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 tIBRARYO/r,
 
 THE SPIRIT 
 
 THE MATTERHORN 
 
 LORD QUEENSBERRY. 
 
 DEDICATED TO THE PEERS OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 LONDON : 
 WATTS & CO., 17, JOHNSON'S COURT, FLEET STREET.
 
 SRLfl 
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 THIS Poem which was suggested to my mind whilst wandering 
 about Switzerland some years ago is respectfully inscribed to 
 those Peers who, at the Election (1880) in Holyrood Palace of 
 the Scottish Representative Peers, deprived me of my seat in the 
 House of Lords. Their rejection was founded on the avowed 
 and acknowledged ground that I had previously expressed opinions 
 in antagonism to the Christian religion ; that I had as was 
 then assertedpublicly denied the existence of God ; and that 
 as LORD LOTHIAN expressed it / held as a negation all that 
 my brother Peers regarded as most sacred. On that occasion, 
 with the exception of a necessarily brief address to the Peers, no 
 opportunity was afforded me of refuting some of those accusations : 
 the following pages will, I hope and believe, show with what 
 little actual foundation those charges were alleged against me, and 
 will enable a just judgment to be formed respecting the propriety 
 of my rejection as one whose opinions disqualified him from 
 sitting among the representatives of this country. 
 
 QUEENSBERRY. 
 
 ' O ! thou fair Truth, for thee alone we seek, 
 Friend of the wise, supporter of the weak ; 
 From thee we learn whate'er is right and just, 
 Creeds to reject, professions to distrust ; 
 Forms to despise, pretensions to deride, 
 And, following thee, to follow naught beside." 
 
 -CRABBE.
 
 [6] 
 
 tone and quality as the sound of a musical instrument depends 
 upon the excellence and accurate construction of that instru- 
 ment. For the creation of this in our posterity we are deci- 
 dedly responsible, as our forefathers are responsible for that 
 of ourselves. According to the old belief, it was held that the 
 Soul created at birth by the Supreme is something absolutely 
 distinct in nature from the body; that at death it still retains 
 its individuality, returning to its Creator for weal or for woe ; 
 but that man cannot be held in any degree responsible for its 
 constitution. The new belief to which I have referred main- 
 tains that that which is called the Soul is simply the resultant 
 or the effect of the body and, indeed, the melody produced 
 by an instrument has always been termed its soul ; that its 
 individuality is inseparable from that body, without which it 
 could no more personally exist than could the notes of a violin 
 which had been destroyed by violence. If this is the case, 
 although the hope of a personal and individual hereafter is 
 removed, man, nevertheless, becomes responsible, directly 
 responsible, for the souls of his posterity. Given the Soul as 
 the result or effect of the body, and the future of our posterity 
 is entirely in our own hands, or at any rate we become 
 co-operative with the Inscrutable in reproducing the future of 
 mankind, body and soul. We reproduce our children bodily: 
 if the Soul is the effect of the body, then we certainly repro- 
 duce their Souls as well, and thus become directly responsible 
 for what those Souls may be and are. 
 
 With increased care and forethought man may greatly 
 improve his race. The transmission of pure blood alone 
 would entail an enormous difference in the future of mankind 
 a future the consideration of which, to my mind, involves 
 the whole importance of settling the question of the nature of
 
 [7] 
 
 the Soul. According to the old theory, we had nothing to do 
 with the Souls of future generations ; that was entirely left to 
 that Power which we mutually agree in calling the Supreme. 
 Upon that unknown Power all responsibility in such 
 matters was laid, and the feeling which prompted this has 
 found utterance in such expressions as " the hand of God," 
 "the finger of the Almighty is upon him," etc., in which 
 expressions I myself do but recognise the clumsy claw of 
 ignorant and primitive man. In all deformity of mind and 
 body the self-evident cause is the infraction of Nature's laws 
 in previous generations. Could we establish the theory that 
 the Soul is the result or effect of the body, much of all this 
 responsibility would be shifted from the Supreme to man 
 himself, which surely ought to be considered a matter of the 
 highest importance. 
 
 With respect to these two antagonistic theories of the nature 
 of the Soul, I will endeavour to illustrate my meaning through 
 the medium of similes, taking the orthodox theory first 
 namely, that the Soul is something wholly distinct in nature 
 and essence from the body. No simile could better illustrate 
 my conception of this theory than that of a man inhabiting a 
 house the Soul being represented by the man, the body by 
 the house. Demolish the body, the Soul flies away into 
 space ; demolish the house, and the man is no way affected 
 by it. But, if we refrain from going to such extremes, let us 
 merely damage the roof of the house. The man is in no 
 degree affected by it ; let the house suffer ever so much, it 
 will in no way affect him. Why should it do so ? He has no 
 connection with it. Yet this simile truly and accurately 
 represents the orthodox theory of the Soul. The body is its 
 dwelling-place, created at birth for its habitation during life,
 
 [8] 
 
 and to be vacated at death when the Soul becomes indepen- 
 dent of it. Is not this the orthodox theory? I think so. 
 Assuredly, if there be a something, which is in its nature 
 beyond or distinct from our earthly bodies a something 
 which men have called a Soul it must either be this which 
 I have just portrayed in simile, or that which I now suppose 
 namely, that the Soul is the effect or the result of the body 
 itself. If not either of these, what else, I ask, can it be ? 
 
 Let us for a moment revert to this orthodox theory as 
 illustrated by a man inhabiting a house. Is the Soul as 
 independent of its domicile, the body, as the simile shows the 
 man to be of his house ? On the contrary, do we not plainly 
 see that it is dependent on it in every possible way ? Demolish 
 the body, shall we say ? Well, since no Soul has ever come 
 back to tell us that it has gone on its way rejoicing, we can 
 base no argument upon that. 
 
 But damage the body. What is the result if a man receives 
 a violent blow on the head ? The consequence is a temporary 
 annihilation of his individuality ; loss of consciousness is the 
 inevitable result, in which what is called the Soul stops like 
 a clock. Now, if this Soul be a separate and distinct vitality 
 from the body, where in this event has it betaken itself? Why 
 should it be thus affected by the damage done to the body of 
 which it is said not to be a part ? If the blow is a severe one, 
 the man may become an idiot. But what, I ask, becomes an 
 idiot if it be not his consciousness, his Soul that which you 
 term his individuality ? 
 
 In a letter formally addressed to me in the course of a 
 public discussion, which arose through my having openly 
 expressed my opinions on these matters in Buenos Ayres, 
 South America, my opponent, who styled himself " Ichthus,"
 
 [9] 
 
 put the following question : " Individuality in Soul-life im- 
 plies consciousness ; an eternal loss of it is annihilation to 
 your Soul and my Soul, and his Soul." 
 
 Granted, I replied, as far as individuality is concerned; 
 but, if an eternal loss of consciousness is complete annihila- 
 tion, certainly a temporary loss of consciousness, as an 
 insensibility through concussion of the brain, is temporary 
 annihilation of the individuality of the Soul. 
 
 It follows from this that my opponent has here acknow- 
 ledged, perhaps without meaning it, that insensibility after a 
 concussion is temporary annihilation of the individuality of 
 the Soul, for does he not state that " individuality in Soul-life 
 implies consciousness," and in concussion this is, for the 
 time, stopped, arrested, or brought to nothing ? But how 
 could an individuality that was in itself immortal undergo a 
 temporary annihilation ? If this were possible, if the Soul-life 
 could have a temporary annihilation, so surely could it have 
 an eternal one. But that which is immortal cannot be 
 destroyed even for a moment. There can be but one answer 
 to this : the individuality is not immortal, and cannot be so. 
 Now, this I consider a very strong point indeed. People may 
 say, You cannot ascertain the nature of the Soul. Well, in 
 the meantime the orthodox theory has asserted what that 
 nature is, and orthodox believers affirm that through divers 
 revelations they know everything about it. This affirmation 
 I altogether set aside as worthless, because it will by no 
 means accord with the spirit and science of the age. We can 
 see no revelation other than that manifested in the great book 
 of Nature, open alike to all men to study and read, and to 
 which we must therefore look for facts ; and what fact can be 
 stronger, or its meaning more evident, than this one which
 
 [10] 
 
 we have in a concussion of the brain, which produces 
 insensibility? Nothing short of some Soul returning after 
 death to tell us its experiences could afford stronger proof of 
 the real nature of the Soul than this. 
 
 We see for ourselves a temporary stoppage as I before 
 said, like a clock stopping ; but, if the Soul really possesses 
 a separate individuality from the body, why should it also 
 stop when that body is injured ? If it does not stop, where, 
 I ask, is its individuality as represented by consciousness? 
 For the time, nowhere, which is assuredly equal to temporary 
 annihilation. 
 
 On the other hand, if the Soul's individuality is the result or 
 effect of the body, of course it will stop, as we see that it does. 
 
 My conception of the nature of the Soul can be best 
 illustrated by the simile of an ^Eolian harp, as in opposition 
 to that which I have used with respect to a man inhabiting 
 a house, as an example of the orthodox theory. The harp 
 itself represents the physical frame of man, and which he 
 reproduces in his posterity, and for which reproduction he is 
 therefore responsible. The wind of heaven is suggestive 
 indeed of the eternal vital force, that which we cannot 
 comprehend, and which appears to be immortal ; and the 
 sound is the effect produced, the Soul of Man, for which man 
 therefore is alone responsible, for has he not created the 
 instrument itself? Damage the harp, and you instantly affect 
 the tone of the sound ; remove the sounding-board or break 
 the strings, and the music will cease, precisely as the Soul 
 ceases to manifest its existence in insensibility. If we destroy 
 the instrument altogether, the sound will cease altogether, 
 even as the individuality of the Soul is lost at death, which 
 this simile illustrates.
 
 To those who have never themselves been unconscious 
 through concussion of the brain this argument will not 
 perhaps appear of great weight ; but to those who, like myself, 
 have had a severe one, and who have realized what an 
 absolute annihilation of one's individuality it is, the argument 
 cannot, I believe, seem other than a positive proof of the 
 truth of the second of these theories. If there is a Soul at 
 all, it must be in its nature explicable by one of these two 
 hypotheses. When one recognizes how in every way the Soul 
 is affected by the condition of the body from a blow on the 
 head affecting the brain, down to a fit of indigestion or 
 dyspepsia which alters our whole temperament, how is it 
 possible for us to continue to uphold this old-world dogma of 
 the nature of the Soul as a distinct and separate essence from 
 the body? On the other hand, are not the facts which I 
 have cited a positive proof of the truth of the opposite theory 
 namely, that the individuality of the Soul is simply the 
 result or effect of the bodily organization ? 
 
 What authority those persons have who uphold the orthodox 
 theory for asserting that the Soul affects the body, I do not 
 understand, seeing that they affirm the Soul to be something 
 entirely distinct in nature from it ; whereas, on the contrary, 
 upon the theory of the Soul resulting from the body, it is 
 evident that they body and Soul mutually affect one 
 another. Again, may we not argue from analogy, to 
 strengthen the probability of our belief, that it would indeed 
 be strange if man alone in Nature were the exception with 
 respect to the loss of individuality at death a loss which 
 appears to be universal in all things ? On the other hand, 
 we seem also to see that nothing is wholly destroyed or lost 
 in Nature, so that all things appear to be immortal, with the
 
 exception of an individuality which is necessarily lost in a 
 change of form. Moreover, the question arises, Do we even 
 retain our individuality unchanged during life, so completely 
 do passing years and events affect and alter us ? As to our 
 immortality, I can but speculate on the subject ; but, seeing 
 that all things are eternal, and conceiving that the causes of 
 what is called the Soul are the inscrutable vital forces acting 
 through my physical body, I yet have the strongest belief in 
 an immortality in recognizing that those causes are themselves 
 indestructible. 
 
 It will be seen from this that those who, like myself, find it 
 impossible to retain a belief in a personal, individual after-life, 
 as compatible with the theory that the soul is an emanation 
 from or a result of the body, in no way deny the probability 
 of an immortality. I shall, of course, be told that this is 
 illusory, a something that is of no avail to hold before 
 mankind, that more than this is desired, and is certainly 
 required by man. My reply is, that as yet there is no 
 absolute certainty, more particularly with respect to man's 
 immortality, although I see no reason why the question in 
 point as to the nature of the Soul should not some day be 
 settled, and perhaps verified by the universal consent of 
 mankind. I hold that it is better to have great hopes for the 
 race of man which appear reasonable, that are every day 
 gaining increased authority, and which I myself believe will, in 
 some future day, be conclusively proved from the great book 
 of Nature to be incontrovertible truth. 
 
 I say, it seems better to hold such hopes as these than to 
 build up castles in the air upon theories which will not bear 
 rational examination theories which their defenders declare to 
 be truths, although their only authority is the so-called divine
 
 revelation, and for which no other proofs can be adduced to 
 satisfy the very proper and natural curiosity of mankind. 
 
 What, however, is the great hope which inspires us in 
 endeavouring to establish as a fact that the Soul is the 
 result of the body, and not, as hitherto supposed, something 
 altogether separate from it which must be implied when 
 it is asserted that the Soul can retain its individuality after 
 the collapse of the body ? Simply this. Given the Soul as 
 the result of the body as in my figure of the ^Eolian harp 
 and we perceive that the responsibility for the future of our 
 race is certainly within our own hands, for we reproduce our 
 posterity, not only in body, but in Soul. I know nothing of 
 the Supreme beyond what I see of it as manifested in the 
 works of Nature ; but it is by no means equivalent to a denial 
 of that Power to perceive that the ultimate scheme consists 
 in man's progressive development, and in his working out by 
 himself the happiness and the redemption of his own race ; 
 whereas, on the other hand, the old theories and ideas have 
 taught us too much to rely on an external power, and have 
 rendered us blind to the fact that the future of mankind lies 
 entirely in man's own hands. All this, I maintain, is wholly 
 dependent upon the settlement of the question of the nature 
 of the Soul, and hence the importance which I, in my own 
 mind, attach to it. If, according to the orthodox theory, 
 Souls are things immortal created at birth (which they cannot 
 be, for immortality is uncreatable, and has always been), 
 entirely distinct from our bodies, then we have nothing to do 
 with their creation, and we can in no way be held responsible 
 for the Souls of our posterity. If, on the other hand, the Soul 
 of man is the effect of his body, are we not self-evidently 
 responsible for what those Souls shall be?
 
 ['4] 
 
 In my own mind, I undoubtedly believe, with HERBERT 
 SPENCER, the creative purpose to be the eventual happiness 
 of mankind ; and upon this, and that through the law of 
 adaptation, man must eventually become completely adapted 
 to his surroundings, and, as SPENCER says, so surely must 
 man ultimately become perfect, inasmuch as his happiness 
 would be the spontaneous result of such a condition of things. 
 Happiness as I here express it consisting in the due 
 exercise of all man's faculties, mental and physical, the 
 greatest happiness would be when future generations perhaps 
 ourselves repeated, or the vital force in us repeated in the 
 generations we shall produce have inherited healthy, evenly- 
 balanced organizations, breathing forth beautiful and pure 
 souls, whose faculties would be so balanced that, like the 
 completed and united parts of a great puzzle, they so fitted 
 one with another that the due exercise, and the due exercise 
 only, of all people's faculties would be the natural result of 
 such a condition of things, whereby each man, perfectly 
 fulfilling his own nature in all things, would be enabled to 
 do so without causing pain or deterring any of his fellow men 
 from obtaining the same privilege, whereby all men and 
 women might be happy. 
 
 Is it not abundantly evident that the cause of much of the 
 present pain and unhappiness arises from the suppression of 
 faculties that cannot be exercised; or from the exorbitant 
 demand upon some faculty that is by means strong enough 
 to withstand or respond to the strain ; that is to say, people's 
 faculties are not evenly balanced ? Some are in excess, some 
 are deficient of a right standard. Even those who, as I look 
 upon it, have inherited the blessing of an organization nearest 
 to the standard of the perfect man may yet have to endure
 
 ['5] 
 
 much suffering from this very deficiency or excess in others 
 on whom we are dependent for our greatest happiness. These, 
 if, even in fulfilling their own true natures, pain was caused to 
 others, would still act as deterrents from the greatest happiness 
 of the race. Not in vain, indeed, has been the cry for equality, 
 the demand for the state of the perfected, the ideal man, since 
 nothing is more evident than that men at present are most 
 unequal. In some future, far distant day man will in reality 
 attain to an equality of nature, a position at present scarcely 
 dreamt of by those who are loudest in their cry for its realiza- 
 tion, but who do not seem to understand that in this age 
 nothing is so evident as the inequality of man. 
 
 If the Soul is the effect of the body, we are fellow-workers 
 with the Supreme and Inscrutable Power in the reproduction 
 of our future race, and become responsible for the welfare and 
 happiness of that future race. Believing, as I do, that all past 
 events have undoubtedly gone to prove that the ultimate 
 scheme for this planet is the perfectibility of mankind that 
 is to say, man's complete adaptation, socially, morally, and 
 physically, to his surroundings I can conceive of no greater 
 or more potent lever to lift mankind in this direction than 
 that man should come to perceive this to be the truth, and 
 not only so, but that it is the work he himself in successive 
 generations has to accomplish. What matters it if, through 
 ages, false conceptions and erroneous ideas have led him on 
 to the vanquishing of evil? It is sufficient that this is being 
 achieved, and that man still rises to a higher conception of 
 what the future of his race shall be. 
 
 With the selfish longing after an individual and personal 
 hereafter removed as go it must in time, when man comes 
 to his senses, and which removal seems a blessing to those
 
 who have accustomed themselves to look it in the face what 
 a terrible thing would be this clinging to one's personal 
 individuality all through eternity ! With the departure of this 
 baneful delusion will come the only hope and consolation 
 the hopes we bear respecting our posterity, in whom it is quite 
 possible, and I think probable, the life in us shall be revived 
 again and again, until the final state is attained of the perfect 
 mind in the perfect body. Out of our errors and consequent 
 miseries shall those our children perhaps ourselves repeated 
 reap the fruits of our experience : how much more so from 
 the good to which even we may attain ? 
 
 The enigma of life shall dwindle into insignificance with 
 the glorious hope before us of the ultimate perfection of 
 mankind, should man come to realise as I firmly believe he 
 yet will that this is his mission here upon this earth ! To 
 what aspirations may he not rise ? Life and its purposes will 
 no longer seem incomprehensible or an insoluble riddle. 
 Man's religion then would be to live for his posterity, 
 worshipping (that is, serving) his body and his intellect in 
 endeavouring to attain a more perfect existence, and improved 
 condition physically and mentally, for those to come after him. 
 In endeavouring to realize this he would be doing most good 
 to himself individually, for to attain this end one should lead 
 the most temperate and virtuous life, which of itself would 
 result in happiness. Live purely and be healthy both in mind 
 and body : this will bring its own reward to yourself and to 
 your posterity. 
 
 How much of the truest religion consists in doing good 
 for the sake of good ?
 
 SPIRIT OF THE MATTERHORN. 
 
 I SAT beneath thy rocks, proud Matterhorn, 
 
 And o'er thy rugged cliffs and glaciers bright 
 
 A sudden gleam of sunset spread its glow, 
 
 Till all thy craigs were bathed in glorious light, 
 
 Flooding thy heights in changing crimson hues ; 
 
 And round thy peaks the freshly fallen snow 
 
 Seemed like a bridal veil thrown o'er thy head ; t 
 
 And then the sunset died, leaving thee cold, 
 
 Stark, grim, and grey in all thy loneliness. 
 
 A monument of the eternal hand ; 
 
 A monument which, towering to the skies, 
 
 Bears witness to the everlasting laws 
 
 Of endless life proceeding from decay. 
 
 See, as the sun fades in the distant sky, 
 
 The twilight comes, shedding its soft'ning light, 
 
 Till daylight turns, we know not when, to night ; 
 
 Another dawn proclaims the birth of day, 
 
 And yet proclaims the death of night gone by ; 
 
 For naught which death destroys in Nature's scheme 
 
 But bursts afresh in other forms of life \ 
 
 And thus all life remains eternal still, 
 
 For death is life, and life eternity.
 
 [1*1 
 
 Oh ! Spirit of eternal truth divine, 
 
 Shed thou thy light upon this soul of mine. 
 
 As now thy twilight softly steals around, 
 
 And sheds its soothing influence on thy all, 
 
 So let my soul, inspired by thoughts of thee, 
 
 While ever seeking to unfold thy will, 
 
 Soar upwards from this earth, so fair, so bright- 
 
 Too fair, too bright, that evil should be found, 
 
 Where all is formed for perfect man to dwell. 
 
 Thus shall my hope, my one ambition, be 
 
 An instrument which, guided by thy will, 
 
 May to mankind proclaim his mission here ; 
 
 A rising race in soul and body formed, 
 
 The perfect law in future to obey. 
 
 Thus to perfection's state shall man attain, 
 
 And, rising thus from misery, shall find 
 
 His happiness in conquering evil here. 
 
 I said; 
 
 And, turning on my side, I closed my eyes. 
 
 A slumber deep stole on me unawares : 
 
 Then, in my dreams, a Spirit came and stood, 
 
 And with its loving eyes looked yearning into mine : 
 
 And, as it gazed, behold my spirit rose 
 
 In rapture, thrilling with a perfect love. 
 
 "Art thou my love ?" I said. " Is this the love 
 
 That I have sought in vain throughout this world ? 
 
 Oh ! tell me ; leave me not, or I shall die : 
 
 A spirit death is worse than death in life. 
 
 And these long years my spirit has been faint 
 
 For want of thee, who dawns upon my soul."
 
 Then spake the Spirit, and like music fell 
 
 The sweet notes of her voice upon mine ear : 
 
 " I am thy love, for I am part of thee : 
 
 Yet hast thou much to learn ; come, would'st thou hear ? 
 
 The Spirit of great Truth has heard, thy cry 
 
 Of anguish which ascended to that ear 
 
 Has sent me thus to comfort thee, and guide 
 
 Thy thoughts, to help the future of thy race. 
 
 We are not what we seem ; come join me now, 
 
 And leave thy body lying here awhile. 
 
 This lesson learn of thy identity : 
 
 It is not thine alone, but part of mine, 
 
 And both a part of the eternal all ; 
 
 In answer to thy prayer, allowed to rove 
 
 A short time in its true identity ; 
 
 Yet as the raindrops, falling from the sky, 
 
 Do mingle in the river and the streams, 
 
 So must thy being, blended now with mine, 
 
 Yet lose itself within the mighty all. 
 
 And this may happen when thy body dies ; 
 
 So rest awhile, and, being purified, 
 
 Return to earth, to fill its mission here, 
 
 Of perfecting man's body for his soul." 
 
 While yet she spake my soul went out to hers, 
 One beauteous form our mingled spirits held ; 
 We rose, and left the earth now far behind. 
 The peaceful Zermatt valleys lay below : 
 The night was calm and still, and all the sky 
 Shone in the splendour of a summer's eve : 
 The distant peaks, lit by the radiant orbs, 
 Stood sharp and clear, as patient sentinels 
 Keeping their watch o'er everlasting time :
 
 [20] 
 
 The moon shed silver lustres all around, 
 Reflecting lights from o'er Mont- Cervin's head : 
 Upon the snow-clad slopes, where mangled fell 
 The brother that I loved, his earthy frame 
 Lies bleaching on thy rocks, O Matterhorn ! 
 His gallant spirit, freed from earthly cares, 
 Rose up that day, to find eternal rest. 
 
 " Not so /" the Spirit cried ; " he must return ; 
 Eternal rest is not for him as yet : 
 Though peaceful now he dwells, no sordid cares 
 Of an imperfect frame doth mar his state. 
 The happy spirit, which like music swelled 
 From an yEolian harp, breathed forth a chord, , 
 That thou hast named the Soul of him ye loved, 
 Which now finds rest within the boundless soul 
 That men have called the great Almighty one. 
 For know that Souls of men are as the tones 
 Wrung from the earthly frames their parents built, 
 Tuning those tones in sweetest harmony, 
 Or making discord, as the cruel hap may be, 
 In nature's laws, that have not been observed 
 By generations that have passed away. 
 Death sinks all individuality 
 In the great essence of an Eternal Power, 
 As rain-drops lose themselves within the sea, 
 There find respose ; then, as those ocean-drops 
 Drawn heavenwards to the sky, in mist and spray, 
 Each drop becomes a part of millions more, 
 Thus ever gaining fresh identity. 
 So is it with the Souls of men themselves, 
 Component parts of endless other Souls : 
 In death they sleep, until the vital force,
 
 [21] 
 
 Themselves a part from all eternity, 
 Shall breathe again, through other forms of life, 
 A new-born individuality ; 
 Live here more perfect in their earthly frames, 
 To build more perfect ones wherein to dwell 
 Themselves, until perfection's state is reached ; 
 Perfection of the body and the mind. 
 Thus man builds up in his posterity 
 The future of himself within his race ; 
 Lives on the past, his own created self, 
 To reconstruct anew his future time ; 
 Until the glorious age shall come when man, 
 The essence of all past, shall breathe again 
 One generation, through a perfect race. 
 Thus shalt thou learn that progress is no chance, 
 But the results of an eternal law, 
 Obeyed by all the powers of heaven and earth, 
 Which govern all this boundless universe. 
 
 " Then time may come when earth must pass away, 
 
 Melting in fervent heat, to rise anew, 
 
 To form yet other worlds more glorious still, 
 
 Beyond conception, in their loveliness. 
 
 And shall these germs of life, refined like gold, 
 
 In furnaces of bitter sorrow here, 
 
 Be lost for ever in eternal time ? 
 
 Nay, rather, from the essence of the all, 
 
 'Twill issue forth, to blossom yet again, 
 
 Till all these worlds, with one triumphant shout, 
 
 Shall echo forth one chord in harmony. 
 
 But this is naught to man : learn thou his task, 
 
 All fellow workers with the great Divine, 
 
 All atoms of that one identity.
 
 [*] 
 
 Mankind, thus striving to attain this will, 
 
 Must lose faith in this personality ; 
 
 Must learn to know that, when this mortal frame 
 
 Returns to dust, his being does not die, 
 
 Yet is no more his individual self, 
 
 But part of an eternal endless force 
 
 Merged in the ocean of the mighty all. 
 
 And having conquered thus his selfishness, 
 
 His hopes shall centre in his future race, 
 
 To raise mankind from what it is to God's. 
 
 O faith ! which yet shall consolation bring 
 
 To all the races of this teeming earth ; 
 
 O happier age, when man, united thus 
 
 Within the bonds of this eternal truth, 
 
 Shall conquer all that now makes him despair,. 
 
 And ring the knell of war, disease, and crime I 
 
 " Go thou, and to thy struggling race proclaim 
 
 These thoughts, the product of a ripening age, 
 
 Which, watered through the bitter tears of time, 
 
 Assures the golden harvest yet to come. 
 
 And this shall bring thee peace, soothing thy mind. 
 
 While giving thee a noble task to do. 
 
 For oh ! my soul has grieved sore that thou 
 
 Should'st writhe in anguish for thy parents' sins ; 
 
 Yet see thy pain has brought thee this great thought, 
 
 And thus thy loss of peacefulness is gain, 
 
 Which yet its fruit of happiness shall bear 
 
 Towards the welfare of thy brother man ; 
 
 A unit of that force to work the will 
 
 The will of it, the great Inscrutable. 
 
 Thus shalt thou learn that all that is, is good, 
 
 And evil but a phrase to give a name
 
 For what is not adapted to thy sphere 
 
 An empty sound, like Satan of the brain ; 
 
 A false conception, yet accountable, 
 
 Like other evil thoughts, to work for good. 
 
 So man must worship what's in man divine, 
 
 To nurse with gentle care, to cultivate 
 
 Perfection's germ, which partly dwells in all ; 
 
 Worship his body, and his intellect, 
 
 And thus the blessing to his race bequeath 
 
 Of vigorous frames with healthy minds endowed. 
 
 And he, while striving to attain this end, 
 
 Shall find a rule of conduct for this life, 
 
 For that which leads him nearest to this goal 
 
 Shall be the moral of the perfect law. 
 
 Thus, ever rising to a better state, 
 
 Mankind at last shall reach to happiness. 
 
 Yet ages must unfold before this boon 
 
 Of perfect bodies can ascend from earth, 
 
 Which, mingling with the essence of all life, 
 
 Creates the angel in the God-like man. 
 
 See now the tainted stream that runs through all, 
 
 Dark with the stains of broken Nature's laws. 
 
 Fear not to trust thy sense ; all ugliness, 
 
 The sign of Nature's laws not understood, 
 
 Is yet redeemed by germs of loveliness 
 
 Loveliness the stamp imperishable, 
 
 And certain proofs of Nature's laws obeyed, 
 
 Which generations have inherited. 
 
 " Go, tell mankind, see that thy blood be pure, 
 And visit not thy sins upon thy race ; 
 Curse not thy future age with poisoned blood, 
 For, cursing, it shall curse thee back again.
 
 And in that distant age, when selfishness, 
 
 The lingering remnant of man's savage state, 
 
 Has been subdued and kept within control 
 
 By true religion of humanity, 
 
 I can foretell the time when all may claim 
 
 With equal right to reproduce their kind. 
 
 Alas, 'tis not so now ; for there are they 
 
 Who, either from hereditary sin, 
 
 Or from the sin they have themselves entailed, 
 
 Possess no right to be progenitors. 
 
 O Love ! thou guiding star, that through the past 
 
 Hath led mankind upon his onward march, 
 
 Alas, that still thou should'st be bought and sold 
 
 By those who prostitute thy sacred name. 
 
 Let her that sells her love for aught but love, 
 
 Or he who buys what should be freely given, 
 
 Know that they bring a curse upon their race, 
 
 While ages must unroll with misery 
 
 Before their hateful deed can be undone. 
 
 " O, perfect Love ! which has been sought in vain, 
 
 Sought in all ages, yet been found in none ; 
 
 Thy sun in future time shall bless this earth, 
 
 When man shall ripen 'neath thy warming rays ; 
 
 So shall the glorious harvest come at last, 
 
 And perfect Souls harmoniously combine. 
 
 Poor Soul, who has so bitterly repined 
 
 That this true love could not be found by thee, 
 
 Know thou hast sought impossibilities ; 
 
 For all the love that now exists on earth, 
 
 Appreciation of the beautiful, 
 
 Finds nothing beautiful without some flaw, 
 
 And naught imperfect can give perfect love.
 
 To strike the chords of kindred sympathies, 
 Ideal man alone can love like this ; 
 Yet shalt thou reach to thy ideal state 
 Of loving, and, being loved by mine, 
 Enshrined alike in glorious earthly forms, 
 The germs of life within the perfect man. 
 
 " Thus shall mankind adapt himself to earth, 
 
 And so fulfil the programme of all time ; 
 
 For ages have unrolled to shape this sphere 
 
 From what it was, a seething mass of flame, 
 
 Where naught which breathed the vital spark could dwell, 
 
 To what it is, a very paradise, 
 
 Where all is happy but vitality. 
 
 " See now the endless beauty of thy sphere, 
 
 Lit by the myriad worlds that shine around, 
 
 Returning back in love its sympathy, 
 
 To cheer them on their path's eternal time. 
 
 See all its mountains, valleys, lakes, and streams ; 
 
 Its ice-bound regions and its tropic climes ; 
 
 Its seas and rivers, and its sunny isles ; 
 
 Its peaks of snow which tower up to the skies ; 
 
 Its beds of pearls beneath the glowing waves ; 
 
 Its trees, its foliage everlasting green ; 
 
 Its birds, its flowers, and e'en these glaciers bright 
 
 Where'er you turn, whatever meets thy gaze, 
 
 All bear the stamp of outward growth divine, 
 
 All fellow workers in the godlike scheme, 
 
 Alike in universal song proclaim 
 
 The plan of the divine original, 
 
 A habitation fit for perfect man.
 
 [26] 
 
 And seeing thus that time, which ne'er began 
 
 Progressively, has made thy universe 
 
 From all that is called evil, there below, 
 
 To be this very gem of loveliness, 
 
 Have faith to trust the welfare of thy race 
 
 To that inscrutable, eternal Power, 
 
 Who, as the plan unfolds, proclaims to man 
 
 Himself included in perfection's scheme. 
 
 " Yet know thy soul has lived on earth before 
 Aye, many times in ages long gone by. 
 Could'st thou but realise the misery 
 Summed up in all thy pilgrimages here, 
 Thy spirit had been mad with agony ; 
 Yet thou hast had thy happiness as well, 
 And tasted many joys that life affords ; 
 For thou hast lived existences of joy, 
 When all was peaceful as this summer night. 
 And yet, maybe, thy happiest time was when, 
 Blessed with a giant frame and savage strength, 
 Free as the untamed beast thou roam'st the earth. 
 Thy soul, the germ of what it was to be, 
 And undeveloped by the thoughts of time, 
 Lay almost dormant in its mighty frame, 
 Which revelled in its joyfulness of life. 
 No tainted stream of vice, disease, or crime 
 Flowed in the blood thou had'st inherited ! 
 Thy progeny, a glory to thine eye, 
 Were all thou could'st desire in lustiness. 
 But with the increase of thy race there came 
 The need of social states to guide thy paths : 
 The ignorance of man broke nature's laws, 
 And consequently came disease and sin.
 
 ['7] 
 
 And thus the body waned alas that such 
 
 Should be the will of the Eternal Power ! 
 
 But as the body waned, the spirit grew, 
 
 Tried in the fire of deep affliction sore ; 
 
 And thus through pain man still made progress here 
 
 Until, like thee, poor mortals live on earth, 
 
 Unlike the savage in his wilderness, 
 
 In all the glory of primeval man 
 
 With mighty souls enshrined in bodies frail, 
 
 Whose fathers' sins lie on them like a curse : 
 
 Dark flows the blood impure within their veins, 
 
 To scourge their children with their fathers' sins. 
 
 " Behold their sickly frames and stunted growth : 
 
 Their pallid cheeks and eyes, that should be bright, 
 
 Already show a weariness of life. 
 
 Alas, that such a cruel wrong should be, 
 
 Of sins upon the children visited ! 
 
 And shall these grow to be progenitors 
 
 Of other Souls, more burdened than themselves, 
 
 With feeble bodies of impurity ? 
 
 Ye gods, forbid it ! yet 'twill surely be. 
 
 See to the mother whose perverted breasts 
 
 Can give no milk, and yet, to save her child, 
 
 Must rob another of the precious gift. 
 
 What right has she to bear a child at all 
 
 While thus a grievous wrong she multiplies ? 
 
 " Go tell to man, would he redeem his race 
 To happiness, the goal of all mankind, 
 That he must teach that his neglected body here 
 No longer is subservient to his soul.
 
 [28] 
 
 Tell him that all is false, false as the hell 
 Which his religion heretofore has taught 
 That, teaching him his body to despise, 
 So set his Soul before that body here ; 
 And his religion thus must be dispelled 
 A superstition of a bygone day 
 By truth, which ever cleaves its way to light, 
 Dispersing mists of ignorance and gloom. 
 Yet shall a brighter, happier faith arise 
 From out the false conceptions of the past, 
 To take the place of all the worn-out creeds : 
 The last green shoot, an outgrowth of the tree 
 Implanted deep within the heart of man 
 The tree of knowledge and the tree of truth. 
 So, on the dawn of happier days to come, 
 Bright shines the promise of this rising sun, 
 A true and noble faith humanity. 
 
 " Alas, Mankind, my soul has wept for thee ; 
 
 For thou hast misery sore to undergo, 
 
 And madness yet must bring its antidote, 
 
 When thus the mind outgrows the body here. 
 
 But yet this antidote has come to teach 
 
 The Soul and body equal to revere ; 
 
 For perfect Souls alone can dwell in shrines 
 
 Of bodies in perfection here below : 
 
 A mighty Soul in a degraded frame 
 
 May come to be a very fiend himself. 
 
 Alas, poor Soul, condemned this time to dwell, 
 
 To suffer, to redeem our bodies here, 
 
 His time thus spent shall be a martyrdom ; 
 
 Yet shall it bear its fruits for future times, 
 
 In wringing thoughts of anguish from his Soul,
 
 O] 
 
 To serve the future of his coming race. 
 The Devil himself is but a dream of earth, 
 A nightmare of the agony of Soul, 
 To answer for the horror of this wrong 
 Bequeathed by man to man in ignorance. 
 And thus the star of hope, perfection's state 
 Of man more blessed in our future race, 
 Is ever rising clear, while sunset comes 
 Of individuality of Soul, 
 Of personality in future life 
 Delusive visions of man's faulty brain, 
 A sweet illusion that must be dispelled, 
 To give place to the nobler thought divine 
 Of man immortal in perfection's all. 
 
 " So go thy way : my task is now fulfilled : 
 
 A blessing will I breathe upon thy Soul, 
 
 Which breathe thou back in blessings on thy race. 
 
 Seek thou to find the good there is in man 
 
 That germ of good which dwells in every Soul ; 
 
 Be tolerant of the evil that is found ; 
 
 Know that it is the instrument by which 
 
 The Eternal Power has shaped thy universe ; 
 
 And so be hopeful, and let not despair 
 
 Enter thy Soul for all the ill that is. 
 
 Learn thou the insignificance of life 
 
 A single day within eternity, 
 
 A grain of sand upon the golden shore, 
 
 A drop within the ocean of all time 
 
 How small is individuality, 
 
 How great the individuals combined, 
 
 Which men, in striving to define a God, 
 
 Have shaped within the form of perfect man.
 
 [30] 
 
 " So go, and fear no truths that can be spoke. 
 
 Thy thoughts, which uppermost within thy soul 
 
 Are ever striving to express themselves, 
 
 Are not thine own to keep, but are the fruits 
 
 Of generations that have long gone by, 
 
 And units of the Eternal Power 
 
 Which yet shall make mankind a perfect race." 
 
 While yet she spake, I woke : it was a dream ; 
 And yet a dream I'd fain believe was true, 
 For ever since that night her Soul divine 
 Has hovered o'er my path ; and in my dreams 
 Her presence sweet off comes to comfort me. 
 
 And so I turned, leaving the Matterhorn, 
 To seek the Zermatt valleys far below. 
 
 ZERMATT, 
 
 yum roth, 1876.
 
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