The invitation of one of old to his followers, and fellow believers:
"Come let us reason together," marks the dividing line between
knowledge and superstition. The daring of the mind of man proves him
to be, in very truth, "a child of God." No arcana of knowledge are too
deeply hid in mystery to escape the prying of his curiosity, his
longing for enlightenment, his long-sustained and vigorous efforts to
surprise the hidden things of God and Nature. Livingston and Stanley
wrought in the jungles of Africa, Audubon and Agassiz in the fastnesses
of tropical America. These in the material world, the world of
effects. Gessner and Varley, Darwin and Spencer, together with a long
list of other inspired minds, have given their best thoughts, devoted
their noblest energies to the explorations of the world of causes, the
occult and invisible realms of pure principles in God and Nature. Back
of all these there lies the richest bequest ever made to humanity in
the discoveries and revelations of the most ancient "adepts," the
fathers of mystical lore, in the light of modern discoveries and
inventions, mystical no longer; but practical and full of earnest
meaning in their adaptation and adjustment to the needs and wants of
the citizens of the world today.