Andrew Jackson Davis "The Penetralia" 1856

Andrew Jackson Davis "The Penetralia" 1856 (Complete online copy)

And yet, on either side of this mighty river of currental truth, you will find the noxious weeds of diminntion or of exaggeration. ...... Diminishers are called skeptics; the exaggerators, idealists. ......... p.8 This is the only knowledge that can humble the mind; it is the knowing to a certainty that we are ignorant. Thus, before self-knowledge we reverently bow; as in the presence of some God both strange and undefinable. ....... p.9

The questions of man, in regard to his Infinite relations, have built monuments of useless theology. Poems and precepts and bibles have been written to answer these ever-rising questions. ...... p.10

And now, if I may be- permitted still to speak of myself, I affirm, that whether I am a benefit or a penalty to you remains with you to decide. .......... p.10

And they answer," Study us, and we will tell you of the immeasurable magnitude of God's own glorious temple! Ask us truly, and we will tell you of gravitation, and the laws of tides, of light and heat, of the seasons, of prosperity, of summer and winter, and seed-time and harvest; all of which you may write down in your almanacs, and sell them to the poor in purse and in spirit, who can find neither time nor comprehension to study at our school." .....,.... p.11

It is impossible to teach all children by the same methods. Souls are blessings, or not, as we conform our methods to the temperaments in which we find them. The multiplication table delights your son; but your daughter is made to fancy a mental oath, when it comes her turn to learn it. But the right questions open her soul to itself. What a charmed world it is! In a moment, her soul leaps over whole years of being; her eyes are opened, and she feels wise as the fabled Eve. ........ p,12

And modern teachers think that only a God-sent and a God-inspired being could do it. ...... p.12 The bibles and churches are yet monopolizing these questions, and patenting the answers. ......... Physicians, when sick, need physicians. It will not always be thus. .......... p.13

Theological monopolies, if out of time, antagonize individual progress ....... p.25

How did God create man?

God did not create man. Man came from Nature's matrix as a child from its mother's womb; a Product of Nature; and, like a child, looks to her for all sustenance, entertainment, and instruction. ......... p.28-9

Did God leave all mankind to perish in this state?

Blasphemous, question! How can an omnipresent and unchangeable God withdraw his spirit from man, whose every drop of soul-life is derived from the eternal Fountain! ....... p.31

How did God reveal this law?

... in the " still small voice" of integral perception of justice, called Intuition; third, by the various spirits and angels who presided and still continue to watch lovingly over the earth, and who sometimes spoke in visions to young men, in dreams to women, and through commandments to religious chieftains. p.33

The sum of the twelve commandments is, to do good and harmonious works, for the redemption and ennoblement of your fellow-men. Such works to be purely "good" must be wrought regardless of age, sex, complexion, belief, or reputation; because the Human Race is but One Family-all members of one body-in which there is neither Jew nor Gentile, Nazarene nor Greek, Ethiopian nor Anglo-Saxon p.33

The first commandment forbiddeth both the extreme and the inverted practice of this central Affection; the penalty of disobedience being both immediate and remote, and, while persisted in, never detached from the transgressor. ........ p.34

The second commandment forbiddeth the prostitutions of Extremism and the pollutions of Inversionism; also the telling of all anecdotes, and the reading of unclean books, which tend to breed unchaste emotions in the soul. ......... p,34

The third commandment requireth that parents should respect the rights of the babe before birth by abstaining from all blood-love indulgence; also, after its introduction to objective life, that parents and guardians open many liberties to off- spring, and teach the awakening faculties quietly and only as they ask questions; until the season has arrived when physical industry and mental discipline become both natural and necessary; then the Harmonial Institution should go on with the requisite process of harmonizing the body and mind of the young.

What is forbidden in the third commandment?

The third commandment forbiddeth all inharmonious examples by parents in the presence of the young: such as intemperance, the use of tobacco, the excessive use of meat, the habitual drinking of tea or coffee, vulgar habits, profane words, lack of punctuality in promises, deceptive or evasive answers, expressions of prejudices against neighbors, reiteration of slanders, opposition to persons who differ on religious questions ; also every species of irreverence which could generate laxity of moral principle or blindness to the Divine Existence. p.35

The fourth commandment is: "Obey the law of Fraternal Love with all thy soul and with all thy understanding;" for this is that principle which binds man to man in the vast brotherhood of races and nations. p.35

The fifth commandment requireth the honoring of "thy father and thy mother" because they were instrumental in giving you an eternal individualized existence! Gratitude is next to generosity. But this Filial law does not require a child to obey a foolish or intemperate parent; nor slaves to yield themselves blindly to the dictum of self-constituted masters, who appropriate rights and assign only duties to those who serve them; for no human being is obligated by any natural (or divine) law to sacrifice individual " rights" in order to perform " duties" imposed by those arbitrarily vested with authority. p.37

The sixth commandment forbiddeth all selfishness and all isolated strife for wealth and power. Monopolistic enterprises and competitive industry are forbidden by virtue of this principle. ..... p.38

When this commandment is obeyed, the various races will shake hands through mutual organizations of interests, and a stupendous harmonial temple will overarch the world. p.39

The tenth commandment forbiddeth* all turbulency of spirit which in a few years wrinkles the beautiful brow; also, all an- imality which destroys grace of bone, gives prominence to the joints, and dissipates the freshness of youth from the teeth, eyes, hair, and skin (see 4th vol. of Great Harmonia); all discontentment with conditions which are incidental to an em- bryo existence, “envying or grieving at the good of our neighbor, and all inordinate affections for anything that is his.” But Nature allots to no man more than is sufficient for a sub- sistence and guaranty against the intrusions of Poverty, physical and mental; all else, though strictly lawful according to existing constructions of individual rights, is nothing lecs than an appropriation of our neighbor's property and depriving a brother of the means of happiness.

* The reader will pardon this dictatorial word on the ground that it is employed in conformity to the Shorter Catechism, and not in any sectarian sense so repugnant to the author. (He used this term thirteen times and only made this comment on this one, which was the eleventh use of it.) p.42-3

It is of the utmost importance that we understand the true theory of reform; at the same time, also, the reason why the Church system does not succeed. The Church professes to be adequately armed to battle with sin, and provided with all the true instruments of social Reform. It professes to have the stupendous “ Word” on its side—not only so, but the Almighty with it. In fact, all the persons of the God-head are claimed as both prime movers and co-laborers in the vast field of human redemption.

What result does this church association bring forward ?

The whole supernatural system has been well nigh two thousand years converting fifty millions of Protestants into religious Sectarians. But these fifty millions are, after all, far from being reformed and harmonized. Many of them still own slaves, sustain the Fugitive Slave Law, and go strong against the dethronement of King Superstition. These church mem- bers and church supporters make no better merchants; as tradesmen they are not a particle more honest than an honest Doubter; they make no kinder or wiser “ Bosses” to journey- men and apprentices; they are no better than, and ofttimes not so good as, the so-called skeptical and unregenerated. p.45

The church fails, because it looks to a wrong Source for its aid. It expects to reform the world by preaching the Love - and the Hate-of an omnipotent Jehovah; with the necessity of faith in the virtue of that blood tragedy called “ Jesus Christ and him crucified.” The world can be restrained thus, but not reformed. p.46

What does God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse due to us for sin?

The Bible-god, who is not the eternal Companion of Mother- Nature, requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ. p.48

There is no conflict between the religion of Nature and pure philosophy. Philosophy is a universal harmonizer, and interferes with religion only when its fruitful superstitions and con- sequent exaggerations contradict the soul's highest affirmations -a just and wholesome interference which, resembling a wise parent checking a child's impetuosity and untruthfulness, does no injury, but, instead, strengthens and beautifies and intensifies yet more and more the native glory of all true Religion and pure Humanity. p.58-9

....... Man's conception of the answer will correspond to two conditions —first, the circmnstances of his body- second, the centerstances of his spirit; and, however antagonistic the responses emanating from those in opposite states of flesh and spirit, yet, on the final analysis and synthetic judgment, all answers will be pronounced essentially homogeneous, and consistent every way, with the doctrine of a universal Brotherhood. p.61

What is life to childhood?

A crown of thanks! dear reader, for asking me this question ; the scene which it unrolls before my spirit is sweet-perfumed and bursting-full of promise. To a well-born and happy Child- hood, Life is one with silently-creeping grasses, with emerald landscapes, with laughing lapping streamlets, with the nervous joy of humming bees, with swelling buds and blooming violets; one with flowering and fruiting trees, with the fragrance of apple-orchards, with picking clover and sweet grass in the meadow, with cuffing the brooklet that goes purling below the willows; one with boat-sailing on the glittering pond at the bottom of the field; one with leaf-clad grape-vines climbing aspiringly and lovingly over garden grottoes, with blushing straw- berries beneath clefts and upon the rock-wrinkled hillside; one with the fairy dwellers of shady nooks, with the sun-ray among inhaling roses, with the diversal singing of trees swept by the wind-spirit of the mystic west; one with the cheery chirp of wren and robin; one with the evening dream of prairie fields of fresh-mown hay, with the luxurious beauty of landscapes beyond the sunrise; one with the rushing gayety of the morning light, with the early dance of squirrels on the old stone wall; one with the young colt, and the yet trembling calf, and the turkey in the pasture, and the timid lamb on the rolling lawn; one with the silvered splendors of midsummer hues, with the stillness of a July noon; one with the fall of rain, with the ascending moisture, with the melting bow just now arching the far-off horizon ; one with the angel of sleep, with the angel of dreams, with the gods of the seasons; one with the undefinable romance of new faces that visit at the house, who eat at the table, who smile with the baby, and tell innocent stories of lands and cities yet to be seen; one with the ephemeral fascination of novel sports, with the painful trouble of finding the misplaced plaything; with the half-sad excitement when bounding impulses are checked by the interposing voice or strong hand of maternal watchfulness; lastly, and in short — Life to the best childhood is the negation of solid happiness, the blush of anticipation without the pleasure of participation, the perception of being without the luxury of understanding it, an innocence which has never felt the joy of resisted temptation ; identical with initial bewitchments and glittering joys innumerable, which surround the citadel of undisciplined sensibilities, and which plant, in the rapidly-unfolding imagination, the seeds of ideas which rival the Siren Isles in beauty, and the realities of this globe as well; hence childhood, to all poets, is a holy foreshadowing of pleasures common to the spirit-Lands, a kind of avant courier to the facts of an existence superior to the present; a table of contents to the book of the coming ages ; a daguerreotype, so to speak, of the world beyond, painted on earth by the Infinite Sun of the Univercælum.

What is life to unhappy childhood?

Life to unhappy childhood is the breathing curse of unchaste and discordant progenitors; an organic struggle, panting be- tween smiles and tears; a whipping-post, for the expression of domestic discontent and parental brutality; a receptacle for crude and cramped ideas of God and humanity; the fountain of several diseases to be transmitted in coming years to a consequent posterity. Oh, most unwelcome scene! p.61-3

I mean, in short, that believers of popular dogmas are tormented with tyrannic fear, and dare not think in freedom, “ lest God should overhear their doubt—for God is thought to be always eavesdropping, and ever on the watch at the keyhole of human consciousness, hearkening for the footfall of a wandering thought-when he will stab at and run them through, and then impale them on his thunderbolt fixed in eternal flame." Hence, the religious man entertains an idea of God which impeaches at once the majesty of divine Wisdom and the universality of divine Love. p.64

What is life to the politician ?

A platform of action, ambition, disappointment; not regulated by Principles, but by policies, and expediencies suited to popularities and necessities of the day; more adapted to govern than to improve, more certain to shackle than to liberate. From the misfortunes of political strifes and unprincipled gladiators in the area of government; from the terrors of the god of aristocracy whose name is “ Mammon;" from all temporary losses, by death, of liberty-loving natures, and, by election, from the reckless legislation of undeveloped minds— Good Lord deliver us! p.68-9

.... I am more important to myself than Moses, Jesus., all men, can be to me. Holiness, the fidelity to my own consciousness, is the first of manly and womanly duties; that kept, all others follow sure. p.70

"Thy Will Be Done." -How to do it.-1. Be instructed by the Past, and by all it has brought you. 2. Be thankful for the Present, and for all its blessings. 3. Be hopeful for the Future, and for all it promises to bring you. Observe these Rules, and the Harmonies of the kingdom of God will be with you, and Peace on Earth and good will toward Man be realized. p.73

Does God know all events eternal years before they transpire?

God knows only through the ever-awakening intelligences of his universal existence. p.75

Can God do all things?

God is not sufficiently powerful to accomplish self-destruction. There are, therefore, necessities to omnipotence.

Is God a progressive being?

There is no increase of the quantities of mind or matter; but of progress in qualities and permutations there is no limitation. p.76

How shall children be made nervous, fretful, and sick, while travelling?

There are a multitude of rules, but none more correct than the following: Give the child a little piece of something to eat every fifteen or twenty minutes throughout the journey - besides, forbid its talking fast; forbid its crying even when too long restrained ; forbid its desire to run about, and keep its mouth half smothered in the nurse's bosom.

Can you not give some plan whereby to fulfil this prescription, and thus make the child's unhappiness and sickness a matter of certainty?

Yes! The surest plan, one which has been “ tried over and over again” and proved most successful, is this: Before setting out on a day's trip by the cars, provide your pockets and car- pet-bags with the requisite variety and quantity of colored toys and confectionary substances. ......... p.80

In the sermon he should dwell, with touching eloquence and tears in his eyes, on the mysterious ways of Providence, on the incomprehensibility of God's ways to man, on the doctrine that God gives and God takes away; the whole to conclude with a pathetic prayer, touching upon the doctrine that the young spirit has gone “to the bourne whence no traveller returns,” gone to the regions of the incomprehensible, gone to the mysterious un-get- at-able world, except through “faith” in the recognized standards of evangelical truth! p.82

What can be said of North America as a country?

Politically considered, and notwithstanding its justification of chattel slavery, North America, as a country, is the freest and the best. But France, England, and Germany, while laboring under numerous oppressions, enjoy more freedom of opinion. In America the despotism of opinion is mighty. It is gradually growing less powerful, methinks; still, it rules the the masses. It leads to the organization of fashion — to imitation — to a standard of judgment by which majorities govern minorities, the strong the weak, might is confounded with right, and the worst forms of tyranny and the best phases of liberty dwell side by side 'neath the shade of the nation's banner; the symptoms of future alterations. p.87

By investigation I have acquired this knowledge — that all theology is a despotic theory, AN OPINION ; and nothing more.

Do you make any distinction between theology and some of the doctrines of Jesus?

Yes; the doctrines of Jesus, concerning morality and spiritualism, are immutable truths. Theology, on the contrary, is not based upon Nature's facts and principles, but, as already said, upon inferences, presumptions, assumptions, which became despotic just like every other opinion. Knowledge has no slavery in it: opinion has no liberty. Opinion is the builder of dungeons; the inventor and proprietor of torturing racks and rods of iron; the grand Inquisitor who first kindles the martyr's fire, and then executes its terrible judgments. Such is the despotism of opinion. ... And I repeat the affirmation that, church-theology is merely an opinion; a subjective belief; destitute of that knowledge which it arrogates to itself.

Can you give evidence to strengthen this assertion ?

Yes; church-theology, for example, is believed by persons who are in general quite ignorant of the extents of Nature; its laws, its functions, its relations, its harmonies, are never perceived by the believer in a dismal theology. ... Our earth the centre of creation! a stationary orb, the largest, most important, about whose imperturbable majesty the entire heavens revolve! .... p.88-9

Notwithstanding which (apparent inertia), our solar body journeys forward at the frightful velocity of four hundred thousand miles per day (the truth speed around the sun is about double this) ... Some stars are yet so distant, that thirty millions of years will sink into oblivion, and infinite scores of human beings will live and die out of matter, ere their light can reach our globe! And it will help your conception to remember that light can fly two hundred thousand miles per second. (actual speed is 186,000 miles per second) ...... p.90

Yes; theology is of necessity believed by those who are constitutionally discordant-by those who feel evils within — who infer therefrom the existence of devils — and possess, as they think, internal evidence of total depravity. It is a curious fact that the most vicious persons are the firmest believers in literal and future hell-punishments. p.90 Yes; it is impossible for an intelligent person to believe the myths of ancient Egypt. p.92 “But the Copernican system is now established, and has thus recommended itself to the scientific world through tribulation. That Tycho, Kepler, the Herschels, and Newton, were permitted to enunciate the result of their labors in peace, may be attributed to other causes, and in spite of the natural and universal perversity to sustain error. ......... p.93 A true martyr is one who bravely meets terrors and tortures, imposed by many and strong enemies, rather than relinquish or disavow a cherished conviction ; one who, with a moral enthusiasm transcending the instinct of self-preservation and every selfish motive, fearlessly embraces death in its most terrific form, in order to bear faithful witness to the sovereignty of some divine principle. p.101

The Jews were the most imbecile worshipers of Force, and knew not the Father. They were worshiping the imaginary God of the patriarchs and prophets; not the unfailing Source of the spirits of all men. They studied a creed; not the volume of creation. The Jews were the best and the worst of men : virtuous and vicious, witty, serious, and sometimes gay; learned in many arts, generous and brave at times; invariably hypocritical and avaricious, equally infidelic and faithful, meterialistic and spiritual. 6

The Jews must be taught the way, the truth, and the life," said the young man, ... and, after forty days of interior preparation, he went forth to teach. p.103

... Five months before the birth of Caligula, the Roman emperor, his mother dreamed that a supernatural being brought from the sky and gave her an eagle, which changed slowly into a venomous serpent, and was stoned to death by the multitude. The angel said : “ The eagle is power; the serpent is tyranny ; the last is assassination.” Justified by her imagination only, she insisted that the history of her unborn child had been symboled forth. This terrible impression acted like a charm upon the coming spirit ; and, lo, the life and death of Caligula was an exact fulfilment of his mother's dream. (Several additional dreams recounted) p.104

The Psychology of Dreams By William Sebastian Walsh reviews some of same dreams with different explanation: mother of Caligula dreamed of eagle and serpent

... The Christ- principle of universal Love* has been sepulchred beneath a solemn outward hero-worship of the Martyr of Calvary. p.109

What is the consequence of the deification of persons?

All inequality is productive of discord: all over-statement is injustice; and the deification of persons is a “spot on the sun” of righteousness. Every exaggeration of supposed gods, every over-statement of the wisdom of spirits, is followed by a corresponding diminution of mankind. p.110

What are your impressions concerning the infallibility and standardship of the Old and New Testaments?

It should go abroad, that this (the Harmonial) platform, so long as I have anything to do with it, is free, in the largest possible acceptation of the word, to every person of goodness of motive, himself being the judge, to controvert or correct any position which may be taken. It is to be understood, therefore, that I am always in a condition of mind to be taught. I welcome all persons who differ from me in regard to the Scriptures. Let us all seek the path of rectitude and righteousness. p.114

What do you see in Christianity so very objectionable?

Every calm reader will see at once that I object, first, to the materialism of the Churches; and, second, to the worship of the Book as an authority above man's pure Reason. I am an entire believer in the principle, which lies in the founda- tion of Christianity, not the follower of any one man who is claimed as the immediate incarnation and expound er of it. I have reverence sufficient to worship that principle of wisdom and happiness which cometh directly and at all times from the Infinite God. .... p.122

... They admire him yet more, when, nailed to the cross and interiorly expanded in this principle, he prayed—“ Father, forgive mine enemies — these Jews— they know not what they do.” Men reverence that exhibition ; and many worship the man. ...p.122

This word “saved” is a common term in theology, signifying an eternal rescue ; what do you mean by this word?

By the word " saved,” I do not mean from a place of end- less suffering, but from immediate discords, immediate anxieties and troubles in this world, saved from discords, and mental anxieties for many indefinite periods in the world to come saved, not from eternal perdition, but from derangements of soul and society. ... p.123

What relation is theologically assumed to subsist between the early Jews and the scheme of salvation?

It is assumed in theology that the Jews were the chosen and favorite people of God; that he selected, them, out of all nations of the earth, in order to manifest his interest; to bring about the workings of the scheme of salvation. Every one who has read their history, knows that the Jews were—morally, intellectually, socially, physically — no better than wandering . tribes and several nations about them. p.123

Were the Jews more susceptible of spiritual influx than other oriental tribes? ... Every one which came bolting into the soul, so to speak, the recipient called a “ thus saith the Lord;" and if the prophet made a mistake, he said—“It is not I but the Lord that deceiveth.” No prophet or medium could admit that he had made a mistake. ... p.124 ... Moses, however, gave out his impressions as absolute authority; not to be questioned. But men have learned better; progression has been made even in Religion. We do not now give out such communications as authority; but as that which should be questioned — believing that portions of every communication are always good — as aids and stepping-stones to better things. p.125 What is the central doctrine of popular Christianity? The doctrine taught to the world is, subjection to higher authority. This is Christianity, as understood at the present time. It is the doctrine of submission. Obey your existing rulers; be the friends of popular law and order; servants, obey your masters. Those who say Christianity has not been lived out, in this sense, have not yet ascertained the history of that system which they profess to believe. It can be shown that Christianity — as a system of subjection to higher authority — has been practically tried and lived out. Christianity is fixed in human history. Therefore it can not be said that this century is living under it truly. Most receivers are living upon the forms and symbols and husks of that which has gone into history. No one enlightened mind will live upon the symbols, the letters, and authorities of the book. Men have souls of their own; they may receive illuminations of the present and the future. p.127-8 ... The Quakers have advocated and practised the idea of non-resistance. They would be overcome by evil rather than use carnal instruments in opposition to it. The Quaker system, in one sense, is the best exposition of Christianity. It is an illustration that subjection is a Christian doctrine. They endure all manner of unrighteousness rather than resist with the same weapons. They will not do evil that good may come. p.128 Does any one believe that the Book is essential to Salvation?

Yes; there are many externalists and authoritarians who think so, and yet such know that there was no Bible for Mat- thew. Paul had to write his own letters—his own bible- from his own inspirations. He wrote to the Thessalonians, to the Galatians, to the Romans; and why can not you also write ? —“write” in your lives, in your deeds, of friendship, and affection? What more beautiful letters than such ? Write out of the bible of your own soul, where liveth for ever the Christ- principle! Come to this spiritual platform, and see how the subjection of the lower to the higher, of the weak to the strong — which is in the main a Christian doctrine — will be sup- ported by natural and healthy influxes, emanating from the Love or Christ-principle, saving you from hatred and malice and revenge. Worship that principle; not a man. Defend not the book, but the doctrine of love to man and love to God : this is the sum and substance of all Religion.

Suppose we should resolve from this hour to set ourselves against authority, and live the true life, what regard shall we bestow upon the New Testament writers?

It matters not what Matthew, Mark, John, or Jesus said, thought, or did. The question is, do you, in your life and soul, advocate the principle of Universal Love. The whole question turns upon this point- whether you will worship Principles instead of persons — whether you will take the spirit in preference to the letter— whether you will take the idea rather than the symbol. When you read the book properly it ceases to be an authority. The good principles of the book should be regarded as aids, as helps, as stepping-stones, to higher and better revelations.

By what authority can the Bible be decided as the word of God?

No person, as I said, is capable of pronouncing the Bible the word of God, unless he is sufficiently inspired by a higher revelation. If any man pronounces it to be the word of God, without such higher revelation, his say-so is worth as much as a similar affirmation by the worshipper of Juggernaut. p.129-30

What does the New York Observer teach in regard to the religious education of children?

“Children should be early taught,” says the Observer, " that the Bible is the great authority; and that when it speaks upon any point the question is settled for ever. ... p.133 (additional subtle criticism) ...

... The youth grows to manhood with the shackles upon him. His mind is in bondage to authority; he can not think. He worships, not the Truth, but the authority; he is therefore a bigot and a slave! According to the New York Observer, the book is the final authority. The Bible may be (as it is) a combination of good things and bad things- it may present truth on one side and error on the other—but, no matter! its authority must never be questioned. Poisonous and unnatural as the doctrine of authority is, it is not more pernicious than this: “ that when it (the Bible) speaks upon any point the question is settled for ever.” p.134-5

Would the Observer have this opinion "early taught to the young mind as religion?

Yes; and yet every enlightened person knows that the Bible is wrong in scores of things. Its geology is wrong, its chronology is wrong, its astronomy is wrong; it is wrong in many prophecies; and there are doctrines, precepts, and practices, unfit for the child to learn or the man to follow. ...p.135

The Observer esteems it a “good sign to hear a child often use the expression — The Bible says so.” How replete with absurdity is such a thought—that Children, without experience and unable to form an intelligent idea of any great question, should quote the Bible as the totality of truth!

Do you mean to teach that men are freely to examine, and sit in judgment on the Bible?

Certainly; when the Bible speaks upon any point, that point should be examined as freely as I now criticize the New York Observer. The Bible says a vast number of things which are wrong, and unworthy of a place in a book which claims to be the Word of God. On its pages are to be found good precepts and evil ones; truth and error; wisdom and ignorance; and the child that “early” learns to receive everything the Bible says, as absolute truth, has a painful and difficult lesson to unlearn in after years. The Bible itself teaches us to “prove all things, and hold fast that which is good.” A book is certainly included in the category of “ things.” So the Bible testifies against the New York Observer, and not less against its own contents. Sectarians are already too numerous for the world's good; and there is scarcely a religious journal in existence calculated to increase the number more rapidly than the Observer; I hope, therefore, that some moral revolution will effectually reform it. p.135-6

The proceedings at the Council of Nice are, like all events in the ancient history of the Church, veiled in obscurity. In- deed, a strong desire seemed to possess Eusebius and others who were present to conceal its details from the world, or at least to clothe the whole affair with the garb of mystery. Thus Pappus tells us that the Bishops, having “promiscuously put all the Books that were referred to the Council for determination, under the communion-table in a church, they besought the Lord that the inspired writings might get upon the table, while the spurious ones remained underneath, and that it happened accordingly."

This recital is quite in accordance with the usual practices of the Church Fathers, who are referred to with so much reverence by the modern priesthood, but who, if we credit the concessions of Dr. Mosheim, were artful, wrangling, and grossly dishonest men. He declares, in vol. i., p. 198, that “It was an almost universally adopted maxim, that it was an act of virtue to deceive and lie, when by such means the interests of the Church might be promoted.” As regards the fifth century, he says: “The simplicity and ignorance of the generality in those times furnished the most favorable occasion for the exercise of frauds; and the impudence of impostors in contriving false miracles, was artfully proportioned to the credulity of the vulgar; while the sagacious and wise, who perceived these cheats, were awed into silence by the dangers which threatened their lives and fortunes, if they should expose the artifice.” p.145

Do the churches refer men to their own inherent sources of knowledge?

No; The Churches have not allowed mankind to rely upon inward sources of light and illumination. p.154

Do you meet persons who sincerely doubt immortality?

Yes; There are persons utterly destitute of any intelligent evidences of immortal existence. p.155

Is the spiritual world as solid and as natural as this world?

Yes; I would like to show you how natural and familiar are spiritual things. The other world is as natural, astronomically considered, as the globe which we now inhabit. p.164

It is more than two years ago that Catherine De Wolf, my former companion, went to the Spirit Home. [[[Possible revelation]]] ... p.165

Three months passed, and I heard nothing directly from her; nor indirectly, except from two mediums who supposed they had received telegraphic despatches. I had no confidence, however, in anything which I did not receive myself. In the winter I went to the city of Boston, to give a course of lectures. At six o'clock in the evening of my first lecture, I felt her spiritual approach ; and that she was somewhere within a hundred miles of that city. My lecture was duly delivered, and I returned to my boarding-house immediately. On going up- stairs, I felt she was near. I admitted her by the door, passed up the hall, and went into the superior state. She was now by my side; just like any person in the body. She seemed to have regained about ten years of youth ; and in appearance she was not so large as in her physical body. [[[ more revelations?]]] ... p.166

Seeing the FATHER as I now do, I must worship Him in Love. ... In spirit and in truth I must worship Him!

Beloved brother, HOW MAGNIFICENT IS THE TEMPLE IN WHICH WE DWELL AND WORSHIP! p.169-70

What does the satirical Galen say in conclusion?

Furthermore, in conclusion, to enlighten you still more on the pathognomical symptoms of this extraordinary disease, I will state* as a result of my recent three-quarters-of-an-hour investigation, that patients who fancy they hear “ raps” and see “ tables move” are mostly laboring with a hyperacusis in the tympanum cavity, also, very probably, with chronic hypersthenia. The symptoms are recognisable by protusion of the visual orbs, irregularly-distended mouth, suspended breathing, with occasional ejaculations, and a morbid exaltation of the sense of touch ; treatment should be prompt and allopathic- antphlogistic, anti-scolic, anti-spasmodic — with three of our best leeches periodically applied to the patient's purse. p.189

People complain of deceiving spirits; can you explain why spirits deceive?

In addition to ample explanations to be found in preceding volumes, I will reply through a suggestive incident. . While residing in the city of Hartford, there called upon me a lady, a member of a church, but who, unexpectedly to herself, became a medium for impressions. ...

Do you ever get anything from God yourself?” “ Certainly," I replied; “I communicate with him every time I breathe. In fact, I have never supposed — since I have had any reasonable consciousness — that I could exist without a Divine emanation. Therefore I live and move and exist in him.” “No, No,” exclaimed she, “I mean, did you ever receive into your mind words directly from God ?” “Never,” I answered. “Well, I have a communication ; and it is signed God.'"

... He said science had outstripped it; and philosophy had seen beyond it. He had appointed her (the medium) to come to me and say, that from the high throne of Heaven he had chosen me out of all the inhabitants of the earth to re-write the Bible, and adapt it to the wants of the nineteenth century — and for two thousand years to come. ... Therefore I told her the next time she got in communication with god to tell him that, in my conscience, I believed that there were already too many Bibles for the world's good; that any more would be adding insult to injury; and, lastly, that I was too much engaged in other matters to undertake any such commission.

...

In ten days she returned. She had given my message to god. 6 Well; what did he say?" I asked. “Why, he said that he was not the God of the universe, and never pretended to be.” She then opened a spiritual correspondence with the apocraphal “ god.” I asked: “ Why do you sign your name God'?” “Because,” he replied, “ I am all the god this my. charge can comprehend.” “Do you take this method to de- ceive her ?” “No,” he exclaimed. “Why, then, did you give her that message ?” “Because,” he answered, “I saw no other way to bring her to visit with you— to bring about the conversation that has passed between you—and the results to grow out of it.” “Do you mean that you are a very high and illustrious Spirit, and a God over many ?” “Not at all; I am only a god in the sense of administering to the needs of my charge, helping her into a new dispensation. I am her guardian angel —I do not believe in her doctrines -- I wish to convert her from them—I have not been deceiving - I gave her that message to secure your conversation - to turn her mind into new channels.” “Do you mean to go on with her now?” I asked. “Yes; I have her confidence; and I will go on with her development.” p.205-7

How does spiritualism compare with Christianity in its beneficial effect on mankind?

To give a just answer to this question I must first state the fact, that Christianity has been in the world nearly two thou- sand years while modern spiritual intercourse is only a little more than eight years old. Now Christianity has never suggested a single scientific fact — has never developed a single broad scheme for the practical relief of a suffering humanity; but, instead, the system has wielded its entire might in opposition to almost every new development— has slandered and denounced as “infidel" each one who has wrought, independent of Sectarianism, to correct abuses in high and low places — has set its power against every leading philanthropist who has labored to abolish slavery and capital punishment, to reform the misdirected voluptuary, and to introduce that practical religion which looks to the moral and intellectual regeneration of our race, instead of fashionable preaching and praying. .... Spiritualism, on the contrary, has already discovered to the world a multitude of the most momentous and practical truths. In the fields of science and philosophy, especially in mental philosophy (which is foremost with all intelligent, cultured minds) it has revealed fresh facts and demonstrated several great general principles. The sciences of magnetism, electricity, chemistry, psychology, clairvoyance, psychometry, &c., have each received valuable additional illustrations and highly suggestive principles from some of the departments of spiritualism.

Does the world refuse such new information?

Yes; such information is superciliously rejected by the devotees of sectarianism-contemptuously repudiated by the advocates of expensive churches and the defenders of a paid priesthoood. p.208

... Unless capricious Fortune seems to smile especially upon their efforts, laboring people, in the present social disorder, are most likely to be kept down in the cesspools of poverty, simply by the antagonism between labor and capital. He who, by industry and personal integrity, has rescued his family from ignorance, wretchedness, and crime, deserves the gratitude of all his fellow-men ; because, under the antagonistic interests of our present social construction, it is unspeakably difficult for a laboring man to earn enough to meet the current expenses of his family, and at the same time avoid debt and dishonesty. If he does this in cities, he must forego almost every species of comforting luxury, and all cultivated amusements.

What are the poor man's disadvantages?

His disadvantages are very numerous. If he be a mechanic, then there are, probably, certain months in each year when his services are not required. But his house-rent and family expenses go on just the same as when his labor is in demand. The wealthy man can pay cash for his drygoods and groceries, can purchase them at wholesale prices, which gives him the advantage. But the poor man must buy in small quantities, must pay high interest for credit, and so lives at a perpetual loss. When he goes to the market, he pays the butchers and stall-keepers 50 per cent. more than the original cost of the articles. When he goes to the grocer, he must defray the accumulated and combined profits upon, tea, sugar, soap, mo- lasses, etc.: first, of the producer; second, of the whole- sale merchant; third, of the retailer. Here is a mass of profits which the consumer must pay, and he must work hard, and live very economically, to do it. ... Now this is all wrong; it don't pay. The laboring-classes — who produce all the wealth there is in the country—are the constant and only real sufferers under this system. p.219-20

Is American Slavery sanctioned by the American Priesthood?

Yes; there is a cotton-thread, extending from Maine to Louisiana, which, being more profoundly revered than the principle of Justice, is allowed to hold together the United States and the United Churches. Among Churches I know of some glorious exceptions. In business the agitation of the Slavery question “ don't pay;" so the Churches furnish a “ Thus saith the Lord” in favor of the institution. ... p.221

Does utilitarianism look into prisons and criminals?

Yes; the people, especially those who have thought on the subject, begin to discover this important fact—that prisons and capital punishments are exceedingly defective methods of defending the morals and protecting the interests of society. This is a business age. Everything must be looked at and judged by the mercantile standard of “ profit and loss." And there are things which do, and things which do not, pay. Among others, it is beginning to be seen that the money which is now expended to arrest, to condemn, to imprison, and to punish, a single criminal, is sufficient, when judiciously and at the right time appropriated, to educate twenty poor children, and to place them in circumstances above the sphere of temptation to crime. It will “ cost” far less to save fifty human beings from crime than it now costs to punish ten without improving them. But let me ask :-

Does the Church propose any reformation in this direction?

Not at all. It will oppose the measure until opposition no longer pays. When the people announce their determination to carry through this reform-- then, as they always have, the sponsors of theology will jump upon the platform, and exclaim, “Oh, we always thought so!" p.223

Will utilitarianism do something to harmonize manual labor and machinery?

Yes; this is another thing in the Structure of Society which needs attention and improvement, the conflict between poor men and labor-saving inventions. It don't pay the laboring- man to see a few bars of iron and shafts of steel, moved by unconscious steam, doing more and better work in one day than he can do in twenty! All our manufacturers must resort to Machinery. This is right, and I glory in every new invention. But I think a change is necessary — so that every new labor-saving invention shall not fall into the hands of Manufacturers, and every laboring-man be driven into new fields for subsistence, in absolute competition with Machinery. As Society is now constructed, there is no · harmony between the poor classes and labor-saving Machinery. This fact will lead hereafter to great changes. While the conflict continues be- tween human beings and the invention of machines for the manufacturing of certain kinds of goods — while there continues an antagonism between Labor and Capital — so long will the preaching of “ peace and good-will on earth” be measurably useless. To love the neighbor, under present arrangements, don't pay. To be a practical Christian is to be unpopular. An honest man must leave the business-world, in some departments, or the business-world will leave him. ... p.229-30

Will the building materials of the future differ from those in present use?

Yes; we will not go as at present into forests to find the best materials. Humanitarian habitations will be constructed of a lithologic composition which may be readily manufactured. And men will perceive new uses for gutta-percha in combination with iron and artificial marble. Such materials will be employed for portable dwellings. For example: here are two persons to be married this very night, upon the best principles of conjugal harmony. To-morrow morning they will visit places where portable houses may be ordered; they look over the architectural fashions; they issue an order for a house to be built in the country : everything to be ready for housekeeping, furniture and all arranged, in two weeks from date! Remember the first manifestation of the principle of wisdom, in Use. Use condenses and harmonizes, so that, ultimately, the fortunes and misfortunes of modern selfish house-building will be no more. Most easy will it be to have a home! Mankind may one day see that a habitation, composed of artificial lithologic materials, will shelter but a small part of that which in reality constitutes 6 a home.” Because the true home is composed of, and is dependent upon, the existence and the continuation of a most blessed harmonial marriage. Having "one to love and one to love us” is a haven far better than a house composed of gutta-percha, iron, or any artificial substance.

May we expect a more utilitarian method of acquiring knowledge?

Yes; we are not always to have this tedious method of learning to spell and write the English language; this external system of imparting and enforcing the shadows of ideas. Many constitutions are “ ruined” by the different irksome and unnatural methods of imparting what is called an education. If the United States Constitution had not been stronger than that of many Yankee children now born, it would have been “ ruined” the first two weeks by the tyrannical plan of its ecclesiastical and political schooling. Improvements in education will be so great that between the ninth and twelfth year - the ninth being the true time for children to commence - young minds will obtain more knowledge than they now acquire with much trouble between the ninth and twentieth. ... p.232-3

Will you detail some of the utilitarian advantages of the phonetic system? [[phonetic system may have similar advantages to modern computer technology]] p.234

Will utilitarianism act beneficially upon American government?

This question is not easily answered. American politics inevitably generate hostile parties. These parties do not attempt to disseminate the divine principles which underlie and control humanity. Political principles are drawn from the experience of Europe from the experience of Greece and Rome-in order to establish precedents whereby to legislate for the day, the hour, and the circumstance. Political action does not spring from the souls of reasonable men and conscientious women. Once there existed - Scribes and Pharisees :" now, in- stead,“ Whigs and Democrats.” Once there were “ Publicans and Sinners :” now, instead, “ Republicans and Know-Nothings.” Here is evidence of revolution ; perhaps, also, of progress. Politics have brought a quartette of parties into the world ; and every one is planted upon “ the best policies” - not upon that which consults the gigantic interests of universal mankind. True Religion, Justice, is never once consulted. It is a primate American doctrine to have no religion in existing politics. Hence, the elements of a time-fostered despotism and atheism are lurking in our Democracy.

Is this temporary despotism wrong?

Who will affirm that it is right? Perhaps, it can not be avoided. Perhaps, it is consistent with the progressive development of mankind, that despotism should be asserted with democracy. Can we have them separated ? There seems to be a natural principle which determines that absolute freedom and absolute slavery shall abound in the same latitude. Despotism is the first governmental principle of every nation; but, by social development and spiritual progress, the race arouses and does battle for equal rights and Liberty. Thus, despotism becomes eventually negative; while individual freedom and national democracy become positive! The two prin- ciples, however, are asserted in the same governmental latitude. Therefore while we have the highest liberty, in the United States, we also have in them the lowest slavery. The greatest successes run parallel with the greatest reverses. The most splendid days are coupled with the darkest nights. There is no sudden way to escape this twofold action of Nature. p.236-7

You said that religion is divorced, in this country, from politics: what do you mean?

I mean that the natural principle of universal Justice is not to be found in our governmental departments. Pure morality in politics would be like a star, ascending higher in the firmament of Nations. The Roman Catholic Church hath a strong- hold in criticising American political institutions. Political parties do not consult the constitution of man, but the constitution of the United States. Party politics have, therefore, a principle of atheism. The people of the United States, in their political arrangements, do not enough contemplate distributive Justice. The Catholic Church stands as a skeptical critic. It is supported by talented men, true to their principles. They feel called in conscience to oppose all Constitutions which do not look to a supernatural source for political and ecclesiastical arrangements. While we preach and proclaim Liberty, we practice and sustain Slavery. Unless our politics become founded in true religion - in a system which is endorsed by the Constitution of Nature, there is nothing to counteract the influence of the criticisms emanating from the Romish Church. “Your government is godless,” they say ; "you do not consult the spiritual.” We are not enough utilitarian to consult the most high in Man, nor yet the Most High in the Spiritual Universe.

What do you consider the principal enemies to America's perpetuity?

American dangers are twofold: one is the spirit of Slavery; the other is the spirit of War. War and Slavery are advocated by the American people; the primary rocks these on which our ship is most likely to be stranded. Now we are sailing directly between them — the spirit of war or retaliation on one side, and the spirit of slavery or despotism on the other; but there are good and healthy minds in the United States who have no sympathy with either. Few persons have attained that royal, spiritual summit from which they can perceive that universal Peace is the only doctrine of safety on the one hand, and that unconditional Freedom is the only doctrine of safety on the other. Few can see this, and a less number dare to affirm it openly. We have reason to believe that the influence of the Spirit-Land will be felt by the American people; and that, by virtue of much inspiration, they will judge statutes and institutions in the light of human nature! ... We are not to consider ourselves a nation of superior military strength, born to achieve triumphs, and gain laurels on the field of blood — to drive all opposing nations away, as the Red Man from his native forests. No! If we desire to perpetuate our nation, we must go on in a different spirit. These political rulers must be interiorly opened and expanded, so that they may be recipients of better and higher inspirations. There is something else in this universe to appeal to besides the utilitarian affections of merchants and commercialists. Yet the utilitarian element is furtively working good in this department; and we may begin to expect that the politics of the United States will manifest, ere long, something of the principle of universal religion. The hidden spirit of War and the open spirit of Slavery, are the two dangers which men- ace our nation's perpetuity. Nothing will enable us to avert these two dangers save a utilitarian principle, full of Love and Wisdom for all human kind. p.238-9

... The Church is preaching love, but practising force; and the Government is preaching God, but practicing something which strongly suggests the opposite personage! ... p.240

The American Church believes that Liberty is good for all White nations, yet Slavery is considered the best state for the advancement of the African! ... p.241

What will utilitarianism demand in order to inaugurate this new God?

It will call for Teachers to protest against bad laws and speak in favor of good ones. ... p.243

Will the doctrine of utility be applied to modern law and government?

Yes; although we have the best country in the world, with the best government, yet are we very far from that harmonial condition of reciprocal interests in which Law and Liberty will be synonymous. As a nation we need less government and more growth. ... But, in our progressed condition, it won't pay to have Laws enforced which do not subserve the welfare of the individual as well as the whole. Our laws, as I shall hereafter show, are now against the rights of Individuals. The African race have no rights under our laws. Our laws grant but few liberties and fewer rights to women. Our laws favor the Capitalist. The legal rights of those persons are protected who have money to pay for them. Our laws seek the imprisonment, not the improvement, of the unfortunate offender. The offender is regarded as a willful foe to society ; not as a misdirected member of a common Brotherhood. Hence, our laws seek his punishment; not his development. Viewed in a utilitarian light, there is much in such laws which don't pay. p.245

Do we entertain ideas of Liberty which don't pay?

Yes; there are many minds who imagine that individual Liberty means, or ought to mean, unrestrained license or recklessness. ... p.246

What was the first Resolation?

First: Resolved, That it is the constitutional prerogative of the Human Mind freely and fearlessly and dispassionately to examine into and investigate each and everything to be formed in the Bible as well as out of it; that the Old and New Testaments are our friends and teachers, but not our guides or masters; that any theory, hypothesis, philosophy, sect, creed, or institution, that fears investigation, openly manifests its own weakness and implies its own error. p.248

If the structure of your acquired character comes within that of Calvin, you will be Calvinized ; if within that of Luther, you will be Lutherized; if it comes within the generalizations and minutiæ of Swedenborg, you will be Swedenborgianized. .... p.269

In true individualism is there any necessary antagonism?

I think not. The motto is, “ Let each one be all he can, for the benefit of the whole.” It is true that individual cur- rents may encounter and cross each other's paths—as the planets and the comets waltz through each other's orbits; but, with cultured persons, there is in this no infringement, no unwelcome or evil discord. ....p.290-1

Man has been taught to distrust himself, and to extol the virtues of invisible beings : is this wrong?

All exaggeration, I reiterate, is injustice. Ignorant of his nature, and ignorant not less of the mass of idolatry predicated upon it, man habitually does an injustice to himself (in his religious systems), by encouraging the development of extravagant conceptions of divine personalities. The institution of the Trinity has well-nigh absorbed the individual Unity of man. Man can not afford to take from himself and give to gods. No: he is himself in need of all the veneration which he bestows on supposed divinities. He needs all the time and all the talents for purposes of personal development, which, with such imbecile prodigality, he consecrates to the wealthy Upper Circles of Love and Wisdom. The rights of men, in all systems of religion, are buried in the rights of God. p. 291-2

What do you consider to be the most hurtful effect of these exaggerations?

The most prominent of all religious despotisms-growing out of human exaggerations of the divine, and consequent diminutions of the human—is, the concession to gods of all rights and all liberties, and the permission or granting to man a residuum of duties and obligations. Man, according to such religions, can never feel free of debt. He is a slave! His life is permitted or intrusted to him. He must work for the mythologic Master! This, in plain words, is a religious despotism. It neutralizes and absorbs the individualism of man. It seeks to impart propensities toward servility. It takes from him the proprietorship of an inward power, on which alone he can un- furl the banner of Liberty. Deplorably true is it that the individuality and sovereignty of men are almost irretrievably lost in these false exaggerations of the individuality and sovereignty of gods. Man first makes an all-absorbing Idol; then, in ten generations, he forgets that he made it; then he puts into tradition that it (the Idol) existed from all eternity; then he teaches, or pays men to teach, his convictions to his children ; and, lastly, succeeds in establishing a superstitious theory of divine government. ... p.292-3

... I know of no religious system which conceives that man has constitutional rights and integral liberties — independent of all grants or privileges, lets or hindrances, of an arbitrary character. p.294

What is this but a Roman Catholic idea a little more tenderly stated?

It is the same thing. In essence, the two systems assert the same dogma, viz. : that the people huve no rights, only duties — obligations to the gods, through obedience to the commandments of his vicegerents — to the dignitaries of the Church. p.299

On the side of institutions you behold all kings, emperors, popes, priests, and orthodox clergymen; on the side of human Liberty you behold the slave, the serf, working men, working women, hewers of wood, drawers of water, fishermen, and minds who perform their own thinking. Institutionalism dwells in churches, in palaces, in opulent families; individual- ism, on the contrary, lives in honest heads and courageous hearts. Institutionalism goes to heaven by faith ; individualism, by works. One serves theology and the gods; the other anthropology and mankind.

You said that institutionalism serves the gods: have gods any need of human gifts?

Far from it: must slaves work, from babyhood to the tomb, to make rich masters richer? ...

Is institutionalism father of churches and governments?

Yes; there are already hundreds of thousands of churches dedicated to the gods; but there are not ten consecrated to Mankind. Governments are made to defend the rich; and to subjugate the poor. In Louisville, Kentucky, a rich man's son was recently freed from the gallows, through the power of money ; while almost every month we hear of “the dignity of the law" being vindicated by the formal strangulation of friendless persons for crimes far less aggravating. Institutions are made, by the strong, to maintain power. Individuals, therefore, have but one course to pursue— namely—to rebel against Institutions, and take the penalties. p.302

Are you not opening mischievous liberties to individuals?

No one need fear the sovereignty of individualism; the right of each to act in accordance with his highest Intuitions. For, should one man transcend his boundaries, another will let him know it. We need to practise the gospel of self-government. The conservative may cry aloud for the safety and sanctity of Institutions. But heed him not! His voice cometh not from the open field, not from the mountain's top. Far from it. On the contrary, his cries proceedeth from the wilderness of crime and marshes of despotism, which are tenfold more dangerous than the everglades of Florida. Hark ye ! American Republicanism will be transformed into Tyranny, unless individual man declareth himself independent of all political and ecclesiastical Institutions. p.303

What plan would you suggest whereby to prevent political and religious despotism?

The only certain plan whereby to prevent the establishment of political and ecclesiastical despotism, is this: a universal education of our people to revere and to practice the principles of Absolute Individual Liberty. All faith in a miraculous, ar- bitrary, despotic Revelation, must be carefully removed, and placed upon Father-God and Mother-Nature. The inner Light, the religion of Justice in the soul of each, must become the rule of faith and practice. American Theology and Roman Catholicity would then die— never to breathe again, never to know a resurrection! p.306-7

What is the sixth form of government?

The sixth form is Democracy. I am led to affirm that a real democratic form of government has never as yet been developed on earth. The government of Athens, in Greece, was an approach to it. Democracy is an institution in which the supreme power is lodged in the hands of the people. America is not a Democracy: it is Republican. Republicanism invests representatives with all the power of legislation : Democracy, on the other hand, is the power of the people to legislate for themselves. We aspire after a Democratic form of government. It is superior to Republicanism. It will secure the rights of Workingmen; the rights of Free-laborers; the rights of the Slave; the rights of Woman; the rights of Children. But even this form of government is too formal for Humanity. The last shall be as the first. The Anarchy of the first must come out at last in the Individualism of refined and civilized man. Hence, Progressives as we are, we declare ourselves openly in favor of no government. The people are governed too much. They will rebel. They will gradually become un- governable. They will demand at each other's hands absolute, supreme individual sovereignty—which Patriarchalism, which Theocracy, which Monarchy, grants unreservedly to Fathers, to Kings, to Emperors, to Popes, to Tyrants. p.314-5

I yesterday procured a lock of hair from the head of WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, the well- known editor of the “ Liberator," a weekly paper devoted to the advocacy of unconditional freedom, with this motto—“Our Country is the World, our Countrymen are All Mankind”— published every Friday morning, in Boston, Massachusetts. With this hair I expect to throw my mind so clearly into clairvoyance, that, to examine this public man— to see him just as he is, and not as he or others may think he is — will be comparatively an easy matter. p.319

Andrew Jackson Davis "The Penetralia" 1856 (Complete online copy)

Isis Unveiled by H.P. Blavatsky 1877 p. 251 Such was apparently the opinion entertained of them by Pappus, who tells us of the bit of magic resorted to to decide which were the true gospels. In his Synodicon to that Council Pappus says, having "promiscuously put all the books that were referred to the Council for determination under a communion-table in a church, they (the bishops) besought the Lord that the inspired writings might get upon the table, while the spurious ones remained underneath, and it happened accordingly." But we are not told who kept the keys of the council chamber over night!

The Apocryphal New Testament, being all the Gospels, Epistles and other ... By William Hone 1820 “promiscuously put all the Books that were referred to the Council for determination, under the communion-table in a church, they besought the Lord that the inspired writings might get upon the table, while the spurious ones remained underneath, and that it happened accordingly."

Essentials of New Testament Study; intended as a companion to the New ... By William Edensor Littlewood 1820 “promiscuously put all the Books that were referred to the Council for determination, under the communion-table in a church, they besought the Lord that the inspired writings might get upon the table, while the spurious ones remained underneath, and that it happened accordingly."

Wikipedia: Speed of light 186,000 miles per second; prior to 1860 there were no credible scientific sources for this; Einstein began calculating it in 1905; Louis Essen calculated it to this rate in 1950, it was confirmed more in 1972. In 1856 Andrew Jackson Davis wrote "our solar body journeys forward at the frightful velocity of four hundred thousand miles per day (the truth speed is about double this) ... Some stars are yet so distant, that thirty millions of years will sink into oblivion, and infinite scores of human beings will live and die out of matter, ere their light can reach our globe! And it will help your conception to remember that light can fly two hundred thousand miles per second."