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SPIRIT TEACHINGS 
 
 THROUGH THE MEDIUM SHIP OF 
 
 WILLIAM STAINTON MOSES 
 (M.A., OXON.\ 
 
 AUTHOR OF “ PSYCHOGRAPHY,” “SPIRIT IDENTITY,” “HIGHER ASPECTS OF 
 SPIRITUALISM,” “PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF EPES SARGENT,” 
 “SPIRITUALISM AT THE CHURCH CONGRESS,” ETC. ETC. 
 
 Jftftb Edition. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 LONDON SPIRITUALIST ALLIANCE, LTD., 
 110, ST. MARTIN’S LANE, LONDON, W.C. 
 
 1904. 
 
CORRECTIONS. 
 
 Page 178, line 24, for 
 
 “air fever, laden” 
 
 read 
 
 “air, fever-laden.” 
 
 a 
 
 213, „ 
 
 33, ,, 
 
 “Devanagny ” 
 
 » 
 
 “ Devaki.” 
 
 >> 
 
 250, „ 
 
 24, „ 
 
 “from the ” 
 
 jj 
 
 “ for the.” 
 
 >> 
 
 271, „ 
 
 1, „ 
 
 “ tended ” 
 
 5 J 
 
 “ended.” 
 
 >> 
 
 282, „ 
 
 20, „ 
 
 “from casket” 
 
 JJ 
 
 “from its casket.” 
 
 >) 
 
 285, „ 
 
 9, „ 
 
 “ whether ” 
 
 )> 
 
 “ whither.” 
 
/ 33 ? 
 Al 85 "^. 
 
 SPIRIT 
 
 TEACHINGS. 
 
 725141 
 
PEEFACE TO FIFTH EDITION. 
 
 This reprint of the Memorial Edition of “Spirit Teachings,” 
 received through the mediumship of the late Mr. Stainton 
 Moses, M.A. (Oxon.), has, in compliance with the urgent 
 request of many friends, been issued by the London 
 Spiritualist Alliance, Ltd., 110, St. Martin’s Lane, London, W.C. 
 
 1904. 
 
V 
 
 BIOGRAPHY OF W. 
 
 STAINTON MOSES. 
 
 J 
 
 William Stainton Moses was born at the village of Don- 
 nington, in Lincolnshire, on the fifth of November, 1839. His 
 father, William Moses, was the Head Master of the Grammar 
 School, and his mother the daughter of Thomas Stainton, of 
 Alford, Lincolnshire. His education was commenced at the 
 school ’ of which his father was Principal, and was afterwards 
 continued with a private tutor, who, impressed by his great 
 abilities, strongly urged Mr. Moses to send his son to a public 
 school. His advice was acted upon, and in August, 1855,. 
 young Stainton Moses, then in his 16th year, was placed at the 
 Grammar School at Bedford. Here he remained for nearly 
 three years, winning golden opinions from all the masters on 
 account not only of his brilliant abilities but also of his con- 
 spicuous industry, regularity, and general attention to all his 
 duties. In one term alone he carried off four prizes ; and shortly 
 before he left he was elected to one of the two exhibitions 
 which had been founded in connection with the school. On 
 leaving, he received from the Head Master testimonials of the 
 most flattering nature, speaking in high terms of the very 
 rapid progress he had made in all departments of study, and 
 also of the uniform excellence and correctness of his school 
 conduct. 
 
 From Bedford Stainton Moses went to Exeter College 
 Oxford, which he entered at the commencement of Michaelmas 
 term, 1858. His college life was in every way as successful as 
 his school life had been, and great hopes were formed by all con- 
 nected with him that at the end of his Oxford career he would 
 take the highest honours open to him. This, however, was not 
 t 0 foe — overwork gradually told upon him, but he refused to rest 
 or in any way relax his studies ; and so, sad to relate, on the very 
 day before the commencement of his last examination his health 
 gave way completely, and he broke down, absolutely worn out 
 in mind and body. For some time he was very ill, but on 
 
 T 
 
VI 
 
 BIOGRAPHY OF W. STAINTON MOSES. 
 
 regaining convalescence he was ordered abroad. He spent nearly 
 a year travelling on the Continent with friends, and, with a view 
 to complete restoration, he visited many different scenes and 
 climates. St. Petersburg was the farthest limit of his wander- 
 ings, and on his return journey he lingered for six months at the 
 old Greek Monastery of “ Mount Athos .” Curiosity apparently 
 guided him thither, and his strong desire for rest and meditation 
 doubtless impelled him to remain for so long a time in that re- 
 mote, old-world spot. Many years afterwards he learned from 
 Imperator, his controlling spirit, that he had been influenced 
 even then by his unseen guides, who had impressed him to go 
 to “ Mount Athos ” as part of his spiritual training. 
 
 At the age of 23, Stainton Moses returned to England and 
 took his degree, leaving Oxford finally in the year 1863. Though 
 much improved in health by his foreign travel, he was not yet 
 strong ; so, acting on the advice of his doctor, who insisted on a 
 quiet rural life, he accepted a curacy at Maughold, near Ramsey, 
 Isle of Man. Here he remained for nearly five years, and 
 succeeded during that period in gaining the affection and 
 esteem of all his parishioners. The Rector, a very old and 
 infirm man, was practically unable to render any assistance in 
 the work of the parish, so that the whole of the duties con- 
 nected with the church and the district devolved upon Stainton 
 Moses. During his stay at Maughold, a severe epidemic of 
 small-pox broke out in the village and surrounding neighbour- 
 hood ; and it was then that the utter fearlessness of his nature 
 was strikingly manifested. There was no resident doctor in the 
 district, but having at different times acquired some little know- 
 ledge of medicine, Stainton Moses was enabled to minister to 
 a certain extent to the bodily necessities of his parishioners, as 
 well as to their spiritual needs. Day and night he was in attend- 
 ance at the bedside of some poor victim who was stricken by the 
 fell disease, and in one or two cases when, after an unsuccessful 
 struggle with the enemy, he had soothed the sufferer’s dying 
 moments by his ministrations, he was compelled to combine the 
 offices of priest and grave-digger, and conduct the interment 
 with his own hands. Such was the panic, inspired by the fear 
 of infection, that it was sometimes found impossible to induce 
 men to dig graves for the dead bodies of the victims, or even to 
 
BIOGRAPHY OF W. STAINTON MOSES. Vll 
 
 remove the coffins containing them. But through all this 
 terrible time Stainton Moses never flinched, and, notwithstand- 
 ing the threefold nature of the duties thus compulsorily thrust 
 upon him, he was fortunate in escaping the malady, and though 
 he steadily remained at his post single-handed, from the com- 
 mencement to the end of the outbreak, he was spared any un- 
 easiness on the score of his own health. It may be readily 
 imagined how greatly he endeared himself to all those around 
 him by his courageous devotion and strong sense of duty during 
 such an anxious and critical period ; but the feelings which he 
 inspired in his parishioners, and everyone with whom he came 
 in contact at Maughold, will be best appreciated by a perusal 
 of the address presented to him on relinquishing his curacy 
 there. It reads as follows : — 
 
 “Rev. and Dear Sir,— We, the undersigned parishioners of 
 Maughold, are much concerned to learn that it is your intention 
 shortly to resign the position which you have for some years past 
 so usefully and honourably occupied amongst us. We beg to assure 
 you that your labours have been greatly appreciated in the parish. 
 The longer we have known you, and the more we have seen of your 
 work, the greater has our regard for you increased. The congrega- 
 tions at both the churches under your charge are very different in 
 numbers to what they were some time ago. The schools have been 
 better looked after { the aged and infirm have been visited and 
 comforted ; and the poor have been cheered and helped by your 
 kindness and liberality. By your courteous demeanour, by your 
 friendly intercourse, and by your attention to the duties of the 
 parish generally, you have greatly endeared yourself to us all ; and 
 not least to our respected and venerable Vicar, whose hands we are 
 well satisfied you have done all you possibly could to strengthen. 
 We cannot but feel that your loss will be a very serious one to the 
 parish, and we should be glad if you could see your way to remaining 
 some time longer with us. By reconsidering your determination and 
 consenting to remain, you would place us under a deep debt of 
 gratitude and obligation.” 
 
 Here follow the signatures of the Rector and Churchwardens, 
 also of fifty-four of the principal inhabitants of the district. 
 Such a document, spontaneously presented, speaks for itself. 
 However, in spite of the unanimous wish of the inhabitants 
 that he should remain, Stainton Moses found that the work of 
 
▼Ill 
 
 BIOGRAPHY OF W. STAINTON MOSES. 
 
 looking after two parishes, practically single-handed, made too 
 great demands upon his health, and so in the spring of 1868 he 
 reluctantly relinquished his charge at Maughold, and accepted 
 the curacy of St. George’s, Douglas, Isle of Man. Here he first 
 met Dr. and Mrs. Stanhope Speer, and the acquaintance thus 
 commenced soon ripened into an intimacy which was destined 
 to exercise a very important influence upon the future of the 
 three persons concerned. Very soon after taking up his duties 
 at St. George’s, Stainton Moses was laid up with a sharp attack 
 of congestion of the liver, which confined him to his bed for 
 some little time. Dr. Speer attended him through this illness 
 (although he had retired from active practice for some years), and 
 was successful in effecting a complete cure. In September of 
 1869 Stainton Moses left Douglas, where he had made a great 
 impression by his preaching and ministrations among the poor 
 of the parish, and took up the post of locum, tenens at 
 Langton Maltravers, in Dorsetshire. Here he remained for two 
 months, when he was transferred to a curacy in the diocese of 
 Salisbury, the last ecclesiastical appointment he held. 
 
 At this time he was troubled by an affection of the throat, 
 which rapidly became worse, and necessitated a complete rest' 
 and the relinquishing of all public speaking and preaching. 
 Acting, therefore, upon medical advice, Stainton Moses gave up 
 his curacy, and came to London with the intention of turning 
 his attention to tuition. This practically severed his con- 
 nection with the Church. Had his health permitted him to 
 follow his original career, he would no doubt have attained a 
 distinguished position, as he was a powerful and original preacher, 
 a successful organiser, and an earnest and efficient worker 
 among the poor. 
 
 On coming to London Stainton Moses stayed with Dr. and 
 Mrs. Speer for nearly a year, during which time he superintended 
 privately the education of their son, the present writer. About 
 the close of 1870 or the beginning of 1871, he obtained the 
 appointment of English Master in University College School 
 which position he held until 1889. Little need be said of his 
 work there, further than that as long as his health permitted 
 it was always done well. As one of the English masters in a 
 great school, his opportunities of influencing the boys under his 
 
BIOGRAPHY OF W. STAINTON MOSES. 
 
 IX 
 
 charge, in respect of literary taste and style, were considerable; 
 and of those opportunities he made good use. Many will 
 remember his excellent suggestions, and kindly criticisms of 
 their essays. A portion of his work consisted of preparing a 
 class for the Matriculation of the University of London. The 
 peculiarly crabbed philological and historical knowledge required 
 for that examination was uncongenial to Stainton Moses s mind, 
 as in literature he liked to have a free hand ; yet the work was 
 done, and done well, and during the years he spent at the school 
 he embodied in a manuscript volume a vast number of valuable 
 
 notes bearing upon this subject.^ 
 
 Even more striking than his success as a master was the 
 personal' influence exercised by him over his pupils. One of 
 the peculiar institutions at University College School is that by 
 which a certain number of boys are especially attached to 
 certain senior masters, with whom they can take counsel and 
 from whom they can seek advice in all matters pertaining to 
 their well-being, moral, intellectual, and physical. Over the 
 boys thus placed under his immediate care the strong person- 
 ality of Stainton Moses had an enormous influence, often 
 extending over a period long subsequent to their leaving school. 
 Many a time in after life his advice has been sought by old 
 pupils on important matters, and whenever he felt he could help 
 them it was always a real pleasure to him to do so to the best 
 of his ability. His geniality, his knowledge of the world and 
 of men, his invariable straightforwardness and kindness, all 
 combined to strengthen the affectionate regard in which he was 
 held by those boys who had the good fortune to be under his 
 especial supervision. On resigning his post through ill-health 
 the Council of University College passed a resolution conveying 
 to Stainton Moses their best thanks for his long and valuable 
 service to the school, and a special letter of affectionate regret 
 was also sent to him signed by twenty-eight of his colleagues^ 
 Of his capacity for imparting his ideas to others I can speak 
 from a personal experience extending over seven years, during 
 which period our relations as master and pupil were continuous 
 and unbroken. Nothing could have been kinder or more con- 
 vincing than his method of imparting knowledge and informa- 
 tion ; nothing clearer or more helpful than his manner of 
 
X 
 
 BIOGRAPHY OF W. STAINTON MOSES. 
 
 explaining all difficulties; and no trouble was too great for him 
 to take in smoothing away all obstacles to a clear understanding 
 oi the matter in hand. 
 
 It was during Stainton Moses’s visit to Dr. Speer in 1870 
 that the subject of Spiritualism was first brought prominently 
 before him. For some time he and Dr. Speer had been in the 
 habit of discussing various topics bearing upon religious belief. 
 Both were gradually drifting into an unorthodox, almost 
 agnostic, frame ol mind, and both were becoming more and 
 more dissatisfied with existing doctrines, and longing for absolute 
 truth as regards the future life, and for some demonstration of 
 the certainty of immortality. To obtain any proof of such 
 immortality founded upon a strictly scientific basis seemed 
 impossible, and Dr. Speer was rapidly becoming a materialist of 
 the most hard and fast nature. A note received by him from 
 Stainton Moses, together with a copy of W. R. Greg’s “Enigmas 
 of Lite,” may prove interesting to those who would fain have 
 some inkling of the inner working of these two friends’ minds, 
 at a time when the old faith had lost its hold upon them, and 
 they were standing upon the brink of a newer Revelation:— 
 
 “My Dear Friend, — You and I have tackled some ‘ Enigmas of 
 Life together, and if we have not always solved them, we have 
 generally agreed in our opinion respecting them. I offer you the 
 opinions of a great thinker, which will be, in their outcome, very 
 similar to what we have thought out for ourselves. And if the half 
 century, during which your life here has lasted, leaves much 
 unknown, and much that even another such period will not unravel, 
 
 I hope at least that during such part of it as we are here together 
 we may continue to talk and speculate together.— Your sincere 
 friend, W . g M „ 
 
 It will be interesting to note the circumstances under which, 
 during this visit to Dr. Speer, the subject of Spiritualism pressed 
 itself upon Stainton Moses’s attention. Mrs. Speer had been con- 
 fined to her room by illness for three weeks, during which period 
 she had occupied herself in reading Dale Owen’s “ The Debat- 
 able Land.” It interested her much, and on being able to rejoin 
 the family circle she asked Stainton Moses to read the book, 
 and endeavour to discover whether there was any truth in the 
 experiences therein narrated. Though at that time he took no 
 
BIOGRAPHY OF W. STAINTON MOSES. 
 
 XI 
 
 interest in Spiritualism, regarding it merely as trickery and 
 fraud, yet he promised Mrs. Speer to go into the matter with 
 the view of ascertaining whether there might be some germs of 
 truth underlying the mass of jugglery and imposture ; and so 
 began those astounding experiences of his, which, commencing 
 at that time, extended over a period of more than twenty years. 
 In those days, although dissatisfied with the cut-and-dried 
 doctrines of the Church, and with the manner in which its 
 teachings were expounded from the pulpit and elsewhere, 
 Stainton Moses was, nevertheless, immensely interested in all 
 religious subjects, and his reading of everything that bore upon 
 them was enormous. No book, pamphlet, or magazine likely to 
 throw any light upon the questions which perplexed him was 
 overlooked, and even after his regular intercourse with the un- 
 seen world had commenced he did not entirely give up his faith 
 in the Church without an arduous and prolonged struggle. The 
 reality of the struggle may be clearly discerned in the pages of 
 “ Spirit Teachings,” and in his other automatic writings ; but 
 when he had fully satisfied himself of the reality of those 
 “ Teachings,” and of the truthfulness and integrity of his spirit- 
 guides, his faith never faltered, and his zeal in the prosecution 
 of the work entrusted to him never flagged. Previous to his 
 own development as a medium, Stainton Moses had been 
 present at various sittings with other mediums. Mrs. Speer 
 having been so immensely impressed by her perusal of the 
 “ Debatable Land ” he determined to read it for himself, and 
 in consequence became almost as anxious as she was for fuller 
 information. This was the more curious as, only a month before, 
 he had tried in vain to read Lord Adare’s record of private 
 seances with D. D. Home, but, as he said himself, it had 
 absolutely no interest for him. His first noteworthy experiences 
 were with Lottie Fowler, in the spring of 1872; and soon after- 
 wards Dr. Speer— although at that time regarding the whole 
 subject of Spiritualism as “stuff and nonsense” — was persuaded 
 to join him in a visit to the medium Williams. They went several 
 times, and were soon convinced that there was some force out- 
 side the medium at work — in which conviction they were much 
 strengthened by a remarkable stance held shortly afterwards 
 in Dr. Speer’s house, when Williams was again the medium. 
 
 \ 
 
Xll 
 
 BIOGRAPHY OF W. STAINTON MOSES. 
 
 About this time Stainton Moses’s own mediumistic powers 
 began to be developed. It is unnecessary to give a detailed 
 description of that development, as a full and exhaustive account 
 may be found in Mrs. Speer’s “Records,” which have lately 
 appeared in Light ; but I think that some of my own recollec- 
 tions of the seances, at which I had the privilege of being 
 present during the last two years of Stainton Moses’s active 
 mediumship may be of some interest. At any rate they will 
 place on record the impressions of another witness, and may 
 possibly be of service as bearing additional testimony to the 
 wonderful powers of the medium, and the absolute reality of 
 the phenomena given through him. 
 
 It is important to note that at these seances no less than 
 ten different kinds of manifestations took place, with more or 
 less frequency. On occasions when there were fewer varieties 
 we were usually told that the conditions were not good. When 
 they were favourable the manifestations were more numerous, 
 the raps more distinct, the lights brighter, and the musical 
 sounds clearer. The various occurrences may be briefly enu- 
 merated as follows : — 
 
 1. Great variety of raps, often given simultaneously, and 
 ranging in force from the tapping of a finger-nail to 
 the tread of a foot sufficiently heavy to shake the room. 
 Each spirit always had its own distinctive rap, many 
 of them so peculiar as to be immediately recognisable ; 
 and these sounds often took place in sufficient light for 
 the sitters to see each other’s features, and — I suppose 
 more important — hands. Raps also were frequently 
 heard on the door, sideboard, and wall, all some distance 
 removed from the table at which we sat ; these raps 
 could not possibly have been produced by any human 
 agency ; of that I satisfied myself in every conceivable 
 way. 
 
 2. Raps which answered questions coherently and with the 
 greatest distinctness, and also gave messages, sometimes 
 of considerable length, through the medium of the 
 alphabet. At these times all the raps ceased except 
 the one identified with the communicating spirit, and 
 perfect quiet prevailed until the message had been 
 
BIOGRAPHY OF W. STAINTON MOSES. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 delivered. We could almost always tell immediately 
 with which spirit we were talking, owing to the perfectly 
 distinct individuality of each different rap. Some of 
 the higher spirits never manifested by raps at all, after 
 the first few seances, but announced their presence by 
 a note of music, or the flash of a light ; but among those 
 who did manifest in the usual way it would be difficult 
 to forget Rector’s heavy and ponderous tread, which 
 shook the whole room with its weight, while it appeared 
 to move slowly round the circle. 
 
 S. Numerous lights were generally visible to all the sitters. 
 These lights were of two different kinds— objective and 
 subjective. The former usually resembled small illu- 
 minated globes, which shone brightly and steadily, often 
 moved rapidly about the room, and were visible to all 
 the sitters. A curious fact in connection with these 
 lights always struck me, viz., that looking on to the top 
 of the table one could see a light slowly ascending from 
 the floor, and to all appearance passing out through the 
 top of the table — the table itself apparently not afford- 
 ing any obstacle to one’s view of the light. It is a little 
 difficult to explain my meaning exactly, but had the top 
 of the table been composed of plain glass, the effect of the 
 ascending light, as it appealed to one’s organs of vision, 
 would have been pretty much the same as it was, seen 
 through the solid mahogany. Even then, to make the 
 parallel complete, it would be necessary to have a hole 
 in the glass top of the table, through which the light 
 could emerge. The subjective lights were described as 
 being large masses of luminous vapour floating round 
 the room and assuming a variety of shapes. Dr. Speer 
 and myself, being of entirely unmediumistic tempera- 
 ments, were only able to see the objective lights, but 
 Mr. Stainton Moses, Mrs. Speer, and other occasional 
 sitters frequently saw and described those which were 
 mer^j^tye^iiye. Another curious point in relation to 
 the objective lights was that, however brightly they 
 might shine, they never, unlike an ordinary lamp, threw 
 any radiance around them, or illuminated the smallest 
 
BIOGRAPHY OF W. STAINTON MOSES. 
 
 portion of the surrounding darkness — when it was dark 
 — in the slightest degree. 
 
 4 . Scents of various descriptions were always brought to the 
 circle — the most common being musk, verbena, new- 
 mown hay, and one unfamiliar odour, which we were 
 told was called spirit-scent. Sometimes breezes heavy 
 with perfume swept round the circle ; at other times 
 quantities of liquid musk, &c., would be poured on to 
 the hands of the sitters, and also, by request, on to 
 our handkerchiefs. At the close of a seance scent was 
 nearly always found to be oozing out of the mediums 
 head, and the more frequently it was wiped away the' 
 stronger and more plentiful it became. 
 
 5 . The musical sounds, which were many and varied, formed 
 a very important item in the list of phenomena which 
 occurred in our presence. Having myself had a thorough 
 musical education, I was able to estimate at its proper 
 value the importance of these particular manifesta- 
 tions, and was also more or less in a position to 
 judge of the possibility or impossibility of their being 
 produced by natural means, or through human agency. 
 These sounds may, roughly speaking, be divided into two 
 classes — those which obviously proceeded from an 
 instrument— a harmonium — in a room, whilst the 
 hands of all the sitters were joined round the table; 
 and those which were produced in a room in which 
 there was no instrument of any kind whatever. These 
 latter were, of course, by far the most wonderful. As 
 regards the musical sounds produced in the room in 
 which there was no instrument, they were about four in 
 number. First, there were what we called “ The Fairy 
 Bells.” These resembled the tones produced by striking 
 musical glasses with a small hammer. The sounds 
 given forth were clear, crisp, and melodious. No definite 
 tune was ever played, but the sounds were always 
 harmonious, and at the request of myself, or any other 
 member of the circle, the “ bells ” would always run up 
 or down a scale in perfect tune. It was difficult to 
 judge where the sound of these “ fairy bells ” came from, 
 
BIOGRAPHY" OF W. STAINTON MOSES. 
 
 XV 
 
 but I often applied my ear to the top of the table, and 
 the music seemed to be somehow in the wood — not 
 underneath it, as on listening under the table the 
 music would appear to be above. Next we had quite a 
 different sound — that of a stringed instrument, more 
 nearly akin to a violoncello than anything else I have 
 ever heard. It was, however, more powerful and 
 sonorous, and might perhaps be produced by placing a 
 'cello on the top of a drum, or anything else likely to 
 increase the vibration. This instrument was only heard 
 in single notes, and was used only by one spirit, who 
 employed it usually for answering questions — in the 
 same way that others did by raps. The third sound was 
 an exact imitation of an ordinary handbell, which would 
 be rung sharply by way of indicating the presence of 
 the particular spirit with whom it was associated. 
 We naturally took care to ascertain that there 
 was no bell of any kind in the room at the time. 
 Even if there had been, it would have been a matter of 
 some difficulty to ring it all round the walls and 
 even up to the ceiling, and this particular sound pro- 
 ceeded indifferently from all parts of the room. 
 Lastly, we had a sound of which it is exceedingly 
 difficult to offer an adequate description. The best 
 idea of it I can give is to ask the reader to imagine the 
 soft tone of a clarionet gradually increasing in intensity 
 until it rivalled the sound of a trumpet, and then, by 
 degrees, diminishing to the original subdued note of 
 the clarionet until it eventually died away in a long 
 drawn-out melancholy wail. This is a very inefficient 
 description of this really extraordinary sound, but as I 
 have in the whole course of my experience never heard 
 anything else at all like it, it is impossible to give to 
 those who have not heard it a more accurate idea of 
 what it was like. As was the case with the two previous 
 sounds I have described, it was always associated with 
 one spirit. It is a noteworthy fact that in no case did 
 the controlling agencies produce more than single notes 
 or at best isolated passages. This they accounted for 
 
BIOGRAPHY OF W. STAINTON MOSES. 
 
 as due to the peculiarly unmusical organisation of the 
 medium. At any rate, the production of these sounds 
 was wonderful enough in itself, as I over and over again 
 satisfied myself fully that there were no materials in 
 the room which could in any way assist in the making 
 of any kind of musical tones ; and the clarionet and 
 trumpet sound was one that I should be utterly at a loss 
 to give at all an adequate imitation of, whatever 
 materials might be at my disposal. Before I joined 
 the circle several other musical sounds were frequently 
 heard, and all were given with greater variety, both of 
 manipulation and tone ; but as I am now only giving a 
 brief epitome of what actually happened under my own 
 observation, I refrain from alluding to occurences which 
 took place when I was not present. 
 
 . Direct writing was often given, sometimes on a sheet of 
 paper placed in the centre of the table, and equi- 
 distant from all the sitters ; at other times one of us 
 would place our hands on a piece of paper previously 
 dated and initialled, and usually a message was found 
 written upon it at the conclusion of the seance. We 
 usually placed a pencil upon the paper, but sometimes 
 we only provided a small piece of lead — the results 
 being the same in both cases. Usually, the writin g ^ 
 took the form of answering questions which we had 
 asked, but sometimes short, independent communi- 
 cations were given, and also messages of greeting. 
 
 7 . Movements of heavy bodies, such as tables and chairs, 
 were by no means infrequent. Sometimes the table 
 would be tilted up at a considerable angle ; at other 
 times the chairs of one or more of the sitters would be 
 pushed more or less forcibly away from the table, until 
 they touched the wall behind ; or the table would move 
 away from the sitters on one side, and be propelled 
 irresistibly against those on the other, compelling them 
 to shift their chairs in order to avoid the advance ot 
 so heavy a piece of furniture. The table in question, 
 at which we usually sat, was an extremely weighty 
 dining- table made of solid Honduras mahogany, but 
 
BIOGRAPHY OF W. STAINTON MOSES. 
 
 XVII 
 
 at times it was moved with much greater ease than 
 the combined efforts of all the sitters could accomplish ; 
 and these combined efforts were powerless to prevent 
 it moving in a certain direction, if the unseen force 
 willed it to do so. We frequently tested the strength 
 of this force by trying to check the onward movement 
 of the table, but without success. 
 
 8. The passage of matter through matter was sometimes 
 
 strikingly demonstrated by the bringing of various 
 articles from other rooms, though the doors were closed 
 and bolted. Photographs, picture-frames, books, and 
 other objects were frequently so brought, both from 
 
 -- — rooms on the same floor and from those above. How 
 they came through the closed doors I cannot say, 
 except by some process of de-materialisation, but come 
 they certainly did, apparently none the worse for the 
 process, whatever it might have been. 
 
 9. The direct spirit voice, as opposed to the voice of a spirit 
 
 speaking through the medium while in a state of trance, 
 was very seldom heard, and never with any clearness or 
 distinctness. But occasionally it was attempted, and 
 by listening carefully we could distinguish one or two 
 broken sentences which were hissed out in a sort of 
 husky whisper. These sounds generally seemed to be in 
 the air above us, but they were produced with evident 
 difficulty, and there being so many other methods of 
 communication, the direct voice was essayed but seldom. 
 
 10. The inspirational addresses given by various spirits 
 
 through Stainton Moses when in an entranced condition 
 have been so thoroughly dealt with by Mrs. Speer in 
 her “ Records ” that I can add nothing as regards the 
 matter thus expounded. Touching the manner of 
 these addresses (one or more of which we had at 
 almost every seance) I can only say that they were 
 delivered in a dignified, temperate, clear and convincing 
 tone, and that though the voice proceeded from the 
 medium, it was always immediately apparent that the 
 personality addressing us was not that of the medium. 
 The voice was different, and the ideas were often not in 
 
XVlll 
 
 BIOGRAPHY OF W. STAIN TON MOSES. 
 
 accordance with those held at the time by the medium 
 An important fact, too, was that although many spirits 
 exercised this power of control, the voice which spoke 
 was always different; and in the case of those spirits 
 which controlled regularly we came to know perfectly 
 well which intelligence was communicating, by the tone 
 of the voice and the method of enunciation. 
 
 So far, in this enumeration of the various phenomena I 
 have spoken generally of the manifestations which usually 
 occurred at most of our sittings, but in conclusion I will give 
 two particular instances, one of direct writing, and one of 
 identity, both of which I think are interesting, and which 
 certainly impressed me considerably. On one occasion we were 
 told to cease for a time, and resume the seance later on I asked 
 the communicating intelligences if they would during the 
 interval give me a sample of direct writing under test con- 
 ditions. Having received an affirmative reply, I procured a 
 piece of my own note-paper, and, unknown to the other members 
 of the circle, I dated and initialled it, and also put a private 
 mark in a corner of the sheet. The others having retired 
 from the dining to the drawing room, I placed my piece of 
 paper with a pencil under a table in the study, and having 
 thoroughly searched the room I barred the shutters, bolted and 
 locked the door, and put the key in my pocket. I did not lose 
 sight of the door until I re-entered, when to my great satis- 
 faction I found a message clearly written on the paper. As we 
 had not been sitting in the study, and as I can positively aver- 
 that no one entered the room after I had left it until I myself 
 unlocked the door, I have always considered this particular 
 instance of direct spirit writing as a most satisfactory and 
 conclusive test. The other occurrence which I consider specially 
 worthy of mention took place as follows. We were sitting one 
 night as usual, and I had in front of me, with my hand resting 
 upon it, a piece of note-paper, with a pencil close by. Suddenly 
 Stamton Moses, who was sitting exactly opposite me, exclaimed 
 “ There is a very bright column of light behind you.” Soon 
 afterwards he said that the column of light had developed into 
 a spirit-form. I asked him if the face was familiar to him and 
 he replied in the negative, at the same time describing the head 
 
BIOGRAPHY OF W. STAINTON MOSES. 
 
 XIX 
 
 and features. When the seance was concluded I examined my 
 sheet of paper, which my hand had never left, and found written 
 on it a message and' signature. The name was that of a distin- 
 guished musician who died in the early part of the present 
 century. I purposely refrain from specifying him, as the use of 
 great names very frequently leads to results quite different from 
 those intended. However, now comes the most extraordinary 
 part of the affair. I asked Stainton Moses— without, of course, 
 showing him the written message— whether he thought he could 
 recognise the spirit he saw behind my chair if he saw a portrait 
 of him. He said he thought he could, so I gave him several 
 albums, containing likenesses of friends dead and alive, and also 
 portraits of various celebrities. On coming to the photograph 
 of the composer in question he at once said, without hesitation, 
 “ That is the face of the spirit I saw behind you. ’ Then, for the 
 first time, I showed him the message and signature. I regarded 
 the whole incident as a very fair proof of spirit identity, and 
 I think that most people would, at any rate, consider the 
 
 occurrence one of interest. . 
 
 During the time of Stainton Moses’s active mediumship, he 
 was often busily engaged in assisting in the formation of various 
 societies, whose primary object was the investigation of Spirit- 
 ualism and other occult, though kindred, subjects. He took 
 part in the establishment of the British National Association 
 of Spiritualists in 1873. He was also connected with the 
 Psychological Society of Great Britain, which was inaugurated 
 in April, 1875, and of the Council of that Society he was one 
 of the original members. In 1882, Stainton Moses took an 
 active interest in the formation of the Society for Psychical 
 Research ; and in 1884 he established “The London Spiritualist 
 Alliance,” and became its first President, which post he filled up 
 to the time of his death. For the last few years of his life, he 
 added to his other duties the editorship of Light, and though 
 his active mediumship, as regards physical phenomena, had 
 then almost entirely ceased, yet his power of automatic writing 
 remained with him to the end. For the last three or four 
 years of his life he suffered from failing health, and many 
 successive attacks of influenza gradually undermined a constitu- 
 tion which had never been conspicuously robust. Though he 
 
XX 
 
 BIOGRAPHY OF W. STAINTON MOSES. 
 
 gradually became worse he was never supposed to be in any 
 real danger, and when the end came on September 5th, 1892, 
 it was a terrible shock to all those who knew him, and who 
 realised what a loss to themselves personally, and to the cause 
 of Spiritualism generally, his death would prove. 
 
 Far more interesting to those who knew him intimately was 
 Stainton Moses’s personality than his life. The latter, as all 
 who read this brief sketch will readily see for themselves, was, 
 with the exception of the wonderful spiritual experiences so in- 
 dissolubly linked with it, unmomentous and uneventful. But 
 his individuality and force of character were immense ; his 
 ability was quite out of the common ; and more than all, the 
 versatility of his talents was perhaps one of his most striking 
 features. No study was too dry or uninteresting for him to 
 master, no subject so apparently unimportant and unworthy his 
 attention but he would easily acquire an intelligent conception 
 of its details. And this applies equally to the whole range of 
 more or less trivial matters which make up the sum total of 
 nineteenth-century every-day life, as well as to those deeper and 
 more serious subjects which, being akin to his own especial one, 
 naturally engrossed most of his attention. From the time 
 that he first began to realise of what vast importance it was to 
 establish the possibility of communion with the world of the 
 future, to the end of his life, his zeal in proving the truth of his 
 teachings never failed. In spite of the demands made upon his 
 time by school and press work, he contrived to bestow an 
 immense amount of energy upon his Spiritualistic researches ; 
 his enormous correspondence with thousands of inquirers all over 
 the world affording quite sufficient material to occupy the life 
 of any ordinary man. But in this as in everything else he was 
 conscientious to the last degree, and never considered time 
 wasted that was expended in answering the queries and solving, 
 to the best of his ability, the doubts of earnest seekers after 
 truth. A certain proportion of his time was devoted to visiting 
 many of the most important people in the country — important 
 both socially and politically — and also those who were 
 distinguished for their eminence in the scientific, literary, and 
 artistic world. During the lifetime of such people their names 
 cannot be divulged, but it is not too much to say that Stainton 
 
BIOGRAPHY OF W. STAINTON MOSES. 
 
 XXI 
 
 Moses had interviews, more or less frequently, with most of the 
 illustrious personages of his day ; and all who took any interest 
 in the phenomena of Spiritualism, whatever their position or 
 attainments, were alike anxious to hear his opinions and experi- 
 ences of that subject on which none were so well qualified to 
 speak as himself. 
 
 Apart from Spiritualism, Stainton Moses possessed in his 
 own character a rare combination of remarkable qualities, not 
 often met with in the same individual. He had the keenest 
 sense of justice and equity, his judgment was invariably sound 
 and discreet, and in addition to all this, no man ever 
 possessed a kinder heart or livelier sympathies, or was more 
 ready to assist with counsel or advice those who came to him 
 for either. Notwithstanding his varied spiritual experiences, 
 unique in themselves, he was never puffed up by them in the 
 smallest degree, and though impatient of mere frivolous or 
 ignorant opposition, he would never refuse to join issue in 
 friendly argument with any opponent — however much beneath 
 his attention. In these various encounters, Stainton Moses’s 
 clear understanding and extremely logical habits of mind 
 enabled him to score heavily and with decisive effect off those 
 antagonists who sometimes had the temerity to attack him with 
 very little reason and still less knowledge. His crushing 
 rejoinder to Dr. Carpenter, who some eighteen or twenty years 
 ago lectured at the London Institution on the “ Fallacies of 
 Modern Spiritualism,” will probably be still remembered by a 
 good many people as a striking instance of logical reasoning 
 and effective sarcasm, which, significantly enough, was never 
 answered. Considering the then unpopular nature of the sub- 
 ject which he had so unmistakably made his own, and of the 
 conclusions which he deduced from a close and systematic study 
 of the same, it is a matter to be wondered at that he was not 
 more often attacked by narrow-minded religious bigots, pseudo- 
 scientists, and superficial penny-a-liners. But however this 
 may be, the fact remains that with a few insignificant exceptions 
 he was not so attacked ; when he was, his power of showing up 
 the weakness of his opponent’s case and ignorance of the matters 
 on which he presumed to dogmatise was only equalled by the 
 polite ridicule and quiet satire which he was always ready to 
 
XXII 
 
 BIOGRAPHY OF W. STAINTON MOSES. 
 
 bring to bear upon the author of any unprovoked piece of 
 aggressive meddling. 
 
 It was a noteworthy feature about Stainton Moses, that 
 in spite of his being compulsorily drawn in many ways into 
 a conspicuously public position, no man ever hated publicity 
 more than he did. Retiring and modest by nature, he 
 detested the making of speeches, delivering of addresses, 
 presiding over meetings, and other similar functions for which 
 the singularity of his powers and the extent of his knowledge 
 naturally marked him out as being eminently fitted. Though 
 richly endowed with gifts sufficient to stamp him in any 
 age as a leader of men, his own inclinations would, had he 
 been untrammelled by force of circumstances, have led him to 
 prefer a life of studious ease and unostentatious retirement. 
 But this was not to be ; so he trod his allotted path with zeal, 
 courage, and discretion ; did his duty with an utter abnegation 
 of self ; and died at his post in the prime of manhood, carrying 
 with him to the grave the affectionate regard and esteem of 
 hundreds who will cherish the memory of his friendship as one 
 of their most precious legacies. 
 
 It is quite impossible within the limits of a short biography 
 like the present to do more than present a brief sketch of the 
 character of Stainton Moses ; but I should like to once more 
 insist upon the entirely admirable ingredients of which that 
 character was composed, and I might fill volumes in dilating 
 upon his utter absetice of pride, fanaticism, arrogance, or conceit; 
 upon his love of truth, purity, and integrity ; and upon his 
 absolute fearlessness, generous large-heartedness, and wholly 
 sympathetic friendship. But of what avail ? He has crossed 
 the bar, and gone from our mortal vision for ever. And what- 
 ever I could say in his praise would not heighten the affection 
 and esteem of those who knew him ; and those who did not 
 would gain but a poor idea of his worth and talents from any 
 paltry efforts of mine. So let us gain what benefit we can 
 from the words of those inspirational teachings which he has 
 left behind, and to which this short memoir is intended to serve 
 as a humble introduction, and then, for a time at any rate, let 
 us re-echo the old formula, Requiescat in Pace. 
 
 Charlton Templeman Speer. 
 
 J 
 

PREFACE TO THE MEMORIAL EDITION. 
 
 This Edition of “ Spirit Teachings ” is issued by the Council 
 of the London Spiritualist Alliance in affectionate memory of 
 their friend, Mr. W. Stainton Moses, to whom the Alliance owed 
 its existence, and who was its first and only President from its 
 
 formation in 1884 to the time of his decease on September 5th r „ 
 
 1892. Anxious to show their loving regard for one with whom 
 it had been their pleasure and privilege to co-operate in the 
 work which was so dear to him, and to which he gave so large 
 a portion of his very busy life, the Council have concluded 
 that the fittest memorial to his worth, and to the value of his 
 labours, would be the re-issue of the book which he himself 
 regarded as the most generally useful of his publications. 
 Others, no doubt, have each a special interest of its own ; but 
 “ Spirit Teachings ” — revealing as it does the struggles of a 
 robust mind against new phases of thought, and its gradual 
 acceptance, as truth, of what was at first suspected and feared 
 as dangerous heresy — will always possess a peculiar charm for 
 the many who, in these days of intellectual daring, having 
 become impatient of old creeds, are striving for greater liberty 
 and clearer light. The Council, therefore, trust that the 
 re-publication of “ Spirit Teachings ” will meet with a very 
 general acceptance. 
 
 By the kindness of Mr. Charlton T. Speer, who enjoyed the 
 close personal friendship of Mr. Stainton Moses, they are able 
 to include in the volume a valuable biographical notice, which 
 cannot but add greatly to the interest of the work. 
 
 Signed on behalf of the Council of the London Spiritualist Alliance, 
 
 E. DAWSON ROGERS, 
 
 President 
 
 110, St. Martin’s Lane, London, W.C. 
 
PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. 
 
 Some apology may be deemed necessary for the publication 
 of this book. My excuse is to be found in the following 
 lacts. 
 
 When these communications first saw the light they 
 attracted a large amount of attention, and brought me much 
 correspondence. Many found in them words which were 
 suitable to their own experience, and more or less helpful to 
 themselves. It seemed that no case is quite singular, and 
 that the record of my own spiritual education was not merely 
 of private application. 
 
 Since that time many requests have been made for the 
 publication of these Teachings in a connected form. The 
 compliance, however, did not rest with me, and it is__xmly 
 lately that I have been enabled to present the complete 
 series, duly revised, by the same method as was originally 
 employed in writing them, and arranged in such order as 
 was possible wi!h~W~disconnected a mass. For these are 
 but specimens taken from a great bulk, and from them are 
 excluded some of the most striking by reason of their purely 
 personal application. 
 
 They are now strung together on a thread that is strong 
 enough, perhaps, to hold them together in some sort of 
 relation. But no attempt of mine can even faintly re- 
 produce their force and coherence when originally given. 
 They must go forth, a curious record of an educational 
 influence brought to bear, from without and unsought, on a 
 mind that endeavoured strenuously to sift and probe what 
 was said. They pretend to no dogmatic authority, to no 
 literary completeness. They will be to each reader only 
 what he makes them. 
 
 (M.A. Oxon.). 
 
INDEX 
 
 Preface, 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The method by which the messages were received (1) — The character 
 of the writing (2) — The communicating spirits (3) — The circum- 
 stances under which the messages were written (4) — How far 
 were they tinged by the mind of the medium? (5) — Power of 
 controlling by will the production of writing (6)— These com- 
 munications mark a period of spiritual education (7) — And, 
 though to him who received them of great value, are published 
 with no such claim on others (8), 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Special efforts to spread progressive truth at this special epoch 
 thwarted by the Adversaries (9) — Obstacles in the way — The 
 efforts now made greater than men think (10) — Revelation: its 
 continuity — Its deterioration in men’s hands — The work of 
 destruction must precede that of construction (11) — Spirit- 
 guides : how given — Spirits who return to earth — The Ad- 
 versaries and their work (12) — Evil — The perpetuation of the 
 nature generated on earth — The growth of character (13) — 
 Each soul to his own place, and to no other — The Devil (14), ■ 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 •’he true philanthropist the ideal man — The notes of his character 
 (15) — The true philosopher — The notes of his character — 
 Eternal life — Progressive and contemplative — God, known only 
 by his acts (16) — The conflict between good and evil (a typical 
 message of this period) — These conflicts periodic, especially 
 consequent on the premature withdrawal of spirits from the 
 body : e.g ., by wars, suicide, or by execution for murder — The 
 folly of our methods of dealing with crime (17) — Of herding 
 criminals together and hanging the worst of them — Remedial 
 methods preferable (18)— For in sending a spirit prematurely 
 forth from its body with rage and vengeance, we send him 
 with enlarged opportunity to work mischief — We do this in 
 the name of God, of whom we have a very false conception (19) 
 — Pity and Love are mere potent than Vengeance — The sub- 
 limity of the idea of God revealed in Spirit-Teaching compared 
 with the old idea (20, 21), 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Physical results of the rapid writing of the last message : headache, 
 and great prostration — Explanation (22) — Punitive and re- 
 medial legislation — Asylums and their abuses — Mediums in 
 
 PAOB 
 
 i\r 
 
 1-8 
 
 914 
 
 15-21 
 
INDEX. 
 
 madhouses (23) — Obsessing spirits living over again their base 
 lives vicariously (24) — Children in the spirit-world : their train- 
 ing and progress — Love and knowledge as aids — Purification 
 by trial — Motives that bring spirits to earth again (25) — 
 
 Return to earth not the only mode of progression — States of 
 probation or purgation, and spheres of contemplation (26) — 
 
 Spheres and states within them — The descent of spirit through 
 hoice of evil (27) — Its hatred of good and gradual assumption 
 of materiality till it sinks lower and lower (28) — The Unpar- 
 donable Sin (29), 22-30 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Time : April and May, 1873 — Facts of a minute nature given through 
 writing, all unknown to me (31) — Spirit reading a book and 
 reproducing a sentence, through the writing, from Virgil and 
 from an old book, Rogers’ Antipopopriestian — Experiment 
 
 reversed (33), 31-33 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 Mediumship and its varieties — The physical medium (34) — Clairvoy- 
 ants — Recipients of teaching, whether by objective message or 
 by impression — The mind must be receptive, free from dog- 
 matism, inquiring, and progressive (35) — Not positive or 
 antagonistic, but truthful and fearless (36) —Selfishness and 
 vaingloriousness must be eradicated — The self-abnegation of 
 Jesus Christ (37) — A perfect character, fostered by a secluded 
 life, the life of contemplation (39), 34-39 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 The Derby Day and its effects spiritually (40) — National Holidays, 
 their riot and debauchery — Spirit photographs and deceiv- 
 ing spirits (41) — Explanation of the event : a warning for the 
 future (42) — Passivity needed : the circle to be kept unchanged : 
 not to meet too soon after eating (43) — Phosphorescent lights 
 varying according to conditions (44) — The marriage bond in the 
 future state (45) — The law of Progress and the law of Associa- 
 tion (46) — Discrepancies in communications (47), - - * 40-47 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 The Neo-Platonic philosophy — Souffism — Extracts from old poets, 
 
 Lydgate, and others written — Answers to theological questions 
 (48) — The most difficult to approach are those who attribute 
 everything to the devil — The pseudo-scientific man of small 
 moment (49) — The ignorant and uncultured must bide their 
 time — The proud and arrogant children of routine and respect- 
 ability are passed by — The receptive are too often cramped by 
 a human theology which stifles true religious instincts (50) — 
 
 They are armed at all points, and their honest but mistaken 
 arguments are very saddening — Reason, the final Court of 
 Appeal (51) — How far does Reason prove us of the devil, and 
 our creed diabolic (52) ------- 48-52 
 
INDEX. , 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 The writer’s personal beliefs and theological training— A period of great 
 spiritual exaltation (53)— The dual aspect of religion— The spirit- 
 creed respecting God— The relations between God and man (54) 
 
 — Faith— Belief— 1 The theology of spirit (55)— Human life and its 
 issues — Sin and its punishment — Virtue and its reward Divine 
 justice (56)— The spirit-creed drawn out— Revelation not con- 
 fined to Sinai— No revelation of plenary inspiration (57)— But 
 to be judged by reason 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 The writer’s objections — The reply : necessary to clear away rubbish 
 
 The atonement (60)— Further objections of the writer— The 
 reply (61)— The sign of the cross— The vulgar conception of 
 plenary inspiration (62)— The gradual unfolding of the God- 
 idea (63)— The Bible the record of a gradual growth in know- 
 ledge easily discernible (64) — The inspiration divine, the medium 
 human— Hence each finds in the Bible the reflex of his own 
 mind— And so the Bible becomes an armoury for all (65)— And 
 too much stress is laid on isolated texts, and words and phrases 
 (66) At variance with these views, spirits endeavour to eradi- 
 
 cate what is so false as not to be put right, otherwise they take 
 existing opinions and mould them into closer semblance of 
 truth (67)— So theological views are toned down, not eradi- 
 cated— Opinions are spiritualised (68)— In this way has this 
 teaching been given— How the sign of the cross can be prefixed 
 
 to it (69-71), > * 
 
 SECTION X. 
 
 Further objections of the writer— The reply (72)— A comparison 
 between these objections and those which assailed the work of 
 Jesus Christ (73) — Spiritualised Christianity is as little accept- 
 able now (74)— The outcome of spirit-teaching— How far is it 
 reasonable ?— An exposition of the belief compared with the 
 
 orthodox creed (75-79), 
 
 SECTION XI. 
 
 The powerful nature of the spiritual influence exerted on the writer— 
 His argument resumed (80)— The rejoinder— No objection to 
 honest doubt (81)— The decision must be made on the merits of 
 what is said, its coherence, and moral elevation (82)— The 
 almost utter worthlessness of what is called opinion— Religion 
 not so abstruse a problem as man imagines (83)— Truth the 
 appanage of no sect — To be found in the philosophy of Atheno- 
 dorus, of Plotinus, of Algazzali, of Achillini (84)— To whom 
 earth-opinions are of little moment now— All may work in such 
 work as this, and there is no discrepancy (85)— Every statement 
 made, scrupulously exact, though some may have been distorted 
 
 FA« 
 
 1 
 
 53-58 
 
 59-71 
 
 72-79 
 
INDEX. 
 
 In transit (86) — This attempt to teach is one of many made to 
 many different minds (87) — The prospects of acceptance and 
 rejection (88-89) — The position assigned to Jesus the Christ 
 (90-91), 80-91 
 
 SECTION XII. 
 
 The writer’s difficulties — Spirit identity — Divergence among spirits 
 in what they taught (92)— The reply — The root-error is a false 
 conception of God and His dealings with man — Elucidation at 
 length of this idea (93-97) — The devil — Risk of incursion of evil 
 and obsession applies only to those who, by their own debased 
 nature, attract undeveloped spirits (99), 92-100 
 
 SECTION XIII. 
 
 Further objections of the writer, and statement of his difficulties 
 (101) — The reply — Patience and prayerfulness needed — Prayer 
 (103) — Its benefits and blessings — The spirit- view of it (104-108) 
 
 — A vehemently- written communication— The dead past and 
 the living future (106-107) — The attitude of the world to the 
 New Truth (108-109), 101-109 
 
 SECTION XIV. 
 
 The conflict between the writer’s strong opinions and those of the Un- 
 seen Teacher (110) — Difficulties of belief in an Unseen In- 
 telligence — The battle with intellectual doubt (111) — Patience 
 needed to see that the world is craving for something real in 
 place of the creed outworn (112) — The result of the contention 
 was that the writer, having carried his point, was lifted out of 
 the personal dispute about the Messenger into a grasp of the 
 dignity and beauty of the message — Statement of his mental 
 condition (113) — His own contention (114, 115) — The reiterated 
 claim to be an enunciation of a Divine Message (116) — Spirit 
 intercourse governed by laws — No proper care of mediums 
 (117,118), - 110118 
 
 SECTION XV. 
 
 The religious teaching of Spiritualism — Deism, Theism, Atheism (119) 
 
 — No absolute Truth — A motiveless religion not that of Spirit- 
 teaching — Man, the arbiter of his own destiny — Judged by his 
 works, not in a far hereafter, but at once — A definite, intel- 
 ligible system — The greatest incentive to holiness and deterrent 
 from crime (120-122) — Spiritualism not bad in the mass — Hard 
 for those who are in the midst to judge — Means are adapted to 
 ends — A multiplicity of minds are being operated on by methods 
 best adapted to reach them, hence the apparent din and con- 
 fusion (123-125) — The question of Evil — Popular Spiritualism 
 - — Not only a profoundly external revelation, but assurance of 
 reunion, a gospel of consolation (126-128), .... 119 128 
 
INDEX. 
 
 paob 
 
 SECTION XVI 
 
 The summing up— Religion has little hold of men, and they can find 
 nothing better— Investigation paralysed by the demand for 
 blind faith (129)— A matter of geography what form of religious 
 faith a man professes— No monopoly of truth in any (130)— 
 This geographical sectarianism will yield to the New Revela- 
 tion (131)— Theology a bye-word even amongst men— Life and 
 
 Immortality (133), 
 
 SECTION XVII. 
 
 The request of the writer for independent corroboration, and further 
 criticism (134)— The reply— Refusal— General retrospect of the 
 argument — Temporary withdrawal of Spirit-influence to give 
 time for thought (134-136)— Attempts at establishing facts 
 through another medium futile (137)-“ You cannot have 
 mathematical proof” (138)-“ I and my Father are one” ex- 
 plained in reference to the Divinity of Christ (139)— Further 
 message from Imperator during my absence from home, and 
 more evidence of identity (139, 140)-Advice to review patiently 
 the past, and seek composure (140, 141), 
 
 SECTION XVIII. 
 
 Difficulty of getting communications when it was not desired to give 
 them— The mean in all things desirable (142)— The religion of 
 body and soul— Spiritualising of already existing knowledge 
 (143)— Cramping theology worse than useless— Such are not 
 able to tread the mountain tops but must keep within their 
 walls, not daring to look over (144)— Their father’s creed is 
 sufficient for them, and they must gain their knowledge in an- 
 other state of being (145)-Others do not think at all : they 
 want things settled for them— With all these we have nothing 
 to do, for nothing can be done— The way to know of the things 
 of spirit is free, and that man who struggles up to light gams 
 more than he does who lets others do his thinking for him (147) 
 
 That is now being done for Christianity that Jesus did for 
 
 Judaism: it is being Spiritualised (148)— Christ was the Great 
 Social Reformer, teaching liberty without license, elevating 
 man, and living among the common people— We declare truths 
 identical with those preached then (149, 150)-The spiritual 
 return of Christ (151), 
 
 SECTION XIX. 
 
 Outline of the religious faith here taught^Ood and man (153)— The 
 duty of man to God, his fellow, and himself (154)— Progress, 
 Culture, Purity (155)— Reverence, Adoration, Love (156)— 
 Man's Destiny (157)— Heaven, how gained (158)— Helps : com- 
 munion with Spirits (159)— Individual belief of little moment— 
 Religion of acts and habits which produce character, and for 
 which in result each is responsible— Religion of body and soul 
 
 
 
 152-161 
 
INDEX. 
 
 SECTION XX. 
 
 More evidence of identity of spirits communicating — Perplexity 
 caused by a name, written psychographically, being wrongly 
 spelt : explanation (163) — The writer’s disturbed and anxious 
 state reacting on the communications — Doubt and its effects 
 (165) — No use to maintain a dogmatic attitude against facts — 
 The trustful spirit — Advice as to the future — Withdrawal of 
 further communication (166-169), ------ 
 
 SECTION XXI. 
 
 The writer’s condition, a personal explanation (170-171) — The reply: 
 reiterated advice to ponder on the past and ‘seek seclusion (172) 
 — Final address by Imperator, retrospective, and closing for 
 the time the argument : October 4, 1873 (172-177), - 
 
 SECTION XXII. 
 
 Imperator’s despairing view of his work (178-181) — A striking case 
 of identity (181) — Personal explanation of the writer (183), 
 
 SECTION XXIII. 
 
 Progressive Revelation (184) — The chain of spiritual influence from 
 Melchizedek, through Moses, Elijah, to the Mount of Transfigu- 
 ration, and the Apocalyptic Vision (185-187) — The Pentateuch 
 (188) — Abraham not on the highest plane — Translations of 
 Enoch and Elijah (189) — Legendary Beliefs in the Sacred 
 Records to be carefully discriminated (190-193), ... 
 
 SECTION XXIV. 
 
 The intervening period between the records of the Old and New 
 Testaments — A period of darkness and desolation, the night 
 succeeding a day of revelation (194-195) — The internal craving 
 for advanced truth corresponds to external revelation (196-197) 
 — Points to be considered in the records of the Old Testament 
 of the life of Christ for the writer’s own instruction — A glimpse 
 of the method of guidance exercised over him (198, 199), - 
 
 SECTION XXV. 
 
 Pursuing his studies on the lines indicated the writer found evidence 
 of the work of various hands in the Mosaic Records — A message 
 thereupon, and a dissertation on the danger of quoting isolated 
 texts, and relying on the plenary inspiration of a translation 
 (200-202) — The compilation in Ezra’s day — The Elohistic and 
 J eho vistic legends — The Canon of the Old Testament, how 
 settled (203) — Daniel, a great seer (204) — The progressive idea 
 of God in the Bible developed and elucidated (204-206), - 
 
 SECTION XXVI. 
 
 Changes in the communications — A retrospect marking the close of 
 another phase in the writer’s relations to his Teachers (207-209) 
 
 PAU 
 
 162-169 
 
 170-177 
 
 178-183 
 
 184-193 
 
 194-199 
 
 200-206 
 
INDEX. 
 
 —The writer’s mental state, and the various phenomena that 
 were presented, bearing on the attempts to lift him into a more 
 passive condition (210)— Music- Autographs of two celebrated 
 
 composers authenticating a communication (211), - - 20 ' 
 
 SECTION XXVII. 
 
 India as the cradle of races and religions— A communication from 
 Prudens (212-214)— The man crushed by a steam-roller who 
 communicated immediately after death ( vide Spirit-Identity 
 
 PAQB 
 
 -211 
 
 app. iii., p. 103) : explanations (215, 216), 
 
 - 212-216 
 
 SECTION XXVIII. 
 
 A communication in hieroglyphics by an old Egyptian (217)— Par- 
 ticulars about Egyptian theology, and its relation to Judaism 
 (218-220) — The prophet of Ra, at On, who lived 1630 b.c. (220) 
 The religion of daily life as exemplified in Egypt (221)— The 
 trinity (223-224)— India and Egypt (225)-Progress in religious 
 knowledge not necessarily connected with any special belief 
 (226) — General judgment — The fulness of spirit (227-229), 
 
 SECTION XXIX. 
 
 Danger of deception by personating spirits— A case in point, and an 
 emphatic warning on the subject (230)-The adversanes- 
 Obsessing spirits— The earth-bound and undeveloped— Tempta- 
 tion by them (231)— The danger from these v to those on whom 
 they are able to fasten most real and terrible (232)— Civilisation 
 and its results— Christianity as in England— Missionaries to the 
 heathen — Our great cities, foul, weltering masses of vice and 
 cruelty (233)— The atmosphere of them intolerable to spirit 
 (234) The other side not dwelt on now, but conspicuous ex- 
 
 ceptions admitted— These causes hamper the good, and swell 
 the army of the adversaries, one of whose ready devices is to 
 personate truthful spirits, and so to introduce doubt and fraud 
 
 (235-237) The phenomenal illusory — The spiritual real 
 
 Higher revealings wait for those who can hear (239) How to 
 know a personating spirit (240)-The subject to be approached 
 with care, whereas it is recklessly and idly meddled with 
 
 (241, 242) Frolicsome spirits, not evil, but sportive, foolish, 
 
 with no sense of responsibility (243) — Avoid the personal 
 element as far as possible (244), 
 
 SECTION XXX. 
 
 Easter Day Teaching (1874), 
 
 „ „ „ ( 1875 ), 
 
 „ „ „ d876), 
 
 „ „ „ ( 1877 ), 
 
 Specimens of various teachings given on anniversaries, to which 
 spirits always seem to pay great regard. 
 
 - 217-229 
 
 - 230-244 
 
 245-249 
 
 249-255 
 
 255-259 
 
 259-2G8 
 
INDEX. 
 
 SECTION XXXI 
 
 A photograph at Hudson’s, and a communication thereupon (269) 
 
 Suicide and its consequences (270-272)— The story of a wasted 
 life, selfish and useless— A stagnant life breeds corruption (273) 
 — Experiences of the Spirit when the cord of earth-life was 
 severed — Remorse the road to progress — Work the means of 
 progression (274) — Help from Spirit-ministers— The fire of 
 purification (275) — Selfishness and sin bring misery and remorse 
 —And thus sore judgment — No paraphernalia of assize (276) — 
 Man makes his own future, stamps his own character, suffers 
 for his own sins, and must work out his own salvation (277) — 
 The threefold life of meditation and prayer : worship and adora- 
 tion : conflict (278) — Accountability (279), .... 
 
 SECTION XXXII. 
 
 It is necessary that afflictions come — A period of conflict is a period 
 of progress (280)— Revelation overlaid bit by bit— Then comes 
 the question, What is Truth ? — The answer in a new revelation 
 \ — Esoteric at first, then adapted to general needs (281)— All 
 
 cannot know truth in the same degree — Truth is many-sided 
 
 The purest truth must not be proclaimed on the house-top, or 
 it becomes vulgarised (282)— The pursuit of Truth for its own 
 sake the noblest end of life (283)— Having passed the Exoteric, 
 it is well to dwell on the Esoteric (284)— Loving Truth as a 
 Deity, following it careless whither it may lead (285), 
 
 SECTION XXXIII. 
 
 Further evidences of Spirit-Identity — John Blow — Extracts from 
 ancient chronicles — Norton, the Alchymist — Specimens from a 
 large number (286, 287) — Charlotte Buckworth and the verifi- 
 cation of the story concerning her (288, 290) — Conclusion, 
 
 PAOW 
 
 269-271 
 
 280-285 
 
 286-291 
 
SPIRIT-TE ACHIN GS 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The communications which form the bulk of this volume 
 were received by the process known as Automatic or Passive 
 Writing. This is to be distinguished from Psychography. 
 In the former case, the Psychic holds the pen or pencil, or 
 places his hand upon the Planchette, and the message is writ- 
 ten without the conscious intervention of his mind. In the 
 latter case, the writing is direct, or is obtained without the 
 use of the hand of the psychic, and sometimes without the 
 aid of pen or pencil. 
 
 Automatic Writing is a well-known method of communi- 
 cation with the invisible world of w T hat we loosely call Spirit. 
 I use that word as the most intelligible to my readers, though 
 I am well aware that I shall be told that I ought not to apply 
 any such term to many of the unseen beings who commu- 
 nicate with earth, of whom we hear much and often as being 
 the reliquiae of humanity, the shells of what once were men. 
 It is no part of my business to enter into this moot question. 
 My interlocutors call themselves Spirits, perhaps because I 
 so called them, and Spirits they are to me for my present 
 purposes. 
 
 These messages began to be written through my hand just 
 ten years since, March 30, 1873, about a year after my first 
 introduction to Spiritualism. I had had many communica- 
 tions before, and this method was adopted for the purpose of 
 2 
 
o 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 convenience, and also to preserve what was intended to be a 
 connected body of teaching. The laborious method of rapping 
 out messages was manifestly unfitted for communications 
 such as those which I here print. If spoken through the 
 lips of the medium in trance, they were partially lost, and 
 it was, moreover, impossible at first to rely upon such a 
 measure of mental passivity as would preserve them from 
 admixture with his ideas. 
 
 I procured a pocket-book, which I habitually carried about 
 with me. I soon found that writing flowed more easily when 
 I used a book that was permeated with the psychic aura, just 
 as raps come more easily on a table that has been frequently 
 used for the purpose, and as phenomena occur most readily 
 in the medium’s own room. When Slade could not get mes- 
 sages on a new slate, he rarely failed to get one on his own 
 seasoned one. I am not responsible for the fact, the reason 
 for which is sufficiently intelligible. 
 
 At first the writing was very small and irregular, and it 
 was necessary for me to write slowly and cautiously, and 
 to watch the hand, following the lines with my eye, other- 
 wise the message soon became incoherent, and the result was- 
 mere scribble. 
 
 In a short time, however, I found that I could dispense with 
 these precautions. The writing, while becoming more and 
 more minute, became at the same time very regular and beau- 
 tifully formed. As a specimen of caligraphy, some of the 
 pages are exceedingly beautiful. The answers to my questions- 
 ( written at the top of a page) were paragraphed, and arranged 
 as if for the press : an'u the name of God was always written 
 in capitals, and slowly, and, as it seemed, reverentially. The 
 subject-matter was always of a pure and elevated character, 
 much of it being of personal application, intended for my own 
 guidance and direction. I may say that throughout the whole 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 3 
 
 of these written communications, extending in unbroken con- 
 tinuity to the year 1880, there is no flippant message, no 
 attempt at jest, no vulgarity or incongruity, no false or mis- 
 leading statement, so far as I know or could discover; nothing 
 incompatible with the avowed object, again and again repeated, 
 of instruction, enlightenment, and guidance by Spirits fitted 
 for the task. Judged as I should wish to be judged myself, 
 they were what they pretended to be. Their words were 
 words of sincerity, and of sober, serious purpose. 
 
 The earliest communications were all written in the minute 
 characters that I have described, and were uniform in style, 
 and in the signature, “Doctor, the Teacher”: nor have his 
 messages ever varied during all the years that he has written. 
 Whenever and wherever he wrote, his handwriting was un- 
 changed, showing, indeed, less change than my own does 
 during the last decade. The tricks of style remained the 
 same, and there was, in short, a sustained individuality 
 throughout his messages. He is to me an entity, a per- 
 sonality, a being with his own idiosyncrasies and char- 
 acteristics, quite as clearly defined as the human beings 
 with whom I come in contact, if, indeed, I do not do him 
 injustice by the broad comparison. 
 
 After a time, communications came from other sources, and 
 these were distinguished, each by its own handwriting, and 
 by its own peculiarities of style and expression. These, once 
 assumed, were equally invariable. I could tell at once who 
 was writing by the mere characteristics of the caligraphy. 
 
 By degrees I found that many Spirits, who were unable to 
 influence my hand themselves, sought the aid cf a Spirit 
 “ Rector ” who was apparently able to write more freely, and 
 with less strain on me, for writing by a Spirit unaccustomed 
 to the work was often incoherent, and always resulted in a 
 serious drain upon my vital powers. They did not know how 
 
4 
 
 SPIRIT -TE AOHIN GS. 
 
 easily the reserve of force was exhausted, and I suffered 
 proportionately. 
 
 Moreover, the writing of the Spirit who thus became a sort 
 of amanuensis was fluent and easy to decipher, whereas that 
 of many Spirits was cramped, archaic in form, and frequently 
 executed with difficulty, and almost illegible. So it came to 
 pass, that, as a matter of ordinary course, Eector wrote : but, 
 when a Spirit came for the first time, or when it was desired 
 to emphasise a communication, the Spirit responsible for the 
 message wrote for himself. 
 
 O 
 
 It must not be assumed, however, that all messages pro- 
 ceeded from one solitary inspiration. In the case of the 
 majority of the communications printed in this volume this 
 is so. The volume is the record of a period during which 
 “ Imperator ” was alone concerned with me; though, as he 
 never attempted writing, Eector acted as his amanuensis. At 
 other times, and especially since that time, communications 
 have apparently proceeded from a company of associated 
 Spirits, who have used their amanuensis for the purpose of 
 their message. This was increasingly the case during the 
 last five years that I received these communications. 
 
 The circumstances under which the messages were written 
 were infinitely various. As a rule, it w r as necessary that I 
 should be isolated, and the more passive my mind the more 
 easy was the communication. But I have received these 
 messages under all sorts of conditions. At first they came 
 with difficulty, but soon the mechanical method appeared to 
 be mastered, and page after page was covered with matter of 
 which the specimens contained in this book will enable the 
 public to judge. 
 
 What is now printed has been subjected to revision by 
 a method similar to that by which it was first written. 
 Originally published in the Spivitucdist newspaper, the 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 5 
 
 messages have been revised, but not substantially altered, by 
 those who first wrote them. When the publication in the 
 Spiritualist was commenced I had no sort of idea of doing 
 what is now being done. Friends desired specimens to be 
 published, and the selection was made without any special 
 regard to continuity. I was governed only by a desire to 
 avoid the publication of what was of personal interest only : 
 and I perforce excluded much that involved allusion to those 
 still living whom I had no right to drag into print. I dis- 
 liked printing personal matter relating to myself : I had 
 obviously no right to print that which concerned others. 
 Some of the most striking and impressive communications 
 have thus been excluded: and what is printed must be 
 regarded as a mere sample of what cannot see the light now, 
 and which must be reserved for consideration at a remote 
 period when I and those concerned can no longer be aggrieved 
 by its publication. 
 
 It is an interesting subject for speculation whether my own 
 thoughts entered into the subject-matter of the communica- 
 tions. I took extraordinary pains to prevent any such 
 admixture. At first the writing was slow, and it was neces- 
 sary for me to follow it with my eye, but even then the 
 thoughts were not my thoughts. Very soon the messages 
 assumed a character of which I had no doubt whatever that 
 the thought was opposed to my own. But I cultivated the 
 power of occupying my mind with other things during the 
 time that the writing was going on, and was able to read an 
 abstruse book, and follow out a line of close reasoning, while 
 the message was written with unbroken regularity. Messages 
 so written extended over many pages, and in their course 
 there is no correction, no fault in composition, and often a 
 sustained vigour and beauty of style. 
 
 I am not, however, concerned to contend that my own 
 
6 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 mind was not utilised, or that what was thus written did 
 not depend for its form on the mental qualifications of the 
 medium through whom it was given. So far as I know, it is 
 always the case that the idiosyncrasies of the medium are 
 traceable in such communications. It is not conceivable that 
 it should be otherwise. But it is certain that the mass of 
 ideas conveyed to me were alien to my own opinions, were 
 in the main opposed to my settled convictions, and, moreover, 
 that in several cases information, of which I was assuredly 
 ignorant, clear, precise, and definite in form, susceptible of 
 verification, and always exact, was thus conveyed to me As 
 at many of the seances spirits came and rapped out on the 
 table clear and precise information about themselves, which 
 we afterwards verified, so on repeated occasions was such 
 information conveyed to me by this method of automatic 
 writing*. 
 
 I argue from the one case to others. In one I can positively 
 assert and prove the conveyance of information new to me. 
 In others I equally believe that I was in communication with 
 an external intelligence that conveyed to me thoughts other 
 than my own. Indeed, the subject-matter of many of the 
 communications printed in this volume will, by its own 
 inherent quality, probably lead to the same conclusion. 
 
 I never could command the writing. It came unsought 
 usually : and when I did seek it, as often as not I was unable 
 to obtain it. A sudden impulse, coming I knew not how, led 
 me to sit down and prepare to write. Where the messages 
 were in regular course, I was accustomed to devote the first 
 hour of each day to sitting for their reception. I rose early, 
 and the beginning of the day was spent, in a room that I used 
 for no other purpose, in what was to all intents and purposes 
 a religious service. These writings frequently came then, but 
 I could by no means reckon on them. Other form* of spirit- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 7 
 
 manifestation came too : I was rarely without some, unless 
 ill-health intervened, as it often did of late years, until the 
 messages ceased. 
 
 The particular communications which I received from the 
 spirit known to me as Imperator, mark a distinct epoch in my 
 life. I have noted in the course of my remarks the intense 
 exaltation of spirit, the strenuous conflict, the intervals of 
 peace that I have since longed for, but have seldom attained, 
 which marked their transmission. It was a period of educa- 
 tion in which I underwent a spiritual development that was, 
 in its outcome, a very regeneration. I cannot hope, I do not 
 try, to convey to others what I then experienced. But it 
 may possibly be borne in upon the minds of some, who are 
 not ignorant of the dispensation of the Spirit in their own 
 inner selves, that for me the question of the beneficent action 
 of external Spirit on my own self was then finally settled. I 
 have never since, even in the vagaries of an extremely sceptical 
 mind, and amid much cause for questioning, ever seriously 
 entertained a doubt. 
 
 This introduction has become autobiographical in a way 
 that is extremely distasteful to me. I can only plead that I 
 have reason to know that the history of the pleading of Spirit 
 with one struggling soul has been helpful to others. It is 
 unfortunately necessary for me to speak of myself in order 
 to make what follows intelligible. I regret the necessity, and 
 acquiesce in it only from the conviction that what I record 
 may be of use to some to whom my experiences may come 
 home as typical. I presume that no two of us ever struggle 
 up to light by precisely similar methods. But I believe that 
 the needs and difficulties of individual souls have a family 
 likeness, and it may be in the future, as I am thankful to 
 know that it has been in the past, serviceable to some to learn 
 by what methods I was educated. 
 
8 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 Besides this — the subject matter of these communications, 
 and their bearing educationally on myself — the form and 
 manner of their delivery is of infinitely small importance. 
 It is their intrinsic claim, the end disclosed, the inherent and 
 essential truth that they contain, which marks their value. 
 To many they will be utterly valueless, because their truth 
 is not truth to them. To others they will be merely curious. 
 To some they will be as an idle tale. I do not publish them 
 in any expectation of general acceptance. I shall be quite 
 content that they be at the service of any who can find them 
 helpful. 
 
 M. A. (Oxon.) 
 
 March 30, 1S83, 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 % 
 
 [After a conversation on this special epoch in the 
 world’s history, and its characteristics, it was 
 written] : — 
 
 Special efforts are being made now to spread a knowledge of 
 progressive truth : efforts by the messengers of God, which are 
 resisted, now as ever, by the hosts of the adversaries. The 
 history of the world has been the story of the struggle between 
 the evil and the good ; between God and goodness on the one 
 side, and ignorance, vice, and evil — spiritual, mental, and cor- 
 poreal — on the other side. At certain times, of which this is 
 one, extraordinary efforts are made. The army of the messen- 
 gers of God is massed in greater force : men are influenced : 
 knowledge is spread : and the end draws nigh. Fear for the 
 deserters, the half-hearted, the temporisers, the merely curious. 
 Fear for them : but fear not for the cause of God’s truth. 
 
 Yes. But how are many doubting souls to know what is 
 God’s truth ? Many look anxiously , but cannot find. 
 
 None anxiously look who do not find in the end, though 
 they may have long to wait — yes, even till they reach a higher 
 sphere of being. God tries all : and to those only who are 
 fitted is advanced knowledge granted. The preparation must 
 be complete before the step is gained. This is an unalterable 
 law. Fitness precedes progression. Patience is required. 
 
 Yes. The obstacles from internal dissension, from the 
 impossibility of bringing home evidence to many, from 
 prejudice, from many other causes, seem almost in- 
 vincible. 
 
 To you. Why interfere with that which is God’s work ? 
 
 Obstacles ! You know not what they are compared with 
 
10 
 
 SPIKIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 what we have had to endure in times past. Had you lived on 
 earth in the later days of Rome’s imperial sway, when every- 
 thing spiritual had fled in horror from a realm steeped in 
 debauchery, sensuality, and all that is base and bad, you 
 would have known then what the banded powers of darkness 
 can effect. The coldness was the coldness of despair : the 
 darkness was the gloom of the sepulchre. The body, the body 
 was all : and the guardians fled in dismay from a scene on 
 which they could not gaze, and whose pangs they could not 
 alleviate. Faithlessness there was indeed, and worse. The 
 world scorned us and our efforts, laughed at all virtue, derided 
 the Supreme, mocked at immortality, and lived but to eat and 
 drink and wallow in the mire — the degraded, down-stricken 
 animals they had made themselves. Ah, yes ! say not that 
 evil is invincible when the power of God and of his Spirits 
 has prevailed to cleanse even such a sink as that. 
 
 [More was said as to the repeated failure of plans for 
 man’s benefit through his ignorance and obstinacy. 
 
 I asked if this were to be another failure.] 
 
 God is giving far more than you think. In all parts are 
 springing up centres from which the truth of God is being 
 poured into longing hearts, and permeating thinking minds. 
 There must be many to whom the gospel given of old is satis- 
 fying yet, and who are not receptive of further truth. With 
 these we meddle not. But many there are who have learned 
 what the past can teach, and who are thirsting for further 
 knowledge. To these it is given in such measure as the Most 
 High sees fit. And from them it flows to others, and the 
 glorious tidings spread until the day comes when we shall be 
 called on to proclaim them from the mountain top ! and lo ! 
 God’s hidden ones shall start up from the lowly places of the 
 earth to bear witness to that which they have seen and 
 known : and the little rills that man has heeded not shall 
 coalesce, and the river of God’s truth, omnipotent in its 
 energy, shall flood the earth, and sweep away in its resistless 
 course, the ignorance and unbelief, and folly and sin which 
 now dismay and perplex you. 
 
REVELATION: OLD AND NEW. 
 
 11 
 
 This New Revelation of which you speak : is it contrary 
 to the Old ? Many are exercised on that point 
 
 Kevelation is from God : and that which He has revealed 
 at one time cannot contradict that which He has revealed at 
 another, seeing that each is, in its kind, a revealing of truth, 
 but of truth revealed in proportion to man’s necessities, and 
 in accordance with his capacities. That which seems contra- 
 dictory is not in the Word of God, but in the mind of man. 
 Man was not content with the simple message. He has adul- 
 terated it with his glosses, overlaid it with his deductions and 
 speculations. And so, as years go by, it comes to pass that 
 what came from~God is in no sense what it was. It has 
 become contradictory, impure, and earthy. When a further 
 revelation comes, instead of fitting it reasonably, it becomes 
 necessary to clear away much of the superstition that has 
 been built on the old foundations ; and the work of destruc- 
 tion must precede the work of addition. The revelations are 
 not contradictory; but it is necessary to destroy man’s rubbish 
 before God’s truth can be revealed. Man must judge accord- 
 ing to the light of reason that is in him. That is the ultimate 
 standard, and the progressive soul will receive what the 
 ignorant or prejudiced will reject. God’s truth is forced on 
 none. So for a time, during the previous processes, this must 
 be a special revelation to a special people. It has ever been 
 so. Did Moses obtain universal acceptance even amongst his 
 own people ? Did any of the seers ? Did Jesus even ? Did 
 Paul ? Did any reformer in any age, amongst any people 1 
 God changes not. He offers, but he does not force acceptance. 
 He offers, and they who are prepared receive the message. 
 The ignorant and unfit reject it. It must be so; and the 
 dissensions and differences which you deplore are but for the 
 sifting of the false from the true. They spring from un- 
 worthy causes, and are impelled by malignant spirits. You 
 must expect annoyance, too, from the banded powers of evil. 
 But cast your eyes beyond the present. Look to the far 
 future, and be of good courage. 
 
12 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 Touching Spirit-guides. How are they appointed ? 
 
 t Spirit-guides are not always attracted to those whom they 
 direct, though this is usually the case. Sometimes they are 
 selected for their own fitness. They are naturally apt to 
 teach. Sometimes they are charged with a special com- 
 mission. Sometimes they are picked because they are able to 
 supply what is wanting in the characters which they train. 
 Sometimes they themselves select a character which they 
 wish to mould. This is a great pleasure to the higher spirits. 
 Sometimes they desire, for their own spiritual progress, to be 
 attached to a soul, the training of which is irksome and 
 difficult. They toil upward along with the soul. Sometimes 
 they are attracted by pure affinity, or by the remains of earth- 
 love. Very frequently, when there is no special mission for 
 the soul, the guides are changed as the soul progresses. 
 
 Who are the Spirits who return to earth ? Of what 
 class ? 
 
 Principally those who are nearest to the earth, in the three 
 lower spheres or states of being. They converse most readily 
 with you. Of the higher spirits, those who are able to return 
 are they who have what is analogous to mediumistic power on 
 earth. We cannot tell you more than that we higher spirits 
 find it very difficult to find a medium through whom we can 
 communicate. Many spirits would gladly converse, but for 
 the want of a suitable medium, and from their unwillingness 
 to prolong their research for one, they will not risk the waste 
 of time. Hence, too, communications vary much at times. 
 Communications which you discover to be false are not 
 always wilfully so. As time goes on we shall know more of 
 the conditions which affect communication. 
 
 You have spoken of adversaries. Who are they ? 
 
 The antagonistic spirits who range themselves against our 
 mission ; who strive to mar its progress by counterfeiting our 
 influence and work, and by setting men and other spirits 
 against us and it. These are spirits who have chosen the 
 evil, have put aside promptings and influences of good, and 
 
THE ADVERSARIES. 
 
 13 
 
 have banded themselves under the leadership of intelligence 
 still more evil to malign us and to hamper our work. Such 
 are powerful for mischief, and their activity shows itself in 
 evil passions, in imitating our work, and so gaining influence 
 over the deluded, and most of all, in presenting to inquiring 
 souls that which is mean and base, where we would tenderly 
 lead to the noble and refined. They are the foes of God and 
 man ; enemies of goodness ; ministers of evil. Against them 
 we wage perpetual war. 
 
 It is very startling to hear of such a powerful organisa- 
 tion of evil. There are some , you know, who deny the 
 existence of evil altogether, and teach that all is good 
 though disguised. 
 
 Alas! alas! most sad is the abandonment of good and choice 
 of evil. You wonder that so many evil spirits obstruct. 
 Friend, it is even so, and it is not astonishing. As the soul 
 lives in the earth-life, so does it go to spirit-life. Its tastes, 
 its predilections, its habits, its antipathies, they are with it 
 still. It is not changed save in the accident of being freed from 
 the body. The soul that on earth has been low in taste and 
 impure in habit, does not change its nature by passing from 
 the earth-sphere, any more than the soul that has been truth- 
 ful, pure, and progressive, becomes base and bad by death. 
 Wonderful that you do not recognise this truth ! You would 
 not fancy a pure and upright soul degenerating after it has 
 passed from your gaze. Yet you fable a purification of that 
 which has become by habit impure and unholy, hating God 
 and goodness, and choosing sensuality and sin. The one is no 
 more possible than the other. The soul’s character has been 
 a daily, hourly growth. It has not been an overlaying of the 
 soul with that which can be thrown off. Rather it has been 
 a weaving into the nature of the spirit that which becomes 
 part of itself, identified with its nature, inseparable from its 
 character. It is no more possible that that character should 
 be undone, save by the slow process of obliteration, than that 
 the woven fabric should be rudely cut and the threads remain 
 intact. Nay more. The soul has cultivated habits that have 
 
14 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 become so engrained as to be essential parts of its indivi- 
 duality. The spirit that has yielded to the lusts of a sensual 
 body becomes in the end their slave. It would not be happy 
 in the midst of purity and refinement. It would sigh for its 
 old haunts and habits. They are of its essence. So you see 
 that the legions of the adversaries are simply the masses of 
 unprogressed, undeveloped spirits, who have banded together 
 from affinity against all that is pure and good. They can 
 only progress by penitence, through the instruction of higher 
 intelligences, and by gradual and laborious undoing of sin 
 and sinful habit. There are many such, and they are the 
 adversaries. The idea that there is no such thing as evil, no 
 antagonism to good, no banded company of adversaries who 
 resist progress and truth, and fight against the dissemination 
 of what advantages humanity, is an open device of the evil 
 ones for your bewilderment. 
 
 Have they a Chief — a Devil ? 
 
 Chiefs many who govern ; but not such a Devil as theolo- 
 gians have feigned. Spirits, good and bad alike, are subject 
 to the rule of commanding Intelligences. 
 
( 15 ) 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 [The answers given in this section are from the same 
 source. The conversation commenced by some 
 questions as to what the life of spirit showed to 
 be most serviceable work in the training school of 
 life here. Much was made of the heart as well as 
 of the head, and the orderly development of the 
 whole powers of body, and intellect, and affection 
 was insisted on. It was said that want of balance 
 was a great cause of retrogression, or of inability, 
 at any rate, to progress. 
 
 I suggested the Philanthropist as the man who 
 came nearest to the ideal. The reply was] : — 
 
 The true philanthropist, the man who has the benefit and 
 progress of his fellows most at heart, is the true man, the true 
 child of the Almighty Father, who is the great Philanthropist \ 
 The true philanthropist is he who grows likest God every 
 hour. He is enlarging by constant exercise the sympathies 
 which are eternal and undying, and in the perpetual exercise 
 of which man finds increasing happiness. The philanthropist 
 and the philosopher, the man who loves mankind, and the 
 man who loves knowledge for its own sake, these are God’s 
 jewels of priceless value, and of boundless promise. The 
 one, fettered by no restrictions of race or place, of creed or 
 name, embraces in his loving heart the whole brotherhood of 
 humanity. He loves them as friends, as brethren. He asks 
 not what are their opinions, he only sees their wants, and in 
 ministering to them progressive knowledge he is blest. This 
 is the true philanthropist, though frequently the counterfeit, 
 who loves those who think with him, and will help those who 
 fawn on him, and give alms, so the generous deed be well 
 known, robs the fair name of philanthropy of that all- 
 embracing beneficence which is its true mark. 
 
16 
 
 SPIRIT-T E ACHINGa. 
 
 The other, the philosopher, hampered by no theories of what 
 ought to be, and what therefore must be — bound by no sub- 
 servience to sectarian opinion, to the dogmas of a special 
 school, free from prejudice, receptive of truth, whatever that 
 truth may be, so it be proven — he seeks into the mysteries of 
 Divine wisdom, and, searching, finds his happiness. He need 
 have no fear of exhausting the treasures, they are without 
 end. His joy throughout life shall be to gather ever richer 
 stores of knowledge, truer ideas of God. The union of those 
 two — the philanthropist and the philosopher — makes the per- 
 fect man. Those who unite the two, progress further than 
 spirits who progress alone. 
 
 “His life” you say. Is life eternal ? 
 
 Yes ; we have every reason to believe so. Life is of two 
 stages — progressive and contemplative. We, who are still 
 progressive, and who hope to progress for countless myriads 
 of ages (as you say), after the farthest point to which your 
 finite mind can reach, we know naught of the life of contem- 
 plation. But we believe that far — far in the vast hereafter — 
 there will be a period at which progressive souls will even- 
 tually arrive, when progress has brought them to the very 
 dwelling-place of the Omnipotent, and that there they will 
 lay aside their former state, and bask in the full light of 
 
 # O 
 
 Deity, in contemplation of all the secrets of the universe. Of 
 this we cannot tell you. It is too high. Soar not to such 
 vast heights. Life is unending, as you count it, but you are 
 concerned with the approach to its threshold, not with the 
 inner temple. 
 
 Of course. Do you know more of God than you did on 
 earth ? 
 
 We know more of the operations of His love — more of the 
 operations of that beneficent Power which controls and guides 
 the worlds. We know of Him, but we know Him not; nor 
 shall know, as you would seek to know, until we enter on the 
 life of contemplation. He is known to us only by His acts. 
 
THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 
 
 17 
 
 [In further conversation I alluded again to the conflict 
 between good and evil ; and a long answer to my 
 question, or, rather, to what was in my mind, was 
 written. The storm was spoken of as one that 
 would rage, with intervals of lull, till some ten or 
 twelve years had passed, when a period of repose 
 would ensue. This is almost the only case I have 
 noted in which a prophecy was ventured upon. 
 Though the ideas in the message have since been 
 conveyed repeatedly, and with more precision and 
 power, I leave it untouched to show the character 
 of the teaching at the time.] 
 
 What you hear are the first mutterings of a conflict which 
 will be long and arduous. Such are of periodical occurrence. 
 If you could read the story of the world with spirit-sight, you 
 would see that there have always been periodic battles be- 
 tween the evil and the good. There have recurred seasons when 
 undeveloped intelligences have had predominance. Especially 
 are such seasons consequent on great wars among you. Many 
 spirits are prematurely withdrawn from the body. They then 
 pass before they are fit ; and at the moment of departure they 
 are in evil state, angry, blood-thirsty, filled with evil passion. 
 They do mischief great and long in after-life. 
 
 Nothing is more dangerous than for souls to be rudely 
 severed from their bodily habitation, and to be launched into 
 spirit-life, with angry passions stirred, and revengeful feelings 
 dominant. It is bad that any should be dismissed from earth- 
 life suddenly, and before the bond is naturally severed. It is 
 for this reason that all destruction of bodily life is foolish and 
 rude : rude, as betokening a barbarous ignorance of the condi- 
 tions of life and progress in the hereafter ; foolish, as releasing 
 an undeveloped angry spirit from its trammels, and enduing 
 it with extended capacity for mischief. You are blind and 
 ignorant in your dealings with those who have offended 
 against your laws and the regulations, moral and restrictive, 
 by which you govern intercourse amongst yourselves. You 
 find a low and debased intelligence offending against morality, 
 or against constituted law. Straightway you take the readiest 
 means of aggravating his capacity for mischief. Instead of 
 
18 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 separating such an one from evil influence, removing him 
 from association with sin, and isolating him under the edu- 
 cating influence of true purity and spirituality, where the 
 more refined intelligences may gradually operate and counter- 
 act the baleful power of evil and evil ministrations, you 
 place him in the midst of evil associations, in company with 
 offenders like himself, where the very atmosphere is heavy 
 with evil, where the hordes of the undeveloped and unpro- 
 gressed spirits most do congregate, and where, both from 
 human associates and spirit influence, the whole tendency is 
 evil. 
 
 Yain and short-sighted and ignorant folly ! Into your dens 
 of criminals we cannot enter. The missionary spirits pause 
 and find their mission vain. The good angels weep to find an 
 associated band of evil — human and spiritual — massed against 
 them by man’s ignorance and folly. What wonder that you 
 have gathered from such experience the conviction that a ten- 
 dency to open crime is seldom cured, seeing that you your- 
 selves are the plainest accomplices of the spirits who gloat 
 over the fall of the offender. How many an erring soul — 
 erring through ignorance, as frequently as through choice — 
 has come forth from your jails hardened and attended by evil 
 guides you know not, and can never know. But were you to 
 pursue an enlightened plan with your offenders, you would 
 find a perceptible gain, and confer blessing incalculable on the 
 misguided and vicious. 
 
 You should teach your criminals : you should punish them, 
 as they will be punished here, by showing them how they hurt 
 themselves by their sin, and how they retard their future 
 progress. You should place them where advanced and earnest 
 spirits among you may lead them to unlearn their sin, and to 
 drink in wisdom : where the Bands of the Blessed may aid 
 their efforts, and the spirits of the higher spheres may shed on 
 them their benign and elevating influence. But you horde 
 together your dangerous spirits. You shut them up, and con- 
 fine them as those who are beyond hope. You punish them 
 vindictively, cruelly, foolishly : and the man who has been the 
 victim of your ignorant treatment pursues his course of foolish. 
 
CRIME AND ITS PUNISHMENT. 
 
 19 
 
 suicidal sin, until in the end you add to the list of your foolish 
 deeds this last and worst of all, that you cut him off, debased 
 degraded, sensual, ignorant, mad with rage and hate, thirsting 
 for vengeance on his fellows : you remove from him the great 
 bar on his passions, and send him into spirit-life to work out 
 without hindrance the devilish suggestions of his inflamed 
 passions. 
 
 Blind! blind! you know not what you do. You are your 
 own worst enemies, the truest friends of those who fight 
 against God, and us, and you. 
 
 Ignorant no less than blind ! for you spend vast trouble to 
 aid your foes. You cut from a spirit its bodily life. You 
 punish vengefully the erring. You falsely arrogate to your- 
 selves the right by law divine to shed human blood. You err, 
 and know not that the spirits you so hurt shall in their turn 
 avenge themselves upon you. You have yet to learn the 
 earliest principles of that Divine tenderness and pity which 
 labours ever through us to rescue the debased spirit, to raise 
 it from the depths of sin and passion, and to elevate it to 
 purity and progress in goodness. You know naught of God 
 when you do such deeds. You have framed for yourselves a 
 God whose acts accord with your own instincts. You have 
 fabled, that He sits on high, careless of His creatures, and 
 jealous only of His own power and honour. You have fabri- 
 cated a monster who delights to harm, and kill, and torture . 
 a God who rejoices in inflicting punishment bitter, unending, 
 unmitigable. You have imagined such a God, and have put 
 into His mouth words which He never knew, and laws which 
 His loving heart would disown. 
 
 God— our God Good, Loving, Tender, Pitiful— delighting in 
 punishing with cruel hand His ignorantly-erring sons ! Base 
 fable ! Base and foolish fancy, produced of man’s cruel heart, 
 of man’s rude and undeveloped mind. There is no such God ! 
 there is none. He has no place with us : none, save in man s 
 degraded mind. 
 
 Great Father ! reveal Thyself to these blind wanderers, and 
 teach them of Thyself. Tell them that they dream bad dreams 
 oi Thee, that they know Thee not, nor can know till they 
 
20 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 unlearn their ignorant conceptions of Thy Nature and Thy 
 Love. 
 
 Yes, friend, your jails and your legalised murder, the whole 
 tenor of your dealings with criminals, are based on error and 
 ignorance. 
 
 Your wars and your wholesale murderings are even more 
 fearful. You settle your differences with your neighbours, 
 who should be your friends, by arraying against each other 
 masses of spirits — we see not the body ; we care only for the 
 spirit temporarily clothed with those human atoms — and those 
 spirits you excite to full pitch of rage and fury, and so you 
 launch them, rudely severed from their earth-bodies, into spirit 
 life. You inflame their passions, and give them full vent. 
 Yengeful, debased, cruel, earth-bound spirits throng around 
 your earth-sphere, and incite the debased who are still in the 
 body to deeds of cruelty and lust and sin. And this for the 
 satisfying of ambition, for a passing fancy, for an idle princely 
 whim, for lack of something else to occupy a king. 
 
 Ah ! friend, you have much, very much to learn : and you 
 will learn it by the sad and bitter experience of undoing here- 
 after that which you have now done. You must learn the 
 golden lesson, that Pity and Love are truer wisdom than ven- 
 geance and vindictive punishment ; that were the Great God 
 to deal with us as you deal with your fellows, and as you have 
 falsely fabled that He will, you would be justly sent to your 
 own imagined hell. You must know of God, and of us, and of 
 yourselves, ere you can progress and do our work instead of 
 our adversaries . 
 
 Friend, when others seek from you as to the usefulness of 
 our message, and the benefit which it can confer on those to 
 whom the Father sends it, tell them that it is a Gospel which 
 will reveal a God of tenderness and pity and love, instead of 
 a fabled creation of harshness, cruelty, and passion. Tell them 
 that it will lead them to know of Intelligences whose whole 
 Jife is one of love and mercy and pity and helpful aid to man, 
 combined with adoration of the Supreme. Tell them that it 
 will lead man to see his own folly, to unlearn his fancied 
 theories, to learn how to cultivate his intelligence that it may 
 
BENEFITS OF SPIRITUALISM. 
 
 21 
 
 progress, to use his opportunities that they may profit him, to 
 serve his fellow- men, so that when they and he meet in the 
 hereafter, they may not be able to reproach him that he has 
 been, so far as he could, a clog and an injury to them. Tell 
 them that such is our glorious mission ; and if they sneer, as 
 the ignorant will, and boast of their fancied knowledge, turn 
 to the progressive souls who will receive the teaching of wis- 
 dom : speak to them the message of Divine truth that shall 
 regenerate and elevate the world : and for the blind ones pray 
 that, when their eyes are opened, they may not despair at the 
 sight which they shall see. 
 
( 22 ) 
 
 SECTION III 
 
 [The intensity with which the above message was writ- 
 ten out was something quite new to me. The hand 
 traversed sheet after sheet of my book, tracing 
 the most minute characters, always emphasising 
 the name of God with capitals, and paragraphing 
 and keeping a margin, so that the writing struck 
 the eye as a beautiful piece of caligraphy. The 
 hand tingled, and the arm throbbed, and I was 
 conscious of waves of force surging through me. 
 When the message was done, I was prostrate with 
 exhaustion, and suffered from a violent headache 
 at the base of the brain. On the next day I asked 
 the cause, and the following message was given, 
 but much more quietly ] : — 
 
 Your headache was the result of the intensity of the power, 
 and the rapidity with which it was withdrawn from you. We 
 could not write on such a subject without displaying eager- 
 ness : for it is one of most vital concern to those to whom we 
 are sent. We would fain impress on you the paramount im- 
 portance of obeying ever those unalterable laws which God has 
 laid down for you, and which you violate at your own peril. 
 
 Wars are but the product of your lust for gain, your ambi- 
 tion, your angry, proud, vengeful passions. And what is the 
 product? God’s fair works destroyed and trampled under 
 foot : the lovely and peaceful results of man’s industry de- 
 stroyed : the holy ties of home and kindred severed : thousands 
 of families plunged into distress : rivers of blood shed wan- 
 tonly : souls unnumbered rent from their earth- body to rush 
 unprepared, uneducated, unpurified into the life of spirit. 
 Bad, all bad ! earthy ! evil sprung from earth, and resulting 
 in misery. Till you know better than this, your race will 
 progress but slowly; but you are perpetually sowing seed 
 which produces a crop of obstacles to our work. 
 
THE MESSENGERS AND THE MESSAGE. 
 
 23 
 
 Much there is in social knowledge, and in the conduct of 
 State affairs that you must unlearn : much that is to he added 
 to yoUr knowledge. 
 
 For instance, you legislate for the masses, but you deal only 
 with the offender. Your legislation must be punitive, but it 
 should be remedial too. Those whom you think insane you 
 shut up fast lest they should injure others. A few years ago, 
 and you tortured them, and filled your madhouses with many 
 whose only crime it was to differ from the foolish notions of 
 their fellows, or to be— as many were, and are, whom you have 
 thought mad — recipients of undeveloped spirit influence, i is 
 you 'will one day know to your sorrow— that to leave the 
 beaten, track is not always evidence of a wandering mind ; 
 and to be the vehicle of spirit-teaching is not proof of a mind 
 j^dnrmed. From many the power of proclaiming their mis- 
 sion has been taken away, and it has been falsely said that we 
 have filled the asylums, and driven our mediums to madness, 
 because blind and ignorant men have chosen to attribute in- 
 sanity to all who have ventured to proclaim their connection 
 with us and our teaching. They have decided, forsooth, that 
 to be in communion with the world of spirit is evidence 
 of madness ; therefore, all who claim to be are mad, and 
 consequently must be shut up within the madhouse. And 
 because by lying statements they have succeeded in affixing 
 the stigma, and in incarcerating the medium, they further 
 charge °on us the sin they have invented of driving our 
 mediums to madness. 
 
 Were it not ignorance, it would be blasphemy. We have 
 brought nought but blessing to our friends. We are to them 
 the bearers of Divine Truth. If man has chosen to attract by 
 his evil mind and evil life congenial spirits who aggravate his 
 wickedness, on his head be the sin. They have but tended 
 the crop which he has already sown. He was mad already ; 
 mad in neglect of his own spirit and body ; mad in that he 
 has driven far from him the holy influences. But we deal not 
 with such. Far more mad indeed are those besotted drunkards 
 whom you deem not mad. To spirit-eye there is no more 
 fearful sight than those dens of wickedness and impurity 
 
24 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 where the evil men gather to steep their senses in oblivion, to 
 excite the lustful and sensual passions of their debased bodies, 
 to consort with the degraded and the impure, and to offer 
 themselves the ready prey of the basest and worst spirits who 
 hover around and find their gratification in living over again 
 their bodily lives. These are dens of basest, most hideous 
 degradation ; a blot on your civilisation, a disgrace to your 
 intelligence. 
 
 What do you mean by living over again their base 
 lives ? 
 
 These earth-bound spirits retain much of their earthy 
 passion and propensity. The cravings of the body are not 
 extinct, though the power to gratify them is withdrawn. 
 The drunkard retains his old thirst, but exaggerated ; aggra- 
 vated by the impossibility of slaking it. It burns within him, 
 the unquenched desire, and urges him to frequent the haunts 
 of his old vices, and to drive wretches like himself to further 
 degradation. In them he lives again his old life, and drinks 
 in satisfaction, grim and devilish, from the excesses which he 
 causes them to commit. And so his vice perpetuates itself, 
 and swells the crop of sin and sorrow. The besotted wretch, 
 goaded on by agencies he cannot see, sinks deeper and deeper 
 into the mire. His innocent wife and babe starve and weep 
 in silent agony, and near them hovers, and over them broods 
 the guardian angel who has no power to reach the sodden 
 wretch who mars their lives and breaks their hearts. 
 
 This we shadow forth to you when we tell you that the 
 earth-bound spirit lives again its life of excess in the excesses 
 of those whom it is enabled to drive to ruin. The remedy 
 is slow, for such vices perpetuate themselves. It can only be 
 found in the moral and material elevation of the race ; in the 
 gradual growth of purer and truer knowledge ; in advanced 
 education, in its widest and truest sense. 
 
 This would prevent obsession such as you picture ? 
 
 Yes, in the end : and nothing else will, so long as you keep 
 up the supply at the rate you now do. 
 
RETURN OF SPIRITS TO EARTH. 
 
 25 
 
 Do children pass at once to a high sphere ? 
 
 No : the experience of the earth-life cannot so be dispensed 
 with. The absence of contamination ensures a rapid passage 
 through the spheres of purification, but the absence of experi- 
 ence and knowledge requires to be remedied by training and 
 education, by spirits whose special care it is to train these 
 tender souls, and supply to them that which they have missed. 
 It is not a gain to be removed from earth-life, save in one 
 wa y — that misuse of opportunities might have entailed greater 
 loss and have more retarded progress. The soul that gains 
 most is the soul that keeps ever before it the work that has 
 been allotted to it, which has laboured zealously for its own 
 improvement and the benefit of its fellows, which has loved 
 and served God, and has followed the guidance of its 
 guardians. This is the soul which has least to unlearn, and 
 which progresses rapidly. All vanity and selfishness in every 
 form, all sluggishness and indolence, all self-indulgence mars 
 progress. "We say nought of open vice and sin, nor of 
 obstinate refusal to learn and to be taught. Love and know- 
 ledge help on the soul. The child may have the one qualifica- 
 tion ; it cannot have the other save by education, which is 
 frequently gained by its being attached to a medium, and 
 living over the earth-life again. But many a child-spirit 
 leaves the earth-life pure and unsullied who would have been 
 exposed to temptation and grievous trial ; and so it gains in 
 purity what it has lost in knowledge. The spirit who has 
 fought and won is the nobler one. Purified by trial, it rises 
 to the sphere set apart for the proven souls. Such experience 
 is essential ; and for the purpose of gaining it many, spirits 
 elect to return to earth, and, by attaching themselves to a 
 medium, gain the special phase of experience which they need. 
 To one it is the cultivation of the affections that is necessary ; 
 to another the experience of suffering and sorrow ; to another 
 mental culture ; to another the curbing and restraining of the 
 impulses of the spirit, evenness of balance. All who return, 
 save those who, like ourselves, are charged with a mission, 
 have an object to gain : and in being associated with us and 
 with you they gain their progress. 
 
26 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 This is the one desire of spirit. More progress ! More 
 knowledge ! More love ! till the dross is purged away, and 
 the soul soars higher and yet higher towards the Supreme. 
 
 Return to earth is not the only method of progression. 
 
 No : nor even the usual one. We have with us many 
 schools of instruction : and we do not employ a second time 
 one that has proved a failure. 
 
 [Some further conversation having taken place respect- 
 ing the home and occupation of Spirit, I enquired, 
 not getting much information that I could assim- 
 ilate, whether the writer knew anything of states 
 of being outside of his own, or rather above it; 
 and whether he knew of states of being inferior 
 to that of incarnation on this earth. In reply, it 
 was affirmed that spirits had no power to take in 
 so vast a prospect as the range of spiritual exist- 
 ence : and that their knowledge was barred by 
 the gulf fixed between what were called spheres 
 of probation, or sometimes of purgation, in which 
 the soul was developed and perfected, and the 
 spheres of contemplation into which it then passed, 
 never (except in rare cases) to return. It was 
 said] : — • 
 
 The passage from the highest of the seven spheres of pro- 
 bation, to the lowest of the seven spheres of contemplation, is 
 a change analogous to what you know as death. We hear 
 little from beyond, though we know that the blessed ones who 
 dwell there have power to help and guide us even as we watch 
 over you. But we know nothing by experimental knowledge 
 of their work, save that they are occupied with nearer views 
 of the Divine perfection, in closer contemplation of the 
 causes of things, and in nearer adoration of the Supreme. 
 We are far from that blissful state. We have our work yet 
 to do ; and in doing it we find our delight. It is necessary 
 for you to remember that spirits speak according to their 
 experience and knowledge. Some who are asked abstruse 
 questions give replies according to the measure of their know- 
 ledge, and are in error. But do not, therefore, blame them. 
 We believe that we state what is accurate when we say that 
 
INFLUENCE OF DEBASED SPIRITS. 
 
 27 
 
 your earth is the highest of seven spheres; that there are 
 succeeding the earth-life seven spheres of active work, and 
 succeeding these, seven spheres of Divine contemplation. But 
 each sphere has many states. We have said something to you 
 of the reasons why the voluntary degraded souls sink until 
 they pass the boundary beyond which restoration becomes 
 hard. The perpetual choosing of evil and refusing of good 
 breeds necessarily an aversion to that which is pure and good, 
 and a craving for that which is debased. Spirits of this 
 character have usually been incarned in bodies where the 
 animal passions had great sway. They began by yielding to 
 animal desires, and ended by being slaves of the body. Noble 
 aspirations, godlike longings, desire for holiness and purity, all 
 are quenched, and in place of spirit the body reigns supreme, 
 dictating its own laws, quenching all moral and intellectual 
 light and surrounding the spirit with influences and associa- 
 tions of impurity. Such a spirit is in perilous case. The 
 guardians retire affrighted from the presence; they cannot 
 breathe the atmosphere which surrounds it; other spirits take 
 their place ; spirits who in their earth-life had been victims to 
 kindred vices. They live over again their earthly sensual lives, 
 and find their gratification in encouraging the spirit to base 
 and debasing sin. This tendency of bodily sin to reproduce 
 itself is one of the most fearful and terrible of the conse- 
 quences of conscious gross transgression of nature’s laws. 
 The spirit has found all its pleasure in bodily gratifications, 
 and lo ! when the body is dead, the spirit still hovers round 
 the scene of its former gratifications, and lives over again the 
 bodily life in the vices of those whom it lures to sin. Round 
 the crin-shops of your cities, dens of vice, haunted by miser- 
 able besotted wretches, lost to self-respect and sense of shame, 
 hover the spirits who in the flesh were lovers of drunkenness 
 and debauchery. They lived the drunkard’s life in the body, 
 they live it over again now, and gloat with fiendish glee over 
 the downward course of the spirit whom they are leagued to 
 ruin Could you but see how in spots where the vicious con- 
 gregate the dark spirits throng, you would know something 
 of the mystery of evil. It is the influence of these debased 
 
28 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 spirits which tends so much to aggravate the difficulty of 
 retracing lost steps, which makes the descent of Avernus so 
 easy, the return so toilsome. The slopes of Avernus, are 
 dotted with spirits hurrying to their destruction, sinking with 
 mad haste to ruin. Each is the centre of a knot of malignant 
 spirits, who find their joy in wrecking souls and dragging 
 them down to their own miserable level. 
 
 Such are they who gravitate when released from the body 
 to congenial spheres below the earth. They and their tempters 
 find their home together in spheres where they live in hope 
 of gratifying passions and lusts, which have not faded with 
 the loss of the means of satisfying their cravings. 
 
 In these spheres they must remain subject to the attempted 
 influence of missionary spirits, until the desire for progress is 
 renewed. When the desire rises, the spirit makes its first 
 step. It becomes amenable to holy and ennobling influence, 
 and is tended by those pure and self-sacrificing spirits whose 
 mission it is to tend such souls. You have among you spirits 
 bright and noble, whose mission in the earth-life is among the 
 dens of infamy and haunts of vice, and who are preparing for 
 themselves a crown of glory, whose brightest jewels are self- 
 sacrifice and love. So amongst us there are spirits wffio give 
 themselves to work in the sphere of the degraded and aban- 
 doned. By their efforts many spirits rise, and when rescued 
 from degradation, work out long and laborious purification 
 in the probation spheres, where they are removed from influ- 
 ences for evil, and entrusted to the care of the pure and 
 good. So desire for holiness is encouraged and the spirit is 
 purified. Of the lower spheres we know little. We only know 
 vaguely that there are separations made between degrees and 
 sorts of vice. They that will not seek for anything that 
 is good, that wallow in impurity and vice, sink lower and 
 lower, until they lose conscious identity, and become practi- 
 cally extinct, so far as personal existence is concerned ; so at 
 least we believe. 
 
 Alas ! alas ! sad and sorrowful is the thought. Mercifully, 
 such cases are rare, and spring only from deliberate rejection 
 by the soul of all that is good and ennobling. This is the sin 
 
THE UNPARDONABLE SIN. 
 
 20 
 
 unto death of which Jesus told His followers ; the sin against 
 the Holy Spirit of God of which you are told. The sin, viz., 
 of rejecting the influences of God’s holy angel ministers, and 
 of preferring the death of vice and impurity to the life of holi- 
 ness and purity and love. It is the sin of exalting the animal 
 to the extinction of the spiritual; of degrading even the cor- 
 poreal ; of cultivating sensual earthly lusts ; of depraving even 
 the lowest tastes ; of reducing the human to the level of the 
 lowest brute. In such the Divine essence is quenched ; the 
 baser elements are fostered, forced, developed to undue excess. 
 They gain absolute sway, they quench the spirit, and ex- 
 tinguish all desire for progress. The vice perpetuates itself, 
 and drags the wretch who has yielded himself to the animal 
 enjoyments further and further from the path of progress, 
 until even the animal becomes vitiated and diseased , the un- 
 healthily stimulated passions prey on themselves; and the 
 voice of the spirit is heard no more. Down must the soul 
 gjnh, down, and yet down further and further until it is lost 
 in fathomless obscurity. 
 
 This is the unpardonable sin. Unpardonable, not because 
 the Supreme will not pardon, but because the sinner chooses- 
 it to be so. Unpardonable, because pardon is impossible where 
 sin is congenial, and penitence unfelt. 
 
 Punishment is ever the immediate consequence of sin ; it is 
 of its essence, not arbitrarily meted out, but the inevitable 
 result of the violation of law. The consequences of such 
 transgression cannot be altogether averted, though they may 
 be palliated by remorse, the effect of which is to breed a. 
 loathing for sin and a desire for good. This is the first step, 
 the retracing of false steps, the undoing of error, and by con- 
 sequence, the creation in the spirit of another longing. The 
 spiritual atmosphere is changed, and into it good angels enter 
 readily and aid the striving soul. It is isolated from evil 
 agencies. Remorse and sorrow are fostered. The spirit be- 
 comes gentle and tender, amenable to influences of good. The 
 hard, cold, repellant tone is gone, and the soul progresses. So 
 the results of former sin are purged away, and the length and 
 bitterness of punishment alleviated. This is true for all time* 
 
30 
 
 SPIRIT-T E ACHINGS. 
 
 It was on this principle that we told you of the folly which 
 dictates your dealings with the transgressors of your laws. 
 Were we to deal with offenders so, there would be no restora- 
 tion, and the spheres of the depraved would be crowded with 
 lost and ruined souls. But God is wiser, and we are His 
 ministers. 
 
( 31 ) 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 [The above are selections from a great number of mes- 
 
 L sages which were written during April and May, 
 1873. By this time the writing had become easy 
 and fluent, and there was, apparently, less difficulty 
 in finding appropriate words. 
 
 Already several facts and precise records of the life of 
 some spirits had been given. For instance,, on 
 May 22nd, I was writing on quite another subject 
 when the message broke off, and the name of 
 Thomas Augustine Arne was written. It was said 
 that he had been brought into relation with me 
 through his connection with a son of Dr. Speer s, 
 a pupil of mine, who displayed great musical 
 ability. 
 
 I was at this time greatly impressed, with the character 
 of the automatic writing and with the information 
 given. I inquired at once if I could ascertain from 
 Arne, through the medium of the spirit Doctor, 
 who was writing, any precise facts as to his life. 
 The request was at once complied with, there 
 being no interval between my question and the 
 reply. The date of his birth (1710) ; his school 
 (Eton) ; his instructor in the violin (Festing). His 
 works, or at any rate some eight or nine of them ; 
 the fact that “ Rule Britannia ” was contained in 
 the masque of Alfred ; and a number of other 
 minute particulars were given without the least 
 hesitation. Profoundly astonished at receiving 
 such a mass of information, foreign not only to my 
 mind in its details, but utterly foreign to my habit 
 of thought — for I know absolutely nothing about 
 music, and have read nothing on. the. subject— I 
 inquired how it was possible to give information 
 so minute. It was said to be extremely difficult, 
 possible only when an extremely passive and re- 
 ceptive state in the medium were secured. More- 
 over, spirits were said to have access to sources of 
 
32 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 information so that they could refresh their im- 
 perfect recollection. 
 
 I asked how ? By reading ; under certain conditions, 
 and with special end in view; or by inquiry, as 
 man does, only to spirits it would be more diffi- 
 cult, though possible. 
 
 Could my friend himself so acquire information ? No ; 
 he had too long left the earth, but he mentioned 
 the names of two spirits accustomed occasionally 
 to write, who could perform this feat. I asked 
 that one of them should be brought. I was sitting 
 waiting for a pupil in a room, not my own, which 
 was used as a study, and the 'walls of which werfij_ 
 covered with bookshelves. 
 
 The writing ceased, and after an interval of some 
 minutes, another kind of writing appeared. I 
 inquired if the newly arrived spirit could demon- 
 strate to me the power alleged.] 
 
 Can you read ? 
 
 No, friend, I cannot, but Zachary Gray can, and Rector. I 
 am not able to materialise myself, or to command the elements. 
 
 Are either of those spirits here ? 
 
 I will bring one by and by. I will send .... Rector is here. 
 
 I am told you can read. Is that so ? Can you read a 
 booh ? 
 
 [Spirit hand- writing changed.] 
 
 Yes, friend, with difficulty. 
 
 Will you write for me the last line of the first booh of the 
 JSneid l 
 
 Wait “ Omnibus errantem terris et fluctibus cestas.” 
 
 [This was right.] 
 
 Quite so. But I might have hnown it. Can you go to the 
 booh-case, tahe the last booh but one on the second shelf 
 and read me the last paragraph on the ninety-fourth 
 
READING A BOOK. 
 
 since the primitive and pure time of Christianity, not only 
 since the apostolic age, but even since the lamentable union of 
 kirk and the state by Constantine.” 
 
 [The book on examination then proved to be a queer 
 one called “ Rogers Antipopopriestian, an attempt 
 to liberate and purify Christianity from Popery, 
 Politikirkality, and Priestrule.” The extract given 
 above was accurate, but the word “narrative” was 
 substituted for “account.”] 
 
 How came I to pitch on so appropriate a sentence ? 
 
 I know not, my friend. It was by coincidence. The word 
 was changed by error. I knew it when it was done, but would 
 not change. 
 
 Hoiv do you read ? You wrote more slowly , and by fits and 
 starts . 
 
 I wrote what I remembered, and then I went for more. It 
 is a special effort to read, and useful only as a test. Your 
 friend was right last night : we can read, but only when con- 
 ditions are very good. We will read once again, and write, 
 and then impress you of the book: — “Pope is the last great 
 writer of that school of poetry, the poetry of the intellect, or 
 rather of the intellect mingled with the fancy.” That is truly 
 written. Go and take the eleventh book on the same shelf. 
 [I took a book called Poetry , Romance, and Rhetoric .] It 
 will >open at the page for you. Take it and read, and recog- 
 nise our power, and the permission which the great and good 
 God gives us, to show you of our power over matter. To 
 Him be glory. Amen. 
 
 [The book opened at page 145, and there was the 
 quotation perfectly true. I had not seen the book 
 before ; certainly had no idea of its contents.] 
 
( 34 ) 
 
 SECTION Y. 
 
 [On the following day I had a long conversation as to 
 the power exercised by spirits on our earth, which 
 was said to he^grea t and wide-spread. I asked as 
 to the power over individuals, and was pointed to 
 cases where it was said absolute obsession was 
 established. It was said that this power over men 
 was b eing so wide -spread, it were wise to place it 
 in the reach only of spirits of integrity and wis- 
 dom, and to give conditions for its exercise by 
 them, and so to drive away obsessing and unde- 
 veloped spirits, or to materially reduce their sphere 
 of action. It was insisted that spirit-action was 
 universal, and that it was a question for man, to a 
 great extent, whether that action was beneficent 
 or not. I asked what character was most suitable 
 for such influence.] 
 
 There are varieties of mediumship as you know, and there 
 are divers modes in which spirit influence is exercised. Some 
 are selected for the mere physical peculiarities which make 
 them the ready vehicles of spirit power. Their bodily organi- 
 sation is adapted for the purpose of manifesting external 
 spiritual influence in its simplest form. They are not influ- 
 enced mentally, and information given by the spirits who use 
 them would be of a trifling or even foolish nature, and un- 
 trustworthy. They are used as the means of demonstrating 
 spirit power, the external invisible agency capable of producing 
 objective phenomenal results. 
 
 These are known to you as the instruments through whom 
 the elementary phenomena are manifested. Their work is 
 not less significant than that which is wrought through others. 
 They are concerned with the foundation of belief. 
 
 And some are chosen because of their loving gentle nature. 
 They are not the channels of physical phenomenal action, in 
 
DIVERSITY OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS. 
 
 35 
 
 many cases, not even of conscious communication with the 
 spirit world ; but they are the recipients of spirit guidance, 
 and their pure and gentle souls are cultivated and improved 
 by angel superintendence. By degrees they are prepared to 
 be the conscious recipients of communications from the 
 spheres ; or they are permitted with clairvoyant eye to catch 
 stray glimpses of their future home. A loving spirit friend 
 is attracted to them, and they are impressionally taught and 
 guided day by day. These are the loving souls who are sur- 
 rounded by an atmosphere of peacefulness and purity of love. 
 They live as bright examples in the world, and pass in ripe 
 maturity to the spheres of rest and peace for which their 
 earth life has fitted them. 
 
 Others, again, are intellectually trained and prepared to 
 give to man extended knowledge and wider views of truth. 
 Advanced spirits influence the thoughts, suggest ideas, furnish 
 means of acquiring knowledge, and of communicating it to 
 mankind. The ways by which spirits so influence men are 
 manifold. They have means that you know not of by which- 
 -events are so arranged as to work out the end they have m 
 view. The most difficult task we have is to select a medium 
 through whom the messages of the higher and more advanced 
 spirits can be made known. It is necessary that the mind 
 •chosen should be of a receptive character, for we cannot put 
 into a spirit more information than it can receive. Moreover, 
 it must be free from foolish worldly prejudices. It must be a 
 mind that has unlearned its youthful errors, and has proved 
 itself receptive of truth, even though that truth be unpopular. 
 
 More still. It must be free from dogmatism. It must not 
 be rooted and grounded in earth notions. It must be free 
 from the dogmatism of theologies and sectarianism and rigid 
 •creed. It must not be bound down by the fallacies of half- 
 knowledge which is ignorant of its own ignorance. It must 
 be a free and inquiring soul. It must be a soul that loves 
 progressive knowledge, and that has the perception of truth 
 afar off. One that yearns for fuller light, for richer know- 
 ledge than it has yet received ; one that knows no hope of 
 •cessation in drinking in the truth. 
 
36 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 Again, our work must not be marred by the self-assertion 
 of a positive antagonistic mind, nor by the proud obtruding 
 of self and selfish ends and aims. With such we can do very 
 little, and that little must all tend to the gradual obliteration 
 of selfishness and dogmatism. We desire a capable, earnest, 
 truth-seeking, unselfish, loving spirit for our work. Said we 
 not well that such was difficult to find among men ? Difficult 
 indeed, well-nigh impossible. We select, then, such a soul as 
 we can best find, and prepared by constant training for its 
 appointed work. We inspire into it a spirit of love and 
 tolerance for opinions that do not find favour with its own 
 mental bias. This raises it above dogmatic prejudice, and 
 paves the way for the discovery that truth is manifold, and 
 not the property of any individual. Store of knowledge is 
 given as the soul can receive it ; and, the foundation of know- 
 ledge once laid, the superstructure may be safely raised. The 
 opinions and tone of thought are moulded by slow degrees, so 
 that they harmonise with the end we have in view. 
 
 Many and many fail here, and we abandon our work with 
 them, finding that not in this world of yours can they receive 
 the truth ; that old earth-born prejudices are firm, dogmatic 
 beliefs ineradicable, and so that they must be left to time, and 
 are to us of no avail. 
 
 Moreover, a perfect truthfulness and absence of fearfulness 
 and anxiety are the steady growth of our teaching. We lead, 
 the soul to rest in calm trust on God and His spirit teachers.. 
 We infuse a spirit of patient waiting for that which we are per- 
 mitted to do and teach. This spirit is the very reverse of that 
 fretful, restless querulousness which characterises many souls. 
 
 Here, too, many fall away. They are fearful and anxious,, 
 and beset with doubt. The old theology tells them of a God,, 
 who watches for their fall ; and of a devil, who lays perpetual 
 traps for them. They wonder at the novelty of our teaching 
 their friends are ready to point to so-called prophecies which 
 teH of anti-Christ. The old foundations are shaken, and the 
 new are not yet laid ; and so the adversaries creep in and ! 
 tempt the wavering soul, and it fears and falls away, and is- 
 useless to us. 
 
SELFISHNESS AND SELF-ABNEGATION. 
 
 37 
 
 Yet more, we must eradicate selfishness in all its many 
 forms. There must be no obtruding of self, or we can do 
 nothing. There is nothing so utterly fatal to spirit influence 
 as self-seeking, self-pleasing, boastfulness, arrogance, or pride. 
 The intelligence must be subordinated, or we cannot work 
 upon it. If it be dogmatic, we cannot use it. If it be 
 arrogant and selfish, we cannot come near it. Self-abnegation 
 has been the virtue which has graced the wise and holy men 
 of all time. The seers who bore of old the flag on which was 
 inscribed for their generation the message of progressive truth 
 were men who thought little of themselves, and much of their 
 work. They who spoke to the Jews, whose messages you 
 have in your sacred records, were men of self-denying purity 
 and singleness of life. Jesus, when He lived amongst men, 
 was a grand and magnificent instance of the highest self- 
 abnegation and earnestness of purpose. He lived with you a 
 life of pure self-denial and practical earnest work, and He 
 died a death of self-sacrifice for truth. In Him you have the 
 purest picture that history records of man’s possible. They 
 who since have purged the world from error, and have shed 
 on it the beams of truth, have been one and all men of self- 
 denial and earnest devotion to a work which they knew to be 
 that for which they were set apart. Socrates and Plato, John 
 and Paul, the pioneers of truth, the heralds of progress, all 
 have been unselfish souls — souls wfyo knew naught of self- 
 seeking, of proud aggrandizement, of boastful arrogance. To 
 them earnestness and singleness of purpose, devotion to their 
 appointed work, forgetfulness of self and its interests were 
 given in a high degree. Without that they could not have 
 effected what they did. Selfishness would have eaten out the 
 heart of their success. Humility, sincerity, and earnestness 
 bore them on. 
 
 This is the character we seek. Loving and earnest, self- 
 denying and receptive of truth ; with single eye to God’s 
 work, and with forgetfulness of earthly aims. Rare it is, rare 
 as it is beautiful. Seek, friend, the mind of the philosopher, 
 calm, reliant, truthful, and earnest ! Seek the spirit of the 
 philanthropist, loving, tolerant, ready to help, quick to give 
 
38 
 
 SPIRIT-TE ACH INGS. 
 
 the needed aid. Add the self-abnegation of the servant of 
 God who does his work and seeks for no reward. For such a 
 character work, high, holy, noble, is possible. Such we guard 
 and watch with jealous care. On such the angels of the 
 Father smile, and tend and protect them from injury. 
 
 But you have described a perfect character. 
 
 Ah no ! You have now no conception of what the perfect 
 spirit is. You cannot know; you cannot even picture it. 
 Nor can you know how the faithful soul drinks in the spirit- 
 teaching and grows liker and liker to its teacher. You see 
 not as we see the gradual growth of the seed which it has cost 
 us so much labour to plant and tend. You only know that 
 the soul grows in kindly graces, and becomes more lovely and 
 more loveable. The character we have faintly pictured in 
 such terms as are intelligible to you is not perfect, nor aught 
 but a vague and distant resemblance of that which it shall 
 become. With you is no perfectness. Hereafter is progres- 
 sion and constant development and growth. What you call 
 perfect, is blotted and blurred with faults to spirit vision. 
 
 Yes, surely. But very jew such are to be found. 
 
 Few, few: and none save in the germ. There is the 
 capability on which we work with thankfulness. We seek 
 not for perfection : we do but desire sincerity and earnest 
 desire for improvement : a mind free and receptive ; a spirit 
 pure and good. Wait in patience. Impatience is a dire fault. 
 Avoid over-carefulness and anxiety as to causes which are 
 beyond your control. Leave that to us. In patience and 
 seclusion ponder what we say. 
 
 I suppose a secluded life is favourable for your in- 
 fluence, rather than the busy whirl of toivn. 
 
 [Here the writing suddenly changed from the minute 
 and very clear writing of Doctor to a most peculiar 
 archaic writing, almost indecipherable, and signed 
 Prudens.] 
 
 The busy world is ever averse from the things of spirit 
 life. Men become absorbed in the material, that which they 
 
THE LIFE OF CONTEMPLATION. 
 
 39 
 
 can see, and grasp, and hoard up, and they forget that there is 
 a future and spirit-life. They become so earthly that they 
 are impervious to our influence ; so material that we cannot 
 come near them ; so full of earthly interests that there is no 
 room for that which shall endure when they have passed 
 away. More than this, the constant pre-occupation leaves no 
 time for contemplation, and the spirit is wasted for lack of 
 sustenance. The spiritual state is weak : the body is worn 
 and weary with weight of work and anxious care, and the 
 spirit is well-nigh inaccessible. The whole air, moreover, is 
 heavy with conflicting passions, with heart-burnings and 
 jealousies, and contentions and all that is inimical to us. 
 Round the busy city with its myriad haunts of vice, its detest- 
 able allurements, its votaries of folly and sin, hover the legions 
 of the opposing spirits who watch for opportunity to lure the 
 wavering to their ruin. They urge on many to their grief 
 hereafter, and cause us many sorrows and much anxious care. 
 
 The life of contemplation is that which most suits com- 
 munion with us. It is not indeed to supersede the life of 
 action, but may be in some sort combined with it. It is most 
 readily practised where distracting cares come not in, and 
 where excessive toil weakens not the bodily powers. But the 
 desire must be inherent in the soul ; and where that is, neither 
 distracting cares nor worldly allurements avail to prevent the 
 recognition of a spirit world, and of communion with it. The 
 heart must be prepared. But it is easier for us to make our 
 presence felt when the surroundings are pure and peaceful. 
 
SECTION VI. 
 
 [At this time I met Mr. Home. It chanced to be the 
 Derby Day, and it was said through him that con- 
 ditions were so interfered with that spirits could do 
 nothing. On the next day (May 29) I had some 
 conversation on the subject, in the course of which 
 it was written,] — 
 
 Any such occasion disturbs the moral conditions, and renders 
 it hard for us to reach you. The spirits who are antagonistic 
 to us are massed together in great force whenever any occa- 
 sion is offered for them to operate successfully on men who are 
 gathered together for the purpose of gratifying their bodily 
 passions. Yesterday there were vast masses whose passion of 
 cupidity was excited to an enormous degree. They were the 
 point of attack from similar spirits. Others there were whose 
 bodies were wildly excited by intoxicating drinks ; others 
 who were feverish with expectation of coming gains ; others 
 again plunged into depths of despair by loss of all, the ready 
 prey, these last, of the suggestions of tempting spirits ; and 
 even when these baser passions were not actively excited, the 
 moral balance was upset ; that calmness and equability which 
 should regulate the temper, and which are as a shield against 
 the foe, were absent, and so a chance of favourable assault 
 was given. For, short of absolute evil, much ground for 
 assault is given by an ill-regulated, disordered mind, by minds 
 unhinged and ill-balanced. Avoid all such. They are fre- 
 quently the ready agents of spirit influence, but of undeveloped 
 and unwelcome guides. Beware of immoderate, unreasoning, 
 excited frames of mind. 
 
 For these reasons the occasion to which you refer is one 
 that would make largest demands on the efforts of the agents 
 
NATIONAL HOLIDAYS. 
 
 41 
 
 of good, lest the undeveloped, massed and disciplined for 
 assault, succeed and draw down souls. 
 
 But what you say would apply to all national holidays ? 
 
 Not necessarily so. So long as a holiday is associated with 
 givino- a loose rein to passion, with the immoderate use of fiery, 
 intoxicating poison, with sensual gratifications, with the body 
 and not with the spirit, it must needs be so. The body so 
 situated places the spirit at the mercy of the adversaries But 
 the holiday that is associated with rest of body and refresh- 
 ment of spirit is far from being such. When the bodily powers 
 which have been drained by overtaxing work are recuperated 
 by genial and moderate rest ; when the mind, vexed and ha- 
 rassed by the worries and anxieties of daily toil, is refreshed 
 by moderate amusement, and by being relaxed and plunged 
 for awhile in oblivion of anxious care, the while it is braced 
 and stimulated by pleasant change ; when this is so, a gentle 
 calm pervades the spirit, and renders it peculiarly open to the 
 beneficent influences of the heavenly guardians. Thus the 
 power of angel ministry is strengthened, and the plans of the 
 most powerful adversaries are set at nought. You must pro- 
 o-ress far in knowledge of spirit guidance and of the duties 
 you owe to yourselves before your national holidays become 
 auo-ht but opportunities for the degradation of your people. 
 The holiday that is marked by riot and debauchery, by sensu- 
 ality and gambling, and evil, angry passion and despair this 
 is no holy day to us, but one to be dreaded and watched and 
 prayed over. God help and guard the blind souls in their 
 
 insensate folly ! 
 
 fl find that our seance was disturbed at this time by 
 some erratic manifestations, and an attempt to 
 obtain photographs of some of the communicating 
 spirits resulted in failure. Although the spirit 
 whose figure was on the plate claimed the name ot 
 Rector, it was said by my friend that it was a spirit 
 with whom they had no connection, a deceptive 
 spirit, unknown to any of them. I sat down to 
 obtain further information, but got nothing that 
 was intelligible, and was obliged to cease. 
 
42 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 On the next day, when I had regained my usual 
 passive state, the writing came unasked. Re- 
 specting the difficulties that had arisen in mani- 
 festing, I enquired if we could help in any way.] 
 
 Rector could not communicate with you on account of your 
 disturbed condition, consequent on the sitting which had 
 severely taxed you. The information given was quite unre- 
 liable. Your mind was violently positive. You had assumed 
 the picture to be that of Rector, and he was not sufficientlv 
 acquainted with this kind of communication to know that 
 your unhinged and feverish state, coupled with a positive and 
 unimpressionable state of mind, made it impossible to convey 
 any true information to you. 
 
 When you feel such conditions present, seek no communica- 
 tions on any subject. They will be unreliable or imperfect 
 under such circumstances, and in many cases hurtful. 
 
 [I was much annoyed, and complained that my scanty 
 stock of faith would be drained by many such 
 occurrences. It had never occurred before. It 
 was replied] — 
 
 You have never placed yourself in communication save when 
 I (Doctor) or some one who can warn and guard you has been 
 present. You have done so when the spirits who control the 
 physical elements in the circle have alone been present, and 
 the results were violent and unmanageable. You were warned 
 then: this is another warning. Your positive mind Rector 
 could not influence : and your fevered state made it impossible 
 to control you. 
 
 [Since then I have been scrupulously careful never to 
 attempt automatic writing when I am physically 
 ill or in pain : mentally worried or anxious, or near 
 any person so suffering, or in the midst of any 
 influences that might be disturbing. To this pre- 
 caution I attribute much of the regular and equa- 
 ble character of my communications. As a rule, 
 they are curiously fluent ; the books in which they 
 are written show no erasure or alteration : and the 
 tone of the messages is very level and sustained.] 
 
CONDITIONS OF COMMUNICATION. 
 
 43 
 
 Keep yourself as passive and quiet as you can. When over- 
 tired with work, or fretted with care, or exhausted, do not 
 attempt to seek communion with us. Do not add to the circle 
 any new elements which do but disturb and perplex condi- 
 tions. Suffer us to perfect our experiments before you inter- 
 fere to spoil them. We will advise you of any change we 
 wish in the composition of our circle. Do not alter the room 
 in which you meet : and strive in so far as may be, to meet 
 with a passive mind and a healthy body. 
 
 Yes , working all day with body and brain does not im- 
 prove conditions , I suppose. But Sunday is generally 
 worse. 
 
 It is not a favourable day for us, because, when the strain 
 is removed from mind and body, the reaction leaves the spirit 
 disinclined for action and more apt for repose. We are fear- 
 ful of cultivating new manifestations with you; we fear 
 experimenting with physical manifestations lest they do harm. 
 Moreover, they are not our object, only subsidiary to it. They 
 are but the signs which witness to our mission ; and we do not 
 desire that you rest in them. There is also a special reason 
 why we are unable to manifest on Sunday for you. You do 
 not know the difficulty which changes in conditions make to 
 us You have heard before that sitting down immediately 
 after a meal is not good. The bodily conditions which we 
 seek for are passivity and quickness of receptivity : but not 
 the passivity which comes from sluggishness and torpor. No 
 worse condition can be than that state of somnolence and 
 torpor which follows on a plentiful meal during which stimu- 
 lating drink has been taken. Such stimulus may aid the 
 physical manifestations in some cases, but it is a bar to us. . It 
 opens the door for the advent of the more material spirits, 
 and stops our power. We have frequently found our plans 
 frustrated by such means. You would do well to think of 
 this and guard yourselves against excess in any way when 
 you are about to seek communion with us. The body should 
 not be heated nor torpid with food : nor the mind drowsy and 
 inactive. Both conditions prevent us from operating freely. 
 
44 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 They react on us, and sensibly mar our power. One such 
 member in a circle, even as one ailing or suffering, will create 
 conditions which we cannot overcome. 
 
 But a weak body and temper disturbed by want of food 
 is bad surely ? 
 
 W e do but counsel moderation. The body should be strength- 
 ened with food, but you should not sit down until the food is 
 assimilated. You require moderate stimulant to fit you for 
 your daily work, but that should be guardedly taken, and you 
 should see that you do not enter into communion with us save 
 under such conditions as we have stated. When mind or body 
 is predisposed to sleep or indisposed to sustained attention, or 
 sick or suffering, it is better not to sit save under direction. 
 Equally when the body is replete with food, the grosser 
 spirits may be expected to be in the ascendant, and we are 
 unable to operate. Even the physical phenomena are then of 
 a ruder and more violent character, and not of the delicate 
 and beautiful description, which they would assume under 
 more favourable circumstances. We do not desire extremes. 
 A body w’asted by fasting is not in any way profitable : but 
 neither is a body which is clogged and loaded by over-indul- 
 gence. Temperance and moderation are what help us. If 
 you desire, friend, to facilitate our work, and to attain the 
 best results, you should bring to the sitting a body healthy 
 and sound, senses clear and watchful, and a mind passive and 
 receptive. Then we can do for you more than you think. 
 With a circle harmonious and properly constituted the mani- 
 festations would be more delicate, and the teaching given more 
 refined and trustworthy. Even the light of which you spoke* 
 under such conditions is pale, clear, and smokeless: under 
 unfavourable conditions would be dull, dirty, and smoky in 
 appearance. 
 
 * At this time we had a number of large phosphorescent lights at our ordi- 
 nary sittings : clear and of a pale yellow under good conditions ; red, and 
 smoky when anything was wrong. These lights were similar to the lamp borne 
 by the spirit J ohn King, and attained a great size under favourable conditions. 
 
 A full description will be found in my forthcoming volume of Personal Re- 
 searches in the objective phenomena of Spiritualism. 
 
the marriage bond. 
 
 45 
 
 It having been said that a friend and his wife who had 
 frequently manifested were now removed to other 
 spheres of work, I asked whether the marriage ties 
 were perpetuated. 
 
 That depends entirely on similarity of taste and equality of 
 development. In the case of this being attained, the spirits 
 can progress side hy side. In our state we know only of com- 
 munity of taste and of association between those who are on 
 the same plane, and can be developed by mutual help. All 
 thin vs with us are subordinated in the education of the spirit 
 which is perpetually being developed. There can be no com- 
 munity of interest save between congenial souls. Consequently 
 no tie can he perpetuated which is not a help to progress e 
 uncongenial bonds which have embittered the souls earth liie, 
 and marred its upward progress cease with the bodily exist- 
 ence. The union of soul with soul which in the body has been 
 a source of support and assistance is developed and increased 
 after the spirit is free. The loving bonds which encircle such 
 souls are the greatest incentive to mutual development, and 
 so the relations are perpetuated, not because they have once 
 existed, but because in the eternal fitness of things they min- 
 ister to the spirit’s education. In such cases the marriage tie 
 is perpetuated, hut only in such sort as the bond of fellows up 
 between friends endures, and is strengthened hy mutual help 
 and progress. All souls that are mutually helpful remain m 
 loving intercourse so long as it is profitable for them. When 
 the period arrives at which it is more profitable for them to 
 separate they go their way without sorrow, for they can still 
 commune and share each other’s interests. The reverse of such 
 law would only perpetuate misery, and eternally bar progress. 
 Nothing is permitted to do this. 
 
 No. But some , I can conceive, may not be exactly on the 
 same mental or moral plane, and yet be full of mutual 
 
 love. 
 
 Spirits filled with mutual love can never be really separated. 
 You are hampered in understanding our state by consider- 
 ations of time and space. You cannot understand how souls 
 
46 
 
 SPIR LT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 can be far apart, as yon count space, and yet be, as you would 
 say, intimately united. We know no time, no space. We 
 could not obtain really close union with any spirit unless the 
 intelligence be absolutely on the same mental and progressive 
 plane. Indeed, any such union would be impossible for us. 
 Soul may be linked with soul in bonds of affection, without 
 any intimate connection such as we mean by being on the 
 same plane of development. Love unites spirits at whatever 
 distance. You see that in your low state of existence. The 
 brother loves the brother, though vast expanse of ocean sepa- 
 rates their homes, the long years have rolled away since the eye 
 looked on the form, and the ear listened to the words of the 
 absent one. Their pursuits may be widely different : they may 
 have no mutual idea, yet mutual love exists. The wife loves 
 the degraded besotted ruffian who mutilates her body, and 
 strives to crush her spirit. 
 
 The hour of dissolution will free her from slavery and pain. 
 She will soar while he will sink ; but the bond of love will 
 not be snapped, though the spirits may no longer consort 
 together. Even here space is annihilated; with us it does 
 not exist. And so you may dimly understand that with us 
 union means identity of development, community of interest, 
 mutual and affectionate progression. We know no such indis- 
 soluble ties as exist with you. 
 
 Then the Bible ivorcls are true, “ They neither marry nor 
 are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God.” 
 
 It was truly said. We have before told you of the law of 
 Progress, and of the law of Association, They are invariable. 
 Much that now seems good to you, ye will throw aside with 
 the body. Your state now colours your views. Much we are 
 obliged to clothe in allegory, and to elucidate by borrowing 
 your phraseology. So that you must not insist too strongly on 
 literal meanings of words used by us to describe what exists 
 only with us, which finds no counterpart in your world, and 
 transcends your present knowledge, and which therefore can 
 only be approximately described in language borrowed from 
 earth. This is a necessary caution. 
 
DISCREPANCIES IN COMMUNICATIONS. 
 
 47 
 
 Yes. That would account for discrepancies in spirit 
 communications in some cases. 
 
 Such differences arise in many cases from want of know- 
 ledge on the part of the spirits themselves ; from their inability 
 to °et their ideas through the channel of communication : from 
 imperfect conditions at the time of the communication and 
 from other causes. Doubtless, one cause is, that curious and 
 foolish questions bring foolish answers from spirits on the 
 plane of the questioner. 
 
 But would not a high spirit endeavour to raise the ques- 
 tioner instead of“ answering a fool according to his 
 folly"! 
 
 Yes, were it possible; but the foolish frame of mind pre- 
 cludes too frequently such raising. Like attracts like, and 
 the silly curious enquirers who ask from no desire for infor- 
 mation, but only to gratify a whim or an idle curiosity, or to 
 entangle us in our talk, is answered, if at all, by a spirit like 
 to himself. Such is not the frame of mind in which to seek 
 communion with us. A reverent, earnest mind gains for itself 
 that information and instruction which it is capable of receiv- 
 ing. The self-conceited, flippant, ignorant, and curious receive 
 only what they seek, and are sent away without reply, or with 
 such as suits their query. Flee such. They are empty and 
 foolish. 
 
( 4S ) 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 [Some communications respecting the Neo-Platonic 
 philosophy followed. A spirit with whose features 
 I was familiar, had been photographed, and his 
 dress was something I was unused to. I enquired 
 and was told that the conditions under which the 
 partial materialisation necessary for photography 
 are possible, differ from those in which the spirit 
 presents himself to clairvoyant vision. 
 
 The account of the special phase of the Neo-Platonic 
 teaching was most minute and entirely new to me. 
 Souffism, the ecstatic meditation that endeavours 
 by transport to throw off all that is not God, and 
 to attain truth by transfusion into the Divine, was 
 expounded at length, and illustrated in the person 
 of one of its professors. I thus learned much that 
 I have since been able to trace in operation, and 
 especially in the teachings of the spirit in question, 
 albeit toned down and modified by experience. 
 
 After this there was a short cessation ; and another 
 evidence of imposture at a circle which I attended 
 caused me much questioning. I was urged to 
 refrain from attending any circles at all so long as 
 our own was held ; and it was explained that it 
 was of the greatest importance to avoid coming 
 into contact with mediums, or strong magnetic in- 
 fluence of any kind. I should act as a disturbing 
 element in other circles, and bring away disturbing 
 influences to our own. 
 
 Some remarkable extracts from old poems, chiefly of 
 Lydgate’s, were now written by a spirit who 
 seemed to delight in such work, who did nothing 
 else, and who used a very marked handwriting. 
 
 Afterwards at a seance held, June 13th, 1873, many 
 questions were put on points of theology, and a 
 long trance-address was delivered, which was par- 
 tially taken down at the time, but many points 
 were necessarily omitted, or imperfectly recorded. 
 
WHAT IS AIMED AT BY SPIRITS. 
 
 49 
 
 On the following day, without questioning, it was 
 written by the same communicating spirit who had 
 spoken on the previous evening] — 
 
 There was much in what was said last night that was 
 imperfectly said, and hurriedly, and that was not accurately 
 preserved in the record which was taken at the time. It is of 
 the last importance that, on a subject so momentous, we should 
 speak with care, and that you should understand exactly what 
 we wish to convey. We therefore wish to state more clearly 
 what we said imperfectly to the circle. The conditions of 
 control do not always enable us to be so precise in speech as 
 we are studious to be when communicating thus with you. 
 Perfect isolation commands conditions suitable for precision 
 and accuracy. 
 
 We were dealing with the Divine mission which we have 
 in charge. Of the many difficulties which beset our path this 
 is one of the most considerable, that those who are most con- 
 genial to our purpose, and whose co-operation we most desire, 
 are usually so hampered by preconceived theological notions, 
 or are so fearful of what seems to contradict some things 
 which they have learned, that we are unable to influence 
 them, and grieve sorrowfully to find that which is derived 
 from God charged on the adversaries, and boldly attributed to 
 an all-powerful and malignant Devil. 
 
 Of all classes of our opponents these are to us the most sad. 
 The pseudo-scientific man, who will look at nothing save 
 through his own medium, and on his own terms — who will 
 deal with us only so that he may be allowed to prescribe 
 means of demonstrating us to be deluders, liars, figments of 
 a disordered brain — he is of little moment to us. His blinded 
 eye cannot see, and his cloudy intelligence, befogged and 
 cramped with life-long prejudice, can be of little service to us. 
 He can at best penetrate but little into the mysteries of com- 
 munion with the spheres, and the foundation of knowledge 
 that he could acquire, though useful and valuable even, would 
 be of little service to us in our special work. We deal with 
 other issues than those which would principally engage the 
 attention of those few men of science who deign to notice the 
 
 o 
 
50 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 phenomenal aspect of our work. The mind long trained in 
 observation of the phenomena of physics, is best devoted to 
 the elucidation of those facts which come within its province. 
 Our sphere is different, connected rather with the influence of 
 spirit upon spirit, and the knowledge of spirit-destiny that 
 we can impart. 
 
 And the ignorant and uncultured mind which knows not of 
 what we would tell, and cannot know until a long course of 
 preliminary training has prepared the way — this class of mind, 
 though hereafter it may attain to a plane of knowledge on 
 which we can work, is of no service now. 
 
 To the proud, the arrogant, the wise in their own conceits, 
 the children of routine and respectability, we can say very 
 little. The more physical evidence is necessary to reach 
 them. The story which we are charged with would be but 
 an idle tale to them. 
 
 It is to the receptive souls who know of God and heaven, 
 and love and charity, and who desire to know of the hereafter 
 and of the haven to which they tend, that we turn with ear- 
 nest longing. But, alas ! too often we find the natural religious 
 instincts, which are God-implanted and spirit-nurtured, choked 
 or distorted by the cramping influence of a human theology, 
 the imperceptible growth of long ages of ignorance and folly. 
 They are armed at all points against the truth. Do we speak 
 of a revelation of the Great Father? — they already have a 
 revelation which they have decided to be complete. Do we 
 tell them of its inconsistencies, and point out that it nowhere 
 pretends to the finality and infallibility which they would 
 assign to it ? — they reply to us with stray words from 
 the formularies of a Church, or by an opinion borrowed and 
 adapted from some person whom they have chosen to consider 
 infallibly inspired. They apply to us a test drawn from some 
 one of the sacred records which was given at a special time 
 for a special purpose, and which they imagine to be~oF~ uni- 
 versal application. 
 
 Do we point to our credentials, and to the miracles so-called, 
 which attest the reality of our mission, even as they attested 
 the mission of those whom we influenced of old ? — they tell 
 
WHAT TRUE RELIGION IS. 
 
 51 
 
 us that the age of such miracles is past, and that only the 
 inspired of the Holy Ghost long centuries ago were permitted 
 to work such wonders as evidence of Divine teaching. They 
 tell us that the Devil, whom they have imaged for themselves, 
 has power to counterfeit Gods work, and they consign us and 
 our mission to darkness and outer antagonism to God and 
 goodness. They would be willing to help us ; for, indeed, we 
 say that which is probable, but that we are of the Devil. We 
 must be, because in the Bible it is said that false and deceiv- 
 ing spirits will come ; and so we must be the deceivers. It 
 must be so, for did not a holy and elevated Teacher prophesy 
 of those who should deny the Son of God ? And do not we 
 practically remove Him and His work from the place in which 
 God has placed it and Him ? It must be so ; for do we not 
 place human reason above faith ? Do we not preach and 
 teach a seductive Gospel of good works, and give credit to the 
 doer of them ? And is not all this the work of the arch-fiend 
 transformed into an angel of light, and striving to win souls 
 to ruin ? 
 
 It is such arguments, honestly put forward by those whose 
 respect we fain would win, that are to us a bitter sorrow. 
 They are in many cases loving, earnest souls, who need but the 
 progressive tendency to make them bright lights in the world’s 
 gloom. To them we fain would give our message ; but before 
 we can build on the sure foundation which they already have 
 of knowledge of God and duty, we must perforce clear away 
 the rubbish which renders further elevation unsafe. 
 
 Religion, to be worthy the name, must have its two sides 
 — the one pointing to God, the other to man. What has the 
 received faith, which is called orthodox by its professors, to 
 say on these points ; and wherein do we differ in our message ; 
 and how far is such difference on our part in accord with 
 reason ? For, at the very outset, we claim, as the only' court 
 to which we can as yet appeal, the Reason which is implanted 
 in man. We claim it ; for it was by Reason that the sages 
 settled the list of the writings which they decided to be the 
 exclusive and final revelation of God. To Reason they 
 appealed for their decision. To Reason we appeal too Or 
 
52 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 do our friends claim that Divine guidance prescribed for them 
 what should be for all time the body of revealed truth ? We, 
 too, are the messengers of the Most High, no less surely sent 
 than the spirits who guided the Hebrew seers, and who 
 ministered to those whose fiat settled the Divine word. 
 
 We are as they: our message as their message, only more 
 advanced ; our God their God, only more clearly revealed, less 
 human, more Divine. Whether the appeal be to Divine in- 
 spiration or not, human Reason (guided doubtless by spirit 
 agency, but still Reason) sways the final decision. And those 
 who reject this appeal are out of their own mouths convicted 
 of folly. Blind faith can be no substitute for reasoning trust. 
 For the faith is faith that either has grounds for its trust or 
 not. In the former case the ground is reasonable ; in which 
 case Reason again is the ultimate judge ; or it is not, in which 
 case it would commend itself to none. But if the faith rest 
 on no ground at all, we need not further labour to show it 
 baseless and untrustworthy. 
 
 To Reason, then, we turn. How far are we proved reason- 
 ably to be of the Devil ? How far is our creed an evil one ? 
 In what respect are we chargeable with diabolic tendency ? 
 These are points on which we will instruct you. 
 
( 53 ) 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 [After a long trance address on the subjects dealt with 
 in the last communication, the writing was resumed 
 on the following day, by the same spirit, Imperator 
 using the ordinary amanuensis, who was known as 
 Rector. After this was written, a sdance was held 
 
 r 
 
 in which some discussion took place on what had 
 been said. Something further was added, and 
 especially an attempt was made to refute the 
 charges that I brought against the teaching given. 
 From the standpoint that I then occupied it seemed 
 to me that such teachings might be called by 
 opponents atheistic or diabolic, I, at anyrate, should 
 call them latitudinarian, and I maintained at some 
 length, views more nearly approaching to orthodox 
 
 teaching. 
 
 In order to follow the argument which I was now 
 entering upon, it is necessary for the reader to 
 remember that I was trained in strict accordance 
 with Protestant Church principles : that I had 
 spent much time in reading the theologies of the 
 Greek and Roman Churches, and that I had 
 accepted, as most nearly according with the views 
 at which I had arrived, the tenets of that portion 
 of the Church of England called Anglican. I had 
 seen cause to revise some of my strong beliefs, but 
 substantially I was what would be called a sound 
 High Churchman. # 
 
 From this time commences that state, to which I 
 shall have often to refer, of great spiritual exalta- 
 tion, during which I was profoundly conscious of 
 the presence and influence of one commanding In- 
 telligence, and of an action on my mind which 
 eventuated in a development of thought amounting 
 to nothing short of spiritual regeneration.] 
 
 You have objected to our teachings that they are not con- 
 sistent with the received creed of orthodoxy. We have more 
 to say on this subject. 
 
54 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 Religion, the spirit’s healthful life, has two aspects — the one 
 pointing to God, the other to man. What says the spirit- 
 creed of God ? 
 
 In place of an angry jealous tyrant it reveals a loving 
 Father who is not loving in name alone, but in very deed and 
 truth ; into whose dealings nought but love can enter ; who is 
 just and good and full of affection to the lowest of His 
 creatures. 
 
 It does not recognise any need of propitiation towards this 
 God. It rejects as false any notion of this Divine Being 
 vindictively punishing a transgressor, or requiring a vicarious 
 sacrifice for sin. Still less does it teach that this omnipotent 
 Being is enthroned in a heaven where His pleasure consists 
 in the homage of the elect, and in the view of the tortures of 
 the lost, who are for ever excluded in quenchless misery from 
 light and hope. 
 
 No such anthropomorphism finds any place in our creed. 
 God, as we know Him in the operation of His laws is perfect, 
 pure, loving, and holy, incapable of cruelty, tyranny, and other 
 such human vices : viewing error with sorrow as knowing that 
 sin contains its own sting, but eager to alleviate the smart by 
 any means consistent with the immutable moral laws to which 
 all alike are subject. God, the centre of light and love ! God, 
 operating in strict accordance with those laws which are a 
 necessity of orderly existence ! God, the grand object of our 
 adoration, never of our dread ! 
 
 We know of Him as ye cannot know, as you cannot even 
 picture in imagination : yet none has seen Him : nor are we 
 content with the metaphysical sophistries with which prying 
 curiosity and over-subtle speculation have obscured the 
 primary conception of God amongst men. We pry not. The 
 first conception with you even, is grander, nobler, more sub- 
 lime. We wait for higher knowledge. You must wait too. 
 
 On the relations between God and His creatures we speak 
 at large. Yet here, too, we clear off many of the minute 
 points of human invention which have been from age to age 
 accumulated round and over the central truths. We know 
 nothing of election of a favoured few. The elect are they who 
 
THE SPIRIT-CREED. 
 
 55 
 
 work out for themselves a salvation according to the 1 laws 
 which regulate their being. 
 
 We know nothing of the potency of blind faith or credulity. 
 We know, indeed, the value of a trustful receptive spirit, free 
 from the littleness of perpetual suspicion. Such is God-like, 
 and draws down angel guidance. But we abjure, and denounce 
 that most destructive doctrine that faith, belief, assent to 
 dogmatic statements, have power to erase the traces of trans- 
 gression ; that an earth life-time of vice and sloth and sin 
 can be wiped away, and the spirit stand purified by a blind 
 acceptance of a belief, of an idea, of a fancy, of a creed. Such 
 teaching has debased more souls than anything else to which 
 we can point. 
 
 Nor do we teach that there is a special and potent efficacy 
 in any one belief to the exclusion of others. We do not be- 
 lieve that truth is the perquisite of any creed. In all there is 
 a germ of truth; in all an accretion of error. We know, as 
 you know not, the circumstances which decide to what special 
 form of faith a mortal shall give in his adherence, and we 
 value it accordingly. We know exalted intelligences who 
 stand high in spirit life, who were enabled to progress in spite 
 of the creed which they professed on earth. We value only 
 the earnest seeking after truth which may distinguish the 
 professors of creeds, the most widely dissimilar. We care not 
 for the minute discussions which men delight in. We shrink 
 from those curious pryings into mysteries transcending know- 
 ledge which characterise your theologies. The theology of 
 the spirit is simple and confined to knowledge. We value at 
 nothing mere speculation. We care not for sectarianism, save 
 that we know it to be a mischievous provoker of rancour, and 
 spite, and malice, and ill-will. 
 
 We deal with religion as it affects us and you in simpler 
 sort. Man — an immortal spirit, so we believe, — placed in 
 earth-life as a school of training, has simple duties to perform, 
 and in performing them is prepared for more advanced and 
 progressive work. He is governed by immutable laws, which, 
 if he transgresses them, work for him misery and loss ; which, 
 also, if respected, secure for him advancement and satisfaction. 
 
56 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 He is the recipient of guidance from spirits who have trod 
 the path before him, and who are commissioned to guide him 
 if he will avail himself of their guidance. He has within him 
 a standard of right which will direct him to the truth, if he 
 will allow himself to be guided to keep it and protect it from 
 injury. If he refuse these helps, he falls into transgression 
 and deterioration. He is thrown back and finds misery in 
 place of joy. His sins punish themselves. Of his duties he 
 knows by the instinct of his spirit as well as by the teaching 
 of his guardians. The performance of those duties brings 
 progress and happiness. The spirit grows and gains newer 
 and fuller views of that which makes for perfect, satisfying 
 ioy and peace. 
 
 This mortal existence is but a fragment of life. Its deeds 
 and their results remain when the body is dead. The ramifi- 
 cations of wilful sin have to be followed out, and its results 
 remedied in sorrow and shame. 
 
 The consequences of deeds of good are similarly permanent, 
 and precede the pure soul and draw around it influences which 
 welcome and aid it in the spheres. 
 
 Life, we teach you, is one and indivisible. One in its pro- 
 gressive development : and one in the effect on all alike of the 
 eternal and immutable laws by which it is regulated. None 
 are excused as favourites ; none are punished mercilessly for 
 error which they were unable to avoid. Eternal justice is the 
 correlative of eternal love. Mercy is no divine attribute. It 
 is needless ; for mercy involves remission of a penalty inflicted, 
 and no such remission can be made save where the results 
 have been purged away. Pity is Godlike. Mercy is human. 
 
 We know nought of that sensational piety which is wholly 
 v lapped up in contemplation to neglect of duty. We know 
 that God is not so glorified. We preach the religion of work, 
 of prayer, of adoration. We tell you of your duty to God, to 
 your brother, and to yourself— soul and body alike. We leave 
 to foolish men, groping blindly in the dark, their curious 
 quibbles about theological figments. We deal with practical 
 life ; and our creed may be briefly written 
 
THE SPIRIT-CREED. 
 
 57 
 
 Honour and love your Father, God. 
 (Worship) 
 
 Help your brother onward in the path 
 of progress. (Brotherly love) — 
 Tend and guard your own body. (Bodily 
 culture) ... ••• 
 
 Cultivate every means of extending 
 knowledge. (Mental progress) 
 
 Seek for fuller views of progressive 
 
 truth. (Spiritual growth) 
 
 Do ever the right and good in accord- 
 ance with your knowledge. (Integ- 
 
 Duty to God 
 Duty to neighbour. 
 
 >-Duty to self. 
 
 rit y) ••• . 
 
 Cultivate communion with the spirit- 
 land by prayer and frequent inter- 
 course. (Spiritual nurture) 
 
 Within these rules are roughly indicated most that concerns 
 you here. Yield no obedience to any sectarian dogmas. Give 
 no blind adherence to any teaching that is not commended by 
 reason. Put no unquestioning faith in communications which 
 were made at a special time, and which are of private applica- 
 tion. You will learn hereafter that the revelation of God is 
 progressive, bounded by no time, confined to no people. It 
 has never ceased. God reveals Himself as truly now as of old 
 He was revealed on Sinai. God does not shut off the progres- 
 sive revealing of Himself in measure as man can bear it. 
 
 You will learn also that all revelation is made through a 
 human channel : and consequently cannot but be tinctured in 
 some measure with human error. No revelation is of plenary 
 inspiration. None can demand credence on any other than 
 rational grounds. Therefore to say of a statement that it is 
 not in accord with what was given through a human medium 
 at any stated time, is no derogation necessarily from the truth 
 of that statement. Both may in their kind be true ; yet each 
 of different application. Set up no human standard of judg- 
 ment other than that of right reason. Weigh what is said. 
 If it be commended by reason, receive it ; if not, reject it. If 
 what is put before you be prematurely said, and you are unable 
 
68 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 to accept it ; then in tlie name of God put it aside, and cling 
 to aught that satisfies your soul, and helps its onward progress. 
 The time will come when what we lay before you of divine 
 truth will be valued amongst men. We are content to wait, 
 and our prayers shall join with yours to the supreme and all- 
 wise God that He will guide the seekers after truth, wherever 
 they may be, to higher and more progressive knowledge, to 
 richer and fuller insight into truth. May His blessing rest 
 on you l 
 
( 59 ) 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 [I objected to this statement, which did not by any 
 means commend itself to me in my then state of 
 opinion, that it was incompatible with the received 
 teaching of Orthodox churches, and that, as a 
 matter of fact, it traversed some cardinal dogmas 
 of the Christian faith. I suggested that the mes- 
 sage might have been adulterated in passage : and 
 that much was omitted that I regarded as essen- 
 tial. If it were pretended that such a code was 
 complete as a rule of life I was prepared to argue 
 against it. It was said in reply] — 
 
 That which has been told to you in its outline is so far 
 correct ; but it does not pretend to be a perfect delineation of 
 truth. It is but a faint outline, blurred and blotted in many 
 ways, but substantially truthful. Doubtless it contravenes 
 much which you have been taught to believe as necessary to 
 salvation. No doubt it seems to the unprepared spirit to be 
 new, and destructive of older forms of faith. But it is not so. 
 In its broad outlines the spirit-creed would be accepted by all 
 who have thought at all on theological subjects without 
 trammel of preconceived ideas, and without fear of the con- 
 sequences of seeking into the truth. It would be commendable 
 to all who are not hampered by old prejudices. We said that 
 we must clear away much rubbish ; that the work of destruc- 
 tion must precede the work of construction ; that the old and 
 unserviceable must first give place ; that, in short, we must 
 clear before we can build. 
 
 Yes ; but the rubbish which you seem to me to be clearing 
 away is 'precisely what Christians have agreed in all 
 ages to consider cardinal doctrines of the faith. 
 
 No, friend ; not quite so. You exaggerate there. If you 
 will read the records which so imperfectly record the earth 
 life of Jesus, you will not find that He claimed for Himself 
 
60 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 any such position as the Christian Church has since forced 
 upon Him. He was more such as we preach Him than 
 such as the Church called by his name has made Him. 
 
 I cannot thinlc so. And the Atonement : What do you 
 make of that ? 
 
 It is in some sense true. We do not deny it ; we do but 
 fight against that crude human view which renders God con- 
 temptible, and makes Him a cruel tyrant who needed to be 
 propitiated by His Son’s death. We do not detract from 
 Jesus work when we disavow the false and dishonouring 
 fables which have gathered round His name, and have ob- 
 scured the simple grandeur of His life, the moral purpose 
 of His sacrifice. We shall have somewhat to say to you here- 
 after on the growth of dogma until an assumption becomes 
 established as de fide, and its rejection or denial passes for 
 mortal sin. Were God to leave man to his own ends it would 
 be held to be a mortal heresy, deserving of eternal burnings, 
 to deny that the Supreme has delegated to a man one of His 
 own inalienable prerogatives. One great section of the 
 Christian Church would claim infallible knowledge for its 
 head, and persecute in life, and condemn in death, even to 
 everlasting shame and torment, those who receive it not. 
 This is a dogma of late growth in your very midst ; but so all 
 dogmas have grown up. So it has become difficult, nay im- 
 possible, for unaided human reason to distinguish God’s truth 
 from man’s glosses upon it. So all who have had the boldness 
 to clear away the rubbish have been held accursed. It has 
 been the story of all time. And we are not justly chargeable 
 with wrong-doing if from our superior stand-point of know- 
 ledge we point out to you human figments of error, and endea- 
 vour to sweep them away. 
 
 Yes ; that may be. But the belief in the Divinity of 
 Christ, and in His Atonement can scarcely be called 
 dogmas which are of human growth. You always pre- 
 fix to your name the sign of the Cross [+ Imperator.] 
 
 I presume, therefore, that in your lifetime on earth 
 you must have held these dogmas, -f- Rector, — an- 
 other communicating spirit, who also uses the sign 
 
THE CROSS. 
 
 61 
 
 of the Gross , must almost if not altogether have died 
 for them . Here then seems to me to be a contradiction. 
 Suppose the dogmas to be unnecessary or mistaken 
 truths— suppose them even to be false— what am I to 
 conclude ? Have you changed your opinions ? Or 
 were you a Christian while you lived on earth ? or 
 were you not t If not , why the Gross t If you were, 
 why the change of sentiment ? The whole question 
 intimately concerns your identity. I cannot see how 
 your teaching coincides with your belief when you lived 
 on earth. It is pure and beautiful , but surely it is 
 not Christian. Nor is it the teaching which one who 
 uses the sign of the Gross would reasonably be expected 
 to promulgate. So it seems to me. If I speak m 
 ignorance , enlighten my ignorance. If I seem to be too 
 curious, I must be excused, seeing that I have no means 
 of judging you but by your words and deeds. So far 
 as I am able to judge, your words and deeds are alike 
 noble and elevated, pure and rational, but not Christian . 
 I only desire such reasonable ground for forming an 
 opinion as may satisfy my present doubts and diffi- 
 culties. 
 
 It shall be given in due course. Cease now. 
 
 [The writing, though I earnestly desired and strove to 
 obtain it, did not come until June 20th. lne 
 previous message was written on the 16th.J 
 
 I salute you, good friend. We would now give you more 
 information, touching points which have perplexed and dis- 
 tressed you. You would know how far the sign of the Cross 
 may legitimately be associated with our teaching. We will 
 show you of this. 
 
 Friend, the sign which is emblematic of the life and work 
 of Jesus the Christ is one that cannot fairly be prefixed to 
 much that now passes current for His teaching. The tendency 
 of all classes of religionists has ever been to make much of 
 the letter and to neglect the spirit: to dwell at large on 
 expressions drawn from individual writers, and to neglect the 
 
62 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 general drift of teaching. Men have gone with preconceived 
 notions to search for the truth, and have found that which 
 they expected. Single words and expressions have been 
 drawn out of their context by those who have professed to 
 comment on the texts of your sacred books until they have 
 been made to bear a meaning which their writers never in- 
 tended. Others have gone to the authors solely to find words 
 to prop up a theory without even the poor pretence of seeking 
 after the truth ; and they, too, have been able to dig out 
 something which has served their purpose. And so, by slow 
 degrees, the edifice has grown, built up laboriously by men 
 who delight to dwell on peculiarities of language and expres- 
 sion, and by men who, having evolved for themselves an idea, 
 strive only that it may be confirmed. Neither class has any 
 idea beyond the text of the sacred records which lies before 
 him. 
 
 We said before, that much of what we should have to say 
 to you would turn on what you understand by Divine inspira- 
 tion. 
 
 Those who are known to you as the orthodox defenders of 
 the Christian creed tell you that a mysterious person — one of 
 the three individual persons who compose the Undivided 
 Trinity — took possession of the minds of certain men, and 
 through their organisms gave to your world a body of truth, 
 which was whole, complete, and of eternal force : a system of 
 Divine philosophy from which nothing might be removed 
 under the direst ban; to which nothing would ever be added ; 
 and which was the immediate word, the very utterance, the 
 mind and will of God, containing within it the whole body of 
 truth, actual and potential, contained in divinely worded phrases 
 and expressions. Not only are the sentiments of David and 
 Paul, Moses and John, consonant with the will of the Supreme, 
 but they are the very thoughts of Deity. Not only are the 
 words divinely approved, but they are the very diction of the 
 Supreme. In short, the Bible is the very Word of God, both 
 in matter and form : every word of it Divine, and fit to be 
 studied and expounded as such, even in that version of it 
 which is translated into your language by men who, to com- 
 
INSPIRATION. 
 
 G3 
 
 plete the marvel, are again supposed to be in their turn the 
 recipients of Divine truth and guidance in their work 0 f 
 translation. 
 
 Hence, you will see, that doctrines the most tremendous, 
 and conclusions the most far-reaching may be founded upon 
 mere words and expressions, for is not every word and turn 
 of phrase the revelation of God divinely preserved from 
 admixture of human error ? These are they who have 
 grounded a number of dogmas on phrases picked out at their 
 pleasure, neglecting and passing over all that pleases them 
 not. To such the Bible is the direct utterance of the Supreme. 
 
 Those who have abandoned this view have entered upon a 
 process of destructive handling of the Bible, the only termina- 
 tion of which is the view which we shall put for your acceptance. 
 They revere the sacred records which compose your Bible as 
 being the records of God’s truth revealed to man from age to 
 age, even as it is still being revealed. They study the records 
 as showing man’s progressive grasp of knowledge of God and 
 of the destiny of the spirit. They watch the gradual unfold- 
 ing of this revelation from times of ignorance and brutal 
 barbarism when He was known as the friend of Abraham, 
 who ate and conversed at the tent door, or the Judge who 
 governed His people, or the King who fought at the head of 
 the armies of Israel, or the Tyrant revealed through the medium 
 of some seers, down to the time when He became known in 
 His truer character of tenderness, and love, and fatherly kind- 
 ness and compassion. In all this they see growth, and they 
 will believe, if they pursue their investigations to the end, 
 that such growth has never ceased ; that such progressive 
 revelation has never been closed ; and that man’s knowledge 
 of his God is far from complete, though his capacity for receiv- 
 ing that knowledge is ever enlarging his means of satisfying 
 the craving that is within him. And so the seeker after truth 
 will be prepared to receive our teaching on this head at least. 
 To such we address ourselves. To those who fondly fancy 
 that they possess a perfect knowledge we say nothing. Before 
 we can deal with them they must learn to know their ignor- 
 ance of all that concerns God and Revelation. Anything that 
 
64 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 we could say would glide off the impenetrable defence of 
 ignorance, self-conceit, and dogmatism in which they are en- 
 cased. They must be left to unlearn hereafter in pain and 
 sorrow that which has so retarded their spiritual growth, and 
 will be so dire a barrier to future progress. If you have 
 rightly understood what we have previously put before you, 
 we may now proceed to add further some words on the nature 
 of revelation, and the character of inspiration. 
 
 We say then, to you, that the sacred books which make up 
 your Bible, together with many others which are not included 
 in it, are the records of that gradual growth in knowledge of 
 Himself which the great and good God has given to man. 
 The principle which pervades all these utterances is one and 
 the same : identical with that which governs our intercourse 
 with you. So much of truth is given as man can grasp ; no 
 more under any circumstances, but just so much as he can 
 grasp, so much as suffices for his present craving. That truth 
 is revealed through the instrumentality of a man, and is always 
 more or less mixed with the thoughts and opinions of the 
 medium. Nay, the communicating spirits are perforce obliged 
 to use the material which is found in the medium’s mind, 
 moulding and fashioning it for their purpose : erasing fallacies, 
 inspiring new views of truth, but working on the material 
 which is already gathered. The purity of the spirit message 
 depends much on the passivity of the medium, and on the con- 
 ditions under which the message is communicated. Hence, in 
 your Bible there are traces here and there of the individu- 
 ality of the medium; of errors caused by imperfect control; of 
 the colour of his opinions ; as well as of special peculiarities 
 addressed to the special needs of the people to whom the 
 message was first given, and for whose case it was primarily 
 adapted. 
 
 You may see for yourself numerous cases of this. If 
 Isaiah spoke to the people the words of the message with 
 which he was charged, he impressed upon that message the 
 individuality of his own mind, and adapted it to the peculiar 
 needs of the people to whom he spoke. He told, indeed, of 
 the one Supreme God. but he told of Him in strains of poesy 
 
METHODS OF INSPIRATION. 
 
 6 £ 
 
 and ecstatic imagery far different from the metaphorical and 
 characteristic imagery of Ezekiel. Daniel had his visions of 
 glory. Jeremiah, his burdens of the Lord who spoke 
 through him. Hosea, his mystic symbolism : each in his indi- 
 vidual fashion told of the same Jehovah, as he knew Him, but 
 each told his message in his own style, as it had been revealed 
 to him. Similarly, in later days, the characteristic nature of 
 individual communications was preserved. If Paul and Peter 
 found occasion to speak of the same truth, they almost neces- 
 sarily viewed it from different sides. The truth was not less 
 true because two men of varying minds viewed it from differ- 
 ent points, and dealt with it in his own way. The individu- 
 ality of the medium is palpable in the manner if not in the 
 matter of the communication. The inspiration is Divine, but 
 the medium is human. 
 
 Hence it is that man may find in the Bible the reflex of his 
 own mind, whatever the tone of that mind may be. The know- 
 edge of God is so small : that which man has grasped of His na- 
 ture is so little, that each person who lives on past revelations, 
 and cannot or will not extend them, must find in the Bible the 
 reflex of his mind. He goes to find his own ideal, and lo ! 
 it is mirrored for him in the utterances of those who spoke 
 for persons on his mental plane. If no one seer can satisfy his 
 ideal, he selects from many the points which please him, 
 rejects the remainder, and manufactures his own revelation 
 piecemeal. So it is with all sects. Each frames its own ideal, 
 and proves it by revelations taken from the Bible. None can 
 accept the whole, because the whole is not homogeneous. But 
 each picks out its suitable pieces, and from them frames its 
 revelation. When they are brought face to face with others 
 who have picked out other passages, then comes the twisting 
 and distorting of words, the explanation (so they call it) and 
 the commenting on texts : the darkening of plain meaning : the 
 interpreting of sayings in a sense never meant either by the 
 communicating spirit, or by the prophet or teacher. By this 
 means inspiration becomes a vehicle for sectarian opinion; 
 the Bible, an armoury from which each disputant may draw 
 his favourite weapon ; and theology, a matter of private notion, 
 backed up by false and misleading interpretation. 
 
 6 
 
66 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 With a theology so framed, we are accused of being at vari- 
 ance. It is true. We have no commerce with it. It is of 
 the earth, earthy ; base and low in its conception of God ; 
 degrading in its influence on the soul ; insulting to the Deity 
 whom it professes to reveal. We have no part in it. We do 
 indeed contradict and disown it. It is our mission to reverse 
 its teaching, to substitute for it truer and nobler views of God 
 and of the Spirit. 
 
 Another reason why much that is false with respect to God 
 is current among you, as derived from the Bible, is, that the 
 assumption of infallible inspiration leads men not only to lay 
 too much stress on words and phrases, but also to fall into the 
 error of interpreting too literally that which was intended 
 to be of spiritual and typical interpretation. In communicat- 
 ; ng to your mental plane ideas which are to you inconceivable, 
 we are obliged to use expressions which are borrowed from 
 your ways of thought. We ourselves are very frequently at 
 fault in misusing such expressions ; or they are themselves 
 inadequate to convey our meaning. Almost all spirit utter- 
 ances are typical. Especially when spirits have endeavoured 
 to convey to men ideas of the great God of whom they them- 
 selves know so little, the language used is necessarily very 
 imperfect, inadequate, and frequently ill chosen. But it is 
 always typical, and must be so understood. To press to the 
 end of literal accuracy any spirit-teaching about God is mere 
 folly. 
 
 Moreover, the revelations of God have been made in lan- 
 guage suited to the capacities of those to whom they were 
 originally given, and are to be so interpreted. But they who 
 have framed for themselves the idea of an infallible revela- 
 tion applicable through all time, interpret every word literally, 
 and so deduce erroneous conclusions. The hyperbole which 
 was intelligible in the mouth of the impulsive seer who uttered 
 it to an imaginative and enthusiastic Eastern hearer, becomes 
 overstrained, untrue, and misguiding when coldly interpreted 
 in the light of comment and verbal exactness to those whose 
 habits of thought and language are widely different or even 
 totally dissimilar 
 
REVELATION. 
 
 67 
 
 It is to .this cause that we must attribute many views of the 
 Supreme which are alike false and dishonouring to Him. The 
 original language was inadequate enough ; it has become col- 
 oured more or less by the medium through whom it has passed, 
 and is then less adequate than before. But interpreted as we 
 have pointed out, it becomes positively false; and is m no sense 
 the revelation of God. Rather it is man’s notion about a Deity 
 whom he has framed for himself— framed as really as the image 
 which the savage forms for his fetish. 
 
 With such views, again, we have no accord. Them, too, we 
 denounce, and our mission is to substitute for them a truer 
 and nobler knowledge. Moreover, in dealing with you, spirits 
 always proceed in one uniform manner. They are sent to 
 communicate through a human medium some portion of Divine 
 truth. In the medium’s mind they find a growth of opinions, 
 some false, some partly true, some distorted and befogged by 
 early prejudice and training. Are these to be eradicated 
 before the truer ideas are suggested ? Is the mind to be com- 
 pletely cleared of all preconceived ideas ? By no means. It 
 is not so we act. Were we to do so the work of eradication 
 would be so tedious that we should risk leaving the mind bare 
 of teaching altogether, and should have destroyed without 
 being able to create. No ; we take the opinions already exis- 
 tent, and mould them into closer semblance of truth. All have 
 in some sort the germ of truth, or we destroy them. With 
 such as contain truth, we strive to grapple, and to mould and 
 form them to progress and advancement in knowledge. We 
 know of how little worth are the theological notions to which 
 men attach so much importance ; and we are content to leave 
 them to die in the brighter light to which we lead the soul, 
 while we supply the needed information on important topics. 
 Only we must eradicate dogmatism. That is all-important. 
 Opinion, when harmless, we do not meddle with. 
 
 Hence it is that theological notions may remain very much 
 what they were, only toned down and softened in their 
 asperities. So men falsely say that spirits always teach that 
 which a man has previously believed. It is far from being so. 
 What we now teach you is sufficient proof of that. The spirit- 
 
68 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 guides do indeed work on that which they find already in the 
 mind : but they mould and temper it, and imperceptibly 
 change and adapt it to their ends. It is only when the views 
 held are such as they cannot work upon, or of a positive and 
 dogmatic type, that the change wrought becomes plain to 
 your eyes. You find a man who has denied the existence of 
 God and of spirit, who has believed only what he can see and 
 feel and handle ; such a materialist you see converted to a 
 belief in God and a future existence, and you wonder at the 
 change. But the spirit that has been tempered, and chastened 
 and softened : that has been purified, and refined, and elevated: 
 whose rude and rough beliefs have been toned and softened, of 
 this change you make no note, because it is too gradual and 
 subtle to be perceptible to your senses. Yet such are the 
 glorious results of our daily work. The crude is softened ; the 
 hard, and cold, and cheerless are warmed into loving life ; the 
 pure is refined ; the noble ennobled ; the good made better • 
 the yearning soul satisfied with richer views of its God and of 
 its future happiness. 
 
 The opinions have not been suppressed, but they have been 
 modified and changed. This is the real existent spirit influence 
 all around of which ye know nothing as yet : the most real 
 and blessed part of spirit ministry. 
 
 When, therefore, men say that spirits speak only the 
 medium’s preconceived opinions, they are partly right. The 
 opinions, in so far as they are harmless, are the previous ones, 
 only moulded in a way not perceptible to your gaze as yet. 
 When the opinions are hurtful, they are eradicated and 
 destroyed. 
 
 When we deal with special forms of theological creed, we 
 strive, in so far as we can, to spiritualise previous opinion 
 rather than to eradicate it. We know — as you cannot know 
 — of how trifling moment are forms of faith, provided the 
 faith be alive and spiritual : and we strive, therefore, to build 
 on the foundation already laid. To this end, however, whilst 
 the broad outlines, which are in themselves partially truthful, 
 or which embody as much of truth as the intelligence can 
 grasp, are preserved, much that is false and delusive must be 
 
DEVELOPMENT. 
 
 69 
 
 cleared away. So the work of destruction precedes the work 
 of construction. The soul is purged of gross error, and the 
 truth is refined and purified as far as may be. Hence it is 
 that we do usually teach a modification of the views of truth 
 held by those to whom we speak. 
 
 And now, friend, you will see the bearing of this on your 
 difficulty. We have endeavoured, not to uproot from your 
 mind the views which you have entertained of theology, but 
 to modify them. If you will recall the past, you will see how 
 your creed has been gradually widened from a very narrow 
 basis to a comprehensive and rational one. You have, under 
 our guidance, been made acquainted with the theological tenets 
 of many churches and sects. You have been led to see, in 
 each, the germ of truth, more or less developed, but clouded 
 with human error. You have studied, for yourself, the 
 writings of the teachers of religion among the Christian 
 world, and your own creed has been toned down and softened 
 in its asperities by the divergent views of truth so let in upon 
 it. The process has been long and gradual from the days 
 when you were influenced to the study of ancient philosophies 
 to later days, when systems of theology filtered through it, and 
 left behind them that which you were able to assimilate. 
 
 The fixed and changeless creed of the Eastern branch of the 
 Christian Church, with its crystallised dogmas no longer 
 living and breathing truths ; the destructive criticism of Ger- 
 man scholars who have dealt a much-needed blow to blind 
 belief in the verbal exactitude of human utterances; the 
 speculations of advanced thought in your own country and 
 Church ; the ideas of those external to it, and even to the 
 creed of Christendom— of all these have you learned, and 
 have retained from the several systems that which was ser- 
 viceable to you. It has been a long and very gradual work, 
 and now we wish to carry you further, and to show you the 
 ideal truth, spiritual, impalpable, but most real, which under- 
 lies all with which you are familiar. We would strip off the 
 earthly body, and show you the real, vital truth in its spirit- 
 ual significance. 
 
 We would have you know that the spiritual ideal of Jesus 
 
70 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 the Christ is no more like the human notion, with its access 
 sories of atonement and redemption, as men have ' grasped- 
 them, than was the calf ignorantly carved by the ancient 
 Hebrews like the God who strove to reveal Himself to them. 
 We wish to show you, as you can grasp it, the spiritual truths 
 which underlie the life of Him who is known to you as the 
 Saviour, the Redeemer, the Son of God. We would tell you 
 of the true significance of the life of the Christ, and show you, 
 as we can, how low and mean are the views of Him which we 
 are striving to do away with. 
 
 You ask how the sign of the Cross can be prefixed to such 
 teaching. Friend, the spiritual truth of which that sign is 
 typical is the very cardinal truth which it is our special 
 mission to declare. The self - denying love which would 
 benefit humanity even at the sacrifice of life and home and 
 earthly happiness — the pure spirit of the Christ, this is what 
 we would declare to you as the godlike spirit. This is the 
 true salvation from meanness and self-aggrandisement, and 
 self-pleasing and luxurious sloth, which can redeem humanity, 
 and make of men the children of God. This self-abnegation 
 and incarnate love is that which can atone for sin, and make 
 man like to God. This is the true atonement ! Not, indeed, 
 a reconciliation of sin-stained humanity to an angry and holy 
 God, purchased by the sacrifice of His sinless son, but a higher 
 and truer atonement in the ennobling of the nature, the 
 purifying of the spirit; the making of the human and the 
 divine, ONE in aim and purpose : — the drawing of mans spirit, 
 even whilst incarned, up nearer and nearer to the Divine. 
 
 This was the mission of the Christ. In this He was a mani- 
 festation of God : the son of God : the Saviour of man : the 
 Reconciler : the Atoner : and herein we perpetuate His work, 
 we carry on His mission, we work under His symbol, we fight 
 against the enemies of His faith, against all who ignorantly 
 or wilfully dishonour Him, even though it be under the 
 banner of orthodoxy and under the protection of His Name. 5 
 
 Much that we teach must still be new and strange even to 
 those who have progressed in knowledge ; but the days shall 
 come when men shall recognise the oneness of Christ’s teach- 
 
SPIRIT 
 
 CREED AND THE CROSS. 
 
 71 
 
 in* on earth with ours; and the human garb, gross and 
 material, in which it has been shrouded, shall be rent asunder, 
 and men shall see the true grandeur of the life and [ 
 of Him whom they ignorantly worship. In those days they 
 shall worship with no less reality, but with a more pe 
 knowledge; and they shall know that the sign under whic 
 we speak is the symbol of purity and self-sacnficmg love to 
 thenf and to their brethren for all time. This end it is our 
 earnest endeavour to attain. Judge of our mission by this 
 standard, and it is of God, godlike: noble as He is noble: pure 
 as He is pure : truthgiving as He is true : elevating, and 
 savin* and purifying the spirit from the grossness of earthly 
 conceptions and raising it to the very atmosphere and neigh- 
 bourhood of the spiritual and the divine. 
 
 Ponder our words : and seek for guidance, if not through 
 us, then through Him who sent us, even as, m earlier days, 
 He sent that exalted spirit of purity, charity and self-sacrifice, 
 whom men called Jesus, and who was the Christ. 
 
 TTim we adore even now. His Name we reverence. 
 
 His words we echo. His teaching lives again in ours. 
 
 He and we are of God : and in His Name we come. 
 
 + Imperator. 
 
( 72 ) 
 
 SECTION X. 
 
 [I was not content, and took time to consider what had 
 been written. It was very contrary to any opinions 
 1 then held, but I was conscious of an extremely 
 powerful and elevating influence during the time 
 the writing was going on. I wished to get rid of 
 the influence before I replied. 
 
 On the following day I had an opportunity of resuming 
 my argument. I objected to what had been said* 5 , 
 that such a creed would not be acknowledged as 
 Christian by any member of a Christian Church 
 that it was contradictory to the plain words of the 
 -Bible ; and that such views appeared even to be the 
 subject of special denunciation as those of Anti- 
 Christ. Moreover, I suggested that such vaguely 
 beautiful views, as I admitted them to be, had a 
 tendency to take the backbone out of faith. It 
 was replied] — 
 
 Friend, you have opened points on which we shall be glad 
 to speak with you. As to our authority, we have touched on 
 that point before. We claim it to be divine, and we await 
 with confidence the acceptance of our mission when the times 
 are ripe for our teaching. That time must come after much 
 steady preparation, and we are quite prepared to find that 
 none can yet accept in full the teaching which we promulgate, 
 save the little band to whom it is given to precede in pro- 
 gressive knowledge the rest of their fellows. We say that 
 this does not strike us with surprise. For, think ! has it ever 
 been that a fuller revelation has found acceptance among men 
 at once ? . The ignorant cry has always been raised against 
 progress in knowledge that the old is sufficient : that it has 
 been proven and tried, whilst of the new, men say that they 
 know nothing save that it is new and contradictory of the old. 
 It was the self-same cry that assailed Jesus. Men who had 
 laboriously elaborated the Mosaic theology, which had served 
 its time, and was to give place to a higher and more Spiritual 
 
THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 73 
 
 religion : men who had drawn out the minutiae of this system 
 until they had reduced it to an aimless mass of ritual, a body 
 without a spirit, aye, a corpse without life: these cried out 
 that this blasphemer (so they impiously called the Saviour of 
 man’s religion) would destroy the law and dishonour God. 
 The Scribes and Pharisees, the guardians of orthodox religion, 
 were unanimous in their disbelief of Him and of His preten- 
 sions. It was they who raised the howl which finally led the 
 Great Teacher to the Cross. You know now that He did not 
 dishonour God: and that He did but demolish man’s glosses 
 on God’s revealed law in order that He might refine and 
 spiritualise its commands, and raise it from the dead by infus- 
 ing into it spiritual life and power, by breathing into it vitality 
 and giving it renewed vigour. 
 
 In place of the cold and cheerless letter of the law which 
 prescribed outward duty to a parent,— a duty discharged 
 without heart of love, with scanty dole grudgingly offered, 
 he taught the spirit of filial affection springing from a loving 
 heart, °and offering the unbought and ungrudged tribute of 
 affection to earthly parents and to the Great Father. The 
 formalism of mere external conventionality he replaced by the 
 free-will offering of the heart. Which was the truer, the 
 nobler creed? Did the latter override the former, or did it 
 not stand to it rather as the living man to the breathless 
 corpse ? Yet they who were content to buy off from filial 
 duty at the poor cost of a few paltry coins scornfully given 
 were they who finally crucified the Christ, as a man who 
 taught a new religion blasphemously subversive of the old. 
 The scene on Calvary was the fitting culmination to such a 
 religion. 
 
 Again, when the followers of the crucified stood forth to 
 declare their gospel to a world that cared not for it, and which 
 was not prepared to receive it, the charge against them 
 perpetually was that they taught new doctrine which was 
 subversive of the old faith. Men taxed their ingenuity to 
 discover horrible accusations which they might charge upon 
 them. They found nothing too monstrous to be believed by 
 those -.who were eager to credit any accusation of the new 
 
74 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 faith which “everywhere was spoken against.” They were 
 lawless ; yet so rigidly respectful to the established faith, and 
 to the “ powers that be,” that no cause of blame could be dis- 
 covered. They were devourers of infants : they who were the 
 followers of the loving and gentle Jesus. Nothing was too 
 monstrous to be believed about them ; even as men now wish 
 to believe everything that can discredit us and our mission. 
 
 Has it not been so ever since ? It is the story of all time 
 that the new is spoken against and discredited in religion, in 
 science, in all with which mans finite mind deals. It is an 
 essential quality of his intelligence that such should be the 
 case. The familiar commends itself : the new and strange is 
 viewed with suspicion and mistrust. 
 
 Hence it is not any legitimate cause for surprise that when 
 we teach a spiritualised Christianity we should at first be met 
 with incredulity. The time will come when all men will 
 admit, as you do, the beauty of the creed and recognise its 
 divine origin. 
 
 O 
 
 It is not wonderful that our message should seem to con- 
 tradict some human utterances. Nay, that it should really 
 controvert some details of the teaching given through human 
 minds more or less undeveloped in days long past is to be 
 expected. We have no desire to hide the plain fact that there 
 is much in some parts of the Bible which does not amalgamate 
 with our teaching, being, indeed, the admixture of human 
 error which came through the mind of the chosen medium. 
 We need not repeat on this head our previous argument which 
 is familiar to you. 
 
 Revelation, as contained in your Bible, includqp many pro- 
 gressive developments of the knowledge of God which are in 
 themselves irreconcileable in minute detail. And moreover, 
 it contains much admixture of human error which has filtered 
 in through the medium. You can only arrive at the truth by 
 judging of the general drift. Private opinions selected without 
 reference to the body of teaching are but the * sentiments of 
 the individual, valuable as showing his mind, but not in any 
 way binding as of faith. To imagine that an opinion uttered 
 many centuries ago is of binding force eternally is mere folly. 
 
PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 
 
 75 
 
 Indeed all such opinions are contradictory in themselves, and 
 are contradicted by other and opposite opinions contained 
 within the same volume. No doubt it was a current be le , 
 
 , at the time when many of the writers of books in the Bible 
 composed the treatises which you call inspired, that Jesus was 
 God and harsh denunciations are made against any who 
 should deny the dogma. No doubt also that the same men 
 believed also that he would, in mysterious manner, return in 
 the clouds to judge the world, and that before their generation 
 should die. They were mistaken in both beliefs, and over one 
 at least more than 1800 years have rolled and still the return 
 is unaccomplished. So we might push the argument were it 
 
 necessary. , . 
 
 What we wish to impress on you is this You must judge 
 
 the Revelations of God by the light which is given you : in 
 the mass, not by the dicta of its preachers : by the spirit and 
 general tendency, not by the strict literal phraseology. You 
 must judge of us and our teaching, not by conformity to any 
 statement made by any men at any special time; but by the 
 the general fitness and adaptability of our creed to your wants, 
 to your relations with God, and to the progress of your spirit. 
 
 What, then, is the outcome of our teaching ? How far does 
 it square with right reason ? How does it teach you of Go . 
 
 How does it help your spirit ? 
 
 You have been taught in the creeds of the orthodox churches 
 to believe in a God who was propitiated by the sacrifice of his 
 Son so far as to allow a favoured few of His children to be 
 admitted to an imagined heaven, where for ever and for ever 
 more with monotonous persistence, their occupation should be 
 the sin™* His praise. The rest of the race, unable to gam 
 admission to this heaven, were consigned to a hell of indescrib- 
 able torment, perpetual, endless, and intolerable 
 
 These miserable ones failed of bliss, some of them because 
 they had not faith; and others, because they had evil sur- 
 roundings by which they were' degraded. And- others fell, 
 being assailed with fierce temptations, by which they were 
 led away and seduced to sin. And others were incarned 
 ' debasing and sensual bodies, and were overcome of 
 
 in 
 
76 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 ungoverned passions. And others could not understand 
 what was wanted from them, though they tried, and 
 would fain have done what they could. And others had in- 
 tellectual mabilility to accept certain dogmatic propositions 
 which they had been taught to believe essential to their sal- 
 vation. And others had not, when bodily existence ceased, 
 assented to certain statements which were able to secure 
 them the entry into the heaven we have described. And so 
 they perished everlastingly; and on their endless torments, 
 from a height serene and secure, the blessed who have gained 
 their bliss through a faith in certain dogmatic assertions, 
 though many of them had been men of grievous and degraded 
 lives, look with the satisfaction of undisturbed and changeless 
 repose. 
 
 A life of gross sensuality, or of sloth, or of offence against 
 all law, you are taught is remediable by an act of faith. The 
 grossest and most sensual ruffian may, by a cry on his death- 
 bed, find himself instantaneously fitted for admission into the 
 immediate presence of the God whom he has all his life blas- 
 phemed. He, the impure, base, degraded, earthy spirit ad- 
 mitted to association with the refined, the noble, the pure the 
 holy m the immediate presence of the stainless perfection of 
 the all-pure God ! 
 
 ■m AnCl i7 et the half 1S n0t toId ’ k ut enou S h by way of contrast. 
 We tell you nothing of such a God— a God of whom reason 
 cannot think without a shudder, and from whom the fatherly 
 instinct must shrink in disgust. Of this God of love, who 
 shows his love in such a fashion, we know nothing. He is of 
 man’s fashioning, unknown to us. We pause not to expose 
 the miserable pretence that such a human idol can ever have 
 been aught but the figment of a barbarous mind. We do but ask 
 you to wonder with us at the presumptuous ignorance and 
 tolly which has dared to paint such a caricature of the pure 
 and holy God. Surely, friend, man must have been in a de- 
 graded spiritual condition ere he could have pictured such a 
 Heity. Surely, too, they who in this age have not shrunk 
 from such, a creation, must have sore need of a Gospel such as 
 that we preach. 
 
HEAVEN AND HELL. 
 
 77 
 
 The God whom we know and whom we declare to you is in 
 very truth a God of Love— a God whose acts do not belie 
 His name, but whose love is boundless, and His pity unceas- 
 ing to all. He knows no partiality for any, but deals out 
 unwavering justice to all. Between him and you are ranks of 
 minsteringspirits, the bearers of His loving message, the reveal- 
 ers from time to time of His will to man. By His spirit mes- 
 sengers the train of ministering mercy is never suffered to fail. 
 This is our God, manifested by His works, and operating 
 through the agency of His ministering angels. 
 
 And you yourselves, what of you ? Are ye immortal souls 
 who, by a cry, a word, by an act of faith in an unintelligible 
 and monstrous creed can purchase a heaven of inactivity, and 
 avoid a hell of material torment ? Verily, nay. Ye are spirits 
 placed for a while in a garb of flesh to get training for an 
 advanced spirit-life, where the seeds sown in the past bear 
 their fruit, and the spirit reaps the crop which it has prepared. 
 No fabled dreamy heaven of eternal inactivity awaits you, but 
 a sphere of progressive usefulness and growth to higher per- 
 fection. 
 
 Immutable laws govern the results of deeds. Deeds of good 
 advance the spirit, whilst deeds of evil degrade and retard it. 
 Happiness is found in progress, and in gradual assimilation to 
 the Godlike and the perfect. The spirit of divine love ani- 
 mates the acts, and in mutual blessing the spirits find their 
 happiness. For them there is no craving for sluggish idleness; 
 no cessation of desire for progressive advancement in know- 
 ledge. Human passions, and human needs and wishes are 
 gone with the body, and the spirit lives a spirit life of purity, 
 progress, and love. Such is its heaven. 
 
 We know of no hell save that within the soul: a hell which 
 is fed by the flame of unpurified and untamed lust and 
 passion, which is kept alive by remorse and agony of sorrow: 
 which is fraught with the pangs that spring unbidden from 
 the results of past misdeeds; and from which the only escape 
 lies in retracing the steps, and in cultivating the qualities 
 which shall bear fruit in love and knowledge of God. 
 
 Of punishment we know indeed, but it is not the vindictive 
 
78 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 l$sh of an angry God, but the natural outcome of conscious 
 sin, remediable by repentance and atonement and reparation 
 personally wrought out in pain and shame, not by coward 
 cries for mercy, and by feigned assent to statements which 
 ought to create a shudder. 
 
 Happiness we know is in store for all who will strive for it 
 by a consistent course of life and conduct commendable to 
 reason and spiritual in practice. Happiness is the outcome of 
 right reason, as surely as misery is the result of conscious 
 violation of reasonable laws, whether corporeal or spiritual. 
 
 Of the distant ages of the hereafter we say nothing, for we 
 know nothing. But of the present we say that life is governed, 
 with you and with us equally, by laws which you may discover, 
 and which, if you obey them, will lead to happiness and con- 
 tent, as surely as they will reduce you to misery and remorse 
 if you wilfully violate them. 
 
 We need not specify at length now the creed we teach as it 
 affects man in his relation to God, to his fellows, and to him- 
 self. You know its main features. One day you shall know 
 it more fully. Sufficient has now been said to point the con- 
 trast, and to reply to our question : Whether such a view as 
 this be not pure, divine, ennobling, the natural complement of 
 that which Jesus himself preached ? 
 
 Is it less definite, more vague than the orthodox ? It may 
 be less minute in details which are repulsive, but it breathes 
 a nobler and purer atmosphere ; it teaches a higher, holier 
 religion ; it preaches a diviner God. It is not vaguer, not less 
 definite. But even were it so, it deals with subjects into 
 which the reverent mind will not curiously pry. It throws a 
 veil over the unknown, and refuses to substitute speculation 
 for knowledge, or to apply the cruder human notions to the 
 very nature and attributes of the Supreme. 
 
 If it be vagueness to vail the curious eye before the foot- 
 stool of the divine and incomprehensible, then are we vague 
 in our knowledge, and indistinct in our teaching. But if it 
 be the part of the wise to dwell only on the known and 
 the comprehensible ; to act rather than to speculate ; to do 
 rather than to believe, then is our belief dictated by wisdom, 
 comformable to right reason, and inspired by God himself. 
 
A SUBLIMER CREED. 
 
 79 
 
 It will bear the test of rational sifting and experiment. It 
 will endure, and inspire the myriad souls in distant ages when 
 those who cavil at its teachings and insult its authors shall be 
 working out in sorrow and remorse the consequences of their 
 folly and sin. It will have conducted countless myriads of 
 pure spirits, who have progressed in its faith, to happiness 
 and advancement, when that which it is destined to spiritualise 
 shall have shared the fate of the mouldering body from which 
 the spirit is withdrawn. It will live and bless its votaries in 
 spite of the foolish ignorance which would charge its divine 
 precepts on a devil, and anathematise its votaries as the 
 children of darkness. 
 
 + Imperator. 
 
 That seems to me rational and beautiful. Audi think you 
 meet the charge of vagueness. But I fancy most people 
 would say that you do practically upset popular Chris- 
 tianity. I should like to have from you some ideas on 
 the general outcome of Spiritualism, more especially as 
 it affects the undeveloped, whether incarnated or not. 
 
 We will speak to you of this in due course. But not yet. 
 Ponder what has been said before you seek for further mes- 
 sages. May the Supreme enable us to guide you aright ! 
 
 -k Imperator. 
 
SECTION XI. 
 
 [By this time the influence upon me had become so 
 powerful as to shut out all other communications. 
 
 On June 24, 1 attempted strongly to establish com- 
 munication with the spirit who had usually written, 
 but in vain. The influence was of a singularly 
 elevating character, and dominated my mind. 
 Though I did my daily work with punctuality, I 
 devoted every minute that I could spare from it to 
 pondering on this strange influence, and on the 
 teaching which was so new to me. As I pondered, 
 it seemed to grow into my mind, and to present 
 itself with a force and orderly beauty that I had 
 not recognised before. Though I had studied 
 theologies long and deeply, I had not by any 
 means studied the various systems with a view to 
 pick holes in them. I had collated rather than 
 criticised them. But now I was confronted with 
 a totally new view, and one which seemed to me 
 to strike at the root of much that I had previously 
 accepted as de fide . On the 26th I recurred to 
 what had been said by Imperator, and put my 
 case thus] : — 
 
 I have thought very much of what has been said by you 
 and I have read some of it to a friend in whose 
 judgment I rely. It is startling to find doctrines of 
 Christianity , which we have been taught to consider as 
 essential dogmas of the faith, denied under the symbol 
 of the Cross. I cannot more strongly put my difficulty 
 than by saying that though your statements command 
 my assent intellectually , still the faith of Christendom 
 ^vhich has lasted now 1800 years, and more, cannot 
 lightly be upset by statements, however reasonable they 
 may seem to me, which are not authenticated by any 
 authority that I can test. Will you state clearly for 
 me what position you assign to Jesus Christ f what 
 authority you can shoiv which gives you any power to 
 
THE PROPER ATTITUDE OF MIND. 
 
 81 
 
 reverse or develop teaching which bears his name , and 
 to substitute a new gospel for the old one ? Gan you 
 give me satisfactory evidence of your own identity 
 and of the reality of the mission which you claim l 
 Evidence that would be accepted by plain reasonable 
 men. I cannot undertake to accept what seems to me 
 so revolutionary a change as of Divine origin and 
 binding force , on the unsupported word of any angel 
 or man } whoever he may be. Nor ought I to be asked 
 to do so. Though the change is very gradual , I think 
 I discover a perceptible difference in your communica- 
 tions. And there seems to be a divergence in teaching 
 between some spirits who have communicated through 
 you : while the bond which can unite a number of 
 opinions which profess to come from such discordant 
 sources must be slight. 
 
 Friend, it is to us a source of pleasure that we have so far 
 stirred your mind as to draw from you so earnest and rational 
 a series of questions as these. Believe us, so far at least as 
 this, that no frame of mind is more pleasing to the Supreme 
 than that which seeks earnestly and intelligently for truth ; 
 refusing mere dogmatic statements from whatever source they 
 come ; weighing all in the balance of right reason, and pre- 
 pared honestly to accept the result. Far from wishing to 
 quarrel with such a temper, we hail it as the evidence of a 
 receptive and honest mind, which will not resign a former 
 belief without substantial reason, but which, yet, is willing to 
 learn new views of truth so they be authenticated by reason- 
 able internal and external evidence. Such doubts and difficul- 
 ties are worth far more to us than the credulous frame of mind 
 which gulps down indiscriminately all that comes under 
 specious colour ; far, far more than that stagnant temper which 
 no storm can stir, whose glassy surface no breeze can ruffle, 
 and on whose impassive, uninterested content no word <?£ spirit 
 warning can make any impression. 
 
 We hail your doubts as the best evidence of our successful 
 dealing with you ; we welcome your arguments as the intelli- 
 7 
 
82 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 gent proof that you have seen the full proportions of the claims 
 we make as the messengers of the Most High. Your difficul- 
 ties shall be answered so far as we have power to answer 
 them. There is a point beyond which it is impossible for us 
 to present evidence. Of that you are aware. We labour 
 under one great disadvantage, as compared with human wit- 
 nesses ; we are not of your earth, and cannot produce for you 
 the kind of evidence which would weigh in your courts of 
 justice. We can but state for your acceptance the evidence on 
 which we ground our claims to your hearing and acceptance, 
 leaving to your own mind in fairness to decide upon the points 
 which we cannot clear up by evidence. 
 
 For our own statements must to a very great extent be un- 
 supported, save by statements of those who work with us. 
 Many of us have told you of our earth identity, and have 
 given to you proof that ought to be conclusive that we are 
 fully acquainted with the earth lives of those whose names 
 we bear, even in the minutest particulars. If that is not con- 
 vincing to you: if you reply that such information might 
 have been gained by false and deceiving spirits, who might have 
 gathered the facts for the very purpose of deluding, we point 
 to the tenor of our intercourse with you, and remind you of 
 the standards of judgment set up by Jesus Himself, “By their 
 fruits shall ye know them.” “ Men do not gather grapes of 
 thorns, or figs of thistles.” We fearlessly refer you to the 
 whole tenor of our teaching for proof that it is Divine. 
 
 It would not consist with the dignity of our mission were 
 we to dwell longer on this point. We are not surprised that 
 you should have referred to it ; but if our reply be not con- 
 vincing to you, we have nothing further which we can add to 
 it, and must await in patient prayer the time when the evi- 
 dence will come home to you. We would not have you to 
 accept our words before. We will patiently abide the issue. 
 
 With respect to the union of spirits who were in their earth- 
 life divergent in their views of God and the hereafter ; who 
 dwelt in different climes, at different ages of the worlds history, 
 we could say much, and will at another season. 
 
 For the present we point to a misconception which is in- 
 
WHAT IS RELIGION ? 
 
 83 
 
 separable from the state in which you live. You cannot see, 
 as we see, the^hnost utter worthlessness of what you call 
 opinion. Ycnfcannot know while yet the eye is veiled, how 
 the veil is rent by the dissolution of the spirit from the earth- 
 body ; how the speculations that have seemed so all-important 
 are seen hut id le, basel ess fancies; w hile the germ of 
 
 truth that has underlaid the theological creed is found to be 
 very similar in essence, albeit of divers degrees of development. 
 
 Ah, friend ! religion is not so abstruse a problem as man has 
 made it. It is comprised within narrow limits for the in- 
 telligence that is domiciled on earth. And the theological 
 speculations, the dogmatic definitions with which man has 
 overlaid the revelation of God, serve but to perplex and 
 bewilder, and to involve the spirit struggling up to light in 
 •the mists and fogs of ignorance and superstition. The groping 
 after truth which has been characteristic of the progressive 
 spirit in every age has been but the same story, different, 
 indeed, in detail, but identical in issue. As with the blinded 
 •eye of sense, so with the spirit that gropes blindly to the light. 
 The mazes of superstition bewilder it; the mists of human 
 ignorance close around it. It staggers and wanders on its 
 devious way, now here, now there, now cast down to earth and 
 trodden under foot by the adversaries, but rising anon, and 
 with outstretched arms struggling onwards still. Those 
 wanderings seem to you similar, and when confined within the 
 limits of a single sect they are indeed alike, but to spirit gaze 
 they have very many points of difference. The struggling 
 spirits who in all ages have been groping their way through 
 the maze of human opinion to the fount of light have pushed 
 their way through tortuous paths which bear only a superficial 
 similarity. To us the theological opinions which have char- 
 acterised certain sets of men called churches are not so 
 identical as you think. We see the inner points of diver- 
 gence ; and we know that to no two spirits yet created were 
 precisely identical views of the unknown ever presented. 
 They have framed for themselves ideas more or less like those 
 •of other spirits, but never identical with them. It is only 
 when the veil is removed that the fog lifts ; the speculations 
 
84 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 die with the body of earth, the opinions shift aside, and the 
 purged eye sees what it has dimly pictured, and corrects by 
 the quickened senses the impressions of earth. Then it sees 
 how the germ of truth is at the base, helped in some to pro- 
 gress by a receptive mind and a clearer spiritual vision ; 
 hampered and clogged in others by a cramped intelligence, 
 and a debased earth-body. But in all cases of yearning souls 
 thirsting for true knowledge of God and of their destiny, the 
 opinions of earth rapidly fade, and the spirit sees how baseless 
 and unreal they were. It is only when there is no desire for 
 truth that error is permanent. 
 
 So you see, friend, that truth is the exclusive heritage of no 
 man, of no sect. It may and does underlie the philosophy of 
 Athenodorus, as he yearned after the refining of the spirit, 
 and the subjection of the flesh in ancient Rome. It was as 
 really existent in the groping after union with his Master 
 which enabled Hippolytus to endure the loss of earthly exist- 
 ence in sure anticipation of a real life, even though he only 
 dimly saw its characteristics. The self-same seeking after 
 truth elevated and ennobled Plotinus, and raised him, even in 
 earth-life, above and beyond the earth-sphere. It dwelt in the 
 breast of Algazzali, in spite of the errors by which it was 
 dimmed. It — the same blessed germ of Divine truth — 
 lightened the speculations of Alessandro Achillini, and gave 
 force and reality to the burning- words which fell from his 
 lips. The same pure jewel shines now in one and all of them. 
 It is the common heritage which enables them to be banded 
 together in a common work and for a common end — the puri- 
 fying of that desposit of the truth which man has from his God 
 — and the ennobling and elevating of mans destiny by the 
 outpouring of more spiritual views of God and of the destiny 
 of spirit. To them their earth-opinions are of little moment 
 now. They have vanished long ago, and have left behind 
 them no trace of the prejudice which clouded the soul on 
 earth and hampered its progress. They have died and are 
 buried, and over their grave no tear of sorrow is dropped. No 
 resurrection awaits them : they are for ever done with : but 
 the jewel which they once enshrined shines with ever-increas- 
 
THE UNITY OF THE TEACHING. 
 
 85 
 
 ing lustre, and is imperishable and eternal. In its illuminating 
 influences, in the aspirations which its presence inspires, lies 
 the mysterious bond of sympathy which is powerful to unite 
 in one work spirits who, in earth-life, were so apparently 
 divergent in opinion. 
 
 This may serve to suggest for your consideration reasons 
 why it may not be so strange as it now seems to you, that we 
 should he now handed together for a common object, conse- 
 crated to a common work by one earnest desire to spread 
 abroad the knowledge of a higher and purer religion, through 
 an instrument chosen by us for special indications of fitness, of 
 which we are the best judges. 
 
 We are confident that continued thought will lead you to 
 recognise the reasonableness of what we say. For definite 
 proof you must be content to wait until you, too, have rent 
 the veil, and stand with unclouded eye in our company. The 
 most we hope for now is the gradual establishment of convic- 
 tion. We desire that you should apply to us the same law by 
 which the Master judged— the Divine law of judging others 
 as you would yourself be judged. 
 
 You err in supposing that there has ever been any discre- 
 pancy in our teaching to you. Arguments have been variously 
 put, and different points have been taken by different intelli- 
 gences who have communicated with you. Wb do not deny 
 that we have gradually led you up to the general idea which 
 we have wished to convey, and we have, in so doing, avoided 
 points of indifferent opinion which were not essential to our 
 message, as well as points on which we know full well that 
 your previous notions were rooted firm, and would clash with 
 our knowledge. We have sought rather to develop the germs 
 of truth which we discovered than to come into contact with 
 the singularities of opinion which exist. To this end we have 
 seized upon points of contact, and have made much of them ; 
 while we have not dwelt on disputed and unimportant points, 
 and have avoided discussing matters that do not lie in our 
 path. Hereafter many points that at present are slurred over, 
 or avoided, will be taken up. But when you have sought infor- 
 mation on points whereon we knew your opinion to be errone- 
 
86 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 ous and untenable for long, we have not scrupled to enlighten 
 you. Wb can see well when the drift of thought is carrying 
 you away from old mooring-places which no longer afford safe 
 anchorage for your spirit ; and, seeing this, we have preferred 
 to pilot you rather than to allow you to drop down the 
 stream at the mercy of wind and current, and at risk of ship- 
 wreck. We have loosened the ropes, one by one, gently and 
 gradually, and we have charged ourselves with the mission of 
 landing you in safer and surer harbourage. Had we tightened 
 the moorings, the old ropes would have broken, and your 
 spirit would have been tossed helpless on a stormy sea of 
 doubt and difficulty, with no pilot at the helm, and no port in 
 view, at the mercy of wind and wave, and with scant pros- 
 pect of rescue. Do not blame us that we have chosen to anti- 
 cipate the inevitable, and to smooth the rough passage. We 
 could not prevent ; we may and can assist. We would not, 
 if we could, have added to the chains which would bind your 
 spirit to the dead past. We will, if you co-operate with us, 
 enable it to rise superior to the storm, and to emerge with a 
 new and living faith, on a calmer and more open sea, ready 
 to cross what yet remains between the probation of earth and 
 the haven of peace. 
 
 In this endeavour we have studiously guarded ourselves 
 from inflicting on you any rude shocks. We have not misled 
 you on any point. We have never deceived you in aught. 
 Scrupulous exactness has characterised all our statements to 
 you. But we have preferred to take the ideas which we 
 found in your mind, and to enlarge and develop them. We 
 have fostered, directed, instilled newer and truer views, but 
 we have in no point falsified, distorted, or misled. 
 
 Nor is there actually any divergence in the teachings of 
 those who have spoken to you. Any apparent discrepancy is 
 referable to difficulties of communication, to the varying influ- 
 ence of your own mind, to the state of your bodily health ; to 
 the novelty of the work to some ; and especially to your own 
 circumscribed views. We cannot teach what you cannot 
 receive. We can only dimly symbolise truths which one day 
 your unclouded eye will see in their full splendour. We can- 
 
THE OLD FAITH AND THE NEW. 
 
 87 
 
 not speak with clearness when the spirit of our medium is 
 troubled, when his body is racked with pain, or his mental 
 state vitiated by disease. Nay, even a lowering atmosphere, 
 •or electric disturbance, or the neighbourhood of unsympathetic 
 and unfavourable human influences, may colour a communi- 
 cation, or prevent it from being clear and complete. Hence 
 the various discrepancies which your minute gaze has detected. 
 They are small enough and few enough, and they will all 
 vanish when the difficulties are removed. Then will you 
 recognise the superior insight which has guided you in a 
 time of no ordinary difficulty and peril. 
 
 You complain that there is little chance of the acceptance 
 of such views as we have put forward. Of this you can know 
 very little. The time is far nearer than you think when the 
 old faith which has worn so long, and which man has patched 
 so clumsily, will be replaced by a higher and nobler one— one 
 not antagonistic, b ut supplementary- — and the pure Gospel 
 which Jesus preached shall find its counterpart again on an 
 advanced plane of knowledge. For know, good friend, that 
 no effort which, as this, is the plan of the Supreme, is entered 
 on untimely, or with disregard of the correlation between 
 Gods Gospel and mans wants. What comes to you from 
 us is coming to others too. This is but one among many 
 branches of one great plan. It will go on gradually and 
 spread steadily among the children of faith who are fitted 
 to receive it. The Master has so willed it. His time is not 
 yours, nor is our vision circumscribed as yours. In due time 
 the knowledge which we come to spread will be known among 
 men. Meantime, progressive souls are being educated ; precious 
 seed is being sown, and the reaping and garnering shall come 
 in their course. For that you and we alike must wait. 
 
 If you will now think carefully over what has been said, 
 you will see that the nature of the case precludes more than 
 presumptive proof being given of the validity of our claims. 
 We say again, that God forces blessings on none. He offers : 
 the responsibility of acceptance or refusal rests with you. The 
 internal evidence will be admitted by you and by all to whom 
 we are now concerned to address ourselves. None but those 
 
88 
 
 SPIKIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 who are hopelessly involved in the meshes of the shallowest 
 bigotry, who are bound by the fetters of a conventional theo- 
 logy, and shackled by an iron dogmatism, will refuse to 
 acknowledge the internal evidence of a Divine origin in the' 
 creed which we put forward. With such as we have enumer- 
 ated, the dogmatist, the bigot, the narrow-minded, the wise in 
 their own conceit, we have no dealings. Nay, we do not even 
 speak to those who find in the faith which has become 
 ingrained in their very souls a sure and sufficient guide. In 
 Gods name let them cling to it. Hereafter their time of pro- 
 gress will come. It is not yet. To you, and to those who 
 have advanced far enough to think with you, we need not 
 fuither prove that we are not of diabolic origin or intent. 
 
 If you will further consider the views which we have put 
 forward with respect to inspiration, you will see that we 
 claim for our teaching that it is just one of those rungs in the 
 ladder of progressive knowledge of God, which mankind has 
 been gradually mounting from the time when man framed for 
 himself a god like himself to the present, when you are slowly 
 learning that to attribute human infirmities and passions to 
 the Supreme is not to do Him honour. Our revelation is in 
 no respect different from that which has preceded, rave that it 
 is a step in advance, even as each development of human 
 knowledge has been. Our knowledge flows from the same 
 source, and is made known through similar channels. They 
 are now, as then, human, fallible, and at times wrong. It must 
 be so, as long as God reveals Himself through human agencies. 
 
 If you will further recollect the standpoint we have selected, 
 j/ou will see that in place of blind faith, which accepts tradi- 
 tional teaching — the old, merely because it is old — we appeal 
 to your reason : and in place of credulity w~e demand rational, 
 intelligent investigation, and acceptance grounded on convic- 
 tion. So far from desiring you to accept what we tell you simply 
 because we are spirit-messengers — the new merely because it 
 is new we ask you to weigh in the scales of reason, to pon- 
 der in the light of intellect, to reject if you be not satisfied, in 
 no case to assent or to act until conviction has been thoroughly 
 established. 
 
THE CLAIM MADE. 
 
 89 
 
 So that not only is the matter of the spirit-creed eminently 
 conformable to right reason, hut the grounds on which we ask 
 you to accept it are those which a rational and logical mind 
 will he most disposed to accept. God forbid that we should 
 even seem to hurry any man into antagonism, real or fancied, 
 with a creed which has for eighteen hundred years and more 
 been adorned by the lives of many myriads of earnest and 
 progressive, as well as earnest though mistaken souls. The 
 fact & that it has long endured entitles it to the reverence due 
 to antiquity, though with our extended view we can see that 
 it also makes it needful that some of its provisions, ad- 
 mirably suited as they were for a less advanced generation, 
 should now fitly be enlarged and spiritualised. At any rate, we 
 would not disturb its reign with violent revolution. We would 
 refine and infuse new life ; we would not dethrone and humble 
 in the dust. As the Saviour told, in the accents of a life of 
 loving and self-sacrificing purity, the story of a nobler faith 
 than that which Sinai had revealed in accents of thunder, so we 
 take up the Divine story at a later day, and proclaim for a 
 world’s acceptance a creed more fitted to its advanced capa- 
 cities, more suited to its later wants. 
 
 “It will reject it!” Well, then, we at least have offered it, 
 and to those who will surely grasp at it, its blessed influence 
 shall seem the brighter from the contrast. It is long frequently 
 between the first promulgation of a truth and its final accept- 
 ance. The seed-time must precede the crop, and the rain and 
 the frost and the cheerless wintertide may seem to be long 
 drawn out, but the sun bursts forth at length, and the crop 
 springs up, and the glad summer comes with the reaping and 
 housing of the fruit. The day of preparation may be long, 
 the night during which the sower waits may be weary, but 
 the harvest surely comes. You cannot retard it ; you may aid 
 in reaping it ; you may even assist in sowing the seed ; but 
 in spite of man’s opposition, whether he aids or not, God’s 
 work will be done. It is to the individual alone that accept- 
 ance or rejection of the Divine message matters materially. 
 A soul is advanced or retarded in the life of progress ; and 
 the angels rejoice or mourn over the issue. That is all. 
 
90 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 You inquire from us what position we assign to Jesus the 
 Christ. We arc not careful to enter into curious comparisons 
 between different teachers who, in different ages, have been 
 sent from God. The time is not yet come for that ; but this 
 we know, that no spirit more pure, more godlike, more noble, 
 more blessing and more blessed, ever descended to find a home 
 on your earth. None more worthily earned by a life of self- 
 sacrificing love the adoring reverence and devotion of mankind. 
 None bestowed more blessings on humanity ; none wrought a 
 greater work for God. It is not necessary that we should 
 enter into curious comparisons between God’s great teachers. 
 Rather would we give to all the meed of praise that is their 
 due, and hold up the example of self-denial, self-sacrifice, and 
 love to the imitation of a generation which sadly needs such 
 a pattern. Had men devoted their energies to the imitation 
 of the simplicity and sincerity, the loving toil and earnest 
 purpose, the self-sacrifice and purity of thought and life which 
 elevated and distinguished the Christ, they had wrangled less 
 of His nature, and had wasted fewer words upon useless meta- 
 physical sophistries. Those of your theologians who dwelt in 
 the days of darkness, and who have left to you an accursed 
 heritage in their idle and foolish speculations, would have 
 turned their minds into a more useful channel, and have been a 
 blessing instead of a curse to mankind. Men would not have 
 derogated from the honour due to the great God alone, but 
 would have accepted, as Jesus intended, the simple Gospel that 
 He preached. But instead of this they have elaborated an 
 anthropomorphic theology which has led them to wander 
 further and further from the simplicity of His teaching; which 
 has turned His name and creed into a battle-ground of sects ; 
 and has resulted in a parody on his teachings — a sight on 
 which His pure spirit looks with sorrow and pity. 
 
 Friend, you must discriminate between God’s truth and 
 man’s glosses. We do not dishonour the Lord Jesus — before 
 whose exalted majesty we bow — by refusing to acquiesce in a 
 fiction, which He would disown, and which man has forced upon 
 His name. No, assuredly: but they who from a strict adherence 
 to the literal text of Scripture — a text which they have not 
 
A SPIRITUALIZED RELIGION. 
 
 91 
 
 understood, and the Spirit of which they have never grasped 
 —have dishonoured the Great Father of Him, and of all alike, 
 and have impiously, albeit ignorantly, derogated from the 
 honour due to the Supreme alone. Not we, but they dis- 
 honour God ! Not we, but they, though they have the pre- 
 scription of long usage, though their words be coloured by 
 extracts from writings which they have decided to be Divine : 
 and though in those writings there be found words which 
 pronounce a curse on any who may disagree with what is 
 stated there. We do not regard such curses save with pity. 
 We do not labour to upset belief when it is a harmless 
 error, but we can lend no countenance to views that dishonour 
 God, and retard a soul’s progress. The attributing to a man 
 of Divine honour, to the exclusion in very many cases of per- 
 sonal honour and love for the Great Father, is a mischievous 
 error which derogates from the duty of man to his God. 
 The holding of a narrow, cold, dogmatic creed, m all its rigid, 
 lifeless literalism, cramps the soul, dwarfs its spirituality, 
 clows its progress, and stunts its growth. “The letter 
 says your Scripture, “the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth 
 life.” Hence we denounce such views of God as are con- 
 tained in the fable of a material hell ; and we proclaim to 
 you purer and more rational ideas than are contained m the 
 orthodox notions of Atonement and vicarious sacrifice. We 
 proclaim to you a spiritualised religion. We call you from 
 the dead formalism, the lifeless, loveless literalism of the past, 
 to a religion of spiritualised truth, to the lovely symbolism ot 
 anwel teaching, to the higher planes of spirit, where the mate- 
 rial finds no place, and the formal dogmatism of the past is 
 for ever gone. 
 
 We have spoken to you with care, and with a due sense of 
 the importance of what we say. Dwell on it with care. 
 Ponder it with single desire for truth, and seek the Divine 
 aid ministered to all who pray for it. 
 
 4- Imperator. 
 
( 92 ) 
 
 SECTION XIL 
 
 [I am reluctant to publish what is so private in its 
 nature and bearings : but I am constrained to do 
 so, and my justification is that what was the ex- 
 perience of one may be the experience of many, 
 and the history of my mental and spiritual 
 struggles may be helpful to others who are passing 
 through a similar phase. After an interval of 
 some days, during which I received no communi- 
 cation, on the subject of the religious teaching 
 of spirits, I requested permission to state further 
 objections which pressed strongly on my mind. 
 As I recall my state, .1 was perplexed and startled 
 by what had been said. I was unable to accept 
 what was so new; and the great point that 
 weighed with me was that of “ Spirit Identity.” 
 It seemed in my then state that I must have com- 
 plete proof of the earth identity of the communi- 
 cating spirit before I could accept the statements 
 made. I believed such direct demonstration to be 
 procurable ; and I was distressed that it was not 
 given. I did not then know (July, 1873) as I do - 
 now that the evidence of conviction is what alone 
 is to be had ; and that no cut-and-dried plan such 
 as I propounded would really have carried with it 
 the conviction I imagined. Moreover, I was dis- 
 tressed by the feeling that much that passed 
 current for spirit communication was silly and 
 frivolous, if not mischievous. I compared the 
 teaching of the Christian moralists with spirit 
 teaching very much to the disadvantage of the 
 latter. I also considered that there was very wide 
 divergence between teachings given by spirits, and 
 that all sorts of opinions were professed. Most of 
 these I disliked personally, and I did not believe 
 that they benefited the people who received them. 
 
 I fancied that many such were enthusiasts and 
 fanatics, and was repelled by the idea. Neither 
 from internal nor external evidence was I greatly 
 
THE GOD-IDEA. 
 
 93 
 
 attracted, and the objections that I put at that 
 time were directed to the points above noticed. 
 
 They related principally to evidence about iden- 
 tity, to what I thought would be the probable 
 dealings of God with mankind, and to the general 
 character and outcome of Spiritualism. The next 
 answer made to me was as follows] : ■ 
 
 Friend, we are pleased to converse with you again; and if 
 it be impossible for us to answer all your queries, and to 
 solve all your problems, we can at least rectify some errors 
 into which you have fallen as to the dealings of God with 
 man, and the tendency of the mission which we have in 
 
 charge. 
 
 The root of your error seems to lie in a false conception 
 of God and of His dealings with mankind. Surely the page 
 of human history bears upon it the story of one uniformly 
 progressive revelation of One and the same God. The 
 attempts of men to realise and picture to themselves the God 
 whom they ignorantly worship have led to the strangest and 
 most fallacious notions as to His nature and operations. 
 
 In the early days of man’s history the crude notion of a 
 God inherent in his spiritual nature took shape as a fetish, 
 which was alternately prayed to with reverence or cast aside 
 with contumely, in proportion as the prayer was granted or 
 delayed. Men knew not that the block before which they 
 bowed was powerless, and that round them hovered ever the 
 bands of spirit ministers who were ready to succour and 
 defend them, and to bear to them answers to their reasonable 
 prayers. They could grasp no more of God than that. The 
 tangible, palpable image was to them the embodiment of their 
 idea. Mark this ! of their idea of God, not of God Himself, 
 but of the crude conception which was the best idea they 
 could frame. Drawing their information from their own 
 dealings, they imagined for themselves certain rules of con- 
 duct by which they proceeded to judge the God whom they 
 had created. They feigned for Him human passions such 
 as they found worthy of respect in their fellows. They cred- 
 ited Him with some failings which were inseparable from 
 
94 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 humanity as they knew it. He was jealous of His honour; long- 
 suffering and of tender pity; according as they who spoke of 
 Him imagined that He ought to be. He was, in short, a 
 glorified man a man endued with omnipotence, omniscience, 
 and omnipresence. They feigned Him such and made Him 
 act accordingly. Consequently all the revelation of God is 
 characteristic of the age in which it is given. It grows with 
 human development, and is progressively proportioned to the 
 development of human intellect and refinement, simply because 
 the human medium becomes capable of being impressed with 
 more accurate views of the Deity in proportion as he has 
 shaken himself free from his former fetters of ignorance, and 
 has himself progressed towards light and knowledge. 
 
 We have frequently said that God reveals Himself as man 
 can bear it. It must needs be so. He is revealed through a 
 human medium, and can only be made known in such measure 
 as the medium can receive the communication. It is impossible 
 that knowledge of God should outstrip man’s capacity. Were 
 we now to tell you — if we could — of our more perfect theology 
 it would seem to you strange and unintelligible. We shall, 
 by slow degrees, instil into your mind so much of truth as 
 you can receive, and then you will see your present errors. 
 But that is not yet. Indeed, since the conception which each 
 frames for himself is to him his God, it cannot be that revela- 
 tion can be in advance of capacity. It is in the nature of 
 things impossible. 
 
 Hence you see that when you credit God with motives and 
 say “ This cannot be. God is acting here contrary to His 
 nature. He cannot so act now, because He did not so act 
 then,” you are simply saying, “ My idea of God is so and so, 
 and I cannot at present get another one. According to what 
 I believe, my God would not do so.” And that is precisely 
 what we say. You have made your God, and you have made 
 Him act as you see fit. By and bye, as your mind expands — 
 either in your present state of being or in another — you will 
 get fresh light, and then you will say, “Now I see that I was 
 wrong. God is not what I fancied at all. How could I evei 
 have entertained such notions ! ” 
 
THE GOD-IDEA. 
 
 95 
 
 This is very much the case with all progressive minds. To 
 some the time of development comes not in this life. They 
 must wait for a newer light in a newer life. But to some 
 there comes a flood of knowledge even in their present place 
 of existence. The old grows flat and profitless. The soul 
 craves for a newer and truer revelation ; for something which 
 shall he as the spirit among the dry bones, and shall give 
 them a resurrection unto life. 
 
 Well, you have had, or you are having, your revelation. 
 Your mind, as some would say, has widened, and has pictured 
 a God more in accordance with its advanced capacities. 
 
 You have received from ap external source the same 
 whence all other Divine knowledge flows down to man — a 
 newer and richer revealing of the Supreme, others may say. 
 
 Call it what you will. The two operations of revelation 
 and comprehension, of knowledge and capacity, must be 
 correlative. The knowledge does not come until there is 
 capacity to receive it. Neither does the mind get higher 
 revelation until it has so far advanced as to feel the want of 
 it ; and that for the simple reason that it is itself the agent 
 through which comes the revelation of which it is the recipient 
 
 All your fancied theories about God have filtered down to 
 you through human channels ; the embodiments of human 
 cravings after knowledge of Him ; the creation of minds that 
 were undeveloped, whose wants were not your wants, whose 
 God, or rather whose notions about God are not yours. You 
 try hard to make the ideas fit in, but they will not fit, because 
 they are the produce of divers intelligences in divers degrees 
 of development. 
 
 Think ! You say to us that we are not of God, because our 
 ideas of Him made known to you are not compatible with 
 some notions which you have derived from certain of the 
 books in your sacred records. Tell us which is the God with 
 whom we are at variance in our ideal. Is it the God who 
 walked in human form with Adam, and is fabled to have 
 wreaked direful vengeance on the ignorant creatures who are 
 said to have committed what you now see to be a very venial 
 fault ? Or, is it the God who commanded his faithful friend 
 
96 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 to sacrifice to Him the only child of His love as an acceptable 
 offering ? Or is it the God who reigned over Israel as an 
 earthly monarch, and whose care was feigned to he devoted 
 to the enunciation of sanitary laws, or to the construction of a 
 tabernacle, who went forth with the armies of Israel to battle, 
 and issued bloodthirsty laws and regulations for the extir- 
 pation of innocent and unoffending peoples ? Or is it, 
 perchance, the God who enabled his servant Joshua to arrest 
 the course of the universe and to paralyse the solar system, in 
 order that the Israelites might revel a few hours more in gore 
 and carnage ? Or is it rather with the God who was feigned 
 to be so angry with His chosen people because they wished for 
 a visible monarch, that He visited upon them an elaborate re- 
 venge extending over many hundred of years ? Or with which 
 of the Gods of the prophets are we at variance ? with Isaiahs 
 God, or with Ezekiel’s ? or with the lugubrious Deity that 
 Jeremiah’s morbid mind imagined ? or with David’s Divinity ; 
 half father, half tyrant, cruel and yielding by turns, always 
 inconsistent and irrational ? or with Joel’s ? or with John’s ? 
 or with Paul’s calvinistic conception, imagined and painted 
 with horrid phantasies of predestination, and hell, and election, 
 and a dreamy listless heaven ? Are we at variance with Paul, 
 or John, or Jesus ? 
 
 But there is no need to press the fact that Kevelation has 
 always been proportioned to man’s capacity, and coloured by 
 man’s mind. The idea of God has been throughout the ages 
 the conception, more or less vivid, of those who have been the 
 media of revelation. The implanted idea has taken, form and 
 shape from the mental surroundings of the medium through 
 whom it was given. Such portion of truth as the teachers 
 have been able to impart has been moulded by the spirit of 
 the medium into an individual shape. To none has complete 
 truth been given, only so much of truth, such aspect of truth 
 as was necessary for a particular age and people. Hence it is 
 that the conceptions of God, such as those we have now 
 alluded to, are various and divergent. Of course we and our 
 God are not Joshua and his God : neither are we Paul and his 
 God : though we challenge comparison between the God we 
 
THE NATURE OF GOD. 
 
 97 
 
 know and reveal, and that God who was dimly shadowed 
 forth to a people that knew Him not, by Him who knew Hun 
 best, and lived nearest to Him, the man Christ Jesus. He 
 had received conceptions of Deity far clearer than any which 
 His followers have grasped ; His religion was simple, plain, 
 and earnest. His theology was equally plain. The cry to 
 « Q ur Father who art in Heaven,” how widely does it ditier 
 from the elaborate dissertations on theology in which the 
 Supreme is first informed of the character which man has 
 assio-ned to Him, and then is requested to act up to it with 
 especial reference to the wants or fancied wants which the 
 
 ignorant worshipper puts forward ! 
 
 God! Ye know Him not! One day, when the Spirit 
 stands within the veil which shrouds the spirit world from 
 mortal gaze, you shall wonder at your ignorance of Him whom 
 you have so foolishly imagined ! He is far other than you have 
 pictured Him. Were He such as you have pictured Him, 
 were He such as you think, He would avenge on pre- 
 sumptuous man the insults which he puts on his Creator. 
 But He is other, far other than man’s poor grovelling mind 
 can grasp, and He pities and forgives the ignorance of the 
 blind mortal who paints Him after a self-imagined pattern. 
 He blames not the ignorance. That is no shame, so it be not 
 wilful. But He blames the folly which hugs a low concep- 
 tion of Him, and will have no light let in on the dark and 
 musty temple in which that idol is enshrined. He blames the 
 lovers of darkness, the haters of light, who cling to the un- 
 developed fancies of the past, and can see no beauty in the 
 simple moral grandeur of the God whom Christ revealed, but 
 must needs graft on to that noble conception the anthropo- 
 morphic fancies of previous unenlightened ages. Of such 
 there are not a few who cannot receive higher teachings yet. 
 But of such are not you ! When you rashly complain of us 
 that our teaching to you controverts that of the Old Testa- 
 ment, we can but answer that it does indeed controvert that 
 old and repulsive view of the good God which made Him an 
 angry, iealous, human tyrant : but that it is in fullest accord 
 8 
 
98 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 with that divinely-inspired revelation of Himself which He 
 gave through Jesus Christ — a revelation which man has done 
 so much to debase, and from which the best of the followers of 
 Christ have so grievously fallen away. 
 
 If there be nought in what we say of God and of man’s- 
 after-life that commends itself to you, it must be that your 
 mind has ceased to love the grander and simpler conceptions 
 which it had once learned to drink in. It must be that the 
 machinations of the adversaries have availed to reach your 
 spirit, and that the dark edge of that cloud which they have 
 interposed between your world and its God, is resting with 
 baleful influence upon you. We pray that we may be per* 
 mitted to raise it, and to pour into your soul once more the 
 beams of enlightenment and peace. We do not fear that any 
 permanent harm will rest with you. Nor do we regret that 
 you should try the foundations on which your knowledge 
 rests. It will not be wasted time to do so. 
 
 Cease to be anxious about the minute questions which are 
 of minor moment. Dwell much on the great, the overwhelm- 
 ing necessity for a clearer revealing of the Supreme : on the- 
 blank and cheerless ignorance of God and of us which has- 
 crept over the world : on the noble creed we teach, on the- 
 bright future we reveal. Cease to be perplexed by thoughts- 
 of an imagined Devil. For the honest, pure, and t ruthful soul' 
 there is no Devil nor Prince of Evil such as theology has 
 feigned. 
 
 Evil comes not nigh him ; the adversaries flee from his- 
 presence, and the powers of evil are powerless before him. 
 He is guarded around by angel guards, ministered to by bright 
 spirits, who watch over him and direct his footsteps. For 
 him there waits a career of progressive increase in knowledge, 
 and in all that elevates and ennobles the intelligence. He 
 need fear no Devil, unless he creates one for himself. His 
 affinity for good draws around him influences for good. He 
 is fenced around by guardians ; nor can he, save by voluntary 
 surrender, fall a final victim to the foe. His is no exemption, 
 from temptation, from the snares of the destroyer, or from the: 
 
THE DEVIL. 
 
 99 
 
 atmosphere which during his probation time he must breathe. 
 The clouds of sorrow and anguish of soul may gather round 
 him, and his spirit may be saddened with the burden of sin 
 weighed down with consciousness of surrounding misery and 
 guilt, but no fabled Devil can gain dominion over him, or pre- 
 vail to drag down his soul to hell. All the sadness of spirit, 
 the acquaintance with grief, the intermingling with guilt, is 
 part of the experience, in virtue of which his soul shall rise 
 hereafter. The guardians are training and fitting it by those 
 means to progress, and jealously protect it from the dominion 
 of the foe. 
 
 It is only they who, by a fondness for evil, by a lack of 
 spiritual and excess of corporeal development, attract to them- 
 selves the congenial spirits of the undeveloped who have left 
 the body, but have not forgotten its desires. These alone risk 
 incursion of evil. These by proclivity attract evil, and it 
 dwells with them at their invitation. They attract the lower 
 spirits who hover nearest Earth, and who are but too ready 
 to rush in and mar our plans, and ruin our work for souls, 
 fhese are they of whom you speak when you say in haste, 
 that the result of Spiritualism is not for good. You err, 
 friend. Blame not us that the lower spirits manifest for 
 those who bid them welcome. Blame man’s insensate folly, 
 which will choose the low and grovelling rather than the pure 
 and elevated. Blame his foolish laws, which daily hurry into 
 a life for which they are unprepared, thousands of spirits, ham- 
 pered and dragged down by a life of folly and sin, which has 
 been fostered by custom and fashion. Blame the ginshops, and 
 the madhouses, and the prisons, and the encouraged lusts and 
 fiendish selfishness of man. This it is which damns legions of 
 spirits — not, as ye fancy, in a sea of material fire, but in the 
 flames of perpetuated lust, condemned to burn itself out in 
 hopeless longing till the purged soul rises through the fire and 
 surmounts its dead passions. Yes, blame these and kindred 
 causes, if there be around undeveloped intelligences who shock 
 you by their deception, and annoy you by frivolity and false- 
 hood. 
 
100 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 More of this hereafter. Already we have said more than 
 we had intended. And for myself, I hear the call which 
 summons me to the adoration of the Supreme, when, my 
 prayer shall rise to the throne of Divine pity that a rill of 
 that consoling grace may trickle down to your vexed spirit, 
 and may shed on it healing and peace — the peace of God, the 
 quietness of assurance and peace. 
 
 + Imperator. 
 
( 101 ) 
 
 SECTION XIII. 
 
 [On reading over consecutively this series of communica- 
 tions which I had received, 1 was more than ever 
 struck by their beauty, both of form and matter. 
 When I considered that they were written with 
 vast rapidity, without conscious thought on my part, 
 that they were free from blot or blemish of gram- 
 matical construction, and that there was no inter- 
 lineation or correction throughout their whole 
 course, I could not but wonder at their form. 
 As regards the subject-matter, I was still in diffi- 
 culty. There was much in them with which I 
 sympathised; but at the same time I could not get 
 rid of the idea that the faith of Christendom was 
 practically upset by their issue. I believed that, 
 however it might be disguised, such would be their 
 outcome in the end. No man, I reasoned, could 
 accept such teaching, in its spirit as well as in its 
 letter, without being led to throw aside very much 
 that the Christian world had agreed to receive 
 as de fide. The central dogmas seemed especially 
 attacked : and it was this that startled, me. A 
 very extended acquaintance with the writings of 
 theologians — Greek, Roman, Anglican, and Pro- 
 testant, especially those of the modern German 
 school of thought — had prepared me to make little 
 of divergence of opinion on minor matters. I knew 
 that such divergences were inseparable from the 
 subject. I also knew that individual opinion on 
 abstruse mysteries of revelation is of little worth. 
 I should have even been prepared for startling 
 statements on such matters. But here was a very 
 different matter. The points impugned seemed, to 
 me to be of the very essence of the Christian 
 religion. To “spiritualise,” or, as I preferred to 
 call it, to explain away these, seemed to me abso- 
 lutely fatal to my belief in any revelation whatso- 
 ever. After long and patient thought, I could, come 
 to no other conclusion ; and I shrank from accept- 
 ing such momentous issues on the ipse dixit of an 
 
102 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 intelligence of whom I knew, and could know, so 
 little. I felt that I must have more time for 
 thought : and that I, at any rate, was not ripe for 
 the acceptance of a creed, however beautiful, which 
 was not better attested, and less iconoclastic. These 
 objections I stated. In answer it was written] : — • 
 
 You have said wisely. Time is requisite that you may 
 ponder deeply that which is indeed of vital import. We leave 
 you to think over what we have advanced with a full con- 
 viction that you will, in time, assimilate the teaching, and 
 appreciate its importance. Should you desire enlightenment 
 from us on any points, it shall be given; but we will not force 
 upon you other communications until time has done for you 
 what you require. Let patience and earnest prayerfulness 
 have full sway. 
 
 You know not in your cold earth atmosphere, so chilling, so 
 repellent to spirit life, how the magnetic rapport between your 
 spirit and the guides who wait to bear its petition upwards is 
 fostered by frequent prayer. It is as though the bond were 
 tightened by frequent use ; as though the intimacy ripened 
 by mutual association. You would pray more did you know 
 how rich a spiritual blessing prayer brings. Your learned sages 
 have discussed much of the value of prayer, and have wandered 
 in a maze of opinion, befogged and ignorant of the real issue. 
 They do not know — how should they? — of the angel messengers 
 who hover round ready to help the spirit that cries to its God. 
 They know not of the existence of such, for they cannot test 
 their presence by human science in its present state ; and so, 
 with crude effort, they would reduce the results of prayer to 
 line and measure. They try to gauge its results, and to esti- 
 mate its effect by the compilation of statistics. And still they 
 find themselves in difficulty, for though they grasp the shell, 
 the spirit eludes their ken. Such results are not to be so 
 measured, for they are imperceptible by mans science. They 
 are spiritual, varying in various cases: different as are the 
 agencies at work. 
 
 Frequently it is the unspoken petition which is not granted 
 that is the cause of richest blessing to the praying soul. The 
 
PRAYER. 
 
 103 
 
 very cry of the burdened spirit shot forth into the void, a 
 try wrung out by bitter sorrow — is an unknown relief. The 
 spirit is lightened, though the prayer is not granted in the 
 terms of its petition. You know not why: but could you see, as 
 we see, the guardians labouring to pour into the sorrow-laden 
 soul the balm of sympathy and consolation, you would know 
 whence comes that strange peace which steals over the spirit, 
 and assures it of a sympathising and consoling God. The 
 prayer has done its work, for it has drawn down an angel 
 friend : and the bursting heart, crushed with its load of care 
 and sorrow is comforted by angel sympathy. 
 
 This, the magnetic sympathy which we can shed around 
 those with whom we are in close communion, is one of the 
 blessed effects which can be wrought by the cry of a human 
 soul reaching upward to its God. And under no other condi- 
 tions can the full blessedness of spirit intercourse be realised 
 It is the spirit that is most spiritualised that alone can enter 
 into the secret chambers where the angels dwell. It is to the 
 soul that lives in frequent communion with us that we are best 
 able to come nigh. This, friend, is invariable: another part of 
 that unchangeable law which governs all our intercourse with 
 your world. To the spiritual soul come, in richest measure, 
 spiritual gifts. 
 
 Nor is it always the answer which man in his ignorance 
 expects, that is the truest response to his petition. Many 
 times to grant his request would be to do him grievous harm. 
 He has asked ignorantly, petulantly, foolishly: and his prayer 
 is unheeded in its request : but it has availed to place his 
 spirit in communion with an intelligence which is waiting 
 an opportunity of approach, and which can minister to him 
 strength and consolation in his necessity. 
 
 ’Twere well if men would more strive to live a life of prayer. 
 Not the morbid life of devotion falsely so-called, which con- 
 sists in neglecting duty and in spending the precious hours of 
 the probation life in morbid self -anatomy : in developing un- 
 healthy self-scrutiny : in idle dreamy contemplation, or in 
 forced and unreal supplication. The life of prayer is far other, 
 as we advise it. Prayer to be real must be the heart-cry, 
 
104 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 spontaneous and impulsive, to friends who hover near. The 
 fancy of a prayer to the ear of an ever-present God who is 
 willing to alter unalterable laws in response to a capricious 
 request, has done much to discredit the idea of prayer alto- 
 gether. Believe it not ! Prayer — the spontaneous cry of the 
 soul to its God through the friends who, it knows, are near, 
 and are ever ready to catch up the unuttered petition and 
 bear it upwards and ever upwards till it reach a power that 
 can respond — this is no matter of formal preparation. It con- 
 sists not in any act of outward show. It is not necessarily 
 syllabled in utterance : far less is it trammelled by conven- 
 tional form, or bound up in stereotyped phraseology. True 
 prayer is the ready voice of spirit communing with spirit : the 
 cry of the soul to invisible friends with whom it is used to 
 speak : the flashing along the magnetic line a message of re- 
 quest which brings, swift as thought, its ready answer back. 
 
 It is the placing of a suffering soul in union with a minis- 
 tering spirit who can soothe and heal. It needs no words, no 
 attitude, no form. It is truest when these are absent, or at 
 least unstudied. It needs but a recognition of a near guar- 
 dian, and an impulse to communion. To this end it must be 
 habitual : else, like the limb long disused the impulse is par- 
 alysed. Hence, it is those of you who live most in the spirit 
 who penetrate deepest into the hidden mysteries. We can 
 come nearest to them. We can touch hidden chords in their 
 nature which vibrate only to our touch, and are never stirred 
 by your world’s influences. ’Tis they who reach highest in 
 their earth-life, for they have learned already to commune 
 with spirit, and are fed with spiritual food. For them 
 are opened mysteries closed to more material natures : and 
 their perpetual prayer has wrought for them this at least, that 
 they live above the sufferings and sorrows from which it can- 
 not exempt them, seeing that such are necessary to their 
 development. 
 
 Alas ! alas i we speak of that which is little known. Were 
 this grand truth better realised, man would live in the atmos- 
 phere of the pure and elevated spirits. His spiritual attitude 
 would drive from him the base and baleful influences which 
 
PRAYER. 
 
 105 
 
 too often beset those who pry unbidden into mysteries that 
 are too high for them, and which, alas ! beset and annoy even 
 the best at times. If it prevailed not to obtain exemption it 
 would provide protection, and do more to strengthen us than 
 all else that man could do. It would avail more to sanctify 
 the acts, to purify the motives, and to keep alive the reality 
 of spirit communion than anything which we know of. 
 
 Pray then ; but see that you pray not with formality, heart- 
 lessly, and with unreal supplication. Commune with us in 
 communion of the spirit. Keep a single eye to the issues of 
 such communion as respect your own spirit. The rest will 
 follow in due course. Leave abstruse and perplexing questions 
 of man’s theological controversy, and keep close to the central 
 truths which so intimately affect the well-being of your spirit. 
 The vain bewilderments which man has cast around the sim- 
 plicity of truth are manifold. Nor is it for you to disentangle 
 them, nor to decide what is or is not essential in that which 
 has hitherto been revealed. You will learn hereafter to view 
 much that you now regard as vitally essential truth, rather as 
 a passing phase of teaching which was necessary for those to 
 whom it was given. It is human weakness that impels you 
 to rush to the end. You must tarry, friend, tarry long yet in 
 the early searchings before you reach the goal. You have 
 much to unlearn before you can penetrate all mysteries. 
 
 We have more to say to you on this. But for the present 
 enough has been written. May the Supreme keep us and 
 you, and enable us so to lead and guide you that in the end 
 truth may shine on your darkened soul, and peace may dwell 
 within your spirit. 
 
 + Imperator. 
 
 [I made no rejoinder to what was last said, but I 
 thought over it, and was preparing to say some- 
 what, when I was imperiously stopped. The hand 
 dashed off with violent speed, and the communica- 
 tion following was written without pause in an 
 incredibly short space of time. So vehement was 
 the effort that I was in a state of semi-trance until 
 it was complete.] 
 
106 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 Stay! stay! stay! Attempt not now to argue, but learn 
 yet again of the truth. You are impatient, and it is in your 
 mind to say foolish things. What matters it to you if what 
 we say contradicts that which others have believed ? Why 
 shrink back at that ? Does not all faith firmly grasped con- 
 tradict some other faith ? Nay, does not each faith contain 
 within itself elements of contradiction ? If you know not so 
 much as that, then are you not fit to go forward. From 
 those old creeds and faiths, venerable in their antiquity, but 
 crude too frequently in development, men have derived com- 
 fort. They have found their utterances convenient and suit- 
 able for them. They have derived from them a satisfaction 
 which they do not bring to you. Why ? Because your spirit 
 has outgrown those old, and to you lifeless, utterances. They 
 benefit you not. They are powerless to stir your soul. They 
 have no voice for your spirit: no remedy for your wants. 
 They are but faint and far-off echoes of what to some was a 
 living voice, but which to you is cold and meaningless. 
 
 Why, then, perplex yourself at that ? Why linger, striving 
 in vain to extract a meaning from that which to you has none? 
 Why turn a deaf ear to the living voice which cries to your 
 soul from the land beyond in accents which are living, burn- 
 ing, true ? Why refuse to listen when the voice speaks of the 
 true, the spiritual, the noble, of all that is real and actual in 
 place of the dying or the dead ? Why, for a fancy — from 
 reverence for a lifeless past — cut yourself off from the living 
 present, from the communion of spirits, from the society of 
 those who can tell you noble truths of God and of your destiny ? 
 
 Surely this is but madness, only the influence of spirits who 
 would gladly hold back the soul, and drag it down to earth. 
 Were our revelation a blank contradiction of the old, what is 
 that to you ? Ours speaks in living accents to your spirit ; 
 you know it ; you drink it in, and find it to be a blessed influ- 
 ence. The old is dead to you. Why linger round the lifeless 
 form ? Why embrace the mouldering corpse which was once 
 a living being instinct with Divine truth ? 
 
 Your sacred records tell you how, at the sepulchre of Jesus, 
 the angel message to the sorrowing friends was one of aspira- 
 
THE DEAD PAST 
 
 107 
 
 tion. “ Why seek ye the living among the dead ? He is not 
 here, He is risen.” So, friend, we say to you. Why linger in 
 the dead past, the sepulchre of buried truth, seeking, in fruit- 
 less sorrow, for that which is no longer there? It is not 
 there, it is risen. It has left the body of dogmatic teaching 
 which once for a restless age enshrined Divine truth. There 
 remains but the dead casket. The jewel is gone. The spirit 
 has risen, and lo ! we proclaim to you sublime truth, a nobler 
 creed, and a Diviner God. 
 
 The voice which in ages past has sounded in the ears of 
 those to whom has been entrusted the Divine mission on their 
 earth and to their generation, reaches even to this age and to 
 you. It has ever been so. God deals now in no other sort 
 than he has ever dealt with men. He calls them up to fuller 
 'light, to higher truth. It is theirs to accept or to reject the 
 heavenly message. Probably it has been to each aspiring soul 
 a difficulty that the past, the familiar, the venerable faith, has 
 charms from which it is hard to sever. In the first blush of 
 perplexity it seems to the bewildered spirit that all must go 
 that is old and cherished, and the new and untried must be 
 accepted. It seems to be a death ; and man shrinks from 
 death. Yes ; but it is a death unto life. It is a passage 
 through the tomb to a land of life and hope. Even as the 
 spirit soars in freedom from the body of death from which it 
 has been emancipated, so does the enfranchised spirit, set free 
 from the trammels of the past, soar aloft in liberty, the liberty 
 of the truth which, Jesus said, alone can make man free. 
 You know it not now ; but you shall know it hereafter. 
 
 This, then, is our cry to you. Why turn your face to the 
 dead past, when the living present and the bright future 
 attract, and promise rich store of blessing ? Were we in our 
 mission the absolute contradiction of the old, what is that to 
 you ? The old words are spiritless, and you cannot infuse into 
 them again the spirit that is gone. Leave them to those for 
 whom they still have a voice and a meaning, and follow with 
 unfaltering step the impulses of the Divine Spirit which lures 
 you on to higher views of truth. Quit the dead past, though 
 it be to journey through a new present to an unknown future. 
 
108 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 But, friend, it is not so. The past casts a glamour over you. 
 and you share the common idea that the new must utterly 
 destroy the old. Did Jesus so say? Did He counsel the 
 abolition of the Mosaic teaching ? Yet, as we have before 
 said, our teaching is no more startling development as com- 
 pared with His than was His as compared with Moses’. That 
 which we present for your acceptance is the complement 
 rather than the contradiction of the old; the growth to a 
 fuller stature ; the development of a wider knowledge. 
 
 If you meditate deeply on the state of the world when Jesus 
 proclaimed to it His reformed faith, you will see many points 
 of similarity to that which now obtains among men. It is 
 not, we reiterate, more startling to read the gospel which we 
 preach alongside of that which passes current among men for 
 religion, than it was to put the gospel of Jesus in juxtaposition 
 to the ritual of Pharisaism, or the sceptical indifierentism of 
 Sadducee. The world then needed a new revelation, even as it 
 does now ; and that which it received was not less startling 
 than is this to those who love the old, and desire not to be 
 stirred from the paths to which they are accustomed. 
 
 In those days, even as now, the revelation of God, which 
 had been adapted to the special wants of a special people, had 
 been overlaid with rubbish, until it had become a mass of 
 ritual without a meaning and without life. For many long 
 years the voice of God had not been heard, and man had 
 begun to crave, as he craves now, for a renewal of the Divine 
 message. The old had become dead, and he sought for a new 
 and living voice. It came to him — this Divine utterance — in 
 the voice of Jesus ; from a source the most unlikely, as men 
 think ; from a quarter least calculated to command the respect 
 of the educated Pharisee, or to carry conviction to the scoffing 
 Sadducee. Yet that voice prevailed, and for 1800 years has 
 animated the religious life of Christendom. The creed so 
 originated has become debased, but the spirit of the Crucified 
 is in it even now ; and it needs but the vivifying touch to call 
 it forth into new life. The old rags with which man has 
 thought to clothe it may readily be thrown aside, and the 
 truth shine all the brighter for their loss. 
 
THE ATTITUDE OF THE WORLD TO NEW TRUTH. 109 
 
 The source from which our revelation comes is not more 
 strange than was the source of that power wielded by Him 
 who was to His generation the despised carpenter of Nazareth. 
 Men sneered at Him in the plenitude of their scorn ; even as 
 they have sneered at everything new ; even as they sneer at 
 us. They were ready to stare at His marvels ; they would 
 follow Him in hosts to marvel at the physical miracles which 
 were wrought through Him ; but they were not sufficiently 
 spiritual to drink in His teachings. They are ready now to 
 wonder at us and our mighty works, even as they wondered 
 then. Even as then they sought for yet further and further 
 tests — “ Come down from the cross, and we will believe on 
 thee ” — so now there is even one more test which is necessary 
 to ensure complete conviction. They called Him a deceiver, 
 even as they cry out now. They hooted Him out of their 
 society ; they drove Him out of their midst, and they strove 
 by their laws and by their influence to crush out the new 
 doctrine from their land. New it was indeed, but the truth 
 that it enshrined was old, old as the God who gave it, only 
 new in form. Ours is new now, but the time shall come 
 when men shall see that it is but the risen truth of ages past, 
 rejuvenescent and eternal. 
 
 The Divine truth which we proclaim is not more strange to 
 you than was the message of Jesus to His age — the age that 
 sneer ingly asked whether any educated person of position and 
 respectability — “ any of the Pharisees or the rulers ” — had 
 believed on him. Both were progressive developments of the 
 same continuous stream of truth, suited to the wants and 
 cravings of those to whom they were vouchsafed. Meditate 
 on the mental condition of Nicodemus, and contrast it with 
 that of many such in your own day. And be assured that 
 the same power which availed to stir the dead faith of the 
 Jew, and to reveal his God more clearly, is still able to infuse 
 new life into the well-nigh lifeless body of Christian faith, 
 and to restore it to energy and vitality. 
 
 May the All-wise guide, bless, and keep you. 
 
 + Imperator. 
 
C no ) 
 
 SECTION XIV. 
 
 [The communication last recorded produced consider- 
 able effect on me, and it was some days before I 
 replied. When I did so, I objected thus] : — 
 
 The 'parallel between the days of Christ and the present 
 days is comprehensible. 1 can quite imagine an 
 educated Sadducee looking on the pretensions of Christ 
 with scorn ; and he would have been wrong, as we now 
 know ; but, as I think, very excusably wrong. Judged 
 by the mere light of reason, they would seem monstrous. 
 And a Sadducee of that day, whose tone of mind was 
 set against the supernatural, would excusably refuse to 
 credit what must seem to him a lie, or a delusion. 
 For myself, I do not see how he could do anything else. 
 Yet he had a concrete man before him — one whom he 
 could see, and whose words he could hear ; one whose 
 life he could test as to whether it was in accord with 
 the holy teaching which fell from His lips. I am so 
 far worse off that I have only an impersonal influence 
 to deal with, only utterances which may conceivably be 
 the voice of my spirit questioning with itself. I have 
 nothing to lay hold of. All around me I see Spirit- 
 ualism vague, and frequently contemptible in its 
 utterance. Its revelations are shadowy where they are 
 not silly ; and frequently one is shocked by that which 
 passes current under its name. I cannot see my way. 
 As to you, I Jcnoiv nothing of you, even if you be" an 
 entity at all. I do not see any way of satisfying 
 myself about you ; nor would it help me very much if 
 you were to assume shape as a previous dweller on this 
 earth. Had you ever a personality, or are you merely 
 an influence ? It would help me somewhat if I could 
 picture you as a definite individuality. But , on the . 
 whole, I wish you would leave me alone. 
 
DIFFICULTIES OF BELIEF. 
 
 Ill 
 
 [I had in fact become wearied out with this strenuous 
 conflict between my own strongly -conceived 
 opinions and those of an Intelligence so powerful 
 in statement and so coherent in argument. I was 
 torn by conflicting emotions, and undergoing, no 
 doubt, a state of preparation necessary for what 
 was to follow. The answer came thus] : — 
 
 Friend, we sympathise with your questionings, and will try 
 to aid you. You say that the sceptical Sadducee was better off 
 in that he had the definite personal Jesus before him. Doubt- 
 less he had ; but, so far from that being a help to him, it would 
 be an additional cause of perplexity. He would find it far 
 harder to associate the son of the carpenter of Nazareth with 
 God’s new revelation, of which he recognised the want, than 
 you do to associate us with the Supreme. “ Is not this the 
 carpenter ? ” would be to him a far more serious difficulty 
 than your query, “Is this an individuality ?” For he would 
 see all around him the tangible and palpable difficulties which 
 he could not surmount. The lowly origin, the humble friends, 
 the world’s scorn, the rejection of the mission by all on whose 
 opinion he had been accustomed to rely, all this would form a 
 real and very insuperable difficulty ; one which, if your words 
 are to be taken literally, you would yourself hold him justified 
 in considering final. And, assuredly, if in the end he failed 
 to grasp the message and to accept the Messenger, he would, 
 if honest, be guilty of no sin. He would but have lost an 
 opportunity of progress which would recur when he was more 
 fitted to avail himself of it. 
 
 With you the case is otherwise. You have to deal with no 
 external difficulties. You have simply to battle with intel- 
 lectual doubt. You know and acknowledge that the words 
 which have been spoken to you are such as you might reason- 
 ably expect from a teacher sent from God. They are fraught 
 with a message the need of which you feel, the beauty of 
 which you admit, and the moral grandeur of which commends 
 itself to all who are fitted to receive it. You knqyy full well 
 that it originates in some source external to yourself. You 
 must know that no unconscious effort of your own mind could 
 
112 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS 
 
 produce that which contradicts the outcome of your own 
 thoughts. Were the thoughts we utter those which would 
 naturally spring from your own mind, you might have room 
 for hesitation. But it is not so. And no theory of self-ques- 
 tioning, however ingenious, will satisfy your mind. You 
 know that it is not so ; and the phase of doubt through which 
 you now pass, and which is so evanescent, can exercise no 
 permanent influence upon you. When it is gone, you will 
 wonder how you can ever have imagined that I am not an 
 entity as real as yourself, as real as any embodied intelligence 
 whom you call “ man.” 
 
 Yes, friend, time is all that you require ; time for patient 
 thought ; time to weigh issues, to estimate evidence, and to 
 tabulate results. The words which have stirred you so deeply 
 — you know not how deeply — are the words of one who sees 
 your thoughts, who sympathises with your difficulties, and 
 not least with those very doubts and questionings which now 
 perplex you. During my earth life I was a prominent actor 
 in scenes of difficulty not unlike those which preceded the 
 life of the Christ, and which are now recurring. It has beer), 
 so in all cycles where the revolving course of time brings round 
 a similar condition of things. Man in all ages has been con- 
 stituted mentally the same. He is developed : he progresses ; 
 he thinks more deeply ; he knows more. But sure as in your 
 world night succeeds to day, so surely there comes a time 
 when his conceptions of the Deity become faint and unreal ; 
 when the spark of Divinity within him craves for a fuller 
 knowledge, and cries to heaven for a message from its God. 
 A new revelation is needed. The craving spirit of man yearns 
 for it. The old has done its work, and from its ashes rises 
 the new, which is to the receptive soul the voice from on high 
 that speaks words of consolation and comfort. It has ever 
 been so. You know T it. You can trace it all through the 
 history of God’s dealings with mankind. And why should it 
 cease to be so now ? Why now, when man most needs it, 
 should the voice be dumb, and the ear of the Supreme be deaf ? 
 
 You say that you know nothing of me. Why will you 
 confuse the messenger with his message, why will you insist 
 
A POWER, EXTERNAL, TRUTHFUL, PURE. 113 
 
 on associating with that which is Divine the vehicle through 
 
 whom it is conveyed ? 
 
 [The result of the argument was that, in reference to 
 my weak-kneed faith, I got what I obstinately 
 fought for. And when I had so far prevailed, I 
 saw how hollow was the boon for which I had 
 contended. I began to grasp, as I had been unable 
 to grasp before, the tendency of the teaching, and 
 to separate it from the individuality of the messen- 
 ger. ^ I went back over the time during which this 
 argument — portions of which only I think it well 
 to print — had been in process, and I grasped as I 
 could not grasp before what was to me, in very 
 truth, a new Revelation. The messenger became 
 lost in the importance to me of his message : and 
 the desire to probe and prove minute points of 
 detail was lost in the full blaze of conviction that 
 then first burst upon me. 
 
 This state, however, was evanescent. I was too wedded 
 to old habits of analysis to let impulse and 
 enthusiasm take the place of logical conviction. 
 Moreover, early religious training asserted itself, 
 and I recurred to my old theological objections. 
 
 The first effect passed, and after an interval of two 
 days I resumed my objections. During that time 
 I had carefully read over and over again all that 
 has been printed here, and much that is too personal 
 for publication. I had estimated the experience 
 of a year, during which I could discover no 
 departure from strict truth. And I came clearly 
 to the conclusion that the Power which was in 
 action was — (1) External to myself ; (2) Truthful 
 and consistent in its statements ; (3) Pure and 
 elevated in the religious teaching which it con- 
 veyed. This seemed clear to me : and I turned to 
 consider the question of identity, and the claims 
 put forward. As to other matters, I felt that they 
 might wait. The points which had settled them- 
 selves in my mind raised a strong presumption 
 that the truthful intelligence of the past was 
 truthful still. But then came the doubt as to how 
 far all might be the work of “ Satan transformed 
 into an angel of light,” labouring for the subversion 
 of the faith. My exact objection was put thus] : — 
 
 9 
 
SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 May it not be said with some pretence of fair criticism 
 that your teaching tends to what men call Deism , 
 Pantheism , or ( wrongly , I know) even to Atheism ? 
 Does it not degrade God to the level of a Force, and 
 tend to breed in man a doubt as to the absolute truth 
 of anything ? God, one begins to think, is only a name 
 for the influence which permeates the universe, pictured 
 differently by different peoples in different ages. The 
 revelation of Him comes ab intra, imagined in the 
 mind, not revealed to it. Christianity is one of many 
 forms of faith, all more or less mistaken. Man gropes 
 on more or less blindly, evolving for himself, from time 
 to time, ideas more or less erroneous. Since God exists 
 
 0 nly in the conceptions, each man has his God peculiar 
 to himself. Absolute truth out of mathematics does not 
 exist. And so man, at his best, becomes a solitary unit, 
 alone with his own spirit, replying to its questionings, 
 evolving views which satisfy for a moment, only to be 
 succeeded by others, which in their turn give way to 
 newer ideas ; unless, indeed, intellect becomes fossilised, 
 and the old views are permanent because they have 
 ceased to live. 
 
 This colourless idea is to supplant a Gospel which bears 
 the Divine imprimatur : whose precepts are precise, 
 whose morality is as elevated as most men can grasp, 
 and which is enforced by a system of definite reward 
 and punishment such as experience has always found 
 necessary in dealing with men. This Gospel, so backed , 
 has not been, as you say, successful in raising men to 
 a very high pitch of moral perfection. How, then, am 
 
 1 to expect that a philosophy such as yours, which has 
 a shadow of good, indeed, but a shadow only, dim, 
 vague, and impalpable, which is destructive of the past , 
 without the power to construct for the future ; how can 
 I believe that this can hold in hand rebellious minds 
 which have chafed under a religion so precise in its 
 moral dicta, so forcible in its appeals to human interests, 
 so commended by its Divine origin and by the halo 
 
THE OUTCOME OF THE TEACHING. 
 
 115 
 
 shed around it from the saintliest life ever held up 
 for human imitation ? It seems to me most unlikely. 
 
 I do not now repeat what I have said about the hazy 
 source from which this teaching comes : nor do I insist 
 upon the dangers which I foresee from its general 
 adoption . That danger is too remote to need enlarging 
 on. At the same time it is an important factor in the 
 argument, that your teaching would , as it seems to me, 
 relax many of the wholesome bonds which have been 
 valuable morally , socially , and religiously to mankind. 
 And were that which we know as Spiritualism to flood 
 the community, I sadly fear that it would leave men 
 enthusiasts and fanatics ; and that the world , so far 
 from having gained ground , would have relapsed into 
 the blindest superstition, and the shallowest credulity. 
 I may be utterly wrong ; but so it strikes me. I cannot 
 see that your teaching is any substitute for what men 
 have believed. Even if it be what it pretends to be, 
 surely man is no more fit to be governed according to 
 such notions than he is to live on angels' food. Even 
 in its highest form it is of doubtful practical utility, 
 while, in many of its more vulgar shapes, it seems 
 simply pernicious and demoralising. 
 
 In the name of the Supreme, we greet you. It is not in 
 our power to help you now. What we say seems to you 
 other than it is. The upheaval which has so disturbed your 
 mind, has left it in a condition little fit to weigh niceties. 
 For that you must bide your time as patiently as may be; 
 meantime the training is valuable to you. You will know 
 the why as you knew it not before ; and impulse and enthusi- 
 asm will yield to experimental knowledge and calm conviction. 
 The venerable belief which has been assented to rather than 
 accepted, will pale before the knowledge of truth which is 
 born of investigation and logical analysis. What we have 
 said merits the deepest study. We would have you take 
 every opportunity of reading over consecutively what has 
 been written ; and of thinking deeply on the whole tenor of 
 
116 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 our intercourse with you. We claim to be judged by our 
 whole communion with you, by words and deeds alike; by 
 the moral effect of our teaching, no less than by its relation 
 to previous creeds ; by the spiritual atmosphere which we 
 bring with us, no less than by the imperfect utterances in 
 which logical subtlety may readily find a flaw. 
 
 For the present it is enough that we solemnly reiterate our 
 claim to be the bearers of a Divine message. The words we 
 speak are the words of God. You know it ; and no additional 
 argument can add any weight to our claim on this head. You 
 are no more the sport of evil, than you are deluded by phanta- 
 sies of a diseased brain. Evil does not tell of God, as we tell. 
 Nor can any brain tell you what we have told, and give you 
 evidence such as we have given. When you are more calm 
 you will see this. Were you in other state now, we should 
 have somewhat to say concerning the sin of curiously seeking 
 out indication of evil which may be fastened on that which is 
 holy and divine, even as when the holy Jesus walked your 
 earth mid its corruptions and its curses, the devils whom He 
 ejected turned on Him through the mouths of the orthodox, 
 religionists, and charged Him with association with Beelzebub. 
 We do not care to answer such objections. They bear on their 
 face their own sufficient refutation. When you have had 
 time to think calmly, we will make such answer to your 
 objections as may be requisite. For the present it is better 
 that you give yourself to meditation and prayer. Pray, friend, 
 with zeal and earnestness, that you may be guided into all 
 truth. 
 
 That prayer at least you cannot refuse to put up, even, 
 though it be dictated by the very Tempter. Pray, in company 
 with us, for enlightenment and patience ; for power to see, and 
 for grace to follow the truth. Pray that you may be released 
 from the fetters of dogmatism which would bind your aspiring 
 soul ; and that being released you may be guided in your up- 
 ward progress, lest you soar and fall. Pray that the influence 
 of others may be separated from your own souls wants ; that 
 you may have grace to choose the right, and to leave others to 
 select what they find suitable for them. Pray that you 
 
SILENT GROWTH. 
 
 117 
 
 may realise clearly the responsibility of choice or rejection, and 
 that you may be saved, on the one hand, from obstinate 
 prejudice, and on the other, from hasty acceptance. And, 
 above all, pray for honesty, sincerity, and humility, that you 
 may not mar God’s work by pride, by obstinacy, or by un- 
 worthiness. 
 
 And our prayers shall join with yours to draw down an 
 answering message of love and consolation from those who 
 watch on high, in anxious expectation of the spread of Divine 
 Truth. We have answered so much of your objection as 
 relates to the general outcome of the movement at large. We 
 have shown you that deep down below the surface there is a 
 something which does not meet the eye. As in the days of the 
 development of the knowledge of God, in whatever age it may 
 occur, there are many silent devotees of whom the world 
 knows little, who grow steadily up to more and more perfect 
 knowledge, so we have told you it is now. Many there are, 
 very many, who dpplore the unlicensed vagaries which shock 
 and distress them, but which have no power to alter or 
 diminish the faith which is founded on expeiience. 
 
 We would further point out to you that all our intercourse 
 with the material plane is governed by laws which your science 
 has not yet defined. Neither we nor you know as yet many 
 of the causes which interfere with our power. We are not 
 able to lay down laws for your guidance, scarce even for our 
 own. With you the vast importance of the subject is little 
 appreciated even by those who interest themselves in our 
 w'ork. In many cases sentiments of mere curiosity predomi- 
 nate. With some, even lower motives obtain. No proper care 
 is taken of our mediums. The instrument is out of tune, un- 
 strung, or overworked. The atmospheric conditions vary. We 
 know°not always how to meet the various effects so caused. 
 Circles are not properly composed ; and many things combine 
 to make it impossible that phenomena should always be similar 
 in their nature, or be evoked with precise regularity. 
 
 This will account for much of the erratic character of the 
 phenomena, as well as for the influence which is exercised 
 over the curious who obtrude themselves perpetually into 
 
118 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 communion with the spheres, and attract spirits congenial to 
 themselves. Much might fitly be said on this topic, but other 
 matters press. What has been hinted may suggest to you 
 another reason for dealing mercifully in your estimate of the 
 vagaries of some circles. Nothing now is said of those into 
 which deceit is admitted. There none but the most unde- 
 veloped spirits enter, and all is untrustworthy and repellent. 
 
 You can do much to aid us. You may help us to crush out 
 idle curiosity and deceit. You know well how, in our own 
 circle, the manifestations have gradually developed as you 
 have followed our advice. You may say to others that they 
 should use the same means. The cloud will in time be blown 
 away. Meantime, the causes which produce it are at least as 
 much in your hands as in ours. 
 
 ■f Imperator. 
 
t 119 ) 
 
 SECTION XV. 
 
 ^The argument was continued, almost without a break, 
 and with much energy and under powerful influ- 
 ence. I cannot hope to convey any idea of the 
 influence that possessed me, and seemed to inspire 
 my thoughts.] 
 
 RELIGIOUS TEACHING OF SPIRITUALISM. 
 
 You question whether the tendency of our teaching be not 
 Deism, or pure Theism, or even Atheism. It is indicative of 
 the ignorance which obtains among you, that one usually 
 accurate in thought and well-informed should class Theism 
 with Atheism. We know nothing of that cheerless, futile 
 nonsense which denies the existence of a God whose acts are 
 palpable to all, even to the meanest comprehension amongst 
 the most debased of His creatures. Were it not that we know 
 how man can blind himself, we should refuse to believe that 
 any one could so blunt his senses. 
 
 Doubtless we teach that there is one Supreme Being over 
 all : one who is not manifested as man has fancied, but who 
 has always announced to His creatures from time to time 
 such facts about Himself as they are able to comprehend ; or, 
 more strictly, has enabled them to develop in their minds 
 truer views of Himself and of His dealings. We tell you, as 
 Jesus told His followers, of a loving, holy, pure God, who 
 guides and governs the universe ; who is no impersonal con- 
 ception of the human mind, but a real spiritual Father; who 
 is no embodiment or personification of a force, but a really- 
 existent Being, albeit known to you only by His operations, 
 and through your conceptions of His nature and attributes. 
 This is what we have spoken to you, eradicating, so far as we 
 have been able, that which in your mind seemed to us to be 
 dishonouring to the All-Wise Father, but leaving undisturbed 
 other theological fancies which are not of special import. 
 
120 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 If you say that our teaching tends to show that there is no 
 such thing as absolute truth in such matters, we can but 
 express our thankfulness that we have so far made ourselves 
 intelligible. No doubt there is for you, in your present 
 imperfect state, no such thing as absolute truth, as there is no 
 such thing as absolute perfection. You surely do not expect 
 that your eye can gaze undimmed into mysteries which dazzle 
 the vision of the highest intelligences. Surely you do not 
 hope that your circumscribed mind can grasp the Infinite and 
 Incomprehensible ; that which to us in remotest cycles shall 
 still remain a subject of adoring wonder. The suggestion can 
 but be born of ignorance caused by the imperfect state of 
 development in which you now live. For you truth must be 
 variable, not to be grasped in its entirety, not to be viewed in 
 minute detail, but seen only in shadowy outline through an 
 encircling veil. We do not even pretend that we reveal to 
 you absolute truth, seeing that we ourselves are yet ignorant, 
 longing to dive deeper into much that is still mysterious. 
 We do but give you such aid as we are permitted in shadowing 
 forth for yourself conceptions of the Supreme, which are less 
 widely removed from truth than those which have passed 
 current among you as the immediate revelation of the Most 
 High. 
 
 We have succeeded in evolving a system of theology which 
 you admit to be coherent, beautiful, and elevated, and which 
 is acceptable to your mind. We have not ventured to do 
 more. We have shown you a God who commands your 
 adoration and respect. We have displayed to you a rational 
 and comprehensible view of your duty to Him, to mankind, 
 and to your own self ; and we have established our moral 
 code not by the persuasive inducements of a heaven and hell 
 such as you are wont to hear of, but by arguments not less 
 persuasive, by inducements which do not come home less 
 forcibly to the mind. 
 
 To say that we teach a motiveless religion is surely the 
 strangest misconception. What ! is it nothing that we teach 
 you that each act in this, the seed-time of your life, will bear 
 its own fruit ; that the results of conscious and deliberate sin 
 
THE INCENTIVE TO A HOLY LIFE. 
 
 121 
 
 must be remedied in sorrow and shame at the cost of painful 
 toil in far distant ages; that the erring spirit must gather up 
 the tangled thread and unravel the evil of which it was long 
 ages ago the perpetrator ? 
 
 " Is it nothing that we tell you that words and deeds are as 
 the pebble thrown into the stream which causes an ever- 
 widening ripple, ceaselessly enlarging in its effects ; and that 
 fo such influence you are accountable; that every word, 
 every act, is of incalculable import in its results and influence , 
 that the good which your influence produces is to you a source 
 of gratification hereafter, while of the ill you must view the 
 baleful effects in agony and remorse ? 
 
 Is it nothing that we tell you that reward and punishment 
 are not delayed till a far-off day faintly imagined, after a 
 period of torpor, almost of death, but are instant, immediate, 
 supervening upon sin by the action of an invariable law, and 
 acting ceaselessly until the cause which produced it is removed? 
 
 Is this no incentive to a life .of sanctity and hftliness ? 
 Which, say you, is the most potent incentive to a holy life of 
 progress : that creed which we have indicated ? or that which 
 teaches that a man may live as seems to him good, may wrong 
 his neighbours, insult his God, and debase his own spirit, may 
 break all laws divine and human, may be loathsome in his 
 moral nature, a blot on the name of man, and then, by a 
 fanatical cry, by a fancied faith, by a momentary operation of 
 the mind, may be fitted to enter into a dreamy heaven, where 
 his sole joy is to be that which his nature would view with 
 distaste, but which, now that the magic change has been 
 effected, is to become the congenial occupation of eternity ? 
 Which faith will move the degraded most ? To tell him that 
 for each sin, discovered or undiscovered by his fellow, he will 
 have to repent ; that each must be remedied, not by another, 
 but by himself ; and that no happiness is possible for him till 
 he grows a purer, better, truer wian ? or, to tell him that, do 
 what he will, heaven is open to the vilest reprobate, and that 
 a dying cry when fainting nature is wrung with agony, can 
 magically change his spirit, and send it, after a distant judg- 
 ment, pure and good, in the immediate presence of his God, in 
 
122 
 
 SPIEIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 a heaven where his unvarying occupation will he that which 
 he would now regard as most insipid and undesirable ? 
 
 We know and you know which faith is most likely to appeal 
 to a man’s reason and judgment ; which would be the strongest 
 deterrent from sin ; which would keep a wanderer in the 
 paths of rectitude most surely. And yet you say that we 
 preach a vague religion in place of a definite ; a colourless 
 gospel in place of one backed by a definite system of reward 
 and punishment. Nay, nay. We are they who preach a 
 definite, intelligible, clear system of reward and punishment, 
 but in doing so we do not feign a fabled heaven, a brutal hell, 
 and a human God. You are they who relegate to a far ofi 
 speck the day of retribution, and encourage the vilest to 
 believe that he may enter into the very presence of the Most 
 High sometime, somewhere, somehow, if he will only assent 
 to statements which he does not understand, which he does 
 not believe, and in the truth of which he feels no sort of real 
 interest. 
 
 We boldly assert that we teach a faith which is more 
 calculated to deter from open sin than any yet propounded 
 for man’s acceptance ; one that holds out to him more rational 
 hopes for his . hereafter, one that is to him more real, more 
 comprehensible than any which has yet been put before him. 
 That faith, we say again, is Divine. It comes to you as the 
 revelation of God. We do not expect or wish that it should 
 become current among men until they are fitted to receive it. 
 For that time we wait in patient prayer. When it does spread 
 among men and they can yield its precepts an intelligent 
 obedience, we do not hesitate to say that man will sin less in 
 hope of a cheap salvation ; that he will be guided by a more 
 intelligent and intelligible future ; that he will need fewer 
 coercive regulations, fewer punishments by human law, and 
 that the motive-spring within him will be found to be not less 
 forcible and enduring than the debased system of heavenly 
 inducements and hellish deterrents which can stand no serious 
 probing, and which, when once rationally examined, ceases to 
 allure or to deter, and crumbles into dust, baseless, irrational, 
 and absurd. 
 
SILENT WORKING. 
 
 123 
 
 [In answer to my objection that the outcome of Spirit- 
 ualism was bad in the mass, or, at anyrate, of 
 mixed benefit, it was written, July 10th, 1873] 
 
 We would speak to you on this point, and endeavour to 
 show you the errors into which you have fallen. You fall, 
 first of all, into a mistake almost inseparable from your cir- 
 cumscribed vision. You mistake the results which obtrude 
 themselves on your notice for the total outcome of the move- 
 ment. You are as they who are bewildered by the din and 
 outcry of a small sect of enthusiasts, and who mistake them 
 and their vociferations for a mighty power, for the voice of a 
 representative body of opinion; and lo ! they heed not the 
 silent power which works deep down below, which is seen only 
 in its results, and is not heard by its much crying. You hear 
 much of a noisy, undisciplined mass, not numerous, indeed, but 
 obtrusive ; and you say well that it is not such cries that can 
 regenerate the world. You shrink intellectually from their 
 utterances, and are inclined to question whether this, that is 
 so forbidding, can indeed be of God, and for good. A part 
 only is visible to you, and that part but dimly. Of the hidden 
 silent votaries of a faith which comes to them from the God 
 who is revealing Himself to them in ways which come home 
 to their several necessities, you hear and know nothing. Such 
 are outside of your ken; though they may and do exist all 
 around you, the faithful communers with the spheres, who 
 know in what they have believed, and who drink in, hour by 
 hour, fresh store of grace and knowledge, waiting for the time 
 when they, too, shall be emancipated from the prison-house of 
 the body, and rise to take their part in the glorious work. 
 
 And so it chances that, both from the obtrusive crying of 
 the one and from the silence of the other, both from the 
 limited nature of your faculties and from the still more limited 
 opportunities for observation, you take a narrow view, and 
 substitute a part for the whole, representing the great body 
 by that limb which is least fairly a specimen of it. We are 
 disposed to question your conclusion as to any phase of Spirit- 
 ualism being bad or mischievous in its outcome, while we deny 
 
124 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 altogether your ability to pronounce any opinion upon the 
 broad question in its ultimate issues. 
 
 For what is the real truth ? The operations of the Supreme 
 are uniform in this as in all things else. The evil and the 
 good are mingled. He does not use great messengers for that 
 work which can be accomplished by more ordinary spirits. 
 He does not send the high and exalted ones to minister con- 
 viction to an undeveloped and earth-bound spirit. Far other- 
 wise: He proportions his causes to the effects which they are 
 intended to produce. In the operation of the ordinary pro- 
 cesses of nature, He does not produce insignificant results 
 from gigantic causes. So in this domain of spirit agency. 
 They who are crude in intellect, and undeveloped in aspiration, 
 whose souls do not soar to heights of moral and intellectual 
 grandeur, such are the charge of spirits who know best how 
 to reach and touch them; who proportion their means to the 
 end in view; and who most frequently use material means for 
 operating on an undeveloped intelligence. To the uneducated 
 in mind and soul, the spiritually or intellectually unprogressed, 
 they speak in the language most intelligible to their wants. 
 The physical operation of force that can be gauged by external 
 sense is necessary to assure some — nay, very many, of exist- 
 ence beyond the grave. 
 
 Such receive their demonstration, not from the inspiring 
 voices of angels, such as those who in every age have spoken 
 to the inner souls of the man who formed and guided that 
 age, but from spirits like unto themselves, who know their 
 wants, their mental habits and altitudes, and who can supply 
 that proof which will come home to and be acceptable by those 
 to whom they minister. And you require to remember, good 
 friend, that extreme intellectual may co-exist with scarce any 
 spiritual development; even as a progressive spirit may be 
 hampered by the body in which it is confined, or bound down 
 by imperfect mental culture. Not to every soul is the spirit 
 voice audible. Not to every spirit is the same proof made 
 clear. And it is very frequently the case that souls which 
 have been so hampered by superabundance of corporeal or 
 
METHODS OF INFLUENCE. 
 
 125 
 
 deficiency of mental development, find their spiritual progress 
 in a sphere where those faults are remedied. 
 
 For nature is not changed all at once as by a magic wand. 
 Idiosyncrasy is gradually modified and elevated by slow de- 
 grees. Hence, to one who has been born with mental faculties 
 in a high state of development, and who has improved them 
 by perpetual culture, the means employed to reach the unedu- 
 cated and unrefined must needs seem coarse and rude, even as 
 the issues must seem rough and undesirable. The voice is 
 harsh, and the zeal evoked is not according to discretion. The 
 nature is being gradually changed from a blank and cheerless 
 materialism, or a still more hopeless indifferentism, and there 
 springs within them an enthusiasm at the new life which they 
 feel swelling in their souls. They give vent to the joy they 
 feel in tones not cultured but not less real, not pleasing, per- 
 haps, to your critical ear, but not less grateful to the ear of 
 the Good Father than the cry of the returning son who has 
 wandered from his home and disowned his kindred, lhe 
 voice is real, and that is what He and we regard. We are not. 
 scrupulously nice to mark the exact accents in which the cry 
 
 is syllabled. , t . 
 
 So to the spiritually undeveloped the means used to insure 
 
 conviction are not the voices of the Angels who minister be- 
 tween God and man, for they would cry m vain. Means are 
 used which may lead the spirit to ponder on spiritual things, 
 and guide it to discern them spiritually. Through the agency 
 of material operations the spirit is led up to the spiritual. 
 Such operations you are familiar with, and the time will never 
 come when they will be unnecessary. To some it will always- 
 be requisite that such training should be the commencement 
 of their spiritual life. And none can deny the wisdom ot 
 adapting means to ends, but those who are unwise and narrow 
 in the view they take. The only danger is in substituting the 
 physical for the spiritual, and resting in it. It is but a means, 
 a valuable and indispensable means to some, which is intended 
 to eventuate in spiritual development. 
 
 So, then, to confine ourselves to the more conspicuous ex- 
 ample which offends you— the rude, uncultured, undeveloped 
 
126 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 spirit. Is the voice which cries to Him in tones which sound 
 so harsh, and which produces such results, the voice of evil as 
 you seem to fancy ? 
 
 With the question of evil we have dealt before and shall 
 deal again; but here we fearlessly say that, save in cases 
 readily discernible, and which bear on their face the marks of 
 their origin, it is not as you fancy. 
 
 Evil there is enough, alas 1 nor will it cease till the adver- 
 saries be overthrown, and the victory be complete. We are 
 far from denying or making light of the danger which 
 encompasses us and you ; hut it is not such as you imagine. 
 Not everything ill-regulated, uncultured, or rude is necessarily 
 bad. Far from it! There is little, very little there that is 
 bad ; while evil may lurk where you least suspect it. Those 
 struggling souls, so young in their spiritual life, are learning 
 to know that an existence of infinite progression is before 
 them, and that their progress then depends on their mental, 
 bodily, and spiritual development now. So they try to care 
 for their bodies. In place of grovelling drunkards they 
 become enthusiastic abstainers from intoxicating drinks ; and 
 in their zeal they would force the habit upon all. They 
 cannot discern nice shades of difference. And frequently 
 their zeal outruns their discretion. But is the rabid enthusiast, 
 with all his illogical reasonings and his exaggerated utterances 
 offensive to cultured taste, is he a worse man spiritually than 
 was the loutish, loafing sot, whose mind was paralysed with 
 fiery drink, whose body was defiled with sensuality, and 
 whose moral and spiritual progress was utterly checked by 
 habitual intoxication ? You know that he is not ; that he is 
 alive and awake to what he believes to be his duty ; that he 
 is not the hopeless, aimless creature that he was ; that he has 
 risen from the dead, a resurrection which causes joy and 
 thankfulness amongst the angels of God. What if his cries 
 lack in logic what they gain in zeal and energy ! They are 
 the voice of conviction, the cry of a spirit awaking from the 
 lethargy of death. There is more value, friend, to us and to 
 our God in the one earnest, honest voice of a spirit struggling 
 to make its new-found convictions heard, more to gladden us 
 
ENTHUSIASM AND CONVENTIONALITY. 
 
 127 
 
 in our mission, and to cheer us on to renewed exertion than 
 in the conventional, dreamy dilettante respectability which 
 will only utter its half convictions in the monotonous drawl 
 of decorous fashion, and will, moreover, he studious to avoid 
 even a whisper that may chance to be unpopular. 
 
 You say that popular or vulgar Spiritualism is undesirable ; 
 that its utterances are rude, and its tone repellent. We tell 
 you nay. Those who thus forcibly state their convictions in 
 terms not very exact and polished come home to the masses 
 far more than any others could with polite and polished 
 utterance. The rough jagged stone shot from their sling with 
 all the rude energy of assured conviction, is more forcible 
 than the calculated utterance of the most cultured and refined 
 mind, whose words are measured by custom, and toned down 
 to the line of respectable moderation. Because they are rough 
 they are serviceable ; and because they deal with actual 
 physical facts they come home to minds which are incapable 
 of discerning metaphysical distinctions. 
 
 In the army of the spirit messengers there are ministers 
 suited to every want. There is for the hard materialist who 
 knows of nought but matter, the spirit that can show him of 
 an invisible force superior to material laws. To the shrinking, 
 timid soul which cares not for great issues, so it can be assured 
 of the welfare of its own loved ones and of reunion with 
 them, there comes the voice of the departed, breathing in 
 recognisable accents, the test needed for conviction, or convey- 
 ing assurance of reunion and of affectionate intercourse in the 
 hereafter. To the spirit that is best approached through the 
 avenues of the mind by processes of logical argument, there 
 comes the voice that demonstrates external agency, evolves 
 orderly and sequential proof, and builds up by slow degrees 
 an edifice of conviction founded on indisputable fact. Aye, 
 and above all, to those who have passed beyond the alphabet 
 of spiritual agency, and who long to progress further and 
 further into the mysteries which are not penetrable by the 
 eye of sense, to such come teachers who can tell of the deep 
 things of God, and reveal to the aspiring soul richer views of 
 Him and of its destiny. To each there is the suitable 
 
128 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 messenger and the appropriate message, even as God has ever 
 adapted his means to the end in view. 
 
 Yet once again. Remember that Spiritualism is not, as was 
 the Gospel message of old, a professedly external revelation, 
 coming from the spiritual hierarchy to mankind : proclaimed 
 as a revelation, as a religion, as a means of salvation. It is 
 all this : but it is also other than this. To you, and to such 
 as approach it from your point of view, it is this : but to the 
 lowly and suffering, the sorrow-laden and ignorant, it is other 
 far. It is the assurance of personal expectation of reunion ; 
 an individual consolation, of private application first of all. 
 It is, in effect, the bridging over, for divers purposes, of the 
 gulf which separates the world of sense from the world of 
 spirit. With the disembodied as with the incarned, degrees 
 of development differ : and to the undeveloped man comes 
 most readily the spirit who is on his own mental plane. 
 Hence it is that manifestations vary in kind and in degree ; 
 and that frequently enough the scum rises to the surface, and 
 prevents you from seeing what is going on beneath. 
 
 Could you see, as you now see, the signs which have 
 attended and followed similar movements in other ages of the 
 world, you would not fall into the error of supposing that 
 these signs are exclusively confined to our mission. They are 
 inherent in your human nature, inseparable from anything 
 which deeply 6tirs the heart of man. They attended the 
 mission of Moses to the Israelites of old, of the Hebrew 
 Prophets, as well as of the Christ. They have appeared at 
 every fresh epoch in the history of man, and they attend the 
 present development of divine knowledge. They are no more 
 a sample of our work than in your political history are the 
 ravino-s of the excited demagogue evidence of real and 
 influential political opinion. 
 
 You must distinguish : and to one who lives in the midst 
 of a great movement, it is not always easy to do so. It will 
 be easier when, in the time to come, you look back upon the 
 struggle which is now seething around you. 
 
 We shall have more to say in answer to you. 
 
 For the present — Farewell. 
 
 + Imperator. 
 
( 129 ) 
 
 SECTION XYI. 
 
 [As I attempted to put other objections, many of 
 which occurred to me, I was stopped.] 
 
 We have something to say by way of summing up what 
 has already been spoken. You do not sufficiently grasp the 
 fact that religion has a very scanty hold on the mass of 
 mankind ; nor do you understand the adaptability of what 
 we say to the needs and aspirations of mankind. Or perhaps 
 it is necessary that you be reminded of what you cannot see 
 clearly in your present state, and in the midst of your present 
 associations. You cannot see as we see the carelessness that 
 has crept over men as to the future state. Those who have 
 thought about their future condition have come to know that 
 they can find out nothing about it except that the prevalent 
 notions are vague, foolish, contradictory, and unsatisfying. 
 Their reasoning faculties convince them that the Revelation of 
 God which they are taught to believe to be of plenary inspira- * 
 tion, contains plain marks of human adulteration ; that it will 
 not stand the test of sifting such as is applied to works profess- 
 edly of human origin; and that the priestly fiction that reason is 
 no measure of revelation, that it must be left behind upon the 
 threshold of inquiry, and give place to faith, is a cunningly- 
 planned means of preventing man from discovering the errors 
 and contradictions which throng the pages of that infallible 
 guide which is forced upon him. Those who use the touch- 
 stone of reason discover them readily enough : those who do 
 not, betake themselves to the refuge of faith, and become 
 blind devotees, fanatical, bigoted, and irrational ; conformed 
 to a groove in which they have been educated, and from which 
 they have not broken loose simply because they have not 
 dared to think. 
 
 It would be hard for man to devise a means of cramping 
 the mind and dwarfing the spirit more complete than this 
 persuading a man that he must not think about matters of 
 10 
 
130 
 
 SPTRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 religion. It is one which paralyses all freedom of thought, 
 and renders it almost impossible for the soul to rise. The 
 spirit is condemned to a hereditary religion, whether suited or 
 not to its wants. It is absolutely without choice as to that 
 which is the food of its real life. That which may have suited 
 a far-off ancestor may be quite unsuited to a struggling spirit 
 that lives in other times from those in which such ideas had 
 force and vitality. And so the spirits vital nourishment is 
 made a question of birth and locality. It is a matter over 
 which they can exercise no personal control, whether they are 
 to be Christian, Mahommedan, or, as you say, heathen ; whether 
 their God is to be the Great Spirit of the Red Indian, or the 
 fetish of the savage ; whether his prophet be Christ, or Maho- 
 met, or Confucius ; in short, whether their notion of religion 
 be that prevalent in east, west, north, or south; for in all quar- 
 ters they have evolved for themselves a theology which they 
 teach their children as of binding force, as supremely necessary 
 for salvation. 
 
 It is important that you ponder well this matter. The 
 assumption that any one religion, which may commend itself 
 to any one race, in any portion of your globe, has a monopoly 
 of Divine Truth, is a human fiction, born of man’s vanity and 
 pride. There is no such monopoly of truth in any system of 
 theology which flourishes or has flourished among men. Each 
 is, in its degree, imperfect ; each has its points of truth adapted 
 to the wants of those to whom it was given, or by whom it 
 was evolved. Each has its errors : and none can be com- 
 mended to those whose habits of thought and whose spiritual 
 necessities are different, as being the spiritual food which God 
 has given to man. It is but human frailty to fancy such a 
 thing. Man likes to believe that he is the exclusive possessor 
 of some germ of truth. We smile as we see him hugging 
 himself in the delusion, congratulating himself on the fancied 
 possession, and persuading himself that it is necessary for him 
 to send missionaries far and wide, to bear his nostrum to other 
 lands and other peoples, who do but laugh at his pretensions 
 and deride his claims. 
 
 It is, indeed, supremely marvellous to us that your wise men 
 
NO MONOPOLY OF TRUTH IN ANY ONE RELIGION. 13.1 
 
 have been and are unable to see that the ray of truth which 
 has shone even unto them, and which they have done their 
 best to obscure, is but one out of many which have been shed 
 by the Sun of Truth on your world. Divine Truth is too clear 
 a light to be tolerated by human eyes. It must be tempered 
 by an earthly medium, conveyed through a human vehicle, 
 and darkened somewhat lest it blind the unaccustomed eye. 
 Only when the body of earth is cast aside, and the spirit soars 
 to higher planes, can it afford to dispense with the interpos- 
 ing medium which has dulled the brightness of the heavenly 
 light. * 
 
 All races of men have had a beam of this light amongst 
 them. They have received it as best they might, have fos- 
 tered it or dimmed it according to their development, and 
 have in the end adapted to their different wants that which 
 they were able to receive. None has reason to vaunt itself in 
 exclusive possession, or to make futile efforts to force on others 
 its own view of truth. So long as your world has endured, so 
 long has it been true that the Brahmin, the Mahommedan, the 
 Jew, and the Christian, has had his peculiar light, which he has 
 considered to be his special heritage from heaven. And, as if 
 to make the fallacy more conspicuous, that Church which 
 claims to itself an exclusive possession of Divine Truth, and 
 deems it right to carry the lamp throughout all lands, is most 
 conspicuous for its own manifold divisions. Christendom’s 
 divisions, the incoherent fragments into which the Church of 
 Christ is rent, the frenzied bitterness with which each assails 
 other for the pure love of God ; these are the best answers to 
 the foolish pretension that Christianity possesses a monopoly 
 of Divine Truth. 
 
 But the days are approaching when a new ray of light shall 
 be shed on this mist of human ignorance. This geographical 
 sectarianism shall give place before the enlightenment caused 
 by the spread of the New Revelation, for which mankind is 
 riper than you think. They shall be made to see that each 
 system of religion is a ray of truth from the Central Sun, 
 dimmed, indeed, by man’s ignorance, but having within it a 
 a germ of vital truth. Each must see the truth in his 
 
132 
 
 SPIKIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 neighbour’s belief, and learn that best of lessons, to dwell on 
 the good rather than on the evil; to recognise the Divine even 
 through human error, and to acknowledge the godlike even in 
 that which has not commended itself to his own wants hitherto. 
 The time draws nigh when the sublime truths which we are 
 commissioned to proclaim, rational and noble as they are, when 
 viewed from the standpoint of reason, shall wipe away from 
 the face of God’s earth the sectarian jealousy and theological 
 bitterness, the anger and ill-will, the rancour and Pharisaic 
 pride which have disgraced the name of religion, and have 
 rendered theology a byeword amongst men. Alas ! alas ! that 
 that divine science which should tell man of the nature of 
 his God, and in telling should breathe into his soul some- 
 what of that divine love which emanates from Deity ; alas ! 
 that it should have become the battle-ground for sects and 
 parties, the arid plain where the pettiest prejudices and the 
 meanest passions may be aired, the barren, cheerless waste, 
 where man may most surely demonstrate his own ignorance 
 of his God, about whose nature and operations he so bitterly 
 disputes ! 
 
 Theology ! it is a bye- word even amongst you. You know 
 how, in the ponderous volumes which contain the records of 
 man’s ignorance about his God, may be found the bitterest 
 invective, the most unchristian bitterness, the most unblush- 
 ing misrepresentation. Theology ! it has been the excuse for 
 quenching every holiest instinct, for turning the hand of the 
 foeman against kindred and friends, for burning and torturing 
 and rending the bodies of the saintliest of mankind, for 
 exiling and ostracising those whom the world should have 
 delighted to honour, for subverting man’s best instincts and 
 quenching his most natural affections. Aye, and it is still the 
 arena in which man’s basest passions vaunt themselves, stalk- 
 ing with head erect and brazen front over all that dares to 
 separate itself from the stereotyped rule. “ Avaunt ! there is 
 no room for reason where theology holds sway.” It is still 
 the cause for most that may make true men to blush, for in 
 its stifling atmosphere free thought gasps, and man becomes 
 an unreasoning puppet. 
 
THE OLD ORDER, AND THE NEW. 
 
 133 
 
 To such base ends has man degraded the science which 
 should teach him of his God. 
 
 We tell you, friend, that the end draws nigh. It shall not 
 be always so. As it was in the days which preceded the com- 
 ing of the Son of Man, as it has been in the midnight hours 
 which precede every day-dawn from on high, so it is now. 
 The night of ignorance is fast passing away. The shackles 
 which priestcraft has hung around struggling souls shall be 
 knocked off; and in place of fanatical folly, and ignorant Phari- 
 saism, and misty speculation, you shall have a reasonable reli- 
 gion and a Divine Faith. You shall have richer views of God, 
 truer notions of your duty and destiny ; you shall know that 
 they whom you call dead are alive amongst you ; living, as 
 they lived on earth, only more really ; ministering to you with 
 undiminished love ; animated in their unwearying intercourse 
 with the same affection which they bore to you whilst they 
 were yet incarned. 
 
 It was said of the Christ that he brought life and immor- 
 tality to light. It is true in a wider sense than the writer 
 meant. The outcome of the Revelation of Christ, which is 
 only now beginning to be seen amongst men, is in its truest 
 sense the abolition of death, the demonstration of immortality. 
 In that great truth — man never dies, cannot die, hoivever he 
 may wish it — in that great truth rests the key to the future. 
 The immortality of man, held not as an article of faith, a 
 clause in a creed, but as a piece of personal knowledge and 
 individual experience, this is the key-note of the religion of 
 the future. In its trail come all the grand truths we teach, 
 all the noblest conceptions of duty, the grandest views of 
 destiny, the truest realisations of life. 
 
 You cannot grasp them now. They daze and bewilder your 
 spirit, unaccustomed to such a glare. But, mark well, friend 
 brief space shall pass before you recognise in our words the 
 lineaments of truth, the aspect of the divine. 
 
 + Imperator. 
 
( 134 ) 
 
 SECTION XVII. 
 
 [I think that all my friends were satisfied that I was 
 too persistent in my objections. I, however, felt 
 that I had no conscientious course open but to do 
 my best to probe to the very depths this strange 
 message that stirred me so violently. I could not 
 satisfy myself : nor could I rest unsatisfied. I 
 recurred to the strife. Imperator’s argument 
 being concluded, I pondered it carefully, and two 
 days after (July 14th, 1873) made a rejoinder on 
 the points which still seemed difficult to me. These 
 referred to — 1, Identity ; 2, The nature and work 
 of Jesus Christ ; 3, External evidence confirmatory 
 of the claims made. — I requested that independent 
 communications should be made through another 
 medium, and expressed my intention of seeking 
 out some medium with a view to getting such 
 authentication. I also traversed the views put 
 forward respecting the teachings in many ways 
 which it is not now important to particularise. 
 
 My answer expressed fairly my convictions at 
 that time ; but I see now that my rejoinders were 
 based upon insufficient knowledge, and they have 
 since been met in many ways ; sufficiently, at any 
 rate, to assure me that what remains unanswered 
 will in due time receive its reply. But, at the 
 time, I was very far from being satisfied, and 
 expressed my dissent emphatically. In reply it 
 was written as follows] : — 
 
 Friend, your statement has the merit of candour and per- 
 spicuity, which you allege that ours lacks. We have no 
 difficulty in seeing your difficulty, though we find it impossible 
 to supply it ; and undesirable even if it were possible. If we 
 fail at once to comply with all the conditions which you 
 prescribe, we say again that it is from no lack of desire to 
 afford you every satisfaction. We desire earnestly to bear 
 conviction in upon your mind; but in so doing we must use 
 
OBJECTIONS AND REJOINDERS. 
 
 135 
 
 our own means at our own time. It would be to us most sad, 
 most deplorable, that our work should be marred or delayed 
 by the failure of part of our plans. If it were so we should 
 regret it both on your account and on our own ; but we are 
 unable to change the result. We are not omnipotent ; and we 
 cannot influence you save by the ordinary processes of argu- 
 ment and evidence which do not now reach your mind. That 
 being so, we recognise the fact that you are not yet prepared 
 to receive our words, and we wait in patience for the time 
 when they shall find an entrance into your mind. 
 
 Into most of the questions which you have raised we do 
 not follow you. They have been answered before, so far as 
 it is now desirable to answer them. Nothing that we could 
 now say would add any force to the replies which have been 
 already given. Into matters of opinion it is idle for us to 
 enter. Whether what w r e say seems to you consistent with 
 what we do or have previously done, is a very small matter. 
 You are not now in the best condition to judge dispassionately 
 on such a matter. Whether the eventual outcome of what 
 you call Spiritualism is what we say, or what you think, is 
 equally beside the point. We view the question from a more 
 extended standpoint, one to which you are not yet able to 
 mount. Your vision is circumscribed, and we see with clearer 
 eye than yours. Whether you consider our teaching to be a 
 legitimate development of Christianity is also of small moment. 
 You admit its moral grandeur, and we need not discuss the 
 meaning of development. Whether you believe it or not, it 
 is teaching of which the world stands in sore need ; teaching 
 which it will sooner or later receive with thankfulness, whether 
 you accept it or not ; whether or not you receive us, and are 
 prepared to aid us in disseminating it. We had hoped that 
 we had found an instrument suited to our wants. We hope 
 so still ; for we know that the phase through which you are 
 now passing is but a transient one, soon to give place to that 
 assured conviction which is born of doubt. But even if it 
 were not so, we must bow to the Almighty fiat, and seek anew 
 for means of carrying on the work which we have in charge. 
 No instrument is necessary to our end ; though a good one is 
 
136 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 desirable. We should deplore greatly that you should put 
 aside what is to you a means of enlightenment and progress. 
 But over the issue we have no power. Should you, in the 
 freedom of your will, decide to do so, we shall bow to the 
 decision, and regret that your mind is not sufficiently devel- 
 oped to accept what we have presented to it. 
 
 Any attempt to prove identity by such imposed tests as you 
 have put upon us would be worse than useless. 
 
 It would probably end in failure ; and would certainly fail 
 to ensure conviction. It may be possible for us to give colla- 
 teral proofs from time to time. If it be so, we shall gladly 
 avail ourselves of the opportunity; and if your connection 
 with us is prolonged, you will find hereafter that many such 
 proofs are accumulated. But the validity of our claims must 
 rest on some more solid foundation than that. The evidence 
 is not to be built on so shadowy a foundation. It would not 
 stand the test of time. It is on moral grounds that we must 
 appeal to you ; and you yourself, we trust, will one day see 
 that the physical is transient and unsatisfactory. For the 
 present your mind is not sufficiently calm to weigh judicially 
 the moral evidence. We are either of God or of the devil. If 
 of God, as our words argue, then we shall not be likely to 
 fabricate a story which, as you say, the world would receive 
 with derision. But if we are, as you incline to think, of evil, 
 then it rests with you to account for a story, which bears on 
 its face the marks of a Divine origin, coming from an evil 
 source. We do not trouble ourselves much on this score. We 
 have no fear that what we have said will, in the end when 
 fairly weighed, be held to be attributable to an evil source. 
 It is to the matter of the message rather than to the character 
 of the messenger that we direct attention. 
 
 For ourselves it is a small matter. For God’s work and 
 God’s truth it is serious. For you and for your future it is 
 of most vital moment. It may be well that you should have 
 time for thought and reflection. The growth of the revela- 
 tion which has centred round you has been rapid and 
 dazzling. It may be well that you should have time for 
 serious and sober thought before we say more. We think 
 
FUTILE ATTEMPTS AT CORROBORATION. 
 
 137 
 
 that we may well withdraw for a time, and allow you to be 
 at peace with your thoughts. We do not leave you alone; 
 but rather with guardians more vigilant, and with guides 
 more experienced. It is better, too, for us ; for time may de- 
 cide whether it be possible for us to continue the work begun; 
 or whether precious time has been wasted, and the work must 
 be begun anew. It must in any case be a grievous disappoint- 
 ment that the fruit of so many labours, of so many prayers, 
 should drop untimely to the ground. But we and you must 
 act according to that light which is in us as the guide of our 
 actions. We are responsible in the sight of God for so much 
 as that ; and we must see to it that we weigh the issues aright. 
 Our prayers shall be not less frequent nor less earnest than 
 heretofore. We trust that they may be more effectual. 
 
 Farewell : and may the Great God guide and direct you. 
 
 + Imperator. 
 
 [After this I made several attempts at communication. 
 
 I also went, as I had intimated, to a medium to 
 whom I was not known. I tried to the best of my 
 power to elicit some information as to my guides, 
 and especially as to the identity of Imperator. 
 
 The effort was vain. All I got was that the spirit 
 with me was Zoud, a Russian historian. I in- 
 quired as soon as I got home by writing, and was 
 told that the statement was false. It was said] : 
 
 We are not able to advise you to place reliance on the state- 
 ments made. They are not trustworthy. If, contrary to oui 
 advice, you place yourself in communication with strange 
 spirits who do not know you, and who are not in harmony 
 with us, you will receive communications which are perplexing 
 and unreliable. 
 
 [I remonstrated energetically, and said that it would 
 have been so easy to satisfy my reasonable desire.] 
 
 ISTo. We wish to give you every satisfaction ; but the chief 
 ordered us not to attend, and we were unable to prevent you 
 from going. You get more harm than you can know from 
 
138 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 such experiments in your present state. We urge you very 
 earnestly to refrain from such sittings in your present state, 
 lest evil ensue. You require only patience. Impatient 
 attempts to force matters on do but cause annoyance and dis- 
 tress to all of us. Far better that you rest in peace, and await 
 the issue. The chief will do what is right, and any premature 
 steps are mistaken. 
 
 But (I remonstrated) you all seem leagued to bewilder us. 
 Can you do nothing that I ask ? 
 
 Friend, you cannot have the mathematical proof that you 
 crave. Nor can we give you proof exactly when you wish 
 for it. Nor would it be good for you if we were able. All 
 is arranged wisely and well. 
 
 [The spirit who communicated thus is the same who 
 gave the earlier messages. I was fain to stop, for 
 I could get no satisfaction. On July 24th, some 
 questions were put on theological questions, one 
 touching the passage, “ I and my Father are one ” 
 (John x. 30). I had insisted, in the course of con- 
 versation, that they were incompatible with Im- 
 perator’s statements. A question was accordingly 
 asked, and the explanation given was as follows] : — 
 
 The words which you have quoted must be taken in their 
 context. Jesus was at Jerusalem at the Feast of the Dedica- 
 tion, and the old question was put by the Jews — “If thou be 
 the Christ, tell us plainly?” They wished for a sign as you 
 wish for some resolution of your doubts. He referred them, 
 as we have referred you, to the works and tenor of his teach- 
 ing, as evidences of its Divine origin. Those, he said, who 
 were prepared— his “Father’s sheep” — heard and answered his 
 voice. They accepted his mission. The questioners could not 
 accept, because they could not understand, and were not pre- 
 pared to believe. The prepared ones heard and followed Jesus 
 to eternal life, to progress and happiness. Such was the Father’s 
 will, and no man had power to hinder it. They were kept in 
 the Father’s hand, and in the mission which was to regenerate 
 
139 
 
 “I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE.” 
 
 them and mankind at large, the Father and the Teacher were 
 One — “I and my Father are One.” 
 
 Such were the claims put forward. The Jews understood 
 them as an assumption of Divine honour, and stoned him. 
 But he justified himself. How ? By admitting his Divinity, 
 and defending the claim — I am the Son of God, and I prove 
 it? Nay, verily. But he, the pure, truthful Spirit, over 
 whose transparent sincerity no shadow of duplicity ever passed, 
 he asked, in amazement, for which of his miracles they were 
 about to stone him. For none, his accusers said, but for 
 blasphemously claiming union with the undivided Godhead. 
 Thus challenged, he distinctly put aside the claim. Why, he 
 says, in your own sacred records, the term is applied to many 
 on whom the Spirit was outpoured, “Ye are gods.” How 
 then can it be blasphemy to say of Him whom the Father 
 himself hath sanctified and separated for so special a work, 
 He is the Son of God ? If you doubt, regard the works I do. 
 There is no claim of Divinity there, but the reverse. 
 
 [On July 25th, we had a sitting at which Imperator 
 controlled, and some information was given ; but 
 nothing that touched my mental condition. The 
 other members of the circle were not in sympathy 
 with my difficulties, and during the control their 
 questions were answered, and their difficulties 
 solved. My spirit being in abeyance did not 
 affect the conditions. Then a friend of mine, 
 lately passed from earth, was brought, and strong 
 proof of identity, by means of reference to events 
 known only to me and him, was given. Though 
 impressed, I was not satisfied. Then came the 
 vacation, and I left London for Ireland. Then I 
 had curious communications respecting a friend 
 who lay sick in London, but nothing that bore 
 upon the question now at issue. I then went on 
 to Wales, and received on August 24th another 
 message from Imperator, which it is necessary to 
 transcribe. I had endeavoured to elicit answers, 
 and was warned that it was not well for me to do 
 so. My bodLy condition was below par, and my 
 mental state was disturbed. I was advised to 
 
140 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 review the past rather than to attempt to look 
 further into the future.] 
 
 Employ yourself in meditating on the past. Think care- 
 fully over that which we have been permitted to do for you. 
 Weigh again and again the total outcome of what is before 
 you. Estimate its value, and watch the moral tendency of our 
 words. We do not blame you for doubts which have been 
 the natural outcome of your peculiar frame of mind. It 
 is inevitable that you should weigh and test everything, and 
 your impetuous nature hurries you along too fast, while a 
 mind naturally inclined to doubt conflicts with the two eager 
 impetuosity. Hence your distracted state of mind. Hence 
 the difficulties in your way. We do not blame : we do but 
 point out that such a frame of mind is not that which is best 
 fitted for impartial judgment. It needs that you should curb 
 your impetuous mind, and resist the tendency to form hasty 
 conclusions on the one hand, while you put aside carping 
 criticism, and allow weight to that which we may call the 
 constructive side of our teaching. At present, you dwell too 
 exclusively on the destructive. 
 
 And remember, friend, that your doubts and difficulties 
 must, until they are removed, operate as a barrier to our fur- 
 ther progress. They have already hindered us much, and 
 caused us to withhold much. This is unavoidable. We urge 
 you, then, to clear your mind once and for ever, by stem 
 exercise of will, of all the mists which now becloud your 
 judgment. This is what we hope for as the result of rest and 
 isolation. It is all important that the circle to whom we com- 
 municate should be in perfect harmony. Rising doubts are 
 to us as the fogs of earth which bewilder the traveller, and 
 hinder him on his way. We cannot work in the midst of 
 them. They must be removed. And we do not doubt that 
 an honest and unprejudiced survey of the past will clear 
 them away : as the sun of truth rises on your horizon, they 
 will disperse, and you will be astonished at the prospect that 
 shall dawn upon you. 
 
 Be not too eager. If anything seems new and strange to 
 
“WAIT ANT) PRAY.” 
 
 141 
 
 you, do not therefore reject it. Estimate it according to your 
 light, and, if need he, put it aside to wait for further enlighten- 
 ment. To the honest and true heart all else will come in 
 God’s time. In the end you will arrive at a plane of know- 
 ledge, when much that now seems so new and strange will be 
 revealed and explained. Only keep before you the fact that 
 there is much that is new and true of which you now know 
 nothing; many fresh truths to be learned; many old errors 
 to be dissipated. Wait and pray. 
 
 + Imperator. 
 
C 142 ) 
 
 SECTION XVIII. 
 
 [On Aug. 26, 1873, I had been reading over previous 
 communications, and had thought much about the 
 symbolic nature of spirit utterances. I had won- 
 dered whether we erred in being too literal in their 
 interpretation. I put the question, and was told 
 that I was in no fit state for communing. This is 
 one instance out of many where the difficulty of 
 communication was apparent. I was told to re- 
 fresh myself. The day was rainy, dreary, and 
 comfortless. I was below par, and in a strange 
 place, being from home on a visit. I did as I was 
 bid, and then it was written, at first with pain 
 and slowly, then more easily] : — 
 
 The conditions, though still unfavourable, are better. You 
 would be well advised to prepare yourself always, both men- 
 tally and bodily, for communion. As we have before said 
 that we cannot operate when the body is overloaded with 
 food, so now we say, that a system depressed and weak is not 
 favourable for our purposes. We do not advocate the depres- 
 sion of the vital powers by neglect of due food any more than 
 we countenance gluttony and drunkenness. We preach the 
 mean in all things where it is knowable. Asceticism and 
 self-indulgence are the extremes which are evil in their 
 results. That is the mean for each which leaves the bodily 
 powers in perfect play whilst it leaves the mental faculties 
 unclouded and unexcited. A clear, active, undepressed yet 
 unexcited mind we ask for, and a body whose powers are 
 vigorous and neither in excess nor defect of their capacity. 
 Each man might do much by the exercise of a judicious self- 
 control, to render himself better fitted both for his work on 
 earth, and also for receiving instruction from those who are 
 sent to minister to him. The habits of daily life are frequently 
 unwise, and lead to a diseased state of body and mind. We 
 
THE RELIGION OF THE BODY, AND OF THE SOUL. 143 
 
 lay down no rule beyond the general one of care and moder- 
 ation. We can only tell what suits individual wants by being 
 brought into personal contact. Each must learn to settle for 
 himself what is best for him. 
 
 It is part of our mission to teach the religion of the body 
 as well as of the soul. We proclaim to you, and to all, that 
 the due care of the body is an essential prerequisite to the 
 progress of the soul. So long as spirit is prisoned in the earth 
 body through the avenues of which it finds its expression on 
 the plane of matter, it is essential that you care intelligently 
 for that body, lest it react on the spirit and affect it injuri- 
 ously. Yet it is only in rare cases that intelligent discrimi- 
 nation is exercised with regard to food and clothing, and the 
 habits of life which have so great an effect on spirit. The 
 artificial state of existence which prevails, the ignorance with 
 respect to all or nearly all that influences health, the vicious 
 habits of excess that are so nearly universal, these are all bars 
 and hindrances to true spiritual life. 
 
 Touching the matters on which you question, we remind 
 you that we have many times said that we take the knowledge 
 already existing in the mind, refine and spiritualise it, and 
 build upon it as a foundation, only rejecting that which is 
 noxious and untrue. We deal with old opinions as Jesus dealt 
 with the Jewish law. He apparently abrogated the letter 
 while He gave to the spirit a newer and nobler meaning. We 
 do the same with the opinions and dogmas of modern Chris- 
 tianity as He did with the dicta of the Mosaic law, and the 
 glosses of Pharisaical and Rabbinical orthodoxy. Even as He 
 proclaimed the truth, true for all ages, that the letter might 
 well be dispensed with, so that the spirit were retained ; so do 
 we, in words drawn from your own teachings, say to you that 
 the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. Rigid adherence to 
 the strict letter of the law is quite compatible with — nay, 
 usually leads to — neglect of the true spirit. The man who 
 begins by observing scrupulously the minutise of the ritual 
 law ends by becoming the proud, arrogant, unlovely Pharisee, 
 whose religion is swallowed up by his theology, and who yet 
 can thank God that he is not like other men. 
 
144 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 It is against this insidious form of religion that we wage 
 determined war. Better for each struggling spirit that it 
 should grope unaided after its God, trusting in the end to find 
 Him, though after many wanderings, than that it should be 
 cramped and confined by the trammels of an earth-born ortho- 
 doxy, which prescribes the God, as well as the way to reach 
 Him — that way being through a wicket of which it holds the 
 only key — which cramps all natural aspirations, drowns all 
 soaring thoughts, and condemns the free spirit to mere me- 
 chanical action without a particle of true spiritual religion 
 in it. Better, we say, anything than this parody on spiritual 
 religion. 
 
 Some there are, and they not the noblest of your race, for 
 whom it is essential that deep subjects of religion should be 
 thought out ready to their hand. For them free spiritual 
 thought would mean doubt, indecision, despair, death. They 
 cannot climb the giddy heights where man must gaze into 
 hidden mysteries, and face the unclouded radiance of the Sun 
 of Truth. Not for them the pinnacles which overhang preci- 
 pices deep down in which lie hid the Eternal Verities. They 
 cannot gaze lest they fall : they cannot endure the ordeal : 
 they must fall back on safer and more beaten paths, where 
 others have walked before, even though the way be tortuous 
 and uncertain. They must be hemmed in between high walls 
 over which they dare not look. They must walk warily, pick- 
 ing their way step by step, and avoiding all inequalities, lest 
 they stumble and fall. And so they fall back on the pre- 
 scribed dogmas of unyielding orthodoxy. So it has been 
 decided by the wisdom of the Church is the answer of their 
 priests. Doubt is ruin ; thought only ends in bewilderment ; 
 faith is the only safety. Believe and be saved. Believe not, 
 and be damned. They are not able to receive these things. 
 How should they ? They have not yet grasped the fragments 
 of truth that lie on the very threshold of knowledge. How, 
 then, should they enter in and dwell in the penetralia where 
 truth is enshrined in fulness ? 
 
 Some there are who are not merely unable, but unwilling, 
 to receive or entertain anything which militates against that 
 
THOSE FOR WHOM THE OLD SUFFICES. 
 
 145 
 
 ancient and received theology which they have learned to con- 
 sider as the embodiment of Divine truth. 
 
 It has sufficed the needs of the saints of Christendom. It 
 has cheered the martyr at the stake, and consoled the dying 
 saint in ages long gone by even as now. It was their fathers' 
 creed. It was the gospel of salvation which they learned 
 from a mother s lips. It is that which they have received as 
 the deposit of the truth, and which they are determined to 
 teach their children, that they in turn may hand on the truth 
 whole and undefiled. And so a feeling of heroic determina- 
 tion comes over them that they will not even touch that which 
 seems to contravene this faith of theirs, consecrated to them 
 by so many associations, and endeared by so many memories. 
 They are, as they fancy, defenders of the faith : and all a 
 martyr’s zeal burns within them. They cannot be reached by 
 any influence that we can bring to bear. Nor would we will- 
 ingly interfere with so comfortable a faith. Were we to make 
 the attempt, we should need to upset from the very founda- 
 tions the edifice they have reared. We should need to make 
 war on this faith which they love so well, and hew it down 
 with merciless axe. Their Immutable God and their stereo- 
 typed religion, changeless and unchangeable, we should need 
 to attack, and show that though God changes not, yet the 
 mind of man does, and that what was sufficient for the past 
 may be, and often is, quite inadequate for the future. We 
 must show them — what they could never see — the progressive 
 march of revelation, the gradual enlightenment of man in 
 proportion to the freedom of his thought and the enormous 
 mass of purely human fiction which they have dignified by 
 the title of Divine Revelation. The task would be vain : and 
 we are not so foolish as to attempt it. They must gain their 
 knowledge in another sphere of being. 
 
 Some, again, have never thought about the matter at all. 
 They have a sort of conventional idea about the external 
 profession of religion, because they cannot get on well social ly 
 without it. But it is of the slenderest make, and will go into 
 very small compass when not in use. It is indeed but the 
 outside covering, which is not intended for anything but 
 
146 
 
 5PI1UT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 show. So long as it looks well from a distance, it serves the 
 purpose for which they use it. These and such as these are 
 our bitterest opponents. To force them to think about 
 religion is most irksome and annoying to them. The subject 
 is distasteful, tolerated only in its lightest form from sheer 
 necessity. It is the business of priests to settle what is right, 
 they take as much as is necessary on trust. To force them 
 not only to see the flaws in the old faith, but to admire the 
 excellencies in the new, is a double aggravation, involving 
 double trouble. They will have none of it. They cling to 
 the past, and live in it. They are well as they are. Progress 
 they hate. Freedom they know nothing of save in that 
 conventional sense in which it approaches very near to slavery. 
 Free thought to them means scepticism, doubt, atheism, and 
 these all are not respectable. They are social blunders. 
 Progress means something which politically and religiously is 
 horrible to them. They not only shrink from it, but they 
 view it with loathing and contempt. The good old times 
 enshrine their ideal ; and in the good old times such things 
 were never heard of. Hence they are manifestly wicked, and 
 to be avoided. 
 
 It is, no doubt, plain to you that we have no dealings with 
 these three classes, and with the myriads who lie in between 
 them, enclosed within the poles of inability and unwillingness, 
 or positive aversion. Hereafter you will learn that it does not 
 rest with us to choose in the matter. We cannot reach them 
 even if we would. 
 
 We strive to inculcate on all that the way to know God is 
 open and free, and that the man who prefers stagnation to 
 progress is violating one of the first conditions of his 
 being. We say that man has no right to close the road 
 to God, and to lock up the wicket, compelling all to 
 pass through his door. We say again that rigid orthodoxy, 
 dogmatic faith prescribed in human words, inflexible lines 
 within which he who walks not is therefore lost — these are 
 human figments, bonds of man’s making to tie down aspiring 
 souls, and pin them to earth. Better, we reiterate, for each 
 struggling spirit to wander forth with no guide but its ap- 
 
THE GREAT EXEMPLAR. 
 
 147 
 
 pointed angel, to pray for itself, to think for itself, to work 
 for itself till the day-dawn of truth rise upon it, than that it 
 should surrender its freedom and accept its religion at the dic- 
 tation of any. Far, far better that the wanderings should be 
 tortuous and long drawn out, and the creed scant and little 
 satisfying ; better that the cold winds should brace it, and the 
 storms of heaven beat upon it, than that it should be cramped 
 within the narrow, choking, airless avenue of human dogma- 
 tism, gasping for breath, crying for bread, and fed only with 
 the stones of an ancient creed, the fossilised imao;inino*s of 
 human ignorance. Better, far better, that the shallowest and 
 crudest notions of the Great Father should come to His child 
 direct from spirit to spirit, the Divine inbreathing of Divine 
 truth, than that he should consent to receive the most elaborate 
 theology which fits and suits him not, and dream on in drowsy 
 carelessness through the probation life, only to awake to a bitter 
 consciousness of the falsity of that which he has so heedlessly 
 accepted. Honesty and fearlessness are the search after the 
 first pre-requisites for finding truth. Without these no spirit 
 soars. With these none fail of progress. 
 
 We have yet to show you more of this as exemplified in the 
 Life and Example of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 We have shown you what to the enlightened mind is the 
 true attitude of the spirit. This fearless thinking out of the 
 way to God by those who are enabled to attempt it, will infal- 
 libly lead to what we unceasingly proclaim, a spiritual, refined, 
 and elevated religion, in place of a literal, dogmatic interpre- 
 tation of the words of your sacred records. For all utterances 
 of spirits through man have a spiritual interpretation as well 
 as a material one which meets the eye. And it is this spiritual 
 interpretation which is entirely missed by a materialistic age. 
 Man has gradually built around the teachings of Jesus a wall 
 of deduction, and speculation, and material comment, similar 
 to that with which the Pharisee had surrounded the Mosaic law. 
 The tendenc}' has increasingly been to do this in proportion as 
 man has lost sight of the spiritual world. And so it has come 
 to pass that we find hard, cold materialism deduced from teach- 
 ings which were intended to breathe spirituality, and to do 
 away with sensuous ritual. 
 
 I 
 
148 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 It is our task to do for Christianity what Jesus did for 
 Judaism. We would take the old forms and spiritualise their 
 meaning, and infuse into them new life. Resurrection rather 
 than abolition is what we desire. We say again, that we do 
 not abolish one jot or one tittle of the teaching which the 
 Christ gave to the world. We do but wipe away mans 
 material glosses, and show you the hidden spiritual meaning 
 which he has missed. We strive to raise you in your daily 
 life more and more from the dominion of the body, and to 
 show you more and more of the mystic symbolism with which 
 spirit life is permeated. They take but a shallow view of our 
 teaching who pin themselves to the letter. We would raise 
 you from the life of the body to that which shall be to you 
 the fit approach to the state disembodied. There is but a 
 glimpse possible as yet; but the time will come when you 
 will be able to see, as we cannot explain to you in your present 
 state, the true dignity of man’s higher life even on the earth 
 sphere, and the hidden mysteries with which that life is 
 teeming. 
 
 Before you can reach so far you must be content to learn 
 that there is a spiritual meaning underlying everything ; that 
 your Bible is full of it ; man’s interpretations, and definitions, 
 and glosses being but the material husk which enshrines the 
 kernel of divine truth. Were we to throw away this husk 
 the tender kernel would wither and die. So we content 
 ourselves with pointing out, as you can bear and understand, 
 the living verity which underlies the external fact with which 
 you are familiar. 
 
 This was the mission of the Christ. He claimed for Himself 
 that fulfilment of the law, not its abolition or abrogation, was 
 His intent. He pointed out the truth which was at the root 
 of the Mosaic commandment. He stripped off the rags of 
 Pharisaical ritual, the glosses of Rabbinical speculation, and 
 laid bare the divine truth that was beneath all, the grand 
 principles divinely inspired which man had well-nigh buried. 
 He was not only a religious but a social reformer ; and the 
 grand business of His life was to elevate the people, spirit and 
 body, to expose pretenders, and to strip off the mask of 
 hypocrisy ; to take the foot of the despot from the neck of 
 
THE GREAT SOCIAL REFORMER. 
 
 149 
 
 the struggling slave, and to make man free by virtue of that 
 truth which He came from God to declare. “Ye shall know 
 the truth,” He told His followers, “and the truth shall make 
 you free : and ye shall be free indeed.” 
 
 He reasoned of life and death and eternity; of the true 
 nobility and dignity of man’s nature; of the way to progressive 
 knowledge of God. He came as the Great Fulfiller of the \ 
 law ; the man who showed, as never man showed before, the 
 end for which the law was given — the amelioration of 
 humanity. He taught men to look into the depths of their 
 hearts, to test their lives, to try their motives, and to weigh 
 all they did by the one ascertained balance — the fruits of life 
 as the test of religion. He told men to be humble, merciful, 
 truthful, pure, self-denying, honest in heart and intent ; and 
 He set before them a living example of the life which He 
 preached. 
 
 He was the great social reformer, whose object was at least 
 as much to benefit man corporeally, and to reveal to him a 
 salvation from bigotry and selfishness, and narrow-mindedness 
 in this life, as it was to reveal glimpses of a better life in the 
 hereafter. He preached the religion of daily life, the moral 
 progress of the spirit in the path of daily duty forward to a 
 higher knowledge. Repentance for the past, amendment and 
 progress in the future, summed up most of his teaching. He 
 found a world buried in ignorance, at the mercy of an 
 unscrupulous priesthood in matters religious ; under the 
 absolute sway of a tyrant in matters political. He taught 
 liberty in both ; but liberty without license ; the liberty of a 
 responsible spirit with duties to God and to itself ; of a spirit 
 corporeally enshrined with a corresponding duty to its brethren 
 in the flesh. He laboured to show the true dignity of man. 
 He would elevate him to the dignity of the truth, the truth 
 which should make him free. He was no respecter of persons. 
 He chose His associates and His apostles from the mean and 
 poor. He lived amongst the common people ; of them, with 
 them, in their homes ; teaching them simple lessons of truth 
 which they needed and which they could receive. He went 
 but little among those whose eyes were blinded by the mists 
 
150 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 of orthodoxy, respectability, or so-called human wisdom. He 
 fired the hearts of His listeners with a yearning for something 
 nobler, better, higher than they yet possessed ; and He told 
 them how to get it. 
 
 The gospel of humanity is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It 
 is the only gospel that man needs ; the only one that can 
 reach his wants and minister to his necessities. 
 
 We continue to preach that same evangel. By commission 
 from the same God, by authority and inspiration from the 
 same source, do we come now as apostles of this heaven-sent 
 gospel. We declare truths the same as Jesus taught. We 
 preach His gospel, purified from the glosses and misinterpre- 
 tations which man has gathered around it. We would 
 spiritualise that which man has hidden under the heap of 
 materialism. 
 
 We would bring forth the spirit truth from the grave in 
 which man has buried it, and would tell to the listening souls 
 of men that it lives still ; the simple yet grand truth of man’s 
 progressive destiny, of God’s unceasing care, of Spirit’s un- 
 slumbering watch over incarnated souls. 
 
 The burdens that a dogmatic priesthood has bound upon 
 men’s backs, we fling them to the winds ; the dogmas which 
 have hampered the soul, and dragged down its aspirations, we 
 tear them asunder, and bid the soul go free. Our mission is 
 the continuation of that old teaching which man has so strangely 
 altered ; its source identical ; its course parallel ; its end the 
 same. 
 
 [I inquired whether I rightly understood that the work 
 of teaching, a section of which is under the direc- 
 tion of Imperator, derived its mission from Christ.] 
 
 You understand aright. I have before said that I derive 
 my mission, and am influenced in my work, by a spirit who 
 has passed beyond the spheres of work into the higher heaven 
 of contemplation. * * * Jesus Christ is now arranging His 
 plans for the gathering in of His people, for the further revela- 
 tion of the truth, as well as for the purging away of the 
 erroneous beliefs which have accumulated in the past. 
 
THE SPIRITUAL COMING OF THE CHRIST. 
 
 151 
 
 I have heard something of this from other sources. Is 
 this then the return of Christ ? 
 
 It is the spiritual return. There will be no such physical 
 return as man has dreamed of. This will he the return to His 
 people, by the voice of His Messengers speaking to those 
 whose ears are open; even as He himself said, “He that hath 
 ears to hear, let him hear ; he that is able to receive it, let him 
 receive it.” 
 
 Is this message coming to many ? 
 
 Yes, to many it is being made known that God is now 
 specially influencing man at this epoch. We may not say 
 more. May the blessing of the Supreme rest on you. 
 
 4- Imferator. 
 
( 152 ; 
 
 SECTION XIX. 
 
 [Some reiterated objections of mine, which have been 
 stated before, were finally answered thus (Aug. 31, 
 1873)] 
 
 We propose to speak to you on a subject of which we have 
 before treated, but not at large. You have alleged, and it has 
 frequently been said, that the creed we profess and the system 
 of religion which we teach, are vague, shadowy, and im- 
 palpable. It has been said that the effect of our teaching is to 
 unsettle men’s minds as to the old faith, without providing a 
 new and rational form of belief. Many of these objections we 
 have dealt with separately, but we have not yet attempted to 
 set before you an exhaustive outline of the religion which we 
 desire to see rooted among men. This we propose to do now, 
 so far as it is possible. 
 
 We commence with God, the Supreme, All-Wise Ruler of 
 the universe, who is enthroned over all in eternal calm, the 
 Director and Judge of the totality of creation. Before His 
 Majesty we bow in solemn adoration. We have not seen Him, 
 nor do we hope yet to approach His presence. Millions of 
 ages, as you count time, must run their course, and be suc- 
 ceeded by yet again myriads upon myriads ere the perfected 
 spirit — perfected through suffering and experience — can enter 
 into the inner sanctuary to dwell in the presence of the All- 
 pure, All-holy, All-perfect God. 
 
 But though we have not seen Him, we know yet more and 
 more of the fathomless perfection of His nature, through a 
 more intimate acquaintance with His works. We know, as 
 you cannot, the power and wisdom, the tenderness and love 
 of the Supreme. We trace it in a thousand ways which you 
 cannot see. W e feel it in a thousand forms which never reach 
 
GOD AND MAN. 
 
 153 
 
 your lower earth. And while you, poor mortals, dogmatise as 
 to His essential attributes, and ignorantly frame for yourselves 
 a being like unto yourselves, we are content to feel and to know 
 His power as the operation of a Wise and Loving and All- 
 pervading Intelligence. His government of the universe 
 reveals Him to us as potent, wise, and good. His dealings 
 with ourselves we know to be tender and loving. 
 
 The past has been fruitful of mercy and loving-kindness ; 
 the present has been instinct with love and tender consider- 
 ations; into the future we do not pry. We are content to 
 trust it in the hands of One whose power and love we have 
 experienced. And we do not, as curious mortals please them- 
 selves with imagining, picture a future which has its origin in 
 our own intelligence, and is disproved by each advancement 
 in knowledge. We trust Him too really to care to speculate. 
 We live for Him and to Him. We strive to learn and do His 
 will, sure that in so doing we shall benefit ourselves and all 
 created beings whom we tend ; the while we pay to Him the 
 honour which is His due, and the only homage which His 
 Majesty can accept. We love Him; we worship Him; we 
 adore Him ; we obey Him ; but we do not question His plans, 
 or pry into His mysteries. 
 
 Of man we know more than we are permitted to tell, as yet. 
 We are not charged to gratify curiosity, nor to open out to 
 you views and speculations which would but bewilder your 
 mind. Of the origin of man you may be content to know that 
 the day will come when we shall be able to tell you more 
 certainly of the spiritual nature, its origin and destiny; whence 
 it came and whither it is going. For the present you may 
 know that the theological story of a fall from a state of purity 
 to a state of sin, as usually detailed and accepted, is mislead- 
 ing. Few, perhaps, even of those among you who have pon- 
 dered on the subject, have not given up all attempts to 
 reconcile with reason so distorted a legend. You may better 
 direct your attention for the present to man’s condition as an 
 incarnated spirit, and seek to learn how progressive develop- 
 ment, in obedience to the laws which govern him, leads to 
 happiness in the present and advancement in the immediate 
 
154 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 future. The far off spheres, into which only the refined and 
 purified can enter, you may leave in their seclusion. It is not 
 for mortal eye to gaze into their secrets. Sufficient that you 
 know that they unfold their portals only to the blessed ones, 
 and that you and all may be ranked within them after due 
 preparation and development. 
 
 It is more important that we speak of man’s duty and work 
 in the earth -life. Man, as you know, is a spirit temporarily 
 enshrined in a body of flesh ; a spirit with a spiritual body 
 which is to survive its severance from the earth body, as one 
 of your teachers has inculcated rightly, though he erred in 
 minor particulars. This spiritual body it is the object of your 
 training in this sphere of probation to develop and fit for its 
 life in the sphere of spirit. That life, so far as it concerns 
 you to know, is endless. You cannot grasp what eternity 
 means. Sufficient now that we demonstrate to you enduring 
 existence, and intelligence existing after the death of the 
 physical body. 
 
 This Being, temporarily enshrined in the body of earth, we 
 regard as a conscious, responsible intelligence, with duties to 
 perform, with responsibilities, with capacities, with account- 
 ability, and with power of progress or retrogression. The 
 incarnated spirit has its conscience, rude frequently and unde- 
 veloped, of inherent right and wrong. It has its opportunities 
 of development, its degrees of probation, its phases of 
 training, and its helps in progression if it will use them. 
 Of these we have spoken before, and shall say more here- 
 after. For the present we tell you of man’s duty in the sphere 
 of probation. 
 
 Man, as a responsible spiritual being, has duties which con- 
 cern himself, his fellow-man, and his God. 
 
 Your teachers have sufficiently outlined the moral code 
 which affects man’s spirit, so far as their knowledge has 
 extended, and has been communicable to you. But beside 
 and beyond what they have taught you lies a wide domain. 
 The influence of spirit upon spirit is only now beginning to 
 be recognised among men; yet therein lie some of the mightiest 
 helps and bars to human progress. Of this, too, you will 
 
THE SPIRIT-CREED. 
 
 155 
 
 learn more hereafter ; but for the present we may sum up 
 man’s highest duty as a spiritual entity in the word Progress 
 
 in knowledge of himself, and of all that makes for spiiitual 
 
 development. The duty of man considered as an intellectual 
 beinof, possessed of mind and intelligence, is summed up in the 
 word Culture in all its infinite ramifications ; not in one direc- 
 tion only, but in all ; not for earthly aims alone, but for the 
 grand purpose of developing the faculties which are to be 
 perpetuated in endless development. Man’s duty to himself 
 as a spirit incarnated in a body of flesh is Purity in thought, 
 word, and act. In these three words, Progress, Culture, Purity, 
 we roughly sum up man’s duty to himself as a spiritual, an 
 
 intellectual, and a corporeal being. 
 
 Respecting the duty which man owes to the race of which 
 he is a unit, to the community of which he is a member, we 
 strive again to crystallise into one word the central idea which 
 should animate him. That word is Charity. Tolerance for 
 divergence of opinion ; charitable construction of doubtful 
 words and deeds ; kindliness in intercourse ; readiness to help, 
 without desire for recompense ; courtesy and gentleness of 
 demeanour ; patience under misrepresentation ; honesty and 
 integrity of purpose, tempered by loving-kindness and for- 
 bearance; sympathy with sorrow; mercy, pity, and tenderness 
 of heart ; respect for authority in its sphere, and respect for 
 the rights of the weak and frail: these and kindred qualities, 
 which are the very essence of the Christ-like character, we 
 sum up in the one word Charity, or Active Rove. 
 
 As to the relation between man and his God, it should be 
 that which befits the approach of a being in one of the lowest 
 stages of existence to the Fountain of Uncreated Light, to the 
 great Author and Father of all. The befitting attitude of 
 spirit before God is typified for you in the language of your 
 sacred records when it is said that the exalted ones veil their 
 faces with their wings as they bow before His throne. This 
 in a figure symbolises the Reverence and Adoration which 
 best become the spirit of man. Reverence and awe, not 
 slavish fear. Adoring worship, not cowering, prostrate dread. 
 Mindful of the vast distance that must separate God from man. 
 
156 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 and of the intermediary agencies which minister between the 
 Most High and His children, man should not seek to intrude 
 himself into the presence of the Supreme, least of all should 
 he obtrude his curiosity, and seek to pry into mysteries which 
 are too deep for angel-minds to grasp. Reverence, Adora- 
 tion, Love; these are the qualities that adorn a spirit in its 
 relation to its God. 
 
 Such, in vaguest outline, are the duties which man owes to 
 himself, to his fellow, and to his God. They may be filled in 
 by future knowledge; but you will find that they include 
 within them those qualities which fit a man for progress in 
 knowledge, and render him a good citizen, and a model for 
 imitation in all the walks of life. If there be nothing said of 
 that external and formal duty which is made so much of by 
 the Pharisaic mind, both now and heretofore, it is not that we 
 do not recognise the importance of external acts. So long as 
 man is a physical being, physical acts will be of importance. 
 It is because we have no fear that sufficient importance will 
 not be attached to them that we have not dwelt on this 
 side of the question. We are concerned rather with spirit, 
 and with the hidden spring, by which, if it be working aright, 
 the external acts will be duly done. We carry throughout the 
 principle on which we have always dealt with you, of referring 
 you back to that which is your true self, and of urging you to 
 consider all you do as the outcome and external manifestation 
 of an internal spirit, which, when you leave this sphere, will de- 
 termine your future condition of existence. This is the true 
 wisdom ; and in so far as you recognise the spirit that ani- 
 mates everything, that is the soul of all, the life and reality 
 which underlies Nature and Humanity, in all their several 
 manifestations, are you actuated by true wisdom. ThisHbeing 
 the duty of man in such sort as we are now able to put it 
 before you, we have now to deal with the results of the dis- 
 charge of that duty, or its neglect. He who fulfils it accord- 
 ing to his ability, with honesty and sincerity of purpose, and 
 with a single desire to discharge it aright, earns his legitimate 
 reward in happiness and progress. We say progress, because 
 man is apt to lose sight of this enduring fact, that in progress 
 
man’s destiny. 
 
 157 
 
 man’s spirit finds its truest happiness. Content is, in the pure 
 soul, only retrospective. It cannot rest in that which is past ; 
 at best it views the achievements of the bygone days only as 
 incentives to further progress. Its attitude to the past is one 
 of content, to the future, of hope and expectation of further 
 development. That soul which shall slumber in satisfaction, 
 and fancy that it has achieved its goal, is deluded, and in peril 
 of retrogression. The true attitude of the spirit is one of 
 striving earnestly in the hope of reaching a higher position 
 than that which it has attained. In_p erpe_tually prog ressing^ 
 it finds its truest happiness. There is no finality ; none, none, 
 none ! 
 
 And this applies not only to the fragment o f existence 
 which you call life, but to the totality of being. Yea ; even 
 tHe^fieeds done in the body have their issue in the life disem- 
 bodied. Their outcome is not bounded by the barrier which 
 you call death. Far otherwise ; for the condition of the spirit 
 at its inception of its real life is determined by the outcome 
 of its bodily acts. The spirit which has been slothful or 
 impure gravitates necessarily to its congenial sphere, and 
 commences there a period of probation which has for its object 
 the purification of the spirit from the accumulated habits of 
 its earth-life ; the remedying in remorse and shame of the evil 
 done ; and the gradual rising of itself to a higher state to that 
 which each process of purification has been a step. This is 
 the punishment of transgression, not an arbitrary doom 
 inflicted to all eternity by an angry God, but the inevitable 
 doom of remorse and repentance and retribution, which results 
 invariably from conscious sin. This is the lash of punishment, 
 but it is not laid on by a vengeful Deity ; a loving Father 
 leads his child to see and remedy his fault. 
 
 Similarly, reward is no sensuous ease in a heaven of eternal 
 rest ; no fabled psalm-singing around the great white throne, 
 whereon sits the God ; no listless, dreamy idleness, cheaply 
 gained by cries for pity, or by fancied faith ; none of these, 
 but the consciousness of duty done, of progress made, and 
 of capacity for progress increased ; of love to God and man 
 fostered, and the jewel of truth and honesty preserved. This 
 
158 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 is the spirit’s reward, and it must be gained before it can be 
 enjoyed. It comes as the rest after toil, as the food to the 
 hungry, as the draught to the parched, as the pulsation of 
 delight when the wanderer sights his home. But it is only 
 the toil-worn, the travel-stained, the hungry, the parched 
 traveller who can enter into the full zest. And it is not with 
 us the reward of indolent, sensuous content. It is the gratifi- 
 cation which has been earned, and which is but an additional 
 spur to future progress. 
 
 In all this you will see that we have dealt with man as a 
 living intelligence, alone in his responsibilities, and alone in 
 his struggles. We have not thought it necessary here to 
 touch upon the aid ministered by guardian spirits, nor upon 
 the impulses and impressions which flow in upon the receptive 
 soul. We are concerned now with that phase of man’s exist- 
 ence which is open to your inspection, and which is manifested 
 to your eye. Neither have we made any mention of a bound- 
 less store of merit laid up for him by the death of the sinless 
 Son of God, or of the Co-equal Partner of the Throne of Deity 
 — a store on which he may draw at will to make up for his own 
 shortcomings. We have not spoken of such an atonement of 
 magical potency and universal application in answer to a cry 
 of faith. Nor have we told you that a death-bed repentance 
 has power to obtain for man — base, evil, grovelling animal as 
 he may be — an entrance into the very society of God and the 
 blessed ones, by the charm of imputed righteousness bought 
 by vicarious suffering. We have not pointed to any such 
 conception of a debased and foolish imagination. Man has 
 helps, powerful, near, always available. But he has no reserve 
 fund of merit on which he can draw at large at the close of a 
 lifetime of debauchery, sensuality, and crime, when he has 
 drunk to the very dregs the cup of physical enjoyment, and 
 so go straight to the holy of holies and the sanctuary of God. 
 He has no vicarious sacrifice on whom he can call to suffer in 
 his stead when his coward heart is wrung with fear at the 
 prospect of dissolution, and his base spirit trembles at the 
 prospect which remorse conjures up. Not for such base uses 
 would any of the messengers come ; not to such would the 
 
PRAYER. 
 
 150 
 
 ministers bring consolation. They would let the coward feel 
 his danger, if perchance he may see and repent him of his sin. 
 They would let the lash be laid on, knowing that so only can 
 the hard heart be made to feel. Yet for such, your teachers 
 tell you, the Son of God came down, and died ! Such are the 
 choicest recipients of mercy ! the most appropriate subjects 
 for divine compassion ! 
 
 No such fable finds a place in our knowledge. We know 
 of no store of merit save that which man lays up for himself 
 by slow and laborious processes. We know of no entrance to 
 the spheres of bliss save by the path which the blessed them- 
 selves have trod ; no magical incantation by which the sinner 
 may be transformed into the saint, and the hardened reprobate, 
 the debased sensualist, the purely physical animal become 
 spiritualised, refined, glorified, and fitted for what you call 
 heaven. Far from us such blasphemous imaginations. 
 
 And while man feigns for himself such ignorant and impos- 
 sible fancies, he neglects or ignores those helps and protections 
 which encircle him all around. We have no power, indeed, to 
 work out for man the salvation which he must work out for 
 himself ; but we are able to aid, to comfort, and to support. 
 Appointed by a loving God to minister, each in our several 
 spheres, to those who need it, we find our power curtailed, 
 and our efforts mocked at by those who have become too 
 gross to recognise spirit-power, and too earthy to aspire to 
 spiritual things. These helps man has ever round about 
 him; helps which he may draw to himself by the mighty 
 engine of prayer, and knit to him by frequent communion 
 with them. 
 
 Ah ! you little know what power you neglect when you 
 omit to foster, by perpetual prayer, communion with the 
 spirits, holy, pure, and good, who are ready to stand by and 
 assist you. Praise, which attunes the soul to God, and prayer, 
 which moves the spirit agencies — these are engines ever ready 
 to man’s service. And yet he passes them idly by, and makes 
 his hopes of future bliss rest on a faith, on a creed, on an 
 assent, on a vicarious store of merit, on any shadowy, baseless 
 fin-ment rather than on fact. 
 
 O 
 
160 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 We attach little importance to individual belief: that is 
 altered soon enough by extended knowledge. The creed 
 which has been fought over with angry vehemence during 
 the years of an earth lifetime is surrendered by the enfran- 
 chised spirit without a murmur. The fancies of a lifetime on 
 earth are dissipated like a cloud by the sunlight of the spheres. 
 We care little for a creed, so it be honestly held and humbly 
 professed ; but we care much for acts. We ask not what has 
 such an one believed , but what has he done ? For we know 
 that by deeds, habits, tempers, characters are formed, and the 
 condition of spirit is decided. Those characters and habits, 
 too, we know are only to be changed after long and laborious 
 processes ; and so it is to acts rather than words, to deeds- 
 rather than professions, that we look. 
 
 The religion which we teach is one of acts and habits, not 
 of words and fitful faith. We teach religion of body and 
 religion of soul ; a religion pure, progressive, and true ; one 
 that aims at no finality, but leads its votary higher and higher 
 through the ages, until the dross of earth is purged away^the 
 spiritual nature is refined and sublimated, and the perfected 
 
 spirit — perfected through suffering, and toil and experience 
 
 is presented in glorified purity before the very footstool of its 
 God. In this religion you will find no place for sloth and 
 carelessness. The note of spirit-teaching is earnestness and 
 zeal. In it you will find no shirking of the consequences of 
 acts. Such shirking is impossible. Sin carries with it its 
 own punishment. Nor will you find a convenient substitute 
 on whose shoulders you may bind the burdens which you have 
 prepared. Your own back must bear them, and your own 
 spirit groan under their weight. Neither will you find en- 
 couragement to live a life of animal sensuality and brutish 
 selfishness, in the hope that an orthodox belief will hide your 
 debased life, and that faith will throw a veil over impurity. 
 You will find the creed taught by us is that acts and habits 
 are of more moment than creeds and faith ; and you will dis- 
 cover that that flimsy veil is rent aside with stern hand, leav- 
 ing the foul life laid bare, and the poor spirit naked and open 
 to the eye of all who gaze upon it. Nor will you find any 
 
RELIGION OF BODY AND SPIRIT. 
 
 161 
 
 hope that after all you may get a cheap reprieve — that God 
 is merciful, and will not be severe to mark your sins. Those 
 human imaginings pale in the light of truth. You will gain 
 mercy when you have deserved it ] or rather repentance and 
 amendment, purity and sincerity, truth and progress will bring 
 their own reward. You will not then require either mercy or 
 pity. 
 
 This is the religion of body and spirit which we proclaim. 
 It is of God, and the days draw nigh when man shall know it. 
 
 4- Ijviperator. 
 
 12 
 
( 162 ) 
 
 SECTION XX. 
 
 [At this time many communications were made to me 
 from various sources with the avowed purpose of 
 accumulating evidence and producing conviction 
 in my mind. One of these was a well-known per- 
 son with whom I had been acquainted. I asked 
 permission to bring the fact of his communicating 
 under the notice of his relatives. It was replied] 
 
 It is impossible and unwise to attempt it. They know not 
 of the truth of spirit communion, nor could we manifest to 
 them. . Were you to tell them, they would receive your word 
 as the idle tale of a madman. You would not be able to reach 
 them. This is one of the sore trials of those who endeavour 
 to communicate with the world which they have lately quitted. 
 Usually they cannot reach personal friends. The very anxiety 
 with which they strive, prevents the realisation of their wishes. 
 It seems to them so important, so desirable, that personal evi- 
 dence should be given to their friends, that their very eager- 
 ness, coupled with the sorrowing tearfulness of their friends, 
 places an impassable barrier between them. It is not till the 
 eagerness is past, and they have soared above the atmosphere 
 of personal feeling, that they are able to reach your sphere. 
 You will know more of this hereafter. 
 
 Our friend who now communicates is shut off from those 
 who were united to him by ties of kindred. Any attempt to 
 force on them knowledge for which they are unprepared, 
 would be mischievous and fruitless. This is one of the un- 
 alterable laws with which we have no power to interfere, we 
 can no more force on .men a knowledge for which they are 
 unfit than you can explain to a child the deep mysteries of 
 science into which your sages gaze with wonder. Nay, less, 
 the child would not understand, indeed, but he would not be 
 injured. We, on the contrary, should retard, by unconscious 
 
 
 \ 
 
DIRECT WKITING. 
 
 163 
 
 forcing, the end we have in view, and should injure those 
 whom we would benefit. No such attempt is made by the 
 wise. They see, as you cannot, that if they were able to force 
 on the unprepared advanced knowledge, and to anticipate the 
 orderly working of Divine laws, your world would cease to be 
 a sphere of probation. It would become merely a field for the 
 experiments of any spirits who desired to try their power, and 
 there would be an end to law and order. No such reversal of 
 law would be permitted. Rest assured of that. 
 
 [About this same time, my perplexity as to the question 
 of Identity was much increased by the fact that a 
 spirit who had written his name “ direct,” i.e., with- 
 out the intervention of any human agency, had 
 spelt it wrongly. Here, apparently, the fault could 
 not be charged on the medium : and I put it 
 strongly that I could not be expected to believe in 
 the identity of a spirit that gave a well-known 
 name which it could not even spell. Imperator 
 replied] : — 
 
 We do not desire to argue out the question of identity, but 
 the incident to which you refer is susceptible of a ready ex- 
 planation. The identity of the spirit was avouched by me, 
 and you have at least found my words to be accurate. The 
 error was committed by the manifesting spirit who wrote. 
 The intelligences who are able to compass the particular mani- 
 festation which you call direct writing, and for which you 
 kad on this particular occasion expressed a strong wish, are 
 dew. Most frequently the actual writing is done by one who 
 is accustomed to manifest in that way, and who acts, as it 
 were, as the amanuensis of the spirits who wish to communi- 
 cate. In many cases several spirits are concerned. The error 
 which arose in this way through inadvertence, was during the 
 stance corrected in a communication given through the table ; 
 but it would seem to have escaped you. It is well that you 
 inquire patiently into seeming errors and contradictions. 
 Many, so inquired into, would be found susceptible of explan- 
 ation, even as this. 
 
164 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 [The disturbed state of my mind now caused our sit- 
 tings to be disturbed. Phenomena were evolved 
 in a very erratic fashion, violently at times, and 
 with great irregularity. It was said that “ the 
 instrument being out of tune, the notes extracted 
 from it were jarring and discordant.” Sometimes 
 a sitting would soothe me, but sometimes it would 
 work me up to a pitch of nervous tension, which 
 was extremely painful. It was written on Sept. 
 
 30, 1873] 
 
 Sometimes we are able to quiet and soothe, but not when 
 every nerve is quivering, and the over- wrought system is 
 strained to an extremity of tension. We have little power 
 then, and at best can only save you from the risk you run of 
 being seized upon by undeveloped spirits who are attracted 
 by your state. We urge you not at such times to place your- 
 self in communion with our world. Be wary of the future 
 for many reasons. Your greater development, which is rapid 
 and progressive, will render you more and more amenable to 
 spiritual influence of all kinds. Such spirits will endeavour 
 to approach you, and by sitting you facilitate their entry to 
 the circle. You need fear no evil, but you may have disturb- 
 ance. It is well for all highly-developed mediums to be chary 
 of sitting in circles where influences other than those which 
 surround them are gathered. Danger always attends_snch 
 experiments, and your present tone and temper of mind lays 
 you doubly open to assault. Try to bring to the circle a 
 patient and a passive mind. Your evidence will be the more 
 readily attained if you are content so to act. 
 
 [I replied that I wished so to do, but that I must 
 estimate everything according to my own reason. 
 
 I put two or three points which seemed to me to 
 be of crucial importance, far more than the com- 
 munications given from spirits who had borne 
 great names on earth ; and who rather perplexed 
 me than otherwise. I did not think it likely that 
 the worlds celebrities would come back for the 
 purpose of giving me little bewildering messages. 
 
 I asked for good and plentiful evidence of the 
 return of a friend who had lately passed from 
 
SPIRIT IDENTITY. 
 
 165 
 
 among us, and who had been most deeply interested 
 in our circle. That seemed to me to be an oppor- 
 tunity which might settle the identity question 
 definitely. And I further asked very earnestly 
 for clear and conclusive statements as to the origin, 
 scope, and issue of the movement, specially as to 
 spirit identity. Assuming the truth of statements 
 already made, I pointed out that it was vitally 
 important that the necessary proofs to withstand 
 scoffing and sceptical criticism should be full and 
 unmistakeable. At present I had no shred of / 
 proof of anything beyond the existence of certain 
 phenomena, and the presence of some external 
 intelligence. I could not act on that. Even if I 
 were willing I was not able to go on till doubts 
 which I could not dispel were cleared from my 
 mind. An answer came to me, Oct. 1, 1873] : — 
 
 May the blessing of the Allwise rest upon you ! If we do 
 not follow you into all the points or discuss all the questions 
 which you have mooted, you must attribute it to the impossi- 
 bility of giving you complete evidence which shall be satis- 
 factory to you in your present frame of mind. Though we 
 are thankful to recognise in many particulars a fair and 
 candid spirit in your objection, still we cannot fail to know 
 that at the root of them lies mistrust of our statements and 
 want of confidence in our claims. This is painful to us, and, 
 as we feel, unjust. Doubt is sin in none. Intellectual inability 
 to accept certain statements is not matter for blame. But 
 refusal to weigh evidence fairly, and inclination to set up a 
 personal standard of evidence which is fictitious and selfish, 
 may end in grievous consequences, and this is the ground of 
 our complaint. We respect your doubts, and shall rejoice 
 with you when they are removed. But we blame and censure 
 the attitude which makes it well-nigh impossible for us to 
 remove them; which fences you in as with an icy barrier 
 beyond which we cannot pass ; which degrades a candid and 
 progressive soul to a state of isolation and retrogression, and 
 binds the spirit to the dark regions of the nether earth. Such 
 temper of mind is the baleful result of evil influence, and, if 
 it be not checked, it may become a permanent bar to progress. 
 
166 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS 
 
 We have not deserved of you that you should receive us in 
 such a spirit, or that all our attempts at communion should 
 be viewed with jealous and suspicious eye. You are fond of 
 comparing the state of the world and the favoured few in 
 Judaea with that which now obtains. We will give you a 
 parallel from the very mouth of Jesus in His answer to those 
 who asked of Him a sign. You know that none was given 
 save one which He Himself selected. We care not now as to 
 the why and wherefore. Perhaps it was impossible : perhaps 
 it was undesirable : perhaps the very attitude of mind pre- 
 cluded the possibility of granting the request. Such is 
 precisely the case with you in this respect. The temper of 
 mind which dictates such arguments as you have addressed to 
 us makes it impossible for us to reply to them in terms 
 pleasing to you. The reasons which presumably operated in 
 the one case now operate in the other. And it should scarcely 
 be necessary to remind you that it was not to the Phariseee, 
 the Sadducee, or the wise in their own conceit, who came to 
 Him seeking to entangle Him in His talk, that Jesus vouch- 
 safed either His words of comfort or His miracles of mercy, 
 but to the humble and the meek, to the poor in spirit, the 
 faithful, earnest souls who were too careful to gather up the 
 blessed truths, and to reap the precious fruit, to care very 
 curiously to inquire in what form it came or under what 
 conditions it was bestowed. It was so throughout His earthly 
 career : and in so doing He did but act as the Father Himself 
 
 O 
 
 deals with man. The proud, dogmatic, haughty man who 
 informs Omnipotence of what he wants, and murmurs if it be 
 not instantly bestowed, is not the recipient of Divine bene- 
 diction, but the humble, trustful, prayerful soul, whose cry 
 from the depths of an earnest and loving heart is, “ Father, 
 not my will but Thine be done.” 
 
 This is the law which governs all Divine manifestations. 
 We say nothing now of the identical law which operates 
 amongst you. But we deal thus with you ; and we complain 
 that the positive tone of your mind, and the line of dogmatic 
 argument which you have determined to follow, is one that is 
 little fitting in your case. We are compelled, however 
 
THE CLAIM MADE. 
 
 167 
 
 unwillingly, to visit it with censure. Review the past. Let 
 your mind recur to that phase of your life which you know 
 to have been associated with us. Of the previous care of your 
 guardians extending throughout your life you can have no 
 knowledge yet. The watchful care which developed in you 
 the struggling germ of progress ; the tender care of those 
 angel-guards whose watchful protection never failed ; the 
 preservations from evil ; the guidance in difficulty ; the direc- 
 tion in the onward path ; the raising of your soul from 
 ignorance and error to knowledge of the truth — this unseen 
 working is to you unknown. But our efforts have not been 
 entirely secret. During the immediate past we have been 
 around and about you day by day. You have known our 
 words and acts ; you have received from us constant messages, 
 records of which remain with you. Did a word of ours ever 
 strike your mind as false ? Did an act ever seem to you 
 mean, or selfish, or unkind ? Have we committed ourselves ? 
 Have we spoken to you words that were degrading or foolish ? 
 Have we influenced you by wiles which were earthy, by 
 motives that were sordid ? Have we led you to a course that 
 is retrogressive? In short, by our fruits if we are judged, has 
 the influence on you been for evil or for good ? for God or for 
 His foes ? You yourself, are you better or worse for it ? more 
 or less ignorant ? more or less useful ? more or less happy ? 
 
 We dare any to say of us aught that may reasonably reflect 
 on us, on our acts, or on our teaching. We assert in the face 
 of all who hear that it is God-like, and that our mission is of 
 and from Him. 
 
 Nor have we failed to justify our claims by signs following, 
 even as Jesus did and said. We have placed before you a 
 body of convincing evidence to which it would be difficult to 
 add. We have not been chary of complying with your wishes 
 for manifestations of power. Nay, we have even risked doing 
 harm to you in our desire to gratify our friends by the exhi- 
 bition of the more remarkable manifestations. We have cheer- 
 fully granted all requests made to us, when it was possible, 
 and as we, in the exercise of wider wisdom, judged desirable 
 to do so. When we have refused your requests it has been 
 
168 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 because you have asked impossibilities, or because in your 
 ignorance you have wished for what would do you harm. It 
 is necessary to remind you that we see from a clearer stand- 
 point, and with a more piercing vision than man has yet 
 attained ; and we are frequently obliged to refuse requests 
 made in ignorance and folly. But what has been refused, 
 never without good reason, is as a speck to the mountain of 
 evidence which has been given — evidence which is sufficient 
 to prove over and over again the existence of a power external 
 to earth, beneficent in its action, elevating in its operation, and 
 blessed in its issue — a power which can come from none but 
 God, since it is Divine in act and outcome. Yet that power, 
 so proven, so known to you, you distrust, and seriously ques- 
 tion the statements which we make to you as to our identity. 
 It is to you, forsooth, a stumbling-block that names which 
 you have exalted should stoop to concern themselves with a 
 Divine Work, under the leadership of Divinely-sent messen- 
 gers, and designed for the amelioration of man’s destiny. And 
 so you refuse credence, and, with daring ignorance, charge on 
 us that we are, or at least may be, impostors, and that we are 
 performing acts of beneficence with a lie in our mouths. This 
 you do though you know that you can devise no reason why 
 we should deceive, no source but God from which we can be 
 derived, no errand but mercy on which we can be sent, no end 
 but man’s eternal benefit on which we can be employed. 
 
 It is this that constitutes your fault, and we are bound to 
 censure it in you. We tell you that it is in you sin, and that 
 we will have no dealings with you on such terms. We will 
 give no signs so demanded. We have reached the limits be- 
 yond which we will not go, and warn you that it is at your 
 own peril that you despise what has been placed before you. 
 We charge you solemnly that you meditate on the past, that 
 you ponder its lessons, weigh its evidence, and pause before 
 you wilfully put aside such a body of teaching, and such a 
 mass of evidence merely for an idea. 
 
 More we will not now give. We refuse to be judged as you 
 would judge ; and we appeal from yourself blind and foolish, 
 to that calmer and truer self whom we chose originally as the 
 
THE REPLY TO OBJECTIONS. 
 
 169 
 
 recipient of our teaching. That appeal you must entertain 
 according to the ability and honesty which is in you. By it 
 we stand or fall as regards you. We wish you to decide fairly, 
 and as in the sight of God — not hastily or rashly, but as one 
 who knows the magnitude of the issues, and the vastness of 
 the responsibility of decision. 
 
 Meantime seek not for further evidence ; it will not be given. 
 We warn you to avoid mixing with other circles. At your 
 risk do you seek communications thus. You will but perplex 
 and bewilder yourself, and render our task more difficult. We 
 will afford you information on points that may arise ; and we 
 do not absolutely forbid, though we discourage the meeting of 
 our own circle. We can give no new evidence there, and, if 
 you meet, it must be with a desire for explanation, and for 
 the promotion of harmonious intercourse. We hinted to you 
 long ago that rest and reflection are needful for you. We now 
 enjoin them on you. If our circle will meet, we will join 
 them occasionally under certain conditions, which we will tell 
 you of. But we discourage any such meetings. You will not 
 be left alone; rather you will be doubly guarded. We leave 
 you with our blessing, and we guard you with our prayers. 
 May the All-wise guide you ! May He direct you, for you 
 cannot direct yourself. 
 
 + Impeeator. 
 
( 170 ) 
 
 SECTION XXI. 
 
 [During this time my state was such as to preclude any 
 sort of manifestation that could bring satisfaction 
 to my mind. I was powerfully influenced, and all 
 my endeavours could not bring me any satisfaction. 
 
 I was forced to recur to the past, and to try and 
 gain some coherent view of what had been said. 
 Though I did not in the least realise what w T as 
 going on in me, I can see now that this was part 
 of the educational process to which I was being 
 subjected. I was compelled to traverse the past 
 again and. again, to review the arguments from 
 every possible standpoint, and to tear them to pieces * 
 again. I hardly rested day or night so vehement 
 was the influence that dominated me. Only w<hen 
 at work, with which I never suffered anything to 
 interfere, was my mind occupied with any other 
 subject. I made a stern rule, which has never 
 been broken in these ten years, that I would always 
 do my daily work before I permitted myself to 
 think on these engrossing subjects. When I did 
 turn to them, the mind was absolutely filled by 
 them. 
 
 As the result of all my pondering I came to the conclu- 
 sion that no good end could be served by reiter- 
 ating objections which I was far from considering 
 that Imperator had met. I regarded his reply as 
 a piece of special pleading. I never denied the 
 claims put forward by him, and he ignored utterly 
 what seemed to me of the last importance. I con- 
 sidered tha!; I had a complete right to require 
 proof which should satisfy my own judgment as 
 to identity, and which should establish in my mind 
 a conviction that I was not the sport of my own 
 fancy, or of a delusion, or of an organised attempt 
 to deceive. So I simply stated again what my 
 difficulty was, saying that it had not been met, and 
 that a threat of withdrawal only made matters 
 worse. I professed my readiness to wait, to review 
 what had been said, and to hear and weigh any- 
 
DIFFICULTIES RESTATED. 
 
 171 
 
 thing that might be added. But I stated firmly 
 that I could go no step further until my judgment 
 was satisfied. I pointed out that vague denuncia- 
 tion was not with us considered to be reply, and 
 that a frame of mind such as mine was not fairly 
 described in terms that had been used. Moreover, 
 
 I submitted that to tell me that Jesus Christ re- 
 fused all tests save those of His own choosing — 
 while undoubtedly a strong point — was perhaps a 
 dangerous argument to advance. As to the threat 
 of withdrawal, I said that it would only be to 
 leave me in my present state of uncertainty, not 
 to say of disbelief, and its result must be to cause 
 me to throw over the whole matter as a tangled 
 web which I could not unravel : which might be 
 useful if one could disentangle it, but which might 
 be useless and unprofitable, and which probably 
 was not worth the trouble. The answer came at 
 once] : — 
 
 Friend, we have weighed what you say, and we are dis- 
 posed to recognise the cogency of your reply. We did not 
 intend in the words which we felt constrained to employ to 
 censure your desire for information, but rather the attitude of 
 mind which seemed to prescribe to us conditions with which 
 we felt ourselves unable to comply. And we intended to con- 
 vey forcibly to your mind the impression which was made 
 upon us by constant opposition, or at least by the perpetual 
 presence in your mind of anxiety and mistrust. Such inhar- 
 monious conditions hamper us. We have a mission to discharge, 
 and we are not content to wait and waste precious time and 
 opportunity. We have a work to do, and it must be done ; if 
 not through this circle of friends, then through others. And 
 we did but state our intention of withdrawing from you be- 
 cause we accepted your own statement that it was impossible 
 for you to go forward until we had complied with your condi- 
 tions. We could not do so, and felt the necessity of withdrawal. 
 We have no wish to break the connection we have formed, 
 and to undo the work which has been so laboriously accom- 
 plished. It may be that in the future we may influence you 
 more fully. It may be that rest and reflection may help us 
 
172 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 and you. We urge you to ponder and meditate, and to ask 
 only at rare intervals for communications in circle. Only 
 when an earnest desire for communion exists will we give it. 
 We are not desirous indeed to add anything to what has 
 already been given. The additions to our circle which you 
 speak of are not desirable. Every such addition involves a 
 change of conditions which causes much anxious care and 
 trouble to us, which we do not grudge when there is prospect 
 of advantage. In this case there is not, and we must dis- 
 courage the scheme. 
 
 All attempts at physical experiment with yourself we ab- 
 solutely forbid. You are certainly unable to bear the strain 
 which such could involve ; especially now, you set too much 
 store by mere physical marvels. They are at best subsidiary. 
 And you run risk of injury by sitting in strange circles. We 
 discourage all such attempts. They do but retard progress, 
 and will end in injury and disappointment. Such a course is 
 never beneficial to you ; and though we have not interfered 
 to prevent you from joining other circles, we tell you that we 
 must repress such attempts now. If we are to work with 
 you, you must seclude yourself from other influences. This 
 is essential. If you do not, you render yourself so far the 
 worse for our work, and run grave risk of possession by intel- 
 ligences whom you would avoid, did you know more of the 
 risk you run, and with whom we could have no part. You 
 err in supposing that your power is of value to other spirits 
 in other circles. We prevent that ; and you will gain no proofs 
 in that way, nor be of service in helping other mediums ; rather 
 the reverse. We cannot allow you to be so used. 
 
 For the present we do not enter further into the points 
 raised. Did we not know integrity and truth to govern your 
 mind, we should long since have ceased to take pains which 
 yield so little fruit. Ignorance has caused you to do much 
 that you would not have done had you been wiser. And 
 though our friends have not aided us as we hoped, we have 
 desired to do all we can to benefit them and you. But there 
 is a limit to our power and will in such matters, and we should 
 act unwisely did we attempt to force on you thct for which 
 
REASONING AND REBUKE. 
 
 173 
 
 collectively yon are not fit. Hereafter it may be done ; now 
 we see it is impossible to do more. We shall not attempt fresh 
 efforts. We cannot spend further time and pains on that 
 which, you have convinced us, is useless. Your arguments 
 prove at anyrate that your mind has not grasped the true 
 nature of our work. We are not able, nor indeed are we will- 
 ing, to comply with the suggested tests which you prescribe. 
 It is not thus that conviction is assured, and God’s messengers 
 avouched. Compliance would but cause further demands; and 
 conviction cannot be established by any such material means. 
 
 Meditate rather on what has been done. You have put 
 aside what we have laid before you. We do not blame you 
 for honestly rejecting what does not commend itself to you. 
 But this done, we have no alternative. The choice is of eter- 
 nal import, and you appear to have made it; whether wisely, 
 time will show you ; and it may then be possible for you to 
 undo some of the effects of your choice. We would even yet 
 hope that a careful review of your position may induce you 
 to retreat from it. 
 
 4- Imperator. 
 
 [On the following day, Oct. 4, 1873, the writing was 
 resumed. Some of it is so purely personal that I 
 prefer not to print it. It was couched throughout 
 in terms of great solemnity and commenced with 
 an invocation. The gist of it all was the reiter- 
 ation of the claims previously made, and the con- 
 cession of some points which I had insisted on, 
 especially that of the threatened withdrawal. On 
 this point the reply shows such evidence of pure 
 human reason, and is so typical of the logical 
 method in which this Intelligence has always dealt 
 with my arguments, that I print it as it stands, 
 though so personal in its nature. It was written 
 with great clearness and rapidity, and entirely 
 without knowledge on my part of what the sub- 
 stance was until it was complete]: — 
 
 I, the servant of God, the minister of the Most High, and 
 the guide and guardian of your spirit, implore upon you the 
 divine benediction. The Holy and Loving Father bless you. 
 
174 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS, 
 
 May the influences, invisible but potent, by which you are 
 surrounded be gracious and powerful for your good. " It has 
 been strongly urged on us that we should pause before we 
 abandon all our efforts to act further upon you. This has 
 
 especially been put forward by [a friend recently dead , , 
 
 who had communicated with me very soon after his departure] 
 whose knowledge of the conditions of belief which beset you 
 is more fresh and vivid than our own. It has been urged that, 
 while our work must be done through others if not through 
 you, still that time should be given for consideration, and that 
 no one who has received the mass of evidence which you have 
 can in the end resist complete conviction of the truth. The 
 point of view from which you see, the mists of prejudice which 
 enshroud even a candid mind, the influences which the adver- 
 saries are able to throw around you, the difficulties which must 
 beset attempts at spirit intercourse — all these are points which 
 are to be borne in mind. And while we, knowing as we do 
 the truth and sincerity of all that seems to you dubious, can 
 scarcely grasp your position, we are still hopeful that the 
 earnestness and reality of your doubts will be the measure of 
 the strength of your conviction in the future. 
 
 So long as your frame of mind did not surround you with 
 an atmosphere in which we were not able to act upon you, we 
 confined ourselves to replying to your difficulties. But when 
 the circle which we had gathered with such pains and care 
 became so broken as to be useless, and so inharmonious that 
 it was impossible for us to establish a control in most cases, 
 our plans were frustrated, and we were forced to consider if 
 any good could come of further efforts. The constant repeti- 
 tion of physical phenomena was far from our wish. It is not 
 for such purpose that we are with you. And even if it were, 
 we could not use your organism for that mode of manifesta- 
 tion. The daily demand which you make upon your vital 
 power, and the peculiar nature of your bodily strength, con- 
 stantly fluctuating, preclude any such attempts. It needs a 
 ruder organism on which no other demands are made to safely 
 carry out such experiments. We have indeed successfully 
 communicated to you in this wav by writing much that we 
 
REITERATED CLAIMS. 
 
 175 
 
 desired to say. But, after all, we found that a great part of 
 our work was confined to answering your objections, and, as 
 regards our circle, the great end we have in view remained 
 unaccomplished. 
 
 It was while we were perplexed and troubled thus that you 
 put forward a demand for certain tests which we found it 
 impossible as well as undesirable to give. We felt that they 
 would but be the prelude to more ; and we knew that you 
 had not sufficiently weighed the evidence already given. 
 Moreover, we could, at our own opportunity, supply better 
 proof than that which you ignorantly asked for. So we 
 ' decided that if you were withdrawn from spirit communion, 
 by the withdrawal of communications, your mind would pro- 
 bably recur to the past, and learn its lessons aright. But we 
 have in view the alternative prospect, which is that we are 
 unable to cut off the power which is in you, though we may 
 refuse to use it ; and so that you would run the risk of its being 
 seized upon by others, and deceit and falsehood might find an 
 entry, and our work be utterly set at naught. We dare not 
 ignore this risk. Nor can we refuse to acknowledge that to 
 leave you now might be to allow you to relapse into disbelief. 
 From the habit of pure logical deduction, which in you super- 
 sedes intuition to a great extent, it might result that you 
 would cease to believe what had ceased to recur daily. Im- 
 pressions would fade, and gradually die out. 
 
 It seems, then, that patient waiting is the only course that 
 does not present difficulty. We are not able to prophesy 
 lesults ; but we know the two roads that lie before you, and 
 that you will pursue whichever of them your reason chooses. 
 We have no power, even if we had the wish, to force your 
 choice. Its responsibility rests solely on yourself. You may 
 choose well, and your spirit be put on the road to progress and 
 enlightenment ; or you may refuse the opportunity, and find 
 that you have thereby consigned yourself to darkness and 
 retrogression in the future. That rests with you. We abate 
 not a jot of our claims : rather do we magnify them. You 
 will know in the future more clearly what they are. For the 
 present, earnest, prayerful, and careful study is due to us, and 
 
176 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 what we have put before you. Go over the past : weigh its 
 teachings, study its records, draw out in words your conciur- 
 sions from it. Mark the progress made. Record with minute 
 care the process by which what you admit to be a Divine 
 Creed has been elaborated ; and then carry on your mind to 
 the future. Look down the vista of the ages yet to come ; 
 reflect that you stand but on the very threshold — that much 
 remains to be eradicated before your spirit can progress — that 
 much has to be cleared away before the building can be raised 
 — that eternity is before you, and that we proffer to you the 
 key of knowledge. 
 
 Pause, we implore you, before you reject what comes a ; 
 second time to none. Rejected, it will be a curse that shall 
 rest like a dark shadow on your soul through the ages. 
 Accepted, it shall be a jewel that shall shine with increasing 
 lustre, brighter and brighter yet through eternity. 
 
 Pray rather, pray to the Great Father that He will bless 
 your work, and allow us to guide you still. Pray that your 
 spirit may be raised from the cold, cheerless atmosphere of 
 earth to commune with the bright intelligences that wait to 
 instruct you. Few have been so tended ; shall it be that few 
 have so little benefited ? Our prayer shall mingle with yours 
 that such may not be, but that you may be protected from 
 influences of ill, bodily and spiritual, and that you may be led 
 on to higher fields of knowledge, and to clearer and more 
 perfect trust. 
 
 Father ! — Eternal, Infinite, All- wise — we draw near to Thee, 
 and lay before thee our petitions, knowing that Thou dost 
 hear us and wilt answer our prayers. Eternal God, remove 
 from our path the bars and clogs that hinder and hamper us. 
 Loving Father, shed into the doubting heart a beam of light 
 to illumine the dark corners, and to drive out the lurking foe. 
 Mighty Master, bear down to us that consolation which we 
 need in our labour. Great the labour, great must be the love. 
 Great is the work, great must be the power. Grant it, Almighty 
 Power ! and to Thee will we render our praises. Before Thee 
 we will testify of our grateful adoration, and to Thee will we 
 bring the free-will offering of our loving homage. Glory and 
 
REITERATED CLAIMS. 
 
 177 
 
 blessing and honour and praise be to Thee from angel and 
 spirit through Thy universe ! 
 
 + Imperator 
 
 [The above communication was practically the conclu- 
 sion of this phase of the argument. I did not feel 
 immediately convinced, but the cessation of argu- 
 ment, and to a great extent of communication of 
 all kinds with the world of spirit, left me free to 
 estimate the past. I could judge more calmly 
 when direct influence was in abeyance, and con- 
 viction of the honesty, sincerity, and truth of the 
 communications grew by slow degrees from this 
 date ; or rather, perhaps, I should say that faith 
 was perceptibly deepened, and doubt imperceptibly 
 removed.] 
 
 13 
 
( 178 ) 
 
 SECTION XXII. 
 
 [Imperator having been absent, I asked some questions 
 as to the cause, and was told that he had other 
 work, not in this world, which had detained him. 
 
 He was able, he said, to influence me without 
 actual presence with me, as I should understand 
 the term, but that this required the direction of 
 thought (so to say) to me. Preoccupation would 
 prevent that. And on this and other occasions he 
 spoke of what I may call a meeting of the spirits 
 for solemn adoration, and prayer, and praise*, and 
 intercession. More questions elicited amongst 
 other answers the following on Oct. 12, 1873] : — 
 
 We had betaken ourselves to prayer and intercession, and 
 had withdrawn for awdiile from the cares and anxieties which 
 beset a mission to your nether sphere, into the peaceful seclu- 
 sion and harmonious atmosphere of the sphere of adoration. 
 It is well that we refresh ourselves at times with rest and the 
 society of the blessed lest we fail and faint in our work ; lest 
 we grow sad and weary in spirit, and cease to labour with 
 zeal and success. 
 
 Ah ! you who in your earth-life have toiled among the lanes 
 and alleys of your crowded cities, who have trodden the haunts 
 of vice in the mission of mercy, who have breathed the stifling 
 air fever, laden and noisome in its impurity ; who have watched 
 the scenes of misery and sin, and have felt yourselves powerless 
 to alleviate, much more to remove distress and want — you may 
 know what are the feelings with which we minister amongst 
 you. You have felt sick at heart, or you have pondered over 
 the ignorance and folly and vice which you have no means of 
 removing. You have felt prostrate with association with 
 poverty and crime, and mind and body has wavered under 
 the thankless toil. Yet what do you see and feel compared 
 with what we do ? You are apt to think of us as mysterious 
 far-off* beings who have no interest in your lives, no knowledge 
 
EARTH IN THE VIEW OF SPIRIT. 
 
 179 
 
 of youi miseries, and no share in the troubles that beset you. 
 You do not understand that we can enter into your feelings 
 and know the hidden griefs that vex you, even more really 
 than your fellow man can. You think of us as dissociated 
 from earth, whereas we have very real knowledge alike of its 
 sorrows and its delights. And you fancy that the miseries, 
 physical and spiritual, which crowd around the lives of some 
 are beyond our ken. It is far otherwise. We see far more 
 clearly than you the causes that produce sorrow, the tempta- 
 tions that beset the criminal, the miseries that drive to despair, 
 the hordes of the undeveloped who throng around and tempt 
 to vice and sin. 
 
 Our view is not alone of material misery, but of spiritual 
 temptation ; not alone of the sorrows that meet the eye of 
 sense, but of the hidden grief of which man knows nothing. 
 Do not fancy that we are unable to see and to know your 
 sorrows and crimes, nor that we can mix with your people, 
 and breathe the atmosphere of your world without drinking 
 in somewhat of its curse. 
 
 What is the contrast from your life to that of the outcast 
 in the noisome atmosphere of some foul den in a back alley of 
 your crowded cities — the home of misery and crime — com- 
 pared with that which strikes cold and chilling on us as we 
 come to your lower spheres ! We come from the land of light 
 and purity and beauty, wherein is naught that is unclean, 
 unholy, or impure — from a scene blurred with no disfigure- 
 ment, where is no shadow of darkness — nothing but radi- 
 ance and unspotted purity. We leave the society of the 
 perfected, and the atmosphere in which dwells peace ; we quit 
 Lhe light and love, the harmony and adoration of the spheres, 
 and we descend to your cold earth, to a clime of darkness and 
 despair — to an atmosphere of repulsion and sorrow — to an air 
 heavy with misery and guilt — to a people disobedient, unbe- 
 lieving, steeped in materialism, and dead to spirit influence — 
 to a world crowded thick with vice, surrounded by the spirits 
 of the undeveloped, and deaf to the voice of God. We quit 
 the home where God’s light and truth prevail, for the outer 
 darkness of your earth, where only the faintest glimmer of 
 
180 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 spirit-truth from circles rare, and few greets our eyes. Har- 
 mony and peace we exchange for turbulence and discord, for 
 war and turmoil; the society of the pure and peaceful for the 
 chilling company of the sceptic and scorner, or even of the 
 drunkard and sensualist, the outcast and the thief. We leave 
 temples where we adore the God of heaven for your nether 
 world, where our God is unknown, and where a being of man’s 
 own imagining reigns in His place, save when even that idol 
 has been dethroned, and man has relapsed into absolute dis- 
 belief in all spirit and all incorporeal existence. 
 
 This we do, only in most cases to find a people who are deaf 
 and dead to us ; aye, and even those who do in a measure 
 listen to our words so long as they please them, and coincide 
 with what they have themselves fancied — even they will turn 
 away from following when we would raise them to a higher 
 level and show them a purer light. The story of J esus is ful- 
 filled again. The people will wonder at miraculous works ; 
 they will follow so long as personal interest is excited, and 
 personal curiosity gratified ; but when we raise them from 
 that level, when we cut out the egoistic element, and deal 
 with eternal and imperial facts, they turn back — they are not 
 able to receive what is too high for them. And so the designs 
 of God are thwarted, and the benefits which we are commis- 
 sioned to bestow are cast aside with thanklessness ; and the 
 chilling sense of threatened failure is added to our sorrow. 
 So it is ; and we withdraw at times for rest and refreshment, 
 and return with some of the harmony of the spheres to cheer 
 and comfort us in the midst of our labours in a cheerless 
 world, and among a thankless people. 
 
 [I had not received a communication before which so 
 savoured of pure human weakness, almost of the 
 tone of despair. There had before been a tone of 
 dignity which seemed to be above that of earth. 
 Nothing, indeed, was more striking in the pres- 
 ence and words of Imperator than his absolute 
 superiority to the weaknesses, the petty cares and 
 concerns of earth. He seemed to move, as indeed 
 he did, in another world, and to be at once careless 
 and unconcerned by the things which filled our 
 
HITMAN WEAKNESS. 
 
 181 
 
 human gaze. He was superior to them : his views 
 were wide, and concerned with matters of imperial 
 significance. Yet he was always tender and com- 
 passionate to our weakness, and quite undisturbed 
 by any gusts of human passion. He was “ in the 
 world, but not of it,” a visitor from a calmer and 
 more peaceful sphere, bringing with him somewhat 
 of its repose. I remarked the tone of his words, 
 and it was replied] : — 
 
 We complain, but we do not faint. Association with you 
 and with your surroundings causes us to imbibe somewhat of 
 the tone of your mind. We have said what we have said that 
 you may know that we sacrifice somewhat, and that we are 
 amenable to the same feelings which sway you. We suffer 
 mental agony and spiritual distress. We feel pangs as real as 
 those which wring the hearts of men. Were we not (as you 
 say) human in our sympathies, we could not enter into your 
 necessities. You will know, too, one day, that by a law as yet 
 unknown to you, the spirit returning to earth takes on much 
 of the pure human tone which it loses when absent. It be- 
 comes assimilated to earth and earthly ideas. 
 
 [The advice to refrain from seeking too frequent com- 
 munication, and to ponder the past, was repeated. 
 
 The production of physical phenomena in excess 
 was said to be dangerous for me, the drain on the 
 vital power being too great. Above all, I was 
 warned not to join mixed circles, except in cases of 
 necessity, as for the observing of phenomena which 
 I wished to describe in print. Moderation in all 
 things was urged, in work as well as other things, 
 and reflection and rest encouraged. We did not 
 omit sitting, but did not meet so frequently as 
 before. It was noticeable that great efforts were 
 made to bring home evidence of identity. One 
 very striKing case occurred (Oct. 14) thus : A spirit 
 who had long communicated with us was cross- 
 examined by one of our circle from a book which 
 recorded some facts in his life. The book had 
 lately been published, and no one of us except the 
 questioner had seen it. The names and dates 
 had got jumbled in his head, and it was most 
 
182 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 striking to find the unseen intelligence correcting 
 every mistake, refusing flatly and persistently to 
 acquiesce in an error, and even spelling out words 
 that had been mispronounced. 
 
 The sounds made were most expressive of annoyance, 
 irritation, and vexation. The corrections were 
 rapped out with the greatest promptness before a 
 question was complete, and in all cases with literal 
 exactness. It was impossible to doubt that one 
 was dealing with an entity whose individuality 
 was as strong as ever, whose memory was by no 
 means impaired, and who had lost nothing of the 
 energy that characterised him in his embodied 
 state. I refer to that evening the growth in my 
 mind of a strong conviction that the intelligences 
 who communicated were really the persons they 
 pretended to be. The accent of denial was so per- 
 fect, the irritable rejoinder and correction w T ere so 
 human, so natural, that I do not believe a per- 
 sonator could have done it, or would have thought 
 of such a subtle trait. On the following morning 
 I questioned on the subject] : — 
 
 1 was much struck by your corrections last night. 
 
 The book was wrong, and imperfect in many ways. I did 
 
 make acquaintance with before he became my pupil, and 
 
 I told you truly that I studied at Paris. 
 
 I don t doubt it. You were evidently in earnest, and 
 quite angry. 
 
 It is provoking to me to be questioned wrongly, and from 
 imperfect information imperfectly remembered. I knew what 
 I said. 
 
 I can’t affect to be sorry ; for it brought out the best proof 
 of identity I have had yet. Of course we only value it 
 as such. 
 
 Yes. But you watch for an opportunity of entangling. 
 
 Oh, no ! I only want proof. 
 
 "iou have proof which it would be hard to increase. 
 
PERSONAL NARRATIVE. 
 
 183 
 
 [My faith in the information given, and especially in 
 the tests furnished, though what was said was 
 always true, suffered^ many relapses. I was 
 hauntecTBy a suspicion which, if vague, was none 
 the less real, that what was pretended was not 
 literally true ; that the information given did not 
 really come from those whose names were used ; 
 that, in short, there was a mystery or an allegory 
 in all, which might be deception, or simply some- 
 thing which I could not understand. This frame of 
 mind, the very worst in which to seek communion 
 with the spheres, caused our circle to be practi- 
 cally broken up. We all saw, I think, the wisdom 
 of discontinuing our sittings, and Imperator 
 strongly urged, and finally enforced, that course 
 upon us. He left us — so far as our sittings were 
 concerned — with an injunction to ponder over the 
 past, and with a very strong warning as to the risk 
 we should run by attempting to join other stances, 
 or to ourselves meet after his withdrawal. The 
 automatic writing continued somewhat fitfully. 
 I made many inquiries as to what was proposed, 
 and the answers I received showed just the same 
 determined will working out its own purpose as I 
 always found in Imperator. The most cogent 
 evidence was given of a clear and decisive intelli- 
 gence operating in antagonism to my own mind. 
 At no period had I more forcible evidence of 
 external intelligence than now. Elaborate plans 
 were made and carried out, convincing and logical 
 arguments used to defend them, and I was forced 
 to admit the coherence of all. 
 
 It was at this time that a long account was written 
 out of the spiritual influence which had been 
 brought to bear upon my whole life. The narra- 
 tive startled me very much, and renewed my 
 conviction of the sincerity and reality of the 
 intelligence that was dealing with me. Though I 
 am going a long way in laying bare so much that I 
 should prefer to keep secret, I cannot bring myself 
 to print what is of so purely personal a nature. I 
 print personal remarks and details only so far as 
 they tend to throw light upon the general course 
 of teaching and proof of Spirit Identity.] 
 
( 184 ) 
 
 SECTION XXIII 
 
 [On Nov 2, 1873, a question which I proposed to put 
 was set aside, and a communication was made as 
 to the progressive revelation of God in that part 
 of the universal Church of which we have the 
 record in our Bible. I had been told before that 
 this was but one of many collateral revelations] : — 
 
 We would speak to you of the revelation of God amongst 
 men in times of old by agencies similar to those which we use 
 now. Throughout the history of which you possess the recoro 
 in the earlier part of your Bible there stand out noble spirits 
 who, during their bodily lives, shone as lights of truth and 
 progress, and who, when released from the flesh, inspired in 
 their turn those who were to succeed them. Such, in the 
 early days when God was fabled to deal with man more 
 personally than now — such was he whom you know as 
 Melchizedek. He blessed and conveyed to Abram the seal of 
 Divine favour. He was the chosen vehicle of spirit power in 
 a day when man had not cut himself off from belief in spirit 
 intercourse. He was the light shining in darkness, the prophet 
 of God to one section of His people. 
 
 And it is well that we warn you here, on the threshold of 
 your enlightenment, that you must learn to discriminate in 
 the ancient records between that which is record of fact and 
 that which is only expression of belief. The writings which 
 give the history of those early days are full of inconsistent 
 statements. They were not, as we assert to you, the compila- 
 tion of their reputed author, but were compiled from tradi- 
 tional beliefs in a far later age, at a time when history had 
 merged into legend, and much of mere opinion and belief had 
 become stamped with the mark of authenticity. So, though 
 it be most true that fact is embodied in these records, as indeed 
 in the sacred books of other faiths, you must beware how you 
 accord implicit belief to every isolated statement contained in 
 
EARLY BIBLE STORIES. 
 
 185 
 
 them. Hitherto you have read these stoiies from a standpoint 
 of unquestioning assent. It is needful now that you study 
 them in a new light — one more profitable, and not less in- 
 teresting. 
 
 God did not associate with man after the anthropomorphic 
 fashion described in Genesis; nor did He personally govern a 
 favoured nation save through His selected instruments. 
 
 His dealings with man have been uniform through the ages 
 
 intimate in proportion as man cultivates spiiituality, remote 
 
 as his animal nature asserts itself, and he becomes corporeal 
 and material in his instincts. . 
 
 So, in those now distant days, it was Melchizedek who 
 bore to the chosen Abram the Divine Benediction. He whom 
 Christian and Mahommedan alike have agreed to exalt was 
 not the immediate recipient of spirit guidance as was the 
 Priest-King of Salem. Abram faded from power when he 
 passed from the body, and in the centuries since his incarna- 
 tion he has been but little concerned in influencing men. It 
 mav seem strange that it should be so ; but it is so with many 
 a spirit whose name fills a large place in your world’s history. 
 The work has been done, and the new work does not bring 
 the spirit in contact with matter. Or, perchance, the work 
 has been badly done, the chosen vessel has lost its perfume, 
 and becomes in spirit-land savourless and useless. 
 
 Melchizedek returned again to influence the most powerful 
 reformer your world then had — the leader of the Israelites 
 out of Egypt, and the Lawgiver who framed for them their 
 code and constitution. He was a most powerfully organised 
 and developed instrument of spirit-power. A keen intelli- 
 gence had been developed in what was then the best school, 
 the esoteric wisdom of the Egyptians. A powerful magnetic 
 will fitted him for the post of ruler ; and a powerful band of 
 spirits operated on the Jewish nation through him, and through 
 them on the world. A code of religious observance was per- 
 fected, a system of government elaborated, and laws and 
 regulations laid down which were adapted for the specific 
 necessities of a great people in a great crisis of their history. 
 The Jews were then passing through a phase not unlike that 
 
186 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 which has come to other people in later days— one to which 
 the present age bears some noteworthy points of resemblance, 
 a period of development of knowledge, when old things are 
 passing away, and the creative spirit makes all things new. 
 
 Here again beware of false deductions. The laws then given 
 were not meant for all time, as some of your teachers falsely 
 pretend. They were the power of God to that distant age— 
 so much of truth as man could grasp, inspired in the same 
 way, and in no other, as have been all the utterances of truth 
 which the good God permits His messengers to declare to men. 
 They set forth the needed truth that the One Supreme God 
 rules over His people and cares for their well-being. The 
 love due to God and the charity and loving-kindness due to 
 the brother were embodied for a nation which had drunk in 
 the baser forms of Egyptian polytheistic teaching, and had 
 had no part in the inner mysteries where alone truth dwells. 
 
 These commandments which have been perpetuated till now, 
 ed for a chanceful age a phase of truth. They contain 
 laws of action which are true in spirit, but not binding in 
 literal exactness on those who have outgrown the necessity 
 for them. They were given by the spirit-guides to Moses on 
 the secluded top of Sinai, above the turmoil of Israel, and 
 removed from the lower influences of earth. They knew then 
 a has forgotten now — how that perfect isolation is 
 requisite for perfect communing, and that if you would have 
 pure and unadulterated spirit-teaching, it must be communi- 
 cated to one who has been removed from the mixed influences, 
 the cares and anxieties, the jealousies and disputes which crowd 
 the lower air. So is the message more pure, and so does the 
 medium hear and receive with sincerity and truth. 
 
 Moses was to select seventy elders — men of spiritual devel- 
 opment, for such alone were then chosen for offices of power 
 — upon whom his own influence was perpetually brought to 
 bear, and who were the channels by which that influence per- 
 meated the people. So the code was elaborated and set in 
 operation, and when the great Lawgiver passed from his work 
 on earth he became an exalted spirit whose name is emblaz- 
 oned for all ages as a benefactor of men. 
 
THE CHAIN OF SPIRIT INFLUENCE. Ibfi 
 
 He, too, in his turn, influenced men after many generations 
 as the inspiring guide of Elijah. We intentionally pass over 
 the other manifestations of spirit-power which occur in othei 
 directions, in order that we may preserve intact the grand 
 chain which stretched from Melchizedek to the Christ. Nor 
 do we name more than it is necessary to indicate in order to 
 show you the continuity, and to press on you the fact that 
 these, who had been great workers for God during their lives 
 on earth, did influence man’s destinies even after their with 
 drawal from the body. Many other chains of influence there 
 were, and many other centres from which truth, more or less 
 advanced, was diffused, hut you are not concerned with them. 
 That which culminated in Jesus Christ is that with which you 
 are concerned, though we implore you to cast aside that igno- 
 rant and selfish sectarianism which would arrogate to itself 
 the sole proprietorship of truth. 
 
 Elijah, the great master, the grandest spirit who ever graced 
 the nation of Israel, was in a very high degree the recipient 
 of spiritual guidance from Him who had been the Leader of 
 His people. The traditional reverence for Moses and Elias 
 felt by the Jewish people is shown you in the fable that God 
 buried the body of Moses, while he caught up Elijah in a 
 chariot and horses of fire to the skies where the fancied heaven 
 lay. Such was the reverence felt, that they were fabled to be 
 singular even in death. We need not tell you that no mate- 
 rial body was ever translated to lead a corporeal life in the 
 land of spirit. You know that such is but an allegory to 
 indicate the glorious translation of an exalted spirit from a 
 sphere where his w~ork is done, to one where his extended in- 
 fluence is to begin. He left to his successor a two-fold portion 
 of his spirit, not indeed in that Elisha was endued with double 
 virtue, for that was far from being so, but that the glorious 
 results of Elijah’s power showed with two-fold force in the 
 days of his successor, who seconded his efforts and carried on 
 his work. 
 
 He, too, reappeared in after ages, and exercised his great 
 influence again, and stood, as you know, with his Master 
 side by side with the Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. 
 
188 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 And in the vision of John the Divine, they are again depicted 
 as coming to revisit the earth in still later days. 
 
 [I did not at all understand the allusion made to this 
 return in later days when the communication was 
 written, November 2, 1873. It has only been lately 
 that I have been led to refer it to “ the two wit- 
 nesses ” mentioned in Revelation xi. 3, etc. Nor 
 should I have noticed this at all, but for a pamphlet 
 on the Apocalypse which some unknown friend 
 sent to me. The pamphlet deals with these wit- 
 nesses, and their prophesyings, and came to me 
 most opportunely to elucidate what I could nob 
 understand. 
 
 I asked some questions at the time, and, among others, 
 whether there were not some before Melchizedek 
 who were the recipients of Divine inspiration. It 
 was replied] : — 
 
 Assuredly. We commenced with the first link in the 
 chain which culminated with Jesus. In it we left many links 
 unnoticed, and we expressly said that out of it there were 
 many wbo were recipients of Divine inspiration. Such was 
 Enoch, a highly-gifted spirit. Noah, in like manner, but 
 imperfectly. Deborah was highly favoured, and all they 
 whom history calls Judges of Israel, were chosen for the special 
 reason that they were amenable to spirit-influence. It were 
 long to particularise all, and we shall speak hereafter of other 
 manifestations of spiritual power in the Jewish records. For 
 you will see that we confine ourselves now, first, to the Jewish 
 records ; and, next, to one particular chain in these records. 
 
 You said that the ancient records were not to be depended 
 on for literal accuracy. As to the Pentateuch , is it the 
 work of one author ? 
 
 The Books to which you refer are the compilation of the 
 days of Ezra. They were compiled from more ancient records, 
 which were in danger of being lost, and some parts of which 
 had to be supplied from tradition or memory. The original 
 records of the days previous to Moses did not exist ; and the 
 record which you have in Genesis is partly imaginary, partly 
 
LEGENDARY BELIEFS. 
 
 189 
 
 legendary, and partly the transcript of records. The account 
 of° the Creation and the story of the Deluge are legendary. 
 The account of the Egyptian Ruler, Joseph, is transcribed from 
 records. But in no case are the books as they now stand the 
 work of their reputed author. They are the compilation of 
 Ezra and his scribes, and do but embody the conceptions and 
 legends of the period. The accounts which concern the Mosaic 
 law are more exact, because precise records of the code were 
 preserved as sacred books, and from thence the particulars 
 were drawn up. We mention this to avoid at once the neces~ 
 sity of replying to any texts from these books which may be 
 quoted as an argument. The records themselves are not of 
 literal accuracy — in the earlier portions not to be relied on at 
 ah, and in the later, only where they refer to that part of the 
 Mosaic record which was preserved. 
 
 Imaginary , yon say. 
 
 It was necessary to supply lost books, and what was drawn 
 up was from memory or legend. 
 
 Abraham. Yon speak slightingly of him. 
 
 No ; but in comparison with the great spirit, who was to 
 him God’s messenger, he was on a lower plane. We do not 
 show man’s opinion in all such matters. His name has been 
 widely known ; but he has played no great part with us. 
 
 The translations of Enoch and Elijah. What were they ? 
 
 Legendary beliefs. A halo of glory was shed around even 
 the death of those whom men reverenced. In earliest days 
 the man who attracted to himself the reverence of his fellows, 
 and round whose name a certain reverential awe had gathered, 
 was fabled to have been taken to join his God in the heaven 
 for which his life had fitted him. Moses, the mysterious agent 
 of Divine power, the commanding head of his people, was so 
 fabled to be mysteriously removed from earth. He had talked 
 familiarly with the Deity whom he had revealed, and now he 
 was to go to join Him. Elijah, in like manner, the strange, 
 weird, mysterious power, who came and went as with the 
 
190 
 
 SPIRIT-TE A.CHINGS. 
 
 freedom of air, who seemed to be guided by no human laws, 
 governed by no such restrictions as fence in man’s movements 
 —he, too, it was imagined, was translated from earth to 
 heaven in such sort as he had lived. In all cases it was the 
 imaginings concerning an anthropomorphic God and a material 
 heaven that lay at the root of the fancy. We have before 
 told you that man can only receive such ideas about God and 
 heaven as he is fitted to grasp by his spiritual development. 
 In the early days of your world’s history man pictured a God 
 who was but an omnipotent man — a man in every respect, 
 with certain qualities superadded, those qualities being such as 
 man would fancy as natural additions to the being with which 
 he was already acquainted. In other words, man took the 
 highest ideal of humanity, and added to it certain qualities ; 
 the result he called Deity. In this he was doing only what 
 man has always done. The human conception of Deity must 
 ever be clouded with mortal mist, even as the revelation of 
 God can only come through a mortal medium, and be propor- 
 tioned to numan capacity. This is a natural and invariable 
 consequence of the conditions under which you exist. So, the 
 knowledge of God being progressive, and man having grown 
 in wisdom, he discovers from time to time that his conception 
 of God must be revised. The need is felt, and the additional 
 light is given. (This is the best answer to those among you 
 who fancy that man can learn nothing from us of God and the 
 spirit’s life and progress.) 
 
 So it is with regard to heaven. You have unlearned much 
 that previous ages have fancied about heaven. And none save 
 the most ignorant would now imagine that a material body 
 could find a home in heaven, as once men thought it could. 
 The time of material heavens, into which mysterious beings 
 who had been deified on earth were translated bodily into the 
 society of an anthropomorphic God, is past. You do not 
 imagine God as an omnipotent, omnipresent man, living in a 
 place where His throne is surrounded by a throng who do 
 nought else but worship and adore, as men would worship 
 were they to see God amongst them on earth. Such a heaven 
 is but a baseless dream. Into spirit-life spirit alone can enter. 
 
OLD IDEAS ADOUT HEAVEN. 
 
 101 
 
 You know that you have outgrown the fable of the bodily 
 translation of a material frame somewhere into the skies, there 
 to live as it had lived on earth, in the society of a God who 
 was human in all respects save that He was superhuman, in a 
 heaven which was borrowed from the images of a vision 
 which typified under a symbol spiritual truth to John the 
 Seer. You know that no such God exists. A translation will 
 await each good and true man, but not of his human flesh and 
 bones. His glorified spirit shall rise from the dead and worn- 
 out shroud of flesh that has served its purpose, to a brighter 
 life than man has pictured, in a brighter heaven than human 
 seer has ever imaged. 
 
 JS T o doubt there are a number of legends which come in 
 the end to be accepted as truth. The difficulty is to 
 know truth from legend , and the danger , to uproot the 
 tares with the wheat. And even a myth may have a 
 very discernible meaning , and embody truth. 
 
 It is so. The legends of which your sacred records are full 
 are in very many cases superstitious beliefs that have centred 
 round great names. There is a nucleus of truth enveloped in 
 a surrounding of myth. We have frequently told you that 
 man has erred greatly in his conceptions of us and of our 
 influence and work. Some causes which have produced this 
 result are beyond his control, others he can govern. He can- 
 not in the childhood of his intellect grasp knowledge which 
 his mind has not the power to comprehend. 
 
 That is unavoidable. He cannot picture correctly a condi- 
 tion of life which is utterly different from the state in which 
 he has lived, and with which alone he is acquainted. He 
 must be taught by illustration and analogy. That too is un- 
 avoidable. But he heaps together words and ideas which were 
 intended to be figurative, and constructs from them a notion 
 which is incoherent and absurd. Each step of knowledge will 
 lead you to see this more clearly. 
 
 Moreover, man has fancied that each revelation of God en- 
 shrines permanent truth of universal application, of literal 
 and exact accuracy. He did not see that man is taught by us 
 
192 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 as man teaches his own children ; and accurate definitions of 
 abstract truth do not suit the comprehension of a child. With 
 all the literalness of a child, he accepts the very words of 
 revelation as mathematically and logically accurate, and builds 
 upon them a number of theories, absurd in their nature, and 
 conflicting among themselves. The child accepts the parents 
 word unhesitatingly, and quotes it as law. It is only later 
 that he learns that he was being taught in parables. Man has 
 dealt with Revelation in the same way. He has assumed 
 literal exactness where there is only Oriental imagery, and 
 mathematical accuracy where he has only a very fallible and 
 frequently legendary record. So he has perpetuated ignorant 
 ideas about a jealous God, and a fiery hell, and a heaven in the 
 skies where the elect are gathered, and a physical resurrection, 
 and a universal assize, and such notions, which belong to the 
 age of childhood and are outgrown by the developed man. 
 The man should put aside the notions of the child, and soar 
 to higher knowledge. 
 
 But in place of that legendary belief, primitive superstitions, 
 ignorant fancies, are perpetuated. The hyperbolical visions 
 of an imaginative people are taken for hard fact ; and a medley 
 of fancy, folly, and truth is jumbled together, which no reflect- 
 ing mind on an advanced plane of knowledge can continue to 
 accept as matter of belief. Faith is the cord that has bound 
 together this incoherent mass. We cut that cord, and bid you 
 use your reason to try that which has been received and held 
 by faith alone. You will find much in the mass that is of 
 human invention, dating from the infancy of man’s mind. 
 You will reject much that is both cumbersome and profitless. 
 But you will find a residue that commends itself to reason, is 
 attested by your own experience, and is derived f^om God. 
 You will gather hints of what the good God destines for his 
 creatures. You cannot get more in your present state. Suffi- 
 cient that you enter on a new phase of being free from the 
 blunders and misconceptions too rife in the present. You will 
 see by degrees that the past is valuable principally for the 
 light which it sheds on the present, and the glimpses which it 
 gives you of the future. 
 
DESTRUCTION PRIOR TO CONSTRUCTION. lyo 
 
 This, as you should know by this, is the purpose of our 
 present work — to lead to purer and less dishonouring views 
 of God, of life, and of progress, than have hitherto obtained 
 among you. To this end we must first point out the errors 
 in vour creed, the human figments that have passed current 
 for*I)ivine truth, and the legendary fancies that have become 
 crvstallized into history, accepted by faith, but rejected by 
 right, reason. We do but require patient and honest thought 
 on vour part. !Nor think that our work is all destruction. 
 We" shall be able to construct when the rubbish is removed. 
 Till then, if we seem to be scattering destruction broadcast, 
 bethink you that we are but gathering the rubbish in heaps, 
 and removing it, preparatory to the erection of a nobler 
 edifice, a holier temple to a Diviner God. 
 
 + Imperator. 
 
 14 
 
( 194 ) 
 
 SECTION XXIV. 
 
 [I asked a question as to that interval of time between 
 the records of the Old and New Testaments of 
 which we have no account in the Bible.] 
 
 Of that age you have no record, because the influence of 
 the Spirit was withdrawn save in cases of rare influence rarely 
 exerted. We do not dwell on that, because we wish to point 
 out the grand chain of spiritual influence from Melchizedek 
 to Jesus. Sufficient now that you know that it was a period 
 of darkness and desolation and spiritual dearth, after which 
 we were again enabled to awaken in the minds of men an 
 expectation of dawning light. The first ray of light shot across 
 the world — that portion of it with which alone we are now 
 concerned — when men were led to feel their blindness, and to 
 look onward to a time when the pall should be lifted, and the 
 light should shine again. 
 
 It is ever so with the races of men Though the corporeal 
 may so far assert itself from time to time that the 
 spiritual be to all appearance completely eclipsed, it is not 
 actually so. The period of darkness gives place to dawning 
 light, and the spiritual germ asserts its existence. The spirit- 
 power is renewed, and man awakes to the knowledge of divine 
 truths higher than he had before conceived. It is as with 
 the man who has laid him down to rest, tired with the labours 
 of the day. Darkness has gathered around him ; his spirit 
 is chafed and wearied with toil; his body tired and worn. 
 Gloom outer and inner settles on his spirit, and he falls into 
 sleep. Tired nature is restored, the wearied mind is recu- 
 perated, and he wakes again to find the bright sun shining 
 with its blessed beams upon him. Elasticity returns to mind 
 and body, and his spirit rejoices in the life and beauty that 
 surround him. The joy of the morning is come. 
 
 Even so it is with the spiritual experiences of the genera- 
 tions of mankind. There come epochs when the old spirit- 
 
DARKNESS BEFORE LIGHT. 
 
 195 
 
 teachings which were so satisfying pall on the understanding. 
 The mind of man wearies itself with questionings. The 
 material side of humanity predominates. Doubts and diffi- 
 culties creep in, take root, bear fruit. One truth after 
 another is questioned, one fact after another denied, until man 
 feels that the blessed sunlight of Divine truth is being veiled 
 from his eyes. The sun sinks below the spiritual horizon, 
 and the night of inaction, and weariness, and thick darkness 
 begins. The Spirit of God strives not ; the night of ignorance 
 and gloomy despair reigns, and the spirit-messengers bide 
 their time, waiting for the moment when the sleeping souls 
 shall stir again and turn towards the light. Sure as that 
 man’s spirit is not dead but sleepeth, that moment comes, and 
 in the dawning of the mom the messengers of God sing their 
 anthem of praise to Him who brings light and joy out of dark- 
 ness and despair. 
 
 Such period intervened between the spiritual epoch which 
 closed with the Old Testament record and that when the voice 
 of the forerunner sounded. Such has recurred in days imme- 
 diately preceding your own. We are directing you to the 
 dawn, and doubt not that it shall be now as ever, that the morn- 
 ing shall be one of increased knowledge, of extended experience, 
 of more assured belief. The morning light shall be stronger 
 and clearer than the twilight that has preceded it. Only 
 wait and watch. He ready to catch the inspiration lest it fail 
 and pass away, and you turn again to slumber, and the oppor- 
 tunity be lost. 
 
 [I inquired whether such a period of darkness invari- 
 ably followed one epoch of revelation and pre- 
 ceded another.] 
 
 It is necessary to be more precise. It is not always a period 
 of darkness, but at times a period of rest and repose after 
 excitement and deep stirring. To borrow again an illustration 
 from your earth. The body needs repose for a period of as- 
 similation. So much of truth has been given as the world 
 can assimilate, and the process goes on till more is needed. 
 The craving precedes the revelation. 
 
 Then revelation is more from within — subjective ? 
 
196 
 
 SPIRIT TEACHINGS. 
 
 The internal craving is correspondent to the external revela- 
 tion : we have said before that man cannot receive more than 
 he is prepared for. He is gradually led by spirit-guidance 
 to a higher plane of knowledge, and then, when the need is 
 felt, advanced and progressive information is given to him. 
 Ihose of you who have questioned whether man does not evolve 
 for himself a theoretic or speculative system which comes 
 entirely from within, are not informed as to the operations 
 of the Divine messengers. At the very outset of our informa- 
 tion to you we explained that man was only the vehicle of spirit- 
 guidance. What he wrongly imagines to be the evolution 
 of. his own mind is in reality the outcome of spirit- teaching 
 which acts through him. Some of your greater minds have 
 wandered near the truth when they have so speculated. Did 
 they but know enough of spirit-teaching to be aware of the 
 
 truth than those who have fancied that their Bible contains 
 a complete and infallible Revelation, to which nothing will 
 ever be added, and from which no scrap may ever be removed 
 as useless. It is not necessary for practical purposes in your 
 life on earth to speculate on the exact correlation between 
 man’s mental action and God’s revelation. You may easily 
 bewilder yourself by vain attempts to separate the insepar- 
 able and to define the indefinable. Sufficient that we tell yon 
 that spirit-preparation precedes your knowledge, and enables 
 the progressive mind to evolve for itself higher views of truth, 
 those very views being not the less the very voice of the 
 messenger of truth. And so revelation is correlative with 
 man’s needs. 
 
 It is to us curious how perpetually man seeks to define his 
 own part in .our work. What if we use the readiest means 
 to our hand, and instead of keeping to the sterile work of act- 
 ing without human agency, influence the mind and mould the 
 thoughts of those whom we influence ? Is that a less noble 
 and profitable work than producing some curious phenomenal 
 action apart from human means — as the juggler who 
 astonishes and amuses by apparently inexplicable tricks? 
 W e have done enough to show an independent action. Cease 
 
 influence that acts upon them, they would be far nearer the 
 
 down our work by confining it to so narrow a groove 
 
/ / 
 if 
 
 eevelation. 
 
 4 
 
 197 
 
 and learn to receive the impressions which we can convey to 
 the mind, and which will be all the more vivid because we 
 find material stored up there. You need not fear that we shall 
 find there anything which will supersede the necessity for 
 our teaching. 
 
 Scarcely. But I want to keep my own individuality out 
 of the question. And , on wider grounds, . many great 
 thinkers have doubted the possibility of Divine revelation 
 at all. They argue that man cannot receive what he 
 cannot understand, and that no external revelation can 
 make a home in his mind which he could not have evolved 
 for himself. 
 
 They are answered in what has been already written. \ ou 
 will see as time goes on how wrong is soch conclusion. We 
 do but protest against the mechanical nature of the work to 
 which you would condemn us. Even when you imagine your 
 own mind to be most assuredly acting you err, for there is no 
 such thing with you as independent action. You have always 
 6een guided and influenced by us. 
 
 [Some days after the above communication, I asked as 
 to some conclusions to which I had come in read- 
 ing over the Gospels with the new light which I 
 had received. I seemed to see them in a new light 
 altogether. I wondered whether my conclusions 
 were true, and whether they were new.] 
 
 The result is in the main correct. The conclusions are not 
 new. They have been reached long ago by those who have 
 been enabled to cast aside trammels, and pursue truth without 
 clogs and fetters. It has been given to many. 
 
 Then why cannot 1 read their works? It would save 
 trouble. 
 
 Better you should arrive by your own paths at the results, 
 which you may then compare with the conclusions of others. 
 
 You always work so. It seems roundabout. If this be so, 
 
 ( why was I allowed to live so long in error ? 
 
 We have told you already that you were not fitted to receive 
 truth. Your past life, which has not been so long as you 
 
198 
 
 SPIRIT TEACHINGS. 
 
 imagine, was a careful preparation for progress. It was in 
 its day useful and progressive, but only as leading you on to 
 nigher planes of knowledge. The time will come when you 
 wi\l look back on this too, wbicli now is new and strange, 
 an l wonder bow it could have seemed to you so startling. 
 
 ibife, the totality of your being, is progressive throughout ; 
 and its early stages are but preparatory to its later develop- 
 ment. 
 
 Tneology was a necessary phase in your training, and we 
 were both unwilling and unable to prevent you from taking 
 erroneous views. Be content to pursue your present path! - 
 It has been one of our chief est difficulties to uproot false 
 dogmas from your mind. It has been a steady work, and now 
 we hope that you may find out much respecting the question 
 o f revelation which will enable us to clear away false opinions 
 and infuse true knowledge. We can do little so long as tradi- 
 tional reverence for any mere words, however venerable in 
 their associations, is implanted in your mind. We must wait 
 till you can appreciate at its real value each utterance made 
 through man, whether that utterance be contained in your 
 Bible or not. So long as you reply to our arguments with a 
 text we cannot teach you. Any one who can so reply is 
 beyond reach of reasonable teaching. 
 
 There are many points to which you may well direct your 
 mind in the life and teachings of the Christ before we throw 
 upon it the light which we are able to give. Your study of 
 the records of His life may lead you to discuss the question 
 of their reliability, the source from which they were derived, 
 the authority which they claim. You may deal with such 
 questions as these: the account of the incarnation ; the atone- 
 ment, as grounded on the words — first of Jesus, and then of 
 those who spoke in His name ; the miracles ; the crucifixion 
 and resurrection. You may ponder these points : the teach- 
 ing of the Christ about man’s duty to God and his fellow as 
 compared with ours; Jesus’ views on prayer, and those of 
 His followers; the duty of resignation and self-abnegation 
 as put forth by Him and them ; charity ; pardon on repent- 
 ance and conversion ; heaven and hell ; reward and punish- 
 ment. 
 
 On such questions as these you are now prepared to enter 
 
THE CRITICAL SPIRIT NEEDED 
 
 199 
 
 honestly. Prior to this you would have sought only to find 
 a preconceived conclusion. Weigh first the validity of the 
 records. Settle the exact weight to he given to their state- 
 ments ; and then select the teaching of J esus in such way as 
 you would select the teaching and system of a Socrates, a 
 Plato, or an Aristotle. Translate Eastern hyperbole into 
 sober fact. Estimate the utterances of enthusiasm by calm 
 reason. Cast aside that which is merely legendary, mythical, 
 or traditional, and dare to walk alone, untrammelled by any 
 bonds, and unfettered by dread of any conclusion at which 
 you may arrive. Dare to trust God, and seek for truth 
 Dare to think soberly, calmly, about revelation. 
 
 To such a seeker shall come a knowledge of which he little 
 dreams ; a comfort which no creed of tradition can afford. He 
 will know of God and of His truth ag none can know who has 
 not trodden the path of personal investigation. He will know 
 of things Divine as the traveller knows of a far-off country 
 when he has himself visited it and lived amongst its people. 
 Round him will centre the ministry of enlightenment, the 
 guidance of the spirits whose mission it is to proclaim truth 
 and progress to mankind. Old prejudices will fall away ; 
 old fallacies will shrink from the new light into congenial 
 darkness; and the soul will stand unbound in the presence 
 of Truth. Be of good cheer. Jesus it was who said, “The 
 Truth shall make you free, and you shall be free indeed.” 
 
 [I said it was worth any cost, if attainable. I was not 
 sanguine, and rather grumbled at being left to 
 grope.] 
 
 We do not leave you. We help, but we may not save you 
 from personal labour. You must do your part. When you 
 have laboured, we will direct and guide you to knowledge. 
 Believe us, it is best that you do this. In no other way 
 can you learn the truth. If we told you you would not 
 believe us, nor would you understand. There is much out- 
 side of this question of the Christian revelation that you must 
 look to ; other Divine words ; other spiritual influences ; but 
 not yet. 
 
 Cease : and may the Bhsssed One illuminate you ! 
 
 + Imperator. 
 
( 200 ) 
 
 SECTION XXV. 
 
 [Following up the investigation into the nature of the 
 Mosaic record with the new light which I had re- 
 ceived, I detected plain traces of a gradual evolu- 
 tion of the idea of God, which seemed to point to 
 the conclusion that the Pentateuch was not the 
 work of one author, but a compilation of many 
 legends and traditions. I inquired as to this.] 
 
 In the investigation to which you have been directed you 
 have arrived at correct conclusions. We have directed you 
 to it in order that you may see how little reliance is to be 
 placed upon isolated texts taken from books which do but 
 embody the floating legends and traditions of an ancient 
 people, decipherable only by those who had the key. We 
 wish to insist on this point. The amount of credence to be 
 placed in any statement drawn from the ancient books of 
 your religion depends on the nature of the book from which it 
 is taken, and on the specific nature of the utterance itself, as 
 well as on your understanding of its true meaning. It is pos- 
 sible for you to select from your oldest books words which 
 sublimely picture an elevated conception of Deity. It is 
 possible, on the other hand, to select from other and later 
 writings conceptions of God the most dishonouring, the most 
 human, the most repellent. Such are they which represent 
 the Pure and Holy One as wrestling in human form with 
 man ; as discussing with a mortal his plans for vengeance 
 on an offending city; as a monster of cruelty and carnage, 
 revelling in gore, and glutted with the blood of his enemies : 
 yea, even as a man who sat at the tent door of his friend and 
 consumed the flesh of a kid and cakes of bread. You may 
 select conceptions the most dissimilar, and no separate utter- 
 ance can be of more than the individual weight judged by the 
 rules of right reason. And even thus it behoves you to see 
 
INSPIBATION. 
 
 201 
 
 well that you understand aright the hidden meaning which 
 frequently underlies such passages, lest you wander from truth 
 and err through ignorance. 
 
 Inspiration, we again say, is not different in kind in differ- 
 ent ages., but only in degree. The words in all cases are the 
 words of the inspiring spirit conveyed through a human 
 medium ; and in proportion as the medium is pure and ele- 
 vated are the utterances trustworthy and the conceptions sub- 
 lime. The plane of knowledge of the medium is the plane of 
 revelation through him. And we need not say at length that 
 in the world’s earlier days — such as those spoken of in the 
 ancient records of the J" ews — that plane was low, and these 
 conceptions, save in rare instances, anything but sublime. 
 
 Man has progressed in knowledge since the days when he 
 feigned for himself a vacillating, puny God who repented 
 and was grieved at the failure of his plans in man s creation, 
 and who was compelled to undo them as a failure. If you 
 seek for conceptions more sublime and true, you will go to a 
 later age, when man had unlearned somewhat of his folly, 
 and had ceased to be content with a God framed after the de- 
 vices of a barbarous imagination and an undeveloped mind. 
 The barbarous age could grasp nothing nobler, and accord- 
 ingly nothing nobler could be revealed. That is in accord 
 with the universal practice, viz., that God’s revelation is pro- 
 portional to man’s mental plane. The error has been that 
 you have laboured to perpetuate these foolish and crude views. 
 They have been held by your theologians to be of Divine in- 
 spiration, binding for all time. This fallacy we desire utterly 
 to uproot. 
 
 Another error even more destructive of truth is the fable 
 that Divine inspiration, plenarily communicated, guided all 
 the writers of all the books of your Bible into absolute truth 5 
 and tha t, as God was in every case the Author, so each indi4 
 vidual utterance of each scribe is of paramount as well as 
 permanent authority. This error we have uprooted in your 
 mind, for you now know that God cannot be the Author of 
 contradictions, nor can He have said at one time what He con- 
 tradicts at another. The light shone through a dark 
 medium, and was distorted in the passage. 
 
202 
 
 SPIRIT TEACHINGS. 
 
 In place of these false views we have taught you that in- 
 spiration is the control of the inspiring spirit; of various 
 degrees of elevation, perfection, or reliability; to he judged 
 in each case by reason, and to be estimated in precisely such 
 manner as you would criticise and judge works of professedly 
 human source. You will therefore accept no text as an argu- 
 ment. You will deal with these ancient books as you deal 
 with all that is put before you. And in criticising them you 
 will find it necessary to deny much that has been affirmed 
 and believed with respect to them and their contents. 
 
 You have asked information respecting the Pentateuch. 
 It is, as we have before hinted, the compilation by Ezra of 
 legends and traditions which had been orally handed down 
 from generation to generation, and which were collected by 
 him to prevent their loss. Some parts of the Pentateuch, 
 especially the early portions of Genesis, are mere legendary 
 speculations collected and arranged by the scribe. Such are 
 the Noachic and Abrahamic legends which exist in collateral 
 forms in the sacred books of other peoples. Such, in another 
 way, are the statements of the book Deuteronomy, which are 
 the direct additions of Ezra’s day. For the rest, the compila- 
 tion was made from previous imperfect collections made in the 
 days of Solomon and Josiah, themselves in turn records of 
 previous legends and traditions which again had a still more 
 remote origin. In no case were they the very words of Moses ; 
 nor do they embody truth, save where, in dealing with the law, 
 they draw their information from authentic sources. 
 
 We shall dwell hereafter on the notion of God which per- 
 vades the early books of your Bible. Sufficient that we now 
 point out that the mythical and legendary sources from which 
 most of them were compiled forbid you to attribute any weight 
 to their historical statements or moral precepts, save when 
 they are confirmed by reasonable evidence from other sources. 
 
 [I found this communication to confirm my own re- 
 searches. I thought I could trace the two sources — 
 Elohistic and J ehovistic — from which the compiler 
 drew his information : as in the account of the 
 creation, Gen. i., ii. 3, compared with Gen. ii. 4 — 
 
the canon of scripture. 
 
 203 
 
 iii. 24, and in tlie seizure of Sarah at Gerar by 
 Abimelech (Gen. xx.), compared with xii. 10-19 
 and xxvi. 1-11. I inquired if I was right.] 
 
 What you have given is hut an instance out of many. 
 When you recognise the fact, you will see evidences of it all 
 around you. The documents in question were the legendary 
 sources of the compilation of Ezra’s scribes, Elnathan and 
 uoiarib. They were many in number, some compiled in the 
 days of Saul, some even earlier, in the days of the Judges of 
 Israel, and some in the days of Solomon, Hezekiah, and 
 Jonah— crystallisations of the floating legends which had 
 been orally handed down. We have already pointed out to 
 you the true line of inspiration from Melchizedek. . All prior 
 to that is untrustworthy : and not all, indeed, that is recorded 
 concerning the lives of the real recipients of spirit-guidance 
 is accurate. But on the whole, the channel of Divine teaching 
 was such as we have said. 
 
 [If this was the way in which the Canon of the Old 
 Testament was settled, I inquired how far tlie case 
 was the same with the Prophecies.] 
 
 The books yon name were all added and arranged from 
 existing sources by Ezra’s authority, save and except those 
 which were afterwards added — those called by the names of 
 Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Haggai was concerned in 
 the compilation of the book Ezra, and he and Malachi finally 
 completed the Old Testament by the addition of the later 
 books. They, with Zechariah, were much in communion, 
 having been the privileged attendants of Daniel when he saw 
 his great vision and received his c om mission from Gabriel, 
 tlie Archangel of God, the Chief of the Ministering Angels, 
 and from Michael the Archangel, the Chief of the Hosts of 
 the Lord against the adversaries. Of a surety Daniel the seer 
 was a highly-favoured recipient of Divine inspiration. The 
 great God be thanked for His mercy, and for the manifesta- 
 tioD of His power. 
 
204 
 
 SPIRIT TEACHINGS. 
 
 Is that the vision recorded in Daniel x. ? 
 
 That by the banks of the Hiddekel. 
 
 The same. Then selections only were chosen from the 
 utterances of the prophets ? 
 
 Only selections, and they chiefly for some hidden meaning', 
 ♦vhich does not lie on the surface. As the open vision was about r 
 to cease, selections were made from the records of the past, 
 and the canon was closed until the days when the voice of 
 spirit-teaching should sound again amongst men. 
 
 You speak of Daniel as a great seer or medium. Do you 
 know if the gift was common ? ■ 
 
 He was a very favoured recipient of spirit power. Such 
 became more rare as the spiritual age was about to close. But 
 men cultivated the power more then. They valued more and 
 knew more of spirit power and teaching. 
 
 Vast masses of trance addresses , visions , and the like , such 
 as those preserved in the Old Testament , must have been 
 lost ? 
 
 Assuredly. There was no need to preserve them. And 
 many that were preserved are now excluded from your Bible. 
 
 [A few days later (November 16th, 1873) I asked that 
 the promised communication about the idea of God 
 might be given.] 
 
 We have already spoken in passing of the conception of 
 Deity in your Bible. We desire now to draw out more clearly 
 this fact, that the growth of the idea of God was a gradual 
 one : that the God of Abraham was an inferior conception 
 to the God of Job : that the cardinal truth which we have ever 
 insisted on is manifest in your Bible even as elsewhere, viz., 
 that God’s Revelation is correlative with man’s spiritual de- 
 velopment, and that He is revealed in proportion to man’s 
 capacity. 
 
 You have but to read, with this idea prominent to your mind, 
 the records of the lives of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, 
 David, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Daniel, to see that this is so. In early 
 
THE GROWTH OF THE GOD IDEA. 
 
 205 
 
 patriarchial times, God, tlie Supreme, was adored under many 
 anthropomorphic representations. The God of Abraham, Isaac, 
 and Jacob was superior, in the opinion of those who wor- 
 shipped him under that title, but only superior, to the gods of 
 their neighbours. The father of Abraham, as you know, wor- 
 shipped strange gods, i.e., gods other than his son’s God. 
 Nay, this was invariably the case, each family having its own 
 representative deity by which its members vowed and swore. 
 The name given to the Supreme, J ehovah Elohim, shows you 
 so much as that. 
 
 Laban, too, remember, pursued and threatened Jacob for 
 having stolen his gods. And the same patriarch collected on 
 one occasion the images of his household gods, and hid them 
 under an oak tree. Here you see that Jehovah was, as he was 
 constantly called, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob : not 
 the One Only God, but a family deity. 
 
 It was only when the children of Israel grew into a nation 
 that the idea gradually enlarged itself to that of the national 
 God of Moses and Joshua. Even the great lawgiver, in his 
 elevated conception of the Supreme, was not entirely emanci- 
 pated from the notion of a superior God ; for he saj s expressly 
 that there is none like to Jehovah among the gods. And many 
 like sentiments are to be found in the recorded sayings. In- 
 deed, in the commandments given as the very words of the 
 Supreme Himself, it is said that the Israelites should have no 
 other God before Him. Head Joshua’s dying address, and you 
 will see in it, too, the notion of a Superior Deity. 
 
 It was not until the development of the nation had so far 
 progressed as to make these anthropomorphic notions repul- 
 sive, that you find truer ideas of God becoming rife. In the 
 prophetical and poetical books of your Bible you get far nobler 
 conceptions of the Deity than in the earlier portions. 
 
 This is assured. God is revealed in your Bible in many 
 forms. Some are noble and elevated, as the books of Job and 
 Daniel. Some are grovelling and mean, as the books which 
 are called historical. In all you see an exemplification of the 
 truth that God is revealed in proportion to man’s capacity. 
 
 And it was not always a progressive revelation. As master 
 minds stood forth so was the God-idea chastened and refined. 
 
206 
 
 SPIRIT TEACHINGS. 
 
 It has ever been so. It was markedly so when Jesus revealed 
 to man His conception of the Supreme. It is so still, as, one 
 by one, exacted spirits have found an aspiring soul to whom 
 they could convey noble ideas of the Great Father, and through 
 them shed forth a brighter beam of truth. Such have stood 
 forth in well-nigh all your generations, and through them 
 from time to time revealings of Deity have been vouchsafed 
 brighter than ever were shed forth before. And an unpre- 
 pared world has blinked and shielded its eyes from the un- 
 wonted glare, and has chosen the gloom, for that it was not 
 prepared for the full radiance of the Divine truth. 
 
 Eanders-on of the courier fire. Yes: it is easy to see in 
 history men who were , as we say , in advance of their age- 
 I suppose the history of the world is a mere record of 
 development , and that man cannot grasp more of truth 
 than his faculties fit him to understand. Otherwise , 
 
 where would he the eternal growth? At any rate , little 
 enough is Jcnown yet 
 
 It is well that you recognise your own ignorance. It is the 
 first step to progress. You are but now standing in the out- 
 most court, far away from the temple of truth. You must 
 walk round and round, until you know the outer precincts, 
 before you. can penetrate the inner courts ; and long and labo- 
 rious efforts must precede and fit you for eventual entrance 
 within the temple. Be content. Wait and pray, and keep 
 yourself in silence and patient watching. 
 
 + Imperator. 
 
( 207 ) 
 
 SECTION XXYI. 
 
 [Jan. 18, 1874. There had been a considerable lack of 
 communication for some time past, and the work 
 seemed to be passing into another phase, or being 
 quenched by my inability to obtain conviction on 
 matters respecting which I was in doubt. This 
 retarded everything, and caused our sittings as 
 well as these communications to be interrupted. 
 
 At this date various changes were made, fresh direc- 
 tions given, and a kind of retrospect written, from 
 which I extract the least personal part.] 
 
 It may be well that we review the course of teaching by 
 which we have endeavoured to influence your mind aright. 
 We may at least urge you to go over in detail what has been 
 said, and to survey the broad expanse of truth — such ~s is 
 suited to your present needs — which we have mapped out for 
 you. You will see that we have preached to you a nobler 
 gospel revealing a diviner God than you had previously con- 
 ceived. To your objections, again and again reiterated, de- 
 manding proofs and tests which it would have been vain to 
 grant, we have replied step by step. And if we have not 
 succeeded in effacing from your mind doubts that have 
 lingered there, it is because the doubting habit of mind has 
 become so natural that we have found only rare intervals dur- 
 ing which we could penetrate through the fog. You have 
 wrapped yourself in an impenetrable veil, and it is only now 
 and then that it has been lifted. 
 
 We have dealt more successfully with other friends who 
 have witnessed our dealings with you ; and we thankfully 
 look on that as proof of final success. We shall in the end 
 prevail even over that sceptical frame of mind which is the 
 hardest to approach. We are most hampered by the impossi- 
 bility of bringing home evidence to the mind which, howevei 
 honestly, is unable to accept the grounds on which we work : 
 
208 
 
 SPIRIT TEACHINGS 
 
 more especially since it is in almost all cases impossible for ns 
 to grant specified tests imposed by you with great force of 
 will and in total ignorance of the conditions which beset us. 
 This is a fact which you will do well to recognise and bear in 
 mind. The spirit of mistrust and eager desire to entrap and 
 ensnare us by a predetermined test is one which defeats its own 
 end. If we be such as you suspect, it would be well that you 
 have nothing further to do with such emissaries of evil. If 
 that be to you a position you would not assume, then we 
 counsel you to put aside mistrust, and cultivate a feeling of 
 frankness and receptivity. A brief time spent with such a 
 temper would enable us to do far more than many years of 
 such intercourse as your present frame of mind necessitates. 
 It is not, as you imagine, that we will not, but that we cannot 
 help you now. We treasure up, indeed, the reasonable requests 
 of our friends, and if we cannot comply with them literally, 
 we do so in substance at another time. The history of our 
 intercourse with you throughout will attest this. It is, 
 indeed, a general law of spirit-communion. 
 
 Moreover, when your demand for a prescribed test, on which 
 your mind is strongly fixed, takes the form of a request for 
 some special information, the answer, if given as you wish, 
 would in most cases be imperfect and unreliable, from the 
 admixture of your own mental action and that of the circle, 
 so that in any case your end would be frustrated. But we 
 have cheerfully done so much as we could. The question on 
 which your mind has been set, that of the identity of spirits, 
 has received more than one illustration of late, and you have 
 been compelled to admit their strength. 
 
 We have not done more of late than we have always done, 
 but we instance what has been done as an argument for the 
 wisdom of our advice to you, that both in circle and in your 
 private communion with us you seek to maintain an attitude 
 of perfect passivity, accepting or rejecting what is offered 
 according as reason dictates, and deferring to a convenient 
 time your final judgment. Bemember that there are degrees 
 of proof, and that evidence very insignificant in itself may be 
 vastly enhanced by preceding or succeeding facts or ar<m- 
 ments. 
 
EVIDENCE OF IDENTITY 
 
 209 
 
 That which seems to you vague now may be rendered pre- 
 cise by some further point long after ; and many proofs ex- 
 tended over long time have a daily added weight. More 
 especially is this the case when the general and special results 
 show unvarying truthfulness in us who speak to you. At 
 least you are not able to allege that we deceive you. Our in- 
 fluence is not for evil; our words are words of truth and 
 soberness. We are the preachers of a Divine gospel, suited to 
 your needs, and elevating to your mind. 
 
 It is for you, then, to accept the individual responsibility, 
 from which none may relieve you, of deciding whether, being 
 what we are, we are deceivers in matters of vital and eternal 
 import. Such a conclusion, in the face of all evidence and fair 
 inference, is one which none could accept save a perverted and 
 unbalanced mind, least of all one who knows us as you now 
 do. Ponder our words, and may the All Wise guide us and 
 you. 
 
 + Imperator. 
 
 [From this time forward repeated evidence of individu- 
 ality perpetuated after bodily death was brought 
 home to me. I do not interrupt the course of the 
 teachings to detail them. Some were written com- 
 munications, in which peculiarities of handwriting, 
 spelling, and diction were accurately reproduced. 
 Some were verbal communications made through 
 my own guide. Some were laboriously rapped out 
 in the circle. Some were corroborated by my clair- 
 voyant vision. The ways used to convey the 
 information were various, but all agreed in one 
 particular. The facts given were invariably liter- 
 ally and exactly true. In most cases they related 
 to persons not known to us except by name, some- 
 times not even by so much as that. In other cases 
 they related to friends and acquaintances. This 
 course of evidence continued for a long time ; and 
 collaterally I developed a power of clairvoyant 
 vision which rapidly increased, until I was able to 
 see and converse at length with my invisible 
 friends. The inner faculties seemed to be opened, 
 so that the information given received new con- 
 firmation from my clairvoyant sight. This power 
 15 
 
210 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 eventually developed to a very high degree. I had 
 a number of extremely vivid visions in which my 
 spirit appeared to act independently of the body. 
 During some of them I was conscious of living and 
 acting among scenes not of this earth ; in others 
 dramatic tableaux were enacted before me, the 
 object evidently being to represent some spiritual 
 truth or teaching to me. In two cases only was I 
 able to satisfy myself by collateral evidence of the 
 reality of my vision. I was in deep trance during 
 each occasion, and could not distinguish between 
 the subjective impressions of a dream and the real 
 occurrence of what I so vividly saw before me, 
 save that I could confirm in these two cases what 
 I saw and heard in vision by what I afterwards 
 discovered from external sources. The scene in 
 these cases was real, and I do not doubt that it 
 was so in all. This is not, however, the place to 
 discuss such a point. I do but note these visions 
 as a phase of the development of my spiritual edu- 
 cation. It was always represented to me that 
 what was shown to me had a real existence, and 
 that my inner senses were opened for the purpose 
 of instructing me and of confirming my faith in 
 things unseen by the natural eye. 
 
 In the month of January, 1874, some communications 
 were printed relative to spiritual influences which 
 were round a son of Dr. Speers, and which, I was 
 told, influenced his musical powers. These were 
 written out April 14th and September 12th, 1873. 
 Some question which I put on February 1st, 1874, 
 caused more information to be given on the same 
 subject. After some personal information, it was 
 written] : — 
 
 The conditions were bad last night for the music. You are 
 yet to learn the conditions under which it may be had. Not 
 until you hear the music of the spheres will you know the 
 true poetry of sound. Music depends, far more than your 
 wise men have dreamed, on these self-same spiritual conditions 
 of which we say so much. The spiritual elements must be in 
 harmonious arrangement before a good development of that 
 which is attainable even on earth can be reached. Only then 
 does the inspiration really flow in. The room in which the 
 
M [JSIC. 
 
 211 
 
 boy was rendering the thoughts of the Master was filled with 
 an inharmonious atmosphere ; hence we say that the result was 
 inadequate. It is with the musician as with the orator. An 
 harmonious rapport must exist with the audience before the 
 words can make their mark. This the speaker feels, though 
 frequently he knows not that his words fall dead because the 
 spirit bond does not exist, and the inspiration cannot run on 
 the mesmeric chain between the orator and his audience. The 
 best results are had when the musician, the orator, is surrounded 
 by a band of spirits who can so dispose his mind as to refine, 
 harmonise, and spiritualise his thoughts, or the thoughts of 
 which he is the interpreter. 
 
 Even as there is vast difference between a word coldly slurred 
 or heartlessly spoken, and the same when it syllables the utter- 
 ance of heart emotion, so is it with music. The body of sound 
 may be there, but the soul may be absent. And, though you 
 know not why, you mark the difference and feel the want. 
 It is cold and trivial, and thin— mere sound ; you shudder, and 
 are not content. Again it is full, rich, the souls voice of 
 melody, speaking thoughts that are born in fairer spheres and 
 purer air than earth’s-spirit uttering cry to spirit. The sounds 
 are instinct with soul ; they have a language for the most 
 irresponsive. They breathe their message to the spirit, the 
 while they subdue the bodily senses, and harmonise the dis- 
 cordant jarrings of the mind. The dead body of sound is 
 animated with the soul of music. You hear, and are satisfied. 
 It is the whole difference between the body of earth and the 
 spirit that soars to heaven : the gap that separates the material 
 and earthy from the heavenly and spiritual. Hence it is that 
 conditions under which true music is evolved rarely occur, at 
 least on occasions of great public gatherings. It is in more 
 harmonious air that the inarticulate voice of spirit best unfolds 
 its story. 
 
 [The communication was signed with the autographs 
 (exact fac-similes) of two well-known composers, 
 as well as by some other names known to me.] 
 
<. 212 ) 
 
 SECTION XXVII. 
 
 [I had read something about India as the cradle of 
 races and religions, and something had been said 
 about the subject at one of our meetings. I in- 
 quired further.] 
 
 What was said is true. India is the source from which is 
 derived much of the religious idea which pervades your faith. 
 From India the chain has been perpetuated through many 
 nations of antiquity. The myths which have centred round 
 the plain truths of revelation owe their origin to India. The 
 Messianic legends date from the earliest days. Men have 
 always pictured to themselves a Saviour of their race, and the 
 best record of your gradual growth is to be found in tracing 
 the early religious history of India. As the study of Indian 
 lore bears much on the scientific aspect of language which you 
 have studied and taught to others, so is the study of the 
 religious aspect of Indian history in the far, dim past, essential 
 for yourself now. Direct your mind to it. We have those 
 with us who can aid you. 
 
 India, Persia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Judea — of these and of 
 God’s dealings with them in revealing the Divine Ideal as man 
 has been able to grasp it, it behoves you to know. You 
 must learn how Djeminy and Veda Yyasa were the pre- 
 decessors of Socrates and Plato. You will be told of this by 
 those who know, and whose earth-life was spent at that epoch. 
 But, first, you must labour to gather up for yourself such 
 knowledge as is stored up. That done you will be guided 
 further. 
 
 You must learn, too, from similar sources how that man in 
 every age has felt his need of a Saviour outside of himself, 
 and how the legends that cluster round these Messiahs repeat 
 themselves from time to time. The mythic source from which 
 many a legend sprang you will find in the story of Chrishna, 
 the miraculous son of the pure virgin Devanagny. Hence you 
 will get light on subjects yet dark to you. This is the special 
 
INDIA: THE CRADLE OF RELIGIONS. 
 
 213 
 
 information of which we spoke long ago, but which the pecu- 
 liar attitude of your mind, combined with its black ignorance 
 on these subjects, compelled us to withhold. 
 
 We have still much to clear away before we can build safely. 
 There is much in the mere outlines that will be strange to you, 
 and you must be familiarised with them before we can go into 
 detail. You must know that Egypt, Persia, Greece, Rome, the 
 great kingdoms of the world, owed their philosophy and 
 religion very largely to India. Manou, the great Indian re- 
 former and teacher, reappears as the Manes of Egypt, the 
 Minos of Greece, the Moses of Hebrew story. The name is 
 impersonal, and is the appellative “ man ” in its simplest form. 
 The great pioneers of truth to their respective peoples were 
 called, by emphatic eminence, “ The Man.” They were to their 
 fellows the highest embodiment of human power, dignity, and 
 knowledge. 
 
 Manou of India was a learned and erudite scholar, a pro- 
 found student of philosophy, more than three thousand years 
 before the Christ was born among you. Nay, he in his turn 
 was but a late reformer compared with those whose words are 
 written in the ancient commentaries which belong to vener- 
 able Brahminical lore thousands of years before Manou ex- 
 pounded philosophically the mysteries of God, of creation, 
 and of man’s destiny. 
 
 To him Zaratushta, or Zoroaster, owed whatever of truth he 
 taught of old in Persia. All the sublimest conceptions of God 
 late from him. The influence of India on all ancient races, in 
 legislation, in theology, in philosophy, in science, is as surely 
 proven to you as the fact that the language which you use is the 
 same tongue as that spoken by Manou himself. The adultera- 
 tions of modern times have so changed it that you can hardly 
 trace the resemblance, yet your learned philologists will tell you 
 that it is the same. The religions of the world bear to a super- 
 ficial eye no apparent identity with the ideas which are en- 
 shrined in Brahminical lore, yet they are derived frequently 
 from those primitive teachings which Manou systematised, 
 which Manes naturalised in Egypt, and which Moses introduced 
 among the Hebrews. 
 
214 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 Hindu ideas permeate all systems of philosophy and theo- 
 logy. The Devadassi, the holy virgins who in Hindu temples 
 devoted themselves to the pure worship of the Supreme, accord- 
 ing to their idea of Him, have had their successors in the con- 
 secrated virgins of the Egyptian temples of Osiris, in the 
 inspired pythonesses of Delphi, in the priestesses of Ceres, in 
 the vestal virgins of later Rome. 
 
 This is, indeed, hut a solitary instance of what we wish to 
 point out to you. We do but direct your mind ; and our bare 
 sketch will be plentifully filled in hereafter. You are not yet 
 able to comprehend more than the outline. 
 
 Certainly I am ignorant enough . You speak as if man 
 was a mere vehicle for spirit ; more or less perfect, and 
 so more or less instructed. 
 
 We have told you frequently that all knowledge is from us. 
 With us is the substance, with you the shadow only^. Even as 
 in your world, they learn most who are most teachable, so in 
 intercourse with ours. We can teach, if you are willing to 
 learn. 
 
 Not much merit in man, then 1 
 
 The merit of obedience and humility. So he best grows in 
 knowledge. 
 
 And suppose his teachers teach him wrong ? 
 
 All truth is mixed with error. The dross will be purged 
 away. 
 
 All spirits teach differently. Who, then, is right ? What 
 is truth ? 
 
 It is not so. We teach independently, and so details vary 
 while the broad outline remains the same. You will know 
 one day that evil, as you call it, is but the reverse of good. You 
 can have no unmixed good in your present state. It is an idle 
 dream. Truth to you is relative, and must long remain so. 
 Be content to crawl before you walk, to step before you run, 
 to run before you soar. 
 
 Prudens. 
 
MAN CRUSHED BY STEAM-ROLLER. 
 
 215 
 
 [It was at this time that there occurred that singular 
 instance of the power of a spirit lately released 
 from the body to communicate, which I have re- 
 corded in Spirit-Identity. A man had met an 
 awful death by being crushed beneath a steam- 
 roller used for making a road near Baker Street. 
 
 I had passed the spot during the day : without, 
 however, being conscious of the event. In the 
 evening I met the Baron Dupotet at Mrs. Mack- 
 dougall Gregory’s, and the spirit manifested its 
 presence. On 23rd Feb., 1874, I inquired about 
 the matter, and the story told by the spirit was 
 confirmed.] 
 
 It surprises us much that he should have been able to attach 
 himself to you. It was owing to his being near the place 
 when he met his bodily death. Do not direct your mind 
 strongly to the subject, lest he vex you. 
 
 How comes it that he is awalce at once, whereas our friend 
 [who had passed away recently'] is not ? 
 
 He has not rested after the violent separation from the body. 
 Well for him if he does so. If not he will remain an earth- 
 bound spirit for long. Best is a step to progress in the case 
 of such a spirit. It is to be desired that the poor soul may 
 rest and not haunt the sphere of vice in which his earth life 
 was spent. 
 
 Is the spirit, then, unharmed by such a ghastly muti- 
 lation ? 
 
 The mutilation of the body does not harm the spirit, except 
 by the rude shock. And that would stir it into action rather 
 than lull it into repose. 
 
 The spirit haunted the place of death ? How did it reach 
 me ? 
 
 It is usual for a spirit so severed from the body to haunt 
 the spot for long after. You passed : and being in a highly 
 sensitive condition attracted any spiritual influences that 
 came within your sphere, as the magnet attracts iron. This 
 power of sympathetic attraction is mysterious to you. Yet it 
 
216 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 should not be, for you see it in action in a lower degree in 
 your world. Attraction and repulsion operate strongly in 
 daily intercourse. Most are unconscious of the fact, yet all 
 especially the sensitive, act upon it. This is intensified once 
 the body is done with. The wider methods which it supplies 
 through the avenues of the senses are replaced by this intui- 
 tive faculty of sympathy, and its correlative, repulsion. 
 
 But do not fix your mind on the subject, or you will find 
 that the law of attraction is set to work again, and you will 
 have drawn to yourself the plague of an undeveloped spirit. 
 There is no reason, seeing that you could not benefit the poor 
 souk 
 
 + Imperator. 
 
( 217 ; 
 
 SECTION XXVIII. 
 
 [Feb. 26th, 1874— At one of our circles we had had a 
 
 L piece of direct writing of which we could make 
 nothing. It was written in curious hieroglyphics. 
 
 I inquired about it.] 
 
 The writing, though unintelligible to you, was the work of 
 a high intelligence, who on your earth was incarnated amongst 
 the nation who was then most spiritual, the great nation of 
 the Egyptians. They had a more real belief in the existence 
 and intervention of spiritual agencies than you now have. 
 They cherished a firmer belief in immortality of the human 
 spirit ; and of the indestructibility of all spirits than your wise 
 men have yet attained to. Their civilisation you yourself 
 know to be vast ; their erudition such that they were the 
 depositary of the knowledge of their age. 
 
 Aye, verily ; and they had knowledge which a material age 
 has lost ; knowledge which illumined the souls of Pythagoras 
 and Plato, and which has filtered down to you only through 
 their teachings. The ancient Egyptians were wise and erudite 
 philosophers, and our friend may well teach you much of 
 which you are yet ignorant. After an interval of three 
 thousand years and over, one, who in his earth-life knew of 
 God and the hereafter, comes to witness to the abiding nature 
 of his faith. The time— so long in its seeming to your con- 
 tracted vision — during which our friend has been a denizen of 
 spirit-land, has served to open new vistas of truth, to remove 
 old errors, to throw light on old speculations, but it has served 
 also to deepen and confirm faith in the Supreme, and in the 
 immortal destiny of man’s spirit. 
 
 TI suggested that I still did not see why he should 
 write unintelligible hieroglyphics ; and asked his 
 name.] 
 
 You shall know of him ; but his earth identity is long lost 
 
218 
 
 SPIEIT-TEACB INGS 
 
 and you would know it no more than you know his signs on 
 the paper. He knew even in the body that bodily life was 
 but the first short stage of perpetuated existence ; and he has 
 gone onwards, as he believed, upward to Ha, the source of 
 light, to whom his gaze was turned. 
 
 [I inquired if he believed in absorption into the God- 
 head after a course of progress.] 
 
 The Egyptian faith was of some such sort. Their philoso- 
 phers believed in gradual progress until the dross was purged 
 away and the spirit completely purified. His religion was one 
 of faith in future progress, and, for the present, of high 
 morality in life. Duty to man and to self was not forgotten, 
 and religion was made a business of daily life. We may 
 touch on this again as we develope in you a wider knowledge. 
 F or the present it is enough that you know that the special 
 peculiarities of Egyptian theology— the sanctity of the body 
 — had its true and false side. 
 
 The Great God was to them represented by every living 
 thing, and the human body was so sacred that it was pre- 
 served from natural decay as far as might be ; and so well 
 was this done, that some still exist among you. The undue 
 care of the body was error, but the due preservation of bodily 
 health was true and wise. When they saw God in everything, 
 they did well ; when they reduced Him to bodily form, their 
 care for the body misled them. Their doctrine of transmigra- 
 tion through vast ages and cycles was an error which sym- 
 bolised and typified eternal and unceasing progress. These 
 errors, which led to the worship of animal life in all its forms, 
 as symbolising the Creator, and as being the future home of 
 the spirit in its manifold transmigrations, the spirit unlearns 
 as it progresses. But it preserves the great truth of progres- 
 sive development and growth in presence of the Great Creative 
 Force, of which they were the outward symbols. 
 
 If it seem to you foolish and unwise to worship animal life, 
 as needs it must, remember, too, that worship may be directed 
 through an external symbolical manifestation to that spiritual 
 essence which it typifies ; and that errors which enshrine 
 
EGYPTIAN THEOLOGY. 
 
 219 
 
 truths are husks which die in time and leave the kernel safe. 
 Ideas, germs of truth, never die. They may be viewed through 
 a distorted medium, and so take a disproportioned form ; but 
 when the distorted medium is removed, the true form is seen. 
 So our friend and his brethren see now that all nature in your 
 world is a phenomenal manifestation of the Supreme ; and 
 that if life in all its varied forms may not be held up as an 
 object of adoration, still the groping spirit who strives to reach 
 up through nature to its God is not to be visited with un- 
 reasoning blame. Do you not see this ? 
 
 In a way. I can understand the use of all nelps to 
 realising God. But I thought that Egyptian theology 
 was material and earthy compared, with that of India. 
 The communications which you wrote out as to the 
 religions of the world , left on me the impression that 
 Egypt reacted from India. I suppose all error in- 
 cludes some truth , just as every truth has an admixture 
 of error , both terms being relative and not absolute. 
 
 We do not now dwell on the characteristic points of Indian 
 theology. What you say is true. We only desire now to 
 show you how, under forms most repulsive to your present 
 ideas, there was a lurking germ of truth, and that such truth, 
 known to the ancients, has in many cases perished from among 
 you It is well that you learn to be modest in estimating both 
 your own knowledge and that of the ancients. 
 
 Yes ; I am not aware that I have any particular know- 
 ledge except of the prevalent ignorance touching these 
 matters. And it is silly to laugh at any form of 
 religion. Our friend lived long since. An Egyptian 
 priest , was he $ 
 
 He was one of the prophets of Osiris, and was in his time 
 learned in the mysteries esoteric and unmentionable to the 
 vulgar. Osiris, Isis, and Horus — this was the Trinity he wor- 
 shipped. Osiris, the Supreme ; Isis, the All-Mother ; Horus, 
 the Child, sacrifice for human sin. He knew God as your 
 sacred historian revealed Him, in terms borrowed from Egypt 
 
220 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 — I am the I am — the Universal Essence ; the Source of Life 
 and Light. This title of Jehovah, Moses borrowed from the 
 priests of Thebes. 
 
 What was the original name ? 
 
 NUK-PU-NUK. I AM THE I Am. 
 
 He who inspires this communication was Prophet of Ra, at 
 On, the City of Light, which the Greeks call Heliopolis, City 
 of the Sun, and he lived sixteen hundred and thirty years 
 before the era which you call Christian. His name was Chom, 
 and he speaks to you a witness for immortality from the ages 
 that have long passed. And I bear him witness that his testi- 
 mony is true. 
 
 + Imperator. 
 
 [I inquired if there were any available records of 
 Egyptian theology to which I could get access.] 
 
 It is not necessary. All that remains of the old Hermaic 
 books is little. The writings in the mummy cases from the 
 Ritual of the Dead are excerpts from them. The care for the 
 body, we have said, was the distinguishing mark of Egyptian 
 religion. The funeral ceremonies were very long and minute, 
 and the writings on the tombs and on the caskets which 
 enshrined the bodies of the departed are the earliest records 
 of Egyptian faith. 
 
 You will not need to dive into these matters. It is needful 
 only that you see and grasp this great truth, that the despised 
 knowledge of the past had its germ of truth. 
 
 Nay, more. Religion was to the Egyptian the master prin- 
 ciple of daily life, to which all else was subservient. Art, 
 literature, science, were the handmaids of religion, and the 
 daily life itself was an elaborate ritual. The faith in which 
 he lived was incorporated in every act. The Sun-God, as it 
 arose and set typified the life which was then but beginning 
 and which in the twin Sothriac cycles would return again after 
 three thousand years of progressive education to earth, only 
 to be absorbed at last in the pure beams of Ra, the source and 
 spring of life and light. 
 
THE KEL1G10N OF DAILY LIFE. 
 
 221 
 
 The ceremonial purifications of worship pervaded his daily 
 work, and gave a tone of spirituality to the businesses of life 
 All that the Egyptian did had reference to the life hereafter 
 on which his stedfast gaze was fixed. Every day had its 
 special presiding spirit, or deity, under whose protection it was 
 placed. Every temple had its great staff of prophets, priests, 
 pontiffs, judges, scribes. These were versed in mystic lore, 
 and spent lives of purity and chastity in penetrating into 
 nature’s hidden secrets, and the mysteries of spirit intercourse. 
 They were a pure, learned, spiritual race, albeit their know- 
 ledge of some things known to men now was but slight. But 
 we may say to you that in deep, philosophical knowledge, in 
 clearness of spiritual perception, your wise men have no claim 
 to rank with them. 
 
 Nor in practical religion can your people equal the oiu 
 Egyptians. We have learned long since to estimate man’s 
 religion by acts rather than by words ; and we pay little heed 
 to the character of that ladder by which man climbs heaven- 
 ward. False faiths abound still. Man now, as heretofore 
 befogs himself with foolish imaginings which he calls Divine 
 Revelation. And though the faith of Egypt were erroneous 
 in much, it possessed that which redeemed its errors and en 
 nobled the lives of its professors. They at least had not 
 clothed their lives with a dead materialism. They had not 
 closed every avenue to the higher life of spirit. They recog- 
 nised their god in every act of daily life, even though their 
 idea of the god-principle was crude. They would not buy and 
 sell and trade with deliberate purpose to defraud and over- 
 reach. They would not ignore all else but dead matter, even 
 though they did pay undue reverence to the perishable and 
 material. 
 
 You know how far it is true of your age, that it is material, 
 earthy, grovelling ; that its thoughts and aspirations have been 
 earth-bound ; that it is unspiritual, without lofty aspirations, 
 without deep spiritual insight, without active faith in spirit- 
 life and intercourse. You can draw the contrast for yourself. 
 In pointing it out we do not exalt Egyptian religion, save to 
 
222 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 show you that what seems to you so earthy and vile was, in 
 some of its aspects, a living faith, powerful in daily life, and 
 possessing deep spiritual wisdom. 
 
 Yes , in a way , no doubt. It seems that so much may be 
 said lor every form of faith. They are all man's grop- 
 ing after immortality , and vary in degree of truth 
 according to his enlightenment. But you are hardly 
 fair to this age. No doubt there is a deal of Materialism, 
 but there is also a deal of striving to avoid it. Few are 
 Materialists from choice. And if ever there were a time 
 when thought about religion and God, and the hereafter, 
 might be said to be rife, it is now. It seems to me that 
 your strictures ivould suit better a bygone age of apathy 
 than one which is at least awake and alive to the mo- 
 mentous questions on which you speak. 
 
 It may be. There is, as you say, much tendency to look 
 into these matters; and where that exists there is hope. But 
 there is also a strong desire to exclude all reference to spirit 
 as a factor in human existence : to refer all to matter, and 
 crush out all seeking into spirit intercourse and the spirit life 
 as at least unpractical, if not unreal and delusive. It is, per- 
 haps, necessary that the temper of your age should take its 
 tone from the peculiar religious epoch through which you are 
 passing. The transition state that intervenes between one 
 form of faith and its successor, is necessarily one of con- 
 vulsion. The old is fading, and the new is not yet clear. 
 Man must pass through this, and it has a tendency to distort 
 his vision. 
 
 Yes. Things seem in a fluidic state, shifting, and 
 obscure. Then, of course, there are many who do not 
 want to be disturbed. They resent being roused from 
 their dreams. And some have dealt with matter so 
 long that they cannot bear to think that after all it is 
 only the vail of spirit. But this does not affect my 
 belief that no age that I know of, short of that grand 
 era in old Greece, shows anything like the same active 
 
THE PRESENT AN AGE OF HONEST INQUIRY. 223 
 
 and intelligent seeking into deep spiritual and natural 
 truths. 
 
 It is well that you think so ; nor do we desire to shake that 
 opinion. We have but striven to show you by a typical in- 
 stance that there are truths hidden even in those faiths which 
 to you seem most gross and earthy. 
 
 I suppose the Jewish Lawgiver , “ learned in all the wis- 
 dom of the Egyptians” incorporated a good deal of it 
 into his code. 
 
 Yes, indeed. The ceremony of circumcision was borrowed 
 from the Egyptian mysteries. All the ceremonial purifica- 
 tions of the Jewish temple were borrowed from Egypt. From 
 the same source came the linen dresses of the priests ; the 
 mystic cherubim that guarded the mercy-seat : nay, the very 
 idea of the Holy place, and Holy of Holies, were but adapta- 
 tions of the plan of Egyptian temples. But Moses, skilled as 
 he was in the learning of the priests by whom he was trained 
 did not in borrowing ritual, borrow also the spiritual ideas 
 which it typified. The grand doctrines of immortality and 
 spirit agency find no real place in his writings. The destiny 
 of spirit, as you know, he never alluded to. The appearances 
 of spirits are mere phenomenal manifestations incidentally 
 introduced, and the great doctrine is untouched. 
 
 Yes. The rite of Circumcision existed in Egypt before 
 the time of Moses ? 
 
 Oh, yes. Bodies which were so religiously preserved by 
 them at a date previous to Abraham, and which still exist 
 among you, prove that, if you need proof. 
 
 I did not know that. Did he borroiv any articles of 
 faith ? 
 
 The doctrine of the Trinity existed in Egypt as well as in 
 India. The Mosaic code reproduced much of the minute 
 character of Egyptian ritual without its spirituality. 
 
224 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 How comes it that such mines of knowledge as Egypt had 
 should be closed to us ? Confucius , Buddha , Moses 
 Mohammed live. Why not Manes ? 
 
 He lives only in the effect he had on others. The religion 
 of Egypt was confined to a favoured class, and was not suffi- 
 ciently extended beyond the country to be permanent. It was 
 a religion confined to a priestly sect, and it died with them. 
 Its effects are seen in other faiths. 
 
 The idea of the Trinity, was it Indian or Egyptian ? 
 
 The Trinity of Creative Power, Destructive Power, and 
 Mediatorial Power, existed in India as Brahm, Siva, Yishnu ; 
 in Egypt as Osiris, Typhon, Horus. There were many Trinities 
 in Egyptian theology. The same existed in Persia as Ormuzd, 
 Ahriman, Mithra (the Reconciler). 
 
 Different parts of Egypt had their different theologies. 
 Pthah, the Supreme Father : Ra, the Sun-God, manifestation 
 of the Supreme : Amun, the Unknown God, were all various 
 manifestations of the God-idea. 
 
 I thought you said that Osiris, Isis, Horus, made the 
 Egyptian Trinity ? 
 
 We did but put in Isis as the Productive principle — Osiris, 
 Creator; Isis, Principle of Fecundity; Horus, son of Osiris 
 and Isis. There were many developments of the idea of the 
 Trinity. It is not important, save that it bears upon the broad 
 question. 
 
 Then did Egypt get its religion from India ? 
 
 Partly : but on that point we have no one who can speak. 
 
 Prudens. 
 
 [The foregoing was written February 28th, 1874. On 
 April 8th, the answer was written, much other 
 matter having been given in the meantime.] 
 
 You inquired as to the connection between India and Egypt. 
 The religion of Egypt was essentially a religion of body, as 
 that of India was of spirit. Egypt had multifarious acts of 
 
INDIA AND EGYPT. 
 
 225 
 
 external ritual ; India cultivated contemplation. God to the 
 Hindu was an undiscoverable essence; to the Egyptian he 
 was manifested in every type of animal existence. To the 
 Hindh. time was nothing; eternity, all. To the Egyptian 
 every passing moment had its consecrated work. Egypt was 
 the antipodes of India. Nevertheless, it is true that Egypt 
 received its first religious imspiration from India, even as did 
 Zoroaster in Persia. 
 
 We have told you before that the special grandeur of Egypt’s 
 faith was the consecration to religion of daily life. It was 
 a faith which influenced daily acts. Therein lay its power. 
 It was a faith which recognised God in all nature, and 
 especially in all animal life. It was the mystery of existence, 
 the highest manifestation of Divine power that the Egyptian 
 worshipped, when, as you imagine, he bowed down before an idol 
 
 graven in the image of an ox It would be well that the 
 
 same care for the body, the same present view of religious 
 duty, the same perception of an all-pervading Deity which 
 formed the creed of ancient Egypt, and which enters so largely 
 into ours, should be again prevalent among you. 
 
 I suppose , in effect , that Egyptian theology was a reaction 
 from Hindu mysticism. You speak as if that elabora- 
 tion of ritual was a good thing. I should have thought 
 that the Egyptian priest wasted a deal of time , and 
 that his punctilious washings and shavings were merely 
 silly. 
 
 Not so. The ritual was necessary for the age and people. 
 We are not concerned with anything but the underlying idea. 
 Art, literature, and science laboured for religion : and so far 
 from worship absorbing the work of life, it was rather that 
 every act of common life was raised to the dignity of an act of 
 worship. In this sense only is it true : and a nobler truth can 
 hardly be declared. To live in the presence of Deity — to see 
 His image all around, to consecrate every act to His service, to 
 keep mind, spirit, body, pure as He is pure, consecrated to Him, 
 and to Him alone — this is to lead the godlike life, even though 
 it contain mistaken details. 
 
 16 
 
226 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 Eo doubt 'prejudice hampers us greatly. But you ivould 
 not say (would you?) that a man's faith is entirely 
 indifferent in its substance, so he honestly professes it 
 For instance, Egypt reproduced no w would not be the 
 ideal you seem to paint. 
 
 Surely not. The world progresses, and gains higher know- 
 ledge. It may not recur to that which was fitted for another 
 people in an earlier stage of development. But though the 
 world has gained, it has lost also ; and among the things which 
 it has lost is that which may belong equally to all forms of 
 faith, the devotion of self to duty and to God. This is no 
 inseparable quality of Egyptian faith. Bather was it ampli- 
 fied and exemplified in a higher degree in the life and teaching 
 of the Christ. But you have forgotten ifc — you have lost 
 that mark of true religion. It needs that you see that in 
 this point you were surpassed by those whom you despise 
 and contemn. 
 
 We do say, we have always said, thac man’s responsibility 
 is in proportion to the light which is in him; that man’s 
 duty is not lessened but increased by the quality of the revel- 
 ation of which he is the recipient. We tell you that many a 
 soul has progressed in spite of its creed by honesty and sin- 
 cerity and singleness of purpose ; and that many a soul has 
 been dragged down by the very load of that faith in which its 
 hopes were centred. We know that it is so, and that man’s 
 faith in its external presentment — the outer shell which alone 
 you can see — is of comparatively little moment. He must 
 perforce take that which falls to his lot, and according to the 
 use he makes of it is his progress. It is an accident whether 
 an incarnated soul be Jew or Turk, Mahommedan, Christian, 
 Brahmin, or Parsee ; but it is of the essence of that soul’s pro- 
 gress whether it so uses its opportunities as to progress, or so 
 abuses them as to retrograde. Souls have different opportu- 
 nities here, and according as they use them they have increased 
 or diminished capacity for progress in the after state for which 
 they have fitted themselves. This you know ; and the chance 
 of progress may be as great with the despised and humble soul 
 
THE JUDGMENT OF SOULS. 
 
 227 
 
 on whom the Pharisaical Christian looks down with contempt 
 as with one incarnated amidst every influence of good, and 
 every opportunity of progress. It is a pure question of spirit, 
 into which you cannot yet enter. You are concerned with the 
 husk here ; you have not reached the kernel. 
 
 But surely one who acts up to his knowledge as a 
 Christian, that knowledge being high, and the acts 
 good and complete, according to capacity and oppor- 
 tunity, gets a long start of the barbarous fetish-wor- 
 shipper, however honest he may be. 
 
 In this small fragment of existence it is not possible that 
 any gain be snatched which may not be readily made up in 
 another state. You are hampered by the limited nature of 
 your vision and knowledge. The accidents which seem to you 
 such bars, may be but the means selected to bring out some 
 needed quality — endurance, patience, trust, or love ; whilst the 
 luxurious surroundings, the poisonous flattery, the complacent 
 self-satisfaction may be the engines of the adversaries who are 
 dragging down and stifling a soul. 
 
 You judge too hastily and imperfectly, and from ex- 
 ternal signs only. Nor are you able to see what the guar- 
 dians intend, nor to make due allowance for temptation and 
 its results. These are questions which now are beyond your 
 judgment. 
 
 Further, as to your question, it is a bounden duty in each to 
 accept and act up to the highest view of Divine Truth which 
 is revealed in him, and which he is able to accept. By this his 
 progress will be judged. 
 
 Do you teach a General Judgment ? 
 
 No. The judgment is complete when the spirit gravitates 
 to the home which it has made for itself. There can be no 
 error. It is placed by the eternal law of fitness. That judg- 
 ment is complete, until the spirit is fitted to pass to a higher 
 sphere, when the same process is repeated, and so on and on 
 until the purgatorial spheres of work are done with, and the 
 soul passes within the inner heaven of contemplation. 
 
228 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 Then , in fact , there are many judgments ? 
 
 Yes and no. Many and none. Judgment is ceaseless, for 
 the soul is ever fitting itself for its change. No such arraign- 
 ment before the assembled universe as is in your mind. That 
 is an allegory. 
 
 In each stage of probation the spirit builds up a character 
 by its constant acts, which fits it for a certain position. To 
 that position it goes of necessity, without what you mean as 
 judgment. Sentence results at once; just as the total of a 
 number of items is ascertained without argument or judgment. 
 There is no need for the process of a court of justice as you 
 understand it on earth. The soul is the arbiter of its own 
 destiny; its own judge. This is so in all cases of progress or 
 retrogression. 
 
 Is each entry into a new sphere or state marked by a 
 change analogous to death ? 
 
 Analogous, in that there is a gradual sublimation or refine- 
 ment of the spirit-body, until by degrees all gross elements are 
 purged away. The higher the sphere the more refined and 
 ethereal the body. The change is not so mateiial as that 
 which you call death, for there is no corporeal envelope to 
 lay aside, but it is analogous to it in that it is a process of 
 development, the entry of the spirit into a higher state of 
 existence. 
 
 And when all the gross elements are gone , the spirit enters 
 the spheres of contemplation, and is refined till all may 
 be refined away ? 
 
 Not so. It is refined until the dross is gone, and the pure 
 spiritual gold remains. We know not of its life in the inner 
 heaven. We only know that it grows liker and liker to God, 
 nearer and nearer to His image. It may well be, good friend, 
 that the noblest destiny of the perfected spirit may be union 
 with the God into whose likeness it has grown, and whose 
 portion of divinity, temporarily segregated during its pilgrim- 
 age, it so renders up to Him who gave it. These to us, as to 
 you, are but speculations. Leave them and be content to know 
 
THE PURIFICATION OF SOULS. 
 
 220 
 
 that which is alone worth knowing. Could you penetrate all 
 mysteries there would be no longer occupation for your mind. 
 You can know but little here ; but you can aspire, and in 
 aspiring, raise your spirit above the sordid cares of earth to 
 its truer home. May the blessing of the Blessed One rest 
 on you 1 
 
 •b Imperator. 
 
( 230 ) 
 
 SECTION XXIX. 
 
 [March 15, 1874. — We had received many warnings 
 as to the danger of deception by personating spirits, 
 and the warning had gained force by a particular 
 case occurring in our experience, though outside of 
 our circle, in which such an attempt had been made. 
 Many very striking messages were given on the 
 subject, of which the only one sufficiently public in 
 interest, is the following] : — 
 
 W e have been particular in our statements, because we are 
 anxious to reiterate the warnings we have frequently given, 
 as to the danger of attack by deceptive and personating spirits, 
 whom you know as The Undeveloped. Of late, too, we have 
 told you that trouble and perplexity were at hand through 
 this same cause, and we gave you special warning lest you 
 should fall a prey to their attacks. We have ascertained that 
 the spirit who falsely pretended to be working with us is a 
 personating spirit, whose aim is to injure and retard our work. 
 
 We need to explain fully on this point. You have heard of the 
 antagonism between the adversaries and the divine work which 
 is in process amongst you. There is direct antagonism between 
 them and us, between the work which is for man’s develop- 
 ment and instruction, and their efforts to retard and thwart it. 
 It is the old battle between what you call the good and the 
 evil — between the progressive and the retrogressive. Into the 
 ranks of that opposing army gravitate spirits of all degrees 
 of malignity, wickedness, cunning and deceit : those who are 
 actively spurred on by the hatred of light which an unen- 
 lightened spirit has, and those who are animated by sportive- 
 ness rather than by actual malice. It includes, in short, the 
 undeveloped of every grade and class : spirits who are opposed, 
 for infinitely varying reasons, to the organised attempt to lead 
 men upward from darkness to light, with which we are asso- 
 ciated, in company with hosts of others. 
 
TEMPTATION BY UNDEVELOPED SPIRITS. 
 
 231 
 
 It would appear that your inability to see the operations of 
 these adversaries renders you unable to grasp their existence, 
 or to appreciate the magnitude of their influence in your world. 
 Not till your spiritual eyes are open will you really under- 
 stand how great it is, and how present. To those ranks gravi- 
 tate, of necessity, the earth-bound and unprogressed spirits to 
 whom incarnation has brought no gain, and whose affections, 
 centred on the earth, where all their treasure is, can find no 
 scope in the pure spiritual joys of the spheres of spirit-life. 
 Hovering over their old haunts, they live over again their 
 wretched, polluted earth-lives, by influencing congenial spirits 
 still in the body, and so gratifying their lusts and passions at 
 second hand. 
 
 The poor wreck whose lusts have survived the death of that 
 body in which and for which alone he lived, have survived the 
 means of direct bodily gratification, finds his resource in seiz- 
 ing on an impressionable medium, and goading him on to sin, 
 so that he may get such poor enjoyment as alone remains for 
 him. The debauched drunkard, who sank his body in disease, 
 and soddened his spirit with the poisoned draughts of liquid 
 fire, now haunts the dens where his pleasure used to be, and 
 goads on the wretches whom it finds it possible to influence. 
 He leers with spite as he drives one more soul to a lower state 
 of misery, and gloats as he draws his own foul gratification, 
 though it spread broadcast ruin and woe among innocent 
 women and their babes, and foster in the midst of your centres 
 of knowledge and refinement a sink of infamy and disgrace. 
 These things go on all around you, and attract your notice scarce 
 at all. Where are the denunciations that should ring from end 
 to end of your world while such plague-spots linger nay, 
 flourish and abound amongst you ? Why is no voice uplifted ? 
 Why? but that the dark influence of those baleful spirits 
 avails to blind your eyes and to paralyse the voice of truth 
 within you. Not in the gin-den alone, but far round it as 
 from a centre, the malign influence radiates, and the vice per- 
 petuates itself. The sot, dead — as you falsely think, is a sot 
 in spirit still, and his influence perpetuates his vice among 
 congenial spirits yet on earth. 
 
232 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 The murderer, again, whom your blindness has cut off from 
 the trammels of the body, and let loose in fury on your earth, 
 is not idle. With all his envenomed passions stirred within 
 him, mad with wrath and sense of wrong — for his sin is fre- 
 quently the result of your civilisation, and he is what you 
 have made him — he goes forth to wreak his vengeance on 
 those who have wronged him. He incites to rage and destruc- 
 tion of life. He is the prolific inciter of crime, and perpetuates 
 the circumstances of which he was the victim. When will 
 you learn that crimes for which you daily, hourly, visit rude 
 vengeance are but the necessary product of those mixed con- 
 ditions of life which obtain in your crowded centres of life ? 
 Why lop off an ugly branch here and there when the root is 
 rotten ? Why punish the wretch because he is what you 
 made him ? Nay, if you be but selfish, why let loose on you 
 a wrathful avenger to your own hurt ? Ah ! friend, you must 
 pass through many cycles of progress before you learn that 
 your old criminal code is founded on fallacy, and works to 
 mischief and perpetuation of the abuses it is intended to 
 prevent. 
 
 These and such as these, coming from your world such as 
 you have made them, are, of necessity, enemies of progress, 
 purity, and peace; adversaries of ours, and leaders in the 
 attack on the work in which we share. What else can they 
 be ? Can that spirit whose earth-life has been one long scene 
 of debauchery and degradation become of a sudden pure and 
 good ? Can the sensualist be changed into one who lives for 
 purity, or the degraded animal into a progressive and aspiring 
 spirit ? You know it cannot be. They are, in company with 
 hosts of others, the foes of man and spirit so far as their desire 
 is to thwart progress and keep down truth. Count on them 
 as a perpetual source of antagonism, and if you cannot realise 
 to the full their influence for evil, do not ignore their power, 
 or invite their attacks by exposing yourself to them. 
 
 We will leave no word of warning unuttered, for the dan- 
 ger is all the more real that it is so secret and so far- reaching. 
 To their efforts operating on 'congenial spirits in your world 
 you must refer much of crime and misery that exists among 
 
WHAT OUR RELIGION HAS DONE FOR US. 233 
 
 you : war with its attendant horrors which yet disgrace and 
 defile your world, and blots your boasted civilisation and 
 refinement. To them attribute the fostering of the crimes 
 that befoul your great cities, that spread a mantle of corrup- 
 tion over them, and make them homes of iniquity and dwell- 
 ing-places of shame. 
 
 You tell of your progress in knowledge, in art and science, 
 in culture and refinement. You boast of your civilisation, and 
 are at pains to send to far distant peoples the religion which 
 adorns and elevates your own country. Nay, you even force 
 it on them as that Divinely-given panacea for human ills of 
 which you are the favoured recipients. It would be well that 
 you should keep silence over the fruits which religion and 
 civilisation between them have produced among you. For 
 your religion we have said frequently that it is a degenerate 
 offspring of that simple and pure faith which alone deserves 
 the name of Christianity. For your civilisation and culture 
 they are but of the surface, and do but faintly hide festering 
 sores, all too plain to spirit gaze, while in their ultimate effect 
 upon the nature they are too frequently demoralising to the 
 truest and noblest instincts, and productive of hollowness, 
 deceit, and selfishness. The Arab of the desert, the Indian of 
 the far west, in whom nature’s instincts have not been dwarfed, 
 distorted, paralysed by civilisation, is frequently a nobler man 
 than the crafty trader, who thinks it clever to outwit and 
 overreach, or than that baser product of civilised life from 
 whose foul tongue no character is safe, and whose lustful, sen- 
 sual life marks none as sacred from attack. 
 
 Foul, weltering masses of vice and cruelty, and selfishness, 
 and heartlessness, and misery that your great cities are ! In 
 them the spirit is starved and crushed ; dwelling in an atmos- 
 phere through which life-giving influence can hardly pene- 
 trate, it groans in agony as it aspires to a purer and serener 
 air ; but its groans ascend hardly above the pall of darkness 
 that hovers round. The aspirations are crushed out by re- 
 iterated temptation ; good resolves are stolen away by the 
 adversaries nigh at hand, and the spirit cares less and less 
 to struggle against the efforts of its foes. These are only too 
 
SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 234 
 
 well seconded by the recklessness and folly which offer a 
 premium to vice, and make virtue well-nigh impossible. 
 
 And even when the body is removed from those dens of 
 impurity, sensuality, and woe, which are tenanted by so many 
 of your fellows even within reach of your own homes, where 
 riches secure exemption from bodily distress, what is the result ? 
 We do not see gross vice, shameless physical surroundings, 
 open degradation of soul and body, but we breathe an atmos- 
 phere scarcely less spiritually bad. Money-hunting is the 
 business of life, and pleasure is too often found in bodily gra- 
 tification and sensuous enjoyment. The air is thick with the 
 greed of gold, with lust of power, with self-seeking in all its 
 myriad forms. The spirit — do you ever think what is the 
 state of such a spirit ? It has no food, no development, no 
 occupation. It is dwarfed, or compelled to occupy itself in 
 concerns which drag it back, and give the adversaries their 
 best chance of fostering and inflaming passions and desires 
 which are to us detestable. Hardly can we reach these more 
 than the debased, where in the crowded alleys and lanes vice 
 has its home — where in the thronged exchanges and marts 
 money rules supreme, and breeds its progeny of selfishness 
 and greed, and larceny — there the adversaries have their 
 centres of action, from which their baleful influence radiates. 
 
 But you know it not. You are ignorant in respect of the 
 world of causes, and foolish in respect of what you do in your 
 world in providing conditions favourable to crime and sin. 
 Your ignorance perpetuates these conditions, and renders it 
 more hard for us to impress upon you the true principles which 
 should govern the origination and development of life upon 
 your globe, and the cultivation of spiritual progress. Some 
 of your more advanced reformers have seen the vast import- 
 ance which attaches to the subject of marriage ; and we have 
 endeavoured to put forward such views as you were fitted to 
 receive. Much remains to be said when the world is ready, 
 but that is not yet. We do but allude to the subject as being 
 intimately bound up with the great questions of disease, crime, 
 poverty, insanity, which vex and disturb us in our dealings 
 with men. To the folly, and worse, to the criminal reckless- 
 
MAE RI AGE. 
 
 235 
 
 ness, and not less criminal and more foolish conventional law 
 which governs the marriage customs among you, very much 
 is chargeable. And this no less among those whom you call 
 the educated and refined than among the ignorant and uncul- 
 tured, rather, perhaps, does the greater sin rest with the rich. 
 You must unlearn much that men have dreamed ; you must 
 undo much that society has sanctioned in the trafficking that 
 goes under the name of marriage ; and you must learn truer 
 and diviner rules for happiness and progress than you now 
 tolerate, before you wipe away the great original source of 
 deterioration and retrogression. Mistake us not! We are 
 no advocates of license — no apostles of social freedom so called. 
 Liberty ever degenerates with the foolish into license. We 
 spurn such notions with contempt, even with more than we 
 view the infamous buying and selling, the social slavery into 
 which you have degraded the holiest and divinest law of life. 
 
 Nor have you yet learned that the body is the avenue of 
 spirit, and that laws of health and conditions under which 
 bodily development are possible are essential for man incar- 
 nated on earth. We have spoken before of this. Now we 
 only say that in this, as in the other matter, you are in alli- 
 ance with our foes. Nineteen centuries have passed since the 
 pure and refined teachings which you profess to treasure were 
 spoken amongst men ; and you are but little better in all that 
 makes for true progress, but little wiser in real wisdom, but 
 little advanced in pure religion ; nay, you are worse than the 
 Essenes, amongst whom Jesus lived and was trained. You are 
 as the Scribes and Pharisees, who drew from Him his bit- 
 terest denunciations. 
 
 And you know it not. In matters oP body and spirit — matters 
 of vital import that touch both the life here and the life here- 
 after — you have well-nigh all to learn. 
 
 These are some of the adversaries of whom we have told 
 you aforetime. They are massed in force, ever ready to thwart, 
 and vex, and injure us. Their ranks are being perpetually 
 swelled by spirits debased and degraded by human ignorance. 
 
 In all that we have said we have made no account of those 
 who strive to do for their race and for its development what 
 
236 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 in them lies. We have said nothing of the acts of self-sacrifice 
 and devotion, the simple noble lives, the generous acts that 
 redeem your race, and make us hopeful of its future. Our 
 business now is to paint the dark side of the picture : and we 
 have so drawn it as best to attract your attention to it. We 
 earnestly warn you that its lineaments are sketched with the 
 pencil of truth ; and we warn you in all solemnity that the 
 great truth which underlies this message, viz., the antagonism 
 between good and evil, and the fostering of evil by human folly 
 and ignorance, is one which vitally concerns you and us in the 
 future of the work which we have in charge. In what has 
 now been said, we have but recapitulated what has been said 
 before of the organised opposition from those who are our 
 opponents. But one special form of attack, which will become 
 more and more frequent, we have not yet dealt with. As 
 objective spiritual manifestations become more and more fre- 
 quent, and as the inconsiderate craving for them increases, 
 so will it come to pass that powerful instruments will be 
 developed through whom our adversaries may be enabled to 
 produce their frivolous or tricky manifestations, so as to dis- 
 credit the true spiritual work. This is one of the special forms 
 of opposition, and the most dangerous : for in proportion to the 
 undeveloped character of the spirit will be its power over gross 
 matter, its cunning, and, in some cases, its malignity. Power- 
 ful agencies are even now at work, as we are assured, who will 
 seize every opportunity of developing mediums through whom 
 phenomena the most startling may be produced, so as to con- 
 vince the inquirers of supernatural power so called. This 
 done, the rest is easy. By degrees trick and fraud are allowed 
 to creep in, the moral teachings are allowed to appear in their 
 true light, doubt is insinuated, and the uncertainty and sus- 
 picion which have become the fixed attitude of the mind 
 regarding phenomena which at first seemed so surely spiritual, 
 gradually extend to all manifestations and teachings. 
 
 No more sure means of discrediting the teaching of those 
 who are sent to instruct, and not merely to astonish or amuse, 
 was ever devised by cunning. For men say: We have tried, we 
 have tested for ourselves, and we have found it out. Either 
 
THE WILES OF THE ADVERSARIES. 
 
 237 
 
 it is connected with fraud, or it teaches base and immoral 
 doctrines, or it is full of falsehood ; in short, it is diabolical. 
 It is no use to appeal to such, and tell them that they 
 must discern between the true and the false, for their shaken 
 faith will not allow of this. They have proved what they 
 trusted to be false, and the whole edifice of their belief lies in 
 ruins around them. The foundation is not secure, and will not 
 support the building. 
 
 We say again that no more diabolical device for paralysing 
 our work was ever planned. We solemnly warn you of it. 
 See to it that you act upon our warning. Beware of encour- 
 aging the promiscuous evolution of violent physical power. 
 Such comes generally from the lower and more undeveloped ; 
 and its development is frequently attended by spirits for 
 whose absence you should pray. In the encouragement, 
 especially in newly-formed circles, of undue care for physical 
 marvels is a great risk. Such are necessary to the work, and 
 we do not in any degree undervalue their importance to certain 
 minds. We desire to bring home evidence to all ; but we do 
 not desire that any should rest in that material form of belief, 
 in an external something which is of little service to any soul. 
 We labour for something higher than to show curious minds 
 that we can do badly under certain conditions what man can 
 do better under other conditions. Nor do we rest content even 
 with showing man that beings external to himself can inter- 
 fere in the order of his world. If that were all, he might be 
 so much the worse for knowing it. We have before us one 
 sole aim, and that alone has brought us to your earth. You 
 know our mission. In days when faith has grown cold, and 
 belief in God and immortality is waning to a close, we 
 come to demonstrate to man that he is immortal, by virtue of 
 the possession of that soul which is a spark struck off from 
 Deity itself. We wish to teach him of the errors of the past, 
 to show him the life that leads to progress, to point him to 
 the future of development and growth. 
 
 It is not with such an end before us that we can tamely allow 
 our work to be set aside for the development of any strange 
 phenomenal power that spirits may possess over gross matter. 
 
238 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 If we use such power at all it is because we find it necessary, 
 not because we think it desirable, save always as a means to 
 an end. Were it harmless we should say so much. But being 
 what it is, an engine of assault from the adversaries, the worst 
 we have to dread, we are urgent in warning you against pro- 
 miscuous seeking after these physical marvels, and against 
 resting in them as the end and aim of intercourse with us. 
 
 Regard them only as means of conviction, as so many proofs 
 to your minds of actual intervention from the world of spirit 
 with the world of matter. Look upon them as such only, and 
 use them as the material foundation on which the spiritual 
 temple may be built. Rest assured that they of themselves 
 can teach you no more than that ; nay, if the operating spirits 
 find in you no capacity to grasp more, they will gradually 
 give way to those who can do such work better than they can 
 and so the means of further knowledge will pass away. From 
 that basis you must go on to further steps. You must seek 
 to know of the nature of the agency, of its source and intent. 
 Surely you would desire to be assured that it is of God, benefi- 
 cent and pure in origin and intent. Surely you would seek to 
 know how much the visitors from beyond the grave can tell 
 you of that universal dwelling-place of your race ; how they 
 can satisfy you of your own soul’s destiny, and of the means 
 by which you may best fit yourself for the change which you 
 call death. For if we be not as you, how is our experience 
 fruitful to you ? If we cannot tell you of your own 
 immortality, what profits it that we prove to you never 
 so conclusively that we ourselves exist ? Such may be a 
 curious fact ; it can never be more. 
 
 When you can reach out beyond the phenomenal to the 
 actual investigation of Truth for its own sake — when, in short, 
 you can believe our pretensions — then we can open out to you 
 a realm of which you are yet ignorant, and which has been 
 far more fully revealed to earnest seekers in other lands than 
 yours. To few only in your land have the higher revealings 
 of spiritual truth been vouchsafed. Even this means of com- 
 muning by writing, which seems to you such an advance on 
 the clumsy rapping out of messages and such material means 
 
RECEPTIVITY PRECEDES DEVELOPMENT. 
 
 239 
 
 of* communication, is as nothing, compared with the inner 
 communing of spirit with spirit without the intervention of 
 material signs. In America, the land from which dates this 
 movement in your days, there are many who have been so far 
 developed as to lead a dual life, and to hold face to face inter- 
 course with us. We have even now a band of workers there 
 who are achieving results which we cannot command here 
 through faithlessness of mind, materiality of interests, and 
 even grossness of atmospheric surroundings. It is not with 
 our work as with your mundane affairs. We read the heart, 
 and it is useless to feign interest which you do not feel — that 
 you would not do — or to proceed on our way while faith is 
 lacking. It has been so in all ages of the world. Efforts have 
 been made from time to time to pour in advanced knowledge; 
 it has been found that the time was not come, and the effort 
 has been withdrawn. But this is not what we wish to say. 
 We desire only to warn you against a danger, and to encourage 
 you to rise above the material to the spiritual plane. Recep- 
 tivity must precede higher development : but we yearn and 
 pray for the time when you shall have shaken yourselves free 
 from earthly trammels, and seek only after the higher reveal- 
 ings of Truth. To that end you must have singleness of pur- 
 pose : you must have shaken yourselves free from human 
 opinion, and have dissociated yourselves from the material 
 plane, so far as an occupant of earth may do so. 
 
 Eternal Father ! Thou in Whose Name we work, and for 
 the revealing of Whose Truth we are sent to earth, enable us 
 to elevate and purify the hearts of those to whom we speak, 
 that they may rise from earth and open their spiritual senses 
 to discern the things which we reveal. May Faith grow in 
 them, so that they may aspire to Truth, and, leaving earthy 
 interests behind, press on to learn the Revelation of the Spirit. 
 
 + Imperator. 
 
 [I remarked that I had no doubt that all that was 
 said was true, and I added that I had difficulty in 
 understanding why some law and order did not 
 obtain on the spiritual side, so as to curb those un- 
 ruly spirits. They seemed to do what they pleased, 
 
240 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 and to be under no governance. Also I expressed 
 my wonder at their false statements. I could not 
 see why a spirit should take pleasure in persona- 
 tion.] 
 
 You err in supposing there is no law and order with us. 
 It is that the neglect of conditions on your part frustrates 
 orderly effort. You must learn to fence your circles round 
 with proper conditions, and then you will eliminate half the 
 trickery and contradiction. The time will not come when all 
 that you call evil will be wiped out ; for this is a matter of 
 spiritual training, and we have no power to save you from 
 the process, which is for your progressive development. It is 
 necessary that you pass through it. You have much to learn, 
 and this practical experience is one of the ways of learning. 
 
 As to personation you will learn more hereafter. For the 
 present, we tell you that there are spirits who delight in 
 such personation, and who have the power, under certain 
 conditions, of carrying out elaborate deception. Such take 
 names which they see to be desired, and would reply equally 
 to any name given them. They may usually be excluded 
 by a careful attention to conditions, and by the efforts of 
 a strong guardian who is able to protect the circle. Those 
 who sit frequently and in open circles, where no care is taken 
 of the spiritual conditions, and who have no powerful spirit 
 friends to protect them, are in danger of incursion from 
 these. In most circles, as far as we know, every facility is 
 given for the intervention of tricky spirits. The phenomena 
 are sought after in a spirit of mere curiosity. Personal friends 
 are greedily summoned, and no pains taken to ascertain 
 whether the spirit answering be indeed a friend or a de- 
 ceiver. Foolish queries are addressed, and foolish replies 
 eagerly swallowed. What wonder that such are the sport 
 of the undeveloped ! 
 
 Hoiv is one to know that this personation does not extend 
 to all ? and that what in Spit dualism appears good 
 and coherent , will not in the end prove to be only a 
 cleverer trick ? If such pou rs are behind , who is 
 safe ? 
 
POSSIBLE DANGERS. 
 
 241 
 
 We can but give you the answer you have had before. We 
 have proved to you our good faith, our truth, our external 
 individuality. We have given you proof upon proof. We 
 have shown our moral consciousness by consistent truthfulness 
 in all things — by the presence of a tone in our teachings to 
 you, which you must estimate for yourself. When complete 
 they shall stand forth to all as pure and good. Even now 
 you admit them to be elevated and good in tendency. Your 
 knowledge of us, of our work, and of our aims, must lead you 
 to a judgment such as you would frame of a fellow-man under 
 similar circumstances. 
 
 Yes. This 'personating spirit, by speaking of whom 1 
 commenced, would upset ones faith very soon, if it had 
 got access. 
 
 It mrnht have been so ; we cannot tell how far we could 
 have counteracted the effort ; but we do not wish to run the 
 risk. For contradicting statements would surely have been 
 made, personation carried on, and in the end the scanty faith 
 you have would have sustained a rude shock. This is a real 
 danger to you ; for the introduction of false and contradic- 
 tory statements would do more to foster a suspicious feeling 
 in your mind than anything. In the end it would undermine 
 us and drive us away. 
 
 Really the subject seems to be a most dangerous one to 
 meddle with. 
 
 The abuse of everything is bad ; the use, good and com- 
 mendable. To those who in frivolous frame of mind place 
 themselves in communion with the spheres ; to those who 
 force themselves from low motives in that which is to them 
 only a curious thing ; to the vain in their own conceit, the 
 triflers, the untruthful, the worldly, the sensual, the base, the 
 flippant there is doubtless danger. We never advise any of 
 unbalanced mind to meddle with the mysteries of mediumship. 
 It is direful risk to them. Those only who are protected and 
 guarded round, who act from no inner motive, but in obedience 
 to the impulse of the guardians, who are wise and powerful 
 
SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 •JA2 
 
 to protect, should meddle, and they carefully and with earnest 
 prayer. We deprecate always any unlicensed meddling. Nor 
 can any safely mingle with the spirit-world, and so intro- 
 duce one more disturbing element into his earth-life, except he 
 be of even mind and steady temper. Any unhinged mind, spas- 
 modic temperament, fitful, purposeless character, becomes the 
 ready prey of the undeveloped. Doubtless it is perilous for 
 such to meddle, more especially if their interest be only in the 
 marvellous, to gratify an idle curiosity, or to solace their own 
 vanity. The higher messages of the Supreme are not audible 
 to such. Would that they who can hear them would forsake 
 the trifling of the lower spirits, and, leaving the inferior planes, 
 press on to the purer atmosphere of the higher spheres of 
 knowledge. 
 
 But all this is caviare to the world. They thinh far more 
 of a good thump on the head , or of a floating chair , 
 than of all your information , which , by-the-by, is hard 
 enough to get. 
 
 True, we know it only too well. The present phase of our 
 work is one that must be passed through. The physical 
 accompanies, but is no real part of our work. It must, as we 
 say, precede the real development for which we wait. It will 
 go on all around you with increasing development ; and while 
 we warn you against the dangers which accompany it, we do 
 not disguise the necessity for it in the present material state 
 of your knowledge. While we deplore we acknowledge the 
 necessity. We have more to add to what has been said, but 
 not now. For the present, cease. 
 
 [After a short rest, this addition was made to what had 
 been said.] 
 
 We have told you of the operations of the adversaries, and 
 of the danger to be apprehended from them. But others there 
 are who, without being malignant foes, are nevertheless a cause 
 of trouble to us. Many of those who are withdrawn from 
 earth are not, as you know, very progressive, nor, on the con- 
 trary, very undeveloped. The majority of those who pass 
 from the body is neither very evil nor very good in spirit 
 
PERSONATING SPIRITS. 
 
 243 
 
 Such, indeed, as are so far progressive as to gravitate rapidly 
 through the spheres nearest the earth, do not return unless 
 called to a special mission. The earth-bound we have already 
 told you of. 
 
 It remains to speak of the agency of a class of spirits who, 
 from mischievous design, or from pure sportive fun, or from 
 love of mystification, frequent circles, counterfeit manifesta- 
 tions, assume names, and give erroneous or misleading informa- 
 tion. Such are not evil, but unbalanced, spirits who lack even 
 balance, and who delight in plaguing mediums and circles in 
 giving exaggerated tone to communications, in introducing 
 false elements, or in personating friends, and reading in the 
 thought the answer which they give to a query. The work of 
 such is that which causes you to say that Spiritual manifesta- 
 tions are frequently foolish or silly. This is due to the efforts of 
 these spirits who, from fun or mischief, counterfeit our work, 
 and play on the feelings of those who trust them. These are 
 they who personate relatives whose presence is desired, and 
 answer to their names. These are they who make true identi- 
 fication of friends in mixed circles impossible. Most of the 
 stories current of such return of friends are due to the work 
 of these spirits. These are they who infuse the comic or 
 foolish element into communications. They have no true 
 moral consciousness, and will pray readily, if asked, or will do 
 anything for frolic or mischief. They have no aspiration 
 beyond the present : no desire to injure, but only to amuse 
 themselves. 
 
 These are they who allure to wrong paths, and suggest 
 wrong desires and thoughts. They secretly influence mediums 
 much, and prevent noble aspirations. They view with im- 
 patience noble and elevated aims, and suggest the material. 
 They act as bars and clogs. They are greatly concerned with 
 physical manifestations. They are usually shrewd and clever 
 at such work, and they delight in presenting bewildering 
 phenomena for the purpose of disturbing the mind. They 
 victimise mediums in divers ways, and find a pleasure in the 
 bewilderment of mind which they cau§e. Obsession and 
 possession, and the various forms of spiritual annoyance, pro- 
 
244 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 ceed very frequently from such. They are able to psycholo- 
 
 gise a mind over which they have gained influence 
 
 These again are spirits who befool inquirers who have asked 
 for personal information. They return plausible answers, and 
 bewilder the deluded inquirers, or if a personal friend have 
 once appeared, and given a good test, his or her place on the 
 next occasion may be filled by one of these spirits, who takes 
 the name and replies to queries, giving vague and unsatis- 
 factory replies, or telling false stories. It is always well to 
 put the personal element as far from you as possible, lest you 
 open the way to deceit. 
 
 + Imperator. 
 
( 245 ) 
 
 SECTION XXX. 
 
 [The fondness of spirits for anniversaries has led to my 
 receiving a number of special teachings on Church 
 Festivals. As a specimen I give the Easter Teach- 
 ings for three consecutive years. It will be seen 
 that the words written in 1875, and signed by 
 another name to those wto have given other 
 teachings, breathes a different spirit, and is con- 
 ceived from another standpoint.] 
 
 [Easter Day, 1874. I referred to a communication given 
 on the corresponding day of the year previous from 
 Doctor and Prudens.] 
 
 It may serve as a landmark for estimating progress, if yon 
 review your feelings then, and contrast them with what yon 
 now know. You will see how much you have both learned 
 and unlearned on matters all-important. We taught you then 
 of the resurrection of the soul, in opposition to the resurrection 
 of the body. We explained the true theory of the rising of 
 the spirit, not in a far distant hereafter, but at the moment of 
 bodily dissolution. This was new to you ; it is not so now. 
 You have now knowledge of what then seemed unintelligible 
 to your mind. We have told you too of the mission of Jesus, 
 and of His present work among you through His messengers. 
 We have shown to you the true Divinity, the real grandeur 
 of the Lord whom you had ignorantly worshipped. We have 
 shown Him to you as He was, as He always described Him- 
 self, a man like yourselves, only the noblest of the children of 
 men, the likest God, the truest and purest ideal of man’s per- 
 fection. If we have taken from the Christ the halo which a 
 foolish and human creed had spread around Him, we have 
 shown you the man Christ Jesus in divinest form, the full 
 realisation of human perfection on this earth. 
 
 His body has not indeed been raised, but He has never died, 
 and in spirit He manifested to His friends, walked with them, 
 as we may one day walk with you, and taught them of the 
 truth. 
 
246 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 What you are now witnessing are the signs and wonders 
 that prelude the opening of a new dispensation, the advent of 
 the Lord, not as man has fancied and as your teachers have 
 vainly taught, in bodily presence to judge an arisen humanity, 
 hut in His new mission (the fulness of the old), through us, 
 His messengers and ministers, in the declaration of a new 
 evangel to your world. In those events which even now tran- 
 spire among you we bear our part. It is our mission, under 
 the sacred guidance of Him in whose name we speak, to tell 
 to a world only partly able to bear it a new Gospel which, in 
 after ages, shall take its place among the revelations of the 
 Supreme to man, and shall be valued as the outcome of the past. 
 
 We have lately been able to act more directly on you, be- 
 cause of your increased passivity, and more receptive frame 
 of mind. We earnestly encourage you to prayerfulness and 
 stedfastness, together with patient watching. Be not diverted 
 from the purpose for which we labour. Meditate long and 
 frequently on the sacred message which God now sends to 
 earth. Strive to throw aside obstacles and bars to progress. 
 We would not have you neglect your daily work. The time 
 will come when we shall be able to use you more frequently. 
 That time is not yet come. It is necessary that you go through 
 this additional trial and preparation ; meantime, dear friend, 
 remember that you need training, even as by fire ... you 
 must endeavour to rise above the plane of earth to the higher 
 spheres, where the higher spirits dwell. This is our Easter 
 message to you. Awake and arise from the dead. Cast aside 
 the gross cares of your lower world. Throw off the material 
 bonds that bind and clog your spirit. Rise from dead matter 
 to living spirit ; from earthly care to spiritual love ; from earth 
 to heaven. Emancipate your spirit from earthly cares which 
 are earth-born and unspiritual. Cast aside the material and 
 the physical which have been the necessary aids to your pro- 
 gress, and rise from engrossing interest in the worldly to a 
 due appreciation of Spiritual Truth. As the Master said to 
 His friends, “ Be in the world, but not of the world.” So shall 
 those other words of your Sacred Records be fulfilled in you : 
 “ Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ 
 shall give thee light.” 
 
SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT. 
 
 247 
 
 You spealc as ij I wasted time on worldly things. 
 
 No ; we have said that it must needs be that your earthly 
 work must be accomplished even at the risk of preventing 
 the education of your spirit. But we would have you to 
 devote your care to higher spiritual teaching, and to leave the 
 lower planes of objective evidence, which should no longer be 
 required. We would have you to progress. And what we 
 say to you we say to all. 
 
 [After some further questions I suggested that develop- 
 ment might go on till one became quite unfit for 
 work in the world ; so sensitive as fit only to be 
 shut up in a glass case ; so absorbed in spirit-land 
 as to be useless for a workaday world: that indeed 
 being the perfection of mediumship.] 
 
 Doubtless it might be so with another type of spirit placed 
 in other circumstances and under other guardianship. We 
 shall see to that. We have made our choice with a view to it, 
 and have preferred to risk delay rather than to choose an 
 instrument who would be ill-regulated in mind, and a prey to 
 the fantasies of every vagrant spirit. We have trusted that 
 the fulness of time will lessen the weight of doubt and diffi- 
 culty, and that assured confidence being established, and over- 
 carefulness diminished, we may progress with speed and safety. 
 We cannot hasten that time ; we would not if we could. But 
 we shall not cease to urge on all our friends the necessity for 
 higher aspirations ; nor to impress on them that the physical 
 foundation having been laid it is time to raise the spiritual 
 superstructure. 
 
 [I repeated what I had before said, viz., that I would 
 go where I saw my way ; but that j. thought 
 much that passed current for Spiritualism to be 
 unworthy and even mischievous \ that mediumship 
 was anything but an unmixed blessing, and, when 
 exercised in mixed circles, a very dangerous thing. 
 
 I added that faith was no doubt necessary, but 
 that I had about as much as I ever should have. 
 
 And quite certainly no amount of physical proof 
 beyond what we had received would add one iota 
 to it.] 
 
248 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 You are mistaken in supposing your faith to be as strong as 
 it will be. When enlarged and purified it will be a vastly 
 different power from that cold, calculating, nerveless assent 
 which you now call Faith. The faith you now possess would 
 pale and fade away before real obstacles. It has no hold upon 
 your mind, is no factor in your life. In one way it would be 
 strengthened by opposition, but a severe spiritual attack from 
 the adversaries would well-nigh extinguish it. Faith to be 
 real must be outside the limits of caution, and be fired by 
 something more potent and effective than calculating prudence, 
 or logical deduction, or judicial impartiality. It must be the 
 fire that burns within, the mainspring that regulates the life, 
 the overmastering force that will not be at rest. This is that 
 faith that Jesus spoke of when He said of it that it was able 
 to move mountains. This is that which braves death and tor- 
 ture, braces up the feeble knees for long and hard endurance, 
 and conducts its possessor safe at last through any perils that 
 may assail him to the goal where faith finds its reward in 
 fruition. 
 
 Of this you know nothing. Yours is not Faith, but only 
 logical assent; not spontaneous living faith, but a hard- wrung 
 intellectual assent weighted always with a mental reservation. 
 That which you have would move no mountain, though it 
 might suffice to select a safe w T ay round it. It would be 
 powerless to animate and stir the spirit, though it would be 
 fitted to estimate evidence and weigh probabilities. It would 
 suffice for purposes of intellectual defence, but it is not the 
 faith that springs unceasing in the innermost soul, and be- 
 comes, by virtue of its power, an over-mastering leader, a 
 mainspring of action, of high and holy purpose, at which the 
 world may sneer, and the wise may scoff, but which is the 
 central spring of all that is best and noblest in mans life. 
 
 Of this you know nothing. But, mark us, the time will 
 come when you will marvel how you could have ever digni- 
 fied this calculating caution by the name of faith, or have 
 dreamed that to its hesitating knock can ever be unbarred the 
 portals of Divine truth. You must wait, and when the time 
 comes you will not set up that pale marble statue in place of 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 240 
 
 what should he a living body, instinct with conviction, and 
 energised by the loftiest purpose. You have no faith. 
 
 You have a way of putting things, which , however true, is 
 slightly discomfiting. However, since “ Faith is the gift 
 of God,” I cant see how I am to blame. I am as I was 
 made. 
 
 Nay, friend, but you are what you have made yourself 
 through a life which has been moulded both from within and 
 from without. You are what external circumstances, and 
 internal predilections, and spirit guidance have made you. 
 You misunderstand. We did but rebuke you for your vaunt- 
 ing that as faith which has no claim to the name. Be content. 
 You are on the road to higher knowledge of a nobler truth. 
 Withdraw (so far as may be) from the external, and cultivate 
 the interior and spiritual. Cease not to pray for faith, that 
 what you well call, “ the gift of God,” may be poured into 
 your spirit, and energise through it to a higher knowledge 
 You retard us by your very anxiety. 
 
 -f Imperator. 
 
 [Easter Day, 1875. I had been conscious of the presence 
 of a great number of spirits in the morning. After 
 some reference to this, it was written under an 
 entirely new influence, though by the usual amanu- 
 ensis] : — 
 
 We have told you that we always celebrate anniversaries, 
 and Easter is with us a festival as well as with you: though we 
 celebrate it from other reasons, and with a higher knowledge. 
 Easter is to us the Festival of Resurrection, but not of the 
 body. To us it symbolises not Resurrection of matter, but 
 Resurrection from matter, the Resurrection of Spirit: and not 
 this alone, but Resurrection of Spirit from material beliefs and 
 surroundings : the emancipation of the soul from the earthy 
 and material, even as the spirit rises from the dead body with 
 which it has done for ever. 
 
 You have learned that there is a spiritual significance in 
 everything, even as there is a spirit underlying every material 
 object. So the dogma that Christendom celebrates to-day is 
 
250 
 
 SPIKIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 to us of special significance. Christians keep festival in 
 memory of the rescue of their Master, the Lord Jesus, from 
 the grasp of death : and though they erroneously believe that 
 the material body was revived, they do in ignorance celebrate 
 the great spiritual truth that there is no death. The festival 
 to us is one of joy over the partial recognition of a truth 
 divinely seen by men : and of still greater rejoicing over the 
 mighty work consummated on this day. It is not that death 
 was vanquished, as you say, but that man began dimly to see 
 a vision of eternal life. 
 
 [I enquired as to the character of Christ’s human body, 
 and the spiritual significance of his life.] 
 
 It is sufficient to say that the Incarnation of an exalted 
 spirit for the purpose of regenerating mankind is not con- 
 fined to a single instance. The special salvation which man- 
 kind derives from these special Saviours is that of which at 
 the time it stands in need. These special Incarnations you 
 will know more of hereafter. For the present we say only 
 that they are in degree different from that of ordinary men, 
 even as among men there is every grade of nationality in the 
 body : some gross and sensual, others refined and ethereal. 
 The human body of Jesus was of the most ethereal and perfect 
 nature, and it was trained and prepared during thirty years of 
 seclusion from the three years of active work that the spirit 
 had to do. 
 
 You err in supposing [the thought had crossed my mind, 
 Hoiv disproportionate the preparation to the ivork /] that the 
 work done by an incarnated spirit is to be bounded by the 
 span of earthly existence. It is very frequently, as in the case 
 of Jesus of Nazareth, the after effect of the life that is the 
 truest part of the work. So, though the work was begun 
 during these three years, it has been carried on ever since. 
 
 It was the union of the majestic with the humble that was 
 the note of his life. Majesty and meanness combined. The 
 majesty shone out at seasons — at his birth, at his death, at 
 intervals during his life, as at Jordan when the attesting 
 voice of spirit sanctified his mission. Men knew of him, all 
 
THE LIFE OF THE CHRIST. 
 
 251 
 
 his life through, that he was not as other men : that his life 
 was not to he hound hy social or domestic ties : though the 
 harmony of the social circle was pleasant to him. Men knew 
 this : and your Bible gives you, in this respect, a most imper- 
 fect idea of the influence he exercised on all who came near 
 him. It dwells too little on the moral effect his words and 
 actions caused, and too much on the ignorant misconceptions 
 of the learned and respectable classes who then, as always 
 were, the bitterest foes of new truth. The Scribes and Eulers, 
 the Pharisees and Sadducees, were the ignorant foes of the 
 Christ, even as your learned men and doctors, your theologians 
 and men of science so-called, hate, and would persecute, the 
 mission that springs from Christ now. 
 
 When you come to write the story of our work, you would 
 not seek for its records among such classes of men ; and the 
 fault is, that those who have given you the only record you 
 have of the life of Jesus have insisted too much on his perse- 
 cution by learned ignorance, and too little on the moral dignity 
 of his life amongst those who lived with him. They had not 
 access to the original recipients of his teaching, and borrowed 
 at tenth hand stories that were rife. It is as though, cen- 
 turies hence, men should compile a history of these days from 
 the current stories of society. It is important to mark this. 
 
 The life of the Christ, so far as it was public, was comprised 
 within three years and a few months. For that the previous 
 thirty years had been a preparation. During all that time he 
 was receiving instruction from those exalted angels, who 
 inspired him with zeal and love for his mission. He was a 
 constant communer with the world of spirit ; and was the 
 more able to drink in their teachings that his body was no 
 bar to his spirit. 
 
 In the case of most incarnate spirits, who have descended 
 to minister on earth, the assumption of corporeity dims 
 spiritual vision, and cuts it off from remembrance of its pre- 
 vious existence. Not so with him. So little did his ethereal 
 body blind the sense of spirit, that he could converse with the 
 angels as one of their own order, who was cognisant of their 
 life, and remembered his own part in it before incarnation. 
 
252 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 His remembrance of previous life was never blunted, and 
 a great part of his time was spent in disunion from the 
 body, and in conscious communion with spirit. Long trances, 
 as you call the interior state, fitted him for this, as you may 
 see in some distorted passages of your records, the supposed 
 Temptation, for instance, or that which speaks of his habit of 
 meditating and praying alone on the mountain-top, or in the 
 Garden Agony. 
 
 You may also detect by the light we now give you flashes 
 of recollection of his state before incarnation, even, as he is 
 recorded to have said, in the glory of the Father before the 
 world began. There are many such. 
 
 His life, but little hampered by the body — which, indeed, 
 was but a temporary envelope to his spirit, assumed only 
 when it was necessary for the spirit to come in contact with 
 material things, — was different in degree, though not in kind, 
 from the ordinary life of man — purer, simpler, nobler, more 
 loving, and more loved. Such a life could never be understood 
 aright by those who were contemporary with it. It is of 
 necessity that such lives should be misunderstood, misinter- 
 preted, maligned, and mistaken. It is so in a degree with all 
 that step out from the ranks, but especially with him. 
 
 Prematurely was that Divine Life cut short by human 
 ignorance and malignity. Little do men grasp the significance 
 of the truth to which they carelessly give utterance when they 
 say that Christ came into the world to die for it. He did so 
 come : but in the sense of these enthusiasts, he came not. The 
 drama of Calvary was of man’s not God’s devising. It was 
 not the eternal purpose of God that Jesus should die when 
 the work of the Christ was but just commencing. That was 
 man’s work, foul, evil, accursed. 
 
 Christ came to die for and to save man in the same, though 
 in a higher sense, that all regenerators of men have been their 
 Saviours, and have yielded up bodily existence in devotion to 
 an over-mastering idea. In this sense He came to save and 
 die for men : but in the sense that the scene on Calvary was 
 foreordained to occur when man consummated his foul deed, 
 he came not. And this is a mighty truth. 
 
LAND MARKS IN THE LIFE OF THE CHRIST. 
 
 253 
 
 Had the full life of Jesus been completed on earth, what 
 vast, what incalculable blessings would men have reaped ? But 
 they were not fitted, and they pushed aside the proffered 
 blessings, having but just tasted them. They were not pre- 
 pared. So with all great Lives. Men take from them only 
 that which they can grasp, and leave the rest for after ages : 
 or they push them impatiently aside, and will have none of 
 them : and after ages worship and revere a spirit incarned too 
 soon. This too is a mighty truth. 
 
 It is not permitted us, nay, it is not in the counsels of the 
 Supreme Himself, to force on man a truth for which he is not 
 ripe. There must be, throughout God’s universe, orderly pro- 
 gression, and systematic development. So it is now. Were 
 men fitted to receive the truths we tell of, the world would be 
 blest with a revelation such as it has not had since last the 
 Angels shed on it the beams of Divine Truth. But it is not 
 prepared : and only the few who have learned wisdom will 
 receive now what future ages will drink in with gladness. In 
 this sense the Christ life was a failure during his existence on 
 earth, and a potent vivifying influence among men afterwards. 
 
 Guided by angel-influence, the Church, that bears his name, 
 has gathered up the germs of truth that that life typified, 
 though now, alas S long custom has familiarised men too much 
 with the old ideas, and they have lost their chief power. 
 
 You know that the three branches of the Church of Christ 
 are agreed in celebrating certain festivals in memory of events 
 in the life of Jesus. They who, outside the Church, have 
 refused to keep fast and festival are not wise. They cut 
 themselves off from a portion of the truth. But the Christian 
 Church keeps in memory of its Head, Christmas, Epiphany, 
 Lent, Easter, Ascension, and Whitsuntide. Those are the land- 
 marks in the Christ life, and each represents an event in his 
 life with a hidden spiritual significance. 
 
 The Christmas Festival of the Birth of the Spirit on the 
 plane of Incarnation typifies Love and Self-denial. The 
 exalted spirit tabernacles in flesh, abnegates Self, animated by 
 Love. It is to us the Festival of Self-denial. 
 
 The Epiphany, the Festival of the manifestation of this new 
 
254 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 light to the world, is to us the Festival of Spiritual Enlighten- 
 ment : the shining of the True Light that ligliteth every one 
 that is born into the world : not the carrying of it to men, but 
 the uplifting of the Light so that they who can see may come 
 to it. 
 
 The Fast of Lent typifies to us the struggles of Truth with 
 darkness. It is the Wrestling with the Adversaries. The 
 recurring season shadows forth a constantly recurring struggle. 
 It is the Fast of Conflict : of wrestling with evil : of the 
 endeavour to overcome the world. 
 
 Good Friday typifies to us the consummation of the struggle, 
 the end that awaits all such conflicts in your world — Death : 
 but Death in Life. It is the Festival of Triumphant Self- 
 sacrifice : the realization and consummation of the Christ Life. 
 It is to us no Fast, but a Festival of Triumphant Love. 
 
 Easter, the Festival of the Resurrection, typifies to us the 
 perfected life, the risen life, the glorified life. It is the Festi- 
 val of Spirit, conquering and to conquer : of the risen life, 
 enfranchised and set free. 
 
 Whitsuntide, which Christendom associates with the bap- 
 tism of the Spirit is to us a Festival of great import. It 
 typifies the outpouring of a large measure of spiritual truth 
 on those who have accepted the Christ-life. It is the I estival 
 which is the complement of Good Friday. As human ignor- 
 ance slays the truth that it cannot receive: so, as a consequence, 
 from the higher realm of spirit comes a blessing on those who 
 have embraced what the world has crucified. It is the Festival 
 of the outpoured Spirit, of increased grace, of richer truth. 
 
 Ascension, lastly, is the Festival of the completed life, of the 
 return of the Spirit to its home, of the final sundering from 
 matter. It is the end as Christmas was the beginning : not 
 of life but of earth life : not the end of existence but of that 
 span consecrated by love and self-denial to mankind. It is 
 the Festival of the completed work. 
 
 These are the spiritual ideas which underlie the Festivals 
 of your Church. It is not because she has not fully grasped 
 their meaning that she has net done well to celebrate them. 
 And as the spirit who has charge of us and of our work has 
 
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF FESTIVALS. 
 
 255 
 
 broken down for you the wall of dogmatism and has shed light 
 on the superstitions of the Church, so it is permitted to us to 
 show you that beneath all lies enshrined the germ of truth : 
 and when mans error is removed, Gods truth is more plainly 
 seen. 
 
 We have desired to complement the teaching you have 
 received. As it was necessary to destroy, so is it to conserve. 
 Even as He, the Lamb of God, the Saviour of men, rescued 
 Divine Truth from Jewish ignorance and superstition, so do 
 we rescue Divine Verities from the crushing weight of man’s 
 theology. As He, the great Healer of the nations, unloosed 
 the struggling souls, and released them from the dominion of 
 spiritual evil : so do we set free the spirit from the bonds of 
 human dogma, and bid the enfranchised Truth to soar so that 
 men may see it and know that it is of God. 
 
 CRUCIFIXION AND RESURRECTION. — SELF-SACRIFICE AND 
 REGENERATION. 
 
 An Easter Message , 1876. 
 
 [I asked for further teaching on the subject of Death 
 and Life, especially in the symbolic aspects in 
 which they present themselves to Spirit. 
 
 In the question put by me, I alluded to the spiritual 
 symbolism between the Death and Resurrection, 
 and suggested that it typified death as the portal 
 of life ° and spiritual death as the road to spiritual 
 regeneration.] 
 
 o J 
 
 Refer to what we wrote for you on the last Festival of 
 Easter. The symbolism to which you allude was then ex- 
 plained : viz., resurrection from matter, not of matter. We 
 explained the spiritual significance of the various Festivals 
 which the Christian Church has always kept. Refer. 
 
 [I referred to the message which immediately precedes 
 this; in the course of which the Church Festivals 
 are symbolically explained ; Christmas, self-denial ; 
 Epiphany, spiritual enlightenment ; Lent, spiritual 
 conflict; Good Friday, triumphant love; Easter 
 the risen life ; Whitsuntide, the outpoured spirit ; 
 Ascension, the completed work.] 
 
256 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 So it is. The whole course of the typical life of the Pattern 
 Man is emblematic of the progressive development of the life 
 begun on earth, completed in heaven (so to use your terms), 
 born of self-denial, and culminating in spiritual ascension. In 
 the Christ-life, as in a story, man may read the tale of the 
 progress of spirit from incarnation to enfranchisement. Thirty 
 years and more of angelic preparation fitted the Christ for His 
 mission : three short years sufficed to discharge so much of it 
 as man could bear. So man’s spirit in its development pro- 
 gresses through the course covered by the Festivals of the 
 Christian Church, from the birth of self-denial to the festival 
 of the completed life. Born in self-denial, progressing through 
 self-sacrifice, developed by perpetual struggles with the 
 adversaries (the antagonistic principles which must be con- 
 quered in daily life, in self, and in the foes), it dies at length 
 to the external, and rises on its Easter morn from the grave 
 of matter, and lives henceforth, baptized by the outpoured 
 spirit of Pentecost, a new and risen life, till it ascends to the 
 place prepared for it by the tendency of its earth life. 
 
 This is the Spirit’s progress, and it may be said to be a process 
 of regeneration, shortly typified by crucifixion and resurrection. 
 The old man dies, the new man rises from his grave. The old 
 man, with his lusts, is crucified ; the new man is raised up to 
 live a spiritual and holy life. It is regeneration of spirit that 
 is the culmination of bodily life, and the process is crucifixion 
 of self, a daily death, as Paul was wont to say. In the life of 
 spiritual progress, there should be no stagnation, no paralysis. 
 It should be a growth and a daily adaptation of knowledge ; 
 a mortification of the earthy and sensual, and a corresponding 
 development of the spiritual and heavenly. In other words, 
 it is a growth in grace, and in the knowledge of the Christ ; 
 the purest type of human life presented to your imitation. 
 It is a clearing away of the material, and a development of 
 the spiritual — a purging as by fire, the fire of a consuming 
 zeal ; of a life-long struggle with self, and all that self includes; 
 }f an ever widening grasp of Divine truth. 
 
 By no other means can spirit be purified. The furnace is 
 one of self-sacrifice : the process the same for all. Only in 
 
SPIRITUAL FOES. 
 
 257 
 
 some souls, wherein the Divine flame burns more brightly, the 
 process is rapid and concentrated ; while in duller natures the 
 flres smoulder, and vast cycles of purgation are required. 
 Blessed are they who can crush out the earthy, and welcome 
 the fiery trial which shall purge away the dross. To such, 
 progress is rapid and purification sure. 
 
 Yes ; the struggle is severe, and one hardly knoivs what to 
 fight against. 
 
 Begin within. The ancients were wise in their description 
 of the enemies. A spirit has three foes— itself ; the external 
 world around it ; and the spiritual foes that beset the upward 
 path. These are described as the World, the Flesh, and the 
 Devil. 
 
 Begin with self — the Flesh. Conquer it, so that you are no 
 longer slave to appetite, to passion, to ambition : so that self 
 can be abnegated, and the spirit can come forth from its 
 hermit-cell, and live and breathe and act in the free scope 
 of the universal brotherhood. This is the first step. Self 
 must be crucified, and from the grave where it lies buried will 
 rise the enfranchised spirit untrammelled, free from material 
 clogs. 
 
 This done, the soul will have no difficulty in despising the 
 things which are seen, and in aspiring to the eternal verities. 
 It will have learned that truth is to be found in them alone ; 
 and, seeing this, it will maintain a deathless struggle with all 
 external and material forms, as being only adumbrations of 
 the true, too often deceptive and unsatisfying. Matter will 
 be regarded as the husk to be stripped off before the kernel 
 of truth can be got at. Matter will be the deceptive, fleeting 
 phantasm behind which is veiled the truth on which none but 
 the purged eye may gaze. Such a soul, so taught, will not 
 need to be told to avoid the external in all things, and to 
 penetrate through the husk to the truth that lies below. It 
 will have learned that the surface-meanings of things are for 
 the babes in spiritual knowledge, and that beneath an obvious 
 fact lurks a spiritual symbolic truth. Such a soul will see the 
 correspondence of matter and spirit, and will recognise in the 
 18 
 
258 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 external only the rude signs by which is conveyed to the child 
 so much of spiritual truth as its finite mind can grasp. To it, 
 in veriest truth, to die has been gain. The life that it leads 
 is a life of the spirit ; for flesh has been conquered, and the 
 world has ceased to charm. 
 
 But in proportion as the spiritual perceptions are quick- 
 ened, so do the spiritual foes come into more prominent view. 
 The adversaries, who are the sworn enemies of spiritual pro- 
 gress and enlightenment, will beset the aspirant’s path, and 
 remain for him a ceaseless cause of conflict throughout his 
 career of probation. By degrees they will be vanquished by 
 the faithful soul that presses on, but conflict with them will 
 never wholly cease during the probation-life, for it is the 
 means whereby the higher faculties are developed, and the 
 steps by which entrance is won to the higher spheres of bliss. 
 
 This, briefly, is the life of the progressive spirit — self-sacri- 
 fice, whereby self is crucified ; self-denial, whereby the world 
 is vanquished ; and spiritual conflict, whereby the adversaries 
 are beaten back. In it is no stagnation ; even no rest ; no 
 finality. It is a daily death , out of which springs the risen 
 life. It is a constant fight, out of which is won perpetual 
 progress. It is the quenchless struggle of the light that is 
 within to shine out more and more into the radiance of the 
 perfect day. And thus only it is that what you call heaven 
 is won. 
 
 Sic itur ad astra. That is very much the central idea of 
 Christianity , and also of Buddhism , as well as of the 
 Occultists. Christ's sayings teem with the notion which 
 animated his own life. The great difficulty is to carry 
 out such an abstract system into operation in the world . 
 
 Therein is the struggle, as He himself said, to be in tho 
 world, but not of the world. The high ideal is well nigh im- 
 possible for those who have upon them the care of daily toil. 
 Hence it is that we have striven to withdraw you, so far as 
 we can, from the objective side of spirit-intercourse, foreseeing 
 that it would be hurtful to you. You must strive to rise above 
 the material, and to leave it behind. Such intercourse is 
 
RESURRECTION AND RENEWAL OF LIFE. 
 
 259 
 
 fitted only for those who can be secluded from the cares of 
 daily life. 
 
 I said long ago that I believed mediumship, if carried 
 oat, to be incompatible with daily work in the world. 
 The very development of sensitiveness, which grows so 
 rapidly, is quite enough to unfit the medium for rude 
 contact with the world : or, at any rate, to encourage in 
 him moods, and draw round him influences, which 
 make him unfit for work. 
 
 To a great extent it is so : and, therefore, we have with- 
 drawn the more material side of mediumship from you, and 
 that should develop the spiritual, in which no such danger 
 lurks. At any rate, you may trust us to do what is wise. The 
 danger is when they who guide are unfit for the work. It is 
 then that risk becomes serious. Be content ; your course is 
 clear. Only remember that now is the hour and power of 
 
 darkness. Be patient. 
 
 -f Imperator. 
 
 [Easter Day, 1877.] 
 
 May the blessing of the Supreme and All-good be on you ! 
 We have somewhat to say to you, as our habit is at this 
 season, of resurrection and renewal of life. 
 
 We will leave the plain symbolism of the Christian festival, 
 of which we have before discoursed. We have told you of 
 conflict followed by victory. You have learned how the life 
 of the Man Christ Jesus was a symbolic representation of the 
 progress of spirit. It may be well that we remind you here 
 of this symbolism. 
 
 Descending from His spiritual life in the spheres of bliss, 
 the Anointed One came to your earth to fulfil His Divine 
 mission. Vailing in human flesh the radiance of His pure 
 spirit, He took a body in the manger of Bethlehem, and be- 
 came man, with all the imperfections and frailties of humanity, 
 subject to the sorrows, the temptations, the discipline through 
 which alone progress is gained. 
 
 In this read a type of the descent of spirit into matter as 
 its sole means of progress. Spiiit, existent in the aeres past. 
 
260 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 having won for itself the requisite development, descends to 
 incarnation, so that by conflict and by discipline it may be 
 purified and made fit for the progress it cannot otherwise gain. 
 
 Born thus into the sphere of humanity, the Anointed One 
 became subject at once to persecution and assault from a 
 Prince of the world. The powers of the sphere into which 
 He came were arrayed against Him, and sought to try and 
 prove Him. The word went forth to slay the Anointed One 
 because His royal claims were thought to be in conflict with 
 the pretensions of the earthly monarch. 
 
 A type this of the conflict that besets the incarnate spirit 
 from the moment of its entrance into the sphere of earth. 
 
 At the threshold of every new sphere of development stand, 
 as we have told you, the guardians from whom the benefits 
 to be gained by entering it are won only after wrestling and 
 agony [i.e., as afterwards explained , conflict ]. These blessings 
 are not to be gathered idly and dreamily, without risk and 
 strenuous labour. Were it so, the benefit would cease to be. 
 It is in the conflict that the blessing lies, in overcoming the 
 foes, in victory after the battle is over. Lay it to your account 
 that this is so, and that for the incarnate spirit there is always 
 a persecutor who seeks to slay. 
 
 Threatened by these enemies the young child was with- 
 drawn to Egypt, where He was safe, and where from a full 
 storehouse He gathered in a rich store of knowledge.. Egypt 
 had been, since earliest days, the receptacle of mystic know- 
 ledge, and there was derived much of that mystic knowledge 
 that the Anointed One displayed in after years. 
 
 You will not need to seek far for the significance of this 
 type. Where shall the spirit, beset and threatened by the foes 
 that throng around it, find its sanctuary at once and its 
 armoury more surely than in the mystic lore stored up for it 
 by those who have preceded it in trial, and have left for it 
 records of their experience? In the Egypt of esoteric lore is 
 that armoury whence the militant spirit may find power tc 
 overcome, thoroughly furnished and equipped for the conflict, 
 instructed and edified by what it has learned. For,. be it 
 known to you, the withdrawal to Egypt has a double signifi- 
 
ESOTERIC AND EXOTERIC TRUTH. 
 
 2G1 
 
 cance. It is not only a retreat to a place of safety, but a 
 sojourning in a school of instruction. The spirit that seeks 
 to withdraw into the esoteric sphere of instruction, so as to 
 be edified there, draws from that edification its spiritual wea- 
 pons of conflict, the while it rests and refreshes itself in an 
 atmosphere of comparative peace. Meditation, edification, 
 growth to the full stature of the warrior — even as the Anointed 
 One grew from puny childhood to the vigour of youth, and was 
 edified in mind by the knowledge He acquired in proportion 
 as His body increased in strength. He increased, as it is said, 
 in wisdom and stature. 
 
 This closes a typical epoch in the symbolic life of the 
 Anointed One. The seed-time closes with the commencement 
 of the public life. The spirit that has nerved itself for the 
 life of progress and for development during the time of incar- 
 nation beyond what is sought by the mass of its fellows, is 
 permitted to pass through a process of preparation, during 
 which it receives so much of truth as it can assimilate, prior 
 to the second period, the missionary period, as we may call it, 
 of its life on earth. You do not need to be told that it is an 
 essential condition of spiritual progress that selfishness in all 
 its forms be crushed out, that no gift be kept for private and 
 isolated use, but that in all things the precept be obeyed, 
 Freely ye have received, freely give. 
 
 So that which has been given must be shared with those 
 who seek to partake of it. The truth, in its exoteric form at 
 least, must be proffered to the world, while the inner and 
 diviner secrets must be cherished and kept pure, so that the 
 soul may refresh itself in the intervals of conflict, as the 
 Anointed One retired to the solitudes of the mountain-top, 
 that he might commune with himself in lonely meditation, 
 and be refreshed by association with those who were not of 
 earth. For him no companionship then. His spirit soared 
 too high, his associates were too exalted for the gaze even of 
 his nearest friends, save one, who on many occasions was 
 privileged to see the glories that surrounded the chosen 
 Messenger of the Most High in his moments of chiefest 
 exaltation. 
 
262 
 
 SPIRIT-TE ACHIN GS. 
 
 [This was afterwards explained as referring to Saint 
 John, who, on many occasions not specifically 
 named, enjoyed a near view of the glory of his 
 Master.] 
 
 Blessed in this respect are they who can journey with a 
 kindred soul, and derive mutual support and joy from an 
 earthly as well as a heavenly communion. The esoteric truth 
 loses no bloom by such handling. The lamp sheds no less 
 light, and that light no less pure, because another eye beholds 
 it, if only the eye be single and the sympathy sincere and 
 perfect. But it is rare that two can walk thus, even if they 
 be agreed, and there must always be, for those who aspire, the 
 mountain-top of silent reverence and prayer, to which they 
 resort alone, knowing that for each there is the peculiar path 
 which it is necessary for his feet to tread. 
 
 The life of instruction, complemented by the life of aspira 
 tion, prepares for the public life of ministration. 
 
 When the Anointed One came forth from the seclusion of 
 His preparatory training, instructed in the wisdom of Egypt 
 and nurtured in silent meditation, clothed in purity, animated 
 by charity, instinct with zeal, He went forth to His people to 
 preach the gospel He had learned. There glowed within Him 
 a holy boldness for the truth, but He was no iconoclast. Not 
 to destroy, but to fulfil, was His aim. Not to lay desolate 
 and to waste, but to plough, and to till and to sow the seed 
 so that the crop might spring up, and the desert and the 
 waste place might blossom and be glad. The materials ready 
 at hand were used, the dross was purged away, and the life- 
 less ceremony, touched by the magic of His word of truth 
 was transmuted into the symbolism of a living verity. T 
 dry bones lived, the spirit returned to the corpse, the dea 
 
 arose and stood upon their feet. , 
 
 In all this, be it observed by the faithful watcher, there 
 was no rude severance, no harsh closing of an epoch no gulf 
 between the present and the past. All was transition and 
 JS.1 i«t - it 1. in Nature new. There .. no 
 
 rude severance between the death and resurrection of the 
 year. You hardly know what power has rolled away 
 
nature’s parable of resurrection. 
 
 263 
 
 stone from the sepulchre in which the year lay buried. One 
 day all is cold, lifeless, cheerless, and you mourn over the 
 glories that seem to be past and gone for ever, replaced by 
 abiding gloom. But, by-and-by. the change comes, not by 
 might, nor by power, as man sees, but by the potent spirit. 
 The sun shines forth, and his rays unlock the prison-house 
 in which the dead year has lain, and buds begin to peep, and 
 flowers to lift their heads shyly and half in fear, and the 
 emerald carpet grows beneath your feet, and the mantle of 
 tender green is spread around, and behold ! the dry bones 
 live. The season of resurrection has burst upon you, or rather 
 has grown upon you silently, a development of the dead past. 
 It is Nature’s yearly parable of regeneration. 
 
 Bead the lesson in the life of the Anointed One. When 
 he came forth to teach His people wisdom, the whole of the 
 spiritual life of the Jewish nation was cold and bare as the 
 leafless tree in winter. The sap had ceased, it seemed, to 
 flow. The branches w r ere bare and gaunt, devoid of their 
 seemly covering of leaves. The weary traveller should look 
 in vain for fruit, or seek a stray flower to gladden his eyes. 
 The death-plague was on all. He came, the Anointed 
 Messenger of God, the chosen Messiah, on his missionary 
 labours, the Sun of Bighteousness and Truth — the Son who 
 was also the Sun, for there was no difference there — shed his 
 beams of enlightenment and warmth on those dead, dry, 
 naked branches, and see the change! Empty formalism 
 glowed again with spiritual truth, cold precepts were vivified 
 again into exuberant life. What had been said by them of 
 old time gained a new and extended significance. Social life 
 was elevated, reformed, ennobled. Beligion was raised to a 
 pitch of spirituality it had never reached before. In place 
 of selfishness there was taught charity ; in place of formalism, 
 spirituality; in place of ostentatious ritual, silent, secret 
 prayer ; in place of open parade of religion — the seeking to 
 be seen of men — the seclusion of the secret chamber, the 
 lonely communing between self and God. In a word, vulgar, 
 empty, proud, unreal externalism was abolished and replaced 
 by the meek, spiritual, aspiring life of the soul, the truest 
 
264 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 exemplification, of which was not in the market-place, but in 
 the silent chamber ; not in the Pharisee, but in the Publican ; 
 not in the eyes of men, but before the searching scrutiny of 
 the Supreme. 
 
 The parable of Nature and of the Pattern Life, runs through 
 the life of spirit too. Duly prepared, educated, edified with 
 such knowledge as it has been able to acquire, the spirit that 
 has passed its probation goes forth on its journey in the new 
 life. The dead past of formalism, of externalism, is transmuted 
 by the touch of spirit, and a new life opens. The veriest 
 physical fact gains a new significance as the spiritual meaning 
 that underlies it becomes plainer to the purged eye of faith. 
 The bare boughs are clothed with living green : the dry bones 
 of externalism that lay apparently dead, arise under the 
 quickening touch of spirit, and live a new life. It is not that 
 the old is abolished ; it is that it is transmuted. It is not that 
 the duties of life are neglected : rather are they discharged 
 with a quickened zeal, and a more loving care. It is not that 
 the weary round of toil is shortened : it is that its lengthened 
 path is cheered and dignified by the spiritual significance of 
 even the meanest act. 
 
 Those dry and sapless forms of devotion that seemed so cold 
 and dead that the soul has often cried in despair, “ 0 Lord ! 
 can these dry bones live ?” are found to be touched with life, 
 and warmth, and reality, as the resurrection spirit quickens 
 them. The old forms that have served their purpose are re- 
 generated into a life more suited to the new conditions. They 
 live again with more than the old vitality, with a loveliness 
 more spiritual than that of the past. They have renewed 
 their youth, and it is seen by the spiritually-enlightened that 
 no atom of truth can perish, but is renewed and re-combined 
 as there is need of it in the laboratory of the Master. 
 
 And so the spirit shares in the general resurrection that 
 surrounds it. It renews its life, soars to higher planes of 
 knowledge, learns deeper truths, and goes forth, in the might 
 of that knowledge, to teach to others the Divine methods of 
 enlightenment, development, and growth. Not as man sees 
 does it see : not as man acts does it act. Beneath the most 
 
A TEACHER IN ADVANCE OF HIS AGE. 
 
 265 
 
 unpromising exterior it sees Divine possibilities. The veriest 
 cumberer it would not cut down, save in so far as pruning may 
 facilitate growth, and the lopping off of dead wood may allow 
 the young and living branches to find place. Side by side 
 with this public work is the unceasing esoteric life of growth 
 in spirit, a life of aspiration and development, of communing 
 with the spirit of truth, of rising more and more above the 
 material and the earthy, to the measure of the stature of the 
 fulness of the Anointed One. 
 
 Silent spiritual growth is the source of public spiritual 
 teaching. 
 
 The closing scenes of the earth life of the Anointed One 
 carry their symbolic meaning too. It is the lot of a teacher 
 who combats the prejudices of an age, to incur the enmity, the 
 scorn, the persecution, that is the world’s requital for unwel- 
 come truth. You, who regard these records of the Pattern 
 Life as matter of history, can see now how impossible it was 
 that teaching such as His should meet with other fate than it 
 did. That prosperous shams should have been laid bare with- 
 out those who made gain by them being arrayed against the 
 daring innovator — that pompous and pretentious Pharisaism 
 should have been denounced in terms more vigorous than were 
 bestowed on the Magdalene and the Publican without setting 
 the Pharisee in outraged wrath against his accuser — that the 
 national religion, with its cheap ceremonialism, and its easy 
 path for those who could pave it with gold, should be re- 
 formed, and the path made easier for Publicans and harlots 
 than for Scribes and Pharisees, without bringing down the 
 wrath of those in place and power on the despised Nazar ene, 
 who dared to lay his impious hand on God’s own ark — this 
 you can see to be impossible. 
 
 He was too pure and good to escape envy, too uncompromis- 
 ing and earnest not to provoke jealousy. His doctrines were 
 too searching to be popular ; His life precepts too spiritual to 
 • suit an age of luxury and ease. And so the age that could not 
 receive the advanced truth, crucified Him who taught it. The 
 age of hollowness and impurity revenged itself on the pure 
 and holy Son of Truth by hanging Him on the tree of shame 
 between the representatives of crime. 
 
266 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 So it was. So in many cases it is still in intent, if not in 
 deed. There have been reformers who have meted out to an 
 age, over which a wave of Divine enthusiasm has just passed, 
 that aspect of truth which commends itself to them, and so 
 have found acceptance for their message, and have won honour 
 and renown in its preaching. There have been others, too, 
 who have had more of the world’s wisdom and discretion, and 
 so have been of higher service. But these are rare. To most, 
 as to the Anointed One, death comes with contumely and open 
 shame as the reward of truth. Death to the Teacher, but 
 resurrection and new life to His teaching. It is not till the 
 instrument is lost sight of that the value of the message is 
 realised. We need not draw out the parable at length. 
 
 Hanoino- on the cross, the friends of the Christ were few in- 
 deed — a few women whose readier instincts and affections were 
 true and firm in the hour of deepest darkness; and two of those 
 who should have been nearest at hand, Joseph and Nicodemus, 
 the two, be it known, who had made least open profession, and 
 had even seemed most cowardly. All the rest were fled. The 
 teacher of new truth, the preacher of a new dispensation, where 
 was He? Dead. And where was His gospel ? Dead, too, to all 
 appearance. None remembered, none heeded it or Him. But 
 men judge hastily. None knew who rolled that stone from 
 the tomb’s mouth, save that it was done by that might of 
 Spirit wherewith ever and anon your world is regenerated, 
 and death turned into new life. An angel did it ; and the 
 same power that opened that tomb and stirred its occupant 
 whom men thought dead and buried out of sight, availed to 
 vivify His message, and to nurture it through evil and good 
 report, until it dominated the nations, and became in its age a 
 mighty engine of spiritual truth. 
 
 Turn now to the individual soul. Its lot is much the same. 
 Whether its message of what to it is Divine truth is one that 
 makes its impress on the age or not : whether, if it do, it be 
 received as the needful word in season, or as the impertinence 
 of a meddling innovator, it will, almost surely, have to make 
 its way through conflict to acceptance. Such is the Divine 
 method of sifting. And in proportion to the severity of that 
 
THE LAW OF LOVE. 
 
 207 
 
 conflict will be the vigour with which it will he found to have 
 taken hold of men. The roots will be all the deeper and 
 firmer fixed in proportion as the ground above has been 
 trampled down by contending feet. Whether the life of con- 
 flict end, as did the life we contemplate, or whether feebler 
 zeal or larger discretion preserve the teacher from the same 
 fate, matters little. The word of truth must pass through the 
 conflict to final victory, even as the soul in its solicitude and 
 isolation must contend with tempters and with foes till it 
 becomes perfect through suffering, and wins the crown by the 
 cross. 
 
 The life of the Christ during such time as He remained on 
 it after His resurrection was symbolic of the change that passes 
 on the risen life of spirit. In the world, but not of it : moving 
 in it as a visitor who conforms to but does not belong to it. 
 He was animated by that most potent law of spirit which you 
 may trace in all the ways of spirit-influence — the law of love. 
 Whenever He appeared, whatever He did, this was the motive. 
 The records left to you, both meagre and erroneous as they 
 are, are yet sufficiently full to show this. He fulfilled the law 
 of love, and then ascended to His own proper sphere : no longer 
 seen, but felt : no longer a personal presence, but an effluence 
 and influence of grace. 
 
 So the souls who voluntarily linger around your earth are 
 those whose motive-spring is love, or they whose mission is 
 animated by the same master principle. Personal affection or 
 universal love are the motives that draw the higher spirits 
 down to you. And when the duty is discharged they too will 
 ascend to the common Father and the Universal God. 
 
 Be of good hope ! You are too apt to fancy that truth is 
 dead. When the cold dark days of winter are with you, you 
 are chilled. You forget the spring that has dawned on many 
 a winter past. You forget that death leads to resurrection, 
 and on to regenerated life— life in a wider sphere, with ex- 
 tended usefulness, with nobler aims, with truer purpose. You 
 forget that death must precede such life — that what you call 
 death, so far as it can affect Divine Truth, is but the dying of 
 the grain of seed which is the condition of abundant increase 
 
268 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 Death in life is the spiritual motto. Death culminating in a 
 higher life. Victory in the grave, and through death. In 
 dealing with spiritual truth do not forget this. 
 
 In times of brightness and calm you may fear. When the 
 air is stagnant and the heat scorching, when the moisture is 
 dried up, and the fierce sun beats down with untempered 
 splendour, the tender plant may wither and fade. And so 
 in days of ease and smoothness, when all goes swimmingly, 
 when all men seem to speak well of the Word of Truth, you 
 may with good reason fear lest it fade, and its outlines be 
 blurred, and its tone assimilated to the conventional fashion 
 of the world. You may settle with yourselves that if all 
 accept unquestioned the truth presented to them, then that 
 phase of truth needs changing, and some stronger form is 
 requisite. But when it is born in conflict be of good cheer, 
 for by such birth -pangs man-children are brought forth, 
 whose vigour and energy shall suffice to resist attack, and to 
 carry on the Divine standard to a further vantage-ground. 
 
 It was in some such sort that the life of the Anointed One 
 began and ran its course to the final consummation. It is a 
 parable for all time. 
 
 -f- Imperator. 
 
( 269 ) 
 
 SECTION XXXI. 
 
 LIFE AND DEATH : PROGRESS AND RETROGRESSION. 
 
 [April 28, 1876. — The following message relates to a 
 case in which the personal identity of the com- 
 municating spirit was established by very strong 
 evidence. Among many such this seems to me to 
 stand out prominently, and, making all allowance 
 for willingness and ability to deceive, I find it 
 impossible to understand how so coherent and com- 
 plete a series of proofs can be explained away by 
 any theory of personation or self-deception. The 
 messages relate to the death, under melancholy 
 circumstances, of a friend whom I had known in- 
 timately all his life. A sitting at Mr. Hudson’s 
 had resulted in his image appearing on the photo- 
 graphic plate, and I have since seen and known 
 the presence of the spirit about me continually. 
 When the photograph was taken I was entranced, 
 and the name of the spirit was given to me, 
 another spirit at the same time describing the 
 position in which the figure had placed itself. The 
 development of the plate showed this description 
 to be correct, and I have no difficulty in recognis- 
 ing a bad image or simulacrum of my friend who 
 had been specially brought before my mind before 
 going to Hudson’s. There was another and more 
 striking point connected with this matter which I 
 cannot print : it must suffice that I state that 
 identity, both of external form and of mental 
 characteristics, is distinctly made out to my mind. 
 
 The first message I received respecting this photo- 
 graph related to the method of its production. 
 It was said that a spirit who just then was very 
 active about me had directed Hudson’s invisible 
 operators. The shroud-like drapery which charac- 
 terises all Hudson’s pictures was described as an 
 expedient for saving time and power : the head 
 being fully formed, the rest “ sketched in,” as one 
 
270 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 might say. There were a number of these spiritual 
 operators who did the mere mechanical work of 
 partial materialisation as they had learned to do 
 it. Hence there is a family likeness in all the 
 pictures produced by a particular photographer. 
 
 The whole manifestation was described as being con- 
 trary to the wish of Imperator who “did not 
 wish that I should be brought again within the 
 physical phase of manifestation.” “ It was only 
 when we found that we could not prevent that we 
 aided.” 
 
 The spirit had been in my company : there had been 
 special reasons for his being attracted that day, 
 and so it was easier to produce his image than 
 that of any other spirit : though I went with two 
 friends in the hope of securing some evidence for 
 them and not for myself. 
 
 This being so, he was taken in hand by M., who 
 directed Hudson’s spirit-people to mould a repre- 
 sentation of his face and to sketch drapery. The 
 simulacrum was made of spirit-substance, actually 
 posed, and photographed. 
 
 After this Imperator said] : — 
 
 We would speak with you of your friend. But first, we 
 wish to explain that we prevented, so far as we could, any 
 return of physical manifestations to you. We did not wish 
 the medial power to recur to that phase. Hence we have 
 prevented you from being placed in circumstances where it 
 would be likely to be encouraged. We have explained before 
 that we do not wish you to remain on the physical plane, 
 and have therefore discontinued our meetings. Nor did we 
 wish that your friend should become attached to you. His 
 spiritual state is low, and it would have been well that you 
 had not attracted him. Since you have done so you must 
 now help him to progress. M. has rightly told you that you 
 had entered into his sphere from association and conversa- 
 tion with , and from your thoughts being directed towards 
 
 him strongly. That is the law of attraction of spirit to spirit. 
 ^ ou know this ? 
 
 Yes; but it does not always act, or rather its results are 
 seldom manifest to us. Is he unhappy ? 
 
SUICIDE. 
 
 271 
 
 How should he be blest ? He lifted sacrilegious hands 
 against the shrine in which the All-Wise had placed his 
 spirit for its progress and development. He wasted oppor- 
 tunities and destroyed, so far as he was able, the temple in 
 which dwelt the Divine spark, which was his portion. He 
 "^ghTforth his spirit alone and friendless into a strange world 
 where no place was yet prepared for it. He impiously flew 
 in the face of the Great Father. How should he be blest ? 
 Impious, disobedient, wilful in his death, heedless, idle, selfish 
 in his life, and yet more selfish in bringing pain and sorrow 
 on his earthly friends by his untimely death, — how should he 
 find rest ? The wasted life cries out for vengeance. The fos- 
 tered self-hood dominates him still, and makes him ill at ease. 
 Selfish in his life, selfish in his earthly end, he is selfish still. 
 Miserable, blind, and undeveloped, there is no rest for such as 
 he till repentance has had its place, and remorse leads to 
 
 regeneration. He is outcast. 
 
 © 
 
 What hope of progress ? 
 
 Yes; there is hope. Already there stirs within him ihe 
 consciousness of sin. He sees dimly through the spiritual 
 gloom how foolish and how wicked was his life. He begins 
 to wake to some faint knowledge of his desolation, and to 
 strive for light. Hence he remains near you. You must help 
 him though at your own cost. 
 
 Willingly ; hut how ? 
 
 By prayer first. By fostering the dawnings of the higher 
 life. By allowing the unhappy spirit to breathe the higher 
 atmosphere of work. His spirit knows not what that pure 
 and bracing atmosphere is. You must teach him, though his 
 presence be unpleasant to you. You have summoned him, 
 and he comes obedient to your call. You must bear with him 
 now. You cannot undo what you have done in spite of us 
 and of our wishes. Your consolation must be that you will 
 
 be engaged in a work that is blessed. 
 
 © © 
 
 It is not fair to say I summoned him ; hut I will do 
 anything. He was mad and not accountahle. 
 
272 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 He was and is accountable, and he begins to know it. The 
 seeds of his final sin wherewith he has cursed himself were 
 sown in a life of idle uselessness. He fostered and encouraged 
 morbid self-introspection. He brooded over self, not for the 
 purpose of progress and development, not to eradicate faults 
 and foster virtues, but in selfish exclusiveness. He was en- 
 wrapped in a cloud of distorted selfishness. This bred in him 
 disease, and in the end he fell a prey to tempters in the 
 spirit, who fastened on him and drove him to his ruin. He 
 exposed himself a prey to those who are always ready to 
 seduce to ruin, and so far he was mad, as you say ; but the 
 mad act was the result of his own acts. And now he 
 throws the same influence around those whom he wounded 
 in his death. A curse to himself he becomes a curse to 
 those he loves. 
 
 Horrible! That seems to me the very bitterness of retri- 
 bution. I can understand how an idle, selfish life 
 breeds spiritual disease. Selfishness seems to me to be 
 the root sin. 
 
 It is the plague-spot of the spirit, that which wrecks more 
 souls than you dream of. It is the very paralysis of the soul. 
 And when to it is added this moreover, that the selfishness is 
 passive, it becomes more fatal. There is a selfishneas which 
 is far less baleful in its poison, and which finds its counter- 
 acting power in activity, and which even becomes the spring 
 of actions which have in them a form of good. There is a 
 selfishness which causes a spirit to do well that it may have 
 the good report of its fellows: and there is a selfishness which 
 is content to do good so it be not vexed or troubled, which 
 will yield to any influence, so it may escape anxiety. These 
 are faults which hold the spirit back from progress ; but they 
 are not the baleful plague which ate into this spirits life, and 
 drove it to despair and death. That was the meaner selfish- 
 ness which stirred him not to any deeds or to action of any 
 kind. It was idle and useless, no less than self-pleasing; nay, 
 it was not even self-pleasing, for the whole life was blurred 
 and blotted with morbid scrutiny of self, till its very linea- 
 
THE LAW OF EXISTENCE IS WORK. 
 
 273 
 
 ments were eaten out. This selfishness was cruel alike to 
 himself and to his friends. There are grades of sin, and his 
 was deep. Listen while the story is recounted for your in- 
 struction. But rest awhile, and we will remove the disturbing 
 
 # O 
 
 influence from your mind. 
 
 [I was a good deal disturbed : but I fell into a deep 
 trance-like sleep, during which I had a soothing 
 vision and from it I awoke refreshed.] 
 
 It is not necessary to go through in detail the story of that 
 wasted life. Its spirit was eaten out with cruel selfishness, 
 and its end was destruction of self-consciousness. Mad he 
 was, as you estimate madness. None lifts the hand of the 
 suicide against himself save when the disordered mind has 
 lost its power of judgment. The balance is destroyed, and the 
 spirit has fallen a prey to the tempters which surround it. 
 
 But your estimates of sin are rude. The state was self- 
 induced. The spirit delivered itself over to the foes, and 
 wrought its own ruin. This was not one of the cases where 
 hereditary conditions of disease unfitted a spirit for judgment 
 and right action. The suicide was the outcome of the selfish 
 idler. It was an access of temptation that withdrew the power 
 of reason, and caused the crime. In others the temptation 
 might have taken other forms ; but whether it led to destruc- 
 tion of self, or to ruin or hurt of others, to whatever gratifi- 
 cation of self it tended, the root is the same. 
 
 That spirit which neglects to use its powers, which acts not, 
 but morbidly dwells on fancied ills or sufferings, assuredly 
 breeds in itself disease. The law of existence is work — for 
 God, for brethren, for self; not for one alone, but for all. 
 Transgress that law, and evil must ensue. The stagnant 
 life becomes corrupt, and acts as a corrupter of others. It 
 is vicious and noisome ; hurtful to the community, in that it 
 defrauds it of its due from one of its members, and sets up 
 a plague spot of infection which becomes a fertile centre oi 
 mischief. It matters not what course the evil takes, itt 
 source is still the same. In this case the evil eventuated in 
 personal harm, and in the wrecking of a wasted life. It has 
 19 
 
274 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 tended in sorrow and shame to the injury of all who were 
 associated with him. 
 
 When the cord of earth-life was severed, the spirit found 
 itself in darkness and distress. For long it was unable to 
 sever itself from the body. It hovered round it even after the 
 grave had closed over the shrine which it had violated. It 
 was unconscious, without power of movement, weak, wounded, 
 and distressed. It found no rest, no welcome in the world to 
 which it had come unbidden. Darkness surrounded it, and 
 through the gloom dimly flitted the forms of congenial spirits 
 who had made shipwreck of themselves, and were in unrest- 
 ful isolation. These drew near, and their atmosphere added 
 vague discomfort to the half-conscious spirit. 
 
 It was not till the first shudder of awakening conscience 
 attracted the ministering spirits, that anything could be done 
 to palliate the misery, not yet half felt or acknowledged, or to 
 minister healing to the soul. When it stirred amid the dark- 
 ness, the ministers drew near and strove to quicken the seared 
 conscience and to awaken remorse. In seeming cruelty they 
 strove to bring home a knowledge of its state, and to paint 
 before it a picture of its sin. Only through the portal of re- 
 morse could it enter into rest ; and so the conscience must be 
 quickened at the cost of pain. 
 
 For long their efforts availed little ; but by degrees they 
 succeeded in awakening some measure of consciousness of sin, 
 and the spirit began to grope blindly for some means of escape 
 from a state which had become loathsome to it. Frequent 
 relapses dragged it back. The tempters were all around it,, 
 and no effort of theirs was spared to mete out to the spirit the 
 full measure of its lawful penalty. They know it not; they 
 do but gratify their debased instincts, but they are the aveng- 
 ing ministers of doom. 
 
 The hope for the spirit is that it may be nerved to occupy 
 itself with some beneficent work, and so to work out its own 
 salvation. To this end it must journey on through remorse 
 and uncongenial labour : for by no other means can it be puri- 
 fied. Selfishness must be eradicated by self-sacrifice. Idle- 
 ness must be rooted out by laborious toil. The spirit must be 
 
A SPIRIT IN DARKNESS. 
 
 275 
 
 ..purifiadJay.. This is for it the only upward path of 
 
 progress ; a path that its past has made it difficult, nearly im- 
 possible, for it to tread. Reiterated efforts must secure ea^h 
 onward step, and frequent slips and backslidings will try en- 
 durance to the utmost. Step by step the way must be won 
 in sorrow, remorse, and shame, with faintings and cries of the 
 despairing soul; won, too, against temptation all around, against, 
 the suggestions of the foe who will not fail to goad the aspir- 
 ing soul ; won as through a baptism of fire. Such is the 
 penalty , such the road to the heaven that can be won in no 
 other way. 
 
 Such help as the ministers can give will not be withholden. 
 It is their glorious mission to help on the aspiring, and to 
 cheer the fainting soul. But, though they may comfort, they 
 cannot save one pang, nor palliate by one jot the penalty of 
 transgression. No vicarious store of merit can avail ; no friend 
 may bear the burden, or lift it from the weary back. It must 
 be borne by the soul that sinned, though helps and aids be 
 given to strengthen and support the failing energies. 
 
 This is the inevitable penalty of a wasted life. It may be 
 that the half-quenched spark may be quickened again, and be 
 fanned into a flame strong enough to light the spirit onward. 
 It may be that the spirit may wander in gloom and desolation, 
 deaf to the voice of the ministers, and groaning in lonely un- 
 rest, nerveless for the struggle, till the sin through cycles of 
 purgatorial suffering, has eaten out its virulence. It may be 
 that the time consumed in such purgation may seem to you an 
 eternity ; or the soul may wake and stir before its condition 
 has become fixed; and so by an effort of despairing energy 
 may struggle up to light, and may welcome the suffering that 
 leads to purification, and may have strength not all sapped to 
 cast off the habits of earth, and wake to newness of life. 
 
 It may be ; but such are rare cases. Characters are not so 
 easily changed; nor does the fire of purification work so 
 rapidly. Too frequently he that died selfish or filthy is selfish 
 or filthy still, and the present proves only a perpetuation of 
 the past. Pray for strength to minister to him who has in 
 him the first faint dawnings of progression. Pray that his 
 
276 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 darkness may be enlightened, and his unrest soothed by the 
 angelic ministrations. Such prayers are the most potent 
 medicine for his disease. 
 
 [On reading over what had been written, I suggested 
 that the picture was one to strike dismay into, a 
 man, however much he strove to progress. I said 
 the ideal was too high for earth.] 
 
 Nay! We have not painted the picture in all its details; 
 nor have we overdrawn or overcoloured it in any way. We 
 are not able to bring home to you the full horror of the desola- 
 tion and misery of such a wasted life. No words that we can 
 write would express the full measure of the woe felt by a soul 
 that has awakened to remorse after a life such as this of which 
 we speak. For the rest, we are not responsible for any ideal. 
 We put forward none, save that which exists in the eternal 
 and unalterable sequence of events. Selfishness and sin bring 
 misery and remorse before they can be purged away. It is 
 not we who laid down that law, but the Fternal and All- wise. 
 We have but pointed out to you once again the operation of a 
 law the working of which you may see all around you. We 
 desired to point out what men are apt to forget, that though 
 there be no formal judgment such as has been imagined, at a 
 far distant day, in presence of an assembled universe, when 
 the Recording Angel shall produce the Books of Boom, and the 
 Christ shall sit in judgment, and shall condemn the sinner to 
 an everlasting hell : though there be none of this, yet that 
 every act is registered, every thought recorded, every habit 
 known as a factor in the future character. We would show 
 you that the judgment of condemnation needs no parapher- 
 nalia of assize, but is conducted in the silent recesses of the 
 soul itself. No judge is there but the voice of Spirit com- 
 muning with itself, and reading its own doom. No books but 
 the records of conscience; no hell but the flame of remorse 
 that shall eat into the soul and purge it as by fire. 
 
 And this, not in a far-off future when the arisen myriads of 
 humanity shall all have been gathered up, but instant on 
 death, quick as consciousness awakes, sure as the soul stirs in 
 
MAN MAKES HIS OWN FUTURE. 
 
 277 
 
 the new life. This too, not subject to a faint perhaps, in a 
 dim ancttiazy light seen far off down the vista of the future, 
 but sure and certain, instant and inevitable. We would teach 
 you this. For it has been said of us that our Gospel re- 
 moves the terror from religion, by which motive alone the 
 most of men may be governed and restrained, and substitutes 
 for it a faith which teaches salvation for all, whatever their 
 deeds may be, whatever creed they may profess. We do not 
 teach any such insensate creed. You know it ; but you need 
 to have repeated again and again the truth on which we have 
 been insisting : Man makes his own future, stamps his own 
 character, suffers for his own sins, and must work out his own 
 salvation. 
 
 We did but dwell on this side because the story of that 
 wasted life invited by its example. We have dwelt often 
 enough on the lighter side of grace and beauty and angelic 
 ministration. You need not to be told of the abounding 
 mercy and love of the Supreme, nor of the tender watchful 
 care which is ceaselessly exercised by those who minister 
 between Him and you. It is well sometimes to show the dark 
 side of loneliness and desolation, and temptation by the foes. 
 
 The ideal was not high : and if it were, high ideals serve 
 only to brace the aspiring soul : they are too high for those 
 only who have no ambition to ascend : not for those whose 
 lives have not been eaten out by selfishness and sin, whose 
 energies are yet strong, and will grow stronger by the exercise 
 of them. Be assured, good friend, that the grand truth can 
 never be escaped. Life is a journey, a conflict, a development. 
 The journey is up-hill, and the way is thorn-beset and difficult 
 The conflict is unending till victory crowns the final effort. 
 The development is spiritual from a lower to a higher plane, 
 from the child of earth to the measure of the stature of the 
 Christ. You cannot change the unalterable. You cannot 
 reach the Perfect Good, save after a conflict with evil. It is 
 an eternal necessity that you be purified through struggles 
 with the evil that surrounds you. It is the means by which 
 the spark once struck off from the Divine Soul wins back its 
 way to Him and enters into its rest. 
 
278 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 Do you need to be told that true happiness is to be had 
 only by living up to the highest ideal ? That the idler and 
 the sluggard know it not ? That the vicious man and the 
 evil-doer, who sins of choice and by preference, have no part in 
 it ? That peace on earth springs up only in the soul that soars 
 heavenwards, and finds its happiness in viewing the dangers 
 and difficulties that have been overpassed ? Do you need to 
 be told again that the angels watch over such to bear them 
 up — that the ministers count it honour to support them, and 
 that no final harm can fasten on the spirit which keeps a high 
 ideal before it ? Victory is assured : but it would not be vic- 
 tory were it found without a struggle in selfish and inglorious 
 ease, by those who would not value what every idle hand 
 might pluck. Victory comes after conflict : peace after tribu- 
 lation : development after steady growth. 
 
 I replied that this seemed to me matter of course ; and that 
 in the seed tim,e of life man must get as much know- 
 ledge, do as much work , and enjoy such peace as he can . 
 But the work and the knowledge (especially of God 
 Himself and His future ) must precede Peace , or Rest . 
 Perhaps too little room was left for meditation. 
 
 No ; the life is threefold : of meditation and prayer : of 
 worship and adoration : and of conflict with the threefold 
 'enemy. The meditation is necessary to self-knowledge. It 
 is an element of steady growth. With it goes prayer, the 
 communion of the prisoned soul with the Father of spirits, 
 and with us His ministers. Worship and adoration, in any of 
 the countless phases that the soul seeks out for itself, whether 
 in silent solitude beneath the heavens that speak to him of his 
 God, or in communion with Nature, the external and material 
 manifestation of Deity, or in the solemn service of song within 
 some stately temple which man has separated for God : or in 
 the upward aspiration of the heart unuttered and unheard of 
 man — in any or all of these ways the instinct of adoration 
 divinely implanted may find its vent. These are the necessary 
 helps for the sustained conflict. We do not undervalue them : 
 rather do we insist on them. We tell you that it would be 
 
ACCOUNTABILITY. 
 
 279 
 
 well if you devoted more time to peaceful thought. Your life 
 lacks quietness. 
 
 As to the accountability of this spirit for its rash act, 
 surely you admit some cases where the spirit is not 
 accountable. 
 
 Assuredly. The human instrument may he jarred and out 
 of tune, and so may faultily transmit the will of the spirit 
 within. There are many cases in which madness is the result 
 of bodily disease. For such the spirit is not blameworthy. 
 Accidental injury may derange, or congenital defect, or over- 
 strain of trouble and distress. For such causes the spirit is 
 blamed by none, least of all by the Holy and Just One, who 
 deals not with body but with spirit, and who judges according 
 to spiritual motive and intent. We reprobated the case on 
 which we spoke, because the end was the result of life-long 
 sin. He was and is responsible, and he begins to know it. 
 
 May the Allwise foster and increase the knowledge. 
 
 Hr Imperator. 
 
( 280 ) 
 
 SECTION XXXII. 
 
 [As a specimen of a message written at a later period, I 
 append the following. It is a fair sample of some 
 of the more elevated teaching. It was written with 
 vast rapidity, and is printed precisely as written. 
 There was no need to alter a word. As it was 
 being given, I was conscious of a most powerful 
 and elevating influence which permeated my whole 
 being.] 
 
 TKUTH. 
 
 The blessing of the Blessed One rest on you. We have 
 opportunity now which may not recur of answering some of 
 your inquiries, and of conveying to you some necessary truth. 
 From letters which you have received of late you will be led 
 to see that the times of trouble and distress which we have 
 warned you of are expected by others as well as by us. Be 
 prepared for trouble : it will assuredly come. It is necessary 
 that afflictions come. Jesus knew and taught that. It is 
 necessary for the training of the soul. It is as necessary as 
 physical discipline for the body. No deep knowledge is to 
 be had without it. None is permitted to scale the glorious 
 heights but after discipline of sorrow. The key of knowledge 
 is in spirit-hands, and none may wrest it to himself but the 
 earnest soul which is disciplined by trial. Bear that in mind. 
 
 Ease and luxury are the pleasant paths in which the soul 
 lingers and dreams away the summer day. Self-denial, self- 
 sacrifice, self-discipline are the upward tracks, thorn-vext and 
 rocky, which lead to the heights of knowledge and power. 
 Study the life of Jesus and be wise. 
 
 Moreover, the present is a time of hard and bitter conflict 
 between us and our foes. We have told you that you feel 
 the reflex of that struggle. It accompanies every great 
 development of Divine Truth. It is, as it were, the darkness 
 that precedes the dawn : the gloom which is the pre-requisite 
 for growth : the period of trial wherein the earnest soul is 
 purified. “Your hour and the power of darkness,” said Jesus 
 
WHAT IS TRUTH ? 
 
 281 
 
 as he agonised in Gethsemane. It is so now : and it will not 
 pass lightly. The cup must be drained. 
 
 As each revelation of the Supreme grows old, it is overlaid 
 by man’s errors, and loaded with his inventions. It dies 
 gradually, and loses its hold on men. Bit by bit human error 
 is pared away, unable to stand the shock of criticism, and 
 men’s faith is shaken, and they ask with old Pilate — What is 
 truth ? Then comes the answer in the new birth of a higher 
 revelation. The throes of its birth shake the world, and 
 around its cradle the powers of the Spiritual world contend. 
 Great is the dust and din of the contention. 
 
 As the light dawns upon the world, and the clouds lift, the 
 watchers, whose eyes are spiritually opened to discern the 
 signs of the times, they who stand on the watch-towers to 
 catch the first gleams, these are ready and welcome with joy 
 the break of day. “Joy comes with the morning.” “ Sorrow 
 and sighing flee away.” The terrors of the night, “ the powers 
 of darkness,” are past. But not for all. Full many there will 
 always be for whom no ray of light is visible till the sun has 
 gained his meridian and splendour. They slumber on, heedless 
 of the light that is breaking on the world. 
 
 Hence the days will never come to your world when all 
 equally will know of the truth. There will always be many 
 for whom it has no charms, for whom it would be fraught 
 with danger to tread the upward paths of progress, and who 
 prefer the beaten track worn by the feet of those who have 
 trod it through the ages past. There will be such always, 
 even as there will be souls who catch the foregleams that 
 herald the dawn. So do not hope that the open vision will 
 ever be the same to all. No such dream of equality is pos- 
 sible. Nor is it more desirable than possible. To some are 
 given powers that can safely pry into mysteries which others 
 must perforce avoid. These must be the leaders and guides 
 among men. And those who are so called, are they on whom 
 lies the most solemn duty of personal preparation and earnest, 
 life-long struggle with self, until it is dominated and subdued, 
 and the free soul soars untrammelled. We have long since 
 told you of this. See you heed it. 
 
282 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 Do not be discouraged that so much of what most believe 
 as truth seems to you hollow and uncertain. It is so. There 
 are divers degrees of truth. From the many-sided crystal 
 gleams are shot off in many directions. And it is not every 
 soul that can receive even one ray unclouded. To few, very 
 few, comes more than a stray glimpse, and even that is filtered 
 through many a medium, until its clearness is all dimmed. It 
 must needs be so. Hence the varied views of truth. Hence 
 the divergent notions, the errors, the mistakes, the fallacies 
 that pass current among you. Men think they see a momen- 
 tary gleam. They grasp some view, enlarge on it, add to it, 
 develop it, until the tiny light is quenched, and what was a 
 ray of truth is distorted and destroyed. And so the truth is 
 maligned, whereas it should be the imperfection of the inter- 
 vening medium that is blamed. 
 
 Or, to take another view. That which came as the answer 
 to the yearnings of some aspiring soul is deemed to be of 
 universal application. The truth was so beautiful, so enno- 
 bling, so pure and holy in its essence, that it must surely be 
 so to all. And the jewel is dragged out from casket, and 
 prepared for open exhibition. The lily is plucked from its 
 stem, and paraded before men. And it loses its purity; its 
 vitality diminishes ; it withers and dies ; and he to whom it 
 was so fair, so lovely, wonders to find that it loses its freshness 
 in the heat and dust of the world’s busy strife. He marvels 
 that what was so pure and true to him in the heart’s secluded 
 temple should seem tame and out of place when advertised to 
 the world. He learns, if he is wise, that the dew of Hermon 
 is distilled in the silence and solitude of the heart ; that 
 the flower springs up in the gloom of night, and withers 
 beneath the noon-day beams; that truth, the holiest and 
 purest, comes direct from spirit to spirit, and may not be 
 proclaimed on the world’s house-top. 
 
 Doubtless there are coarse views of truth, rude blocks which 
 man has hewn, and which all may use alike. These are the 
 foundation stones which every builder must use. But the 
 richest and purest gems must be preserved in the spirit-shrine, 
 and be gazed upon in silence and alone. So when John the 
 
TRUTH IS MANY-SIDED. 
 
 283 
 
 Seer told of the jewelled walls and pearly gates of the 
 Heavenly City, he spoke of the outer truths which all must 
 see ; but in the inner temple he placed nor jewel nor purest 
 ray of light, but only the Presence and the Glory of the Lord. 
 
 Marvellous it is that you do not see this. That which to 
 you is Divine Truth is only that atom, that speck of the whole 
 unbroken circle which has been cast off in answer to your cry. 
 You needed it, and it came. To you it is perfection; it is 
 God. To another it would be incomprehensible, without a 
 voice to answer to his cry, without any beauty that he should 
 desire it. You cannot parade it if you would. It would die, 
 and its hidden charm would make no convert. It is yours 
 and yours alone, a special creation for a special want, an 
 answer from the great Spirit to the yearning aspiration of 
 your soul. 
 
 This Truth will always be esoteric. It must be so ; for only 
 to the soul that is prepared can it be given. Its fragrance is 
 too evanescent for daily common use. Its subtle perfume is 
 shed only in the inner chamber of the spirit. Remember this ; 
 and remember too that violence is done to Truth by forcing it 
 on unprepared minds, while harm, great and far-reaching, is 
 done to those who cannot receive what is a revelation to you 
 but not to them. 
 
 Moreover, remember that the pursuit of truth for its own 
 sake as the altogether lovely and desirable end of life is the 
 highest aim of spirit on your plane of being, higher than earth’s 
 ambitions, nobler than any work that man can do. We do not 
 now take note of any of the vulgar aims that fill up human 
 life. The struggles and ambitions that exercise mankind, born 
 of vanity, nurtured in jealousy, and ending in disappointment 
 — these are plain to view as Sodom apples. But there is a 
 subtler temptation to more refined souls — that of doing good 
 to their fellows and adding another stone to the cairn that the 
 pioneers of the past have raised. To them comes the desire to 
 proclaim in accents of enthusiasm some truth which has taken 
 hold upon their lives. They are possessed with it ; the fire 
 burns within them, and they speak. It ma}^ be a noble word 
 they utter, and, if it meets the needs of men, it is re-echoed 
 
284 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 and taken up by other souls like-minded, and developed till 
 men are stirred and benefited by it. But it may be the re- 
 verse. The Truth, so true to one, is true to him alone, and his 
 voice is the voice of one crying in the wilderness, a proclaimer 
 of idle tales. He speaks in vain, and it had been well that he 
 had saved his energies for the quest of truth, and have learned 
 more before he spake to men. 
 
 It is well to teach, but better still to learn : nor is it impos- 
 sible to do both. Only remember that learning must precede 
 teaching : and be sure that the truth is one that man needs. 
 The student who dives deep into the mysteries that enshrine 
 Truth will not recklessly violate the seclusion in which alone 
 she dwells at ease. He will tell of her beauties, and proclaim 
 to those who have ears to hear the words of healing which his 
 inner sense has caught from her lips : but there will always be 
 to him a sacred reserve, a holy silence, an esoteric revelation 
 too pure, too dear for utterance. 
 
 [In answer to some unimportant question it was 
 written] : — 
 
 Nay : you will be informed in time. We may not save you 
 the exercise which is part of your discipline. Be content 
 to walk in the path. It leads direct to truth ; but you must 
 tread it in care and pain. We have directed you to it because 
 it is well for you to garner up the wisdom of the past, and to 
 learn of those who are gone before you. We foresaw long 
 ago that those who should faithfully pursue the study of the 
 intercourse between our world and yours, would receive rude 
 shocks from the follies and falsities that cluster round the 
 subject in its most exoteric aspect. We looked with confidence 
 for the time when these should force themselves into promin- 
 ence, and we prepared for it. We would teach you that there 
 are, and ever must be, two sides to this science, as there were 
 in the mysteries of the ages past. Having passed the one, it 
 is necessary that you penetrate the other. 
 
 To this end you must learn who and what are those who 
 do communicate with men. Not otherwise can you read 
 aright the riddle that now perplexes you. You must know 
 
THE CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS 
 
 285 
 
 how and under what conditions truth can be had : and how 
 error and deceit, and frivolity and folly may be warded off. 
 All this man must know if he is safely to meddle with our 
 world. And when he has learned this, or while he is learning 
 it, he must see, too, that on himself depends most or all of the 
 success. Let him crush self \ purify his inmost spirit, driving 
 out impurity as a plague , and elevating his aims to their 
 highest possible : let him love Truth as his Deity, to which all 
 else shall bow; let him follow it as his sole aim, careless whether 
 the quest may lead him, and round him shall circle the 
 Messengers of the Most High, and in his inmost soul he shall 
 see light 
 
 -f IMTEIIATOB. 
 
( 286 ) 
 
 SECTION XXXIII 
 
 [In Section IV. reference is made to some extremely 
 minute particulars which were written concerning 
 the life of Arne, the musical composer. On Sept. 
 12th, 1873, a number of other facts and dates 
 equally minute and accurate were given respecting 
 other composers, Dr. Benjamin Cooke, Pepusch, 
 Wellesley Earl of Mornington, respecting whose 
 very names I was ignorant. The details are 
 absurdly minute, comprising just such a brief 
 record as would be found in a Biographical Dic- 
 tionary. They were described by Doctor, in 
 whose writing they appear, as “worthless, save 
 for your conviction. That is the end we have in 
 view. Details of earth life are of little interest to 
 us now.” 
 
 On July 16th, 1874, being then confined to my room by 
 illness, I received a further communication respect- 
 ing these musical spirits who were so completely 
 outside of my own personal interests, and yet so 
 intimately connected with one with whom I was 
 brought into daily contact. This time it was John 
 Blow, described as “ pupil of Christopher Gibbon, 
 and the successor of Purcell in the Abbey, West- 
 minster : a composer even as a boy.” Further 
 inquiry elicited his date, 1648-1768. This was the 
 result apparently of a chance visit to my room, 
 when I was in a supersensitive condition, of the 
 link between me and these spirits. 
 
 On October 5th, 1873, more personal evidence was 
 brought. The same spirit who, in Section IV., was 
 described as being able to write out an extract 
 from a book, transcribed some particulars about 
 ancient Chronicles, which in their broad outline 
 would not be unfamiliar to my mind, since the 
 subject came within the scope of my study. In 
 the extremely minute and precise manner in which 
 they were given, they are quite out of my mental 
 scope : seeing that it is a peculiarity of my mind 
 to be unable to retain and reproduce minute and 
 
EVIDENCE OF EXTERNAL INTELLIGENCE. 
 
 287 
 
 precise facts, and especially dates. Both from 
 natural inability to use such facts, and from a 
 belief that wide views, and a general grasp of a 
 subject in its broad bearings are most serviceable, 
 
 1 have always endeavoured to cultivate such a 
 habit of mind. 
 
 It is a singular fact in this connection that almost all 
 the communications written through my hand are 
 distinguished by microscopic minuteness of detail, 
 and by a general absence of breadth and diversity 
 of view, except in the case of those proceeding 
 directly from Imperator. 
 
 At this same time twenty-six lines from the works of 
 Norton, an old Alchymist, were written out in a 
 curious archaic hand, quite different from any that 
 had been used before. The extract I afterwards 
 verified with difficulty, for the book is scarce, and 
 little is known of Norton, his very date being 
 involved in obscurity. It was said of him that he 
 was an old student of the occult : a medium in his 
 life, and so more able to return to earth. His 
 poem was called “ The Ordinal or Manual of 
 Chemical Art, 55 and was written for his patron, 
 Archbishop Neville of York. 
 
 I might adduce other cases, but they would prove no 
 more than those already adduced. I have selected 
 almost at random a few cases out of a great 
 number. 
 
 One more, however, I will quote, because of the re- 
 markable manner in which the communication 
 was verified. It seemed that the same power that 
 gave the fact pointed to its method of verification, 
 and it has the merit of being absolutely external to 
 the knowledge of any person present. I quote 
 from my records. 
 
 March 25th, 1874. — A spirit communicated through 
 the table, name and particulars both unknown to 
 any member of the circle. I inquired on the fol- 
 lowing day about the circumstance.] 
 
 The spirit said truly that she was named Charlotte Buck- 
 worth. She has no special connection with us, but was per- 
 mitted to speak as she chanced to be present, and for evidence 
 to you. The conditions were unfavourable for our work ; we 
 were not able to harmonise the conditions, which were dis- 
 
288 
 
 SPIRIT- TEACHINGS 
 
 turbed. It is always so after such a day as you passed. The 
 different influences of those with whom you were thrown 
 would introduce elements of disturbance which we could nof 
 harmonise. 
 
 I had been with four persons all more or less medium- 
 istic. I always am affected by being in the society oj 
 such 
 
 You do not know how much you are sensitive to such 
 influence. The spirit who came to you was one who has 
 passed from among you now for more than a hundred years, 
 having made a sudden and unprepared entrance into spirit- 
 life in the year 1773. She passed away at the house of a friend 
 in Jermyn-street, whither she had gone on a party of pleasure. 
 She will probably be able to say more to you ; but we have 
 no control over her. 
 
 I asked that she should be fetched, but was told that the 
 communicating spirit had no control over her. I then 
 inquired if anything more were known about her. 
 
 Yes. She was very anxious to say more, but the power 
 was exhausted. She has been occupied in her special sphere 
 of work after awaking from a long sleep, and has not been 
 brought within the atmosphere of earth until lately. She is 
 attracted to circles where harmony prevails, being herself of 
 a loving nature. Her departure from your earth was instan- 
 taneous ; for she dropped down at a party of pleasure, and at 
 once passed from the body. 
 
 I inquired the cause of death. 
 
 Weakness of the heart, increased by violent dancing. She 
 was but a thoughtless girl, though of a gentle and loving dis- 
 position. 
 
 I asked what house and where ? 
 
 We cannot say. She will probably be able to say for 
 herself. 
 
 [Other subjects were then written about, and no more 
 was said of this. In the afternoon of the same 
 
THE VERIFICATION OF THE MESSAGE. 
 
 289 
 
 day a brief communication was made. Though I 
 resisted the impression to write, being busy and 
 not at home, I was compelled to allow the message 
 to be given.] 
 
 We have ascertained that it was at the house of one Doctor 
 Baker that Lottie departed. The day was the fifth of 
 December. We are not able to tell you more; but enough 
 has been said. 
 
 Rector. 
 
 [The verification of this statement was as unexpected 
 as was the message itself. We had decided that no 
 means of verification was open ; and the matter 
 passed from our minds. Some time after, Dr. Speer 
 had a friend at his house who was fond of old 
 books. We three were talking in a room in which 
 there were a number of books rarely used, arranged 
 in shelves extending from floor to ceiling. Dr. 
 
 Speer’s friend, whom I will call Mr. A , mounted 
 
 a chair to get at the topmost row, which was com- 
 posed entirely of volumes of the Annual Register. 
 
 He took one down amid a cloud of dust, and com- 
 mented on it as a valuable record of events from 
 year to year. Almost anything, he said, could be 
 found in it. As he said this, the idea flashed into 
 my mind at once most vividly that there was the 
 place to verify the information that had been given 
 about this death. It was one of these utterly un- 
 accountable impressions, or rather communications 
 with which those who commune with spirits are 
 familiar. It was as if a voice spoke to my inner 
 sense. I hunted out the volume for 1773, and there 
 I found, among the notable deaths, a record of this 
 occurrence, which had apparently made a sensation 
 as occurring at a festivity in a fashionable house. 
 
 The volume was thickly covered with dust, and had 
 lain undisturbed in its place since it had been put 
 there some five years before. I remember the books 
 being arranged, and they had never been disturbed 
 
 since ; nor, but for Mr. A s antiquarian tastes, 
 
 would it ever have occurred to any of us to pull 
 them down. 
 
 I may add in this connection, that on March 29th, 
 1874, a communication was written out in my book, 
 
 20 
 
290 
 
 SPIRIT-TEACHINGS. 
 
 of which at first I could make nothing. The hand- 
 writing was like none I had seen before, very shaky 
 and tremulous, like that of an extremely old and 
 feeble person. Though a name was apparently 
 signed, I could not read it at all until it was deci- 
 phered for me by the spirit-amanuensis. The mes- 
 sage was from a very old woman, of whom I had 
 never before heard, who passed away at upwards 
 of 90 years of age at a house not far from the place 
 where our circle meets. For obvious reasons I am 
 unable to print the name and address. I have 
 neither authority nor wish to seek it from friends 
 still living. But the name, place of residence, both 
 in earlier years and at the time of death, age, 
 and date of decease, were given with exact accuracy. 
 The remarkable fact, for which (apparently) the 
 message was given, was that the time of departure 
 from earth was in the month of December, 1872, 
 since which time, as was said, “ the spirit being full 
 of years in its earth-life had rested from its earthly 
 toil.” On awaking it had been attracted to its old 
 home, and thence to the circle in the immediat. 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 .1 believe that in this, as in all cases of identity, the 
 information was brought at the instance of Im- 
 perator, and for the definite purpose of supplying 
 to me evidence which I very much desired of 
 spirit-identity, or rather of individuality perpetu- 
 ated after bodily death. The cases were apparently 
 selected by design, and I have never been able to 
 procure evidence suggested by myself, or to inter- 
 fere successfully with this apparently pre-arranged 
 plan. 
 
 Here the continuity of the messages is broken, and the 
 series may well terminate. The power recurred 
 at times, but never with the sustained vigour 
 manifested in the mass of these Teachings. The 
 end in view had been obtained, and though much 
 was written afterwards, the periods of intermis- 
 sion became more frequent until, about the year 
 1879, this method of communication was practically 
 abandoned for an easier and simpler one. It would 
 be easy to select from my various books other 
 striking teachings. Hereafter I may possibly do 
 so. For the present, this series complete in itself 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 291 
 
 ? ? 
 
 so far as it goes, may suffice as a specimen of a 
 unique experience. 
 
 In concluding, I may venture to say that I prop und 
 these Teachings as specimens of influence brought 
 powerfully to bear upon an independent mind from 
 without. The opinions expressed may be dismissed 
 or accepted by each reader according as they com- 
 mend themselves to him. But he will miss the true 
 significance of this volume if he does not recognise 
 a sustained and successful effort of intelligence 
 apart from a human brain to influence one who 
 claims for himself no other merit than that of 
 having honestly and very laboriously endeavoured 
 to arrive at truth. 
 
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