids in bringing into life the innate germs, and supporting their growth 
 until the tendency of each plant is seen, — also its nature, and the treat- 
 ment which it requires, is understood. Then these misconceptions 
 will cease to be, and those which have been will be rectified as they 
 come to be understood. 
 
 Oh, how earnest and sincere should the investigator of Spiritual- 
 ism be, and how much will those who call themselves devotees of this 
 new faith have to unlearn and learn over anew! Spiritualism is truly 
 a religion, also a sign, for that which tends to develop and support the 
 spiritual nature in mortals must be a religion and a sign, because it 
 brings the evidence of each claim and demonstrates effects by point- 
 ing to and explaining the causes of the effects that are realized, which 
 is being done now, and will be done more fully as the progressive 
 flood advances in its movement over earth. In Spiritualism there are 
 and have been presented both the mocking and the real conditions 
 which are in mortals. This has been done by spirits who are servants 
 or errand spirits ; but this is not all that it is to do or will do. It will 
 furnish the keys to all the mystic recesses, and by it the missing links 
 will be produced which will make history, both religious and profane, 
 complete. Also class degrees shall be numbered by the works of the 
 angels, so that mortals can know where they belong and where they 
 will go. The short trip from the visible to the invisible will be no 
 uncertain voyage, for these mists shall all be cleared away. Now, 
 says the investigator, how wMl these mists be cleared away, and how 
 is all this to be done ? We will answer : The ethereal force which is 
 cast into your atmosphere does this work. All that you have to do 
 is to be honest and upright in all you do. Observe and compare the 
 lessons of today with those of the past, and patiently await the ful- 
 fillment of these labors now in process and commotion all over earth. 
 This mighty work cannot be done by talk alone ; if all the angels 
 should talk so as to be heard by the people, and would explain the 
 creative and transforming processes from the beginning to the present 
 time, it could not be retained by the people, or understood. If there 
 were not a corresponding force in the air which they breath to support 
 their system, and give them the constantly needed strength until this 
 summit can be reached, — which is surrounded by so many difficulties, — 
 "then when it is reached all can be clearly seen which had before this 
 time been robed in midnight gloom, and all uncertainties will vanish, 
 and errors will fall like the drops formed from the hazes in the 
 twilight when the sun rises. Says the critic : What are we to think or 
 conclude upon about the exposing of those who had been endorsed 
 as genuine medial instruments, through and by whom spirits did their 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUPvES. 23 
 
 works? This is rather hard to answer anyone who is not acquainted 
 with the subtle force and conditions which are in the mortal being, 
 also around them, which is in different ways compelled into action by 
 the errand spirits in the phenomenal displays of supernatural power 
 and presence. It is to a great extent owing to the medium and the 
 aura around them that does this work. 
 
 It is the effect of this unknown power which is provoked forth 
 by the denizens of the spirit worlds ; and this work causes what we 
 term forerunners or shadows of the real, and is found to be of use 
 when studied in its own degrees, and properly applied to the designed 
 use ; for by it can be learned that which the people need to know con- 
 cerning the subtle force in nature and in themselves, from which they 
 have suffered intense pain and misery. Many pollutions are levied 
 on the human race which are ignorantly ascribed to a power out- 
 side of mortals, but which is not the case, for the power is within 
 themselves, but is not understood ; and it is active with a correspond- 
 ing power or force from nature's resources, which is often increased by 
 having added to it the force and power of spirits who by wise design 
 are sent to do such work for beneficial purposes. It is true that the 
 basest frauds have been committed by witty mimics, but in no case 
 were these persons alone in what they did; they were compelled and 
 aided by a force corresponding with that which issues from within 
 themselves, and forming around them the aura in which the spirits 
 mingle, and compel forth acts according to their wishes. This has 
 many niches to fill, for it teaches concerning the debased nature in the 
 people ; it teaches also the reality of a future existence, and prepares 
 the atmosphere for the rolling in of that which is to come, viz., the 
 ethereal flood of light, the knowledge of these mystic things, for all 
 these shadows shall vanish, the dross shall be shaken off and consumed, 
 and, instead of curiosity, there will be a true desire for learning and 
 to know nothing but the truth which will compel the investigator to 
 search and find for himself, that he may be one among the others to 
 act in the mortal courts for the deciding upon truth and error, after 
 spending much time and labor, during which time the light from above 
 will light up the mystic past and future, and reveal God's glory on 
 earth, and His power in the whole universe, so that there can be no 
 concealments as there have been ; all shall be upright action, for the 
 purer air which will be enforced will not admit of practices like those 
 of ihe past, and which are reproduced and practiced at the present 
 time for a review and from which to gather testimony. When all 
 the labors are viewed and seen as they are meant to be, then the tur- 
 bulent wild waves, which are not the real ones of design, can be laid. 
 
24 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 How often have we said that this was the time in which all flesh was 
 being tried as by fire, and that you should beware of the delusions 
 that are cast, and which are those manifestations produced which are 
 compelled forth by this force in the people, acting with a correspond- 
 ing force thereupon. It is not the control of spirits over mortals, but 
 it is wholly in the vapors and fluids, and its action is provoked forth 
 by different methods, and the earth people are drunken with it. It is 
 called occultism, arts of different names or kinds. It is the ready 
 force that produces j)henomenal facts, and demonstrates to physical 
 view or handling invisible or concealed objects. But while this is a 
 fact there is also a genuine part closely corresponding with this, which 
 has now and then by various persons been demonstrated, who are true 
 instruments in the hands of spirits. There have been but few genuine 
 physical manifestations, yet there have a few taken place, and they will 
 again take place more powerfully than those that have been given. 
 The teachings which we give now will be clearer as time secures to 
 us a better access to the brain or organism of the medium ; and as the 
 fossils of the wild waves that are left around are cut off, and washed 
 away, and the tide is left calm and clear for the true and pure to come 
 forth upon so as to compel forth the action of the labors of design. 
 Do not let anyone be disheartened, but let everyone learn all that 
 is offered in any way, for it is all, even if in an obscure way, a part 
 of the great review, and, when it is learned aright, it will aid you in 
 the studies necessary for all to be versed in, for you cannot ascend 
 any faster than competency will secure to you a promotion. All that 
 now is and has been, and which will yet be, must be studied before 
 the platform is reached from whence all this vast universe can be 
 viewed without any doubt as to the constant advance in but the one 
 way into which all other routes must lead, and that consists in being 
 perfected in form and in the knowledge of self and becoming purified, 
 and as self becomes understood, the secrets of the natural laws and 
 evolvings are revealed to the sincere students. We will now leave 
 the subject for this time, and let you ponder over the many misconcep- 
 tions which you have permitted to cluster around you, and in your 
 mind, and let you think over the lessons taught you, as well as the 
 advice given you, that you may find how often you have misunder- 
 stood these, and misapplied them. By so doing you will be enabled 
 to learn the true meaning and what it was intended to do. You will 
 be benefited, have already been, for the disappointments that were 
 realized came from the wrong use, and from not understanding how 
 to act in what was taught or advised, and from many misconceptions 
 of simple things as well as of important ones. But in all t}ie labor 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 25 
 
 was (lone, but the reward was delayed because it was done according 
 to the conditional picture of the plan as to physical results ; but the 
 reward will be sure to come to those that are faithful. 
 
 Walk slow and confident, 
 And if much time be spent 
 
 Without avail 
 Of that which is the most craved, 
 All tends the way to pave, 
 And against all the adverse 
 
 You will prevail. 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 SPIRITUALISM. 
 
 Can it or its adherants be successfully organized under the pres- 
 ent existing misconceptions of its proper mission on earth, and without 
 a well-developed material force which can govern all unruly actions 
 of the undeveloped masses, and hold them in check and in their places ? 
 We answer no. Preceding such a step as organization there must 
 be found a physical compact of worthy and competent workers with 
 the heavenly compact who are the master builders. These, then, 
 receive from the heavenly compact their instructions how to allow 
 freedom to all grades and degrees in their sphere for proper investi- 
 gation and beneficial development. Then it will prosper and conquei 
 all earthly opposition, and become the one great religion. Those 
 persons have been already reared, yea, developed for their proper 
 places, but are not found in one vicinity, therefore must first become 
 acquainted by a written correspondence which will lead to a personal 
 acquaintance, in order to form properly the agreements for a labor that 
 will finally result in the accomplishment of a work of such great magni- 
 tude that all mortals can be led to perceive and bask in the brightness 
 of Heaven's wisdom and glory as it is brought to earth by the com- 
 pact, and given through the instrumentality of mortal beings. We 
 have degree order in Heaven, and in the different spheres and worlds. 
 There is the council called the Heavenly Hierarchy, the Seraphim, 
 the Cherubim, the Justice Power, the Poets, the Students of Art, the 
 Philanthropists, and Healers, the sphere of Inventors, Mechanics, 
 Politicians, Detectives, and Adversaries, by whom to probe mortal 
 devotion and compel their development ; errand spirits of all grades, 
 
26 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 wonder-workers, and undeveloped spirits, commonly called deceivers, 
 because they are not reliable. They work in the primary degrees for 
 mortal development. We make no distinction in color or cast, for all 
 spirits are classed according to their worth, and consequently can 
 work only in accord with their own knowledge, and with the force of 
 their own degree granted them. Then, there are illegal beings who 
 often cast themselves upon mortals and do harm ; but when the proper 
 order of degrees is established, these can no longer annoy, and Spirit- 
 ualism will grow and prosper like a healthy plant, grown out from 
 chaotic forces and elements ; and as it grows it will be supplied with 
 all the elements and forces of the universe, and thus become the 
 universal tree of freedom and salvation,— - yea, it will represent and 
 become man's ultimate redemption. 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 FACTS WILL PROVE THEMSELVES. 
 
 In history, both religious and profane, is contained the proof and 
 positive testimony of all things which have ever become a conjecture 
 or a speculation of the human mind, although many links of the 
 golden chain of unity have become obscure by the means of losing 
 some of the reverence for it, and by misrepresenting some of the non- 
 connecting fragments left to puzzle the developing brows of mortals. 
 Here before me is a strange narrative given in an article headed " Our 
 Israelitish Origin," written by John Fondey, M.D., and published in 
 the Day Star, of Philadelphia, in which paper the same gentleman 
 published two of his letters which he had written to us in regard to 
 our visit to Terra Haute ; also one of our letters written in answer to 
 him was published in the same paper. This I state merely to show 
 that he is, as he claims to be, undoubtedly stirred up to do what he 
 does by spirit power, but he grapples with obstacles the same as many 
 other explorers have done, and does not or cannot enter into the full- 
 ness of what he aims to show. I trace very clearly in this article the 
 links which have been so long obscure to mortal view and understand- 
 ing. It seems astonishing to me as I see this, and look over what the 
 spirits have shown and taught me, and I am led to exclaim that truly 
 history does repeat and also prove itself. I will quote only a small 
 portion of said article to which I have referred. Mr. Fondey states 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 27 
 
 clearly how the scattered tribes of Israel came to people the north 
 countries of Europe. He says further they are, like ancient Israel, to 
 go into the wilderness before they return to the land of Israel. Israel 
 went out of Egypt through the Red Sea into the wilderness of Sinai, 
 there to be organized, and then pass into the land of Canaan. And it 
 is so in the anti-type. Israel was to come out of the north country of 
 Europe, through the Atlantic Ocean, into the wilderness of America, 
 here to enter into the new covenant, and be organized preparatory to 
 a final return to the land of Canaan. Further on he says, we have 
 spoken of the binding up of the breach between Ephraim and Manassah 
 as having been partially accomplished in the British Isles. Here, 
 however, is the spot where the nationality of Israel, which had been 
 destroyed for more than twenty-four hundred years, was again to be 
 revived ; and which event was accomplished by the confederation of 
 the North American States ; which was to be effected in the third 
 projmetic day of Hosea, or five hundred years after the expiration of 
 the two days which, as we have seen, terminated about A. D. 1281, 
 thus bringing the middle of the third day to about 1781, about which 
 time Israel again stood up as a nation on the earth, constituting the 
 one great nation which God promised to Abraham, as stated in Gen. 
 12th ch. 2d v., and again the many nations as in Gen. 17th ch. 4th v., 
 of which lie was to be the father. 
 
 Here is something so grand presented before me ; and Mr. Fondey 
 had not the least idea how closely he approached the gates ajar when 
 he summed up the article in question. If he would only allow the 
 spirit more control over him, he would then find all he could wish for 
 by which to produce the lost Scriptural links. How much plainer can 
 we expect history to prove itself ? Washington was the one who 
 became the father of this American country. He gathered together 
 the lost sheep of the House of Israel from all nations. Is it to be 
 wondered at then that America is becoming the queen of nations? 
 No, not at all, when all is seen as it is in reality. I will now give an 
 account of a vision that was shown to me about eight years ago. I 
 was not at that time in a dreamy or drowsy state, but wide awake and 
 able to use my senses, to hear, see, and ask questions if I wished to 
 do so. One day my spirit-guide approached me and said that I should 
 remain very quiet and observe closely what would be shown to me. 
 Soon many spirits came before me, and I saw that they were all of the 
 ancient Hebrew nation. I looked at them carefully, and noticed each 
 one's peculiarities, for I had something to learn from these visitors 
 and the vision, which I did not comprehend as well as I should like to 
 have done. After they had retired, one of them came before me 
 
28 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUEES. 
 
 again and told me to observe him well, which I did without speaking, 
 lie retired again, but suddenly returned the third time. I now saw 
 my spirit-guide looking towards me, and I spoke to the spirit stand- 
 ing before me and said : " Who are you, and when have you lived 
 before ? " He seemed pleased because I had understood him, and said 
 he was or had been Abraham. He smiled and bowed, and then my 
 visitors left me. It was about four years after I had seen this vision, 
 that is, according to the notes I have kept, when one afternoon, hav- 
 ing entered my room for the purpose of writing, I felt a strange sen- 
 sation like that of a spirit presence. I sat quietly waiting, feeling that 
 something pleasant was about to take place, when suddenly the spirit 
 of Washington stood before me. He looked at me, calling me by 
 name, and said: "We have taught you by vision, orally, and by 
 writing all these years, now I would like to question you a little to see 
 how well you retain what has been taught you ; " and, looking pleas- 
 antly at me, he said : " Whom among those ancient patriarchs that 
 you once saw do I resemble? " I looked at him closely but could make 
 no reply, and yet I thought I had seen some one whom he resembled. 
 He asked the second time if I did not remember the visit of the patri- 
 archs ? I said yes. He turned as if to speak to some one, and then 
 stepped forward and said : " Can you not recall that likeness of my- 
 self ? " Then all seemed clear to me, and I said: " Oh, yes, you are so 
 like Abraham in form and feature, the same in stature, as if you were 
 one ; but," said I, " pray tell me how this is ; what does it all mean ? " 
 He then bowed and was gone without answering me. He then took 
 control of me to write. He wrote a wonderful message, beginning 
 with these words : " I will write my pedigree." In this he gives a full 
 account of himself from the beginning, what careers had been his, and 
 in what characters he had been an actor upon the mortal stage. He 
 said he really was Abraham, and that when he was born as Washing- 
 ton, he took on his complete form as Abraham, because he was to 
 realize the promise made him, and to gather the lost sheep of the 
 House of Israel. This is set forth in Mr. Fondey's article, yet he 
 would not believe the clear truth, even of what he has stated himself. 
 He has figured up his statements from the Bible and other records. 
 We have ours given by the characters themselves, who were and are 
 now the important actors in all these wonderful works. Washington 
 became the father of this American country, and of all the people who 
 have come from all parts of the earth and found shelter under this 
 lofty tree of freedom. Is not this a literal proof of prophetic state- 
 ments? and are not in this the missing links found and produced? 
 If Washington was Abraham, he has realized the promise made 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 29 
 
 him. He has done his work, and we are partakers of the great 
 and grand works which he did. We too are doing our parts which 
 are necessary, and which belong to the said organization. The result 
 of all this will be grand and glorious, it cannot be otherwise ; and we 
 shall yet have reason to rejoice over our labors, for we shall win the 
 prize angels have laid up for us if we work faithfully with them, and 
 aid in subsiding these collected labyrinths, and help them to bring 
 truths like these, which from time to time are given to us, before the 
 world. In this American wilderness Mr. Fondey further says : 
 " God said he would plead face to face with Israel." Has He not 
 done this ? Yes, even in the way Mr. Fondey gives it as occurring 
 in 1861. He has spoken face to face since then even to us, and also 
 to others, and I think we are safe to conclude that we too are truly 
 a fart of Israel. I thank God from the depths of my heart that He 
 counts us worthy to receive the revelations of all these grand truths, 
 even from those mighty spirits. America was a wilderness when first 
 discovered, yet it was peopled by Indian tribes ; so was the land of 
 Canaan inhabited by the wild nations when the Israelites wandered 
 out of Egypt into that land of promise, and was told to take posses- 
 sion of it. ■ If that course was right, then the course pursued by the 
 white people of America must also have been right when they drove 
 back the savages, and took possession of the American wilderness, 
 and, through bloodshed and battles, made it a land of freedom, and a 
 Republican government, with a constitution different from any other 
 on earth. Washington, the father of this country, was powerfully 
 aided from the heavenly courts, and the organization or confedera- 
 tion of these United States of North America was founded upon 
 Heaven-born rights and principles, and although these principles have 
 become somewhat corrupted a.s time passed on, yet they were rooted 
 and grounded in the true principles. Now, let us look at the facts as 
 they really exist. All who are not organized as yet under the new 
 covenant, and do not belong to this collected number of the Israelites, 
 must pass through the wilderness of conditions which have been con- 
 stituted; and, after extended travels, can enter into Canaan, or the 
 blessed conditions by which they will be surrounded, when they can 
 see and understand the truth of all these works. No change in local- 
 ity will be needed in order that all this may be brought to pass, for 
 America is the promised land for all those who have been and are 
 being gathered daily and added to the number which are to be the 
 first fruits with the Israelites of old in the great decision which is 
 very near, when, according to Scripture language, the Heavens and 
 the earth shall be shaken and changed, for the looked-for judgment 
 
30 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 has been, and the new clause for the said separation will soon be 
 announced physically, as it is already issued and has gone forth. 
 
 Having explained this, I will tell you the secret of Indian control 
 over modern mediums, for this is the cause of so many conditional 
 battles Avhich are being constantly fought. These red men of the 
 American forest were driven out by the white people, and are led to 
 wage a conditional war against all who are to be organized under the 
 new covenant, and under the head powers of the universe ; and, let it 
 seem as it may, all mediums who are controlled by Indians are their 
 captives, and aid by physical means to lead others into the conditional 
 wilderness for a stated season, which may seem pleasant at first, but 
 after the march is pursued for a time it will grow unpleasant, for 
 therefrom have come all the realized failures which Spiritualism in 
 its purer shades and works has had to encounter. All must battle 
 with these conditions until they conquer and can be led out from them 
 into the purer conditions which are of supreme issue, and which will 
 then make their Canaan, for they will realize the changed and blessed 
 condition, and appreciate it for having learned the difference by expe- 
 rience, which is of priceless value to all who have thus gained it. 
 They can truly appreciate the milk and honey, symbolical in these 
 days of law and gospel, which flow from the universe center upon all 
 in this blessed land of Canaan in this organized condition, as said, and 
 belong to the gathered number which represent the first fruits, and 
 with which number will terminate the first resurrection, when the 
 clause spoken of shall be announced, which will be a great event, and 
 the shaking such as Heaven and earth never realized before. The 
 literal and spiritual are greatly interwoven even as the works are 
 being compelled forth, and are performed by mortals and spirits. 
 America will be in a literal sense a land of milk and honey, and will 
 abound in riches, both spiritual and material likewise. I have made 
 these explanations to avoid misapprehensions, as there are still many 
 good, well-intentioned people, who truly belong to the House of Israel, 
 who are laboring under the mistake that a return to Palestine alone 
 can make this change. There must be a building up there to fill the 
 prophetic records, yet it is not necessary since this country is the 
 selected spot, and is far more productive, and the soil and elements 
 are well adapted to have all this transacted as stated, and accomplish 
 the work of design in these important degrees w r hereby the time for 
 this eternity shall be terminated. ' Look well at the produced facts. 
 Ponder upon them from all sides, and you will see as you gaze aloft 
 that the harvest is almost ripe and ready for the reapers' sickle, even 
 the grain grown from the late rains and mind infusions, the other 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 31 
 
 having been already reaped and garnered. If mortals could but realize 
 better this time of their present visitation from on high, how soon 
 these elements and conditional conflicts would be brought to a close ! 
 and a heavenly, peaceful atmosphere would fill all space, and also all 
 mortal bosoms ; but while the works of opposition continue, as at the 
 present time, let us watch and pray, and make ready for the great 
 change which is so soon to take place. 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 THE SPIRIT-WORLD — WHERE IS IT ? 
 
 Go in thy secret chamber, to meditate and pray, 
 Stir up the slumbering embers within, and then a ray 
 Of light from them will show thee so definite and clear 
 That world afar all around thee, and spirits ever near. 
 
 Men and women are mere animals by mortal nature, yet they also 
 possess an immortal nature. Now, the spirits of men and women are 
 within them while they are travelers on earth as much as when they 
 leave earth by the flight of the spirit, and take another form more 
 suitable for the spirit and climate. This spirit in them then is said to 
 be and is truly a divine inheritance, a divine gem deposited in the 
 material elements of clay, in order to begin the great work of creat- 
 ing tangible spirits who can acquire mortal forms, and can test and 
 handle objects. That those spirits in mortals, then, are akin to the 
 Infinite is also a fixed fact ; hence, if they proceeded forth from the 
 world of spirit, they also have the power to revisit the world of their 
 nativity. They have left in that world many elements of their own, 
 and also many complete spirits who are akin to them, and whose sole 
 delight is to aid the new beginners on earth in their acquirements of 
 knowledge and materials for which they were implanted in matter. 
 These imparted qualities, which are the spirits in mortals, are sparks 
 of the Infinite, and will grow and leaven with their power the whole 
 mortal being, if they are called into life and action by ever remaining 
 as branches of the vine or the great universal tree of life. But all 
 spirits in mortals are not of the same grade, and although many are 
 classed but a little above the matter grades, they must be nurtured 
 from the elements and spirits of that world from whence they came. 
 This is a rule of progress, and requires much study, for God impulses 
 
32 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 thrill in all things that manifest life throughout the whole universe. 
 This thrill is not always alike, but is according to the touch, as upon 
 coarse or refined metal, and even so will you discover the spirit-world 
 to be in accord with your relation to it. It is enough for mortals to 
 know that all can discover this if they will but do as they are bidden. 
 They can see it and learn from those spirits who surround them where 
 and in what part of these worlds upon worlds they belong. Some 
 parts of the spirit-world are so far off from mortals and their world 
 that it would require a great space of time to get there should they 
 travel even at lightning speed, and no one who has no kindred there, 
 or no spirit-power of his own, can go there ; because the spiritual 
 elements which are within the mortal and go out at death, or even 
 when in an abnormal state, go directly out into space, and are met by 
 corresponding elements, and also by spirits which form the pathway 
 and give the spirit strength to go where these powers of assistance 
 came from, and to which the individual spirit just escaped from a 
 mortal house has a lawful right to go. 
 
 People in blind fancy form many absurd ideas about spirits and 
 the spirit-world, where it is located, &c. ; and why is this ? Simply 
 because their spirit-sparks have not been fanned into life by the breezes 
 from the world from whence they were given, — by the breath of the 
 all-pervading Infinite Spirit ; for if the spirit-spark had been fanned 
 into life, they could ask no question which would not be answered 
 from within, through their own spirit. They could peer through the 
 mists by the light from within, and see clearly before and all around 
 them the spirit-world and the ministering spirits. They could see it 
 extend far out in space, farther than the power of the eye could 
 penetrate, and they would be satisfied that the innate powers and 
 possibilities of the mind are immortal and eternal, and would thus 
 enlarge and expand until, in the changeable progressional march, they 
 could scan the Infinite, and comprehend the heights and depths, length 
 and breadth, of the wisdom and power which so wonderfully creates 
 and developes man by the power of the spirit within and upon them, 
 and by the effectual compulsion of the laws governing each part and 
 parcel of spirit and matter, in evolving and cohering ; and all these 
 ways are carved and marked out, but which are often shunned by 
 mortals, their own will marking out a seemingly pleasanter path for 
 the purely mortal being to walk in, although at the expense of the 
 spirit-spark which lies spiritually dead within them ; and which has 
 never been called into life or action. Here we will say a word upon 
 fore-ordination, since the question was involved when we said that all 
 the ways are marked out in which these clay-clad angels should walk, 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 33 
 
 while pursuing their pilgrimage on earth, for the purposes already 
 stated. 
 
 Masses of the cultivated people of today do not accept or believe 
 in fore-ordination. They say men make the ways in which they walk 
 by their ambition, their will, and energy. These three qualities, 
 almost the same in meaning, are each of different force when meet- 
 ing with material and elements, and, casting conditions therein, by 
 the force of these factors, do in a measure make the ways in which 
 men walk ; and thereby are offences committed in the first degree 
 against the statute laws, because the will of God is forfeited and set 
 at naught by the pride of natural and worldly ambition, which 
 desires not to yield to the will, or to be governed by the Spirit of 
 God, — yet takes the given talents, and begins scheming with them, 
 trying to find how to acquire self -greatness, and to gratify the natural 
 longings, and rule over material concerns. This can be, and certainly 
 is, done to a great extent by the majority of mortals who now people 
 this lower world. This, then, is the reason why the end must be 
 hastened on, because the spirit in man develops a vain ambition, and 
 a strong self-will that resists the Spirit of God, and will not be gov- 
 erned by it, nor walk in the prescribed limits. Mortals desire to 
 have all things according to their fleshly craving, so far as their will, 
 ambition, and, I should say, cunning will assist them in gratifying 
 their desires ; but that does not put away with the statute laws at all, 
 in which fore-ordination is one principal part ; hence, it follows that 
 these people are given over to their own lusts and desires ; that, during 
 the short allotted space of time given them, they do all that is for 
 them to do so far as they, being aided by said factors, can make the 
 conditions subservient to their wills ; but, alas, not one of them can 
 be counted as among the first fruits, nor can they have a part in the 
 first resurrection, which is but a figurative statement, for spirits all 
 live, but all do not meet with approbation as you will learn ; but will 
 be set low to begin a new eternity's march under different surround- 
 ings and developing methods, at the end of which they will nearly all 
 have learned the important lesson that God's laws are fixed and 
 eternal ; and as long as subjects trespass against these laws, and do 
 not love and serve their Creator, just so long they must and shall 
 remain outside of Paradise, and bear the curse of the law they have 
 trespassed against; but, when it is heeded and complied with, it will 
 prove a strong power both of protection and a constant support. 
 And so it is that mortals pay heavily for the exercising of this self- 
 power, and for gratifying their natural fleshly cravings at such costs 
 as are spoken of above, namely, an eternity's toil through adverse 
 
34 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 or perverse conditions ; also, an eternity's punishment which has 
 unfortunately been stated in the Bible record as eternal punishment, 
 and has been misunderstood as meaning this, — that a mortal, once 
 losing the race, is lost forever, that no more chances are given him, 
 and no changes take place for him through all eternal, never-ending 
 time. This, friends, is contrary to the statute laws which are eternal 
 and fixed, and remain so forever ; hence, it is stated that cycling 
 changes are lawful at times for conditional divisions, and for new 
 spiritual infusions, and also for the changing of methods for moral 
 and religious training, in accord with the advance march of nature's 
 laws, and of progression, which is the grandest object of all these 
 labors, and it is to be secured to all beings, and to all things in 
 nature. This, surely, is not to be set back as a side issue, and have 
 placed before it a monotonous course of man-made formulas and 
 creeds which have their birth in the misconceptions and suppositions 
 of mortals. But this the world's scholars aim to do, and if they do 
 admit progression (since it is made compulsory and mortals cannot 
 do otherwise), still these wayward people strive to have their own 
 ways, and to govern heavenly issues, and call it progressional or pro- 
 gressive according to their own ways or desires. It is no wonder the 
 spirit-world is shunned as something of which mortals need not to 
 know, and the return of spirits is spoken of as if it were wicked 
 and unlawful. This, however, is not true. It is lawful, or it could 
 not and would not be so, and the spirit-world becomes more and more 
 visible to the eyes, yes, even to the natural eyes, of mortals. The 
 curtain which divides the mortal and spirit spheres is growing thinner 
 and more transparent every day, and no mystery concerning the spirit- 
 world shall remain, nor concerning the future occupations, rewards, 
 and punishments. Those who are found worthy to take part in the 
 first resurrection, or to enter into heavenly rest, will also be illumined 
 to see and learn all these things, as the Spirit of God touches them 
 and opens their understanding. The others will resist and keep up a 
 useless and strength-destroying contention until assigned to their 
 proper places. Alas, only a fraction of those even shall be left to 
 comprehend the truth. As soon as the decision is over, these, then, 
 shall be the foremost workers in building up the next age with zeal 
 and purity of purpose. We cannot understand how it is that the 
 study of the spirit-world, and of the future state of the mortal race, 
 can be set aside as such an idle tale by so many who stand so much 
 in need of the information they might gain upon these points. We 
 hear much said about looking after the soul's salvation and preparing 
 to die, but how is it to be done ? There is no true knowledge gained, 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 35 
 
 nor is the salvation desired obtained, nor are they ever ready to die, 
 for the future is unknown to all who do not study and worship God 
 in spirit and truth. 
 
 Many sad pictures we see presented to us daily as the result of 
 a fancied salvation, in which there cannot be and is no reality ; and 
 why ? Because the subjects walk in the broad, worldly ways ; they eat, 
 drink, and make merry, and throw all the work of their soul's salva- 
 tion upon Jesus, and they have no right to that claim unless they 
 walk in his foot-prints, and follow him closely in all they do, both in 
 precept and example. But there are not many that do this. Hence, 
 they have drawn a fancied picture before them instead of a real one 
 when they reach the immortal shores. In my view, this is like a 
 man forming plans for erecting a magnificent building or mansion, 
 and furnishing it, but, having no capital of his own, is dependent upon 
 the goodness of some benefactor to build the grand mansion for him 
 at the expense of his benefactor. Now, this generous nobleman had 
 not been consulted in the matter so as to know how or in what way 
 these great privileges were to be conferred or realized for the subject 
 who, being full of fancy, had only read the terms and promises, but 
 did not see or understand the meaning proclaimed in them ; hence, it 
 follows that, as the preparations were all made, the servants of the 
 benefactor are sent to tell this man how all this was, that it was his 
 own vain ambition that had led him to fancy and form his plans, 
 therefore, he should find it all a void instead of having his desires 
 gratified, for a punishment for such a course of scheming without 
 ascertaining the facts, or searching the secret depths for the meaning 
 of each promise. We see this picture verified every day by those 
 who have planned for an inheritance in Heaven on the great capital 
 and through the merits of Jesus the Great Mediator. They find 
 they have the plans but can command nothing else, and are, for the 
 reasons of their many offences in those degrees, sentenced to roam 
 over deserts and endure punishments instead of living and ruling 
 with Jesus as they supposed. Arise, O mortals ! do not slumber in 
 these important days when light from above is being shed upon you, 
 and all over earth. Why close your eyes and fear to behold the 
 bright rays as they come from the eternal light-house above ? Open 
 your eyes that you may see the reefs against which you are drifting. 
 Yes, open your eyes and behold the Heavens open and the Son of Man 
 as He descends and ascends, and the millions of immortal beings going 
 with delight to and fro, bringing the light and the glad tidings to earth. 
 Proofs palpable of spirit return to earth are daily given, and the labors 
 which they do by commission, received from the throne of the Most 
 
86 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUEES. 
 
 High God ; for from the supreme issues all that is done as a neces- 
 sity to meet the claims of law, and to fill those injunctions marked 
 to be fulfilled in this last cycle or epoch of time. Make yourselves 
 acquainted with the spirit-world, as it will prove a lasting benefit to 
 you. Do not shun the spirits and spirit-teachings, O mortals, but 
 consider that all which mortals ever had, as well as that they receive 
 now, was given by the Spirit of God in the ways suiting to each time 
 and purpose, and by and through subjects chosen and marked for such 
 labor, which mediation is an eternal right conferred upon those who, 
 of that order, are sent forth to earth to receive and impart heavenly 
 truths and wisdom which belong to the people of each age. It is for 
 this reason it is said that he who receiveth a prophet shall receive a 
 prophet's reward for all the kindnesses and sympathy shown to such a 
 person, who is by nature susceptible to all the conditions on the spirit- 
 ual and material side, and is therefore borne down by the weight of 
 all these conditions, and feels the bitterness which is concealed in the 
 bosoms of mortals as much as that which is boldly and coarsely made 
 manifest. And these immortal mortals feel more pain as the result 
 of conditions and unkindnesses of mortals than language can 
 describe, and need, therefore, mortal sympathy to mingle with the 
 effusions from the spirit-world to protect, as with a strong shield, the 
 sensitive nature ; but it is not often given, that is, true sympathy, 
 from the mortal side. These subjects are looked upon rather, by those 
 who should be their strongest and truest friends, as Jesus was by the 
 Scribes and Pharisees, that is, as being cursed by God, that they must 
 bear their burthens and wear out their miseries, and would rather 
 that they should be made a sacrifice for them so as to grant them 
 liberty and relief. This is very wrong, and severe penalties are 
 incurred by such a course, but if true friendship and sympathy were 
 bestowed, riches and blessings would be the sure reward. 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 CHRISTMAS. 
 
 "What are events in mortal history ? Are they but land-marks, 
 and remembered by physical merriment only ? or do they all have an 
 infinite meaning and bearing, which, to learn, should be the object 
 instead of aimless pleasures ? Events differ in significance owing to 
 the circumscribed condition of events, or to the full freedom by which 
 to exert an influence or power ; they mark themselves on nature's 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 37 
 
 canvas, and faintly, as a reflex of these marks, do they mark them- 
 selves in the minds of the people, and form a part of their formal or 
 practical life and worship. 
 
 But no matter what event occurs that marks a change, it should 
 be carefully considered from all sides, and shall be kept sacred in con- 
 nection with the side or shade thereof by which man and angels are 
 brought nearer to each other, though it be by proxy ; and it should be 
 carefully studied by the pilgrims of earth as to what each event does 
 for them, and what it does for each individual. But there has not 
 been much of the mortal mind invested in ascertaining these facts, 
 and really they cannot be obtained from the worldly records ; hence, 
 the people are blessed with revelations in these days. 
 
 They are advised to study unwritten history, and to heed the 
 advice and to practice the precepts which the angels bring to earth, 
 for thereby will they be aided to discover the mighty forces which 
 compel forth results, and that which is in accordance with the design 
 and the result of each event, and the various duties they owe in order 
 to properly mark their joy for the progress made in the transmould- 
 ing and spiritualizing of mortals. And as they enter into the spirit 
 of things, or, as it were, into the inner life, from whence all temporal 
 results proceed forth, they will become enabled to commemorate 
 acceptably the Christmas of the middle age, named thus because 
 God's truths were brought to earth through the child Jesus, who was 
 endowed with power from on high. But today, as we see that event 
 fully merged into two others, the one the first central dispensation, 
 and also the present one, we say that it is a sad tumult, that is, this 
 external merriment on this day, kept by Christians in commemora- 
 tion of Jesus the Christ. 
 
 And as we list to issues from above, 
 
 And see the flood of our Father's love 
 
 Go forth to earth, and as it descends it is repelled, 
 
 The worldly wisdom and pleasures have excelled. 
 
 They who should hold the key to Heaven in their hands have 
 lost it ; and they do not feel the presence of the Holy Spirit as it 
 endeavors to overshadow them ; and we are compelled to say that they 
 know nothing of the birth of the true Christ. Had the Churches 
 abided in Christ, the Living Vine, they would have hailed the present 
 event with great joy, for they would have known that He has 
 returned, and that He will labor upon earth in spirit until all the 
 works are realized under the sun, of which mortals had received the 
 fore-shadowed pictures through the prophets ; and as Jesus indicated 
 
38 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 the signs which should appear, and that which should go before that 
 great day of this eternal decision now to be made, the admonitions 
 contained in revelations to the several Churches should be carefully 
 studied and applied, even now, for those fore-shadowed typical 
 prophecies, or shaded descriptions rather, as we might term them, 
 are now in the course of their fulfillment under the sun. 
 
 The seven Churches, the seven candlesticks, and the seven 
 angels, alluded to there, stand emblematical of the seven master- 
 builders, the creative compact, from whence all religious infusions 
 have been given in their varied degrees and differences, and which 
 were arranged for the use of mortals by that central force going 
 forth from that united center, as supreme issue, and governed by 
 omnipotence, the all-pervading Omnipotent Spirit, God, which is the 
 soul and the force of the whole universe. But the Chris1>power is 
 not felt much as yet by the confessed, or professed, followers of Jesus, - 
 or they would have kept these words before them day and night, 
 " Hold fast until I come ;" yes, hold fast to the truths of the Gospel ! 
 Hold fast to the testimony of Jesus ! Do not depart from the given 
 precepts ! follow the examples though not in the same degree, yet be 
 ever willing to sacrifice whatever may be at stake, so as to promote 
 the general progress of the people, and also to declare the truths of 
 God boldly whenever it is observed that truth is set aside, or is 
 covered with a selfish mask. The works in the middle age that were 
 done by the man Jesus were of a very different nature from what, 
 in this modern age, has been said and taught in regard to them. He 
 was the promised Messiah, which means message-bearer. He 
 received truth from His heavenly home and gave it to the people. 
 He filled the injunction of law pertaining to the initiating steps of 
 generating and leading out the created beings into the knowledge of 
 their surroundings and conditions, but by no means does He, or can 
 He, wash away the sins of the world which the people commit inde- 
 pendent of and outside of those clauses. He did His works in order 
 to receive power to mingle with earthly elements, as a man to sanc- 
 tify earth and produce a great chemical cementing process, by which 
 mortals and their atmospheres were rendered purer. 
 
 Such processes are being produced now again, for now He does 
 come as the Christ of God in power and glory. In the middle age 
 He was compelled to come in meekness and humility, as a man gov- 
 erned by finite rule in which His career made changes, although 
 spiritually operated upon by the Christ-power from the Christ- 
 Heavens; heuce, these being facts which mortals must accept, 
 although they rebel against them, for it is truth and will prove itself 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 39 
 
 as such, and will conquer. Then, why not arise, ye stray children of 
 earth, and return to your primitive faith, and receive the Christ of 
 this age with joy, that you may receive knowledge from Him con- 
 cerning all the things which you had hoped for in that faith, and can 
 realize all the promises made in regard to the present time ? Jesus 
 the Christ of God comes, and has been coming through the condi- 
 tional clouds ; hence, with greater power and glory, will He come 
 when He comes to inspect personally the stewardship of mortals, and 
 what really are the fruits produced by His followers, or rather the 
 fruits grown from his works in the middle age, for, although the 
 records are correctly kept, He has been standing before justice as 
 mercy all these long years in mortal reckoning, but in spiritual 
 reckoning it is but a little while compared with eternal time. Now 
 that justice proceeds to cast the levies upon mortals, even as they 
 have incurred them by their trespasses, He comes to see whether 
 they had in all cases carefully considered the frailty of mortals and 
 their lack of power to perceive aright, and to live and walk in 
 accordance with law and Gospel, so that just judgments may be issued 
 on that great day which will decide for all their just abiding place. 
 
 When we observe the great display made in the whole land 
 upon Christmas Eve we are sad, we cannot sing songs of gladness, 
 for we cannot approve of all this external merriment, and that 
 because no reverence is shown by the religious leaders in regard to 
 the spiritual gifts which the child Jesus has brought to earth for the 
 benefit of mortals, and this being neglected, which is so all-important, 
 renders it all a non-acceptable ceremony ; although they may paint 
 His birth, mission, and works in glowing colors, so far as it satisfies 
 their especial desires, yet all these sounds die away on the air as 
 uncertain sounds which cannot rise to Heaven ; and when all is ended 
 there is a void, for there is no returning and abiding pleasure, as there 
 would be if these services were held in the right way, and in keeping 
 with the primitive faith, and in the pure exercise of the spiritual 
 gifts. 
 
 As the spiritual gifts are not coveted in the Churches, are not 
 taught as they were, and are still being given as a divine legacy to 
 mankind, and are not being practiced in purity and with an increased 
 power at each recurring Christmas, just so long will the masses of 
 mortals be held tightly under the dominion rule of the worldly 
 ruler, the unrighteous prince, who will leave them to their faith or 
 fate, when his time expires, as unpardoned prisoners, and so then 
 will they find their future beginning. Now, we do not object to 
 external merriment, nor to the presentation of physical gifts on the 
 
40 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 day of general importance ; but when physical gifts so fully occupy 
 the heart and mind, and the pleasures being so thoroughly material, 
 on a day which requires a holy reverence, if any, then we say it is 
 sinful, for there is not one particle of this display that could be 
 applied in honor to Him for whom Christmas was affixed in the 
 history of mortals ; moreover, it brings His works into the shades 
 of the worldly degrees altogether, and He cannot exercise either 
 power nor mercy over mortals because they do not remember Him, 
 for the gifts He brought to earth, by which alone He could be 
 enabled to govern His Church upon earth, and bring to all of His 
 true followers new truths, and constantly increased spiritual powers ; 
 but, when this is spoken of to the Churches, they do not wish to be 
 governed by the Spirit of God in this way. 
 
 The Jews said to Jesus in the middle age : " We have Moses 
 and the Prophets, we will follow them; but this fellow and his 
 teachings we will not accept." The Gentiles say : " We have Jesus and 
 the Gospel truths He taught ; we will cling to them ; but these new 
 truths given through modern Prophets, or, as they are now called, 
 mediums, we will not accept." 
 
 Jesus said to the Jews : " If ye were of God, ye would hear My 
 voice and be gladly instructed, for I am come from Him ; but ye 
 cannot hear My voice or words, because ye are not of God." It is 
 even so today, for if those who reject the truths and revelations 
 were true followers of Jesus, they would be glad to be instructed. 
 They would recognize the manifest Christ of God. Yes, they would 
 rejoice because He has come again to prepare the world for judgment, 
 also for a brighter dawn immediately after the decision. 
 
 Do you think, O mortals, that your power will conquer in the 
 ensuing conquests ? No, verily, no. He holds the victory in His 
 hand, and all these rebellious contentions are tolerated only until 
 all these works pertaining to the plan of God with man are filled, 
 then the change will come. 
 
 But we must leave this subject, and say something in regard to 
 the Christmas of the new era, which comes on the eighth of Feb- 
 ruary, as on that day the birth of the Christ of this age was 
 announced upon earth, by which His labors during this, or of this, 
 event should mark themselves ; and as Jesus remained secluded from 
 the public, amid physical labors and studies, so were these marks 
 destined to remain in the back-ground, and though the heavenly 
 workers have been out by the millions, heralding the tidings of joy 
 even as the people could be approached and were able to receive. 
 Yet there was but one great design to be accomplished through 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 41 
 
 modern Spiritualism, for which all work, though all are not aware of 
 the fact, yet, in the days to come, the scholars can trace the works, 
 and find striking similarities to the career of the child Jesus, and the 
 works now being performed by Him, as the Christ of God, through 
 a mortal organism. As he appeared in the Temple, at the age of 
 eleven years, and astonished the lawyers and scribes by His wisdom, 
 so there was a work performed which compares with that, though the 
 present works are different, because they fill altogether different 
 injunctions of law, and the results will be unlike those which were 
 achieved in the middle age ; but, at the age of thirty-three years, He 
 came forth boldly before the public, and performed many mighty 
 works, and finished that which was given Him to do in three short 
 years ; hence, in keeping with former time, the works of modern 
 Spiritualism will be compelled forth before the scribes and Phari- 
 sees and the lawyers of this age to be inspected, or investigated, 
 and criticised ; for it must be so, as it is a demand of the law that 
 all the works that have been produced must pass through the fixed 
 crucibles, where all the impure shall be consumed, so that only the 
 pure truths will remain for a great blessing for humanity, for the 
 Christ-power shall subdue all the rebellious elements and forces, and 
 bring about the promised peace on earth, and all realize good Avill 
 toward one another. 
 
 But darkness goes before the face of the Lord, and trials and 
 conquests are necessary by which to achieve these grand results 
 which have been labored for so long. In order to bring about the 
 conquests spoken of, we must send out among mortals the work 
 which has been an issue from the Christ-power, by which this pres- 
 ent event shall be marked. 
 
 The leaders of the standing religions have already taken steps 
 to investigate the manifest works of God, which abound in these 
 days, so as to bring them unawares before their courts, and then the 
 compelling forces will be increased, so that after due councils they 
 will declare their own standing in relation to the Christ of the age. 
 But their councils will prove to be nothing but folly, and the for- 
 tresses, behind which they hope to safely shelter themselves, will 
 crumble into dust, and the victory of truth over error shall power- 
 fully mark itself, for it is the mark of the central power under 
 whom all other powers and principalities serve, and by which they 
 are governed. Hence, to all who are true, but weak, when the 
 conquest comes, we say : take courage, aud remember the words of 
 Jesus : " Hold fast to My testimony until I come ; " and, though you 
 
42 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 have failed in your efforts to bring about the desired results, yet try 
 again. 
 
 Perseverance only can win in times of great struggles, and each 
 endeavor will bring you nearer to the goal where the hidden pearls 
 of the greatest price are to be found, and where the results of your 
 efforts will win the medal of honor, with the inscription upon it: 
 " Good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joys of Heaven." 
 
 Dec. 25, 1881. 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL. 
 
 That which from eternity, compelled to action, in each cause espoused,— 
 'T is that which is the Gospel true; 
 'Tis not belief; 't is know and do; 
 'T is to be useful, to be true. 
 
 Religious cultivation has, at present, too much attached to it to 
 make it wholesome or comprehensive. The devotional faculties are 
 cramped by the sublime, and the fast-developing idealty goes on with 
 force, and a grand display in language, according to desires. This is 
 done heedless of the pain issued through the wrong devotional organ. 
 It is compelled to silence, the other organs acting for it or in its 
 stead, according to their impulses, which, by the designers, were 
 marked for a different use, and, therefore, give an untrue physical 
 form in words to that which should have been given forth from the 
 devotional organ for religious ponderings, and for the edification of 
 that most exalted organ of the spiritual structure. Therefore it is, 
 and has been, from presumptions and suppositions mostly that that 
 which the commentators on religious matters and points have decided 
 upon ; and then one looks to the other to be upheld in their assump- 
 tions. What, is this pure devotion to God? No, verily, no. It is 
 devotion to man ; a fearing of man's judgment, and a seeking for 
 man's approval. Wherefore it is a sham, and not gospel. 
 
 The Everlasting Gospel is the truths given from the all-pervad- 
 ing spirit concerning the spirit ; that part found in the complicated 
 composition of mortals which is contributed by the great spirit, and is 
 centered in the devotional organ, and extending its rays of light all 
 through the system when it is not cramped or crushed as stated. 
 Then those who would know a Gospel truth must learn it through the 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 43 
 
 spirit, must consult Him of whom they are a part ; they must know 
 that the head recognizes the faces of each member of its body, and 
 that no sensation can escape the head. Then, when this devotional 
 organ truly aspires, it is felt, and answering blessings are administered. 
 The Gospel, true and pure, is not eloquent, for it is activity and 
 purity of purpose which must be manifested in all the deeds done. 
 The most simple duties often require the most bodily exertion, and 
 it is observed how well it is done, and whether the purpose is a pure 
 one which compels forth that which is performed, or thought, or 
 spoken. Then how shall the Gospel be styled in its divisions to make 
 it comprehensive ? Is it to expound how to crush out of existence 
 the many sins by which the human race is beset without their know- 
 ing the cause by which such sins are compelled forth ? Nay, friends, 
 this is not religion, nor of any benefit to hearers, for the simple reason 
 that he who tries to tell about something which he does know or 
 understand himself stands upon dangerous ground, for he is telling 
 untruths all the while, and his presumptions upon them render him a 
 trespasser an hundred-fold ; and those who hear are not benefited, 
 neither is any evil cured by adverse treatment, but lives and thrives 
 boastingly because it did not meet with any lawful repulsion or justly 
 waged rebellion by which it could have been conquered and laid in 
 the dust. 
 
 Now, take intemperance, for instance. It is a blight on the fair 
 intellect of the age ; and why is it tolerated ? Why, after crusades 
 and temperance revivals ' it still grows, and is a frantic monster, by 
 which are governed and held millions of mortals. Now, the seasons 
 of actual labor are inaugurated according to universal design, so then 
 the great crusade made upon and for temperance a few years ago was 
 compelled forth by a wave set off from the conditional tide, and those 
 going through the land holding meetings on that topic were the 
 devil's accessories. They were to get up the list physically to see how 
 many could be claimed by those wielding the intoxicating deposits and 
 enactments on earth for mortal temptations, if its designed uses 
 should be set aside or misused, which has been done truly. Now, 
 behold what a work our people made of it. They all signed the 
 pledge, — the pure and the polluted, the innocent children, the thought- 
 less maiden along with the tempted youths, — so as to make the list 
 great, and compel something in a way which only caused a greater 
 incumbrance ; for, believe me, it is true that those lists were counted 
 up, and the ones who were soiled with strong drink, and had thereby 
 damaged their bodily functions, their families, and also their duties, 
 are known on the list ; also, the pure and innocent, and of the latter 
 
44 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 the majority grace the list. Now, what are they given over for into 
 these hands ? Shall they be thrown in the ordeals to be purified with 
 the wicked, or those who sinned who should not be termed wicked, 
 but weak, unmanly, distorted, which are the results of self-abuse ? 
 No ! They cannot hold in common that which, for a certain class, is 
 and can be lawful treatment. Therefore, there is a work of uncer- 
 tainty and disorder in these pursuits, and the result is no victory, but 
 more trouble, because the causes are not studied. Go to the root of 
 the evil, and let the rich and poor, and small and great, study the 
 laws of the country, and the laws of self-hood, and also those laws by 
 which the rains are kept in the circuit of their allotted hemispheres, 
 according to fluidic and elementary divisions, for these restrictions. 
 Strange factors have been employed, and there is no enactment ever, 
 nor was there ever any, which would be otherwise than beneficial if it 
 were not misapplied and put to adverse uses. Since those who do not 
 study their self-hood rights, nor the rules for that which they indulge 
 in, are immoral and unmanly, it follows that the law which shall 
 defend the weal of a people by whom its reign is sanctioned steps in 
 and strongly subdues all immoral conduct, and strongly defends the 
 weak sinners. The distilling of strong drink must be stopped, for 
 there the first transgression was made. Love for money did its work 
 there, and those who buy to sell again labor to make gains from oth- 
 ers by an impure business in order to escape harder work. Now, 
 this must be stopped, but it cannot be done by praying. God works 
 through His own laws, and, when these are observed and complied with, 
 help comes, and not otherwise. It is not necessary to preach, but it 
 is necessary to arise. All who are not denied with strong drink 
 should place themselves on record, and so have the record of Heaven 
 or the spheres, where they are numbered, compared with the one on 
 earth. Let it thus go forth to have a lawful hearing. Claim boldly 
 the rights which a government owes to a people. 
 
 Ask for the uprooting of the gigantic tree of distilling. Leave no 
 root nor branch of it. Let those who are diseased by it resort to 
 proper remedies, and do away with this evil, then y*ou will be prac- 
 ticing true religion. You must make your physical interests subservi- 
 ent to the higher claims of your being. You must live so as to 
 elevate yourself and others, not in money or in fine apparel, but in 
 true living and deeds. Suffer no corruption about you in any shape 
 or form, disguised or bold, subtle or open. No matter where or how 
 evils have taken practical form, they must be pulled up by the root 
 regardless of pain or loss ; for justice must close her eyes to that, as 
 it is self-made pain, and a just loss to those who are in these unlaw- 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 45 
 
 ful ways seeking to accumulate this world's goods. When the proper 
 way is pursued in a battle, and the powers from the preceding worlds 
 co-operate with those on earth, then victory is sure to be gained. So 
 must the religion of the world move on with the changing and moving 
 elements of nature. All sin is human weakness, and the strong are 
 expected to care for the weak by way of using the remedies which 
 are in a natural and lawful way always ready. Those of better cul- 
 ture, and not in the trap of the prevailing evil, should do all they 
 can, all in their power, to help others out. Praying and preaching 
 will not do it, it takes work. Religion, pure and undefiled, is to be 
 true, to help others thus to be working with God; for He lets His 
 sun shine upon all alike, and desires that none of His creatures 
 should be in torment because they are too blind to behold the true 
 way from whence they came and whither they journey, and are too 
 weak to stand upright and defy the temptations constantly held out 
 for the natural appetites by the officials over the matter-grades, who 
 are swayed and controlled by the beasts of opposition to God, and 
 will be so until the plan of design is filled, and God is all in all. 
 
 But the struggle is in this. An immense number was stated in 
 the book who should be purified and completed in bodily structure, 
 and that they cannot be affected by any temptation nor have an 
 impure desire in them, though the refined tissues composing their being 
 could draw support from all in the universe which would be compati- 
 ble with them for their health and beauty, and that they therefore have 
 lawful access to all the knowledge and wealth they may desire. 
 These also should be marked as the first-fruits, being first completed. 
 This being done, the plan of God is filled so far that the beasts of 
 opposition can hold no more control, for this is the lawful agreement 
 between them by which the victory should be marked, and the plan 
 declared finished. As the work goes on, all will, in due time, be 
 completed ; yet a change of training will be issued after the coining 
 struggle is over, by which this eternity's close is to be marked. 
 The struggle is to be between Materialism and Christianity. No 
 matter where they are, or what they call themselves, those who 
 are true to God and his Christ must be one army, and those who 
 deny them make up the opposite army, and between these the strug- 
 gle is to be until the wild waters swallow up the materialistic army, 
 and the sun of righteousness revives every germ of life in those who 
 remain faithful to the end. It is not religion to pray and confess 
 much, yet it belongs to a true Christian to do this, too ; but, verily, it 
 should be done in a true spirit, and the works not left undone, for 
 the works must go hand in hand with faith and knowledge which is 
 
46 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 dow given. No blind faith is needed now about the duties which mor- 
 tals owe to their Creator. They know, too, that we live, and that 
 we shall live, also, and that angels work with mortals, and are with 
 them at all times to guide and protect and to compel when action is 
 needed. Be ever on your guard, therefore ; be pure in heart and 
 mind, and then no impure attendants will ever come near you. 
 Shrink not from hardships, nor from humiliations, if others can be 
 uplifted thereby and changed from the animal state to the manly and 
 moral. 
 
 It is greater honor to conquer the beasts of opposition in such 
 a fight, and take from their grasp one captive, than fighting the 
 nations and conquering them on the battle-field. Great is the reward 
 of the heroic and true. 
 
 Many bitter pangs they feel, 
 And have nought in the world but sorrow ; 
 
 In Heaven is balm these wounds to heal, 
 And for them comes a grand tomorrow. 
 
 Yes, this short earth-day soon is fled, 
 And earthly pleasures all die with it; 
 But principles and deeds live ever, 
 No change these from a being sever. 
 Then work, be true, the gospel new is labor. 
 Learn to be useful. 
 
 LECTURE IX.- (poetry.) 
 
 SONG OF MOSES AND THE LAMB. 
 
 Hail, hail ! all ye redeemed, with joy and delight, 
 
 This present, so glorious a dawn. 
 Gospel and law are revealed to shed light 
 
 Upon the first picture that was drawn. 
 
 Love drew the lines delicately fair, 
 
 Law drew the back-ground so dim, 
 Mortals were prone to misconceive ever, 
 
 And thought all dark shades come through sin. 
 
 O mortals, arise and join in our song; 
 You Ve been in the thrall of wrong ideas long ; 
 The plan was drawn lovely, just shaded enough, 
 And all grand careers were sketched rather rough. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 47 
 
 Oh, the great beauty of that plan I 
 
 Solve it, ye mortals ; try and scan 
 
 The great love in it concealed, 
 
 And the wisdom by which 't is nowTevealed. 
 
 Bow in reverence, mortals, with us; 
 The prize is won, changed is the cross; 
 Press on, press on, O mortals, 
 
 Through struggles and through pain, 
 And you will reach yon portals, 
 
 Where losses all count gain. 
 
 Join us, ye earthly pilgrims, 
 
 As in reverence we bow 
 Before the Great Designer, 
 
 And twine wreaths for His fair brow. 
 
 May 18, 1S81. 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 TYPICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Men in all ages of time have been taught according to their 
 capacity, and the divine tissues of intelligence over the book of 
 nature have ever been spread out before them, which is, and ever 
 has been, done to aid in the development of devotion to the Creator, 
 and to call out aspiration. 
 
 All the grand lessons of nature teach of the transitory changes 
 for the purpose of enhancing the superior forces, and thereby to 
 achieve the moral developments of man; while that intelligence, 
 revealed from the Spirit of God to the spirit of man, supports the 
 divine attributes in man, and by this the religious growth and 
 developments are achieved ; but all that had thus far been given to 
 man, in all ages and in all nations, has been typical, and all that 
 is stated in the Bible was also typical at the time it was given, for 
 all prophecies are in strict keeping with the drawn sketches of 
 design ; so far, then, they are an ever-enduring reality, but, when 
 given, they only shadow forth the glimmers and shades of that 
 reality which, when it is realized in its own time upon earth, will 
 then also be revealed as it is, in accord with the mental ability of 
 those among whom such works are made manifest or are first 
 enacted upon earth. Hence, there is a great deal of study required 
 
48 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 by which to distinguish the real from the typical. Now, in the pres- 
 ent review of the mental efforts and products, all minds are worked 
 upon powerfully by the returning spirits and angels, and by these 
 invisible labors the capacities of mortals become enlarged, the minds 
 ventilated and opened for the reception of a new flood of ideas, 
 which we would term a needed supply of power and intelligence, 
 which is imparted by the means of intuition from the upper mind 
 realm to the mind -realm of man ; also, special inspirations are 
 showered through the channels that are prepared, even as the time 
 demands, so that all the works can be finished after a proper enact- 
 ment, and demonstrations by which conclusions can be compelled 
 forth into the minds of mortals, and all the dead-letter theories must 
 die, and also all typical shades must vanish, as reality will be set 
 bare before mortal mind and vision, and the force of the spirit com- 
 pels forth life and action, where there had only been a ceremonial 
 worship in accordance with the lifeless letter, and also in accord with 
 the typical illustrations. All this will pass away, and instead a 
 practical religion will be enforced, and a worship in accordance with 
 the Spirit oi God, from whom the Word, which is light and intelli- 
 gence, law and gospel, and is therefore the general compelling and 
 sustaining force, is derived or given. Men will cling to their errors, 
 and it is hard for them to give up the ideas and beliefs which have 
 become rooted in the mind ; but, strive as you may, brother man, 
 you will and must be led to behold your errors, and to outgrow 
 them. From whence came all these errors ? will be the question in 
 many minds, even after so many proofs as to how and whence they 
 came. But, again we say, and wish it to be adjusted to your 
 memory, that these so-called errors in that which has ever been 
 issued from above for the training of the spiritual nature of man, 
 that these errors arose from, or came from, those typical pictures 
 which had been presented through inspired brains, and were looked 
 upon or accepted as the reality of which only an illustration was 
 fore-shadowed ; hence, the reflections of these typical sayings have 
 created many shades in the minds of the people, and these shades 
 hang heavy over the brows of mankind. There has been too much 
 worldly-minded exertion upon that which was given in typical prophe- 
 cies, also inspirationally, to mankind, and not enough real spirit- 
 ual study ; and, by this perverted mind exertion, the most significant 
 things, in their universal bearing, have been rendered absurd in 
 accord with worldly wisdom, that does not understand a spiritual 
 truth simply because the spirit is excluded from their hearts and 
 minds. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 49 
 
 Let us be<nn with the be£nnnin<r of the Biblical record. How 
 long has that typical illustration been preached upon, as though it 
 was literally meant that God created the earth and all that is therein 
 in six days ; and also to assume that it was done according to the 
 days of earth measure. Can such advocates claim that they are 
 imbued with a spirit of intelligence, and are taught and governed by 
 the Spirit of God ? No, verily, not. 
 
 The generations now living upon earth are expected to be more 
 spiritualized,-^ therefore, to have truer ideas of universal truths and 
 works. 
 
 Better fruits were looked for than are produced or found by 
 those who are gathering the harvests of earth ; for the choicest plants, 
 shrubs, and trees from the heavenly gardens have been planted into 
 the mortal soil by the Divine Husbandman. The divine organs 
 of man are being powerfully worked upon, and yet there are strange 
 convulsions and stru£>;a;les. 
 
 Men do not wish to yield and to be governed by the Spirit of 
 God, there are so many tints and shades of prejudice, the hues of 
 which have been cast and left by their ancestors, and are also natur- 
 ally inherited ; they turn the brains of man queerly, and cause their 
 hearts to fail them when the strong rays of light gleam in on the 
 soul, and which reveal faintly the pure tissues of Heaven without 
 tints and shades. The perverted breath of man has woven guises for 
 him, which cover his natural beauty, and he exercises his worldly 
 ambition behind the screens, and the assumed piety is a pitiful cover- 
 ing which is not rooted within, but is rather a surface condition. 
 
 The real activity of the Christians who live to enhfence the 
 general conditions of the world, by which to create no luxuriant 
 habits, cannot indulge in the commodities which serve simply the 
 oody ; they must keep pace with the force and power of the spirit of 
 the creative energy and economy, and then they learn how to make 
 the best use of time, and how the greatest amount of wealth can be 
 secured. They are led aright in their walks, for the light from the 
 light-house above shines upon them ; in that light they can discern 
 the significance of every imparted truth. They learn how that all 
 things are wisely wielded in accordance with the laws of the universe, 
 and that all religious practices that are not in keeping with, but are 
 averse to, those laws are nothing but mockery and a worldly display 
 by which to create remorse for the future. 
 
 All the statements made from what is termed inspiration, or 
 superior knowledge, concerning man and his own rights and duties in 
 relation to the All-Father are now being compelled forth for trial ; 
 
50 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 and those which cannot stand the test of the times were wrongly 
 stated, were misconceived, and misapplied ; hence, isms of the grand 
 truths proved themselves errors, because they were not received as 
 they were meant to be given, and this is due to the ignorance of the 
 people, and their deficient spiritual developments ; hence, a season of 
 general rectification was needed. That these works are being phys- 
 ically transacted, no man shall or can gainsay, for the proofs abound, 
 and even now, as the works of the past are being reviewed and 
 rectified, all the typical statements are proven, and will be explained, 
 and their meaning, or how they were meant to be understood, will be 
 revealed ; also, what the design of each picture was in the mortal 
 world, the many shades which compose a great problem, therefore, 
 an illustrated picture thereof had not been considered. Men did not 
 even strive to discover the shades, but took all things in a literal 
 sense, without any comparison as to the fountain, or law, from 
 whence the shades of each illustrated picture were issued forth. 
 
 Learn, O man, that all things have been and are still being 
 done in accordance with law. Even men are born, and transformed 
 in accordance with law, in the rounds of time ; and all who are born 
 unlawfully, the purity of the legal design being violated, must pass 
 through changes and ordeals until they can become acceptable chil- 
 dren of the Most High, in accordance with that code of law which 
 particularly pertains to God and His creature man. Now, to avoid 
 misapprehension about the saying of mortals being born unlawfully, 
 we say this : that it has no reference to matrimonial or iion-matri- 
 monial states, although we commend nia'tr knony as being the best 
 rule for the travelers upon earth ; yet, the lawfully born children in 
 that sense are almost universally and unlawfully born children, in 
 the strict sense of the supreme law, in regard to the generating of 
 mortals. Multitudes of sins are committed, which result in miseries 
 and woes for those who occupy earth, which the Creator had never 
 designed, and which are the creations of the people altogether. 
 
 But I must leave this subject, for perhaps the reader does not 
 wish this topic to be illustrated any further. Alas, let all who hear 
 take it to heart and profit by it. Day is fast dawning for those who 
 live on earth ; hence, the twilight glimmers must all disappear. 
 Law and gospel will be taught without any symbolic forms by which 
 to explain. Truth, as it is now, and was, and as it shall ever be, is 
 declared, and the differences of degree are taught; and the great 
 structure reared by mortal fancies, and by mind speculations upon 
 those typical statements, must shake, — it must fall! and then, sud- 
 denly, by the same power that had issued and supported the typical, 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 51 
 
 will be reared the real ; and it will be so powerfully demonstrated 
 that man will quake, yet they can do nothing but submit, for they 
 are as sparks gone forth from that power. They have acquired mate- 
 rial tissues and strength, and the strong wills sustained at present by 
 the people is owing to the abundance of substances which have con- 
 centrated in the mind realm of mortals, and which can be used as a 
 force in them, but it makes man no stronger in power nevertheless. 
 
 He can only exercise his natural senses better, and defend 
 natural desires and instincts with his strong will. He can, and does, 
 build fortresses by this force, which is given him at this time, against 
 the works of the spirits, and the enactments of the truths of God, as 
 they are in the place of the shaded and typical illustrations. But, 
 alas, man has only as much power as God wills for him, the will of 
 God being stronger than all other wills combined. Perceive that 
 this is done only that all may bear testimony of themselves when 
 they are set low, and the power of God will work upon earth and 
 change the views of man, so that earth will appear changed, and the 
 Heavens also, as the typical vanishes, and the real will be enforced 
 into a practical reality, more so than what consists in teachings, for 
 the past has proven the sad fact that all these teachings for religious 
 training and improvements have created too many mind phantasies, 
 and not enough sound sense and practical religion. 
 
 The Bible is a book of facts, so called, that have been gathered 
 as they were given, in different ages and at different times, through 
 susceptible brains or organisms, from finite and infinite sources, from 
 the universal fountain ; we say, then, we certainly mean the finite and 
 infinite issues, even as the demand of mortals now are, and have ever 
 been ; but these differences have not been observed ; hence, we say 
 that although the intellects of the people are expanded, and to some 
 extent illumined, yet there is a general deficiency in regard to a 
 proper understanding and defining. Therefore, when the forces of 
 these mind-powers are brought to issue, that is, the intuitive and 
 discerning forces, and placed in the scales of justice so as to be 
 weighed for a decision, then mortals are found wanting in spiritual 
 unfoldments, hence found wanting in the powers by which to discern 
 the shadowy from the real, the portrait pictures from the solid facts, 
 which make difficult records, and which will cause the levying of a 
 severe tax. 
 
 The avenues of the mind are closed by the shades which hang 
 over them, because they have not come out even with wisdom and 
 the understanding. 
 
 "When you read the Bible, brother man, be careful and aim to 
 
52 COMPILATION OF SPHtLT LECTURES. 
 
 enter into the spirit of that which you are reading, so that you may 
 be led by that spirit to understand. Let your purest aspirations go 
 out to the ultimate fountain, and the responsive issue will be given 
 from the source from whence that which you may have read was 
 derived, and with proper explanations given by the force of that 
 spirit in its universal office through which to aid humanity, for there 
 are too many statements in that book which are a pollution upon its 
 truths, and which were caused by the prejudiced breath of man. 
 
 Learn to discern truth from errors, and typical illustrations from 
 solid truths. It is not needed now, in this last hour, that we should 
 state each typical presentation which, during this eternity, was 
 given ; we could not do this very well, for those which are in the 
 world now are the poorest that have been given ; they were only 
 partial descriptions and illustrations. 
 
 I could pen a volume of defects only in the few presentations 
 contained in the Bible, and they are but fragments, — scattered frag- 
 ments. Study upon the mortal origin as stated in Genesis, and you 
 cannot become mentally illumined if you do not see the missing 
 shades required to fill even a typical picture ; and, as the story is 
 prolonged, there is much assumed that is altogether strange to the 
 typical picture, there being no resemblance, and is therefore of no 
 use, only as having created obstructions in the mind, which must now 
 be removed. Go through the recorded acts of the kings of Israel, 
 and the heathen nations, and what do you discover? Well, it is 
 too absurd ; that all these mortal histories, with occasional aid and 
 advice from supernal-finite sources, were styled sacred, and were 
 treated as though they were the inspired deeds of man from God. 
 What a pollution upon deity. Read Job; what w T as that, a real 
 biography or a typical picture of characters ? nothing more than an 
 allegory for the study of the people, and a trial for them also, to see 
 whether they could discern real truths from the shaded pictures 
 or not. 
 
 Read the Psalms, and what do you discover ? If you enter into 
 the spirit of it, you will see a strange variance, changing almost as 
 rapidly as the changes of the musical strains which aided David to 
 receive the words he penned. That book is the strangest production 
 the world has, for in it are set forth tints and shades from all the 
 powers and forces in the universe ; it is, therefore, only to be a study, 
 and many lessons can be learned from it in regard to the typical and 
 also the purely inspirational truths from the Christ-Heavens. From 
 the Christ-Heavens alone the pure truths are issued to the people 
 inspirationally through the organisms of subjects who are prepared 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 53 
 
 and sent forth to receive such inspirations. But let us go on a little 
 further. The prophets all spake typically, and received their inspi- 
 rations chiefly from standing authorities, yet not always from the 
 highest sources, as can be easily discerned when this subject is 
 studied. 
 
 But how is it about the mission of Jesus and the New Testa- 
 ment records? Has humanity gained the right understanding of 
 Shis, or have they said much for which they will receive punish- 
 ments ? for they did have a knowledge of that which they spake of, 
 for it is stated so here in our records which are before us. The 
 prophets, by whom the coming of, the Messiah was fore-shadowed 
 in accordance with the picture of His universal career, spoke of it 
 only in part, as all the masters of the creative energy and power 
 have their shades painted on that picture. It was only a partial 
 prophecy, as also His work then was only a partial work, but which 
 is now to be fulfilled ; and now that which the prophetic statements 
 then indicated is being clearly revealed. 
 
 As for the New Testament record, it is less faulty than the 
 other Bible contents, and can be easily rectified when the spirit of it 
 is entered into, or rather when the hearts and minds are opened, and 
 the spirit can enter and open the understanding, and show in what 
 sense the statements were made, and for what purpose. The minis- 
 ters, of course, have preached the Gospel, but they did not know 
 after all of what they spake, because the Spirit of God, the universal 
 spirit of truth, could not find access to their hearts and minds. This 
 is rather a harsh saying, but nevertheless it is true, and truth will 
 bow at no human shrine, but she will rise and subdue error and 
 fiction. 
 
 Oh, the many trials which mortals have thus prepared for them- 
 selves by uttering that of which they had no proper or right under- 
 standing, and so many great debts have been and are now being 
 incurred by this much praying and sending up undue petitions, and 
 no one can escape the punishments thus legally incurred. They 
 will be led through the ordeals until the truth dawns upon them, an I 
 they can obtain the correct knowledge of that of which they had 
 such an indefinite or uncertain knowledge before ; and yet they 
 spoke as though they knew whereof they spoke. It takes not only 
 one but many eternities in which to complete the majority of mortal i 
 born on earth and to transform them into angels of li<xht ; and it 
 also requires many eternities for certain pictures of design to be com- 
 pleted; but many are completed in short seasons, and a select number, 
 which were sketched especially for this eternity, are now completed ; 
 
54 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 hence, iii accord with the magnitude of the design in its divine bear- 
 ing, the prophecies are delayed in their fulfillment. All the greater 
 things of a divine nature and tendencies are given in eternal time 
 measure, while all these pertaining to earthly or worldly regulations 
 and systems come under earthly time measure, and therefore will be 
 realized earlier in practical realizations under the sun. Study closely 
 the teachings which we have given here from time to time, and you 
 will find an explanation of all that is now brought into question 
 before the mortal courts for a decision, that people may, from this 
 time, learn to know facts from fiction. TVe could point out the 
 missing shades in each typical picture that has been presented to the 
 world, but it would be unlawful. Men love ease too much, therefore 
 it has been pointed out to them where to search, and how to find the 
 hidden pearls of wisdom, and the exertion of mind which is needed 
 for this is very necessary for their good and improvement. 
 
 Again we say that the defects in the typical illustrations are 
 owing to the undue developments of those through whom they were 
 given, and also to their ignorance concerning these things. All this 
 is now being reviewed and rectified, but even now the worldly wis- 
 dom cannot discern a spiritual truth, and cannot be led to see the 
 workings of the spirits in their different capacities for the supply of 
 mortal, also for the universal demands. These worldly-wise ones 
 say : " Modern inspirations, clairvoyance, &c, are all an imagination ; 
 these scholars claim- for themselves a metaphysical, also a psycho- 
 logical knowledge, and they experiment, speculate, and form conclu- 
 sions with this knowledge." Alas, they will be sadly rewarded for 
 such perverted mind exertions, by which the shades that hang over 
 the mortal brain become strangely mingled, causing more difficult 
 labor for the patient, loving angels who are commissioned to work 
 in this review. Even imaginations are the results of the workings 
 of a class of spirits called curiosity-workers. They heavily tax 
 those organs in the minds of the subjects marked for their fanatic 
 imaginations, and then they adopt methods by which disappointments 
 can be worked about in such things in which imaginations were 
 mingled with desires, which led to extremes, until such persons can 
 be brought into the limits where they can be trained in accordance 
 with reality, which will be in some future time for them, in some 
 locality as they pursue their endless journey. Impressions also are 
 caused by the assisting spirits ; but there is a great difference between 
 clairvoyance and imagination, also between a strong spirit influence 
 and impressions ; although at this time, in accord with prophetic 
 design, many persons become clairvoyant, and many are controlled 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 55 
 
 by spirit operators and magnetizers. Many are led to imagine many 
 strange things, others have inrpressions, and it all indicates the dif- 
 ferent actions from the different degrees and types of spirits, and it 
 fills a great typical sketch of universal design ; yet those who are 
 really the legal subjects, who have been reared to receive inspira- 
 tions, are but few in number, and that which is given through them 
 will remain in the world, and the other must vanish, as it is only 
 given for the present time for all those purposes which have been 
 named. 
 
 There is mystery in the shades for ignorance, 
 
 Its subtle force is a suiting condolence, 
 
 But this will disappear upon the wings of time. 
 
 LECTURE XI. -(poetry.) 
 
 SPIRITUAL NATIONALITY. 
 
 Oh, rise and behold a new dawn of day, 
 
 As earth's hazes subside and Heaven's brightness is seen; 
 Oh, tell, child of earth, shall Heaven's flag be unfurled, 
 
 And held in the hand of nature's own queen? 
 Yes, the rainbow-striped banner soon in triumph shall wave 
 O'er all lauds and seas, o'er the true and the brave. 
 
 Behold, oh, behold, the bright cloud afar! 
 
 The army of light in its march down to earth ; 
 Heaven's gates you can see, they stand wide ajar, 
 
 Sweet music is heard as they proudly come forth, — ■ 
 The King over kings, in His royal array, 
 To conquer the world, and truth's scepter to sway. 
 
 Not the work of a day, but a cycling hour, 
 
 Is the manifest work of this great spirit-power; 
 
 'T is done, must take form ; from yonder great power 
 
 Comes force to cause action ; soon will be over 
 
 The conflict now raging, and the flag will be seen 
 
 Waving proudly o'er earth, held by nature's own queen. 
 
 Can you not behold how customs are changed, 
 
 How powers of mind by this force are enhanced? 
 
 There is a compulsion ; men are arms used by angels 
 
 To conquer themselves; each is an evangel 
 
 Of the news from above, glad tidings all bear, 
 
 That Heaven's glory descends, and to earth is quite near. 
 
56 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 Joy, joy, weary pilgrims, soon shall you behold 
 
 The rise of your sun so brilliant and gold; 
 
 By the flag which shall wave, the great change is declared, 
 
 And realize this fully shall all who have dared 
 
 To give voice to the truth which angels have brought, 
 
 By which earth is brightened, and much good has been wrought. 
 
 Open all the world's doors wide, let the King of kings enter; 
 
 Upon Him now gaze ; the universe center 
 
 Is He; oh, He comes in power and might! 
 
 His emblem, the rainbow-flag, waves, oh, so bright. 
 
 Shout glory to God, oh, ye who are redeemed ! 
 
 You have waited for this, and the time has long seemed. 
 
 Prophecies have at last received their actual day, and hopes long 
 cherished are realized and prized in God's own time, which, although 
 it be delayed, is yet sure to come. 
 
 August 6, 1879. 
 
 LECTURE XII. 
 
 TRUTH TODAY AND TRUTH SIX THOUSAND YEARS AGO. 
 
 Is it not one and the same firm, eternal principle produced in 
 different shades ? What is there that grinds more slowly in wisdom's 
 mills than truth ? Because it is a gigantic force, and is strong and 
 mighty, and goes its course in concord with the marks of law, and no 
 mortal force can aid or repel it when it is sent forth into the world of 
 matter, among the nations of the earth. It returns not empty, nor 
 is it slain by the will or weapons of man. Nay, it will do that for 
 which it was issued, and accomplish that for which it was sent forth 
 regardless of struggles, costs, and time which may be needed to 
 accomplish the object of design. It is often thrown in the back- 
 ground, and the world's rushing wheels run over it, but it is strong 
 enough to endure all this without being crushed, and it will arise 
 again and go forth on its way and defend the royal flag which it 
 waves, and, although not of elegant appearance, yet it stands boldly 
 and proudly above all the issues of men, and will triumph over them 
 in its own season in concord with law. And as the products of men 
 are ground through the mills of God, their good works and good 
 endeavors to be true in all things are also ground, and there is a 
 goodly quantity of material found each time which is then cemented 
 
 <• 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 57 
 
 with the heavenly emanations of truth, whereby to lead man and 
 enlighten him, that he may see the good and evil, and understand 
 truth and error. When this is accomplished there is an advancement 
 made in natural regulations, and mankind have mounted a summit 
 above the former occupied plane. 
 
 Hence, they can be taught more clearly the truths that especially 
 concern them, and are given as directions for traveling in order to 
 lead them safely through, in the shortest way, in the advance marches 
 from grade to grade, until they are back in Eden again. The world 
 is just what the people who live in it make it. The strifes arise from 
 mortal breath. Poverty and degradation are the results of the weak- 
 nesses of men and women, and not the mistake of God in creating His 
 creatures, nor is it in the law of universal care and supply for all. 
 The works of God are perfect and good, and truth maintains all the 
 enforcement of and all effects of law, and no harm has ever come to 
 mortals, iu the straight course of cause and effect, from the immutable 
 or statute laws of the universe. We see that many eager questions 
 will be asked here, such as : " Why does harm come, and why is this 
 tolerated ? Could not the All-Power, which rules supreme, prohibit 
 the cause and effect of these side issues ? " Well, these are not hard 
 questions for us to answer, but will be difficult for mortals to under- 
 stand. 
 
 Now, we must return to the first seeming defect in the creative 
 forces, and show you whom you must look at as fallen angels, and 
 how these side issues have caused perils and collisions, and that what 
 was truth then is truth now, only the methods of opposition are differ- 
 ent now to what they were in the beginning of this eternity's labors. 
 You have been told of the process of mortal origin. You have also 
 been told that there were hosts of archangels then, and that only six 
 were selected to work with the one who possessed greater wisdom 
 and power than the others. Those who were left out could not be 
 prohibited from knowing the creative process of mortals ; because they 
 were ethereal beings they could participate in all issues if they desired 
 to do so. Hence they became ambitious to run an illegal opposition, 
 and try to overpower the legal party by acting in the same manner 
 upon mortals, and cause among them a composition mixture, which the 
 masters of the legal body could not govern or compel to remain within 
 the limits of their fixed laws or degrees. Therefore, it was necessary 
 that the race should be destroyed, and a dense place of imprisonment 
 assigned to them, into which place, or sphere, those fallen angels were 
 cast with them to be tormented with toil and density until the lawful 
 plan should be filled. Jesus Christ went to those prison-spheres when 
 
58 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 He rose from the grave, before He ascended to the Father, to vi&it 
 and preach to the prisoners, and told them that the middle age was 
 now passed, and if they worked out their repentance they would be 
 tolerated or permitted to come forth in the season of review, and that 
 they could be active among others to gather knowledge from earth, 
 and also to bring knowledge to earth. These spirits, when seen or 
 felt, are called low or bad spirits, yet they are wise and apt in all 
 studies, but cannot be released until the final decision is made and all 
 the works of said plan of the compact are ended. They have a long 
 time for repentance, and many of them have learned the truth as well as 
 the power of law, but they must wait for the set time of their release. 
 Now we come in the march of time down to the Mosaic era, for that 
 was the next great struggle of a willful rebellion against the issues 
 and enforcements of parts of the law from the legal body. Moses 
 was born and reared under the special provision of the covenant- 
 angel, who was his control in part, and for whom he labored as a dis- 
 penser of that which he received from the spirit, and as a physical 
 counter power against the illegal forces used to subdue and destroy the 
 Israelites. Pharaoh was reared by this illegal force or opposition 
 power, which, however, was a different enforcement from the first- 
 stated rebellion ; but the true principles were probed, and those who 
 were to represent the legal party and the true royal heirs were led 
 through the troubles which were the effects of causes which were pro- 
 voked forth by the strangers to the covenant, and which are called 
 side issues, and are illegal ; and although the heathen nations were 
 conquered and destroyed, and, as spirits, were imprisoned like the 
 first rebellious numbers, yet it caused no little trouble for the chil- 
 dren of Israel. It was the source of great vexations for Moses, and 
 made it very difficult for him to fill his mission according to law. He 
 was led to falter in several instances. Therefore, he could not enter 
 into the promised land as a man, only as a spirit, because weaknesses 
 of the flesh overpowered him, and he was punished in the worldly 
 degrees for his short-comings, but was spiritually exalted to the office 
 he figuratively filled on earth. Many of the Israelites who murmured 
 about the required course of travel through and out of the degree- 
 wilderness were destroyed with the heathen nations and Egyptians, 
 and placed in prison-spheres for their trespasses, to remain there until 
 the day of final recompense and decision. Truth triumphed at last, 
 as it must in all struggles, but, behold, at what a cost for the rebel- 
 lious ! That which is of divine issue cannot be overthrown if legally 
 prompted and enforced ; but that there are many illegal powers is a 
 fact, and there are many bodies of extensive, yes, almost countless, 
 
COMPILATION" OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 59 
 
 numbers, awaiting their turn in legal order to become engrafted into 
 the divine body. You can understand from this how God, although 
 comprehending all things, filling all space and giving breath and life 
 to all creatures, and maintaining them, that He is supreme over all 
 that is ; but the laws are, of necessity, issued to correspond to the 
 creative and transforming pictures, reckoned wisely by the builders of 
 the evolved matters which are used, so that a constant progression 
 and the bringing into the limits of law are possible, or, being out of 
 it, depends upon systematic refinement and development of the high- 
 est instilled attributes. God governs only by the laws which are the 
 issues of His breath, but men form themselves into compacts or bodies, 
 and make issues and work accordingly, and when they are led to 
 oppose any act or provision of supreme law, then are they taken cap- 
 tives, first, by the legal finite power, and held in subjection by them 
 in worldly degrees ; then, if they still go further, they are given over 
 to the eternal powers, who are not gifted with divine attributes, to be 
 led the full length of their desires by that power, then punished in the 
 degrees of deserters and rebels, as stated before. Truth prevails and 
 law rules supreme, but these are struggles "which, in a course of deal- 
 ings with chaos and natural dross, and the highest and purest elements, 
 cannot be avoided. It is hard to make mortals see the absolute neces- 
 sity of all these works. 
 
 Now, we go on down to the Messianic dispensation, or era, in the, 
 progressional march. What do we see, then ? There was another 
 king reared in Pharaoh's stead, only his name was Herod. He had 
 the same instincts for enforcing the hidden causes and brinmn^ them 
 to physical effect, waging a rebellion against lawful issues against 
 the child Jesus. Here we have a sorrowful picture carved by the 
 carefully-reared and schooled Jews who were under the shade of the 
 covenant, but turned rebels against the Prince who was to bring some 
 of the contents of the covenant before the world, and give the needed 
 examples, — how that the material must suffer and perish in which the 
 great power of truth had been implanted so that the truth could 
 triumph, and even matter could become sanctified and redeemed from 
 the first curse levied on earth. Jesus the Christ, the truth of God, 
 did as much when He dwelt in the flesh as the other two sacred dis- 
 pensations could do, viz., the first and last, the Mosaic and the pres- 
 ent, so that His legal seal was wholly in his own power, and He 
 would be all in all, which was the prize of His labors, and is now to 
 be variously declared as the remaining three seals shall be opened. 
 When this is done, then the clause for the end and a new beginning 
 will be issued. But we must remark, ere we proceed further, upon 
 
60 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 what the cost was for the rebellious Jews. Those who died as rebels 
 are in the prison degrees, and those who lived felt the curse which 
 their ancestors entailed upon them. But it was not the curse of God, 
 therefore they will be gathered and blessed again, aud be led and 
 governed by Jehovah, and shall have the first right in the first resur- 
 rection. The Gentiles will have the second, and all the heathen 
 nations are to be engrafted in the lawful marches of the progressive 
 orders. Truth will triumph then, as it did in the Mosaic era, to let 
 the people learn what truth was, so that they could hold fast to the 
 good, love truth, and serve God according to the truths received, and 
 follow the examples set by the Master. 
 
 .Now we come down to the present. We know there has been 
 much religious difficulty between this time and then, — wars and blood- 
 shed, — but yet it did not imply any special spirit infusion or lawful 
 necessity, but the foaming of the rising impure mixtures which were 
 compelled to action by the workers, so that they could mould and 
 fashion over mailers and ideas in order to keep step with the advance- 
 ment of nature. But all this served but to shape and re-shape the 
 brains of man, and prepare them for the present time ; for now law 
 and gospel united are dispensed from the supreme power, and blessed 
 will all be who see and understand when they hear what the spirit of 
 truth and wisdom says. But it is now as before. The subjects of 
 opposition have been reared and have done their work, and all who 
 in the present day are led into captivity and turn from God, and rebel 
 against His dispensed and enforced issues, shall be punished with the 
 rebels of the former times in the same degrees, and shall stand on a 
 footing with the heathen nations who are not yet engrafted into the 
 divine body, and are therefore strangers to the covenant, yet have been 
 truly devoted to a deity, and were sincere in their doings for good 
 and in reverence for the true principles. This causes a bright light 
 around them, and it shall be increased instead of being taken from 
 them, and they shall come in their turn to be the children of God, 
 and have an heirship of all there is in the great universe. The pres- 
 ent era is one of great importance. It encircles all the past, for the 
 great and weighty reason that the union of the three dispensations 
 and infusions of truth must now be accomplished, and must be recog- 
 nized by mortals, if only by the number demanded by law, in order 
 to announce the elementary fiat that said works are finished, similar to 
 that which was announced at Jerusalem after the crucifixion of Jesus, 
 that then the works of design for him in the flesh were lawfully 
 finished. There are many important transactions to review which 
 have passed already unnoticed, and have not been studied and taken 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. Gl 
 
 to heart in the rigid ivay. There is a j:>rince born now in this American 
 country who is of heavenly origin, and who shall do a great work of 
 design. The subjects of opposition have tried to ruin him in many 
 ways, but God protects and observes all rising dangers. No, the 
 reared vessels of illegal power have done their work ; their reward 
 shall be with the rebels of the former ages, as said. Truth is mighty 
 and will prevail, and is the same now as it was six thousand years 
 ago, only differently produced according to progress. Lawful issues 
 must be worded and enforced. Oppositions are of different natures 
 in each struggle according to that which is aimed at to thwart, or to 
 cause a defeat in reaching the design successfully, and to prevent the 
 accomplishment of legal works which are to end the labors of the 
 plan. 
 
 But it will be filled. The object of design will be reached, and 
 truth will triumph now as heretofore over error. Then times will 
 change, and minds will be changed, and people will see very differ- 
 ently then. Even now they see different from what they did before. 
 
 It is well all we have spoken, 
 
 Each word did convey a token ; 
 
 Pleasures shall take place of awe. 
 
 What a world ! How changed are mortals ; 
 
 Oh, so changed ! when from yon portals 
 
 They are sent earth's planes to roam ; 
 
 They forget all ; soon behind them 
 
 Swiftly they are tossed ; each foam 
 
 Has a bearing on their nature as they roam. 
 
 These, when talk, they do not measure 
 
 The results, but think it pleasure 
 
 To make sounds they fancy pleases 
 
 Some of the listeners, if not all. 
 
 But by this ill work increases, 
 
 And from truth so many fall. 
 
 Therefore, probe all things, test all spirits, and what they give, and 
 be truly devoted to God, to yourself, and to humanity. 
 
02 COMPILATION OF SriEIT LECIUEES. 
 
 LECTURE XIII. 
 
 A DEFINITE DESCRIPTION OF GOD, THE SUPREME RULER OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSE, AND HIS ATTRIBUTES. WHY THEY HAVE 
 
 THE DEIFIC SIGNATURE. 
 
 For the edification and benefit of those mortals who say within 
 their own hearts "There is no God," we will explain this; and it 
 will enable all to see more clearly and understand more perfectly 
 the secrecy in the term God, to whom all worship is and must be 
 tendered. 
 
 The great mass of infidels, in their various intellectual degrees, 
 deny God in one sense, while in another sense they admit the infinite 
 mind and principle acting upon everything, but claim that no one 
 can ever see more of God in the rounds of progress than they do on 
 earth, viz., in his handiworks or in all things created by Him, which, 
 being pregnant with the breath of life, and thereby called into action, 
 and that all that is known of God more than this in the future is 
 that everything is more refined, the atmosphere clearer, the elements 
 purer, thus the lessons spread out become more readily discernible, 
 and problems are fully and correctly solved which, while on earth, 
 are but hinted at and are known but definitely. All these conject- 
 ures and opinions have their origin in this, that God being omni 
 present cannot be a personal being, also, He could not be omnipres- 
 ent. But it is said, and truly too, that God is spirit, and those who 
 worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. A worldly 
 mind cannot discern spiritual things, nor understand them, much less 
 grasp the rays of light issued forth from the Supreme Ruler or God, 
 whereby, viz., by His own light and in His light, God can be seen 
 and comprehended, and in no other way. God being omnipresent, 
 is, as a result of being the impulse of all light and life, omnipotent. 
 Then, being omnipotent, there is nothing superior to nor beyond 
 Him in wisdom and power. This Supreme Father of all dwells in 
 the arch of magnificence. Let us soar to those heights, and in spirit 
 look at this arch and enter into it, to learn about this question of 
 personality. Can you behold it ? See the different colors of light 
 which issue forth from the throne and from Him who sits thereon- 
 This is the power of life, of light, of law, and of gospel, which 
 goes forth into all that is, all that was, and all that is to be. "While 
 these powers of light thus issue forth no one can discern aught else, 
 for the brightness is too great even for the eyes of spirits advanced 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 63 
 
 in purity and knowledge, but you can behold the elders sitting with 
 bowed heads, in silence and reverential awe, around before the 
 throne, for these lights are the wisdom thus issued forth, and are as 
 many voices, as the roaring of many thunders, and the voices of 
 many waters. Each ray speaks its own language, and each is a part 
 of power, well understood by the elders. There is no need of voice, 
 it is the powerful action of mind upon mind, and concerns all that is 
 within this immense universe ; wherefore, for the fullest comprehen- 
 sion of all these languages, and all this wisdom issued forth, it 
 requires sacred silence. When this is ended they all arise and give 
 thanks unto the Lord God omnipotent. You behold a spiritual 
 personality then who is transparent, and has a different appearance 
 at each look you give Him, as you are endeavoring to look upon 
 Him. I will tell you why this is so. Jehovah is the perfected 
 infinite spirit, but has no tangible form ; as there is no shadow of 
 darkness in Him, no material composition, for He would necessarily 
 be limited if that were the case ; whereas this cannot be, for He is 
 limitless and all-including, by the force of will and wisdom, acting 
 upon all that is. His voice is understood, and His will is law and 
 faith ; but those who are not searching for God in spirit and in truth 
 cannot hear His voice, nor understand when through a mortal orjyan- 
 ism this divine voice is made audible. God, therefore, at no time 
 speaks by the word of mouth to His creatures. Nay, in no other 
 way than this herein described. His will is known. Those who 
 understand his language, as described, commission saints and angels 
 with the messages, and these act upon mortals, and thus, then, by 
 action of the divine mind, through mental organizations, revelations 
 are given and truths are revealed from on high. Therefore, these 
 conditions of convenience must be considered, and it should not only 
 tend to show everyone how they incur great debts by ridicule and 
 by resistance to the will of God, thus made manifest, which debts 
 cannot be atoned for or forgiven, because they are against the Holy 
 Ghost, but they must be paid in immense suffering, by passing 
 through purifying ordeals by the offender; but this should also tend to 
 let mortals perceive how they could, by aiming to grow spiritual, be 
 thus worked upon and be enabled to see God, as they are spiritually 
 illumined to see the light from above which thus issues forth. Can 
 anyone misconceive my statements, or misapply them ? I trust not. 
 But well I know that the next question is : " What about Jesus as 
 God?" for the worldly minded wish not that Jesus should rule over 
 them. I will say to all of this class, give yourselves no thought 
 about the God-head of Jesus the Christ, he never claimed to be God, 
 
64 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 nor aught else but what he was, and is now made by the Father and 
 Supreme Ruler. He is, however, the head-type of perfected spirits, 
 exalted over all which is by the Father. Thus, being over all, he is 
 the only personal being of the triune God-head, and His is the power 
 to judge the quick and the dead, and He is made king of all there is 
 in Heaven and on earth, because He has lawfully attained to that 
 position, and the Father has delight in Him and exalted Him thus. 
 Why do mortals object to divine regulations ? Is not the power all 
 His, in whom and from whom all have life ? Why is there diverse- 
 ness in the mind of His creature, man, regarding his own rights and 
 power ? Learn, oh, learn, ye men who boast in your hearts that the 
 breath of life you breathe issues forth from that fountain which lov- 
 ingly supports you at all times, in all places, and spheres of existence. 
 And for all this love you are ungrateful, and would dictate to your 
 Creator how He should enforce the rights of rulers who must act per- 
 sonally in this immense universe to govern, to keep records, and regu- 
 late all that is in accordance with the law and the wisdom thus received 
 from the fountain-head of all. There are many lords and rulers, and 
 many agents, to carry out great works, and in the advanced spirit- 
 realms there are no divisions. All are happy in their own place, and 
 work in concord ; they are truly giving honor and thanksgiving to God 
 and to His Christ, because they understand wherefore it is that He, the 
 Christ, who has a personal form in the man Jesus, was so personified 
 to attain to a tangible spirit-form to assume the rights and power due 
 Him. He is a co-partner of God, and all foes must be subdued 
 under foot, and will call upon the mountains to fall upon them, and 
 the earth to swallow them, when they behold reality, for now only 
 the natural side is viewed, and in a natural sense, which will fade 
 away and be darkened by the glory of Him whom they reject. The 
 presence of His power will cause them to fear and tremble. While 
 it is your own privilege yet to make choice of your future destina- 
 tion, study all this well, for, when you are securely captured by the 
 adverse power, you are then no longer free, but you will be led 
 whither in that day you shall not wish to go. 
 
 LECTURE XIV. 
 
 CAIN AND ABEL. 
 
 We have chosen this subject to make brief mention upon it, 
 because the signs of the times call for an explanation upon these two 
 characters, the first-born children of Father Adam and Mother Eve. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. C5 
 
 as the record states. But these stated records were mostly typical, so 
 as to illustrate by them the great causes in the great creative and 
 transforming plan. Cain was the more natural man, therefore the 
 first born, and was infilled with jealousy and pride, while the second 
 born, Abel, was infilled with pure devotion to God, his creator, and 
 to divine truth. Therefore, Abel brought the offering from his flock, 
 with soul-felt gratitude, before the Lord, and found favor. Cain 
 brought his offering from the ground, which he tilled with pride and 
 boasting, and for which he desired praise and honor. Therefore, he 
 found no favor with the Lord, which aroused his inborn jealousy, 
 which resulted in his brother's murder. The principles of Cain have 
 sufficient representation in the races occupying the earth today to 
 plainly prove the fact that, although Cain was sent out from the face 
 of the Lord to mingle with other nations, that this power of opposi- 
 sition would be reared, that these nations and peoples have been 
 brought together, and those of the seed of Cain are, in the present 
 day, the largest population on the face of the whole earth. Cain's 
 lineage can be traced to King Pharaoh. The great powers of 
 Egypt, and of opposition, were from the seed of Cain. There- 
 fore, the struggle of design between Moses and Pharaoh, pre- 
 ceded by the tragedy of Joseph, who, through the jealousy of his 
 brothers, was sold to the Egyptian merchants and brought before 
 King Pharaoh, so as to perform those works which were parts in his 
 career preparatory for the said conquest, which could not have taken 
 place had not the Israelites been taken to Egypt first on account of 
 the drought, which was a special act of Providence in order to bring 
 about this legal conquest between Moses and Pharaoh. 
 
 Now, we shall have a just review of those things. Transforming 
 processes and re-creations have brought this type, the seed of Cain. 
 to be found among all kindred and people. They are found mostly 
 among those who till the ground, and by well-governed processes 
 which have aroused, and will still more arouse, their inborn ambition 
 and jealousy towards those who are doing mind work or labor ; and 
 those working classes which are mere dependents are used as tools in 
 these conflicts, while their real brothers in descent and type, but more 
 fortunate in worldly measures, stand afar off, and seem rather at 
 enmity with their brothers than to have a desire to aid them. All 
 this brings woes upon the weaker and dependent, which we wish to 
 avoid, for those who have means and influence are the ones to stand 
 at the front in these battles, and to make the legal marks of this 
 review, and it is also their duty to protect their dependent and weaker 
 brothers. Great perplexities are impeding, — emergencies that have 
 
bb COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 not yet entered into the calculations of those who govern the world's 
 markets. Therefore, they should lend their ears, and perform their 
 parts. 
 
 There are so many vagabonds and tramps, also very many 
 honest unemployed poor, who are wanting for the necessaries of life, 
 and do not have the comforts they should have. This should be con- 
 sidered by those who have means before it is too late, and plans 
 should be devised, and put in execution in haste, in order to remove 
 the existing evils which, if tolerated by mortals, will bring woes upon 
 the whole human family. 
 
 The seven processes through which the people of this crea- 
 tion, or this eternity, were to pass have been brought nearly to a 
 close ; and time, as it is in the present known way, will soon be no 
 more, and an entire change upon the whole earth will be realized. 
 This planet will be divested of its dross, and, to a great extent, 
 depopulated. None will be left but those who will comprehend the 
 design of this present great change. And those will be taught the 
 law then which governs man and the universe alike, without any 
 mysteries about it. It is written in the Revelations that when the 
 seventh seal is opened the seven thunders shall be heard sounding and 
 resounding on the earth, and thus, even by this sounding, shall be 
 finished the mysteries of God. Then time shall be no longer. Let 
 him who heareth understand, for all adverse to God and His eternal 
 truths shall be broken into shivers in the hands of the potter, because 
 they do not remember and do not give due honors to God, their 
 creator, nor have they kept the testimony by which they should 
 recognize the time, and do their part, and swell the ranks, so as to 
 become helpers and co-workers with God's angels to gather the har- 
 vests of earth which are now ripe. The greater part of travail and 
 sufferings that are realized now, and will be through the coming con- 
 quests, the human family bring upon themselves by their constant 
 adverse activity against the actors who appear on the mortal stage, so 
 that all parts can be lawfully presented, one type after another, to 
 sanction the opening of the seals, and that thus man's redemption 
 may be completed by those lawful commingled labors of those angels 
 and their chosen mortal assistants. 
 
 The most of our explanations were upon Cain. Now we must 
 briefly speak of Abel. He has, since that first mishap with his 
 brother, been born seven times in the flesh, and is, therefore, the author- 
 ity sent from the Heavens upon or to earth to settle general affairs, 
 and is one possessing great command upon earth, for he has been 
 lawfully qualified through these processes to appear in this review as 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 67 
 
 the angel of power who sommands in the present, and will, also, in 
 the coming conflicts. There are waves of oppression set off now con- 
 stantly from the great world's tide, and the inevitable results are the 
 only things that men at this time can be sure of, for they will truly 
 come. 
 
 September 18, 1881. 
 
 LUKE, XVII., I. 
 
 Then said Jesus unto His disciples : " It is impossible but that 
 offences will come ; but woe unto him through whom they come." 
 These words of the Master were spoken with regard to His betrayal 
 when He should pass through the ordeal of design. Now, Judas was 
 known to Jesus before He chose him. He knew that Judas was a fit 
 subject to do that which was to come, that he was really the one born 
 to be acted upon by the opposite force when the struggle should arise. 
 This we say, because we often hear the question arise, and from the 
 mind-realm of mortals : " Did it really have to be Judas, who so 
 wickedly betrayed his Master, or could another mortal have done the 
 act, if it was necessary that it should be done ? " When we view the 
 compelling forces which prompted Judas to commit that act, we might 
 say that he and no other one could have committed it before the 
 world, for it was to be his work at that time, which Jesus well knew ; 
 yet another could have filled his place, and appeared for him on the 
 stage of action, because the law concerning that act contained a clause 
 in the behalf of Judas, that he could be saved from the act if he 
 would or could be governed by the better powers working upon his 
 better senses and attributes. But his love for money and his inborn 
 ambition, however, could be and was worked upon most powerfully, 
 yet his offence is not one to be classed in the first degree, only second- 
 ary, therefore pardon was promised him. He was worked upon by 
 him who committed the first crime, and he who committed the first 
 crime was worked upon by him who created and caused the first 
 offence, and who introduced evil into the composition of Cain, that thus 
 the two mighty powers of opposition against the creating and transform- 
 ing powers would have physical force and subjects to carry out the works 
 of design in the matter-grades, according to the plan of God with man, 
 as stated. Adam was born, or had his primal natural origin, by an 
 act of chemical process of supreme transmission. Cain's origin was 
 the same, only not being effected by the head-type of Heaven's ruling 
 principle, but effected by the head-type of opposition, the subtle 
 
68 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 prince, the ruler over nature's evolving matters and over natural wis- 
 dom, which wisdom is without beginning or end also. And he is, for 
 that reason, as well as for his subtilety, illustrated by the symbol of a 
 serpent. Adam, then, we may say, was Abel's father, and opposition 
 was itself in contrast with the shades and tissues from this begin- 
 ning. 
 
 Jesus, when He filled his career as Jesus, knew all this, because 
 the power controlling Him made Him acquainted with all the facts 
 bearing upon the works He came to do. Therefore, when, at a cer- 
 tain time, He spake of His Father to the Jews, saying : "I do the 
 works of my Father. Ye do the deeds of your Father." Then 
 said they to Him : " We be not born of fornication ; we have one 
 Father, even God." But He answered : "Ye are of your Father, the 
 Devil, and the lusts of your Father ye will do ; he was a murderer 
 from the beginning and abode not in the truth ; because there is no 
 truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for 
 he is a liar and the father thereof." — John viii., 41-44. 
 
 It is from this first cause of division and offence thus given that 
 the redemptive injuction was made a part of the covenant law, con- 
 sisting of two parts, one extending itself to the middle and the other 
 to the end of this eternity which is now in process. Therefore, 
 Christ Jesus could no't complete the redemption from natural sin 
 when He was born in the flesh ; neither can He do it alone, because 
 those generations coming, as was stated, from Cain, yet Cain's mother 
 was the mother of all, therefore, these can be redeemed only by a 
 typical woman for Mother Eve, as Jesus was typical of Adam. And 
 those are the injunctions of the law of redemption that, according 
 to the design of that first well-governed mishap, she can and must 
 redeem these her children, and so shall man's redemption be com- 
 pleted. But this part which is being performed at this time is very 
 unlike the other part which Jesus filled, for the law requires it even 
 as it takes plaoe, who is wise, and beholds and understands present 
 transactions, and who takes to heart the greatest works in humble 
 disguise that were ever transacted upon earth. 
 
 Now, to return to Judas and his betrayal of his Master. Jesus, as 
 stated, knew who he was, and chose him because he was to be one of 
 His number on that account. He also hoped that He might raise 
 Judas above the act by his teachings. He could not, however, use his 
 power against the influence and power of the described chief of 
 Judas' primal origin, for it was a legal tolerance, and nothing but the 
 true goodness of Judas could have prevented it. Alas, he would not 
 be guided by the better spirit, but yielded to temptation. Luke 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 69 
 
 x., 18, it reads thus: "And He [Jesus] said unto them, I beheld 
 Satan as lightning fall from Heaven." He knew what spirit it was 
 that had come to be a constant guide and attendant of Judas until the 
 act was accomplished. He knew it was decided, and could not be 
 avoided. Ever since that event Judas has been passing through 
 purifying ordeals, and has learned to adapt himself to the acquiring 
 of divine truth and wisdom, which by nature was not in him, but the 
 natural wisdom, as said before, was the original transmission to his 
 composition. His redemption draws nigh, when he can be among the 
 pure and blessed. But in this present advent — the second extension 
 of the law of redemption — there is not only one Judas to betray the 
 cause for great effects ; nay, there are many Judases through whom 
 come aggravations, provoked by small and great causes. All these 
 arc prompted by this force of opposition which takes delight in their 
 ungodly acts, for from the misery they cause to others comes some 
 gratification to themselves in their selfish measures. This, however, 
 marks them in their degree and title, and woe be to all who do betray 
 or who cause offences and aggravations, for their reward will be with 
 the rebels in prison. Remember ever that, although these offences are 
 legal, when given for trial upon those who fill positions of weight in 
 this advent, but that it were better for those who cause the offences 
 if they had not been born than to serve thus, for their woes will 
 come upon them. Oh, the man} r gallant-appearing wolves in sheeps' 
 clothing who devour whom they may ! The many Judases who 
 betray and sell principles, and supplant the poor and unwary by 
 every chance in their power, — yet they appear so pure and honest 
 before the world ! This conduct is prevalent upon earth in common 
 transactions, yet carried on subtilely by these serpents in disguise. 
 Jesus, when He filled His part in the plan of redemption, was com- 
 pelled to speak in parables mostly, because the time had not come 
 when he could declare the whole truth. 
 
 It required all the time between that advent down to the present 
 one to enact and fill physically all the lawful parts. Now we can 
 speak more clearly, because the time has come now for these revela- 
 tions to be made. All the mediums of today who are true, and who 
 remain true to their angel guides through all trials and tribulations, 
 will be prepared and accomplished by them so as to do great service, 
 each in their own way and degree. All that is now shown to medi- 
 ums comes to pass more readily than that which had been fore- 
 shadowed by prophecy, for the fullness of time has now come. The 
 mists are vanishing away, the strong spiritual sun is rising, — is seen 
 and felt by mortals. All false conditions vanish before this heavenly 
 
70 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 glory, and mortals will learn concerning the beauty of that plan, and 
 the power of God's love ; how that all things were but clothed in 
 mists until the objects of design could be reached and the mental 
 powers of mortals should have grown strong enough to receive the 
 clear truth. Jesus, when He came to earth to atone for the Adamic 
 sin, taught His disciples concerning these things, but they could not 
 understand them, and said to Him : "These are hard sayings, who 
 can bear them ? " If they could not bear them when they were being 
 taught by the Master himself, assuredly the world could not bear 
 them then ; and today in this age of mental illumination, who can 
 bear the truth ? Who among the millions of earth's people is ready 
 to receive it ? 
 
 September 18, 1881. 
 
 A DIALOGUE, OR ALLEGORY, 
 
 REPRESENTING THE NATIONS ON THE GLOBE. 
 
 The corners of the earth being, as it were, encompassed by 
 armies which are invisible to men, and who are under the command of 
 officers commissioned by Heaven, who are now reaping and revolu- 
 tionizing the earth. America, as queen of the nations, stands high 
 in the center of the globe, and of the nations; was summoned to 
 appear before the surrounding nations, in order to display her taste, 
 power of commonwealth, genius, and the common amount of devel- 
 oped sympathy, so that by it the act in the play was to be proven a 
 success or a failure ; because the law of national and universal 
 recompense has stepped forth to enforce her majestic rights and une- 
 qualled power for the realization of all who dwell upon the earth. 
 Therefore, the introduction of the play which is now in its several 
 acts being displayed upon the stage, yet not ended, shall be the 
 sequel to Paradise Lost, — hence, we will select two characters to 
 serve as Cain and Abel, in whom we, as workers for conditional 
 rectitude, can bring forth the concentrated conditional collections of 
 the subtle feeling of loyalty, also of malice, and thus make it an 
 actual play for a comprehensible demonstration by which the mists 
 and misapprehensions can be cleared away, and the people of this 
 Heaven-founded republic can be aided to maintain their superior 
 position in the face of the present, also the decayed nations, who 
 appear against them in judgment on account of the prosperity 
 and power which shall be conferred upon this new Israel, located 
 here in the wilderness of America, and which shall prove itself to be 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 71 
 
 the land of milk and honey and all riches ; also, shall it be a place of 
 refuge and shelter for the drafted numbers of all nations, kindreds, 
 and tongues. Before each great dramatic act the curtains are always 
 drawn before the view of the spectators, so that the actors can pre- 
 pare themselves to appear; but in these conditional plays, those 
 having j)arts to perform are prepared unknown to themselves. They 
 are surrounded by a force which is abstracted from the masses, which 
 must come forth in acts for representation through the selected actor 
 or actress. Therefore, the two first characters to appear were 
 President Garfield and Guiteau, as Cain and Abel. But, in order to 
 prepare them and bring them to their proper places, first came the 
 party campaign, and the decision for Garfield was invisibly prompted 
 and given. Garfield did not possess any greater ability for the ruling 
 of this nation than his ojDponent did, but he was his superior in his 
 organic composition, for he could draw from all conditions in life ; 
 and the good there was in him could be brought into practical use 
 for a unity in purpose of all that was and is good in every man, 
 woman, and child. Therefore, he became an able representative for 
 the purpose of bridging the chasms which so far have been so great a 
 hindrance that Paradise could not be regained or entered again by 
 those who occupy the earth. On the other hand, the powers that iire 
 wielding the conditional shades that are the opposites to purity and 
 goodness have also reared a subject for their purpose. He had been 
 designed from his birth for this play, but the other subject had not 
 been decided upon until the party campaign began and revealed the 
 soul powers possessed by this noble subject, showing that they were 
 ready to expand when the needed abstracted forces for that purpose 
 should be directed upon them, and that success would crown the 
 efforts to mark this conditional mystery upon earth. Therefore, 
 harmless as a dove, and with a heart swelling larger each passing 
 day with good will toward all men, President Garfield entered upon 
 the duties of this office after due ceremonies had been concluded. He 
 felt the incoming force, and the powers of his mind rapidly expanded 
 under it. He saw how all the governmental pursuits could be 
 turned into the various channels for enhancing or increasing the 
 national prosperity, and also for promoting truer civilization and 
 bringing the poor and the lower classes of society up to a more 
 tolerant height in this prosperous republic. This was all his theme. 
 He yearned to bring these grand devices into execution, and to see 
 the results. But, alas, those parts are left for another to play, who, 
 if he is faithful, will also be aided to set these parts* in execution, and 
 thus fill the strong desires of him who occupied the presidential 
 
72 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 chair for so short a period, only for this great conditional purpose 
 which is a far greater work than would have been the serving in 
 several different terms of that office, for the results are of a univer- 
 sal, not of a circumscribed, greatness or nature. But how was it 
 with the modern Cain ? He was a fugitive, one denied the comforts 
 of a home or position. His efforts were not appreciated or praised, 
 and his inborn jealousy was like a mocking demon, ever brooding 
 over revenge. Yet he knew not what he did, nor how it came. By 
 brooding over his failures he let his malice go out and gather and 
 bring in more, and it so happened that all that force which was akin 
 to that force within himself, and which was abstracted from other 
 mortals, was brought upon him, and formed itself into a power of 
 obsession through which he committed this bold act. Yet it was not 
 a spirit or a demon obsessing or controlling him, causing him to com- 
 mit this act on the stage of human strife. No ; it was, as we have 
 said, an emanation from the many characters in the high walks of 
 life, and from the people. This force concentrated upon this subject 
 and became a power of obsession ; but in this tragedy is swallowed 
 up this partizan hatred and suppressed malice ; therefore, O mortals, 
 be slow to condemn, for how do you know those among you that 
 would censure harshly, and would tread this reptile under foot, — 
 who knows, I say, how much you have yourselves contributed to that 
 force that performed the act, instead of the man who now crawls 
 upon the earth, — the chained serpent in whom is swallowed up a flood 
 of mortal woes. He has done an evil which is a transitory blending 
 in this shade, and from which much good has already been wrought, 
 and which will increase as time pursues her course, and as human 
 events mark other acts of the great drama, which, as has been said, 
 commenced in Paradise, in which Adam and Eve were the first 
 actors, and Cain and Abel were first ones through whom law was 
 enabled to manifest her shades of power, and to enact and bring 
 them into practical uses. It was, then, an absolute necessity to have 
 the two characters, so as to bring both cause and effect before the 
 people. Opposition has ever been the compelling force of practical 
 activity by which worlds were created and expanded, and countries 
 worked up into prosperity, nations civilized and educated. But the 
 powers that be, in wielding the opposite forces in all nature, also in 
 man, who, as a mortal, is an emanation or abstraction from nature, 
 and who is supported by the productions of the earth, — but these 
 powers act in mutual accord with the head-type of justice, power, and 
 wisdom. The evil actions all occur by and through ignorant sub- 
 jects like this one, brought forth to reveal cause and effect so as to 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 73 
 
 be understood by the people. They do not know when they trespass 
 the law, nor why they act as they do, simply because they are not 
 developed sufficiently to be able to grasp these great truths. They 
 do not understand the law when it is taught them, and in consequence 
 of these facts they are used in those, their primal states of existence, 
 as vessels in the potter's hands for such purposes as the different 
 occasions may require ; and they are forced on in what they do by 
 the emanations of that shade or degree of law where, in accordance 
 with their developed individuality, they belong and are governed. 
 Egypt of old, and its modern sequel, Russia, have risen up in judg- 
 ment against flourishing America. Spain, Turkey, and Italy, the 
 land of the great Pope, are joined together in their testimonial pro- 
 ductions. France and Germany also appear, and even England, Ire- 
 land, Scotland, Mexico, and China, are having their acts to perform 
 likewise, — being, as we have said, encompassed by armies that are 
 invisible to men. Their deeds are reaped, and according to the privi- 
 leges they have enjoyed, and as the labors for their mental improve- 
 ments were exerted over and among them, are the decisions made 
 for them now by supreme justice. All these modern nations are in 
 profound peace, as it were, at this time with America, yes, even in 
 the deepest sympathy with her, yet they are not so very friendly in 
 feeling toward her when they are probed and brought forth to act 
 their parts. The testimonies against America as a nation are made 
 from common sentiment and feeling. The old world, or the decayed 
 nations, appear and claim that if they had lived in such a favora- 
 ble age they would have been purer and better mortals, and more 
 truly devoted to God. But, alas, they are compelled to stand afar 
 off. Each nation and country has its own rights, and also its 
 separate wielding power, over them in regard to worldly regulations 
 and prosperity. Now, this nation has many faults in every depart- 
 ment brought in question, and for which it is brought into judgment, 
 for the people are proud and selfish, and double dealing is very com- 
 mon among them, even in religious practices and in so called wor- 
 ship ; hence, the one shade of power in which they might triumph 
 proceeds to work upon the citizens of this republic, and that is sym- 
 pathy. It is one of the strong forces by which to divide difficult 
 questions and decide upon them, for it is rated high in the civilized 
 shades. At this point or period in the act this sympathy needed 
 time to expand to be brought forth from the recesses of the souls, 
 therefore the time of the sufferings of the President was prolonged 
 until the desired results were achieved by the power wielding this 
 process, and also defending this nation in the courts above before 
 
74 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 those other nations who also are to be led through ordeals. The 
 act is pronounced a success, yet mortal weakness and mental dark- 
 ness have marked themselves too strongly, which we deeply regret. 
 This is symbolized in the black drapery, the useless words, and the 
 extreme burial exercises of and for the noble President. Silence 
 would have expressed more reverence for him, and for the -power 
 who wields the national affairs and prosperity. Why, all this hea- 
 thenish lamentation for such a grand stride in human events is a 
 remarkable discount. Although the chasm is bridged, the sympathy 
 merely carried the weights of counter testimonies against our people, 
 and the drapery and useless talk would have turned the scales had 
 they not been rated in the lower degrees, and thus they were wisely 
 led out to meet with another force which was brought forth from or 
 by other nations, and those acts are yet to be realized physically ; 
 but if more silent reverence had been observed, the somber clouds 
 which have long been gathered over this nation would not only have 
 been riven now but would have been swept away, and with them 
 discord and common strife would have disappeared. It is in the 
 lower grades where the culminations are now threatening more ill 
 effects ; therefore, in order to maintain physical power, and curb the 
 foaming waves as they arise, those at the head of the Government 
 must turn their attention in that direction and study these great 
 national problems carefully, and also give themselves up to be 
 worked upon by the higher power, so that they can be aided to meet 
 these emergencies ; for these defects already named, which have 
 occurred during the past process, will not fail in their reaction, for 
 ignorance is often a harmless foe when timely met, and yet brutal if 
 not restrained in time, because it is that force of that low degree 
 which will compel action, and also a recognition among the cultured 
 that such is the status of mortals yet ; and that it is also the duty of 
 those in power, and who possess the mental abilities, to improve this 
 status. But here appear the different characters who are now entitled 
 to a hearing, each one representing and defending his own nation, 
 and the results achieved by them in their time and with their means, 
 under the forces which molded their destinies and prompted their 
 acts on the mortal stage. The Hebrew nation have sent a repre- 
 sentative who is now present to give his message before our councils. 
 Hebrew Rep. — " With humble reverence we would bow before 
 and at the feet of supreme justice, and would say for our race and 
 people : Lord, are we not the people chosen from the beginning, and 
 although we have many heavy claims against us, and that we have 
 departed from Thee, and have been forsaken, yet we pray Thee that 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 75 
 
 the promise made to us might be fulfilled in these the latter days, and 
 that Jerusalem may be built again and the Jews gathered from all 
 over the earth where they are scattered, and brought back ; and that 
 all these proud and haughty people should be brought under our or 
 under Thy government, and that Thy seat of government and justice 
 should be located in the newly-built Jerusalem instead of being in 
 this country among these people who are not devoted to Thee ; nor 
 have they any more right than we have to realize the great blessings 
 which await the nation and people where Thy seat of government 
 shall be established. Remember us in Thy loving kindness, and 
 gather us together as was promised to our fathers that we should be 
 when the measure of the heathen would be filled, and the number of 
 the faithful should be completed. Let Thy indignation go out over 
 this American nation, and direct Thy forces against them as they 
 have been at different times directed against us in great culminations, 
 at the times of weighty and powerful decisions which required phys- 
 ical acts, and then see where they would be found." 
 
 Presiding Official. — " Enough, we only gather the testi- 
 monies. The decision upon these important matters is not vested in 
 the power of mortals, spirits, nor in principalities in the worlds 
 beyond; that power God has retained for himself alone ; and just and 
 sure are all His judgments, and they will be justly visited upon all 
 who live on earth, and upon all who have flourished and fled from the 
 earth, who are awaiting this final decision in their different states of 
 probation." 
 
 Then appear a number of embassadors sent by the heathen 
 nations, Kings of Babel, Syria and Persia, and all the different pow- 
 ers with whom the Israelites had commercial dealings, also wars. 
 They appear unanimously against the Jews as a nation. But we 
 cannot grant them a hearing. The Presiding Officer says to them : 
 " Your testimonies are already on file. Your small and great deeds, 
 also your devotion to a shadowy deity. All this will be justly con- 
 sidered in comparison with the Jewish nations, also with the modern 
 nations who are now being brought forth to be judged before all the 
 old and decayed and living nations one after the other." 
 
 Now here appears a delegate from the French republic, and one 
 from Germany. The European countries, although somewhat divided, 
 yet again partially united through the force of war, are taken as a 
 whole, not as separate nations. The delegates appear. 
 
 Del. — "Most noble Sire, honored to occupy the chair, we 
 would represent our nations endurance through perils such as no 
 other nation has ever endured. The compelling forces for ill acts 
 
76 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 have ever been like culminated weights hanging over the French 
 republic ; and even when under the wielding power of an emperor 
 this force without provoked war and revolutions which is well 
 known to all who are acquainted with the legal wielding powers over 
 our country and nation. Hence, we as a people should have a 
 chance, at least, in the conflicts for such great supremacy to appear 
 and subdue, and, if our people should gain, then make our country the 
 head of all others, and all other nations as branches of this, as has 
 been suggested in regard to America. Napoleon is now on a devel- 
 oping tour, and in time will be able to wield with power and wisdom 
 the national affairs of the French people, and for all the people as 
 our chosen head for all time, as soon as that course will guarantee 
 action again. These American people, who are a complex mixture 
 from all nations, do not maintain their political or religious principles 
 any better than the people of France do, viewing it all from the sum- 
 mit of support and compulsion." 
 
 Official in the Chair. — "Enough; all who appear before 
 us should remember that this hearing is only permitted for the pur- 
 pose of gathering more force with which to compel the acts needed 
 upon earth. The records of all the deeds of all nations are correctly 
 kept, and their wielding and sustaining forces are also marked. We 
 pass on." 
 
 Here appears the German Embassador. He comes forward 
 humble and meek. He says : — 
 
 German Em:. — " If I may speak before my Lord, I would say : 
 have not the European nations been firm in devotion to God and 
 Caesar ; have they not proven themselves a unity through trials ; and 
 are not the intellectual powers in the nations equal, if not superior, to 
 those exhibited by the authorities in America ? Give our people the 
 chance ; they will be wise in their executions, and will ever be 
 devoted to God and right." 
 
 "It is enough, — pass on," says the guarding staff (the official 
 giving them the authority to speak). There come representatives 
 for Turkey and Spain, and for Russia and the Romans. They are 
 told to pass on by a motion of the sword. They can have no hearing, 
 the Presiding Official says. Now here comes a delegation headed by a 
 king, representing the abilities, virtues, trials, and triumphs of Great 
 Britain, desiring a trial also for this exalted position, so that they may 
 become, if possible, the nation of nations. Says the leader : — 
 
 British Del. — " Most honored Lord, consider us worthy of a 
 trial for this distinguished position. Behold the subjects depending 
 upon the wielding of our loyal government. Direct those supporting 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 77 
 
 forces toward our lands, and shower prosperity and plenty upon our 
 people, and see what good will result ; whether or no we cannot stand 
 the test of the times in order to obtain such a grand result." 
 
 Presiding Official. — " No ; this is an utter waste of words 
 and time. The troubles which are necessary for the probing of all 
 flesh must come. The decision is in the power of God alone." 
 
 But here comes a delegation from America, led by Washington, 
 Lincoln, and Garfield, in advance of a group of intelligent spirits, who 
 departed from this life in America, all of whom had held positions of 
 honor. 
 
 Washington says : " In accord with our rights to appear and 
 defend ourselves before all these nations, — who, as a right of an eter- 
 nal order and justice, have been permitted to appear against our 
 nation, as it were, in judgment, — we respect their claims in accord 
 with their trials, knowing well how they are encompassed, and also 
 that the inevitable must come, because it is time for it, — we firmly 
 maintain our legal position in defending America as being the only 
 land of the free under the sun, as the land so situated, and so well 
 qualified in regard to mines of wealth and also in soil, as to represent 
 and to become in due time an Eden upon earth ; and as we may 
 assert, with a full knowledge of the facts pertaining to these great 
 regulative changes, that no other government on the globe is like the 
 American government, — Heaven-born, — and no other can so ably 
 represent all other nations, nor can be so easily governed by the 
 powers above, therefore, according to our judgment, America is 
 the place where the seat of the righteous government on earth, 
 wielded by the powers from above, should be established; yet we 
 are servants only, ever submissive to the will of Him who reigns 
 supreme, and are ever ready to obey any orders." 
 
 There was no reply to this from the officer in the chair ; but 
 there was a strange stir, and a multitude of spirits appeared, and a 
 band of musicians played such heavenly airs or music, and after that 
 a choir sang, and flags were waving, and there was great rejoicing ; 
 and as I inquired what cause it was that provoked these effects, my 
 guide said : " Behold the flag." It was the rainbow flag, the emblem 
 of the righteous government, representing the victory of the righteous 
 king over all nations and kingdoms upon earth. I asked : " Will we 
 realize this soon?" He replied: "Yes, soon in our time; but accord- 
 ing to worldly time, which passes with the seasons, it will require a 
 quarter of a century, or perhaps longer time, before these things will 
 have made any remarkable effects and be realized in part. It seems 
 to us only like a fleeting moment of time to have so short a space 
 
78 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 left in which these works must be enacted upon earth, so that the 
 plan can be filled ; and yet it will be so unlike in the effects to the 
 fore-shadowed pictures which were prophecies only ; and of all which 
 is marked in the plan the effects are compelled! forth upon earth so 
 that the legal marks upon such parts can be made, that they can be 
 declared finished and acquitted or discharged. The most of these 
 transactions are not observed by mortals, and even these which are of 
 the greatest importance are viewed adversely, and are opposed by the 
 people's stubborn wills, so that the marks which are made bear 
 testimony to these facts, and yet it stands forth prominently against 
 mortals on the canvas of nature, where all these dramas are sketched ; 
 and each act that has had its physical enactment and display makes 
 its mark opposite to the drawing of design, which mark is its legal 
 proof ; and which neither mortals nor angels can gainsay or erase, 
 for it remains and will be placed before all eyes on that great clay of 
 the final decision, so they shall behold there both their small and 
 great deeds without missing any. But now other duties call me. 
 See, all these nations have disappeared ; but listen to the sounds which 
 fill the air. Can you describe them ? " I listened, then replied that 
 I could not describe them well ; there seems to be a great roaring 
 beneath, as if the earth, in parts of it, was giving way, being caused 
 by an earthquake, for there is a tremulous voice, and a great quiver- 
 ing through all things ; then it seems that there is a great fire burn- 
 ing and snapping, and the air is filled with the rising smoke, and the 
 sky is turned red and the moon to blood, as if caused by the reflec- 
 tion from a great fire. Then I see a great body of water which has 
 become so heated by this fire that all living things in the water die, 
 and the fire reflects so strongly upon this great body of water, caus- 
 ing it to look like blood. Now there is li^htninsr and thunder afar 
 off in the heavens, while above is the clear sky and the stars are 
 shining. Some of these starry orbs seem to fall into the water, caused 
 to fall by the heat and steam "rising from the heated water, which 
 also cause a great noise and dashing. There are other voices to be 
 heard also, — strong angel voices. They say that these parts are now 
 finished ; and now comes the great storm which will shake all nature, 
 and consume those parts of the earth that are marked, also the 
 majority of the people living upon the surface of the earth. I am 
 weary, for this is a sad sight to me. 
 
 I asked my guide if I had described these scenes aright. He 
 said: "Yes, aright according to sound and reflection. These are the 
 signs which will mark these great universal labors as being finished. 
 "When this has been realized, then that decision spoken of is at hand. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 79 
 
 But the end of the world will not occur yet, as there are new parts of 
 earth ready to be peopled in the place of those that shall be 
 destroyed ; also, some few people will be left to build, prosper, and 
 people the earth; but a new government will be instituted which will 
 be more directly wielded by the Supreme Ruler, as then our labor 
 processes will be very unlike to those made use of in this present 
 eternity. But this is sufficient. 
 September 17, 1881. 
 
 TESTIMONY. 
 
 A lecture written by the spirit General George Washington, 
 through the mediumship of Mrs. Magdalena Kline, was read by her 
 before the first society of Spiritualists, called " The Society of the 
 Faithful," in the Spiritual Hall, at Van Wert, Ohio, on the evening 
 of September 18, 1881, the subject of which was "Cain and Abel," 
 being an explanation of the characters of those two personages. The 
 spirit George Washington, being present in the hall at the time the 
 lecture was read, controlled the medium, and spoke of the spiritual 
 condition of the people at this place and elsewhere, saying that woes 
 and calamities in various ways would be visited upon them for their 
 willful rejection of these teachings, and the rebellious spirit manifested 
 by them, and for their scornful treatment of the chosen messengers 
 of God sent forth by Him to declare His truths and laws to the world ; 
 also, for their own perverted ways. He further said that " The voice 
 of God would be heard speaking in thunder tones to the people." 
 The next day, September 19, 1881, President Garfield died, or passed 
 on to spirit life. His death was the voice of God speaking in 
 thunder tones, as alluded to by the spirit Washington in his address 
 the previous evening to the society in the hall. On September 27, 
 1881, another lecture was written by the same spirit through Mrs. 
 Kline, which was entitled: "A Dialogue, or Allegory, Representing 
 the Nations on the Globe," which was also read by the medium, 
 in the same hall, to the Society of the Faithful, on the evening of 
 October 9, 1881, in which this calamity (the death of the President) 
 and its effects upon the people were treated upon and explained. 
 The reader is referred to the two preceding lectures, in this connec- 
 tion, which will explain themselves to all who will read them 
 carefully. Mrs. John Edsox. 
 
 Van- Wert, Ohio, November 1, 1881. 
 
80 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 A PRAYER. 
 
 Father, we have come, for we love to learn Thy truths, and, in 
 this way, place ourselves in an attitude to receive them. Open our 
 hearts by the force of Thy holy influence that the word may enter. May 
 the soil be receptive, and the seeds take root and grow. May we be 
 strong when the cares of the world grow thickest around us ; strong 
 to put it all aside, strong to overcome the desires of the flesh, and to 
 be patient when different issues try us in principle and faith. 
 
 May we bask in Thy sunlight, and see Thy glory as it descends 
 in full brightness to make earth's wilderness a paradise, — an Eden of 
 happiness and bliss. 
 
 Father, we pray for strength in the trials before us. The hour 
 has come, the prince of this world is displaced, and must leave the 
 throne of his power. * This shall have a physical mark, that those in 
 whom he had a dwelling, and where he was enthroned, should be 
 overruled and convicted in physical reality, and the Judases shall 
 perish conditionally from remorse over their untrue deeds. This is 
 the review of the scene on Gethsemane. 
 
 The reactive acts come before the physical powers, not for those 
 in whom Jesus has a representation, nay, but for those opposed to 
 Him and His. 
 
 The time has come now when Jesus Christ, the God-Man, will 
 make His power known on earth and His glory visible. Father, give 
 us strength to see correctly the issues from Thee, and to walk in Thy 
 light, that we may clearly see all that shall be done on earth, now 
 that Thy kingdom shall be placed on earth, and He, the anointed 
 King, shall rule the nations in righteousness. 
 
 Prepare all Thy people for the many changes which shall be 
 enforced on earth ; give strength to all the weak but true mortals who 
 have hope in Thee. May they all be strengthened according to their 
 faith, and realize what they hope for, as they are truly devoted to 
 Thee, Father, and to Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast made Ruler over 
 all, and now also over earth, for the fullness of time, for this event 
 has come. 
 
 Rejoice all who have kept the testimony of Jesus, who have 
 been tossed and tried, and have overcome the power of the beast, for 
 now all who have been truly faithful shall be glad, and the White 
 
 * The physical mark spoken of in this prayer is in relation to the act of Guiteau 
 in the assassination of Garfield. Thus the signs of the times mark themselves in 
 these events. Also, the reader is referred to the tragedy of Cain and Abel, as spoken 
 of in the lecture upon those two personages. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 81 
 
 Stone, the emblem of honor, shall be given to all who deserve it, and 
 they will forever feel its power as a fortress around them against all 
 power and forces of the adverse. Lead us with Thine own power, 
 direct us by Thy spirit, protect us with Thy shade ; let us go to and 
 fro under thy shadow, and let us triumph over all assails and over all 
 foes who give not honor to Thee and Thy Christ. But from our own 
 hearts we send forth thanksgivings and praises to Thee and to Thy 
 Christ forever and ever, which, in their own time, will be so many 
 words of praise which we were unable to utter, but which were born 
 within and sent up before Thee. 
 
 Bless us with heavenly blessings to satisfy our inward long- 
 ings. Amen. 
 
 LECTURE XV. 
 
 "THE one creator, and many world-builders." 
 
 In this marvelous and wonderful age, in which, according to 
 immutable law, universal mysteries are being revealed, and the 
 trumpet of Heaven is being sounded to awaken earth's people from 
 drowsy sleep, to awaken the dull conscience and cause men to study 
 and reflect, to thus bring them before judgment, it is our duty to 
 plainly show to benighted mortals their mistakes in regard to the 
 Creator, and form a positive distinction that they can no more mis- 
 conceive and misconstrue. The Great Spirit of all is not a person- 
 ality, as a tangibleized spirit is, who has passed through the matter 
 and moulding processes, and acquired a form. He is, therefore, not 
 a world-builder and regulator as the world or the world's people, in 
 their limited knowledge, have fixed it in their minds. 
 
 These great principles which overrule all things, and those who 
 have by long study and hard labor made these principles their own in 
 the most exalted and complete manner, those rule and create, and 
 are called world-builders. There are many of these in the grado 
 divisions of such labor, but there are seven who have mastered the 
 combined forces in the universe. There are twelve who are the 
 highest type of justice. There are twenty -four who best understand 
 the language of issued emanation, and seventy who can interpret and 
 put ill words in all languages, defined and divided, so that it can again 
 be issued and ordered for the benefit of spirits and mortals. Then 
 below these is the heavenly hierarchy, composed of many thousands of 
 most intelligent members to counsel and act upon spirits in the grade 
 
82 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 below, and on those in the mundane spheres. All these act in harmony 
 with, and are controlled by, the overruling intelligence, which is the 
 spiritual emanation or issue of the highest principles, — love, truth, and 
 justice. These are the God-principles. This trinity is the ruling 
 intelligence of the universe. No spirit can act against what has been 
 issued by this trinity, not even the highest or most intelligent. The 
 supervising spirit over these emanated issues is Jove. (See what is 
 said of him in my description of God, the Supreme Ruler.) These 
 explanations are given as fragments with which to call mortal minds 
 to action to study upon these important problems, so given until they 
 can solve and demonstrate them. 
 
 That the origin of this world was but a succession of many other 
 worlds is known by mortals, at least by a number of clear-sighted 
 ones, and the orio-in of man is not to be looked at in the literal sense 
 
 of the Bible records. This is also seen by apt scholars of this age. 
 That there are worlds upon worlds, without a closing gulf between, is 
 sure, and that there is no cessation to the creative pursuits is also sure. 
 
 The heavens are changed, and the earth destroyed and remold- 
 ed, yet the end is not yet, nor does it come, only changes. Great, 
 mighty changes come, and must come over Heaven and earth at each 
 new era. That a new era is now to be ushered in is proclaimed by 
 nature's combined voices. 
 
 Why should man, the ultimatum of all natural created beings, 
 endowed with the breath of the divine spirit, why should they be slow 
 in beholding these signs which are presented to their view wherever 
 they turn ? The sounds of nature's voices speak in pealing thunders, 
 and as the roar of mighty waters. Who is wise and interprets natu- 
 ral issues or emanations ? Truly, many things must have a display 
 under the sun before the present customs of earth can be fully 
 changed, and the great fiat can be pronounced, to let time end for the 
 present modes and customs, and count the time of the new era or 
 beginning. 
 
 These, then, are called eternities, — a term of time, — which time 
 it requires to complete a plan of creative energy. For each plan, so 
 far, there has been a different architect, namely, each eternity has 
 been different in its molding and chief proprietorship. That the 
 many eternities were modeled according to different plans, by differ- 
 ent individuals, according to their wisdom to create, their force to 
 build and remodel, and bring to bear the fruits of the adopted plan, 
 is plainly testified to in the great opposition among the beasts who 
 were rivals for the mastery of universal knowledge, and they could 
 reveal and apply, if they could open the seals of the great book. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 83 
 
 These things, so marvelous in records, and so mysterious in 
 appearance, must become clear to the vision of mortals, at least to a 
 select number. No mists can be around those eternal records and 
 truths, because they are mastered, and their work is achieved ; hence, 
 a revelation is now to be made, and when all is revealed to the under- 
 standing of the number needed for testimony, then new plans will be 
 formed for the calling of the next eternity. 
 
 The plan of this eternity is complete in all its parts. 
 
 The wonderful remolding and creative forces, so justly and 
 wonderfully wielded, have superceded by far all the works which have 
 ever been done. Therefore, the beasts surrender their power, and 
 the honor is due to the Lord God omnipotent and to the Lamb. A 
 new plan is being drawn by the same one who drew the one furnished 
 before, greatly in advance of the one now closed, and all Heaven 
 shall rejoice, and earth be made glad. 
 
 . All subtle laws are understood, and all portions of conglomerated 
 matter can, by newly devised ways, be divided and applied without 
 passing through the same labor processes as this present eternity 
 required. 
 
 There are many now who can successfully labor, according to 
 the plan, as skilled workmen, while at the beginning of this eternity 
 there were but a few, and the matter-collections were harder to manage, 
 so that great difficulties were encountered which can now be avoided. 
 
 Friends, you can learn from these teachings that no man is lost, 
 according to old misconceptions. No, not one. For all things are 
 forever elevated in changing forms, and worked so that good results 
 from all evil, from all ill and low conditions of life. Men in their 
 natural state have natural instincts and tendencies that have a natural 
 right to them, so far as their relation to those qualities goes. So far, 
 the surroundings and physical requirements make this a positive and 
 natural demand. But men are expected to be studious amid the noise 
 and turmoil of the world's marts. They are expected to think of the 
 quiet sereneness in Heaven, where saints worship in silence, and thus 
 manifest profound reverence to the Great Giver of all good. The mind 
 is expected to be exercised, and thus by silent and sincere aspirations 
 the soul is fed with the heavenly manna, and the rising thirst for wis- 
 dom and truth is supplied from the parent fountain with rippling 
 waters which are constantly, freely, flowing to all who are in a recep- 
 tive condition. 
 
 Not the things which pertain to physical life only, and bear no 
 relation to the lasting, are counted as sin, when missteps and all man- 
 ner of ill-seeming deeds are besetting travelers on their sojourn. 
 
84 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 Theirs is not a condition to be condemned, but to be pitied, for, hav- 
 ing instilled in their system an uneven amount of ill instinct which 
 is due to the ignorance of parents, they cannot be successfully 
 approached by angels so as to awaken the better qualities in them. 
 For thek ill deeds they are buffeted by mortals, instead of their ills 
 being kindly borne with, and trying to learn their nature, and meas- 
 ures taken against the besetting impulses, which must be brought into 
 subjection by gentle but positive rule, and firmly held there. 
 
 The creative and transforming labors are so full of study which 
 is not beyond the reach of mortals, it is a great benefit to each and 
 every student, who makes use of his God-given talents, to increase his 
 store of knowledge, thus to improve the individual self, and lay up 
 accordingly lasting treasures in the mansions above. 
 
 LECTURE XVI. 
 
 THE CREATIVE COMPACT. WHAT MORTALS SHALL LEARN FROM 
 
 THIS REVELATION. 
 I 
 
 All works which were compelled to take effect in the material 
 world were veiled with a dense mystery to mortal view and under- 
 standing, and the causes of effects have been rarely, if ever, discovered. 
 The marked-out way from the beginning, or how to train all mortals 
 born on earth in devotion to a deity, was as remote from mortal dis- 
 covery as their limitation of mind-force or power to grasp the law 
 which had issued the same. Therefore, it was agreed upon that all 
 the different nations should recognize or understand God according 
 to the training and the type-degree from which they received their 
 religious infusions ; but whenever they departed from their legally- 
 prompted devotions to a deity, and turned to worship idols, then they 
 were chastened very severely, like unruly children who have not a 
 matured understanding as to what is well or right for them to indulge 
 in, or what would lead to harm and disaster. In the beginning of 
 this present eternity, which marks itself as a new created earth and 
 Heaven, because of the great and glorious works which have been 
 done, there was a contrast in the mind and matter realms which finite 
 minds cannot or could not understand. The thousands of eternities 
 which had been before this had been in a measure a useless scheming 
 of natural evolution. The present earth was a bed of water, — a reser- 
 voir not yet worked upon to separate and form locations, — but yet 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 85 
 
 there were worlds and people, giants, and some of them were mighty 
 in acquired natural wisdom, but had no divine attributes which make 
 the contradistinction between the God-created mortals and those who 
 were the outgrowth of uature's evolutionary productions. In the 
 mind-realms, in the perfect bliss of Eden, were hosts of archangels. 
 They were pure, and did not care to come in contact with matter in 
 order to remain thus perfect etherealized spirits, so that they might 
 invade all places if they desired to do so, and also to be as free as the 
 air, and without tangible forms. One of this body possessed greater wis- 
 dom and power in solving the chemical processes of generating and re- 
 generating everything natural, and resolved to form a plan for a new 
 creation. After the plan was formed, and laws provided by which to 
 enact labors and to compel forth results of the wisely-fixed causes, 
 then this plan was presented to and found favor with the greatest of 
 all the archangels who presided over the intelligent league. There- 
 fore, after due counciling upon the plan, six of this number (the 
 intelligent league) were selected to work or labor with the one who 
 formed the plan and founded its laws and the great creating constitu- 
 tion. These seven spirits of God then entered into a solemn agree- 
 ment to each perform the part written for them in the plan, and aim 
 to achieve the anticipated results, working within the limits of the law 
 laid down for each one, with the privilege of changes each day in 
 their reckoning, or a thousand years in ours ; and the changes to be 
 made should be such as would meet the demands of the mortals that 
 should be created and trained, so as to reach the best results for their 
 promotion, and to teach them the lessons of their own selfhood, their 
 rights, their duties, and, at the last, to teach them the universe laws 
 w r hich was the great power to compel forth all this great work. This 
 compact, aided by all other force and wisdom of which they could 
 avail themselves, became the creative and transforming power of all 
 and everything that is. They are the master-builders ; yea, they are 
 the morning stars that sang together when earth's day dawned! 
 After the outline of agreements among them were settled, they then 
 launched the craft of their plan into matter to begin their labor. 
 This brings the first unpleasant process. How shall we describe it so 
 as not to be misunderstood, for we wish it not misconstructed from a 
 divine sense to a natural or material one, for that was a stumbling- 
 block as to the reason why this great labor had not been set in motion 
 many eternities before. It is thus revealed. It required an abstrac- 
 tion from those six spirits of God, and also from Jehovah, and a full 
 dissolving of the one who formed the plan and agreed to take on a 
 form of clay for a required season, to have a world started and peopled 
 
86 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 so as to correspond with the picture drawn in this plan concerning 
 God and man. 
 
 All this force thus abstracted was then returned to Jehovah, and 
 by this force a woman was selected from among those natural people 
 who were nothing but molds of clay. This woman was worked 
 upon so as to inhale, to breathe in, these mind powers and the powers 
 of germinal infusions, and it was a natural chemical process, and was 
 by these combined powers effected, and thus Adam was born the Son 
 of God; and after a due process, which was 'necessary for these 
 etherealized spirits in order for them to acquire such great material 
 strength, then a mate was in this wise created for Adam. These, 
 then, were the first parents of all the races of earth who are called 
 royal, or God-created, and heirs of the universe. Their father is God. 
 "When the Christ of God took form the second time in the man Jesus, 
 the process was the same as the first one. Therefore, the triune God- 
 head is to be understood as God or Jehovah, Adam or Christ, and the 
 first mother of all God-created mortals, while the creative compact is 
 in this body of the seven to be seen. 
 
 One of them was the magic prince commonly called Satan, 
 because of his subtilty and great skill and wisdom to master the subtle 
 forces which were to be resolved and put to use. These works were 
 done by him skillfully, and when his works according to the plan are 
 finished, then he will be no more, for he has acquired no tangible form, 
 and has forfeited his rights by trespassing the sacred law. This we 
 have stated to show why it was that Satan appeared in the councils 
 of the children of God. It was his lawful right, for he was one of 
 the compact. Jehovah is the expression to be used for all the com- 
 bined intelligence that is centered in this great body. To this body 
 belong all who have figured as gods. The issues of their intelligence 
 meet at this center, and as it goes forth from this center we receive 
 the laws thus issued for the creating and transforming in keeping with 
 the demand of all which is, and of all that is to be. All the rays that 
 are issued from this great center bear the type-stamp of the degree 
 where they originally belong, and are so received and classed before 
 they are sent forth as ideas among the inhabitants of all the spheres 
 and worlds. This is, therefore, the reason why God has so many 
 different appearances, because all this intelligence of the millions of 
 different characters blend in Him. To more fully aid you to under- 
 stand, I will say, take the Bible, and in Rev., ch. i., v. 20, you can 
 read the mystery of the seven stars which John saw in my right 
 hand, and the seven golden candlesticks represent the seven churches. 
 The seven stars are typical of the seven churches in this expression of 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUPvES. 87 
 
 John's, because through them were infused all religions, and these 
 were supported from the universe center. In Rev., ch. viii., v. 6: 
 "And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared them- 
 selves to sound." This is the sounding of the prophecies, as they in 
 these days reveal themselves and their works. 
 
 Search the Book, and gather all the fragments of prophecies, and 
 ponder on them well. Compare the past prophecies with those that 
 are given now, and you will see that now is the time when the people 
 on earth are visited from on high. Oh, how we long to see the people 
 of today mark themselves as having acquired reason sufficient to com- 
 prehend the present now in its day, and not have to wait for the round 
 of a thousand years, and then lament over neglected opportunities and 
 duties caused by mental blindness ! 
 
 We behold bright talent on earth in the mind realm of man. 
 Make use of it, and study closely each presented problem, and we will 
 aid you. God's spirit will open your understanding and illumine your 
 minds, and enable you to comprehend that which before seemed a 
 mystery. The morning stars will sing a new song together, and 
 shout for joy when mortals once faintly comprehend their combined 
 labors. The truth must be revealed as it is and has been from the 
 beinnninsf now that the fullness of the time has arrived. These things 
 which we have endeavored to explain we call the mysteries of the 
 universe. It is hard for finite minds to grasp this, therefore we will 
 explain a little further. The issues have gone forth that all mystic 
 things should be revealed to the children of earth, so far as their 
 strength of mind enabled them to receive them. All that cannot be 
 perceived by the external eyes and senses, but can be recognized by 
 the spiritual senses, tends to bring about a knowledge of that which 
 had been regarded as mystic. All lessons imparted from spirits to 
 mortals are a part of this. The subtle forces, without form are the 
 mystic shades used to develop mortals to that state where they will 
 wish and long for light. It is an inexpressible pressure in part, but 
 all of this which is received intuitively is from the God-spirit, and by 
 that supreme aid these forces are recognized, felt, and perceived by 
 mortals, and accordingly become objects then, as objects are placed 
 within the limits of law, and will annoy no more. Each breath of 
 the God-spirit breathed into the human soul is a planting of tiny seeds 
 which are guarded by the angels, and carefully reared into beauti- 
 ful plants, providing they take root, for they do not take root in all 
 souls. It is great joy to angels when they teach mortals in this 
 way, for it is thus that progress is promoted, and the balm of Gilead 
 brought to earth's people to cure the wounds caused by the ignorance 
 
88 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 of the laws and the neglect of duties to their Creator. All the mystic 
 parcels scattered along the pathway of life are now being gathered by 
 angels, for this is the grand review of our labors through this glori- 
 ous eternity. These parcels were produced through the mortal 
 brains of those who are reared by the Lord for these works, so that 
 the fragments can be classed and taught understandingly, and thus the 
 great eternal mystery can be solved. 
 
 Mortals who were not reared as thus described, but are suscep- 
 tible of all other influences acting upon them, were filled with the ill 
 breath or destructive power of this force without form, and have 
 gathered it in under the head of occult knowledge, and have used it 
 for destructive purposes. They had not considered that this very 
 force had been collected as a power against the mortals of today to try 
 them as with fire, to separate the true and the false, to try man and 
 his principles. But all this will be consumed when these days of 
 trials on earth are ended by the heavenly fires which shall burn on 
 earth. All impurities shall be purged from among men, and all mor- 
 tals shall learn the truth, and confess that the Lord God is righteous 
 and just. A knowledge of the subtle in nature, and in the will force 
 to enact and provoke effects, is another wing of the many that come 
 under the arch called the mysteries of the universe, and is what has 
 been in part recognized by mortals and put to ill uses. All magic in 
 its various degrees comes under this wing. Deplorable and inexpres- 
 sible results have been wrought by it, but, as it is compelled forth by 
 the angels of light, it becomes a substance that can be made to mingle 
 with other substances, and thus acquire a form, and can be treated in 
 lawful order. At all marked times for great revolutions of earthly 
 customs the same force becomes as plagues for mortals. This force is 
 drawn out by aerial pressure from all dark recesses, and thrown in 
 the air. You can learn from history of the effects thereof from 
 former changes. Man is made up of all the germinal seeds of matter 
 in nature. This child of earth, bearing kinship to all the secret par- 
 cels in nature below it, and also bearing kinship to all that is sacred 
 above it, has a right to search after the truths whereby to sustain 
 these rights, and become strengthened for the grand onward march 
 from time to the endless evermore. The physical man is beset with 
 weaknesses of the flesh, and is heir to ills as well as to rights, as 
 nature goes on to levy in her just way. 
 
 The spiritual man is also heir to all the wisdom and power in 
 the universe, and can acquire the same if he will, for it takes nothing 
 but strong will power to conquer the bodily instincts and to subdue 
 the strong desires of natural proclivities. Look aloft ! Search for 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 89 
 
 wisdom and truth, and you will receive them. Why linger in the 
 thraldom of the ignorance of your rights. Arise, gird on the armor 
 of righteousness, and steadfastly look aloft ! Then will you behold 
 the light from the great universe center as it floods the earth, and its 
 rays find access into the minds of mortals ; and in this light can you 
 see God, and understand what is of God, and what had been only of 
 man. 
 
 November 9, 1879. 
 
 TESTIMONY TO THE CREATIVE COMPACT. 
 
 Last spring, sometime in the month of April, I arose one morn- 
 ing from my bed' feeling languid and unwell, and, after performing 
 my morning work, I laid down upon my lounge in the parlor to rest. 
 While there, my thoughts soared upward toward God. I soon became 
 lost to myself, as it were, in meditating upon His works and ways, 
 and the manner in which God is revealing His infinite wisdom and 
 power to the people of our world. I thought for some time upon 
 these things, then my mind seemed turned to those passages of Scrip- 
 ture speaking of the seven spirits of God. I had often thought of those 
 passages of Scripture before, but could not understand them. I won- 
 dered how it could be that a being such as I had heard God represented 
 to be could possess seven spirits in one body. I felt a strong desire to 
 unravel this great mystery ; and as I was reflecting upon the matter, 
 there was placed before my vision a figure that is difficult to describe. 
 It was the figure of a person from the waist upward, revealing the 
 head, neck, shoulders, and breast of a man. From the top of the 
 head to the crown I saw the locks of hair, white as the driven snow. 
 I saw the form of a face, but it seemed to be so transparent that I 
 could not distinguish its features. I saw the neck plainly, like that 
 of a person, but that, too, was transparent like the face. From the 
 neck downwards extended a figure, or figures rather, for there were 
 seven of them. They seemed like half-circles, with the convex side 
 upward or outward. Those figures were white, and extended down- 
 ward, like a breastplate. The central figure of this breastplate 
 extended lower than the others on each side, each successive one, on 
 both sides of the central one, being shorter than the others. These 
 figures were not divided, but were united as one body. I was lost in 
 conjecture as to the meaning of this grand vision, when something or 
 some one beside me seemed to say the vision I had seen was a sym- 
 bol of the God-head, — the seven spirits of God united in one body. 
 Thus was my desire answered, that I might learn this great truth, and 
 
90 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 I now know and understand this vision of the God-head to be a repre- 
 sentation of the great creative compact, which is the subject of the 
 lecture Mrs. Kline will read to you this evening, and I also know that 
 this vision was given as a testimony thereto. 
 
 Perhaps some will say that this was a dream ; but it was not, for 
 I do not dream when wide awake ; neither was it imagination, for I 
 saw it as plain as I see you this evening, Again, my mind was agi- 
 tated by some questions I could not solve concerning the origin of our 
 race. Our spirit teachers had repeatedly told us in their* lectures, 
 spoken and written through our medium, that we were a God-created 
 race, — were born of God, were children of royal parents. Again, I 
 could not solve these problems. Our teachers told us, also, that our 
 world was peopled long before our race was brought forth upon the 
 earth ; that these races of people were the productions of nature, like 
 the animal creation, and were not of divine origin, but were subject 
 to the regulating and re-creating laws of nature. They taught us, 
 likewise, that our first father, Adam, was Christ, and that mother 
 Eve, the first woman, was created by, or emanated from, the creative 
 compact, or God-head. I did not understand this, neither could I 
 believe that they were sent down from Heaven to people our earth. 
 These were mysteries I could not comprehend, much as I desired to 
 understand them. Again was I to be taught by a spirit vision the 
 truth of these conjectures. On the afternoon of the 5th of Septem- 
 ber, I called upon our medium, and, as we were sitting together, a 
 spirit told the medium to request me to make a mental desire, or wish, 
 about something that I wished to learn, and they would answer me 
 through my own brain. I did so, and the mental desire I made was 
 that I might learn the truth concerning the creation of our race. I 
 returned home, and at night retired to bed, and was quietly thinking 
 over the occurrences of the day when there was placed before me 
 again a vision of the spirit, in which I saw, as it was shown to me, 
 some of those natural people spoken of above. I saw them plainly 
 in the distance, as it seemed, for a bright light was thrown around 
 them, and from the foremost one issued many rays, or threads, form- 
 ing like a belt as they came from this person, the belt widening as the 
 distance from the person increased, growing broader and more beauti- 
 ful as they passed onward in the distance. Some of these rays, or 
 threads, were white and some were of a dark color. I do not as yet 
 understand the vision of the threads or rays, but I now know that the 
 vision was given to me to solve the question concerning the origin of 
 our race, that Christ and the first woman were incarnated in the flesh, 
 and born of these natural people, — Christ as our first father? Adam, 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 91 
 
 and the first created woman as our mother, Eve, the first parents of 
 the race. I understand now, also, that this vision was given for a 
 testimony of that part of the lecture read this evening, which treats 
 upon the origin of the God-created race. 
 
 When I reflect upon these spirit visions, and the great revela- 
 tions that are being given by the spirit of God, and of the wonderful 
 things that are being performed all over our earth, I am led to cry 
 out, in the language of one who lived in the olden time : " How great 
 and wonderful are Thy works, O God ! Thy ways are past finding 
 out by mortal man." The old prophet seemed to think the ways of 
 God could not be learned by man ; but now in these days, the days 
 of the second coming of Jesus the Christ, these great mysteries are, in 
 some measure, being solved. The old prophet, prophesying from the 
 spirit, says : " In those days, saith the Lord, will I pour out my spirit 
 upon them, and they shall prophesy, and their young men and maid- 
 ens shall see visions, and the old men and women shall dream 
 dreams." These are the days spoken of by the prophet, and the 
 spirit is being poured out more abundantly upon earth's people than 
 ever before, and men are enabled to learn the ways of God, and man 
 will also learn to know himself, from whence he came, and whither 
 he is going ; that he is an heir of our Father God, inheriting from 
 Him immortality and an endless life. 
 
 Dear friends, let us not sell this glorious birthright of ours, like 
 Esau of old, for a mess of pottage, for earthly wealth and worldly 
 pleasures which bring no true joy to the soul. Let us cultivate an 
 outgrowth from the natural attributes, from the love of worldly pleas- 
 ures, pride, and the love of vain show, that the good seed that is 
 implanted in every soul may grow instead, and bring forth fruit an 
 hundred fold. Come, dear friends, and investigate these things, and 
 learn their reality. Mrs. John Eds on. 
 
 Van Wert, Ohio, November 8, 1879. 
 
 A FEW COMMENTS, OR EXPLANATIONS OF THE LAST VISION, 
 WRITTEN ABOVE. 
 
 At the time of writing down the last vision, given above, I did 
 not fully understand the vision as I saw it. Since that time, my 
 understanding has been opened, and I see clearly now the meaning of 
 the symbols I saw in the vision. The belt of rays, or threads, issu- 
 ing from the person I saw, began at the top of the forehead, continu- 
 ing on down to the feet, and were all dark ; but as the distance from 
 
92 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 the person increased there were light or white rays intermingled with 
 the dark ones. This belt of rays, as it extended onward, grew wider 
 until it became fan-shaped. This fan-shaped figure was a representa- 
 tion of this present eternity. There were, also, lines drawn crosswise 
 on this figure, dividing it into equal measures of distance, which I 
 now understand to represent the division of the time of this eternity. 
 The dark and light rays that were intermingled also represent the 
 development or intelligence of the race at each division or cycle of 
 time thus marked; for, as we approached the outer edge of this 
 figure, there were not so many dark rays mingled, and as we came to 
 the edge of the fan, the dark rays had all disappeared, and the border 
 of the fan was all white and beautiful, and shone like polished ivory, 
 showing that in the fullness of time all ignorance, unbelief, and spirit- 
 ual darkness will be swept away, and that the glorious light of spiritual 
 and divine intelligence will illuminate all the minds of the great 
 family of our Father God. Mrs. John Ed son. 
 
 Van Wert, Ohio, September 7, 1880. 
 
 LECTURE XVII. 
 
 WHAT IS SPIRITUALISM, AND WHAT ARE ITS USES? 
 
 To answer the cry of many who abhor the very name of Spirit- 
 ualism, and who, at the same time, do not know what it really 
 implies, — to such we will give a few explanations of such facts that 
 all can understand, and which can be placed under the heading of 
 Spiritualism. We hear it said that Spiritualism had its birth in Hell, 
 and was brought to earth by cunning demons, and set afloat as wild 
 waves extracted from the great universal tide by sensitive mortals, 
 over whom these demons could exert an influence, and that it was a 
 dangerous thing which should be crushed out, and should not find the 
 least toleration. 
 
 Those who thus decry Spiritualism are, the most of them, leaders 
 in the formal religions, or Pharisees belonging to such religions. 
 To all such we say, are not these things which try and probe all 
 flesh so severely written in the book in which you have centered 
 your faith, and hope to be saved by following its precepts ? Is it not 
 said also that the spirit of God shall be poured out upon all flesh, 
 that your young men and young women should see visions, and your 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 93 
 
 old men and women should dream dreams ? And when all this 
 comes to pass you shall raise your eyes and see that the harvest is 
 almost ripe, and that you should behold also the Son of Man descend 
 and ascend, His holy angels being with Him. The term Spiritualism 
 simply implies that the doctrine taught under that heading is derived 
 purely from Heaven, and is given by spirits through mortal organ- 
 isms to the people of this world. That which comes from the spirit, 
 and that which has been added to it by mortals, shall rest upon no 
 uncertain claims as has heretofore been the case, when at different 
 times, and in different ways, God spake to men so as to make His 
 will known on earth. Then, this being a Heaven-born religion, 
 it will and must subdue all others, because they are polluted with the 
 comments and misconceptions of men. Therefore, we who are com- 
 missioned to bring the living gospel to earth know well the conflicts 
 and oppositions which we must encounter, for men love their own 
 works and the ideas so deeply rooted in the mind, and are not will- 
 ing to even compare the truths issued forth today from the great Law- 
 giver with those that were issued in former ages. But at the head 
 of this great spiritual movement on earth is the righteous King. It 
 is He who in this manner makes war against all nations, and with 
 Him are the chosen and called, and the saints of ability ; so there is 
 no retreat ; nor will there ;be rest in Heaven until all the foes of God 
 and His Christ are conquered and put under foot. Then shall the 
 true and righteous shine as the sun and as stars forever more ; but 
 while the chaff is being sifted from the wheat, and the tares being 
 gathered which the evil one has sown, the pure in heart feel great 
 pain, being in travail for this higher birth, and for an ascension upon 
 a higher level of moral and spiritual culture. That the intellect 
 must expand, and according to its expansion it will adopt new ideas 
 and grander truths, is a fact which all students of history will admit, 
 for the laws of nature in their onward course change all things on 
 the face of the earth every two thousand years ; so must a change of 
 mental training take place, and it is brought to bear upon the 
 dwellers on earth whether they accept it willingly or not, for man is 
 his own greatest enemy, and does not at all comprehend the Father's 
 will, and works persistently against his own good. Spiritualism, or 
 rather the great spiritual movement on earth at this present time, 
 this precious now, has a work to accomplish even in its objectionable 
 phases. By this we mean those spirits who return to earth from 
 the different spheres on all manner of errands, and to scatter broad- 
 cast delusive ideas, by which all flesh is probed and severely tried. 
 This labor is also an injunction of the great plan, that it should be 
 
94 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUEES. 
 
 transacted under the sun before the marked labors can be declared 
 finished. But these spirits are not commissioned by the Creator, nor 
 do they work for or under the righteous King, which they them- 
 selves prove by the fact that they deny Him, and do not wish Him 
 to rule over them. They are sent by the ruler of the unjust domin- 
 ion as executors, and mortals should not condemn or fear, but they 
 should dare to investigate and learn ; for surely the gates which are 
 thus opened lead out into new fields of thought, and great mines of 
 truth can be discovered, all of which justly belong to every living 
 man and woman ; and more than this, you, who cowardly bind your 
 talent in a napkin and bury it, reap neither reward or credit, for you 
 fear that you might by giving it out in exchange take in some coun- 
 terfeit money. Even that is better than for you to let your brain 
 remain idle, for by it you will be aroused to think and study as to 
 what your rights are as an offspring of a royal parent, and also the 
 duties which are due to Him from you. These spirits also perform a 
 useful part of labor in their department if it will only be left there, 
 and not be exalted above their spheres by mortals, nor should they 
 be led captive by their teachings. It is also plainly stated to be a 
 work intended to arouse men to think and to see their short-comings 
 in duties, which are due from them to their Creator, and also to try 
 to amend their ways so as not to fall into the executioner's power. 
 
 Those who teach the Everlasting Gospel come from the celestial 
 spheres. They come commissioned from or by the Creator, and 
 work under the flag of Jesus the righteous King, and they teach 
 neither flattery nor anything which varies from truth or the great 
 principles which are the issues from Heaven, — love, truth, and jus- 
 tice. Yet, at the' same time, a carnal mind does not perceive, nor is 
 able to discern, spiritual truths ; therefore, many things are taught 
 which are sublime in design and bearing, yet they are misconstrued 
 and talked about as being absurd ; therefore, be slow when you inves- 
 tigate, and study well and closely the meaning of each new lesson the 
 angels bring to earth. They do not bring any lessons which are not 
 needed, and if they were only better heeded, then the woes which 
 are yet to come on earth could be made lighter and the plagues 
 easier. But the people will not turn from their follies, nor consider 
 that the ways of God are not like the ways of men, and that all His 
 works are done in compliance with His laws which are carried into 
 effect and are filled by the angels and mortals who are His agents, 
 messengers, and servants. 
 
 There is nothing impossible with God, or that applies only to 
 the infinite nature, or infinite time measure. There is no infinite 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 95 
 
 impossibility, but there are many finite impossibilities, owing to the 
 fact that, as all things are done strictly in compliance with law, the 
 finite laws are not conclusive but temporary, being dependent on 
 natural progress for the enactments for the changes ; and there are 
 many universal purposes too great to be accomplished in one chang- 
 ing cycle of time, by which is meant a regenerating process, a chang- 
 ing of customs and ideas according to the performed works of nature, 
 which throws off the dross at such times, and a purer system is then 
 enforced. Such a time is the present time ; and the works which are 
 being done now should be gladly hailed instead of rejected. This is 
 the great harvest time, and the celestial harvesters are gathering in 
 the wheat which is to be carefully garnered ; also, the tares are 
 being gathered to be burned up, — consumed, by the fires of rea- 
 son and criticism. The tares in this sense are the errors that are 
 attached, and the ceremonies that are annexed are the fossils that are 
 hanging on to the pure truths, by which truth has been smothered 
 and often crushed. Those angels and spirits who are gathering the 
 harvest of earth are different in brightness and knowledge, according 
 to the various degrees of labor which they perform. All these labors 
 are performed, however, according to God's plan with man. Mortals 
 will learn some bitter lessons for this rebellion, for they try to rule 
 omnipotence, and to dictate to their Creator how He shall perform 
 His w r onders and works on earth. But where the materialists and 
 infidels deny God the worshipers of God rebel against His ways. 
 Between these extremes lies a vast gulf which only time and many 
 severe lessons which must be learned will ever bridge over. Between 
 mortals and immortals are also great gulfs, — the atmospheric gulfs 
 which are difficult to pass through in going from sphere to sphere ; 
 yet angel love and chemical combinations have not only made the 
 passage across possible, but pleasant and easy, so that all of these 
 spoken-of labors can be performed with the utmost delight. Having 
 now shown plainly in these explanations to all who cry against Spirit- 
 ualism the meaning of the term, we desire to say that there are great 
 uses contained in this rejected religion. It will accomplish in due 
 time all which the loftiest imagination ever pictured, or the highest 
 aspirations have ever touched, and the yearning sighs have ever 
 pined for ; for in the Father's house beyond there is balm for every 
 wound, and wisdom for all who seek for it, and also inexhaustible 
 wealth for all, and according to their purity and wisdom will it be 
 measured out to them. But, while the lonely pilgrim wanders on 
 earth, the many pains which are caused by sins, though ignorantly 
 committed, shall be assuaged. The angels bring not only the glad 
 
96 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 tidings of joy that this is the ultimate redemption, but they bring 
 their love and sympathy also to earth, and by these many an aching 
 heart is soothed, and pain is being removed. Moses came as the 
 first religious and lawful representative of the three great religious 
 injunctions which should mark on earth the beginning and ending of 
 the basic plan of this eternity's design, also plainly setting forth the 
 necessity of changes in the system for the developing of man's moral 
 and religious nature, and for the expansion of the intellects so as to 
 bring the best results. Moses was surrounded by very severe diffi- 
 culties by those nations and their idolatry. He also found the chosen 
 of his own people in slavery under the heavy yoke of Egyptian bond- 
 age, therefore, he could not enforce the golden rule, nor teach them 
 in regard to their religious welfare only, but he was compelled by 
 the pressing elements to lay clown severe rules and laws concerning 
 their conduct and way of warfare. All this was given to him by his 
 ministering spirit, who thus filled the stated injunctions through 
 Moses, the prophet and physical lawgiver. This was a great work 
 which he performed, and in this review season, when the great prin- 
 ciples shall indeed gain not only in spoken words, and when law and 
 gospel shall be fully harmonized, then shall angels and men behold 
 and understand the greatness of Moses, the servant of God, who did 
 that which no other mortal could have done, and who is now ridi- 
 culed and rejected by the wise ones of the world. The second great 
 injunction was filled by Jesus the Christ of God. His mission was 
 of a far greater imply than mortals thus far have been aware of, 
 because the parts and parcels which were left by record from those 
 who know the best the meaning of the. redeeming injunction, having 
 been taught it by the Master. These records have been gathered 
 and compiled, translated and commented upon, yet the most import- 
 ant parts were missed or destroyed, and in some instances they were 
 inserted in the wrong place, therefore that which has been obtained 
 is more or less incorrect; neither is the correct meaning of the 
 redeeming injunction known or understood by the many who wor- 
 ship Him who filled it. 
 
 The third injunction is an addition to the second in one part, 
 viz., that in relation to the redeeming plan for man, but apart from 
 that its design is best understood when plainly stated, that through 
 the lawful transaction of this injunction of law regarding the third 
 religious era, or the gospel dispensation, law and gospel will be made 
 so plain and comprehensible to mortals that a mighty change can be 
 achieved through the same, and all shall understand the gospel 
 truths, and there shall be no sects on earth, for there arc none in 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 97 
 
 Heaven, but all shall worship their Creator in one and the same way, 
 viz., in spirit and in truth ; yet the mode in which each one must 
 perform their worship shall not be declared, in as much as liberty in 
 this respect is granted to angels and men alike by the All-Father. 
 Yet all shall know that truth makes free, and purity of heart and 
 working for others' welfare, as well as for self, is an acceptable ser- 
 vice. To accomplish this work Spiritualism was launched upon 
 mental space ; but not that all who work on the reverse side are aid- 
 ing in filling the injunction regarding this time; no, not so. This is 
 to be accomplished by one mortal, who, as a representative, and who, 
 by being aided by the two former ones who filled the foregoing parts 
 spoken of, shall accomplish this work, and by it shall the ultimate 
 redemption of man be accomplished. Jesus the Christ could not do 
 all this, nor could it be done otherwise than according to law as said, 
 which was so stated before the action for placing people upon this 
 earth, and transforming them into angels of light, began. See, then, 
 O mortals, the great and grand uses of Spiritualism. Creation has 
 long groaned under the pollutions that have been heaped upon her. 
 Creatures have also groaned and sighed for relief. Martyrs and 
 prophets have prayed for the time when justice should be measured, — 
 they have cried as the souls from beneath the altar have done : "How 
 long, O Lord, how long, until Thou wilt avenge our blood upon our 
 brethren ? " Although there has been a seeming delay, yet there 
 has not been any. All things take place in the time marked for it ; 
 but, however, the angels do not know when the time will come, for 
 this is retained in the Father's hands and controlled by His wisdom 
 and power, and only as He puts forth His signs can it be known that 
 the time has arrived. Come out from behind the fortresses of mis- 
 conceived ideas. Thrust aside the barriers which lie in the path of 
 true progress. Look aloft, and pray that your eyes may be opened 
 so that you can behold the dawning of the glory of God coming 
 down to earth, even as the Holy City arrayed like a bride to meet 
 her bridegroom. Who is wise and can discern the signs of the 
 times, let him hasten to be ready with his lamp filled and trimmed, 
 and with a clean intellect, a heart sincere and devoted to truth, to 
 meet the coming bridegroom ; for, surely, before long this time will 
 be so strongly marked as the second advent of Jesus the Christ that 
 none but the most adverse and bitter foes of God and His Christ will 
 fail to see it. 
 
 However, the war is in motion, and will be declared finished only 
 when all the foes of God, His Christ, and truth, shall be trodden 
 under foot. Then to Him, the Christ of God, shall be given domin- 
 
98 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 ion, power, and glory forever and ever. Then shall the flag of true 
 liberty be unfurled, and the righteous government shall be wielded 
 among all nations. 
 
 Aerial distinctions are marked by the progress made. The mean- 
 ing of the interposed precepts and truths for the lessons of each suc- 
 ceeding era is stated in language suiting to the time in which it is 
 given. It must necessarily correspond with the perceptive powers, 
 and the faculties of sense and reason of the generations unto whom 
 it is given. Therefore, the comments on the old historic statements 
 cannot be otherwise than incorrect, and therefore must be rectified. 
 That which was given in Greek and Jewish language, and even in 
 the Egyptian, was given at the time when the first basic dispensation 
 through Moses made its mark on the canvas of earth, and upon the 
 brains of man. It cannot be comprehended now in the true meaning 
 which it then implied. It was for them in their time according to 
 their understanding, and worded and restricted to suit their capacity, 
 also their animal propensities, which needed curtailing. It was of 
 necessity therefore severe, yet not the one thousandth part of it is 
 translated correctly, so but what the meaning is changed or rendered 
 absurd. The age of the second aerial dispensation is easier under- 
 stood, because all the truths and precepts were mildly given, which 
 were taught by the purest spirit that ever walked the earth in mortal 
 form ; also, the example can never be erased or misrepresented, but 
 many of the truths have been and are yet misrepresented and taught 
 adverse to their meaning. The third aerial change is occurring now, 
 and this dispensation is marked as the one to revolutionize the world, 
 and all the customs must be changed by it. Yet it is only an outflow 
 from the other two, and will harmonize with all that has ever been 
 taught on earth that was pure and true. 
 
 LECTURE XVIII. 
 
 OUR DIVINE HEIRSHIP. 
 
 The Jews can trace their origin back to Adam, who was God's, 
 and, in a peculiar sense, he was the son of God, — thus the divine 
 heir. Hence, he is the gateway through which alone we can reach 
 our Father's house. 
 
 He is the way, for in him were embodied the principles of deity, 
 of God, which were made manifest on earth when he came as the man 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 99 
 
 Jesus, the Man of Sorrows, also the light of and from God. Those 
 heavenly principles become embodied in us as we become embodied 
 in him ; then we need not try to climb in unlawfully, but can pass 
 in through the gate or door into the kingdom. We cannot belong to 
 the number of the redeemed as long as we do not abide in God, and 
 His attributes are not aglow in us, and His principles made manifest 
 through us in a degree according to our mental and spiritual develop- 
 ment. 
 
 Now, why is it that so many people dislike the Jews? Yes, 
 they have an unjust hatred tow T ard them. Let them all remember 
 this fact, that salvation comes from and through the Jews ; that they 
 are the first nation, the Gentiles are the next, who are to be taken in 
 as nations and heirs of the Most High God. Then all other nations 
 are in their legal turns engrafted into the divine body. All mortals 
 whose perceptions are yet dim in regard to their true kinship are 
 certainly below the average development, and cannot yet, therefore, 
 clasp hands with their older brothers and sisters, and walk with them 
 in the bright sunlight of the eternal truths ; but we trust that the 
 helps which are sent from above to all mortals will prove to be the 
 power needed for every separate individual, to lead them out of the 
 encumbered conditions toward the summit, although it may be through 
 trials and troubles, in order to strengthen the weak devotion and 
 probe the motives ; yet may the strong, unseen cords hold with 
 power all who are thus surrounded, and bring the weary wanderers 
 safely ashore to the bright haven of their hope, where a sweeter 
 atmosphere fills all space, and where cares cannot burden them any 
 longer. 
 
 This applies to all who are willing to be led out of dark con- 
 ditions onward and upward ; also to all who wish to learn in what 
 degree they are related to the infinite, and who yearn to find the way 
 to our Father's house. Do we know our true kinship, how we are 
 related to the infinite, in what link of the chain we belong, that we 
 must take our place there in order to make the chain strong and com- 
 plete, so as to arrest the ever-present troubles which annoy and cause 
 us so much delay, for when we have a knowledge of our place our 
 whole aim should be to get there ? It is also a duty which we owe 
 hot only to God and ourselves, but to all beings in the universe who 
 may be discomfited and disquieted on our account, because they are 
 in their places, and are waiting — a longing, tearful, hopeful wait- 
 ing — until those who should step in to complete the links in the 
 chain should learn their duty and comply with it. It is a sad feeling 
 to one to sense with trembling the sad fact that owing to such causes 
 
100 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 we suffer troubles which are given to awaken us to a sense of our 
 duty. We are pressed into these ordeals in order that we might 
 become earnest and sincere, and search for truth in the realm of the 
 real as well as in the realm that is not so real to us, because not so 
 tangible, viz., the spiritual. Search for the things we crave, ar ' 
 learn why they are withheld, why we have not found and obtained 
 what we desired. We have been seeking our happiness in a per- 
 verted way, we have viewed our duties through the shades of reflected 
 glimmers from our own unsteady and doubting minds. How per- 
 plexing it is, and yet how necessary, for us to see that self has more 
 to do with the weal or woe which we daily encounter than any other 
 force. "But," says the dependent war-farer who has no knowledge, 
 therefore no strength, to keep above water, and to keep the frail life- 
 bark in which he is compelled to sail on life's busy and turbulent tide 
 steady against the tossing waves ; he says : "Is it not true that all these 
 things that occur are fore-ordained, and are the results of law and of 
 causes which hang in law immutable and natural ; are we not patterns 
 in the hands of the potter, and are we not compelled onward by a 
 force that surrounds us against which we have no power, over which 
 we have no control ? " Yes, in your degree, my friends, this is really 
 true; you see, you belong to those below the average development; 
 you cannot see how these forces are related to you, and how you can 
 become masters over them, holding them in control in accord with 
 your royal rights. You cannot trace your own kinship as long as you 
 are dependent in the sense these questions imply ; but you are in the 
 servant degrees, and surely swayed by the power of those whose serv- 
 ants you are. But arise at once in your own strength, which means 
 the strength of the knowledge you may have gained ; turn you faces 
 toward the summit with a determination that cannot be turned or 
 changed by every fury and conditional storm that may be thrown 
 around you for trials and approbation. If you remain firm, and 
 withstand temptations, then the light will come to you, and with it 
 strength will come, so that you can advance step by step until at first 
 you can see faint glimpses of those to whom you are the nearest kin, 
 and then the rays of light will encircle you gradually, and by them 
 you will be drawn into the great chain and placed in it as the link 
 which had been missing so long. Then there will be great rejoicing, 
 and you will gain great strength, and then you can look back and see 
 the rocks which lie on each side of the road you have traveled. You 
 can then see the great tunnels through which you passed, and you 
 will laugh when you think how you had worried, prayed, and fretted 
 about darkness and pressure when it was simply a construction 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 101 
 
 through which the road led, and if you had tried to avoid passing 
 through it you would have been led out of the right path, or if you 
 had attempted to climb upward in some other way, or to avoid the 
 passage, the same obstructions would have been met with again, yet 
 they might appear like a different incumbrance, owing, perhaps, to 
 some differently-shaped natural conditions which cause the scenery 
 to appear in different shades ; yet it is all the same, and for the same 
 purpose, and the pressure must be felt in order to cause the necessary 
 impressions. There has been too much fear, too much lamenting 
 over troubles which it seemed as though they were not needed for 
 special unfoldments, and which seemed unjust, therefore unlawful ; 
 yet they came, and were not avoided by the force of law. Now, why 
 does a just God tolerate such injustice to be practiced upon His frail, 
 earthly children whom He loves with the purest, fondest love ? Is 
 this not rather strange and inconsistent ? We know it has been felt 
 and looked upon in that light; therefore, we deem it expedient to 
 speak upon the subject. It is this, dear friends, — that when you 
 possess in your natures attributes which are averse to goodness and 
 purity, and you have acquired a trained morality by which you have 
 suppressed your natural instincts from open view and action in the 
 past, and have thus avoided their development and conversion from 
 the impure to the pure, and it happens then that the guardians who 
 have the care over you will work about you such conditions and ele- 
 ments which possess those potent forces needed to arouse your own 
 innate forces, and thus they meet thoughtlessly, and the substance is 
 breathed from one to the other condition that is akin to it, and thus 
 they become mingled. It is often a slow process before the implanted 
 germs come to be awakened to life and action ; but their unfoldment 
 being once in process, then an unexpected occurrence, or, in a 
 moment, when the forcible conditional waves touching upon the sys- 
 tem forces opposite to those under treatment, as spoken of, when, lo ! 
 action, forcible and fierce, is at once provoked forth. The long, 
 silent, lifeless powers of fhe soul have come to life suddenly ; these 
 attributes make their manifested mark, and there is a commotion of 
 pain and awe or of fear within, until the inbreathed force has become 
 exhausted, and which is followed by a calm. All this is done to 
 show to mortals their standing, also how, and in what degree, they 
 are related to the infinite, and how much they are yet under world]}' 
 rule and subjection according to their attributes and their develop- 
 ments. This is the point which is sought to be attained through 
 these labors, so that they should be seen and recognized, but it is 
 often the case that the owner is unwilling to acknowledge his own 
 
102 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 reality. They look quickly round for something with which to hidft 
 themselves, or by which to make excuses for self, and cannot see the 
 causes of such effects only in other persons who may have done the 
 counter works, because they found relative attributes akin to their 
 own which they could work upon. A truth-loving individual, after 
 the manifest effects of such works, will search so as to learn, and 
 analyze their own and the corresponding conditions which caused 
 such action, and will profit by it, and will grow better and stronger 
 in true principles and motives, for, by being in earnest, the ill can be 
 converted into good, and made to become beneficial instead of destruc- 
 tive in purpose ; but a selfish, ill-disposed person makes a perverted 
 use of such developments, and makes the knowledge thus gained a 
 source of power by which to carry into execution feelings of malice 
 created by this force while it was pregnant with those inbreathed 
 vapors spoken of, and the moment or hour when birth pains were 
 created Irv a positive opposite force, they caused conditional conges- 
 tions which caused ill acts to be realized by those toward whom their 
 thoughts had been unfavorably directed while those vapors were 
 maturing for action, as above stated. 
 
 Such developments are intended for blessings, and to aid in 
 individualization, and will prove to be such when they are viewed, 
 met, and treated aright, but when a perverted use is made of such 
 w r orks which are intended only for individualization, then they prove 
 a source of great punishment, and those who turn to ill purposes all 
 the labors of their angel guardians always have the wrong point in 
 view, and are willfully stubborn, opposing their own needed discipline. 
 They would rather cause punishment to others, and thus gratify the 
 very instincts which the angels labor so hard, so patiently, to trans- 
 form so as to bring about a change for the better. 
 
 How are you related to all these forces of nature ? Ask your- 
 selves, and be candid about it. Do not think others must always 
 yield to you, but let everyone acknowledge the wrongs they have 
 done, and strive hard to aid the loving, patient angels in their efforts 
 to transform those attributes of your natures that these efforts of the 
 loving, faithful angel guardians may be crowned successfully, that 
 they may be enabled to gain a promotion for you into higher degrees, 
 so that you can rise out of those irregular conditions where the shades 
 are mingled which cause so many undefinable realizations. Have 
 you had glimpses of your future homes, foretastes of the blissful con- 
 dition which is to be realized, and tokens of the love and devotion of 
 those who are the nearest akin to you? Then why not cast under 
 foot all those mingled conditions which created ill feelings of hatred, 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 103 
 
 and provoked forth deeds which stand forth as marks of shame upon 
 your royal charts. Do not allow any ill thoughts to spin their webs 
 by giving them tolerance or nutriment from your own inner storehouse, 
 and remember ever that we are only what our purity and develop- 
 ments make us to be in the sight of God and His angels, not what 
 we may seem to be or appear before the world ; that has no bearing 
 upon reality when such an appearing is but a sham, a trained condition 
 of false practice which is in these degrees so common. Let all study 
 and learn how they are related to the infinite, and in what degree 
 they belong. Spiritualists should consider this fact with care, that all 
 spirits who deny Jesus are from the prison spheres, from the regions 
 of the unhappy, or are undeveloped spirits. In the course of an 
 investigation of Spiritualism, and of laboring to solve these great ques- 
 tions, the positive qualities of the mind should necessarily be known, 
 understood, and well considered. We are in the world for the pur- 
 pose of competing with the powers of opposition the same as those 
 people were who have lived before us. We all have our own parts 
 to do in making the world and improving its general conditions. 
 Therefore, we should not seek the aid of the people in worldly mat- 
 ters of our own only on general conditions of such tendencies as those 
 which are for universal benefits. We are to solve these problems of 
 infinite designs ourselves, with the aid which the angels give us, by 
 bringing us strength and light, but we should not cast all the burden 
 upon them, even if it were possible to do so. No, we should be willing, 
 nay, eager, to do or act our own parts in the play according to our 
 ability whenever w r e are called to appear upon the stage, whether in 
 private or public life, even if it be through so-called troubles or pleas- 
 ures, it is all the same. The meritorious point consists in the way in 
 which we act our parts, whether it is performed in a frank, heroic 
 manner, and in a spirit of truth and good will toward all concerned. 
 
 Now I will speak upon the subject of receiving aid from spirits 
 at critical times. It does not matter how that spirit is related to the 
 infinite, by or from whom the aid is given. Receive the aid with a 
 good intention, and do not inquire whether he is a good spirit, or how 
 he stands in degree, but always ask yourself how do I stand, or how 
 do we stand in the presence of the Lord. How near can we draw 
 unto our God, or how far away do our conditions and deeds keep us 
 from Him? Now, I would say this: that, while upon worldly mat- 
 ters there should be no advice sought for from spirits, yet, when it is 
 given gratuitously, it is for wise purposes, and should be heeded and 
 carefully complied with. All advice given by spirits concerning 
 works for universal benefits should be heeded, and followed closely, 
 
104 COMPILATION OF SMELT LECTURES. 
 
 and should be complied with as near as a mortal can comply with it, 
 because it will be working directly according to the orders of God, 
 and the reward will be received directly from Him, apart from all 
 other rewards of general merits of deeds performed while on earth 
 outside of such especial calling. When mortals follow the advice of 
 the angels, as spoken of, they comply with God's laws in such works 
 far above their own understanding, because they work with the angels 
 who are commissioned and sent to perform certain works on earth, 
 and they must have the help of mortals, so that the physical marks 
 can be made by those mortals of such lawful works as an evidence 
 that such commissioned labors have been received by the world, so 
 that the marks of such labors can be made, and which helps to fill the 
 injunctions of the law which demanded such labors to be performed 
 upon earth. The depths of these commingled labors of angels and 
 mortals cannot be fathomed by mortals, nor can their understanding 
 soar to the heights thereof, and, as for the results, they are not always 
 to be realized in the physical degrees at the time when the works are 
 done, therefore they are viewed with indifference because mortals 
 accept all things as mistakes or disappointments which do not meet 
 their expectations in the natural way, and which do not bring effects 
 or results pleasing to the natural man. Let us draw a comparison of 
 mortals who serve in worldly positions of trust, for instance, where 
 human lives are often endangered, and must be reached and saved if 
 possible by their skill and devotion to their duties in office. They, 
 when they prove faithful, are extolled as being heroic, and as being 
 great and good when they render successful services to humanity in 
 this way. But how is it with those who stand upon the stormy banks 
 of the dividing coasts where the lighthouse-keepers hold the light for the 
 mariners who are out on a voyage upon life's turbulent ocean ? They 
 encounter all the ill breezes from the two worlds which are only 
 divided by the atmospheric curtains, and all the conflicting elements 
 aie uirected upon them when they are out trying to rescue those who 
 are about to be plunged into eternal darkness by the waves which are 
 too strong for them to compete with. Are the keepers of such posts 
 extolled in accord with the services they render ? They receive and 
 carry the warnings to the people of earth against such conditions. 
 Yes, they receive them from the watchmen on Zion's mount, and 
 bear the messages where they are sent, — messages of love, also of 
 admonition. How often are those needed vessels endangered, and 
 made to suffer greatly for the purpose only of rescuing others who 
 are out in the threatening storm, and are careless as to their positions 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 105 
 
 of clanger. They do not see the fatal waves which toss so furiously 
 around them. 
 
 Who is there that has investigated closely that can give an 
 accurate estimate of the many lives those weak but faithful servants 
 have saved from being drowned in the great ocean of worldly opinion 
 and strife. Mortals who are tossed to and fro by the foams of decep- 
 tive persons, and by the fancies of their own unsteady minds, would 
 be plunged in the pool of chaotic darkness and confusion, where all 
 atoms and conditions are mingled together, there to await a separa- 
 tion by evolution from that state, which can only be performed by the 
 master-builders in the routine of the transforming marches and 
 changes of time. How many are saved from such a woful fate by 
 the mediums of today ? How many would be there now if the ser- 
 vices of a medium could not have been employed by the angels in 
 accord with Heavenly issue ? Yet there are some who could serve, 
 but they are not willing to do so ; and there are some also who have 
 been rescued, and yet do not give any credit or honor to whom or 
 where it is due. These are points which we wish to be well con- 
 sidered, for they all have a bearing upon the subject, that is, for all 
 mortals to study themselves and learn their own standing, and also 
 how they are related to one another, and also to God. Again we 
 ask : Who can measure the powers and possibilities that are implanted 
 in the mortal being, and who can fathom the depths of human desires 
 and instincts ? No one can, excepting those who created and instilled 
 those qualities into the mortal composition, and they know what 
 changes are needed, and what conditions those inert powers must be 
 brought in contact with in order to quicken them into life, and to 
 provoke forth the needed action. Many persons in these days work 
 out a benefit for humanity without knowing it, and not seeming to do 
 it. They are easily swayed by these invisible forces, and when their 
 wills can be governed by their angel guardians, then all their innate 
 forces can be turned into channels for the performing of useful ser- 
 vices, even unawares to themselves. This is one degree of service, 
 but is not in the same degree of those who labor by a special call 
 and special employment in the Lord's vineyard in this remarkable 
 age, in which the spirit of God is poured out truly upon all flesh, and 
 all can partake of this heavenly diffusion, but all cannot partake so 
 freely of the diffusions flowing from the universe center, for that 
 part of labor special subjects have been reared and are in the line, 
 and proceed forth from the line of those who were selected from 
 the beginning for such labors, and they bear the marks of those rites 
 indelibly made and placed upon each subject of that order, which 
 
106 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 they have reared and sent forth for the reception of such diffusions 
 from the fountain or compact. 
 
 Then, study, friends; time is fleeting, and therefore precious, and 
 the car of progress rolls swiftly by. Awaken then to your duties, 
 and be active, so that you may not be left behind, but by marching 
 on keep pace with the rapid strides of progress. The investigator 
 asks : After these laborious efforts to teach and explain conditions, 
 what are conditions ? Well, friend, they are forces, substances of 
 your own nature, and also of all nature to which, in a natural sense, 
 yDu are akin, and to which, by those subtle, potent forces, you are 
 related. Then, why do you fear the study of conditions, and why do 
 you try to resist the effects of causes as described, owing to your kin- 
 ship to such harmful conditions ? What is this noisy cry of strife ? 
 It is but an echo of co-relative life, and to shun it is to shut our 
 natures in coward-like. We fear others might win, or that we might 
 commit a sin ; when in our own natures is the undeveloped good,— - 
 the sin. 
 
 LECTURE XIX. -(poetry.) 
 
 FROM LIFE TO DEATH. 
 
 Only a shadow that hides from view 
 
 The truth that life is life forever ; 
 Unfoldment renders old things new, 
 
 And teaches mortals they die never. 
 Only a step from cradle to grave, 
 
 Though three-score years have been allotted, 
 Then life returns to him who gave ; 
 
 With mishaps our paths are dotted. 
 
 Only the lessons of infancy learned, 
 
 Are we called home other soils to traverse, 
 What have we profited others, and earned? 
 
 Have we worked well, or all things averse? 
 Angel of recompense, how just and how pure 
 
 From thee we receive all our deeds merit. 
 Woes we create instead of endure, 
 
 Evils we make, all the good we inherit. 
 
 Only a shadow, this grim monster, death, 
 Long has it frightened the travelers below; 
 
 Now it doth vanish, turn sobs into mirth. 
 When travelers from your earth do go, 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 107 
 
 The fiat long announced at last 
 
 In substance now is realized ; 
 Sight dawneth powerful and fast, 
 
 Truths are diffused, — are they well prized? 
 
 Only mistakes made, of scholars not rife, 
 
 Caused all those phantoms so drear ; 
 Undue exertions and misdecreed strife 
 
 Mortals were destined to bear. 
 All the effects of darkness in minds, 
 
 All the results of men's wills, 
 Explore God's decrees in substance and kinds, 
 
 Learn, mortal, that therefrom come no ills. 
 
 Death, thou art conquered, not with the sword, 
 
 But with the light that is shed ; 
 Mortals rejoice now with one accord, 
 
 Though your paths through earth's deserts have led. 
 There in the gloom of unilluminecl mind, 
 
 Death was a monster so grim, 
 View it now closely ; behold how entwined 
 
 Earth life is with the life within. 
 
 Only transition from death to life, 
 
 The fettered spirit has fled ; 
 Progression forever, and peace now for strife, 
 
 The works of the angel beget. 
 Only an hour in the cyclical time 
 
 Till the millennium is in full blast, 
 And although this is imperfect rhyme, 
 
 I leave with it my behest. 
 
 LECTURE XX. 
 
 "ANGEL ministry and spirit labors on earth." 
 
 We have chosen this subject to offer in its treatment a few sug- 
 gestions which may serve as an index to labor and degree divisions, 
 which must be known to mortals before Spiritualism can be called the 
 Everlasting Gospel, and held forth as the only religion in God's uni- 
 verse in which all religious methods find their proper place, and shall 
 be as blocks in a great unit, as niches in the universal temple, and as 
 needed material, no matter of what hue and texture, to be used for 
 the completion of the ultimate whole. Now, we would say, there are 
 
108 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 seven degrees of supreme orders in which revelations, inspirations, 
 and angel ministry are classed. 
 
 A revelation given by the overruling spirit by a holy force, with 
 no spirit visible, is in the first degree, and also each revelation given 
 by one of the spirits which compose the compact, or God-head, is in 
 the first degree. 
 
 An inspiration must be known by its tendency, for they are 
 given in the seven degrees only when needed, but are effected by 
 spirits of all the various indifferent degrees, for indifferent and finite 
 degrees are many in number, and it is in these where most works are 
 done on earth, and should be studied well so as to place only the due 
 worth on each inspiration according to its degree and the purpose it 
 may contain. 
 
 Finding mortals mostly in their degrees, for which, also, labor 
 millions of returning spirits to convince, by phenomenal facts and 
 tests, all those who are drifting, all those who are divided in princi- 
 ple, all who are wonder-seekers, and all who are full of worldliness 
 and seek aid from invisible sources so as to gain whatever their 
 desires in such low degrees may be. 
 
 There are you rated where your hearts are ; there is also your 
 whole being. Although this will and has caused painful experiences 
 to those devoted to God, and rated in the seven higher degrees, yet 
 they are of the number that can rejoice and be glad, for their redemp- 
 tion draweth nigh. They shall be exalted by the power of God, 
 while those who are devoted in these indifferent and lower degrees 
 shall be compelled by invisible force to realize as facts their real 
 standing, the conditions and company they have placed themselves in. 
 The returning spirits all find plenty to do. The world is full of 
 waste matter which is brought forth by these workers and cast into 
 furnaces for consummation. All this is right. The work must be 
 done. Many who are encumbered in these degrees ask : " How shall 
 we receive it if these works are needed ? " " They must also be 
 right." Yes, friends, they are. It is you who are in the wrong, not 
 these returning workers. Are not ninety of every hundred eager to 
 receive a message which has a carnal tendency or upholds selfish- 
 ness ? And are not these easily captivated by a test or a phenomenal 
 display ? 
 
 A small per cent of all who live on earth are receiving with glad 
 hearts the God's truths, and the revelations and inspirations from the 
 higher degrees. If all mortals would unitedly agree to be taught by 
 ministering angels, or spirits, the class would be small which could 
 receive the word from these angels in these higher degrees. About 
 
COMPILATION OF SriMT LECTURES. 109 
 
 sixty per cent would be in the middle degrees, where all claim a 
 degree right who are formally devoted to God, and pass before the 
 world as good, pious people. Even those would be as scholars who 
 had been left to exercise their powers of mind a long time, and who 
 think they know their lessons. Before they are properly classed 
 they are brought forth and examined, and for those who fail to reach 
 the fixed average it will be a descension to still lower grades until 
 there the ranks are all swelled. This work of separation and classifi- 
 cation is being done every day despite the fact that malignant feel- 
 ings work very effectual realizations upon the pure, as before these 
 works of separation were put in motion on earth by the returning 
 spirits. It will not last long. For all who are and have been doing 
 and furthering impure works solid stakes are driven, and conditional 
 walls built by these returning spirits in the lower degrees. 
 
 They may feel lofty until they reach the limit in their extrava- 
 gant pursuits. Then they will realize the fact, if they do not hear 
 the voice : " So far and no farther." "You shall now become prison- 
 ers to your desires and ill deeds, — held by condition walls, staked 
 away from old indulgences, and wholly bereft of power to make an 
 escape, or to cause harm or injury to others." This state will be 
 reached by all who are and have been guilty. 
 
 Now, we would not have mortals understand that it is wrong to 
 receive returning spirits from indifferent spheres and degrees. It is 
 not wrong. If you are truly devoted to God, they have nothing in 
 you, and you can learn from them, in so far as defining grade and 
 degree differences go, and in each case, why they return. 
 
 Study the mortals whom they visit, as well as yourselves, and 
 learn their and 3'our own real standing. Doing that, you will soon 
 find the key to the spiritual temple, and enter and be taught there to 
 understand the mysteries of God, a point which is never reached by 
 those who are fond of roaming, fond of hearing or taking in much 
 but digesting little, and ever keeping their nerves and brain in a 
 debilitated condition, and learn no lessons properly. 
 
 Some would ask if angel ministry is different from spirit labor 
 because it seems divided by a line. Yes, friends, it is different. 
 
 Those who are serving God and mortals in that degree are doing 
 no other works but to teach the word, — the truth of God, — and avoid 
 by their presence harm and difficulties. They are, for this and simi- 
 lar reasons, opposed in their labors by these different workers, 
 because they take the unwary mortals threatened with ills from the 
 different workers. 
 
 They shield and protect them, and lead them in the right way 
 
110 COMPILATION OF SPIBIT LECTURES. 
 
 by teaching and infusing light, so they can see their failings, and 
 show them the way to outgrow them, and to become stronger, so that 
 they can bask in the sunlight these ministers bring, and walk in the 
 right way up progression's steep hill, instead of passing through the 
 many ordeals on side paths, where the different workers like to lead 
 all whom they can, then subject them to the said order for committed 
 offences. 
 
 Then, if they are sincere, they will learn their lessons, and avoid 
 being led astray ; if not, they are again surrounded and tempted to 
 stray out into other side paths and meet with troubles, but each time 
 different in nature and tendency, until the person thus led and affected 
 gain a mastery over themselves and also over their invisible adver- 
 saries who drive them to judgment for misdeeds or careless acts 
 against law and order. 
 
 Those who are visited by angel ministers, and have shared their 
 sympathy in trials, have had their aid and powerful protection ; have 
 received the word — the truth, as it were — right from the throne of 
 the Most High God, and still do not walk in the paved path of 
 law and gospel, but love to listen to enticing voices, and stray off 
 into dangerous side paths only to gratify their selfish cravings and 
 impulses. 
 
 They are of all mortals the most willfully stubborn, and theirs is 
 a most wicked earthly career, because they use the desired knowledge 
 which is pure for impure worldly purposes, and their reward will be 
 with those who are left without the gates. 
 
 Each word which is brought to earth by these appointed and 
 anointed heavenly ministers is as manna from Heaven, and is the 
 iood the soul of man needs to heal and expand and aid in growth, 
 and so make it a counter power for the physical body with its func- 
 tions and senses. Then, if this is so, each word, though simple and 
 meaningless before it is rightly understood, should be treasured and 
 studied until the true meaning is seen. He who is wise will take all 
 these sayings to heart, and ponder them well. Remember the admoni- 
 tion of the angel ministers is : " Treasure up each word though it 
 may seem simple and meaningless ; study it until the true meaning 
 dawns upon you," until you are led to receive the positive proofs 
 given by the spirit of God to your spirit intuitively, and by the labor- 
 ing spirits in physical realizations, so that the testimony w T ill be com- 
 pleted and firm in your minds. It will so be stated in the finite and 
 infinite records. 
 
 Beware of being unsteady, and, in so doing, labor for a revision 
 worse for you in the heavenly records. See by this the degree 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. Ill 
 
 differences and proper offices for spirit labor. There is a worldly 
 and a heavenly record, and there are worldly and heavenly claims 
 upon each born mortal, and all spirits and angels of light are messen- 
 gers and servants of the Most High to the children of earth, only 
 laboring in very different degrees, and in their methods opposing each 
 other, yet doing their legal parts in accord with the commissions of 
 their degrees. 
 
 Now, it does not necessarily mean that you should not come in 
 contact with those who are in lower degrees, and are worked upon by 
 such spirits who officiate in such degrees ; but you must keep before 
 you, in large letters, the motto " Truth, Love, and Justice " when 
 you have dealings with doubtful mortals or spirits. If you adhere 
 closely to those principles they will leave you undisturbed. They 
 may be angry if their motives were impure, and they hoped to have 
 you encumbered in a scheme, but they cannot harm you, — that is, 
 these same ones could not, but others of a more advanced finite 
 degrees can and do in such cases work upon you to try and probe you 
 by enticements and aggravations to find if there are any deficiencies 
 to such claims which you put forth. If you stand the trials and pass 
 them safely, then you are numbered in the higher degrees, and you 
 will gradually receive light and knowledge and strength from there 
 to put beneath your feet, for time and eternity, all lower claims and 
 annoyances from different workers and conditions. 
 
 The spiritualistic platform should contain degree rights and dif- 
 ferences, and will in due time ; but the place is not quite reached. 
 We are only gradually nearing it, and will endeavor to prepare mor- 
 tals all over earth for it, which will be learned by all who are trained 
 to be the veteran guards in this great movement, to learn from each 
 other what to them have been the especial instructions about forming 
 this basis, and what they have been taught by their especial spirit 
 instructors, and unawares the scales will fall from the eyes of all who 
 are chosen to be foremost, and they can behold the degree lines in 
 proper order, and see where all are classed according to their received 
 knowledge and instructions. Then all fossils will be consumed, and 
 a union effected which will never be rent asunder. 
 
 It must be in this great universal academy that all find room and 
 proper teachers, and be taught their natural standing first, and the 
 spiritual after, when the soil is prepared for such a seeding. But it 
 cannot and will not be tolerated that those classed in the lower 
 degrees yet have power of language and knowledge of common things 
 in general, that they are at the head and leading, or trying to lead, 
 those who may not have ready command of language, or not possess 
 
112 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 worldly eloquence yet numbered in the higher or highest degrees, 
 acquainted with God's ways and mysterious workings, how it is and 
 has been from the beginning. 
 
 Heretofore it has been thus, and all troubles fed from such pre- 
 posterous labors, namely, that the worldly learned and somewhat 
 spiritually aided have been extolled as great men and women, when 
 really there was not or is not any greatness in them, but who in 
 their proper places would be quite little. 
 
 And those are the most needful lessons for all such, that is, to 
 learn their littleness, and compare it with their displayed greatness in 
 borrowed garbs. 
 
 Those belonging in lower degrees must be taught by those in the 
 higher, and cannot be allowed to govern or even suggest how they 
 would have works conducted. 
 
 But they can and have a voice and a share in their proper rights 
 belonging to their degree. 
 
 It is heavenly order. 
 
 LECTURE XXL 
 
 " WHAT DOES SPIRITUALISM DO FOR MORTALS ? " 
 
 It reveals to men's understanding all the difficult problems and 
 questions which before this were shrouded in mystery. 
 
 It reveals to the studious how life is made up, namely, of what 
 substances, spiritual and natural. 
 
 It reveals the creative processes of worlds, and the methods, by 
 which people and worlds are transformed. 
 
 It shows plainly that life in the preceding worlds, also the 
 worlds, too, are real and lasting, while earth is only a temporary 
 abode, and earth life from necessity a changing life. 
 
 There is nothing in Spiritualism which mortals should shun or 
 be afraid of, because it is like all great things from the upper realms, 
 — sent to change the existing forms on earth. There is much said 
 about it which is not true, and much conceived which is not properly 
 applied and understood. It should, therefore, receive the closest 
 study of all persons, so that they could speak from knowledge con- 
 cerning it, and not commit themselves so much by resting their con- 
 versation on frameless suppositions. 
 
 It is true there are many shades produced, for waves are being 
 set off constantly from the conditional tides with which mortals are 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 113 
 
 agitated. But if many shades are produced they are all a demand of 
 mortals, and are needed, and are legal in their effects. Too many 
 turn their faces away when they realize unpleasant effects, and, to 
 hide their inner guilt and deficiencies, they say they are disgusted 
 and will have nothing more to do with Spiritualism. Such places, 
 friends, are bad stopping points, for the jest will turn upon your- 
 selves, because such are the effects in all cases, — they are the out- 
 workings of such persons' own conditions. These can be shunned, 
 but it only makes a larger debt, which must some time be can- 
 celed. 
 
 If you are true workers, and are searching truly after the truth, 
 then turn from no presented shade, but learn what its mission is 
 with you. Then only can you advance in the essential march, and 
 learn that the promised reward for all the faithful is yours, not 
 otherwise. 
 
 Rise above the subtle undulations which cause the fickleness and 
 waverings of your mind and ideas. 
 
 Such works are dexterously kept up in all mortals by the 
 workers of chaotic conglomerations, where the better faculties offer 
 no resistance to the voiceless wires by which vapors are caused to 
 approximate, and are adjusted to the mortal brains, and upon the 
 functions which are the most easily beset. 
 
 Now, friends, that is not Spritualism, but is one of the existing 
 mysteries which are revealed and explained by the so-called " Spirit- 
 ualism," or by heavenly ministers, who operate on or through earthly 
 mediums. 
 
 The studious can search and find all these things. As soon as 
 found they become analytical, and what could be used for ill through 
 ignorance can be used for good through knowledge. 
 
 It is not Spiritualism but the facts which Spiritualism reveals 
 and explains that should be looked for, then perhaps the truth of 
 what Spiritualism does for humanity would dawn on the minds of 
 stupid mortals. 
 
 Some in this place have laid grave charges against Spiritualism, 
 and expressed themselves harshly in regard to those through whom 
 Spiritualism or angel voices find a way to manifest, and to be made 
 audible to mortal hearing. 
 
 But, search, friends, search after facts, and you will find that it 
 is not Spiritualism alone that is and has been doing harm. It 
 simply peers into the mortal arena where games are played upon 
 unwary mortals, and uncovers the schemes, and enmity has come 
 frum it, because the guilty are upheld by the very ones upon whom 
 
114 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 they have preyed, also by others who, from their created conditions, 
 are worked upon. But all these revelations of impure mortal trans- 
 actions are not Spiritualism, but simply some of the unpleasant 
 works it has to perform on earth in bringing these impure transac- 
 tions to the surface, or to mortal view. 
 
 Spiritualism itself is gospel, pure and true. The world is full of 
 scheming ; Spiritualism is ushered in to arrest this unhealthy pur- 
 suit, for the will of God shall be known on earth as it is in Heaven, 
 and shall be done on earth as in Heaven ; but before this can be 
 accomplished much battling must be done, because of the force of 
 mortals' adverse wills. 
 
 They do not wish that the man-made works and schemes should 
 perish before that which is truly of God. But it will perish, and the 
 great work when once accomplished will be accredited to Spiritual- 
 ism, not to Churchism. 
 
 This is a great boon, this hated Spiritualism. It does what all 
 religions that ever have existed only succeeded in accomplishing in 
 part. Those who are now the veteran guards, and endure much from 
 their worldly-minded enemies, will wear the laurels in time to come. 
 
 How can mortals be so blind spiritually that they cannot behold 
 the blessings brought to earth through this so-called Spiritualism ? 
 Each visit from the worlds beyond leaves a blessing upon earth, and 
 upon those to whom the visit was made. You cannot be in commun- 
 ion with your departed friends but what some of their superior 
 knowledge is impressed upon you, and it tends to open the mind's 
 avenues, so that the light from above can penetrate and reveal to 
 you your deficiencies, and to point out the duties you owe to your 
 Creator and to mortals. Common preaching cannot do it, because 
 the spirit is not there to do the operating works, so that the word 
 can find an entrance into the heart and soul. Many new and needed 
 ideas are brought each day, each hour, by these heavenly visitors, 
 and it renders earth light and beautiful. 
 
 Mortals by endurance become endowed with the power of the 
 spirit of those with whom they hold communion, and in that power, 
 then, they are enabled to survey the rubbish which has gathered 
 through misconceptions, and has settled over the germs of truth 
 which, before this, were sown and implanted in all human souls. 
 
 Men are aroused to study by these heavenly forces. By coming 
 in contact with the angels through communion they are prepared to 
 receive truths which flesh and blood could not reveal nor teach ; and 
 then, through sincere study of these revealed truths, they arrive at 
 the knowledge which all faiths have pictured forth. 
 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. .115 
 
 Are there not, then, grand uses in Spiritualism ? Now, friends, 
 look rightly at these things for once. The impure, absurd, the 
 utterly ridiculous, which unwise mortals have talked about so much 
 is mortalism, if you please, not Spiritualism. The spirits have to 
 bring such rubbish forth and expose it to view so as to cause venti- 
 lation. If it was not in mortals, and in the world, these errand 
 spirits could have better work to do, which would please them better 
 and mortals likewise. 
 
 Mortals have alwavs received knowledge from on high concern- 
 ing themselves and their duties in quantities suiting the demand of 
 each age, and this knowledge was always given through mortal 
 organisms. 
 
 Then, take angel ministry out of the programme from begin- 
 ning to end, and what is left ? "What knowledge would there be in 
 this world if it had not been imparted through the mediums of all 
 the ages for the benefit of all ? 
 
 Consider the man-made as much as you will, they must borrow 
 a little of the subjects from that which is divinely given through 
 mortal brains. 
 
 Now we are having the great long-promised spirit out-pouring, 
 and mortals have given it the name Spiritualism, and some have even 
 chosen to sneer at it, when it is of all the blessings God has bestowed 
 on his earthly children the greatest. All fragmentary inspirations 
 and revelations are now completed and given in full, and this is the 
 reason of the rejections. Men love their own works, and, lo ! they 
 see their errors swept away, their misconceptions rectified and placed 
 aside, and still they wish to keep them longer. 
 
 There are still a great many who hold dear the adverse idea 
 that " ignorance is bliss," though it keeps them down to the animal 
 level. They have nothing to do there but labor and eat, and pay 
 penalties for their trespasses of nature's laws, in sufferings caused in 
 such ways. How sad that there is no desire to rise and draw nigh 
 unto God, now while the gates stand ajar. 
 
 Do not mistake the time, friends, for the gates will close again 
 when the time marked for this spirit out-pouring is ended. It will 
 not last always. Make good use of it while it is your time, your 
 day of heavenly visitations. 
 
 Many say : " I see nothing in Spiritualism." " No, certainly 
 not." You have looked at it adversely all the while. You looked 
 on the mortal out-workings as though it were Spiritualism, and on 
 true Spiritualism as though it were the condition of mortals. It is 
 
116 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 quite a wrong view you have had, and when it changes you will 
 have occasion to keep silent and study. 
 
 The spirits who are sent to minister to those on earth bring 
 knowledge and blessings, and open up under-ground works in which 
 mortals are engaged. 
 
 Spirits often give instructions in regard to worldly affairs if 
 there are conditions to be subsided which are unjust, which have 
 been thrown about and created by these so-called schemers. But you 
 see the worst part is in mortals and their practices, not in Spiritual- 
 ism, and is and must be arrested and brought to naught by the heav- 
 enly workers. 
 
 The angels do not come to at once change mortals into angels 
 by their teachings, and by the light and truth they bring. No, but 
 gradually the unfoldment must be made, — slow but sure is the essen- 
 tial march, for such is the order of true progress. 
 
 All who are willing are safely led out of earth's conditional wil- 
 derness to the blest haven of rest, where they can see clearly how 
 all things were meant, and walk safely in the heavenly way up pro- 
 gression's glorious hills. 
 
 In short, modern Spiritualism furnishes the key with which can 
 be unlocked all the mysteries of the past. 
 
 Those who obtain this key can enter the sacred vestibules and 
 ihere penetrate and find the causes which provoked the effects on 
 earth that have been mysterious to mortal view and conception. 
 
 Who is it then that can with a true voice even ask the question : 
 "What has Spiritualism done for mortals?" Surely, all such know 
 nothing of the nature of the things which are being transacted all 
 
 © © © 
 
 around them, or they could not ask if it was not for the force which 
 is constantly brought to earth by the returning million who minis- 
 ter to mortal needs now while chaos endeavors to shoot his fiery 
 wrath, because those elements are to be changed through these 
 
 7 © © 
 
 natural struggles, and all the confused matter thrown back into the 
 boiling reservoir of nature^ where the melting and molding is a proc- 
 ess of time, from thence evolving and creating therefrom again. 
 This fury is felt somewhat on earth, and mortals are tried by it, yet 
 they are powerfully sustained against it by the force brought from on 
 high by the ministers and heavenly workers, or the woes could not 
 be endured. Can the worldly wise not discern the natural revolu- 
 tions and elementary changes from spirit labor ? And cannot the 
 worldly impurities be discerned and distinguished from the heavenly 
 truths and revelations ? If not, then rest not day nor night until 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 117 
 
 you learn these differences, so you will know of a certainty whereof 
 you speak when modern Spiritualism comes in question. 
 
 So far advanced in the march of time, with history to confirm 
 the facts of former natural changes and similar processes as that 
 through which earth and mortals are now passing, cannot mortals 
 behold the truth, and become awakened to their duties ? 
 
 Ah, this strife of forces which seek for affinities with which to 
 cohere and to appear changed and in better forms ! 
 
 The tide of these works flows onward ever, 
 And all this strife can rest never, 
 Until all the impure is transformed. 
 
 Learn, O mortals, to use vour reason, and see that true religion 
 is a part of your being, and must have a natural growth, and must 
 become practical or it is a sham, nothing real. 
 
 Mortals are composed of powers which, when aroused to life 
 and action, enable them to mount summit after summit, and learn as 
 they go that, as they make use of the good of the heavenly attributes 
 in them, they practice a religion which is undefiled and acceptable in 
 the sight of God. What good does a profession do when there is no 
 inner strength developed with which to comprehend that which the 
 lips utter ? how could it be brought into practice ? 
 
 A sudden change of heart is a something to which there is no 
 basis, no substance. A psychological impression can be made on 
 persons in revival meetings, but that does not change the man or 
 woman ; yet, at times the shock quickens the better faculties, and 
 life does begin there, but it must and does grow slowly. This chang- 
 ing is not done at once. Spirit control explains that perfectly. Now, 
 for instance, while a so-called medium is under the magnetic power 
 of the operator, they may utter words of wisdom and feel the purity 
 and throbbings of the pure bosom of the operator. How it longs to 
 alleviate human woes, and work to have God's will known and done 
 on earth ! yet, when that ministering spirit leaves and passes on to 
 other duties, after a time all those feelings are cast off. The person 
 is him or herself again, and are only what they have grown and 
 developed to be, and no more. Yet, as this control has its repetition, 
 and a part of the pure force always remains, it does in time effect a 
 great change of the inner and outer being. 
 
 Blessed are those who are faithful to the end. All who put a 
 hand to the plow, let them not draw back lest they loose their 
 reward. Also, beware of fickleness. When you have been con- 
 vinced of a truth, hold fast to it, and ever hold dear those through 
 
118 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 whom the truths, the heavenly treasures, have been sent to you by 
 the angels. Never let new lights which may be held by friends 
 before you dazzle your eyes or blind you to that light which aided 
 you the most. When in the darkness of your minds, and wholly 
 enveloped in the labyrinths of ills, and ill-woven conditional webs, 
 that true light was always held out as given from the heavenly light- 
 house above into the hand of a mortal medium. That hand should 
 be sacred which held forth that much-needed light. That voice 
 should be loved the most that breathed forth in words the balm of 
 Gilead which angels brought and infused. Those lessons should 
 always seem the grandest which revealed right and wrong to you, 
 and whereby you were lead to study the good and evil in yourselves 
 and others. Take all those lessons over and review them carefully. 
 The blurs have vanished in part, and you may see the true uses of 
 the transactions which you have not considered good. 
 
 Find, if you can, the key, 
 
 'T is within the reach of all ; 
 Unlock each one their inner cells ; 
 Behold what force your bosoms swells, — 
 
 Be wise, avoid a fall. 
 
 If you were brought to judgment today, what account could you 
 give of what Spiritualism had done for you ? Ask yourselves. Sum 
 up truthfully the things you know it did for you, and ponder upon 
 them, and upon your duties, as a consequence of the aid received. 
 
 As for the world in general, and those people who know noth- 
 ing of the power by which things are kept in motion and trans- 
 formed, they cannot measure what Spiritualism does for them and 
 the world. They have not the power developed by which to com- 
 j>rehend it, but are in the ratio with indifferent matter taken through 
 the transforming processes, knowing nothing about it. 
 
 Truly, the Lord had sent forth his angels with commands and 
 messages, and through them has called all who would hear his voice 
 thus made audible to come and reason upon all things of common 
 interest. But the time of these reasonings will end as said, the gates 
 will not remain ajar longer than is necessary to do the sifting, sepa- 
 rating, and garnering. After those days all who are now blind to 
 what takes place will see what Spiritualism had done for mortals, 
 and will be obliged to experience due punishment for the neglected 
 opportunities. 
 
 July 30. 1881. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 119 
 
 LECTURE XXII. 
 
 THE EMPIRE REASON. IS IT CAPABLE AT ALL TIMES TO WHOLLY 
 
 GOVERN THE MENTAL MONARCHY? 
 
 We have chosen this heading in order to open the minds 
 of investigators to some of the most dangerous points which, in the 
 present demonstrations of supernal as well as natural knowledge, are 
 displayed to divert the attention and to entangle the weary pilgrims. 
 Admitting that reason is an authorized sovereign over the mental 
 dominion, and that he can and shall use his power in this sense, it 
 is, then, not wholly capable of governing the whole monarchy, for 
 there are parts of the superior senses and faculties that are as resist- 
 less as the ocean, and they flow wherever they will, and cannot be 
 held in restraint and governed only by the Supreme Ruler who 
 molded and fashioned each separate instinct in the mental construc- 
 tion. Therefore, we say, reason is dependent on a superior govern- 
 ment under which it serves, for its dominion is in the realm of the 
 natural senses and instincts, and the diviner faculties must be gov- 
 erned and supported by the power which grafted reason into the 
 mental constitution, to be the sovereign over all the natural inclina- 
 tions and senses. This, then, being a finite dominion, it is subject to 
 and is governed by the infinite, which knowledge many of this gene- 
 ration set aside. Therefore the many arguments about the God- 
 head, as to wdiether God is a personal or an impersonal spirit, and 
 whether the universe is a republic or a monarchial government. If 
 it is a republic, then the wise can set up their reason and erect a 
 monarchy of their own, and bring weaker vessels under their domin- 
 ion ; but if it be a monarchy, then there is a supreme sovereign to 
 whom they must yield their power, and be ruled by this sovereign, 
 and they will be permitted to rule according to the decrees of his 
 wisdom. Even so it is with the mind. It is free to act ; thought 
 cannot be hindered, nor desires restrained, for the elements which con- 
 tribute to each system are permitted to have this liberty, and expan- 
 sion cannot be forced by limits ; yet the limits are marked, and the 
 liberty of the mind has a fixed depth and height, and when it falls 
 below or leaps over the boundary lines, then the restrictions are 
 quickly enforced by this supreme power which rules all mind as well 
 as all matter. Therefore, the mental domain is a large portion of 
 the great monarchy which is called the universe. Mental strength 
 has produced more than the strength of muscle, and we have a uni- 
 verse grand and prosperous throughout, and the intelligence of the 
 
120 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 t 
 wielding power of all mind and matter has instilled itself into all 
 created beings, both angel and man, so that it can be truly said they 
 are gods in wisdom, and have power according to their wisdom ; yet 
 they are subject to Him who created them thus, and imparted wisdom 
 and power of His to all according to their strength or capacity for 
 receiving. When reason has attained to a finer growth than it can 
 attain to on earth, then it will be but a humble servant, although exalted 
 among the principal organs, and would not transcend its sphere, 
 knowing that all transcending of the marked limits would be trans- 
 gression even by being subjected to the laws and rules which were 
 violated by the act. As all mind is a part of the infinite mind, the 
 infinite mind being a monarchial power which rules all supremely, it 
 can be stated as a monarchy, taking the mental in this sense, as the 
 whole intelligence of the universe. 
 
 Now we will endeavor to show the extremes reached, which, in 
 regard to the use of reason by the different grades of mortals who all 
 act according to reason, or else set this principal organ as being a serv- 
 ant of other minds aside in gentle submission. We will begin with 
 the Christian teacher first. He cries out to His subjects : " Have 
 faith in Jesus, trust in Him, He will do all, He will save you, and all 
 will be well, if you can only have faith." This is a degrading, sinful 
 declaration, for these weak-minded people do not make use of their 
 reason at all so as to learn for themselves that the merits of another, 
 no matter how much we may trust to him, can never be ours, or do 
 us any good only as we may merit for ourselves something of the 
 kind by following strictly the precepts and examples given by Jesus, 
 the author of the Christian religion. This mental drowsiness and 
 spiritual ease into which the majority of Christians have fallen is a 
 fearful thing. Masses are awakened from this sleep only when the 
 spirit, being released from the body, finds itself in a dense desert, no 
 longer a mortal, but an inhabitant of another world, rather than a 
 spirit, as the form is no more spiritualized than their attained spirit- 
 uality has provided for them, and then there is woe and much bitter 
 feelings toward their teachers ; for they do not find themselves in 
 Heaven, nor in the presence of Jesus, with nothing to do but to sing 
 psalms and worship. How different is the reality ! Great masses of 
 difficulties lie before them that seem insurmountable, — labors to be 
 performed which are hard and humiliating, and the soul is being con- 
 stantly agonized and filled with remorse because they had lived a lie, 
 and had waved the banner of religion without being useful to them- 
 selves or others, while they were thus idling their time away had 
 depended on another to carry them safely through. As they see 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 121 
 
 this, then, they pronounce those teachings a farce, and are very bitter 
 against it. It would be better for this class of mortals to awaken up 
 and use their reason while on earth. Then this sad after-course would 
 be avoided. This we state to show from whence comes the bitterness 
 which some returning spirits proclaim in regard to the churches. It 
 is between this class, described as the sleeping Christians, and the 
 scientific explorer, that these extremes lie as regards the uses made of 
 reason. 
 
 The first class mentioned do not exercise to any extent this great 
 power of the mind, and the other chambers of the mind are dried up 
 and musty, are not expanded nor furnished in the least, only the few 
 narrow cells where the preponderance concerning the pursuit of 
 business or the cares of physical life carry in and out all manner of 
 complicated haze to form thought and conclusions. But these are 
 parts of the brain which are of the least honor in the grand selection 
 on the furnished chart. On this chart are all the lineaments and 
 qualities in the constitution of man, and he can develop all the parts 
 belonging to this large storehouse, — the mind. How large a uni- 
 verse each and everyone can thus create by study for him or herself, 
 over which they may preside, depends upon their desire and true love 
 for exploration. When this is done, it is then advisable that the devo- 
 tional faculties should be highly cultivated and held in reverence, for 
 if sublimity is more largely developed than devotion, and more rever- 
 enced, then self-esteem steps in as an adversary to tempt the imperial 
 power. Reason, so highly exalted by sublimity, is made to rule all 
 the senses, even those which do not come under its dominion, and by 
 this the wise man is made the captive of this adversary, and led on 
 by him into lofty exploration for a certain time, being led to talk much 
 wisdom, and even to deny God, and to depend on his own might, 
 thinking himself safe enough in the tower of intellect, guarded by the 
 mighty power, reason, thus encompassing worlds with his wisdom. But, 
 ah ! a sad turn in this march tells him that he had erred, and walked 
 in the wrong paths which should have been avoided. As soon as the 
 labors of this adversary are done, he leaves the subject he had tempted 
 out in the barren wilderness of troubles into which he had led him, 
 and, in order to get out of this wilderness, he must, by sober and hard 
 study, learn the way ; he must retreat and climb anew, and walk in 
 the only progressive pathway. These cases mark the extremes, as 
 you can well see, and they are very hard to amend. 
 
 Reason is given to man to exercise and cultivate carefully, but 
 all the faculties of the mind cannot be wholly and safely intrusted to 
 the control of reason. Reason can only rule wholly over the natural 
 
122 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 faculties so far as his domain goes, but that even does not extend as 
 far as men generally suppose. All men and women are spirits while 
 on earth the same as when they have been transplanted into succeeding 
 worlds, the body only is composed differently, and that which we 
 term the natural are the faculties belonging to the body, and over 
 these reason can exert its rule. The divine faculties of the spirit 
 are governed by an attending guardian angel. This spirit, attending 
 thus, the spirit that is sent forth upon an earthly journey, should be 
 always heeded, and its appeals to the conscience, which is either testi- 
 mony with or against our spirit, should at all times be recognized, 
 and then reason shall by no means be set aside. No, it then becomes 
 one of the divine faculties, but in mortals it has only a coarser 
 growth. The council of reason and the dictates of the spirit should 
 be Compared at such times as that of the weighing and deciding of 
 questions ; the mind should be calm, the heart beat true, and the only 
 desire should be for truth to reveal itself, and that justice should 
 decide the question. In doing this you will not be subjected to any 
 bonds, but are free to journey onward ; but remember that, in order to 
 walk safely, you must walk confidently ; put a careful confidence in your 
 attending spirit guardian, and be cautious that reason does not betray 
 you into an adversary's witty interposition. Therefore, such being 
 the facts, it is plain that reason cannot govern alone, nor can it be 
 left at liberty ; but it can, if aided by the spirit's voice or conscience, 
 preside over the actions which are the results of the mind, but not 
 independent of this, because there are classifications of the mental 
 faculties which must have their own rights, and these rights must be 
 learned, because the causes are higher than the effects, and for all 
 causes we must have effects, or expansion and development would be 
 impossible. Creating energy would not be crowned in its efforts to 
 promote creation's extension and prosperity as well as to illumine the 
 intellects. The subtle laws by which causes are fixed, and in which 
 they hang, are known only to the world-builders, and to the managers 
 of the conditional stage. This being a fact, how can any man say : 
 " We defy God or divine authority ? We will accept or reject what- 
 ever may be issued, according to the conclusions at which our own 
 reason may arrive." Now, let us see the infallibility of the reason 
 of man when it comes to the discerning and deciding upon supernal 
 wisdom, and questions anything which embraces the past and future as 
 well as the present. For an explanation, we will select a party, and 
 take them out on an exploring expedition. We will take three mate- 
 rial scientists, three infidels, three rational scientists, three moralists, 
 three religionists, and, lastly, three Spiritualists. Now, we have a 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTLKES. 123 
 
 party of eighteen, who are patterns after which many follow. All 
 start with one and the same purpose, viz., to explore the mysterious 
 things of nature, also to penetrate through and beyond the veil of the 
 border land as far as possible. We shall only traverse a small space 
 of ground, which to the explorer seems a great distance, until we are 
 compelled to stop, for before them is a mine right in the road of 
 progress, and all must explore this mine before they can go further. 
 There are many entrances to it, and all exploring travelers are 
 attracted according to the desire which first led them to explore. 
 There are also very many attendants or guides ready, of every degree 
 or shade, to respond to the wishes of the explorers, and all make 
 choice of the one they prefer. The material scientists wish for the 
 giant Reason to walk at their right hand, and one of Self-Esteem to 
 the left. Thus armed, they enter and descend a stairway, and begin 
 at once to bring all unusual objects which are met with in the min- 
 eral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms under the criticism of their 
 wisdom. They study hard, and link the parcels together according 
 to the gigantic decision of their right-hand attendant, Reason, and 
 then, being exalted as gods by their left-hand attendant, Self-Esteem, 
 they retreat for a season to report to the rest of mankind the result of 
 their explorations ; and then they start again anew, and penetrate into 
 other cells in the mine, in the directions of the ether and atmospheric 
 divisions, which extend upwards. There they make some discoveries 
 more wonderful than the first, because higher in the cast, and which 
 act as the developing factors of matter. This being solved accord- 
 ing to their wisdom, and decided according to their reason, then 
 they think they know it all, that they have learned the secret of 
 the universe, and have found the key to creation's wonderful story. 
 But the worldly wisdom will turn to folly, for no explorer can thus 
 find the hidden pathway that leads to true wisdom, so as to learn of 
 a truth any of the mysteries of the universe. 
 
 Matter of itself produces nothing, nor did ever. True evolu- 
 tions seem natural, yet they are the effects of wisdom and skill, and 
 life and spirit must be instilled into all atoms or there would be no 
 development possible. Hence the power that does this is supreme 
 over all. We will now attend to the infidels, and sec what guides 
 they will choose. They have been hesitating for some time, but 
 finally concluded to choose an attendant armed with the webs of 
 flesh, such as might be secured by money, a position bought with 
 money, and a luxurious outfit for a journey. All these are shown 
 around this attendant, symbolical of his degree, and of the regions 
 into which he would lead them. They follow him over the wide 
 
124 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 steps out into the green fields and forests, and they listen to the voice 
 of their attendant as he utters blasphemy against God ; and as he leads 
 his willing followers on into difficulties and troubles, he pronounces 
 the works of God as conflicting with each other. A sad adventure 
 takes place as they travel on, for all at once they find themselves in 
 the midst of a turbulent ocean ; being tossed about by the wild waves, 
 and without rudder or compass to aid them in their course, they are 
 left to their fate, having been forsaken by their brilliant attendant, 
 who had broken over the boundary lines of law and gospel, and their 
 cast, not admitting of two sides to the question, therefore only one 
 has been spoken of. The next party is the rational scientists, who 
 have weighed the possibilities of their explorations, have chosen one 
 who bears the title of "Love of the Wonderful" for their right-hand 
 guide, for their left hand they have chosen Dignity and Criticism. 
 They start out cautiously, weighing well all that occurs, or is shown 
 to them by their right-hand guide, who marks it all as wonderful as 
 he endeavors to open their understanding. Then Dignity brings in 
 Criticism to aid in solving the marvels which have been found by the 
 explorers, and which they are uncertain from whence to trace them, 
 whether to base their being and origin on a rational basis or not ; but 
 after a laborious research they retreat without advancing into other 
 parts of the mine. They ponder and weigh all parts and particles, 
 and at last conclude that, according to their views, all can be safely 
 based on rational science. This class of persons are not very far 
 advanced in the scale of existence, as they will find, for not one 
 superior attribute contributes an exalted thought to their sum of ideas. 
 They are nothing but hollow, floating bubbles, and as such we will leave 
 them. The next party in question is the moralists. These, desiring to 
 make a characteristic impression upon other traveling explorers, have 
 carefully counseled together as to whom they should choose for their 
 guides, and have finally concluded to place Justice for their right-hand 
 guide, and strict observance of conduct for the left hand ; and thus 
 they proceed, waving an emblem of philanthropy, and seeking for 
 such knowledge as will benefit their fellow brothers when the results 
 of their explorations are received by them. They do not seek for 
 the ore and the shrub, or the origin of animals, from which to 
 form links in the chain, yet they look all this over so as to com- 
 pose useful maxims ; finally, they conclude that the moral which 
 should be lived up to is this : that the sacred temple of the inner 
 being should be purified and paved, so as to bring it in order for the 
 higher laws to act therein, to mold and fashion its finer parts, so 
 that this ternple can be made into a fit and lovely residence for the 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 125 
 
 spirit of God, who, when residing there, will bring all His attributes 
 and principles and impart them to this inner being, that they may 
 become a part of it. This party, then, are pursuing a fair course, 
 and unless self-esteem should overtake and cause them to fall, they 
 can proceed and explore the other parts of the mine successfully. 
 But we must leave them now, and see what the religionists are doing. 
 We will take the religious teachers now, but they have not started 
 yet into the mine ; we find them just outside, with sober faces, say- 
 ing : '''Liberty to Explorers.' This is the name of the mine. How 
 perplexing this is, that there are no finger-boards with positive direc- 
 tions to tell us which path leads to Zion and which to Hell or 
 Gehenna ? The entrances are so nearly alike, who can tell where 
 benefit can be derived, or where dangers may be encountered by 
 venturing in such explorations ? " They have their text-books, and 
 one concludes to keep it in his right hand while he sees a figure 
 approaching towards his left, and which he fears to be Satan, but it 
 is only a mocking figure bearing the name of Coward. He starts 
 alone, for religious heads in this present age are so divided in opin- 
 ions. His explorations are narrow-minded, and of little or no value. 
 He retreats and ponders on the shadows until he is called to meet 
 reality. The next one says : " I shall go alone, too. I will take Jesus 
 for my right-hand guide and counselor also, and whatever is attracted 
 to my left hand I will combat with." He is less fearful, and, there- 
 fore, travels on further and further, and discovers many things sub- 
 lime in design, and which would be of great value to his fellow 
 men ; yet, on his retreat, he conceals the results of his explora- 
 tions in his own bosom, and ponders upon them, and the world 
 is not benefited any because he does not make his discoveries 
 known, therefore he cannot reap any reward for all his labors. The 
 third one has been out with an attendant called Curiosity, but has 
 returned to the entrance, sincerely pondering over the possibilities 
 and responsibilities. He sighs, and says : " A man is a humbug if 
 he teaches one thing when he is convinced of another. What shall 
 I do ? Who shall I choose to guide me in these seemingly danger- 
 ous explorations ? I will place Integrity for my right-hand guide 
 and Uprightness to my left, if they will serve." They bow, and 
 willingly attend. He goes forth, and his labors are crowned with 
 success. Alas, he did not find the real gems of truth, only the frag- 
 ments, and while laboring to bring these fragments together, to har- 
 monize them, he is called from earth, and has much to regret about 
 his unfinished labors. Now we must look for and attend to the 
 Spiritualists. The first is roaming around the outside of this great 
 
126 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 vestibule. He questions the guards stationed there and the errand 
 bo}<s about the many curious things that are reported about the 
 inhabitants beyond this mine which stands here, forming a boundary 
 line between what mortals call the visible and invisible worlds. He 
 does not care to enter in or to acquire substantial lessons ; it looks 
 too difficult, so he does not select a guide, but idles away his time in 
 search of curiosities until he is removed over the boundary line to the 
 spirit world, not in the least prepared to meet the new life there. 
 The second one has studied harder, but concludes that of all the 
 attendants none are so gigantic and mightily arrayed as Reason ; 
 therefore, he summons him for his guide on one side, and Chaotic 
 Mystery for an attendant on the other side. Thus prepared, he goes 
 forth to explore, and searches for all the occult forces by which to 
 bring under the power of his domain many subtle and mysterious 
 things, and to master these studies he invests and exerts his mind and 
 energies, and improves not the better qualities of mind, but makes 
 them subservient to the above-named qualities. Such explorers are 
 delusions, and entangle many persons in their subtle webs, and their 
 explorations, although they expand the intellect, are not beneficial 
 only in one sense, and that is, that it causes them to feel the more 
 remorse when they see where they erred ; yet when this is overcome 
 they can speedily progress, for they know how to avoid these dangers, 
 having passed through these crucibles. Now we will speak of the 
 third, and last, of our group. He is a man of broad and noble brow, 
 intent on solving the mysteries of the continued life. He starts forth 
 with Justice as his right-hand guide, and the Gospel at his left hand. 
 He says : " Whatever is just is true ; therefore, Justice shall inspect 
 that with which I meet, and Gospel will prove its truth ; if it be true 
 it will stand, and will be rendered brighter by being inspected, and 
 will illumine earth's sons and daughters, and if there should be aught 
 that is incorrect or untrue, let it be judged and set aside." He goes 
 forth with firm resolutions, he ascends the stairway of the vestibule, 
 he culls from flowers and leaves, from brook and meadow, the lessons 
 of transformation and of renewed life in new spheres of existence. 
 Step by step he advances towards the border land, where the kind 
 angels gently draw aside the veil and give him positive proof of that 
 which composed the chief aim of his explorations. They reveal to 
 him many grand things and many new ideas, and with these he 
 returns and heralds the glad tidings of this great joy to his fellow 
 men. Of all our company of explorers he has been the most blessed, 
 for his labors have been useful for both time and eternity. There- 
 fore we see that it is not beneficial to accumulate so much earthly 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 127 
 
 wisdom ; that it is useless, and also that it is imposing upon the rights 
 of self-hood not to study and cultivate the powers given, or to not 
 make use of the greatest power of the mind, reason, which is great in 
 its proper place or sphere, but it is not well or right to transcend that 
 sphere. The extremes into which the different classes or grades of 
 people have been led should be at once liberated. Consider that 
 human actions on earth are nothing more than a great role of con- 
 stantly displayed extremes, which fact scholars as well as fools should 
 study and amend. 
 
 LECTURE XXIII. 
 
 DO WE NEED A NEW RELIGION? 
 
 This is the question often asked in a mood of petty sarcasm by 
 those who are the leaders and teachers in the established religious 
 branches. They claim that all prophecy has ceased, and all inspira- 
 tion likewise, and that the works which the man Jesus did, who 
 came to fulfill that part, or rather those parts, of the law which per- 
 tained to Himself personally, and that He did the works which He 
 was obligated to do, in order to fill that part, and this being done noth- 
 ing more is needed, but a confession of a blind faith ; for they do not 
 walk in His foot-steps, neither do they follow His precepts or exam- 
 ples. Then, do we not need something that will arouse the drowsy 
 minds to action, and show to them their duties which they are 
 neglecting? The earth moves onward ever, — its regulating and 
 advancing courses are fixed and immutable. Monotony, or standing 
 still, cannot be tolerated. Onward ever is the stern command. 
 Then, how could the mortals who people the earth stand still, since 
 all this labor is being done but for their good, by which to elevate 
 and transform them from the crude and low to the elevated and 
 exalted in form and wisdom ? Mental training calls for the most 
 persevering and ever active creative energy. Worlds were created 
 by wisdom ; and herbs, fruits, and trees were called forth by the power 
 of will and labor ; animals, vegetables, and all which creation can be 
 made to yield by or through this wisdom displayed ; and yet this 
 great labor is nothing to be compared with the mental training of the 
 children of earth, and their constant transformation, until they can 
 attain to such degrees of perfection where they can behold the 
 expansion of this great wisdom, and understand this mighty labor 
 
128 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 which was performed for their good. Then, in view of all this, do we 
 not, or does not the people of the world, need a new religion, since 
 that which is now the practical code does not fill or answer the 
 mental demand, for it does not keep time or pace with nature's own 
 laws of transforming advancements ? The intellectual among man- 
 kind average a consistent weight with all these regulations, but the 
 masses fall far below their assigned level, and this cannot be so 
 tolerated, for the law of the universe is the law of progress. We 
 need a change of ideas, if not a new religion, for there are no diver- 
 sities in the true religious principles. They are the same now as 
 they have always been and shall ever be, but the many branches and 
 wild shoots which have grown from the great parent tree must be 
 trimmed away ; and the world must become united upon the neces- 
 sity for a great renovation of these irregular accumulations of mis- 
 conceived and misapplied ideas which were implanted in mental soil, 
 as infallible truths, while they were only reflections and imitations 
 fore-shadowing truths in a fragmentary manner, and these fragments 
 need now to be gathered. Now is the time for the harvesting of 
 this great mental plowing, tilling, and seeding, which during this 
 eternity has been done. The angels are now sent to gather the 
 wheat, and to burn the tares. The tares were to be tolerated to grow 
 with the wheat until this, the harvest time, according to our reckon 
 ing, should come, for otherwise both the good and the bad would 
 have been destroyed. Now, since the earthly ministers cannot do 
 this work, nor can mortals alone engage successfully in this labor, 
 angels become the servants and ministers who are doing this work 
 according to command, and the people can work with them if they 
 are willing, each one to do the part to which, or for which, they are 
 adapted without any selfish aims, and without desire for honor, for 
 all honor is due only to and belongs to God. Angels and men at 
 the best do that which they can, and which it is their duty to do ; 
 but there are more who neglect their duties than there are that com- 
 ply with or perform them. Every child of earth has obligations or 
 duties with which to comply according to their mental power, and no 
 one can be excused for making a wrong use of their talents, for they 
 are God-given, and are intended to be used for His honor and glory. 
 Is the religious practice — which is now the established but the well 
 worn-out code — is it working out the salvation of men and the glory 
 of God ? Nay, verily, I say, far from it. It is all a mere mockery, 
 an idle show, a farce. For, how many are there worshiping in spirit 
 and truth ; and how many worship at the shrine of Mammon, and go 
 for the purpose onl} r of seeing and being seen ? The fine feathers 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 129 
 
 are looked at more than the heart and principles, therefore, the 
 king-bird and the fowls shall pursue them ; for they have made com- 
 mon those things which were, or are, sacred. They shall learn from 
 whence they have departed, and that they stand greatly in need of 
 strength from Heaven for their deliverance, that is, new revelations, 
 or a new religion. 
 
 LECTURE XXIV. 
 
 OUR UNIVERSE. 
 
 There are many conjectures in the minds of the studious on 
 earth about the statements of old times, which formed the basis for 
 the religious builders, as well as for the moral training. The first 
 question is concerning the universe and of all therein. Some think 
 the universe limited and like a ring, and all things inside this ring, 
 and God the creator and ruler thereof. How is it, then, that we 
 read of beasts of opposition in the Revelations, and are told that these 
 visions were given to show what would come to pass in the last times 
 of our eternity, that they should be testimony to revealments to be 
 made at the time when these visions should have their physical ful- 
 fillment on earth ? To these questions we answer that our universe 
 was not a consolidated kingdom in the beginning of this eternity, 
 from which you have the imperfect records of the origin of man 
 created in the image of God. If the universe came, therefore, not 
 supremely under the rule of wisdom divine, and the force of the mind 
 called the infinite mind of wisdom, the chaotic regions were dis- 
 tinct and separate, and was the kingdom of the beasts of natural 
 ppwer, the wise who were an outgrowth of and from the natural 
 evolutions of the degrees of the natural species, and over these ruled 
 the compact arch-type of natural wisdom. In the infinite kingdom it 
 was, however, agreed upon that divine wisdom should suggest and 
 enact laws by which, through force of action, matter could be made 
 to cohere to mind ; that matter could be made useful in company 
 with mind, and be made the servile power for mind, and thus become 
 divine, as in process of time by the law of regeneration matter 
 should be sanctified and become divine and pure, and then the consoli- 
 dation should take place, for then natural opposition would not be 
 further needed or of any use. As matter, by the action of mind 
 upon it, is made in its forms typical of heavenly and divine things, 
 
130 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 they become divine and directly under supreme rule. The more gross 
 material there is about mortals or natural productions the farther 
 away they are from the Creator, God, and objects are farther back 
 in the gradation of the refining degrees. 
 
 The divine mind is embodied in all matter by its action upon it ; 
 therefore, all comes under one government only as these works are 
 accomplished, and are and can be revealed understandingly to the 
 races of earth. Mind had its perfect embodiment in matter when 
 matter was thereby acted upon, and mortals were supported from the 
 natural soil and in the attributes of deity. Then earth was worked 
 upon powerfully in order to be made to yield that which this nature 
 of these mortals needed the most. And this work has been kept in 
 continued action in the transformatory changes and processes, through 
 which all things natural, yes, all matter, passes, and mortals are the 
 effects in part, while the powerful action upon the inward, being born 
 of God, does its work of regeneration, and so these natural and divine 
 works go hand in hand. We have in the advanced worlds which are 
 immortal and everlasting millions of beings who are not airy beings 
 of unfathomed wisdom, as were the archangels who dwelt in the 
 upper realms before this new labor commenced. Nay, they are now 
 tangible, have solid forms composed of matter, which is purified and 
 sanctified, and in this state they are able to enjoy the fruits of their 
 labors forever, and can exert themselves according to their desires. 
 The lawful contract was that there should be a consolidation, and 
 the universe become a united kingdom, when the object of the 
 laws was reached, and the contemplated works finished. Then the 
 universal rule should be given to the author and enactor of our uni- 
 verse laws, that Jesus the Christ is the angel of the covenant, the 
 author and enactor of these laws. He is known to all Christians, and 
 to all nations to whom the gospel of grace has been preached, and 
 the time has come for Him to assume rule in His kingdom. 
 
 The Great Designer has well earned the prize 
 For which He labored, as both man and God ; 
 
 And wisely He will other plans devise, 
 And put aside the long-used iron rod. 
 
 Man shall be blessed on earth with Eden's bliss, 
 
 And from the world above be governed here in this. 
 
 January 10, 1880. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUEES. 131 
 
 LECTURE XXV. 
 
 WHAT IS GOD? 
 
 God is spirit. All the mind, the intelligence, which is centered 
 in one body is called God. It constantly goes out and comes in, 
 namely, this mind force. Hence, all life lives in God, all mind is 
 of God. All wisdom is derived from that fountain, and all angels 
 and mortals have a share in it, and are partakers of the joys which 
 are created, and the wealth that is procured by this force of mind, 
 and substances called matter and materials. No one is good, per- 
 fectly good, but God. God can be comprehended only in accord 
 with the God-power in angels, spirits, or mortals. Angels are of 
 various grades, and so are spirits and mortals. You need not think 
 that your departed friends are all angels, neither are they demons. 
 There are many gulfs of undeveloped matter between these grades, 
 through which they must first pass before they can grow strong, and 
 become purified. Remember, God is and can be comprehended only 
 in accord with the self-developed God-powers, and all beings who 
 have a true conception of God have it in a corresponding degree to 
 their developed attributes which are of God. Hence, those who say 
 that God cannot be comprehended give evidence that they do not 
 walk in that light which is constantly going out from God, for in that 
 light He can be understood, as said. But taken as a whole, God can- 
 not be fully comprehended by any one mortal spirit or angel, because 
 it would not be lawful, as this comprehension is a property of the uni- 
 verse in which all beings have an interest and share. No one alone 
 can understand it all, no more than they can make it all their own, 
 yet each can truly comprehend their part, also the whole, as viewed 
 through the universal telescope. Neither can the whole of God's 
 wisdom be comprehended, not even by the highest seraph or arch- 
 angel, much less angels, spirits, or mortals. Hence, mortals should 
 try to comprehend God in accord with their own strength of the 
 divine attributes within them, and as they thus turn to themselves, to 
 the God within them, they come closer in proximity to that life- 
 emanation from this central intelligence, and through its effects upon 
 them they become stronger, and the shades and all the misconceptions 
 vanish as the brighter heavenly light comes in rapport and penetrates 
 the mind and soul. Thus, summit after summit is reached in this 
 grand essential march, and at each successive stage God is more 
 clearly comprehended, and the issues from Him are correctly received. 
 
132 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 Oh, how grand is this reality when all the different degrees are passed ! 
 then, truly, all paths will be pleasant, and all methods used for fur- 
 ther development will be peaceful, and afford pleasure instead of 
 pain. Strive hard for your ascension out of the different degrees 
 and conditions, one and all, for you must pass through them either 
 as a mortal or spirit, for not one jot of law can be changed or omitted. 
 
 LECTURE XXVI. 
 
 THE CHRIST OF THE AGE. 
 
 He had His birth amid -walls of obstraction, 
 
 Which from the breath of mortals had been reared: 
 And in His infancy He gave instructions 
 
 On things in general, to make clear the road 
 For a riper age, when manhood would arrive, 
 And till, perforce, men were involved m strife: 
 Then He, the Christ of God, with power and might, 
 Shall smite all rebels, and conquer in the fight. 
 
 "Who is the Christ of this age ? Is it a person ? if so, is it 
 another man or woman sent by God to meet the demands or the 
 age, sent for the same in purpose if not the same in method, for a 
 physical appearance, as Jesus was, the Christ of God, sent to fill His 
 earthly career in the middle age? Many others have been sent 
 thus, each one to fill a different purpose of design, thus to be active 
 in different avocations, and were supported from different sources of 
 spirit power from whence they came, and their mission was to make 
 known the truths and works of God upon earth. The Christ of this 
 age is truth, imparted from the Christ-Heavens, and as Jesus was 
 born in a manger in humility when he filled his mission in the 
 middle age, and was operated upon by the Christ of God, the great 
 principle of the all-pervading truth, so are the truths which are now 
 being given by Him as the Christ of God given by operating upon a 
 mortal. They were lodged in an undeveloped mentality, amidst 
 adversity and humility, and amid serious obstacles, but the infancy is 
 past, and the child born as a savior for mankind in this critical age 
 is growing towards manhood, and will then accomplish the works 
 designed. Now understand this, when we say the Christ of God of 
 this or any other age, we do not mean a person, yet there is, and 
 must be, a person connected with the Christ principles and power, or 
 the physical enactments of such works would be impossible, but the 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 133 
 
 over-ruling and controlling Christ of such enacted works upon earth 
 is to be viewed as law and gospel, as light, life, and power. This 
 force, as much of it as is needed by which to fill such works of 
 design, is centered upon a person who has been reared and prepared 
 to receive these well-directed inspirations from the Christ-Heavens. 
 
 These persons, as a rule, are incarnate in the flesh, having been, 
 previous to their birth, prepared in that sphere by that power for 
 such work. 
 
 Their earth life is often divided into different parts, as it were, 
 so as to undergo changes for spheric as well as for infinite purposes. 
 
 When their course is thus marked, they are then placed under 
 finite power until all the spheric works which are marked for them 
 are first accomplished, and by which they outgrow the inherited 
 natural ills, and to cast off the force for common humanity in such 
 conditions and degrees in which they were treated and led through, 
 and by this benefits are achieved for all ; and these works may cast 
 different hues, and cause the person led thus to appear guilty of 
 faults in many ways, according to mortal observation and judgment, 
 because they do not know these purposes, nor do not understand the 
 ways of God by which He leads His erring earthly children nearer 
 to Him. But when the time arrives which is marked for them, in 
 which the higher faculties only are worked upon by that power from 
 the Christ-Heavens, then a change is wrought, and that power, oper- 
 ating and compelling forth to physical view and understanding 
 infinite truths, will accomplish the work, although it may be amidst 
 difficulties. 
 
 When we speak of the Christ-Heavens we do not mean a 
 locality, but we mean a concentrated power of all truth, as it is, and 
 was, and shall ever be, and which is prepared from the universal 
 issues by wise councils, and sent forth by them so as to answer the 
 demands of the age in accordance with the law of unfoldment and 
 general progression. 
 
 Jesus was the Christ of the middle age, but the truths which lie 
 received were from the Christ-Heavens. The words he spoke were 
 not His, but the Father's who had sent Him ; but now, in this age, 
 it is He Himself at work in spirit upon a mortal organism, and thus 
 He declares truths from the Christ-Heavens. It is done in the same 
 way even as He had been worked upon when He was in the flesh. 
 The world is passing through a crisis, and all the forces, both 
 natural and mental, have become aroused perforce, and are in com- 
 motion, hence the Christ of the age must subside this commotion. 
 
 The ebb and flow of the forces which support the mental powers 
 
134 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 of mortals are observed carefully by those who are the chief actors 
 in causing the desired subsidence as before stated, but it can be done 
 only at a set time ; for when the world-tide is swelling, and is while 
 in that foaming state compelled to set off the waves which are neces- 
 sary for the agitation of the people, and to permeate all conditions, 
 it is, then, no object to subside such turbulent agitations. 
 
 Nay, they have their own given time, and when these forces, 
 wielded by divine power, cause men to see their errors and adverse 
 ambitions, then a decline will be caused, and men's desires will ebb, 
 and then the impure from the pure sustaining forces will be sepa- 
 rated, and all the impure and turbulent conditions will be subsided, 
 and then mankind will find themselves a strata higher in existence. 
 Then they will be led to see that these struggles were necessary in 
 order to abstract the crude and animal nature, and to let the supe- 
 rior forces and emanations mingle with the heavenly emanations, 
 and with the forces from the upper mind realm, and that this great 
 work naturally caused these conditions in order to cause a separation 
 and subsidence, as before spoken of. 
 
 All the impure will be cast back into nature's reservoir, and 
 all the people who survive this crisis will be purer after this is 
 experienced. 
 
 Then they will be enabled to understand the truths given them 
 from above, and all can, in a measure, receive the Christ of God, 
 and all shall know that He was born anew in accordance with the 
 necessities of the people ; yes, born to be a saving power, a heavenly 
 force, to raise mortals out of strife into spiritual freedom, and out of 
 ignorance into mental illumination. 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 A CHHISTMAS greeting and an admonition. 
 
 The voice of God is being made audible through His ministering 
 spirits at this time, in this age, to a greatly multiplied number of 
 mortals, to what it was on that eventful eve when Jesus was born in 
 Bethlehem as a Saviour of the world, in the capacity of the Christ of 
 God. There were then but a few shepherds who heard the song of 
 the angels, and the glad tidings so loudly proclaimed : " Peace on 
 earth, and good will toward all men." 
 
 The same message is now brought again by angels, and the 
 sound of their voices fills all nature, because a child is born again for 
 mortals who has many names, and who is the savior of the age ; but 
 this child is to be looked at very differently, for the works marked 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 135 
 
 are very unlike to what those were in the middle age that were 
 marked for Jesus to fill upon earth. There are, in this age, mystical 
 revelations to be made, and mystical problems that need to be 
 demonstrated, and a general rectifying is the demand of the age ; 
 hence it is the work of the Christ of this age to do this, but as there 
 are various parts of work to do which emanate from different sources, 
 and there are different parts of law that have met their stated cul- 
 minations upon earth, hence the work is to be done by different 
 and separate workers who, unknowingly, form a unit and combine 
 these forces within themselves, and who are worked upon by the 
 powers having these different works to do upon earth at this time. 
 There is, and must be, a reproduction of all the works that have ever 
 been done upon earth in this eternity by spirit power, working upon 
 and through mortal organisms, hence, these many works comprise 
 this Child of many names, and yet there is one name above all the 
 others, one part of work into which all other works must merge in 
 due time, because the various deviations are only practiced in the 
 mortal realm, for mortals can be only thus worked upon, but in the 
 summing up all must be brought within the limits as the plan calls 
 for. Hail Christmas, all ye who dwell upon the earth's surface, 
 with great joy ! for unto you a child is born who has already brought, 
 and is yet bringing, many gifts to those upon earth. All are per- 
 mitted to bask in immortal sunlight. The Christ-power will fill the 
 air at this event, which is kept in commemoration of the Christ of the 
 middle age ; and all are permitted to partake of it, even as they are 
 prepared spiritually to receive the truths, thus strength from the 
 Rock of Ages, which is cleft anew for mortal benefit, yes, for their 
 salvation from the many impending perils. But, are the people of 
 the world ready to receive this ? Nay, they are not. They look for 
 and crave worldly pomp ; if it is not granted them, they will not be 
 merry, though all the heavenly gifts were bestowed upon them ; 
 hence, the strong testimony is that they worship at Mammon's shrine, 
 and appreciate only the things of the world ? 
 
 The people of this age, taken as a whole, will not accept the 
 Christ of the age; hence, why is it that they keep a day in com- 
 memoration of the humble but mighty Jesus, who came to bring 
 gifts and blessings to the people? 
 
 They have departed from the true faith, they look for and enjoy 
 physical gifts and pleasures, and through this practice they have lost 
 the spiritual gilts because worldliness and style are valued the most. 
 But, all this being true, and the evidence of it abounds in the world, 
 yet wc would breathe an admonition to the erring, wayward wan- 
 
136 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 derers upon earth. We say : " Look aloft ! and behold the works of 
 the times ; they declare unto you the fulfillment of the fore-shadowed 
 prophecies in regard to the second coming of Christ, when He, with 
 His saints and angels, should reap the earth, and bring all, both 
 mortals and spirits, to judgment. 
 
 It is sad, indeed, to behold that these works are being now, and 
 have been, transacted under the sun, and yet the people, seeing, do 
 not perceive, and, hearing, do not understand that they also fill the 
 measure of the Jews, and of all the former nations, among whom 
 prophets and saviors have been sent as servants in different capaci- 
 ties to administer to the needs of mortals, and to thus sustain the 
 religious nature of man. 
 
 But there has been much rubbish collected by way of the specu- 
 lations of the mind upon that which was brought or sent from 
 above ; hence the Christ of this age works in the elements, and in 
 conditions, and upon the brains of all mortals. He does this in His 
 universal office as an all-pervading force ; but many other works also 
 are being performed in the physical realm by this force being con- 
 centrated upon a person, as before stated, and by working upon a 
 prepared organism. These obstacles to the religious unfoldment 
 and growth of the divine in man must be removed, though we con- 
 fess it is much enjoyed by the now Christianized Christians, and for 
 these reasons the world is compelled to pass through a crisis, in order 
 to cause a separation and subsidence ; and in order to acquire a suf- 
 ficient heavenly force in the mortal world, by which this change 
 could be effected, the Christ of this age was born. He brought, as 
 was said before, many gifts unto men, even more than the Christ of 
 the middle age did. 
 
 Why do they not hail the Christ of God with great joy ? Why 
 do not mortals bid the heavenly messengers welcome ? Why do 
 they not recognize the time of their visitation from on high ? but 
 instead of this they turn rebels against God, and the enactments of 
 His truths upon earth, and as the crisis draws nearer men will be 
 compelled perforce to accept or reject the Christ of this age. They will 
 cry as did the Jews : " Away, away with Him, crucify Him ! we will 
 cling to the letter and to our worldly pomp and power ; away with 
 so dangerous a power and force that might break and destroy our 
 idols, and the walls of the Church, like the fences of the pasture 
 fields, so that the sheep that support us with their wool can stray ofi: 
 from oar folds." But remember, O mortals, that all this was known 
 long ere the time came for God's power to be made manifest anew 
 upon earth. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 137 
 
 Oh, the debts which the Gentile nations have incurred from the 
 much preaching about the wickedness of the Jews. 
 
 All that preaching is now made a farce, acted out by the Gentile 
 preachers, for they commit and encourage the same sin, yes, even 
 greater; for now it is not the body of any person that is to be 
 brought in question, and physically crucified, thus to be made a 
 sacrifice as in the middle age. 
 
 No ! These outcries are made against the Holy Spirit, and, 
 therefore, these sins, thus committed, are unpardonable sins. On 
 this Christmas Eve, 1881, the heavenly King will march through 
 airic space, a mighty army on his right and left, accompanied by heav- 
 enly choirs. All who come en rapport with that spirit force and 
 power will feel, see, hear, and know that Christ has come, and as he 
 thus passes through mortal atmospheres, He will change the ele- 
 ments, and distribute gifts. 
 
 All who are ready, they shall receive, 
 
 All who abide in God, hear and believe ; 
 
 All who are Satan's worshipers, rebel ; 
 
 All are compelled their standing thus to tell. 
 
 Rejoice, all who are faithful, 
 
 For this power is your protection 
 
 In the struggles which are coming, 
 
 For there will be strange eruptions. 
 
 LECTURE XXVII. 
 
 "god's mills grind slowly but surely." 
 
 The universe mills through which all particles of mind and mat- 
 ter are constantly ground for refinement, and for the molding of one 
 form and shape into another, are gigantic in their wonderful con- 
 structions. They are reared by the wisdom and will power of the 
 master-builders of the universe. Immutable law is the main force 
 which keeps them in motion. 
 
 Let us, as viewed in this sense, compare law to the steam power. 
 The master-builders who make the mills oversee them, keep them in 
 order and in motion, though they employ many workmen to perform 
 all parts of labor. They have plenty to do to keep these mills in 
 order, and also to have in season all things ground through so as to 
 meet the demands for universal prosperity and refinement. 
 
138 COMPILATION OF SPIE1T LECTUKES. 
 
 The casual observer says : " How is it that even the works of 
 God conflict ? He rears or builds to break down, and breathes His 
 spirit into clay to create creatures to let them suffer awhile all man- 
 ner of pain, and then be swept from earth by storms, fires, and dis- 
 asters. We do not see the goodness of a kind parent in this. We 
 would like to see an omnipotent God display His sovereignty in a 
 more gracious manner, and let all His creatures enjoy the fat of the 
 earth, and live in pleasure and freedom from pain and poverty's 
 heavy rule.' , Such and many more complaints like these arise from 
 the earth constantly, like a stench, and fall back like iron palls upon 
 mortals. 
 
 What are these patterns of mortals in the potter's hands ? Has 
 not He who molds them, and all which they crave of these earthly 
 things, a right to act according to His wisdom and pleasure towards 
 His own ? How can their finite conceptions enable them to behold 
 the ways of God in His works ? And since they cannot see nor com- 
 prehend, why not rest assured and be confident that all which is must 
 be, and all which is to come cannot be hindered by any power on 
 earth, nor by any principalities of the different spheres. 
 
 The grinding goes on, there is no stand still ; and, in order to 
 refine and transform, the changes must be, so that at the end of every 
 passing cyde of universal time all things will be found good, and 
 every task be completed according to law and the ultimate plan. 
 And there are none that will be wronged, and none that will not 
 behold and know that perfection of being and happiness can only be 
 attained by being ground over and reconstructed again and again. 
 
 The law of recompense is just, and does not miss one of the many 
 who enjoy life in all the worlds. All have justly meted out to them 
 what their deeds merit. Even suffering is rewarded. Nothing 
 escapes the all-surveying eyes, or escapes just compensation. It may 
 not be in one sphere, as the whole labor performed belongs to one 
 power, and many work as in principalities, agents, and servants. 
 
 It comes to pass that there are conditions bearing upon an indi- 
 vidual, or upon many, in various ways which extend to all the differ- 
 ently authorized or installed rulers, and these have no right to acquit 
 or compensate such individuals according to their given power. 
 These persons must bear with seeming injustice until supreme rule 
 decides their compensation for them. 
 
 All such are ground through the mills often. Their deeds and 
 desires are ground ; even their breath is gathered in the conditions 
 which it weaves, and is ground over. And not being able by their 
 own understanding to analyze this grinding process, it is viewed as 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUEES. 139 
 
 being troubles inflicted, or as realized misery of some sort or other, 
 which they wish would cease, and that they were free. They do not 
 know what they desire, and pray adversely to their own good. Were 
 it to be granted, they would see their folly then, when it would 
 require an eternity to amend it, for theirs is a special career, and 
 compensation will come when the last task is done, and all particles 
 belonging to such individuals are rendered superfine and pure in order 
 that they may stand as models and lights by the side of the master- 
 builders who have thus perfected them by their skill and wisdom. 
 
 We cannot explain the processes of grinding matter and mortals 
 over and over again so as to render all just as it was planned before- 
 hand that it must be so. Now, for instance, angels and archangels 
 who have ever existed in spirit, but are in that state impersonal 
 beings, having no tangible body or molded form, because the tissues 
 of their being are purity and wisdom, which, without an association 
 with matter, could not obtain a tangible form, which needs the tissues to 
 be gathered from all that the universe produces in the matter grades, 
 from which are molded and fashioned the bodies, and then they are 
 transformed and purified from the lowest to the highest degrees. 
 
 Now, in the beginning of this present eternity's labor, there were 
 many cherubs, seraphs, angels, and archangels who engaged in the 
 work, as parts were given them to perform, in order to obtain tangible 
 forms, and by their being deposited into matter at different times, 
 they could accomplish universal purposes at each time. They are 
 ground over to take upon themselves different forms, according to the 
 part which they have to play in whatever form it demands, not that 
 it should always be pleasing to the physical part or senses, nor was it 
 the universal design, but the masters controlling these works see to it 
 that the lawful design is accomplished, so that a universal benefit can 
 be derived from each course, for only thus could they accomplish their 
 great work in the required time, and have it pronounced well and 
 good in the end. 
 
 It required six thousand years, or six cycles, to evolve from 
 nature's reservoir the particles necessary to station this youngest 
 planet, earth, and divide the parcels so that the waters were stationed 
 in their beds, and the dry land formed for vegetation to grow, and to 
 separate the animal-life forces, and the substances which build and 
 nourish sufficiently, to cause animal distinction, and create the differ- 
 ent species, which, as a rule, serve to show the many different kinds 
 of matter needed to compose all, to make use of all the vapors, ethers, 
 and atoms which are required to draw from, so as to make up the 
 physical composition of men and women, or their earth form. It 
 
140 COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTURES. 
 
 took six cycles to prepare, wherefore the plan was so formed and 
 founded in law that another six cycles, or six thousand years, should 
 complete it. The work has been executed in masterly style. The 
 labor has far exceeded the expectations, and, although it seems that 
 the universal mills turn slowly, yet they are sure in the accomplish- 
 ment of their work, and all is well ground and purified, and the 
 results wrought from chaos are the most wonderful and pleasing. 
 
 I should have stated that the sun which lights the present earth 
 was obtained from the sun belonging to the planet Venus, and that 
 it has attained to such a magnitude of power that it can throw off 
 and to again gather, so as to be able to set a sun with which to light 
 the planet which is next to be called forth, and which is even now 
 being prepared, and to which formation this earth contributes as it 
 throws the particles off. The nearer the design of this eternity is com- 
 pleted the more revolutions the earth must have. The planet must 
 be entirely depopulated so as to cause or create refining processes, and 
 to people it with refined beings more angelic than mortals. 
 
 All this is the work of the master-builders. They grind over all 
 which is, and nothing is lost or rendered of any less value through 
 this transforming process. But there is and must be a constant 
 improvement, because progression is inscribed on the flag of the uni- 
 verse. The laws also demand it, and to accomplish this law is the 
 main force by which it is and must be achieved, by the enactment 
 thereof according to the wisdom of Him who made the laws of the 
 universe. What need is there of fear, or of the trouble which mor- 
 tals so constantly borrow ? They cannot nor do not get lost what- 
 ever they may become. 
 
 We would not state the many processes, because it requires 
 strong heads to bear it. Weak minds cannot grasp truths like these, 
 and apply them as they are meant to be applied, and therefore they 
 think the natural processes and grand changes for refinement are very 
 terrible, because wrongly viewed and not understood. 
 
 Be this as it may, there are none but what can understand that 
 the plan that was issued, and which will be completely filled, calls for 
 a universal redemption, not a partial one, and all shall be saved, 
 none lost, no, not one, not even the son of perdition. To accomplish 
 this ultimate redemption is now the combined effort of all these 
 transacted universal labors which are wisely overruled by the master- 
 builders. 
 
 Whatever is brought to earth, and the works performed, be they 
 either repulsive or pleasing, destructive or beneficial, according to 
 mortal view, it is so because there are causes which must be known 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 141 
 
 to exist, and can only be manifested by their effects, which will lead 
 to an understanding of these causes after a great deal of resistance 
 to the study and much investment of mind is expended, and much 
 controversy and criticism called forth for the purpose of exercising 
 the perceptive faculties of mortals, so that they can see the causes of 
 which the effects produced are not real in their appearance, but 
 emblematic, and must be solved and demonstrated according to the 
 knowledge arrived at. 
 
 That this knowledge of existing causes, determined from the 
 effects produced, is often very deficient for demonstration of this is 
 very sure, and the fact that history needs a revision and correction 
 proves it to all who have an interest in what is recorded for human- 
 ity's benefit from which to learn, to refer to, and to encourage when 
 fear overtakes the laborers who wish to do something for humanity, 
 yet are not quite sure that all is right. No perfect works were ever 
 produced by any mortal in anything, yet some have a clearer view 
 than others, and, being aided by effects, penetrate deeper into the 
 inner life so as to behold the causes, and therefore succeed in giving 
 a good demonstration of the problem they aimed to solve. 
 
 The investigator may say: "What has this to do with the sub- 
 ject of the grinding of God's mills?" We answer that God's mills 
 are constructed between causes and effects, that the causes go through 
 the mills, and come forth as effects. 
 
 The effects are again gathered and ground over for refinement, 
 for to the produced effects there have clustered millions of mortal 
 ideas and thoughts which are very imperfect, and fall short of what 
 they are required to be. To learn what the object of these causes is, 
 or of the causes themselves, why all is sifted and ground and cast 
 into the refiner's furnace and the effects again produced, all this must 
 be often repeated until a clearness is established which can be 
 accepted. 
 
 Now, behold the various problems which are ever brought forth, 
 and which must be solved by mortals in due time, being aided in this 
 wise, so they can be comprehensibly demonstrated. 
 
 When you consider this you will see that the work is not so slow 
 after all, but that the mills really grind fast. 
 
 Study well, for what seems difficult must be accomplished, and 
 cannot be placed aside. 
 
 There is only one central path, and all which is fit and suffi- 
 ciently refined finds its ascension therein to the higher realms of life. 
 There are many ways which are ever pursued by the turbulent minds 
 and unsteady feet that only lead to the constructed mills where ill 
 
142 COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTURES. 
 
 desires are ground, and to the furnace where the dross is taken off 
 and consumed, and the mind and system in a manner renovated and 
 refined, so that it can see the necessity of pursuing another path 
 which will lead to the central path wherein all must at length walk, 
 for no side paths lead to the higher life, they only go to a certain 
 height, and then the wanderer, unable to go farther, must retreat. 
 
 How much time we see wasted in idle roaming by the drifting 
 minds that are not capable of coming to one sound conclusion about 
 the things past, present, or future, but ever search for the curious 
 which weakens and disqualifies them for any pure intention. 
 
 To all such we would say, begin your studies at home right with 
 yourselves and the material around you, and not go out and roam the 
 earth to seek what you in such a state of mind can never find. 
 Have hours of close communion with yourselves ; meditate in sincere 
 silence, and penetrate the conditions which are within you, and which 
 constantly rise and drive you, not knowing whence, or for what 
 purpose. 
 
 The earth affords the materials for study for a life-time to all 
 who are born. If they do not adapt themselves to this study, it is 
 their loss. If they do not improve, it will not be the Creator's fault, 
 for the works of His wisdom and power are before them, and there is 
 nothing which does not teach progression. 
 
 In the sowing of seed you have the symbol of the spirit germs 
 being deposited or introduced into matter, there to lie silent for a 
 season, then they rise to have a body and many functions of use 
 belonging to the body. Then, when the short life is done, and it has 
 been a useful life, not a single germ returns, but a whole composed 
 form with all its natural attributes, and these are then spiritualized 
 and have their growth outwardly into perfection. 
 
 There are methods far exceeding the present methods by which 
 mortals can be educated for the deriving of lasting benefits. Now, 
 for instance, each leaf is a study ; each flower, each shrub, small and 
 great, all that you see, is given for mankind to learn from as well as 
 to make use of. We have, or the world has, at this age many bright 
 scholars who learn nature's lessons and impart them to the world, 
 and seriously extend their researches to the nebulous masses of chaos, 
 the first state, from whence the natural germinal life forces were 
 evolved. But it is strange that the most of these lose instead of 
 improving their spirituality; they grow cold and materialistic by 
 being surrounded with such dense breath as such a study naturally 
 attracts, and these, though intellectual, are but the fit subjects to be 
 ground over again, and purged in the fiery furnace j for the material 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 143 
 
 studies, when not interwoven with the spiritual, attract so many 
 fossils to the system which can never enter the spirit spheres, but 
 which must be consumed in the different spheres, and the spirit ren- 
 dered pure. They then behold where they have erred, also how 
 necessary these mills are to grind matter and mind over. 
 
 How bad it would be if the causes which brought the effects had 
 no remedies, so that there would be a cure for every ill, and a balm 
 for every wound, and good wrought from seeming evil, and all dark, 
 dense conditions rendered pleasing and agreeable in their own time ? 
 Let mortals trust, study, and labor, not for the gain of these earthly 
 things which are unreal, but for the sake of exercising your strength 
 of body and mind. Work because the All-Father works to issue by 
 His breath the wisdom and power with which worlds are built; and 
 the creatures created must beautify these worlds with their labors. 
 Work, as before God and the angels, to aid humanity to glorify God, 
 and ennobling yourselves by working for others. Thus for the uni- 
 versal interest. Thus, then, to stand in the order of the world- 
 builders. 
 
 Do not indulge in selfishness, for it will lead you away from the 
 path of progress, and renders you unfit for any place among the noble 
 and pure. 
 
 September 22, 1878. 
 
 LECTURE XXVIIL 
 
 "ARE ALL MESSAGES RELIABLE WHICH COME FROM SPIRITS 
 THROUGH MORTAL MEDIUMS?" 
 
 When the drifting mind of mortals becomes rested by the glim- 
 mers which have been and are cast from the great orb of true light, 
 called spirit power, which is nearing this mundane world, bringing 
 light, knowledge, and power to the benighted and needy mortals, — 
 when people are eager and do not take pains to learn what is fact and 
 what is fiction, — then, after a season, they see that mistakes have 
 been made. But self is not investigated for the mistakes. It is only 
 the medium who is investigated, and to whom the mistakes are attrib- 
 uted. The medium, if not the controlling power, is at fault if all 
 things do not agree with the wishes of the investigator, and the ideas 
 of even the spirits are not subservient to the seeker after what he 
 
144 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 terms truth, yet really only seeks to obtain some selfish aim, and 
 wishes the spirit power to obtain this for him without interference in 
 his pursuits. 
 
 If this were granted it would be a sad event in natural orders, 
 for it would be a return to the "Unrighteous Ruler" from whom, 
 during these struggles, the rule is to be taken instead of encouraged. 
 It would not be a glorious dawn upon earth, could not, in any figura- 
 tive sense, be compared to the descension of the heavenly Jerusalem, 
 which means that the wisdom remaining there is brought to earth in 
 part by those who reside there, and by Jesus, the king and light of 
 that city, for which earth shall be filled with light, and all manner of 
 unrighteousness shall be swept away ; but it requires time and cannot 
 be done at once. Although the work is speedily being done to bring 
 about results, yet in earthly measures it is delayed with regard to the 
 wishes of the anxious and waiting. 
 
 Let us view the minds of all who are first arrested by these sig- 
 nals of the heavenly messengers. Is it not true that, without excep- 
 tion, drifting on the tide of unsteady conditions, rudderless and without 
 strength to station firmly by self-control, the wandering, drifting 
 thoughts go out on forbidden paths, and so become entangled in all 
 sorts of conditional webs, and acted upon so that the search for truth 
 is hampered by this created envelop of conditions, and the faculties 
 of the mind are not acted upon in a healthy manner ? This is no 
 fault of spirits or of mediums ; neither a high or low power outside of 
 yourselves is at fault for this condition. It is altogether a creation 
 of your own. Everyone creates their own boundaries about them. 
 These may be good and healthy, or injurious ; that depends on the 
 mortal ; spirits have nothing to do with this part. 
 
 When this condition is seen and realized spirits come to aid, to 
 bring freedom, and exert themselves to the extent of their power to 
 work upon the organs in a healthy and correct way, and in a lawful 
 manner. As this development is pursued new ideas are born in the 
 mind, and spiritual freedom and growth is pure. Then all things are 
 seen as they are, and as intended. But in a natural state, the mind, 
 drifting and confused, no one can obtain a satisfactory, peaceful state 
 of mind. It requires soberness and calmness of mind. 
 
 There has been much said in common talk and by the press 
 about mediums being fraudulent. But when have the conditions of 
 the mortals been considered who formed the circles and created the 
 conditions through which the invisible powers could come or act ? 
 
 The people are the frauds, for they are not true to themselves, 
 and have not been seeking in a spirit of truth for the truth, but are 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 145 
 
 to a great extent wonder-seekers, and go on pretense only to see what 
 can be talked about such a person who is known as a mouth-piece for 
 spirits. These persons will all find that they are acting against 
 themselves only, not against a medium who, to mortal view, may be 
 helpless and dependent, yet is infinitely rich and of great power. 
 Those who fight for true mediums are more than those who fight 
 against them. Those who bless and praise them are a greater num- 
 ber than those who treat them with scorn and contempt. What mat- 
 ter is it ? Though the earth life is a continual struggle, it is only of 
 short duration ; but the pleasure and wealth earned thereby last for- 
 ever. Then those who battle in this review lose in the sight of 
 mortals, but they are crowned immortal, and need not wait for their 
 reward as did the prophets and martyrs of old. All the changes 
 require battling for, in order to subdue the old forms and enact the 
 new, according to the laws of the progressive degrees. How easily 
 people are offended at any saying which, prompted by spirits, comes 
 from mortal mediums. The great inaugural of the new heavenly 
 orders on earth is treated with contempt, but more so than the truest 
 and best mediums would be if mortals had the power to prohibit such 
 lawful enactments. People can talk of their authority, but they 
 should remember that, though they may be in earthly power, yet they 
 have none only as it is given them from above. But truth is mighty 
 and will prevail, and all flesh shall crumble into dust and be as noth- 
 ing when the power now in the act of descending to earth shall be 
 felt, and. the glory shall light up all the earth, but only for a certain 
 time, that all parts of law might be fulfilled. 
 
 AVhen to mortals is given all which is a demand of law that in 
 these days it should be revealed, then this power returns, and earth 
 is left to a revolution which must take place, and at its crisis takes 
 place the separation of this eternity and the new time begins, and 
 only then will the millennium on earth be realized on earth, and rule 
 be in the hands of the righteous of all the ages of our eternity who 
 will govern on earth, by way of being reborn in part, and also by 
 working upon those who shall then inhabit the earth. The good and 
 pure shall then inhabit the earth. At the proper time no adverse 
 ones will be found on earth to annoy or disturb. 
 
 January 17, 1880. 
 
146 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES, 
 
 I endeavor to describe my feelings today : 
 
 Clouds hang o'er me, dark and dreary, 
 And of living I am weary, — 
 Storms within and storms without, 
 Battling fierce. I hope, I doubt. 
 All the elements seem shaken, 
 Peace is from my bosom taken. 
 Everything, from small to great, 
 Is rebelling. Such a weight 
 As I feel upon me resting 
 Will avail some end quite soon. 
 
 Will it be for good or ill ? 
 
 Will the wicked loose be chained ? 
 And is all this, O God, thy will ? 
 
 Shall a victory thus be gained ? 
 
 Oh, I pray Thee, answer soon, 
 For my strength is almost gone. 
 Come, deliver me and mine, 
 And all the honor shall be Thine, 
 Thou to whom I look for strength, 
 And may Thy strength be felt. 
 
 The answer from my spirit-guide : 
 
 " Do n't despair, the sun is ever strong though clouds may hide his light. 
 Is all this for ill ? No, never ! From this weakness rises might. 
 So is sown the seed immortal, and in glory it shall rise. 
 So is changed the earth, the mortal, to regain lost Paradise. 
 
 Surely there is a rebellion, all ill forces wage a war; 
 Soon they '11 be cast in oblivion. The closed doors shall be ajar. 
 In the prison, then, no longer shalt thou toil with hope, with need ; 
 Through this process grow'st thou strong, and the change we '11 bring 
 with speed. 
 
 All which casts around thee shadows, dark and frantic, will subside ; 
 'T will open thy souls windows, and infase strength. Cast aside 
 All the phantoms which are haunting. No harm will I permit 
 Over one of thine. Why doubting ? Art thou struggling ? I admit 
 That the pressure has been great. But 't is needed and must be ; 
 I will throw from thee this weight, and its uses thou shalt see." 
 
 Look ever aloft with fullest confidence, for thine help is upon 
 high, and is sure to prevail for thee. 
 
 January 23, 1880. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 147 
 
 LECTURE XXIX. 
 
 THE POWER BEHIND THE CURTAIN. 
 
 Life's tide flow* on in haste, and as it passes casts 
 Pictures before us, as joys and sorrows in their mold; 
 
 We oft see no beauty in o ir drama's display, 
 
 We have in mini duty of things which decay, — 
 Reality is hard to behold. 
 
 So we falter and ponder over things close and yonder, 
 And meantime we lose, for our parts we do not play; 
 
 Then, swift by some token, they tell, though not spoken 
 Is the word, " You have trespassed, and a due you must pay," 
 
 Which will be collected by official transactors, 
 
 Who, behind the dim curtain, watch carefully ever 
 Each especial display. 
 
 In the material world, where all things must have an origin 
 and a tangible form, the spirit of God cannot be exercised in its 
 power, as in the worlds where the material around spirits is purer 
 and more transparent, the mold of body being from nature's collec- 
 tions, and the spirit introduced or deposited into this natural mold 
 by breath, as it is in a natural sense breathed in, and also made the 
 lite power or force of the physical. But a mortal is by nature sus- 
 ceptible to the external. There are bars constructed by instinct and 
 desire which hem in the spirit, and hold it in prison, in order to let 
 the appetites have a season of their own for the natural gratifica- 
 tions. Then, as time passes on, and the person to whom certain 
 functions of the spirit were imparted, or talents in this wise given 
 for use, should appear on the stage of -action to give the benefits of 
 these functions to other mortals, and aid in the accomplishments of 
 the works which belong to that of the builders, and who, to further 
 and finish the work, must make use of such material. 
 
 They, the power behind the curtain, compel such persons to 
 action. The drama is so sketched that all mortals born into phys- 
 ical life must play a part in this great theater, either comical or 
 reserved, beneficial or destructive, according to the quality or 
 amount of talent, or spirit essence in degree, which lias been given 
 them to labor with, and build themselves, as well as the structures, 
 upon which the marks of their labor should be reflected. Many 
 would fail entirely if not aided in all they do, and also compelled by 
 this power behind the curcain. 
 
 The managers of the great world drama are great execu- 
 tioners, and care not what the physical encumbrances may be. 
 When a person who plays an important part is to appear, they often 
 
148 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 violently thrust hind ranees aside, and the actor or actress, all unpre- 
 pared, unskillful, and unsuccessful, appears on the stage to answer 
 the call if nothing else, and represent their part of the play. 
 
 I sadly admit that too often the parts are only faintly repre- 
 sented, and not played at all according to the design sketched on the 
 dramatic canvas. Yet, all mortals wish to represent themselves, in 
 order to claim an heirship by the reflections marked from their 
 labors, which is their title or claim, and which no one can gainsay. 
 According to this title they inherit, and are given, a reward for their 
 labors. But many are compelled to work by the power behind the 
 curtain, lest they would fail in making any worthy impressions. 
 This is not the will of the Father, but He desires that all should be 
 happy, and learn when free from earth's encumbrances that they 
 have been useful, and have aided, if but little, in the universe-build- 
 ing labors. What simply gratifies the body and appetites is of no 
 value, but knowledge gathered by which to aid others to learn and 
 understand is of lasting value. Such w 7 ork is means and mind 
 invested where it will capitalize forever, and where thieves do not 
 rob, nor moths destroy. It alone is worthy of toil and true labor 
 pain, which may be realized in various ways, according to the mag- 
 nitude of each undertaking. All who persevere shall be crowned 
 with success in their labors, for the power behind the curtain will 
 open your understanding if you but earnestly appeal to them. They 
 w r ill open the mines of nature to your understanding, and lead you 
 out to explore the hidden paths where true wisdom abides. 
 
 Your natural proclivities may be aroused by another concealed 
 or invincible power to arise and protest against your pursuit. They 
 may make it bitter for you to see if you can bear a cross, and con- 
 quer the weakness of the flesh, in order to be free to explore and 
 become worthy to find the pearl of great price, in the search after 
 wisdom and lasting treasures. It is in this wa\ T that the prosperity of 
 the natural transactions is in a worldly sense perverted, and nothing 
 can have a fair pursuit in the process of such struggles, for the 
 powers behind the curtain in the natural or worldly grades do this, 
 and blast all things in order to ascertain whether faith and hope are 
 arms strong enough for such persons to battle their way through 
 with, and whether the knowledge offered is prized according to its 
 worth. 
 
 The appetites and natural proclivities cannot be gratified, and 
 at the same time the work pursued in the fields and mines where 
 true wisdom lies concealed. It is found only by those who, when 
 probed, are found worthy. They are led out in spirit to enter the 
 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTURES. 149 
 
 inner life, and learn from that sanctuary what cannot be learned in 
 any other school in Heaven or earth. The inner life department is 
 the sanctum where all knowledge is classed, which is issued from the 
 great central light. None but saints of purity and great wisdom are 
 admitted into this circle. The spirit gone forth to do a work on earth 
 can be admitted only as spirit when not defiled with external pres- 
 sures and encumbrances. There wisdom is given this spirit to give 
 again to those on earth, by which the work of design is done. In 
 this way all the lawful injunctions regarding the progress of the mor- 
 tal race are enacted. All law and gospel ever given to mortals 
 for the purpose of educating them for something higher was good in 
 its own time, and well adapted to the place and race, for by this 
 reason is developed, and the material being trained to grow in grace. 
 "Whde being trained, only pictures were given from which to learn, 
 and with which to illustrate, for that which is surrounded by mists is 
 never real truth, but only a shadow, which in the twilight of a 
 mental clearing up is misconceived, and many labor hard to become 
 great by illustrating the signs which appear on the horizon of the 
 mind ; but when the sun rises, and the mists disappear, then reality is 
 seen, and then these errors are readily discovered, and remorse is 
 the only reward for those who hastily aim to demonstrate uncertain- 
 ties. In all, even in worldly regulations, that which is mystic 
 rests upon uncertainty, and, although not without a basis, is temporal 
 and given to change, for improvement. Mental weakness is a bar 
 against revelations which are for universal benefit; for the light 
 which accompanies each revelation remains on earth, and in earth's 
 atmosphere, and all worldly and weak-minded mortals are strongly 
 affected by it. This is marvelously realized in commerce and busi- 
 ness pursuits everywhere, for it is thrown to the surface by the 
 powers behind the curtain, who manage worldly affairs in order to 
 renovate the dark recesses in mortals, and teach men to know their 
 neighbors, and each one to know themselves, so that a true religion 
 can become practical and universal, for there is no law written in a 
 book awaiting an enactment as to when the fiat of the next eternal 
 day shall be announced by a great elementary shaking. Nay, the 
 laws are taught and must be learned by the races on earth, and nni- t 
 be inscribed in their hearts and memory, that all serve God, not 
 knowing or not seeming, for all shall work for universal interest, and 
 for self-improvement. The powers above cannot work alone. They 
 must have co-partnership in their labor transactions, and this is why 
 angels and mortals have great works in common, and mortals are 
 dependent upon by the power which acts upon them, and with whom 
 
150 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 they labor. Selfish and deceitful mortals are not left alone in ill 
 practices, but are (if such be their natural composition of instinct and 
 desire) 'worked upon to show out these qualities sufficiently so as to 
 be detected, in order to be thus taught to abandon such pursuits, and 
 refrain from any selfish or impure acts. 
 
 In the present time, which must mark itself as the second 
 Christ-advent, works are done by mortals which are compelled forth 
 by angels according to supreme issue. Many have made use of the 
 reflecting shadows of design in order to benefit themselves in worldly 
 measures, and act in the place of others who, perchance, linger amid 
 the mixed conditions, and are so detained. 
 
 But it is recorded upon the statute books who shall play each 
 part upon the mortal stage, and those who appear as witty mimics 
 will in the end be called upon to pay this great debt, for it often 
 causes defaults in those who timidly linger behind the condition 
 walls. 
 
 Many grand and important sketches of design, which at this 
 time should be born into the material world so as to take form and 
 be recognized, meet with abortion while in the process of shaping 
 and preparing them for a mature state, so as to be properly given as 
 a demonstration before the people of the world. Why is this done ? 
 Because an undue interference, perhaps, shocked the nerves of the 
 sensitive in one case. In another, cunning mortals gleaned glim- 
 mers of it, and sought to become great by going in advance of the 
 time, or of the selected instrument, and do according to these 
 glimpses and natural wit what they can. Thus fraud is committed, 
 and must be exposed, for the very power behind the dim curtain 
 which led them out to perform in this way unlawful works compels 
 the detectives to search and find this, so that after a laborious time of 
 sifting and separating truth can appear, and also the true persons 
 chosen and fitted for each work to be done in this present last 
 review. 
 
 In preparing a mortal to give revelations through their organ- 
 isms to the people, or to give voice to angel ministry, the lines are 
 first delicately drawn on the canvas of the spirit, which is the soul. 
 The brain is slowly and carefully prepared by the skillful spirit 
 guardian. These lines spiritually drawn are nurtured and aided to 
 become brighter and stronger by the infusing of powers brought by 
 the guardian, and also by other spirits, and this is called development. 
 "When the perceptive faculties are prepared, and these infusions can 
 be shaped into ideas, they are matured for birth, and can be given 
 clearly and comprehensively. But as long as mists remain about 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 151 
 
 great questions, which fall not when they are brought forth by 
 demonstrations of their nature and causes, it is an evidence that the 
 ideas had not reached a mature state of development, and are not 
 ripe, and should not be promulgated otherwise than as preparatory 
 for what is to come, and must come, as a natural result of the order 
 of progress. 
 
 All great questions regarding the building of the universe, the 
 populating thereof, and transforming processes of the earth-born 
 spirits, must have clear demonstrations. The nature of each part of 
 the many which compose great questions must be learned by mor- 
 tals, for it shall be declared to them ; also the causes which compelled 
 such physical eifects as have been realized in all ages of the earth's 
 history, and which are now compelled forth to be studied and learned, 
 for those on earth must learn, and earth's testimony must co-operate 
 with the record in Heaven as also mortals co-operate with the labors 
 of the angels. 
 
 Each power to whom a special work is given to do acts upon 
 those who are seen to be fit subjects to work with those behind the 
 curtain, and accomplish as best they can the work sketched by design 
 for them to introduce on the mortal stage. But there is yet another 
 part to this, very commonly played by a large class of mortals. They, 
 as a class, have very much self-esteem ; are acute in detecting any 
 glimmer which may appear on the horizon of commerce or trade. 
 They are selfish, and, therefore, envy and deceit have a thrifty growth 
 in their composition. These become powers in them, which act 
 from within upon other mortals with whom they may have transac- 
 tions. They are mostly bold in talk, polite in a worldly sense, and 
 very secretive. These qualities serve as curtains, behind which is 
 concealed the strong Mammon power described. Such mortals make 
 void the business plans of innocent ones, who are open in words and 
 simple in deeds, and know not why parties do not do as they had 
 agreed to with them, and why they always have ill luck: They do 
 not perceive the force constantly sent forth from behind the dim .cur- 
 tains which blasts and blights their works. 
 
 These issues from the powers which are n n t outside of mortal-, 
 but in them, are destructive in many ways. A medium in process of 
 development associating with such persons, who are of a jealous or 
 envious inclination, is terribly tortured, for the nerve force is often 
 so shattered by the violent shocking of such batteries upon it that 
 indescribable pain is felt by the sensitive, and success for a time is 
 entirely blighted. This has been the sad and painful course here. 
 and was tolerated for the purpose of clearing up such states in mor- 
 
152 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 tals, and opening these dark natural recesses. When thus they are 
 first studied, and by experience made tangible, so as to be brought 
 forth and treated as objects, for so long as a force remains only a 
 mocking vapor, hanging in a dark web over the recesses of the brain, 
 it cannot be approached and cast into the crucible for revision and to 
 be purified. 
 
 We labor hard to bring to the surface all underground and subtle 
 dealings among mortals, for they should not, as they do, blame an 
 evil power without for working upon them, but the evil power within 
 them, compelled to action by the natural proclivities, and the unre- 
 strained desire to gratify the same. 
 
 Such persons are, however, to a great degree, the tools of the 
 powers of darkness from the spirit side, often bringing into physical 
 execution what these powers will, or compel them to do, apart from 
 their own executions, by envy and jealousy. There is a contra-dis- 
 tinction between these labors and those called malignant and destruc- 
 tive, and it behoves mortals to learn this difference, which they can 
 learn by study and close observation. When any ill-principled deeds 
 are discovered, heed should be taken that the facts in each case 
 should be looked up so they can be understood, at least by the par- 
 ties concerned, lest it be again provoked by the powers behind the 
 curtain, and cause still greater difficulties. To tolerate and humor 
 these described evil powers in mortals, when they are discovered, is 
 like an adverse treatment of a sick man who lingers on his bed, from 
 having the life fluids perverted in his system by the chemical mix- 
 tures administered to him by one ignorant of the laws of compound- 
 ing medicines. Life may be kept in a body reduced below the 
 needed quantity of fluidic force, but it is a painful life, and had best 
 be left to a natural decision, for it is an injury to both body and 
 spirit to keep life or spirit in a sickened body when the method of 
 cure is not clear to the one called to treat the attack. 
 
 I state this that it may cause a study of the mortal composition, 
 of the fluids and roots, which can be compounded and used as a sub- 
 stitute for a mortal system, in the failing of vitality, or action of any 
 part of the many composing the mechanism of a mortal being. 
 These studies are compelled forth for mortals by the powers behind 
 the curtain, which divides the invisible from the visible, for it is what 
 this age is in demand of. 
 
 There is not enough known of chemistry for all emergencies 
 in regard to debility and acute diseases, and not enough learned of 
 the natural powers in mortals themselves, so as to avoid troubles 
 which arise therefrom constantly. Therefore, ponder upon all this, 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 153 
 
 and when you see a dark web hanging over the better powers of your 
 mind do not wait until a violent executioner from the spirit world 
 thrusts it out before the people of earth to be treated in a worldly 
 measure, but go to work and remove it at once yourselves by 
 strictly avoiding former acts, ill wishes, and thoughts, directed on 
 other mortals and their pursuits. 
 
 Then you will grow in grace and become spiritual. Not before. 
 It does not help a man any if he be educated in all grades of knowl- 
 edge by mortals and by spirits so long as the mind and heart is over- 
 shadowed by the darkness of such powers in the natural man or 
 woman, so long as they make no true advancement. Their powers 
 are enhanced ; they build and grow, but it is like a man who erects 
 magnificent buildings on borrowed capital, therefore on interest, and 
 under mortgage to the capitalist. He may desire much that the 
 creditor may be wise in his management, and release the mortgage 
 so he can become the owner of what he has gathered and built, but 
 if he does not, the result is that he must give it over to him who 
 intrusted these means, and he must labor again anew to economize 
 and accumulate, and rise by hard labor to the position from which 
 he fell. 
 
 This applies to the march of progress and class degree with 
 spirits. Nothing which is impure or defiled can enter through the 
 pearly gates of purity. All ills must die, and purity rise in its stead, 
 before ascension is possible. 
 
 Come to the crystal fount, O mortals, 
 
 And clriuk its waters fresh and pure; 
 Gaze up for light, and truth, and gather 
 
 Kiches which will ever endure. 
 
 'T is not neglect of earthly duties, 
 
 Which for this study is a demand; 
 Nay, true to be and true to labor 
 
 Is gospel, and is God's command. 
 
 Behold the plan of God with man, 
 
 'Tis labor, learn, grow strong and pure, 
 For like God ye all shall endure 
 Forever and forever. 
 
 September 15, 1879. 
 
154 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUBES. 
 
 LECTURE XXX. 
 
 WHY IS AMERICA BECOMING THE QUEEN OF THE NATIONS ? 
 
 This question when touched upon in discussion would, by the 
 world's scholars, be answered affirmatively, that the fair prospect of 
 such an achievement was owing to the rich soil of this country and 
 to its thriving intelligence by which the many labor-saving advan- 
 tages have been brought into use. Then, again, America being a 
 republic, one founded upon the Heaven-born principles, and this gov- 
 ernment has extended its sovereignty towards all nations, and invited 
 all the poor from among all peoples, and have sheltered and gave 
 homes to every homeless wanderer. Therefore, all this has a great 
 bearing and constitutes a power, — a strong power which increases, — 
 and its strength will go forth upon life's mighty ocean until all shall 
 be brought closely together in one circle, and under the control of 
 these people who have grown fat and strong in our glorious republic. 
 
 The American people, who are composed of people from all 
 nations, are ingenious and industrious, more so than mortals are gen- 
 erally found to be ; that is, in one sense, for they accomplish a greater 
 amount of labor, and bring forth from the bosom of earth more riches 
 than any other peo23le have done in so short a time ; so, when we see 
 the products of the mines, fields, shops, and manufactories, it is but 
 fair to suppose that America will soon become the queen of the 
 nations. 
 
 But is it really owing to the causes we have stated that so fair a 
 view is presented ? We also answer in the affirmative, but we shall 
 say no. It does not depend upon the intelligence of mortals or their 
 industry, for they never will or can accomplish such great changes, in 
 the natural world and in the established orders, for these were also 
 guides of the people of the old worlds, as it is termed, for industry 
 and intelligence, with art, also, were the requisites for wealth and 
 prosperity which the people in all other parts of the globe possessed. 
 But there is one great and all-important thing which the people of 
 other lands have not realized as America has, and that is the great 
 out-pouring of the spirit upon the fair brows of the American people. 
 America is the recipient of blessings immortal, and this is the power 
 of her success in all combined efforts. It is this which has so speed- 
 ily changed this land into a blooming earthly paradise. Take from 
 America the talent of heavenly attraction, and all its currents would 
 be changed at once. The ingress and egress of commerce would at 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 155 
 
 once be stopped. By the ready means all avenues of the present 
 excess and utility would be closed by which wealth does and has been 
 pouring into the coffers of this republic. Then why are these fair- 
 minded Americans unfair in that which guarantees to them the very 
 nectar which can, by human possibilities, be wrought from the natural 
 deposits in the earth, coupled with the arts, and crowned with labor- 
 saving inventions? all of which are attributable to the labors of the 
 denizens of the immortal worlds, who are the co-workers with the peo- 
 ple of America more by far than with any other people on the earth's 
 surface ; for here are found so many who are so mccliumistic in this 
 fair land, where the forces and elements have so closely approximated 
 that the angels can walk the earth with delight, and are the constant 
 companions of mortals, although they are not seen by the masses. In 
 this way they scatter their acquired intelligence broadcast into " the 
 mental soil " wherever an opening is found. " But," says the critic 
 of what we are saying, "how was it, then, when others became great 
 in the former ages of the world, and their rulers became earthly 
 autocrats, so far as wordly power was concerned ? For illustration 
 we will take France when under the government of Napoleon Bona- 
 parte, who conquered the European nations around him, and made 
 France flourishing and great. Was this owing to heavenly aid and 
 interference ? " We answer, yes. It was long foretold and prophe- 
 sied of as being a part which was much needed for testimony, and it 
 marked itself on nature's canvas as a display of beastly power, for 
 Napoleon, in his works, was supported from and impelled to action by 
 the arch-types of the natural degrees, who are the worldly powers of 
 opposition against the King of kings from the heavenly degrees. 
 They are adverse to the Most High God, are strangers to and are 
 outside of the covenant, and will remain so until this present eternity 
 is finished and divided. 
 
 They do not belong to the race of the Heaven-born mortals, 
 therefore do not possess in themselves the Heaven-born principles, 
 and they work only for fame, and desire only earthly riches and 
 worldly power, and that power was given to the great Bonaparte 
 with which to acquire his own distinction. And so with many others 
 who became great ; but there were all-wise causes which provoked 
 forth these realized effects, for they were needed to make an earthly 
 display according to the drawn pictures of design, for these pictures 
 were drawn first in the heavenly tissues, and can make the impres- 
 sion on nature's canvas for a testimony for all to see only by being 
 physically transacted under the sun. Therefore all things which the 
 Great Designer has ever sketched for our eternity must have its day. 
 
156 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 and an earthly display. Alexander became great, also, for the shades 
 of his own transacted labors were a demand on nature's canvas, also, 
 for testimonials. He was, however, in different degrees, and drew 
 his support from the universe rules, but yet from the finite degrees. 
 These pictures on nature's canvas that are made by the transacted 
 works of note can never be erased. It is useless, however, to cite 
 any more illustrations from profane history at this time, as we do not 
 intend to classify tbem before it is time, only as much as will show 
 that the effects are compelled forth on earth according as they are 
 decreed in or by the councils above, and the causes or laws enforced 
 which will bring about the desired and needed results in order to pro- 
 mote the labors of regenerating and transforming, and so fill the 
 great plan which God made for His created mortals to fill by their 
 own labors, and as rewards they inherit eternal life from Him, and 
 all the wealth which they have wrought out by their own labors they 
 will lawfully inherit forever. Every man must do his part which 
 was marked by the Great Designer for him to do, and just as long 
 as he fails in filling that niche, so long will he be detained from reach- 
 ing his place of destination for rest which is accordingly marked for 
 him. 
 
 A man or a woman may pray and worship constantly in a 
 formal way, and strongly proclaim faith in Jesus, holding it as an 
 anchor of safety, yet it will not bring them to rest, nor give them any 
 credit on the canvas of nature, nor in the book of life, for the law 
 inevitable is that the works w r hich are done make the testimonial 
 marks on the canvas of nature, w T hich will serve as a warranty deed 
 for each one who arrives at home, so that they can claim accordingly. 
 Only those words of prayer and true devotion to God are recorded in 
 the book of life, the words which come from the soul's depths, and 
 which are really the desires for spiritual improvement, and which 
 contain the good will towards all in their anxious appeal for relief 
 from sin and for the common enlightenment of the naturally benighted 
 mortals. Works of faith are better than the words of faith. To Jet the 
 needy perish, and, at the same time, pray loud for God to care for 
 them, is not true principle, neither is it religion at all. The poor 
 ones of earth are placed among those who have gathered and possess 
 more of worldly goods than they need for their own maintenance, and 
 they are tried by it, also, to prove them and to see whether they will 
 manifest any true goodness or charity of their own by giving bread 
 and clothes and trying to induce, and by also aiding, these unfortu- 
 nates to become educated and to labor and learn to economize, so that 
 they may become self-standing in so far as the worldly demands of 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 157 
 
 the bodies are concerned. A\ r e see that we have widely departed from 
 the subject, but it is all, however, connected with the angel labors 
 being now done on earth ; aud we will also say that the overthrow of 
 kingdoms and earthly monarchies is marked; but a little time must 
 pass yet before its fulfillment, and during this time upheavals will 
 occur and be realized in many ways and in all countries, America not 
 excepted. 
 
 Although this land of liberty shall become queen of the nations, 
 yet this exalted summit will not be reached without difficulties, and 
 will not be correctly defined according to worldly rule, for by the 
 very marked transactions which shall take place our assertions in 
 this shall be proven. 
 
 January 26, 1880. 
 
 LECTURE XXXI. 
 
 « 
 
 NEGLECTED OPPORTUNITIES. 
 
 When we review the past, especially the late processes for 
 development, as we stand upon the summit which marks this degree 
 of process, we behold with tearful eyes and heavy hearts the many 
 chasms over and through which we were led ; also the thorns and 
 stony paths which lay between the chasms ; also the many obscure 
 byways which, as we now see, we traveled over uselessly, because we 
 were so often blinded by physical troubles that we could not see the 
 guiding star above us, or even its reflecting rays around us. At 
 other times we were so benumbed by the confusion created around 
 us by the adverse powers, who were permitted thus to probe our 
 strength and devotion which we did not know at the time, therefore 
 we gave way to gloom, and could hear nothing in that state but the 
 executioner's hammer, while, oh, so often the clouds of despair formed 
 around us, which clouds were woven from the dense mists that arose 
 constantly from the chasms, which were our ordeals constructed for 
 our purification and discipline. These were the marks of each 
 degree in accord with design. All our physical warfare was gov- 
 erned by these types, and all the forces of these different degrees met 
 and united together to produce these ill effects against us. How 
 ignorant and blind we were that we could not see this then, that is, 
 those causes which provoked forth so many unpleasant effects which 
 formed obstructions in the march, and through these, which seemed 
 like wails on either side, and the chasms underneath, the onward 
 
158 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUEES. 
 
 march was made possible only by compulsion and powerful spirit aid, 
 which aid was ever near us like a fortress of protection, against 
 which these ill forces did not dare to make war. 
 
 Thus, then, we would regain our calmness again, and could see 
 the guiding star above us, and hear the voice of our guardian giving 
 positive advice regarding the pursuits of travel and routes, yet we 
 often missed our pursuits and were detained by the various compul- 
 sions of our physical surroundings. Then the burdens grew heavier 
 that were marked for us, and often they were self-imposed ; but we 
 did not see this, nor had we any ability to do better ; but as we view 
 it all from this summit we see that it was a very beneficial course 
 which we were compelled to take in the common school of progress. 
 These conditional trials produce a wonderful exertion of all the 
 powers of the mind and soul which, by them, are awakened into 
 activity ; therefore, they are beneficial. We look with gratitude to 
 our guiding stars, who have so faithfully aided us, and condescended to 
 become our guides and teachers, and also for many others, for in this 
 wise the angels hope to reach the people and prepare them to be 
 taught in the true order of progress, and learn them how to econo- 
 mize the troubles of this earth life, and how they must pass through 
 the lawful ordeals for self-improvement, so that they could be pre- 
 pared to receive the proper degree marks. Nd grade of the univer- 
 sal studies can be missed, nor any station. The traveler from time 
 to eternity must have a thorough pass, signed by all the keepers of 
 all the important stations. No one can reach the spheres of the 
 blessed until all the grades and degrees have been mastered by them, 
 and have been visited by them either conditionally or in reality. 
 Just marks must be made on nature's canvas for each picture drawn 
 by the Great Designer for every child born upon earth, and led to 
 travel the rocky paths of endless progress, to thus reach or gain com- 
 pletion of form and mind, and to thus behold beauty in everything 
 they see, and to be ever happy in constant and useful activity. In 
 passing through these spheric or gradation schools, it is a great help 
 to know about the rules prevailing in each grade, and also who are 
 the members of the honorary board that governs the pursuits of all 
 who come, either willingly or ignorantly, or who drift by chance into 
 their grades and degrees, for if you were able to see the mixed con- 
 ditions caused by there being so many new pupils brought in each 
 passing moment, you would cry out with astonishment : Oh, what a 
 wilderness ! and how chaotic truly seem these mixtures ; and yet 
 order is compelled by those in each sphere who are the appointed 
 ones to regulate these elements and forces, and all receive treatment 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 159 
 
 just such as their real condition requires. This is at first generally 
 harsh and unpleasant, until the benighted subjects can see the light, 
 then they can see the beauty and benefit of such processes. Alas, 
 many falter and fall constantly, and cannot see the light when it is 
 being shed all around them, because they are blinded by ill desires, 
 and their spiritual attributes are consumed by their strong natural 
 proclivities which it is their constant aim to gratify. There is much, 
 very much, spiritual consumption, and you can ponder upon it and 
 conclude what the results may be for all who thus perish, for it is 
 called the second death. But as we now stand upon this firm rock, 
 outside and above these different conditions and spheres, we shudder 
 as we now see that this part is far more perilous than it seemed at 
 the time when we were passing through it, and we rejoice with glad 
 hearts that we had crossed all these chasms safely, having been aided 
 by the emanations from the pure angels who came constantly to our 
 rescue, and which emanations and forces formed fortresses of protec- 
 tion around us, so that we were safe amid all dangers. As we look 
 over the past we see many opportunities that were not well improved, 
 and it is a great loss to us, and to all who do not improve them well, 
 but who were so eager to slide by and leave them. Yes, and they 
 now stand as so many witnesses or marks against us. In looking 
 over the past, thus, we can see how our guiding stars worked their 
 way to the heart, and probed our strength and devotion. We can 
 account now for the sharp pain we felt at times when they worked 
 upon us. Those pains were prophecies of that which was to come, 
 but we did not know it then, and it was well for us that we did not, 
 or such a inarch could not have been made b} 7 us ; and yet it was the 
 marked course according to the drawings which they, the angels, call 
 the pictures of design in the drama thus sketched and played. 
 
 We behold ourselves as a vessel, weak and poor, in the positive 
 care and wielding of the captain of a group of shining angels. The 
 water and the weather proved the vessel as they called it. Then we 
 sailed out upon the conditional high sea, there to meet with the 
 powers of opposition, and compete with them in many provoked con- 
 quests. What these conquests were, and how they were provoked, 
 we will show you by and by ; also, that all these conditions can be 
 met, — all these spheric degrees traveled through and surmounted 
 without a change of place or locality. 
 
 The workers in the spirit world are at the present time material- 
 izing, that is, making tangible to mortals their conditional dramas on 
 earth, by which all things upon earth, the people not excepted, have 
 been swayed, and to do this they must employ many subjects as 
 
160 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 physical actors and actresses to aid them. Also, many perform parts 
 in these plays not knowing what they do, and, we will admit, that 
 those who were compelled by different powers were brought here, 
 also those who resided here acted in parts of opposition to us for the 
 purpose of provoking forth conditional conquests. We admit, also, 
 that they did not know fully what parts they played or acted, neither 
 did we at that time, or we would have set up our wills and have cast 
 defiance against them, which would not have given the play the 
 required opportunity to mark itself properly for all time, for it is the 
 legal mark for this advent, and is done for a great purpose, and we 
 can say with thankful hearts there is a great prize wen. Several of 
 the head types of the different degrees with whom we were to meet 
 and battle brought their mediums here, and through them scattered 
 their forces and conditions. They were made to act as Judases and 
 embassadors, even as the conditions they met required action for 
 the purpose of causing confusions and troubles from which the chasms 
 were constructed over which we were to cross in order to obtain the 
 legal mark of triumph over them all. These all came to us dis- 
 guised. They w T ere very good, yet the purpose of their labors was 
 concealed, which was to create troubles and ordeals for us to pass 
 through. We will omit the names of the subjects who acted officially, 
 for they can be of no use to the world at the present time. For the 
 works of opposition one effected and brought us into those ill condi- 
 tions, another acted as and was an unclean magnetizer, and caused 
 grievous physical results in everything around us, such things that 
 are too painful, some of too secret a nature, for the public. One was 
 governed by a band of magicians, and worked up many evils around 
 us, some of which have not subsided yet. One came, compelled by a 
 sensual force, controlled by spirits representing that type which are 
 the worst beings of or in hell, but they did not succeed in giving us any 
 special troubles, yet there are some here who have had troubles which 
 were the effects of such conditional causes stirred up and set in exe- 
 cution by the unclean magnetizer. 
 
 Being thus surrounded by the effects of such conditional compul- 
 sions, and being thus mentally tortured, constituted the battles we had 
 to fight, and also the dark chasms we must cross. We must battle 
 and conquer or lose the prize which we were thus led forth to gain. 
 These head types of opposition were entitled, in this present advent, 
 to cause troubles for mortals until one mortal could be brought forth 
 against them and conquer in these battles. This, then, shall be the 
 legal mark which shall break their power, and great good for the 
 whole human family will be the result of these labors. How often, 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 161 
 
 as we glance over the picture of these transactions as it passes before 
 us and vanishes from sight, do we see that the barge in which we 
 sailed would get fast in the hedges or sail against the rocks, and 
 would have been broken in fragments, causing d*eath, and by this the 
 loss of the battles, had it not been held by the firm hands of our spirit 
 guide and swayed wholly by his strong arm. Therefore, thus aided, 
 we passed safely through those mysterious places and realizations 
 emblematical of those spheres and regions from whence those types 
 came who were the invisible and co-joined physical opposition. But 
 glory, honor, power, and thanksgiving be to God on high, for the vic- 
 tory that was sought is won ! But it cannot be so quickly felt and 
 comprehended by all the people, because it requires an elementary 
 change ; the ethers are changed even now, are being changed right 
 along so as to remove the dense conditional collections, and to infuse 
 those that are purer and healthier. 
 
 And with all these changes the new ideas come which will find 
 their way unawares into the organisms or brains of all the people, 
 according to their ability to receive, as they are numbered in their 
 grade and degree. In these days of spirit out-pouring, thus mental 
 illumination, the people will be led to see things as they really are, 
 because no mysteries are retained, for they are revealed to mortals. 
 They must learn to look for Satan upon earth, for he is roaming 
 there, and has his dwelling in the people. He is composed of shades 
 and attributes. The attributes are deceit, cunning, and jealousy ; the 
 shades are subtle and very dim, and are in mortals secretiveness. 
 This is Satan. Behold him among you upon earth ! Also, hell is 
 deeper and is more frequently found upon earth than in any other 
 world, for where misery and woe are there is hell. The world is 
 your great book of lessons. Study it carefully, and adjust each les- 
 son to your mental collections for future use. Do not turn this book 
 through carelessly, leaf by leaf, and look only for fancy pictures as 
 children do their primers, for only as you learn the lessons well 
 that are spread out before you in nature and in the world's transac- 
 tions can you be enabled to study and master the greatest of all 
 studies, which is man and his truly wonderful composition. AVhen 
 you can read invisible causes which manifest themselves through 
 men, then you have indeed mounted a summit where you can stand 
 erect and declaim with dignity what the rights and duties of men are. 
 Again, a scene in the passing picture compels me to sigh deeply. 
 Oh, the many neglected opportunities! Will they come again in some 
 other shape or form, and shall we, if they come again, recognize 
 them and perform our parts, and thus merit the rewards that are 
 
162 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 marked for ns, and which will be lost unless we do our duties and 
 receive counter-marks for deeds performed for marks on the can- 
 vas sketched for this drama? Alas, it passes, is crone, and leaves 
 painful ponderings which may prepare us for the duties we may meet 
 with as we pass along in this inarch of progression. 
 
 But what is this rising around us ? It is mist which creates 
 shadows, and we know by this that some reality is close at hand to be 
 revealed, where true action will be required. But why does darkness 
 go before the face of the Lord, and why do shadows announce the 
 real ? which shadows mock and blind the people to their duty, so that 
 they think, they have no means, no ability to do what is or may be 
 required, when all with which to do is placed right within their 
 reach ; but they are so blinded in their senses that they cannot per- 
 ceive nor understand aright at such critical moments, which require 
 activeness, in order to make their marks. If, then, trials represent 
 the general standing of the people and their misdeeds, in accord with 
 their misapprehensions, then what a lamentable state the world and 
 her people are in. Yes, this is even so. We hear sighs and groans 
 all around from the air, as an issue of mortal breath, and even from 
 the earth. The very earth groans and complains that so many 
 travelers are misled and wrongly dealt with, and thus they are far 
 from acting their assigned parts in this great world theater. 
 Adverse transactions are common, and are well acted out. We feel 
 this, and we see it form like a heavy cloud in the air, and settle over 
 the earth, even as we pen these lines. This great conditional con- 
 vulsion will cause turbulent physical effects, for there is no remedy to 
 prevent it, because the people do not improve the opportunities by 
 doing their parts in the right season ; they cannot, because they do 
 not see or understand concerning it. But it is well that all this is 
 brought forth, for after due ventilation there will be a calm, and the 
 atmosphere will work powerfully upon the mental powers of the 
 people. Then they will see and learn the nature of these trials, and 
 will have each existing chasm marked and denned in their proper 
 degree. They will learn then how and why all of these conflicts 
 and collisions are caused in the great natural changes and revolu- 
 tions. Our earth will soon be revolutionized. Our conditional 
 drama just ended here is the fore-runner of, or a representation of, 
 the condition of the whole earth. It will be made a testimony to 
 that which, in this process of cleaning up, will be realized upon 
 earth by the people, and it will, prove itself to be a link of the great 
 chain which was formed at the beginning of time, and link after link 
 of this chain has been produced under the sun. This chain is held in 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 163 
 
 the hands and power of the master-builders, and when all of the 
 links have been produced by that power, then it will encircle all who 
 have ever been workers in that ring under and for that power. None 
 of those links can be broken when the work is finished and this 
 golden chain is completed ; nor can any truth be suppressed then or 
 denied which is issued from that circle, or has ever, at any time, 
 proceeded forth from that fountain. 
 
 Again we are surrounded by those guiding stars. Their bright- 
 ness shines around us in great splendor, and they sing together as 
 they did at the dawn of our eternity's day, for their works are almost 
 ended, and each part was well done, which in the powerful enact- 
 ments and executions were so many well governed oppositions. The 
 many neglected opportunities which are specified in this passing 
 panorama cannot be enumerated in detail, because they are past ; 
 but we have taken many notes at the times of critical transactions 
 which will some time come before the wo^ld, and will aid in solving 
 the critical conditional effects to which these present invisible com- 
 pulsions are leading. But amidst all this display of foaming, tossing 
 waves, that are being set off from the great world tide, and which will 
 bring dire effects to the people, let us be active and do our parts, and 
 not neglect any opportunities to shed the light and bless the world. 
 We know there are many, very many, struggling for life amid condi- 
 tional encumbrances which they have no power to remove, and for which 
 afflictions thus caused there is found no other balm but knowledge. 
 
 When the causes of such effects are seen through the mystic 
 wielding of conditions, so as to bring effects by mortals, then there is 
 hope, and strength is then given by which to break those obstruc- 
 tions into fragments, then we can pass along more cautiously and 
 studiously than before in our march. We must work now in our 
 day, in our time, as we are summoned now to appear before the 
 world upon the stage of action. The masses of the people are not 
 ready to accept what is given to us to give to the world, nor even to 
 accept that which has been our actual experience ; yet we must 
 speak the truth and not look for approval from the world, yet knowing 
 that God is both author and judge, and that from Him we shall receive 
 due reward for all our labors. It may not be received in this world, 
 but in the glorious hereafter where we shall find an abiding place, and 
 eujoy the fruits of our labors throughout our glorious, eternal day. 
 
 On earth each day has its night-fall, 
 Each mortal born feels the death-fall ; 
 But the sun of our eternal day never sets, 
 
 APRIL 3, 1S79. 
 
 I 
 
164 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUBES. 
 
 LECTURE XXXII. 
 
 THE CREATIVE LAW IS ONE OF WISE ECONOMY. 
 
 Marvel not when I tell you that all atoms and all electric forces 
 were weighed, from which, by the law of action, all things which are 
 created have been evolved. In those clays when these laws were con- 
 templated and written in a book and enforced, it was resolved that 
 nothing could or should be lost, nay, not an atom, for the great 
 world-regulating machine is closely set with the wheels of economy, 
 and they grind all things which come forth very fine and sure. 
 Nothing escapes, — the same weight, the same yielding proportion, is 
 ever retained, and the interests are correctly gathered from the mat- 
 ter and force investments, and although the capitalizing has been very 
 great, not a jot of the law is changed so as to work any different now 
 from what it did in the beginning in regard to the creative processes 
 and regulations, and not a jot of law fails to be observed and fulfilled. 
 Many parts of this creative law are already filled, and the design 
 is measurably reached, which to accomplish was the object thereof. 
 Therefore, it is a common demand that a change should ensue after 
 these parts of the law are revealed and submitted to human judgment. 
 Could any created mortal be lost ? — since the smallest atom cannot 
 be, nor the smallest vapor that rises from the elements or from mor- 
 tal breath, from animal breath and from the vegetable plane, — all of 
 which congregate and become a power of force, invisible and subtle, 
 by which mortals on earth are swayed, and, thus far, are not directly 
 under the providential care or government of their heavenly parent, 
 God, as many mortals suppose. No, only in this w T ay : that the laws 
 which work out all this are made, enforced, and kept in action by 
 His will and power, thus working all things together for the final 
 good of all. Therefore, earthly sins are forgiven, and no sins meet 
 with punishment excepting those which pollute and deform the spirit, 
 and which are so indelibly enstamped upon it that nothing can 
 remove them but time and changes, by which translution and a 
 change of form can be accomplished. But all shall and will be saved ;, 
 yea, even the son of perdition ! When you study the elements of 
 nature, and reason upon what you behold, you must confess that God's 
 plan of creation was a wise one, and full of the precepts of activity 
 and economy. All the lessons contained in nature which have been 
 opened before you as problems are to be studied by the children of 
 earth, and are to be solved for their benefit. 
 

 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 165 
 
 To interest you more, and to open your understanding to per- 
 ceive better, I will take you in mind with me. We will traverse 
 space, and go back to the great central rock of nature, to the great 
 pools of slimes which were unbound and unregulated, and from 
 whence the impure vapors arose and the sickly waters spread all over 
 earth without stay or order. We behold this mass, full of life, in the 
 atoms clustered together without shape or form. We behold in the 
 electric vapors of different colors and names the life force which 
 the atom needs to give it shape and form, and produce action. We 
 gaze at this with wondering amazement, and sigh in spirit when we 
 behold the uselessness of all this, which, through labor and by the 
 rules of law could be made useful, grand, and glorious. We contem- 
 plate the possibility of ■ surveying these depths, and ascertaining the 
 amount of atoms and fluids which could be prepared for chemical 
 uses, by which to separate and bind these pools with dams, and make 
 them into reservoirs, and to keep them by this force thus prepared in 
 their stationed places, so that only that which is made by this force 
 evolves, and, after a season of a great length of time, forms of life are 
 brought forth from all this by the constant chemical activity. This 
 being tried and found to be practicable, we are pleased to behold that 
 there is not the least germ of life or motion but what can be instilled 
 into the atom and can attain form, can be transformed and made to 
 be of use, and so become a universal benefit. We contemplate, then, 
 the way in which to pursue this work. We note the many junctions 
 of law needed to carry on this work, and then we lay it before the 
 body of members which formed the intelligent circle, which was com- 
 posed of archangels of complete spirit forms. Those spirits have 
 never known woman, for there were no women at that period of time, 
 because no multiplying was necessary in those days of }*ore, nor 
 desired, for spirit intelligence was self-sustaining and self-standing. 
 Yet the earth was peopled with the imperfect human types, but they 
 had no divine germ within ; they did not possess the attributes of that 
 intelligence which could be improved and perfected through time and 
 changes, and become God-like, — yes, even perfect, God-like beings! 
 To do this was needed the two creative powers, the positive and the 
 negative likewise. This, then, was the plan of our labor and serious 
 contemplations by which to accomplish our work. The great circle 
 of intelligence upon hearing these laws read, these new and grand 
 ideas presented, disagreed among themselves. They were not all 
 willing to lose a part of their own selfhood, which was a demand in 
 order to enforce and carry on the labor of the contemplated plan. 
 They preferred being complete spirits, living ever without this massive 
 
166 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUPvES. 
 
 involving of labors. They preferred this state to that of becoming 
 simply a creative power, and of having untold millions ; I say untold, 
 and yet, in the plan, the number of males and females that it would 
 require to make a peopled universe was stated, and also the wealth 
 and joys for them all in abundance, and that they should be a com- 
 pound of tangibility of forms, so that it would be possible for them to 
 enjoy that which their great labors would yield. Therefore, four of 
 the mighty archangels became powers of opposition ; seven agreed to 
 take a part in the plan, each having their own part to perform accord- 
 ing to law, and over the proceedings of this council presided the great 
 spirit Jove, who was the principal of the circle, and he also held the 
 power over nature's rock, but not over the pools of slime. In this, 
 then, the strife presented itself, for there was this great labor to 
 begin. The members met in session, and the councilings met, to a 
 great extent, our expectations. We knew within ourselves that 
 opposition would be and is the life of business, and would aid us in 
 our undertakings, though we would meet with fierce struggles, and 
 would be compelled ourselves to fill parts otherwise impossible to be 
 filled, and even to meet with subjections of the most humiliating and 
 severe character. Yet we were wholly satisfied, yes, eager to do all 
 this, in order to accomplish this great labor contemplated in this plan. 
 Those of the opposition were also lending us their most skillful aid 
 even in their adverse way, they not perceiving that their opposition 
 would work ultimately for the success of our purposes. Having 
 accomplished this, we pause and rest, and talk this over with the 
 members who were to take an active part with us ; and being delighted 
 with the results of the experiments tried with the chemical prepara- 
 tions and their force, we now have the great fiat announced : " Let 
 there be Light." 
 
 Now, before I take you any further, or describe to you that 
 which was the first part of our unpleasant labor, I will tell you a part 
 of the rules of economy. Let us count these scattered parcels, and 
 weigh the atoms and fluids, and then count on, we will say, six thou- 
 sand years of creating and multiplying, and then arrange the seasons, 
 so that the earth, and all which is therein must, by the law of regula- 
 tion, be compelled to yield the same weight, and to have it come out 
 even in the end of the time named, with this difference, that this 
 now irregular mass of matter and force involved in these pools of 
 dark waters extending over all the lower space will be separated, . 
 purified, and applied to good and beneficent purposes, and earth itself 
 will be a blooming paradise. It required a great amount of mathe- 
 matical power to make correct calculations of such an immense work, 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 167 
 
 but it was done ; and even now in these days, when all these junc- 
 tions of law by which to complete this plan are nearly filled, we have 
 the correct accounts, the self-same amounts of matter and force, only 
 they are purified and transformed. We created cold weather as well 
 as the heat, and all which takes place under the sun does so of neces- 
 sity, for in the cold weather the wood of the forest and the coal, 
 through the changes in nature, are formed in the earth, and are again 
 consumed, and the heat and steam are thus caused to arise, and are 
 collected and presented again only in a different shape, for in the 
 former state it was a force emanating from matter, it now becomes a 
 force and is again introduced into matter, and greater achievements 
 are the results. Thus, you see, all parts are wisely managed, and 
 economy is strictly observed. 
 
 I could cite you to much more, but by explaining these parts too 
 closely it might give rise to misconceptions in the minds of those 
 who belong to and are under the dominion of our beasts of opposi- 
 tion, whom we wish not to encourage, for it will be a sad reality for 
 them when they behold the beast that was and is not, while yet it is. 
 This saying signifies that the evolving pools existed, and that from 
 thence all has been evolved which lives on and in and under the 
 earth's surface. 
 
 "It is not" signifies that all this did not evolve according to 
 their conceptions, and not without great labor of the spirit in separat- 
 ing it and giving shape and distinction and form, and is not, there- 
 fore, a natural evolution nor selection, but it is wisely governed, and 
 the glory of these achievements cannot be taken from those who were 
 the chief ones in the beirinnins and ending of these great labors. 
 "While yet it is" substantiates the theory of nature, how it was in 
 the primal stages, aud that although all this has been worked out, has 
 been accomplished, all which the eyes can behold and the senses 
 take recognition of, yet these natural reservoirs are remaining, and 
 are yet as full of matter and force as they were at the dawn of this 
 first period, only they are in better shape, and the managing force is" 
 so vastly increased, inasmuch as that there are now many, — many 
 intrusted with the labors of transforming, and are agents each over a 
 given part, while this was a task for but a few in the beginning. Let 
 the power arise who, through men and women on earth, must repre- 
 sent themselves as the power of opposition ! They arc nothing more 
 than sounding brass and tinkling cymbals with all the display of their 
 intelligence, for they have no foundation whereupon to stand, and 
 will fall into these pools in the day of decision, as a reward for their 
 adverse opposition, there to be transformed in the next eternal round, 
 
168 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 when they will have learned to love and serve their Maker and 
 Creator. 
 
 In the next lesson I will show you our first unpleasant work in 
 the beginning of all this. Permit me to say that this lesson may not 
 seem a pleasant one for you, yet I cannot refrain from giving it, as I 
 wish to let you perceive clearly, inasmuch as the revelations of these 
 parts of the plan must be clearly and pointedly given in order to 
 sweep away the mists, and open not only yours but the general under- 
 standing of mankind. And I will add that it was really the hardest 
 part and the most humiliating labor for us ; that is, the beginning 
 with our work of all which would be a demand to be done during all 
 this time. It is the transmitting mode of the infinite principle and 
 germinal pure essences of the perfected spirit, the introduction of 
 these life germs which could not be destroyed when once introduced 
 into matter; but its nature is to refine matter, and to compel it to 
 become pure, and the laws which form the limits in which the natural 
 are to be held, trained, and purified by the action of the spirit upon 
 them were the natural forces which were thus made the negative 
 creative power after the first introduction and a period of sore trav- 
 ail, viz., these parts being taken from us and matter made pregnant 
 therewith caused a great deal of travail, for it was a change of our 
 constituted system, and the result was that woman was thus created 
 and was taken from the completeness of the ruling spirit and formed 
 physically from the atomical attributes of nature. She was then made 
 the negative creating power with the great creating principle, and 
 those rights are granted to her supremely, and in this way all who 
 are born in this eternity have instilled in them the divine essence, and 
 are therefore royal offspring, children of the Most High God, heirs to 
 the common universe wealth, and certainly of the offered salvation 
 which was a part of the contemplated plan before the work had a 
 beginning. All who do not come to rest and share not in this bless- 
 ing fall short of it, because sin has beset them, and their natural attri- 
 butes and proclivities hold dominion over their spiritual identity, and 
 so deform it that it cannot be divinely recognized. Yet, I say, they 
 are not lost; nay, time and changes will heal all deformities and 
 bring under safe shelter and into the green pastures every God- 
 created child of this great universe. 
 
 Now I see a distant vapor rise as I tell you this. Look and 
 behold it. It signifies opposition and unbelief from the mortal side 
 concerning this saying. There are many literal uses enforced in 
 common teachings, sayings which were typical and were to represent 
 in some instances eternal measures or cycling changes, or the feeling 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 169 
 
 from a conditional stand-point typified, and these misconceived ideas 
 must be rectified, and these long-standing errors must be reasoned 
 upon and thrown from aboard the great ship of progress, for they 
 have already too long retarded its grand pursuit on life's mighty 
 ocean. It must be admitted that when such points of controversy as 
 the question at issue, as to which of these sayings bear the stamp or 
 power of divine authority, because they are found in the book termed 
 " Holy Writ," which were but typical sayings poured through the 
 channels of mortal organism, were thus tinged with frailty and imper- 
 fections, and have lost their first significance and true meaning by the 
 interpreting and revising, and the suppositions of men have built upon 
 those fragments according as it seemed wise and good to them. How 
 long will worldly wisdom strive to carry such useless burdens ? And 
 how long shall man-made junctions of law persist against the divine, 
 as we by the law of compulsion bring forth both sides before the 
 courts of human judgment to be reasoned upon and the errors cast 
 into oblivion ? It is nothing at best. All who uphold the formalities 
 enforced by men and work against the true life, truth, and principle 
 of the spirit gain but this : that they thus involve themselves so wide 
 and dee}} conditionally that all manner of unpleasant emergencies 
 surround and engulf them, they cannot extricate themselves from 
 behind these fortresses otherwise than by passing through great tribu- 
 lations. Many, however, remain thus captives until the spirit is 
 summoned from this earthly sojourn. Then, oh, then, the realization 
 is a mournful mass of saddest disappointments ! We behold all such 
 with great pity. Yet not a jot of the law can be changed or omitted. 
 That which is not pure cannot enter into heavenly rest, and where a 
 perverse mental culture has been attained on earth the deeds were 
 likewise perverse, and the spirit not having been nurtured from the 
 true fountain of life is lame, crippled, and sick. The letter con- 
 demeth, for in it there is no life, but the spirit quickens. Those who 
 rest in ease and base their hope and faith on the letter are not aiding 
 their spirit in growth and health, for the voice of their conscience is 
 asleep and they cannot understand the spirit voice, and cannot there- 
 fore discern spiritually the teachings on which their hope is based, 
 because the spirit life within is not active. The divine germs form 
 the spiritual constitution, even as the physical form the physical 
 structure, and give action to the physical man. Now, were you to 
 say we will not exert ourselves any but sleep on and walk on in a 
 sort of formal, drowsy way, and let all things take care of themselves, 
 you will admit that your bodies could not acquire any growth in such 
 a course, for they need activity as well as food, and the rules of health 
 
170 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUEES. 
 
 and cleanliness need to be observed, otherwise a physical body is not 
 a true moral structure, but an animal imitation, and cannot hold a 
 footing upon a true moral plane. See, then, how it is with the spirit. 
 Each impure thought is a stain on the spirit, each impure deed causes 
 wounds and bruises according to their magnitude. How do you sup- 
 pose a wounded, crippled, and sick spirit looks ? And with all this 
 it thirsts for water from its original fountain, and hungers for the 
 manna which is the true heavenly food which is denied them by the 
 dominion rule of the physical man over the spiritual. Can you 
 wonder, then, when such spirits cannot be divinely recognized, and 
 they must remain outside in the preparatory spheres where many 
 unpleasant duties must of necessity be complied with, and many treat- 
 ments for the healing of the spirit are given but which are hard to 
 indure by these deformed and variously afflicted spirits ? Humanity 
 has been to a great extent swayed into the belief that only those per- 
 sons who became perfected while on earth are accepted and can enter 
 into the heavenly rest prepared for the faithful and true, that all 
 others (which are assuredly the majority) are lost forever and con- 
 signed to never-ending torture. To all such believers we must say 
 that the day is dawning when you shall behold the orders of the new 
 covenant, which are not written in a great book as the law and cove- 
 nant were which is now about completed, but which are written in 
 the hearts of all the people and spirits alike. 
 
 In the plan of creation the plan of redemption was included also. 
 The numbers required to complete the superstructure of the great 
 heavenly temple or plan were stated in the plan, or, as will be better 
 understood, in the book of life. This number being now complete, 
 the law as to that part is filled, and a new Heaven and a new earth 
 are thence created in which righteousness shall rule all who are on 
 earth as well as in Heaven. The new order of progress is heralded 
 on earth through mental organisms by the angels and saints whom 
 the Lord sends to prepare the way before Him. But those who 
 claim to have the most love for the Righteous King will not hear 
 His servants, but they stone them because they do not wish that He 
 should assume rule over them in the way that is best pleasing to 
 Him, but rather according to the choice and desire of the people. 
 
 December 25, 1877. 
 

 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 171 
 
 LECTURE XXXIII. 
 
 IS SPIRITUALISM PURE IN ALL ITS OFFERED PHASES? IF IT IS 
 
 PURE, WHY IS THERE SO MUCH CONTROVERSY AMONG THE 
 
 INVESTIGATORS, MEDIUMS, AND ADHERENTS TO THE 
 
 DIFFERENTLY PRODUCED EVIDENCES? 
 
 Mortals are prone to form incorrect conclusions of that which is 
 presented to them. The reason of that is they are restless and hasty, 
 at least it is so with the American born ; it is a result of the soil 
 from whence their natural bodies are composed and supported. They 
 cannot even wait to have ideas completed in their minds, and the 
 effect is abortions of their forming ideas by a sudden drifting out 
 upon different things. When a thought had presented itself, and the 
 subject matter is all there ready to compose a good, wholesome idea, 
 by which the question in the mind might be correctly solved ; when, 
 as we said, by a careless action these carefully infused substances to 
 form correct ideas meet with an abortion are destroyed, then, as 
 a matter of course, there is a void. There is something incompre- 
 hensible then, and the result is that incorrect conclusions are formed, 
 and improper applications made, and many ills grow from these 
 human failings. If the truth was known by mortals regarding all 
 the phases through which spiritual agencies are offered for the study 
 and proof of an immortal existence, then they would all be pure and 
 wholesome to mortals ; but as long as the itching ears are turned 
 first this way and that way, and the mind is turned by every breeze, 
 so that not a whole idea can be composed, even just so long will 
 there be controversy and fault-finding, and many unpleasant results 
 for the investigators, for they, in that state, do not weigh truth in the 
 scale of justice, and so infringe thoughtlessly upon the rights of 
 others. Then the ready workers who have charge over the persons 
 injured in such a way hasten to surround the person who committed 
 the offense ; if it is only a trivial offense, and thoughtless as said, 
 that they may control a medium in the degree into which they wish 
 to bring said persons, they then talk very pleasantly to them in 
 order to call out what is within, so as to mingle it with other condi- 
 tions, so as to gain material to work with, in order to gain their 
 object and serve a levy upon those persons who had infringed upon 
 others' rights. Then it is said that such are low, yes, evil spirits. 
 True, they are nothing more than errand or servant spirits for the 
 higher ones, yet it is their whole aim to bring impurity forth from 
 mortals, and help to purify them, and see that justice is done to 
 
172 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 everyone. Beware of those who are indifferent to Christ and His 
 principles, for they are human adversaries in all their works, and also 
 executioners, and take delight in such works more than in true 
 progress. Truly, there is labor needed in the preparatory degrees 
 which all must pass through, either as mortals or spirits, in order to 
 gain and receive a permit of promotion to enter the progressive 
 spheres. This is the point the investigators should keep in view, 
 viz., that when he chances to drift into byways and commits himself 
 by unlawful explorations, that if he can heroically pay the expenses of 
 that route or the incurred penalties, he will learn his folly the sooner, 
 and will become stronger in mind, and can use more acutely his 
 own reason. 
 
 When in his travels he comes to a cross road, and sees no finger 
 boards there with the description of route where these roads lead to, 
 nor the distance to another point, — for it is not known as yet by mor- 
 tals how far each phase of spirit phenomena will take the traveling 
 investigator ; but it will be known by them after passing the round 
 and wearing the effects of each misdeed, — then the truth regarding 
 each piece or portion of investigation and received evidence from the 
 degree will be seen in which a communication was given, and what 
 its true meaning was, and the natural and just results. When all 
 this can be done, then there will be no more unpleasant encum- 
 brances ; no matter where you turn as an explorer or teacher you 
 will not be assailed, because you know what position you occupy, and 
 what grounds you stand upon. Be of good cheer, you who have 
 endured the heat of the day, for the good wrought from evil is ever 
 worth the struggle which it costs, and will bring more real enjoy- 
 ment and true happiness than that which was gained without any 
 adventures and struggles. Mortals are so constituted that they must 
 be active, and attain knowledge and comforts by their own mental 
 and bodily activities. If this was not so it might be said that the 
 Creator made a mistake, but not so ; He weighed the matter well 
 before He placed immortal spirits in mortal or naturally-composed 
 bodies, and had attested the fact that idleness would be indulged in if 
 there was no law to make self-improvement, labor, and activity a 
 necessity. 
 
 It is equally necessary that the acquiring of truths and general 
 knowledge of God's works and laws should be acquired slowly, and 
 kept in accord with the capacity, enlargement, and strength of every 
 separate individual, and to have the degrees properly marked apart 
 in their methods and guaranteed rights, in order to work with and 
 upon the people, so that they may learn order and the necessity 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 173 
 
 thereof. Men must become a law unto themselves, as there shall be 
 no written covenant in this new process of creating and transforming 
 mortals, which is already beginning ; but the law will be written in 
 every heart, and to make the people realize that they are immortal 
 spirits, even while they are encumbered with clay, the angels or 
 spirits of those who have lived on earth before, are sent back to attest 
 to the truths of immortality, and to renew the powers and call them 
 out into action of those who are akin to them, and who are now 
 engaged in a tour on earth. The people must realize that they are 
 seen by spirits in all they do, and that even their thoughts are read 
 and the depths of their souls surveyed, in order to learn the inmost 
 desires, and also to work about the means by which these desires can 
 be called out and mingled with other conditions, then to work about 
 for the desiring soul all that it craved. 
 
 Let mortals learn that the various processes of manifested spirit 
 power only serve the people according as they have need, and that 
 the developments of the people are very uneven. There are some 
 who belong in all grades, while others belong only to certain degrees, 
 yet all the spirits who administer to human wants give assistance 
 either in devotional growth or in finite degrees, in physical matters 
 of perplexity or interest. They are all ordained by God as ministers 
 over the people, and do their works as they receive the orders. 
 Many spirits work tangibly in the earth atmosphere and upon mor- 
 tals. They see the mortal workers and give them their aid in order 
 to make the haste in that direction which the great change in nature 
 calls for. Yes, friends, this is true, and is being done because it must 
 be done. The people need to be informed of that which is in com- 
 motion on earth, then, if they do not pay heed to all these works, they 
 have not nor cannot have any excuses to make. All building pro- 
 cesses need a foundation first. We do not say or mean that the plat- 
 form of law and gospel shall be removed, but that the progressive 
 theory must be builded thereon as it has been from the beginning ; yet 
 changes are made in the conducting of the educating and transform- 
 ing processes for the races of earth ; for, as said before, there will be 
 no covenant written which will require many things of the people to 
 be obtained by growth in accord with the rules laid down in said 
 covenant, and enforced on earth by spirits through mortals. 
 
 Now, all will be written in the hearts of men, and will be worked 
 upon and kept before the mind's eye by spirits, and the people will 
 and must recognize the co-operative labor of spirits with themselves, 
 and so bring God and man together. The many different phases of 
 lnediumship now known are all needed. All must do an independ- 
 
174 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 ent work that was sketched for them ; yet all labors must blend to- 
 gether, and will do so when the scum is removed from the boiling caul- 
 dron which is the dense issue from mortals, provoked forth by aerial 
 pressure, and the subtle forces coming under the regulative law in the 
 physical degrees. All this bitterness that is now displayed will van- 
 ish, and even opposition will stand observant and quiet when all the 
 introduced phases of spirit power are understood by the people. 
 Then those called upon to work will do it cheerfully, and the 
 remnant will be taught cheerfully that which from each degree is 
 directed to them. Let not one be disheartened of all who have been 
 called to labor with spirits, yes, to labor in the Lord's vineyard on 
 earth in this present time, to aid in gathering earth's harvests, and in 
 sifting and separating truths from errors, and to bring all received 
 knowledge in classical order by spirit aid. All shall receive the 
 reward that is of the most value to them, and craved by them the 
 most. Therefore, all are to receive their penny as reward, the same 
 in one sense yet differing in degree value. No matter how humble 
 their calling may have been, if they have done their work well in 
 their degree, they have standing out on interest that reward which 
 was laid up for such work to be done, and if it is not received 
 straightway and realized, no one can take it. It stands good and 
 capitalizes, and will be drawn with interest by the one who did the 
 work, and endured the scorn of the people for doing such work, and 
 as I said before, I say again, that that which is the most craved i3 
 given to everyone as a reward for aiding in the present labors, so 
 that all workers can be happy when they are done with that which 
 was sketched for them to do, as said above, for they must all endure 
 more or less of the conditional heat, must feel the pressure of oppos- 
 ing conditions to themselves, and to the works which they are active 
 in according to their calling. They must feel the scorn of the people 
 in magnitude to the difference there may be, with that which is done 
 by them and given through them, and the mortal status of ability to 
 receive and understand. It is therefore easy to see that mediums 
 laboring with worldly spirits in the lower degrees, 3 r et in the same 
 degrees in which mortals are classed, that they get along the best, and 
 have the most pecuniary and physical aid, and less opposition to 
 breast and battle with ; yet they are rewarded even in such degrees, 
 for it fills their desires according to their development. But it is 
 vastly below in real worth to that which is gained by a worker in the 
 degrees of law and gospel, and the imparting of truths and precepts 
 which are all impelled and given by spirit power through such chosen 
 and carefully-reared workers. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 175 
 
 It is sure that the learned will criticise all this severely, and will 
 find fault with the imparted truths as well as with the medium through 
 whom they are given ; and those who are not learned will scorn and 
 scoff, but it matters not, pay no heed to it. Do your duty faithfully, 
 ever remembering that the eyes of the spirits by whom you are 
 called and guided detect all this, yea, even all the inward conditions 
 of ill feelings which are suppressed. They bring it all to judgment, 
 and blessed and justified shall be the faithful worker. 
 
 Search where you will, you will find something that will be of 
 value to you, if you but learn to apply it rightly. Certainly what is 
 learned or discovered must be rated in classic order, and is worth 
 according to its quality in strength of degree from whence it came or 
 where it was discovered. This affords a great deal of study, and it is 
 the object and desire of spirits to arrest the wandering minds of mor- 
 tals and engage them in these studies, so that everyone can become a 
 law to himself and decide for himself the same as in matters belong- 
 ing to each one's duty in the daily walks of life. Learn to exercise 
 your reason aright upon what is given by spirit power now and upon 
 all that was ever thus given before this to the world the same as in 
 physical matters. You all, every person has enough to deal with by 
 which to be taught these lessons perfectly. You must learn to think 
 aright about matters which in the order of progress are inevitable, 
 yes, are an absolute necessity. 
 
 You could not get along well on earth if all that the earth's sur- 
 face would yield would be pure gold, and no waters be located, and 
 earth did not produce stone, lead, coal, oil, grasses, grains, fruits, forests, 
 and the many different vegetables so much loved by mortals. Are not 
 all these productions more valuable than gold in the places they fill, 
 and for which there is a natural demand ? and the great Sovereign 
 has supplied them. 
 
 Then why should He not supply the demands of the dual being 
 of mortals, and that which is called the immortal spirit in the same 
 way with all things which that nature needs and craves, yes, yearns 
 for, with which to aid in its expansion and growth, and when it is 
 supplied why do mortals fear to use or to apply it ? Our Father, 
 who is in Heaven, knows what His earthly children need while pass- 
 ing through these critical aerial changes. And the supply is given 
 them, for all the mind forces of mortals are taxed and changed. See 
 to it that you exercise your reason well in testing spiritual demonstra- 
 tions, no matter in what degree or through what phase of mediumship 
 they are demonstrated. There is use for all, then certainly there is 
 good in all, but they are not all equally pure nor of the same value, 
 
176 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 yet are needed where they belong and are of value there. It is, 
 therefore, best to study well, and let few words express unsettled 
 ideas. Then there is not so much room or danger of perplexities 
 and humiliations. 
 
 It is a beautiful study that is offered to mortals, 
 
 And brought right home to them from the mansions immortal; 
 
 The residents from celestial climes 
 
 Walk the earth, and teach the people these are wonderful times. 
 
 A FEW COMMENTS ON THE PRECEDING LECTURE. 
 
 We learn from the lecture that the spirits who oppose Christ 
 and the Christian principles work only upon mortals in the prepara- 
 tory degrees through which all, either as mortals or spirits, must pass 
 in order to gain admittance into the progressive degrees. By this we 
 can learn just where we have been, and where we are now. We can 
 also say of a certainty that the shadows and glimmers which have 
 ravished our eyes often will truly delight the heart, yes, the whole 
 being, when we draw nigh the reality as we go on in the march of 
 true ascension in the progressive order. We also learn that as we 
 see and understand why we have suffered, and for what results, our 
 own peculiar experiences explain themselves to us, and as they do so 
 we are delivered therefrom, are relieved, set free, from the aforetime 
 pressing prison conditions. It is. therefore, best to learn and con- 
 sider each lesson well, and I must also add that it would be better for 
 us to have shorter lessons and understand them better, and to ponder 
 well on the different points which we do not readily comprehend, 
 than to have long lessons full of precept and meaning, and let the 
 sense of it go out with the sound of the reading, and so receive nei- 
 ther present nor future benefit from it. Let us be sober-minded and 
 studious henceforth more so than we have ever been. 
 
 LECTURE XXXIV. 
 
 A LESSON. OUR YESTERDAYS AND OUR TOMORROWS. 
 
 Those two representatives of time, each one figuring in a differ- 
 ent domain, are great task-masters. These two domains, though 
 according to the laws of nature, are close together in their course, yet 
 they are widely apart in their activities and power which is constantly 
 exerted over mortals. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 177 
 
 Yesterday is so often sullen and frowning, because so much had 
 been illy played and turned out unprofitable. The shadows of yes- 
 terday fall 'ike heavy clouds over heart and brain, and compel forth 
 ill will towards others and towards self; but about what? Well, to 
 be frank about the matter, it is this, that instead of having acted in a 
 manly and womanly way, at no matter what cost, the actions were 
 under the control of yesterday's force, the power active in the degrees 
 from whence action had been compelled forth, and it was all a one- 
 sided work. Man and womanhood did not hardly play one act ; all 
 was conditional compulsion, and, therefore, oppressive and dissatis- 
 factory. There are chance times when other pictures light up heart 
 and mind as a result of having acted one's part more in accord with 
 design and the demand of and for self-improvement. 
 
 But how is it about the officer Tomorrow ? He throws out glit- 
 tering reflections for inducements that fill the mind's eye with fancy, 
 and the brain itself with conjectures about the achievements and acts 
 that are to be played for results desired. But where is Today all 
 this time ? It is badly cramped in between the yesterdays and tomor- 
 rows, and can hardly command a recognition of his rights upon mor- 
 tals on account of the ever-present and necessary activities. Our 
 todays are shaded by our yesterdays, and made loathsome by the 
 dense breath of yesterday's farewell to time as it rolls down to unite 
 with the great mass of by-gone days. Our tomorrows are keeping a 
 strange magical control over us, and exhibits to the eye of the mind 
 pleasing or terrible scenes. This is a great consumer of strength ; 
 and what is the result upon the activities of today ? We do not do 
 our duties of to$ay ; they are neglected. We are not drawing the 
 benefit of the haps and mishaps of our yesterdays, and then we meet 
 again with haps and mishaps on our tomorrows, just because we have 
 neglected the duties of today. When good thoughts come to you, 
 inducing you to do an act of kindness or to perform a duty, do it at 
 once. Do not consult first with yesterday and prospect with tomorrow, 
 for if you do you will falter and fail. The good seed or impression 
 had been infused for the purpose of raising fruit and compelling forth 
 the acts needed just then at that time and hour, but the good thought 
 was taken in its tender growth and exposed to the grim Yesterday 
 and to the mocking Tomorrow, and chilled, and death ensued. No 
 works, no rewards ! No fruit where there are no plants reared is the 
 harsh answer of that Tomorrow when he is met face to face. And 
 what of Yesterday ? You cannot meet him face to face now. He 
 is forever behind you, rolling around the turns of time, becoming 
 Tomorrow and Today again unawares to the pilgrim wandering 
 
178 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 through the stratas of nature in order to learn her laws and methods 
 of evolutional and mental developments and of cohering. 
 
 .1 have said this after much pondering over the haps and mishaps 
 of yesterday, and also upon the possible realizations of tomorrow ; but 
 let the actions which belong to today be promptly performed, then 
 all will be right. 
 
 LECTURE XXXV. 
 
 EARTH HAS NO SORROW THAT HEAVEN CANNOT CURE. 
 
 Bridge over the road from terror to light, 
 
 The glories of Heaven shall dispel all earth's night. 
 
 These words were spoken to me by Jesus as He approached 
 me in spirit yesterday, July 21, 1879. It has been a question of 
 much discussion about prayer and its benefits, and whether mortals 
 should or ought to pra)^. To clear away misapprehension about this, 
 we will treat upon it lawfully. You all know that when Jesus was 
 on earth lie had a band of disciples whom He taught, but to whom 
 He never presented a special form of prayer. That was not a part 
 of His teachings then, because the people at that time could not have 
 understood the true way to pray if He had told them. So, when they 
 saw and heard others pray, these disciples of the Lord said to Him : 
 "Teach ais how to pray even as John the Baptist taught his disciples." 
 Then the Master said : " When you pray say, Our Father who art in 
 Heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done 
 on earth as it is done in Heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and 
 forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors ; lead us not into temp- 
 tation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom, the power, 
 and the glory forever. Amen." In tins prayer He touched upon 
 all the parts included in the law concerning the different states of 
 man on earth, and the aid which could lawfully be received from the 
 Ultimate Fountain in answer to the prayers of mortals. See how the 
 prayer touches all the states through which the people pass, also the 
 honor due to their Creator is included. Then, when you pray, do not 
 make use of many words, as the Pharisees did, who were not schooled 
 and did not understand this order of prayer, for that which is unlaw- 
 ful will not brinjr blessings but troubles or difficulties, bv which the 
 mind can be trained to see the errors committed, and that they are 
 pursuing the wrong course by which to secure happiness. Do not 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 179 
 
 pray as the Pharisees did in order to be praised by man, or make 
 use of presumptuous language. There is too much prayer outside of 
 these limits which is not beneficial. We want it understood that we 
 not only recognize that there is a God, but that we love and honor 
 Him and pray to Him in the way directed, and that we receive bless- 
 ings and truths from Him every moment of our lives. Those who 
 are taught by God's ministering spirits learn how to worship in the 
 true way, which is in spirit and truth, and which is the only accept- 
 able worship. The pure waters of life are received, and the bread of 
 Heaven is given fresh and sweet to the hungry mortals. It will 
 mark this present advent, and regulate errors which have culminated. 
 Now, for instance, there is great doubt expressed by some as to 
 the immediate resurrection of the body ; even by those called Chris- 
 tians there is a good deal of controversy about this old body as to 
 whether it will be quickened into life again or not. There are many 
 who seem to have their minds settled concerning this question. They 
 take a logical ground for it, and say that only the essence of the old 
 body rises, and dissolves itself into the new formed body with other ele- 
 ments of the earth, according to adaptation. This is nearly correct ; 
 but, then, the body of Jesus, did that rise, or did the spirit rise from 
 the body? as this was to be a sample, and all other bodies were to be 
 raised accordingly after that elementary shaking. We see that errors 
 have multiplied from much studying and commenting upon this ques- 
 tion ; and now, since the second advent has come, which is the coun- 
 terpart of that one, and will complete the shaking of the earthly ele- 
 ments sought, we will show plainly the way through the valley of 
 dea-h and rob it of its terrors, and also clear up and make plain the 
 question concerning the resurrection of the body, so that it can be 
 known and relied upon. Mortals come through the dark valley 
 when they are born into earth life. They are conveyed through the 
 mystic tunnels, having no dread or fear about it because they do not 
 know the philosophy of death, so grand in design and without an 
 equivalent for usefulness. It must also be understood by the people 
 in order to bring them to a true appreciation of the trials of earth 
 life, and to a recognition of this, that they are placed on earth to 
 gather knowledge from these material things and to acquire a tangi- 
 ble spirit form by the tissues of the body being woven in the spirit- 
 ual textures while they are being nurtured by the products of the 
 soil which is formed from the mass of fluids which boiled in the great 
 reservoir before earth's day dawned. People were not placed on 
 earth to fret and lament over disappointed hopes, or to acquire only 
 earth's wealth and pleasures, but to work and study, and to thus gar- 
 
180 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 ner up their true wealth in the worlds where they shall live forever. 
 Those who worship the things of this world cannot see a spiritual 
 truth in its true light, because their spirit is not yet awake so as to 
 hear the voice of God and to see the rays of light from the great 
 spirit shed upon their own, therefore when death comes for them they 
 truly die and are placed in darkness and misery, are bound to earth, yet 
 walled away by the atmosphere which separates worlds, but not minds 
 or souls. At death the tissues of life and strength are all extracted 
 from the body and form the basis or outlines with which the spiritual 
 tissues are woven for the spirit body, and it is only in this much that 
 the natural body is resurrected, for that which is left is but a clod of 
 clay. All the life and strength was abstracted, therefore the spirit- 
 ual body resembles the natural body so that all will know each other. 
 All being fashioned after the likeness of God, and are the sons and 
 daughters of God, heirs of the All-Father, and not one will ever be 
 lost, but all will be redeemed in due time from the weaknesses and 
 sins to which they were subjected by the force of the natural appe- 
 tites which were not held in the proper restraint. All this is a part 
 of the labors of today which is to be taught and made clear to the 
 people by the angels. The Mosaic enactment of practical religion 
 was for that of law more than for soul devotion. The Christ era 
 marked itself as being given for soul devotion, and was given in pic- 
 tures and precepts as well as by example, by which the inhabitants of 
 earth were to be attracted and trained in faith, and to acquire the 
 knowledge of that which faith had pictured, and which will be 
 revealed to all who are true in due time, which time is the present 
 time, and is the third era by which the other two eras are to be 
 cleared up and explained, so as to be comprehended as a reality and 
 as facts, and to become a practical religion of labors compelled forth 
 by divine love for mortals, who in their natural state could never 
 have been immortal. They could not have grasped anything higher 
 than what natural instinct would bring to them. The God-head is not 
 to be looked at as something personal, but as the principal emblems of 
 power. Truth, which signifies gospel love, is the highest power. 
 Justice is the emblem of law. It was love, pure and undefiled, which 
 contemplated the laws, and which feared neither hardships nor humil- 
 iations in order to enforce them, so as to create a people of a divine 
 cast, and although formed in material mold, yet they could be trans- 
 formed, because the divine life had been breathed into them, which 
 could be abstracted and clothed in other material suitable for the 
 growth of the spirit functions which had been implanted in matter for 
 growth and form.. Hence, we say that truth is gospel, and is not 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIIUT LECTURES. 181 
 
 confined or limited, but that which is true is good, and a good deed 
 done is better than all your prayers, or a humiliation borne in a just 
 cause, or for the benefit of the same, is more in accord with the 
 desires of the God-head than all the combined codes of religious forms 
 existing on earth, for thereby unselfish love for the good of mankind 
 is made mauifest. Adhering to the Heaven-born principles closely 
 and maintaining them practically is a worship which is very much 
 wanted, and a worship by which the God-head is honored and truly 
 recognized by those who so understand and practice the Everlasting 
 Gospel. Grace and law understood is the unity of religion, and to 
 bring the people to this unity is what the labors of this present 
 advent is intended to do in common with what is said above. 
 
 LECTURE XXXVI. 
 
 THE CONDITIONAL DIFFERENCE IS THE RUDIMENTAL CAUSE OP 
 ALL THAT TRANSPIRES PHYSICALLY. 
 
 In bringing the conditional study before the courts of human 
 judgment, we must talk upon everything that the world and the peo- 
 ple are accustomed to, for all this is moved by the drive of condi- 
 tions. This being so, and as the conditions through this labyrinth 
 are difficult and intermingled, we must separate them by cutting oil* 
 the fossils and removing the webs. This causes the disappointments 
 realized by mortals, who are most carefully led out on a road, of the 
 economy of such lessons, through those labyrinths to true spiritual 
 freedom. It is an easy matter for people to shout freedom and aim 
 to gain liberty, but the wrong course is generally pursued in order to 
 obtain it. For instance, in a professional or religious sense, the 
 world at large has conceived the opinion that to leave Jehovah's fold 
 and shades, and become self-studious on the subject of immortality, 
 and by will power, knowledge, and skill in the natural and mystic, 
 they become self-made, and that this would be freedom, and that this 
 course was really the cause of the shaking of the shackles of slavery 
 and the yoke of bondage, and thus be led to true freedom. 
 
 This is an idea, friends, from which all who entertain it will 
 reap many troubles and trials with which to struggle and conquer, 
 for it is true that instead of freeing yourselves from these fetters they 
 become bound more closely and heavier than before, for these condi- 
 tional, repulsive detentions in the onward pursuit of true freedom 
 
182 COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTURES. 
 
 are drawn so closely around you in a condensed atmospheric pres- 
 sure, that many mortals lose their natural balance of sense and rea- 
 son and become unnerved and debilitated, and some become insane 
 from this cause, some commit crimes and evil acts, some steal and 
 burn, and, in short, all kinds of disasters are brought in by the condi- 
 tional locomotive, and must therefore be acted out. Even the whirl- 
 winds and the hurricanes are not excepted, for more frequently in 
 these days they are caused by the force of magic arts than by natu- 
 ral law, yet some are caused by the working of natural laws. The 
 man of business draws around him just such invisible assistance as 
 his business demands, those of the same grade and spirit type that 
 are congenial with his own spirit and principles. 
 
 If a man has no higher or nobler desire than only to be prosper- 
 ous, and to make money no matter how, so that he seems to be hon- 
 est ; such persons are ever surrounded by the descriptive and worldly 
 spirits who bring before them those things by which they can obtain 
 their desires, but by which at the same time they are captured under 
 the dark conditional net, the same as the wild horse is caught by the 
 lasso of his capturer. Conditions cannot be shown only to the senses 
 and feelings, but when they are observed, can be seen as plainly as 
 any existing object. The atmosphere is full of conditions, gases, and 
 magnetisms, by which people are controlled, even as they are phys- 
 ically nourished by the bread and vegetables of which they partake. 
 Each ill and deceptious thought forms a thread, — each good thought, 
 word, or act, likewise. This never ceases, is going on constantly 
 and warp and woof are thus prepared for the immortal garment. 
 When the bad overpowers the good, the good angels are thrown in 
 the background, because their bridge composed of these wires is 
 broken, and they are cut off. The bad having taken possession, they 
 erect fortresses around their captives, composed of evil thoughts and 
 ideas, which must then be acted out. It is against this state of 
 things that we are battling. These are the conquests in which we 
 are engaged, in order to level down these dark conditional prison 
 walls, and lead the captives out where they can see the heavenly 
 light shed forth from the throne of God upon all who dwell beneath, 
 who are sitting in the shadows of death and desolation. These 
 mocking conditions are the shadows of death in which so many are 
 wandering. 
 
 Let a man become versed in all the sciences that his capacities 
 will permit him to explore while in the material frame, yet he is but 
 a captive in the most deplorable condition, and he will at length ?ee 
 for himself that what he had seen was only the mocking shadows of 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 183 
 
 the reality, that this enticing platform, founded upon the sand granite 
 of nature, cannot be depended upon, for it is liable to be moved, 
 transformed, and changed, and at such times neither mortal or spirit 
 can stand upon it. Then where are you ? The platform has been 
 moved, and a fall is inevitable, and it must necessarily be a severe 
 one. I do not say this to denounce the natural and scientific studies. 
 No ; they are useful when they are rightly garnered up in the mind, 
 but care must be taken in order to keep these studies in ratio with 
 the features of importance of the other systems, which must blend 
 together in mental development so as to keep all the senses and rea- 
 son on a fair balance. In order to do this, let Father, Son, and Holy 
 Spirit, be the guiding and protecting power, and let the Heaven-born 
 principles, truth, love, and justice, ever be the officials presiding in 
 your hemisphere. Consult them always before you commit any- 
 thing whatever, and you will soon be enabled to see what is offered 
 that is edifying, and what is destructive ; but while the conditional 
 struggle bears sway, that is, all the accumulated matters that have 
 thus gathered in the said thin threads and wires are woven into 
 bridges, and over these the invisibles come and go by millions. 
 Another point I will speak of in regard to the deceptive promptings 
 is this, that mortals are thus worked upon until the deception they 
 have practiced is counteracted upon them. They are led through 
 perils, they meet with disasters and lose many things, and suffer 
 many trials, even the charges and counter currents are against them ; 
 but through or by this the roads are paved for them by which to find 
 freedom, and physical and spiritual prosperity, and joys when all is 
 overcome. There blessed will be the man that overcomes tempta- 
 tion, and blessed likewise are those who have fallen through temptation 
 and have endured the time of their trials and provocations, and can 
 break safely through the enchanted conditions to freedom. No one 
 undergoes changes of any note as long as perfect ignorance predomi- 
 nates, for they have no knowledge of this true and natural life-com- 
 pelling force, but as soon as light is obtained, and the goodly desires 
 arise for deliverance, then the struggles begin, and those perverse 
 or adverse powers try with frantic skill and might to hold their cap- 
 tives. Many things are thrown in as crosses and obstacles upon the 
 shoulders of those who desire to go heavenward. This is often toler- 
 ated, and gives such mortals special hard struggles, but they will 
 reap great reward when all these troubles are overcome. Turn to 
 the Scripture records for testimony. For instance, the history of 
 Job explains conditions very plainly, such as are being realized here 
 by some whom we have taken through to teach them ; thus all things 
 
184 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 are being rehearsed in a successive review course. The most strange 
 physical displays that transpire are the realized effects of conditions. 
 
 The mists will gather, the doubts arise, 
 And ill conjectures learn to be wise; 
 Study the problems that daily appear, 
 And do as duty, your part do not fear. 
 
 'T is never so gloomy but what a^ain rises 
 The sun in his splendor against mists and vices ; 
 All things which appear are of nature a part, 
 Have labors with those to aid or to thwart. 
 
 Be steadfast and true though the wild waves are tossing, 
 And you are left on life's sea alone at a crossing ; 
 Exert yourselves well, and try your own strength, 
 And you '11 soon see your powers of mind will expand. 
 
 This march on life's desert ever eager pursue 
 With labor of muscle and mind, learn to know 
 The object which prompted a journey for you, 
 And when you discover, those duties well do. 
 
 LECTURE XXXVII. 
 
 A TIME FOR EVERYTHING. 
 
 There is a time for everything, and all which occurs under the 
 sun is compelled forth by some invisible cause. This being the fact, 
 it is of no use to grow weary over troubles and trials, but we should 
 ever strive to find the true object and to work out the problems which 
 is the ultimate design of the labors of life, even as much and more 
 than it is to attend to the physical duties which the maintenance of 
 the body demands. 
 
 The subtle factors for the analysis of these lessons, and the way 
 to learn these problems so as to be able to demonstrate them, are not 
 found so easily. No, it requires hard work and much close studying 
 to achieve such grand purposes. Therefore, the mind must work as 
 well and as much as it can endure if the problems brought forward 
 are to be intelligibly solved. The angel ministers do not tell all that 
 each spoken and revealed word means. Nay, they wisely withhold 
 that, for there would be no increase of strength in the mental powers 
 if there is no serious brain exercise and sincere soul-lono-in<y for wis- 
 clom and the way to learn and understand. All things which take 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 185 
 
 place are for you to learn and profit by, and to reveal to you the 
 physical connecting links to the invisible teachings and heavenly 
 revelations. This I say so that you need not grieve, nor take offense 
 at what transpires or is experienced by you. Be calm and pleasant. 
 We govern all this, and time will work grand and marvelous changes. 
 
 LECTURE XXXVIII. 
 
 SCRIPTURE AND THE SPIRIT WORKS OP THE SUPREME LAWGIVER 
 AND HIS LAWS. THE ATONEMENT OF JESCS THE CHRIST. 
 
 This important question is baffling many noble minds who are 
 drifting on the sea of uncertainty in regard to this erected chief cor- 
 ner stone of offense to the natural minded, the world wise, and self- 
 made. These classes of people who, by their shrewdness and close 
 observations in their investi crating routes and watchfulness over them- 
 selves, have accumulated stores of knowledge from those fields, and 
 have wisely benefited themselves in physical accommodations in worldly 
 matters by their quick conceptions and their skill in striking to advan- 
 tage the oars by which their life boat is propelled on this conditional 
 sea ; but they run to extremes, and, by these attempts to be self-great 
 and self-guarding, become wholly powerless and are being drifted 
 about by every breeze, having no anchor by which to station their 
 wild wants and fancies. These, in their self-exalted folly, have 
 denied the atonement of Christ, for they would not that lie should 
 reign over them. They would prefer to be the great I Am them- 
 selves, therefore, they disbelieve, or, being driven by this pulse, say 
 they disbelieve in God, that there is no Omnipotent Ruler and Father 
 over all. Those who have been misled in regard to this truth say : 
 "Now God, the Father of love, was never at enmity with His weak 
 and wayward children, therefore no atonement was necessary to bring 
 us nearer to God." But it is so that the natural gross matter 
 and the divine and ethereal cannot mingle and be comprehended 
 together unless there is an essence that has the power to do this by 
 bringing them together in the eras of order, and by sifting and puri- 
 fying them in the furnaces established for this purpose as they are 
 marching onward, and thus unite the heavenly and earthly and har- 
 monize souls, and crown the spirits' efforts and clothe it again in a 
 healthy, substantial, and an incorruptible body. The mission of 
 Christ had this power, and was ordained for the purpose of uniting 
 
186 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 God and man, and it also set the seal on the covenant, and for this 
 reason no other beast of power can conquer or open any of the seven 
 seals, which signify the seven spirits of God. Again, it is declared 
 in this great day for mortals, which we call the peoples' advent or the 
 peoples' day, that Christ was no more than other men, but that He 
 was a prophet and the founder of a good religion. Why not gixe to 
 iliui the honor which God His Father gave to Him when He exalted 
 Hirr? over all, and seated Him at His right hand until He should 
 r'.me in His majesty to conquer the nations and subdue all foes, 
 accompanied by His saints and angels ? That time is the present 
 time, and we may ask all those who have doubts in regard to the true 
 character of Christ as Christ asked His disciples, He knowing the 
 expressed opinions of the world, and also to test the devotion of His 
 little band, said : " And whom say the people that I am ? " for many 
 give their opinions and ideas, yet at the same time are not certain as 
 to the truth of the matter. Now, I will tell who Christ the Son 
 of Man is. He was the first and second Adam. The first Adam 
 created by the Lord of Wisdom, who has neither beginning nor ending 
 of days. It was He who brought this great plan of creation into 
 action, — this multiplying of mortals who, by divine law and labor, 
 could be transformed into gods. This Adam was again transmitted 
 and born in the flesh in good time, as stated in the Scripture, and 
 became the effective power of an elementary shaking and harmoniz- 
 ing of essences, by which mortals were brought into closer rapport 
 with God. But the great plan of redemption was not then fulfilled 
 as some short-sighted mortals have conceived, who, having wrong- 
 fully construed and stored up in the minds the parcels of these mani- 
 fested and declared piece-works of the Almighty on earth among the 
 people, they must learn now in these days, when the faith that was 
 taught is turned as you now behold it into an actual knowledge of 
 these truths, that only now the redemption is drawing near to its 
 fulfillment, and that the people must learn God's laws and throw 
 aside all the fossils. Yes, the temples and images of impure worship 
 must be destroyed, and you must learn of a truth that God is spirit 
 and dwells within the inner temples of the soul if they are fitted for 
 His presence. The soul of man, apart from the external, is free to 
 sigh for and desire the association within the chambers of the mind 
 of the noble, the good, the true, and pure. The reverse state also 
 exists owing to the self-compounds, and the knowledge of these com- 
 pounds. I say this because there are three-fourths of all mortals who 
 do not know themselves, and therefore have no control of themselves, 
 and are led out to be idlers on the highways, drifters on the condi- 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTTJPES. 187 
 
 tional tide and wanderers in the wilderness of human and mental 
 depravity. Therefore, make it a study to know yourselves, and give 
 an hour each day to holding communion with or to consult with the 
 angels, or to remain in silence at least, for only with such conditions can 
 the divine spirits come near and work successfully upon you. Keep 
 the spirit doors open by constant aspiring to higher realms and sending 
 forth the noble soul desires to be taught the higher truths and to be 
 ever refreshed with the waters of life from Zion's fountain. Jesus 
 the Christ was also the writer of the covenant law, and it was He 
 who was with Moses and with all the mighty prophets. Is He no 
 more than another man, or what say you ? lie is also the Son of 
 Man, but the world-wise must first be baffled upon this question 
 before it will be clearly told in what sense of the word it was meant, 
 for great perplexities are on the surface now by which to involve all 
 unbelievers. The conquest of the great King with the theories of the 
 world and the nations is not only impending but has been in actual 
 commotion for a season of time, and the decision for victory and the 
 crisis is nigh at hand. We wish you to bring up all the points which 
 to anyone are not comprehensible. We permit you to ask for infor- 
 mation, for we are administering thus to mortals, to teach them the 
 Everlasting Gospel, and we proceed forth from the victory. 
 
 LECTURE XXXIX. 
 
 A TIME OF WONDERS. 
 
 What a time of wonders is the present time. We do not even 
 faintly understand the magnitude concealed in each transaction of the 
 many that come under my observation, and in which we are really 
 concerned, that is, in many of them which I see clairvoyantly, and 
 witness and realize them physically. W^e know not how, yet learn 
 part after part the lessons which these mystical works of wonder 
 teach. When we speak of the works of wonder we mean those that 
 are the most subtle in their nature, therefore the most difficult to 
 explain, even after witnessing them. It has been our fortune and 
 misfortune to see works of the subtle conditions transacted around us, 
 often of different shades and degrees, but all seemingly by arts. Last 
 night there was a great commotion in the room, which continued 
 until loiYj; after daylight: it was a terrible commotion of these condi- 
 tional works. At first we saw many spirits in the room holding a 
 
188 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 consultation, then one of them took up something and turned it. It 
 looked at first like a small piece of paste-board, and as he turned it 
 grew into the shape of a half moon, then it changed to the shape of a 
 horse-shoe. He turned and turned it quickly for a little time, then 
 all manner of things came in, such as flowers, pictures, and then a 
 large arch came in, which, after considerable work, was finally 
 opened, and many things were taken out of it. The performer had 
 on an oil-cloth coat, and stood on something resembling a large tin 
 box. It was wonderful to see how many articles were taken out 
 from that box, but after a short display this all faded away, and 
 nothing remained but a few spirits around the house. They are the 
 spirits who are doing the tangible works which are compelled into 
 physical realities which belong to those mysteriously performed 
 works. These are errand spirits and have not progressed much yet, 
 but perform tangible works through their medium. 
 
 We saw them perform a piece of work, but we did not under- 
 stand it. They had spools of thread on a spindle, but took the 
 thread off and wound it on a beam. There were many little wheels 
 attached which they turned until we became dizzy. We then saw a 
 load of something being brought up the street ; did not know what it 
 was, but the guard would not permit it to be left here. A large dog 
 walked up and down the sidewalk, barking, until the load was taken 
 away. We also saw several lions around at the same time ; they are 
 symbols denoting protection. We often see such works transacted 
 which are dark and disagreeable, and they often bring ill results to 
 us. We could see each time from whence all this came. When will 
 the world be ready to receive these facts, for they are facts, some of 
 which we wish were not such? They tell us we are to make history, 
 and testify to these things as we learn them, for they are a part of 
 the great mysteries in the universe, and although strictly chaotic, 
 magical, and subtle, they cannot be conquered nor explained by any 
 but the strongest and highest power in the universe. There are 
 many mortals who deal in these, but they do not even know what 
 they do. These works are, the greater part of them, the result of 
 the strong force directed on human nature in order to bring out the 
 innate forces or powers. That there are many attributes in every 
 mortal organization, dark, subtle, and mystic, no student of human 
 nature can deny; and when a force from without, directed by a 
 strong will power is set to work upon them, they come forth and are 
 quickened into life and action. In this way all the latent powers of 
 the natural man, and also of the spiritual, are brought forth to light, to 
 life. The first thing a natural chaotic force manifests is to become a 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTURES. 189 
 
 monarch over all that comes in its way, then it manifests as an oppo- 
 sition power, and there is no sense of any lack or want of duty, nor 
 any sense of what truth, justice, and true principles are, although these 
 heavenly virtues may be much and freely talked about, yet those 
 persons have no real sense of their importance. By this we mean 
 those persons who are thus worked upon by this outside force, and 
 who give birth to such traits of character or attributes which were a 
 part of their natural composition, and which had not been called into 
 action before. Their talk is an empty sound, there is no substance 
 or truth in it, despite the wordy proclamations of innocence and 
 truthfulness. They have no capability for knowing what truth i . 
 They do not progress, nor cannot until they learn to know them- 
 selves. Those persons who object to investigating Spiritualism 
 should turn within themselves and begin their investigations there, 
 and if they are candid in regard to the matter they will discover one 
 mystery after another, and even the works of spirits with mortals 
 will be found right with themselves. These works are refining pro- 
 cesses, for by them mortals are rendered purer and more refined, 
 although the work itself is unpleasant and difficult to explain and to 
 understand, but it is a part of study that underlies all other studies. 
 When in the material sense the child is born into physical life on 
 earth, and has reached the age when it must be taught, when the cul- 
 tivation of the mind must begin, we all know that the first lesson to 
 be taught is the alphabet, the simple rudimental lessons which will 
 gradually develop the brain, and prepare it to study and master the 
 higher branches, which are called the accomplishments for life's duties 
 and activities here on earth. Even so is it with the orders of prog- 
 ress. The simple rudimental lessons of the order must be studied 
 and learned first, for only thus can the powers of the mind and soul 
 be properly developed, and can grow to be healthy and strong, capa- 
 ble of discerning good and evil, and the purpose of each of these in 
 its place. 
 
 Only thus can true happiness, which will never be shaded, be 
 obtained, for as long as the different shades are not studied and known 
 in degree and tendency just so long can they at any time break forth 
 and eclipse the sun of happiness and prosperity, and give pain to 
 those innate parts that were smuggled into sunshine without having 
 had birth in their proper time and place, and in not having been use- 
 ful where they might have been. There is no such thing as individ- 
 ual completeness as long as there are any attributes in the wonder- 
 fully composed mortal or spiritual organization that had not been 
 called into life and action. 
 
190 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 Not one of these attributes, whether of a worldly or spiritual 
 nature, is ever called into life with pain ; all that is born into life 
 causes travail, in order to make its mark. Therefore, no one can 
 attain to true spiritual development, nor mount the summits in the 
 march of progress while reclining on flowery beds of ease. No, only 
 through pain, toil, and suffering can this be done, and these suffer- 
 ings should necessarily be borne with patience, and the labors, no 
 matter what they may be, should be cheerfully and willingly per- 
 formed, and all trials, mental, physical, and financial, and even the 
 adverse public opinions, all should be borne pleasantly, for the time 
 will come when all of this will turn to weal, but to woe never. 
 
 March 16, 1881. 
 
 LECTURE XL. 
 
 A DIALOGUE. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNIVERSE. 
 
 Question. Will it always be under the direct wielding of Jesus, 
 the King of kings, or will there be a change after the thousand years 
 are over, which are the numbers stated in the agreement, in which 
 He was to rule in peace after all the conquests were ended, and to 
 give power to all the prophets, martyrs, and saints who suffered for 
 His name's sake and for the testimony of or to His works ? 
 
 Answer.. Jesus has always been a central figure from all eter- 
 nity, and has had parts to do in all the transactions which have ever 
 been done, therefore He was well qualified to undertake and accom- 
 plish this great task which no other one could do, and therefore all 
 shall ever freely extend the right of rule to Him as long as He will 
 accept it, for it is a position which no one who has a knowledge of its 
 great weight desires to fill. 
 
 Question. Why is it necessary that Jesus should come forth 
 with His army to make war against the nations ? 
 
 Answer. Because the world rebels against Him, and the people 
 manifest in their ways of living daring invitations for war. The 
 great Ruler must come against His subjects and set them low, and 
 quiet down and crush out this rebellion, for the hearts of the people 
 have become hardened, and they will not listen to the voice of the 
 spirit of God, nor to any warning that is sent forth as a divine issue 
 to man. This was foreseen from the beginning that it would be so, 
 and provisions were made to meet this state of things, and those law- 
 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 191 
 
 ful inductions regarding these works are now being fulfilled upon 
 earth by mortals who are being acted upon by angels, and impelled 
 to do these works. 
 
 LECTURE XLT. 
 
 NO CROSS, NO CROWN. 
 
 Life on earth is mostly so shaped and governed that the spirit 
 life which is the next entered can give a sequel to it. Shade is good 
 while on earth, for in the shade, in the midst of cares and troubles, 
 more genuine thought is developed and true lessons of value are 
 learned than when the sun shines on and around the wanderers. 
 "When you consider sincerely that you will have a sequel to your 
 earth life awaiting you, you will not crave so much rest and enjoy- 
 ment here, but you will realize the greatness of those words, that 
 those who sow in tears shall reap with joy and delight. You would 
 not want more than you need, nor value your needs above those of 
 others, because you would bring quickly before you the ready sequel 
 which in spirit life will be sure to be presented to you when you are 
 called home. Be patient in the time of trials. Study the causes 
 which produce unpleasant effects. Be true to yourselves, to the laws 
 of nature, and to everyone, and in everything as far as your knowl- 
 edge serves you as to the fact of what in each case is truth and is 
 just. There is nothing comes by mere chance, and all that takes 
 place under the sun must be, and had its own time allotted for trans- 
 action. Therefore, joys and sorrows, rain and sunshine, clouds and 
 wintry frosts and snows, all come to act their part and to aid in the 
 regulations in order to produce prosperity. Even so does sickness 
 and troubles of all kinds aid in remilatinc; and brightening the human 
 instincts and mental space. There is nothing made without a pur- 
 pose, and he who sees that and seeks for or to find that purpose, 
 becomes great through life, and although they might pass away in 
 seeming misery and even unnoticed, yet the very soil that such a per- 
 son has trodden upon will breathe for their greatness when they are 
 gone, and their principles and deeds live forever. 
 
192 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUKES. 
 
 LECTURE XLII. 
 
 THE WORKS OF GOD. 
 
 Behold the workings of the Divine Architect. How He molds 
 all parcels and parts for beneficent and universal good. Each being, 
 whether mortal or spirit, has, according to the universal design for the 
 completion of the great plan, certain conditions to meet, which, in 
 turn, compel forth such actions as are a demand of that nature to 
 undergo and perform for the purpose of keeping the assigned track 
 on the tide of life which, without the turns and offsets, will bring the 
 traveler safely to his final destination. Mortals applying all their 
 vital forces of mind to contemplate how to gain earthly things would 
 be tossed, if they were not arrested in their course by the tempests, 
 into grievous conditions from whence they could, only with great dif- 
 ficulty, be extricated and placed again on the track leading to their 
 he#venly haven of rest. You see by this that over efforts for gain 
 cause the travelers to leave their marked lines on life's tide, and then 
 they drift into the tracks of others, and from this comes all the col- 
 lisions and struggles, and some of the travelers become totally 
 wrecked because they were careless, and others drifted on to them 
 unawares, and both parties must suffer, one for not being cautious 
 and watchful, the other for trespassing on another's rights or claims 
 and on the laws of the universe. They feel discomfited, and the 
 unrest and dissatisfaction arising from within is the outcry of the soul 
 in a rebellious sensation upon the dominant forces of the external 
 form, the proclivities of which tyrannize harshly over the better 
 sense and finer feelings, and bring reason and will under the savage 
 control of the unbridled appetites. Those appetites are very numer- 
 ous. Some are passionate in their appetite for dress, others for 
 money, some for lands, others desire honors and fame, while others, 
 lower in their ideal fancies, become subdued by the sensual appetites 
 in strong drink, the use of tobacco and narcotics, some love to gratify 
 their appetite for eating, regardless of health, and many such addi- 
 tions too numerous to mention. All these are factors made use of by 
 individuals, and they are hindrances in their pursuit for individuali- 
 zation. Therefore, they are in bondage below the level of true 
 virtue, and many sad experiences must be met by them before they 
 can be led through the walls of these self-made prisons. 
 
 Through all these processes the great builder of the universe 
 preserves the royal germ, and when the rubbish is all removed it will 
 expand and acquire its assigned form, and will be fashioned by the 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 193 
 
 commissioned masters of art to be what the designer intended it to 
 be, and it will be placed accordingly in the niche assigned for it in 
 the great building. 
 
 These master-builders are the commissioned guardian angels 
 who alone can work upon the better qualities of each being, and 
 bring about the translution of these fossils and gross matters into 
 purity of being, and can lead their charges up and above all the lower 
 dross, and bring them safely home to Father's house, to the mansions 
 prepared for them by the angels. Now, having said this, I will 
 touch upon another point in regard to the commissioned guardian 
 angels. It is truly said that all persons living have angel guardi- 
 ans, but at the same time there is a great contradistinction between 
 the guidance of familiar spirits and that of guardians commissioned 
 by divine issue. For this reason you often observe undefinable con- 
 ditions around some persons in circles of society, or as you chance to 
 meet with them otherwise. All is turbulent and complicated. You 
 behold, as it were, spirits screened by a mist, or, if clear, you fail to 
 learn what the object of their attendance is towards the persons in 
 whose atmosphere they are seen. You cannot at all times learn the 
 names of the guardians of everyone, although some one seems to fill 
 that office. I will tell you why this is. Everyone has, according to 
 natural inheritance of earthly things, an amount of miscellaneous dif- 
 ficulties to pass through, and which, during these processes, are 
 attended by the worldly types and_ servants. Therefore, no guardi- 
 an's name can be given, nor is any one spirit a constant attendant. 
 As soon as these ordeals are passed, and the soul guardian who is 
 divinely commissioned can place himself in rapport with those whom 
 they wish to raise to their own level, then a change for the better 
 begins, and the person becomes entirely changed. Dangers as to 
 worldly missteps are then all swept away, for no harm can approach, 
 and onjy a marked pursuit of true process is then the combined effort 
 of such an individual, for all things are so governed by this soul 
 friend that only that which is benefiting and elevating can be done. 
 This, however, does not exclude troubles and sufferings in a physical 
 sense. No, they come even more frequently, but there is no yielding 
 to temptations ; all this, if with difficulty, is subdued and held under 
 foot, and thus one summit after another is reached until the con- 
 quests are all ended, the battles all are won, and then crowned with 
 gems of honor, the true being steps forth, hand in hand with those 
 who led them safely through into the joys of Heaven, to then work 
 together peaceful and happy, free from difficulties forever and ever. 
 
 May 12, 1878. 
 
194 COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTUKES. 
 
 LECTURE XLIIL 
 
 god's plan with man. 
 
 The law in and upon which the labors of the said plan rests 
 must be revealed to the comprehension of mortals in all its simple 
 profundity. The plan must be viewed in a rational sense and upon the 
 principles of evolution, which principles were decreed and wielded by 
 divine wisdom so as to suit each separate part of introduction, viz., of 
 the attractive compact-parcels of ethers, gasic fluids, and combined 
 properties of the sun into matter, to thus cement or create, to shape 
 and bring forth the objects desired. All which has been evolved, 
 and by the application of great labor has become shapen into forms, 
 which forms have, by the laws of interchanges, been transformed and 
 purified. All this was derived through the power of labor directed by 
 divine wisdom upon chaos, and which is the great force with or by 
 which all natural things were created. 
 
 All intelligence is the action of the divine mind upon all minds, 
 even as the rays of the solar system awaken and form all natural 
 things. In like manner, by such a process, the soul power is devel- 
 oped and purified, only it is mind acting upon mind, spirit upon spirit. 
 Therefore, God's plan with man was that through the power of His 
 own wisdom or mind He would evolve man from the chaos of his ani- 
 mal existence and bring him into the intermediate spheres of God, 
 and make him an heir of all which the immense universe would yield 
 in wealth and wisdom, but He would also make him a co-worker in 
 accomplishing this, and also by the processes of laws and rules laid 
 down make man his own redeemer from all the gross matters of which 
 the natural man partakes as a contribution from the lower chaos for 
 the support of the physical functions, — the animal man in which 
 interwoven in finer tissues dwells the divine man, who is ever striv- 
 ing with the external for his rights and divine recognition, and 
 he will labor to win this race even if the task required thousands of 
 years. It will never, nor shall ever, be laid aside unfinished. The 
 plan calls for an ultimate redemption, and the task remains unfinished 
 as long as there is labor to be performed in these channels for the free- 
 ing of man from his animal nature and system dross, and of bringing 
 him up onto the level of true morality, also to a thorough recogni- 
 tion of his rights and responsibilities, so that he will comply with 
 them without being lawfully compelled to do so. There were neces- 
 sarily many great parts to be acted in the execution and labors of the 
 plan, and some of these parts were to be filled every two thousand 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 195 
 
 years according to the lawful course, and all the intervening time it 
 required to work in order to get all the subjects ready, and so pre- 
 pare general conditions so as to make such an accomplishment possi- 
 ble. One great part was worked out by Moses and one by Jesus, and 
 one is in action for its fulfillment now, and this threefold connection 
 of the divine mind with mortals will renovate all earthly customs and 
 change the mental properties for brighter and purer intuitions. But 
 even when this is done the end is not yet, as there are still more parts 
 of importance to transact, but they are of different characters and 
 will make a very different display from those which have thus far 
 been customary or have been experienced by the people. The records 
 show that many noble minds have lived and labored for human 
 reform and elevation, but they have all worked but to bring the 
 human mind only to a receiving point. They labored solely to pre- 
 pare, and were the servants for those who were the lawful subjects 
 for filling the great parts of the plan, and to thus have the effects of 
 the laws sealed and indelibty enstamped on all mind and matter for a 
 universal testimony of their labors, also to make the desired results 
 secure by adherence and enactments of law and its proper execution. 
 It is not necessary that this person, who is the lawful one to mark 
 and finish such a part, should make a great display of the different 
 labors before the world. The works can be accomplished in quietude, 
 yet all that the law demands must be prepared by such an individual, 
 or rather by the power acting upon or through them, as the person 
 in the physical form is not an actor or actress of themselves, but the 
 willing and prepared instruments upon whom the legal authorities 
 work so as to accomplish through their instrumentality that which 
 the law requires. There is, then, a time always fixed in which such 
 workings of the spirit in this way must be revealed to the world to 
 receive either praise or censure according to the mental standing of 
 the people, and whatever may be said or whatever the sensation may 
 be, the truth cannot be blighted or injured, but rather strengthened 
 and revivified by it, and this all soon dies away like the sound of a 
 roarim;; wind when the voice of God bids it be calm and silent. Then 
 comes the thoughtful reflections, the sincere inquiries, and the word 
 that proceeded forth from the mouth of the Lord cannot and does not 
 return void, but will accomplish that for which it was sent forth. 
 Then the people will be willing, yes, anxious, to receive the revela- 
 tions of God's plan with man, and will earnestly desire to learn and 
 know concerning the laws which were the factors by which the labors 
 and divisions of labors and parts to be acted out were accomplished 
 and tilled. But while the greater number of the inhabitants of earth 
 
196 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 will accept the truth of the Everlasting Gospel, some will remain 
 stubborn and try to cast a bold defiance against these revelations and 
 demonstrations. Alas, they only defy themselves, and will meet 
 with sad and tragical ends, for that which is born of God will stand 
 and live, and no power of hell or earth can crush it out or overthrow 
 it. Therefore, every word which proceeds forth by commission or 
 by word of mouth from the Lord will in due time have its desired 
 effects, for it is an introduction of the divine into the material, and it 
 will refine the coarse material, for it will act upon it like a refiner's 
 fire until the desired object is accomplished, the same as the introduc- 
 tion of the properties of the sun wielded by wisdom and chemical 
 knowledge brought forth the physical results from the gaseous masses 
 of chaos, even so will these spiritual introductions evolve from this 
 mass of unsettled opinions the mental powers of mortals and bring 
 them forth again bright and purified, although they must pass through 
 many ordeals of treatment, but all this will surely be accomplished. 
 Mortals must become acquainted with their parent God, and learn 
 how He worked to raise them from the animal plane up to a plane of 
 purity, and to make man in His own image in a refined and spiritual- 
 ized sense. There are many things yet to be revealed that will be 
 hard for the people to accept,, viz., those in regard to the tree of life, 
 the tree of good and evil, and the many parts of the typical records 
 which have through all these ages been looked at as literal, but which 
 were only symbolical statements, and the work of this part is to 
 finish, clear up, and make plain all these things, and this will be 
 accomplished. And if the people will listen to the voice of the spirit 
 of truth which comes from above to reveal and testify, they could 
 lessen the troubles and trials which otherwise would have to be passed 
 through by the people on earth. 
 
 Time's march is ever pursued, and space is left behind, 
 All changes are for good, but mortals are so blind 
 To all these wondrous works, so grand, so pure! 
 They falter, miss their marks, and must endure 
 Much suffering by the way. 'T is nature's law 
 To exact just pay ; view this with awe. 
 
 Learn whitherward you go, know well your pass-word, 
 Then you can pass each foe, for heavenly cohorts 
 Accompany pilgrims ever who thus their march pursue, 
 Who heat and storms will bear, are firm to duty, true, 
 Who learn time's secret well, thus break each subtle spell ; 
 Onward they march, and say farewell. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 197 
 
 LECTURE XLIV. 
 
 ACTS, CH. XI. ; VERSES I.-XIX. 
 
 We see in this text very many resemblances to what are at the 
 present time realizations. All persons who at this time are attracted 
 by the works of spirits on earth, and investigate the same through 
 mediums who are used by the spirits, they can learn for themselves 
 that people, now the same as then, are gifted the same, can see vis- 
 ions and receive inspirations, and that, whenever conditional culmina- 
 tions have passed all the other degrees, they must, according to 
 natural demands, take effect upon earth. These having arisen from 
 earth and from mortals, and having been by lawful courses taken 
 through all the processes, are again reissued to mortals. It is then 
 that a higher elementric sphere has been reached, and the regulative 
 law pronounces it a stratum higher in the evolutional marches in the 
 order of progress, and accordingly spirits have the privilege of doing 
 the works that need doing on earth, before a separation of those 
 forces takes place, and will be reproduced again for said effects in 
 each cycling day marked for a natural change. This has been the 
 rule, therefore lawful, and now, when this eternity's division clause is 
 to be enforced, which, in magnitude, exceeds the highest of all former 
 divisions, therefore Ave are favored with this great spirit out-pouring 
 which all rational beings can be assured of, and can test for them- 
 selves if they will but observe the many transactions and candidly 
 investigate, and learn from whence and for what ultimate purpose 
 these great works are being performed. Those primitive saints had 
 their weak points the same as we have today. They found fault 
 w T ith each other whenever one chanced to overstep their rules or law 
 just the same as it is realized among the people of today ; and the 
 tenor of this text reveals plainly that they were selfish, the same as 
 the people are today, an evil which to a great extent today con- 
 fronts all heavenly issues and works, which weakens the power of the 
 spirit over matter and the material elements. We see that Peter, 
 when they of the circumcision contended with him, saying : " Thou 
 wentest into men uncircumcised and didst eat with them;" he 
 rehearsed his vision and how the call was made upon him to go to 
 the city of Joppa. It is evident from this that they had heard it 
 before, or he could not have rehearsed it to them, yet they contended 
 with and found fault with him for doing as he did. Friends, I would 
 say right here that persons who are so gifted that they can stand 
 between the visible and invisible worlds are compelled to do whatever 
 
198 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 the power acting upon them wishes them to do, whether it is what 
 they would like to do or not. But if this power is rebelled against 
 by the gifted persons by positive self-will, then the will of those 
 operating cannot be made manifest, and those persons then at once 
 become unfit for that purpose, and can no longer be used as avenues 
 through which these works can be furthered or done, no matter of 
 what nature these works may be. Hence, the mediums who are truly 
 devoted to their controlling power are highly prized in the sight of 
 God and the angels, but are found fault with by mortals because 
 their actions do not agree with the wishes of the people. These per- 
 sons are not at all agreeable to their friends, much less to strangers. 
 This was the way with all the prophets of old, also with the disciples 
 of Jesus, and even with Jesus Himself. Then why should not the 
 same rule mark the careers of the modern workers with the spirit 
 world ? It is passing strange that, while it is known to all intelli- 
 gent people that it is only through mediumship that the truths 
 of God have come to be known on earth, they so bitterly rebel 
 against it, and build up fortresses composed of strong self-will against 
 heavenly issues which the angels and spirits bring to earth, and 
 infuse and diffuse by the aid of their co-operative helpers, the 
 mediums of today. What is there about this that is so offensive, or 
 not in keeping with God's laws and ways ? Even Jesus could do His 
 work only by first becoming a mortal and receiving His instructions 
 from the Christ-Heavens, and from that sphere He was impelled to 
 do His duties and work according to law, but not to please the people. 
 He was limited by that power from above, even in His way of teach- 
 ing, so that He could not speak ' plainly to the people, but only in 
 parables, and by this were most of His teachings shrouded in mists, 
 because they were not to be physically realized for a fixed season ; 
 and all things that tarry in fulfillment must be veiled from the dis- 
 covery by mortals, and must stand and be known only as prophetic, 
 while such visions or messages which are to be fulfilled right away 
 are plainly told, because their passage through all the degrees have 
 been made, and they have arrived now upon the last stage where 
 they will take effect. The text says that Peter saw in his vision a 
 sheet let down from Heaven which contained in it four-footed beasts 
 of the earth, wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air, 
 presenting clearly the corresponding issue to the condition of mortals 
 and their needs. 
 
 Now, Christians have nothing to say against this, because it 
 occurred to Peter, and they accept it in the literal sense, that the 
 sheet was really let down from Heaven, well knowing that nothing 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 199 
 
 impure can ever enter Heaven. Hence, nothing impure can come 
 from Heaven. But all which is contained in the records is rather 
 prophetic or figuratively stated for this purpose, for mortals to exer- 
 cise their minds upon until the fullness of the time comes for each 
 part that is given. That time is when such conditions shown as pro- 
 phetic in visions have reached the physical degrees and produce their 
 effects on earth. Then the veil is drawn aside and the reality is 
 revealed to mortal view and understanding. By the present effects of 
 conditional out-workin<is all that has been so lon^ veiled in mists can 
 be learned, and that which has heretofore been too difficult for the 
 people to see clearly enough for an application in its tendencies, but, 
 by close observation and study, each sum can be mastered, and each 
 sentence can be learned and understood in its proper meaning, and 
 can be demonstrated as the physical effects afford the occasion, which 
 effects are occurring now every day in some of the different parts and 
 portions. The sheet and its contents which Peter saw in his vision 
 were let down from the spheric divisions from the co-material worlds, 
 which are closely allied to the world occupied by mortals. There 
 are seen the same things as there are on earth, only in a more per- 
 fect state. But Heaven is not there, no, far from it. In those ethe- 
 real realms called Heaven there are none of these things to be seen 
 which Peter saw in that sheet. All is purity there, and nothing 
 impure can enter there, and mortals who leave earth by death do not 
 often find themselves in those blissful realms immediately after leav- 
 ing earth, for they were not transformed into such angels of purity 
 by the natural act of transition, but are simply transplanted into the 
 spirit world, into spheric division, there to be fitted for an entrance 
 into a higher and purer life. The difficult passages of Scripture can 
 be cleared up only by learning the lawful ways, and by walking in 
 them, and learning step by step the reality of the mistified problems 
 and lessons. But, say the theological teachers : " Here it is, these 
 so-called mediums of today are all cut over the same pattern. All 
 set aside the Lord, His power and words of promise." But stop, my 
 friends, consider well what you are speaking of before you commit 
 yourselves any further. We are well aware that Jesus said : " I am 
 the way, no one can come to the Father but through me." But have 
 you rendered those words, so full of meaning, correctly ? "VVe claim 
 and know that you have not. You preach to the weak-minded and 
 tell them they must throw themselves upon Jesus with all their loads 
 of sin, that they must have full faith and confidence that Jesus will 
 do all for them, and He will do it. Oh, how sweet, and yet so full of 
 disgust, is the thought that to come, defiled, weak, sick, and sore, 
 
200 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 and try, by a wordy proclamation, to pass the educational degrees 
 on the merits of another, of Jesus, and rise to the foot of the infinite, 
 just as you are after all ; crippled in ideas, weak in intellect from 
 non-exertion, deformed in bodily texture and composition, to say the 
 least, you would be too imperfect in knowledge, too impure, to find 
 tolerance in that blissful locality, even if you had entered on the 
 strength of Jesus, and the result would be that Jesus Himself would 
 pronounce to you those crushing words : " Friends, how came you 
 here, not being clothed in the proper raiment? Depart from this 
 place." They then are taken to the prison spheres to which all the 
 imperfect are assigned, and where all must pass through the ordeals 
 for learning, and for being purified as we have shown. There will 
 truly be gnashing of teeth by those who had hoped for that which 
 they cannot realize, but they will be compelled to see their folly and 
 to pass through ail the proper degrees, which to them will be tor- 
 ment, because they were selfish and desired to be let alone, but this 
 selfishness will be purged out by the fires that burn constantly, yet 
 consume not, but which purify only. Yet Jesus is the way, the only 
 true way, in which alone ascension to the Father can be made possi- 
 ble, the only way in which we can of a surety draw near to the Most 
 High God. But how is He the way? He is the author of the 
 covenant, the author of the plan of redemption, the personal initiator 
 of the gospel of grace which hangs in law, and He did His work 
 according to the law, which, by the powers of His own mind. He had 
 contemplated, and after due consideration and approbation thereof 
 had enforced them, as all know who study the creative works. 
 Hence, the way spoken of is to learn the law and gospel in their 
 proper tendencies and power, and to abide within their limits. When 
 that is all done, then the way truly leads up to the Father, because 
 the light diifused from that luminous center lights the path for all 
 who walk in it, and they become strengthened by the power of that 
 light, so that they can read and understand the lessons, both to the 
 right and left of the path, without being retarded in their onward 
 march, or puzzled over the meaning and application, for where this 
 heavenly light falls no mists remain to obscure the lessons, then there 
 will be nothing to fear or to doubt. All is peaceful, all the powers of 
 the mind will then be free for exertion, for when abiding in law and 
 gospel there is full freedom. The limits of law and gospel are fre- 
 quently overstepped by almost all of the teachers and believers of the 
 gospel of grace. Hence, they are not free to walk or to exercise the 
 powers of their minds, but are like bondsmen to those into whose 
 degrees they enter when they step aside and out of that beautiful 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 201 
 
 granite path of law and gospel. Therefore, many are cut away like 
 branches from the parent vine, and can therefore have no nourish- 
 ment from the spirit. This all must see, feel, and understand to a 
 certain degree, or they cannot be permitted to pursue their onward 
 march in the narrow way, the only way that leads upward and to the 
 Father. The faith problem has never been demonstrated in the 
 light that shines from Heaven, therefore, has never been properly 
 demonstrated ; if it had been, all the deficiencies in the nature of 
 mortals would have been seen, and with it, also, the necessity to 
 amend, to outgrow, to purify, to become changed from the weak and 
 crippled' motives to the pure, good, and wholesome, and to grow in 
 goodly progression, for it is a truth that should ever be remembered 
 that nothing unclean can enter into Heaven. Therefore, it is evi- 
 dent that the vision Peter had was shown from the different spirit 
 spheres so as to meet the indifferent conditions of the people, and it 
 is also a truth which no words of eloquence can talk away, that all 
 who leave earth and are not cleansed from all their impurities, and 
 who are not whole in their minds and bodily textures which are to 
 mingle with the spiritual tissues, to form and complete the house or 
 body for the spirit when it is rescued from its house of clay, that 
 they will be taken to these spheres, there to receive the treatment 
 which they stand in need of, and if possible to prepare them to enter 
 into the heavenly rest after their laborious spheric travels amid diffi- 
 culties and sufferings. To enter the heavenly rest does not imply 
 inactivity, with nothing more to do than to sing songs of praise and 
 worship constantly. No, friends, it does not mean that, only rest 
 from indifferent and repulsive labors which before were necessary 
 trainings, and compulsory to a great extent. All who are prepared 
 to enter the heavenly rest will be free from such labors, but can work 
 according to desire after learning what is in keeping with God's will 
 and laws. The same voice is heard today from on high that was 
 heard in the day of Peter's vision : " What I have cleansed, call not 
 thou common or unclean." This is shown in regard to the teachings 
 which issue directly from the world of spirits to meet the demands of 
 the people. Many deeply commit themselves by their actions and 
 talk against that which God sends as trials for His earthly children, 
 that they may be purified and grow more in resemblance to His own 
 likeness, so that He can recognize them in that great day of decision. 
 Why, say some of the people: 4k Spiritualism is from the Devil." 
 Do they not yet know that God is the author of both good and evil, 
 and that He who is commonly called the Devil is a in tuber, or is one 
 in the councils of that powerful compact which is the creative force 
 
202 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 and power, and that He can only do his part, and no more ? There- 
 fore, we need not ponder upon that, but study closely so as to learn 
 God's truths and laws aright, that we may aid more in the many 
 works necessary to be done now on earth, for by doing this we 
 glorify God, and to lead as many as we can out from the mystiG 
 darkness of ideas and conditions into the path of law and the Ever- 
 lasting Gospel is the most acceptable worship. Peter, while rehears- 
 ing his adventure to his friends, said : " For inasmuch as God gave 
 unto them the like gifts as He did to us who believed on the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, what was I that I could withstand God? " By this he 
 evidently meant that those to whom he was called to administer were 
 mediumistically gifted the same as they were. This shows clearly 
 the facts which abound today, that those who believe on the Lord 
 Jesus Christ and those who do not are gifted alike in the powers of 
 their dual constitution, and can be worked upon by spirit power in 
 whatever degree they are fitted for ; neither should it be called com- 
 mon or unclean, but it should be studied in its proper way so as to 
 learn all that is contained in this co-mingled work of spirits with 
 mortals. It is God who molds and fashions all beings, who bestows 
 their gifts, and through His servants, the spirits, He calls these gifts 
 into action when it becomes a demand of the time, and for the people 
 living at such a time when the cycling divisions and aerial changes are 
 to be made in accord with the marches of evolution and progression. 
 All visions have a prophetic tendency, and often, too, a present one, 
 as can be seen by the vision of the text for in part Peter immedi- 
 ately realized what it meant, yet it has stood as prophetic unto this 
 day to give evidence to the present works, and to have the scriptural 
 testimony that that vision came from the indifferent spheres, and was 
 pronounced clean for those on earth whom it concerned, the same as 
 it is now realized in the different controls and spirit manifestations 
 which are reviled and fought against by the Pharisees of today, who 
 would rather make long and loud prayers, and look down with scorn 
 upon the so-called captives of satanic wiles, as they are pleased to 
 term it, saying : u I thank Thee, Lord, that 1 am not as one of these," 
 but the power of that parable holds good even today, and is realized 
 in this, that the sinner will be blessed before the self-righteous Phari- 
 see. Many who call upon the Lord the loudest need to be con- 
 verted, for they do not know their own standing, but think they are 
 almost sanctified, but are impure in the sight of God and all their 
 deeds are evil. It behoves ail, without exception, to be silent, and 
 study and consider the works and ways of God, and to do that which 
 seems to be a demand and duty in the spirit of truth and uprightness. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 203 
 
 LECTURE LXV. 
 
 EVOLUTION. 
 
 Evolution and revolution are the chief factors employed by which 
 great works and changes are accomplished. Fancy has played with 
 those great factors, and history, both religious and profane, have 
 speculated upon those topics until many absurdities have been created 
 in the minds of men, and have finally been ascribed to the direct 
 wielding of God, or to the workings of nature through natural causes. 
 That both theories and assertions are erroneous, and must fall when 
 brought forth to be judged, we will now endeavor to show. 
 
 When we treat upon the evolution of this eternity we wish to be 
 understood that we do not treat upon this eternity's creation as being 
 the only one, but for the reason that the mortals now living need 
 only to be informed concerning this present eternity in which they 
 live. We will set geology aside, and treat on the evolution of this 
 eternity to show the defects of the historic records upon the subject. 
 Now, return back with us twelve thousand years, after the measure 
 of days, months, and years, and we will show you the dark waters 
 which stood all over chaos or chasm. Then there was no earth where 
 now we see the old and new world, or the mortal world. There 
 were superior worlds, but we need not treat of them now. This dark 
 water was full of all the atoms and vapors necessary to evolve from 
 and compose by the laws of chemical action all which would be 
 required to create a world with and fill it with transformatory objects 
 in the mineral, vegetable, animal, and human divisions. All the 
 materials with which to accomplish this great work were found in 
 this great reservoir. It required much contemplating in order to 
 form a plan so complete that the lawful seal could be placed upon it, 
 with the assurance that all could and would be accomplished in a 
 given time according to desire, if the stated laws were enforced and 
 strictly complied with. This being done, the work was at once set in 
 motion, and it required six thousand years to station the waters by 
 this creating dry land, and to bring forth animals, birds, and creeping 
 things, and all the different kinds and species and vegetation, and to 
 have sufficient ether and electric heat gathered to set a sun to light 
 the earth and to promote its fruitfulness, and stars to adorn the firma- 
 ment, and a moon to assist in nature's most critical evolutions and 
 developments. This being done, people were created then in a divine 
 sense, and the divine essence being impregnated in these beings they 
 pvere called a new and superior race; yet it was necessary that the 
 
204 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 physical being, made from natural elements, should be supported by 
 the natural yielding or productions of the earth, which, as above 
 described, had been evolved from this lower chaos. Therefore, the 
 ills which thus became the companions of the race could not be 
 avoided. Matter had to act in its crude modes in order to cause by 
 action the changes for refinement so as to build from it the basic brain 
 works of mortals in such a way as to make the expansion and trans- 
 formation of them a possibility. The advancement which has been 
 made mentally with all the combined intelligence is a proof of this 
 great achievement. Yet there is a certain class of people who ascribe 
 all these works to natural processes without any superior wielding. 
 But in that they are mistaken, for it could not have been so, as it 
 required skill and wisdom, which were the creative forces, to act upon 
 the natural chaotic essences. All is so far accomplished, with the 
 exception of one great design which is yet incomplete, and that is in 
 regard to good and evil, which is not yet fully understood by mortals, 
 and although the majority of the people ascribe all power and wisdom 
 to an omnipotent ruler, yet they cannot reconcile the idea in their 
 minds that God is the author of both good and evil, also that He 
 requires to have Satan placed at the head of all the affairs and ills 
 which bear so heavily upon their beings and perceptions. This idea 
 must be transformed. All minds need a thorough renovation in 
 regard to all these questions and principles which have served as vital 
 support for the labor agitations in order to cause physically the 
 changes in the mental realms, for the minds of the people were not 
 strong enough to acquire the facts, therefore, faith was required 
 of that which was given them for religious studies and develop- 
 ments until the time should come in which the mental powers would 
 be able to receive the revelations concerning all these mystic things, 
 which, in short, must be termed universal mysteries. The time has 
 come now in which faith can be transformed and a knowledge of all 
 things can be grasped in which faith had been cultivated and hope 
 cherished, for all evil is undeveloped good, and over the wielding of 
 those natural developments which have had and do still retain a bear- 
 ing upon all things in nature, also upon mortals, was set one chief ruler 
 and many agents to do the work according as they received authority, 
 and laws were laid down by which they were to rule and govern. 
 Therefore the finite government which takes in all the lower develop- 
 ments and all earth's wealth and productions, and which extends its 
 rule even to the moral heights, must be looked at in the right light. 
 Those who wield the reigns of this government are subject to the 
 Supreme Ruler, and He is the author of both good and evil, and 
 

 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUEES. 205 
 
 sends forth His spirits by millions to be deposited in this matter, and 
 to be afflicted by these ills which undeveloped matter must produce 
 in order to become refined and purified. The spirits themselves lose 
 nothing even if it takes them an eternity to reach the object of design, 
 which is to obtain a knowledge of the difference between good and 
 evil, and to acquire tangible, etherealized spirit forms which will ever 
 remain healthy, young, and beautiful, and their minds will become so 
 well qualified through these changing processes that they can ever 
 acquire knowledge as they travel on, and, therefore, will be happy 
 ever. To gain all this will be a sufficient reward for every individ- 
 ual soul for all the inconveniences, pains, and trials which they experi- 
 ence on their tours through the different Grades of matter through 
 which they must pass for improvement, also for expiation for the 
 natural short-comings and neglected duties, but at the same time 
 learning rare and beautiful lessons of lasting value. This great boon 
 of life immortal cannot be too highly prized. 
 
 Think of this. People are willing to labor hard a great length 
 of time, according to eartl>Fime measure, to build houses and to gather 
 all the comforts of life around them, when they know that their stay 
 here is uncertain, that they can be called away at any time ; but 
 when the hard work of self-perfection is accomplished, then the enjoy- 
 ment of all the combined labors follow for every individual spirit for- 
 ever. There is no danger of losses nor separation from loved ones, 
 while the whole universe is one great school to which all have access 
 from which to draw wealth and valuable lessons according; to their 
 desires. Remember this, O mortals, as you fret and pine away in 
 strength because you have not obtained as much of these earthly 
 things as you desire. You think troubles are ever present with you, 
 and that there are no pleasures. Throw aside these thoughts and 
 complaints. Do ail you can to fill the position in which you are 
 placed, and look around and above you, and learn all you can from 
 those conditions, for you need the lessons which they produce. Do 
 not find fault, but study these facts, learn these lessons and become 
 acquainted with the philosophy of the finite government, and try to 
 remember that there are superiors over mortals and their physical 
 conditions, and that by them their destiny is shaped. They may be 
 termed guardians in the finite degrees, but their responsibilities are 
 not so great as those of the heavenly guardians, their sphere of action 
 being only in the finite realms. They shape and govern the acts of 
 those over whom they are placed in the natural and physical sense. 
 Even the birth of every spirit into the physical world, although it 
 proceeds forth from a higher source than the finite, yet it must accord- 
 
206 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUPvES. 
 
 ingly be subjected to the management of these finite wieldings, and 
 must be born in such conditions and surroundings as these finite 
 guardians prescribe in compliance with their calculations to form a 
 physical contrast to the spiritual standing and the works which by 
 infinite design are set forth to be accomplished. It does not matter, 
 therefore, how unfavorable all things may look physically when a 
 great spiritual design is to be accomplished, the object will always be 
 reached and that design worked out in a lawful way or course. 
 
 There are seven terrestrial strata of soil through which mortals 
 must arise, and by which they can attain a complete terrestrial body 
 and become evenly balanced in their mind forces. This accounts for 
 the difference of opinions and the many adverse ways among the peo- 
 ple, because they reach the mortal standard of terrestrial complete- 
 ness so very unlike to each other. Those who have passed over 
 all the rounds can readily understand all which they see and hear, 
 and all which their senses can recognize, while those who are below 
 them, and are yet passing through these natural developments cannot 
 see, and so each one must hold to that which their understanding 
 reveals to them, and all can only grasp what their mental strength 
 will permit, for these officers watch very closely, and when subjects 
 are over balanced for the want of closer attention and better care by 
 those to whom they were entrusted as a charge, they to whom they 
 were entrusted are thrown into the crucibles and subjected for such 
 short-comings and failures in duty. Thus all is wisely governed, and 
 just measures are given throughout the universe to saint and sinner 
 by the supreme government. Some of earth's would-be-wise ones 
 would ascribe the origin of man to an animal progenitorship, and all 
 things in nature merely to the chance of natural evolution and regu- 
 lations, for the reason that they will not ascribe the natural processes 
 of divine origin to the true source from whence they proceeded. We 
 wish it to be distinctly understood that the slimy fossils that were 
 formed into minerals, vegetables, and into animals of crude kinds, 
 were molded over and differently shapen in concord with their sus- 
 taining elements, but that mankind, called the race of divine origin of 
 this eternity's creation, would not be divine if they were to look to 
 those slimy depths for their primal origin, and to be forced to claim 
 such progenitorship. Many do adopt this only to their endless 
 shame and sorrow. The origin of the first divine created mortals 
 was by a natural process by divine interposition, and the embryotic 
 growth was the same as it is now, but the people were more ignorant 
 and innocent then because the natural supporting forces were more 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 207 
 
 crude and more gross matter was mingled with these forces. It is 
 this which makes the difference of physical form and mental standing. 
 Good and evil can be discerned only by strong and well-devel- 
 oped intellects, therefore those differences were not seen nor could 
 never be comprehended by the masses of mankind. Only a few of 
 each generation could reach those heights of finite standing where 
 they would be able to discern the difference between good and evil, 
 and to trace them to their original sources. The origin of man, also 
 of principles, will be the final questions of battle by which all mys- 
 teries must be fully explained, the enemies conquered, and the victory 
 won. Natural men without divine qualities have no principles, can- 
 not nor could not have them. They substitute instinct and desire for 
 principles. The elevating principles arise from the spiritual source, 
 and are supported from the same source, and these principles are 
 trained and developed in every royal child by spirits of high standing 
 and great wisdom. Let not your senses be blinded by mists which 
 are ever issued from the material side of these questions, but aspire 
 for light and truth by which to discern each question aright, and learn 
 the import of each sweeping wave by which mortals become aroused 
 and agitated. By so doing you will keep a supply of oil for the 
 spiritual lamp, and can keep awake so as to hear each given signal, 
 and thus will you be found wise and prepared for all coming emer- 
 gencies and ready for all and any conflicts. Then you can pass 
 through all changes and trials with which you chance to meet like 
 heroes, and draw great benefits from all transactions. Be wise and 
 pay heed to the signs of the times, for cold materialism will break 
 forth as a flood and engulf many in its dark waters. The wisdom of 
 the beasts defending that theory for mere conquest is based on natural 
 principles, — the divine side is left untouched because it cannot be 
 brought to issue by them, for if it should be they could support no 
 war cry, which war cry they base on this, that nothing comes from noth- 
 ing, and the divine record claims that God made the world out of 
 nothing. This is a great absurdity in their eyes, yet the compelling 
 principalities who work upon them to act out these emotions or prin- 
 ciples tremble, for they know that what those words imply is beyond 
 the comprehension of mortals, and that the penalties they thus incur 
 must be paid. God employed metal and means, and great labor was 
 expended by the creative body, to create this world out of nothing, 
 and it required much time also. It would be well for all the students 
 to search closely until they find and learn these great truths, and then 
 give honor to whom honor is due, and save themselves much embar- 
 rassment and suffering. Let mortals maintain truths which they 
 
208 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 know to be such, and declare them boldly. It is the principle of 
 uprightness and independence which will conquer the fears by which 
 so many are surrounded, and break down these bridges over which 
 they are afraid to walk so as to let them see the solid footing under- 
 neath, and that no man need not be afraid to walk m such a well- 
 beaten and paved pathway as the one that comes forth from the Rock 
 of Ages and extends to the ends of Hell and to the heights of Heaven. 
 Many side paths lead into it, but the path itself has a straightforward 
 marked course, and is paved with the choicest granite stones of the 
 immutable law, and ornamented all the way with the gospel graces. 
 We hear ver}'- many boasting travelers on the side paths say : We will 
 not enter that marked path, we shall find no food there for our spirits, 
 nor attractions enough for our roaming minds; the one path is too 
 much crowded for our bright intellects. Such is the los:ic of the fool- 
 ish, who know not their own shallowness and utter inability to grasp 
 solid truths. 
 
 There are no studies in the universe that cannot be reached from 
 this central path of law and gospel. Heaven and Hell and earth and 
 sea, and all that is contained in them, were thereby made and governed, 
 and will be finally saved by them. We should like to have the wise 
 ones of earth come forth, those who can boast of having searched to 
 those depths, and think themselves able to scale those heights, or any 
 who think they can or do comprehend the gospel truths ; as for law, 
 they do not even understand the law of their own being, much less 
 any of the laws of the universe. Therefore, all things should be 
 carefully weighed and considered before it is opposed or rejected. It 
 is meet for every royal child who, in truth, claims to be an heir 
 of the All-Father, and hopes to share His beautiful supplies of wealth 
 and wisdom, that they should be obedient in all things, that they con- 
 sider that all the effects that are produced on earth are the effects of 
 fixed causes, and that there are no causes which do not hang in law, 
 and are, therefore, carefully carried into effect on earth upon all 
 created mortal beings who are and must be thereby transformed and 
 trained so as to become prepared, to occupy their places in the higher 
 conditions of the continued life in the brighter worlds. It is He, 
 whom mortals and spirits call Father, who does all this by His breath, 
 power, and wisdom, which contemplated finite and infinite possibili- 
 ties, and made laws for the purpose of effecting universal glories and 
 rendering all darkness bright and beautiful in due time, and by which 
 to transform even the coarsest materials and elements into beautiful 
 hues and bright objects. It is required that people walk confidently 
 and carefully, and ever consider that God, being their Father, He 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 209 
 
 will guard them with His angel guards, and will not let harm come 
 to them ; but if He bestows full protection He will require obedience, 
 and will lead them safely through all the trials of life, so that they 
 may become pure and bright and fitted for the enjoyment of endless 
 happiness. 
 
 LECTURE XLVI. 
 
 AS THE HOUR IS SO SHALL THY STRENGTH BE. 
 
 In the ministry of universal progress, and in declaring the prac- 
 tical Everlasting Gospel, there is not nor cannot be a fixed text which 
 can be expounded to eager minds, or learned from the spirits by the 
 one who is to teach them, nor by God Himself, because the changes 
 of mind require a change of word, and a different explanation of one 
 and the same subject which is or has been made the center figure for 
 devotional culture. This was set forth by the Master when He sent 
 forth His disciples to preach the gospel of grace to all nations. He 
 charged them to carry no baggage nor purse, and to not fear or fret, 
 nor to study what to say when assailed by the authorities of worldly 
 creeds; for, said He : "It shall be given you at the time when needed 
 what to say and how to defend the cause you advocate. Your duties 
 will be made clear to you at the time when needed." These sayings 
 apply now to all who labor with the angels in gathering the harvests 
 of earth, and separating the goats from the sheep. 
 
 Truly this is a work of delight to those who are sufficiently 
 enlightened to behold its great significance, and mark all the transac- 
 tions, and are engaged in defending a great cause with the will and 
 means against the unjust assumptions of the creed monopolists. 
 Truly, all are safely and wonderfully led who trust to the guardian 
 care of angels, and pursue their calling with pure motives and sincere 
 desires to do all they can to aid the laboring angels, and to be thus 
 classed in the same ranks with them, belonging to their bands, and 
 laboring with them. 
 
 Have mediums ever considered this as fully as they ought, and 
 also all those who are taught by and work with a medium that they 
 belong to the band that teaches them, are numbered with them if they 
 faithfully perform each duty, and have a right with and among them 
 because they have been instrumental in the accomplishment of a uni- 
 versal work which such band was to perform according to law upon 
 
210 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 earth by mortal means, viz., through the susceptible organisms of 
 those who were compatible with them ? If you know this, be confi- 
 dent. They know how to accomplish each difficult task no matter 
 how much material things may oppose. Do according to the dictates 
 of those with wdiom you labor. Do not mingle the sayings of differ- 
 ent bands, for thereby you leave your places, and incur and must 
 reap many difficulties from it. If }^ou are numbered with the bright 
 and pure, walk and work according to their dictates and advice. 
 Seek no advice from the impure ones ; if you do, then you are placed 
 and numbered with them, and found to be fighting in the ranks of the 
 enemy against the Lord, from whom you claim protection and to 
 whom you owe true devotion and full confidence. You have tres- 
 passed against the rights and degrees of your former standing, and 
 have incurred penalties which must be collected. Even so are some 
 of this small band here situated. 
 
 Now these things are physically realized, and they are truly 
 unpleasant. But it is just, and is found as a cure for such ills. But 
 suffering as it is levied and decided by those in whose ranks you 
 have been fighting against your own welfare, and yet were not devoted 
 there nor yet truly devoted where you had been numbered before. It 
 is the devotion in action which counts, not the confession of the lips. 
 You desire to do all in your limited power to aid the cause you 
 have espoused, and yet you strongly crave to have your own natu- 
 ral desires gratified first, and so there is a strife within of instinct and 
 appetite against principle and right. Now, you say, I will do this and 
 more, but yom thoughts are turned on self again ere the good sought 
 to be done is finished, and ill desire shoots her fiery darts and 
 poisoned arrows through and against the good you wished to do, or 
 thought you wished to do. Self-accomplishment, when placed above 
 or before the universal accomplishment of good, is detrimental, and 
 such selfish persons are never found on duty where they should be, but 
 are ever gazing off over the green fields where the flocks pasture which 
 they w r ish were their own to command. All this, however, is not 
 what a calling to labor with the angels for the accomplishment of 
 universal good implies. You cannot expect to be drones, and yet 
 sip the honey gathered by another's labor. To be honest and upright 
 in whatever you have to do is the demand made of everyone, fear- 
 ing neither losses nor costs, but a trustful performing of such a call, 
 with a will resigned to the will of the Lord, knowing that He work- 
 eth all things together for good. Trust in the hour of trial. Be 
 still and behold the great power of God manifest on earth, which you 
 cannot see if you are not willing to be led, and to labor when needed 
 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 211 
 
 in concord with angels, no matter what the call might be, for if it is 
 lawful to be executed under the sun and compelled to take form, it 
 will bring reward to those who thus aid in the enactment of these lawful 
 injunctions which were so numbered to have their recognition in such 
 a way as they are offered on earth in their day, which is now. "When 
 works- are launched on mental space for mortal improvement, care not 
 what the world or the wise ones of earth say, for it is far better to 
 honor and obey God than man. Moreover, what God has ordained 
 will stand and subdue each world-made creed in this review. The 
 chaff of words will be sifted out, the wheat preserved, and all truth 
 
 shall be 
 
 Declared loud from pole to pole, 
 And saved shall be each living soul. 
 
 September 6, 1879. 
 
 LECTURE XLVIT. 
 
 WHO ARE THEY THAT CLAIM THE WORKS OF SPIRITS ON EARTH 
 TO DE A DELUSION AND UNNECESSARY? 
 
 Divine wisdom was ridiculed from the beginning, viz., from that 
 time when it was first sent forth as a divine issue to mortal man to be 
 reasoned upon and made the guide and anchor of wavering mortals 
 who, tottering on between the force of instinct and a great natural 
 self-force, strayed farther and farther away from their living parent 
 above who had sent them forth to traverse the earth for a seasou ; 
 yes, even upon a journey as pilgrims they are sent forth to acquaint 
 themselves with matter and material things, and with all the primary 
 studies upon which the whole superstructure is and must be built ; 
 this being the basis, for this reason, that spirit, without being placed 
 in contact with matter, is only mind-intelligence, and is ethereal, hav- 
 ing no tangible form, because there are tissues missing which can only 
 be gathered from mother earth. Therefore, those spirits, mere sparks 
 of the infinite, must of necessity be clad in garments suiting the cli- 
 mate and country in which they were to travel, and this mortal body, 
 being their first body, is called the natural one, and is supported 
 from earth's products ; therefore all spirits thus beginning an endless 
 march while on earth become greatly attached to it and the materials 
 from which their natural bodies are created and supported. They 
 view themselves and others with great self-love, and forget that they 
 are only sent forth to journey for a time and draw from nature's col- 
 
212 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 leges all they can ; also, that the tissues of the natural body may be 
 intermingled with the divine, that while the natural man is growing 
 up the counterpart, the spiritual man, is also growing, and is composed 
 from intermingled tissues both spiritual and natural, and, therefore, it 
 is a grand truth that he who has once had a natural body has just so 
 surely a spiritual body, and will be forever an identity created by and 
 supported from the parent God, yet self-created, too, and self-per- 
 fected, as self must bear the individual upward. No one, not even 
 a God, can take an imperfect being in through the gates where the 
 blessed and pure abide. Spirits engaged in this present work of the 
 second advent of Christ meet with great opposition from those who 
 should be the ones to throw the world's doors wide open and bid the 
 King of kings to enter, but instead of doing that they cry : " It is all a 
 delusion, it is a work not needed, nor is it desired." Where is your 
 proof , of or for this work being a delusion ? We know well that much 
 of the so-called manifested Spiritualism in the physical phases of such 
 works is objectionable, and that it appears at times a delusion and 
 rather improper. . But stop and consider from whence those workers 
 are, and upon what class of mortals their labors are directed, for cer- 
 tainly there is a close corresponding condition for which it was neces- 
 sary to send workers even from the different spheres of the preced- 
 ing worlds. There are millions of mortals today who are dead in 
 spirit, who are wholly devoted to the claims of their natural appetites 
 and instincts. They need physical manifestations of different natures 
 and so-called tests to bring to bear upon their natural senses the fact 
 that the spirit in man is destined to live forever, and must, therefore, 
 be awakened to life, to action, from its dead slumbers beneath this 
 mass of accumulated dross which has gathered from a one-sided pur- 
 suit in life here on earth, where both the spiritual and the natural 
 faculties should have been called early into life and action, and would 
 have grown harmoniously together until the spirit would be called 
 home again by the process of natural death. The spirit that has 
 made use of both his spiritual and natural faculties for his own ben- 
 efit and to aid him in securing wealth and knowledge for all time, 
 how rich will be his harvest when the reapers come to gather him 
 and his works and attainments home ! But how pauper-like appear 
 those who have lived only for the things of earth and the natural 
 pleasures, as before said, for it is no fiction but a stern fact that man 
 is a dual being, and, as I said, the person who has once had a mortal 
 body has also a spiritual body which will never decline or decay. 
 How grand it is when the implanted attributes of deity use the natu- 
 ral senses independently and make them subservient for the best pos- 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 213 
 
 sible growth of the spiritual senses and for the greatest amount of 
 wholesome tissues to be gathered for the spiritual body ; then a 
 healthy spirit will appear in the spirit world at the time of natural 
 death. But when the natural man holds the spiritual man a dead- 
 like prisoner, that spirit appears famished and disfigured when it 
 enters the spirit world at the time of change, and must be treated 
 according to its needs, which is often very severe, and the process of 
 acquiring health and the needed tissues is very slow and requires much 
 time. To all such are those workers sent, who, so to say, are hissed 
 at bv mortals, but instead of that it should be brought to mind what 
 class of mortals they are sent to, and that it must needs be a corre- 
 sponding condition. 
 
 Friends, it is a very necessary work and a very serious reality 
 instead of a delusion. People have no right to judge nor to find fault 
 with the works of spirits on earth, for the very reason that those who 
 claim to be wise among them fail and have failed to prevail on or to 
 awaken the spiritual senses to life or to action, as said before. 
 
 Is the work unnecessary, then, or is it absolutely needed ? Does 
 God who sent mortals forth, or spirits rather, and clothed them in 
 clay, does He not know what the demands of His erring children are, 
 or should He be dictated to by those who claim to be wise among 
 them ? Stop, mortal man, and consider, lest you will be found fight- 
 ing against God ! Search in the physical degrees for delusions and 
 you will be overwhelmed with the facts that delusion does abound in 
 mortals and in their deeds, and a counteraction of such conditions can 
 only be effected by a corresponding condition. Eloquent words and 
 trained scholarship will not or cannot reach the condition of the 
 spiritually dead in this modern age. Nay, there are too many purely 
 material explanations, and all the exhortations are devoid of spirit, 
 and, therefore, does not call the slumbering spirit within into life, but 
 rather increases the growth of materialism, and today if the line could 
 be drawn before the eyes of the inhabitants of the whole world the 
 senses of those who figure as religious teachers would be dethroned 
 at the sight, and the fact that the materialistic army being placed to 
 the left of this line would be the greatest, and the greater number 
 would be the professed Christians. Such is the standing of the mind 
 realm below. It is all eloquence, and yet devoid of the spirit of God. 
 Therefore, this time having been foreseen from the beginning, there 
 was a provision made for it, and that was that the spirit of God 
 should be poured out upon all flesh, and this is now being done, and 
 mediums have been and are being developed all over the world who 
 are simply the gateway through which the commissioned angels and 
 
214 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 spirits come to earth and perform all these labors which are a demand 
 at this time, and these works are therefore performed in accord with 
 supreme issues, and thereb} 7 will they accomplish that for which the 
 word had gone forth, and which has already taken form in the various 
 labors demonstrated to and before mortals. It is not expected that 
 those whose spiritual senses and attributes have never been aroused 
 to life could grasp the sublime truths that wise spirits utter and 
 impart nor see in them any sense or beauty. They cannot under- 
 stand them no more than the infant just born into physical life could 
 understand mathematics, rhetoric, or any of the higher branches of 
 learning in which the natural man is trained, but our appeal is to 
 those who make claims of being spiritually developed and of being 
 devoted to God from whom they receive their spiritual life and being. 
 To this class of people we say : Why do you ignore the call made 
 upon you from your native home ? Why is it that you claim to have 
 faith in God, and in that which you hold as His word, and yet remain 
 blind to these powerful works that are being done in your very midst ? 
 Behold how the Scriptures are being fulfilled. Learn how the angels 
 descend and ascend in the way which the Son of Man prepared and 
 paved for them. Look aloft ! Behold the earthly harvests are ripe, 
 and the heavenly reapers are at work. Yes, look aloft ! Behold the 
 prepared mansions in Father's house. Read, or first learn, how to 
 read your titles clear as to what your progressions are in Father's 
 house, and do not look with scorn upon the works performed by the 
 heavenly workers upon earth, for it is being done as the law demands 
 in this grand advent of Christ, in which He wars with and conquers 
 the nations, and makes known His power upon earth. No one should 
 be idle nor indulge in self-love, or be still and blind as to wdiat the 
 breezes waft to them, and what they breathe in from the atmosphere 
 which supports their brain as well as their' breath. This is the peo- 
 ple's day which God Almighty has made for all flesh. Cast on the 
 yoke of formalities. True worship must come from the spirit in mor- 
 tals to the Great Spirit above, or it is not acceptable. The spirit in 
 mortals is the child spirit before it had mature development or growth, 
 therefore worship can be true only when it is offered in a simple and 
 child-like way. Whenever a desire, born from the spirit ivithin, is 
 first spoken in words of worldly attained eloquence, that spiritual 
 impulse is crippled by this natural burden, that inmost desire is 
 dwarfed to suit mortal fancy, and, therefore, loses its spiritual signifi- 
 cance. But mortals today in their material guise think there is noth- 
 ing of any significance unless it is clothed in worldly eloquence, but 
 all aspirations or prayers are registered whereto and from whence 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTURES. 215 
 
 « 
 
 they come, and although with your lips you call upon the Lord, 
 and 3'et the material desires govern your aspirations, it will all be 
 classed in the worldly degrees, and there classed in the prison degrees, 
 because of the offenses committed by your offering petitions and wor- 
 ship to one Lord and being found devoted to another. Learn to know 
 yourselves before you find fault with the works you do not understand, 
 and see where you will belong when you meet with reality. God 
 requires no mortal eloquence. He alone is excellence, and also all- 
 wise, therefore no one should boast before Him, but should appear 
 meek and in child-like simplicity. The works which the spirits are 
 doing on earth at this present time are no delusion, we repeat, nor 
 unnecessary. Besides all the works of agitating, reaping, garnering, 
 and diffusing c;eneral knowledge, there are still other works that must 
 be accomplished, viz., the records of each closing cycle must be com- 
 pleted and placed in the great account books. That which has been 
 accomplished by the races of people in each cycle of time, and in 
 accord with the extended means and privileges for their improvement, 
 are all legal claims and must be settled now in this present time. 
 Therefore, all that for religious growth and training is now in the 
 world and has been heretofore is and must be severely criticised, and 
 that which has ever been given from the ultimate function in any age 
 or time is all retained and united with that which is being given now 
 from the same fountain to mortals. All the labors of dispensing the 
 new truths and revelations are in process along with the works of 
 clearing up, but the new never takes a positive hold on the minds of 
 the people until all the old claims are settled and subsided. No one 
 can gainsay the fact that the ideas of the people are greatly revolu- 
 tionized. The mortal mind realm is undergoing the most powerful 
 change that it was ever destined to experience in its changing trans- 
 formations. The very atmospheres are changed for the same pur- 
 pose, to hasten and accomplish this great mind revolution. These 
 facts cannot be denied, for they come tangibly to mortal view, and are 
 experienced whether the people are willing or not. Angels are sent 
 forth on their various commissions to earth. It is not a delusion, is 
 not unnecessary, but it is a great universal work and very much 
 needed. Let the people of this present age make use of their God- 
 given talents, and do what they can each in their place and degree to 
 advance truth and to expose and subside error, then their reward 
 shall be great in the spiritual kingdom. 
 
 The most effectual labors of the many now in process, as said 
 before, can only be done by self-denials and great worldly disadvan- 
 tages. But let us not be disheartened at this, but rather press on 
 
216 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 cheerfully with the works before us with the blessed knowledge that 
 is ours, that our sure rewards await us in Heaven. And blessed 
 shall be each warrior amid earthly strife and opposition when these 
 timely conquests are ended. 
 
 April 8, 1881. 
 
 LECTURE XLVIIL 
 
 INFIDELITY IS A DREADFUL THING. 
 
 A man who has never had any insight into spiritual things, although 
 he may have professed to believe in the trinity of the universe, the 
 God-Head, was baptized, and conforms to all the rites of the Chris- 
 tian or any other religion ; when that man is approached by those 
 who are sent to stir up the inert, stagnant pools of human powers 
 and possibilities, so that the divine germ can be quickened into life 
 after such a process, I say when they are thus approached the first 
 thing they become conscious of is that they really know nothing about 
 God. They see no truth in what is held as the word of God, no, 
 because they had never studied it, nor obtained an insight into any 
 word from the spirit of God to man. Therefore, they doubt, and become 
 dissatisfied, and try to oppose that which they had before in such a 
 fraudulent way professed, for their heart and brain had never been 
 awakened to these important truths. 
 
 Oh, what fossils are such a body of searchers after light and 
 truth ! What a glory it is to those to whose charge a progressive 
 movement is given to cast off these dead weights and fossils out into 
 infidelity, just where all the bubbles float to out on the sea of uncer- 
 tainty, where they are buffeted about until they develop some 
 degree of man and womanhood, yes, until they properly individual- 
 ize. Then they are led to see where they stand. This they cannot 
 see as long as there is no strength, no development. These they 
 acquire while they wander over the by-ways. They are closely kept 
 there until they long seriously, and ask piteously, to be taken back 
 into the granite path of law and gospel, wherein alone ascension is 
 possible. Do not speak harshly of infidels, no, for who knows but 
 that the man who judgeth his brother may be found guilty in the 
 same degree, yet he keeps within the limits of the church creed only 
 by the force of outward circumstances, and by force of the flow of 
 the popular tide, not for the sake of the Christian principles. They 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 217 
 
 are the worst of infidels, they are cowards, they dare not even act 
 themselves out before the world, and are viewed strangely by the 
 invisibles, and become constant debtors to them. If a man or woman 
 is not a Christian from true principle, let them not seek shelter in 
 popular churches. To say I believe in Jesus is such a bogus 
 puss. No one has a right to say so when they cannot grasp a spirit- 
 ual truth, nor do not even try to grasp one and understand it. How 
 could they follow Jesus when they are blind, and deaf, and dumb in 
 their spiritual functions. Worldly and spiritual pursuits can only be 
 made to harmonize as a knowledge is obtained upon matters which 
 compose mental queries, and by which the natural inclinations and 
 worldly pursuits are governed. No man or woman can be or is a 
 Christian who is not living in that spiritual body from whence that 
 life, viz., the religious functions of mortals, are supported. They are 
 not supported at all when the spirit is not consciously active, and 
 does not receive evidence of that which is taught from that source 
 from the spirit. 
 
 Again, I say, oh, the dead weights who are, with their stony 
 natural desires and wills, as lumps of solid lead in the way to obstruct 
 the grand car of progress. They are by far the worst curses the 
 world has, yet many claim that the infidels are the worst, but that is 
 not true. An infidel, in the truest sense of that term, is one whose 
 inert powers have been touched by co-natural invisible forces directed 
 upon them by spirit operation; they are restless, they are disbelievers 
 in God, and the Bible claims of Jesus Christ, simply because that 
 divine power is wanting within them which alone can truly recog- 
 nize those higher truths, and which has not yet been awakened into 
 life within. Therefore, I say, oh, the many who are infidels in its 
 truest expression are those who boast of being true and devoted 
 Christians, but who attend church more for a fashion than for the 
 pure object of hearing wise council and applying it; yet all this is not 
 being a Christian, but is an act of injustice constantly committed 
 against Jesus the Christ, and which is far worse for the so-called 
 Christians of today than was the crucifixion of Jesus for the Jews 
 when, in the body, He visited the earth, which was His first advent 
 of these trinity labors which were divided into time, measure, or 
 ages, suiting the natural growth and development. Two advents He 
 must have, one in physical subjection, the other in spiritual power. 
 The second advent is now in process, and I say of a truth that all 
 Christians who deny this, and do not accept the man of sorrow now, 
 in these days, as the king of glory, or the King of kings, and do not 
 open for Him the doors of the world, and also the doors of their 
 
218 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 hearts and minds, they are counted as rebels against Him, and will 
 suffer punishment with the rebels of former times, at such great divis- 
 ions, no matter how loud they cry : " Lord, have we not done this 
 and that in Thy name?" Verily, the Lord knoweth them not, for 
 He comes to earth and loudly calls His sheep ; all who are of His 
 flock hear His voice, and follow Him and fear not, for He is known 
 by them. This brings up before me the foaming discharges from an 
 inhdel wing of one certain cast, who will not that Jesus shall rule 
 over them, or even have an existence. What hollow bubbles they 
 are floating on life's sea, to soon explode and be no more. They are 
 void of understanding because they are not at all spiritually devel- 
 oped. No spiritual light from the universe center can penetrate 
 their minds, their souls ; hence, it would be impossible for them to 
 grasp the truths foreign to them, and which they have no power to 
 behold or understand. The workers sent forth to cause agitation are 
 forcibly stirring up the mental pools. Yes, friends, this is a wonder- 
 ful work at the present time in its great array of power, and which 
 will emerge into mortal realizations in every way. You all know 
 what a rebellion and a revolution means in the physical sense, but 
 this one is far greater because it is a spiritual rebellion and mind 
 revolution, and all things physical are changed thereby, because all 
 nature is passing the line of a linked cycling change as well as earth, 
 which seems to be covered with light from Heaven, that is, all mor- 
 tals that live on the face of the earth are taught such doctrines as 
 were dispensed for them, suiting their claims and mind. Therefore, 
 light is dispensed from Heaven, whereby they can be led nearer to 
 the center path of the Everlasting Gospel. The degrees in their 
 marked religious orders will be revealed to mortals before these days 
 of revelations for this time are ended. But what I wish to make 
 clear is this, that by all this light and gospel truth which is now shed 
 upon mortals and over earth three-fourths of all who live upon the 
 face of the earth are rebels, and even the one-fourth are not very 
 strong in their fixed ideas about God and His Christ, and the ques- 
 tions about the trinity. Devotion to God and the present necessary 
 duties, I say, even those who really desire to be true followers of 
 Christ Jesus, and are, so far as they can be, devoted to God, are 
 tinged with uncertainty. They are weak, and are not willing to labor 
 in the Lord's vineyard at all hazards, and to ever be ready to be 
 armor bearers, or to use arms in the righteous conflict when assailed 
 by the rebels. Yes, there must be peace. Mortals let wrong have 
 its way in order to get along well with the world, but where, oh, 
 where, are the heroes of the nineteenth century? Who, in this 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 219 
 
 rebellion, will forsake the comforts and peace of their homes and their 
 friends, and fight bravely and powerfully for the relief and redemp- 
 tion of all ? The good Christian people say : " Jesus has redeemed 
 us, He needs none of us to do anything. We give Him our hearts, 
 throw our sins upon Him, and we are free, He will do it all." Stop, 
 blinded mortals, and consider. He is not the sin-bearer now. He 
 has sent His angels to reap the earth, to learn what has grown from 
 His teachings and suffering ; and, lo ! He found chaff instead of ffood 
 grain. He finds mortals rebels against Him in their true nature and 
 life instead of being His true followers. Hence, he comes to war 
 with the nations, and woe be to all over whom waves the rebel flag. 
 Do not mistake your standing, mortals ; professions have nothing to 
 do with realities. Just as you are found you will be forced into line ; 
 no will of yours can avail you any longer. The great world battery 
 is set, and the revolution of mind is as natural a result now as the 
 overthrow of a train of cars would be if a suspension bridge had been 
 loosed without the knowledge of those having charge of it, thus 
 giving way, therefore, suddenly. When the revolution is in full 
 operation, let us count and mark the infidels upon their hearts and 
 foreheads, for after those days all these will stop their boasting and 
 commanding ; and when they are all marked, then will come the woes ; 
 then they will see how they have made themselves strangers to God, 
 how they fought for their sad doom with mind and means. Oh, the 
 pitiful condition the world is in. With all the present privileges, 
 prosperity spreads her gay wings over earth. 
 
 Intelligence has perched proudly over the mortal mind realms, 
 and light flashes over the earth like the rays of a brilliant sunrise on 
 a calm cloudless morning, and yet behind this is the storm preparing 
 so mystical, so strange. From the people go out tissues, and issues, 
 and wrongs, but the King of kings, with His army, is coming to crush 
 the rebellion ; then, certainly, the rebels will not be free, but taken 
 captives to suffer punishment, as has been said, the same as the rebels 
 of the former time divisions. Ah, friends, there in those dungeon 
 spheres where these are kept will be the place for all the infidels of 
 the various casts and creeds, for in the churches there are as many 
 or even more than outside. The materialists, well, they are infidels 
 too, of various degrees, owing to their truest impulses within, for all 
 who are called infidels are not the same in decree and real standing 
 in regard to their Father, God, and many whom the world has called 
 infidels. Atheists, or materialists, are not marked as such, because 
 they are active for the general benefit, and this is their evidence of 
 the nobler faculties, truest desires, when they would be more fully 
 
220 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 aroused by the heavenly breezes. The sum total of all the works of 
 this sifting is to ascertain correctly the principles of men. True 
 principle is religion, the purest and best, and is acceptable even if no 
 claims are made. God is manifested through man by His own 
 instilled attributes. A man may not profess much about God, may 
 be, according to the view of the world, an infidel ; yet he is very 
 philanthropic. He is strictly honest, he views the weal of others 
 with an equal interest as his own, and manifests his inborn nobility 
 in all his deeds and words. He is a true child of God, and is sup- 
 ported from that loving fountain according to the demands which 
 God alone knows. Therefore, people have no right to judge any 
 man, but let all turn within themselves, and learn whence they are 
 and whither they are going. 
 
 Know whence you are by this, when your principles are wanting 
 in their Heaven-born purity and strength, then those qualities within 
 are supported from your Mammon god, and thither are you going. 
 Jesus does not suffer those who have been using the plan of salvation 
 through Him as a screen to hide behind, with their moral corruption, 
 and enjoy the more the pleasures of the flesh, and let the natural pro- 
 clivities rule wholly within them over the spiritual impulses, and so 
 weaken the principles and divert true devotion from God. This does 
 very well in the world as long as you can hide the reality, but it is a 
 sad state when these righteous sinners are brought to judgment, for 
 there they appear naked, wretched, and poor, for there is nothing for 
 them to look for only much labor and suffering, if they desire to 
 atone for timely misdeeds committed, in order to be, in due time, 
 admitted into the progression degrees. These, then, were not infi- 
 dels while on earth, but popular Christians ; but after the change they 
 are only what they have been after all, not what they falsely indulged 
 in and professed. Live true lives, O mortals, be either cold or hot in 
 your religious devotions, and walk with a firmness which will receive 
 credit from one side or the other. This holding on to both sides, and 
 not being devoted to either one, is truly the worst state that mortals 
 can be in, and, yet, right there in midway we find so many of tnese 
 materialistic, lukewarm Christians. They are fossils on the great 
 gospel ship, which they aim to pull down with their loads of all kinds 
 of corruption which is attached to them, not to the grand old gospel 
 ship. Her sails of truth are spread out and will withstand all storms ; 
 but the waves of the tide will cut loose and wash all said fossils away, 
 and they shall float on the tide and explode, but truth shall triumph, 
 and all impurities shall be purged out from among men. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 221 
 
 Life, oh, how precious in its eDdless line ; 
 
 Time, oh, how precious in the mortal clime ; 
 
 Thousand eternal years in one day come 
 
 When life is truly spent; God's truths received 
 
 And well made use of for the good of all, 
 
 Thus error conquered, and removed the thrall of mortal bondage. 
 
 LECTURE XLIX. 
 
 EARTH. MORTALS WHO INHABIT THE EARTH, AND TnEIR DUTIES, 
 
 THE PERFORMANCE OF WHICH WILL RENDER THEM 
 
 FIT TO ENTER THE WORLD OF JOY BEYOND 
 
 THE SPHERES OF STRIFE. 
 
 "We will consider the earth without opposition, strife for labor, 
 and the commonly played dramas whereby earth is made a world. 
 The earth is full of all kinds of riches, but these were not read}* - for 
 the use of the inhabitants of earth, therefore it required exertion of 
 mind and body to bring forth these treasures of nature and prepare 
 them for use, comfort, and beauty. All this could not have been 
 done by people of one mind and the same cast and character and truth- 
 ful openness. We mean by this to say that in the development of 
 all these works, or for the development thereof, all kinds of talents 
 were needed, were absolutely required, and were for these reasons 
 instilled and molded into the compositions of mortals, so that they, 
 viz., these talents, could be acted upon by the mind alone and be made 
 to introduce many plays on the mortal stage which were necessarily 
 called the plays of chance, and are introductory to the real dramas 
 which must and do make up a world such as was desired to exercise 
 mortals in for their own good and the Creator's glory. 
 
 First, then, it was necessary after the mortals were placed on 
 this new earth to bring the power of the mind and strength of the 
 body into exercise in the best possible way. It was upon these points 
 that the archangels contemplated, viz., how to make this world so 
 that it would furnish anxiety and travail to exercise these mortals in, 
 so they could draw the intended benefit from such a course, and of 
 being made by this process a traveler, also a worker and student on 
 earth ; and when the marked duties were complied with and the 
 tissues for the tangible lasting body would be acquired and purified, 
 then they could enter the world of bliss, the primitive Eden again, 
 and dwell in the presence of God, capable of discerning all the con- 
 
222 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 ditions in the universe, and enjoying themselves as they could not 
 otherwise have done. The councils of the compact, called the crea- 
 tive body, were directed upon these points also, as how these mortals 
 should be constituted in composition and ability, and the length of 
 time it would require until they could stand above all the gross mat- 
 ters of nature wherewith they were to be embodied and become able 
 to talk face to face with those who had wielded their developments 
 through all these transitional grades of matter. It certainly required 
 great skill and wisdom to be applied, and laws for this process were 
 contemplated, enacted, and enforced, viz., how to shape, separate, and 
 locate countries, seas, and dry land, so that it could be made fruitful 
 when labor should, be applied. Yet earth's creation is evolutional by 
 the processes of nature, which, as said, are improved by the skill and 
 wisdom applied by the master-builders. What is it, then, that makes 
 the world ? When we hear the millions of great and small com- 
 plaints which arise daily from the people on earth, it becomes a mat- 
 ter self-evident that they contribute while there their part to help 
 make a world. 
 
 We feel sad sometimes, and then again are we overpowered with 
 mirth at the short-sightedness and folly of many who are drilled in 
 worldly studies, and disciplined in the methods applied and used for 
 general transactions which make up the lively themes wherewith 
 life's marts can alone be made interesting;. There is the collecting 
 and distributing of wealth to be done, and this must first be gathered 
 from nature's bosom and prepared for market and for use, for which 
 purpose the masses must be used as tools in a measure to toil and 
 moil in forest and mountain, in caves, in shops, on land and on sea, 
 but every part of these labors must be done in order to make a world 
 which has its attractions as well as its dislikes. But with all these 
 many desire to stay in this world, and many wish to leave it. There 
 must be for all these labors servants and workmen, and all manner of 
 gifts bestowed upon these people, and all these tissues were inter- 
 woven in their material compositions so that they could be acted upon 
 and impelled to do their parts in these comic theatrical performances 
 through these matter grades. In all this a strong opposition was a 
 demand in order to keep the processes of labor in a lively state, and 
 these infusions were carefully made so that the mortals could at all 
 times and in all ages of the world be used to work out physically the 
 designs which were sketched by those who contemplated those works 
 and developments ere they had a beginning. There arc some mor- 
 tals who seem extremely wicked, dishonest, and deceitful, who are 
 apt to take the advantage in business matters, and so wrong their fel- 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 223 
 
 low men wherever they can, and such ones are commonly said to be 
 possessed or obsessed by the evil oue, and designed for well-heated 
 quarters after their earthly careers are ended. Well, it is true, 
 that all such persons who are used for objectionable works or per- 
 formances in life's plays do have largely instilled in their composition 
 the traits and attributes of that Satan who is the prince of or over 
 this world, and who is authorized to use all the power and means of 
 which he can avail himself, so as to improve this world and to keep 
 its building processes in a lively operation. He must have workers, 
 most certainly, to perform these physical labors. He is or was rather 
 permitted for these very reasons to provide those who should do such 
 works with the propensities and attributes which could be so exer- 
 cised. All these do more towards making the world and causing it 
 to flourish than those in the higher degrees, and therefore purer, for 
 they work for their future welfare, and do very little for the benefit 
 of earth and the material world. The very ones who, as hirelings, 
 are used to make the world are certainly far from being saintly, 
 yet perceive how necessary this very objectionable gradation differ- 
 ence is in making a world and in purifying the conglomerate condi- 
 tions, elements, and matters of chaos for use and beauty and fit mate- 
 rial for mortal bodies. This subtle agent has no power to' rule and 
 govern, but when these labor processes are done and all things flour- 
 ishing and the people become intelligent, having learned the truth as 
 to these creative and transforming works, then he will be no more, 
 because such dominion rule will not be needed, and changes accord- 
 ing to law and agreement. 
 
 But while a world is to be made by ambition and desire, all 
 these unjust works, or seemingly unjust, are absolutely needed, for 
 take injustice out of the world in its building processes and what then 
 would justice have to do? They could not even exercise their 
 great power and wisdom without there being occasion furnished for 
 adverse metal ; and what good would these people derive from a 
 sojourn on earth? for if they were all equally innocent and pure, they 
 could not then exercise their faculties in these rudimental lessons 
 which underlie all future development, and would not nor could not 
 draw any benefit from their journey on earth. Innocence is a thing 
 good enough if always kept, so to say, in a glass box sheltered away 
 from the knowledge of good and evil, for there is no power in inno- 
 cence to contemplate one extensive theme, nor to enjoy fully and 
 freely any good which may be wrought or provided, by even the 
 greatest wisdom or nameless wealth. There is no capacity in inno- 
 cence to contrast and measure the different conditions needed to make 
 
224 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 life, never-ending life, desirable, — to make it a boon of priceless value 
 and a source of constant pleasures and fresh joys forever. We hear 
 it said ou earth by some who wish to console the weak-minded among 
 men that all would be joy when this earth, this valley of tears, would 
 be left behind them, and the sorely tried and tempted mortals would, 
 by the event called death, be taken to a world where the wicked cease 
 from troubling and the weary souls would be at rest. Well, friends, 
 you do not. understand what you say or wish when you wish to leave 
 one place in the universe for another in order to rid yourselves of 
 troubles, or, being troubled, for you positively cannot do so. As 
 long as there are such tissues within you which can be acted upon by 
 these wicked tormentors, who are the fit subjects to do such labors, 
 just so long must you remain in these working degrees, and must do 
 your part of the labor before you can ascend upward or any higher. 
 Changing climes will not excuse you from the work you must do, and 
 you will not be purified and rendered fit to enter the world of bliss 
 until the labors marked for you are finished. Remember that all this 
 travail is absolutely necessary to exercise mortals in for their growth 
 and development of ideas, and for their purification. The world is 
 and must be made by the exercise of the natural faculties and senses, 
 and by mortal strength. Hence, a world is what the people make it, 
 and the people on the earth make just what they are acted upou 
 and compelled to make or do. This seems to be an ev # il which mor- 
 tals cannot well be reconciled with, viz., that the toil and economy of 
 one man, or of many, being gathered and built up in many things, 
 should all be for those who come after them who have not labored 
 and toiled for it, and those who so eagerly sought to gather and help 
 make the world prosperous and beautiful, and above all to make 
 themselves happy, they are not allowed to enjoy it, and why not ? 
 For the reason that they so wish to gratify themselves, and this is 
 against the plan under which and in accord with which man must labor 
 and learn on earth. It is required according to the creative and trans- 
 forming plan of God with man that they work solely while on earth 
 for the improvement of earth and the world, and the people who 
 inhabit the same, and they are to receive no more for all the labors 
 they may do under the sun than what the bodily comforts demand in 
 a natural and worldly sense. 
 
 All that can be achieved by mortal skill, economy, and industry 
 is reserved for those who come after ; yet all who have labored faith- 
 fully in these labors will have their reward in the world into which 
 they are prepared to enter after earthly dissolution. Let no one 
 think, however, that they will escape punishment for taking advan 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 225 
 
 tages and wronging others, for there are many invisible watchmen 
 and officials, and profit and loss are kept reckoned up very strictly 
 and closely, and those who make by such subtle dealing small or great 
 worldly gains, make them to their own sorrow, for they cannot 
 receive any benefit from them, but much trouble. They may enjoy 
 earth's pleasures for a season, and surround themselves with earthly 
 comforts and commodities, all of which look very beautiful to their 
 eyes, but it is a sad lot after all, for they have nothing laid in store 
 for the future but debts which have accumulated from small and 
 great deeds wherein they wronged others, or kept them from properly 
 earning their bread which is their support granted them here for the 
 body. They must pay these debts in indescribable suffering and hard 
 labor after death, which may be termed hell, yet it is a condition of 
 punishment incurred by the offenders against the laws of the universe, 
 but when the proper atonements have been made, then this state will 
 be changed. What use is there, then, in accumulating earth's wealth 
 for others? Verily, none at all. See from the testimony of the 
 rich man of old, also of the present time, and you will see that it 
 is but sore travail in which they are exercised and are surrounded by 
 temptation ; and when the hour comes for them to depart, they can 
 take nothing with them save the record of their works either good or 
 evil, for which they are rewarded as soon as they land in the places to 
 which they are adapted. Many beneficial works done for the world's 
 improvement and for earth's poor people are as so many checks on 
 the treasury of the universe, and they will be promptly paid. This 
 is why so many poor and unnoticed people come to be very rich and 
 greatly blessed in the glorious hereafter, because their toil received 
 no reward on earth, nor were their good deeds appreciated, and truly 
 do they reap their blessed reward hereafter, while the prosperous 
 rich will have the opposite reward measured and weighed out to 
 them. Riches, worldly riches, make worldly notoriety, but they 
 bring no blessing to a mortal. Take, for instance, Solomon of old 
 and Vanderbilt of modern times to illustrate with. Solomon was a 
 wise man as well a proud one, and possessed great wealth, but he 
 was encompassed by temptations, and the weaknesses of the flesh 
 yielded to those temptations, wherefore his powers of mind, which 
 were greater and stronger than any other man possessed, became 
 weakened and somewhat darkened so that he could not at times see the 
 things which were to be clearer than many others before or since his 
 day. If that had not been the case many of his sayings as a preacher 
 would have been differently stated. He would have made clauses of 
 time divisions for mystic sayings, and so have given the proper view 
 
/ 
 
 226 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 for mortals to make research from and to comment on the records 
 left for them. Solomon said there were no desires in the grave, — 
 surely not in one sense, yet in another sense there are desires after 
 death. Grave means depth, a low degree or state into which those 
 fall who had been devising or cheating others. The fact is that after 
 death, and at the changes of cycling time, there is desiring of plans 
 and gloating over schemes, and also the execution thereof. This is 
 both realized by and also demonstrated at the present day to the 
 inhabitants of earth. I say this to show that Solomon's vision was 
 really dimmed at times, and he was, therefore, not capable of seeing 
 clearly and receiving intuitively the proper wisdom, or to give accu- 
 rate expression, which mistakes are proven by demonstrated facts. 
 
 Those, however, who devise plans and gloat over schemes, as 
 said, are unhappy spirits in low degrees, as he meant to describe it. 
 They act upon mortals whenever and wherever they can in such time 
 divisions, and encumber such ones for a time, and are thereby them- 
 selves relieved in a measure. These works are common at the pres- 
 ent day, and are called the works of Satan. They are works in 
 degrees of all kinds with which everyone should become acquainted, 
 and learn the lessons that can be drawn from them, and which will 
 be to everyone a great and lasting pleasure. 
 
 David, too, spoke of the grave and of hell with the same mean- 
 ing. He meant to show and picture before the mind's eye the encum- 
 bered condition in which one cannot exercise themselves properly nor 
 according to their wish. When people find themselves in such a 
 state they are in hell, or in the grave, viz., in a degree with unhappy 
 spirits, although not in the spirit world but walking the earth. This 
 was well understood by all persons who were spiritually guided that 
 hell was a conditional term, and that misery is the state or condition 
 of all who are in the low and encumbered degrees where this condi- 
 tional term can be properly applied, no matter in what sphere of 
 existence this may be. The present labors of spirits on earth, known 
 as modern Spiritualism, are not viewed as they should be. They are 
 acts preparatory to time divisions, and at this time preparatory to an 
 eternity division, or a new clause to be issued after the works of the 
 present eternity are settled in the way works are realized to be done. 
 In no other time is the return of low or evil spirits tolerated, nor can 
 it be but at the time of atmospheric changes and divisions which are 
 now being made, and have been made at all time divisions ; this is in 
 a measure tolerated, and also unavoidable, and w r e would say that all 
 that mortals realize or do now, and have ever realized and done, was 
 an absolute necessity in order to make the world and develop the 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 227 
 
 people. Even the confusion or confounding of the languages was a 
 part that had to be done, as an amendment, to thereby enlarge the 
 capacities of the people and to enhance the strength of their intuitive 
 and perceptive faculties. Remember, the world's greatest benefactors 
 and most useful men are those who work the most for the benefit of 
 the world, and use themselves even harshly to achieve the desired 
 results for those who shall come after ; and all who are placed on 
 earth to be trained and fitted for a high position in the hereafter are 
 placed in hard and pressing conditions, and surrounded by circum- 
 stances which will compel and bring forth action of the latent powers 
 instilled, and which must be called into exercise to aid them in 
 attaining the required knowledge in such degrees where before expe- 
 riences were lacking which had not been previously acquired by these 
 otherwise intelligent and wise spirits. Such acquirements are not 
 always found in much worldly learning by which one becomes noted, 
 but are often found in the quiet ways of home conditions where they 
 can learn wisdom's beginning and the basis of eternal happiness. 
 
 Who are earth's best, and who are earth's worst inhabitants ? 
 
 'T is not the rough, coarse villains who are the world's greatest curse ; 
 
 They are chaotic vessels to bring and take off dross ; 
 
 'T is not the care-worn toilers who battle with life's ills, 
 
 For they are no plan-spoilers, subjective work their wills ; 
 
 They are the world's benefactors, and lay up sure rewards ; 
 
 For their lives are useful, simple, they know not the ways of frauds. 
 
 But it is the trained, the pious, the eloquent to view, 
 
 Who are the curse, the traitors, to the world ; they create woes, 
 
 Then walk so straight and careful, and cover with deceit 
 
 Their inmost plans for action, they are the world's greatest cheats. 
 
 Our age wants facts, no suppositions or pretense and bland dis- 
 plays of what is not reality and truth from beginning to end. All 
 the bland orations of the self-conceited will grow old, turn to rubbish, 
 and be cast under foot. Earth's wise will lose their self-sufficiency 
 in the common estimation and view of the people. What cannot bo 
 proven cannot stand the test of the age, for the elements compel this 
 state of things because it is the review season of this eternity, and all 
 things must be proven or be cast aside under foot if they cannot stand 
 the test. Therefore, profane and sacred history are thrown out to 
 receive the judgment of the people of this age, and to be subjected to 
 their criticism and trials. The Hoods of inspiration are poured down 
 from on high to clear up the mists of the past and reveal fully the 
 
228 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 parcels which, as fragments, have been received from time to time 
 thus far. Hell, too, has opened her gates and sent forth her inmates 
 to do what they can in this time of trials. Therefore, human strength 
 and principles are tried, and those who work with the angels of light 
 for the rectitude of existing evils must learn the subtle conditions 
 which compel the activities of mortals, and meet with much buffeting 
 because they cannot always reveal their labors and are not always 
 understood, are therefore opposed and crucified conditionally, and set 
 up as targets for the witty and selfish to shoot at and make sport of, 
 yet are they the superiors of mankind, and rank among the gods if 
 they execute faithfully the labors entrusted to them, paying heed to 
 neither friend nor foe, only to principles, and to the discharge of their 
 duties with integrity. 
 
 October 12, 1880. 
 
 LECTURE L. 
 
 REV., XIII. CH., X. VERSE. 
 
 This passage, taken from the record of visions seen by John, the 
 seer, of these recorded visions which, as said in the record, pertain to 
 the last days, are now having their literal fulfillment on earth, among 
 and before the eyes of the people as proof and testimony that those 
 visions were true, and that John was quickened by spirit power, and 
 was worked upon to see and write them for the benefit of the world, 
 as a prophecy of what should come to pass in the latter days, and as 
 a testimony in the days of these transactions, that mortals should 
 thereby know of a certainty that these are the days really which 
 were so long foreseen and longed for. Shut not your eyes, today, O 
 ye mortals, who are blessed to live on earth at the present time, but 
 observe, yea, observe closely, and in all directions, and behold what 
 wonderful effects which are now the literal results of the many causes 
 made from the issue of mortal breath, desire, and labor. It is all 
 being reviewed and reacted, and it must be so, for the law of recom- 
 pense is now to be enforced, for the world is now being judged in 
 righteousness, and so many are subjects under treatment even now, 
 according to the words of our text, yet they see it not, nor know it 
 now. They talk much about chance, change of luck, and find fault 
 with people ; yet it is so even that they had, in ways in which they 
 blindly w r alked, trespassed on the rights of others, and have led into 
 captivity, or to speak plainly, into close undesirable conditions ; have 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 229 
 
 killed hopes and changed desires, have disfigured the plans which had 
 grand designs, and the power of mechanism by which to bring the 
 plan into physical reality, all had been destroyed. Even so will they 
 be destroyed with the same weapons they had used. If it was by an 
 evil tongue, which cuts like a two-edged sword, others may arise, and 
 lead them into the same conditions, so that these words will have a 
 literal fulfillment, and bear the seal placed on them so as to be under- 
 stood, and shown forth to the view of all people in these days. 
 Again I say that now is the time in which they are being fulfilled 
 and transacted daily. I would also say that all things that were ever 
 shown in vision will have, in their own time, a literal fulfillment ; for 
 the visions are, and must be, a conditional reflex, caused by the oper- 
 ating spirit to pass like a panorama, in order to represent the condi- 
 tional play in which many characters are involved, and all these 
 characters must, and will be, represented by persons on earth when 
 the time comes for these plays to be acted out in the matter realm, 
 under the laborious, conditional management. The physical play 
 does not always bear such a likeness to the vision as to be readily 
 recognized, and yet, when observed closely, it is unmistakable and 
 clear, and all parts can be traced correctly according to the pictures 
 shown, which are representations of the existing conditions from 
 which causes are laid, and they provoke forth effects in the realms of 
 matter in their own time as before stated. John, in his visions, speaks 
 much about the rising beasts and their works, also of the labors of 
 the saints, and of the commotion their works would create on earth 
 among the people. It requires much and close study to get the true 
 meaning of the past and present works that are given and provoked 
 forth by one and the same spirit power, and all who do not closely 
 observe the present manifestations of each vision, now in display in 
 the physical world, cannot see or understand how these results are 
 brought forth ; hence, to those it is neither truth nor evidence, they 
 live as though they were dead, they are busy, yet are they counted 
 among the inactive and the drones, and merit no reward for their 
 labors, for their own spirits are not benefited, nor are the great works 
 aided by their will or power. Verily, as the time for this eternity 
 draws nearer its close, men and their principles shall be tried as by 
 fire. Shall the smothered corruption in mortal bosoms be left undis- 
 turbed any longer ? No, by the force of conditions they shall be 
 brought out to be seen and ventilated ; the white and beautiful-look- 
 ing sepulchres shall be uncovered to show what lies hidden in them. 
 They shall no longer blind the eyes nor deceive the unwary travel- 
 ers. Those who are sent forth to do those parts of work on earth, 
 
230 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 do it with cool hands, no mercy is shown to the pretended pious. 
 No respect is shown to well-trained deception. Therefore, many 
 seemingly terrible things occur which are only the just effects of the 
 long-existing conditions or causes in such degrees in which the effects 
 are realized. To all who pay heed to these conditional workings, it 
 is, and must be, grand indeed, for through these workings the power 
 of God is made manifest on earth. His word has grown into objects 
 which are visible to us on earth, as well as in the spirit world. His 
 truths are re-echoed by millions of voices, and all nature, and all 
 therein, bears testimony to the truths of God and His mighty works 
 in Heaven and on earth ; and although the beasts arise and do many 
 things, yes, even make war against the saints, against the Holy City, 
 against God and His Christ, they can only do their allotted part and 
 no more, and all who are led into captivity by their own actions on 
 the mortal stage reap just what their unsettled principles and untrue 
 motives merit ; for, verily, the people are brought into judgment, as it 
 were, after due trials of their faith and principles. And after they 
 are judged, then their place is assigned them, and thither they will 
 be led by the invisible but powerful workers who are commissioned 
 to do these works. They shall be placed where they are worthy to 
 belong. All who have led, and are yet leading, into captivity shall 
 be led into captivity. They shall not escape. " Vengeance is mine, 
 saith the Lord. How long shall I suffer this wicked and idolatrous 
 generation, who loudly proclaim My name, yet worship idols ; things 
 of the world, and of earth, which they have set up for themselves as 
 their God, their hearts cling to them. ! Verily, I will judge the world 
 in righteousness, saith the Lord, and just measures shall be set in 
 execution, quickly, upon all flesh." All who are corrupt within, yet 
 pious and pure to mortal view, shall be uncovered, as said ; there is 
 no escape from this. These are the days which have been long fore- 
 told, the trying times which should come in the latter days, that even 
 the elect would be led captives by the beast and its power, if they 
 were not nourished powerfully from on high, and their faith strength- 
 ened by angel ministers, who show them the works in commotion 
 and transaction. Who can gainsay our assertions, that this is the end 
 of time for this eternity ? Let them cipher up the sums and bring 
 them together, and compare them after proper demonstration of 
 facts, and they will see of a truth that these are the latter days spoken 
 of, and foretold long ago by prophetic visions, and that they are now 
 being fulfilled and realized physically. The world is being judged in 
 righteousness, has been already judged, all who dwell on the earth 
 and in it. Physical effects of the spiritual judgment are already 
 

 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 231 
 
 abundantly realized, and they will increase and become so powerful 
 that men will fear to deal any longer in the under-ground and subtle 
 ways with their fellow men. They will realize the truth of these words, 
 that all who lead into captivity shall be led into captivity, and all 
 who kill with the sword shall be killed in the same way, or any 
 other weapon that may be used to injure others shall be used to react 
 that injury. This, as a physical view of the Mosaic era, which, like 
 all other works of our eternity, must have a just review, is now in 
 season. Keep in view the faith and patience of the saints, consider 
 it well at all times. When the winds of adversity blow loud and 
 shrill, and threaten to shatter the forms composed of religious ideas, 
 which were cultivated and reared with especial care, if these are not 
 kept in view, even the elect will be overpowered in the hour of trial 
 and cross-examination at the bar, when they are called into judgment ; 
 for there are none so good that they need not to be judged, but all, 
 without exception, are brought before the bar and are judged. The 
 saints all have faith in Jesus, and have won their crowns by the 
 patient endurance of all the assailing conditions and temptations, and 
 are now standing ready to lend their aid to those who are weak and 
 faltering, but yet long to be faithful to the end, and to perform their 
 part while on earth as faithful soldiers of the cross. 
 
 The words of the text apply not merely to things great and 
 compact in design and tendency, they apply likewise to small deeds, 
 and to every separate individual and their deeds. Think not that 
 words that are and were spoken in a careless way, which have caused 
 difficulties and hedged in the bark of some weary traveler, and 
 detained him from pursuing his journe} r , and also from the fulfillment 
 of assigned duties, think not that you have blocked the way ; for you 
 are brought to judgment even for this, and as you lead others into 
 such conditions, so shall you be led into them, that you may realize 
 the fact that God is just, and that He does observe the thoughts and 
 deeds of mortals, and pays them in the day of judgment that which 
 their deeds merit. Time, with her force of physical revelations, will 
 teach the people on earth that it is best to live and speak the truth, 
 and not a lie, or pretense, or misrepresentations, which disfigure so, 
 and create, as it were, webs into which will be led those who fur- 
 nished the material for them. They shall be held there in captivity 
 until they have atoned for such trespasses. None shall escape, for 
 the world is being judged in righteousness. Jesus, as the representa- 
 tive of the word, the law, the life of all things, in the sense or view 
 given from the spiritual center of the universe, is now brought forth 
 as an object of criticism in the trial of principles and true religious 
 
232 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 cultivation. He is set before the eyes of the Gentiles in His mate- 
 rial qualities, and the physical view is all that is seen of Him, while 
 faith and patience have their trials. He is now before the Gentiles 
 to be convicted or accepted as the Divine God-man, or rejected, the 
 same as when He was brought before the Jews when He filled His 
 career as the Messiah on earth. The Jews rejected and crucified the 
 physical man, but the temple which was not built with hands they 
 could not destroy nor rob Him of His rights or power. A great 
 number of the Gentiles fall victims to the same force by which they 
 are being tried now, even as the Jews did. 
 
 COMMENTS ON THE FOREGOING LECTURE. 
 
 It is evident from these statements that all visions which are 
 seen, or are ever shown to mediums, have, in their own time, a literal 
 fulfillment. 
 
 It is also evident from this, that what we have seen in times 
 past in our own mediumistic calling must have a literal outplay, and 
 it is even so, for now in these days these out workings occur daily, 
 and it seems like a heavy pressure. It occurs to my mind as though 
 mediums were not only made as avenues for the invisibles to come 
 through, and so have access to external conditions in the material 
 world, where they wish to make the marks of their labors in the way 
 stated, but we also seem to be a platform where they rest and per- 
 form their plays, at least, judging from the weight and pressure we 
 feel at times, it must be so. It is hard to stand between the element- 
 ric and vaporous curtains by which the two worlds and their move- 
 ments are divided. We have at times foretastes of Heaven, it joys, 
 and purity, but mostly we feel the burdens which are borne by the 
 travelers on earth. We feel the weight of conditions which are 
 brought ashore from life's mighty ocean, and we cannot fail to learn 
 how great the physical effects shall be from the conditional cargoes 
 brought thus ashore. Even from the pressure we feel, we know that 
 it will be great, and we wish that all mortals could see these works, 
 then the calm for which we long would come at once. It says in the 
 Lecture that even the elect would, in these trying times, be led cap- 
 tives by the beast and its power if they were not constantly nourished 
 from on high. This you all know to be true by experience, for how 
 often we falter God knows, and the angels have marked it. I make 
 no exceptions, not even of myself, although I have seen and talked 
 with angels, and do now at times, still I have faltered, for there are so 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 233 
 
 many tangled conditions which seem so strange to us, we know noth- 
 ing about their creation, yet we must feel the weight laid on them to 
 entangle to subside them ; we are pressed for sounds to convey our 
 inmost feelings. We are brought to be questioned and cross-ques- 
 tioned thus ; we may not utter a word, yet the heaving within speaks 
 loud and plain, and decides the cases on trial. Who can stand before 
 the power of the beast ? The trials from the worldly side of the issue 
 are brought in ; our physical competitions with all these unseemly 
 conditions are brought forth with force against us ; our physical want 
 and supply placed on both sides of us, and the temptations of the 
 world without, the force of natural desire and instinct within, the 
 spiritual tendencies all encumbered with these more forcible elements 
 in their own realm on earth, are weak ; truly, these are trying times, 
 I admit, not for one or a few, but for all flesh. The number to be 
 saved, which is the needed number by which the hero of the covenant 
 will win the race and the prize, is the number written in he cove- 
 nant, and that number will be saved only by the power of the angels 
 who pursue them and aid them in all ways, in order to bring them 
 out of the conditional wilderness safely. 
 August 5, 1880. 
 
 LECTURE LI. 
 
 THESE THREADS BY WHICH LIFE IS HELD IN MORTALS, ARE THEY 
 NOT SOMETIMES CARELESSLY SHATTERED ? 
 
 Disease in mortals is in a measure caused and invited by careless 
 self-treatment. The seed of human ills is sown early in the embrv- 
 otic formation of the mortal, and by acts adverse to purity and health. 
 Those very seeds are nurtured and ready for growth, and the ele- 
 mentary substances taken in by mortals affect the implanted diseases, 
 causing them to break forth. It is said that consumption is a disease 
 incident to climate, that it is inhaled by people of weak nerve tissues, 
 and is, when it bursts from its slumbering places in the bone, muscle, 
 and nerve, an incurable disease. Well, it is so in a measure. But the 
 germinal combination is not the result of climate, but simply the 
 result of unbridled habits and undisciplined natural inclinations. 
 Mortals talk much in this age of progress about their superiority over 
 those who lived on this same earth thousands of years ago, but we 
 cannot see in what way they are so much superior to the former 
 
234 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 races of mortals. The intellectual expansion is greater today than it 
 was six thousand years ago, but that is the work of transformations 
 in the progressive orders. People themselves have not improved in 
 their habits and in purity, but are far more corrupt now than they 
 were ages ago in parts of their systematic composition. Why, only 
 think of it, consumption was not known even in our days of long 
 ago ! Paralysis was not known, but there were plagues and diseases 
 of various kinds, too, but not so common as now, and only those who 
 lived impure lives, or, so to say, defiled themselves, were stricken 
 with plagues or bad diseases. The rest were healthy because they 
 lived natural lives, lived as human beings should live, and did not try 
 to be gods in their mind assumptions, nor demons in their habitual 
 practices in common life. No, no! Mortals knew their place and 
 kept it, and when the gods or spirits spoke unto them they gave 
 heed, for they knew that it was meant for lessons which were needed. 
 They studied them out and applied them as additional strength to 
 support the spirit in man while it traversed the plains of earth. But 
 in these days, when the gods or spirits speak, these presumptious 
 mortals of today call up their bit of reason and begin to apply it, and 
 place their own almightiness before the public ; and, well, the spirit- 
 ual instructions are not adjusted and applied to the diseased mind as 
 they are meant to be, and, oh, there is nothing but disease, bodily and 
 mental consumptions of every name, and added to it are the paralytic 
 strokes, until first one thread then another is shattered of those upon 
 which it depends that life in mortals be kept healthy and pure, if 
 kept at all. 
 
 Well, this is no longer a matter of speech. The people of this 
 advanced age have gotten past that mark. They do not accept 
 advice, therefore experience is better for them, and they are experi- 
 encing everywhere the effects of the causes made by the people them- 
 selves, and they are daily making them, not from infinite causes but 
 man-made causes. The world is crowded with man-made causes. 
 The once-dispensed religions have all been altered by man until there 
 is not much left that bears any semblance to that originally dispensed 
 from the universe center. The world is so full of man-made causes 
 which produce ill effects that the infinite causes can with difficulty be 
 deciphered in their effects, all owing to this disorderly crowded con- 
 dition. 
 
 Life's sea is so pregnant with impurities that are as germs cast 
 by mortal will and impure desires that nothing but collisions can be 
 looked for, and they are the effects of natural causes, too, for as the 
 brighter tissues from above fall upon this lower sea, in and upon 
 

 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. -oO 
 
 which mortals move, there is provoked a turbulent confusion, and 
 many seemingly strange things occur, and many diseases break forth. 
 Well, the people say it is the malaria from the atmosphere that we 
 breath it in, and it causes sickness. They think the good Ail-Father 
 sends plagues upon them as a punishment. Well, this is all excusable 
 enough for the ignorant, but not-for the intellectual giants of today. 
 They ought to know that God does not do this, and they surely 
 should know that God never sends anything in the atmosphere but 
 what the condition of the people demand, and what is in the air is a 
 great deal of it the foul breath cast forth from mortals, and their 
 unseemly way of living demands a cure. It is then that a remedy is 
 sent them from home in a seeming scourge or plague, but it is only 
 to absorb the deadly elements which mortal impurities have created. 
 Well, the threads by which life is held in mortals are, oh, so cruelly 
 shattered in so many who pine away in their self-made misery, and 
 lament over their poor health, and do not try even to discover their 
 own cruelly self-made causes for such effects. 
 
 When will the people try to learn their lessons ? Surely, if they 
 do not now when the brain forces are so strong in the mind realm, I 
 do not think they ever will under the present system of cause and 
 effect or creating and transforming methods which are now neces- 
 sarily applied, and my honest opinion is that the sooner the warning 
 is carried into effect the better it will be for the universe and the 
 inhabitants thereof in all the worlds linked together. If the world 
 needs a change, must have a change, in order to change the customs, 
 views, and methods of living, then it must come. I say, let earth's 
 people have experience if they will not heed precept. They are 
 wayward, willful children that need to be curtailed in their wild 
 wanderings on this point. We in the higher spheres are unanimously 
 agreed, because we see the woes which would come from self-made 
 causes for mortals if there were no means whereby to change this 
 murky chasm infilled with all manner of impure things. Ye supreme 
 thunders, utter your voices, flash the electric forces of your power, 
 and transform this pool which is corrupt throughout! Change it' into 
 solid land, and give location to a reservoir filled with pure water and 
 pure germs from which to evolve and support life again to people 
 earth after its atmospheres are purified by sending through them the 
 solar forces for a great natural revolution, through which act all the 
 forces in the universe that they may become enhanced and purified. 
 The mathematical plan is completed, the calculations proven by 
 weight and measure, of all which the eyes and senses can span and 
 see for future creations. It is safe to proceed in the last act of our 
 
236 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 drama. We have failed in none. We are sure of this, and we long 
 to bring nigh that hour when we can say : It is finished, our works 
 are ended, and we with longing hearts for endless progression can 
 hear the new fiat announced, which will not be " Let there be light/' 
 but " Let there be purity." 
 
 Grateful to the Ail-Power for all derived strength and wisdom, 
 we say in one accord : Honor, power, glory, and thanksgiving be to 
 our God and His Christ forever and ever. Let all angels, spirits, 
 and mortals say amen. 
 
 May 5, 1881. 
 
 LECTURE LIL 
 
 PROBLEMS TO BE CONSIDERED AND DEMONSTRATED. CHAPTER I. 
 
 1. The creative power viewed in the sense as it manifests itself 
 in man and all created living things on the mother sphere, earth. 
 
 2. Wliy is earth called the mother sphere ? 
 
 3. The peopled worlds evolved from earth with all which is 
 found therein, up to the highest of the Heavens, inhabited by Sera- 
 phim and Cherubim ; and, lastly, why these beings are so closely 
 related and cannot be separated, are not separated ? 
 
 No matter in what degree of these creative and advancing pro- 
 cesses or marches they are found for the purpose of being schooled, 
 and, as mental abilities require, are placed in such grades where the 
 lessons needed can be gained, can be impressed by impelling forces 
 from without, brought to act upon surrounding conditions and upon 
 the individual itself for the said purpose of acquiring the needed les- 
 sons and system strength for the proper growth and unfoldment. 
 The problems here mentioned can be demonstrated by anyone who 
 feels that they possess the skill to do, as these matters, direct and 
 indirect, bear at present upon every mortal. Different demonstra- 
 tions are very desirable, for thereby the scales are shaken from the 
 eyes of the blinded and misled mortals. It is not our purpose to 
 reject the explanations or demonstrations of others, or feel angry if 
 ours may be rejected by some who, looking through different glasses, 
 acquire and have a different view of the self-same objects and prob- 
 lems as they are pictured forth to be taken in for expression. We 
 know all things are viewed and received in accord with mental and 
 spiritual development, and, therefore, we give our view in accord with 
 our knowledge. Those who can grasp it will be benefited by it ; 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTURES. 237 
 
 others give their view .and demonstrate in accord with their attained 
 knowledge, and they by it reach another class of people, and so on. 
 The variety of mortal view and conception is very great, therefore, 
 different opinions expressed upon one and the same subject or topic 
 is the speediest way for the sure erasing of errors and misconcep- 
 tions ; and also let light, intellectual and spiritual light, flood the 
 earth. There is no enmity needed, even in strong but needed oppo- 
 sitions. Let all who are true workers hew to the line in their way or 
 calliitg, all having full freedom and fraternal feelings one towards 
 the other should be maintained. 
 
 Ever view criticism though they be severe, as factors to divide 
 difficult sums, and as means for filling the niches, without which the 
 grand whole of the temple would appear unfinished and wanting. 
 
 Problem first : " How does the creative power mark itself, or, as 
 said, manifest itself in man, and all created living things ? " Our 
 version is by the positiveness of the mortal wills. The differences of 
 mortal wills, the acuteness and subtlety, the calculative or specula- 
 tive, and, above all, supremely, the reasoning, the longing for immor- 
 tal life, moral culture, and an untiring activity to promote self and 
 every condition in life so far as means and powers in the mortal can 
 make improvements. He who exercises his God-given faculties best, 
 as said before, manifests most of the creative power. As for all 
 things below man, nature gives her perfect expression through ani- 
 mals and all things which are, how far creative and transforming 
 skill had power over the evolved atoms which in course of time 
 have cohered together, and were formed into distinct productions, 
 which productions are now marked, whether they are pure or impure, 
 and by the way they are blemished by the time-trying and different 
 insects. All the imperfect will perish, and healthier fruits and vege- 
 tations will grow ; and after the present chemical preparation is dif- 
 fused through the ethers and atmosphere, and all the soil is drenched 
 well with this new solution. Problem second : " Why is earth called 
 the mother sphere ? " Simply because actual life has its beginning on 
 earth, must have its beginning on earth or it can be nothing. Where 
 there is no frame, not anything can be completed, that is, not to a 
 state where it becomes tangible, can be handled, touched, or enjoyed. 
 
 We know it is said by many of the learned that it is not neces- 
 sary that earth life should be experienced, that the new conceptions 
 as soon as the co-mingling has taken place have life, and the forces 
 have inhered by which life is nourished, the body built, and by 
 which it continues, although in that early state it be destroyed. We 
 would tell all such that they promulgate that which they do not 
 
238 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 understand, and for which their proofs will fail when they are 
 brought forth to be examined in regard to these facts. There is a 
 record kept of all such transactions, and whence these conceptions 
 were directed after such disturbances ; but in all cases these life 
 forces are reproduced in order to acquire form for the peopled worlds, 
 evolved from earth with all which is found therein. Well, this is a 
 starting point ; if it is necessary that life begins on earth in order to 
 acquire form, then, certainly, all who people the worlds beyond 
 earth were first born on earth, not the present one perhaps, and 
 have taken their life forces with them to the advanced stations, and 
 have, through their own wisdom, will, and strength, acquired means 
 to build cities and manufactories, and all which is in the worlds 
 beyond grand, enjoyable is in such wise evolved from earth, and, in 
 turn, all which is realized as new under the sun is handed back to 
 the denizens of earth again, and. these co-mingling labors from the 
 highest Seraphim to the lowest mortals are in constant commotion, 
 actively pursued and governed ever with the greatest wisdom and 
 care. And, lastly, why these beings are so closely related, and can- 
 not be and are not separated, no matter in what degree of these 
 creative and advancing processes they are forced to be, in order to 
 become schooled in those branches in which they are deficient. All 
 mortals and angels are originally from the same spirit-force emana- 
 tions as far as powers of mind go, and as far as tissues for the bodies 
 go ; all who have not defiled themselves or the order are naturally 
 molded by the force of the same chemical preparations ; and the blood 
 that courses through the arteries and veins of these mortals is the 
 same as that which courses through the arteries and veins of their 
 Cherubic and Seraphic brothers and sisters, only the degrees are dif 
 ferent. There are countless numbers of misbred beings who are not 
 of the regular course who have defiled the order. They are not 
 allied to those in higher realms. Their violations have caused gulfs 
 of separation ; these gulfs are to be bridged over in the near future, 
 for all such are to be reborn to constitute the earth races which are 
 to come, under proper selections certainly, and in the true order, so 
 that they can progress and be saved from the domineering animal 
 forces to which they have become captives. Study closely the crea- 
 tive power and its effects by and in yourselves, and in all whom you 
 chance to meet with. You can then readily learn in what degree you 
 belong, and also in what degree others belong, viz., in accord with 
 the manifest power as said, if it is pure and exercised for goodly pur- 
 poses. Many mortals have too large a share of the acute and subtle, 
 and take delight in using these forces of their natures for selfish pur- 
 

 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 239 
 
 poses, which, then, is certainly harmful to them, because thereby they 
 harm others, and also apart from harming anyone they make mani- 
 fest the creative powers of the subtle prince, and thus become 
 indebted to all the other master-builders who have likewise invested 
 in their composition, but which investments lie dormant in the inner 
 recesses, and by means of their great self-love they hold all other 
 powers of their minds and souls under subjection in prison, and lifeless. 
 This is sin, or trespassing against self, and also against God, whose 
 powers are a bused instead of being used. Now we hear many say : 
 " Well, if I am so created, and those instincts are the strongest force 
 in my organic composition, I am not to blame. I cannot help doing 
 things that are so natural for me to do, even if it be wrong." Yes, 
 blinded mortal, you can help it if you will make a thorough examina- 
 tion of yourselves, see what is within you concealed, call on devotion 
 to God in the temple of your mind, and, lo ! devotion is there ; it is 
 an attribute which is most assuredly implanted in all beings, but as 
 soon as it rises to respond the subtle organ swells and rises, and pre- 
 sents a picture of worldly things, just what the natural desires would 
 love to have. Attention is at once given to that. Devotion to God 
 must bow low and remain silent. Call upon the sublime, and, lo, the 
 function akin to the sublime in the wisdom spheres arises to give vent 
 to feeling, but the acute is quick to perceive that it would lead you 
 upon lofty summits, and from under the control of the subtle, and, lo, 
 it arouses forcibly the sublime in nature and natural life, and there is 
 a painful quivering, and the divine is crushed; the natural man holds 
 sway in the office, and all is worldly eloquence and natural earthly 
 sublimity. Conscience flutters at this, and makes w r ar, and wishes 
 that her voice could be heard so as to give council upon such a mock- 
 ing inner display. It is heard at first, and the natural flow is some- 
 what arrested, but all at once the proclivities by which to gain some 
 selfish purpose is heavily touched by subtlety, and then a boisterous 
 uproar of the selfish organs silences conscience, and after all is done 
 reason is then called upon to sit in judgment. But the proceedings 
 having been a unanimous display of selfish ponderings, and war 
 against the divine faculties and attributes, reason can only on that 
 side be active, because no force acted from the other functions so 
 that it could have its throne there ; hence, the much reasoning of 
 the perverted wise is perverted reasoning. Their logic is the out- 
 come of their natural desires, and there the facts are to be classed 
 and gathered from such experiments and practices; exactly there 
 where they are found, my friends, they are found to belong in the 
 two lowest degrees in the scale of the creative power, and the mas- 
 
240 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUEES. 
 
 ter-builders therefore must know that you certainly have trespassed 
 in all other degrees and against self ; for the purest and strongest 
 creative power of which you all have a share is not made manifest 
 through you for the purpose of bringing out those innate, latent 
 forces into activity. We work upon mortals, and it is called the 
 work of development. It often requires much material counter force 
 to effect a change of system, it also affects physical conditions, bring- 
 ing thus realizations which are called by mortals troubles and chas- 
 tisements. Be it so, yet these are the greatest blessings which can 
 be bestowed if the desired results are achieved thereby, and the indi- 
 vidual has been reconstructed through such processes, that is, where 
 the lower creative forces ruled the higher and better ; thus, the bet- 
 ter forces become aroused into activity, and gain control of the lower 
 in degree, and hold open the doors of the inner temple for the wis- 
 dom from above, the divine reason and the true voice of conscience, to 
 enter and fill their proper places in the inner sanctum, which is then 
 inhabited by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of truth, love, and 
 wisdom, abiding within, ever to keep the right order which never 
 fails to produce the right deeds and order without. By giving this 
 careful study you can behold the fact that when the first stated prob- 
 lem is well defined and understood, all the others have their solution 
 therein. Search and learn how far the creative power can manifest 
 itself, or does so, through you, and, if you find the most important 
 functions of your being choked up, do not rest at that saying : " Well, 
 I am blind and dumb, I cannot see nor do any better." Yes, you can 
 curb the natural boisterous longing, and the unruly rule within and 
 without. You can become sincere in prayer for the heavenly light 
 and strength by which you can be illumined ; and after the heavenly 
 light shines for a season upon the dormant forces within they are 
 sure to be quickened into life, and gradually into activity and gen- 
 eral usefulness. Then life begins truly when usefulness in the proper 
 way begins. All the other time is wasted, for it counts as nothing, 
 and even worse, for there are many trespasses on record, and no good 
 useful deeds to balance off the record with. 
 
 It is well to labor and aim to provide for the physical needs, but 
 search and see how treacherous those natural proclivities are in their 
 impelling acts if not curtailed by the better creative forces which are 
 given to ail for a power of defense against these; they (the natural) 
 rather lead from one lofty eminence to another, until at the edge of 
 some chasm .they leave their subjects to be immersed there in order 
 that they may gain a clearer insight as to their real duties, or they 
 lead on from one misstep to another into vices and depredations as 
 

 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 241 
 
 far as human grades go ; and even until the grades are really mixed 
 in behavior with the animal grades. Think of this. Then says the 
 naturally wise but deformed individual : Why did not God create us 
 perfect ? if He is perfect, and we are, as is said, created in His image, 
 why are these failures? They are only failures by mortals, not by 
 the Creator. The creative forces are implanted in all beings ; the 
 natural forces are to be conquered by the divine, or the earthly by 
 the heavenly. 
 
 As long as the better faculties are not quickened in the earthly 
 composition, so long is it a failure, and that person cannot draw the 
 needed lessons and tissues from the earthly sojourn, but then.the proc- 
 ess goes on ever, you see, and what is lost in its completion, so to 
 say, for one eternity is restored in the next, and all beings will be in 
 the future transformed into angels of light. Yet all should ever try 
 to inform themselves concerning any and all offered truths, and try 
 hard to bring forth all the creative energies, in order that they may 
 be made manifest through them, by which they can aid in filling the 
 great plan, and gain for it joys eternal. 
 
 July 25, 1881. 
 
 LECTURE LIII. 
 
 FROM THE INNER LIFE. LESSONS WIIICII HUMANITY NEEDS, AND 
 
 WHICH WILL BE A BLESSING TO ALL. 
 
 There are instilled in each mortal composition or organization 
 traits of character and principles from the seven heads who by 
 us are called the creative compact. These powers of mind they 
 possess, and in accord also with these the possibilities to which they 
 can attain are in small quantities instilled in mortals by the forces 
 which are taken from the said properties and condensed, and then 
 being brought into contact with the vaporous issues of nature enter 
 the porous system of pregnant woman, and they are also taken in 
 from the atmosphere by the process of breathing. Why some people 
 differ so widely from others, and seem to possess so much more 
 physical or mental force than others, is made clear to the earnest 
 student of these facts, while to the ignorant it cannot be explained. 
 All these instilled or infused powers produce something as soon as 
 they are touched and are called into life by the power that infused 
 them, and that something, if it is but a sigh or a desire, creates a part 
 
242 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 of the aura surrounding each person, and by it is denoted the status 
 of a person, and the seal of the degree is set, and by it also what type 
 or degree of spirit power by which they can and must be worked 
 upon, then they are led to mingle with such elements as will develop 
 each part of character according to design. In each of these many 
 degrees are the eternal principles to be attained to by growth and 
 transformation in order to perfect the individuality, also to perfect the 
 beauty and bodily completeness. Remember that bodily complete- 
 ness is not mental completeness, but a perfect individuality includes 
 both or all, — a thorough knowledge of all universal works, and a 
 mastery over all conditions from whatever source they may be issued, 
 and how to treat them all in the proper and lawful course and 
 remain free, healthy, and happy. By this we can know how far we 
 are truly individualized, and only so far as we have a thorough 
 knowledge of the laws of the universe and the conditions around our- 
 selves, and in general. 
 
 Let mortals try to learn how far the laws are in their favor in 
 the finite and physical degrees in whatever they desire to do or to 
 obtain, and then strictly abide within the limits even though the 
 natural proclivities must be severely curbed. Then mortals would 
 not be sick, or would not be if this was studied and observed, neither 
 would they be encumbered with all manner of difficulties which are 
 entailed upon them for trespassing the laws in the worldly degrees. 
 
 It is a knowledge how to live and how to think which is now 
 the great demand for the people. Nature in her evolving courses is 
 now cast one stratum higher in existence, and all things require, there- 
 fore, different treatment, and where the old courses are persistently 
 followed they become burdens on the light wheels of progrees, are an 
 indescribable pressure, and the many accidents which occur daily are 
 the results of such causes and such physical management contrary to 
 the elementary forces by which the physical works are sustained and 
 carried on. The past and present management of almost everything 
 does not agree with the present march of time, and yet the percep- 
 tions of mortals are partially opened, and the many new labor-saving 
 machines which are now being compelled forth by invisible power by 
 the inventions given through the mortal brain help much to shorten 
 or lessen the woes by which the dwellers on earth were threatened 
 with and have experienced to some extent, but in no degree are the 
 issues carried out fully, owing to the fact that there are many minds 
 ready for the offered knowledge and do gladly receive it. This holds 
 equally good for the powers of the minds, for they, too, are actuated 
 by a different influx, and worked upon by differently regulated 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 243 
 
 atmospheric forces ; therefore, the people become restless and drift 
 hither and thither in their opinions and conjectures, and when the old 
 ideas and forms are not moderated to suit the force which works upon 
 the brain and supports it, then it has and must have such effects which 
 are so abundantly realized, and which are loud witnesses of what we 
 say. Then the cry arises about so many people becoming infidels. 
 What, are they, then, but persons drifting on the sea of uncertainty ? 
 They cannot reconcile the past and present of religious teachings and 
 training; their instructors had not kept step with the march of time, 
 therefore had lost the right sound, and cannot even find the way in 
 wdiich to march onward. They are bound up in forms which serve 
 as clogs about them prohibiting them from making a fair pursuit in 
 the path of progress. 
 
 Those, then, who break loose from this state of things aim to 
 explore for themselves, receive many incorrect ideas which are a 
 result of their own turbulent state of mind, which is fed and actuated 
 accordingly. There are many of those explorers who labor under 
 the impression that they must certainly support themselves physically, 
 and certainly must redeem themselves spiritually. To support their 
 physical demands is right wdiere the natural senses can test and w T eigli 
 all that is produced in their search for the knowledge of or how to 
 improve their physical condition in order to get along well in the 
 world. They say, also, "that we must do the same way in the rela- 
 tion we sustain towards the spirit, we must do it all. Our own works 
 mold the tissues of our future bodies, and as we make it so it is and 
 will be. We cannot depend upon any other power than our own in 
 all this great work of becoming redeemed and purified from the dross 
 of nature and chaotic forces." But in this they greatly err, for they 
 cannot do this alone, and in this they trespass more than by living in 
 the ceremonial fold of the Church, for they incur by trespassing thus 
 untold misery and difficulties which form themselves into ordeals for 
 their purification, and as they pass through them they learn the mis- 
 takes they made, and then they return with sad hearts and strive to 
 give honor to their Creator, and penitently ask forgiveness, and 
 inquire for the lawful path, and diligently endeavor to walk in it, for 
 it is the only path by which it is possible to ascend. It does not help 
 a man any to acquire much worldly wisdom and become, according to 
 the world's idea, very much learned, or a scholar of note, He can- 
 not truly ascend if he does not walk closely in the paved pathway of 
 law and gospel wdiich leads from earth to Heaven, for there is no 
 other way. All by-ways, no matter how inviting and beautiful they 
 may appear, lead only to a certain height, and then there must be i* 
 
244 COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTUEES. 
 
 retreat made, for you come to toll-gates, as it were, and the officers 
 demand your degree pass ; but if you have none from the authorities, 
 then they require the pass-word from yourself, but you cannot call to 
 mind any word suiting that purpose, and there is no admittance 
 granted, and then there must be a retreat. There are many who 
 think they will be permitted to go wherever they may desire to when 
 they get to the spirit world, but they will learn the sad mistake they 
 have made when it is too late to rectify it, for as long as there are 
 laws violated, those who officiate in the grades or degrees where those 
 laws were broken hold their claims, and the client remains their pris- 
 oner until he has acquired knowledge sufficient to enable him to work 
 out his own salvation, which is generally too heavy a task to be done 
 without aid. Therefore, if there is another power aiding, it is well, 
 for that power will aid and redeem out of such conditions if it. is 
 trustfully yielded to with full confidence. It is very necessary, there- 
 fore, that there is faith maintained in God and in His saving power, 
 and hope and trust likewise. In the order of progress the lessons 
 which were once abhorre*d, and therefore avoided, yet were needed, 
 must be learned by those same persons, yes, strictly the same lessons. 
 They may be differently provoked and demonstrated after such per- 
 sons have left the earth plane, yet the answer to the sum remains the 
 same to be gotten. The sum must be worked and solved, but with 
 greater difficulty than it could have been done with on earth. Do 
 not think, O mortals, if so we have a little peace now, and get along 
 without so much trouble, that the future will take care of itself! 
 When you sec or say this you take a wrong view of life's great and 
 grand voyage on the realms of matter. One cross is no easier or 
 harder to bear than another, only they are cut by very different 
 patterns so as to suit the demand of each bearer, and, if possible, to 
 let each one win their crown through such subjections. It was love 
 that designed all this that is so much grieved about, and is commonly 
 called trouble, misery, and woes. Stop for a short time before this 
 object of horror and awe and consider. Do not let the first sight 
 chill your natural system. Look at it from another stand-point, turn 
 the leaves on every side and read the proper inscriptions and that 
 which is marked above it as design. Then your eyes will brighten, 
 and your burdens will grow lighter, and you will wonder at your own 
 folly and short-sightedness as you behold the beauty and necessity of 
 all these provoked acts, and as you do this you will not fail to see 
 likewise the good which is to grow from all these seeming ills. 
 " But," says the pupil, " show us, tell us, how to see these lesson- 
 leaves, how to turn them over, and read the inscriptions." Friends, 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 245 
 
 words cannot tell you that which must become a part of one's own 
 mind. This knowledge cannot be forced upon anyone, for it comes 
 only and can only come by growth, can only be imparted intuition- 
 ally, since no second person can do your seeing, hearing, think- 
 ing, and reasoning for you; it must strictly be the work of your 
 own mind and organization. They receive according to develop- 
 ment, and the eyes of the mind are touched to see accordingly. Give 
 yourselves, therefore, to studying in this direction, and you shall be 
 aided in receiving this priceless knowledge, helping you to become 
 qualified to learn all lessons in the right way. If spirits had no work 
 to do on earth they would not nor could they return. It is by the 
 natural orders which are so wielded by the force bf law that the ele- 
 mentary and fluiclic chasms are bridged over, by which earth and the 
 lower spirit spheres are divided, therefore the passage to and fro is 
 made possible because the c} T cling division made this a necessity. 
 There will no longer be a separation of our earth from the lower 
 spheres of the continued worlds, for there is now in process an ele- 
 mentary cementing which will make earth more refined and bring the 
 inhabitants in still closer rapport with those gone on before. New 
 labor methods are being enforced on earth by atmospheric compul- 
 sion, and to bring all this into practical order on earth is now the 
 labor of spirits who work with and upon mortals. These workers 
 are, the majority of them, those who had not finished their course of 
 assigned duties while on the earth, and they now work them out 
 gladly in this way so that they can gain an admittance into the pro- 
 gressive spheres. 
 
 We beseech you, O mortals, not to rebel against the returning 
 spirits, for they are mostly all your own kindred over whose depart- 
 ure from earth you have mourned and grieved. They aid you in 
 the performance of 3 T our duties, and, at the same time, they require 
 aid from you to help them to finish their duties. When you con- 
 sult a medium be certain that you know in what degree the medium 
 serves, and obey according to your reason the advice of the captain 
 of that band in that degree, and as all have a part of the great work 
 to do, they must and do have their own rights in their degree, but 
 this has nothing to do with personal affairs. In these all are left to 
 the decision of their own reason, and they receive or reject according 
 to their own judgment. But this no mortal can do in works of inter- 
 est for common welfare, the spirits must transact that according to 
 the lawful issues, and the mortals who are called to aid physically 
 cannot reason upon that, but shall do according to advice, remember- 
 ing that the Lord's ways are very unlike their ways, and that all 
 
246 COMPILATION OF SPIKIT LECTUEES. 
 
 works for universal benefit are strictly lawful in their course, and 
 cannot be changed for the whims or opinions of anyone. All should 
 give their aid in these works as they are called upon, and so hasten 
 the accomplishment of these great and difficult works. 
 
 July 31, 1880. 
 
 LECTURE LIV. 
 
 XX., WHICH TREATS OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS, 
 
 AND THE MANNER IN WHICH HE APPEARED 
 
 TO HIS DISCIPLES AND FRIENDS. 
 
 The narration of the resurrection of Jesus, by St. John, plainly 
 reveals a seven-fold truth, which can only be adjusted in its proper 
 meaning when reconciled from these views wdiich w r ere fore-shadowed, 
 and which are antagonistic to each other, while the student of this 
 chapter is working, or trying to work, out the designed meaning of 
 the given records regarding this truly great event in human history ; 
 we will endeavor to aid him by giving a few explanations upon this 
 important subject. First, why did Mary Magdalen come to the 
 sepulchre while it was yet dark, on the first day of the week, and the 
 third day after the crucifixion? She came to see whether He had 
 arisen according to promise, and yet she did not have full confidence, 
 neither did the apostles, in the fulfillment of the promise. They 
 trusted, they hoped, yet they feared that since He was crucified they 
 might not realize the promise made them by their Master. Second, 
 in appearing to Mary Magdalen, we must note the fact that His 
 appearance was changed so much that she did not recognize Him, but 
 supposed Him to be the gardener, and requested Him with tears to 
 tell her that if he had taken Him away where he had laid her Lord, 
 that she might take Him away. But Jesus said to her, " Mary,'' and 
 by that one word she recognized Him, and did not doubt nor fear 
 that it might be a false apparition, but turned around and said, 
 '•' Rabboni." Then Jesus said to her : " Touch me not, for I am not 
 yet ascended to my Father ; but go to My brethren and say to them, 
 I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." 
 The gospel records have been preached upon, and explained by all 
 the Christian ministers for nearly two thousand years, so no com- 
 ments are necessar}', for the way in which it has been explained is 
 familiar to nearly all ; but we must call the attention of the world to 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 247 
 
 the conditional facts which governed the appearance of Jesus after 
 Tie had risen from the dead, a new and spiritual man. There has 
 been nothing given since then by which it could be proved whether 
 Jesus arose in His natural body, or with a changed and spiritual 
 body, until now, in the present, second advent, in which earth is visited 
 from on high, and all things are being revealed understanding] y by 
 the heavenly power, as they are 'being reviewed and brought right 
 within the reach of mortal understanding. Modern Spiritualism is 
 doing a great work, or part, in completing the labors which are 
 needed to fill the plan of redemption, and by so doing give release to 
 all creatures and creation, for by the aid of the willing workers who 
 obey the call of the Lord, and enter the vineyard to labor, the review 
 is made possible in which all who love God and truth should be proud 
 to labor, assist, and do their part ; but instead of that they scorn those 
 who do labor, but who do not labor for themselves alone, but for the 
 whole human family. The mediums of today are doing a great work, 
 which will be seen and acknowledged in the not distant future, how 
 that they become a sacrifice for humanity in order that the great con- 
 ditional debt which, as yet, hangs over humanity can be canceled, 
 and the end of the labors of opposition can be declared. It is in this, 
 therefore, why mediums suffer so much from conditions to which they 
 are subjected, for in that way these vaporous walls which form bar- 
 riers to the common advancement are removed wdien they are thus 
 broken down. First, by having them brought forth from all the 
 dark recesses, and placed under proper treatment. Jesus could not 
 be touched when he first appeared to Mary, for He would have van- 
 ished and His strength would have been broken, but which needed to 
 be increased, so that he could ascend to the Father. 
 
 In the present advent all things which have been transacted 
 under the sun since the dawn of our eternity must have a lawful 
 review. Now, in this review let those speak who witnessed the 
 appearance of Jesus when he arose from the grave where he was 
 placed when taken from the cross. 
 
 Did he look natural ? is the first of the seven questions. The 
 second : AVas He like a mortal man, possessing a tangible composi- 
 tion, or was He an airy apparition, a ghost, a phantom specter, such 
 as devils might reflect to mortal vision ? Third: Did He act inde- 
 pendent of conditions as the Son of God would do, or was lie subject 
 to conditions the same as any other spirit? Fourth: If subjected to, 
 and dependent on, conditions, could there be any warranted testi- 
 mony made or given of the appearance that it was genuine, and was 
 Jesus indeed? Fifth : Is the process, if true, scriptural, and in keep- 
 
248 COMPILATION OF SPIKIT LECTURES. 
 
 ing with the words of Jesus, uttered when He dwelt on earth, in 
 regard to His second coming ? Sixth : Shall this fill the promises 
 made of His second coming, and shall earth and Heaven be changed 
 only thus, by changing the aerial currents and elements which work 
 upon mortals, and upon all things on the surface of the earth? 
 Seventh : How shall opposition be removed, and how shall all these 
 aspects be changed in the views* that have been cast, and how be 
 reconciled? Now we will answer the first inquiry : Did He, Jesus, 
 look natural when he materialized and was seen ? Of this no one can 
 speak who had not seen Him before. " But He was seen by some of 
 us before, and since, in different ways, in order to teach how the con- 
 ditions through which a spirit comes, so as to make Himself visible 
 to mortals, change Plis appearance." 
 
 He did look when we first saw Him after He arose as He did 
 when taken from the cross and laid in the grave. We saw Him 
 afterwards the same in appearance. When He arose, there was at 
 first a sensation of quivering in the calm elements around the sepul- 
 chre, then all at once we saw Him move, but we could not tell how 
 it was done, it seemed that life had again entered into the lifeless 
 body. He arose to a sitting attitude at first, then He arose up from 
 the body a man, the body vanishing in rays and mists out into the 
 elements of nature, there to cause a needed elementary change. 
 
 We have seen this, and were not deceived, for we speak the 
 truth and will bear testimony to it. He had the appearance of one 
 who had passed through or had met with a great change. But those 
 who witnessed His appearance knew that it was Him by the influ- 
 ence He brought, and by the words He spoke. Many recognized 
 Him as the Master. Second : Was He like a mortal man, tangible 
 in composition, or was He an airy apparition such as devils might 
 reflect to mortal vision ? This question must be well pondered and 
 studied, for it must settle all the questions about the resurrection. 
 He was not a mortal man, yet He was tangible in composition. He 
 arose up out of nothing, yet He could be touched, and had form and 
 strength like a man to prove that He was not an apparition nor 
 phantom specter. Ghosts, or phantom specters, may be termed 
 devils, for they have no tangible forms, they cannot draw from the 
 natural elements to compose a body, even for a second, because they 
 never possessed a natural body. They can appear only as shadows 
 or phantoms. Those spirits who can speak, and are tangible to the 
 touch, are those who have risen from the grave, who departed from 
 our midst by the natural change called death, and have been trans- 
 formed in accord with the natural law of recreation and regeneration, 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 249 
 
 into beings resembling their former habitation or body, from whicli 
 all the tissues are taken which help to form and build, in addition 
 with the spiritual tissues, a new body again, a spiritual one, other- 
 wise spirits could not acquire tangible bodies. Let us see what a 
 eorrespondent says about our testimony as to the appearance of 
 Jesus, according to the law iu this review season. He says : k ' Do 
 you know whom you saw ? A devil ; not the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 He does not come in a secret chamber. He warns us all against 
 believing such a lie. The Lord did not appear to you at Terre 
 Haute, nor has He appeared, nor will He appear anywhere else 
 when He does come only in the air, and no one will see Him until 
 they are caught up in the air to meet Him." Here we have a case 
 of antagonism presented ; how shall it be reconciled? It gives plain 
 evidence of the opposing conditions which are yet remaining in the 
 composition of the people, and which form the barriers to the com- 
 mon advancement, which must be called out and subsided. This 
 man undoubtedly thinks he understands the Scripture, but he has 
 grown wholly blind over it, and has none of the power of God's 
 spirit in his soul or being, which fact he plainly proves throughout 
 his communications to us, for according to his quotations from Scrip- 
 ture he has not yet acquired or received a soul, but hopes to obtain 
 one at some future time. He is but an airy bubble which will soon 
 burst, and the breath that has blown it up will escape, }'et he will 
 still exist, and learn his mistakes, and see that they were but antag- 
 onisms to the living truths as they are today and have been from the 
 beginning of the world. Therefore, let no attention be given for a 
 moment even to these rising oppositions against the labors of the 
 angels on earth, for they must needs be, so that through them these 
 very barriers can be broken down and removed out of the way. 
 Third : Did He act independent of conditions, or was He dependent 
 on them the same as any other spirit? Most assuredly, if His com- 
 ing was to take an effect upon the elements, and to give a manifesta- 
 tion of His resurrection from the dead to His friends, He could not 
 be independent of conditions, but must be dependent on them in 
 order to let the act be in accord with law, so as to produce the 
 required evidence, and this act is now marked on the natural canvas 
 as testimony for all to see. Questions regarding this point have been 
 asked us : " Why should He come so weak and dependent on condi- 
 tions ? if it was really Jesus, He would come in power and glory/' 
 Friends, you must remember that all which takes place is an effect 
 of and in accord with law, and is necessary, and that He who wrote 
 and enforced these laws would not violate them merely to show His 
 
250 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 power and satisfy the longing of the people for a display on His part. 
 He would rather be subject to the law and conditions, and appear in 
 weakness, so that the result of the labors could be more powerful for 
 good for all. Fourth : If dependent and subject to conditions, could 
 there be any warrantable testimony given of the appearance whether 
 it was genuine, and was surely Jesus ? We have been taught the 
 same as the disciples of Jesus were ; we were instructed concerning 
 this occurrence long before we realized it ; we know also from what 
 has been shown to us during many years past that it was Him we 
 saw at Terre Haute, and that our testimony is true and must be 
 accepted when all things have had their review, for greater things 
 will be done that will establish our testimony and assertions as truths 
 and facts which will be of priceless value to the whole human family 
 as well as for ourselves. Fifth : This process, if true, is it scriptural 
 and in keeping with the words of Jesus spoken when He was on 
 earth, in regard to His second coming? All scriptural statements we 
 find purporting to be His own words are improperly recorded, and 
 we do not find one passage which has only a literal meaning, but 
 they are all pictured forth according to conditional calculations which 
 might in these days be called a natural result of conditions, which, 
 according to view, exists at this time. Therefore, He knew that He 
 should find no faith when He should come the second time, for the 
 same conditions would prevail as those that did then, so as to blind 
 the people to the present and also to the future as to what had 
 occurred, and also as to what is now taking place right in their 
 midst. In Matt., Ch. xxiv., verse 37, Jesus said: "But as the days 
 of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be," &c. 
 In the xiii. Ch. of Mark you have a drawn picture on the canvas of 
 conditions of the second coming of Jesus. We will "note some of the 
 points which the opposers of Spiritualism like to quote as a power in 
 their defense. In verse 24, Ch. xiii., of Mark, it reads : " And then 
 if any shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ, or, Lo, He is there, believe 
 him not, for false Christs and false prophets shall arise, and shall 
 show signs and wonders to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect." 
 This is no argument at all against true modern Spiritualism. Come, 
 friends, go forth in the depths of this beautiful doctrine, all you who 
 entertain such ideas of it, and learn the truths it reveals. All true 
 Spiritualists know that that passage has had its day of fulfillment, and 
 has been placed in the back-ground behind us. It was provoked 
 forth to have its effects on earth by seducing spirits in the free love 
 or sensual advocates, against which all true Spiritualists protested. 
 And they have cut it loose from the great body of Spiritualists as a 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 251 
 
 fossil of annoyance, as an unclean thing. What they did through 
 the mediums of their kind is in the world now. Search and learn 
 truth and facts, and throw fiction aside. " Antichrist," says the 
 opposer of the spiritual philosophy, "must and will come through 
 these avenues of so-called mediumship." Yes, Antichrist did come 
 through these channels, and he has already had his day, but the 
 Christians are still looking for it as the Jews look for their Messiah, 
 when it is already an occurrence of the past. Further on in the 
 same chapter Jesus Christ says : " The powers in Heaven shall be 
 shaken, and then shall they see the Son "of Man come in power and 
 great glory, that lie should send His angels to gather the elect from 
 the uttermost parts of the earth to the uttermost parts of the Heav- 
 ens." This is all a fore-shadowed picture with which reality does not 
 compare so well, because mortal minds cannot grasp the importance 
 of the reality when it is revealed. The powers in Heaven have been 
 shaken, for they are now working together in accord for the accom- 
 plishment of the review in process now, and for the gathering of the 
 elect, when before this advent they worked in opposition to one 
 another. Now all forces are combined, and work unanimously for 
 the desired result. 
 
 The Son of Man w r ill come with power and great glory when 
 these labors are ended, and all things as far back as Moses are 
 reviewed, and as He appeared then to Moses in a cloud and in differ- 
 ent ways, but hidden from the people's sight, so will He come again, 
 subject to such conditions until all the works are reviewed and fin- 
 ished. He appeared to Moses as the angel of the covenant, subject 
 to the covenant laws, and until these are all fulfilled He cannot come 
 otherwise than in accord with these conditions until this is done. 
 And then will He come in power and great glory, and blessed will all 
 be who do not take offense against Him during these days of trials. 
 But remember the more anything of this kind is ridiculed as a delu- 
 sion, when its rays first shine forth over the mortal horizon, the 
 greater power it contains, for it is ridiculed according to the magni- 
 tude of the benefit and glory arising from it, which will flow out and 
 cover the earth with its light, lessening the poverty and making 
 humanity rich and happy. Therefore, let the world call Spiritualism 
 a delusion until the mighty power from on high sweeps the twilight 
 mists from before the mortal vision. Then shall its utility and saving 
 power be seen and realized. Sixth: Shall this fill the promises made 
 of His second coming, and shall earth and Heaven only be changed 
 in their aerial currents which work upon mortals and all things alike ? 
 This cmestiou is measurably answered in the foregoing only as 
 
252 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 regards the changes of Heaven and earth ; in this we say the mean- 
 ing is divided, for the aerial and elementric changes work out the 
 problem in part, while a still more material problem remains to be 
 solved, and a literal reconstruction to be realized in parts of the 
 earth, also in parts of the Heavens. Seventh : How shall opposition 
 be removed, and how shall all these aspects be changed in the views 
 of the people and become reconciled ? Opposition will be removed 
 mostly by invisible workings upon the brain functions of man, for 
 only in this way can the views be changed which have so long daz- 
 zled and blinded the vision ; and after a process of this kind the dif- 
 ferences will be seen, then all oppositions will be quickly reconciled, 
 for this all works according to law, and the training of minds is held 
 by that force, and impelled to action by it. Yet there is resistance 
 from the will of man, which is not yet free from the dominion of the 
 powers who heretofore worked in opposition to God and His Christ ; 
 and as the will in man is strong, and reason is yet weak in many, 
 therefore the people wage a blind rebellion against their own prog- 
 ress in the upward march of common advancement. When the 
 truths spoken of in the beginning of this chapter have been consid- 
 ered and adjusted in the mind, then will harmony be realized among 
 the people, and not before. These truths, as before stated, are con- 
 tained in this, that the seven spirits of God worked in a seven-fold 
 way, and by different methods upon mortals as they came under their 
 power to be governed and developed. Therefore, all saw and under- 
 stood as they were trained to do. And they shall see differently 
 when all these views are brought before them by these powers, and 
 explained, revealed, and reconciled. This is now being done, and 
 the works are rapidly progressing towards the required results. The 
 resurrection of Jesus must be comprehended in its original design and 
 tendency, so that the gulfs of materialism can be bridged wholly over 
 by it, and a thorough separation of the goats and sheep will take 
 place, invisible to the eyes of the people, even before that great day 
 of the last decision. When the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is 
 fully understood, then errors, which have so long occupied space in 
 the mind realm of man, will vanish, and the shadows will also flee 
 away, and Heaven's glories will be seen and realized by all. It is 
 worth working for, these grand results, although we feel it heavilj T , 
 that we, in our human weakness, must bear the burdens of the peo- 
 ple's scorn, and contend with the hosts that oppose us. All this is 
 well, if well endured, for by it we prove ourselves heroes or cowards 
 when brought in contact with reality. All things in creation are for 
 use. If we do not work with a will of our own in compliance with 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 253 
 
 the calls made upon us, then are we used by a compulsory power act- 
 ing upon us, and we receive no credit for what we do in this way 
 until we have progressed sufficiently to see what we were an instru- 
 ment for, and when we are thus used, and the work is done, the 
 power that operates does nearly all that deserves reward. Thus you 
 see it is best for all to be studious and thoughtful upon any and all 
 things, and to know, so far as we can obtain the knowledge, what the 
 tendency of each act is, and what the result in accord with it will be. 
 Then can we economize troubles as we walk in the narrow path of 
 true progression, confident that we are guided by God's angels, and 
 protected by His power. Then we shall be careful and not commit 
 ourselves by words or deeds, by which penalties would be incurred 
 which we must pay. 
 
 Let us work with the angels, let us work with our might, 
 
 For truth, love, and justice prevailing is right; 
 
 All evil must vanish, all wrongs have reaction, 
 
 T is the work now in progress, 'tis the will of our God. 
 
 LECTURE LV. 
 
 THE MYSTIC CONDITIONS WHICH CONSTITUTE THE SEA OF A 
 PILGRIM'S LIFE. 
 
 When we speak of conditions there are many who do not care to 
 give that point a second thought so as to learn something for them- 
 selves as to these conditions, while certainly there is not nor cannot 
 be any study offered, nor even any revelations given, which would 
 equal in magnitude the study of mystic conditions. By a knowledge 
 of these all natural laws can be solved correctly, can be learned and 
 understood as easy as a, b, c. Mortals would derive great benefit 
 from this study when they have advanced to a state of ready recog- 
 nition and discerning of all conditions which issue from each person 
 and form around them the vaporous condition walls by which 
 they are impelled to all they say and do. Then there can be 
 acquired in addition to this a knowledge of the type and grade differ- 
 ence of spirits in mortals without these being acted upon, also the 
 electric attractions and their effects. When these studies are once 
 entered upon and partially understood, and the mind of man passes 
 out and up onto those summits on the elevated plane, so as to enter 
 into the inner or spiritual life, then they can learn and solve all mys- 
 tic orders without much exploration or search. Yes, all secret orders 
 
254 COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTUEES. 
 
 which were in natural use by mortals, and were and are now based 
 on the art of magic in physical orders in concord with the moral 
 orders based on the moral rock and tied in union with Cherub cords, and 
 divinely polished with the oaths of devotion to deity and the use of the 
 sacred Scriptures, all of the mystic orders which in olden times were 
 launched on mental space and were brought into practice under 
 the sun, and have been indulged in unto this day, must, during the 
 present process of review, be changed, altered even as garments ; 
 they must be reconstructed as a part of the many belonging to the 
 whole system of the plan by which to develop and regenerate the 
 natural born man, and promote the growth of the inborn spiritual 
 germs, until they become the strongest power in man, in order to sub- 
 due that which is earthy, and is a repulsion to or against the ascend- 
 ancy of the true man born of God. "We have shown you in this the 
 relation these orders bear to the highest even in their lowest and 
 most undeveloped states, but pollutions have been levied by men on 
 these as well as on all other orders by which the human fraternity 
 was developed and held by these unseen bands of conditional compo- 
 sitions ; therefore, a consummation must take place, and then a resur- 
 rection of the same orders will follow^ quickly, but they will rise in 
 their original strength and beauty. All which was ever given and 
 practically enforced on earth for the edification of mortals, or the 
 spirits in mortals, must meet these lawful changes which are being 
 made even now from day to day. The world of no end could not be 
 a place of harmony and endless enjoyment otherwise if law was not 
 the motor power in the universe to compel action and reaction in just 
 pursuance of all issues both natural and divine to thus comply with 
 the progressive orders from the highest to the lowest degrees, and let 
 all have the freedom for their developing exertions, yet to be kept in 
 close conditional limits, and to be rewarded according to the deeds 
 done when the earth journey is ended. 
 
 Above all which comes from Heaven, and all which is realized 
 in Heaven and on earth, is the Supreme Ruler, all-wise, all-power- 
 ful, and just, to rule and govern all things by the breath of His 
 mouth, therefore, the greatest folly that can be committed by mortals 
 is to deny or cast carelessly aside their Creator, God. It is equal to 
 throwing away the spirit's crown or the manhood's pride, the sys- 
 tem's anchor ; and those who are guilty of this justly meet with the 
 sorest perplexities and troubles, and only by the passing through the 
 waters of tribulations can they be brought back from their careless 
 wanderings to the center-pole of order from whence all regulations 
 proceed forth. " "Well," says the investigator who has not been a 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 255 
 
 very close observer of the signs that mark the labors of today, and of 
 which we are giving instructions, " tell us plainly what those condi- 
 tions are composed of, and how we are to begin our study of them. ,, 
 Friends, you have a right to ask any and all questions that form 
 themselves in your minds in regard to any topic of the many which 
 constitute the issues of the day, for it is your clay now, the peoples' 
 day, and according to the clearing away of the natural accumulated 
 conditions by mortals will the decision be made by the Supreme 
 Ruler. So work and we will tell you how. The conditions spoken 
 of are all in the atmosphere, and are very electric, and are composed 
 of the vaporous substances from the breath of the people, the breath 
 of beasts, and from all vegetations, atoms, and wastes which mortals 
 and nature throw off. All these scents add their part, and when the 
 impure vapors are of greater weight than the pure and electric which 
 are from the elements mingled with them, then this air throws back 
 this natural dross which nature sent upward in vaporous poisons, and 
 it falls back creating pests and contagious diseases, often for men and 
 beasts, according to the amount thrown out. All which ij compatible 
 with the elementric natural forces of the co-material worlds which are 
 next to the earth is cemented therewith, and so material is imported 
 from one world to another, matter which is needed to build with in 
 the natural way. Yet, all this is governed conditionall}', and by 
 chemical methods all the parcels are cemented, and the natural and 
 divine are interlinked, are interwoven, and, therefore, those who have 
 left earth by a natural death are not separated from the mortals in 
 the world within, which is built of the solid material from which the 
 natural world is only a coarse, materialized part. They are one step 
 further on in the progressive era. But many at death go farther 
 away, according to the purity of the material sent forth from their 
 breath and their deeds on earth. Then, first, to learn about condi- 
 tions you must be cleanly, learn to be of the purest moral habits, to 
 be pure minded and of purest breath whether in talk or conjecture, 
 let your breath be pure so that it can mingle with the purest electric 
 flashes and elementric substances. Then, as it is thus cemented, there 
 is a force accumulated which, while it aids in common advancement 
 in the regular order of progress, it also aids yourself. It is at your 
 side when you are impurely surrounded; and if you are sober and 
 sincere, you will feel if you cannot see what the breath is which those 
 with whom you chance to have dealings are breathing out from 
 within, whether the breath of their inmost will and wishes is of one 
 color, and that of their light and flattering words of another, and then 
 be positive and dive to the bottom of the conditional sea with a reso 
 
256 COMPILATION OF SPIKIT LECTURES. 
 
 lution to find what may be hidden in the frail depths of the being 
 with whom the issue may be. Tell all whom you chance to meet thus 
 of their failing, and point it out to them kindly, and show them the 
 way which leads from evil to good, from false practices to upright- 
 ness, from pervertedness to truth, for it is principle which needs to be 
 resurrected and cultivated in man, for it is Heaven-born and makes up 
 the true or real individual. The spirits in men and the spirits of those 
 who by natural death have left earth are held together by conditions, 
 and they are conditional co-workers in all works done on earth. 
 
 This is an eternal decree, a law of conditions, and right here is 
 where the great difficulty commences concerning the realized facts of 
 deceiving spirits. Spirits who are sometimes seen by clairvoyant 
 mediums with masks on, presenting that which is not real, and 
 coming in on changeable conditions, teach by this that they do not 
 appear in their real forms, and are not doing works which correspond 
 individually with themselves or their true desires, but acting as con- 
 ditional agents to bring about some work of design on earth, and in 
 this they are obedient to spirits of high degrees from whom they 
 receive a pass or commission to do such labors as may, yes, as have 
 been already realized. These works are termed conditional regulations, 
 and as in the present day deceit has acquired quite a growth in the 
 natural composition of mortals, therefore these works are done in 
 order to bring a force into the mortal atmosphere which will equal 
 man's perverseness and bring it forth for lawful treatment. When 
 those on earth realize spirit materializations, you must learn the con- 
 dition under which they can lawfully occur, and it consists in this : 
 all common materializations are done by spirits who are inhabitants 
 of the co-material world, and who are not well developed. These act 
 upon mortals for others, and are, therefore, not really those whom 
 they represent themselves to be, but are sent by them, and so they do 
 a work of conditions. Bright spirits of high order do not materialize 
 only for a special purpose when the law of elements demand such an 
 act. This has been done in these days, and will be done again, in 
 order to prevent woe and suffering for mortals. These masters of 
 conditions can, by coming through the elements, compel order in the 
 turbulent and confused conditions, and so harmonize the elements 
 which compose the atmospheres of the earth, and also acts upon mor- 
 tals. Bright spirits work upon the minds of those with whom they 
 labor on earth and give their ideas by intuition, and they develop and 
 regulate the capacity of their mediums by a touch of the conditional 
 wires which proceed forth from them, and resi upon the organic 
 structure of their mortal mediums. It oftentimes happens that pbys- 
 

 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 257 
 
 ically there is different mingling with other persons in talk about 
 worldly things. It is at such a time, when spirits who are set over 
 worldly conditions can approach such a medium and disturb those 
 wires, then the heavenly instructors cannot operate upon them until 
 again all is replaced and brought to order, and for this work it is nec- 
 essary that the guide of the medium should come personally to do this 
 work ; and it is often delayed for a time because there may be, as is often 
 the case, other more important duties for such high spirits to perform. 
 There is another conditional mystery, viz., this, that while it 
 depends on a mortal's own will and on the exertion of their natural 
 powers in compliance with their will how well they can progress in a 
 true sense, and all mortals in this sense are free agents, yet they are 
 so wholly helpless in another sense and dependent on the power that 
 acts upon them from without, and these are in accord with the atmos- 
 phere surrounding each person, that is, their own peculiar encircling 
 conditional atmosphere which is of their own creation, as stated, from 
 their own breath, desires, and thoughts ; therefore, in order to keep 
 the company of pure spirits and gain their assistance, you must create 
 pure conditions around yourselves, as said before. Do not look aside 
 to your neighbor, and then make allowance for yourself in something 
 which is against this rule because you see others faulty. No, that is 
 not the way that leads upward in the endless march. This but leads 
 astray, causing weariness from carrying useless burdens which in 
 such thoughtless moments are imposed and must be borne. Remem- 
 ber, friends, how short the journey is on earth, and how much good 
 could be done, and how much learned during this short time if all 
 your strength and will power would be exerted ever for goodly pur- 
 poses only. Keep the thought ever before you of the fleetness of 
 time, and how treacherous the world's pleasures and vanities are, and 
 live always as you will wish you had lived when you are summoned 
 to return, and see recorded on the pages of the great historic book of 
 nature your own good and ill and your own great and small deeds, 
 and there you shall see and read them in the natural sense and way, 
 while the spiritual records contain the effects of all which was done, 
 and spiritually you will receive what your deeds merit. 
 
 This quiveriug tide, called the condition sea, 
 
 Flows over earth ; on it rove earth's wanderers, some sad, some full of glee ; 
 Yet while they pass the lines oft in their mirth 
 They breathe in vapors which to griefs give birth; 
 
 And their frail barks are shaken by a mystic hand [tal band. 
 
 Which touch, clings close, has its effects, till the traveler joins an immor- 
 Januaky i, 1879. 
 
258 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 LECTURE LVI. 
 
 GRADATION OF THE IMMORTAL COMPOUNDS OF THE SPIRIT 
 GARMENT OR BODIES. 
 
 Spirit is mind, and the soul of souls. The inmost longings are 
 the yearnings of the soul of souls, for around it is the silver or outer lin- 
 ing, which is the moral development and practice of a mortal. Mind 
 also being spirit, it is an easy matter for spirits ethereal, and also the 
 co-material spirits, to work upon the spirits of the material, that is, 
 upon those inhabiting the earth. There is nothing in this that 
 requires any argument to sustain it, nor does it need to be placed on 
 trial before the courts of human judgment at the present day, for 
 common sense and the undeniable truth, also the knowledge, that 
 spirit is light, life, and is therefore eternal, and cannot be subject to 
 death ; that this being true, it cannot be otherwise than that the 
 power or link of attraction will bring men and angels into close rap- 
 port with each other, and thus, and in no other way, are mortals 
 guided and developed in all the knowledge which they acquire, only 
 from or by the power from on high, and men are led in their pursuits 
 by the ministering angels ; but by reason of the wrong conceptions 
 and misunderstanding by the people of the statements that are made, 
 and their ignorance of the gradation and regulating laws, it has 
 become a demand of duty that we should explain the gradation dif- 
 ference, as w T ell as the difference of types which have been treated 
 upon. It is all interwoven, but is not rightly understood by the peo- 
 ple. There are countless numbers of worlds in this boundless uni- 
 verse which are, by their outer and inner developments, separated, 
 and cannot be united, for the elements suiting the system structure 
 of certain types of the many different ones can only be endured by 
 them. This refers to the worlds of no end, but the earth sphere is 
 an exception to this, for all the existing different compounds, ele- 
 ments, and gases, electrically combined, are found on the earth 
 sphere, and the human body is and must be an heir to or of all 
 this, or the right of an never-ending life would not be lawfully 
 gained, nor the passage from one world to another could not be 
 opened without this. Yet the essential, onward pursuit is checked 
 by the transgressions against the spirit within. This is the only sin 
 that rests heavily against anyone, for all sins committed against God, 
 or the Son of Man, -who is the exalted king of righteousness, by the 
 frailty of man, are forgiven; but the sins committed against the 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 259 
 
 spirit are not forgiven, neither in earth life nor in eternity, for they 
 deform the spirit, and they must be paid, must be made good, and by 
 passing through the crucibles the deformed parts can be remolded 
 and purified, and thus the spirit is developed and perfected. 
 
 Now, there are millions and millions of spirits in the countless 
 worlds who on earth were deficient in moral development, and who 
 thus abused their bodies, and crushed the spirit within. These spirits 
 are now clothed with a co-material body in which they reside, and 
 are termed worldly spirits, and are in a great degree like mortals, 
 yet they are not even on a level with those living on earth today, for 
 the development of the capacities of all such spirits is slow and diffi- 
 cult, because the frame or structure is in a measure destroyed, and 
 needs to be reformed or reconstructed from the atomic, physical 
 elements, in which all essences are combined. But if this lasting 
 frame or structure is not destroyed, and is only faintly out-lined or 
 defined, it can be made strong, and become a foundation upon which 
 to build. This being a truth, then, children can advance in prog- 
 ress as well as in growth of size or structure, for the tender frame, 
 with all its lineaments, is there, and, although scarcely defined or 
 perceivable, they still form a basis or frame, and can be easily 
 improved and strengthened. But it is not so with those who have 
 broken or destroyed this frame of the mind or spirit by all sorts of 
 violations and selfish gratifications. They are deformed and void, 
 and the spirit, when separated from the body, is bare, and the sus- 
 taining frame broken. These spirits, then, as I said, are born into 
 those worlds and must necessarily undergo many changes, even as 
 they become prepared and removed from one forte to another, in 
 short, let me tell you, gentle readers, that the difference of spirits and 
 spirit forms is as various as the worlds that exist, including all 
 spheres, which cannot be numbered. This difference is gradation, 
 needs to be given forth as a study to man on earth, for impending 
 perils and inevitable disasters in the natural pursuits and transactions, 
 as well as in the mental pursuits, demand an explanation, — an explana- 
 tion of what? Of the invisible compelling force which causes phys- 
 ical actions, and that in all remarkable instances men are led to 
 become their own destroyers, and to commit the deeds themselves 
 which bring remorse, and all the difficulties which they realize. This 
 compelling force is all spiritual, yet the greatest part of that which 
 this compelling spirit force works upon is material, and these co-ma- 
 terial spirits, while they are being thus developed, are not called the 
 children and heirs of God, but are of those who are outside of the 
 covenant law, and are the servants who, in the far-off time, will come 
 
2G0 COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTUEES. 
 
 in under Jehovah's shade. The reason of this is that when they 
 were on earth they did not improve their time and opportunities in 
 preparing the spirit so that it could be recognized as a child of God 
 at the time of its birth from the tenement of clay into real life. 
 These spirits, although they have permission to roam on earth their 
 allotted time, and fulfill the duties of servants, do not obey or abide 
 in law and order, but they inflict misery wherever they can by their 
 cunning enticements ; but this, likewise, has its bounds appointed, 
 and all such are taken from the ranks and passed back into 
 prison. 
 
 But says the investigator : " How then shall we enjoy liberty of 
 mind, and how can the longings of the soul be satisfied in commun- 
 ing with those gone on before us if such is the invisible difference 
 of types and mold ? 
 
 "How then would we know if we would stop and study? Our 
 happiness would be surely absorbed in the dark cloud of impure air, 
 blended with man's ignorance, and we should not be able to recog- 
 nize our friends, if it is possible that while in the slight difference of 
 appearance, and of body compounds, it is a truth that many resemble 
 each other so perfectly that they^could appear as one, yet being 
 another individual. Can they give tests by sight, or through the 
 unconscious medium, of things of which no one ever knew except 
 the one who has passed on to the other side of life and the investi- 
 gating friend ? This is no evidence of truth, or that there is no 
 misrepresentation." 
 
 The demon of each person or spirit knows their whole heart as 
 well, yes, better than they know themselves, and every act or w r ord 
 that was ever spoken by them lives in their memory. Then, if 
 these demons possess such strong and largely-cultivated capacities 
 and memories, they are not ordinary spirits, but are rulers and cap- 
 tains, who, from choice, engage in these active labors on earth that 
 are being done for the renovation and enlargement of the capacities 
 of the people, and these are called sages according to the olden term, 
 while those who, by their orders, perform various duties under the 
 command of chosen captains are the co-mortals and co-material or 
 worldly spirits, who inhabit worlds like yours, only being in the 
 spirit world, and they draw their chief support from the earth. The 
 mortal worlds of the spirit spheres are many, and the gradation of 
 the difference of types must be learned, so that no one needs to be 
 led astray when this is understood. 
 
 We are not spirits who come in the way spoken of, but we are 
 from the divine type, and work upon the minds of the people, and by 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 2G1 
 
 the opportunities given can be known and identified, and also our 
 abilities to guide the hand of this our medium who writes for us. 
 
 LECTURE LVIL 
 
 Why should we not, who have mounted to the most difficult 
 summits of progress, and have experienced what patience and labor it 
 requires to enter into heavenly freedom, why should we not labor 
 unceasingly for the enlightenment of the benighted dwellers on 
 earth ? 
 
 Are we not all linked in one great family chain, and ought we 
 therefore not desire to bring about the results of the first design of 
 God with men, viz., that there should be no gulf to hinder mortals 
 and immortals from a sensible and tangible association ? 
 
 The term mortal signifies this, that while traveling in this atmos- 
 phere and treading the earth the gross matters needed to protect the 
 inner being form a gulf, a thick atmosphere which cannot be pene- 
 trated by the natural eye, but this very gulf is being bridged over, for 
 atmospheric changes are being made which will result in this ; and 
 the thickness cleared away and the veil will be rent so that the natu- 
 ral eyes can see the immortals walk the earth and talk with men. 
 
 The term immortal implies that the image is clad with the gar- 
 ments of purity and breathing the pure air of all good, therefore 
 freed from earthly ills and imperfections which are the results of the 
 chaotic essences, and serve to awaken this massive principle in every 
 living being to that activity which is needed to become perfect, and to 
 learn the various degrees and distinctions of good and ill which other- 
 wise could not be awakened nor these great lessons learned, and the 
 joys of an unending life could have no appreciation if this knowledge 
 failed. 
 
 Yet enlightenment will ease life's burdens for those who shall 
 people earth when those now living have departed. The more deeds 
 of benevolence one can do by self-denial and sacrifice the richer that 
 one will be for eternity. It is not the dollars or cents, lands or any 
 riches, that make noble or true men or women or that promotes their 
 true character in value of true, lasting wealth. 
 
262 COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTURES. 
 
 Many beggars arrive here. The very worst grades we receive 
 are those who on earth had gathered treasures which they should 
 have given for the benefit of the needy, and to comfortably supply 
 their physical demands. 
 
 Let no one aim to be rich on earth lest they lose their part of 
 the possessions in the heavenly kingdom. 
 
 To learn to discern good and evil is a deep and toilsome study. 
 One is often tossed into an abyss. The struggles to rise out of it may 
 be severe, and the repelling tide vehement. But stop and calmly 
 study the cause of these effects. Do not fret and worry your limited 
 strength away, and thus become blinded as to the object of your 
 design, so that when your time there is ended, and you are brought 
 out of these conditions, you will know why it was. 
 
 In the most humble and low conditions which can engulf mor- 
 tals there are lessons to be learned which are often of the most abso- 
 lute need for the expansion of the mind and for a just appreciation 
 of what is to be realized in a long and successive life. And as men 
 and women learn to discern between the good and evil, do not fear to 
 learn anything and all which may chance to come in your pathway, 
 and which is an issue from the conditions made by your own deeds. 
 Avoid doing wrong, and do right and serve God. Then you are in a 
 fair pursuit in the true progressive path. Then you give honor to 
 the Creator, and help to perfect His plan, and the angels are delighted 
 to see you able to discern evil and also to subdue it, and will give you 
 their best aid in all your endeavors. See to it that you study well 
 each problem of life, and learn how mortals with their masks on do 
 not know one another, and often cast aside their truest and dearest 
 friends because they do not fully understand each other. 
 
 The whole human and angel family is closety linked together, 
 and this constant jarring is a repelling force against the general pur- 
 suit of progress and prosperity. 
 
 We love to aid mortals that they may, by the light brought 
 to them, see where they err and how unsteady their walk is at every 
 step in their darkened condition. 
 
 We grasp those whom we can approach firmly by the hand so as 
 to support and aid them so that they may be brought upon safer 
 ground, and be enabled to see Heaven's light illume the paths which 
 they pursue, until they come under the flag of universal freedom by 
 seeing the truth as it is and was from the beginning, and ever shall 
 be, and grow bright and strong in the light of truth. 
 
 Another lesson : Never lay problems aside if they should seem 
 difficult and you do not know of any methods by which to solve them. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIHIT LECTURES. 263 
 
 Place it before your eyes, view it in comparison with all you think of 
 that has a resemblance to it and to what may chance to be brought 
 into your life's pathway as you journey on. By thus being sincere 
 and studious, you will find the method when least expected, and in a 
 way you could not see if you did not search eagerly with the eyes of 
 both the body and spirit. 
 
 At all times when you fail in learning the design of each prob- 
 lem, and fail to find the facts by which to work and demonstrate it, it 
 shows lack of attention or interest on your part. Adjust the lessons 
 you hear to the memory, and ponder them in your hearts, then they 
 will elevate and benefit j t ou, not otherwise. 
 
 It is necessary that you should be disciplined in the studies 
 which have a tendency to brighten the intellect and build up the 
 power and functions of the spirit. But how can you be disciplined 
 when you are led from one series of studies to another, and find fault 
 and complain, and closely shut your eyes to each lesson that is dem- 
 onstrated ? You cannot advance without the proper pass. The record 
 is taken by those who impose the trials and who examine you after 
 the process is over to see how you have improved and individualized. 
 This I have stated to show you that you blame others without know- 
 ing what you do. 
 
 He who does a favor for another, or for humanity, does it for 
 himself if his aims are pure and unselfish. If they are not, then truly 
 you will reap as you have sown. 
 
 Impure desires, sown under a mask of pretense, will raise just 
 such a crop, and he who sows reaps it. Do all you do with a true 
 heart and with true motives. 
 
 Ponder all you hear, and cast no reflections of envy or ill will 
 over your mental horizon as you try to study out these lessons, or 
 you will ever see the wrong side and uncertain figures, and no prob- 
 lem can by such methods be solved and demonstrated. 
 
264 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 LECTURE LVIII. 
 
 CHRISTMAS, 1880. 
 
 Hail, Christmas, the day when the Saviour was horn! 
 
 We have met to rejoice, our King to adorn; 
 
 Let anthems of praise ring clear on the air 
 
 To God and His Christ, of whom we are heirs. 
 
 Let every tongue sing praise, let every child he glad, 
 
 For Jesus was horn a child like we, 
 
 Born to hring gifts to you and to me ; 
 
 Let joy fill all hearts and all space. 
 
 The merry Christmas time, when earth was hlessed 
 
 With the hirth thus, a visit of a Divine guest, 
 
 Is dear to our memory, we hail it with joy; 
 
 Depart, cares and shadows, we want no alloy ! 
 
 For our consideration we shall take the words of the angels to 
 the shepherds on that memorable night when Jesus was born at Beth- 
 lehem : " Peace on earth and good will toward all men." Who is it 
 that fully comprehends the deep meaning of those words of glad 
 tidings brought by angel voices to the ears of mortals ? The realiza- 
 tions have been so conflicting with those words, that heavenly mes- 
 sage, none who have not caught the bright glimmer of Bethlehem's star 
 can solve the problem and know for themselves why it is and has 
 been that the sword has thus long reigned instead of peace. That 
 was the beginning on earth of the work which will bring about the 
 blessed condition promised to mortals, and which needed much time I 
 before the seed then sown and introduced into matter and material 
 elements would permeate all nature and all beings, and produce the 
 longed-for harvest so that earth could be reaped, and the realization of 
 that promise should light up earth with glory and fill every bosom 
 with peace and joy. We are now nearly to that period in the march 
 of time when this will really be realized on earth, for earth is soon 
 to be reaped for the great harvest grown from that seeding, as said 
 before. We therefore rejoice and bring our offerings of heart-felt 
 gratitude to God and His Christ that He has counted us worthy to 
 labor in His vineyard, and has opened unto us the hidden wisdom 
 j^ertaining to the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and the 
 works which are now being done by this same Jesus and a mighty 
 army of angels on earth to not only reap this earth but to conquer 
 all rebellious war-farers and subdue them, so that the message of the 
 angels can have a literal fulfillment. The children who come to Ipe 
 taught should receive gifts on this evening, with an explanation how 
 that Jesus was born poor in the physical way and sense, yet infinitely 
 rich, and brought gifts to earth and bestowed them upon mortals, 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 265 
 
 lived as a child obedient to his parents, to set an example for all chil- 
 dren that they should obey their parents. He labored with His own 
 hands to show the children that to be born on earth implies that, viz., 
 to labor and be useful, and according to the first verdict earn and 
 eat our bread by the sweat of our brows. So we have an example 
 of industry which should be impressed upon the minds of the chil- 
 dren. When He became old enough, He was mentally developed, and 
 physically placed where He could receive such instructions which 
 rendered Him capable of a speedy recognition of His duties on earth 
 as teacher, and perfected His innate powers in a short time, so that 
 He could come forth and teach the people, and make manifest the 
 wiji of Him who sent Him to the children of men. 
 
 This is to be impressed upon the minds of the young folks of 
 today that they should labor and learn, and combine worldly and 
 divine studies, and so enhance their intuitive powers, and would thus 
 have in a shorter space of time their innate faculties brought out into 
 practical uses. The world will be greatly improved thereby, and the 
 people likewise. 
 
 He (Jesus) brought gifts for all, let us remember ; none are 
 excluded, therefore all have these gifts, which are talents, powers of 
 mind and spirit, and as we place ourselves in the proper way for 
 receiving aid from Him who bestowed these gifts, and acquire such 
 learning physically which tends to open the avenues of the mind, we 
 shall have by the aid of that heavenly power those innate gifts 
 brought out, and shall be enabled to see how to give them out in 
 exchange in order to accumulate more and more, and also to benefit 
 others by aiding or loaning to them until they get a start of their 
 own, or an insight into the physical and spiritual works and studies, 
 and become able to bring more to their perhaps limited amount of 
 talents. By so doing earth will be benefited, because we live. 
 
 There is one more point to consider. Jesus finished His work 
 which was given Him to do on earth, then knowingly and willingly 
 died on the cross to show His good will toward men in a practical 
 way, that thus even all in all degrees could become in due time sanc- 
 tified and redeemed and have a right to Jesus, and a right to the 
 common Father, God, have a right to the tree of life, yes, to eternal 
 life. He did not die for the Jews, or for the good people who were 
 to be born on earth, but for all. 
 
 He died for you, He died for me, 
 He died to set the whole world free ; 
 Therefore let every tongue rejoice, 
 Let every heart be glad. 
 
266 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 And let us teacK the children, yea, our own selves, too, that we 
 must not tolerate nor cultivate in our natures any selfish traits, but 
 on the contrary cultivate benevolence, and be ever ready to sacrifice 
 if necessary our own weal to secure the weal and welfare of others, 
 for in this is true greatness which lives and is honored forever. 
 
 LECTURE LIX. 
 
 ARE YOU WILLING TO TAKE FOR CHANGE THE SAME CURRENCY 
 YOU YOURSELVES HAVE, AND DO CIRCULATE? 
 
 We ask this question, and desire that it may be well considered 
 and truthfully answered. While we direct it to those present, and 
 certainly speak to them, it extends itself further, and the echo of the 
 breath goes out and vibrates with all the harp-strings of mortal 
 brains attuned to work in harmony with God's orders, to give and 
 receive that which is beneficent and pleasing, that which truly ele- 
 vates, and is in accord with God's order, and with retributive justice. 
 You who have been taught and schooled in the mysterious wox &ings 
 of conditions, and also taught that progress and success depend* upon 
 existing and constantly created conditions. You know, or should 
 know, from experience and otherwise, that finite banking houses do a 
 brisk business, and the commonwealth compact and treasury offi- 
 cials make and circulate freely all manner of currencies, as bills from 
 the finite courts are issued to them, even as mortal treatment calls 
 for, after due councils upon the most loved, and most used coins with 
 which mortals deal under ground and openly. There issues a variety 
 of shades from the people ; they wish for many things in the mortal 
 degrees, so as to gain predominance in this or that business position ; 
 and there are many ravenous cravings of appetite, and also desires to 
 gratify the proclivities for a fine appearance and honor from man. 
 All this, after due councils, as said, is reissued and sent to where it 
 arose from, and it requires often quite a space of time before the 
 effects are duly felt. These currencies are of such substances as 
 compare with desires and wishes, and also the whisperings of the 
 soul ; and they enter as vapors and dust into the human brain again, 
 and through the atmosphere which is freely breathed in and is meant 
 for cures for existing human ills. It is breath and vaporous gases 
 which proceed from mortals, and is circulated by them, and the con- 
 ditional warp is thereby filled, which, not being the true material, 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 267 
 
 needs to be unraveled again, so then the works are retarded, and 
 seem a conglomerate mixture, and are such, for there is a queer tang- 
 ling around in the conditional hemisphere which often requires a 
 shock of some kind, in order to break up and scatter such accumula- 
 tions, and also to have their mysterious existence unraveled. If 
 there was no retributive justice at work, and the issues of mortal 
 breath, thought, and desires, by which the world's works are so forci- 
 bly impelled onward ; if to these there would be no counter issues, or 
 counteractions, the warp of life laid for the majority of the people 
 would be filled out so fast that there would be no chance for them to 
 individualize themselves, but the counter currencies are freely sent 
 forth from the finite currency looms. Now let us survey closely 
 what has been in thought and desire, as a haunting demon or a bright 
 angel of peace actuating every nerve, every sensitive part of the 
 brain, and which has thrilled at times with love and pity for others, or 
 with anger and feelings of revenge, and with wishes for the success or 
 failure of other people. All this abounds, and is a heavy issue con- 
 stantly from mortals, and although it would seem as nothing, yet 
 it composes well-defined shades. The active building processes are 
 carried on with this sort of currency, so there must be something or 
 this could not be done ; they must be of weal or woe to the capitalist 
 largely engaged in such exchanges, which we have termed breath and 
 vaporous gases, meaning words which are but a sound to hide there- 
 with true intentions and corrupt principles, and to blind the innocent 
 and unwary so that they might be led into the thus created condi- 
 tional snares, where they are held and hindered in their true pursuit, 
 consequently, rendered miserable in every sense of the word. Much 
 talk without true meaning is a deadly poison, and is very harm- 
 ful. It invents open crevices, and festers therein ready for outbreaks 
 and sore results, which are in part accredited to the persons who had 
 thoughtlessly sowed the gas or poison, and so seeded an impure har- 
 vest, consequently, they must then reap it. If they by that time 
 have mounted higher, have left the ill-assumed former position, yet 
 must they according to justice pay all such incurred penalties, and for 
 this are counter currencies issued from the finite offices, which will 
 do the work exact, because it is the just rule, and under the act of 
 the law of recompense carried into execution. How much do we 
 observe of impure conjectures, wishes, and even talk, which is sowing 
 the seeds of tares, and an unwelcome harvest will be the result for 
 those who are busy workers in this field, and who wear a friendly 
 garb on which is inscribed deception. It is time that a more upright 
 practical course in life's pursuit was made use of, for by such a course 
 
268 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 prosperity and success cannot be expected. Well, now we see the 
 whispers arise ere the sentence is finished. 
 
 " Why do the wicked and malignant, whom we know to be such, 
 and therefore worse than ourselves, why do they prosper ? They are 
 worse in all things than what is herein alluded to, yet they are 
 happy, and have all their hearts and natural proclivities crave." 
 They prosper, yes, some do seemingly prosper according to worldly 
 view, and in a worldly sense, and seem in the same view taken of 
 them happy ; but search and you will find that it is but seeming, for 
 it is not so in reality. Search after true standing, and try to' meas- 
 ure happiness and misery, and set them apart. Then give in your 
 accounts, for your questions will answer themselves as you engage in 
 such investigations. You know not the subtle claims of the reactive 
 charms, how they act on those who had charmed others into ill con- 
 ditions by their subtle means, and their impure influences. If you 
 knew this you would pity, for you would know what degree of Hell 
 such seeming gay, happy, and prosperous ones in your view were 
 roasting and agonizing in. It is according to the breath sent out, 
 and to the wishes, and the results from them, that currencies are 
 reissued for all directly to where it is wanted, where the issues had 
 come from, had been given in exchange, and had done their works in 
 the way explained. There is no escape from this, for it takes a 
 proper effect, and it does its work, lest the universal government 
 would be overpowered by the ill breath and cunning acts of low 
 grade human and inhuman vipers. But such is not the case, for it is 
 not tolerated, but is dealt with justly. Be not deceived, thoughts 
 are heard and make their conditional impression as well as words, 
 and the deeds coming from it, or we had better say the effects, for 
 there is cause warped in the conditions of such low degrees, and even 
 so without fail does it bring effects, as said. We dare not do other- 
 wise, but must speak plainly upon these existing facts, that you may 
 cease to view with dimmed vision all that presents itself, for too 
 often blurs are cast composed of shades of thoughts and wishes of 
 others, and they dim your vision. Break through all this, and behold 
 reality. Be pure in thought, and let all your chief desires be for the 
 benefit of humanity, and not so directly for self alone. Only as you 
 benefit others are you working in God's order, and receive from Him 
 aid and blessings due you for laboring for Him, giving honor truly to 
 Him, as you help to fill God's plan with man, and help to advance 
 the works of universal good for all. Consider the caption of these 
 remarks well, then turn within yourselves and silently ponder on the 
 past until it comes up in a mirrored picture before you, so that you 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 269 
 
 can glance over it and see the deficiencies in true principles, — the 
 lack of true devotion to God and truth in a pure, unselfish sense. 
 See how selfish objects and desires cluster around all devotional 
 marks where something was done, or was aimed to be done to pro- 
 mote the cause of God and truth ; see in the mirrored picture the pale- 
 yellow tints hanging over the tottering principles and mingled 
 motives. It is there, no matter what the lips confess or deny, the 
 marks are the proofs, for they come from the true intentions, and mark 
 every individual's true standing so clearly that there can be no 
 escape. No jury is needed to decide such cases, for they are clearly 
 recorded as herein stated, and also by the recording angel in the 
 great account books. 
 
 Working deception is too often substituted for an honest en- 
 deavor to cultivate the Heaven-born principles, to make use of them 
 practically. 
 
 The Heaven-born principles should be made use of not only on 
 rare occasions but at all times and in all things. If this is not done 
 can you reasonably expect blessings, and that God will aid you ; can 
 you reasonably complain when the same currencies are issued to you 
 which you had in such subtle ways circulated ? You have no room 
 to complain. 
 
 He who incurs a debt shall pay it or atone for it in lawful 
 measures, otherwise he is not free to pursue life's courses of travel 
 in the way marked out for him. On earth all that is realized are the 
 effects of causes, and these can be traced, and the effects made pleas- 
 ant instead of woful, if study would be given to these all-important 
 subjects. The laws which govern these degrees work alike upon 
 small and great things, and are in favor of the people, if they will 
 but learn how to bring it within their scope of use. We have now 
 considered conditions and currencies in the degrees in which we find 
 people generally, and say of a truth that where such pictures present 
 themselves the true and bright angel of peace and purity has not 
 been, nor is not actuating the nerves and brains ; but the demon is or 
 has been as the case may be, which is readily discovered by observ- 
 ing the style of talk in conversation, private or general, and the 
 deeds likewise. You have no doubt by this time gained the true 
 understanding of the expression demon in contrast with angel of 
 light; but to avoid misapprehension we would say that demons are 
 those engaged in worldly developments, from high to low degrees. 
 They act upon the natural proclivities and senses of mortals, and are 
 to some extent adversaries to those who have the training of the 
 devotional organs, and are called angels of light and peace. They 
 
270 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 work for the growth of the divine, the demons' for worldly achiev- 
 meiits. This should be remembered and studied in the proper 
 degree for the mission of these guardians proper, who are appointed 
 by lawful issue to attend the people and govern their pursuits, as can 
 be done best with the fabrics produced from the emanations of the 
 people themselves. Now we must leave this and treat upon the 
 results of the works of the angel of peace and purity in a mortal 
 organization. The nerves are thrilled with an undefmable sensation, 
 which, as it goes forth, marks itself as doing service for humanity. 
 All deeds done are impelled by the pure angel. Desires are restricted 
 and governed, thoughts come as a result of the constantly infused 
 heavenly emanations. The wisdom which descends from on high 
 vibrates on the brows, and enters into those minds which are opened 
 by these bright visitors, and are, therefore, in a receptive cdndition, 
 because their temporary house is kept in order by the angel of peace 
 and purity, who acts upon them and impels them, to do what is just 
 and good. Right and true deeds are always done, and the principles 
 are kept as a shield before the mind's eye. All thoughts and ideas 
 received are well pondered, and they make their conditional marks. 
 It may seem to the worldly-minded observer as it may, yet there is 
 nothing said or done but what is impelled forth as said, and it falls 
 on and penetrates into perverse conditions, and acts as a renovating 
 and rectifying power ; and although there is much of the unpleasant 
 realized by a person thus worked upon as a result of pure action 
 upon the impure, as said before. When this is felt it causes first an 
 agitation where it was dead, and according as the inner condition is 
 found there is then a forthcoming and discharge of feelings of hatred 
 from some, because of great self-love and desire to be left undis- 
 turbed in their worldly ponderings and indulgences. Others mani- 
 fest envy and jealousy because they do not know as much as the per- 
 son upon whom, and through whom, the angel of peace works and 
 stirs up, in the described way, the stagnant pools of the innate and 
 man-made conditions. 
 
 The various touches that are made bring forth a discharge of the 
 impure breath, which is carried and concealed within the human 
 breast, therefore the noises of such impelled explosions are various, 
 but it clears away after a thorough renovation. Then the truth is seen, 
 and gladly those who were thus worked upon behold to their sur- 
 prise that a good harvest had been seeded for them against their own 
 will, had grown and ripened without labor of their own, or even a 
 will of their own. Then they grow humble over their past ill con- 
 duct. They behold their true standing. They reap the fruits of the 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 271 
 
 labors that were done for them, and as they do so the emanations 
 which they send forth from their inmost souls are pure gratitude to 
 the one who did this seeding in words of admonition, advice, or 
 even deeds which caused an unpleasant state of mind for that person 
 at the time the work ivas done. It disquiets the nerves, because the 
 perverse conditions which are worked upon cause an effect, and in 
 magnitude to the perverse reception of goodly aims misery and pain 
 will be felt. But as this process has worked, as before said, and the 
 conditions changed, the same channels send forth their gratitude, 
 then such persons become glorified. Said emanations form them- 
 selves into diamonds and emeralds, which encircle the benefactor of 
 one or more human souls. Their wealth increases, for the fruits of 
 their labors follow them. Forever they stand in, and go to and fro in, 
 this illumination that shines around them, acquiring and also dispens- 
 ing knowledge. Wisdom, which the worldly minded cannot under- 
 stand, is theirs, even in time, and will increase throughout eternity. 
 
 They roam among, and possess, Heaven's grandeurs and pleas- 
 ures. Is not this worth laboring for, and sowing the seed of truth 
 which is received by intuition ? Although in the common course it is 
 sowing with dishonor, for whatever has a tendency to raise the people 
 above the long occupied standard is not well received, but honor 
 comes from the work in due progress of time aud labor, as explained, 
 when the seed will be resurrected, has grown and produces its bene- 
 ficial harvest. Remember ever that although there are timely tribu- 
 lations and severe trials connected with such labor that they are as 
 nothing compared w r ith the glory and true greatness that awaits the 
 faithful soldiers of the cross. Also, remember that pre-eminence in 
 rank and position is, and must be, gained by humiliating services in 
 behalf of the benefit for humanity, and for the elevation of the races 
 of earth. Now, before we close this, we would say that from the 
 finite legal department or congress currencies are issued to mold the 
 individual parts, and pave the composition structure for the growth 
 of true principles. From the inner department of the infinite sanc- 
 tum the breath of wisdom is issued to compose ideality, and the 
 truths that are given, and the precepts which are impelled forth as a 
 result of the workings of the pure angels on and through mortals, 
 serve to support ideality in its unfoklment and growth, and the prin- 
 ciples are supported, and practically enforced, in concord with the 
 growth of ideality. The perverse cultivation of ideality corrupts 
 principles, and retards true individualization. It is adverse to truo 
 •ideality to aim for worldly and wordy eloquence for the sake of 
 appearance, and for the purpose of making friends, and gain the 
 
272 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 world's favor. Very many become in this age of the world mar. 
 renowned and God corrupt in their perverse or worldly culture, and 
 by their extreme aim to be wise and accomplished in the modern 
 languages. All perverse people who possess great self-esteem, or 
 self-love, are deceitful and treacherous if opportunity offers by which 
 to gratify important self. It is that, then, which corrupts principles. 
 When once a step is taken against true principles, then many tempta- 
 tions become like haunting shadows brought before the wavering 
 senses, which, if not cast out, will produce the deeds as the effects of 
 woven conditions. Ever remember that to your deeds there is a 
 counter issue, even to all thoughts and desires. Let them be pure, 
 and rejoice when recompense brings to you the full measure of what 
 your deeds merit. 
 
 LECTURE LX- (POETRY.) 
 
 MAN AND WOMAN. 
 
 In this earthly basement story 
 
 Of this great, grand universe, 
 It is meet to aim for glory 
 i And secure one's endless bliss. 
 Why would spirit be implanted 
 
 Iu this common matter soil 
 Were it not for one great purpose 
 
 Well worth aid pain and toil ? 
 
 Spirits harmless in God's Eden, 
 
 Ignorant o-f any evil ; 
 Innocent more so than babes, 
 
 Reason proves beyond all cavil 
 That to live on thus eternal 
 
 Would not happiness secure ; 
 
 Would not be each soul's craved pleasure ; 
 Nay, for none would be a treasure ; 
 But by this grand introduction 
 Wide fields open for instruction ; 
 Happiness from toil is wrought, 
 Evil with much good is fraught. 
 
 Male and female thus created 
 Aucl forever happily mated, 
 Ever traverse space together, 
 Though in different climes no matter; 
 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 273 
 
 One the other gently guides ; 
 Never are those separated 
 Who at first were thus created 
 Male and female for each other, 
 And by Heaven's wedlock mated. 
 
 LECTURE LXL 
 
 "COMMUNION with the departed." 
 
 "What is it that people who traverse earth find in their explora- 
 tions which arouses them to skepticism against communion with those 
 of other worlds ? 
 
 A. sensation creeps over studious men and women which language 
 cannot describe when themes of a universal importance are spoken of, 
 and the mind is calm and free from selfish thoughts, and is thus 
 wafted out to sup the nectar of true wisdom concerning God's works 
 and ways from the flowers which grow only in celestial bowers. In 
 such moments of soul reverie there has been a loncnn^ in the soul. 
 This demand was supplied as occasion was given. The sensation was 
 sweet, the ideas grand ; but why so fleeting ? So much so that it 
 does not convince, but doubts arise. Was it, is it, real or unreal ? 
 Is there such a grand hereafter, or is all this imagination, — a work 
 of the fanatic brain functions ? 
 
 Oh, the sad, sad conjectures ! This next station seems so real, 
 yet so unreal and mystic. We do not know whether communion is 
 possible, or, if possible, whether it is lawful. All these are the repre- 
 sentative struggles of the mind forces, natural and spiritual, which 
 are possessed by mortals. 
 
 The selfish mind cannot ascend nor find admission into the celes- 
 tial realms though it conjures much how it might be done ; but the 
 pure and unselfish is swiftly wafted out and up on celestial breezes 
 when the soul avenues are opened in desire, and the mind avenues 
 correspond so as to offer the chance needed for this work. But even 
 in such moments if there is a sudden positiveness, and a selfish 
 thought or wish darts through the mind, there is a sudden relapse 
 and a closing of these avenues which cannot again be 60 quickly sub- 
 sided or brought into the right order. Therefore these grand ideas 
 and sensations cannot be realized until the soul and brain again come 
 into harmony and offer the occasion. 
 
274 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 The people on earth look at all things from their own stand- 
 point, and view matters from their narrow platform with dimmed 
 vision. So they claim that those who left earth by death are the 
 dear departed. In this referred to communion the appeal is for 
 them. Many fear that these might be disturbed in their rest, or that 
 Gel's anger would be incurred by these mortal communion-seekers, 
 so they work hard to prevent and suppress it. But they generally 
 err. 
 
 All mortals are and were spirits before they were sent forth in 
 this mystical process of mingling with the chaotic forces and. the 
 cruder elements taking from earth and its productions a body, and 
 thus acquiring a strong tissue into which all others are woven, and a 
 body can thus be maintained tangibly and suitable to all claims and 
 positions of travel. See, then, that these who roam earth are only 
 sent forth to travel and acquire what is needed for them individually 
 in said tissues and knowledge gained from these elements of earth. 
 The divine parents are above them, and have many children around 
 them, some completed according to the processes of law, and some in 
 ail grades of growth. These are ever watching their departed sisters 
 and brothers who leave them for a sojourn over earth. They most 
 anxiously seek communion with those from the threshold, who are 
 given to encounter difficulties for their benefit, that they might become 
 well disciplined and learn as much as possible of the ways and man- 
 ners of the world and its people wherever they have traveled. 
 
 It is not true that communion is against law, nor will it incur the 
 wrath of God. No, dear friends, those who can so write or talk are 
 badly lost in their travels, and can see no rays from the lighthouse 
 above, nor hear one single whisper from those to whom they are very 
 dear in the upper worlds, and who patiently go in and through earth's 
 deserts and follow them in hope of some propitious occasion for their 
 works, so as to impress on the spiritual retina the pictures of home, 
 the love of God, and the anxiety of guiding friends to commune with 
 and instruct these travelers as to the best ways by which the most 
 lasting results may be obtained. 
 
 It is not true, then, that mortals interfere with the departed nor 
 with their rest by giving a hearing to the communion sought for by 
 the angel world with mortals. No, those who left earth have gone 
 home from their journey only, and are resting from their earthly 
 labors in the sense of common labor, and are not disturbed, but 
 happy to see the avenues opened through which they are privileged 
 to communicate and reach their friends if only by a word, a token, or 
 a sensation of their undying love and interest for those who are of 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 275 
 
 necessity taken from them for a season for their growth and improve- 
 ment. 
 
 O mortals, those who for awhile composed your family circle 
 are taken from ns here, they are sent to earth with love and the 
 tender feelings of the soul to whom they are most closely allied, that 
 they might be well treated by those to whom their earthly keeping 
 is intrusted. 
 
 Are we happy when those dear to us journey on earth and are 
 illy surrounded, and lament and fret and call for help ? No, we are 
 not. We are near and at work, and would gladly at all times give 
 relief if the persons themselves had not become estranged owing to 
 the growth of the material forces around them and in their system. 
 "What we most yearn for at such moments and times is communion, 
 with our dear departed. Those who are at home in Father's house 
 are safely sheltered, and abound in pleasures, for the pastures are 
 ever green and the waters pure and fresh, and no one wrongs the 
 other in order to gain more than their labors merit. Therefore, there 
 is no pain, no woe, no misery, yet sadness often is felt from such con- 
 ditions as stated regarding those on earth who travel under unfavor- 
 able circumstances. It is we who have traveled before you, and in 
 this sense have gone before, but are now safely at home, who are 
 entitled to fret over our dear departed, not you, O mortals, who so 
 long has claimed this right. • 
 
 When one is ushered into your world, it is far sadder to the 
 angels who know the trials and difficulties which must be met with 
 through life than when one dies and is taken home. 
 
 We, the angels, the guardians of mortals, who are sisters, broth- 
 ers, and friends to us, we do seek communion, and are ever near to 
 aid and protect, and to teach the lessons of wisdom acquired by travels 
 and growth, which would, if heard and heeded, greatly diminish mis- 
 apprehension and aid you to avoid many difficulties, to quicken their 
 powers of perception, and keep alive their activities, to allow no 
 chance to pass unimproved for the purpose of learning what can be 
 learned from the nature of every atom and of different mortals, and 
 the strange compositions from which they are molded and fashioned. 
 Whatever you do, friends, do not be idle. Learn and labor, and fear 
 not, but love God, for wrath is not with Him, nor in any of the All- 
 Father's attributes. 
 
 The strongest compulsion in and from men and women against 
 spiritual communion is a compact board of executors, formed of the 
 natural appetites, thosg belonging to the animal nature which share 
 all things in common with the beast, but is above and ruling that 
 
276 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 kingdom by the superior sense and reason which belong to the soul's 
 not the body's brain, and are attributes of God, the Father of the 
 human race of clay-covered angels. 
 
 These appetites crave to be satisfied in a natural world, in a 
 natural sense. The instincts of, the soul repel them, and there is war 
 within in the members of the body and the chambers of the brain. 
 The material senses are for acquiring wealth and worldly pleasures, 
 the spiritual senses for acquiring knowledge at all costs. Thus these 
 senses are adverse parties, and war with each other until one becomes 
 the ruler if only over one chief organ. It then holds all others in 
 negation, and communion with the spirits who are attending such 
 mortals is closed entirely, or becomes very imperfect when heard or 
 given. Therefore selfishness cannot be tolerated where communion 
 is to become perfect. Self must be sacrificed to bless and comfort 
 many, and be as a well whose springs are kept clean and the waters 
 pure and healthy, and freely given to the thirsty travelers for health 
 and strength. Worldly interests are the chief barriers against angel 
 communion with mortals. 
 
 O you, who from our threshold departed, 
 
 With burdens so laden, roam earth, 
 List to our appeal that God's truths be imparted 
 
 That mortals may learn, and from Sodom go forth; 
 For her sins are loud eryfng, the echo appalls 
 The supplicants' efforts as on them it falls. 
 Then in their frenzy they think 't is God's voice, 
 While it is but the echo of their own confused noise. 
 
 You, you weary traveler, worn by untimely efforts, 
 
 Loud call we to tell you the use this may be ; 
 Cast from the sick soul the film which forms fagots, 
 
 By which you are burnt until God's ways you see. 
 Oh, let us divest your minds from the blurs, 
 Then can you see clearly how troubles are incurred. 
 Scorn self, dearest friends, and to us your relations, 
 That we may assist you at all changing stations, 
 Where the means to convey must change, learn this lesson. 
 
 The labors you 've done in another's department, 
 Thus aiding self nothing, and struggling in vain, 
 
 Will sometime and somewhere after proper assortment 
 Receive all they merit ; from loss then comes gain. 
 
 Oh, be not disheartened at the rise of each cloud 
 
 Although it may storm and thunders roar loud ; 
 
 Let the rain fall in torrents to accomplish some end, 
 
 And learn in calm study why each storm is^ent. 
 
 Work shoulder to shoulder with us ; do not lament. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 277 
 
 The ways of wisdom lie deep, and only the still, persevering 
 explorer finds them in company with his angel assistants. 
 
 LECTURE LXII. 
 
 "weighty reasons why conflicts and confusions are the 
 present issues of spiritualism." 
 
 A time full of magnificent meaning is the present time. The 
 commissioned actors and authors from the conditional platform are 
 doing and must do their work. This is the lawful time. All the 
 seven sides must be presented through mortal agencies, prompted by 
 these invisibles, that is, the conditions from the evolutions of the 
 chaotic mass as they in inanimate mixtures repel each other, and again 
 unite as force and matter changed by the ethers and cemented by 
 the most subtle emanations of the natural and spiritual beings and 
 elements. 
 
 It is no small undertaking to give to mortals the facts clearly on 
 such vital subjects through mortals. Blurs are cast so often over the 
 clear truth that it hardly can be seen beneath them and recognized. 
 It is therefore the duty of every medium employed for the purpose 
 of producing these evidences and truths to be sincere, sober-minded, 
 prayerful, reserved, and, the most of* all, unassuming. Let none 
 think more highly of themselves than they deserve, or feel hurt and 
 offended when exceptions are taken to what is produced through 
 them. 
 
 Firstly. Because, owing to mental defects, there is often a short- 
 coming in the aims of the invisible workers. 
 
 Secondly. The worldly vision and senses too often view spirit- 
 ual things and truths in a worldly light, and weigh with finite 
 minds what is of infinite bearing, and thus wrongly applied. 
 
 For this reason we would ask all who come in question during 
 these necessary contests to not pronounce judgment too hastily upon 
 anything, but consider well all sides of the issue, to be enabled thus 
 detect the design of each issue. 
 
 It is a truth that requires the combined and concentrated action 
 of the seven master-builders, who each, though in seeming opposition, 
 performed his own part. Yet they worked in harmony, since there 
 was but one plan, and the combined display of will and wisdom was 
 to perfect that plan under the guidance of and the strict adherence to 
 
278 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 the Supreme Ruler to the highest principles which are the ultimatum 
 of all which is and by which all is created. 
 
 Therefore, if these master-builders, despite all the display of 
 opposition and enmity, work in mutual concord, does it then not fol- 
 low that all these conflicting productions and irregular parcels of 
 truth are in harmony with the desired design, and that the most 
 powerful display of creative and transforming energy is for the chief 
 end of brightening and illuminating mortal mentality, and achieving 
 the greatest possible good for the greatest number in the shortest 
 space of time. 
 
 The good achieved is not always seen and felt on earth, but the 
 fruits of these labors last for use and enjoyment throughout an end- 
 less eternity. 
 
 No one is born without a purpose. All are to represent some- 
 thing, and to do a part, whether they perform their task well or not. 
 All will begin to see and realize when they near the river which lies 
 between the physical and immortal worlds, if they do not before. 
 
 Let us implore all who will hear us to study and learn while 
 they yet sojourn here what their life purpose is, and then try hard to 
 comply with that purpose for their own salvation and the furthering 
 of universal progress and liberty. 
 
 This is the blessed time of which poets have sung, and seers 
 have spoken of, — the grand review of all, which, during the periods 
 of this eternity have had a display. 
 
 Many who have toiled and fought with adverse conditions while 
 they lived, and strove to proclaim that which, to them, seemed as 
 truth, but died in a worldly sense and left their tasks unfinished, they 
 will now, as they are commissioned and permitted, work upon such 
 organisms as are congenial with theirs, and compel thus, as it were, 
 their desires to become physically manifest, so that they will in com- 
 mon with all representatives have a hearing. 
 
 True, there are many who should have a hearing, but who do not. 
 
 The courts of human judgment are thus commissioned from 
 finite courts above to give a trial due to all these conflicting state- 
 ments, and decide according to their understanding of the truth, and 
 their ability in this sense. But it follows that while these persons 
 are placed in such positions in such times for special and important 
 labors, and their office legalized, they can only be active so long as 
 they fill their place as expected and required. 
 
 Therefore, it behooves all who have a special calling to be truly 
 devoted to it in order to acquire all possible knowledge upon any and 
 all questions, to compare the conflicting parts, and sound in different 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 279 
 
 ways the mental bearing of the testimony so as to ascertain whether 
 it gives a true sound, or whether it is but an imitation of some known 
 metal foreign to the individual producing the sounds. 
 
 Truly, if you sift closely, and keep your eyes and brain clear, 
 you will perceive that by some there is given forth a loud sound 
 and an eloquent display not at all in keeping with truth, and is thus 
 unworthy of being tolerated, while others keep silence and do not 
 make as much display as they should. They do not boldly strike 
 their soul strings and give forth shrill sounds to the world, because 
 too sacred is each chord to them, and is, therefore, but lightly 
 touched. In this you have the reasons why conflicts are the issues of 
 today, and all who are brought in question should take this well to 
 heart and strive to give no impure sounds, and to assume nothing 
 which is not legally their own, and thus not their privilege to 
 produce. 
 
 All who are the judge and jury acting upon conflicting issues 
 should remember that there is a great responsibility connected with 
 such a calling, and that it is an absolute demand that they should 
 study each issue and compare it well with every standard that is 
 know T n to them before pronouncing a decision for or against them, as 
 these earthly records are kept for comparison with the records kept 
 in Heaven, also with all the records of other nations who have lived 
 and fled from earth's planes, and thus to mete just rewards to those 
 living in this blessed as^e and time, and also those w T ho lived in more 
 benighted conditions. According to privileges and mental develop- 
 ment rewards and punishments are levied. 
 
 It behooves all, then, in complying with these truths to tell 
 frankly that while the out-pouring of the spirit upon all flesh is so 
 powerful at this time, and there never was such a time of spirit bap- 
 tism before, also the mental regulations and mental capacity average 
 a more complete weight in a finite sense than ever before. Intuition 
 from spirit to spirit is almost accessible to desires according to 
 the use of the plan. Reason, too, has quite a respectable growth. 
 Yet, after all, the scales tip when the nations of the present and 
 of ancient times are placed in the scales. The latter manifested 
 according to their mental growth, and general understanding of 
 things, better principles, and a more true devotion to deity. It is 
 principle, then, which is found wanting, and which is buried beneath 
 deceit and selfishness. It is not because these people do not know 
 what true principle and moral culture is that they are found wanting. 
 No ! Self-interest and natural inclination are the enemies which are 
 tolerated and blight their prospects for a bountiful harvest in the 
 
280 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 future. Many prefer having the precious now, and thoughtlessly 
 risk the far more precious future at a perishing and remorse-bringing 
 expense. Many would like to be morally pure, yet do not arise 
 against temptation, and often commit themselves in many ways with 
 a better knowledge and with the voice of conscience crying loudly 
 within for a differently-executed brain and nerve force so as to dare 
 to be true to self, to humanity, and to God. 
 
 No nobler cause was ever espoused by mortals than that of aid- 
 ing in every way the lowly and down-trodden of humanity to uplift 
 them. That it requires a great deal of hard labor and humiliation is 
 true, but through this comes the reward. 
 
 The investment of mind, labor, and means to aid the suffering in 
 their physical condition, and throw the light from Heaven on their 
 darkened paths, is a better investment than giving for usury. The 
 heavenly treasury is ever good, neither dates nor records are lost. 
 Capitalizing in such ways is sure, and when all grows dim to the 
 physical eye, and the mortal is transformed and clothed with immor- 
 tality, then all this bright harvest is ready to' be reaped for those who 
 have labored faithfully in the vineyard while they journeyed on 
 earth. 
 
 In conclusion to all this I say, while conflicts are having now 
 their lawful season in regard to spiritual productions, it is a time of 
 great importance, and all flesh is being severely tried, because much 
 is produced wearing a garb of truth, while it is but an imitation and 
 a mockery. Therefore never regret testing the spirits and the mor- 
 tals upon whom they operate, and learn to discern the true and false 
 apart. 
 
 July 7, 1878. 
 
 LECTURE LXEIL 
 
 "If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to 
 you-ward ; 
 
 How that hy revelation He made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote afore in 
 few words ; 
 
 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of 
 Christ."— Ephesians, Ch. hi., verses 2, 3, 4. 
 
 When Paul wrote these epistles to his friends, he ever reminded 
 them of the way in which he was called to become a minister or an 
 apostle to the Gentiles, and how he learned by revelations the mys- 
 tery of Christ. 
 
 That Paul had a vision, and was in that way called to his duties, 
 
COMPILATION CF SPIRIT LECTURES. 281 
 
 we know, and it is that which he refers to. Being a very mediumis- 
 tic subject, he learned from this same power that had appeared to 
 him, by revelation, the mystery of Christ, and then preached those 
 truths which were revealed to him, and stated them in his several 
 epistles as near as he could. The authority and the style of the 
 pharisaical circumscription tinged each message, for having been 
 reared and schooled in that he could not rid himself so fully that he 
 could make an allowance for improvement upon what was received, 
 but thought it the ultimatum of revelations, the all-sufficient method 
 for religious training. He depicted with his keen eye of perception 
 the man of a regenerated heart, and the one in his purely natural 
 state, and laid down the rules for church discipline according to his 
 own acquired wisdom, drawing from the revelations which had been 
 made to him, and endeavoring to fulfill the work to which he was 
 called by the heavenly messenger who, in a vision, had appeared 
 to him. 
 
 These works and statements of Paul have been looked upon 
 with much reverence by all Christendom, and he has been followed 
 too closely in the various rules of church discipline, for some of 
 these rules are not supported by heavenly authority, and were not to 
 be stated as an ultimatum, but in the order of the finite degrees 
 which are given to changes according as strength of mind is acquired 
 by the inhabitants of earth. 
 
 We do not state this as finding fault with Paul or his works, but 
 as duty, for the reason that there are many wrong ideas to be 
 removed from the minds of men which were caused by these state- 
 ments, which were defined in their meaning, but not according to the 
 design of Paul's mission to and among the Gentiles. 
 
 Let us see how far the mystery of Christ had been revealed to 
 Paul, and then compare*t with the revelations made unto us by this 
 same power, namely, Christ himself. 
 
 Paul says : " Christ is the only begotten of the Father, and that 
 Christ lived and died for the purpose of redeeming mankind by effect- 
 ing a reconciliation between God and men." He speaks of the dif- 
 ferent gifts, and of the spirit with which mortals are gifted, or rather 
 that which can be awakened to action in mortals, it should have been, 
 for all mortals are gifted with these divine attributes, but not in all 
 can these powers of the in-dwelling spirit be brought into action. 
 Only in the marked ones who, according to heavenly issues, shall be 
 instruments in the hands of angels to diffuse the light on earth, and 
 the knowledge brought by these angels and infused in these awakened 
 and receptive mortals. 
 
282 COMPILATION OF SPIKIT LECTURES. 
 
 That part of the mystery of Christ which was revealed to Paul 
 in his day was enough for that time, and by it to prepare the world 
 for more complete revelations. But in our day more has been 
 revealed, and the mystery of Christ has been explained so fully that 
 there remains no mystery when we understand what has been taught 
 and written to us. This cannot be said of the revelations which Paul 
 had received, for in many churches and by thousands of educated 
 ministers, this mystery spoken of has been explained ever since, and 
 to no comprehensible purpose, for now, as the fuller revelations are 
 given, the people, do not understand them, and are as unwilling to 
 receive as though there had been no training in the degrees of hope 
 centered in the faith of these truths preached of Jesus and the apos- 
 tles, which was all a preparatory work for the time when the full 
 knowledge thereof should be given. 
 
 What a great division there is yet in the rising sighs from mor- 
 tals and from nature, which finds company with the sighs and long- 
 ings of those w T ho people the immoral worlds. What one party 
 wishes to come quickly, others wish afar off ; and still others wish 
 for upheavals, that they might be aided in their special desires, and 
 the masses wish for annihilation, and others have no thought of any- 
 thing higher than the gratification of their natural appetites. These, 
 among all, are the lowest grade of beings in human shape, for they 
 have not advanced from the level of the beast, and will not change so 
 quickly that they can come to rest in the present eternity. 
 
 When w r e view these conditions, as stated, in the mind realms of 
 mortals, what can we say other than what we have said, that the 
 great amount of labor expended in training mortals in the degrees 
 spoken of as preparatory to and for the present revelations of this 
 enacted dispensation ? We say that the work was not well done, for 
 only from the harvest we are reaping can w*e speak and give credit. 
 The harvest does not turn out well. The tares sown in among the 
 wheat have smothered the good almost entirely. These tares are the 
 works of men's suppositions and comments on the fragments of the 
 divine records and revelations as taught by Moses, by the prophets, 
 and by Jesus and His apostles. All other works rank with profane 
 history unto this da} 7 . 
 
 The works given now are fulfillments of those old-time prophe- 
 cies, as well as testimonies of the labors of the common review, and 
 they can stand any test because they are the divine issue, and are 
 born 01 God ; and the revelations which are made to us are from 
 Him from whom Paul claims he learned through revelations the 
 mystery concerning Him. Then, this being so, what is the duty of 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 283 
 
 the hour ? Are we to hang up our arms, with which we are provided 
 from on high to battle with in these conflicts of indifferent and unset- 
 tled opinions ? No, never. When the reasons are given, and clearly 
 shown (as in this they are), why mortals resist the works of the angels 
 on earth, then we must consider this, and not grow faint nor weary in 
 our efforts to teach the people the revelations made to us, and how 
 we have learned the mystery of Jesus Christ, of the Father, and of 
 the universe. 
 
 Now, says the worldly-minded critic : " Those are mind fancies, 
 imaginations, and are given as truth for the benefit of those who 
 make such claims. It is all a humbug, and is not to be noticed by 
 those in the Church fold." 
 
 Here it is, they thus prove themselves so that their testimony can 
 be gathered by the reapers from the celestial climes, and placed on 
 file against them. Even so that the works expended brought no 
 good fruit, lest they would be exceedingly glad to see the promise of 
 faith brought to them from on high. Then the time would be under- 
 stood which is now in the various works done on earth by the angels 
 and mortals, by which is changed the former appearance of Heaven 
 and earth. 
 
 The Heavens will be rolled back as a canvas, and there will be 
 a mighty noise when this ia done. There is no real passing away 
 meant of neither Heaven nor earth, but only a changing of orders. 
 The canvas spoken of is only a temporary construction, which is 
 changeable. On it are the marks of all the labors done in this eter- 
 nity, and as these are divided off, and all beings justly rewarded, this 
 canvas will be rolled back, and another will be placed which is 
 already woven, and awaits the long-wished for change. 
 
 When the combined labors of our eternity can be declared fin- 
 ished, the roaring which the prophets have spoken of in regard to this 
 change issues mostly from the breath of the rebellious mortals. This 
 breath is collected, and when the time for it arrives, it is let go forth 
 as a mighty voice, by which are frightened all the adverse. Yet it is 
 nothing more nor less than their own breath against them, not the 
 anger of the Most High God, as has been wrongly taught by men, 
 who have these opinions because they supposed and desired it to be 
 so. But these are very like < many other teachings, altogether false, 
 no fragment of truth about it. It is owing to facts like these, which 
 are plainly seen by the religious teachers, that they so powerfully 
 resist the heavenly issue. And why ? Only to make their remorse 
 greater when by lawful compulsion these facts are made bare to the 
 gaze of all mortals who do not willfully close their eyes against them. 
 
284 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 Too many plead "that the people do not want to be embar- 
 rassed while they are at work on earth. They will do right, and 
 serve God, and harm no one. It would shake them from off their 
 footing upon which they have stood so long, and where they have 
 felt so safe, if they were to confess that what has been done or 
 taught was wrong." They cannot do " that." 
 
 What a sad plea ! It is nothing to be humbled before mortals 
 who all err, and none are perfect in no degree of the many who 
 belong to the finite orders, in which all mortals are to be trained, 
 also to be punished for the trespasses committed against lawful 
 decrees. If you are shown that an idea you had so long loved was 
 false, why not confess at once and make it right, as you should do ? 
 Behold the truth, and see that all the lessons which had been given 
 you were as proverbs, as parables, and as pictures, which only faintly 
 represented the reality. 
 
 No one need fear about the platform occupied by them, for if it 
 was the true Rock of Ages, a change of ideas according to heavenly 
 regulations will not change the footing, nor will the hoped-for prom- 
 ise be changed thereby. The promise will only be fulfilled. The 
 rock under foot remains as firm and unchangeable as ever. The 
 anchor of hope is not removed from the tottering mortal frame, but 
 only brought closer, and will be felt more powerfully as a staff of 
 protection for the reason that God provides strength for all of His 
 true children according to their need, but the wayward and preten- 
 tious He leaves unsupported, that they may exercise their own 
 strength and wisdom, and learn in the hour of trial their weakness, 
 and how deficient is their wisdom and their strength. 
 
 This holds good both in the churches and out of them, for there 
 are good true mortals outside and in the churches, also bad and mali- 
 cious ones, which is an established fact even to the world's people. 
 
 In the chapter Paul says he was made a minister by this power 
 to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to have all men see 
 what is the fellowship of the mystery which, from the beginning, had 
 been hid in God. In this Paul did not succeed well, for the mys- 
 tery is not understood by all men, nor even by a few. This mystery 
 was revealed to us, and given to you in the chapter of the " Creative 
 Compact." In it the whole mystery is plainly stated, and further 
 revelations on it are not needed. There are parts belonging to it 
 which have been revealed to us, but not yet to the world ; but the 
 controlling spirit says : " Not yet can it be revealed," for there are 
 marks made for all important transactions, and when that mark is 
 reached, then it is the proper time for each revelation, as the finger of 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUEES. 285 
 
 the great world regulator points on to each mark, and bids the work- 
 ers to go forth and compel forth the effects on earth. Then will be 
 poured forth inspiration, and these truths which are eternal will come 
 to men, and be infused in their respective minds. Then these truths 
 can be declared and they will be expected, and truly there will be 
 much wonder for all who ever sought for wonders in the rich field of 
 spirit out-pouring. But these wonders will not suit their fleshly crav- 
 ings, therefore, they will be perplexed and feel their guilt how that 
 they meant to make heavenly things subservient to earthly purposes, 
 to achieve, by the power of spirits, selfish ends, and to gratify the 
 natural instincts. Such was never the design of these realized trans- 
 actions by a heavenly power on earth. But to reap earth, to seal the 
 elect, to reveal the facts which must be revealed, and rectify errors, is 
 this work done ; also for an elementary change which is rapidly being 
 effected, and for which actually occurred the materialization of Jesus 
 Christ, for so did He tangibly come in contact with the low-matter 
 grades, by which to cause a desired and necessary change. 
 
 He will appear again more powerfully, and before more wit- 
 nesses, and then it will be felt on earth, and the design of these 
 labors will be seen by the people. 
 
 While the angels are at work dividing mixed elementary condi- 
 tions, making a way for them to come to us, we cannot do so much, 
 but we can ponder on what is given us from time to time, and note 
 what is brought to our illumined vision. For by taking notes of 
 what is clairvoyantly seen, it will be proven that it was the actual 
 work of heavenly messengers that our spiritual eyes are opened by 
 them to see it, and that the false assertion may be wiped away for- 
 ever that it is mind phantasy or imagination. 
 
 "We can teach (if there are any who will be taught) the truths 
 which are given to us by the angels. But our work is done mostly 
 in another way than by teaching. The angels are enabled to come 
 through us right into the elements of mortal degrees. They do the 
 work ; we have nothing to do but to be true and faithful. This we 
 will be by the constant aid given us from the God-spirit ; then when 
 we are called to labor with them, and have our parts given us on 
 earth, we will do what is required and fear nothing of the world, for 
 mortals have no power but what is given them from on high. They 
 cannot crush the rising sun which is managed outside of their power. 
 
 Spiritualism in its present attitude and design compares favor- 
 ably with the sunrise of heavenly glories which shall be seen and felt 
 on earth by the spiritual faculties in mortals, as the natural sun is 
 seen and felt by the natural faculties of seeing and feeling. 
 
286 COMPILATION OF SPLTLIT LECTURES. 
 
 A bright glow is spread over our earth, and it is done by the 
 ministering spirits who are God's messengers to the children of earth, 
 while other spirits do different works which, according to issue, need 
 to be done. 
 
 Let us ponder upon the glorious visitations which have been 
 made to us, and upon the grand revelations which we have from 
 time to time been blessed to receive, that we may grow strong in this 
 knowledge which is ours, and every one of us be able to subdue an 
 army of unbelievers and doubters in a conflict of unsettled ideas. 
 Let us keep ever before us what is the fellowship of the mystery of 
 Christ, which from the beginning had been hid in God. For it 
 means us and all others who believe and are strong to grasp the 
 truths from the beginning. 
 
 This fellowship is that we are all the children of God, and have 
 an inheritance in our Father's house, and that it will be ours ever. 
 Though we may stray from the rules and become captives for a sea- 
 son, yet we all will be safely brought home sometime, and receive our 
 portion as reserved for us, and none can claim what belongs to another. 
 Each has a title for an inheritance, and that claim remains theirs for- 
 ever, and the chances to improve these possessions and the material 
 with which to improve them abound. This is the promise of the 
 Father, and it is the fellowship which all have with Jesus Christ in 
 God, our common Father. 
 
 LECTURE LXIV. 
 
 " SUPERSTITIONS AND MYTHICAL RELIGIONS." 
 
 Gradually, in the evolving courses of nature, mind, which is and 
 was introduced into matter, becomes nature, has its birth in a]l times 
 and in all minds, also in all products of nature. 
 
 Mythical forms of power which governed developments in the 
 immature states will be explained in the time when the brains of 
 mortals have grown strong enough under such infusions and treat- 
 ment to receive stronger truths, thus to become strong to give forth 
 the innate deposits and collections that they can be brought before 
 the courts of mortals. It is required of them to comment upon all 
 matters thus produced according to their understanding ; to reason 
 upon mind productions, as well as upon tangible things which can be 
 enjoyed, is a result of these mind infusions. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 287 
 
 All questions when properly tried before the bar must be decided 
 according to mortal judgment is a rule which has been enforced from 
 the beginning of time, that thereby the marks of testimonials are 
 made upon nature's canvas to have the true progress of all ages there 
 to demonstrate to .the millions who must be taught thus, who must 
 see this, and have all evidence before they can be taught their first 
 lessons in their essential marches. 
 
 This mind force, without which the riches of nature could not be 
 enjoyed or utilized, must be recognized. When this is done, then 
 earth's people will be impelled to go farther, viz., to reason upon the 
 future from the testimonies of the past and from the effects and evi- 
 dences of the present. What will be the intelligent decision ? It 
 cannot be anything more or less than this : that mind, of which 
 only quantities are diffused through mortal brains, and thus acted 
 upon matter, could have wrought so many beautiful things, and pro- 
 vided the wandering spirits in mortal bodies with so much they could 
 love and enjoy, then truly that mind has provided infinitely more in 
 the other world for the enjoyment of every Gocl-born being. 
 
 But what about superstitions and their relations to mythical 
 religions ? We will explain. All mythical religions are and have 
 been infused by a supposed not a real God, that is, a something power- 
 ful but impersonal did the infusing. In such degrees we term it 
 training schools, and superstitious acts are in those degrees common, 
 and have been great factors of importance whereby substances were 
 abstracted and brought from undeveloped human brains as mixed 
 masses, and were divided again by such factors and arranged in 
 classical order. 
 
 Many superstitious assertions which are sneered at are and have 
 been as real as the sun. The sun is visible to mortals, perceptible in 
 his effects, yet his power over the world is not understood. Effects 
 of acts which must be termed magical, because too subtle in such 
 degrees to admit of analyzing and explaining to mortals, have caused 
 superstitions, and have given rise to mythical religions. These works 
 and practices are frequent in all imperfect degrees, and are often used 
 to a great extent. 
 
 As long as conditional gatherings are going on, and all abstrac- 
 tions taken from mortals and all nature in its divisions are brought 
 together, so long will magical practices be possible and superstition 
 will exist, because these indefinable conditions are pressed by such 
 acts to come forth from all dark recesses, and are received by unde- 
 veloped brains, .wrought out again by compulsion and put in shape. 
 Works of this nature are rated in heathen degrees, and all who become 
 
288 COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTURES. 
 
 tools therein are undeveloped and not rated under covenant law, and 
 are outside the gates. 
 
 We do not wish to be understood that all those are consigned 
 to perdition. No ! They are in the natural ranks in accord with 
 the processes of evolving from matter, and work in the degrees to 
 which they belong according to their composition ; as they develop 
 and their powers of mind are enhanced, they are taken out of such 
 conditions and purified until they see and know what all they did or 
 what they worshiped implied. 
 
 The God-head in its triune character, as it was held before the 
 Christian world and people, has made its manifest marks to all eyes 
 who looked for it. This three-fold character is nothing inconceivable 
 or incomprehensible, but is instilled in mortals and is abounding 
 within and without as a result of its action. Many try to assert that 
 we cannot comprehend the nature of God or understand His charac- 
 ter. Why not, child of earth, when His attributes and principles are 
 so thoroughly implanted in you, and even His laws indelibly stamped 
 upon the tissues which compose your brain, your reason, your ideality, 
 and conscience ? It is, therefore, a realization which no intelligent 
 being should hesitate for a moment even to see and admit. Then 
 why not grasp the whole truth of multiform characters which blend 
 in the God-head, which, although represented by emblems, are never- 
 theless real spiritual beings full of wisdom and power ? Then how 
 much more real is and must be the central figure of the God-head ? 
 
 Who is the power from whom all power flows ? 
 
 Who is the light which into all worlds goes ? 
 
 Who is reality, lest all is sham, 
 
 Whom the world-wise argue on with clivers names ? 
 
 They grant that God exists, can be a cause, a power, 
 
 That keeps remote from mortal plans, have dower ; 
 
 But in the realms aloof from whence men aim 
 
 To climb to attain to riches and to fame. 
 
 But not so, child of earth, God's almighty power 
 
 Is not in emblems or in shadows without life. 
 
 His form it is complete, has dower, 
 
 All eyes shall see, all adverse must submit. 
 
 All forms once mythical will through this strife 
 
 Be brought to view, explained as real, and having life. 
 
 Let all the world-wise stop and consider, even upon the very 
 facts that they are impelled by irresistible forces to review, history 
 back as far as there is any, and so bring in question those persons 
 who were the physical functionaries for a real or supposed deity, and 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 289 
 
 what mode of religious training had in that wise been launched on 
 mental spaces and enforced into practical uses, and is and has been 
 styled as "Mythical Religions." 
 
 If these religions were, as is asserted, mythical, then the authors 
 thereof were truly myths. But if they were realities their force 
 lives and is felt, and made manifest to the wandering senses of mor- 
 tals, but they resist it because they do not wish to be convinced of 
 their grave mistakes, or be driven to a retreat in their presumptuous 
 declarations. 
 
 But here on these points of query we shall cause a work of 
 wonder to be done, which also belongs to the work of review, where- 
 with shall be brought to rectitude the many trials which are now 
 before mortal councils, and which can only be settled by immortal 
 powers and beings. 
 
 This work shall be so that those who were the deities for each 
 separate religious infusion in their lawful degrees that they shall 
 manifest their power, and also manifest themselves, and convince 
 earth's people that they are realities although they stand as lights and 
 emblems represented in a stellar group, yet they are real personal 
 spirits, and will hold their positions in a degree which is granted 
 to each one of them by the All-Power under and for which they 
 labored. 
 
 Now to the Christian era and religion the dispensation which 
 was performed in so simple yet strictly lawful way the world's 
 wise will find enough to do to prove that All-Pervading Reality, who 
 is the author and dispenser of the Christian religion, a myth. And 
 yet since the time has come for which all nature and all beings who 
 have life have wished for, and we are taxing the mind investments we 
 have loaned, we find no ready tribute, but much strife. 
 
 Worldly intelligence not wishing to be informed of the truths 
 which are as eternal as time, not wishing to own a living, acting 
 Ruler, raises a war-cry against Omnipotence, and calls everything a 
 myth, only to prove the prophecy given through St. John, Revelations, 
 eh. xvii., 14th verse: "These shall make war with the Lamb, and 
 the Lamb shall overcome them, for lie is Lord of lords and King of 
 kings ; and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and 
 faithful." 
 
 Let everyone who hears understand, for now these prophecies 
 are fulfilled before the eyes of earth's people. Read and learn for 
 yourselves who these are who make war against the Lamb, and con- 
 sider that now the war is on earth, and this conquest of so great a 
 magnitude in its bearing to all creatures and creation is soon to be ended. 
 
290 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 The strongest force these rebellious wayfarers can take cogni- 
 zance of is the mystic fabric of historical collections, which, being 
 devoid of the spirit, is truly hollow enough, so they decry as myths 
 the religions which were of great use in the developing process for 
 mankind. But this being the strongest force which can have action 
 upon their organisms, it is evident that those who had their moral and 
 religious training intrusted to them gave only the letter. It was the 
 only offered meat and milk for babes and growing children, hence the 
 letter without the spirit made no impression upon the innate God- 
 given powers. 
 
 Now they are worked upon by atmospheric force, and take it in 
 readily, and are impelled thereby to do as is realized in the present 
 conquest of opinions upon truths which are eternal, also upon those 
 through whom at various times and ages of the world these truths 
 were given for the benefit of all living mortals. 
 
 Had the spirit ever been allowed access to mortal brains this 
 void in the mind realms would not be today, and those who are the 
 physical workers of research for review and decisions could be worked 
 upon by the authors by whose power the word, the letter, came into 
 the world. But this life power within has been sadly neglected in 
 the said way of teaching, else these misconceptions about mythical 
 religions, which are a result of the empty-letter research, would have 
 no room given them. 
 
 Now we come to Jesus the crucified and resurrected, the dis- 
 penser of grace and the Christian religion. Against Him these here- 
 in-described are waging a war, will not even grant Him a historical 
 existence, and those who .admit and are satisfied by the letter that 
 such a man lived, taught, worked miracles, was crucified, and resur- 
 rected as recorded, yet it is looked at by them as a fable which they 
 (so they say) cannot nor will not believe in a strict spiritual sense, 
 and imply and want no argument with any issue for claims of said 
 Jesus. "He lias only been a medium," they say ; "only a man, not 
 as good as many of the great men of today, or at least no better 
 than many who in this age of advanced progress are seated at the 
 bar to be judges to decide what is error and what truth." When 
 questions regarding this Jesus are tried, all these say decidedly as did 
 the Jews : " 'Away with Him! ' We wish to have nothing to do with 
 Him ! Give us a common-sense religion in which every man can do 
 as he wishes in accord with his reason and will power." This is the 
 substance which constitutes spiritualistic desires in general. This 
 they say, and boldly assert, is revealed from Heaven to earth's chil- 
 dren at this day. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 291 
 
 » 
 
 Spiritualism (all ranked in these degrees say) came into the 
 world as a world savior. "Hence, away with the Head-type, wo 
 want no spiritual leader nor guide. We accept none. "We hold con- 
 verse with the spirits of the departed whom we know. Our hopes 
 for immortal life have been confirmed by these returning millions of 
 spirits departed from our earth, and we defy traditional claims. 
 Down with the heavenly hierarchy and their councils. We only 
 admit what w T e receive, what our own reason can grasp ; we will be 
 free, untrammeled by any force or authority claiming supremacy." 
 Such is the unwise talk of those who are preparing fuel for that great 
 day which is close at hand. Woe to all who, when they are worked 
 upon by the spirit, who have produced the letter of which they boast, 
 and they pay no heed to that spirit, and are found wanting, yea, even 
 those who wrote the records of antiquity. They are all active 
 because wrong constructions are placed upon lettered statements, and 
 error placed against truth ; but error will be crushed into oblivion, 
 and all who uphold error shall have much woe and remorse. 
 
 How many are there of the millions of people who now inhabit 
 earth who are true followers of Jesus Christ? The number is small 
 compared with those who deny Him. Yet the majority have heard 
 the gospel. Those who were taught and rejected it are classed with 
 the heathen in those degrees where their real standing has placed 
 them. ' 
 
 It is a stubborn fact that those who admit spirit return and 
 labor, the majority of them are taken captives by the adverse power, 
 and as many mediums as have been developed for use in different 
 works, but few can be brought to a finality in work, for they do not 
 meet approbation. They are mostly all found wanting in principle 
 and true devotion to God when they are tried and worked upon by 
 the adversaries for said purpose, also for the purpose of being purified 
 and to become fit co-workers to stand side by side with the gods if 
 they overcome temptations and are true, and truly devoted to God. 
 
 Many works which are in the world now before the people as a 
 result of spirit out-pouring upon mortals arc not what have been 
 claimed for them, yet they were all necessary in the bringing forth of 
 claims to be considered at the bar, and after due council decided 
 upon. It is what we term the universal review, and in these labors 
 much magical art has been displayed and many superstitious acts of 
 old have been revived, have been unduly and unlawfully indulged in. 
 But all this is to prove that they did accompany the training proc- 
 esses, and were, therefore, common in the ages of antiquity, and were 
 truly and closely allied to what is styled mythical religions, but were 
 
292 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 not used in the Christian era for the Christian religion, is not com- 
 posed of shadows and mists, hence there have been no superstitions 
 in it. He to whom the Christians were pointed to as the author of 
 their religion was known, and His traits of character were known to 
 earth's people, hence their worship, was to be tendered to a known 
 not to an unknown god, for He declared : "I and the Father are 
 one," and all were to follow directly His precepts and example 
 openly and in secret, to be upright and serve God and humanity with 
 the same zeal, to be ever wholly devoted to God. They were com- 
 manded to love one another, and to bear one another's burdens, as it 
 is an honor to the Creator and an acceptable worship to aim to lighten 
 other's woes and relieve suffering in all possible ways according to 
 means and knowledge. Then all would be more truly happy, each 
 in their own sphere and condition. 
 
 These are facts which exist and will be proven, and cannot be 
 argued away. Therefore the Christian religion cannot be classed 
 with so-called mythical religions as has been attempted in this day, 
 nor can Jesus Christ be proven a myth, as a figure of the zodiac with- 
 out life and power. 
 
 " Behold, I come ; all eyes shall see' the martyr of Jerusalem ; I 
 and the Father are yet one." "We will manifest and show how this 
 can be when the new Jerusalem descends." 
 
 October 1, 1880. 
 
 LECTURE LXV. 
 
 PASSING UNDER THE ROP. 
 
 Life on earth, from infancy to old age, is in a measure a blind 
 march. The traveler, ignorant of the laws which regulate the meth- 
 ods of travel on each route which may be pursued, goes on without 
 measuring the dangers that might be encountered. If he conjectures 
 at all it is on the tangible side of the journey. The physical 
 expenses of each adventure are carefully considered, but the- most 
 important part is neglected, that is, the conditional. So he goes 
 right into forbidden paths, radically interfering with the laws and 
 rules of the route, as if a traveler would persistently aim to drive his 
 team across a railroad while the train was in motion ; you know the 
 result of such folly would be disastrous. 
 
 So it is when men walk on grounds upon which they should not, 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 293 
 
 or into conditions wtiich they should not disturb, because there they 
 are actually working and preparing a masterpiece of labor for uni- 
 versal prosperity, and this bold, interfering traveler breaks this labor 
 by trespassing ; then certainly the rod is raised above him, and he is 
 chastened for the offenses committed. He should not complain when 
 failure in business and all manner of difficulties overtake him. He 
 should rather thank God that he is considered worthy of restraint, 
 and checked in order to make the punishments less. Offenses against 
 law cannot be forgiven nor washed away, neither any offenses against 
 the Holy Spirit. The first must be amended and made good by suf- 
 fering, the latter by the out-growth of the ills termed sin, by growing 
 in purity. 
 
 The traveler on his way from time to eternity does not often 
 walk in the open path where no rod hangs overhead, but in all paths 
 that are arched with mists. In the mists are rods, and in seemingly 
 fair traveling pursuits the rods are overhead, yet not applied for a 
 season in order to ascertain how venturous a man's proclivities will 
 make him, whether he will behold the dangers and see the fact that 
 he is on forbidden ground, and retreat to thus make his punishment 
 light, for if he does not the rod is severely used according to the 
 willfulness of- his offenses. Although the path is misty, the clouds 
 overhead causing dimness of vision and the traveler knows nothing 
 of the rights of the road, yet he does not remain ignorant. These 
 rights are made known to him in various ways, and if he harms indi- 
 vidual or universal labors by his conduct, he is made to know these 
 facts. I repeat, for there is great labor constantly expended by 
 angels, to show mortals these ills which must react upon them accord- 
 ing to the extent pursued. Then, when this is accomplished and the 
 mists are cleared away, the light then shines on the path, and above 
 the sky is clear so that the objects are discernible, also the facts that 
 not so should the journey be pursued, — the love for forbidden things, 
 the desire to see how far the path can be traveled, and some even 
 delight to see how much harm they can do and have a fleeting 
 moment of wicked joy and sinful pleasure. Need they complain 
 when the rod is applied and severely used even in as various ways as 
 the offenses committed incurred the penalties thus payable; by chasten- 
 ings, which is passing under the rod? 
 
 ''Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth," for it is better to be 
 punished with the rod according to physical measures with the weap- 
 ons of the flesh. Blessed is he who is thus chastened and caused to 
 repent in order to escape the severer punishment in the life beyond. 
 Mortals pass under the rod in various ways daily, hourly. What i i 
 
294 c o:\ipilation or spirit lectures. 
 
 it, a cross to bear, and a scathing with the rod, without which no 
 impression could be made on the mind and heart, wherefore the many- 
 ways and various methods to use the rod. These applications to 
 restrain mortals in the pursuit of their physical desires, which are a 
 hindrance to the spirit's growth, are also developing factors made use 
 of according to the spiritual need of each individual to subdue the 
 desires of the flesh and bring forth the better desires of the spirit. 
 
 Death is as natural as a pleasant transplanting season for every 
 spirit that has roamed awhile on earth. Yet most mortals are sadly 
 afflicted, and consider it as a severe passing under the rod when a 
 member of their family is removed from their midst. It has, how- 
 ever, a healthful effect on many, and they awaken to their duties 
 concerning the life beyond where ^hose are who were loved and 
 cherished by them. It proves a blessing for the departed and those 
 remaining when thus affected. 
 
 How frequently mortals are visited with sickness. Disease 
 would not exist if the laws pertaining to health and self-regulation 
 were strictly observed, but the majority of mortals do not observe 
 these rules. They eat, drink, and labor not according to their ability 
 or the nerve force of the digestive organs, but according to their appe- 
 tites and desires, then pain is inflicted as a just result for over taxing 
 the system. No one should complain when afflicted with bodily ills, 
 for it is imposition on self that brings the greater portion of them. 
 True, there are some imposed ills which are of a different nature, yet 
 at the same time they are incurred by stepping unawares into nets 
 spread upon the forbidden ground, and all is well when rightly 
 studied, so that those thus afflicted become disciplined and learn to 
 avoid the dangers, and perchance warn others whom they see enter- 
 ing into complicated conditions, and thus become benefactors for 
 which they win great rewards. 
 
 A man passes under the rod when he has put forth his means in 
 an enterprise, has invested his mental and bodily strength for the 
 purpose of making the enterprise a success, yet he does not succeed. 
 Invisible ties are attached, conditions which pull backwards. All 
 efforts are in vain, for the silken thread of a conditional web can do 
 more than all the strength of body and mind of a strong man, or a 
 compact of men. Yet where many are acting in unison these ties can 
 be broken and the path made clear, but would not even then end for 
 good, because not in concord with the law of the advancing order of 
 progress. The fact that all pass under the rod is known by this, that 
 life on earth is never without difficulty. Nay, if it was the life pur- 
 poses would not be sought for, and .many more would altogether miss 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 295 
 
 the object of their life-journey on earth. By the application of the 
 rod, or passing under it when its weight is heavily felt, the mind 
 is often badly perturbed, the nerves are also badly affected, and thus 
 the whole system. In this way the attendant guardians can work to 
 impress on the intuitive plates and on the retina the duties which 
 should be done, even as a picture dimly engraved, but it grows 
 brighter as the nerves become calm and the mind clear, then the one 
 worked upon thinks of new things, sees new things concerning duties 
 and queries, but they do not often attribute this to an invisible 
 operator, but think it all the action of their own mind, which, how- 
 ever, is not the case. It would be well if mortals would learn how 
 all this comes, and why. 
 
 To learn any lessons of great importance you must give your- 
 selves to hard study constantly. There is not a moment which can- 
 not be used for the purpose of solving the problems of life and the 
 duties connected therewith, and also the obstacles that are ever met. 
 Nature is a school, and all business pursuits and the coming in con- 
 tact with different persons will teach the cautious observer. But to 
 become qualified to observe in obscure conditions the causes which 
 produce ills, all should learn from the angels, who, being above and 
 having clear sight, know all these laws, survey, and analyze these 
 conditions. They can teach mortals and raise them above and 
 open their perceptive faculties, that they can see and understand. 
 But it takes much time. It must be made a study instead of an 
 errand for curiosity. There are not many curiosities to learn as you 
 penetrate through the haze into the inner realms of thought and life. 
 You will learn that it requires sincerity of mind and heart to solve 
 the problems which are given to mortals to solve for their benefit. 
 Quite often when the physical proclivities have predominance in the 
 system over the spiritual, such scholars must be taught the lessons 
 they so much need through experience, by passing under the rod and 
 through the crucibles whereby the dross is purged from the system, 
 and they are made fit pupils for the celestial teachers. 
 
 "When the minds have drifted into all studies, yet have mastered 
 none, and conclusively understand none, the individual thus exercised 
 becomes an irritable investigator. If he ventures to investigate spirit 
 teachings, he thinks all the queries of his mind should be answered at 
 once ; he must know of a surety whether they are ministering angels 
 or not, and, if they are, why do they not know all of his desires ? 
 How perplexed he would feel if he could see these ministering angela 
 around him striving to gather the mists from around the principal 
 organs of the mind, in order to liberate nerve force and cause clear 
 
296 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 intuition of that which is said. It is not the teaching which is not 
 clear enough, but it is the brain of the student or observer that is in 
 an unfit state to observe. This is the case with many who start to 
 investigate Spiritualism. They have heard absurd and curious things, 
 and come with the desire to have their curiosity satisfied. 
 
 We say to all who will come here, and to other places all over 
 the world, that they must come humble and sincere, for worldly 
 scholars are, in regard to such knowledge, like infants. They must 
 learn the primary lessons and advance onward and upward, and unless 
 they do so, and pay strict attention to solve all the lessons, they can 
 find no real delight or comfort in this philosophy, demonstrating con- 
 tinued life by the way that angels are the teachers and ministering 
 spirits. 
 
 Many difficulties are thrown in the way of investigators, but it 
 is to probe and try. Mortals must pass under the rod to be schooled, 
 as it is an inevitable law which can only be divested of its severity 
 as mortals learn the laws of their being and of finite rule, so as not to 
 become subjected to punishments chaotically issued. 
 
 Give yourselves truly to be guided by the holy spirit of God, and 
 administered to by the angels of God, then all these things which 
 seem strange and mysterious will be made clear as the angels gain 
 access to your mind and heart. 
 
 Now we hear it said : " Why, then, is not the rod spared to those 
 that are thus taught and are willing followers of spirit teachings ? " 
 We reply : The dross of each system must be cleared away, or else 
 the mortals taught would not be benefited, nor would the angels who 
 teach merit any credit if no spiritual growth or purity of system was 
 attained. Hence it is necessary, and, as before said, the rod serves to 
 develop. Loving kindness applies it. The difficulties are carefully 
 weighed, also the mental strength and the power of outside and phys- 
 ical influences ; these often cause the greater struggle where outside 
 conditions have weighed upon an individual and suppressed the spirit- 
 ual rising of true thoughts and pure aspirations. 
 
 We would feel compensated for our labors if we could impress 
 the truths of continued life on the minds of all who will listen, as it 
 is and will be met with in reality. People cannot leap over great 
 chasms, as many suppose, and leave the lessons all around them 
 untouched. They can never realize such extravagant expectations. 
 Progress means nothing like that. It . means a study advancing in 
 order with the law that regulates the universe. You cannot go by 
 leaps, but gradually, step by step, and you must learn all which in 
 every sphere of this great universe is to be learned, so much at least 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 297 
 
 as the store-house of your mind can take in of all grades ; without 
 this there is no bodily perfection, not even happiness is perfect without 
 this. How, then, could mortals go from earth to Heaven not having 
 learned the lessons of and passed through the intermediate conditions 
 in order to be schooled ? They must pass under the rod, simply 
 because they become unruly and step out of the limits of law and 
 order. This applies to all conditions of life, and by which life is 
 made up and supported ; therefore the first thing is to learn to be 
 orderly, not in one thing, but in all things, — in work, in play, in 
 thought, in conduct, business, studies, and in all which needs to be 
 met, and is part of and makes up life on earth. These finite laws 
 governing physical bodies and life generally can be learned by all 
 mortals if they but study them. Then the great masses of ills can be 
 buried in the dark chasms of the mortal ignorance of good and evil, 
 which object to accomplish, namely, to discern good from evil, and 
 create fields for work, was the design from the beginning ; wherefore 
 effects were produced and offenses caused in order that the cause 
 might have something to work upon. 
 
 Law could not have been made comprehensible to mortals if 
 there were no offenses against the law upon which its power could be 
 manifested and mortals and spirits become schooled so as to realize 
 the law. Hence the various laws and injunctions of laws in which 
 hangs the universe, and by which it is built, kept in motion, and regu- 
 lated. This cannot otherwise be successfully taught than in teach- 
 ing men by experience. Some learn without much difficulty, and 
 economize trouble, if so it may be called. Many things are placed 
 under the head of troubles which should be regarded blessings, and the 
 Giver of all good arifl seeming evil should at all times be thanked for 
 all such gifts, even those which come disguised in seeming troubles, 
 for only thus can the lessons belonging to the rudimental state be 
 learned. 
 
 In the spheres it is not easy to learn anything which belongs to 
 actual earth life. True, millions pass through conditions similar to 
 those on earth to finish an unfinished life of duties belonging to this 
 grade, but their lessons are not as perfect as those who are disciplined 
 on earth, even if the rod is the means by which it is accomplished. 
 See, it all goes according to gradation, and you cannot go into a high 
 school from an infant class. You could not understand correctly the 
 lessons you would hear there, nor analyze them according to the 
 scholarly wisdom in the continued or older worlds. 
 
 To be correct, terms need revision, for the earth planet is the 
 youngest world, and as time passes on other worlds will be formed, 
 
298 COMPILATION or SPIRIT lectures. 
 
 while this planet will be refined enough to be the sphere which the 
 mortals of the new earth will inhabit after the change by natural 
 death. 
 
 Life's journey ever goes on ; there is no resting place on earth 
 for a traveler. Even those are not resting who do not attend to the 
 duties \ devolving upon them by natural compulsion, bat are drifting 
 hither and thither, and incur penalties for which they will realize the 
 applications of the rod. 
 
 Let every pilgrim remember that time has wings, and is swiftly 
 gone, even if life lasts a century, which is seldom realized by the 
 present generation. Even then there are only long accounts of neg- 
 lected opportunities to fill life's purposes at most, while the true 
 objects of life have fled with time, not having been used. Let all 
 mortals consider the importance of their earth life, for so much of 
 future success in advancing in a measure depends upon it. It is 
 therefore precious, and should be put to use. Pilgrims may well say 
 
 of time : 
 
 Time, fleeting time, upon thy wings we ride, 
 By seeming stand-still we make rapid strides ; 
 
 for this is true. Time hurries along, and if we are not prepared to 
 quickly get on when the car of progress passes, we can walk until the 
 kind angel, Death, divides the curtain, and gently releases the spirit 
 from its physical habitation. 
 
 Angels rejoice when travelers come who have become well 
 profited while they sojourned on earth, but when they have not their 
 lot is sad, and the bright faces of the angels are sad likewise. 
 
 Oh, ponder the lessou, flee not from the rod, 
 Refrain from transgression, give glory to God 
 For all which he sends ; but study ere why, 
 For all wrongs repent, grow wiser and try 
 To journey for Zion though a great way it be. 
 
 If you solve well all lessons, you need all time between. 
 Prom earth to Heaven are many stations ; 
 Some you can pass by if on earth are learned the lessons 
 Which are of that sphere a part. 
 
 Yet straight on to Heaven never 
 
 Goes a spirit, for the ethers 
 
 Of celestial climes will not bear 
 
 Coarse material, so you must keep in the rear 
 
 Until purified and schooled, 
 
 For by knowledge rise they higher. 
 
 Study, then, to rise, O mortals, 
 
 And for truth and light aspire. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 299 
 
 Heaven is open, angels come 
 
 To teach mortals of their homes 
 
 In Father's house beyond. 
 
 Follow the angels, they will safely lead you there. 
 
 LECTURE LXVI. 
 
 MATT., Cn. XIII. ; VERSES XLI., XLII., XLIII. 
 
 " The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of Ilia 
 kingdom all things tliat offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into 
 a furnace of lire. Tiiere shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the 
 righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to 
 hear let him hear." 
 
 This saying, from Jesus Himself, in regard to the last time, is 
 now being fulfilled literally, and is being made clear to the children 
 of earth as it is realized by them.. The angels who are sent forth to 
 do this labor of gathering out of the Lord's kingdom all things that 
 offend, and those which work iniquity, also, to bring the word, the 
 truth, and the revelations in regard to each part and parcel of these 
 labors which, in accord with law, must be done on earth prior to the 
 event longed for, when Jesus the Christ of God will assume rule over 
 earth and make it like Heaven, a government of righteousness, 
 where peace and happiness shall fill all bosoms, and woe, want, strife, 
 and inharmony shall be known no more ; a state for which all mor- 
 tals and immortals, great men and women, have labored, and are yet 
 laboring for it to be realized in as short a time as possible. But 
 what do you think are the things that offend, and who are those that 
 work iniquity? Well, friends, among the things that offend are 
 classed foremost deception, practiced in dealings between man and 
 man in business matters, and the securing of positions in order to 
 make financial gains ; also to steal a reputation from the public 
 opinions so as to bring others in the shade, to whom the praise of the 
 people and the position would be due, according to just and open- 
 handed dealing. The tongue of slander is a thing of offense ; intem- 
 perance, licentiousness, cheating in weight and measure, pretentions of 
 true worship, when the true object is only to gain the good will of 
 the people, are offenses; long, wordy prayers are an offense, also an 
 abomination, and will be gathered out of I lis earthly kingdom before 
 the time spoken of shall be physically declared. Among those who 
 work iniquity are many, very many, classed who arc looked upon by 
 
300 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 the world as good, honest people, and successful in business and 
 otherwise, as well as those who are pointed at with the finger of 
 scorn, and a suspicion of their being in league with Satan and his 
 angels, working unclean things, and doing works of iniquity. The 
 people of this world have always been striving for something with 
 which to cover their shame and hide their faults by throwing shades 
 to fall on other mortals or objects, with which to blind and deceive 
 the watchful eyes of the ruling or the influential ones in society. 
 
 The materials also have ever been in the reach of all such peo- 
 ple in accord to their desires, so that they could exercise their own 
 will and inclinations to mark for themselves on the chart the deed, so 
 to say, for their future inheritance or reward. So is it now in this 
 last quarter of the last cycle of our eternity. Spiritualism, so called, 
 was ushered into the mortal world, even as a mighty wave set off 
 from the great world-tide, that it should roll over earth and do its 
 work as it was marked to be done from the beginning, for the last 
 time. This affords the materials which mortals long have craved 
 and desired to rend from the mystic store-house, just beyond the cur- 
 tain which divides the visible and the invisible. Those who hunger 
 and sigh for a word, a whisper, or token from their departed loved 
 ones who had disappeared during their voyage to immortal life beyond 
 this curtain, they obtain that for which they sigh. The Lord makes 
 good his promise now. He does not leave them comfortless, but 
 comes, or lets those come who have been yearned for so, much that 
 they might bring the balm of Gilead to the wounded heart, and also 
 the proof palpable that life is real and never ending ; that although 
 the earthly tie be broken there is a sure reunion to be realized in that 
 land where death has no power, and where joy will be realized for all 
 earthly trials, and all piece works shall be completed, and the hapju- 
 ness for which all long for shall be attained to by all, even as they 
 are found worthy. These precious foretastes of Heaven are sacred, 
 and there is a great sin charged against all who speak of them as 
 something impure or unreal, for if God and the universe is real, and 
 not a failure, then these realized glimmers of the immortal arc real, 
 their presence and messages are real, and so are all the works which 
 they do with mortal aid on earth. But there are many who do not 
 seek for intercommunion with sincere and broken hearts, but with 
 boldness, wicked boldness, to obtain knowledge of all schemes pos- 
 sible, and turn them to different uses for their own benefit, or to 
 obtain selfish ends. There are many degrees of such persons, and 
 they are all classed as workers of iniquity. These shall all be 
 gathered by the heavenly workers and taken out of the Lord's king- 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUEES. 301 
 
 dom, and cast into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and 
 gnashing of teeth. And why ? Because they arc and shall be bound 
 band and foot, while their wild cravings, by which they had hoped to 
 satisfy themselves, shall burn within and torture them ; they shall 
 burn, yet not be consumed, that it may be made clear and demon- 
 strated to the people of earth that Hell is a condition of punishment 
 for offenses and the disturbances of the harmonious order which 
 is universally established, but which is disturbed by the impure deal- 
 ings, and made inharmonious by the foul and malignant breath, of 
 mortals. No spirits are needed to aid in the creation of inharmony 
 and ill conditions which bring woes, troubles, and disasters. No ; 
 the people of today are fast creators. They do all this work without 
 any aid from supernal talent or workers, and it is all done as it was 
 marked to be before time had a beginning, that these transactions 
 should all take place, and that the people of this day and time should 
 be brought into judgment. Alas, there is another very large class of 
 people whose chief desire has been to acquire material, with which to 
 hide themselves, and this class is the united army of the so-called 
 Christians and their leaders. To them Spiritualism is a vile thing, 
 and yet they are pleased that it came, for this mighty wave washes 
 ashore gems as well as rubbish. The gems they appropriate in order 
 to make a grand appearance, and the rubbish they use as a screen to 
 hide behind when they are searched by the eye of the Lord, and are 
 called upon by His voice to answer for their offenses. They love to 
 extol themselves as being good and pure, and they bring up as compari- 
 son the rubbish that was washed ashore by this great wave of Spirit- 
 ualism. What a demand and desire supporting power there is con- 
 tained in this heavenly out-pouring of spirit and power now travers- 
 ing earth, and inspecting the people and their deeds and conditions, 
 and doing such a great amount of works as will hasten the coming of 
 the end, viz., the end of the works of iniquity and those things that 
 offend? By these labors they will be quickly gathered out of the 
 Lord's kingdom, and compelled to be consumed in the prepared con- 
 ditional furnaces. Let those who think themselves safe within the 
 church-fold calmly look about them, for these workers have entered 
 into the churches all over the land by thousands, yea millions. And 
 why ? Because the sins from thence cry aloud, and the offensive 
 breath rises like a stench, instead of a sweet savor of true worship. 
 You who think you have no need of getting oil for your inner lamps, 
 because you have a pastor to go to, and besides that you can buy in 
 the hour of need, for you think you have your pass to Heaven, and 
 
302 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 your religious pass-word so well learned that you can tell it in a dark 
 hour, and then pass on amid all attacks. 
 
 Ah, my friends, it is you who will have to lament the most, for 
 the true pass-word no one knows who has not been spiritually trained, 
 and who does not worship in spirit and truth. Nor can oil for the 
 coming dark hours be bought or gotten only from spirits who are 
 God's ministers to the children of earth. Waste not your time in 
 idleness and folly, O children of earth, for the weighty reason that 
 the present important time, with its near decisions, admit of nothing 
 but soberness and sincere study about the way or how to become 
 worthy to be classed with those to the right hand of God in the near 
 decision, and how to be ready to meet all emergencies, and to be of 
 some use and help to others. It is folly in the extreme for those 
 who claim to have religion yet do not possess it, only in the formal 
 way, in a false profession. They ever cast their scornful looks upon 
 the so-called Spiritualists, as the workers of iniquity, according to 
 their ideas of Spiritualism and Spiritualists. I tell you nay. It is 
 folly for those who hold intercommunion with spirits of the worldly 
 degrees, those who work opposition, as it were, on earth toward God 
 and His Christ. All such people are below that degree which could 
 even be considered in that great day of decision. They are already 
 judged, and their places assigned them. Alas, they have no divine 
 desires, and their lot, although severe, is pleasant in comparison 
 with those who cry aloud : " Lord, Lord, have we not served and 
 worshiped Thee ? " to whom the answer will be given : " Verily, I 
 know you not or from whence you are ? " Why does the Lord not 
 know from whence the majority of the lip Christians are from ? for 
 they are tinged with all sorts of things that offend, which He has 
 commanded His angels to gather out of His kingdom. They have 
 worked iniquity, and are stained with it. They have prayed to the 
 Lord in words, and yet they have worshiped the god Mammon 
 with the essence of their prayers and the desires of their hearts, 
 therefore, they are as paupers. They cannot be owned by the Lord 
 of righteousness, neither can they be given over to the degrees of the 
 unrighteous or worldly ruler, for they have offended these, and vio- 
 lated the statute laws of that dominion ; neither can they be divinely 
 recognized, therefore they will call upon the mountains to fall upon 
 them, and the caves to swallow them, for they will be cast out into 
 space, dark, dense space, without light, without friends, or any soul 
 to speak to, for in that dense darkness they cannot see anyone. They 
 have no rest day or night, because they had taken the name of the 
 Lord God in vain. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 303 
 
 The Lord knows His own, and they also know Him ; He comes 
 to them and makes His will and ways known to them, and leads 
 safely all those who truly trust in Him and are willing to be taught 
 by the spirit of God. 
 
 All who will not hear the Lord's .voice in the present day are 
 not of His fold, for His sheep hear His voice and follow Him. No 
 matter if He leads them through the barren conditional wilderness, 
 they have full faith and confidence in Him and follow His voice, well 
 knowing that He will lead them to the fresh, pure waters, and into 
 the green pastures. This applies to the conditional marches that 
 must be made by all who have heard, and still daily hear, the Lord's 
 voice. They must meet the adverse worldly currents, and be sur- 
 rounded hy the unpopular elements. They must come in contact 
 with all the degrees which support earth's commonwealth and popu- 
 lation. They must suffer from these oppressions and scorn ; yet 
 w r hile they seem to be crushed, they are but growing strong in the 
 wisdom of the Lord, and are being raised above all their oppressors. 
 All who prove faithful, and do not fall into league with the world 
 when their reputation and position are assailed, simply because they 
 wish to keep the good will of the world, all who have done this 
 have had a foretaste of Heaven, have had a right to superior bless- 
 ings, but have sold them for a mess of pottage in the hour of trial, and 
 verily their reward shall be with those who are cast forth into outer 
 darkness. He who has ears to hear let him hear, and study well 
 that which pertains to their future welfare. Time glides swiftly by, 
 and all these labors spoken of will be done wherever they can be on 
 earth, in order to obtain testimonial marks, then it will soon be 
 declared finished ; but the end will not be 3 r et, only the end of these 
 labor methods, the end of the works marked for this eternity, and the 
 rewards and punishments will be levied, and will not be changed 
 again until in the march of a new measure of time, a new eternity, 
 when the end will be reached again. How prone mortals are to 
 grasp the shadow for the reality, and a mocking reflection for the 
 truth. Do you not know that death is but a passage onward towards 
 the immortal worlds, and that the piece-works, and the works which 
 the heart cherished and desired to have done, as well as those phys- 
 ically aimed to be accomplished, yet left undone ? yet these must all 
 be done ; but the spirit being called away before the work was fin- 
 ished on earth, and it can only be done by that spirit, which being 
 now immortal, working upon some one yet in the flesh, prompting and 
 compelling them to take up these works and finish them ; and by this 
 
804 COMPILATION OF SPIIUT LECTURES. 
 
 the immortal spirit is benefited, and made more perfect and complete, 
 as in such a way he finishes his work on earth. 
 
 Then, why try so strenuously to oppose or deny the co-operative 
 works of spirits with mortals ? for it is a fixed law, and has always 
 been in force upon the people in this way ; but in the present day, 
 owing to atmospheric changes in accord with the natural regulations 
 pertaining to this cycling division of this eternity, spirits can come 
 with ease and greater power in contact with mortals, and positively 
 govern them and their deeds, in order to finish quickly the labors of 
 this review, and of gathering out of the Lord's kingdom the things 
 which offend, and all those who love and work iniquity. It is folly 
 to resist the will of Him who reigns supreme, and to pray that He 
 might change His laws in order to please some mortals in their sel- 
 fish desires. 
 
 It is spirit which rules, and spirit is now at war with man-made 
 creeds, and surely they will thrust out all the obstructions that hin- 
 der the progress of law and order, and will quickly pay men for their 
 wicked deeds. 
 
 LECTURE LXVII. 
 
 ALL TRUE REVELATIONS WHICH EARTH CAN REALIZE, AND WHICH 
 MORTALS HAVE EVER REALIZED, COME FROM IMMORTAL CLIMES. 
 
 The study of a mortal can never supercede the natural limits 
 unless coupled substantially with immortal aid, a system co-working 
 power of the spirit of grace and truth, or the angels' light, who can 
 develop and infuse into the brain superior knowledge. This implies 
 an opening of the capacity or powers which belong to the inter- 
 mingled compounds of an ultimate standing in the harmonized or 
 transformed orders, therefore these persons who are thus worked 
 and operated upon can obtain truths which, to or for the common- 
 minded masses, lie in the distant future or beyond the grave. These 
 persons, then, can truly advocate and become a light shining into the 
 worldly darkness, which light is shed through them from the throne 
 of God to cheer the earthly traveler on in his rough and stormy path- 
 way of life. All revelations, are thus worked out into tangible trans- 
 actions on earth, but in these days many are deceived in these co- 
 labors, and why ? This will soon become a question of great import- 
 ance for the unfortunate ones by whom the effects of these works 
 
COMriLATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 305 
 
 will be experienced, will cry loud for relief, for this reason, that now 
 since the line is securely drawn in the spiritual ranks between the 
 powers of light and those of the adverse who would not acquire any 
 knowledge in the order of grace while the opportunities for so doing 
 lasted. These are thrown out now, and are subjected to suffer- 
 ing and tribulations through which they must pass in these estab- 
 lished processes so as to reach the first degree of the progressive 
 order or they will be repassed back, for the true can no longer be 
 annoyed, nor the weak or faint who are willing to learn be held in 
 subjection. The order which is now presented to the people, the 
 order throughout infinite space, is progression, individualization, in 
 accordance with the ultimate law and the Everlasting Gospel. As I 
 have headed my article as relating to the only true way in which 
 hope and faith can be transformed into true knowledge, and the veil 
 from mystical things be removed so that all may be clearly perceived, 
 I owe, in regard to this allusion, an explanation on the spiritual 
 phenomena in all its varied features. 
 
 First, I will say that the spirit of truth, the angels administering 
 to mortals for their rescue from the dragon's power, are soon to be 
 marked and known by all who are heirs of the heavenly kingdom, for 
 the testimony is felt within, also the words which they impart to be 
 spoken, and that they seek the honor and glory of the Creator ; this 
 marks them with the emblem, the white stone, which also the mor- 
 tals who are redeemed shall receive. The reverse who are outside of 
 this line or these limits, constitute the dragon's power, and are those 
 who roam the earth to devour whom they may, those who are not 
 sealed by the Father, and who are not under that all-powerful shade 
 of protection. These will have their time on earth, and will obsess 
 man} 7 , and this will increase until the crisis ensues. But although 
 the angels of light form a counter power to this for the rescue of the 
 weak, yet not in the same way as when the middle shade was inau- 
 gurated, the gospel of grace by Jesus, its author. The people cannot 
 obtain relief now as they did then, and be made free by a touch of the 
 mighty magnetic arm, and be thus cured of their evils and diseases. 
 No, the end of that day is declared in Heaven, and that day had 
 lasted long, and the kind words or teachings were sounded even to 
 the reverse in Hell ; the loving tores fell on their ears, and the kind 
 hands were extended to aid and lead them upward. On earth, like- 
 wise, was the rule given to mortals, and builders have built upon it, 
 and the many explanations have taken from it the taste and savor, so 
 that the heart did not know what the eyes saw, for while the lips 
 whispered one thing the eyes saw another, and the heart desired 
 
306 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 another. These are enemies against each other, and are hard to con- 
 quer, because self is not understood by the majority of the people. 
 These people who, in these modern times, pronounce the return of 
 spirits and their communion with mortals as being false and a decep- 
 tion, are all requested to look well to their own hemispheres, for, 
 verily, they are not out of the dragon's power, and nothing but the 
 purest soul-devotion to the Father and sincere labor with the angels 
 of light can keep them upon a level higher than these can climb, 
 where they will be safe and free ; but if they are of this shade, and 
 all who are will soon feel the need of uniting strongly together with- 
 out any regard to formalities or new names, but only to resurrect and 
 preserve the true principles, and to declare in a strong voice the 
 truths of God and also His glory, as those who come in glory as the 
 staff of their King reveal it to those who in unity of system become 
 one with them so as to thus complete this the third event, and to 
 let the plan of creation become a grand knowledge for all wdio 
 earnestly seek to obtain this precious pearl. 
 
 The true workers with the angels of light will be as a bright and 
 a great light shining throughout endless space or time, but those who 
 seek only for vain objects, who were co-workers with those who gloat 
 over worldly schemes, will fall, and their light will be extinguished, 
 because the knowledge of evil-doing will be intuitively revealed and 
 clearly set before them. This has not been a realized order as yet, 
 but will become such. I am speaking now of that which shall surely 
 come to pass. There has been in the teachings given upon gradation 
 laws, from this side by spiritual prompting, much said in regard to 
 re-incarnation. I will tell you concerning this as it is in reality, and 
 truth is a regulative, transforming power, or order of wisdom, and 
 natural law intermingled. I have said that the line was already 
 drawn in the spiritual ranks, and the pure-minded from all worlds 
 will unite upon a level or plane, and the strong will impart strength 
 to the weak, .and they will be enabled to walk without being faint or 
 weary, and can ascend to this plane ; but those who would not 
 improve their time wdiile the daylight lasted are not permitted to 
 ascend this plane, but are placed in the order or degree of servants, 
 where they will remain and labor as such until the crisis comes. 
 Then all who are not prepared for an initiation into the first degree of 
 progress are repassed. This word repassed is a severe w r ord, for 
 there, in the furnaces for natural molding, they will be remolded 
 and sent forth in a coming eternity, thus then to be purified so as to 
 become partakers in this order, and with those in the far off will a 
 portion of the earth be consumed. When this takes place it will 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 307 
 
 signify that the crisis is past ; after which all those who are left shall 
 dwell in harmony, and peace shall govern the people, and the angels 
 will teach all so that no especial place of worship shall be needed, nor 
 will any man need to teach his brother. In the new order all things 
 will be timely avenged and justified so that wrongs cannot accumu- 
 late, and therefore no degrees of official authority will be required, 
 but all things shall be clear and unveiled in purity before the eyes of 
 mortals as they are before the eyes of angels. The only differences 
 remaining will be the gradation-standing, intellectual strength, and 
 largeness of capacity or power. Ponder this lesson well, O ye people 
 of earth ! 
 
 LECTURE LXVIII. 
 
 " I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 
 
 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life 
 for the sheep. 
 
 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and 
 they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." — St. John, 
 Chap, x., verses 14, 15, 16. 
 
 This saying of the Master, which, though it has passed through 
 many ordeals, is not rendered different from its original meaning, 
 spreads its love and power over all human souls who love God, and 
 are desirous to cultivate the God-principles. Since the dawn of the 
 Christian era, Jesus, the Messiah and Mediator between God and 
 man, has, by all true devoted Christians, been recognized as the 
 Good Shepherd, and they who are truly His know His voice, and 
 are known by Him. But now the universal meaning of the text 
 must be considered, for it must be filled to the letter, and this in 
 regard to the different folds which have become established by men 
 who are not the true shepherds, but who flee when they see the wolf 
 come, and leave their sheep to be devoured. 
 
 The spiritual tendency of each and every mortal is well known 
 by the Master, and it matters not behind what creed or in what 
 place a mortal is found, having yielded to external circumstances, and 
 often compulsions, the heart yearns, and is well understood and 
 responded to. For the Good Shepherd follows his sheep out in the 
 ^eserts and dark places, and tenderly brings them back by any way 
 in which the weary lambs can physically walk. He employs means 
 which will reach the destitute places, and aids in bringing out from 
 them those sick, suffering, tender lambs. 
 
308 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUPvES. 
 
 What does the hireling care for the sheep ? He only cares to 
 have what his services secure for him in a worldly sense ; the welfare 
 of the sheep is not so earnestly considered ; and even if now and then 
 he takes a hold on the heart and mind for a season, and the wish to 
 labor for the flock's welfare and enlightenment arises, then the wolf, 
 in disguise, of want and poverty is sent to try the impulses and 
 principles. 
 
 But, oh, how soon the hireling leaves his post, and leaves the sheep 
 to the tempting elements of the earth, and the tossing and foaming 
 waves from the tempest of life's tide, and he goes where he can get a 
 larger salary, where he can live from his labors. Thus the ministry 
 is not as God ordained, nor benefiting, for it is classed by its very 
 motto among the common transactions and trades of life. 
 
 Christianity, having only hirelings for teachers and leaders, has 
 become corrupt in principles to a great extent, yet not all are corr 
 rupted, for there are many sheep who know the Good Shepherd, and 
 are known by Him from among all folds, from all grades and shades 
 of society, and people of all tongues. All these shall hear the voice 
 of the Shepherd and follow Him, as he now calls from the Heavens 
 to the dwellers on earth, and sends His angels to teach the Everlasting 
 Gospel. These will not follow a stranger, for they know not a stran- 
 ger's voice. This saying refers to the teachings of the present new 
 dispensation which is taught by angels. 
 
 Now, there are many Anti-Christs and strangers to God who 
 likewise teach as the angels of light, and the Good Shepherd himself. 
 This cannot be hindered, since it is so included in the order, and all 
 spirits, good, bad, and indifferent, return with the same ease. All 
 who are not of Christ, and belong not to this upper fold, are led cap- 
 tive by these strangers and hear not the Good Shepherd's voice, but 
 all who are His sheep hear His voice and follow Him, and shall in 
 time be brought together, and united to be one fold, one religion, and 
 one Shepherd over them all. 
 
 Some of these scattered sheep are not very white ; straying out 
 in the deserts and barren places has caused them to become poor and 
 sickly-looking, having been without careful training. They are soiled 
 in their wool, their outer garments, and must be taken to the waters, 
 troubled by the angels, for their health and purification ; but all this 
 the Good Shepherd does with pleasure ; He never loses sight of them, 
 nor leaves them, while many faithful angels are at work to do His 
 bidding in thus gathering these sheep from the four corners of the 
 earth, and bringing them together, and finding a cure for their vari- 
 ous diseases, and cleansing them as they pursue their journey. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUPvES. 309 
 
 Oh, how our hearts overflow with love and sympathy when we 
 behold the helpless lambs tangled in the briars, and fast in the meshes 
 under foot there pining away, blinded by the external mists of 
 society, of creeds, and formulas which they make themselves believe, 
 and that they are in the green pastures, and in the right fold, while 
 thus miserably placed and helplessly pining their life forces away, for 
 they know not what, for if they did know, the knowledge would give 
 them strength, and they would look about themselves and see where 
 they are, and hear the voice of the good shepherd, and follow Him. 
 They would look aloft and see the star of hope brightly shining 
 above them in its changing luster, as its rays throw off knowledge, 
 saying : " This is the fruit of hope and faith ; it is perfected by 
 knowledge, and you shall understand all things if you will follow the 
 voice of the True Shepherd, and give Him the pleasure of teaching 
 you, for He will not leave His own, but He will come to them and 
 comfort them." 
 
 Yet, while those who know Him follow and see Him the 
 world cannot see Him because of their unbelief, and that they are 
 not of His, but prefer hirelings, who herd them according to their 
 tastes, as they pay the hireling for his services. They need not wail 
 and lament when the wolves from the wilderness of chaos come forth 
 to devour them. It was their choice to trust to flesh and sail upon 
 life's ocean with and on the popular current. So all this is what 
 they were in pursuit of, and then will accordingly be overtaken and 
 devoured. 
 
 Now comes up the question again about the angels or spirits 
 who at present labor on earth, so as to tangibly rescue as many of 
 those stray sheep as they can by their special labor, and give them 
 tender care and protection. Says the investigator : " Are they not 
 all spirits ? Can they not all be followed ? " We say all do follow the 
 voice which agrees with their inner longings. If it is the voice of 
 those who come not to save, but to entangle still more, they will 
 follow that rather than the voice of the spirit of grace and truth, 
 because they are more desirous of worldly than of spiritual things, 
 and look not to principles, but to the phenomenal displays which 
 are pleasing to the external faculties. 
 
 All who are of God hear the voice of the spirit of God, and are 
 slow to accept that which is shaded with indifference, remembering 
 that at all times it is necessary to try the spirits whether they are of 
 God, which is very soon discerned by those who love and cultivate 
 the principles of the Good Shepherd. 
 
 The spiritual tendencies, when benumbed by the cares of this 
 
810 COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTURES. 
 
 world, and by formal religious case, must first be awakened as from 
 a sound sleep. Then, being aroused, there is no power for perceiv- 
 ing, no intuitive access, for a season, all things look strange, and as 
 the new-born infant in physical life cannot at first open its eyes to the 
 light, which has so suddenly bursted upon it, so it is with the spirit 
 when its eyes grow strong enough to look around. It can but look, 
 and according to its ability wonder where it is, and what each object 
 it beholds is. It must, however, slowly develop, in order to secure 
 permanency of the mind forces, to so shape and mold them that they 
 will ever bear changes and improvements in concord with the strength 
 of understanding. 
 
 The spiritual faculties are in the same or comparatively same 
 way called to life, and the growth is slow but sure where no dis- 
 eases of adversity are breathed in by wrong teachings, which stun the 
 spiritual growth and development, and leave the powers of the spirit 
 weak, so that the progressive journey can only be slowly pursued. 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 The question upon the true and false shepherds involves many 
 other topics. In this lies the secret of the necessity of the different 
 gospel dispensations. Whenever the shepherds care more for the 
 fleece which they can pluck from the sheep than for the sheep, then 
 the gospel taught by them becomes a farce and a mockery, and the 
 debts which the ministry incur for themselves by trespassing against 
 the gospel and the people become so great that the Heavens and the 
 higher laws cannot tolerate it. Then justice supreme steps in, and 
 the old must die, and the new or unpolluted must be again dispensed 
 by angel ministers through humble but true mortal instruments. 
 
 This was foreseen before people were created, that the vanity of 
 the world would gain the predominance over the pure spiritual 
 instincts. Wherefore, those provisions were inculcated in the plan 
 and the laws. 
 
 Mortals cannot hinder these God-ordained changes from coming 
 to pass. Nay, the unfaithful stewards must be thrust from their 
 places, and others more faithful to God and their duties will be 
 installed in their places, who will give good meat in due season to all 
 the members of the great household. 
 
 The Master has long delayed His coming tolsee after the labor- 
 ers to whom He gave His vineyard, and who were placed as stewards 
 over the spiritual household. He has ever been near, and nothing 
 that was practiced, or taught, or desired, has ever escaped His notice. 
 But now He comes tangibly down to earth to see after the deeds of 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 311 
 
 His people, — yes, He walks the earth with His angels, even as He 
 eanie in olden times to see about the reported wickedness, and judg- 
 ment will quickly follow. But it will not come, as the people are look- 
 ing for it to come, they having been taught to take the sayings liter- 
 ally which were spoken of typically, and were as pictures placed before 
 the external vision of mortals ; thus the truth is not known by them. 
 
 The spirit of God is suppressed beneath the external, literal 
 meaning, and for this reason those who profess to follow Christ, and 
 worship Him devoutly, worship only at the shrine of Mammon, and 
 will be spued out of His mouth, being found to be neither cold nor 
 warm, and in this way they are not in the ranks, cannot be classed 
 under neither of the two flags waving for the conquest. This is not 
 nor cannot be tolerated, so they are thrown out,on the turbulent sea 
 of conjecture, to be thus driven through the ordeals for purification, 
 and will be compelled to come into line on one side or the other. 
 They who love the Master will hear His pleading voice and follow 
 Him, and He will safely lead them out of all danger, and unite the 
 flocks.from all places, and there will be one fold and one Shepherd. 
 
 In these modern times, in order to bring forth the effects of the 
 causes stated, Spiritualism was ushered in. It is not in its common and 
 grosser displays the religion spoken of which shall become the basis 
 upon which all religions shall unite and build, nay, far from it, 
 although the pure is within, and among it, and is taught. It must be 
 separated, for which it must also pass through the crucibles and 
 sifting processes. In the common sense of the whole display Spirit- 
 ualism must be viewed as a mighty wave of different shades, extracted 
 and set off from the great life tide, for the purpose of bringing such 
 results as the different mental standing of humanity required. 
 
 Thousands have since its dawn left the churches, and wandered 
 away into infidelity and materialism, and also phenomenal Spiritual- 
 ism, but they did this because they were not Christians. They were 
 neither hot nor cold, and were spued out, and by thus being called 
 away they are driven through the ordeals which they must pass 
 through so as to become purified from their system dross, and also to 
 behold the hollowness of their lives, the nothingness of their beings. 
 
 Many, yes, thousands upon thousands, must yet be spued' out, 
 and caused to follow their natural instincts, in order to place and 
 learn them. This professing with the lips, and the heart desiring 
 only worldly things, and nothing but vanity within, cannot be toler- 
 ated. It is a pollution upon the pure Christian principles, which must 
 be taken away that they may shine forth in their primitive and real 
 beauty, and be realized in their power. 
 
312 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 There are only a few, a comparatively small number of the 
 many, who call themselves Spiritualists who are worthy of the name ; 
 the tendencies of the majority are cold and material. Yet there are 
 many who seek for the truths of the inner life, and hold them fast, 
 and cultivate the Christ-principles more than they, as a scattered 
 class are aware of. They shall be brought forth as the righteous 
 army on earth, through whom the great righteous army from above 
 will perform their work, and there shall be left no indifferent ones, 
 but all mortals shall be compelled by the invisible force working upon 
 them to stay either on the material or spiritual side of the question. 
 
 The lines will be drawn like walls between the two classes and 
 armies, so that one will be the righteous army, rejoicing in the light 
 and power sent from above, and proclaim the everlasting love and 
 gospel ; the other will rest on nature's sandy foundation, and boast of 
 their own might and knowledge, and they must be termed the mate- 
 rialists. Thus the separation is and will be made, and those stand- 
 ing on the sandy foundation of nature will fall into the reservoir of 
 chaos, at the great shaking which will take place immediately after 
 this separation is completed. In order to hasten these labors of 
 gathering and separating, all the angel world is out, and working for 
 and with mortals. 
 
 Oh, how we long to see mortals arise, and view with earnestness 
 these questions, the fleetness of time, and to make a leap, as it were, 
 from their indifferent positions, and vow devotion to the righteous 
 flag. Though they can for a time do nothing but observe, but if they, 
 with a true heart, desire to do more, and will observe with a clear 
 mind, they will grow strong enough to perform small duties, and to 
 learn light lessons, and thus escape from being plunged into or paying 
 the debts spoken of. 
 
 The text in its universal and general tendency for the present 
 time calls for a reference to the Mosaic age, as it is now being 
 reviewed with the Christian dispensation, for the third or the pres- 
 ent one rests on and is a unity of and with the other two. 
 
 When the children of Israel were led through the Red Sea by 
 Moses, and Pharaoh was caused to follow, and was destroyed with all 
 who were with him, it was done for an emblematical symbol of this 
 time spoken of, which in the end must come to pass. 
 
 Let mortals take up those studies which they have laid aside 
 and place them before their vision as before a mirror, that their inner 
 standing may reflect therein, and they will behold where they stand. 
 Too many do not know themselves, nor their principal standing. 
 
 This division was shown in the Christian dispensation by Jesus 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 313 
 
 having a traitor, and that amonsj those chosen as his followers. 
 Although law for that time required it, that all could be lawfully 
 performed, yet the mission of Judas was symbolical of the present 
 time, for is not Christ denied in truth and in principle by those who 
 were His chosen followers from the Gentile nations, and not only He 
 but His principles crucified between the two thieves, representing 
 materialism and the self-righteous, but not spiritual Christians. 
 
 All these topics might be largely treated upon, and belong all to 
 the subject in discussion, but we will say no more about it. But 
 leave this to be considered, then we will perhaps say more about it 
 in a future time. 
 
 Try all of you, in whatever way opens to your vision, to aid the 
 poor and benighted, by helping the poor, entangled lambs to get 
 loose and to be led to the green fields of the Everlasting Gospel. 
 You w T ill then be instruments in the Good Shepherd's hands, and He 
 w r ill richly reward you, for the souls of all beings are dear and pre- 
 cious to Him, and to rescue and save them is His constant labor and 
 greatest delight. Likewise the angels rejoice over each one brought 
 back from error to truth, and aid all who aid them in performing 
 these labors of mercy. 
 
 LECTURE LXIX.- (poetry.) 
 
 EDEN AND THE MATTER-BED VIEWED AS TWO STATES, OR TWO 
 
 WORLDS. 
 
 Eden, where is it located ? Is such a place in Heaven or earth ? 
 Or is it depopulated, since to strife God hath sent forth 
 Those in whom He represented life of His, and mind and force ? 
 Were they cursed to be transplanted, and from Eden's bliss divorced ? 
 Kot divorced but tied much closer by the ties so strong and pure ; 
 Sent to earth with light to cover was the representative pair. 
 Cursed to dwell in low subjection to the rules of mother earth; 
 Blessed to garner all collections which this vast bed could give forth. 
 
 As the two states thus commingled, who can say who has most charms ? 
 World, though with some woes ever sprinkled, has unfolded, stretched 
 
 her arms ; 
 So gigantic, yet so gallant, 't is a place of much delight, 
 Much of strife is yet repellant, — might is in the place of right. 
 But when class degrees are numbered and paid heed to by the race, 
 Then will they not be encumbered, earth will be a loveiy place; 
 And so fully grown together have the forces, mind and matter, 
 That the angel is seen better in the man of clay than in the spirit potter. 
 
314 COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTUEES. 
 
 The fiery fluids, the waters wild, which were untrained, lay in earth's 
 
 reservoirs; 
 It was one state ; above it mild intelligence was wafted ; celestial choirs 
 Ever breathed anthems of the Eden bliss in the mind regions over this 
 
 low abyss ; 
 But earth in her mantle paid no heed to this, so one of the seraphim 
 
 printed a kiss 
 On the savage-appearing face of nature, and caused a brightness to 
 
 remain. 
 'T was written in the mind-spheres statue Eden and earth could no longer 
 
 be twain. 
 Then from the non-productive life the products were by mind compelled, 
 But matter against spirit ere kept up a strife, the dross of earth elements 
 
 thus ever repelled. 
 
 But there is much pleasure to know at what cost the beauties of Eden in 
 
 earth's dross were lost, 
 And more to know that it is re-created, and from all sources fitly imitated, 
 Can be inhabited by angel and man, all pleasures find place there ; tell me 
 
 who can 
 Is Heaven the place, or earth? is one place above all others ? 
 Or is it one race of people selected who Eden inherit, 
 Because their devotion called for and merits 
 Such wondrous distinction from all others living ? 
 Nay, were we to say so we should be designing. 
 
 It is pleasure which in one's own being is felt, 't is Eden where duty is 
 
 law ; 
 'T is neither in Heaven nor on earth, but in self the state of the picture 
 
 thus drawn. 
 The angel who guarded with sword in his hand the entrance to Eden's 
 
 bliss 
 "Was keeping a war. He issued commands how to return, how to do 
 
 pilgrim duties ; 
 Not while impure and trembling with fear could they dwell in Eden, draw 
 
 near 
 To their Parent, who sent them lovingly forth to govern the earth and 
 
 cover the gulfs 
 With pass-boards suiting the uses of time, and thus travel on from clime 
 
 to clime, 
 Knowing all worlds are their Father's possessions, that all are protected 
 
 lest they are trespassing 
 By willfully ignoring signs which were put forth by the angel who guards 
 
 with the dazzling sword. 
 
 Law on its blade is the title engraved ; law compels order, heed shall you 
 pay. 
 
 Germs of the infinite life hath been given forms to all germs by the con- 
 tact with clay. 
 
COMPILATION OP SPIRIT LECTUEES. 315 
 
 No one can enter while impure they be, nor the great love of their God 
 
 cannot see. 
 Neither the wisdom which constantly flows to every tissue, to every seed, 
 From mind diffused, by law enforced according to the offerings used ; 
 But when these works are comprehended the strife will be over, the war 
 
 ended. 
 Spirit and matter will have interblended, Eden at once again will be 
 
 entered, 
 Not fearing Father's voice to hear, nor hiding, child-like, midst the 
 
 bushes, 
 But confidently then all draw near, upon their faces are no blushes ; 
 They have learned the plan, they have eaten well of life and wisdom, 
 And can dwell forever in this new-found Eden ; the tracks are smooth and 
 
 all well beaten 
 From Heaven to earth, from earth to Heaven ; life, life forever, to all is 
 
 given; 
 As God lives ever, all angels live too, and mortals are angels who go to 
 
 and fro 
 To gather the scents of earth's roses. 
 
 LECTURE LXX. 
 
 TEXT FOR THIS LECTURE WILL BE FOUND IN REV., CH. XIV., 
 VERSES VI, VII. 
 
 "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of Heaven, having 
 the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, 
 and to every nation, and kindred and tongue, and people ; saying, Fear 
 God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come ; 
 and worship Him that made Heaven and earth and the sea, and the 
 fountains of water." 
 
 It is well known to the students of theology, as well as to other 
 cultivated minds, that the peculiarly written revelations, as a result 
 of John's visions, were a prophecy for the last cycle of time for this 
 eternity, in which a mighty change in all things upon the face of the 
 earth should take place, whereby all the old forms and customs should 
 perish, and a new era, or time measure, should begin, upon which 
 shall be placed religious dates of and from this time in which the new 
 order was revealed to mortals, and this in accord with law, for the 
 new or third dispensation, in which the former two of law and gospel 
 are contained ; also all religions which the world ever had are to be 
 contained in the one to be presently dispensed, and which is to be 
 
316 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 called the Everlasting Gospel. Those visions of John's have mostly 
 all taken physical form already, and but little remains to be per- 
 formed before the great decision can be brought about, or as it has 
 been preached and taught as the day of judgment. It will not be 
 realized according to the old ideas. All those statements were typ- 
 ical and symbolical, and are not to be looked for in accord with speech 
 literally, or to take place in physical form, but most of it is and has 
 been mental work. It is conditionally transacted, because it is chiefly 
 mental reorganizing, yet enough is transacted even in physical life so 
 that it can be marked and demonstrated by the experiences, and each 
 act is an echo of the prophecies of old, hence a fulfillment whereby is 
 proven the truth of the present works, — that they are the works of 
 God, and that the same power which spake to Abraham, Isaac, and 
 Jacob, and blessed them, and made promises to them, spake also to 
 Moses, and to Saul through Samuel, and to David, to Eli through all 
 the prophets, and to Solomon. Scores of seers saw the works of God 
 revealed in vision, and were inspired by that great body or power and 
 acted upon by it, and in that way a foundation was built upon which 
 the frail, doubting mortals could stand. These works of promise, of 
 prophecy, and their fulfillment served as an anchor of safety for the 
 travelers on life's turbulent sea. Without it they could not have 
 safely journeyed on earth, for it has been and is now the staff of law 
 and an ever-present protection. But whenever the people become 
 doubtful and dissatisfied they are left to themselves, and then they drift 
 out on dangerous by-ways ; and yet they seek, yes, long and cry for, 
 truth, for help from their Universal Parent. God is love, and His ten- 
 der mercies endure forever and ever. Therefore He goes out t© meet 
 His children, and has provided for them all, even as He knew the 
 demands would arise. The time has now come in this changing, pro- 
 gressional march when this promise of the Everlasting Gospel must 
 have its fulfillment on earth. Hence you see the visions of John 
 were a long time working through the conditional channels, but are ' 
 now before the world clad in a material that mortals can see and 
 comprehend, also their meaning ; yes, and all shall be partakers of 
 the dispensed truths which are given, and shall hail with delight the 
 Everlasting Gospel which is being heralded with power from angel 
 lips to mortals. The old passeth away, viz., all that was misconceived ; 
 yet every truth which had ever been given to mortals will remain, 
 and that which was unperceivable before will now be rendered clear, 
 and all symbolical forms of worship must become practical. The 
 Everlasting Gospel calls for that. The missing links of all prophecy 
 and the truths dispensed from God to man will all be produced one by 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 317 
 
 one, and reality shall not be hidden by mists in the future as it has 
 been in the past, nor shall the wills or worldly wisdom of men 
 pervert God's truths, and thereby, as in the past, bring burdens and 
 doubts upon the people. Truth is mighty and will prevail ! Yes, 
 friends of earth, the power of God will in this advent be felt upon 
 earth as it never was felt before. The people shall realize the works 
 of these mighty angels which they are doing upon earth. Yes, and 
 all lips shall repeat the words of the angel of our text, whose part it 
 is to preach and proclaim aloud the Everlasting Gospel, and the 
 inhabitants of earth shall give glory to Him who has created the 
 Heavens and the earth and all that is therein. Who is it that offers 
 resistance to the works of Almighty God which He does on earth 
 through His servants ? Let them prepare themselves for the battle, 
 for truly has the King of kings completed the organizing of His 
 armies in Heaven, and comes forth with them to war with the 
 nations and the people who rebel against Him. Look aloft all ye 
 who claim faith in Jesus and behold the harvest is white; but you are 
 not willing to labor, you would rather be rebels idling your time 
 away, and also the chance by which you could secure for yourselves 
 the bounty of your Heavenly Father, which is endless joy and many 
 treasures in His house. Do not say that " Jesus gave us the gospel 
 and Moses the law ; we need no more, the inspirations have ceased, 
 and there are no modern prophets." Stop, wayward mortals, and 
 consider the facts. Fiction is now to be crucified between false 
 modesty and impure, formal worship. Jesus was, for the sake of 
 truth, in compliance with the plan of God and man, crucified between 
 two thieves. The bland highway robbers have ever since held swfTy, 
 but now Jesus is in truth having His review, but not humble and sub- 
 ject to mortal rule and cruelty, but in power and glory does He come, 
 and will judge mortals and their deeds. He says to all : " Revela- 
 tions cannot cease, God's truths ever flow, and must ever flow, 
 through all the channels of organized beings in Heaven and on earth, 
 and this influx which is constant and never ceases is multiplied and 
 forcibly and powerfully poured out upon mortals whenever law and 
 mortal needs call for a change. The inspirational productions that 
 are being given today are given from the same fountain from which law 
 and gospel has ever flowed, and is dispensed by the same power." This 
 can be searched after and found true, for truth wears no mask, nor 
 does she bow at any shrine. She is sure of her triumph, and can 
 wait her day. She knows law is her support, and that it will avenge 
 her for all undue delays caused by the united efforts and opposing 
 wills of mortals, joined with undeveloped spirits. Read the book of 
 
318 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 John's visions very carefully all ye stupid mortals who fear to give 
 your minds in exchange, because you might perchance take in bad 
 currency, bad thoughts and ideas, but no credit will be marked on 
 your individual charts for that. If you do pray in your hampered, 
 narrow way, it is of no avail, for you do not improve your self- 
 hood. You hide, full of fear, behind the formal, and the real you 
 dare not meet. Why fear to meet the real ? Why do you fear to 
 hear Father's voice, as He, through His servants, makes himself 
 audible to mortal ears ? Truly, you have fallen from grace, because 
 you have fallen from child obedienee, at which sad fact you are terri- 
 fied. You have trespassed against your Heavenly Father, not only 
 against His laws, which are known to you, but against the gospel ; 
 and, more than all, you have taken the plan of salvation in vain, and 
 have used it for a screen and for convenience, and as Cain of old slew 
 Abel, his brother, who was more righteous than himself, and found 
 therefore favor in the sight of God, so do you try to slay those who 
 are in this review, the first-born who have found favor with God and 
 His angels, because they breasted the turbulent tide of mortal scorn 
 and frenzy, and dared to open their minds and hearts and listen to 
 the voices of the angels who are sent as message-bearers, even from 
 the All-Father, God. But you cannot kill nor conquer now, for he, 
 the first-born, who was slain by his opposite brother, is at the helm, 
 chief commander in these battles, in the form of Washington, and he 
 will lay low all rebels and all who oppose the physical enactments of 
 the issues which have gone out from God as messages given to mortals, 
 and which revelations, given in their various ways and degrees, make 
 up the Everlasting Gospel. Again, I say, read and try to under- 
 stand what the spirit saith to the Churches and to all people. Wor- 
 ship God in spirit and truth, and when you meet it should be more 
 for an exchange of ideas than for formal worship, that you might 
 learn, individualize, and grow strong in knowledge which is so abun- 
 dantly given to all who will make it their own. You should worship 
 God in spirit and truth at all times, not only at an especial hour and 
 place. Do what is right before God and man, and manifest the God 
 attributes given you in all things. Let your minds aspire freely for 
 truth and light and you shall receive. 
 
 Dare to do right, Clare to be true, 
 Suppress not a truth which the augels give you. 
 Be loyal and just, in God place your trust, 
 And fearless march on, for conquer you must. 
 
 Every truth born of God, or received from His spirit, is a power 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 319 
 
 ■which will permeate all mortal conditions, and in its own time con- 
 quer all the adverse powers in mortals, also all conditional adversaries 
 I which are in the way to spiritual and physical prosperity, and that 
 (power of God thus received will conquer all stubborn mortal wills, and 
 change the conflicting opinions even as it changes the elements and 
 bodily aura around those who receive the truths from the spirit of 
 God direct, or by being imparted to them through medial power by 
 which the angels in this wise do the will of God on earth. Let those 
 who fear listen and ponder on what the Spirit of God says to the 
 children of men. 
 
 Now, in regard to John's visions, some say they are too mys- 
 tical, they cannot be understood ; and more, John speaks of the woes 
 that shall come upon those who add to or take therefrom. This they 
 say for the want of spiritual knowledge. No one can take from any 
 vision nor add thereto, because when they are once given to a mortal 
 they are never reproduced again to any other mortal. The clearest 
 visions that are shown to seers at any time are called dramatic 
 visions, belonging to the great conditional drama, and which are 
 sequels thereto, are produced and shown when they are about to take 
 physical form. To some one peculiarly of a sameness in mental 
 organization and desire, as was the first subject in the past, visions 
 have been shown as sequels to John's visions, because they, that is, 
 John's visions, w r ere to take physical form, and have already done so. 
 Hence no mystery remains in regard to them, but all are in clear 
 reality before mortals. Therefore, search after the truth, for it is 
 easy to find. Why linger in doubt? Why fear to take in bad cur- 
 rency, bad thoughts and ideas, by a free exchange of ideas and opin- 
 ions with seers and thinkers ? Be assured no coward is accepted in 
 the ranks of the royal army. The flag of our King waves over the 
 true, the brave, and the just in these conflicts ; not over those divided 
 in opinion, fearful and cowardly, bowing to mortal rule and opinion. 
 By this you can see that our King's flag waves not over the indifferent 
 in their devotion, and also that the so-called day of grace is ended. The 
 decision as to where all belong is already made, and where each one 
 belongs the flag of that power will wave over them, even if it is the 
 rebel flag. Many that have been powerfully shaded under the flag of 
 Almighty God cannot be so shaded any longer, because pride has made 
 captives of them ; they have bowed at Mammon's shrine in order 
 to obtain mortal favor and to be in keeping with the popular current ; 
 yes, even some of this select party have been led away into captivity 
 out from under the peaceful shades of God. Let the world enjoy her 
 folly. All who w r ant to serve God in these trying times must dare to 
 
320 COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTURES. 
 
 do it, and to defend every truth received in the face of an opposing 
 world. Therein is heroism manifested which merits reward. Quaff 
 the nectar which the gods pour through mortal channels for a lasting 
 wealth for all who are to come. The angels who were once men, and 
 who have become perfect through transformation, and have gathered 
 wisdom by patient perseverance, now pour down that knowledge upon 
 those who occupy earth for their benefit, and this mortals receive apart 
 from the great flow from the universe center, which is as a constant flow 
 showered down upon those prepared to receive and give it to the 
 world. 
 
 Then fear not, O mortals, but quaff of this influx, 
 
 Grow healthy and strong, 
 
 For in learning God's truths there can be no wrong. 
 
 Why fear the turbulent tide of man-made conditions ? God 
 knows His own, and protects them with might. Be truly devoted to 
 God, learn and defend His truths, then are you His servants, pro- 
 tected and rewarded by Him. All lawful inspirations are an ever- 
 present power of law which protects mortals. 
 
 Let the waves, therefore, foam and toss, 
 
 Be sure your barks are guided well ; 
 'T is all your gain, the rebels' loss, 
 
 When boldly they the world's tide swell. 
 
 The ship of truth sails proudly on, 
 
 It curbs the tide, it sets off waves, 
 
 It takes on board the true and brave ; 
 
 Angels beckon for me and for you ; 
 
 Ere long truth has the victory won, 
 
 All errors die out unawares ; 
 
 Hold fast to every truth you know, 
 
 Choke not, amid your worldly cares, 
 
 The precious seeds, and then produce 
 
 Instead of wheat a crop of tares, 
 
 Lest in the sifting you may be 
 
 As tares burned up, as chaff cast out, 
 
 And turned would be the blissful cup to bitter woes. 
 
 Remember ever the gospel true 
 
 Which the angels bring to me and you, 
 
 is not only ideal as it was before this, but must become practical, 
 that thereby each cause of former effects can be proven. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 321 
 
 LECTURE LXXI. 
 
 THE HUMAN WILL COMPARED TO THF. ANVIL, AND ALSO TO THE 
 SUBTLE FORCES IN NATURE, FROM WHICH IT IS COM- 
 POUNDED, BY WHICH IT IS ACTED UPON. 
 
 We will try to illustrate the laboring processes of the past with 
 familiar pictures, so that a more comprehensive view can be gained 
 by the students of the progressional philosophy. You all know that 
 the anvil is nothing of itself, nothing but a block of iron upon 
 which the heated metal is placed and struck with hammers, and if all 
 workers do their part well, then there is success in what is desired to 
 be fashioned out of the metal. 
 
 The human will is a sense of solid composition from all the 
 subtle forces in the universe ; it is a sound block, and when kept in its 
 proper limits, compares well with the anvil, for on it must rest all 
 that needs to be worked out and molded over, the many metals and 
 materials which are being constantly brought ashore from the great 
 world's tide to every separate individual. The will is also a free organ, 
 in one sense, because it is composed not only of the substances of nature 
 below but also from material substances of the sun, and from the 
 whole universe. But it can only be free in its proper office, or in its 
 prescribed limits, and when following closely the warning voices of 
 conscience and reason, which will dictate in wearing the honors in the 
 correct way, in accord with the law of necessity, for the will must 
 serve as the anvil ; remember to be calm when the metals are heated, 
 so that the workmen employed can pursue their works, and so accom- 
 plish that which will prove an advance in the march of progression 
 for the individual and the world also. Reason is set to preside over 
 the works of an individual, it also governs the workmen, and all is 
 done well when this divine officer is heard and heeded. Reason is a 
 divine sense, a divine attribute, and is not given in common with a 
 natural attribute and sense as the will is, therefore the will is sub- 
 ject to reason, and must be governed thereby. The forces in nature 
 which are termed subtle, because they cannot be recognized by mor- 
 tals, owing to the fact that mortals have obtained no knowledge as 
 yet of the laws by which the evolutional transformations were gov- 
 erned in our eternity, for all evolutional out-workings were governed by 
 law, and could therefore be worked according to desire after patterns, 
 also as needed for the comforts of the created mortals. The most 
 subtle forces which lie most remote from their discovery in the power 
 which they exercise upon the will, and even the whole being, lie 
 
322 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 right within the scope of their vision, right in the hemisphere of the 
 living person, but, as said, are not recognized, because not under- 
 stood, not detected according to their proper use and constantly exer- 
 cised power ; but of these very forces the human will is composed. 
 
 The ordeals or furnaces where dross is consumed, and the system 
 metals are molded over, are right in your immediate hemisphere, and 
 often they are even constructed in the system, according to what the 
 works may be' which are a natural demand to purify the mortal, and 
 for fuel. You breathe in vapors and fluids from the elements of 
 nature, then when these ordeals are heated up, the metals of human 
 propensities are brought in then, and so prepared to be molded over. 
 Workmen are there, and await the moment of action. 
 
 What then if the will foams up as a boiling caldron instead of 
 remaining sound and calm, so that the desired results could be 
 achieved, and for which such a process was a necessity. Works 
 according to the human will are then a failure or a success, and too 
 often a failure, and the same process needs to be repeated, which is 
 as painful to the workmen as to the individual passing through such 
 a process. These works for the regeneration of the natural being in 
 the said way must be done ; they are the inevitable results of the 
 laws of compulsion according to necessities, to further the transfor- 
 matory labors universally. There are parts of the regenerative 
 labors that depend altogether on the human will, because they must 
 be shapen.and hammered out on the will. The will is the anvil in 
 man, while reason is the appointed supreme officer to govern the will 
 in man. 
 
 All natural forces which are not brought forth to mortal view 
 and understanding are termed subtle. Their power is magical and 
 great, and does exist for goodly purposes, because the universe 
 essence is needed to support the wonderful composition of man, yet, 
 owing to their developments, people make use of things, and very 
 perverted uses are made of many things which nature yields for 
 human comforts, if properly applied. But all this ,will go its way 
 gradually, according to natural law, and this will in time dawn upon 
 the minds of mortals as they pursue their march on life's great tide. 
 To make it still plainer, take a certain individual who may be given 
 in the charge of workmen to be in a manner reconstructed in their 
 system, that is, to become developed by being led through purifying 
 ordeals ; such cases are at the present time very common on earth. 
 The object of this is that the system dross may be consumed, and the 
 person who is worked upon become lawfully initiated into a higher 
 degree of existence, according to the degrees of purity and ideality, or 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIHIT LECTURES. 323 
 
 spirituality. It is often necessary that a subject be taken out where 
 such conditions exist, from whom fuel can be gathered to be used 
 in heating up the constructed purifying furnaces. If persons are 
 hemmed in by circumstantial compulsions, these conditions are brought 
 about them, and they are led through them, as said before, to gather 
 fuel by which the furnaces may be heated. Now, when all the prepa- 
 rations have been made and are ready for the material to be ham- 
 mered into shape, it depends on the will, as the anvil in man, whether 
 the designed object can be achieved or not, for the will being alto- 
 gether fluidic and essences, but of such properties which when cool 
 become solid as iron, but when heated are foaminsr, resembling the 
 chaos or confusion of an untrained state of these mingled properties 
 in a solid sense. When this state is reached there is a failure, 
 because reason cannot be heard then by the aroused mortal. 
 
 Such realizations are frequent, and, as said before, are painful to 
 the workers and their subjects alike, because the desired works are in 
 this way retarded. Blessed are those who are calm and submissive 
 to these conditional out-workings, which are in their occurrences 
 inevitable, by reason of the haste made thus in human developments 
 and system regenerating. He who is calm and patient in the hour of 
 trial proves that it was not merely from the lips when these words 
 were uttered : " Lord, thy will be done," but that it was from the 
 heart, and that heart and soul wish to live and be acted upon 
 according to the will of God ; for by His laws all work must be pur- 
 sued. For each person born there are marks made of purity and 
 attainments, unto which they shall be brought if possible during their 
 earthly travels, and each person therefore is acted upon or receives 
 treatment according to the requirements of their own peculiar com- 
 position, in order to thus achieve the best possible results. 
 
 When reason has not acquired its proper growth, the will is 
 more turbulent and ungovernable, and, as reason grows stronger, the 
 will is held by it, as with reins, and these distasteful and injurious 
 occurrences become less, until by such careful training they will all 
 be expunged from the being, and the system attributes become molded 
 perfectly one after another, so that even the whole temporary struc- 
 ture becomes neatly finished, so that it can well represent the peal 
 structure of the lasting habitation. You all know that a blacksmith 
 could not accomplish his desired work with any success if the anvil 
 would rise up and become a foam at the moment when the irons are 
 heated, and the work must be done. Yet we find just such repul- 
 sions in our works on earth constantly with mortals. Learn 1 1 1 i ,s 
 lesson well, and draw the intended benefit from it. 
 
324 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 LECTURE LXXII. 
 
 "WHY DO MORTALS LOVE THE THINGS OF TniS "WORLD SO 
 
 DEARLY WHEN THE LOVE OF THESE IS INJURIOUS 
 
 TO THEIR SPEEDY INDIVIDUALIZATION?"* 
 
 First. This mortal world is the place where the implanted infi- 
 nite spirit first realized the need of anything, where it first felt hun- 
 ger, thirst, and weariness, where, also, it first observed the difference 
 in the grades in a worldly sense, and from it grew a desire for gain- 
 ing worldly goods, and rising in the estimation of people ; also, to 
 gratify the natural impulses which, being assigned their proper ele- 
 ments, are the stronger power of the two which make up an immor- 
 tal spirit clad in a form of clay. But why this is so is still the 
 query. " Why did it require a sinful process to people a world, and 
 to regenerate these people again so as to transform them into angels 
 such as have a tangible form, and can acquire knowledge as gods, 
 only differing according to their strength of mind ? " 
 
 By this yearning after worldly things the mortal is introduced to 
 the study which was one of the greatest desires that mortals should 
 acquire while on earth, namely, the difference of good and evil. It 
 takes much time and many lessons before the real difference between 
 good and evil can be seen in a true light. By the great love for 
 worldly things and enjoyments mortals may be blinded to the duties 
 they owe to God, their Creator, and to their own individual spirits. 
 When the mists clear away, which the glitter of these perishing 
 things had thrown around them, there will be a powerful reaction, 
 and they will then center their divided love on one object, which 
 object is to gain an admittance* to the center path of true ascension, 
 and they will then serve God with all their strength of mind and 
 being, regardless of individual necessities, until the desired object is 
 gained. Then they will work onward ever, and be always eager to 
 gather what in each world is valued most by its inhabitants, be it 
 wisdom or other possessions, or both, which are labored for in the 
 established orders of each sphere and world. I say this to show that 
 it is not altogether wrong to be ambitious. Were not the archangels 
 ambitious when they willingly left their high positions and mingled 
 with dust, and even parted with their selfhood in part so as to instill 
 
 * This lecture was written by the ruler of odc of the principalities, or bj one of 
 the beasts of opposition to the Righteous King and His work ; hence the difference 
 in the language of this lecture compared to that of the others in this connection. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 325 
 
 it in mortals to create a people who would be compelled to work 
 under their enforced laws, to do all the works laid out, in order to 
 make themselves great in this wise, and to become master-builders and 
 the crowned heads of the great labors which would be achieved in the 
 round of an eternity before another clause could be issued by which 
 to enact a new method of creative extensions and transformations ? 
 Their time is almost ended. 
 
 We are glad that it is. They did their works well, and have 
 accomplished their desired ends. But the struggles are not quite 
 ended by which to enable them to subdue all other powers, and give 
 the reins over to the Youth of Sublimity, who is wise and beautiful, 
 and who has been the chief one in planning and writing the laws, 
 also a personal worker. But lie did not do any more personal work 
 than many others who ^nly gained moderate possessions for what they 
 did, and are not crowned in any degree of rulership of and over any 
 number of either mortals or spirits. Our work is not finished yet, 
 but we know we cannot hinder the inevitable. We must submit, and 
 the issues are before us, and the power is in the hands of Him whose 
 brilliant appearance gave Him favor with God, for His goodness is 
 not so excellent above others ; that is, we do not think Him super- 
 excellence, although He is termed that by all the seraphs and cherubs. 
 
 We think mortals have a right to love the things of earth ; to 
 gather and use them for comfort and enjoyment, and without being 
 censured about it, too. We also think ourselves entitled to a little 
 mercy and grace from the Great Dispenser; and, lastly, we have 
 worked in the world's degrees as mortals, and with mortals, and we 
 ask as our reward some finite position. 
 
 We have come here and written this as a plea. Will the Great 
 Sovereign answer through you? 
 
 LECTURE LXXIII. 
 
 DEATH. 
 
 Oh, how shall we view thee, thou visitor from the border land, 
 since thou dost come arrayed in a different garb to each and every- 
 one who is summoned by the breath of justice, or called by the voice 
 of God, which voice is heard by all angels, or spirits of all grades, and 
 felt by all mortals whom it concerns, for from that grade or degree 
 
326 COMriLATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 •where the spirit which is called to go belongs, in accordance with 
 true worth and developed spirituality, proceeds forth the summons of 
 death, carried by the appointed official, called the mystic angel of 
 death of that degree ? He or she does the work necessary to sever 
 the soul and body and extract the mind powers from the casket fash- 
 ioned from clay, where they have thei£ operation the allotted time 
 for the purpose of improvement. Other spirits, the friends of those 
 called to come, meet them likewise, generally to welcome them as 
 soon as they are released from the body, or to meet them silently, even 
 as they are worthy or unworthy of a reception in the worlds beyond ; 
 but these friends can do nothing, only to be present, even as friends 
 on earth are present to witness the ebbing away of the life, the spirit, 
 in mortals. So, on the other hand, the increase is observed until all 
 eyes are gleaming with joy because the spirit is born, or released 
 rather from its material incumbrance. See the contrast! Mortals 
 weep and the angels sing, that is when a worthy spirit is welcomed 
 home. 
 
 When a deformed spirit is taken home, then there is a profound 
 silence, and all duties are discharged strictly official, and the spirit is 
 placed where the law had decreed to be the proper place for all the 
 various deformities and diseases which corrupt the vitals, but which 
 must be sound before a well-formed spirit body can be inhabited. 
 Oh, how many are so badly dwarfed in intellect that they are, so to 
 say, insane, shriveled, and crippled in every limb and drawn in every 
 nerve ! Then there are inebriates ; there are the murderers' spheres, 
 the suipide apartments, dense cells walled up by the wall's of conditions 
 so thafreach one finds himself alone w T ith retributive justice; but, we 
 repeat, the voice of God is heard and obeyed in all degrees, and the 
 well-trained angel of death obeys that voice, attends to duty, and 
 levies the summons accordingly, and it does not matter how cruel the 
 fate that befalls a mortal may seem, or in what form or guise the angel 
 of death appears to reap from earth a Heaven-developed spirit. These 
 well-trained and gentle spirits, who are sent as chosen messengers, are 
 pure and bright, are highly intelligent, and are mostly feminine spirits, 
 reared and trained very carefully for such labors. 
 
 After telling you all this, it will be easy to know or understand 
 how death should be viewed, since you and all mortals should learn 
 and ever remember the dread appearance and conditions which sur- 
 round a mortal at death are wholly the outflow of the mortal, and 
 often the fruits of their labors throng around them in effects, very 
 pressing or pleasing, as the case may be, of the one in travail for the 
 birth of the spirit into spirit life. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 327 
 
 Death is known to be a grand, natural process, the gateway to 
 immortal life. Why is it so feared or dreaded ? The border land of 
 the immortal worlds and the material worlds are at the present 
 time very near each other, owing to aerial changes which are caused 
 by the chemical compounds, who are the master-builders of the 
 universe. 
 
 Translations are wrought by and through these changes from the 
 imperfect and conglomerate in the mind and matter realms, hence 
 this condition into which all others are merging should be, yes, must 
 be, realized more or less by all mortals. The subject is a grave one, 
 and should be mooted on by all who have any mind, for the simple 
 reason that these aerial changes, by which also the curtains of eter- 
 nity are drawn aside. 
 
 These changes cannot be made without causing great effects in 
 all things for mortals ; therefore it is called a natural and mental 
 revolutionizing in accordance with law, and the people will be sum- 
 moned in great and small numbers, and also one by one, to cross the 
 line of the border land, for even so is the earth to be reaped, and all 
 who are travelers on earth at this time should prepare at onoe for the 
 journey, so as to be ready to respond cheerfully to any summons at 
 any time. Also, all should acquaint themselves with future realities 
 and the way by which they can rationally find an abiding place 
 according to true worth and development, whether it be in the 
 spheres or states of the blessed, in company with the angels, or in 
 the different regions in the Hells among the impure and unhappy. 
 
 When this has been studied, you can form an adequate idea of 
 the angel of death that will come for you, and what the garb will be 
 that the angel will wear, also will bring for you to wear. The angel 
 of death, remember, wears official apparel suiting to every case and 
 every act of duty wdiich he or she may be sent to perform, or to 
 gently attend to. 
 
 Away with all this drowsy, religious fanaticism, teaching that 
 Heaven can be entered through the merits of another, and the fruits 
 enjoyed grown from another's labor ! It is a base misconception, 
 one of the greatest and saddest delusions which ever settled upon 
 mortal brows ! 
 
 Away, also, with mysteries in regard to godliness, also to relig- 
 ious differences and the power of the gospel ! The veil is drawn 
 aside, the immortal states are shown to mortals and clearly revealed 
 in a full and compact order, and the gospel power is felt in good and 
 ill effects even as the gospel was lived or abused. And we say at 
 last away with the dread picture of death, for it is the mortal that 
 
328 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 gains the victory over the ills which, according to the natural defici- 
 cences, have inflicted themselves upon the people. At death the 
 temporary and afflicted body is left, and a new body is gained ; if it 
 is not a perfect one it is the fault of the person who abused his own 
 being so as to gratify the natural instincts, and thus made the 
 Heaven-inherited attributes subservient to the worldly or animalic. 
 
 But even then it is well that a change should come by which 
 progress can be compelled forth for each individual's own good. 
 Death ! How many dismal pictures have been drawn about it which 
 have physically reflected themselves in the mental horizon until it 
 was looked upon as a dismal valley through which the released spirit 
 must pass to reach the immortal shores. 
 
 It is all a phantasy of the mind. Away with it ! There is no 
 dismal valley between the boundary lines, no gulf to be crossed in 
 boats by the boatmen who are sent after mortal spirits ! Understand 
 and behold, O mortals, that all this was a figure of speech symbolical 
 of conditions which represent states that are and must be met by the 
 arriving travelers in accordance with their worth and development, as 
 we have before stated. 
 
 Here in the first sphere of the immortal worlds, the landing port 
 for travelers, we have a collection of reflections which are woven in 
 the silver lining of the dividing atmospheres, and which represent the 
 thoughts and deeds of mortals so correctly that not a jot, thought, or 
 word is missing that has not made the mark of its meaning and 
 intent. These collections can be made to pass like panoramas before 
 new-born spirits, and there they have their own breath as an undeni- 
 able testimony for or against them. The works of a mortal are col- 
 lected, even the evil as well as the good works, for just and tangible 
 proofs for or against them, and these pictures and collections also 
 serve to teach the innocent but weak-minded, and show them by these 
 justly and correctly-carved collections their real worth and standing 
 which they cannot realize nor believe. 
 
 This, friends, is a daily recurrence, no matter how it may seem to 
 the investigator ; whoever he may be he will find these things to be 
 facts when he or she shall be called home. How much harm has 
 been done by the wrong illustrations given of death ? Oh, the many, 
 many dwarfed intellects which are wholly due to these dread pictures, 
 by which a fear of God, instead of love, has been developed, all of which 
 is due to foul and adverse teachiugs in regard to future realities and 
 immortal life. How often the sad exclamation has rung from the 
 pulpits that earth is nothing but a vale of tears ! But, pray, brother 
 man, why is earth a vale of tears ? If it is one scholars should know 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 329 
 
 why, and should also be prepared to answer. Yea, more, they should 
 if they do not possess the ability to change such a lamentable con- 
 dition, if it really existed. But they can do nothing but talk about 
 it, and why ? Simply because there is nothing in their assumptions. 
 
 View earth aright, and not through these ill-created webs and 
 pictures ! Aside from these, it is really a pleasant place ; enough is 
 provided for all who are sent forth upon earth for a journey, not only 
 food and raiment, but labor activities are provided and pleasures also, 
 and the reason that many are in want, woe, and suffering is strictly a 
 condition created by man, and by man can be remedied, for it is 
 caused by the abuse of talents, by the misuse and perverted applica- 
 tion of the provisions made for all, by double-dealing and malicious 
 practices, and an indulgence in animalities and impure appetites. All 
 woes, all sufferings are due to these, and are all strictly world and 
 man-made ills which, if mortals would but rectify, would leave earth, 
 as it naturally is, without these pollutions, a pleasant place. Talents 
 are given to all born on earth by which they may be enabled to lay 
 the foundation upon which they may build their future habitations. 
 But if these talents are abused instead of being well used and 
 improved, the mortal and not the Creator is at fault. 
 
 Earth is not a vale of tears, we repeat ; nay, it is very paradis- 
 ical when properly viewed, and when all duties are met and dis- 
 charged as they should be. You have on earth ripling, murmuring 
 streams, singing birds, fruits and flowers, ships, steamboats, and 
 numerous other methods of conveyance to make it pleasant for you, 
 and more and more is being brought to earth from the unveiled bor- 
 der land by which earth is made beautiful, prosperous, and pleasant. 
 
 You have^only the animals needed for use and food, and as mor- 
 tals advance and grow more truly civilized and morally pure, animals 
 will grow less and purer so as to correspond with man's need and 
 use. There is nothing £ all on earth that is really a true cause for 
 lamentation only the pcrvertedly exerted will-power of man, which 
 is exerted right against themselves to deprive them from securing 
 their own w r eal or welfare. This is lamentable, and is owing largely 
 to the fact of an adverse view of death and the future states which 
 await all in accordance with their deeds performed while on earth. 
 
 This course of the long-taught pictured ideas of Heaven and Hell 
 has created many undue woes, hence mortals must know the reality 
 concerning these states ; therefore, the new Heaven and the new 
 earth are presented as a fulfillment of the visions of John, the seer, 
 which were given him in regard to this last time, the division and 
 the close, and all the prophetic foreshadowed labors are now having 
 
330 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 form and are finished. Heaven, O mortals, is inward happiness, and 
 Hell is inward misery, but on earth these states can be concealed, 
 therefore cannot be as well observed as in the future states, for there, 
 in the future, no concealments are possible, as you are within, or as 
 you are in true worth, so do your surroundings correspond ; they 
 reflect the happiness or misery, poverty or wealth, which strictly cor- 
 responds with the soul worth. All things around the denizens of the 
 worlds beyond speak for themselves, and the emanations of the pure 
 and true create much wealth, beautiful things, and pleasures ; hence 
 the pure and true are blessed, and the reverse is also true of the 
 impure, and, therefore, the unhappy. 
 
 Those who arrive in the spirit world who have served under a 
 mask, and who have misused the God-given attributes, around such 
 spirits is a pressing darkness ; and poverty, woe, and innumerable 
 miseries reflect themselves in forms that correspond exactly to their 
 inner states and feelings. Think of this, and ponder upon it, all who 
 possess minds ! You all know your own feelings of happiness or 
 misery, and nearly always know the causes from whence they are 
 compelled forth and supported, whether from pure or impure sources. 
 Purely worldly and selfish pleasures beget woes and create miseries 
 and poverty for you in spirit life. Gains and profits, in a worldly 
 sense, will give you purple and fine linen with which to gratify the 
 natural proclivities and appetites of the purely natural men and 
 women ; but ever remember the parable of Dives and Lazarus, for 
 even so shall all Diveses find their future states, and those who through 
 their deeds, that is such deeds as Dives' become, or are kept poor 
 and pressed, they, like Lazarus, shall be blessed and happy. 
 
 Now, after having all these facts spread out before you, what do 
 you or can you rationally expect to be your abiding place ? In what 
 garb can or will the angel of death come to you, and what may be 
 your sensation when you are called to retern from your journey ? 
 Reflect upon all this earnestly. Ponder upon these facts carefully. 
 Reality is now set bare to mortal view, and the facts claim a recogni- 
 tion by mortal minds. It is not made known to mortals when, where, 
 and how their journey shall end, and really it is of no importance to 
 anyone, only prepare to be ready ; then all will be well, and death 
 will then be a pleasant visitor whenever and wherever he will meet 
 you. 
 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 331 
 
 LECTURE LXXIV. 
 
 "SEARCH AND YE SnALL FIND." 
 
 These words are applicable, and will prove their strength, in 
 whatever sense they are used. If you truly seek, and with a reso- 
 lute will pursue each glimpse of that for which jou. seek, or for which 
 you have inner unspoken desires, to have or obtain, you will find it. 
 You can bring the object sought into your possession if your crav- 
 ings are not extreme, and do not infringe upon the rights of mortals 
 in the same degree in which you may be classed. This serves as a 
 solution to the often seeming failure of these words : " Search and 
 ye shall find." It is necessary to seek in the proper direction, or you 
 defy yourselves. If you reverse your searches and seek for treasures 
 in worldly measures, your labor will result in disappointment, although 
 you may search until physical strength is exhausted, and die in a 
 natural sense a disappointed mortal. Who is to blame but yourself 
 if you did not inform yourself where and how to search, in order to 
 satisfy your longings with good results ? 
 
 When you search for gold, diamonds, pearls, or ore, you have 
 all the natural field before you. But these treasures of nature are 
 very differently deposited, and the search for them very unlike, so 
 that first you must know what your truest longings are ; next, where 
 to go, and how to search to satisfy these longings. Turn the sub- 
 ject in other directions, and it will prove true if the searches are 
 made with a sincere and resolute will in the right directions. Search 
 for truth, but do not be uncertain as to what grade of truth you seek, 
 and be sure to search in the right w r ay if you wish to find that truth 
 which will prove beneficial for time and eternity. There is one great 
 mine common to the angelic and human families, where they can 
 search and find new treasures ; but the method of access to this mine 
 must be known and well understood before searches can be made in 
 it for good results. This mine is the mine of universal knowledge. 
 It is not held in restraint by the will and power of God, but is for all 
 who adapt themselves to receive or prepare themselves to search, 
 that they may find and be satisfied. But is it considered how sacred 
 this mine is, how it should be approached and entered in order to 
 come en rapport with great minds, and be led to perceive the veins 
 which supported these minds, so that the explorer may touch this 
 vein, and thus be enabled to extract the riches of hidden wisdom, and 
 sup nectar with the Gods ? 
 
332 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 How many of these searchers after truth, and other treasures of 
 price to them, we discover in these modern times groping in the 
 misty gloom without, lacking power to even knock at the entrance of 
 the mine ! Having no key to open the doors, which, through the 
 mists, seem forever closed, they labor under misconceptions, and, fail- 
 ing to persevere, they wear their strength away without, and die dis- 
 appointed. 
 
 Behold, O mortals, how wondrously you are fashioned. Deep 
 in the recesses of each soul lay the desires of various grades which 
 arise as desires. Many of these resemble coal in mines, which must 
 be brought out and placed in the locomotive, which we will term the 
 will, then a good engineer must form steam from other forces of the 
 human soul to move the man to search and labor to satisfy these 
 longings, and so make them objects and compel their growth and 
 beauty. It is the same law for both physical and spiritual exertion 
 to truly improve self, and it is self-evident that the will and reason 
 must be kept pure and active in order to search wisely and success- 
 fully. If the searches after truth were pursued wisely, then the pres- 
 ent great universal outflow would cause no undue commotion among 
 mortals, and the necessity avoided of circumscribing the highest 
 truths within limits, to which but a few can have access, owing to 
 averse explorations, and to the many who arrive at the entrance of 
 the mine unprepared to receive truths. They are left without to 
 grapple with the mists ; so it is necessary for those who have mind to 
 use it, and behold the objects of all these modern transactions. The 
 ministers should be the ones to receive the outflow of these spiritual 
 riches, and if they would search in spirit and in truth, they would be 
 the ones, but the majority of them are only worldly agents, knowing 
 nothing of the power of God's spirit upon them, but have acquired 
 classical knowledge and act as hirelings, hence they are kept outside 
 of the mine in company with many less bright in intellect, and con- 
 sidered by them as deluded, yet they are traveling the same uncer- 
 tain roads, and both parties will be disappointed, only these disap- 
 pointments will differ for each of them. 
 
 You ask : " How can the way to that mine be found, and an 
 entrance be gained ? " We answer : God can be seen and compre- 
 hended in His own light, which is bountifully shed upon mortals, if 
 they will place themselves so as to receive it. By the aid of this 
 light the mine is easily found and entered, and knowledge gained 
 because these heavenly rays are not uncertain, but lead each pursuer 
 to that which will satisfy his yearnings, and prove a source of con- 
 stantly increasing wealth. God's truths can be discerned by that 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 333 
 
 light which issues from Him, and can be understood and applied to 
 practical uses. Each mortal must be active if they would enhance 
 the riches of their spirit, and also successfully pursue their earthly 
 journey. Many, if they would answer fearlessly, as Samuel of old, 
 when they hear spirit voices, "Lord, here I am, as well as I can 
 appear, willing to do Thy bidding," then they might do much to aid 
 general progress and dispel earth's gloom ; but they pay no heed to 
 the still spirit voice manifested to their own spirit, nor do they pay 
 heed to God's voice made audible through those who are chosen to 
 dispense light and truth for the benefit of all. Thus the question is 
 answered which we hear asked so often : " Why cannot I see spirits 
 or hear them? " You fail to place yourself in a receptive condition, 
 and so seek fruitlessly. Disappointment in finding the objects of 
 desires and explorations occur from averse pursuits in searching. 
 It holds good in all the degrees of mind and matter, and it is time 
 that all things were considered rationally and so pursued. Perverse 
 mind culture benumbs the spiritual senses so that they cannot act, and 
 so the manifested spirit power is not felt by those who stand between 
 God and the people, and who tightly close the world's doors against 
 the King of Lings so He cannot enter. This is done by the exer- 
 cising of formalities instead of reality ; then they pray : " Open widely 
 the world's doors, so the King of kings can enter ; " yet they hold 
 them closed. 
 
 Since it must be remembered that He can enter only with His 
 spiritual attributes and power, wherever mortals prepare to receive 
 Him in that way, do they receive that for which they ask ? Do they 
 find that which they seek and which satisfies the hunger of the soul ? 
 No. Much of the popular worship of today is a voice of judgment 
 raised by the ministers against themselves, for they pray long and 
 loud that God's power might subdue all who arc not true worshipers, 
 and that His glory would be manifested upon earth, and His power 
 upon the unbelieving. They do not know that their voices are 
 against themselves ; they think they are safe behind the fortresses 
 erected from creeds and formulas, but their position is dangerous, and 
 their prayers are collected against them, for they pray this that they 
 might be subdued and brought to reason, that the fortresses guarded 
 so well by mortal arms might be broken down, so that all would in 
 spirit sincerely seek for truth, light, and heavenly wisdom, and iind, 
 receive, and be truly blest. But here is the result of averse culture 
 from misconceptions, for the religious teachers in all established 
 degrees claim that the sins of the world are the strong fortresses 
 which must be leveled. But pray tell us what is sin to your view 
 
334 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 and understanding? In reality it is mortal ignorance and averse 
 culture in all known spiritual and natural laws, so far as mortals can 
 obtain knowledge thereof, for only compliance with law is gospel 
 pure and true, and leads the traveler onward in the narrow path of 
 truth unto that endless day and spiritual perfection. How much 
 time is wasted in averse searches for pure and undefiled truth ! How 
 much breath spent in discussing subjects which are not rightly 
 understood, so that the right methods are not used to analyze them 
 properly ! Remember that those things of universal interest and 
 importance, things that pertain to the generating and regenerating of 
 mortals, cannot be accomplished with words when the words used are 
 a reproach, and the deeds reactive forces against the wordy display. 
 This is a demonstrated truth, and will be seen in time by all zealous 
 and averse workers. 
 
 If you wish to be true laborers in the Lord's vineyard, true 
 soldiers of the cross, then seek the new light by which past miscon- 
 ceptions may be rectified, and you will not fail if you seek with a 
 true spirit in the right way. Be not offended because the weak 
 things of earth are used to confound the wise, and because truth has 
 ever an humble birth. Those who live in pomp and fashion are 
 severely tried when they must seek w 7 here they would love to scorn 
 in their worldly folly and blinded vision. All this is a provision of 
 wisdom. All who rebel against God's ways and orders defy them- 
 selves in their pursuits, for they are brought where they lawfully 
 belong, and must begin as children to seek for truth, and live accord- 
 ingly when they receive it. All mortals have their guiding star, and 
 if heed is paid to the guiding it will throw rays of light in the direc- 
 tions where objects sought can be found. According to the desire is 
 the guidance, and when closely followed the object is obtained. This 
 serves to obtain the commonest things in worldly degrees, also in the 
 spiritual degrees to the highest, to obtain and receive the word, the 
 truth, of God. It is folly to wage rebellion and spend breath one 
 against another because all cannot agree as to the proper application 
 of the word of God, given for men's training. The best that can be 
 done by mortals under the present conditions by which they are 
 encompassed is to heed the voice of the Lord as he calls to all : 
 " Come, let us reason together." By reasoning upon errors grown 
 from past misconceptions they can be removed and all receive a bene- 
 fit. Also, in worldly pursuits learn the proper way to pursue your 
 labors, and you will be successful instead of being doomed to brood 
 over ill luck, which is the result of searching in the wrong direction 
 for that which is desired. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 335 
 
 The necessary means for needed conditional exertions prior to 
 successful explorations are always provided, but are too often' scorned. 
 If something must be done before you can be permitted to search in 
 the proper limits and extensions according to your desires, depend 
 upon it that so long as you do not comply with preliminaries just so 
 long are you kept in the twilight of uncertainty, and you cannot find 
 the route to success, cannot obtain that for which you seek, at least 
 not while on earth, for all rules must be learned and be complied 
 with according to law and the order of progress. 
 
 In this modern time, when the knowledge from the upper mind 
 realm is so plentifully dispensed among mortals, it has its fixed limits 
 and extensions, and officers stationed at each point. No one will be 
 a gainer of beneficial truths unless the rules are complied with, and 
 the extended methods made use of. 
 
 There are unpleasant parts belonging to this Heaven-born relig- 
 ion to which some persons unwisely take exceptions. Others accept 
 it too eagerly, and make perverted uses of the fragmentary knowl- 
 edge scattered by the various powers and principalities who have a 
 right to work upon earth, for men and men's works must be reviewed 
 and judged. Those who are wise will recognize the truth of these 
 various works. They are indeed necessary, although unpleasant. 
 Mortals are under heavy subjection in worldly degrees. To enfran- 
 chise them with spiritual liberty, and the individual taken from one 
 degree to another until the spiritual liberty can be truly declared, is 
 a work of greater meaning than mortals can comprehend. They 
 must realize these works, and can do so only through corresponding 
 conditions, so they can know the truth of such transactions and 
 receive the proper discipline and benefit from such courses. Then 
 they can go where they desire, and explore in this mine, and bring 
 to themselves man} r treasures which shall be theirs forever. 
 
 Think no service too humble, nor any work which needs doing 
 below you. Do whatever is necessary, whatever you are called to do, 
 with a purpose for good results, and be strictly true in all discharges 
 of all duties, because all things are closely observed at times like this. 
 The marches into conditional encumbrances are mostly done thought- 
 lessly, and physical works are needed to remove such encumbrances 
 so that you can find that which you seek, and to obtain which you 
 committed trespasses and over-stepped the lawful limits. 
 
 Ever be true to God, your Creator, true to humanity, true to 
 your calling, though.it be an humble one, and you shall be blessed in 
 Heaven, and all you yearned for and obtained not you shall find 
 prepared for you in Father's House. 
 
336 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES.' 
 
 There is no treasure hid but what can be found ; 
 Of poverty there is no need while wealth abounds 
 / In nature everywhere, waiting its turn 
 
 To be sought for, set bare for the needy and care-worn. 
 
 There is no sigh in the human breast 
 
 Without reply. None are born but to be blessed, 
 
 Yet woe is common. Darkness does hide 
 
 The star, the omen, which is mortals' true guide. 
 
 There are no failures, no, none at all ; 
 
 For all good warriors there is many a call, 
 
 To battle 'gainst instinct, 'gainst Action, to show 
 
 The proper precincts, how far 'tis right to go. 
 
 But each endeavor one nigher brings, 
 s Then rest, rest never, for time has wings ; 
 Search for the treasure to thee of price; 
 Receive thy measure of joys in paradise. 
 
 All treasures must be found ; all people are in want 
 When they shirk duties or leap the bounds ; sighs are 
 Implanted to correspond with what they are destined to be; 
 And all the ways of Gocl are just, where men are let to see 
 Their duties to be true to one another, and to God their Creator. 
 
 
 LECTURE LXXV. 
 
 ANGELS WALK THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORK IS TO ESTABLISH 
 A PRACTICAL RELIGION AMONG THE PEOPLE. 
 
 Those angels who can gather or take on from the natural ele- 
 ments enough strength so as to remain -in the mortal atmosphere and 
 yet belong in the high degrees of development, and have their abodes 
 among the pure and blessed, are called missionaries, for they are 
 commissioned to descend to earth to reform the people. There is a 
 great difference in the labors of angels who come to work on earth. 
 They go in bands, and each band has a part of the various works to 
 perform, which at the present time are being transacted under the 
 sun. Therefore, what one band does cannot reform earthly cus- 
 toms, nor mold the minds of the rising generations ; and as the various 
 workers are in the field to prepare the world and the mental soil for 
 the one great end or object, but which by one band only is brought 
 to mortal view and comprehension, and for which purpose all labor, 
 and also all the bands labor but for one band under one captain ; yet 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 337 
 
 as workmen under other commanders they do not know this, and even 
 work opposition in a seeming manner to the chief captain over all, 
 yet he issues his orders well, because he understands the undeveloped 
 conditions of spirits and mortals, and uses them as tools for any labor 
 that is needed which they can be used for to perform by being placed 
 under the impelling force of law and conditions, and being led on by 
 a captain in whom they see a person who is in sympathy with them 
 in their desires and belief, otherwise mental training and system- 
 regenerating could not have been performed, nor was it ever done 
 otherwise. Therefore, it behooves Spiritualists as well as others to 
 search closely and find out these facts, and study more the degrees in 
 which they are classed, and learn what type of spirits work with and 
 upon them. This will be of far greater benefit than phenomenal 
 explorations, for they are only the outward signs from the inner 
 workings, and in common occurrences marked to attract or arouse 
 those who are spiritually dead, who walk the earth strangers to them- 
 selves, breathing life, yet being lifeless in all that marks an individ- 
 ual as to beneficial and noble attainments, and in that which guaran- 
 tees to the individual among the pure and blessed in the upper realms 
 after the dissolution of the body. 
 
 True, practical religion is what the human race at this epoch of 
 time stand greatly in need of. It is one of the parts which has not 
 yet attained to form after the designed pattern of »the gospel graces, 
 and as formalities have grown to be so great it is a great work to 
 erase them from the minds and practices of the people of the world. 
 Yet it will be done, and the work is in many ways being pursued by 
 thousands of heavenly workers who rejoice in being actively engaged 
 in any work that will help in these labors which are a universal benefit. 
 
 We will now endeavor to give an outline of that which we wish 
 to convey by the expression of practical religion. Worship, so 
 called, shall be changed, and consist of works of charity and good 
 deeds toward the weak and needy portions of the human family. 
 The will of God shall be done on earth as it is in Heaven, and it 
 excludes prayers for the needy without such other aid as the phys- 
 ical needs call for, and for which God has provided, that all might 
 share in that which their physical demands require while they are 
 journeying and learning their lessons in this basement department of 
 the universe, which is called earth. It is not necessary to make a 
 great display of learning, for it will not arrest a single pain caused by 
 the trespassing of natural law, which bring suffering and troubles, so 
 called, upon mortals. Yet it will be well to meet for the purpose of 
 counciling how to work so as to do the best for all who need aid, and 
 
338 COMPILATION OF SPOILT LECTURES. 
 
 to give them relief according to strength and means, and also to 
 exchange ideas. 
 
 It is of great value to all to comment upon any and all ideas or 
 questions that compose difficult problems, and analyze one sentence 
 after another until the seeming mysterious warp is raveled out, and 
 the lessons which men were to learn stand forth clear and compre- 
 hensive ; and when they are learned let them be enforced for the use 
 of the rising generations. Humanity must recognize her part in the 
 plan as touching this subject, for it has not been well played, and it 
 must, therefore, have a review, and also be brought into practice at 
 the same time. Therefore, rectify this failing by doing all you can 
 to promote general enlightenment and human weal, and by doing this 
 you crown the immortal spirit of God, for each good deed is like a 
 gem placed in the Creator's crown. Empty prayers and formal wor- 
 ship make no such marks, for there is no substance in them. They 
 are only a sham, a hollow bubble which serve only to bring remorse 
 and disappointment to those who indulge in them. Live, act in the 
 present ! Why do you aim to defer for eternity that which it is your 
 duty to do in the present time ? Strive to be active wherever you 
 can be, and in whatever way you can. Do small services if lack of 
 means prevent your doing larger ones. Little deeds of kindness 
 count up in time and make great deeds, and merit great rewards, for 
 as long as you are not a worker helping to fill God's plan, just so long 
 you will he held in subjection by those who are strangers to the cov- 
 enant, und you have no claim, no title, for an inheritance until you do 
 that part of the work which was marked for you to do. Then, when 
 this is >done you can ascend and draw nigh to God, but not before. 
 "Work to regenerate man from the dross of the natural instincts, and 
 also from the sufferings which come from that source. Break down 
 the condition walls with a firm will power and strong resolutions, 
 although they may seem like mountains, yet they are only vapors and 
 can be broken down and removed by a resolute will. Do not remain 
 imprisoned any longer by these conditional fortresses. Break down 
 these walls, and lead forth other poor captives to freedom whenever 
 you can reach them by word or deed. 
 
 A great change is marked on the canvas of nature which must 
 take place. Earth is to be reaped from the effects of her labors, and 
 is to he judged likewise. The angels are sounding the trumpet for 
 this judgment, and at the same time revealing the mysteries of the 
 universe. Then, when those revelations are ended, mortals will be 
 impelled by a mighty force of the immutable law, which will act upon 
 them, and compel them to recognize and receive these revelations as 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 339 
 
 truth as it has existed from the beginning. Then the ministers of the 
 world will have no more work to do, for their work will be finished 
 by others whom Heaven has appointed in their stead. Hell will be 
 set forth as it exists in reality, and that term will have its proper defi- 
 nition given which will be infused intuitively and received by the 
 people. Then the order of progress can become firmly established on 
 earth, for it has already been launched into the mind sphere of the 
 mortal race, and the invisible workers will continue their labors until 
 it has become practical, for they have received their orders, and that 
 which Heaven has decreed must be accepted on earth, although by such 
 stubborn resistance the time will be delayed when a universal religion 
 can be declared and recognized on earth, and likewise a universal 
 God. It will then be seen that these decrees were from the begin- 
 ning, that type and class difference must exist, and that the necessi- 
 ties of the most humble and low must and will then be respected as 
 well as those of the more advanced in the progressional rounds of gen- 
 eral attainments. When you convene together for worship, or, more 
 properly speaking, to learn lessons for the soul's benefit, remember 
 that it is no great mark of merit to have the explanations of any idea 
 or question given in grand style and choice language, but that those 
 marks are made by the angels for those who are teachers when you 
 explain the lessons and each idea in simple language, so that those 
 even of dull comprehension can be brought to see and understand, and 
 so receive a benefit which they could not possibly derive otherwise. 
 By so doing the weak intellects become strengthened, and the mis- 
 conceptions and wrong ideas received will be rectified, and they will 
 become bright gems which shall jat sparkle in the crown of their 
 Creator, God, and they will cast a reflection of joy forever upon that 
 teacher who so beautified the once darkened attributes of the divine 
 spirit embodied in those persons taught, and who were led out of 
 ignorance and up on to the summit of true selfhood where God's 
 design is beheld by the wonder-stricken eye, and comprehended by 
 the enlightened senses. Work for the honor of God by thus healing 
 and making beautiful the weak and crippled ones of His earthly chil- 
 dren. Then the angels will rejoice in your labors and aid you to the 
 extent of their ability. If that which is taught does not seem clear 
 to the hearers, it would be well to ask for explanations, but in proper 
 order. No two are permitted to talk at the same time. Observe 
 this rule throughout. Take one idea and comment on it, and all givo 
 their view upon it until the truth concerning it dawns upon you, as it 
 was from the beginning. Then treasure up that truth, and part with 
 it never. 
 
340 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 LECTURE LXXVI. 
 
 A DIALOGUE. QUESTIONS BY MORTALS. — ANSWERS GIVEN BY 
 
 SPIRITS. 
 
 Question. Is Spiritualism a curse or a blessing to humanity, 
 and for the earth ? 
 
 Answer. The curse was on and in the earth, and upon the peo- 
 ple who dwell on earth. Spiritualism came first as a detective to 
 search out the dark recesses and concealed evils. Then it comes as 
 an executioner, and compels the darkness and evils to come fo^th to 
 view, and finally to judgment. Then it acts as a renovating power, 
 and compels a change in all the forms and customs which have served 
 their time and have grown corrupt, and can no longer be tolerated in 
 the sight of God ; and then it becomes a saving power, since knowl- 
 edge is known to be power and light, the force and vigor of life and 
 true growth. Spiritualism could not well be ignored in the services 
 it renders to earth and the people. Light from the adjoining worlds, 
 and also from Heaven, is brought to earth by the returning millions 
 of spirits who are God's ministers or message-bearers to the children 
 of earth, and it remains on earth with the people. Yes, they will 
 bear this light with them when they leave earth to pursue their jour- 
 ney further in this endless march through the universe of God. By 
 the works which Spiritualism is doing, the earth is being greatly puri- 
 fied and improved. The daily inventions are the results of the com- 
 ing of the messengers of God, working on the sensitive intellectual 
 mortals, and people are greatly benefited through these labors which 
 many mortals think are very absurd and objectionable. 
 
 . Question. Then you would have us understand, very decidedly, 
 that it was a blessing ? 
 
 Answer. Certainly so. There was never anything launched 
 upon or in the mind or matter realms below that came from above 
 but what was given for a blessing, and was ever and is now being 
 enacted on earth in concord with the designs of the immutable laws. 
 Therefore Spiritualism will do its work on earth, as all other dispen- 
 sations have done theirs, and mortals have no power to prohibit its 
 growth, for it has come, and the harvest from this seeding will be 
 great. 
 
 Question. Very good, then. What is your idea of God ? Can 
 you give any explanation ? 
 
 Answer. I would not offer any ideas upon that great central 
 light whose luminous rays reach everywhere. Ideas are composed of 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 341 
 
 various mixtures which float in the atmosphere, and are received by 
 mortals and spirits according to their power of reception intuitively. 
 But I will speak from knowledge, and give you that which I know, 
 and which is truth in regard to God. He is the great Supreme Spirit 
 of and over all that is. He is self-created and self-existing. He dis- 
 solves constantly into all things, even as the rays of light go out from 
 Him, and, therefore. He is in all things. And He also evolves from 
 all things constantly the same, therefore all that is and has life has it 
 in and from Him, and draws from that source the life-support, if 
 properly abiding in Him. The universe is His throne or habitation, 
 but He governs from the center of the universe, where the fountain 
 of universal light, wisdom, and power is stationed. The earth and 
 the heavens could pass away if it was so willed by this spirit of all 
 power ; but He, this Supreme Spirit, would remain, all-wise, all- 
 powerful, and unchangeable. If all the powers in Heaven, on earth, 
 and in the earth, and all life would unanimously cast their forces 
 together, they would be as nothing against God. He remains, and 
 all things else are preserved or destroyed by His breath. Yet He 
 will manifest Himself so that mortals shall know their God, shall 
 learn to understand Him, and shall learn His laws also, and all issues 
 that proceed forth from Him. 
 
 Question. Very good. You would have us think that youi 
 knowledge about Omnipotence was complete? 
 
 Answer. No, no, but as correct as it can be given, so far as it 
 goes. 
 
 Question. "We would like your opinion about Jesus as God 
 being manifested in the flesh, and in regard to the atonement, as 
 recorded in the Scriptures ? 
 
 Answer. Jesus was God incarnate in the flesh. He bore in 
 His mortal frame more of the God-principles than any other being 
 born on earth ever did. He was born by the will and power of God, 
 and came into the world that by His life, example, and teachings He 
 could make God to be understood as well as to be manifest. Thus 
 He brought light and new life into the world. Having gone out 
 from God, He drew His support from that great source ; yes, from 
 the Christ-Heavens from whence He proceeded forth and came to 
 earth. 
 
 Question. Was He supported in all He said and did while He 
 filled His life-mission on earth ? 
 
 Answer. He is the head-type of perfected spirits, and is the 
 central figure of the tangible, personal God-head. Therefore He has 
 the power to judge the quick and the dead, and the power also to rule 
 
342 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 in Heaven and on earth ; but His power is subjected to Him from 
 whom it is derived, therefore God is all in all, and Jesus is the most 
 exalted spirit next to God. He was born on earth in the middle age 
 of this eternity in accord with an act of the covenant law, and by His 
 death on the cross He set the seal upon the covenant in which was 
 written the agreements of the creative compact and their works in 
 regard to the rearing, developing, and transforming the mortal race 
 into well-individualized, tangible spirits. All natural sins are the 
 result of ignorance, and must have their outgrowth in compliance 
 with the fixed statute laws. All sins committed against the Holy 
 Ghost can never be forgiven or atoned for only by the one who com- 
 mitted them, hence the atonement of Jesus on the cross was for the 
 Adamic sins, the transmitted or inherited sins, which were the 
 instincts of the very chemical properties which were compounded to 
 be in mortals the natural creating powers from which grows instinct, 
 which causes a system of warfare and opposition to the infused attri- 
 butes of Deity, and to true principles and reason. This mortals 
 must learn, for it is time now that the mists should be absorbed by 
 the strong light now brought to earth which shall light the earth with 
 God's glory, and the people will be taught the way in which to walk 
 from earth to Heaven. Yet Jesus became the lawful mediator 
 between God and man, because He did all His works in accord with 
 law and design, therefore He pleased God and was thus exalted to 
 the position He now occupies. No man can, therefore, go to the 
 Father only through Him as He declared when on earth, for He is 
 the way. All who try to climb in by any other way are thieves and 
 robbers. They can find no entrance to the worlds of bliss. Worldly 
 excellence, intelligence, and worldly honors will give no man a pass 
 to Heaven. He must learn, and also abide in law and gospel. 
 Question. Very good, we will ponder upon all this. 
 
 LECTURE LXXVII. 
 
 OUR BELIEF. 
 
 It is not based upon fanatic collections, which, by the cunning of 
 Satan's angels, was cast upon and before us as so many people seem 
 to think, and even wish it could be so shown up to be for their own 
 satisfaction. AYe have a religion which no man hath given us, and 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 343 
 
 which no man taketh away. We stand upon the solid platform of 
 law and gospel. Angels are our teachers and ministers. They 
 bring to us truths and knowledge which mortals cannot acquire, which 
 only spirit can impart to spirit. They aid us to grow strong in true 
 principles, to live it, to practice the true and Everlasting Gospel as 
 near as we can ; and as we are enlightened and led upward by these, 
 our teachers, step by step, w r e are being gradually divested of our 
 system dross, of our selfishness, and our ignorance, and can bask 
 light and free in the heavenly sunlight. We see angels daily, and 
 hear their voices, and many truths and revelations have been given 
 us from angel lips. We will, therefore, stand by our flag and hold 
 fast to what we know, and remain devoted to God, to His Christ, and 
 His ministering angels. We know from experience in this school 
 that opposite powers are at work also, and often bear false testimony 
 before the world to try the people and probe them as by fire, but it 
 cannot affect us, for it cannot change even the least fact of the many 
 which have been demonstrated even physically in accord with visions 
 shown and messages given from our angel teachers. 
 
 We have been blessed, for to us have been given revelations of the 
 highest nature concerning man and his kinship to God, and his further 
 destiny. To us this is given to produce in the proper time as a sol- 
 vent to all unsettled questions which shall settle all religious differ- 
 ences. Let all the workers boast who are serving in the worldly 
 degrees, but they have not been found worthy of great trusts. They 
 do their work and are ignorant as to the facts about it, and how it is to 
 affect those with whom their labors are connected. When, therefore, 
 they are called forth they have nothing to produce but self-evidence, 
 and their works are then and there marked from cause to effect with 
 proper marks of services rendered. All are, however, well rewarded 
 for services rendered, so far as they are true, and remained true ; 
 those who were counterfeits and cheats are darkened even as a light 
 blown out, and must roam in the deserts and darkness as punishment 
 for such wicked mockery and for reviling holy things, for even the 
 works of the spirits of the worldly degrees dare not be mocked, 
 because they are above mortals, much less those of the Infinite, or 
 from higher spheres of spirit life, for truly God is just. Let us, 
 therefore, ever strive to learn the ways and will of God, and with the 
 aid of the angels walk peacefully therein. 
 
344 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 LECTURE LXXVIIL- (poetry.) 
 
 IT IS COMING. 
 
 This planet must be revolutionized ; the time has come that was foretold 
 By prophets who have been inspired by spirit power in times of old, 
 And all that the lips of Christ have spoken in reference to the present 
 
 time 
 Will come, be felt ; this force will shake from earth all corrupt minds. 
 
 This is, indeed, Christ's second coming ; over error victory must be won ! 
 Behold the signs, ye unbelievyag, and see the advent gradually come ! 
 Christ is, indeed, the world redeemer, but not for those who disobey ; 
 Men and men's works are renovated, all foul inventions must decay. 
 
 Those who survive these shocks shall comprehend it, and build the next 
 
 and purer age ; 
 All rebels 'gainst these works shall sore repent it ; 
 Truth only, and no fictions, are of weight ; 
 No declamations of the liberal-minded, no sober piety which serves a 
 
 mask, 
 Can gain in all these conflicts ; all endeavors to suppress truth 
 Will prove a fruitless task. 
 
 No outside show, no hypocritic prayers are wanted when the deeds prove 
 
 malice, spite; 
 The cloaks torn off, all must appear just as they are in a just surveying 
 
 sight ; 
 In vain is all display of worldly wisdom, all aims to overthrow eternal 
 
 truth ; 
 Yet will the rebels fight till truth has won, and prophecies are filled in 
 
 marks on earth. 
 
 The harvest which the angels come to gather is great ; they garner good 
 
 and bad for just rewards. 
 God shows respect to none ; the saints and sinners are judged, awarded 
 
 for the deeds they 've done. 
 All Christian sects preach loud of Jesus, and hide behind His blood their 
 
 sin; 
 But deeds are judged, and they prove strong, that worldly gain is the 
 
 strongest aim. 
 
 They who have taught thus, and they who followed, 
 
 But learned not willingly their errors, have not improved self, but only 
 
 borrowed, 
 Are shells and bubbles on life's sea ; they look at Christ as if indebted, 
 Must credit all their unjust claims, but they all merit rebel treatment, 
 And must atone for these ills with pain. 
 
 1S70. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTURES. 345 
 
 LECTURE LXXIX. 
 
 MORALITY AND CIVILIZATION. 
 
 If we were enabled to come tangibly in contact with those on 
 earth who are entrusted with the governing of the moral culture and 
 general education, then we would say: Come, let us reason and coun- 
 cil together on these all-important subjects, but as it is we are limited 
 in our common labors with mortals. We can speak only through 
 mediums as yet, and use atmospheric compulsion upon mortals to 
 further the work necessary to be done, so as to meet the demand of 
 the age, and to be in harmony with the regulating of progress. 
 Observation of all things under the sun gives us the knowledge how 
 
 o o o 
 
 to act strictly to the point, yet the by-ways are often pursued and the 
 time delayed because so many tangled conditional webs are in the 
 way, which to unfold requires different ways and means. 
 
 We behold morality so badly shaded with a trained politeness 
 and gallant deceit, which is a blight upon the fair unfoldment of the 
 sons and daughters of this age, and the seeming refinement is a flimsy 
 cover over the ill-principled selections ; for where the true man and 
 womanhood is lacking there is a void, and the person is either a 
 skeleton or a beast, and in either case are unfit for duties among their 
 fellowmen. Hence, they are only dead weights upon the true and 
 pure, and are fossils hanging to the moral pillar, which darkly shades 
 it, and makes a strangely tinged web of conditions, into which the 
 angels shall tread and breathe to give a conditional counter current 
 thereto, for from the mortal side the warp is furnished, and the woof 
 from the spiritual, and thus is produced the fabric by and with which 
 the lasting things are erected and created. Also, the earth draws 
 therefrom support for mind. 
 
 Now, when the breath of mortals is thus perverted, and they are 
 morally dwarfed, and are so grand and genteel, yet, in reality, are 
 not even civilized, what do you suppose can be the commingling 
 counter current with this of earth ? 
 
 It comes from those bearing relation and resemblance to those 
 conditions, and is therefore a law inevitable, and can only be changed 
 and made better by growth. 
 
 This, therefore, is the reason that the spirit powers, without 
 measure, were poured out over humanity upon all who were recep- 
 tive and would pay heed to the admonitions of the angels, made in 
 dreams and visions, by signs and by intuitions, according to the stand- 
 
346 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 ing of all who could be approached by this dawning light, by 
 which .shall be seen the concealed standing of the described condi- 
 tions, and they shall be set in order by the strength of the angels 
 imparted by mortals. 
 
 Then can a brighter dawn settle over earth, and perverted 
 morality and principles can be changed and become strong and 
 healthy. 
 
 Yes, the inside of mortals shall be turned out during the process 
 in which the angels are permitted, yea, ordered, to work for this, viz., 
 for an agitation, for a thorough renovation by the way of giving 
 light, knowledge, and strength to the people, and compelling them to 
 perform their labors physically. 
 
 Underground works are set before the councils of mortals, and 
 the subtle schemes which were long carried on shall meet with fail- 
 ure, with discovery, and with justice, and shall be punished and com- 
 pelled into order. 
 
 Those who have grown fat on the hard labors of the industrious, 
 upright, and honest workers shall be compelled to labor, and also to 
 learn economy. Yes, they will be trained to become civilized, also 
 moralized, for there are too many who assume rank and position, but 
 in principle they are not even equal to the savage, and in morality 
 not above the level of the brute. False modesty and fine clothes 
 only serve them as masks to hide themselves in, therefore they can 
 only be classed under the rule of the unrighteous dominion ruler 
 throughout, for they cannot be classed under a righteous government. 
 
 But as we look over the records in the finite worlds here, where 
 they have the right to govern earthly affairs in all but the religious 
 regulations and infusions, what do we find? We find it recorded 
 that the actions of those mortals are purer than the deeds they com- 
 mit ; hence it is shown that all authority is* defied, all law trespassed 
 against, no law is considered or obeyed, only that of natural instinct 
 and bodily appetites. This places them on a level with the beasts, 
 for there is not even reason called in to set in judgment against the 
 strong natural appetites. And what can be said about the consciences 
 of men ? are they asleep or dead ? Why is not the voice of the inner 
 man heard through the proper channel in man ? that is, his con- 
 science ; if heed was paid to that ' still, small voice,' then no man would 
 take advantage of another, even if he had all possible chance to do 
 so, but everyone would deal uprightly and justly, and observe truly 
 the golden rule with all persons and in all their dealings. 
 
 Then the moral pillar could be cleansed from all the fossils that 
 hang around it, and the sun of righteousness could shine thereon, and 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 347 
 
 all the impure shades which are thrown upon it by the heavy eclipses 
 of impure moral dealing and living would be compelled to vanish, 
 then the rightedus rule could be assumed. To this state must we 
 brins* the conditions of general standing before we can rest from the 
 labors now in commotion, for it is time that righteous rule should be 
 enforced on earth, and the ruler shall have the platform cleared for 
 Him, so that His feet can touch it. 
 
 There must be created a desire for heavenly truth in the people, 
 and by this desire an opening must be made so that the light from 
 above can enter into them, and drive out all darkness and impurity, 
 so that it may find its kin in the elements to be cemented with, or be 
 cast back into the reservoir of creations to be melted and molded over. 
 There is a shaking of the elements, and the aerial and vaporous sub- 
 stances are thereby brought together and cemented, and this paves 
 the gulfs of the heretofore existing voids, and in this way the present 
 earth is raised one stratum higher in the progressive evolutionary 
 march, and the people are, as a matter of necessity, raised likewise, 
 and they find themselves unawares one summit higher in existence, 
 which for a majority of them will be too much of a change, and' the 
 food provided for either the body or brain soothes them not, for they 
 are not active enough ; hence by this sluggishness the digestion of 
 both stomach and brain becomes impaired, and then they seek for 
 medical remedies. 
 
 These cannot be well compounded so as to suit these cases, 
 because chemistry has not been sufficiently studied, and is not under- 
 stood, so as to see that according to the aerial changes that that 
 which has no direct relation therewith could not work any cure. 
 Those persons who practice medicine should ever watch the tides of 
 the changes in the elements, and learn the secret of taking force 
 from those electric flashes which mark the changes, and which pro- 
 voke forth diseases, for the power for their cure exists in the same 
 elements which bring such effects ; the causes are veiled behind the 
 effects, and in them is hidden a cure. For this reason more attention 
 or study should be given to the tidal changes, and to the human 
 mechanism likewise, not of the dead but of the living. Study the 
 living men and women, then can vou learn more than was ever 
 dreamed of, and even impurities can be cast out like the dark demons 
 which lurk within mortals. 
 
 It is not the work of the religious and moral teachers alone to 
 accomplish a renovation and a general reform on earth; no, in order 
 to change earthly customs and to make all things better, all who are 
 competent to work must aid, must do their part. Lawyers, doctors, 
 
348 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 and merchants, and all business people must do their part, and the 
 all-seeing eye watches carefully not only the deeds of all but also the 
 thoughts and desires likewise. 
 
 Well do we know that those who have the most to do in the 
 great world market say within themselves: "We have nothing to 
 do with such work ; we attend to our own duties, and must either 
 make or lose in our trades ; therefore, it takes all our energies to keep 
 these works which are for our own interest agoing in order, and for 
 the little out-of-the-way trips on our own little boats ; we shall not 
 suffer, though perchance we may get in another's way, and make a 
 wreck of him or his business." All this is practical by standing 
 characters who are good moral citizens to the common view ; but 
 this is not true principle, and it will be set bare in its true light. 
 Oh, the hatred manifested in thoughts and wishes about money mat- 
 ters, to get and to have, and to make a display ; verily, it is sad to 
 see such dark lines in otherwise bright intellects, for it brings such t* 
 great discount upon them in their average reports here, so that they 
 must be classed far below where they belong, and where they would 
 be if it was not for those failings ; and as you are marked and 
 classed here, so will your possessions be here, and you will find them 
 so when you reach this goal in your onward journey. 
 
 All mortals are workers, all must be workers, for the causes are 
 so fixed that the effects will be compelled forth, if in no other way, 
 in thoughts and words which make a warp of conditions, which is 
 then filled out with a corresponding fabric or breath, and there it is 
 only an airy, flimsy fabric, for this reason, that no beneficial works 
 were performed, so as to give it form, or firmness and tangibility. 
 Then, what is there for these drones, these dead weights upon 
 others, to inherit or enjoy ? It brings more happiness to do right 
 than wrong, and the right is just as easily performed. Then, let all 
 try to be true workers, aiming only to raise the human standard into 
 brightness and moral purity, and to promote prosperity in a more 
 general way, than merely for self alone, and to see to it that all the 
 poor have what they need for common comfort, and for which they 
 shall labor, and they must be trained also in all the orders of common 
 advancement. 
 
 The necessity of training and educating all the people is one of 
 the works which, by atmospheric compulsions, are forced forth, and 
 this should not be, it should be performed without this, for no mortal 
 can well be trained, truly and religiously, as long as they are impure 
 in bodily habits, and are not learned in the laws of selfhood, which 
 are the first of all to obey. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 349 
 
 The masses of mortals worship an unknown God, for they do 
 not try to understand His voice and laws, but rest easy in the sweet 
 hope that all their sins are atoned for, and all their deformities will 
 be cured by Jesus the great mediator between God and man, if they 
 but call upon Him, and confess their faith and believe in Him. What 
 a misapprehension this is of an all-important truth, and* it has done 
 much harm, for there would have been more self-exertion had it not 
 been for this one wrongly conceived, and wrongly taught idea. 
 
 There is no sin committed by mortals, or not much at least, 
 only that of trespassing against the laws, and this is mostly done in 
 ignorance, yet it all meets with just punishment and cannot be atoned 
 for. The way is clearly marked by Jesus, both by precepts and 
 example, and if those who would be saved from punishment, which is 
 a sure result of trespassing, do not walk in the footprints of the Mas- 
 ter, do not live pure lives, and make their deeds to correspond to the 
 given precepts, then truly it has no power over them to save, because 
 they, knowing the will of the Lord, do it not, and, although they have 
 the way shown by example, yet they do not walk therein, but the 
 whole is a lip practice, of which the heart knows and feels nothing. 
 Friends, there is a strange void in the mind realm of man about the 
 certainties of the future, as to whether Hell was really a condition, 
 pictured before the minds of mortals, simply for training or how it 
 is. We will tell you the truth as it is, and as you will find it when 
 you reach there, when you are called back from earth. 
 
 There are Hells for all cases found in the different spheres, but 
 not burning lakes of fire and brimstone ; that expression was used as 
 a figure of speech. 
 
 There are ordeals to suit all the offenders against law, and they 
 must pass through these, and be purged from their impurities, and 
 cured of their deformities, and the fires of conscience and of the appe- 
 tites will burn them, yet do not consume them, and nothing can give 
 them any relief save a very strong desire to become pure, and to do 
 only that which would be just and righteous. Then they can obtain 
 relief by the magnetic rays sent to them by the angels of light, which 
 serve as a healing balm, and thus are they slowly healed and cured 
 of those in part, for not all are or can be cured and raised, so as to be 
 entitled to an onward march in eternal progress, for a certain amount 
 of purity is a stated requirement of law, and that which cannot be 
 trained to reach that requirement must pass through the ordeals of 
 the second death, for, although the plan calls for an ultimate redemp- 
 tion of all the God-created mortals, yet they are not and cannot all be 
 completed in this eternity, now near its close. 
 
350 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 Only the numbers stated in the book of life, as being the first 
 fruits, can be completed, then this eternity will be separated or 
 classed apart from another one, the announcement, or fiat, of which 
 will be loud, and mightily declared ; and then the sheep and the 
 goats will be severed or separated, for nothing impure can enter the 
 heavenly rest. Until that time all have a chance to rise, if aided, as 
 stated, above their present conditions, and the place where the 
 unhappy are. Here in the different spheres we have hospitals for 
 those who are. diseased in various ways, but mostly by immoral liv- 
 ing, and the treatment for such ills is severe, and is Hell enough for 
 those who need to be placed therein. 
 
 Then, we have retreats for the insane, for those whose minds are 
 badly defiled by having, for a life time, indulging in wrong ideas, 
 and in misadjusted religious training ; although these persons thought 
 that they did no wrong, and had worshiped in the way they were 
 taught, yet they cannot enter into heavenly rest, for nothing imper- 
 fect or impure can enter there ; hence the cure must be applied for a 
 trial. Then, we have infirmaries, where those are taken who have 
 been only bubbles on the sea of life, who did nothing for the world in 
 labor, nor for themselves in acquiring knowledge, — useful knowledge 
 of the ways and laws of God, by which His children are regenerated. 
 
 There are many of this class, they do not serve God, for they 
 do not work according to His plan, and worship not according to the 
 true gospel, neither do they fully serve the dominion ruler over 
 earthly things and regulations ; hence they are not accepted any- 
 where. The righteous judge says : " I know you not, from whence 1 
 you are." The prince of the worldly rule declares them unfit for a 
 place with him, therefore they are paupers, and are treated as such. 
 "What a sad beginning for many who think themselves bright and 
 better than common people in many ways, but here is the reality set 
 bare, and nothing is furnished with a cover ; the deeds are there, if 
 any good or bad were committed. Truly, the works of all do follow 
 them. But for all these provisions were made by the good Father 
 of the universe. 
 
 It is not best to depend upon doing, in a future state, that which 
 should be done on earth, and which is marked in- the law as the 
 works for mortals to do, while they are sojourning on earth, in order 
 to learn the different grades of matter, to learn the different disposi- 
 tion of the people, the different proclivities, and to learn to conquer 
 them ; also to search for and learn the many temptations which cause 
 people to waver in their minds and onward steps, causing them to 
 fall, and to become the captives to subjective ordeals. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 351 
 
 All this requires serious study, and when seen and understood 
 should be heeded, and thus troubles can be avoided. This is the min- 
 istry of angels to mortals, by which to declare to them the plan of 
 salvation, God's truths as they are and have been from the begin- 
 ning, which is the Everlasting Gospel, and is law and gospel united, 
 brought together from all that has been taught since the foundation 
 of this eternity, and as the people created needed teaching. This, in 
 these modern times, is called Spiritualism, and it is hated by many 
 because they have heard the shadows described which come before 
 the reality, but which were only the twilight glimmers of the bright- 
 ness which was to come, and which will come. 
 
 Set all isms aside ; study truths only as they are presented, and 
 as you, by sober study, can find them in all you see, read, and hear, 
 for there is truth in everything, but smaller in some things, in others 
 are greater quantities of this pure gold, — truth. But misunderstand- 
 ing and misapplication make evil of things which might serve as good 
 if rightly applied. 
 
 The people of this age cannot obtain forgiveness upon the plea 
 of ignorance in not solving the laws of their being and living pure 
 lives, both moral and religious, according to the demand of their 
 composition, for there is an ability to study ; the lessons are pictured 
 by the winds in the air they breathe, infused in the mind by intuition, 
 and no pains are spared to enlighten the children of earth, so that 
 they may see and understand the ways in which God works with 
 and upon the people, and the way in .which they are regenerated. 
 
 To raise these fruits from the seeds the angels have sown on 
 earth is the labor now of the heavenly ministers. Is it offensive to 
 the Pharisees of the nineteenth century? Will they treat all the 
 heavenly admonitions with contempt, and so teach those who are 
 intrusted to their teachings ? It is true that they do so mark them- 
 selves, and that the records of this generation, if gathered and 
 brought Jn, would compare with those of the time when Jesus walked 
 on earth and taught the people, and it is equally true now as then 
 that those who think themselves safe in the gospel fold see no moral 
 impurity or devotional short-coming in themselves, but can see this 
 without in those who in their eyes are common sinners, therefore, 
 those who are well need no healing, but the sick need treatment and 
 will be healed, for they will listen, learn, and obey, and will cast all 
 impurities from themselves, and thus become new creatures, who will 
 aim to serve God in all they do and desire. 
 
 As long as religious training; does not effect a change for the 
 better for purity and godliness, there is or was something over- 
 
352 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 stepped before the religious claims were offered and accepted, and that 
 something is that the individual has not had the proper growth in 
 the sums and weights in the substance of morals and principles ; 
 hence, these uneven proportions cause them to falter and backslide, 
 to commit offenses which are the more severely punished because 
 they were cloaked with religion, and practiced underground subtly. 
 And then this is marked so on the charts of their conscience, and the 
 angels read all that is daily marked there which bring sad smiles on 
 their bright faces when the loud prayers are then offered for self, for 
 others, and for common improvement. Be clean within, O man, 
 and study self ; then you will have no room to find fault with your 
 neighbors ; for although some are darker within than others, some 
 are beset with more human weaknesses than others, and have less 
 courage and strength to subdue and conquer them, therefore they 
 should be aided, should have these failings placed before them in a 
 light, so they could be seen ; and this work of mercy should be per- 
 formed not with scorn and contempt but with kindness, so as to 
 make themselves workers according to the will of God, for the issues 
 go forth from Him to all. The weak and the sinners are and shall 
 be partakers of grace, as well as those who have already grown 
 strong by its power. Yet it takes much time until all can be reached 
 and folded in the great mantle of universal love. 
 
 Bright gleams the sunlight of celestial love 
 
 , Over earth's benighted, who are cold and bare; 
 And angels beckon mortals to look above ; 
 The world forsaken shall have angel care. 
 
 Yes, truly, God sends forth as flames of fire 
 Celestial beings who can tread earth's air, 
 And they clasp hands with mortals where they can, 
 And bring the lost and erring back to Father's house. 
 
 LECTURE LXXX. 
 
 TIIESE MODERN TIMES. 
 
 What a grand theme for meditation is in this subject before us 
 when we behold the combined labors performed in these modern 
 times ! 
 
 The present is truly an important time ! How vastly greater 
 and grander are the natural and mental achievements in this last 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 353 
 
 quarter of the time divided off by the natural changes than were 
 those which were done in the foregoing thousand years in the regula- 
 tions, both natural and mental ? We have one great offset or change 
 every two thousand (years, and the works of the time past are then 
 squared off, and new methods are enforced for the achievement of 
 the needed changes, so as to mark the proper progress in all the 
 departments, both religious and moral, in commerce and art. The 
 culture of the nations that now r occupy the surface of earth is very 
 unlike to that of two thousand years ago. 
 
 Mental abilities are capacious, yet there is too much natural 
 intellectuality developed, and not enough of the purely spiritual to 
 mark properly this grand era of the world. In the present day the 
 will exercised by mortals is gigantic, and the natural proclivities are 
 boisterously aiming to gain the predominance, even as it was in the 
 time when Moses fdled his mission among the Israelites, only the dif- 
 ference is that there is more trained morality now r , and the exercises 
 of the natural desires are not so bold, nor quite in the same degree, 
 owing to the changes of time and growth. 
 
 But the similarity is still remaining, for the people are very 
 idolatrous, though unlike the known heathen idolatry, but they have 
 things of their own which they worship more than the heathens ever 
 worshiped graven images. 
 
 In this modern review of the works of the past, and of the prog- 
 ress made, we must not be unmindful of what the status of the world 
 was at each great change, and also of the people at that time. 
 
 Now, to go no further back than to the Mosaic era, for then the 
 first natural division took place, in w r hat standing were the nations 
 of earth when Moses was called upon to fill his mission, having been 
 born for that purpose by providential provisions ? They were mostly 
 all savages, so to speak, yet were developed to a great extent in 
 worldly wisdom and art, and were very idolatrous, and those who 
 worshiped the true God, and who had been reared and kept so that 
 the power of God among them might be manifested on earth, even 
 they were under Egyptian bondage, having been taken there for 
 safety when famine raged in the land which the Lord of that degree 
 had given to the old Israelitish fathers. And this interblending and 
 mingling w T as well calculated, and it is proven that it was brought 
 about by special acts of Providence, and that bondage was necessary, 
 for otherwise there would have been no room for struggles, and the 
 true God could not have been revealed to those nations and people, 
 and the word given from God could not have been probed and estab- 
 lished. The records relating to all this are familiar with all, and in 
 
354 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 this modern age they are not prized very much, and yet I would say 
 do not thrust them aside, for even now you should read them more 
 carefully than ever before, and compare these modern outworkings 
 very carefully with those of the past, and you \^11 find them strik- 
 ingly similar, only, as was said, owing to the changes wrought by 
 time, the appearances of the works wrought are different. But the 
 natural desires and true principles being the factors chiefly sought for 
 by which to divide the sums which have unduly gathered in all the 
 departments, we find that there is a great lack of true principles and 
 a very great amount of natural desires in various directions, and the 
 closer we come to the center which is prepared by the master-build- 
 ers, we find that a change must mark itself when we get there. The 
 works which have been but carelessly observed thus far by the 
 masses will impress themselves forcibly upon the brows of mortals, 
 because many things which have been subtly practiced, and are now 
 being so practiced under cover by people, and to which counter works 
 have been enforced and the issues have gone forth from above, that 
 these works will be compelled forth in a way that they cannot be 
 ignored, and that God's power will be felt, and His truths will 
 triumph in the end of that which is marked to have a proper review 
 and display among the people first. 
 
 Let us give you an idea of the designs of the works performed in 
 this modern age which seem wicked, absurd, and unlawful, for all 
 things must be learned aright and be properly treated, for to that end 
 all these works are permitted to be brought forth in effects, so that 
 there can be definite explanations given of all things, and a proper 
 and lawful separation of the pure and impure forces whereby the 
 people were and are now impelled to commit deeds. 
 
 Now, for instance, take the different branches of so-called magic. 
 These works have been treated upon by different authors, who also 
 were aided in such works by spirits, but nothing has been really 
 explained, nor have any of these impure works been as yet removed 
 out of the realm of mortal power wherein support and compulsion 
 keep up a great commotion. 
 
 Now, the fact is that there are few mortals who are not found 
 guilty in some of these degrees and practices, yet they do not know 
 what they do, being under chaotic subjection, receiving support for 
 the system from that power which is so subtle and undefined in the 
 power of compelling forth deeds that they cannot know the wrongs 
 they commit, being thus naturally nurtured, until they advance in 
 progress and are taken out of those degrees and led up higher where 
 they are differently supported and can breathe a different atmosphere, 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 355 
 
 or, we had better say, that a different assortment of mind force com- 
 pels forth a different view of things and deeds. 
 
 The greater number of mankind know no harm in laboring in 
 accordance with natural desires and to satisfy natural proclivities, 
 and, as we have said before, that many things harmful to others, and 
 also to themselves, they take no notice of nor do not know what they 
 do, while a small portion of mankind understand faintly some parts 
 of magic, and practice it for mere business purposes so as to gain 
 some worldly dross, and often it is made use of for the purpose of 
 revenge. 
 
 Now, these being facts which can be easily proven, for they 
 abound upon the earth, yet there are spirits who denounce them 
 through their mediums, and these mediums generally through whom 
 it is denounced, instead of explaining it, are the ones who practice it 
 in partnership with their ungodly controls, and their open talk serves 
 as a mask behind which they practice their ungodly ivorks ; and 
 because they are aware of the manner in which they have blinded 
 the people, and have led them into troubles with their charms, they 
 become openly bold against all who would bring about an explana- 
 tion of these works, for these subtle, selfish workers will not lay 
 down the arms they use in this subtle warfare which they create for 
 others until they are made perforce to do so ; then they are made to 
 stand as sign-posts, and to be unmasked to the view of the whole 
 world, so that travelers can see and profit by their fate, and avoid 
 those side paths where the flowerets grow and streamlets invitingly 
 murmur in those way-side paths, so as to draw the attention of the 
 traveler and lead them into captivity. Now, the investigator will 
 desire to know what we mean by black magic, as the practice of that 
 art is the most harmful, and is connected with countless subtle per- 
 formances, all of which, more or less, have ill effects upon physical 
 regulations. Perhaps those who have indulged in such ungodly 
 practices could tell the best how such works were performed by 
 them, how they set their ill-devised plans afloat on the great world- 
 tide, and in motion among those whom they aimed to supplant. 
 
 The more subtle and undefinable the ill results are which are 
 thus wrought the blacker is the art, and the lower in degree are the 
 wicked, undeveloped spirits co-operated with. Some investigator 
 will say to us : " This is not a satisfactory explanation which you have 
 given. Tell us that which, according to your view and knowledge, 
 are magical performances, and how they are performed." We will 
 say this : Anything that is enforced by a subtle will power for the 
 purpose or in order to thwart others who are innocent in regard to 
 
356 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 such low cunning has art about it, craftiness, and brings about mys- 
 teriously the results which, to the view of the people, are undefinable, 
 because they cannot perceive them, therefore cannot trace the causes 
 of such effects ; hence the sentences when connected were, in olden 
 times, termed witchcraft, — a bewitching, charming, craftiness, by 
 which the innocent and unwary are injured in their pursuits. And 
 it is also true that the mysterious parts of this are performed by low, 
 cunning spirits, who delight in doing such works, and in assisting such 
 ill-principled persons, yet some go even to the lowest degrees of these 
 works and practice voudooism, incantations, and counter-perform 
 that which they by their devised plans wish thus to bring into effect. 
 
 Those who are thus guilty are gallant and bold, and enter 
 society and cross the thresholds armed with the weapons by which to 
 carry into effect their subtle schemes. "We call such devices poisons 
 that such persons carry, for they are so good and pleasant, so that the 
 unwary people would not suspect how craftily they were spreading 
 their nets and casting out the inbreathed vapors received from their 
 low-spirit assistants, and by whom they are then compelled to go 
 forth and cast it off, as we have stated. 
 
 This is termed magical performances, and we say that those who 
 have thus caused harm, and who were thus acted upon, and again 
 acted it out upon others, can explain these works the best ; but the 
 degrees of these practices are so various, so sinful and wicked, and to 
 think that those who are really innocent, to whom such craftiness is 
 unknown, think such people are really pure and well meaning who 
 strive by their pleasant conversation, and often by deeds, to deceive, 
 so that the charmed subjects almost adore these devouring reptiles. 
 
 How many, many deaths caused by these mighty workers in all 
 the walks of life, which are the effects of this subtle craftiness, which 
 are countless in their various realizations, that daily occur ! But, 
 perhaps, the investigator does not desire to know of all this, because 
 it might bring to his mind instances in which he had probably been 
 an associate with such forces causing such ill effects. But, alas, all 
 things must be revealed in accord with truth ; hence, if we lift the 
 shadows which do harm, you must bear the light, for these are the 
 works of darkness and cannot be practiced in the light, and it is in 
 this respect that this era is so much like the Mosaic era in the desires 
 and practices of the people. 
 
 Then, we would advise the investigator further as to what he 
 should beware of in his searches after hidden truth and supernal 
 knowledge, which is to beware of those spirits who carry flattery and 
 enchantment upon their tongues, — 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 357 
 
 For they tell you of the glories of the summer-land, 
 And wave over you mysteriously a magic wand, 
 Until in your failings their flatteries you see, 
 And learn that life is earnest as it is real. 
 Truth, truth alone we bring ; we do not conceal 
 The facts that need revealineut must be known ; 
 Hence that which must be seen is shown. 
 Remember that the issues which are lawfully brought 
 Need not be sought, they come spontaneously. 
 
 All true revelations come thus, hence that which is thus given 
 is lawful, that which is not thus given will in time explain the pur- 
 pose for which it was permitted and given as lessons and admoni- 
 tions for those on earth ; and we would say right here that all who 
 receive lawful issues by spirit force or inspiration, and declare the 
 same before the world, need not fear, for they w T ill be safe amid a 
 world of opposition, and the victory of that which is thus given is 
 sure, because it is of God, who employs subjects in the physical 
 degrees to fight the battles by which error must be subdued, and 
 truth enforced to a triumph. 
 
 One word more to the investigator. It is this : Search for the 
 true Heaven-born principles amongst that which is given from the 
 spirit world to the people, and do not grapple with the dross which 
 chaos gives forth, as he in this age makes his rounds through 
 the world in order to perform his wonders and excite the curiosity of 
 the people, and cast his levies upon therm Who is wise and will 
 improve the time well in garnering up the scattered truths, and to cast 
 bold defiance against that which is harmful ! Would that all mortals 
 would examine themselves and learn as far as possible in accord with 
 their development how they are aiding in progress, or whether they 
 repel it by word and deed, and whether they would rather walk in 
 the path of progress or idle their precious time away roving through 
 the side paths. Yes, how are all the duties toward those around you 
 discharged ? If you find yon are bound in subjection, endeavor to 
 find out the cause of it, for it is within yourself, and you can only 
 receive strength to escape from it as you learn to know yourselves, 
 and strive to remedy that in which you gave room for offense, and 
 which caused the type subjection. Look well to your principles 
 whoever you are, whether Christians or Spiritualists, Jews or Greeks. 
 We sift and probe principle, and find all persons, no matter where 
 they are. If there be those among you who only sought the spirits 
 for their aid in the physical degrees, and who have not endeavored to 
 cast off their worldly pride and selfishness, but only aimed to gratify 
 
358 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 the same so as to be the more noticed by the world, let them beware 
 and look quickly to their own standing, for it is greatly endangered. 
 
 If there are those who have made the seams wide on their gar- 
 ments, and their robes long, their, prayers loud and many, merely to 
 gain support in office or business, let them look quickly to their own 
 condition, for church walls are as nothing against spirit powers, and all 
 worldly popular currents are easily turned by the superior forces act- 
 ing thereon. These are facts, friends, which reveal and prove them- 
 selves in these modern times, and although mortals set themselves 
 against such proofs and revelations it will avail them nothing, for 
 they are considered as wee specks by the infinite powers. Then, what 
 do you think, friends, will be the best course for you to pursue in this 
 important era of the world ? 
 
 WiH you labor only for the attainment of a fine plumage wdiich 
 will attract worldly attention and gratify the natural desires only, or 
 will you gather wisdom while you may, and endeavor to make it 
 practical as far as it is possible in the mortal realm, that you may 
 thereby dispel mental darkness and mortal woe, and thus gain eternal 
 riches by making such good use of your precious time ? These 
 modern times ! These words are so full of significant meaning, 
 because all former misconceptions are now being rectified, and 
 prophecies are being given in full in order to complete the revela- 
 tions pertaining to man's estate on earth ; hence, after these works are 
 finished, no one can have any excuse, or say that they did not know 
 the will of God rightly, for the spirit out-pouring is universal in this 
 modern time. 
 
 All things from which mortals have suffered, and by which they 
 were blessed and benefited, are being reviewed and explained ; hence, 
 those who close their hearts and minds against these w^orks are 
 already judged, for they do not prize this great offered salvation, and 
 those who hear and yet obey the truths of God adversely, being over- 
 powered by their natural desires, can have no excuse, but shall suffer 
 punishment for their trespasses, inasmuch as the servant who knows 
 his master's will is expected to comply with it, and the servant who 
 is called upon, but who pays no heed to the voice calling, will be 
 taken captive by the powers and principalities of the air. These are 
 words of truth, and we would rather speak otherwise, but that which 
 must be known must be stated; and yet the meditations upon the 
 works of these modern times are grand, and so full of comfort to all 
 the true children of God, for they have long sighed forth: "Come, 
 Lord Jesus, come and judge the quick and dead ; " but they do not 
 know what they asked for, or if they had known in what way these 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 359 
 
 fore-shadowed works were to be performed, there would have been 
 less praying by the lip-Christians and the pious materialists. 
 
 He (Jesus) has the spirits all at work, and the impure on earth 
 and in the spheres who remain impure still are being judged, and 
 will be awarded as their deeds merit on that day of the great decis- 
 ion, of which we have spoken so often. 
 
 Much has been said in this modern age about the exercise of 
 charity and of suppressed malice, but does the heart know of that 
 which the mouth speaks ? No, certainly, no ! for the acts and their 
 results are all weighed, and they condemn the noisy display of mortal 
 breath. It is principle, as we have said, from the beginning of these 
 works that we war against where we find it corrupted, and it is prin- 
 ciple which we sustain where we find it pure and true, and that alone 
 is an accepted religion ; that is, true principle practiced in behalf of 
 God, Caesar, and all humanity, for only by and through the practice 
 of true principle can the thraldom of subjection be removed by which 
 mortals are held low in grade beneath the level marked for true man 
 and womanhood. 
 
 Another feature of these modern times which the people do not 
 look upon aright is this, that those who were called upon to labor 
 with the commissioned angels, and have been and are benefited, when 
 their testimonies and declarations of the truth are rejected, they falter 
 and faint, and think that this is a most trying and unpleasant part of 
 their calling, but to our view it is the reverse, for it is in this that the 
 beauty of such labors consists, providing you remain faithful and 
 true. 
 
 The world, certainly, has arms in its realm to bring against you, 
 for they are the majority, while you are the minority, and they can, 
 if permitted to do so, rise with one accord against you ; but let it be 
 done if the rise of truth requires it, for otherwise it will not be toler- 
 ated, but remember ever that one true servant of the Lord God is 
 mightier than many, many thousands of those who serve yet do not 
 know whom or what they serve. Speak the truth always, but ever 
 in gentle kindness, and do not depart from the golden rule. 
 
 You know whom you serve, and that the power that called you 
 is true, and will reward all even for the faint works, if you arc found 
 worthy of the trust, and though there seems to be a constant delay in 
 these works, yet there is a steady advancement made, and the car of 
 progress rolls onward with rapid strides through the land, and many 
 things take place because the obstacles must be removed so that 
 progress can speed its way- There is nothing or no work of chance 
 in anything ; no matter what it may be it is seen by wisdom long 
 
360 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 before the time, and is so governed as to bring good results ; but 
 there is time and metal required in order to work out successfully 
 each plan which God has with man, and this is what so many object 
 to whose development of being is all in the lips instead of the head 
 and heart being developed, so as to discover by the opportunities 
 offered the object and design of the works now being transacted. 
 
 Awake, O mortals! for laws eternal pay no heed to whims or earthly 
 
 rules, 
 But, ever just, the works proceed till all is ended 
 
 that was marked to be finished before the new clause is announced 
 by which will be changed the creative and transforming processes. 
 
 LECTURE LXXXI. 
 
 LAW AND GOSPEL. 
 
 Law and gospel have proceeded forth from the same source or 
 fountain. The same mind that contemplated the laws in their vari- 
 ous degrees also contemplated the gospel, which is law presented in 
 a milder form ; yet all law and gospel is nothing more or less than 
 force and mind, by which action is compelled forth, and also order 
 brought forth from discordant elements and properties, the ultimate 
 of nature's products, which are effected by all the emanations from 
 the divided and subdivided kingdoms, lower than the one set apart 
 and marked for Him, and which is and must be wisely governed by 
 this force, which, in countless ways, is caused to take form, suiting 
 the demands by which to generate and regenerate mortals. The 
 true gospel is a good and pleasant guide, and all the true followers 
 of its precepts and examples will come in due time, being thus led 
 on to the Rock of Ages, and they will behold the fact that it is the 
 solid code of law, the universal mind, that wrought out these laws 
 from the universe, in its crude but prospective condition, and gave 
 words to this wisdom, and adopted the methods and created the 
 means with which to work so as to make law to be felt, and its great 
 utility to become practical. 
 
 But all these different means and methods which were necessary 
 to be used in the training processes for mortals have created much 
 division of mind, and countless misconceptions of the real truths, of 
 which only the fragments were made manifest to each race and 
 
COMPILATION" OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 361 
 
 nation, and to each separate generation. Equality in this distribu- 
 tion has ever been closely observed, yet these supplies have differed 
 in quantity, as they are and have always been given according to the 
 mental developments required. Mental developments are, and always 
 have been, uneven on earth, and the reason of this is that the differ- 
 ent races of the people are so intermingled, and those who as yet are 
 not engrafted into the heavenly body are mingled with those that 
 are ; and if this was not so, those who have now traversed over the 
 seven rounds or strata of nature would be quite an illuminated race, 
 who would receive and comprehend the full revelation of all that has 
 thus far been kept under seal, but which is now to be revealed 
 because the legal marks have been reached. 
 
 But we have only a small number who are ready to receive, and 
 who can understand, and apply these truths when they are received, 
 when they are numbered and compared with the rest of mankind. 
 But these works are being pressed onward and shall be finished, 
 when, lo, the old will perish and the new will remain, and these 
 teachings, which are the outflow of law and gospel, will be prized 
 according to their worth, for they shall form or become the basic 
 foundation upon which shall rest the works of our new eternity. 
 
 The new r eternity shall be dated from the beginning of these 
 works, and although day after day transformations are being wrought 
 upon earth, and in the mind realm of mortals, which change the 
 view of Heaven and earth ; yet the people remain blind to the reality, 
 and unawares to them, right in their very midst, this great change is 
 being accomplished. 
 
 November 20, 1881. 
 
 LECTURE LXXXII. 
 
 A LESSON PRACTICABLE NOW AND APPLICABLE TO ALL. 
 
 It is autumn, and the busy world moves faster only to keep step 
 with time as the days grow shorter. Everyone has a world of their 
 own to be active in, and therefore preparations of their own to make, 
 to meet the demands of the short, pleasant winter days, and the long 
 balmy nights, which are given to mortals for their own recuperation 
 for another summer's toil. But this is not all that it is necessary to 
 look out for ; fuel is reqi^red with which to keep warm, and clothing 
 and food are necessary also, yet there are other duties, other demands, 
 which make their claims upon mortals besides these, and who is there 
 
802 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 that considers these facts aright, and labors to meet the demands 
 which stand forth so prominently in autumn time, and which pertain 
 to man's complex nature ? The atmospheric change in autumn natu- 
 rally brings different elements around about mortals, and they are 
 calculated to work upon their mental and devotional faculties, for as 
 the trees throw off their foliage, the grass is frosted and changes 
 color, and the beauty of nature is, so to say, covered with a shade 
 suiting the time and the recreative purposes. Man takes in fresh 
 strength, or if he does not, he is not receptive in the proper way, is 
 not naturally matured so as to be in time for these grand recreative 
 processes which are for him, and certainly, then, he cannot prosper 
 as it is expected he should do. He cannot cull the sweets grown 
 from his toil through the summer, nor can he garner the harvest 
 sown the season before, which is now ready to be reaped and gar- 
 nered safely away in the mental storehouse, for only as it is thus 
 stored away can it be stored up in Heaven ; and for all the improve- 
 ments made there marks are made upon the spirits of mortals, so 
 also all abuses make their indelible marks, and the same are marked 
 in Heaven, and just rewards are given for all good acts, by which 
 self is improved or another person is improved, or the world made 
 better in some way by the active display of the enlarged powers of 
 him who feels the incoming strength which is levied upon all recep- 
 tive mortals in this grand change of nature. Spring has always been 
 held up as the season of seasons, and the beauties and benefits which 
 accompany it have been greatly magnified, but for cycles of mortal 
 decades spring has been turned off rather deficient, because autumn 
 and winter performed not their parts in the realm of mind in the 
 sphere of man. Autumn should be viewed or looked upon as the 
 most lovely of seasons, and the people must be aroused and pointed 
 to their duties in autumn and winter which they have so long neg- 
 lected, and for which negligence they are now reaping woes where, 
 if the proper course had been pursued, they would now be reaping 
 joys and all things else in plenty. But court is in session now 
 throughout the whole universe, and all the products from the mind 
 realms which were ever given to man on earth, inspirationally or 
 otherwise, are being criticised now and judged by man, while the 
 fruits that have grown from such investments are now before the 
 councils above, there to be decided upon, judged, and acquitted, for 
 all shall be classed just where it belongs, and they themselves shall 
 be brought to that place. The soil has yi^led right along the prod- 
 ucts for man's physical needs. Nature has performed her part, but 
 the mental yielding has been poor, very poor. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUEES. 363 
 
 How much poisonous literature is in the world ? It is cherished 
 by the light-headed and sport-loving. It is sold for currency, and 
 good works lie in the markets unsold and are not wanted. Their 
 contents do not find their way to the people's brains as they should, 
 and from this state of things woes have culminated which will come, 
 but they will not be cherished as well as the stories, sports, and 
 unhealthy pleasures have been. First, the use of money is per- 
 verted. It is given to the people for use, that with it they could 
 make exchanges for all things needed to make the sojourners com- 
 fortable while they are on earth, but it was not calculated to be used 
 in so many useless ways. Second, the chaff has absorbed the sub- 
 stance of the good or sound in the worldly exchanges, and the good 
 itself is not nor has not been prized, so that now the reaction from 
 the ruling mind realm cannot be very pleasant. The people shall 
 want for good sound vegetables and fruits and other products, for 
 even as they have produced mind works, so shall nature react upon 
 them in her productions. It were better for all people to meet at 
 once and consider and take council upon those things which will be 
 of more importance than anyone shall wish them to be as time passes 
 on. Now, if all the rubbish found in the cheap, unhealthy literature, 
 and all pernicious works, were brought together from the whole land, 
 and would be placed in a great heap and set on fire, and then all the 
 people both old and young would unanimously agree to apply them- 
 selves to sincere study in behalf of their duties which are due to their 
 Creator, also due to themselves, for the purpose of proper unfold- 
 ment and growth while on earth, it might cause a powerful and 
 healthy change, for the smoke rising up would counterbalance the 
 forming gases, which will infect the soil and the atmosphere, which 
 cause the diseased productions as the just marks of judgment, but if 
 the proper heed is not paid to these signs of the times, then the worst 
 will come, viz., a famine, along with other great destructions of the 
 people and their worldly possessions, which are their gods, their 
 idols, for which they live and which they worship. It is the duty of 
 all the people to ponder upon all these things now, and all this 
 should be rendered practicable right now in autumn. The works of 
 nature, and the transforming of her appearance, should be studied 
 closely, so as to come to a great recognition and appreciation of 
 nature's laws, and their just claims upon mortals. Surely the people 
 of this age, so far in advance of the people of Sodom of old, should 
 not be found as they were when they are inspected only eating, 
 drinking, sporting, and living in lust and vanity. Only think of it. 
 "We are now living in the last cycle of time for this eternity, and the 
 
364 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 people who occupy the earth now have such great advantages com- 
 pared with those the people enjoyed thousands of years ago ; and 
 also the people now are standing face to face with all the multitudes 
 who have ever lived upon earth, and who are anxiously awaiting the 
 end, for a new beginning will be marked for the masses, and they 
 are aware of it. Why cannot the keen perceptions which the people 
 possess now be made to pierce the fleecy veil which is the only thing 
 remaining to prevent mortals from beholding the invisible throngs 
 who are walking the earth the same as mortals do ? Verily, the 
 gates are standing wide ajar, and therefore the people can be hurled 
 over in haste when the decisions are past. Behold, the messengers 
 are sent to bring the issue regarding this change to men. They 
 erect guide-posts, and place inscriptions upon the finger-boards that 
 are on them, and thence their admonitions go out by way of the 
 many things which occur daily, and which are levies because the 
 people will not study the lessons of nature, and will not pay heed to 
 the signs of the times, but will make jDerverted application of the 
 incoming forces from the elements in the changes of the season. 
 Consider in autumn that your life work is ended, and that you are 
 awaiting with pleasure the recreative changes by or through death. 
 Look at autumn and winter thus, then judge yourselves whether 
 you have been faithful at all times, and in all places, and in all 
 things, and the use of time will reveal itself to you. 
 
 LECTURE LXXXIIL- (POETRY.) 
 
 THE MYSTERIES OF REGENERATION. 
 
 By the wisdom of the Highest mortal deeds are all decreed, 
 And when heavenly help is nearest trouble's waters seem so deep ; 
 That it happens strange and mystic that the mortal falls and sinks, 
 But is in the care and keeping of the All-Wise mortals think. 
 Die you cannot, lost you are no*t, but you must needs change, 
 And commitals are the factors used; it doth seem strange 
 That the good which must develop hath its averse parts, 
 Hath its shades, mists which envelope mortals ; and the darts 
 
 Which are cast by flaming spirits, who such errands do, 
 Cause the birth-pains for the sufferer, and a problem new 
 In life's school is demonstrated, purer aims have birth; 
 And they grow, the transformed evils make up angel worth. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 365 
 
 Never think when troubles press you God is hid away. 
 Nay, not so ! He watches closely all you think and say, 
 And your trials may be hard ones for a point to gain ; 
 Trust to God and Heaven's wisdom, for He holds the reins. 
 
 Ah, what is regeneration ? It is a wondrous work, — 
 Mortals change, 't is elevating, a course through the dark, 
 Led through tunnels, tossed by tempests ; even caused to do 
 Something strangely bad while pressed thus, bad to mortal view. 
 But in wisdom's ways views differ, angel workers hew 
 Ever to the line, they sever flesh and spirit, create anew 
 All which needs regenerating, and each transit made 
 Is through suffering. Just tuition for a higher grade 
 
 Is collected by the keepers of the mystic gates. 
 
 Mortals are averse to payments ; but, alas ! these rates 
 
 Which, as legal issues settle, they are paid 
 
 In whatever coin required. Justice is not stayed 
 
 By the will and whims of mortals, and what is most dear 
 
 Is collected for each payment ; but in the arrear 
 
 Are the causes which required just such coin for pay. 
 
 Murmur not. God's ways are faultless. Watch and pray ! 
 
 LECTURE LXXXIV. 
 
 a 
 
 WE SEE, AND YET WE SEE NOT, THE CAUSE OP THAT WHICH 
 WE REALIZE AS EFFECTS.'' 
 
 I am requested to take a retrospective view of my life trials 
 from present things, and the condition of development, and with an 
 illumined eye scan the different paths through which I have been led, 
 especially the last fourteen years of my life. As I behold this, I 
 cannot describe my sensations. It is living it all over again for one 
 short moment. 
 
 I see, or think I see, where troubles could have been avoided, 
 and how I might have saved sufferings of various natures, and yet 
 I see there were rays of different colors fixed toward these paths. 
 They are so line that only the clairvoyant eye can see them. 
 
 They say these are issued forth from the existing condition of 
 my lot, and caused all which has ever taken place, although for phys- 
 ical results mortals were always brought in to perform parts as they 
 were actuated by 6uch causes. 
 
366 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 I see this, yet I do not see why there were such causes that 
 required such effects. Surely I have learned the value of trouble 
 that we are disciplined and schooled in by sufferings and privations. 
 I would not go around anything I have ever passed through, and 
 miss learning the lessons which I can now draw from it to benefit by 
 for time and eternity. Yet the sad feeling lingers around me, and I 
 wonder why all this was necessary. I should like to know more 
 about the causes, for I see, yet I do not see, them in a way that will 
 admit of explanation only for my own satisfaction, not for others. 
 
 I am told that such is the feeling of new-born spirits into 
 spirit life. They discern all manner of pain ; they see causes and 
 effects clearly. Their thoughts and deeds are before them ; they see 
 them but cannot realize them, for, as they see the causes, they won- 
 der why there were such causes, and why mortals could not just 
 as well be differently worked upon so as to realize none but pleasant 
 effects, and ever walk straight and upright, and not falter, nor com- 
 mit any acts which will, like mocking demons, ever throw scorn 
 against the windows of the soul to create timidity and the fear of 
 boldly saying and doing what from other sides is forced upon the 
 mind and nerves, and demands action for seeming good or evil. 
 
 How can it be known by short-sighted mortals, if they do not 
 give them a trial, as to whether what is forced upon them is for good 
 unless they can learn by the results ? To learn requires constant 
 activity, and not in one way or one method. 
 
 As new thoughts arise and form ideas, new labors must be 
 sought, new fields of study explored for improvement. Then the 
 sincere* earnest individual who aims to be a blessing in what they 
 may do for others as well as for self soon beholds which is the way 
 and what the required action. But the selfish and ill-conceited mor- 
 tal never succeeds so well. They work under many delusions before 
 they clearly see the facts as they must be seen and learned for the 
 timely and lasting welfare, yet, in a worldly way, they always flour- 
 ish a season, then they are humbled. 
 
 But this is drifting from my observations, simply because it is 
 somewhat unpleasant to observe. 
 
 How I pity those who depart from our world, and are ignorant 
 of the reality of the life to come ! How real, yet how unreal, it is to 
 many ! The facts cannot be adjusted ; it is too much for the weak 
 spirit. This is where the pain is felt that admits of no telling, and 
 cannot be removed until one progresses out of it, and that is a very 
 slow process to many. They are stunned because reality is there. 
 
 How many, in this state of pain and perplexity, wish for annihi- 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIMT LECTURES. 367 
 
 lation. Alas, it cannot be ! No annihilation is possible. What 
 once has life always has life. 
 
 We realize much in our practical earth life which is very myste- 
 rious to us. Truly I can cite some strange realizations as I thus 
 review the past. Some eight years ago I was earnestly praying, 
 asking special aid for one mortal. At that time I was nearly always 
 clairvoyant and clairaudient. I had not finished my prayer (which 
 truly came from the heart, if ever a prayer did) when my spirit 
 guardian touched my shoulder lightly, and smilingly said : " You 
 know not what you ask. It shall be granted ; you shall be the angel 
 of light over them, to learn how guardian angels work with mortals; 
 but your prayer was not well, inasmuch as you will realize troubles 
 which otherwise could have been avoided." This I have learned 
 long since to be true, yet, for the sake of learning, I look at it as a 
 blessing. For if we save one soul, and do it in a way which demands 
 much self-denial, we have done as much, or more, than if we partly 
 save many by feeding them with the bread of Heaven, which the 
 angels bring, and the water which flows from the crystal fountain, 
 and by us is dispensed to multitudes. Yet I have hope that, being 
 faithful in the least, I shall be enabled to do more, and lead many 
 from darkness to light, by letting them see through the telescopes 
 how the angels hold, conduct, their teachings, so that they can look 
 up to brighter heights, from which they can also perceive and learn 
 to read their titles clear. 
 
 As I behold the many conquests I have had in the spiritual 
 ranks, and see the causes which produced the effects, I feel still dif- 
 ferent, — I cannot give my feelings expression. 
 
 Before me is the blind aim of foes battling for what they could 
 not gain. Also my own ignorant condition, for had it not been for 
 that I could have seen points, but then in this lies the secret of 
 development. # 
 
 All imposed trials are made use of as developing factors in the 
 management of our wise guardians. The more helpless and weak 
 we are, as ignorant, erring mortals, the more we have the direct pity 
 and sympathy of the All-Father. Although our foes, in a worldly 
 sense, may be mighty, yet they fall unawares, for the Father issues 
 special orders that all agents and servants should take heed not to 
 injure any of the poor afflicted lambs out on earth's deserts. But 
 that they do not always obey orders directly I will show by a com- 
 parison of David and his son Absalom. It serves because that was a 
 conditionally transacted play, similar to some that we have passed 
 through. 
 
368 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 Now, when David's son gathered an army around him, and 
 started out in war against his father, David knew why Absalom 
 was thus actuated, and that for a fixed season he would be so blinded 
 and worked upon. David sought to save him, and gave all his men 
 charge concerning him, saying : " Deal gently with the young man, 
 even with Absalom." 
 
 He loved him more at that time than at any other, bemuse he 
 saw why he erred, and that if he was cut off from earth in that con- 
 quest, he would fall a victim to the invisible operators, who would 
 severely collect of him the penalties for such trespasses. 
 
 Absalom, too, loved his father, and did not wish to be a willing 
 foe, but self-esteem, and a desire to be great, came giant-like before 
 him, and he desired the throne. Knowing that he was not the right- 
 ful heir to it, he took advice of the adverse, and accordingly started 
 out in battle, which was the fatal act and end of his young life. 
 
 The servants saw that the king's request for them to save Absa- 
 lom w T as against the king, also against the people and the peace of 
 the country, so they acted contrary. 
 
 Even so is it now in special transactions, and has been so, for 
 all strife which has been has had its compelling force in jealousy. 
 
 Mortals are by it worked upon, and the surest result is self- 
 destruction, although much strife, and losses, and sufferings are first 
 realized. 
 
 How many of you who have been schooled in conditions, and 
 who have been connected with battles which bear a similitude to the 
 one related can say we see, know, and understand whence it came, 
 whither it led, and for what purpose it was brought about. 
 
 We pause and view the feverish pulsations of the hearts, for 
 truly the mixed rising of thought conveys no other meaning than 
 that of the heading : " We see, and yet we see not, the causes of 
 which we realize the effects." We can deal gently in this respect, 
 for some of the causes lay concealed, and have proceeded from the 
 inner life, and cannot be seen until there is a firm communion estab- 
 lished between mortals and immortals, those who were affected by the 
 same causes, and acted upon the physical beings who, for seasons of 
 such conditions of affinity, are their special charges. As the spirit 
 can perceive and be taught lessons of wisdom from the inner life, 
 then this can be seen and comprehended, and not before. 
 
 Now, these realizations, caused by being taken through these 
 conditional displays on earth, are similar to a spheric course, and are 
 intended to serve for that, so -that none of it will be necessary after 
 the spirit leaves its mortal house. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. ■ 309 
 
 We know this saying cannot be understood by those who have 
 had no schooling in these departments and especial grades, for which 
 reason it will seem to them like looking through a glass darkly, and 
 seeing nothing but the reflections of themselves. Their own mind is 
 reflected in an undeveloped condition ; but this is not so when the 
 senses are quickened by spirit touch, and by the faithful invisible 
 operator. 
 
 These lights are mingled with the mortal atmosphere, and the 
 real condition can be stamped on the retina of the spirit eyes, and can 
 be seen and comprehended with as much accuracy as anything seen 
 with the physical eyes, and discerned with the natural senses. 
 
 The only difficulty which arises in this is what is often well under- 
 stood and known by the one thus schooled ; they can find no language 
 to express it. This is owing to the effects made on the physical sys- 
 tem of such persons by the repulsive breath of the people with whom 
 they may associate. They, not having learned the same, are unbe- 
 lieving, and this outflow of unbelief from their systems unites and 
 forms a sort of a fortress, which somewhat compels a stand-still of 
 that system flow, which does not unite with theirs. All who have 
 ever advocated truths and facts which are in advance of the times 
 have found the barriers against success in this, because in advance of 
 the general ability for perceiving and comprehending. 
 
 They were ever repelled by this common cause of the adverse 
 breath thus woven in the conditions, and the deeper a mortal is led 
 to see into the inner life, to learn of the causes which work out plrvs- 
 ical effects, the more difficult they find it to gain a hearing from the 
 people, or to be understood and accepted by them. 
 
 All that comes from the inner life will permeate all flesh in due 
 time, and will be clearly seen and comprehended in time to come. 
 Therefore, those who sow the seeds of truth with tears, and have no 
 other reward on earth but scorn and the ill will of the people, the 
 same shall reap the harvest in Heaven with joy. Yes, they shall 
 reap great reward for having faithfully done that which, according to 
 their calling, has been their duty to do. 
 
 Unless men and women throw aside creeds and formulas, and 
 enter upon a religious study with all the energy of their souls, as 
 well as body, they will not reach that height from whence they can 
 see Father's house open, and see angels descend and ascend on their 
 various duties, nor can the paths of hidden wisdom be found other- 
 wise than by unbiased study, and a willingness to go straight through 
 with such studies and investigations. No matter how much tribula- 
 tion is thrown in to cause one to falter, and faint by the wayside, 
 
370 • COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 " Blessed are those who endure to the end, for their reward is great." 
 Remember that on flowery beds of ease no one can go upward and 
 join the company of the saints and angels of purity and wisdom. 
 None of all who are there came otherwise than by passing through 
 many serious changes, and wading through the waters of tribulation. 
 
 Truly, one can be led in spirit, or mind rather, while they are 
 yet mortals through Elysian fields, and learn many things known to 
 the inhabitants oi the different spheres, and be aided by them to 
 heal the sick, and perform feats which demonstrate supernal assist- 
 ance. But in this lies a most marvelous secret which should be 
 known and understood by those who are thus worked upon and 
 actuated. It is this : that those who thus lead mortals are ignorant 
 of this combined knowledge, know nothing only what is taught and 
 practiced in their sphere, and are therefore as narrow-minded as the 
 mortals themselves ; only in that degree of their sphere are they in 
 advance of mortals. 
 
 You all know that a person who is really wise, even in a worldly 
 sense, does not attempt to make a display of his wisdom, but one who 
 thinks he is wise, but is not, tries to be eloquent and make a display 
 with his knowledge. So it is with these classes of spirits, and our 
 advocates on the mortal side prove this assertion. 
 
 But they will all have their day of humiliation when they fall 
 from the heights reached by their own brains, then their glory will 
 turn into ashes, and their voices will be silenced without another 
 voice against them, because the flowers over which they in their 
 ignorant folly walked have produced effects, and the lessons which 
 they so loudly taught must be learned in their true meaning, and in a 
 universal sense. 
 
 Then the giant is subdued, and finds himself grappling with facts 
 that he had mocked at when shown them by others, and now aims to 
 solve the lessons he had scorned when they were taught in an humble, 
 common-sense manner. 
 
 Alas i no self-exalted mortal or spirit can find the path of ascen- 
 sion to a higher life until they come down from that selfish position, 
 and humble and child-like are willing to be led and taught, at the 
 same time exerting their full strength of mind and reason. Then 
 they will learn the causes of which they realize the effects, not before. 
 
 Be of good cheer, all who follow the voice of the angel of peace ; 
 though in the world you have trouble, your staff of protection is 
 strong. The world cannot overcome you, save in such things which 
 are hindrances to true spirit growth and development. Herein you 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 371 
 
 should rejoice that you are trained, and taught, and purified from the 
 system dross, which is repulsive to a healthy spirit growth. 
 
 It requires very much patience to lead mortals through condi- 
 tional conflicts, and endeavor to learn them the causes thereof. But 
 that such facts which swav mortals altogether can be taught and 
 demonstrated is true. This is being done in order to advance in 
 these studies. 
 
 A mortal thus trained should at all times sincerely view the spirit- 
 ual sides, which appear in contrast to what physically may be an issue 
 of trouble, or a complication of stubborn ills. The teachers cannot do 
 it all no more than mortal teachers can do all, and complete intelli- 
 gence in the brains of their pupils. The scholar must, from what is 
 explained and shown of each new lesson, solve and analyze it him- 
 sel t". If it is not correctly solved, it is made known by a repetition 
 of the same lesson, and other methods are shown with which to 
 solve and understand the lesson. 
 
 In this way mortals are schooled, those who are prepared by 
 guardian angels to teach the rest of mankind the facts which they 
 should know, in order to rectif}' past misgivings in the produced 
 fragments which have been given at various places and times, and in 
 different waj's, and which have formed a basis to build upon, from 
 which have grown religious systems for the training of men's devo- 
 tional faculties. 
 
 Now, in this great review of all, which has been, the object is not 
 to make a great display of wisdom to attract people's attention, or to 
 push matters of common interest and welfare, but the object is, to 
 give correctly what before this has been incorrectly perceived and 
 adjusted to thus change minds and ideas, that the truth can find an 
 entrance. 
 
 It requires much time and perseverance for mortals who shall 
 physically teach, and much patience by the ministering angels to 
 whom it has fallen to impart such knowledge to mortals, which is of 
 Universal importance and benefit. 
 
 How long will it be until the subject can be changed, and one, 
 at least, can say of a truth, I see, and can demonsXrate some causes 
 from which effects have been realized. 
 
 Henry Ward Beecher is quoted as having said in a recent ser- 
 mon : " Those who come through the shock of revolutionary suffer- 
 ing, and gain a sense of their own folly, and of the wisdom of these 
 words, ' save for yourselves treasures in Heaven,' they are not fur 
 from the kingdom of God." 
 
 This quotation implies what we would term as a condition and 
 
372 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 system change, and explain it more clearly than a scholar could on 
 earth, because we teach from the conditional platform that the paths 
 of ascension from the heights of delusions belong to the one great, 
 true, central path which, at last, must be found and ascended by all. 
 
 It is generally found only by first realizing a revolutionary 
 shock which breaks the bulwarks of selfishness and self-conceit into 
 fragments, and the reality of one's standing is then seen. You are 
 truly near the kingdom of God when you once begin at the bottom 
 of true progress and walk in that central path, for the side trips take 
 up so much time and space that one in the loftiest state of mind can 
 be as far away from the kingdom as the one involved with gross 
 matter newly evolved from chaos. If we have not satisfactorily 
 explained our subject, it is because we cannot give it clearer as yet, 
 but this will serve to study upon, and by so doing all will become 
 enabled to see from their own stand-points some of the causes at 
 least which, for them, have produced unpleasant and marvelous 
 results. 
 
 LECTURE LXXXV. 
 
 THE LAW OF RECOMPENSE. 
 
 Friends on earth, listen to the voice of the spirit as it is mani- 
 fested through mortal organisms, because, knocking at the door of 
 each individual soul, this voice is heard by many; but the world's 
 doors are barred against it so that an entrance is impossible, while 
 too many hear not even the knock of the divine messenger at the 
 doors of the soul. Wherefore, this being so, the will of God is made 
 manifest in divers ways to His creature, man, and the knowledge 
 which, as a demand of time, must be revealed from the worlds above 
 is thus sent through mortal organisms given by ministering spirits, 
 commissioned to bear the tidings to earth. The words of spirits, 
 which by compelling force are spoken by mortals so organized as to 
 bridge the chasm of ethereal space, are sometimes, yes, frequently, 
 denounced as not being a manifestation of sublime wisdom as they 
 should be, purporting to come from angels of light, sent as declared, 
 but instead are unintelligible, unworthy the notice of worldly scholars, 
 wherefore they are not received by them, but are treated with con- 
 tempt ; and why ? Can any of those who denounce the ministry of 
 angels and the truths they dispense in accordance with the universal 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 373 
 
 law give a reason why they do so ? And can they define the prob- 
 lems that are brought before them for the exertion of mind and for 
 analysis ? I say, nay, they cannot. The fact that they hear not the 
 voice of the spirit appealing to their own spirits furnishes abund- 
 ant proof that they are given to carnal things and materialism ; that 
 they view all things from the worldly view, measure all things with 
 the worldly senses, because the spirit, not being active, the spiritual 
 faculties are not developed to take cognizance of spiritual truths and 
 sayings, hence no discernment of such truths is possible. Therefore 
 all such are found as fighting against God, not knowing what 
 they do. I would kindly advise you all, great and small, rich and 
 poor, to pay heed to the signs of the times, to study your own 
 natures, and discern the chaff from the wheat in your own mental 
 store-house, to study the problems brought before you by the messen- 
 gers from the upper worlds, and then to study closely the law of 
 recompense and abide by those rules which your consciences tell you 
 are just, and which are written in undying letters upon everything that 
 you behold. Malice, envy, hatred of any degree, acted out, reap as 
 just reward the very same back, for the measures jou deal are also 
 dealt out to you in concord with the just law of recompense. No 
 one can disadvantage another without paying for the act, also for all 
 the pains inflicted and delays, thus causing short-comings of said 
 travelers in their assigned duties. This, then, wholly caps the theme, 
 and sadly turns laughing into weeping, and wrongly-enjoyed pleas- 
 ures into bitterest woe. On the other hand, honesty, purity of pur- 
 pose, persevering toil against the tide, perverted by said impurities. 
 How rejoicing the hour, the day of recompense ! For correctly all 
 things are weighed and measured by divine justice, and according to 
 honesty of purpose, and ability for display of the duties in which a 
 person is found according to design and calling, but is prohibited 
 from such by worldly cunning which damns up the waters against 
 them ; I say, even what they might have accomplished, had they not 
 been hindered, is closely reckoned up, and theirs is a just compensa- 
 tion for this, because the anxiety of heart and mind is even greater 
 in disappointments than in prosperous pursuits. All this is collected 
 from those who were the willing instruments in causing delay to 
 gratify selfish impulses, envy, hatred, and malice. Consider, O ye, 
 who are in the world's marts exercising the cunning of a selfish 
 instinct, and scan, as it were, clouds and water, and weigh, as it were, 
 the breezes on this open sea of life, that you by chance throw back on 
 others, yourselves to become masters of the winds, to sail even 
 swiftly at the risk of upsetting and causing other barks to sink in 
 
374 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUPvES. 
 
 the same journey. Consider that each bark carries with it, where it 
 may be seen, invisible souls who make up the crew, trusted to the 
 pilot. Now, although human life is not valued as it should be when 
 a worldly race is run, you should think of the soul living in the mor- 
 tal, and remember, too, that souls are precious in the sight of God, 
 and though a man had large earthly possessions, and would give 
 them all to redeem a soul, it would be of no avail, — nay, in the sense 
 of offense thus given. These offenses must be atoned for by a 
 rour»rl of severe suffering through transmigration. Those who are 
 found pure in the sight of God and are gifted with superior powers, 
 that they can work in concert with angels, can relieve souls or, better 
 said, spirits in mortals by their power, and that thrown upon them by 
 their assistants. This, when done, is but for testimony that the 
 world should believe these things which, by the divine mind, are 
 made manifest through these channels. What is this cry which con- 
 stantly rises from earth from those from whom meat is withheld in 
 the season of need ? Is it not so that we must place rings in the noses 
 of those who ringed themselves together to accumulate the passing 
 currency, to thus deprive the toiling multitudes and compel them 
 to labor for a mere pittance ? Verily, I say to all who are practicing 
 unjust stewardship over that which they have brought unto them- 
 selves by taking profits not due them, also those who have worldly 
 goods given them to tax their motives, whether they will use it with 
 the proper intent of relieving the suffering and promote the welfare 
 of humanity. I repeat it, all who in Church and State, councils, and 
 even down to family and individual duties, are not found true to 
 their calling will be thrust aside. This cry of welfare shall not be 
 so. Consider all the results of unjust enjoyments, and the penalties 
 annexed that will be collected, every farthing of it, for impure 
 motives to gain worldly things. The law of recompense fails not, 
 but is sure and just in all its measures. What a span is earth life. 
 There is no reality in it. It is but a journey through the wilderness 
 to a better land. That land toward which you journey is real, and 
 all transactions there are real. No concealments are possible. You 
 cannot smuggle your dross in over its borders, for it is of no value 
 there, and can find no entrance. Then, why load yourselves down 
 with worldly accumulations which are of no other value than to 
 satisfy hunger, thirst, and furnish clothing ? All else should be to 
 promote the general pursuit of all to render the voyage of life pleas- 
 ant and convenient to all who travel toward their home, whence they 
 came. Life on earth is a dream, and vanishes like a dream when the 
 intent of this life is not fully carried out, and the soul does not gain 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 375 
 
 that benefit of design for which it was introduced into matter, and 
 caused to bejmi its never-ending travels. These beirin on earth and 
 continue onward and upward through changing eternities, but never- 
 ending time. On the contrary, what a firmness the individual gives 
 to the spirit by learning properly the lessons which can only be 
 learned on earth and in earth life. Never-ending joy is born out of 
 brief earthly suffering, and to value undiinmed happiness in Heaven 
 would be utterly impossible without an adverse experience on the 
 earth plane, apart from the priceless fact that the spirit can only thus 
 have an actual and tangible form by first being born into the flesh. 
 See, then, O mortals, the proper purposes of your living on earth. 
 It is not to grasp the dross which you think so valuable, those pur- 
 poses are greater, higher, of a deeper significance. Study them, and 
 also the law of recompense, and you will find earth a pleasanter 
 clime as you understand and perform your duties better. 
 
 LECTURE LXXXVI. 
 
 THE ADMONITIONS OF A SPIRIT. 
 
 What a turmoil is this that I behold as I look upon the elect of 
 earth, yes, even upon those who are numbered among the first fruits 
 of creation, who are of the number of the purified who shall crown 
 with one accord their Creator, and shall give honor to His Christ ! 
 "Why is this division of opinion, this dread and fear? Is it not 
 because the selfish impulses hold the sway, and that the dominion rule 
 of these impulses is not yet broken by those who should make haste 
 to herald the tidings of true soul liberty, and to accept their King, 
 and be active in opening the doors of the world wide for the King of 
 Heaven to enter? Why are the messages given by those who minis- 
 ter for this purpose constantly perverted and misapplied ? How long 
 shall we bear with the fickleness of this people ? Verily, there is no 
 more time for delay. The cup of justice is full, and the measures of 
 law will be poured out over all alike, so that the better faculties will 
 become aroused and be active, that God and His truths shall bo 
 searched for in earnest sincerity, and not with selfish objects in view 
 for the purpose of gaining favor with the world. This saying applies 
 not so directly to those here whom we have chosen, but rather to the 
 elect who are to be gathered from the four winds by angel ministry 
 before the great day of the Lord God Almighty comes. 
 
376 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 Alas, they will not be gathered under the protecting wings, 
 even as the inhabitants of Jerusalem would not be taught and blessed 
 in the first advent of this labor ! Even as they met with destruction 
 and ruin, so will all earth be encompassed with foes. One nation 
 will destroy and devour the other ; but God's few who are sealed will 
 be exempt from the plagues, and will be shielded and cared for by a 
 special providence. Gaze upward and behold that the harvest is 
 ripe, and where are the laborers who are to gather the harvest on 
 earth, and to shield those who shall bear physical testimony ? Will 
 they all turn aside from me, and close their eyes and harden their 
 hearts, and not listen to my entreaties ? Verily, it is not impossible 
 to awaken children and servants out of stones, — yea, out of such mor- 
 tals who were as stones so far as goodliness was concerned, and who 
 were indifferent to all duties. Boast not, therefore ; do not build up 
 bulwarks by which you intend to shield yourselves, for in whatever 
 way you think to find the most comfort and the approval of the world 
 for which and to which you are looking, instead of looking earnestly 
 to God, and aiming to do His will. So, then, shame, fear, and 
 trembling shall come upon you, for all these works shall be swept 
 away in a moment, and nothing will be left but grievous pain and 
 remorse. It is sad to me to see those who have been ministered to 
 by spirits of light, sent forth for a special ministry, that they wish 
 chiefly to consult spirits to aid them in the accomplishment of their 
 own plans. They pervert the messages received, and will be thrown 
 into the furnaces to become purified. Yea, even so. 
 
 Your Protector. 
 
 LECTURE LXXXVIL— (poetry.) 
 
 " SCOFFERS AT GOD'S WORKS." 
 
 The worldly ring has been forming for many ages ; 
 Links have produced, and added to it, sinners and sages, 
 And 't is well formed and rounded almost to meet; 
 To rule, Almighty, then, with force, by deed. 
 
 The mockers and the scoffers they are wise, 
 And I may say none but that wear a disguise 
 Of splendid morals and religion wrought, 
 And with that have they worldly opinions bought. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 377 
 
 But do not despair, ye who are now as lost, 
 Seemingly encompassed by mortal's adverse power; 
 
 God is supreme, His foes will pay all cost 
 Of disappointments thus due. What a dower 
 
 Is yours for age, though timely ye are poor, 
 Have much dismay, must many ills endure ! 
 God's works will stand, are placed in execution; 
 If men submit not gently, then by revolution 
 Those scoffers will all be chased into caves, 
 Because so wise, yet are they Mammon's slaves. 
 
 LECTURE LXXXVIIL-(POETRY). 
 
 "AT THE CROSS-ROADS." 
 
 February 28, 18S1. 
 
 I was wafted out in vision 
 
 To a cross-road grand to view, 
 Oh, thought I, what is here my mission, 
 
 I have so much else to do ? 
 
 I was placed upon a summit, 
 
 Could by mortals not be seen, 
 Angels and mortals I saw from it, 
 
 Felt a calmness so serene. 
 
 " Observe well," the angel said, 
 
 " For thou shalt a lesson learn 
 Of which mortals now have need, 
 
 Must through mortal brain be borne." 
 
 As I looked I saw move onward 
 
 People of all shades and grades, 
 Some were sincere, some were froward, 
 
 Some were bright, some were dark as Hades ; 
 
 Some were laughing, some were talking, 
 Some were weeping, slowly walking, 
 Others studied all the way, 
 Were healthy and looked gay ; 
 
 Others rested, oh, so often, 
 Made no headway in their march ; 
 Upon these fell frosts of winter, 
 Summer's heat and words of reproach. 
 
378 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 I cried out as they came closer : 
 " Oh, how horrid some do look ! " 
 Some walked lame, and looked so simple, 
 Some sought fame, and set examples 
 All the way. 
 
 Masses, bright arrayed, within 
 Bore the likenesses of sin; 
 In their mipretended garbs 
 Upon them preyed many a shark. 
 
 Of this great, great mass thus moving 
 Onward, yet they knew not where, 
 All had objects of their own, 
 Yet were moved by a force on, 
 Which to them was hid, not known. 
 
 It was passing strange to see 
 How mortals could so blinded be, 
 As a large group came briskly by, 
 Viewing nature, acting sly 
 With each other. 
 
 These were sore within, — yes, rotten! 
 
 But had worldly shams begotten; 
 
 These they held as gilded shields 
 
 Up before themselves and smiled, 
 
 Writhing smiles, through these their screens, 
 
 When by others crossed or seen. 
 
 Some looked righteous in their garbs, 
 Yet were marked sinners of the blackest arts. 
 Everything I had e'er seen 
 Served as symbols, served as screens. 
 "What a sight this is to see ! " 
 Said I. "Is humanity even so as represented ? " 
 Said the angel : " Verily." 
 
 Then as they all met on that great, great square, 
 
 It seemed to me that the whole world was there ; 
 
 And, strange, the angels drew curtains, and closed 
 
 The sides of the square. 
 
 The masses were confused 
 
 On seeing reality, yet did none dare 
 
 To break through those curtains, 
 
 For angels stood on guard, 
 
 And wafted so mystically 
 
 Forth the rewards due 
 
 To each traveller, and bid to go 
 
 Out of two gates which swung to and fro. 
 
 i 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTUEES. 379 
 
 On one side the road led to fields Elysian, 
 
 On the other out in nature's mines ; 
 
 Many resisted, were murmuring, quizzing, 
 
 When a voice called out commandingly : 
 
 " Move on, or pay your fines ; 
 
 All were registered. As you were found 
 
 The decision is made. Move off from this ground. 
 
 No sects shall be any longer, 
 
 And only two classes of people, — 
 
 The spiritual and the material." 
 
 Then all was done,— was closed to my view; 
 The lesson contained is for all I well know. 
 
 We should deal with all things that come in our way and 
 obstruct our pursuits as rational beings. We should carefully and 
 calmly remove obstacles, lest by harsh treatment we might cause 
 injuries to the weaker subjects of Father's creation than we are 
 ourselves, and in so doing incur penalties for such injuries. The 
 obstruction may not have been willfully caused by the force or being 
 using it, but may and is mostly some wisely-wielded method forced 
 in a mortal way upon them that they may become disciplined through 
 its effects, and have the better faculties brought forth so as to become 
 useful. 
 
 Always try and be rational, slow to anger, slow to judge, and 
 cautious in what may be said or done. It is the shortest and easiest 
 road to Heaven, and also out of difficulties. 
 
 JUNE 12, 1S81. 
 
 LECTURE LXXXIX. 
 
 "MODERN demands and supplies." 
 
 Speaking of demands and supplies concerning the occupants of 
 the mortal world, we would first consider mental and spiritual 
 demands and supplies, as by these all physical things and works are 
 shaped and compelled onward. We know that at the present time 
 there is much division of opinion as to what really are demands, and 
 what should accordingly be the supplies from the mind realms above 
 to the pupils in the universal school, who compose the mind realms 
 below in their degree of intelligence. But, be this as it may, the 
 
380 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 just order always prevails, despite the division of opinion upon these 
 points. 
 
 Supplies are issued in strict keeping with demands, so by the 
 supplies given can be accurately determined the status of world's 
 people. Many years have passed away since the prophecy was 
 uttered : " That in the latter days, the spirit of God should be poured 
 out upon all flesh." That prophecy was made according to mathe- 
 matical calculations as to the growth of mortal mentality, and what 
 powers of the mind would predominate, hence according to demands 
 the supplies are prepared, and always have been in proper order, so 
 that there is nothing about present or other time realizations but 
 what is lawfully brought to physical enactments and results, and 
 there is nothing mysterious or miraculous about these realizations, 
 because all is brought by legal force into the bounds of worldly 
 degrees ; hence, the effects upon earth are nothing more nor less than 
 supplies according to mortal demands. 
 
 The knowledge of immortality which, in these days, is brought 
 to mortals by ministering angels, as well as demonstrations thereof, 
 is not beyond mortal comprehension any more than it is beyond mor- 
 tal need. Why is it that there are in these days revelations from the 
 spirit of God to the spirit of man ? Whjr is it that the eternal cur- 
 tains are rolled back, and the preceding worlds are divested of the 
 mystery with which they were so long shrouded, and people of earth 
 have their sense of sight quickened, so they can see and gain full 
 view of the worlds beyond, and also how they go to and fro on earth, 
 working with and upon mortals in all things, which at this time 
 should be realized as supplies to demands, also many other works 
 which pertain to the coming division of time, in the prolonged yet 
 divided eternities ? 
 
 Let him who hath wisdom study upon this saying and profit by 
 it. Some unwise mortals talk about natural regulations and cycling 
 changes, yet never survey the depths of what such talk implies. 
 Many talk of ghosts in reference to returning spirits, and treat the 
 labors of mercy with contempt. Stop ! O mortals, for those ghosts 
 are as tangible as you, and of more power, and you do not know how 
 many of their errands are even to you, because you do not study 
 self, and do not know your own demands, according to the purpose 
 for which you are a living mortal upon earth ; hence, by the supplies 
 or experiences you shall learn yourselves, if not otherwise, then by 
 compulsion, because it is a lawful issue. 
 
 How much evidence mortals give against themselves that they 
 are spiritually dead, that they are strictly materialistic when they 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 381 
 
 speak of ministering angels and laboring spirits as being gliosts, for 
 if they were spiritually devoted to God they would understand His 
 orders, and have evidence of God's spirit to their own, in regard to 
 all these things. A ghost is not an angel, nor a spirit, who has 
 acquired a tangible, lasting form. A ghost is a phantom, composed 
 of shades and ideality. It forms and vanishes as force, as mind, but 
 whenever that mind, that force, has centered itself in an organized 
 body, then it is no longer a phantom or a ghost. Hence, all who 
 have ever lived upon earth, and those who now people the worlds 
 beyond in their different degrees of purity and intelligence, are tan- 
 gible beings, and not ghosts, and the worlds they inhabit, called 
 spheres and heavens, are solid, more so than the mortal world. 
 Because of much disbelief concerning these eternal truths, God has 
 sent proofs to mortals of their future destinies, and to each one, indi- 
 vidually, supplies are sent suiting their own peculiar demands, hence 
 the various phases of mediumship. 
 
 The demonstrations of spirit power in and from all finite and 
 infinite degrees prove the fact that mortal unbelief is greater than it 
 ever was. Mortals must be powerfully touched by a po,wer higher and 
 stronger than the power of men, and never was the demand for 
 immortal proofs and supernal knowledge so strong as in these mod- 
 ern times, wherefore this great spirit out-pouring as a supply to 
 demands. Never before in this eternity's duration were men so 
 intellectual yet perverted to godliness and true principle. Worldly 
 intelligence has reached its height, and has unawares formed itself 
 into a power against God, from this ensue the battles. These, to 
 some extent, are being fought even now, but the battles which have 
 been fore-shadowed in prophecy, thousands of j T ears, in sequence with 
 the anticipated mortal status as mathematically discerned, are yet 
 to come. 
 
 The present time has long been spoken of in prophecy as a try- 
 ing time for the dwellers of earth, in which time they would be tried 
 as by fire, and realize woes ; but, friends, there is no time of woe but 
 which has also an opposite to realize, namely, glories and blessings. 
 
 So is it now, for while the spirits from the eternal regions return 
 and speculate upon mortal minds and powers, and probe and try 
 them, and inflict many grievous burdens, this because mortals are 
 not true in principle, and not truly devoted to God. But God's 
 powers also return and out-number the powers of adversity. They 
 come to alleviate suffering and do works of mercy, also gamer the 
 harvests grown from the investments of law and gospel. Fragment- 
 ary revelations given in divers tongues at various times are in these 
 
382 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 later days given to mortals in full, as a fulfillment of the promises 
 and prophecies that all partial works shall be swept away, and even 
 faith be swallowed in knowledge. 
 
 We repeat, all that was ever given in fragmentary prophecies is 
 now given to mortals in full, even the universal mysteries, which 
 before have been sealed to mortal view and understanding, are being 
 revealed and taught day by day. Revelations are made to mortals 
 and demonstrations are given from all the degrees through persons 
 who, in these days, must do the physical part of works, of which the 
 spirits by supreme commission perform the invisible part. These act 
 upon mortals reared for the same, to bring desired effects before 
 earth's people. 
 
 Who among you can tell how many finite degrees there are ? 
 You can learn these, for you are disciplined in all of them or you 
 cannot advance out of them. We will not speak of the infinite 
 degrees, as men are not ready to receive that intelligence. But the 
 finite degrees all pertain to the physical nature of man and worldly 
 affairs; hence, it is not beyond mortal understanding to know of 
 things relating, to them, and having rights even on earth. 
 
 Here is wisdom of the wise ; John says in Revelations : " Let 
 him that hath understanding count the number of the beast." 
 "Beast" is representative of worldly power, of power over the 
 matter grades. John says : " It is the number of a man ; " this 
 should read : " It is the number of degrees relating to man's estate 
 upon earth; that number is six hundred three-score and six. No 
 man can buy or sell if the materialistic army gains more ground but 
 he who has the mark upon his forehead, and is one with them in 
 belief and deed. How large the materialistic army is has not yet 
 been considered by the praying, but not spiritual, mortals. Verily, 
 ninety of every hundred in all the churches in the land are material- 
 ists in all but name and profession. The powers that be in these 
 degrees strive to close the worldly ring to be a mighty power in the 
 deciding conquests ; this being so, how can any rational mortal won- 
 der wiry the spirits of the departed return to arouse the spiritually 
 dead who are dear to them, wonder why angel ministers return by 
 commission to teach the Everlasting Gospel ? Is it not true that the 
 gospel is invested with worldly knowledge, and is brought in mortal 
 degrees ? Hence it is under the rule of the worldly ruler, and is no 
 longer divine. But there are truly devoted mortals in all folds who 
 yearn for truth, and for the true gospel, and that longing is supplied 
 by teachings. 
 
 Reflective glimmers are thrown over all former revelations and 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 383 
 
 precepts, hence it is demanded that full revelations should be given, 
 and that demand is being supplied. All supplies received have their 
 urgent demands, and all that is realized in this way is legal. 
 
 Study the signs of the times. Let him who hath ears listen to 
 the voice of the watchmen on Zion's Mountain, and pay heed, for it 
 is true that the numbering of decrees is nearlv ended. The line 
 between the spiritual and materialistic armies is drawn, and all who 
 are to appear in the field of open battle are being drilled, are receiv- 
 ing their uniforms, to appear in the appointed place at any summons. 
 These battles will be fought with tongue and pen, not with the 
 sword. There have been wordy attacks, and they are breaking out 
 constantly from these opponents, but the battles spoken of in pro- 
 phecy are yet to come, and the world will soon realize many things 
 which we have said in our writings would come. 
 
 Arise, O mortals, one and all, and consider your own conditions, 
 and ascertain where you belong ; time is fleeting. We are at the 
 brink of an eternal division. This drowsy halting between opinions 
 is a blight, and consumes mental and physical strength. Oh, that ye 
 w r ere cold or warm, for all lukewarm devoted to neither side reap 
 the bitterest realizations of all ; hence, let all who have mind exer- 
 cise it in earnest to ascertain their position, and under whose flag 
 they are fighting. You can accurately learn by the supplies issued 
 and received what are the mortal demands, also your individual 
 demands, thus your status, moral and spiritual. By application of 
 received truths you can remedy parts and portions of the supplies 
 received, and effect a change of experiences if you but sincerely try. 
 Seek for the causes which compel effects, but begin right at home. 
 Too often the causes lie dormant in your own nature. That power 
 within you is worked upon and exercised unawares to yourselves, 
 and you study and ponder to solve given problems in experiences, but 
 fail to seek the causes in the right directions, so you do not profit by 
 the experiences or lessons. You aim to pierce with the mind's eye 
 through the mists gathered around you, to seek and find causes 
 foreign to yourselves, from which effects resulted, but you do not 
 always find the causes. They are too often within you, or in your 
 immediate or associated elements and atmospheres. Hence the effects 
 were supplies according to individual demands, that thereby the latent 
 powers are aroused and called forth, some for action, others for 
 treatment. 
 
 All goodly innate powers are powers of the soul, of the spirit, 
 and much labor is constantly expended by angels to bring out these 
 powers for useful activity. 
 
384 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES.' 
 
 All so-called ungoodly latent powers consist of chaotic mixtures, 
 and are undeveloped mind force, and are in that state indefinable, 
 and cannot in that state be legally treated. Yet from such powers 
 emanations constantly come forth ; these gather and form a subtle 
 force which provokes many unpleasant effects, when by levies it is 
 brought from the dark recesses of mortal brains for treatment. In 
 these recesses of the mortal brain this chaotic force has its lodsjinij 
 place. What then is it? It is evil which in time will be devel- 
 oped, transformed into good, but such dense secretive mind force is 
 so marvelous, so strange, a mixture. It casts forth glimmers, decep- 
 tions, enticing glimmers, even to its owner, and so blinds them to 
 duty ; then again it throws out dense mists ; vapors escape or ema- 
 nate ; with these vapors desires also escape from such mortals. 
 These emanations are very subtle and strong, and effect harm where- 
 ever they are directed by that individual will. Yet' the parties who 
 really act thus, and possess the most of this dense indefinable mind 
 force, they are so innocent, so imposed upon, if the results are traced 
 to their proper causes. Such persons aided by this force always to 
 outward appearances are doing all in their powerxfor good, yet within 
 are none but selfish aims. These are seen and known by angels, and 
 so levies are cast which disturb and agitate the mind, and trouble 
 these secretive cells, because it is a strong demand that these forces 
 be brought out and placed under treatment, and thus into order. 
 But in the meantime, until the works of treatment are accomplished, 
 many things become physical realizations which are as subtle and 
 indefinable as these forces from which they result. The causes which 
 are laid and hang in finite and infinite laws, and provoke effects for 
 men's special training, are not like these, and are more readily dis- 
 cerned, and the effects are not grievous but wholesome. But this 
 bringing out of these subtle forces is necessary, even if effects result 
 which for a time are unpleasant, for thus only can these evils be 
 removed. 
 
 Men's minds must be disturbed and ventilated, and these pro- 
 cesses are very trying to mortals, wherefore it is said in regard to 
 these very times : " Blessed is he who remains faithful unto the end, 
 for to him is given the white stone." The key to this knowledge 
 which has so long been a mystery, and is even now only revealed to 
 those who endure faithful unto the end, namely, unto the end of 
 their own trials, which are necessary to remove the dross from their 
 nature, and illuminate them w T ith heavenly truths and wisdom. But 
 this essential march is very trying and severe until you have mounted 
 the summit above the worldly degrees, and above the indifferent 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 388 
 
 spheres. If you are taken through these degrees while you are yet 
 travelers on earth, your realizations are and must be conditional, yet 
 in a measure real, to make proper marks. You will all find these 
 facts true and inevitable, for you must pass through cloudy places 
 and conditions, which represent such degrees as you may be taken 
 through. Then again you are led through deserts, and have a view 
 of fiery clouds overhead. Often a dark cloud suddenly arises, and 
 from it come peals of thunder, emblematical of invisible degrees and 
 spheres, while physically this is realized in misfortunes, privation of 
 what is really needed for bodily demands, also manifestations of mor- 
 tal wrath or ill will in regard to your march or spiritual devotion. 
 
 This adverse mortal will causes the darkness round about, often 
 forms the conditional thunder clouds from which are sent the thun- 
 ders of physical realizations. Lightning also often flashes through 
 this darkness, sometimes as signals of hope and cheer, other times as 
 a prophecy of some harsh experience, effected by ill-disposed mortals. 
 But, trace closely and you will find that it is a proper taxation, and 
 you are by these means raised above all these indifferent conditions 
 and spheres, for they are all forcible, rather compulsory, acts, for you 
 must be tried and probed in order to become purified. 
 
 All who remain faithful will mount that summit when all is 
 calm, where the gentle breezes refresh spirit, and body, and angels of 
 light whisper words of cheer, and become guardians of law and pro- 
 tectors to all who are worthy. Then these travelers bound for Zion 
 or the spheres of the blessed are led into the inner life where all 
 wisdom abides, and is freely given to them as much as they are able 
 to receive. They are also strengthened so that they can partake of 
 more and more heavenly wisdom until they can behold with clear 
 sight these subtle workings, and the obstacles constantly cast in the 
 way of those struggling to emerge from that darkness, and to arise 
 out of such conditions and master them by acquired knowledge. All 
 such mortals live in Heaven, while they yet walk the earth as mor- 
 tals, because their hearts are where they are numbered, and in reality 
 belong. All beings or mortals live where the cravings of their hearts 
 are centered, no matter where they temporarily stay. 
 
 All these sayings are problems brought before mortals that they 
 study thereon, and each solve and analyze according to their own 
 powers of mind. Causes and effects from subtle, indefinable forces 
 are in various ways shown to public inspection and private study. 
 Nothing will stand, nothing can stand, the trials of time but true 
 Ileaven-born principle, and in that may be the hope and strength of 
 all who are Christians by principle. Names are of no avail. It 
 
386 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 matters not whether you are heathens, Christians, or Spiritualists by 
 name, only those are accepted who are true Christians in principle, 
 for God knows his own. 
 
 All which is impure in mortals will be brought out by directing 
 opposite, turbulent, mortal forces to arouse and bring forth what is 
 within for ventilation and inspection. Emanations and forces which 
 are against each other constantly go out from all mortals. Every 
 one desires that which is adverse to the desire of another. Hence, 
 supernal force is coupled with this mortal force which presently fills 
 mortal atmospheres. This returns to mortals as supplies to their 
 urgent demands, that they may profit by the experiences thus effected, 
 and become purer and wiser. Then they will become Christians in 
 principle instead of profession. 
 
 The mortal mind realm is at present powerfully revolutionized, 
 and all minds are disturbed and affected. Because it is a universal 
 mind revolution, it is not safe in the churches or out of them, unless 
 true principle is observed and closely adhered to in all which is done. 
 The worldly prince is making his settlements at present, for it is the 
 right of his degree that he bring his account of labors clone, and of 
 the subjects under his control and in his dominions. His servants 
 found in the churches number millions, also in high and low places. 
 When this is done he will be no more, because the earthly govern- 
 ments will be wielded by the righteous King. Woe be to the inhab- 
 itants of earth until these works are ended, for all who do not live 
 according to true principle, and have not kept the testimony of Jesus, 
 will become, if not already, the captives of their Mammon god. 
 
 In treating upon demands and supplies, we would say that the 
 masses certainly need tests of immortal life, because they are not at 
 all spiritually awakened. 
 
 All these different phases of demonstrated spirit power serve the 
 purpose of review. At the same time those spirit materializations 
 which eventually end in an expose are in the beginning genuine in 
 their degrees, and serve to review the old oracle performances. But 
 whenever the marked crisis arrives, when the facts are brought 
 before mortal courts, then the methods are discovered which are used 
 after all to aid the invisible operators who really have appeared 
 before such times, and can again after such an event, and who order 
 all these things knowing what their works are. 
 
 It is embarrassing to the subjects used, but it is in worldly 
 degrees mortals are taken before the invisible courts, daily and 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 387 
 
 hourly, for their practical deceptions in various ways, by which they 
 move business currents. 
 
 Therefore, we do not denounce all these labors, knowing that 
 they have their legal season for review and display, and will not be 
 tolerated when the time for them has been expired. But the useful 
 and promised gifts remain, such as healing the sick, speaking with 
 tongues, receiving and diffusing truths and wisdom as it flows down 
 to these receptive brains from the ultimate fountain. 
 
 Further, we would say to all who. have been aroused from their 
 idleness and dreams by spirit manifestations, through phenomenal 
 signs, tokens and tests, do not stop with them nor be led thereby. 
 It is only to arouse, and of no further use unless it leads to a siucere 
 investigation to learn the wisdom, the truths, which in these days 
 are <riven to mortals. 
 
 This is what we wish all to do, to enter into these studies, into 
 the inner life, that they may make each promise and blessing their 
 own. Although many side ways have opened to satisfy modern 
 demands, yet there is but one road to Heaven. 
 
 LECTURE XC. 
 
 "GEMS FOR THOUGHT AND ALSO FOR AGITATION." 
 
 The hours of twilight at morning and evening are the most 
 appropriate for silent worship, and spiritual research for self- 
 improvement. 
 
 There is a substance in the atmosphere at twilight which is 
 absorbed in the shades of day and of night. This substance is easily 
 subsided by spirits so that they can come closer and find an opening 
 to the intuitive parts of the brain and act thereon more powerfully 
 than through the day or night, unless there is an hour set apart for 
 intercommunion. Then guardians who give advice subside all the 
 interferences which mortals bring about them, owing to the gross 
 elements with which, of necessity, they come in contact. This is 
 too often the cause by which spirits are repelled and prohibited from 
 making manifestations through their medium as desired by the 
 investigators or by the spirits at work. 
 
 All persons who are not mediums can feel the holy presence of 
 the Comforter if they come meekly and in a receptive condition when 
 
388 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 they seek God in prayer. God once said of old, by inspiration : " Seek 
 Me early. and ye shall find Me." Thus God could make His power 
 felt and His presence known by this, that the seeker should come in 
 accord with the dictates of the inner voice, — the spirit. 
 
 All the sayings of old can be understood clearly and perfectly 
 when studied spiritually, and viewed in the light at present shed upon 
 the people of earth. Too many people of today cling to the sayings 
 of old in a way which was not meant in the time when the word was 
 spoken, nor was it to go further than just to that people, and serve 
 the purpose of that time. But when the true meaning is once seen, 
 then a benefit can be drawn now as well as then from all the words 
 which ever proceeded forth as heavenly issues, and were given to 
 mortals as well as they could be given. No matter in or from what 
 ordinance those issues are, worldly or heavenly, if they are sent forth 
 the people need them, and must receive them as a result of their 
 need. Therefore the classical difference of heavenly issues must be 
 placed before mortals, and impressed upon them, as no mortal can be 
 a true worshiper of God as long as they do not understand the word, 
 the issue, in its proper classical order as they have been and are now 
 given. 
 
 The discernment of this is a growth of the powers of the mind, 
 and must be cultivated with care, — must be attained by patience and 
 by passing through trials. The knowledge needed for such discern- 
 ing must be gained by experience, for no teacher can impart it by 
 lessons ; though they were clearly demonstrated it would not have 
 the desired effect to arouse the latent innate powers and quicken the 
 perceptions so as to see that these important truths and these educat- 
 ing methods are given as issues to the people of today that they might 
 learn aright what is now given, or was ever given, prophetically or 
 otherwise, as heavenly issue. 
 
 The Bible must be understood in the classical degrees which are 
 stamped on its contents. It is not all alike, the word of God, as so 
 many assert. No ! Much that the Bible contains is historical nar- 
 rative, proverbial gems, and personal experience mingled with inspi- 
 rational fragments. This must be seen in its proper degrees before 
 man or woman can be a true worshiper of God. 
 
 Ideality. How is this great lasting wealth acquired? Can 
 anyone have lofty ideas which over-reach all lower clamors of earth's 
 mixed conditions by adhering to a formula of worship and study 
 without the addition of general research, and a large exchanging and 
 collection of ideas from various authors, who have all labored to the 
 best of their ability to mount one summit after another toward that 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 389 
 
 mind realm where ideality sparkles so brilliantly, and crowns the per- 
 fect man ? All scholars contribute to this essential march of human 
 civilization, and the greatest of all improvements, providing they dare 
 to speak, think, and act. It is also required in all study and research 
 to become truly and deeply interested, as only then the depth of the 
 soul can be poured out, and thus unknowingly sent oat as fuel for 
 others, and in return other mind forces are given, other substances 
 imparted which nourish the mind forces, and greater, purer ideas are 
 born in the head and soul. Slowly but surely ideality is attained by 
 hard labor, by economy, by treasuring closely also all the received ideas, 
 by giving them in exchange, and so continue this grand work which 
 makes self rich and great, and enriches the world and her people. 
 Therefore is God made manifest on earth as the true light is shed 
 abroad to absorb the molding and withering misconceptions. 
 
 Sharp ideas sent forth from a sober and pure-minded student 
 serve as breezes, and some even as mighty winds, by which to agitate 
 the stagnant pools, and then is seen all of their out-of-place silence 
 covered with a green, unhealthy scum, which represents jealousy. 
 The long-standing waters of these pools are bitter, and very unhealthy 
 for mind and body. New ideas are needed to stir them up ; more 
 come then to urge that they are covered up, and it renders the air 
 healthier, and the march onward less obstructed. According to 
 demand, more light is sent through those who are studious workers to 
 raise ideality to a high standard, and, above all, to attain to it them- 
 selves. These are the world-lights, because through them light and 
 new life come into the world. It is not required that such persons 
 make a great or eloquent worldly appearance, for the true student 
 has no time to waste ; they give the shell such care as is needed to 
 protect the kernel, but nothing extra for attraction as do the material 
 and hollow-minded. We mean by this, when only worldly knowl- 
 edge is gained and made use of for material benefits, without pure 
 ideality or individualization, that such persons with all their elo- 
 quence and worldly positions are hollow-minded, mere bubbles, to say 
 the least, lumps of clay into which attributes and possibilities were 
 instilled, but which lay dark and dead within this show-case of mate- 
 rial composition. They do not benefit the world, do not develop or 
 attain any of the wealth which remains after death. They do not 
 attain to pure ideality, and are their own worst enemies, for the -ad 
 realizations they must experience are just but hard to bear. 
 
 A proper way is marked for all things that are done ; be it work 
 or study, or dispensing of knowledge, desired results can be gained 
 only in that and no other way, or else we realize constant failure 
 
390 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 caused by working under mistakes, or from taking an adverse course ; 
 this, perhaps, from oversight caused by conditional blurs in other- 
 wise sincere students or workers. These can only be subsided by 
 some violent conditional stir. Then the right conditions come, and 
 reveal the proper way to the careworn wanderer. This way, then, 
 must be pursued in order to obtain the desires of the head and heart. 
 To first satisfy the yearnings of the natural condition, the lessons 
 well pondered and applied will strengthen and improve the spiritual 
 faculties, and enhance ideality. 
 
 A VISION DESCRIBED. 
 
 As I sat silent on the third of November, 
 
 I saw a vision which I '11 describe 
 As well as I can remember. 
 
 A river came murmuring along before me, 
 It was deep and broad, this I could see; 
 It was almost full of water, crystal clear, 
 The tones it rippled were sweet to the ear. 
 
 It grew fuller and fuller as I looked on, 
 Till brimming over; then an angel came. 
 He took a staff to stir or agitate, 
 And, lo ! the river boiled and foamed ; 
 Waves tossed and were off set, 
 They rolled over hill and dale, 
 Caused mirth and caused travail. 
 
 I wondered at this sight, 
 
 And said : "Pray tell me right 
 
 What all this means." 
 
 The angel said to me : 
 
 " This is life's busy sea; 
 
 In it all atoms are contained, 
 
 Those waves set off go out, maintain 
 
 Thoughts, actions, help to make the world, 
 
 Give people strength, also absorb 
 
 Waste matter, which must be sent back 
 
 To recuperate its present lack 
 
 Of proper action in this river. 
 
 Observe ! world's busy motions you shall see." 
 
 As I looked barks and boats came floating along, 
 The tide was turbulent and strong, 
 And many were too weak to row, 
 Were therefore tossed to and fro ; 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 391 
 
 The sturdy hands and sober heads 
 
 Kept with the tide, and oft cast nets ; 
 
 The}- caught and drew up many a load, 
 
 Yet kept their barks straight, and knew their road 
 
 While many, oh, so many drifted along, 
 
 Barks full of water. " What is wrong ? 
 
 I cried. " Can uo one help them row ? 
 
 They have no strength, down they must go." 
 
 The answer came : " Well, though they sink, 
 They are in this great stream not lost; 
 'T is better than to drift at length, 
 And be by breezes shook and tossed. 
 Down in those depths they shall remain 
 Till their own strength shall bear them up." 
 
 At this I was amazed, and said : 
 "Pray tell me what they do below ? 
 If there preserved they are alive, 
 And must they there with chaos strive 
 Until they a mastery gain and rise ?" 
 
 Yes, in a measure you have guessed, 
 For life is active everywhere; 
 Inactive natures there are pressed, 
 Until they seek, and try, and dare 
 To do what duties ever are met, 
 Resolved to labor and to learn ; 
 Then opens a way, and life is shed 
 By which to climb the ragged way 
 Through all the grade and matter fields. 
 They sow them well, and richly yields 
 Their labor; spoils are treasured up, 
 Then turns to bliss their bitter cup. 
 
 With this the river fled from sight. 
 Before me in a brilliant light 
 Were placed these words : 
 "Learn wisdom and wisdom's ways." 
 
 Again I am left to wonder over the lessons received, and the 
 way in which they are given, and the appreciation we should have so 
 as to derive the intended benefits when these thoughts come flowing 
 through ray brain. It is a consolation to. know that eternity is a long 
 stretch after learning our first lessons about the many different con- 
 ditions. 
 
 We all enjoy life here, with all its dark shades and common 
 evils ; then it is quite sure that we will enjoy every other position we 
 
392 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 shall fill as we go onward in this transitional pursuit for a lasting 
 habitation. As we pursue this grand march onward we will realize 
 the fact that every change we make life becomes more real, more 
 dear. We would linger along in admiration of the manifest handi- 
 works of God, and try to make them our own. But we are no real 
 owners of anything but the knowledge we may gather and store up 
 until we reach our proper destination. 
 
 If life, then, from the cradle to the grave is a march, and must 
 be pursued in accord with a certain musical tone, and from thence 
 the march is pursued in accord with differently-played music on the 
 harp strings of our being, then it must be that we do not keep step ; 
 we go out of line, interfering with other lines, and go contrary to the 
 music, and try to walk to a rough tune of our own, and in so doing 
 cause a confusion in the rythmic murmuring which is soft and sweet, 
 and in harmony with all nature and her laws. 
 
 We do greatly interfere with this natural harmony by our unruly 
 actions. The result is we are placed in line, first gently, then 
 harshly ; if we persist in disobeying, we are punished until we see 
 from whence these troubles come, that they are self-made, and we 
 try to avoid, such effects by being at all times observant of the route 
 and time for the march. 
 
 We must learn to understand and obey the still musical voice 
 which is within us, and everywhere without is the true monitor that 
 announces the proper steps in every pursuit. When we learn to 
 heed it, we can pursue our journey pleasantly, and gather the nectar 
 of all these labors done on life's mighty ocean, as do the gods. 
 
 Let us gather wisdom while we may, 
 Tor on earth even short is our stay. 
 
 We are bound up in self ; from others we should learn, and give 
 others a chance to come in our atmosphere to carry off what we can 
 spare. 
 
 November 4, 1880. 
 
 LECTURE XCI.- (poetry.) 
 
 WHAT OF THE RILLS OF ETERNITY ? 
 
 Precious streamlets, softly murmuring, 
 Course their way from Heaven to earth; 
 
 Now in lonely bosoms slumbering, 
 Then in nature they spring forth. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 393 
 
 Oh, the rills from those high granites, 
 
 Whence they spring all life to bless ; 
 Mortals try to climb those summits, 
 
 Waters there are pure and fresh. 
 
 How they have of mount and valley 
 
 Taste and tint, and seem impure 
 As they rippling, harmless, slowly, 
 
 Wend their way earth to explore. 
 
 Oh, the rills from those high granites, 
 
 Whence they spring all life to bless ; 
 Smallest streams that miss their courses, 
 
 As it seems, are not nameless. 
 
 They are led by strong hands truly 
 
 Ever on the line which marked 
 On the canvas of the builders 
 
 Must be traversed. Hearken ! Hark ! 
 
 All the little rills and streamlets 
 
 Are well guided, do their part ; 
 All the little feet leave foot-prints, 
 
 And help to complete the arts 
 Of the great designer. 
 
 LECTURE XCH. 
 
 "the reasons why familiar spirits create disturbance, 
 
 and must be suppressed when the time for 
 
 legal decisions is reached." 
 
 1st. They speak to their friends upon private matters, and seek 
 to promote the worldly welfare of their familiar friends, and too 
 often regardless of the claims of law, or claims of other mortals with 
 whom their friends in the physical world may be associated. 
 
 2nd. They do errands, and hear the many petty expressions of 
 mortals, and they often retaliate, thinking they have a right to do so, 
 without having received especial permission for such acts, but do it 
 of their own will, for their own pleasure, and to benefit their intimate 
 friends in some worldly way. 
 
 3rd. They often control different mediums, and give messages 
 which mislead those they wish to ensnare, so that their familiar 
 friends can take the advantage, as they had secretly desired to do. 
 
394 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 Remember, that no spirit of high order is termed a familiar 
 spirit. No spirit in the higher progressive degree in spirit life is in 
 this common sense familiar. They know the claims of law, and tell 
 what they know in legal keeping. At times they do works of their 
 own pleasure, give special instruction, but they know that if this 
 advice is strictly applied and heeded it will only further the legal 
 issues, and will be no hindrance or interference to them. These 
 issues must work out in physical degrees. 
 
 Those termed familiar spirits have no such knowledge, and thus 
 cannot be tolerated to work on earth only in times of general 
 upheaval or agitation until the desired revolution of mind and ideas 
 is effected. After this they are no longer permitted to exercise their 
 skill and craft over the weak and nervous mortals. Remember, it is 
 all craft or cunning which these lower grade spirits make use of in 
 various ways. When such things have been realized at the time of 
 great natural revisions, and could not be explained, and yet from 
 their subtle natures they cause powerful physical effects, then they are 
 termed magical. Magic and craft combined is witchcraft, — a subtle 
 force made use of in a very dexterous way to psychologize mortals by 
 such crafty operators. These are bland and most generally cultured 
 in their deception, but very satanic in their aims. 
 
 If once their first object is obtained to lead susceptible mortals 
 into captivity to such operators, then follows all that they have cun- 
 ningly desired, as their force is constantly concentrated upon the sub- 
 ject, until the charmed, helpless victims are as mere machines moved 
 by that strong, impure magnetic force charged constantly against 
 them. This must be broken before a change for the better can be 
 experienced. This is done by the spirits of power from the higher 
 spheres of spirit life. They come to do these works as messengers 
 from God, and all that they do is legal, for they do nothing against 
 the heavenly orders. 
 
 While mortals enjoy having their own friends come and com- 
 municate with them, they should bear in mind these minor facts, and 
 always look aloft to the guiding power above all these different 
 grades. They will then keep out of difficulty. Also, when you 
 come in contact with new or strange mediums, be slow ! You must 
 first learn whether they would be true with you, or whether their 
 spirits are crafty, and would personate your friends in order to mis- 
 lead you, for they may be upon the same level with your friends in 
 progress, and so be able to imitate them. 
 
 As men and women on earth, of the same size, could wear the 
 same clothing, so one spirit could appear in the garb of another, and 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 395 
 
 with the limited knowledge of those whom they would deceive and 
 lead them into difficulty. But remember that the lower grades can 
 never personate the higher, nor would the higher appear in any but 
 true form, or their true degree apparel. Hence, the whole difficulty 
 before the courts of human judgment is an outcome of the works of 
 familiar spirits in the truest sense. 
 
 The stakes are driven for these classes. So far and no farther 
 can they go. When that point is reached their parts in the work 
 will be finished daily, and all will be finished in the short space of a 
 few more earthly years. Then Spiritualism will be seen by mortals 
 in its heavenly purity, and the power of the heavenly hosts will be 
 felt on earth. 
 
 These mind revolutions are, indeed, wonderful which are now 
 being wrought. The great battery of the universe is placed upon 
 mortal mentality, and by it the people are worked upon and led into 
 ordeals. None can be kept out. All are worked upon, the rebels 
 and the true, the idiotic and those of good mental capacity, but not 
 cultured. This revolution goes on and affects all minds, but not all 
 alike. Yet they must think, question, and study whether they wish 
 to or not. And how many mortals in these days become a surprise 
 to themselves as they are thus agitated ? They never knew before 
 how great the power of good and evil was in themselves, but they 
 walked the earth on a level with the animal creation, doing only the 
 works of the physical necessity, impelled only by natural instincts 
 and appetites. They were blind to all the claims of their spiritual 
 counterparts, and even their worship, as a common practice, was life- 
 less. Can you see that when such agitations are caused that there 
 arise many self-executions ? Why are they ? It is said that it is 
 the voice of conscience which is awakened. Yes, but it is an attri- 
 bute which does not belong to the natural but to the spiritual being, 
 an attribute of the spiritual man which proceeds from God, an attri- 
 bute of deity made manifest in all mortals born on earth in accord 
 with their acquired or developed spirituality. 
 
 How long, oh, how long will it be until this desired contradis- 
 tinction can be shown to mortals so that they can comprehend which 
 are the attributes of the natural and which of the spiritual man, and 
 how they can be supported ? We know that scholars all claim to 
 know this ; but they give evidence by their treatment of these differ- 
 ent attributes that they know not whereof they speak. Tell me, 
 those who know, how conscience and wisdom are allied ; how the 
 one without the other stands in relation to the chemical coherence of 
 substance and matter for the support of ideas and the expansion of 
 
396 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 mentality ? Tell me how the devotional organs lie in the brain of 
 a mortal ; were wisdom and conscience not truly allied, and reason 
 is a sprout instead of an imperial plant? How are all these divine 
 attributes derived and marked, and placed to be the basic force, also 
 the outcome of all the natural efforts deposited in the whole mortal 
 organism and having effect on the brain, but differently marked, 
 agitated, and supported ? When you know this, you can discern each 
 proper quality in the mortal organism, and know how it is when you 
 are troubled by the wicked who have gone on the journey ahead of 
 you. Yet, remember, there is more in the philosophy of Spiritual- 
 ism than the world expected to witness and realize, and the reason 
 of this is because it does not come as expected. 
 
 When the long-looked for advent of Jesus the Messiah arrived 
 the Jews were displeased, and would not receive nor accept Him, 
 because He did not come as a king to restore their physical power. 
 His second advent has come now, and the Christians are not ready to 
 receive Him, because He does not come in a way pleasing to their 
 pharisaical pride and their worldly ambition ; for now as then He 
 seeks the lowly, the humble, the maimed, blind, sick, and poor, and 
 through them makes Himself manifest. He is a Saviour, a source of 
 power to redeem them. 
 
 Woe unto those who think they hold the key to Heaven, for 
 verily they shall not enter. They must pay for the offenses they 
 commit in keeping out those who might enter by blinding them to the 
 truths and to the light which is shed from Heaven upon mortals. 
 Pray not loud nor long at your places of Avorship, for it is an offense 
 in the sight of God. Pray in secret, but do the works openly which 
 correspond with your secret prayers. Then you are true Christians 
 and true worshipers, and all the promised blessings will be yours. 
 
 LECTURE XCIII. 
 
 "WHAT IS SIN? AND HOW ARE MORTALS ENSNARED BY THE 
 CUNNING DEVICES PLACED IN TEMPTATIONS ? " 
 
 In this stage of mental development, which may be called the 
 sge of reason, because reason has developed to a creditable degree in 
 mortal constitutions. 
 
 For this reason the world's people are receiving new revelations 
 from Heaven that they may reason upon them, and so learn the 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 397 
 
 secrets of the past, and the sure results of the future. All this can 
 be learned clearly and positively from the knowledge which can be 
 gleaned at present from these truly given revelations. These reve- 
 lations come in accord with law and mortal demand, as it must be so 
 as long as the fullness had not been given, but only fragments as they 
 were needed in these earthly training schools. 
 
 Just so long as there are other parts to follow which belong to 
 the parts dispensed before, just so long revelations will be given when 
 needed, until knowledge is obtained by mortals who were so long 
 trained in faith, until the fullness of these peace-works should be 
 understanding^ revealed to mortals, wherein they were taught mor- 
 ally and religiously. 
 
 Even the worldly developments are made known to the people 
 of this age of " reason " by the labors now being done through the 
 agency of spirits co-operating with mortals, as is well known and 
 variously demonstrated. 
 
 But why is it necessary in this age of mental development that 
 this question, " What is sin ? " should be brought into discussion ? 
 People, down to the most ignorant classes, all know what right and 
 wrong mean in the ordinary way of doing, and scholars know it 
 completely in a scriptural and legal sense. Then why should they 
 not know which deeds are held sinful, and which are not held sinful 
 in the sight of God ? But it is even so that they do err in their 
 great wisdom, and there is much perverted reasoning, and much 
 looked upon and talked of as sinful, which is not considered so in the 
 sight of God. And much that is considered good and great is held 
 as sinful in the sight of God, and is so marked in the finite and 
 infinite records, in the degrees where offenses which were committed 
 by word and deed, places the account according to a just rule in a 
 justly-governed universe. 
 
 The greatest sin, and one very common in this age of reason, 
 are the evil devices of the human heart. These are brought forth in 
 smooth talk, which is a snare for the innocent and unwary, to whom 
 these ill devices are carried in words so good and wise, as for their 
 benefit, until they are blinded and stumble, and are entangled in the 
 net, and made the captives to the ill proclivities of that power, which 
 in subtle ways had prompted these devices of the cunning and skill- 
 ful conjurer. 
 
 A person in the flesh need not be exactly a medium to become 
 an active worker with either the good spirits who return on minister- 
 ing labors, or with the subtle elements by which mortals are sur- 
 rounded. These elements are so various, and have so many names, 
 
398 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 and affect mortals according to their own desires and their receptive- 
 ness. The subtle force is acting constantly wherever it finds access 
 to mortals to act through them again. It is occult or magical in all 
 its phases, but differently rated in degree. Whenever it is taken in 
 it works in a way to conjure up things. It is a force for that 
 purpose. 
 
 The sad fact is that this force involves those persons with whom 
 it comes in contact, or who have dealings with it. These may not 
 think, nor be conditionally versed, nor quick to discern this magical 
 psychological force in its subtle action. Those who prompt these 
 devices are spirits in the low degrees, working with this subtle force. 
 These cunningly overcome these innocent ignorant persons, for they 
 appear in a guise so good, and make these mortal tools also appear 
 so. But while meddling with these undeveloped forces the spirits 
 are under no law, but simply under the powers of the air, belonging 
 to no degrees. 
 
 These undeveloped forces which serve to develop with, and are 
 in the evolutional divisions brought forth from all the dark recesses, 
 and forced into uses or cast back into the reservoir to be reissued 
 again at some future time when needed. All who are tools for such 
 works are outside of the law with this subtle or satanic force, which 
 is wielded by powers of the air, and the effects of all such co-opera- 
 tions are magical, and rated in different degrees. This is a common 
 and prevalent evil, and a great sin. 
 
 The reason we give for stating these things so clearly is this : 
 we hear it said again and again by those whom we have taught, 
 " Well, we do not understand, and how can we know when we do 
 anything wrong?" It is because you have been filled with this 
 force, have, from its workings in and upon you, conjured and devised 
 many things, have given birth unto physical elements and conditions, 
 and it has wrought many unpleasant effects, and it is still the force 
 which blinds you as to your duties, so that you cannot see what is 
 good and true and what is wrong and sinful. 
 
 This force treated of also means the force so much alluded to, 
 and is the elementary force spoken of at chance times with the spirit- 
 ual, namely, spirits acting in such degrees and wielding such forces, 
 and these are very effectual with and upon all mortals, not only upon 
 the so-called mediums. 
 
 They, then, or the strength of this force, has helped some of 
 you to gain in the things which you devised in order to gratify your 
 selfish instincts, and they their ill proclivities to torment those who 
 suffer thereby. In so much then as you were thus gratified illegally 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 399 
 
 are you under the pressure of law. These sins are not forgiven, nor 
 atoned for by the means of meditation. The offender alone must 
 expiate these sins. This is what is considered the most sinful of all 
 sins which mortals may commit. 
 
 But many have the wrong idea that ouly Spiritualists are sinning 
 in such ways, and are such operators with this elementry force and 
 power. No, my good friends ! This unhealthy elementary force 
 has entered all the churches in the land, and those who attend formal 
 worship breathe it in. There are not many throughout the land who 
 have not this stamp on their foreheads, which is the mark of the 
 beast. 
 
 True, some have it almost imperceptibly ; they do not think but 
 that they are truly devoted to God, and love and serve their Maker. 
 But they wear the mask of deception at times, and it leaves its 
 shades. They wish to aid the needy, but they cannot see how to 
 spare anything which God's blessing has bestowed upon them ; they 
 would rather live in ease, and let the poor and needy toil for a pit- 
 tance, even if their strength is not adequate to their tasks. 
 
 All these things leave their shades, and it marks the beast's 
 image on the brow as a degree mark, truly not stamped so bold as 
 those who do much harm in spreading their nets in words and deeds, 
 after having conjured up the idea how to do this, and they work vig- 
 orously with this satanic force. 
 
 This, friends, is that which tips the scales of justice whenever 
 you are balanced, and lets you right down again to the same level 
 from whence we have striven and labored to elevate you, so as to 
 bring you upon the rock, the summit upon which all is purity and 
 peace. Say no more " We are innocent ; we do not do these things, 
 nor will we ponder upon lessons of reproach ; but we will study 
 and conjure and indulge our devices, and feel happy therein, for 
 the effects of our devices and prayers are just for those whom they 
 afflict. It is and must be so, or it could not take place." Do 
 you not think that the all-surveying eye searches the depths of 
 your souls, and that God knows your inmost desires and outward pre- 
 tentions ? But now let us see in what way such effects of ill desires 
 can be considered just and unavoidable when once in the conditions. 
 You have your ill moments and selfish propensities. In these ill 
 moments, these selfish proclivities arise bold and strong, and cause 
 you to make wishes, some call them aspirations, but this is a wrong 
 term when applied to anything which serves to gratify selfish long- 
 ings, or even natural demands. 
 
 Nothing is properly called an aspiration, or received as one, only 
 
400 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 what is purely spiritual, and goes out from the soul for spiritual truth 
 and wisdom. 
 
 Your desires are answered by spirits working in low worldly 
 degrees, and while the mind avenues are thus opened, this vaporous 
 force is quickly infused, and this subtle element settles tightly over 
 and upon those forces in the mortal composition which are similar or 
 akin to it, and then it is when the devices follow ; plans are formed 
 .regarding nearly everything which can be recognized by such per- 
 sons. There is conjuring and conjecture, but it must be called 
 ungodly. 
 
 After all this these thoughts <k> out into conditions, in talk and 
 in various ways, of which the worker may not be so well aware. 
 
 Yet they do know that they say one thing and mean another, 
 and offer well-planned devices for the seeming benefit of their vic- 
 tims, while self-interest is what prompts the action, and ill will is the 
 reality where good words are so often offered. 
 
 Now we will tell you in what way the effects of such works can 
 be termed just; the officials who must see to the conditional order 
 find these desires. They are an obstruction to the lawful pursuit of 
 progress. They cannot bring these conditions into order until they 
 first have their effects, nor can they be subsided. It is then just that 
 these things are executed, so that they can be carefully watched in 
 their contact with the elements wherever they are intended to act, so 
 that the effects can be modified, but they cannot be avoided. After 
 such a contact and effect they can be and are pressed into different 
 degrees under law and order, but this does not mean, nor in any 
 sense implies, that such things had to be or was to be so, or that such 
 conditions for the purpose of bringing harm or ill effects upon others 
 were created. It surely retards the progress very much of those 
 who work in such ways with this satanic force, whether they know 
 they do it or not ; although they may be very learned or intelligent 
 otherwise, as long as they are thus engaged they are held by this 
 force and power, whether they would be convinced of it or not. 
 They are working these magical works, and too often feel delight at 
 the ill results wrought, thinking and consoling themselves with the 
 idea that " it is just, or it would not have been." But remember that 
 you are held by this force to the same level with itself, and while 
 there you are a power with that force which constantly receives these 
 ungodly forces from the powers of the air, — you throw them out as 
 wishes, then it cannot be otherwise than that there must be effects, 
 and is just that it acts so it can be brought into order. 
 
 While it is a speedy way to bring these conditions into order, 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 401 
 
 and these illegal forces under law, it is the most sinful thing mortals 
 can do, and it is a snare which is constantly spread for the unsteady 
 feet, and for innocent minds and hearts. 
 
 Persons who affiliate with this elementary magical force throw 
 their fiery darts constantly, while to physical view they are so bland 
 and good, full of smiles and smooth words, and often deeds too, which 
 help to blind, but behind all is a hissing serpent if it were but seen 
 and understood. 
 
 But by this means many are developed so as to learn and under- 
 stand this subtle force and condition. They then are raised above it, 
 and are made a physical counter power against it and its action upon 
 mortals, and against those who had been the cause of afflictions 
 by such co-operations. They are then at the feet of their former 
 subjects, and must be partly raised by them. And it is hard for all 
 of them to rise, as this force strives to keep them back, and is active 
 in this low degree. Do those who use this force spin various charms 
 around their well-accustomed habiliments, and cause blurs to appear 
 before the mind's eye whenever attempts are made by the angels of 
 light, by the power of God, to show such persons in their true stand- 
 ing, and where they are and have been devoted ? Then these blurs 
 come quickly over the mental retina, and accordingly they see reflect- 
 ive glimmers, and they think it is not their t>wn condition but foreign 
 to them. Again this illegal force has succeeded, and quickly brings 
 to view some unlucky person, and upon them this ill power plays its 
 ill-conditioned games. The inroads for physical action are very care- 
 fully and cunningly made by these persons, and thus is gratified this 
 satanic power, — yes, they have been so much alluded to, remember 
 who they are. For angels of light are all ministers of God, and the 
 servants of the children of earth. They picture nothing to the minds 
 of mortals but what will elevate them and bring them out of these 
 chaotic conditions. They throw the heavenly light so that mortals 
 can see their inner standing, and give strength to all who sincerely 
 desire to be cleansed of their system dross, so that they can purity 
 gradually, and grow in goodly progression. God's angels labor to 
 free those who are ensnared as described. 
 
 The physical effects we have left to be considered by those who 
 will hear us, for they all know the many ill effects from which mor- 
 tals suffer and have suffered, but not many know or search for the 
 causes of these afflictions. 
 
 All who are God's ministers or message bearers to those on 
 earth do as they have received commissions previous to their labors. 
 Therefore, God should be appealed to in whatever may be the desire 
 
402 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 or questions of heart or brain. Too many appeal to spirits. They 
 do not know then exactly to whom their prayers or desires go out, or 
 in what degree those spirits may be. Hence, according to its worth, 
 is it in most cases answered illegally, and involves the ignorant peti- 
 tioner conditionally, from which come difficulties sooner or later. 
 Mostly all of these prayers, or more properly wishes, are directed to 
 spirits for selfish purposes, and these out-laws reply, and make inroads 
 which often cause great conditional battles, in order to press them in 
 the rear, or they would cause their ignorant earthly subjects to 
 encounter much severer trials than were ever known of, in order to 
 lead them to see the truth, and that they were not devoted to God. 
 
 The masses who now are called Spiritualists were attracted by 
 the phenomena wielded by this force, and also by spirits. But they 
 are all first tried with conditional levies to learn whether or not they 
 are devoted to God. If not, they are exercised for a season, then 
 when they become aroused are left alone, so that they see, and are 
 compelled to see, their true standing. It is then when so many 
 stumble. They withdraw from Spiritualism, and abuse it, and say 
 they are disgusted with it, and much more such abuse, not know- 
 ing what they do. Verily, my friends, all over earth it is not the 
 spirits or Spiritualism that has done or is doing you an injustice. 
 The work is being done in accord with demands of the present time. 
 It is yourselves who are at fault, — you, who have so carelessly par- 
 taken of these aerial and subtle forces, and have felt so delighted 
 with them. By this you are taught to learn to know yourselves and 
 your standing. Spiritualism throws all underground channels open 
 for inspection. 
 
 It is sad to the angels of light to see that the harvest grown on 
 earth is mostly chaff, and when approached, tried, and sifted it is 
 light and unfit, and flies out into the general conditions to be treated 
 as described, then trodden under foot. 
 
 Were all mortals true to one another and to themselves, they 
 would then be true to their Maker, and could not be so easily induced 
 to turn rebels against God. 
 
 The effects wrought by the conditional introductions for agita- 
 tion loudly testify that earth's people today are a vain generation, full 
 of all selfishness and deceit, wishing to play w T ith the serpent behind 
 the bushes, and then appearing pious and bland, attempting to deceive 
 God Almighty, if it were possible. Spiritualism in the described 
 low degrees has afforded masks to the deceptions, and to the ready 
 workers with the elementary schemer, has its stakes driven, and can 
 go so far and no farther, then it is divested of all masks. This time 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 403 
 
 has commenced, and all frauds, whether mediums or investigators, 
 are brought to judgment and duly punished for their committed 
 offenses. They must all realize that God is just, that all Mis creat- 
 ures shall love and serve Him. 
 
 We have heard much about fraudulent mediums, and such per- 
 sons have been harshly censured by the people and press. But the 
 truth is that the charges are so much greater against the fraudulent 
 students and investigators that it will astound the people when they 
 once see it. All shall see in what way they have been frauds, and 
 even how they were a power strong and active with this described 
 force, and with spirits in low degrees, and that those spirits through 
 them could overcome a mediumistically gifted person, and use them 
 independent of their own will to gratify, so to say, these false investi- 
 gators who thus came before the sensitive with a seemingly good 
 pretence and sincerity, yet they had only selfish objects in view. 
 Such persons become, as it were, forces with these aerial ill powers, 
 and have in this way made, in many cases, fraudulent mediums. This 
 is charged to fraudulent investigators who brought to bear these 
 undesirable results. But since the most of mediums were over- 
 powered, as said, they have become for other works, as it was well 
 known that they could be overcome, and could serve only in these 
 indifferent works which the people have experienced and witnessed, 
 and which are about to close. 
 
 Pressed are they who remain faithful to the end. for surely then 
 they shall reap the rich reward for their labors, also for their condi- 
 tional exercises. 
 
 October 27, 1S30. 
 
 LECTURE XCIV.-(POETRY). 
 
 ON THE TIDE OF LIFE. 
 
 Strive on, ever faithful, the prize you shall win 
 
 Though waves toss the bark and troubled waters come in ; 
 
 It is only taxing the powers inactive, 
 
 Compelling new actions, and you must learn the tactics 
 
 Of life and its changes, the value of strife, 
 
 To thus train those senses which on earth should be rife. 
 
 Do not lie in despair when the boat is upset, 
 But ever try to repair and move on; ne'er regret 
 A misstep or mishap on life's briuy tide, 
 
404 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 For no one takes a strong step till he first often slides. 
 
 Be resolute ever, study nature and tide, 
 
 And you will fail never, but will sure gain the prize. 
 
 Disappointments are factors to clear gathered scums 
 Of rubbish contrasted iu minds, that the sums 
 Can be duly divided as the minds are cleared up, 
 And nerves when excited are brought to calmness 
 By a dash of a wave from the turbulent ocean 
 Which throws the boat concave to excite different motion* 
 
 'T is no special favor for a pilgrim to travel 
 Life's journey on clever ever on the one narrow level ; 
 If he meets with no shipwrecks, no unpleasant winds, 
 He learns not his sad mishaps till the wide ocean strand 
 Divides. He is gathered from earth's field like a sheaf; 
 Life's forces lie scattered, he finds no relief. 
 
 A life clear and sunny on the sojourn of earth 
 Is not the best; money which to evil gives birth, 
 Though craved for earth's comforts, is always withheld 
 • From the ones who in concord with law are here schooled. 
 The hardest of labors solves life's problems best, 
 The troubles are favors, and a glorious behest. 
 
 No treasures are prized when not duly earned ; 
 No joys realized when no contrast is experienced ; 
 No temple is well built without solid foundation ; 
 No order is complete without the rudiment lesson. 
 These, however, on earth alone can be learned ,- 
 Where the trials have birth and the motives are trained. 
 
 Always struggle bravely onward. Every trial is a battle ; 
 And when conquered shouts of glory ring above, 
 Yours is the medal of honor. 
 
 LECTURE XCV. 
 
 "LESSONS FROM TIIE INNER LIFE." REALITIES AND REFLECTIONS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 "THY WILL, O LORD, BE DONE." 
 
 Behold human expressions, and compare them with the desires ! 
 How unlike- and divided they are when viewed by the all-seeing 
 eye! How desires and expressions repel each other when gathered 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 405 
 
 by divine wisdom and placed in the balance ! Desires always over- 
 balance that wnich is professed, and for this reason mortals cannot 
 truly judge of anything because they do not see reality. 
 
 We will class prayers and desires, and professions and desires, in 
 three classes, in which may be contained the numberless varieties of 
 the same. 
 
 The human brain and heart are constantly actuated almost every 
 passing moment with other desires, which result in deeds and expres- 
 sions. 
 
 We have gazed over a multitude of people to behold a fit sub- 
 ject by which to illustrate the ebbing and flowing of human desires in 
 the greatest possible contrast. We behold masses who boast of piety 
 and formal devotion to God, yet they are ill disposed and not deserv- 
 ing to be called the children of God, nor to be treated as such, nor 
 even as servants, because of their unjust dealings with their fellow 
 travelers. 
 
 Their prayers are a rising stench in the atmosphere because of 
 their extreme hypocrisy, and, although wielding the popular current, 
 are a curse to the people who are not wise enough to discover the 
 real man or woman beneath the clever mask placed over the real 
 desires and intentions. 
 
 Among a multitude, select and devout, we behold one, a zeal- 
 ous mortal in many ways, not only in religious fervor. While 
 our force is directed upon this subject to compel words of the inner 
 desires, the first utterance is : "I wish to do Thy will, O Lord." It 
 was an intense expression, and the mists rising from it mark them- 
 selves on the reflector in the second spirit sphere, showing that after 
 all it is devotion to the finite, not to the infinite or divine, for in 
 this second sphere are received all petitions belonging to the finite 
 or worldly ruler. 
 
 We direct our force again, and a mixed mass of vapors hurriedly 
 arise, in which natural desires and spiritual longings are strangely 
 mixed and almost indefinable. We know that the very devoted 
 Christian is not aware what issues had gone forth from him, and what 
 results they bring to him in return ; for while this confused mixture 
 arose from within, the lips were praying : " Lord, to Thee we come, 
 make manifest Thy power upon earth, and Thy wonders among the 
 unbelieving who Will not be converted to the true gospel and come not 
 to Thee and give to Thee honor," while within that very bosom was t*fl 
 intense yearning for some token or wonder with which God might 
 make Himself great, and demonstrate His power to the children of 
 earth. Now in this was a deep committal, yet the sincere Christian 
 
406 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 did not know it. The committal was in this : while putting forth in 
 words the unbelief of others, a secret desire placed self in the same 
 degree with those masses. 
 
 We smile sadly, and allow an increase of the inflowing tide, 
 namely, the tide of mortal hopes and desires. It certainly effects a 
 change. The heart is thrilled because all things are beautiful to 
 behold, and the desires are met. Again comes a message in sub- 
 stance like this : " God's ways are beyond finding out. He is just, 
 and all His works are perfect. He cares for all who trust in Him, 
 yes, even cares for me, and I thank God for His goodness forever." 
 This last sentence was added with a strange air of inward pride, sig- 
 nificant of this : "Well, I deserve to be favored ; I am better than the 
 most of them ; " and, slowly added, came this against the reflector : 
 "And as for trouble, others have more trouble than I, but they deserve 
 it. It is just that they have it." Then they triumphantly add : " Thy 
 will, O Lord, be done." As long as He grants my desires, and gives 
 others their just deserts, it is all right. 
 
 Again we are compelled to smile with pity upon this display, 
 and compel different action. We cause a murky haze to suddenly 
 rise about our faithful Christian. It fills the brain and all the natural 
 organs, and causes a great commotion in the whole natural mechan- 
 ism. The view is changed, the bright objects vanish, and storm- 
 clouds arise black and threatening above the mental horizon. The 
 winds blow fiercely, and waft in many unpleasant things. The 
 thunders are heard, the lightning seen, and the confused senses 
 swim in the head as though hurled by the storm, which, however, is 
 not real, but only conditional or sensational, but action is thus 
 allowed. Pain sets in, and is felt severely. It darts through the 
 whole being sharp and quick as lightning, and darker grows the 
 aura around our subject. The thunders roar louder, and all is 
 despair and gloom. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 For a little while desires and ambition ebbed so low that action 
 was impossible. Then a sudden How directed for action brought this 
 message : " Lord, may the bitter cup pass ; may all these troubles 
 pass me by, and effect no more." These utterances were gathered as 
 they arose from this dense mixture of chaotic confusions. It is 
 answered quickly with a sense of justice strongly impressed on the 
 individual that there was a lack of submission to the Lord's will. 
 But, oh, what effects ! The heart turns over and over, the blood 
 refuses to course its way from heart to brain because of an awful 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 407 
 
 feeling which is realized by this subject. An indescribable terror is 
 enhanced by the fury ot* the storm. The thunders roar as if all earth 
 would be shaken by the disturbed elements which needed to thus be 
 troubled to become healthy and pure. 
 
 Again the desires grow audible in this wise : "Well, if it is the 
 Lord's will that I am punished in this way, and suffer, then I do not 
 want His will to be done. I not only ask now for the bitter cup to 
 pass, but I do not want anyone to preach God's goodness to me, for 
 I cannot see it in the storm-clouds, and their effects in the perverse 
 fortune." The tide of former gratitude ebbs low, also the tide of 
 ambition, so that action becomes impossible again. 
 
 "What a scene for observers ! We are truly sad, and send forth 
 pity for such human weakness. Then another course is pursued to 
 bring a flow of desire and ambitions in this being again. Unexpected 
 emergencies are quickly sent in which seem to make unjust claims, so 
 that want presses bodily demands because activity must be aroused, 
 although through necessity. 
 
 Slowly this inflowing tide brings action. There is a stir, but a 
 very unwilling action begins for bodily necessities to be obtained. The 
 former devotion can scarcely be traced in the good Christian's heart. 
 It is all overhung with phantoms which these storm-clouds have 
 reflected. The Lord is not sought now, nor a look directed upwards. 
 All desires are on the decline ; all former energy is absorbed by this 
 murky atmosphere which is kept there supported by the issues from 
 within. 
 
 " Oh, what a pity that there is no resolution, nor even aspira- 
 tion," says an angel who has all this time been holding a light above 
 this person, waiting patiently until the gaze of this being could be 
 met, and light sent into this self-created darkness which had its issues, 
 because necessary for the individualization of this self-deceived Chris- 
 tian, to show by this that there is no true devotion to God developed 
 within, nor no true submission to the Lord's will, not even a toler- 
 ance that God in His wisdom should do as it pleases Him to prepare 
 His earthly children for eternal glory. 
 
 Another flash of lightning is sent through this darkness, thun- 
 ders peal with all their force, and, lo ! the desired results are effected. 
 The better senses and attributes are shocked (as it were), and at once 
 there is a sense of goodly pain or sorrow felt. God is sought. Yet 
 there is a great want of strength to aspire, to look confidently above, 
 for it is now that this unreal darkness has in a measure become real. 
 The inward commotions have been formed, engaged into physical 
 objects with which to battle and compete. The phantoms of the 
 
408 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 mind have become things of life,, of reality, by which to learn not 
 only one but all who will be taught that no ideal is a sound or true 
 reflection of that which exist9 unless it can be made practical, no 
 matter how crude reality may seem to the ideal when realized in the 
 matter grades, yet it must mark itself before it can be of any possible 
 use or benefit to one or many persons, according to the magnitude of 
 powers centered in each object for use and discipline to the students 
 and travelers on earth. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A moment has passed since we again directed our forces upon 
 our subject for action, and, as said, with the desired results. Now 
 comes a sudden message whirling itself against the reflector in sub- 
 stance like this : " Why dost thou forsake me, O my God ? Why 
 turn from me in time of trouble ? " This was the first true sen- 
 tence which arose from the heart since the trial began ; yes, arose 
 from a heart riven by supernal forces acting upon it so powerfully 
 that the natural forces could no longer dominate and close the aven- 
 ues of the mind and soul. Now light shines into this darkness, and 
 the weary child of earth sees that it was not G-od who had turned 
 away His face, but self who had turned away from God. The words 
 fall on the heart and enter the soul : " It is thyself. Thou hast been 
 tried and found wanting even in true Christian principle and devotion 
 to God. Arise ! Gird on thy armor and battle against blind instinct, 
 and subdue that thou mayest live in true and wholesome communion 
 w T ith the spirit of grace and truth, and grow strong and healthy under 
 and from its influence, so when the tide of world's fancy rises above 
 thee, and the waves of adverse luck toss thy bark in order to probe 
 thy devotion, thou receivest in that hour strength from the spirit, the 
 comforter, and in that strength will you be the victor in the con- 
 quest." 
 
 There is no scene grander to angel view, nor more meritorious 
 to mortals, than when the latter is surrounded by darkness and ills, to 
 see them pursue their course without fear, and keep calm while all the 
 forces about them are in confusion, for nearly all such trials are 
 levies made for very great purposes when well endured, and the 
 intended benefit drawn from them. ; 
 
 There are none crowned very brilliantly without battling and 
 earning their crown and their honors. 
 
 There is nothing worth reflecting, hence no lasting value in the 
 career of mortals who have all they crave without much labor or 
 severe struggles, and get on smoothly all the time thej" sojourn here. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 409 
 
 Such mortals are of no especial attraction to angels, and they them- 
 selves earn no rewards, nor do not individualize. They are as bub- 
 bles on life's great sea. They are hollow and deformed when they 
 make their exit from one station to another. They arrive without 
 means, without clothing, and are dependent then on the provisions 
 made for all such. 
 
 Oh, the remorse which is then felt when it is too late to amend ! 
 A thousand earthly storms could be easier borne. Poverty and all 
 manner of hardships would be preferable to such a doom from which 
 none can so easily escape. It takes a long time, and is a severe 
 course, until the first degree of true progress can be reached by such 
 beings. Therefore, it is folly for mortals to desire to be carried on 
 flowery beds of ease, and be satisfied in selfish worldly belongings. The 
 drones walk on flowery beds of ease, for if you investigate them they 
 have no true selfhood developed, and are not individualized, and 
 nearly always merge into other beings again, because there had not 
 been no activity nor usefulness of the God-given strength and talents. 
 
 Those who through toil accumulate strength and system tissues 
 receive also wisdom from on high, so that they can see how to give 
 their talents in exchange so as to accumulate and even have those 
 talents given them which are taken from the drones who made no use 
 of what they inherited, but squandered them away in idleness and 
 unseemly conduct. 
 
 It is better to walk in the ranks of the martyrs, the thinkers, and 
 bold speakers though you become targets for the sport-loving and 
 thoughtless, and have, as a consequence, hardships to endure. Think 
 how grand it is through such processes to become infinitely rich and 
 blessed. All who are in trouble unjustly are the especial care of the 
 purest and the wisest of angels, who note carefully all transactions, 
 all thoughts and words which result in deeds, and many brilliant 
 rewards are made ready by these pure angels for their suffering 
 charges ; also, from God their Father a special bounty is issued for 
 all who suffer and endure faithful to the end. 
 
 Apply yourselves, first of all things, to learn what God's will is. 
 Learn wisdom next, and truly comply and submit to the will of the 
 Lord in all things, and at all times. 
 
 July 16, 1881. 
 
 These three divisions of tills discourse upon these words : u Lord, 
 Thy will be done," we wish to ha^s studied with care, because, aside 
 from the discipline contained in them, they have served as weapons 
 
410 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 of defense for many cases where mortal bravery has been extolled in 
 contrast with the Martyr of Jerusalem. 
 
 That Jesus' heroism was not even as great as that of many com- 
 mon men who submitted to a cruel death without a word, without 
 any outward sign of fear ; but words similar to those in our divided 
 text were used by Jesus on that memorable night in His prayer. 
 
 The wit and sarcasm displayed by many reviewers is verily 
 great concerning ancient and modern martyrs and Jesus. But do 
 they know now any better than the Jews did then, when the Seer of 
 Glory was led before worldly tribunals, why He prayed as He did ? 
 — why it was that He finally said on the cross : " Father, forgive 
 them, for they know not what they do ? " 
 
 The world's wise have not found the key to that secret. They 
 have uselessly spent their breath all this while, and will have occa- 
 sion to be silent when they behold reality, and learn the truth of 
 those transactions. 
 
 Jesus knew what His death would be, and did not fear to pass 
 through the ordeal ; but the great struggle for his position, for which 
 the powers of darkness were sent forth to encompass the mortals 
 who were to commit the physical deeds, it was that which He 
 wished to pass, if it were possible, for He did not crave the position 
 of such great strife. 
 
 Moses and Elias had acquainted Him on the mount with these 
 sad facts with which to crown His earthly career for endless glory. 
 He had said to them: "Be it so." To His Father in Heaven, and 
 to the intelligent circle, He said: "Thy will be done." But the 
 struggle came as the powers of opposition came forth, and all their 
 forces were directed upon the people. It was then He said : " Father, 
 let the bitter cup pass, if possible." But He did not mean that of 
 His death, but that cup of wrath poured upon the people to enhale, 
 and so cause the fury. 
 
 His third prayer was soul-rending. It is said His sweat turned 
 to blood, not with the fear of death. But before Him was the ^reat 
 picture. He was in the third degree chief official and supreme auto- 
 crat, and was made to feel the weight of His powerful opposition, 
 which in the future He must conquer and subdue in order to assume 
 the rights which henceforth from that hour were His. Then the 
 guardians stepped aside, and the furious powers of darkness came 
 forth to do their work. It was then that He gave vent to the feel- 
 ings of the moment, and said : " My God, why hast Thou forsaken 
 Me?" for He preferred the quiet? calm conditions of pure angels to 
 honors and rights. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTURES. 411 
 
 Alas ! law carried the works on — on ; and now that time has 
 been reached which, at the time stated, He was informed would come, 
 and this war with powers and principalities is in commotion. The 
 final victory will soon be declared, and then will the proud" mockers 
 and the wise in their own conceit define and teach God what rules to 
 enforce in His government. 
 
 Time will teach all the lessons they need, and which they reject 
 when they are offered to them. 
 
 To compare the words and death of Jesus with the words and 
 death of others is unwise, and brings remorse to all who have ever 
 carelessly referred to the same. 
 
 LECTURE XCVI. 
 
 AN OUNCE OF WISDOM WILL YET OUT-WEIGH ALL OF EARTH'S 
 
 WEALTH. 
 
 This subject leads you to divine spiritual wisdom, and the bene- 
 fits which flow from it to those who accept it, and are led by it to 
 surmount all earthly difficulties, which are now so seriously impend- 
 ing, and will be realized. 
 
 We say "an ounce" because we wish to have it shown in a 
 deliberate and fair way that mortals may cease to stumble on this 
 stone of offense, namely, the subjects through whose organisms divine 
 wisdom and truth flow in order to let the world partake of it. 
 Truths given from the ultimate fountain, whether in precepts or 
 revelations, may be, and mostly are, colored some by the channels 
 through which they reach mortals, because no mortal on earth is 
 divinely pure, nor were there ever any. Neither are they divinely 
 developed to such a high degree as to receive and give the word, the 
 wisdom, in its original style and language (but that is in a measure 
 regulated to suit the development of the medium used), but the sense 
 is retained, and the higher powers over such mediums carefully 
 govern these works, so that all which is given and diffused in due 
 time culminates in blessings for those on earth. 
 
 No mortal subject could repeat the direct language of the Lord, 
 though He should impart the wisdom Himself, yet that force or 
 power is there which is His own, and even if lie sends servants to 
 impart the spoken word, the issue is the same, and all who accept it 
 
412 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 gain by it a possession in Heaven, for God does not deny Himself. 
 If you have but a grain of His truths and wisdom adjusted to heart 
 and mind, the great King will recoguize it as His in that great day 
 of decision, and give you the white stone as an emblem of acceptance. 
 Receive what is given, though in a ton there may not be more than 
 an ounce of what seems to be the real truth or word of God ; take it 
 to heart and preserve it, for it will secure more lasting wealth for 
 you than would all the combined wealth of earth, if given to you for 
 this reason; one solid truth well adjusted works in head and heart; 
 the word seeks for more, and is sure to receive, and gradually beyond 
 discovery is the change, yet it is sure and will be for the better when 
 the foundation is once laid within. Moreover, a well-cherished divine 
 truth serves as a strong shield against all the fiery darts of those at 
 enmity with divinity, namely, the beasts of opposition, and their 
 almost countless subjects, for they have millions under their control ; 
 and these are to be subdued before the decision spoken of takes 
 place. 
 
 Those who are servants or mediums to the Most High God, 
 after they have passed their trials of probation and their cleansing 
 process according to law, they cannot falter, nor will harm in any 
 way result from the teachings given them from the power who thus 
 prepared them to teach ; neither to the world at large, nor to a single 
 student will difficulties result, but disappointments are often a neces- 
 sity, and occur when people labor under a misapprehension of the 
 truth, that is, whether the truths are prophetic, or as referring to 
 special works in transaction. To establish gradation differences is 
 very necessary with reference from whence each revelation or sjiirit 
 message comes, for all the disappointments we realize come through 
 this ignorance of the real purpose which is not seen thus detained, 
 and it causes disappointments, by which guardians hope to teach 
 their mortal charges to learn the facts of each message and revelation. 
 
 Look at the Bible today, and behold how commentators have 
 distorted that sacred record, although the book contains much which 
 is really the statements of mortals themselves, but yet they were 
 endowed with power from on high, and though in a ton there would 
 be but an ounce of what were the Lord's sayings, direct or given 
 through servants sent by Him, which is the same, it should be prized 
 and none destroyed, because it is the record of the chief transacted 
 works performed by the heavenly emissaries. It is the staff of pro- 
 tection, and the anchor of safety. All who reject the Bible record 
 reject the manifest works of God, their Creator and giver of all 
 good. This commenting upon that record by worldly students is a 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 413 
 
 sin, for they cannot discern nor understand a spiritual truth, and 
 know nothing of the grade differences which are shown so plainly in 
 the Bible. It should be studied and heeded, but not rejected or sup- 
 pressed. "We need that record of the Bible as much today as the 
 world ever needed it, for it contains the testimony to the present 
 revelations and transacted labors, because they are the fulfillment of 
 promises foretold in that book by the breath of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 The scholars know that mind and natural revolutions and regu- 
 lations are renewed every two thousand years, because of undue accu- 
 mulations which need ventilation and changes for improvement, 
 because too much building material accumulates by and through men- 
 made ordinances and formulas. Whenever the status of the mortal 
 mind realm calls for a change, the new force gathers around the 
 minds and creates thoughts ; these underlie and enhance the power 
 of the angels who effect this mental regulation by their labors of 
 ministry to mortals. They shape ideas in the minds which connect 
 well with former ideas, yet are superior, and new light is shed upon 
 old points. But this is not all of the work which is being done upon 
 earth and upon mentality. If it were, works would be done in 
 haste, and no conquests be made. But the adversary is at work to 
 probe and try mortals, and throw their gross ideas in the minds, to 
 deface, if possible, the pure ideas and thoughts infused by angel min- 
 istry. Thus there is faltering by the wayside, and the drawing nigh 
 to God is repulsed ; therefore, never forget to try the spirits, and 
 always adhere to and embrace the law and gospel. It is a strong 
 staff of protection ; remain under its shade and you can economize 
 troubles. 
 
 All phenomenal phases of mediumship and co-laboring prompt- 
 ing powers are but to clear up gases and remove them from the ele- 
 mentary space, because they have become obstructive and harmful to 
 the pursuit of true progress. 
 
 Difficulties result from such labors when mortals become enrap- 
 tured with them, and are thus carried off as captives to the dominion 
 and rule of the beasts of opposition, who will treat them harshly, and 
 aim to consume their spiritual faculties. This needs study, friends, 
 that you keep sober, and also keep your lights trimmed ; the oil will 
 be supplied by the ministering angels, so that you can see the design 
 of each trial and remain true and faithful to God, thus free and under 
 His protection. Remember this ; although the truths are imperfectly 
 given according to the development of the medium, yet in due time 
 shall they out-weigh all earthly wisdom, because the Lord's mind is 
 here, His lips have spoken, and all the servants who impart lesson* 
 
414 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUEES. 
 
 and truths are authorized by Him. In this way the Bible was writ- 
 ten, but not so clearly, and the works of the commentators on it will 
 prove a snare to them, in which they surely will be caught and held, 
 for they have no ability to extricate themselves, as they rejected 
 simple statements of which they knew not the spiritual meaning, 
 because to them these statements did not seem pure enough or rea- 
 sonable. But, if they would first learn divine laws and regulations, 
 they would see beauty in the things which they denounced after a 
 hasty investigation. 
 
 Let earth's wise scholars and religious teachers consider the 
 fact that the universe was founded by wisdom, and was peopled by 
 virtue of that great principle, love, aided by the motor power, the 
 immutable laws. The universe is now seen, boundless as it is, flour- 
 ishing wherever travelers may be called to go by the breath of the 
 spirit ; the accumulated wealth is as boundless as the universe itself. 
 Hear what the master-builders say, the original morning stars who 
 sang together at this eternity's dawn ; they say this : " We have 
 labored that others might have wealth, and all manner of joys and 
 pleasures forever. True, we have used the created subjects as mor- 
 tals and as spirits to work out for themselves riches and blessings 
 which shall be their own ; yet they could have none of it by virtue 
 of their own labors, nor could they stand on the summit to where our 
 labors have raised mortals and spirits." Why should not intelli- 
 gent people and spirits recognize these facts, and give honor to whom 
 honor is due, since even the intelligence of which they boast was a 
 loan to them, upon which they have paid no duty? Here is the 
 secret of the present emergencies, that they become woes ; for all who 
 have not recognized these gifts, and have not paid duty on their 
 mind loans, are mortgaged because they have used this loan for 
 purely selfish purposes, and have not recognized the source from 
 which they came. All thus indebted will be imprisoned, probably 
 while on earth, only conditionally until every penny of their great 
 debts is paid. Therefore, let no man think himself wiser than he is. 
 Stop and consider ; meet together, ye wise of earth, and counsel and 
 reason together until the truths will dawn upon your understanding, 
 as they are and have been recorded for you. 
 
 Is it not true that Christian advocacy has become a traffic, a 
 material speculation? The teachers teach for worldly commodities 
 and physical support, and do their work to please the people, instead 
 of listening to the dictates of the ' still, small voice ' within, and be led 
 by the Spirit of God. 
 
 The majority of church members, as we behold them, are under 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 415 
 
 that cover to secure positions and gain patrons in business. It is 
 mockery, not true worship. Consider that all who now walk the 
 earth will soon be where gold and silver are of no account, even if 
 you had them. Nothing but true deeds is of value, — deeds done while 
 on earth, and from them will come the rewards which await you. 
 
 Why labor so hard for worldly comforts, and grieve so much 
 over little material losses ? 
 
 Gaze aloft! behold the sunlight in ethereal climes ! 
 When on earth 't is cold, and night's gloom the soul enshrines. 
 Yonder where it is recorded, 
 
 Crystal dews and heavenly treasures ; 
 Mortals who earth's doors have bolted, 
 Lose their prize for their trespasses. 
 
 
 LECTURE XCVII. 
 
 WHY AKE THERE SO MANY UNHAPPY HOMES ? 
 
 Homes are not happy homes until all members included in a 
 home circle are together, and have become competent to secure home 
 comforts, and are pleased to enjoy that which their works and their 
 deeds have provided. Homes are divided into conditions, very classi- 
 cally and orderly. This must be so, for from this the perfect and 
 lasting happiness is wrought. But as long as the members of a 
 family are in these different classical degrees engaged in labor and 
 study for development, and do not understand this necessary classical 
 difference, just so long there is inharmony, and the members of a 
 home or in society are attractive or repulsive to each other, accord- 
 ing to this degree unity or opposition. For such reasons, in which all 
 other reasons find their solution, home happiness — true home happi- 
 ness — is seldom if ever found only in Heaven. Yet we see many 
 mortals who seem happy, their homes are blessed and pleasant, and 
 they seem to enjoy the solitude of home, and the provided home com- 
 forts. Yet, even by those something is at work to disturb this peace 
 and seeming happiness, and that speaks of the fact that the happiness 
 is not real, but only seemingly so, for it is disturbed by the force of 
 existing conditions, and becomes changed, so that former happiness 
 lives only in memory where it should live only, while the individual 
 is thus to prepare the materials for a future home and lasting happi- 
 ness which cannot be changed. 
 
416 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 If yon were capable of sifting earth's happiness, you would find 
 it tinged with all imaginable shades, which speak of so many exist- 
 ing different conditions, which all have been issues from homes, 
 from the different members which constitute a home. All these con- 
 ditions act compulsory in their proper seasou, and are then so many 
 methods physically employed to cause such effects, which are least to 
 be desired or realized, yet it is from the cause to effect of the self- 
 created conditions, and not the mere work or play of chance. 
 
 For mortals to see and learn this is at present the issue from 
 above, for when it is once known that thoughts and desires, as well 
 as words and deeds, create conditions, and that conditions are the 
 materials by which all physical revelations are first compelled forth, 
 and then again from the physical deeds the materials are gathered to 
 build the lasting heavenly homes, and supply them with the proper 
 outfit ; for truly the homes are furnished as the materials are 
 advanced to labor with. So angels furnish them, as it goes strictly 
 according to individual worth. Moreover, from these conditionally 
 furnished conditions, a part is preserved to compose the body in which 
 the spirit shall reside after the clay casket is discarded. This mate- 
 rial furnished is mixed with tissues and ethereal materials, coarse 
 or fine, pure or dark in shades, even as the proportions furnished 
 demand, as it must be something similar, — something of the same 
 quality. Thus the new-born spirit is clad with a body fine and 
 healthy, or otherwise, according to the materials furnished to create 
 this body, but in all cases and degrees does the spirit body resemble 
 the body which was born on earth, so that all can be easily recog- 
 nized. In like manner homes are built and furnished in spirit life. 
 The material used is deeds ; let them be good while on earth, then 
 pure conditions will issue from you, and the angels will have mate- 
 rials with which they delight to labor. 
 
 All good and benevolent thoughts and deeds create fruits which 
 are garnered according to value, and prepared for use for the same 
 individual who sent these building materials. There, where moths 
 do not eat, nor thieves steal, all is found when the spirit is called 
 home, after the earth journey is ended. 
 
 The tears that flow for others' woes 
 Create so many precious things. 
 
 These are preserved, for truly do the angels bear tears on their 
 wings ; they crystalize them into gems, and 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 417 
 
 Place them in that spirit's home, 
 Who is on earth to learn, \o roam ; 
 Who feels the pangs of others' woes, 
 And sympathizes with God's poor. 
 
 The proper way to gain the greatest possible benefit from living 
 on earth is to be very observant. Close, sober observation will make 
 the conditional discoveries of that which is the real of persons and 
 things. As the senses become thereby trained, and are ever active, 
 there is intuitively received that force which enables the studious 
 observer to discern and define the properties and conditions, and so 
 know the value of all that presents itself for dealing, for testing, 
 and for perusal. 
 
 A word of advice : do not be so much engrossed with home 
 duties and matters of material or worldly self-interest, for it is 
 extremely narrow-minded, and does not improve the spirit, nor by so 
 doing can good building material be sent on for future enjoyment. 
 Do not allow pressing conditions to lock you in a corner, and then 
 try to substitute excuses of "too busy" or too fearful of the many 
 things one may meet perchance, to waste time and displace one's own 
 ideal of home arrangements. Now, often the very things which dis- 
 comfit and disarrange furnish the tissues angels labor for, that you 
 might produce them, so there can be prepared for you that which you 
 desire to have in that home which will be lasting, and be yours for- 
 ever. Go and shed light where you can into mortal darkness. Do 
 not fear to embark on the busy sea of life, for if you are true, you are 
 truly guided and safely led, and the light within you will go before 
 you, so that you can observe, and do many things to free the route- 
 bound travelers who are hedged in by conditions, so that no light 
 falls upon them by which they can discover how to escape from their 
 incumbrances, and continue in labor and study, and grow strong to 
 meet the demands as they arise, and are made upon everyone in the 
 degree in which all are found. Do not mistake home-bound condi- 
 tions to which you succumb for home solitude and home happiness, 
 for it is in entirely different degrees, and compelled by very opposite 
 conditions. 
 
 We wish mortals to see the real condition of being at home or 
 abroad, and to learn these facts, and not always labor under mistakes. 
 Although true happiness and solitude is and must be enjoyed at 
 home, the home conditions must first become that source from which 
 happiness can always receive support, and not be exhausted, and 
 from which a sweet calm is derived which is peaceful, and constitutes 
 
418 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 the real solitude of home, which revives every faculty possessed into 
 renewed activity. 
 
 Pleasures which scatter care from the brow 
 
 Can be found for a time in roaming; 
 But pleasures serene and lasting 
 
 Are bought with hardship, reared with groaning. 
 
 We deem it expedient to make some explanations on the ques- 
 tion why home circles on earth, which seem to be so happy and har- 
 monious, all members working together for worldly achievements, 
 why they are broken up and not allowed. These generally are very 
 incomplete in members in reality, in the classical order, but who 
 work only in material degrees. Because much sin is committed by 
 finding fault with God for disturbing mortal happiness, we must tell 
 why it is and must be done. First, mortals in general, despite their 
 culture and civilization, do not seem to know or care to pay heed to 
 principle ; they do not bear in mind that true principle is Heaven- 
 born, and is the divine portion of a mortal. If it was so considered, 
 and all dealings strictly observed, then misery would be dispelled 
 from earth, for it is principle which makes the man, and true-princi- 
 pled manliness which removes oppression and sees that right pre- 
 vails ; that the needy have their wants supplied, and the oppressed 
 their rights. It is true godliness to be true to principles, for no wrong 
 is and can be committed when true principle is ever made compass 
 and anchor. 
 
 When a traveler starts into the world, no matter whether his means 
 are limited or plenty, as long as true principle lights up his being, 
 he is as a beacon light on a dark, stormy night, and can be depended 
 on by all whom he may chance to meet or have dealings with. The 
 person who is true in principle is a benefactor, because God dwells in 
 him, for truly God dwells where a goodly share of His attributes are 
 found, — where they are kept pure, and carefully guarded against all 
 worldly and tempting intrusions. 
 
 It is in connection with true principle that so many seemingly 
 happy homes are broken up by death or change in circumstances, as 
 the effects of existing conditions. We must speak the truth, and the 
 truth in regard to this question is that such families are wanting in 
 principle, and become idolatrous of themselves and their off-spring, 
 most surely are very incomplete, and do not individualize in reality, 
 do not advance material for future use, and are consequently not 
 allowed to remain in those conditions in which the natural proclivi- 
 ties revel. Certainly, mortals of the same or nearly the same caste 
 
COMPILATION OF SriRIT LECTURES. 419 
 
 work together harmoniously in worldly degrees. They desire world's 
 goods and grand things, lay their plans and achieve their ends, and 
 to do it they sell principle at every chance, where a worldly benefit 
 can be derived by so doing, and think it is good luck to meet with 
 such desired results by thus selling and supplanting themselves. It 
 is then that the angel of death often calls untimely to separate such 
 family members, to bring a change by this conditional stir, and to 
 cause the remaining members to recognize the duties they owe their 
 Creator and themselves, namely, those duties in which all other duties 
 center and become complete, or remain incomplete. Those duties 
 are to honor and keep pure and holy the God-given attributes instead 
 of selling them for pottage. To aim to truly improve and expand 
 these attributes at every opportunity is to individualize, and thus the 
 Creator is honored and crowned when His principles, being diffused 
 and implanted, grow and permeate the whole being, and so sanctify 
 all natural attributes. The result is a healthy being is developed 
 from such collections, and makes the divine and material composi- 
 tion. We leave this now. Let them ponder what the spirit of wis- 
 dom and truth sayeth, and bring it into practice. 
 
 Let us inspect poor families. Of the class we shall speak of, 
 there are so many on earth who, despite struggles for the necessaries 
 of life, are so much inclined to be perverted in principles, are careless 
 in their duties, and ill-bred in manners. This is owing to the natur- 
 ally inherited ill traits of one or both parents, and speaks loudly of 
 the fact that they have not passed all the material strata, but are only 
 in a measure evolving from chaos, and either take on or shake off 
 such properties as can be made to cohere with their natural composi- 
 tion. Also, what can be abstracted is often of use to apply to the 
 diseases of the class first named, who have learned all the ways of 
 the world, and use their bright talents to supplant their spirits so as 
 to gratify their flesh. Such abstractions introduced or applied in this 
 way cause great conditional changes, and these must work a cure 
 for such diseased beings. 
 
 The poor who turn aside from principle do so because they lack 
 that development which enables them to know of a certainty what 
 trae principle is. They are in the same degree with the savage who 
 makes need his law, and is cruel when interfered with. You often 
 see that such poor families are broken up by death and compulsory 
 conditions, and that generally the best of the two parents is taken 
 away. This is to cause a conditional change, and to compel the 
 remaining ones, if possible, to develop man or womanhood. But if 
 the invisible workers fail to succeed because of very strong natural 
 
420 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 proclivities and weak will power, they are then left to go their natu- 
 ral way until they encounter difficulties and are detained in their 
 attempts. Then again the invisible workers attempt to compel, if 
 possible, proper action. All these are necessary works to develop 
 the children of earth. Yet we hear it said so often that God is cruel, 
 God is unjust, that Me takes the mother from the children who need 
 her so much, or that He takes away from the mother the children 
 who are a comfort and a joy to her. 
 
 Well, friends of earth, you must learn how all this is, for truly 
 God is good and just. Hut you view his workings with worldly eyes, 
 not with the eye of true principle, much less with the spiritual eye, 
 so that you do not discover God's intention with man, which is to 
 improve him by the best means applicable, and man in turn should 
 improve the earth. The elevation of man's moral status is mani- 
 fested in the condition of the earth where he is an inhabitant, whether 
 it is flourishing or otherwise. As poverty is dispelled, the poor made 
 comfortable, the weak-minded, the crippled, cared for, does it not 
 testify of the growth of principle and morality ? 
 
 Educate the poor and ignorant in your towns and villages, on the 
 frontier, everywhere. Educate them not only in letters but in prin- 
 ciple, in labor, in economy. Then you are doing the work you 
 should do on earth, and truly giving honor to your Creator. For 
 only thus can earth be made an Eden, and only thus can the millen- 
 nium be realized on earth. 
 
 The millennium will be realized in America, despite the per- 
 verted principle among the learned and ignorant, among the rich and 
 poor. There is a light shining in the country which does not shine 
 over other nations, and it is a spiritual diffusion owning to the fact 
 that so many are found here who are ready and fitted to receive and 
 diffuse the light and inspiration, to dispel darkness and error. 
 
 Gather knowledge and diffuse it, 
 Do not receive and illy use it, 
 Lest your spirit light be taken 
 To illumine another place. 
 
 
COMPILATION OF S1>IEIT LECTUEES. 421 
 
 LECTURE XCVIIL 
 
 BY MRS. KLINE. 
 
 " And I sought for a mau among them that should make up the hedge, and stand 
 in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none. 
 
 " Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them."— Ezekiel, ch. xxii., 
 verse 30. 
 
 This saying from the spirit, or the Lord, as it reads, strikes me 
 peeuliarl} r , as it is similar to some of my experiences in the training- 
 school of spirits and their co-operative mortals. 
 
 Ten years ago a certain medium visited with me. Upon investi- 
 gation of her claims we disagreed, for she wished me to submit 
 altogether to her dictum against my own advice and instructions from 
 my spirit band, also against my own judgment. She grew very angry 
 when she found she could not rule me, and made many ill threats, 
 among them she said repeatedly : " Well, the gaps are open as yet, 
 and I will make you trouble." I wondered what she meant, but have 
 learned since by experience and otherwise. It is this which strikes 
 me so peculiarly that really in olden times the same conditions and 
 rules prevailed as now. Truly, these are clearly defined parts of the 
 much spoken of review. 
 
 Now, let us see why the Lord said this, or rather Ezekiel's con- 
 trolling spirit. He says : " There is a conspiracy among her proph- 
 ets," speaking this of the Jews and Jerusalem ; " they have devoured 
 souls ; they have taken the treasure and precious things ; they have 
 made her widows in the midst thereof ; her priests have violated my 
 law and profaned my holy things ; they make no difference between 
 the profane and holy, neither between the clean and unclean, and have 
 hid their eyes from my Sabbath, and I am profaned among them." 
 These sayings clearly explain or give the reasons as to what was 
 meant by making up the hedge, and to standing in the gap. But 
 the Lord found not a man who could do this in that day. 
 
 First, the conspiracy among the prophets or mediums. This is 
 and has been demonstrated since modern Spiritualism had its birth to 
 the fullest extent. By me it has been realized in painful experiences. 
 
 Further, it says : "They have devoured souls." I have also 
 seen this done by the impure mediums of today. " They have taken 
 the treasure and precious things." How these conspiring prophets 
 or mediums have taken in our day I have learned to my sorrow, and 
 even how they make widows and untimely desolations. 
 
 Now, He says : " Her priests have violated My law, and havo 
 
422 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 profaned My holy things." They have put no difference between the 
 holy and profane. In this it was wanted that a hedge should be 
 built, and that a man should stand in the gap, then it would have 
 prevented all the other impurities and misdeeds. This was to be 
 done by showing the differences of the degrees of the divine and 
 worldly, and boldly declaring it to and before the world, and so fill 
 the gap that the impure or the clean and unclean could not be mixed, 
 but kept in order. 
 
 As these truths and powers come and flow through their own 
 proper channels to the world of mortals for their benefit, the worldly 
 spirits and their messages should be held strictly in their places, and 
 the divine truths and revelations should be considered and respected 
 as such, and be kept in their own degree. 
 
 It is absolutely required now as then that holy and profane things 
 should be kept apart, and that the difference between holy and pro- 
 fane things or sayings are shown to the people in a candid, upright 
 manner. It is equally required that the people use their reason, and 
 study these facts of great weight, and give due honor to all which is 
 received according to its value, and that according to the degree from 
 which it comes, whether holy or profane or worldly. Upon worldly 
 messages we are permitted to pass judgment, but upon the divine we 
 are not, because we cannot define holy things with purely natural 
 developments, for this reason, that they must be studied and defined 
 spiritually. 
 
 If the Lord poured out His indignation upon the Jews and their 
 prophets because they did not observe these differences, and were 
 even by this (namely, not observing) drawn into the nets of the 
 worldly spirits, so 'they saw vain things and defined lies, what will be 
 the sure result of the works of today ? Have we not mediums by the 
 score working in those worldly channels who see vanity and define 
 Ires, and are ever conspirators against all who are pure in purpose, 
 and show respect to holy things, and keep them apart from the pro- 
 fane ? 
 
 But what shall we say of those who in a measure form the bar 
 before which opinions and messages are brought, discussed, and 
 decided upon, that is, those who are at the head of spiritual journals ? 
 Are they in this respect doing their duty carefully and well ? We 
 think some do, yet they have not properly brought these differences 
 before the world, hence they have passed an imperfect judgment. 
 
 A new flood of heavenly truth is nearing earth. Oh, may the 
 eyes of all who are at the front be opened, and their understanding 
 likewise, that they may see the truth in its own clear light, and 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 423 
 
 receive it in the proper way, and proclaim it strongly and well denned 
 to the world. 
 
 May all spirits and mortals agree to this, say amen, and may 
 light from above enlighten all mental darkness. 
 
 LECTURE XCIX. 
 
 " PROGRESS." 
 
 As we gaze about us and behold the earth in so lofty and pros- 
 perous a condition, and man, the crown and the exalted outcome of 
 all the grand natural labors, stand god-like before us with a refined 
 form, a bright, expanded intellect, and a thrifty and healthy growth 
 of reason, what shall we say to these living mortal witnesses of the 
 Master's efforts to rear them from the dross, out of nature's chaos, and 
 so fashion and mold men that even in their mortal form they will com- 
 pare with the purified angels who are completed in form, with a col- 
 lection of tissues taken from the natural soil of the worlds they 
 inhabit ? 
 
 The Creator's efforts have been a glorious success, and all should 
 give thanksgiving to God that they live and have their being in Him, 
 and are endowed with infinite possibilities, and can attain to the state 
 of seraphs and cherubs. Seraphs are those angelic beings who excel 
 in loveliness and spirit beauty, while cherubs excel in wisdom, and pre- 
 side over the- common administering of universe affairs, and as judi- 
 cial officials and executors. Seraphs perform the ministry of love 
 and mercy, and teach in the heavenly institutes, because their loving 
 natures are winsome, and the soft balm of peace and grace is gently 
 wafted and applied to the needs of their pupils. 
 
 Progress has made wonderful strides. Results are greater than 
 they were marked according to the mathematical plan. Then, as we 
 view man and nature, and all which in nature is performed, what 
 shall we say ? We have come tangibly to inspect earth in her flour- 
 ishing condition in part, while a blast from the vials have been 
 emptied and blighted parts of earth, and cast a mist in the atmosphere 
 which was scattered by those beings in the air, who are neither 
 human nor spirit, but who await a chance to become such. Of this 
 they have no knowledge, nor of the harm they do in the way they 
 infest the atmosphere. These are ordered to be kept from mortals. 
 
424 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 As it is a force without form, a complex, vaporous combination, 
 it is difficult to treat in the way of atmospheric regulations. But 
 the ethers from the purer realms which have been cast into earth's 
 atmosphere have done the desired work, so that there can be a suc- 
 cessful separation of the forces which act and have acted on the 
 human mind. 
 
 Hence, we would say, grant these people of earth another day 
 of grace ; let them be free from fetters and the webs which have 
 dimmed their vision so long so they can show what they will do to 
 honor God their Creator who gave them powers of mind and body, 
 and means to labor with, so as to render earth pleasant, beautiful, and 
 home-like, and to expand their minds so as to grasp all the finite 
 possibilities, and make use of as much as in an honest, upright way 
 may be practicable without infringing on the rights of others. Let 
 all men be active in transforming this lower world into a beautiful 
 garden of bliss from a vale of tears and a barren wilderness. The 
 seeds from the eternal gardens have been planted in this low matter 
 bed ; have been cultured and nurtured by the husbandmen from the 
 universe nursery. Then, why not expect that flowers and fruits, and 
 all which is, should bear a close resemblance to the things in the 
 heavenly gardens ? also, the style of architecture and culture in com- 
 mon approximates to the original patterns from which they are 
 taken ? 
 
 All machinery, all combined inventions to save labor and pro- 
 mote earth's prosperity, is found in the advanced worlds, and on earth 
 is formed a counterpart as it is impelled through some mind. 
 
 ''Progress" is written in large letters wherever we look, and 
 all we behold is an evidence thereof. Should earth in this fair state 
 be swallowed up, and a bed of water be placed where now is dry land, 
 and a fire of melting elements and matter be located where now are 
 the several oceans, it would only be a part of our labor, for the law 
 demands a great natural change, and these changes are quickly 
 effected when decided upon. From this great creating orb heat is 
 discharged into the gathered waters with a roaring that will shake 
 the earth and consume it, and leave all in the water beds, as stated. 
 
 We state this to show that while such ideas have been enter- 
 tained, and are now ridiculed and explained away, that there was 
 ground for them, and we wish it understood that all these things have 
 been engraven on men's minds because they are parts of the uni- 
 verse law, and, although dimly and incorrectly brought forth, yet 
 there is some truth in it, and it is this which we seek to explain. 
 
 Truths are scattered in fragments all along the pathway of pro- 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 425 
 
 gressive life, and may be gathered, classed, and preserved, and cher- 
 ished according to their worth. 
 
 To such a time for regenerating and recreating earth must come. 
 Yet it can be modified, and different methods made use of to greatly 
 change in the natural transacting form the picture of design, for 
 progress stands forth with ready means to aid, which means are 
 included if they were developed, and it was lawful to effect this 
 change in accord therewith, and to give all things, mortals and mate- 
 rials, a fair chance in completing the course of development, and have 
 changes enacted by atmospheric changes in chemical forms of labor, 
 to cause new cements of aerial forces, and sudden decay of waste mat- 
 ter. Alas! parts of earth must be destroyed, and mortals become 
 transformed by natural death, as they are not in all parts of the 
 world of equal mind force. The average is ever taken and thereupon 
 decided, and accordingly the law is enacted for the purpose of bring- 
 ing order out of a state of confusion, and the sickened bodies which 
 cannot stand the change, because of general debility, will go the way 
 of all things natural which serve not well the purpose of the new 
 clause in progression's long routine. All these results of creative 
 energy are now before us which have long been looked for, and all 
 marked changes were long fore-shadowed and dimly revealed to mor- 
 tal understanding as time rolls on, and nearer draws the mark on 
 nature's book for a change. Mortals still think it afar off because 
 of seeming delay. It is hoped that changes which are anticipated as 
 unpleasant may take thousands of earthly years to bring them to us. 
 But it would not improve the mortal state, nor earth, if there was 
 any delay in the changes. It would bring about hard times which 
 would be difficult to bear. 
 
 All natural changes are made because they are necessary, and 
 for the improvement of the earth, and earth's races. There is no 
 waste of what is apparently consumed, for every atom mingles with 
 other elements compatible thereto, and evolving and cementing brings 
 a more healthy, refined, and prosperous state of things, the use of 
 which makes man purer and better, and is a stratum higher in the 
 march of progress. 
 
 "What was sown six thousand years ago has been growing ever 
 since, and results have been realized on earth according to the differ- 
 ent germs and seeds deposited in nature, in budding and blooming 
 flowers and fruits, from the universal to the human and angelic 
 kingdoms. 
 
 It seems strange to mortals, yet it is natural, that when a part 
 is ripe for harvest or dissolution, to bring about thereby an Advanced 
 
420 COMPILATION" OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 state in human and natural growth, that angels of power are at all 
 such times transmitted and born in the flesh in order to work out on 
 earth a part of the design which common mortals could not do accord- 
 ing to eternal decree, because sufficient access cannot be gained to the 
 functions of mind and spirit. 
 
 Prophets, reformers, inventors, and all who have brought forth 
 beneficial works of any note so as to hasten the car of progress, were 
 born thus, and were more spiritual, their minds being so shaped as to 
 receive the intelligence which was their desire to impart. This is 
 by the band having such work to perform stamped upon the child 
 in embryo in its development, and ofttimes the impressions are so 
 dimly made that man or womanhood is reached before these ideas are 
 brought forth to open the natural channels of the mind to give 
 through them that which is above the human standard, but is meant 
 for mortals to reach and to enjoy as fast as they can grasp it, and are 
 by development prepared to make use of better methods to reduce 
 labor, promote wealth, growth of religion, or pure principles which is 
 religion, for common affairs, moral and political, and the general 
 promotion of prosperity. 
 
 Many have been born in this way, and all have performed parts 
 of honor, for in this wise they have powerfully aided in rearing the 
 magnificent universe temple which stands emblematic of the great 
 workmanship of all born souls, and all who did the most are as orna- 
 ments and pillars, so that their works speak forth praise for them 
 forever. This is not a typical illustrative picture, but it is a true one. 
 This grand temple by which the universe is represented is found in 
 the Holy City, and therein are kept the great books of record in 
 which are recorded the deeds of every soul born on earth, and God 
 dwelleth therein. Think of it, O mortals, that your approaching 
 near to God depends upon the works you do. The purer they are 
 the nearer they come to the inner department of the temple to be 
 rated among the grand honors and ornaments. The coarser are 
 marked in shaded pictures without. AH your earth works are seen 
 there, but carved in very fine style, shaded with the finest tissues, but 
 closely resembling your every act done on earth. 
 
 But although many were born as stated, and were truly the 
 world's saviors, so far as they promoted the earth's welfare, yet none 
 were born in greatness equal to Jesus, or none performed a mission 
 in character like His, for He came to take away or atone for the 
 Adamic sin. He came to manifest God in the flesh. He came to 
 refine earth's atmosphere, and to cause a change of the mind forces, 
 while He also enacted the gospel of grace, that it should have its 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 427 
 
 earthly day before it was summed up in law to which it belongs. 
 Moses was the next greatest, for he was Michael, a powerful spirit. 
 Moses is at present warring with the dragon on earth, for he has 
 cast him out of Heaven, and the dragon now roams the earth, and is 
 casting delusions ; but he shall be chained by Michael and cast into 
 the pit, for no place will be found for him on earth. 
 
 TToe to those on earth who hold not fast the testimony of God 
 and Jesus, for those are the last days spoken of in the Revelations, 
 and the seer's words define not the destruction of earth and the end 
 of earth life, but the end of all things now, practical, moral, religious, 
 and political. All forms are ripe now, and are being gathered by 
 the reapers, and that which is impure must decay, and that which 
 is good is garnered and speedily reproduced to meet the demands of 
 the age according as progress is made in concord with immutable law 
 and infinite decrees for the changes. 
 
 This present clearing up is called the third dispensation. All 
 which has been is herein summed up. 
 
 While angels thus labor earth's harvest to gather, 
 
 And come with delight mid earth's gloom ; 
 Shall we be found idle, fearing wind and weather, 
 
 And standing as before a dark tomb ? 
 
 No, friends, never ! Be true to the end, the war is almost finished. 
 The day is so far spent. Arise, gird on the armor of truth, fight for 
 the rights which all shall share in common when the battle is ended. 
 
 Troubles arise from the existing conditions, and that which has 
 long slumbered is aroused and impelled forth to physical effects. 
 Therefore, when you are engulfed by such effects, as troubles and 
 confusions, which are the conditional outcome of things indefinable, 
 and are compelled to order by such processes, meet that which comes 
 with a will to learn the truth, and to conquer evil. 
 
 Make use of your heroism, if you have any, and angels will be 
 witnesses for you, and you will be praised and rewarded for every 
 good deed performed. Remember that angels bear witness for and 
 against you in all you think, say, or do, lest you be moved to commit 
 yourselves in a weak moment by adverse acts, by thinking or doing 
 that which would be condemned when judged by the righteous judge, 
 and you will be compelled to suffer with those with whom you found 
 fault or condemned. 
 
 Wo shall gather testimony of that which is presented to us and 
 the world of that which has existed as taught by men, and preserve 
 them. 
 
428 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 When we do this we will have no time to be idle. Our physical 
 and mental duties will keep us busy. In this way we can individual- 
 ize the best, for our strength increases in proportion to the demand 
 upon it, and even by being pained from debility in mastering our 
 task we become purer and mentally stronger, if not physically ; and 
 the cares which surrounded us for finding fault with others, and 
 deception in talk and acts, will be consumed. A new life begins, 
 new fields open for our study and usefulness, because the closed up 
 avenues of the mind are opened, and then studies and physical labors 
 will be pursued more energetically and sincerely, and the sought for 
 results will be gained. 
 
 The car is in motion. Be workers, and prove your devotion to 
 God, to truth, and to the angels whom Heaven has sent as evangels. 
 
 LECTURE C. 
 
 TRUTH, WISDOM, AND CHARITY. 
 
 To reform the ideas which have become rooted in the minds of 
 mortals requires great labor, and they are necessarily subjected to 
 many, painful processes when they are the objects of special care, for 
 the purjDOse of having wrong ideas or ills extracted or eradicated 
 from the mind and system, and more wholesome tissues interlaced 
 in the sickly constitution, that the new ideas can be bred and born 
 in that organism, and which are then divinely infused. Phraseology 
 needs changing, as well as all other things, in a general process for 
 reformation and reorganization, so that the object of the labors per- 
 formed can be comprehended in the meaning of the present use of the 
 language of today. The God-Head had been set forth as love, truth, 
 and justice. These three heads represented it well, but were figu- 
 rative of law, that is of the three first statements in the great consti- 
 tution of the universe, which are paramount to all else, or to all 
 lesser decrees and injunctions ; as for amendments we do not have 
 any, nor will we have any until all is done that was decreed to be 
 done at the beginning, and then an especial clause will be universally 
 issued for a new order of the creative and transforming labors. 
 
 Love, as stated in the first volume of law, embraces everything. 
 It is the power which supersedes all law, and encircles with its great 
 magnetic force all that is, and brings it to a harmonious and, there- 
 fore, to a happy state of enjoyment. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 429 
 
 Truth stands as the representative of the breath of God's Spirit 
 infused into mortals, and is thereby constantly supported. It is the 
 word, the life, and the life power for all, that is, God's truths as they 
 are from the beginning, and as humanity is and has been blessed to 
 receive the word of God, this everlasting truth, by heavenly infusions 
 or inspirations. Justice stands as a representative for the law of 
 recompense, and is grand, and great, and uniform. But we need to 
 illustrate the triune God-Head further, that it may be better compre- 
 hended, as some of the old ideas are yet remaining in the mind 
 realm of the people that there are three persons in one, and that this 
 is God, a great personage of unequalled magnificence, sitting on a 
 great white throne, and constantly giving forth the directions or coun- 
 sel for the ruling of the universe and all therein. 
 
 There is a shade of truth in this, but only a shade, for these 
 powers, as I have said, were not emblematic of any persons as a God- 
 Head, but of the great principles and laws. If God is to be viewed 
 in such a light, it must be in a broader sense, and must necessarily be 
 defined, that is, the great force into which all the lesser forces of 
 intelligence center, and which forms or is the universal fountain and 
 the ruling power of the universe. But this is but an embodiment of 
 intelligence and principles, and not a constituted personality, but the 
 God-Head shall yet have personal representatives. Truth, which is 
 the word of God, and was embodied in Jesus of Nazareth, is to be the 
 first power which shall be defined and shall be represented by Him, 
 and He shall be the first and highest representative of the God- 
 Head, not that truth has not found an entrance into other divinely- 
 gifted mortals, and has been dispensed through them for the benefit 
 of humanity, nay, that is not the point, but He, that is Jesus, ran the 
 race with many other intelligences and won it, therefore this majes- 
 tic right is His, and He is King of kings and Lord of lords. 
 
 Then comes wisdom, which takes the place of the Holy Ghost, 
 and it is the universal power above this personality of Jesus Christ, 
 and He is subject to that power ; for from this power issues forth all 
 which was, and is, and all that is to be. Charity stands for the 
 second person, who is to represent the God-Head, and also the God- 
 created race with the King of kings, and this motto has been issued 
 that it should be placed upon the breast-plate of our queen of the 
 universe when she shall be placed in this royal position, that at that 
 time many mortals may be released by her, in accordance with law, 
 and under the principles of true compassion for suffering humanity. 
 Charity shall be powerfully felt at that time by the suffering millions. 
 We would not have anyone to understand that charity was a greater 
 
430 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 and stronger force or power than love. No, not so ; but it is and has 
 been seen from the beginning that the condition of the people, that is 
 of a large majority of them, would be very critical at the time of the 
 review of the general spirit labors upon earth, in order to bring to a 
 close the works of the plan, and pronounce them finished ; and love 
 cannot in these trying times be exercised upon the captives of the 
 power of the air, for pure love can find no access to their better 
 nature any easier than the pure gospel can in such a state or condi- 
 tion ; nor can a mortal representative of this highest heavenly force 
 or power be expected to exercise it upon the wayward opposers, with 
 whom they must necessarily compete, but they can exercise an abund- 
 ance of charity, and by it touch and relieve the captive sufferers. 
 Then, after that is done, the love element, hand in hand with truth 
 and justice, can be felt by these beings, and they can then be taught 
 and led up the steep but pleasant hills of progression. 
 
 That the time in which all these works shall be and are being 
 felt under the sun is now here no one can gainsay or deny, and the 
 greater portion of all the works which were to be done are already 
 accomplished, and all the powers are out to finish, each one, their 
 part of these works, so that the indifferent can be subsided, and the 
 corrupt trodden under foot, and the truth can rally above the ruins 
 of the great worldly man-made structures which, by these forces and 
 labors, will be overthrown and destroyed that God may be all in all. 
 1880. 
 
 LECTURE CI. 
 
 "And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage, and Bethany, at the 
 mount of Olives, He sendeth forth two of His disciples." 
 
 "And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when He had 
 looked round ahout upon all things, and now that eventide was come, He went out 
 tmto Bethany with the twelve."— Mark: Chapter xi., 1st and 11th verses. 
 
 In this text we have before us a picture which plainly illustrates 
 the services of Jesus, as concerns His labors of the dispensation of 
 grace when He dwelt on earth. 
 
 For that, as well as for two more great purposes for His medi 
 atory mission, had to represent a three-fold yet united part, so that in 
 due time the redemptive plan could be filled, and He could be set 
 over His foes as ruler.. 
 
 He became an undefiled, pure incarnation, to blend with the 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 431 
 
 first process when He was born in the man Jesus, and as such could 
 change the elementary forces for the bodily perfection of the spirits 
 who dwelt in clay, and are therefrom released by death. He atoned 
 for the Adamic sin, for which He had set His life a ransom, and gave 
 His body a sacrifice, and He dispensed the gospel of grace. 
 
 This three-fold career is not yet comprehended by mortals, nor 
 has it ever been thought about by the students of the mysteries of 
 godliness. 
 
 The last-named part, the dispensation of the " gospel of grace," 
 of which the subject is a figurative statement. 
 
 Jesus knew that He was near the close of His labors, as by 
 design He was to fill them, therefore it was shown Him to do as He 
 did, to ride the colt into Jerusalem, and learn the results. The peo- 
 ple cried Hosanna, and strewed branches under His feet, and put 
 even their garments in the way, and cried: "Blessed is He that 
 cometh in the name of the Lord ; blessed be the kingdom of our 
 father, David, that cometh in the name of the Lord ; Hosanna in the 
 highest." This revealed to the Master how the gospel would be 
 expected, and that He, as King, would be applauded. The sudden 
 change which followed, and ended in His death on Calvary, signified 
 that a change would ensue before the final decision of the close of 
 this eternity's labors, and that the Christians would scorn Him, and 
 cast Him aside when the universe mysteries would be revealed. As 
 His followers, those who cried the loudest Hosannas, would behold 
 reality, and hear the truth as it is, and was from the beginning, they 
 wish not that He should rule over them, but that they would cry : 
 " Away, away with Him," give us a God according to our view, 
 and in concord with the picture of our fancies ; " Away with Him, 
 crush and crucify Him ! " This has already been proven, and will 
 reach the climax before lon^, and now as then the end of things must 
 come. The final decision of the long-transacted labors must be felt, 
 must make a lasting mark on earth, and so prove the works which 
 could not otherwise be stamped on the brows of men forcibly enough, 
 so they can realize these eternal truths as existing facts, which are 
 not a mystery, but which were from necessity shrouded in mist until 
 all the marks of law were by actual works done on earth, and 
 stamped on the canvas of nature, so the mortgage could be canceled 
 which hangs over creatures and creation since the dawn of this eter- 
 nity's day. 
 
 The investment of mind into matter was as a loan to the beasts 
 of natural wisdom, who held sway over the reservoirs of nature. 
 The agreement was that when matter would be molded into patterns 
 
432 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 and forms, for use and beauty, by the power of mind and its exe- 
 cuted labors as they had agreed to do by lawful enactments, that then 
 all would be given to the power of and over the mind realms, and 
 earth become released from the annoyances levied by these powers 
 who hold the dominion over it in a natural sense until the said time. 
 This time has come, and the beasts have thrown down their crowns, 
 and worship the Lord God omnipotent and His Christ, to whom 
 power is given over all, which is because he accomplished these diffi- 
 cult works, and is therefore able and worthy to open the seals of the 
 great book of law, and its contents are being revealed on earth. 
 These revealments of the universe mysteries find no acceptance by 
 those who were the so-called followers of Jesus. They accepted 
 Him as long as He remained seated to the right hand of the Father. 
 They wait calmly for the change which is expected in a way similar 
 to the expectations of the Jews, only theirs was a wish for an earthly 
 kingdom, that they might be great and mighty under Him, while 
 the Christians hope that He will, in the twinkling of an eye, estab- 
 lish His eternal kingdom in Heaven and on earth, and change Heaven 
 and earth to physical view, cast all the wicked into hell, and take 
 all the good to Heaven to enjoy rest, and indulge in songs of praise 
 forever. This will not be realized any more than was the desire of 
 the Jews realized by them. 
 
 He comes in spirit, He reveals His truths, and His angels have 
 come by the thousands to reveal the truths which mankind need to 
 know, in order to make possible the review which is in process. 
 Who is it that take all these workings to heart, and understand 
 them? 
 
 From this method of labor transactions arise the difficulties 
 which were fore-shadowed at that event, and are now in physical 
 reality before us. The Lord calls whoever He needs, that the works 
 can be done on earth which it has been decided in Heaven should 
 become a seal and mark for proof in all the degrees where labors had 
 been pursued from the beginning, for the training of minds, and the 
 improvement of earth, and the transforming of all things according 
 to the speed of natural evolutionary out-workings, from one stratum of 
 soil composed by the coherence of the fluidic and vaporous substances 
 to one another. In this development the level is reached where it 
 was intended to bring man before the crisis could ensue. But the 
 majority of mortals are yet below this standard. They are slow in 
 coming to stand dignified as gods above all in the natural world, and 
 thus rise higher and higher, seeing clearly from that summit the way 
 in which they can walk in confidence on to the mansions prepared 
 

 COMriLATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 433 
 
 for them by their own usefulness on earth, and the works they have 
 clone, for which when truly at home they will receive their reward. 
 
 Too many cling to the things of earth, and remain on a level with 
 the objects they love the most. They are not then above it, as it 
 was intended they should be. They cannot then understand the 
 " signs of the times," nor have a comprehensive view of the labors in 
 process, because where they are the light from the heavenly light- 
 house cannot reach them only in flickering rays, and very indifferent, 
 where if they occupied their proper place they would see. They 
 could not fail, and would understand, because they could hear the 
 voice of the Father calling them home. They could see the servants 
 who are sent forth to do the works which are necessary. After all 
 the works which have been done in this eternity they would know 
 that a feast is being prepared in Heaven for all who are found worthy 
 to partake of it, when all is finished, then there would be no resist- 
 ance, and they would be and remain friends of the King. 
 
 But as it is they turn in the critical hour. They wish to be the 
 friends of Caesar, even if the King must be crucified. In the present 
 time the friends of Caesar are all those who wish to be popular, and 
 cling but for that to creeds and dogmas, and who wish not that God 
 should do as pleases Him in performing His works on earth, which 
 He must do through the agency of mortals. 
 
 Men have become accustomed to speculate upon what had 
 been given them inspirationally from time to time from the uni- 
 verse fountain. In these speculations and suppositions is their mind, 
 and they are wrapped in their own works, so that the spirit of God 
 cannot lead them. Although the will power is strongly enforced by 
 all different advocates of the religious ideas, and their own main- 
 tained by worldly arguments against others, but it will avail nothing, 
 will result in nothing but woe and remorse. 
 
 Bible readers have become blinded by reading it so much in a 
 natural mind and sense, and not in a spiritual sense, not longing for 
 light and understanding from the spirit who alone can open the 
 minds to that which is truly spiritual and inspirational. Therefore 
 all passages have been commented on, and but few have been 
 explained according to their true meaning spiritually. 
 
 Since I wrote this I have received a paper which I had not 
 heard of before, in which points are argued which need to be noted, 
 as it corresponds to what I have written in this. In the article 
 headed the " Rich Man and Lazarus," the last paragraph reads thus : 
 " This parable, to be taken as an individual fact, would be at war 
 with all our Lord's teachings elsewhere, and would take the crown 
 
434 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 of the life-giving power off from His own Head, and give it to Adam 
 who was only of the earth, earthy." How plainly this proves the, 
 fact stated, that when truths are revealed as they have been from the 
 beginning, that His followers who cried the loudest " Hosannas " 
 would cry the loudest " Away with Him ; give us the Lord of our 
 own fancy. 
 
 If Adam was of the earth, earthy, then we all are of the earth, 
 earthy, and are not the divine off-spring, are not heirs of the 
 universe, and have in consequence all things in common with the- 
 beast, and could not claim any pre-eminence above the beast. But 
 if Adam is the divine man, the perfect type of the natural God- 
 created man, as has been revealed to us, and we are his descendants, 
 then we are God's children through him, and to him, as God and as 
 man belongs the crown earned hy labors of many eternities, and 
 bringing the countless millions of perfected mortals forth as perfected 
 spirits of tangible forms, which make up his crown, and is the force 
 which was needed to conquer the beasts of opposition, and of natural 
 wisdom, and go forth in this power to open the seals of the book of 
 laws. Thus these works were done to sound them on earth, to make 
 marks from these labors on the natural canvas, and so have tangible 
 evidence against all the arguments and assertions from the brains and 
 lips of men. 
 
 Another point of note in this paper is in the article, " The King- 
 dom of God." It is this : U The governments of earth must come to 
 an end by God's decrees of the severe prophetic terms, or 2520 years, 
 or as much longer as the bride of the promised inheritance neglects , 
 to make herself ready, by a coming out from among the daughters of 
 Babylon." He adds : "This is the day. We believe we have now. 
 come down in the stream of time to see. Yes, we say truly this is 
 the time we now are actually in." Yet how far are these wise stu- 
 dents from perceiving how this work of preparing was meant, and 
 what it should really result in. 
 
 We are almost to the mark of law when it must be known, and 
 great causes cannot be prohibited from arising by man's resistance. 
 They come, and come forcibly, so that the truth cannot be gainsaid, : 
 nor facts be misunderstood any longer. Until then let us watch and . 
 pray, and study God's truths as they are given to us, that we may be 
 ready for all the emergencies which the flow of the great universal 
 tide may bring for us, and to us. In spirit we sigh : " Come, Lord 
 Jesus, come quickly." 
 
COMPILATION OP SPIRIT LECTURES. 435 
 
 LECTURE CIL 
 
 "DOW MIND IS IMPLANTED INTO MATTER AND MADE INTO FORMS 
 AND OBJECTS." 
 
 When an idea is received, and is written or printed, it has taken 
 form and becomes matter, for it is something then which can be seen, 
 and even handled, and can be tested with the natural faculties of the 
 mind or senses. So works this great powerful mind infusion, and so 
 it has worked ever since the glorious dawn of this eternity. The 
 action of the mind realms ever the matter realms has proved itself 
 the creative force. This work of creating is and has been kept in 
 motion by this power of mind, also the transforming for brighter and 
 better achievements. Now this intelligence which has ever floated 
 above the dark water chasms is called the universal mind, and while 
 its action is all in all supreme over matter in this spoken of way, yet 
 there were special powers employed who were skilled in wisdom, and 
 had acquired a mastery by trial over their assigned parts to act upon, 
 and from the chaotic regions to evolve matter from which to build, as 
 it could with mind and aerial changes be cemented, and so be brought 
 into building material of all the forms desired for the objects of the 
 plan which were selected by the great designer. So the things which 
 in themselves were lifeless and useless were brought into use, and 
 they are fashioned by the universal mind so they become a part of 
 God, and all earth becomes redeemed from natural dross, which was 
 a repulsive force to the growth of the pure infusions into men, and 
 which has perverted men's principles. That which cannot be purified 
 is separated from the purified and cast back into the chasm from 
 which it was evolved, and there shall be no trouble from it or with 
 it for a season. 
 
 There were no forms, no voices, in the beginning in the regions 
 where wealth now abounds, and all things are in a flourishing condi- 
 tion, is enjoyed, governed, and its works promoted by beings like 
 unto God ; for, verily, mortals in their advanced state of culture are 
 but little lower than the angels. They are even on the same level 
 with them in co-operative degrees, as they understand angelic lan- 
 guage and teachings. 
 
 The power of mind over matter has done all this, and the all- 
 wise power which is supreme is ever active, and creates and regener- 
 ates the mortals who are spirits, and are from the mind world sent 
 forth and planted into matter to so become tangible and purified in 
 
436 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 forms suiting each one when completed by passing through transform- 
 ing processes for such a completion. 
 
 Hence, we say, the beginning of these works was the intelligent 
 action of mind upon matter. When the coherence of mind and mat- 
 ter was compelled in aerial as well as in matter divisions, this force 
 was the impelling power to cause coherence. All was done by the 
 compact of archangels who were complete in ethereal forms, but had 
 not before come in contact with matter, and were not tangible in 
 form. This creative compact, acting in concord with the universal 
 mind, brought into action the issues from this mind by adopting 
 chemical and immutable laws, and this compact again employed 
 others who could by instruction master some needed works so as to 
 have a co-operation in the material and co-material worlds, otherwise 
 the work could not have been done. 
 
 The divines of the nineteenth century need a solvent, as they 
 will not accept this truth about the master-builders in our universe. 
 
 Tell us who is God? Who is the chieftain of the creative 
 compact? If you have an idea of a personal God, pray tell who 
 He is ? For when the Lord appeared to Moses to give him the com- 
 mandments, Moses, desirous of giving a correct report to his people, 
 asked : " By what name shall I call You ? " He only answered : "I 
 am who I am." 
 
 This would not be an acceptable answer now, — if a medium 
 would tell what they saw and heard, and could not give a correct 
 name, or tell from whence the message was received. 
 
 Alas ! all the intelligence received in olden times, and all 
 received now, is and can only be known by its co-operation in being 
 witness and prophecy one for the other. 
 
 The teachers on earth teach in blind faith, and their pupils wor- 
 ship in blind faith, for they do not understand the gospel they preach. 
 All the lessons of the gospel were given figuratively. It was an 
 investment which through faith should grow to be large sums. These 
 sums must now be divided, and knowledge is given as a certificate of 
 each number and grade, by which all developments were ever encour- 
 aged and accomplished. 
 
 You shall learn the concealed design of each given lesson in the 
 Bible ; but if you will not try to understand the given precepts of the 
 Master in these clays, set apart from all time for rectitude and reve- 
 lations, then, verily, the Master will not own you. Though you pray 
 loud, and unto the time when He shall call you to judgment, you will 
 have to hear the strong truth proclaimed : " Verily, I know you not, 
 from whence you are." 
 

 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 437 
 
 The gospel of grace is not originally a dogmatic religion. It is 
 constituted of practical good will toward all peeple, especially the 
 needy. It is unlike the Mosaic dispensation where obedience to laws 
 was compulsory. This compulsion formed limitations to not only the 
 Jews as a race but to all born under the covenant, and so made sub- 
 ject to the laws, and children of the promise given in the gospel of 
 grace, and fulfilled by the Author of this Heaven-born religion. 
 
 But men have despised these beautiful lessons, and limited the 
 powers which are companions of the grace dispensation by churches 
 and creeds which do not belong to it. 
 
 Formal preaching does not bring light into the benighted minds. 
 nor touch the cold hearts, but deeds of kindness, and pointing out 
 clearly the way from earth to Heaven, by bringing all in rapport 
 with the divine mind and the spirit guardian of each. The ways in 
 which God works for His earthly children must be opened, and kept 
 open, for when closed it is like midnight gloom in the mind realms 
 below, and no man can work because of this condition. 
 
 The way by which God's will is made known in Heaven is 
 through the avenues which are all open, and the issues from the cen- 
 tral light and ruler are conveyed by messengers, and taught as given. 
 These are told and expounded until correctly understood. Questions 
 are asked and answered. Those learning listen with reverence. 
 Gratitude is seen in their faces as they look upon those who are 
 teaching them new lessons of usefulness and truth. It should be so 
 on earth, and shall be, for mortals have prayed long that the will of 
 God be done on earth as in Heaven. And it will come to pass, and 
 it will be a universal practice, that religious training will be recog- 
 nized in its original purity, and traced to the source from whence it 
 first issued, and from whence it is supported. Then mortals can see 
 how God regenerates the natural man, and makes him divine. 
 
 The world's doors must be opened, for the King of kings comes 
 accompanied by many saints and angels. Is it prejudice against 
 heavenly issues, or is it the common curse of sin by which mortals 
 are beset, and which even in the material world is a force of repul- 
 sion to the growth and promotion of the religious nature in man ? 
 Both these curses will bolt the doors against the entrance of the 
 " King of kings." These doors will be opened and left ajar until the 
 inner life objects and workings are seen. This work is and has been 
 done. It is the development of the spiritual senses belonging to the 
 dual being found in each mortal. For this purpose mortals are made 
 mediums, and are used by the angels who are sent as agents to do 
 works on earth. No one can be captain or chief over a band oi 
 
438 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 spirits, and assume control over a mortal who is to work in the 
 degrees with them, unless they have a pass or commission. This pass 
 is a supreme issue, yet in the lower grades the employees hold the 
 pass, those doing the work only as servants as they receive orders. 
 But it is all a work which God has issued to be performed, therefore 
 it cannot be put down, for it must triumph, inasmuch as it is the law- 
 ful course by which mortals must be worked upon in these days of 
 review, and in this way is earth being reaped, and the world's doors 
 opened. 
 
 LECTURE Cm. 
 
 "Wherefore should the heathen say: 'Where is now their God?' But our God 
 is in the Heavens; He hath done whatsoever He pleased." — Psalms, cxv., verse 2. 
 
 "When David wrote his book of Psalms, he was acted upon by a 
 spirit, by divine power, and his utterings were prophetic of the com- 
 ing Messiah, His works and His sufferings which he would have to 
 endure from the perverted and rebellious people. 
 
 Then, if the prophecies of the Psalms pertained to him whom we 
 recognize as the Messiah, namely, Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified 
 and resurrected, then those words need comments even today. For 
 they were brought forth by the heavenly ministers with all their vigor 
 and force to impress the people of today that the Saviour of the 
 world is now working on earth to fulfill and end His three-fold mis- 
 sion, which only had its beginning in Galilee eighteen hundred years 
 ago, for the purpose of fulfilling this great work of redemption. 
 
 He returns now in spirit, and labors on earth, and with Him are 
 many thousands of saints and glorified spirits, who are happy to do 
 what they can to bring this great and glorious work to a close, so 
 that it can be declared finished, which declaration will be made from 
 Sinai's mountain in a lawful manner, to show the great contrast of. 
 that declaration of Jesus' life work on the cross when he cried " It 
 is finished " with the one which shall also be declared by Him, but in 
 power, might, and glory, which shall cause all the perverted to 
 tremble with fear. People on earth are being prepared by heavenly 
 ministers for this, as many as will listen to the admonitions of these 
 ministers. 
 
 Now we would consider what class of people constitute the 
 heathen of our text. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 439 
 
 They are not the heathen commonly so called, because they have 
 not heard the gospel of salvation, and have not in that sense been 
 Christianized. It means those who have had and do have all the 
 opportunities and privileges, but have grown so vain, wise, and rich 
 in their own conceit, and are so full of idolatry and deceit. Their 
 grand things are their gods, which they worship, and meet in their 
 churches as did the heathen of old at the high places, to so worship 
 their idols. The true God finds no entrance, the mind being filled 
 with conjecture and fancy how to obtain and glorify those lifeless 
 gods. 
 
 The second question is : " Have we left the ways of the heathen, 
 and do we endeavor with all our strength of body and mind to serve 
 our God, and do His will as He reveals it to us ? If so, we need not 
 fear, for our God is in the Heavens ; He doeth whatsoever pleaseth 
 Him, and the earth, and all earthly powers and principalities, can do 
 nothing against Him. 
 
 He does not leave us a pray to the wicked if we trust in Him, 
 and to His will. He permits our strength to be probed that it may 
 be increased, but we are not harmed by it. The fires cannot con- 
 sume nor the waters drown us through which we may be led to 
 become purified from our system dross. Nor does He leave us com- 
 fortless, but comes to us and imparts a heavenly peace which abides 
 with us, and is ever present in the hour of trouble, when we really 
 need His presence and aid. 
 
 Our God is not like men's idols. Nay, He hears our prayers, 
 and delivers us from all evil, if we but trust Him fully, and abide 
 truly in Him, and keep His sayings, and not wander after these 
 strange gods which constitute the idols of the heathen, and so divide 
 our devotion between God and Mammon, which cause those wavering 
 conditions from which we realize doubts and uncertainties, certainly 
 from having trespassed against the known will of our God, for we do 
 not feel remorse or fear for wrongs committed in ignorance. 
 
 Wrongs which we cannot see we are not aw r are of, but have 
 stumbled, and do constantly stumble, blindly into by-ways ; often pay 
 homage at Satan's shrine, ignorant of the fact, because we have not 
 yet reached that degree of development where all mists vanish from 
 our minds. If we had reached it \vc could readily discern what 
 domain we are in, and would know at a certainty at what shrine we 
 are about to bow for worship or sacrifice. 
 
 There is another condition which at this day represents a great 
 part of the mortal mind realm. It includes all of those who are quite 
 intellectual, have their minds filled with knowledge of every sort. 
 
440 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 Yet their minds closely resemble wholesale packing houses where 
 there is a constant coming in and going out business carried on. 
 
 In the mind realm, and co-operating in the matter realm, the 
 prompting force is the motives. Are they pure or otherwise ? The 
 majority are not at all firm. Their motives are at variance ; moved 
 and turned by all which is taken in and given out. Thus the light 
 which should illuminate the individual is flickering as though under a 
 heavy breeze of doubt and hope, of fear and trust, and these opposite 
 powers keep up a rebellious and system warfare until one or the 
 other of the leading functions gains a predominance for good or evil. 
 
 In such a state, persons are rated in the degrees of those very 
 much diseased in mind. Nothing is produced by all their mental and 
 bodily activity which is good, or could be used to fill out the warp of 
 life, for all the products are in tangles, and unprofitable piece work. 
 
 All such are led to pass through the ordeals prepared for such 
 diseases, for in such a state of mind they cannot see their failings, or 
 discern right and wrong. The afflictions they realize are for a sys- 
 tem cure more than as a penalty for committed offenses. 
 
 Are we, any of us, in these conditions which would make such 
 treatment necessary, so that the heathen could say : " Where is now 
 their God?" 
 
 I trust not, yet I fear that it is so, and why ? Because I behold 
 the discordant conditions and elements by which co-operation is pro- 
 voked with different and illegal conditions, which cause many unpleas- 
 ant realizations. These facts speak clearly that there is still bondage, 
 and not full freedom ; that the different degrees have yet a right to 
 hold us in subjection, because we have willfully or ignorantly com- 
 mitted a wrong, and have been found wanting when placed in the 
 scale of justice. 
 
 As long as this is so the scales cannot be fully removed from the 
 eyes, nor the system cleansed of its desires to wander after the 
 heathen, and obtain and worship their idols. 
 
 Oh, the strong admonition which comes over the wires which 
 connect the visible and invisible worlds. The words are : " Oh, that 
 ye were cold or warm, firm in your convictions, and in your services 
 wholly devoted to either God or Mammon." 
 
 Why wear the marks of uprightness and purity and say : " We 
 love the Lord, and wish to serve Him," when your deeds are evi- 
 dence against the word of your mouth, that you speak an untruth. 
 
 Ponder upon this well, for the eyes of the Lord search the 
 depths of the soul, and all intentions whether good or ill are known 
 to Him, and justice is measured to all accordingly. Let us ever bear 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTUPvES. 441 
 
 in mind that our God is in the Heavens, and doeth whatsoever pleas- 
 eth Him. But the earthly governments are yet under the direct 
 wielding of those authorized to act as rulers in the finite degrees. 
 Certainly we are not favored by them as much as those are who are 
 wholly devoted to Satan, and have no higher aims than those belong- 
 ing to this material world. 
 
 Those rulers and agents expect much more of all persons who 
 claim a right to higher degrees, and have ascended higher in the 
 scale of existence. Therefore all misdeeds are observed strictly and 
 punished severely, for it is promptly brought to judgment. We 
 should therefore walk carefully, and be observant of how our words 
 fall, and how our deeds may be in the sight of the Lord, and also in 
 the sight of mortals. 
 
 For our God remembers us in our sufferings ; He keeps the 
 record of what causes trouble in the so-called days of provocation 
 when we are led into conditions and encompassed by them, to try us 
 as by fire. He will reward us when we become wholly under His 
 government, and can of a truth be called citizens of His dominion. 
 
 Now to return to David we would say this, that David was the 
 one whom the Lord had selected to govern His people. He was 
 a man after God's own heart ; and why ? Simply because he was 
 gifted in that degree that he could be acted upon by that spirit 
 whose right it was to govern Israel. 
 
 He was not wavering in that, but constant, although the weak- 
 nesses of his flesh were many and grievous, yet he was in that one 
 degree a devoted servant, and was rewarded well for his services. 
 
 Saul, too, was a medium, and was therefore anointed and placed 
 in power, but he was wavering in his devotion. 
 
 He became vain, and accessible to ill disposed spirits, and so was 
 cast aside as an unclean vessel, and was accordingly punished. 
 
 We say this that you might be prepared, for when the present 
 struggles and conquests are over, and earth has been reaped of the 
 harvest now ripe, then earth will be governed thus by the holy 
 power from on high, as stated in the prophecies of Daniel. 
 
 It shall be jlone by mortals to whom these powers can have 
 access, and so control the earthly governments. 
 
 All these things alluded to, and many more, are parts of the 
 mission of Jesus, and can only be realized on earth as His mission 
 becomes finished. 
 
 Wherefore all the saints and angels work with great delight to 
 finish these works, and thereby bring prophecies to an actual realiza- 
 tion on earth. 
 
442 COMPILATION OP SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 LECTURE CIV. 
 
 "THE THIRD GREAT EVENT IN COMPLIANCE WITH ULTIMATE LAW." 
 
 Today hear, oh, hear, the Lord's voice as He calls upon each and 
 everyone to listen to the inner voice of the spirit, and to the outer 
 voice of nature, which, in its regular changes, manifests the wisdom 
 of God and the law of transformation. Return, O mortals, from 
 your idle dreams and come unto Him. For nearly two thousand 
 years the gospel of grace has been preached, and faith in Him loudly 
 proclaimed, and salvation from eternal woe or death has been 
 declared to those whx> confess faith in the Lord Jesus, until they are 
 wholly dependent, and think there is nothing for mortals to do but to 
 believe this promise without annexing thereto the works of life, and 
 to follow closely the example of the Master. This being so sadly 
 neglected, He calls aloud to all who will hear, and says : " The day 
 of grace which has lasted so long is now at an end." 
 
 The third great event is now in commotion for the transforming 
 of the thoughts of men and the systems which are man-made accord- 
 ing to the provided laws regulating all systems in the mind and mat- 
 ter realms. This old cry must be hushed. Its time has expired. 
 
 This third and last event, which is the greatest landmark of our 
 eternity, is and will be similar to the first one, namely, the Mosaic 
 dispensation, and this of necessity to bring together the types of the 
 likeness in system composition and purity of the soul. 
 
 I am going around my subject somewhat, which is for the pur- 
 pose of giving some details of this event now in its rising struggles 
 with the opposing and gross elements. But I do this in order to 
 make a distinction for those who claim that there is no necessity for 
 more revelations from Heaven directly since Christ's day, and are 
 unwilling to accept any of it. 
 
 Let us note all these points carefully, for such are the orders as 
 they are supremely issued, for none will be excused who read the 
 Bible yet deny and reject the present labors of angels on earth. Nor 
 will any be excused in that great day of final decision which is close 
 at hand. The call of the angels of love and mercy would reach every 
 ear if the rebellious mortals would not willfully close the world's doors 
 and their own ears, eyes, and hearts against the present labor trans- 
 actions, and against the divine voice made audible through mortals, 
 and in all the natural changes likewise. No plea will be accepted in 
 that day, for the servants of the Lord who are and have been sent to 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 443 
 
 inspect the Lord's vineyard which He put out to stewards, to learn 
 what fruits have been yielded, and how those dependent upon these 
 stewards have received their due rations for their hunger and thirst. 
 
 It is strange that the boasting Bible-readers will reject what is 
 therein prophesied which must come to pass. But they do this that 
 they, as the Gentile nation, fill the measure of the Jewish nations, 
 and of their forefathers, for the smoke from the man-made temples 
 on earth rises like a stench toward Heaven, and is the testimony of 
 impure worship. True worship of the living God is turned into 
 mockery and a mere lip-practice or service, a gathering for conveni- 
 ence and show more than to learn, and to offer up the purest thanks- 
 giving for wisdom and strength received from the heavenly home 
 with which to conquer earthly ills, and solve all mystic problems. 
 
 True worship is not marked by grand oratory, or any display of 
 flowery speech. The highest truths must be sought for in a simple 
 way, for so are they given, and only so can they be found and 
 learned. 
 
 God issues wisdom and truth, w'hich is directed to mortals 
 according to their degrees. And it is for this reason alone that all 
 who ever were the servants of the Most High God, to receive and 
 give revelations, w r ere born in common circumstances, and kept from 
 acquiring a good worldly education. They all have, and have had, 
 the inborn power to learn fast and well, and would if not kept back 
 go ahead of the marks of law, namely, of giving revelations in gram- 
 matical order and language to suit the people. This is not wanted, for 
 how could the earthly wise ridicule if there was nothing to mark the 
 contrast, which contrast is a lawful one, a right belonging to the 
 order for all who act as mediums between God and men, and stand 
 between the visible and invisible worlds, and in this many who have 
 been called have failed and fallen victims to pride and the desire to 
 be praised and honored by men. They have become eloquent and 
 sought to make a grand appearance rather than seeking for the pure 
 truth; they craved favor from the world rather than from*. God, 
 whom they were called to serve in this review of our eternity's mind 
 productions. A sad fall this is to those whom it concerns through- 
 out all lands and nations. 
 
 In this critical epoch in which we now are it should be remem- 
 bered that all new presentations, no matter how grand and plausible 
 they may be, if they have not substance, they are hollow bubbles 
 thrown out from the turbulent breath of men. Search ever for the 
 true platform which is law and gospel. Then you can discern when 
 
444 COMPILATION OF SFIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 * 
 
 you have true revelations from God, and you can safely rely upon 
 them. 
 
 Accept nothing but what guarantees safety under Jehovah's 
 shade, and which will protect your rights as heirs of our heavenly 
 Father. 
 
 This present third event is enacted for a devotional union, and is 
 in many respects like the first one. The Israelites were physically led 
 out of bondage from Egypt by Moses the prophet, who represented 
 the first dispensation in the race and prize for the rulership. Jeho- 
 vah, through Moses, gave laws to men, both for their devotional cul- 
 ture and their physical regulations for all their life pursuits. This 
 Moses did, even as he heard it, and, as he saw impending clangers 
 from compulsory conditions with which the Israelites were surrounded, 
 and which, to conquer, demanded a physical counteraction. 
 
 In the present event or closing up of the labors of the three divis- 
 ions by which the God-Head is represented (and which in equally 
 divided time measure marks), and as the revelations are now given 
 and finished, the God-Head shall and must be comprehended by mor- 
 tals and spirits of inferior degrees. 
 
 The labors of the true representative of the present event are 
 also to lead out those who are true Israelites, and belong to a high 
 spiritual degree, yet have become servants to Egyptian practices, and 
 are held in bondage and servitude by those types. This leading out 
 is not physical but conditional, and all who are led out are taken 
 through the wilderness of conditions which they must conquer and 
 subdue ; and they need, therefore, especial advice regarding their pur- 
 suits in life, as did the Israelites, for otherwise they would drift into 
 bondage again, for their thoughts wander back to the flesh-pots of 
 Egypt, the social pleasures, display in dress, and all which is for 
 earthly pleasure only. Then, when they are told, and heed not the 
 instructing voice, their former conditions will again surround and con- 
 sume them. The especial work is to lead out of these subjective 
 conditions, and from Egyptian servitude, all who are marked and 
 belong under Jehovah's shade. 
 
 Think not, friends, that the present infusion of heavenly knowl- 
 edge is dependent on its various manifestations, wherein can be 
 observed the display of supernal agencies. No ! the importance lies 
 in this, to learn to people the degree and type differences, and the 
 orders which are branded and which are pure, and, when it is seen, 
 then make use of your will power, and resolutely throw off the shack- 
 les of bondage which hold and have held you. Arise, and go to the 
 Father. Return from fables to the true and living God. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 445 
 
 "Is Spiritualism no fable? " This is asked in a tone of sarcasm 
 by many who have been observing the different displays and promulga- 
 tions under this modern title of the old-time proximities of forces 
 and powers from the mortal and immortal worlds for the purpose of 
 renovating and regulating the systems and elements according to the 
 laws of regulation, and as nature in her evolving march demands it. 
 
 Well, I will answer that question truthfully now and say that 
 much of what is and has been termed Modern Spiritualism can be 
 termed a farce, and yet not exactly a farce neither. For it is not an 
 empty farce, none of it. All is filling crevices which needed filling, 
 and no portion of it is allowed without a purpose in its display. The 
 whole of it is wisely managed and belongs to the work of clearing up 
 the accounts of the past advent of Christ. Many who do servant 
 labor according to higher orders seek for such mortals on earth who 
 are like themselves in system composition. Then it does not matter 
 what their physical condition is. If these persons are not directly 
 under Jehovah's shade, these spirits work upon them and draw from 
 them so as to complete their own incomplete forms, besides doing the 
 errands for which, they are permitted to return to earth. In this w T ay 
 many become enabled to enter the progressive spheres before the 
 final decision is made. Yet it is but a small part of labor, and while 
 it is tolerated a season, it is not the work of the angels of light ; 
 therefore, all should learn the spirits and type differences and endorse 
 nothing but what can stand the test. 
 
 I have answered this one question, now I see another. It is 
 this : " Why does our Heavenly Father tolerate the return of unde- 
 veloped spirits to work upon innocent and unsuspecting mortals ? " 
 And add u It can only be the devil. God has nothing to do with it, 
 nor will we have anything to do with it." To all who, in this age 
 of common progress, ask such questions, we answ T er that it is owing 
 to their ignorance that they so commit themselves in a matter of 
 universal interest. 
 
 The devil is no autocrat, no independent ruler ; is governor 
 nowhere where lawful changes are made. But he plays a condi 
 tional part in the great world drama, and represents the innate and 
 wrought evil, which is and has been evolved from the chaos of 
 nature's reservoir, and was taken, in needed measures, to build men 
 and worlds, to obtain by way of transformatory changes the wanted 
 forms of design. 
 
 All of this class need a long and sad conditional experience, 
 for they evince in their words that they are dwarfed in intellect. 
 Some of then* organs are largely developed and active ; others 
 
446 COMPILATION OF SPIE1T LECTURES. 
 
 cramped and inactive, lest reason could speak through the proper 
 channels and bring to their view the facts which everywhere abound, 
 and can be gathered and compared with the old-time prophecies and 
 revelations, regarding devotional culture and religious regulations in 
 accord with the need of mortals. Learn from history, from your 
 Bible, and from present revelations and rehearsals of what had iu part 
 been given. Only so can the imperfect ideality become more perfect 
 and the mental departments be brought to an evenness and regular 
 order, so that pure intuition can be made possible. As long as the 
 temple of the human soul is not sanctified with truth, and a sincere 
 desire for truth, so long God cannot enter there and abide, and all 
 manner of ill conjectures are then having birth in the mind because 
 there is no preventative within. The impure vapors are breathed 
 in, and are made to produce impure conjectures and thoughts. In 
 this lies the difference of the infusion of that force which nourishes 
 the brain. The constant draught for culture and growth is pure, 
 being received from the ultimate fountain in rays of brightness 
 which enter the mind and soul, or as vapors which are breathed in 
 from the atmosphere by worldly spirits of low degree, and the results 
 are before you ; they need not be explained. The importance of 
 today is to solve this conditional mystery by which mortals are thus 
 mentally supported and worked upon conditionally. This is the 
 advent for the people before the ensuing of the spoken-of crisis. 
 Make use of the opportunities, for all who do not will remorsefully 
 regret it when this time is past. All mortals should see to their own 
 individuality, and if you find that you are not under safe shelter, 
 by all means try and get there while you may. If it is thrbugh 
 great difficulty it is worth fighting for, to conquer the bodily and 
 external rebellious elements which are averse to purity of soul, and 
 honesty of purpose in all things, for now the earthly testimonies are 
 being gathered by angels, and are put on file, for that spoken-of day ; 
 and some of the special testimonies are yet wanted in the upper 
 courts to balance between the nations before the crisis can take 
 place. Then the play called the great world drama will be ended, 
 and the earthly time ended for this eternity. Time measure will be 
 different in the next eternity, and the customs and the regulations of 
 customs likewise. 
 
 The most important part of the review is already finished, and 
 the labors are nearer to a close than is generally supposed, even by 
 those who have been close observers, and also co-laborers with the 
 angels. There are but few on earth who have recognized the time 
 and the importance of today, and have taken it to heart. But when 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 447 
 
 the mists have cleared away, then many shall see and comprehend it, 
 and then shall be wide spread that which had been told in secret, 
 and taught in private. Yes, in the streets and on the housetops shall 
 be discussed that which had been transacted for earth's pilgrims, so 
 that they could get a start and understand the intermingled labors of 
 conditions, and learn how these conditions can be governed by 
 acquiring a knowledge of them, and also the leading out from the 
 magical captivity is made possible by gaining a knowledge of these 
 conditions which can only be gained by study and experience. 
 
 To bring all souls to true spiritual freedom is the design of the 
 Father, and this design is being enacted on earth by the angels of 
 light, who do this work with the aid of mortals who are truthful and 
 so organized as to make this possible. 
 
 The design of the Egyptian types of spirits, who also work upon 
 earth, is to levy heavier burdens on whom they may, and bring them 
 still farther into their captive degrees. It is their privilege to return 
 as long as the review season lasts ; wherefore, it is very trying for 
 those on earth. Therefore, watch and pray, and be cautious in all 
 your deeds. In all thoughts and desires observe law well and do 
 according to the rules of grace ; be truly devoted to God, and do 
 not deny his Christ, for only in so doing can you be aided, and be pro- 
 tected under Jehovah's shade. All who deny God and depend on 
 their own wisdom and on the worldly support in the decisional con- 
 flicts, these will bring upon themselves sore perplexities, and will be 
 enveloped by this cloud of those who are working opposition to God, 
 truth, and justice. They will perish under this cloud, for the time 
 is too short for their recovery and redemption in this eternity. Be 
 therefore wise and listen to what the spirit of truth and wisdom says, 
 for not all who have been called become fit to enter through the gate 
 and partake of the Lord's supper, and whosoever cliinbeth in other- 
 wise is a thief and a robber, and cannot abide, but is thrust out, for 
 truth hath not abided in them. 
 
 These things which we have taught and herein transacted 
 require soberness of mind, and sincerity of heart, in order to study 
 them, and to knowingly perform each part in strict compliance with 
 law, which, however, has not been done by some of the called work- 
 ers in aiding the angels of light physically to accomplish what spirit- 
 ually was decreed to be performed at this time on earth to mark 
 therewith this present third event, which stands as a product of the 
 two former ones, to which it is related. It will not fail in its purpose, 
 which is, to clear up misconceptions from the former dispensations, 
 and unitize law and gospel, and bring all people in due time to one 
 
448 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 common belief in one God, who is all in all, and faith in humanity. 
 All will learn that the oppositional strife was a wise enactment of 
 the Supreme Law-Giver, for otherwise the growth of reason would 
 have been slow in the material worlds, in the minds which naturally 
 loved ease, and the present state of intellectual power could not have 
 been reached. So it was good, and shall be seen and understood as 
 good by mortals, as the powers who worked differently upon mortals 
 from those who remained in the limits of law and gospel, by which 
 the spoken of three great events are marked, and by which the 
 straight line from earth to Heaven is paved. But as they now return 
 in concord with design and as decreed from the beginning, all will 
 teach law and gospel as it is issued forth from the universe center. 
 Then it will be felt in the mind realms of mortals, and all will speed- 
 ily be brought to a progressional knowledge, in which all partake as 
 they have mental strength to understand. The great strife about 
 religious opinions shall cease, and peace among men shall become as 
 universal as progressive knowledge, and shall be ushered into the 
 world as soon as the earth becomes free from the present existing 
 customs and forms which were the works of men. This freedom will 
 be gained by the celestial workers who are sent by a special issue 
 from Heaven to earth for this purpose. 
 
 The most of the religious works are greatly dwarfed by men's 
 suppositions and comments on the divinely-given fragments, which 
 will meet with a decompositional change, and after a season of strife 
 will be given pure and beautiful. All which is impure and unhealthy 
 for mind and body is rejected and cast aside. Let yourselves not be 
 persuaded either by angel nor mortal tongue into the belief that your 
 own wisdom, outside of divine wisdom and power, will save you, for 
 it is a false idea. 
 
 Let all the world cry truth away, 
 
 We '11 give from error freedom, 
 Yet shall truth rise and hold full sway 
 
 In God's eternal kingdom. 
 
 December 2, 1879. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 449 
 
 LECTURE CV. 
 
 "world's currents which bear the masses, what are they 
 and where do they lead ? " m 
 
 A general repelling force to the common progress of mortals is 
 that the common opinion as to what one does, or to what society he 
 belongs, carries with it a dead weight. The effect is so great that we 
 find no language to express it properly, lest a definite answer would 
 be misapplied. 
 
 The popular currents are poisonous to many, and lead many to 
 impure resorts. 
 
 As travelers floating without rudder or compass, not observing 
 whether the wind blows good or ill for them, not questioning the fact 
 before taking voyage, how is the boat in which we sail ? Is it well 
 constructed ? Can we manage it, or have we any at all ? The fact 
 is too many are but hangers-on to the opinion rays thrown out by 
 others, and are pitiable subjects. While in tiffeir blind folly they do 
 not perceive that they are poor and wretched. But this being a fact 
 it becomes a realization to some sooner, to others later. 
 
 In their course of travels all learn the lessons they started out 
 to learn, and have themselves unknowingly been permitted to bear 
 burdens beyond their strength, and thus unable to comply with con- 
 stantly increasing demands. They cannot help incurring penalties ; 
 they cannot pay their debts ; hence there is suffering or punishment 
 instead. If they could cover the demands there would be no punish- 
 ment, no suffering, and all would be pleasant and well from one sta- 
 tion to another, having a constantly increased supply of means, Lav- 
 ing more and better opportunities to acquire knowledge, and thus add 
 to the pleasures of travel. 
 
 Such, friends, are the facts of this endless journey which begins 
 on earth. The means you need to supply the demands of travel is 
 knowledge upon every vital point which has a bearing on the route 
 from tli is to the next station, also which are the best and proper 
 places there. 
 
 It is a lack of reason when men assert that there is no need of 
 mortals troubling their brains about the mystic future. "They can 
 sail on in the great world ship under the guidance and pilot of Jesus. 
 He will see that every soul on board is well taken care of when on 
 the shores of the immortal climes. The ship stops each hour of each 
 day to unload and receive as it passes to and fro on these errands of 
 
450 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 love and mercy." But this you must look at as not being in concord 
 but in opposition to the strict and inevitable law of progress. 
 
 Men are created to individualize their own being. Their Growth 
 and perfectness as to their real being is held in close proximity with 
 their mental condition, whether it is well trained, well balanced, and 
 bright in all the tissues which therefrom issues. 
 
 A man who is a habitual extremist in one or two studies is like 
 a consumptive person. The parts through which health is breathed 
 for spirit expression and growth is clogged and finally entirely wasted. 
 
 Then when that traveler is placed on shore, no matter whether 
 under the great pilot Jesus, or a servant, it is all the same. He is 
 only what He has made Himself, and that is a very disfigured 
 being. 
 
 So it is with all manner of mental idleness, or wrong mental 
 exertion. What is not true culture produces nothing for the true 
 individual. Then there are no means to supply demands. 
 
 No confession of faith can or does give anyone a pass-port 
 through the pearly portals into the spheres of rest, but only their 
 own individual worth «diich their own being shows. The records 
 are very strictly kept for all. 
 
 All the maimed and deformed must remain without, and cannot 
 enter the spheres of rest and bliss, but must comply with all manner 
 of unpleasant labors, to thus become initiated into the order of prog- 
 ress, and then ascend and individualize according to their increase 
 ;of strength by way of these labors. 
 
 It is to this, friends, the popular currents lead you by not think- 
 ing for yourselves, and estimating the duties of your marked-out 
 travels. 
 
 LECTURE C VI. -(poetry.) 
 
 "WINTER, A DRAMA OF LIFE." 
 
 Time in his travels brings forth speedy changes, 
 Seasons are chasing each other so fast ; 
 Spring comes for all in the morning of life, 
 Summer in manhood, with it much strife ; 
 Autumn then comes with changeable storms, 
 Life's leaves do wither, and expose deformed forms. 
 
 Then winter so stately forces his way, 
 Snow covers the locks, gone is life's May; 
 
COMPILATION OF SriRIT LECTURES. 451 
 
 Slowly and still the boats glide along, 
 
 For weary travelers whose strength is gone; 
 
 Chill is the atmosphere, tot'ring the frame, 
 
 As travelers take voyage to go whence they came. 
 
 Why are yon weary and shattered within? 
 
 Let the old house wreck, a new one you '11 gain, — 
 
 A body which never is heir to diseases ; 
 
 Let sunny thoughts change all chilly breezes ; 
 
 Winter is lovely when ready to meet it, 
 
 Build up true manhood, verily you need it. 
 
 Winter! how grand thou art, and needed 
 
 For recreation of all things seeded ; 
 
 Season of seasons, I love thee best, 
 
 Thou callest the weary home to their rest; 
 
 Thy mantli of snow and ice is pure 
 
 For all who did well summer's heat endure. 
 
 Welcome, O boatman, pale and bright, 
 Angel of peace and transforming might; 
 Death to the mortal is life to the spirit, 
 White robes and crowns to all who merit; 
 Givest thou freely, pleasant and still, 
 Lord, all thy plans work perfect thy will. 
 
 Ever shall be every pilgrim's will, 
 
 Let all study carefully thy works and be still ; 
 
 Nature so lovely, in seasous divided 
 
 For every convenience, and thus provided 
 
 Is labor and food, for body and mind, 
 
 Study much harder, be no longer blind. 
 
 LECTURE CVII. 
 
 SUBJECT OF LECTURE FROM SECOND EPISTLE TO TOE CORIN- 
 THIANS : CHAPTER IV., VERSES XVII., XVIII. 
 
 " For our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceed- 
 ing and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which arc seen, but 
 at the things which arc not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the 
 things which are not seen are eternal." 
 
 The sounds of inharmonious tones are heard in mortal atmosphere; 
 
 Men value not this priceless boon of life immortal, but they arc 
 
 One 'gainst the other, all against one; time and eternity's curtains arc drawn; 
 
 Immortals view gladly man's mortal estate; mortals are led through yon open gate, 
 
 Till by this exchange inharmony subsides, and earth awakes to this glorious dawn. 
 
452 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 Yes, friends, a brighter glow is settling over earth than was ever 
 realized before by mother nature. The light of man's immortal con- 
 dition and life is dawning, and it is truly a glorious dawn, for mortals 
 in this age do not need to look through a glass darkly, but can, if 
 they will, see face to face ; they can if they will but have the knowl- 
 edge of all uoon or into which they had centered their faith. 
 
 Heaven opens, angels come 
 
 To tell mortals of their spirits' home. 
 
 This is a priceless boon, yet it is not prized by the majority of 
 the people who will still cling to the prophecies as though they were 
 made today, and look for the realization of them as being afar off. 
 They would rather look at the things not seen through a glass than 
 to see them clearly. They would rather think of their departed 
 friends as being far off than to meet them face to face and com- 
 mune with them. And this is not all, for there are those who cling 
 to the letter of the gospel, and scorn the spirit which had produced 
 the letter, and treat with contempt those who hear the spirit's voice 
 and pay heed to it, and become ministers appointed by the angels to 
 administer to the needs of the people. They are treated wfth con- 
 tempt by those who are mockers of the gospel, for they worship the 
 letter, but do not accept or feel the presence of the spirit. There- 
 fore, we say to all those who bask in this heavenly sunlight, yet have 
 much to contend with and endure in the mortal degrees, for the rea- 
 son that they are devoted to God and are willing workers in the 
 Lord's vineyard, in this the eleventh hour ; to them we say : " Your 
 light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for you a far more 
 exceeding and eternal weight of glory, for you look not at the things 
 which are seen but at the things which are not seen ; " that is, not 
 seen by those materially blinded, because the ways of the world seem 
 to them to be the real, the best, and they covet worldly things, and 
 do not exercise their spiritual faculties, nor give them out in exchange 
 now in this review, but they would rather bury those God-given tal- 
 ents and spiritual attributes beneath creeds and formulas, or tie them 
 up in a napkin of material popularity, so as to sail with the world in 
 the air-ships composed of the worldly commodities, letting the stanch 
 old gospel ship sail by them, time and again, but they were never 
 ready to take passage on a voyage to the immortal shores to be 
 refreshed in spirit, and to receive truths and messages which the All- 
 Father wishes to send to His earthly children. And yet they claim 
 that they do the will of God. Hoav many do we behold, who are 
 cold and materialistic, who are barren as a sandy desert as regards 
 
COMTILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 453 
 
 the fitness for the gospel ministry and labor in the Lord's vineyard, 
 yet they above all others cast shameful, yes scornful, looks at those 
 who were called by the Lord Himself at this the eleventh hour to 
 work in His vineyard. They say " We have endured the heat of the 
 day, we have preached Thj r gospel, we have fed Thy sheep." But 
 the Lord's mind is not like the mind of man, His ways are unlike 
 the ways of man, and He knows the deeds of every man, in what 
 spirit they were done and for what purpose. Mark ye this, that he 
 who has no message to the people whom he is to teach and instruct, 
 the same is no messenger ; hence, is an unjust minister who but fills 
 the place to conduct mortal worship after the fashion of the world, 
 and which is not only rejected by the Lord of lords, but, further, it is 
 an abomination. Let all who are teachers see to their own condi- 
 tion, and apply themselves to seek for wisdom, and for the hidden 
 and spiritual meaning of the gospel truths, and knock at the door 
 which opens into the inner life and it shall be opened unto you, for 
 all who seek truth shall find it, and all who knock, to them the door 
 shall be opened, and all who come in shall not be turned away empty, 
 but they shall receive that knowledge for which they yearned, and 
 they shall be surrounded with that heavenly glory which is necessary 
 for the unfoldment and growth of their own indwelling spirits, and 
 then by perseverance and sober study all mystic problems can be 
 solved, and all which is truly gospel must be learned and taught as 
 eternal truths in its spiritual tendency. Eternal truths pertain to 
 the past, to the present, and to the future, and can be applied thus 
 beneficially if they are understood thus in their three-fold bearing. 
 Rob the gospel of its immortal wing, from whence it is given and sup- 
 ported, and it would be nothing more than material strife, and it is 
 proven as such, rated and deprived of spiritual support and power, by 
 this, that the promised spiritual gifts arc not abiding or manifest, or 
 which were truly to follow all the true disciples of Jesus. But here 
 is the material gulf into which all the world's currents flow. Boats 
 of all kinds are afloat upon it ; commerce from world to world, as 
 divided by oceans, is carried on there, and all the world's attractions 
 for the purely material minded arc found there, and this gulf must be 
 crossed, without paying heed to any of these natural enticements, in 
 order to reach the immortal shores, and to learn spiritual truths and 
 to receive heavenly wisdom, for the gates of the immortal worlds are 
 wide ajar or open. Angels go to and fro on their labors of mercy 
 and their various duties and errands, but they do not need to cross 
 any gulfs. The angels tread the atmosphere and come upon the 
 threads of conditions ; also, they send forth desires to those who 
 
454 COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTURES. 
 
 yearn for them and for truth from their spirits' home. Immediately 
 after mortal dissolution a spirit can approach those of his own house- 
 hold the best, because they are in sympathy with the departed, their 
 loves are awakened, their thoughts are about them ; hence, all this 
 furnishes material which spirits can work with and upon, and the 
 avenues of the minds of those afflicted by the death of a member of 
 the family are opened, and that spirit which is divested of its mortal 
 coil works upon the mind and the faculties of the spirit in mortals, 
 even as they can be touched. 
 
 Then mortals are led to view the things that are not seen by the 
 natural eye, but by the spiritual eye, and which are received by intu- 
 ition ; and if they remain faithful, then they receive new light daily 
 from their spirits' home, in which light alone the truths concerning 
 men's estate as past, present, and future can be discerned and under- 
 stood. Many profit but vainly by their light afflictions ; their sor- 
 row is but a surface sorrow, and it soon passes away ; they look 
 about themselves and see so many attractions and enticements to 
 beckon them on out into the world, soon to be drawn upon this mate- 
 rial gulf by a popular current of worldly conditions. Then the mind 
 grows dark again, and all the desires are for the things which are 
 temporal, and which are viewed and coveted with eager eyes, but 
 who is there that considers the eud ? Who among the millions thus 
 engaged can be the first approached and led to behold the end, or the 
 dangers of their position and jrarsuit of all who are found there, and 
 who are thus spending their precious time, which for the purpose of 
 self-improvement was granted them ? All things material perish ; 
 hence, mortals that are wholly material perish also, must perish, for 
 although they are gifted with life eternal, yet they scorned such a 
 salvation, and made use only of their natural senses. They, like all 
 material things, are but temporal, and are given oyer to the natural 
 changes the same as all matter which is compounded into material 
 objects and things, also into mortal bodies. 
 
 You must improve your God-given attributes, for only by that 
 will God know and receive those that are from Him and His. When 
 the germs of the spirit are not even awakened in the material soul or 
 body, where then is or can be the individualized spirit that can 
 acquire an immortal form ? verily then those precious but unimproved 
 gifts are taken away and given to those who have acquired with their 
 own gifts that were given them at first by the way of a goodly exercise 
 of their intrusted soul powers, therefore, again I say, consider the end ; 
 consider from whence you are and whither you are going, O ye vain 
 and self-wise. Too many, yes, the masses, that had been first cast 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIItlT LECTURES. 455 
 
 out upon the tide of uncertainty from thence were attracted by 
 tokens of spirit power and led away captive ; they argue up that all 
 is well. The spirits have form, can return and do many things by 
 which to prove their identities that they were akin to us, and have 
 departed from our world. They say they are happy, also all these 
 affirm that they have never seen Jesus, who is claimed by Christians 
 as the Saviour of the world. They have never seen more of God 
 than they saw upon earth as manifested in His handiworks and preva- 
 lent over-ruling power ; hence, these mortals, enraptured by this 
 received intelligence of a continued life, think themselves very safe, 
 and grow more and more infidelic and materialistic, not knowing 
 what they do, even by holding communion with their departed 
 friends, because they remain upon the surface, and do not enter into 
 the inner life really, and do not seek for the pearl of all price, the 
 pure gospel truths, the words which light up the dark world and 
 lead the benighted mortals out into spiritual freedom. They argue 
 that nothing is ever lost, that nothing can be lost ; hence we are safe, 
 safe without a Christian Saviour, for our works shall save us. Well, 
 friends, it is a truth that your own works may and will save you, if 
 they are done in the right way, in a true and sincere spirit, otherwise 
 your works will profit you nothing. Again, they argue that which 
 has had life once will forever have life, and that no being can be 
 blotted out of existence. Well, upon this point you will have very 
 much to learn. Certainly, there is nothing lost, not even an atom ; 
 but, then, whole worlds are consumed and given over to the natural 
 refining processes for an improved reappearance. Even so will it 
 be with those non-spiritual mortals. They are, while in that state, 
 only clods of clay, and although they are left to run their chances for 
 progress, even after death, they are not left thus eternally, no, only 
 to the time of the now very close eternal division. Hence, it is an 
 eternity's loss to and for all who are not found worthy to be num- 
 bered among the blessed in the various progressive degrees, from the 
 first grades to the highest; and also that very many will remain with- 
 out the gates is only too true, and this will be the sad experience of 
 many who think that they are basking in immortal sunlight, but they 
 are not learning the truths by which to profit for time and eternity, 
 but are scheming ; they receive and covet supernal knowledge to aid 
 them in securing the things they see and covet in the material world. 
 Hence they are making perverted uses of the extended mercies of 
 God which are sent to turn them from their follies, and cause them 
 to study sincerely upon their life purposes, and to find them, aided by 
 the heavenly workers, and to comply therewith. Then only is it a 
 
45.6 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 benefit to have communion with the departed, not otherwise ; but in 
 this, the third dispensation, mortal desires and adverse yearnings are 
 as prevalent as they have been in the former two great embodiments 
 of God's truths upon earth, and in mortals, and I say now of those 
 who call themselves Spiritualists when the occasion suits them, so as 
 to satisfy their desires as to worldly things which they wish to 
 achieve, or to gain something with which to scheme. I say of them, 
 as I said of old of the professed followers of Jesus, even in the primi 
 tive age, that they are the enemies of the cross, the enemies of Jesus, 
 and in this day all who are perverted, or are adverse to the truths 
 of God, are the enemies of true Spiritualism, no matter what theii 
 pretentions may be. True Spiritualism is the religion of Heaven, 
 even as it is practical in all the spheres beyond, and it is now brought 
 to earth and enforced into practical uses upon earth. It is the relig 
 ion which was always and shall be forever. It is everlasting. All 
 other religions are contained in this, and are now being brought 
 forth to be thus demonstrated and proven, so that these wild sprouts 
 may be trimmed away from the gospel vine, which are absorbing its 
 strength, and the fruit which should be produced by mortals, they 
 having been grafted into that heavenly body, is dwarfed and sickly, 
 having been stung by the insects which abound in the mortal mind 
 realm, and which spring into existence from the very great desire for 
 the things seen on earth, and they take form as will and desire 
 shape these thoughts, these chaotic vapors. They are the products 
 jf jealousy, and deceit, and of self-love, the three greatest arch ene- 
 nies to mortal welfare. Yes, therefrom spring harmful insects that 
 nave stung and poisoned the fruit whicn the Gentile nation was to 
 bring forth from the time they were engrafted into the heavenly 
 Dody until now. Again I say all those who are despisers of true 
 Spiritualism are also despisers of the Gospel, are enemies of the 
 cross, and have not nor do not keep the testimony of Jesus. So- 
 called radical Spiritualism is that kind which in the prophecies 
 was styled delusions, which should be sent to probe man and his 
 principles. All who are found in those degrees and are devoted 
 should see to their own condition before it is too late, for verily if 
 they remain thus their end will be destructive. What difference is 
 there between a professed materialist and a professed Spiritualist 
 who denies God, Jesus, and all the God-born souls who have done 
 mighty works in this lower world in diffusing God's truths to 
 enlighten and expand the mortal mind realm. I will tell you what 
 the difference is between these parties. The professed materialist 
 has centered his mind wholly upon the things that are seen, and 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 457 
 
 awaits no glorious hereafter ; yet, after all, in his inmost soul are 
 whispers which he cannot suppress that there might be a future, and 
 he says humbly to himself: "Well, if there is a future state, I will 
 take it as I find it, and make the best of it." He is not presumptu- 
 ous, and as generally found is not without good principles, which is 
 a great weight for him when he is placed upon the balance with 
 unprincipled professed Christians and radical Spiritualists. Those 
 Christians spoken of are drones, for they wish to be carried into 
 Heaven on the merits of their Saviour, whom they neither obey nor 
 follow ; hence, they can have no claim to the salvation achieved by 
 His labors, and when they are weighed they are found wanting. The 
 radical Spiritualists need no one to aid them. They are rich and 
 wise, they know their friends live, and they conceive the delusive 
 idea that they can have whatever they desire, and can also go whither 
 they wish to after death ; and while they hold communion with 
 returning spirits they covet the things which the}?- see and use ; when 
 available, spirit aid enables them to secure the things seen, and thus 
 prove themselves enemies to their own immortal life and welfare. 
 The worst class of materialists which are enrolled are these, because 
 they do not perceive why these ministering spirits return, and they 
 scorn and misuse their offered and extended salvation. Only when 
 the life and conduct are such as to prove that the things which are 
 not seen with the natural eye are the objects of an intercourse with 
 the immortals, and if such wholesome communion brings to bear suf- 
 fering for the mortal man, then only does it work out a more exceed- 
 ing weight of glory for them. There is no religion in the universe 
 which does not demand the full devotion of its adherents, and 
 although the religion be but a stepping stone to the real, and serves 
 but for mental training, yet devotion to whatever is produced and 
 supported by that religion is the chief mark of worth. Spirit- 
 ualism is God's own religion, brought by spirits and angels to mor- 
 tals ; hence those who are not devoted to God are found unworthy, 
 and are led captives by delusions, as I have said. Then these turn 
 and say: Spiritualism is a science, a philosophy, — well, demonstrate 
 the science, and explain the philosophy, and what will you prove? — 
 that there is a power superior to man's powers in the scientific realm, 
 which will lead the true devotees to the spiritual and material science, 
 to admiration and devotion, and to become humble pupils. Analyze 
 and demonstrate the philosophy of true Spiritualism, if you are wise 
 enough to do so, and what will you find and prove ? That the high- 
 est principles that exist have produced and govern this philosophy, 
 and if you prize and love truth you will become a devoted and 
 
458 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 humble pupil and student, and as you learn, being thus taught more 
 and more of the things that are not seen, you will be less boastful 
 and more truly charitable, for you can discern the standing of others 
 by their conduct and speech, whether they are what they profess and 
 think they are, or whether they are self-deceived, and therefore 
 nothing but sounding brass and tinkling cymbals, the sounds of 
 which are pleasing to them, and are by their blinded vision held as 
 wisdom, intelligence, and as knowing the things afar off, or placing 
 them in the mists of creation's twilight shadows. But even when 
 carried there in fancy, what is gained ? Can the blind read the signs 
 spread out before the vision ? Can the man devoid of understanding 
 discern weighty truths and apply them ? No, never. Hence there 
 is no benefit unless in the lisdit of God's li°;ht men are led to see 
 through the mists, and by the aid of the Spirit of God behold the 
 glories which are all around them. There is no benefit gained, 
 although the intellectual expansion may be compelled forth by much 
 reading and study, but if the Spirit of God does not light up those 
 mental chambers, does not open to reception the sublime organs of 
 spiritual devotion and consciousness, then I say there can be no bene- 
 fit achieved or desired ; no lasting honors can accrue to such learned 
 people, for they, seeing, are blind to the grandest objects and truths 
 which are all around them. They cannot grasp an idea from the 
 inner life, hence are only on the surface, and engaged in the traffic 
 of and with worldly mentality. When they die, their lights will be 
 entinguished, but not that memory would be blotted out, and the 
 mind rest in the grave ; no, not even so, memory lives to execute, 
 and conscience to sting with remorse. The mind activities are pres- 
 ent, but prove themselves as counterfeit currencies, as means invested 
 and exercised to no good purpose or end, no merits from all of this 
 bland and laborious course. Nothing but the ever present regret 
 and remorse. Therefore, all this does create darkness round about, 
 for it is true goodness which intelligence exercised to achieve bene- 
 ficial works for many, which does glow around all who possess and 
 have used it thus as lights as orbs of brightness of the exact brilliancy 
 of the good achieved by and through their labors ; hence, when there 
 are no good deeds done, then there is no spiritual brightness, but all 
 is gloomy, dense, and a pressure. 
 
 This, friends, is true concerning the future states, and consti- 
 tutes Hell or Heaven, happiness or misery, although it is not realized 
 in the way that mortals had conceived it to be from the abstracted 
 words or speech given at different times, that is, abstracted from the 
 pictures set forth of Hades, the future conditional -state of mortals. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 459 
 
 And as for the lake of fire and brimstone, into which the wicked 
 should be plunged at the end of time, well, it was not without its 
 meaning, but having been set forth as typical and symbolical, and 
 not defined as to what was really meant by such language, therefore 
 it has become an object of ridicule in these days, and the learned 
 men of the world have brought those very questions into the material 
 realm, and have speculated upon them, and now, since they have been 
 thus treated, have become as it were mere traffic ; they have lost all 
 terrors, and the worldly minds have become accustomed to them, but 
 they are still not defined. Let all those wise men retreat within the 
 sacred vestibule of nature and follow the guide-posts which, erected by 
 time, stand and defy the wisdom of the worldly wise. Let them go on 
 further and further until they can behold a process of formation out of 
 undefinable flames, fluids, and vapors, and though they could not trace 
 the formation of the earth as it is too remote, yet they could gain an 
 idea of that lake so pictured forth, that is spoken of in the Scripture 
 records, and whether or not those who are unfit to enter into 
 heavenly rest are plunged into such a lake for re-creation, or are 
 transformed by milder processes which consume, yet consume not 
 (the Book says which burn but consumes not) ; but it is not so, for 
 there is, in a manner, a consumption, and yet there is nothing lost, 
 only refined and again reproduced, therefore not consumed. And 
 what shall we say of the end of the world, or the general, depopula- 
 tion and destruction ? Is it not a figure of speech, and has it not 
 been entirely misapprehended ? Verily, the end of the world never 
 comes, because the processes of creating and regenerating go on 
 eternally, but we have time divisions and also natural changes, in 
 accord with the regulative laws of the Universe, and with mental and 
 natural improvements ; and, more, there have been no prophecies 
 made which will not have their fulfillments physically. Hence, in 
 connection with the out-pouring of the spirit of God upon all flesh is 
 made the prophecy that the righteous shall rule and possess the 
 earth. The out-pouring of the spirit serves for many purposes, and 
 all the niches in the great temple will thus be filled. All the junc- 
 tions of the plan due for physical labors are thus brought forth and 
 enacted. The earth is being reaped of the harvest grown from the 
 Gospel teachings. Our eternity's works are being reviewed and 
 judged, and many more works of weight, for which I shall await with 
 pleasure the revelations made to mortals by those whose right it is to 
 do so. But the people on earth are by these works prepared, so that 
 that prophecy can take form, and that the immortals shall bo heeded, 
 and the earthly government can be wielded by them in power and spirit, 
 
460 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 but on earth by mortals as always has been, yet with a mutual agree- 
 ment and harmony. All who are opposed to these works in the great 
 plan, which are written in the universal statute book, and must there- 
 fore be enforced upon earth, all who are rebels against these works, 
 will perish, and their world will perish with them, because it is said 
 of certain customs and pursuits " thus far and no farther," hence, 
 the end of these must come. Parts and portions of this lower world 
 shall really be destroyed, and much of those idolized material collec- 
 tions, and many of the inhabitants of earth shall be swept off swiftly, 
 for the reason that they are unbelieving and of rebellious hearts and 
 wills. But the end will not be yet, but greater glories shall surround 
 mortals, brighter hues shall fill and compose the atmosphere, and 
 prosperity shall perch over all the true and faithful, and the labors 
 of the Heavenly Dove shall be felt on earth very effectually, for the 
 olive leaves and branches have been brought thus, and left on earth, 
 and while these tokens of peace and freedom, and of the subsiding of 
 the dark waters of mortal ignorance abide upon earth, there cannot 
 be great calamities ; there can be no famine where those leaves are 
 dropped and found ; there can be no dangerous rumors of wars, no 
 rising of the waters of or for great destructions. Hence, let all who 
 have mind exercise it and seek for the spoken of branches from the 
 two great living olive trees in Heaven, and when they are found and 
 cherished then all will be well, and there will be nothing to fear. 
 How these leaves are plucked, brought, and scattered is a problem 
 which men are bid to solve. 
 
 LECTURE CVIII. 
 
 ONWARD AND UPWARD MOVES THE CAR OF PROGRESS. 
 
 The labors of angels and spirits are felt more on earth from 
 day to day. The atmosphere is undergoing a rapid change, and 
 exceeds calculations even, in the way airic divisions are summed up 
 and balanced when great works are set in execution on earth by the 
 many spirits employed to clear up the dross of matter. Works were 
 hastened and well done too, for it was a source of pleasure to these 
 earth-bound spirits to work upon mortals so tangibly, and to gratify 
 their longings which kept them in a low state in darkness. Outside of 
 this they are also doing a useful work which they can only under- 
 stand fully in their future states the same as mortals. Also we have 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 461 
 
 so far succeeded in bridging the valley of death, whose stroke is so 
 much feared, that we can soon rob it of its sway; it has been hitherto 
 a feared monster, but it shall be seen that through this valley is only 
 a short, pleasant ride through a tunnel. In passing through this 
 valley one becomes changed, and all who have the right view of 
 things and have lived and labored in concord with the marks on their 
 traveling chart, the same are glorified and beautifully transformed 
 while going through this short but lovely valley. The boatman will 
 not have employment much longer, for the traveler can pass through 
 from one station to the other, from earth to the worlds beyond it, 
 without a ride in the condition boat or the assistance of boatmen. A 
 chemical process now in preparation will cement the links which were 
 as yet missing in the chain, and in consequence thereof there was a 
 void which mortals could not pass over, for there was nothing for a 
 foothold. Hence, the flight through the valley must be an aerial 
 one. This valley, composed of gathered conditions and fluids in a 
 chaotic state, was therefore described as the valley of death. Hence, 
 as the chemical process will be completed in concord with this amend- 
 ment of the natural statute works, knowledge thereof will dawn 
 upon the people on earth in the very near future. The question of 
 intercourse with those from a supermundane state, will be a fixed 
 fact, so much so that no one will raise a voice against it, being con- 
 vinced by experience of its reality, for all flesh shall be made to see 
 and hear this, and some of the eternal truths which are of universal 
 importance must be now declared and understood, shall be seen, 
 heard, and comprehended. 
 
 Truly the car of progress moves onward in haste, although 
 keeping its regular orderly course with the law of natural regulations, 
 yet there never was a time when so much work was in so short a 
 time accomplished as is now being done. Truly there is joy among 
 the Morning Stars. Why should they not rejoice when they see 
 their task so nearly finished? Why should the}' not be delighted? 
 for in the beginning of the work they sensed many unpleasant 
 vapors with which they were compelled to mingle. It was humiliat- 
 ing and a great taxation. These Morning Stars are the compact num- 
 ber of the creative body who worked in mutual concord, yet seem- 
 ingly adverse to one another, according to the view of those trained, 
 as the work was pursued according to the rule of a drama, and the 
 acts were suiting to the wishes of the chemical proprietors, as the 
 subtle forces and fluids could be best brought forth and made to 
 cohere for the required forms, which then could again, by and 
 through the method known and understood by one of their number, 
 
462 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 be dissolved, and thus again given over to be prepared by the same 
 law for action on the stage again. How grand these works must 
 appear to those who behold them from the high summit where these 
 masters have their habitation. It is up in the brighter worlds, where 
 all is grand and beautiful. Their habitations are situated on islands 
 or mountains in sight of each other. To the observer they seem near 
 to one another. They are divided from one another by the stream 
 that flows from Mount Sublimity, and is called the Crystal stream ; 
 this stream supports the rainbow valley with great fountains whose 
 pure waters sparkle so beautifully. This stream flows around those 
 island mountains which are as large as one of Earth's continents. 
 Each one is like a world in itself, yet so different in appearance ; 
 but all are grandly magnificent, and arranged in the highest state of 
 culture and beauty. Mount Sublimity is the highest of the seven, 
 and the most beautiful, and contains the greatest wealth. It 
 designates its position by its appearance, for there resides the one 
 they call King, and to whom they bow in reverence ; for all have 
 attained to this through Him, who by His great wisdom contemplated 
 and formed the plan, and who, by his own labor, has done more 
 towards filling the 'plan than all others. 
 
 Study, O mortals, to learn and understand the lessons concern- 
 ing the seven spirits of God who form the creative power, and who 
 are the compact body of Morning Stars who sang together when 
 earth's day dawned ; who now sing together, and have agreed that 
 law and gospel can be sufficiently understood by mortals now, so that 
 it can be practically enforced on earth, and the song of Moses and 
 the Lamb can be sung by the redeemed on earth as well as by the 
 redeemed in Heaven. The Gospel of Faith must be comprehended 
 and understood, that it has not been real but only typical, leading 
 the people by its precepts and presented pictures on toward a brighter 
 development of mind, so that they could be taught reality. 
 
 Live not in vain, O mortals, 
 
 Think not your day on earth is to be spent 
 
 In idle musing and common discontent, 
 
 And by a formal act pass through yon portals 
 
 "When death arrives, and doth the body rend, 
 
 Eor then the spirit, sown in earth's corruption, 
 
 Doth rise, but is not glorified. 
 
 It had not gathered gems nor earthly rosebuds, 
 
 It had not all the grand works magnified, 
 
 Which were before it on the plain and hill. 
 
 Oh, view earth's beauties, let your hearts be thrilled, 
 
 As you behold how all these things are wrought 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 463 
 
 From slimes and fossils, beauty, where was naught. 
 
 Then think how far superior Heaven must be, 
 
 Where all those masters, with powerful execution, 
 
 Have stored and stationed all the beautiful of art, 
 
 And grandeur's abstracts by trauslution, 
 
 From all the substance in the universe. 
 
 And study each, yourselves view in the race, and win the prize, 
 
 Perchance you may not win the most, but if you gain at all, not lose, 
 
 You can accumulate, for Heaven's hosts aid all who aim 
 
 Among the busy runners a prize to gain. 
 
 Learn that the spiritual studies offered to those on earth are 
 not intended to aid them in selfish achievements, but to aid in a 
 universal sense. We aid even in matters of earth's duties, and show 
 where improvements can be made, if the parties work according to 
 our dictates, and do not try to make a selfish scheme of it. Earth 
 is now passing through a refining process the same as the minds and 
 mind productions. A superior order throughout will be established, 
 and the wealth which is only waiting to be taken from earth's bosom 
 and put to use by laboring hands and minds, to devise plans and 
 enforce them so far that all things can be made beneficial and beauti- 
 ful for ever}-one, and the time come when God's poor shall be 
 among the rich on earth to probe them thereby, and give room for 
 the exercise of common charity. A new enactment of law will annul 
 this adjunct, which has so far been used in the different modes of 
 wielded power, whereby mortals were trained. 
 
 LECTURE CIX. 
 
 THE GUIDING EYE. 
 
 Man in his natural state is dependent. His life on earth is a 
 drama, and he plays, so far as the physical man is concerned, his 
 part under the supervision of the conditional stage managers as they 
 will and direct him ; he himself does not understand this dramatic 
 composition, and passes through the play like one dreaming. He 
 walks through the tunnels, and is tossed or sent by the electric con- 
 ditions from pillar to post, performing the assigned parts as a tool 
 used in the hand of an expert in play. So little even do men con- 
 trol their own natural actions. And, yet, they can surmount this 
 dependent and helpless condition, and learn these finite rules of 
 
464 COMPILATION OF SPIEIT LECTURES. 
 
 transactions, and become masters over their own actions, so far as 
 finite rule and regulations go, but those in the first, second, third, or 
 fourth degrees of the matter grades cannot do this, — nay, they do not 
 possess the mental power ; they cannot be developed up through these 
 grades otherwise than by being aided or led through them by the 
 invisible directors or agents and servants, who thus compel them to 
 perform the parts of honor or dishonor, comic and reserved, even as 
 their natural composition needs treatment, in order to bring to bear 
 upon the system such changes as will be essential for the future 
 growth. At the same time, the most rude and ignoble actions com- 
 mitted by mortals have a niche to fill, and something grand may be 
 worked out or reproduced by the same individual. Other parts of 
 life's great drama are presented to the world, therefore man should 
 recognize this tie of brotherhood more, and not be one man set against 
 his brother, lest he should learn that he was opposing himself, which 
 is in more than one sense of the term realized by nearly all. Remem- 
 ber that in God's eyes all are equal or alike. He is no respecter of 
 persons. The king on an earthly throne, and the convict in the 
 ]irison cell, are regarded by Him with the same respect ; and though 
 justice had been perverted and unjust measures been dealt out to the 
 helpless and weak, yet the latter stands exalted in the eyes of the 
 Great Sovereign above an earthly autocrat. But while mortals jour- 
 ney so helplessly over earth's deserts, they are subjected physically to 
 conditional management, yet they are spiritually guided by the all- 
 seeing eye and power of the spirit. This power of spirit is made 
 manifest, and has ever been, in such forms of love and mercy for the 
 wandering spirits as through the coarse compositions of matter it 
 could be conveyed to the indwelling spirits, and was therefore looked 
 upon and accepted as religious, and although ceremonies were annexed 
 and useless burdens were imposed as yokes on the necks of the dif- 
 ferent generations by their religious leaders, who formed the rites of 
 such conceptions as their senses could grasp, and felt that it would 
 increase religious growth. That all this religious exercise has been 
 very imperfect is too true, yet it is very creditable at the same time, 
 when the mental conditions are brought to issue, and the guiding eye 
 surveys and records all, and not one of these various conditions are 
 overlooked by the all-seeing eye. Its great power is exerted over 
 and above all things and all conditions ; therefore, when a man, for 
 a season, falls a victim to the evil eye possessed perchance by a 
 susceptible mortal upon whom an invisible compelling force acts, and 
 through their instrumentality causes a man or woman to leave the 
 path of virtue and sink into the depths of degradation, or become 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 465 
 
 addicted to strong drink, and finally to become a moral wreck, or to 
 lose accumulated treasures, and, by the effects it may have upon the 
 nerves, be thrown from the balance of mind or manhood, to become 
 wreckless and seemingly useless to himself and others. Yet, while 
 all this is in process, the eye of love guides and constantly observes, 
 and with tendcrest smiles refreshes the weary soul within at each 
 opening of the soul's avenues. All the ills or scorn imposed, as well 
 as all the aid shown or given to such unfortunate brother or sister, is 
 recorded by the all-seeing or guiding eye on the canvas of nature, 
 also with the finger of the spirit in the great book of records, and all 
 this will receive a just compensation. To give you a better under- 
 standing of what is included in the subject, we will quote from Rev., 
 Chap, iv., 6th and 8th verses inclusive, where John had a vision, and 
 stated it thus : " And before the throne there was a sea of glass like 
 unto crystal, and in the midst of the throne and round about it were 
 four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was 
 like a lion, the second was like a calf, and the third beast had a face like 
 a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four 
 beasts had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of 
 eyes within, and they rest not day and night, saying : Holy, Holy, 
 Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." 
 These sayings, though they can be taken only in a typical sense, so 
 far as the description goes, yet they contain great and wonderful les- 
 sons in them. First, we would say the great white throne, and He 
 who sits upon it, cannot be discerned by the illumined eye of the 
 spirit in vision, but that great central light, from whence all life and 
 intelligence proceed, is thus magnified and placed in typical forms of 
 its power, so that mortals can faintly comprehend it, — that luminous 
 ether which floods all space in which there is no tissue save that of 
 light and brightness. It is too much a reality for finite minds to 
 understand otherwise than in typical illustrations. The four beasts 
 before the throne signify powers and principalities, and the eyes are 
 the symbols of the different religions taught to the nations, and by 
 those eyes which never rest day nor night all things are observed 
 ever, — ever kept in the motion of advance, and all is recorded by it. 
 The six win^s which were seen about each beast are the svmbols of 
 the six creative heads who work in seeming opposition to one another, 
 and yet work in concord according to law, and the combined labor is 
 for the one of the seven who is supreme above them all, to whom 
 also they give honor and thanksgivings. It can be seen by this that 
 although the religious practices are and have been very different in 
 different ages and generations, yet all have come forth from the one 
 
46G COMriLATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 great central light, and all which is taught and infused is for the 
 benefit and elevation of all, and for the honor and glory of the one 
 who we term the All-Father, or God. There is wonderful power 
 contained in the eye, even the natural eye is a window through which 
 the soul expresses itself, and a great strength is issued constantly by 
 and from the eye which affects all mankind more than the uttered 
 words of a language. No sound of language needs to be used by 
 spirits. The look of the eye conveys each thought clearly, also per- 
 ceives far and near all which the eye can behold. It is in this way 
 that the chief guiding and controlling of mortals is done ; also the 
 regulations of universal affairs are in a measure thus controlled ; but 
 all which needs personal labor and attention is done by servants and 
 angels of mercy who love to be engaged in actnal labor, to perfect 
 their happiness by being thus active. 
 
 You should see the multitudes that bow reverently before and 
 in the direction of the throne from whence this light issues forth 
 which gives the tokens of labor errands. How delightedly they all 
 take up whatever touches them, and swiftly fly to perform the errand, 
 no matter what it is ; if it is an issue from the central light, it is given 
 to aid some lesser life, and he is most happy who can most readily 
 find access to the designed object. There are and have been stand- 
 ard religions which were infused and imparted by these beasts 
 described above, that were designed to merge into the one great relig- 
 ion, based upon the third especial dispensation of law and gospel, 
 which must unite all other religions of the w r orld ; the past and also 
 the present orders will, as we have said, merge into this one ; and as 
 these beasts give honor and glory to the Lord God omnipotent, the 
 course of action is changed, and all flesh is worked upon by those 
 directing eyes, and this great invisible guiding and controlling power, 
 and the views of the people will be changed, because these heavenly 
 ethers thus brought by the flashes of electricity to make impressions 
 upon the soul's retina will not fail in their purpose, but the result 
 will be that minds and ideas will be by this created and changed, 
 and gradually brought into this new order. 
 
 Law and gospel united form the Everlasting Gospel. It is the 
 song the redeemed sing who stand and walk upon the sea of glass, as 
 described. This is also a typical statement, as glass is a non-con- 
 ductor, and those who walk on this sea of glass are seen and 
 designated as the army of the redeemed, who are no longer swayed 
 by adverse opinions, or new and delusive demonstrations issued and 
 presented from the mundane or supermundane worlds ; but who com- 
 prehend that the law and the prophets hang in the gospel, and that 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 467 
 
 the gospel of grace is the junction of the lawful plan, which would 
 hold and encircle in its mantle of mercy all the erring, wayward wan- 
 derers on earth, and that all hangs truly together and is law through- 
 out, only in a different form suiting the purpose, and therefore the 
 song of Moses and the Lamb is this united recognition, because it is 
 established in physical measures by these two representatives, but all 
 according to divine design and God's plan with man. Now it does 
 not require that you should be in the spirit world, and very high up 
 near the throne, as (he vision describes, before you can walk on this 
 sea of glass, and sing this song of the redeemed. Nay, right now 
 this can be done, for all these things are conditions of the soul, and 
 when you find this truth, which all must find and adjust before they 
 are free from being swayed by every sweeping mind, and tossed by 
 every wave, then when you have found it, cherish it above all else. 
 Give your soul to the study of true wisdom, and exert your mind to 
 bring the unconnected parcels together, and you will become peaceful 
 and happy, and no storms will affect or overthrow, because you have 
 built upon a rock, and have learned God's design with man. You 
 are near Ilim or He is near to you, no matter where your physical 
 condition has placed you during the period of earth life, and when 
 the tie is broken which holds the spirit in matter, then you will be 
 united with the redeemed on high. Ponder the subject of the guid- 
 ing eye well all who hear it. Place yourself in such a state or men- 
 tal condition and spiritual longing for light that the guiding eye can 
 shed its radiance upon and refresh your spirit, and lead you out of all 
 difficulties onward and upward. The standard religions infused and 
 supported by the above-described beasts, with the dispensation of law 
 and gospel as the standard for all time to come are Brahmanism, Bud- 
 dhism, and Mohammedanism. The despotism of law, and from which 
 has grown the Jewish or Hebrew religion, is not thus represented, 
 because it was limited to one race of people, and was contained in the 
 gospel dispensation, as also gospel is contained in the law, and is the 
 fourth representation by the beast bearing the likeness of a flying 
 eagle. This is the Christian religion, or gospel dispensation thus 
 represented, because it will find access to all kindreds and tongues in 
 due time, and because it will gain a sure victory over all other exist- 
 ing religions, for it is founded in law and in the plan of creation and 
 redemption, and cannot fail of being fulfilled. Therefore, the beasts 
 being described as full of eyes within bears testimony of the hidden 
 wisdom and power constantly infused into mortals, and their power is 
 excessively exercised, yet in such a way that mortals cannot detector 
 perceive it otherwise than by the sensations brought to bear upon tho 
 
468 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 system, and the evidence of God's presence with them being thus 
 made manifest to their inner consciousness. This is the work from 
 the innor life, from whence the greatest intelligence flows, and from 
 whence the divine germs are protected and called by this action into 
 life or unfoldment, and by which each tiny impulse is continually 
 nursed, which arises or springs forth from the soil of the soul by the 
 subtle power of these eyes from within, and by the guiding eye each 
 and every one is led positively their way through the desert9, if the 
 physical man or woman needs it, in order that the spirit within may 
 become individualized and improved by the journey. Often this all- 
 pervading power leads the people through the waters of tribulations, 
 and into the finite degrees of management, for there must ever be a 
 corresponding course pursued in all earthly and physical wielding ; 
 but in all this it is swayed by the guiding eye of wisdom. Even the 
 2'eligious waves are first indicated in the rays issued by this power 
 from the great central light, and ultimate fountain, then those offici- 
 ating in the finite degrees can regulate the things of earth, so that 
 there will be a natural force created, so as to bring the people to 
 partake or reject the effects which are sensed by the physical senses 
 and felt in everything ; yet not affecting all mortals, nor all alike, 
 owing to the standing of their moral and religious qualities, for, 
 although on earth there is no regularity of gradations and degrees, 
 yet every living person is strictly recorded, and their gradation marks 
 show whether they come under certain afflictions, set off by these 
 waves from the conditional tide, or whether they are above it, there- 
 fore free. 
 
 These records are looked over yearly, and every seven years 
 they are revised according to improvements made, or the losing of 
 principles and individuality. All things are so strictly regulated, 
 even in the finite degrees, and more strictly yet in the infinite, where, 
 by the guiding and recording eye, the smallest deed and each rising 
 thought for good or evil is recorded. Will you not try, then, to be 
 pure in all your thoughts and desires ? Certainly, then, no impure 
 deeds could be done by you. Do this for your own sake, so as to be 
 rewarded with the pure in heart, also to honor your Creator by 
 improving the time by studying these natural lessons for which you 
 were sent forth, and to become acquainted with the finite degrees of 
 life, and learn the rudimental lessons of development, so that you 
 can attain to a perfect understanding of the whole sum of the plan 
 and its active labors for good. 
 
 This all shall see and comprehend as they rise in the scale of 
 existence, and become by study and an application of the knowledge 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 469 
 
 they acquire competent to do so. Then they will all give due honor 
 to their Creator, and bow reverently before Iliin in whom they will 
 all become thus perfected. 
 
 LECTURE CX. 
 
 ANGEL MISSIONARIES. 
 
 In the common return of spirits there is nothing wonderful nor 
 very instructive. At each eventful time of great natural changes in 
 strict accord with law, natural also immutable, wherefore not very 
 many of the different productions are recorded on the pages of the 
 world's history, nay, not more than can be made use of as evidence 
 of that which is lawfully produced as supreme issue, and must stand 
 for all time, and is brought to mortal mind when by divine commis- 
 sion it is noted with great veracity, because infused into mortal brains 
 which are receptive for it, and who have different abilities fcr diffus- 
 ing it again. 
 
 This is done because, first, there must be changes in customs, 
 religions, and morals ; second, there must be a variety, so as to give 
 room for a needed platform ; and, third, so as to furnish building 
 material for the growing world and workers. Therefore, while inspi- 
 rational speaking is greatly extolled, and finds warm reception above 
 that which is inspirationally given in writing, that commission is but 
 for the present to thereby forcibly agitate the stagnant pools which 
 have gathered and settled in the minds of the people, and when the 
 mists have scattered and cleared away which these masses of produc- 
 tions create and compel forth from all the dark mental recesses, and 
 by which also masses of mortals are made drunken and blind to the 
 truth as it is and was and ever shall be. Then, ah, then shall the 
 people see this difference and the truth of these labors in their proper 
 degrees, and place upon them a sacred value in the proper order of 
 degrees, for it is a truth that there are distinct commissions executed 
 at the same time with these, or opposite to these, of divine issue, and 
 these differences must be learned by mortals, for they, the first-named 
 distinct commissions proceed forth from the ruler in the chaotic 
 degrees, and are lawful under finite rule, and are executed by cap- 
 tains and workers in such degrees at the time of a great natural 
 change, but this should not affect principle and devotion to God, but 
 
470 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 it docs in the majority of the people, and in that the faith and 
 patience are probed of all who claim to be followers of Christ and 
 worshipers of God. These workers in the worldly degrees combine 
 their labor with mortals of their degrees upon whom they can work, 
 and thus they compel forth the physical effects of such things which 
 would otherwise remain subtle and indefinable, and in this a useful 
 work is also done, for nature is renovated and natural laws are ful- 
 filled which in this epoch must, in compliance with immutable law, 
 meet with a change. 
 
 There is a great amount of subtle force thrown into the earth's 
 atmospheres by these workers, and the chief purpose of this is to 
 loosen the bands from the great center pole, and cause parts of this 
 now flourishing earth to be consumed by'the means of fire and water; 
 but water will be the lesser agent, for only the waters from beneath 
 can, be used for this purpose, for the waters above will be enshrined, 
 there shall none burst forth for a flood, for the reason of the promise 
 God made to man, also the sign of the rainbow which served as a new 
 clause, namely, that there should never again be a destruction of 
 earth and flesh by water. It is an injuction in the covenant or stat- 
 ute law which will be filled when the present great change shall be 
 accomplished and realized. Hence any flood that may be realized in 
 parts of the earth's continents will only be effected by the workers 
 under the chaotic ruler, and by the force of letting loose the under- 
 ground waters, and through their force are produced the changes in 
 the natural degrees of regulating. The new order soon to be dis- 
 pensed and gradually enforced is to be the order of progress, to be 
 variously taught by angel missionaries through the prepared organ- 
 isms -of mortals for that purpose. It is the new covenant of which 
 the Lord has spoken at different times in by-gone ages, that it should 
 be engraven on the souls and in the hearts and consciences of men 
 instead .of being written in a book. But, friends, it is much easier to 
 talk about progress and its inviting advantages than it will be to do 
 according to its requirements. This new religion which looks so 
 favorable will not, like former religions, be a symbolical but a practi- 
 cal religion, not as easy lived as it is to talk about living it we say. 
 There are so many things connected with the order of progress which 
 it will be impossible to bring into practice in the state in which the 
 earth and the people are in now, therefore the spoken of change must 
 first come before this grand system will or can become universal. As 
 it now is the minds of mortals cannot become thoroughly imbued 
 with the spirit of grace and truth so that they will not endeavor to 
 take advantage of one another, and seek an opportunity for self- 
 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 471 
 
 benefit in a worldly sense, and this new order will not tolerate any 
 subtle dealings. All shall be known as it is by all, for it is the right 
 of the order that there shall be no screen between mists and reality, 
 nor any mediation between God and man in the sense that the pres- 
 ent and the past have had medial power. All shall be directly 
 taught from God or by the ministering spirits in accord with their 
 abilities for receiving. Thus, then, they shall all know their rights, 
 also their wrongs, and their rewards and punishments with an unerr- 
 ing certainty. 
 
 There are many mortals now who claim that they have attained 
 to this knowledge, and have the assurance of walking in this narrow 
 path of law and gospel, — thus true essential progress. But they will 
 be a marvel in their own eyes when the mists have cleared away, and 
 each aim they had in earth life is brought out before them. They 
 will see how men are deceived even in themselves, and how they mis- 
 take the pulsations of their own hearts. But this we need not treat 
 upon, for those who think themselves righteous and pure can at no 
 great change be converted to the truths which God the Father makes 
 manifest through humble instruments on earth. Thinking they see, 
 they become blinded to the grand unfoldments of the new glories of the 
 divine power and intelligence given thus for the benefit of man. But 
 those whom these term blind are led by the ministering spirits to see 
 these beauties. Yet many that are thus led to see cannot be regu- 
 lated in their devotional organs by their faithful angel guardians to a 
 rational degree, owing to the fact that the spirit of grace is in their 
 being held a prisoner by worldly desires and natural proclivities. 
 
 Thus they are held in subjection in the finite degrees, because 
 worldly aims are and have been their chief objects. Hence they 
 cannot see the true gospel in its own light nor be truly devo- 
 tional to God in a strict sense until they emerge out of this captivity 
 and are raised above it by angel aid. All these only know and 
 recognize the truth of spirit communion, and are assured of immor- 
 tality by this new investment of their mental powers to study the 
 mystic seeming reality which grows clearer and clearer, that is, life's 
 continuation from stage to stage, or from sphere to sphere. In the 
 first epoch of time of this present eternity mortals needed no teach- 
 ings upon these points, therefore there are no records of it, for they 
 all knew this great truth, and understood the chemical yet natural 
 law by which life was preserved in this first sphere of tangible exist- 
 ence, so that they lived long. Their earthly days greatly exceeded 
 the days of those that came after them, owing to the fact that it was 
 not seen good that men should know this, wherefore mists were 
 
472 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 scattered over it for the purpose of saving men from incurring for 
 themselves many penalties too hard to pay in the round of one eter- 
 nity. However, this law will now be taught again, and shall be 
 known by mortals. It is a right of the progressive order under the 
 title of Everlasting Gospel, or also a universal religion from Heaven 
 to earth to be reached. 
 
 It is a practical religion, and the more mortals may be privileged 
 to serve for the welfare of others the more ways will thereby be 
 opened by these services through which angels will bring blessings to 
 them, and at the same time angels erect mansions for those who 
 willingly aid others, and these mansions are fitted out as due reward 
 for each separate service rendered in behalf of or for the welfare of 
 another mortal, and the marks of such services are beautifully 
 engraven upon each article of merit placed in these homes by min- 
 istering spirits. Small deeds of kindness toward the needy are 
 rewarded the same as great deeds, owing to the feeling of the spirit 
 which actuated the person to do the kind deed. Each word spoken 
 by which another soul is enabled to see new light, and by this light 
 enabled to understand better God's truths, has its rewards. Remem- 
 ber, oh, remember, that each word you speak, each deed you do, is for 
 your own weal or woe. 
 
 Then be careful, friends, do nothing in haste, 
 Do n't misuse strength, and labor waste ; 
 Think ere you speak, work while you may, 
 Serve where you can, in any way, — 
 In words, in means, as you are able, 
 These words are truth, they are no fable. 
 
 In conclusion, as comments on this subject, it may be well for us 
 to add that, in accord with our rights given us from the Supreme 
 Ruler as commissioned missionaries to dispense this new religion 
 spoken of, that we have dealt with some of the select members here 
 in difficult conditions and encumbrances. They were known where 
 they belonged most truly, but it was done to gain power for testi- 
 mony, so that in due time progress can be speeded by the masses in 
 this conditional leading out, for as we proceed on we must labor 
 among all mortals for the benefit of all. By benevolence and charit- 
 able deeds this heavenly mission can be aided in its progress on 
 earth. All who can should aid the chosen instruments, the mediums, 
 w T ho stand between the two great worlds, for this reason: that a 
 heavy taxation is made upon them in order to accomplish on earth 
 the works of Heaven's designs. It has happened that we gave 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 473 
 
 demonstrations here of these facts, that parties under heavy type-subjec- 
 tions can have their release therefrom, providing it is paid or served 
 out for them by angels on our side, and by mortals on their side. 
 These are the greatest works of philanthrophy that can be done. 
 But the people do not rightly comprehend such great works as yet, 
 for as the evidence has been produced so is the testimony before us 
 from such transacted labors here which required severest subjection 
 and great humiliations which have made prominent marks on the 
 canvas of nature for all eyes to see as well as in art and in record. 
 Those who were thus led out should watch and pray, and not sin 
 again, for greater calamities might befall them, not extended nor 
 accepted, but offenses committed must be paid for by the offender. 
 
 Spiritualism is a Babel ! Well, admit that it is ; then what ? 
 "Well, into the pride of Babel came confusion, and from that confusion 
 came the birth of the many languages which thus far have been the 
 various educating factors of the races, and in which is comprised the 
 intelligence of this lower world. Then, if the Babel of old, with its 
 vain ambitions, worked, so to say, so mighty a force as to create such a 
 lasting wealth for the mortals that were to be born on earth, what 
 may not come from the present Babel, towering to the heavens with 
 pomp and earthly and spiritually-constructed wisdom ? 
 
 Ponder and receive instruction, and turn not thy face back. 
 Take not thy hand from the plow, but press on from night to day 
 through confusions to glories, for such is the march of progress. 
 
 May 22 1881. 
 
 LECTURE CXI 
 
 THE JUDGMENT. 
 
 It is a question m the minds of the people of this generation as 
 to how long the general rectitude and judgment will be delayed. 
 Well, friends of earth, it is not delayed at all. All the celestial and 
 supernal armies are out, also all celestial heavenly powers, and the 
 conquests are in a lively commotion, and the preparations for the 
 last and decisive battle are being made. 
 
 Those who aid the most in the world are the least aware of it. 
 Alas, it is all compulsion, and all will be brought about in a very 
 short season. Hold fast to the truth and defend it. Keep sacred the 
 testimony of Jesus. Do not be afraid of the assails of the adversary, 
 
474 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 nor the battles of words or of the pen, for it must come to that in 
 order to conquer and lay low all these rebellions, and show these 
 wayward children that they have created the causes of these ill 
 effects for themselves. 
 
 Anti-Christ must have his day, for it is an injunction of the laws 
 pertaining to the trying times to the separating of the chaff and 
 wheat. Cull and garner the good grain, and be steadfast and main- 
 tain God's truths firmly in the face of a scoffing people who them- 
 selves are truly the captives of the powers of the air ; yet they do 
 not know this, nor cannot be convinced of their errors until the 
 spoken of battle has been fought, and the sentence passed for actual 
 realizations. There will be a review of the Mosaic order and treat- 
 ment ; but those who will bring it about will be sorely disappointed 
 and badly stung with remorse, because they will feel this in actual 
 realizations ; for those who are sealed by the commissioned angels 
 will be safe in those days, when all those who are not sealed, as 
 spoken of, shall be slain by plagues, and by the choking angel, and 
 shall be tortured with many things even as the culminations of their 
 ill-spent breath require just levies upon them. Therefore, be not 
 moved by any assails of the adverse, but stand firmly upon the rock 
 of truth, and wave the banner of the true and Everlasting Gospel. 
 
 Rejoice when you are scorned and spoken of as evil, for the 
 great deciding point will soon be reached, and your rewards shall be 
 great and many. 
 
 1881. 
 
 LECTURE CXII. 
 
 THE CHRISTMAS OF THE NEW ERA. 
 
 On the 8th of February, 1882, we celebrated the Christmas of 
 this new era. 
 
 The decisions were made and were declared in Heaven upon that 
 day ; but in the world, owing to many things which yet stand as 
 obstructions, it will be sometime before this great stride in immortal 
 advancement will be generally felt and recognized. But all things 
 upon earth are changing rapidly now, as new compelling methods are 
 adopted and made use of to bring forth effects upon earth in all 
 things. The revolution which has for many years been in commo- 
 tion in the mind realm of the people will grow fierce and serious 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 475 
 
 dow, because all who have hope of immortality, and who trust in 
 God, shall be made strong so as to become soldiers and armor bearers 
 under the command of the King of kings. All who are but devel- 
 oped intellectually, and have not developed neither devotion to or 
 hope nor trust in God, and are therefore wholly material, shall also 
 be powerfully worked upon to fight under the command of the head 
 beast of opposition, so that the battle of Gog and Magog may be 
 fought ; and also that natural evolution, and the evolution by divine 
 wielding, can be proven as it is, and all the works ended in accord 
 with infinite design. 
 
 No sects shall endure longer. The spiritually -minded, and the 
 materially-minded are and can be the only representatives of the two 
 powers of shades and pure tissues, and therefore it is materialism and 
 Spiritualism that are prepared or arrayed by invisible power for 
 the long-foretold battles necessary to declare upon earth the end of 
 the past eternity, also the beginning of the new one, as it has been 
 already declared in Heaven, even as stated above. 
 
 LECTURE CXIII. 
 
 "AN HOUR WITH THE ANGELS." 
 
 What benefit is there in consciously meeting with the denizens 
 of other worlds ? Time is God's, and is counted by Him and His 
 record keepers according to the use made of time. Live and work, 
 if you choose, a hundred years ; never have time to devote to the 
 culling of knowledge which pertains to man's whole life, the spiritual 
 included. This knowledge alone is a benefit for future use and 
 enjoyment. 
 
 Though you may succeed in worldly business, being wholly 
 devoted to the world, you may have no misfortunes, no worldly 
 losses : all things seem to aid the purely mortal animal in securing 
 what the appetites crave. Is it good luck ? Is it living in a true 
 sense ? Is it desirable ? Millions would answer : " Yes ; give us all 
 we crave ; keep losses and misfortunes from us ; this is all we ask, 
 all we wish." 
 
 This testimony against themselves from their own lips is crush- 
 ing, proving the sad fact that they do not recognize their better part, 
 their spiritual attributes, and the giver thereof. They die as the tree 
 dies, as the ox dies j they cannot progress because they have nothing 
 
476 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 ahead, and have nothing to bring. Their time was wasted. They 
 appear as a premature birth, and cannot progress now, as the end of 
 these processes draws nigh. 
 
 Live one hundred years on earth ; labor, eat, and have all that 
 labor and money can bring you, yet your time is a loss. You have 
 nothing ahead, no credit marks for having lived. Even so it is with 
 all such in the after worlds ; they have no place to gain a foothold. 
 They grope away thousands of years, for their mental darkness con- 
 stitutes darkness about them. They do not progress, simply because 
 they had not lived right upon earth, and the decision will cause all of 
 them to undergo the natural regenerating processes. 
 
 When you meet with angels, they can quicken your spiritual 
 nature ; it can be done by them by way of receiving truths and wis- 
 dom from the soul's home, from the spirit's parent. That is making 
 good use of time. It counts and is of merit. Each lesson is price- 
 less, for it capitalizes forever. Each truth learned is a force, a power 
 of defense, also a power which bears the being who receives it into 
 the realms of truth and wisdom. There the angels throw light upon 
 the escaped mortal spirit, and it returns blessed. It may be the mor- 
 tal encumbrance of the body becomes heavier, its defects seen and 
 more severely felt. It may be those in the mortal coil in whom the 
 subtle prince has much of his own implanted, that they do many 
 physical harms, and commit grievous acts which are hard to bear. 
 But let them be. There is a power received by you in holy aspira- 
 tions, and in meeting with pure angels, which will defy all these low 
 cunning serpents and their ill deeds, — a power which will cause the 
 ills to return to the evil-doer, and bring you as a just result of the 
 law of recompense one hundred-fold reward for all losses, not only 
 in time but also in Heaven. Let the world pursue her course so far 
 as mortals are uncontrollable. They shall labor but for their own 
 woe, labor for their own destruction, inasmuch as they harm in 
 words and deeds and subtle dealings one of the co-laborers with the 
 angels, or even one of God's poor, who is helpless in the world. 
 
 All great and good have sown on earth with tears, 
 Have worn their strength away to remove barriers, 
 Which, in the way of progress, men had placed, 
 And whereby sounds were hemmed, God's truths defaced. 
 
 Not onward to Heaven could petitions go, 
 While upon earth men to receive are slow; 
 And truth is crucified 'twixt thieves and scorn 
 Of worldly wisdom born. 
 
 OCTOBEK 17, 1881. 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 477 
 
 LECTURE CXIV. 
 
 EARTH AND EARTHLY DEVELOPMENTS. 
 
 If it were not absolutely required for the spirit to draw substan- 
 tial material from the earth and air beneath the firmament, the pro- 
 vision for the introduction of spirits into matter would never have been 
 made, but as spirits could not attain tangibility and acquire tangible 
 forms otherwise, nor human beings be spiritualized, it was seen good 
 that it should be thus, therefore the plan was formed accordingly. 
 How is it, then, that so many complaints and so much blasphemy is 
 raised against the Lord God omnipotent because of this loving pro- 
 vision for His creature man to so train him out of gross materiality 
 by the power of the spirit as to make him in fashion, attributes, and 
 intelligence like unto Himself, only differing in quantity and power? 
 Then we must here draw a line between the compounds, the spiritual 
 and the material, and it shall serve as a distinction by which mortals 
 shall learn to class themselves, and also whither to direct their 
 appeals, that they can go directly and need not be cast into the abyss 
 of timely tides, thence to be called forth when the applicant shall 
 have learned the meaning of each petition directed to God or the 
 Throne of Grace. Earthly substances must be under finite rule until 
 the refinement of matter will compare, that is, the parts and parcels 
 enveloping spirits and filling tangible spiritual worlds, the refined 
 matter and electric forces drawn from nature with the ether of celes- 
 tial atmosphere, so that there can be a perfect union and completion 
 of worlds, tangible, lasting, spiritual worlds, and the inhabitants of 
 these worlds suitably adapted to their places. To accomplish this for 
 a given number of mortals, purified to angels, requires a stated eter- 
 nity. This is almost run. Then the separation ensues, and the 
 gross materials are separated from the refined, and then there is rest 
 from the different annoyances for a set time. But until then 
 earthly things are finitely governed, hence these difficulties, for all 
 worship, though directed to God and His Christ, ascends not, but 
 reaches only the finite courts, because all religious systems are griev- 
 ously enveloped by gross materialism, and the aim for worldly things 
 is a chief factor in the combined ceremonies ; for this reason mortals 
 are taken captives and brought into severe subjections even to those 
 whom they serve in a false manner, and they remain in this slavery 
 until their spirits are awakened to the truth, and their souls purged 
 from every impurity and every stain thereof. Then, and then only, 
 
478 COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 
 
 shall be brought forth to them, and before the throne, their supplica- 
 tions which they offered, not knowing the meaning thereof. Then 
 they must see for themselves what each word spoken means in the 
 crucible of law, and how each individual soul is held in bonds for all 
 of it, until through suffering it sufficiently expiates its folly and 
 becomes cleansed. It is, therefore, advisable to indulge in no false 
 systems whatever, but direct your appeals directly where they belong. 
 II you are worldly-minded, have popular opinions, and gay dress for 
 an idol, and to support this idol attend formal worship, knowest thou 
 not, O man, that this is living a lie, and that God is not mocked ? 
 for if you serve Mammon, acknowledge him and serve him boldly, or 
 else defy all his charms, and be true to God and your fellow-men ; 
 for, if otherwise, you are a most pitiable people, because under no 
 control according to your reports sent ahead by yourselves. You 
 must be roaming wanderers in the dense, dark spheres where no ray 
 of light is admitted. In such a state must you atone for your false 
 living on earth, 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 From tacts, as stated, on account of false living and practices in 
 church and states, the misery which is realized on earth comes to a 
 great extent. All that mortals realize are but conditional reactions, 
 namely, each given period in timely regulations, rules, and laws 
 reacts on the mortal races, the direct flow of conditions which they 
 have caused, that is, those who lived prior to and those who live 
 at the present time. This is called the setting of tidal waves from 
 life's great ocean, and they sweep through the land which have the 
 desired effect. If all things were justly wielded, and all credit 
 ascribed where it belongs, and all desire for advice and aid directed 
 to the proper quarters, this condition of things would not be. Why 
 appeal to God in finite concerns, and bring condemnation on your- 
 selves ? Because in your unfit clothing you aim to approach the 
 sanctum sanctorum. Know, O mortals, that only for heavenly light 
 and wisdom, and spirit support, you shall appeal to the infinite God 
 or the throne of grace, and you shall not have one shade of materi- 
 ality mixed in these holy supplications, for there is no material com- 
 position in God, no shade of darkness, nothing pertaining to worldly 
 things and desires can be expressed, and if they are you trespass 
 against His immutable law, and cannot escape the penalty. The 
 laws are given for the purpose that men should study them, and 
 acquaint themselves with their different decrees. No man can bo 
 more than he is. A cloak thrown over his being does not alter the 
 
COMPILATION OF SPIRIT LECTURES. 479 
 
 individual. Hence, when you are grossly encumbered with material 
 proclivities, and are thus given to desires for worldly benefits only, 
 yet appeal to God in a solemn tone of false worship, you commit sin 
 on both sides, the infinite and finite. You are out of place altogether, 
 for when the true longing is directed it comes with a mask, the 
 assumption of other names, directed to a superior authority, yet not 
 even fit to reach the finite rulers who are set over these worldly parts 
 by the infinite Father. Then, as before said, these supplications are 
 thrown back, the marks only left on the records in the archives. The 
 titn.es sometimes come, but for many not in this eternity, when they 
 can be brought face to face with their records, and then be directed 
 how to fill each part of duty and accordingly realize each blessing. 
 Things that belong to earth and concern the body must be looked 
 upon in a natural sense, and wholly transacted in compliance with 
 finite law, and must be thus discerned ; and that which belongs to the 
 spirit dwelling in the body must be infinitely supported and spirit- 
 ually discerned. Therefore, the soul must draw its support from the 
 infinite fountain, that the spirit be kept alive and growing, otherwise 
 it sees not spiritual things, because it has no ability to understand 
 them. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Dedication, 3 
 
 Preface, ~. 5 
 
 Introduction, 9 
 
 Instructions, 10 
 
 A Prayer, 12 
 
 A Sequel to the Lord's Prayer, 13 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 A few words of explanation. — And the Bird of Paradise, . . 15 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 Regarding the Leadership in Spiritualism, 17 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 Misunderstood and Misconceived, 19 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 Spiritualism, 25 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 Facts will prove themselves, 26 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 The Spirit World, where is it? 31 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 Christmas, 36 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 The Everlasting Gospel, 42 
 
 LECTURE IX.— (Poetry.) 
 Song of Moses and the Lamb, 46 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 Typical Illustrations, 47 
 
 LECTURE XL— (Poetry.) 
 Spiritual Nationality, 55 
 
482 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE XII. 
 Truth today and Truth six thousand years ago, . . . . 56 
 
 LECTURE XIII. 
 
 A definite description of God, the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, 
 
 and His Attributes. Why they have the Deific Signature, . 62 
 
 LECTURE XIV. 
 
 Cain and Abel. — A dialogue representing the Nations. — A Prayer, 64 
 
 LECTURE XV. 
 The one Creator and the many World-Builders, .... 81 
 
 LECTURE XVI. 
 
 The Creative Compact. What Mortals shall learn from this Reve- 
 lation, 84 
 
 LECTURE XVII. 
 What is Spiritualism, and what are its uses? 92 
 
 LECTURE XVIII. 
 Our Divine Heirship, 98 
 
 LECTURE XIX.— (Poetry.) 
 From Life to Death, 106 
 
 LECTURE XX. 
 Angel Ministry and Spirit Labors on Earth, 107 
 
 LECTURE XXI. 
 What does Spiritualism do for Mortals ? 112 
 
 LECTURE XXII. 
 
 The Empire Reason; is it capable at all times to wholly govern 
 
 the Mental Monarchy? . .119 
 
 LECTURE XXIII. 
 Do we need a new religion? . . 127 
 
 LECTURE XXIV. 
 Our Universe, . 129 
 
 LECTURE XXV. 
 What is God? 131 
 
 LECTURE XXVI. 
 The Christ of the Age, 132 
 
 LECTURE XXVII. 
 God's Mills grind slowly but surely, 137 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 483 
 
 LECTURE XXVIII. 
 
 Are all messages reliable which come from Spirits through Mortal 
 
 Mediums? 143 
 
 LECTURE XXIX. 
 The Power behiud the Curtain, 147 
 
 LECTURE XXX. 
 
 Why is America becoming the Queen of the Nations? . . . 154 
 
 LECTURE XXXI. 
 Neglected Opportunities, . . . . • 157 
 
 LECTURE XXXII. 
 The Creative Law is one of wise economy, 164 
 
 LECTURE XXXIII. 
 
 Is Spiritualism pure in all its offered phases? If it is pure, w r hy is 
 there so much controversy among the Investigators, Mediums, 
 and Adherents to the differently produced evidences? . . 171 
 
 LECTURE XXXIV. 
 A lesson. Our Yesterdays and our Tomorrows, .... 176 
 
 LECTURE XXXV. 
 Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot cure, .... 178 
 
 LECTURE XXXVI. 
 
 The conditional difference is the rudimental cause of all that trans- 
 pires physically, 181 
 
 LECTURE XXXVII. 
 A time for everything, 184 
 
 LECTURE XXXVIII. 
 
 Scripture and the spirit works of the Supreme Lawgiver, . . 185 
 
 LECTURE XXXIX. 
 A Time of Wonders, 187 
 
 LECTURE XL. 
 A Dialogue. The Government of the Universe, . . . .190 
 
 LECTURE XLI. 
 No Cross no Crown, 191 
 
 LECTURE XLII. 
 The Works of God, 192 
 
 LECTURE XLIII. 
 God's Plan with Man, 194 
 
484 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE XLIV. 
 
 Acts, chapter xi, verses 1-19, 197 
 
 LECTURE XLV. 
 
 Evolution, 203 
 
 « LECTURE XLVI. 
 
 As the hour is, so shall thy strength be, 209 
 
 LECTURE XLVII. 
 
 "Who are they that claim the Works of Spirits on Earth to be a 
 
 Delusion, and unnecessary? 211 
 
 LECTURE XLVIII. 
 Infidelity is a dreadful thing, 216 
 
 LECTURE XLIX. 
 
 Earth. — Mortals who inhabit the Earth, and their duties, the per- 
 formance of which will render them fit to enter the World of 
 Joy beyond the Spheres of Strife, .... . . 221 
 
 LECTURE L. 
 
 Revelations, Chapter xiii, verse 10, 228 
 
 LECTURE LI. 
 
 These Threads by which Life is held in Mortals, are they not some- 
 times carelessly shattered? 233 
 
 LECTURE LII. 
 
 Problems to be considered and demonstrated. Chapter 1, . . 236 
 
 LECTURE LIIL 
 
 Erom the Inner Life. Lessons which humanity needs, and which 
 
 will be a blessing to all, 241 
 
 LECTURE LIV. 
 
 The text for our consideration can be found in St. John, chapter 
 xx, which treats of the resurrection of Jesus, and the manner 
 in which He appeared to His Disciples and friends, . . . 246 
 
 LECTURE LV. 
 
 The Mystic Conditions which constitute the Sea of a Pilgrim's Life, 253 
 
 LECTURE LYI. 
 
 Gradation of the Immortal Compounds of the Spirit Garment or 
 
 Bodies, 258 
 
 LECTURE LVII. 
 What an Angel said, 261 
 
 LECTURE LVIII. 
 Christmas, 1880, 264 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 485 
 
 LECTURE LIX. 
 
 Are you willing to take for change the same currency you your- 
 selves have and do circulate? 266 
 
 LECTURE LX.— (Poetry.) 
 
 Man and Woman, 272 
 
 LECTURE LXI. 
 
 Communion with the Departed, 273 
 
 LECTURE LXII. 
 
 Weighty reasons why Conflicts and Confusions are the present 
 
 issues of Spiritualism, 277 
 
 LECTURE LXIII. 
 
 If ye have heard of the Dispensation of the Grace of God which is 
 
 given me to you- ward. — Eph., chapter iii, verses 2, 3, 4, . 280 
 
 LECTURE LXIV. 
 Superstitions and Mythical Religions, 286 
 
 LECTURE LXV. 
 Passing under the Rod, 292 
 
 LECTURE LXVL 
 Matthew, chapter xiii, verses 41, 42, 43 299 
 
 LECTURE LXVIL 
 
 All true Revelations which Earth can realize, and which Mortals 
 
 have ever realized, come from Immortal Climes, . . . 304 
 
 LECTURE LXVIII. 
 
 "I am the Good Shepherd and know my sheep and am known of 
 mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father," 
 &c. — St. John, chapter x, verses 14, 15, 16, ... 307 
 
 LECTURE LXIX.— (Poetry.) 
 Eden and the Matter Bed, viewed as two states or two Worlds, . 313 
 
 LECTURE LXX. 
 
 Text for this Lecture will be found in Rev., chapter xiv, verses 
 
 6, 7, 315 
 
 LECTURE LXXI. 
 
 The Human Will compared to the Anvil, and also to the subtle 
 forces in Nature, from which it is compounded, by which it 
 is acted upon, 321 
 
486 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE LXXII. 
 
 Why do mortals love the things of this world so dearly, when the 
 
 love of these is injurious to their speedy individualization? . 324 
 
 LECTURE LXXIII. 
 Death, 324 
 
 LECTURE LXXIV. 
 
 Search and ye shall find, 331 
 
 LECTURE LXXV. 
 
 Angels walk the Earth, and their work is to establish a Practical 
 
 Religion among the People, , 336 
 
 LECTURE LXXVI. 
 
 A Dialogue. Questions by Mortals. Answers given by Spirits, . 340 
 
 LECTURE LXXVII. 
 
 Our Belief, 342 
 
 LECTURE LXXVIIL— (Poetry.) 
 
 It is coming, 344 
 
 LECTURE LXXIX. 
 
 Morality and Civilization, 345 
 
 LECTURE LXXX. 
 
 "iese Modern Times, 352 
 
 LECTURE LXXXI. 
 
 Law and Gospel, 360 
 
 LECTURE LXXXII. 
 A lesson, — practicable now, and applicable to all, . . . 36 L 
 
 LECTURE LXXXIIL— (Poetry.) 
 The Mysteries of Regeneration, 364 
 
 LECTURE LXXXIY. 
 
 We see and yet we see not the cause of that which we realize as 
 
 effects, 365 
 
 LECTURE LXXXV. 
 The Law of Recompense, . . . 372 
 
 LECTURE LXXXVI. 
 The Admonitions of a Spirit, 375 
 
 LECTURE LXXX VII. — (Poetry. ) 
 "Scofl'ers at God's Works." 376 
 
 LECTURE LXXXVIIL— (Poetry.) 
 "At the Cross Roads." . ' .377 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 487 
 
 LECTURE LXXXIX. 
 
 Modern Demands and Supplies, 379 
 
 LECTURE XC. 
 Gems for Thought and also xVgitation, 387 
 
 LECTURE XCL— (Poetry.) 
 
 "What of the Rills of Eternity?" 392 
 
 LECTURE XCIL 
 
 The Reasons why familiar spirits create disturbance, and must be 
 
 suppressed when the time for legal decisions is reached, . 393 
 
 LECTURE XCIII. 
 
 What is sin, and how are mortals ensnared by the cunning devices 
 
 placed in temptations? 396 
 
 LECTURE XCIV.— (Poetry.) 
 
 Ou the Tide of Life, 403 
 
 LECTURE XCV. 
 
 "Lessons from the Inner Life." Realities and Reflections. Chap- 
 ter I. "Thy will, O Lord, be done." 404 
 
 LECTURE XCYI. 
 An Ounce of Wisdom will yet outweigh all of Earth's Wealth, . 411 
 
 LECTURE XCVII. 
 
 Why are there so many Unhappy Homes? 415 
 
 LECTURE XCVIII. 
 
 "And I sought for a man among them that should make up the 
 hedge and staDd in the gap before me for the laud, that I 
 should not destroy it; but I found none,"&c, — Ezekiel, chap- 
 ter xxii, verse 30, 421 
 
 LECTURE XCIX. 
 
 Progress, 423 
 
 LECTURE C. 
 Truth, Wisdom, and Charity, 428 
 
 LECTURE CI. 
 
 "And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and 
 Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sendeth forth two of His 
 Disciples," &c.,— Mark, chapter xi, verses 1, 2, . . . 430 
 
 LECTURE CII. 
 
 How mind is implanted into matter and made into forms and 
 
 objects, 435 
 
488 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE CIII. 
 "Wherefore should the Heathen say," &c.,— Psalms, cxv, verse 2, 438 
 
 LECTURE CIV. 
 The Third Great Event, in compliance with Ultimate Law, . . 442 
 
 LECTURE CV. 
 
 World's currents which bear the masses,— what are they and where 
 
 do they lead? . • 449 
 
 LECTURE CVL— (Poetky.) 
 
 "Winter.— A Drama of Life." 450 
 
 LECTURE CVII. 
 
 Subject of Lecture. From Second Epistle to the Corinthians, chap- 
 ter iv, verses 17, 18, 451 
 
 LECTURE CVIII. 
 Onward and Upward moves the Car of Progress, .... 460 
 
 LECTURE CIX. 
 "The Guiding Eye, . 463 
 
 LECTURE CX. 
 Angel Missionaries, 469 
 
 LECTURE CXI. 
 The Judgment, 473 
 
 LECTURE CXII. 
 The Christmas of the New Era, 474 
 
 LECTURE CXIII. 
 An hour with the Angels, 475 
 
 LECTURE CXIV. 
 Earth and Earthy Developments, 477 
 
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