_Apology for my change of opinion and belief in the existence and
agency of Spirits._
660. I do not conceive that in my change of opinion I have been
involved in any inconsistency of principle. It always appeared to me
that in explaining the planetary movements, after arriving at the
Newtonian boundary made by momentum and gravitation, there could be
no alternative between appealing to the spiritual power of God, or
resorting to atheism. An appeal to the power of God has always been
my choice; nevertheless holding that wondrous power to be of a nature
wholly unintelligible to finite man. (57 to 87.)
661. Confining the range of my philosophy to the laws of motion,
magnificently illustrated by the innumerable solar systems, but no less
operative in every minute mechanical movement, I hold that I could
only come to the same conclusion as Faraday, that if tables _when
associated with human beings_ moved, it must in some way be due to
those beings, since, agreeably to all experience of the laws of matter
in the _material_ world, inanimate bodies cannot originate motion.
But as when the planetary motions are considered, any hypothesis
fails which does not account for the rationality of the result, and
therefore involves the agency not only of a powerful but a rational
cause; so the manifestations of Spiritualism, involving both reason
and power, might consistently justify me in looking for agents endowed
with the reason and power manifested by the phenomena. This power being
_invisible_ and _imponderable_, and at the same time _rational_, there
was no alternative but to consider it as _spiritual_, no less than that
to which planetary motion is due. In its potentiality the power thus
manifested might be extremely minute as compared with the potentiality
of the Creator; still it had to be of the same spiritual nature.
662. It has not appeared unreasonable to infer that the soul in
assuming the spirit form should acquire a power of which material
beings are destitute, and of which they can only conceive an idea from
its necessity to the operations of God. Parting with its material
attributes, were the soul not to acquire others, even if it could
exist, it would be perfectly helpless. Hence, in becoming an immaterial
spirit, it must acquire powers indispensable and appropriate to that
state of existence.
663. Since we know that the animal frame for the most part after death,
on the exposure to the air, warmth, and moisture, returns to the
atmosphere whence it is mainly derived, it follows that on undergoing
that awful change the soul must take the spirit form, unless it perish
with its material tenement. So far, then, all who believe in the
immortality of the soul, must concur with spiritualists that on dying
we become spirits.
664. It will then be admitted by all who believe in the immortality
of the soul that, as for every mortal that dies a spirit is born,
innumerable spirits must exist. Is it not then reasonable to consider
them as agents in producing phenomena which can only be ascribed to
invisible, imponderable, rational, and affectionate beings, especially
when they themselves sanction this inference by word and deed?
665. Were a tyrant to enclose a human being while alive within a
cast-iron vessel, the aperture through which the introduction should
be made being closed by a stopple soldered in air-tight, all the
ponderable elements of the corporeal body would be retained; but can
any one who believes the soul to survive the body, think that it would
remain included in that vessel so long as it should endure? Cast-iron
coats itself with a carbonated peroxide, vulgarly called rust, and then
undergoes no farther change; so that the corporeal elements might be
retained to an infinite time. But could the soul be thus imprisoned,
perhaps to eternity? Could the tyranny of a man thus imprison an
immortal soul? Does it not follow that the soul would not be confined
by the air-tight and apparently impenetrable metallic vessel?
_Invisibility of the Soul._
666. The invisibility of the soul in leaving the body, must be
admitted, since, however the dying may be surrounded by their friends
and nurses, and vigilantly guarded after death by watches, as customary
with many, the soul is not seen to leave the body. It must, therefore,
be invisible, and capable of permeating cast-iron or any other
material within which, while alive, an immortal being might be enclosed
air-tight.
_On the Whereabout of Heaven._
667. The qualities of invisibility and penetrative power being
necessarily conceded to the soul, is it unreasonable to extend this
attribute to its habitation in the skies: to the country of spirits?
668. In communicating with a friendly spirit, I adverted to the
difficulty of inducing people to conceive that in the clear azure space
existing between the earth and moon, there should be scenery like ours,
with plains, hills, mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, seas, and every
variety of edifice in greater perfection than upon earth. “You do not
see us,” said my friend; “then why should you wonder at not seeing our
world?”
669. It is quite evident that no such obstacle stood in the way of
belief in the existence of heaven among the Jews, as it is constantly
referred to as being above; Noah’s deluge came through the windows of
heaven; and this idea has been sustained in the language of Christ, as
well as of the Hebrew prophets.
670. Elijah is represented as having visibly ascended to heaven. That
the vicinity and invisibility of heaven are not at war with Scripture,
is alleged in a recent work by the Rev. Mr. Harbaugh of the German
Reformed Church, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He quotes approvingly a
passage in a work, entitled “Physicial Theory of Another Life,” by
Taylor, which I subjoin:
671. Taylor suggests—“That within the space occupied by the visible
and ponderable universe, and on all sides of us, there is existing and
moving another element, fraught with another species of life, corporeal
indeed, and various in its orders, but not open to the cognízance of
those who are confined to the conditions of animal organization, not to
be seen nor heard, nor to be felt by man.” “Our present conjecture,”
remarks the author in another place, “reaches to the extent of
supposing that within the space encircled by the sidereal revolutions,
there exists and moves a second universe, not less real than the one
we are at present conversant with: a universe elaborate in structure,
and replete with life; life agitated with momentous interests, and
perhaps by frivolous interests; a universe conscious perhaps of the
material spheres, or unconscious of them, and firmly believing (as we
do) _itself_ to be the only reality. Our planets in their sweep do not
perforate the structure of this invisible creation; our suns do not
scorch its plains: for the two collateral systems are not connected by
any active affinities.”
672. This would bring “the things which are not seen,” indeed, near to
and around us. To enter the other world would not be so much a removal
in space, as just to be made loose from, or to become insensible to,
the conditions of this life. Death will be only the destruction or
disappearance of human and earthly affinities, and directly we shall
be surrounded by affinities adapted to our new state of existence, and
shall find for ourselves a congenial home in and around our present
habitation.
673. Much is argued in favour of this theory. It is said in no place to
interfere with Scripture, but rather to be countenanced by incidental
hints and allusions. It is said to be made highly probable by the
known truths of physical science. An unseen world, in all respects
material, inhabited by corporeal beings, it is said, is possible. There
are material elements which are not cognizable to any of our senses
except by a round of research and experiment, and then only in their
remote effects, as, for instance, electricity. The atmosphere also, and
light, are material, and yet so subtle as almost entirely to evade our
unassisted observation; and may there not be still others as yet to us
unknown? We are related to, and become acquainted with, the external
world by the medium of the five senses; but who will say that there
are not other senses hidden in possibility in our nature which may by
means of other affinities communicate with a world far more refined in
its constitution, with which we cannot now come in contact? Science
has discovered living animalculæ in the solidest substances; the air
we breathe and the water we drink are the homes of myriads of beings,
and though unseen by the naked eye, these elements are swarming with
miniature life! It seems to be God’s motto, “_Multum in parvo_”—life in
life, world in world, universe in universe! With these known facts in
science before us, may we not, it is asked, consider the above theory
probable?
674. It is further supposed that this invisible world around us is
the after stage of the present life; and as it is a stage of being in
all respects superior to this, it may be that its inhabitants have a
knowledge of us, though we have not of them, just as we are acquainted
with grades of animalcule life beneath us, when it can hardly be
supposed that they know any thing of our existence. Hence, too, in some
exceptive cases it may be possible for them to break through the veil
of separation, and appear in various ways unto men on the platform of
human life. Then we are indeed “surrounded by a cloud of witnesses,”
who stand around, or bend over us, and look with deep interest upon
the struggle of life, and when they see it unequal in the case of the
saints, they break through in their ardour, and become ministering
spirits to those who are heirs of eternal life.
675. It is also supposed that these beings in the world unseen may
have capacities to communicate with the remotest inhabitants of God’s
universe. The facilities of communication may be so great in these
ethereal climes, that space is annihilated, and the different hosts of
intelligences in the wide universe may commune with each other and God
as one family in their “Father’s house.”
676. There is a surprising degree of coincidence between the
speculations comprised in this quotation, and the accounts which I have
received respecting the spirit world from some of those occupying an
elevated grade therein. It has been observed above that if the soul
be immortal, it cannot be imagined to remain in the grave, since the
greater part of the human organization in hot weather escapes through
putrefaction, as vapour or gas. Hence the endurance of the soul after
death involves spiritual existence. We must, therefore, on dying, take
an invisible spiritual form.
677. Believers in revelation stare incredulously when mention is made
of a _spirit_, as if its existence were an impossibility; yet it
has been shown, that according to orthodoxy, death extricating the
soul from the body, it must forthwith commence its spiritual life.
The existence of spirits being thus established, that they should
communicate with us would be more probable than that they should not,
excepting that it has not been heretofore generally known to take
place. But spirits allege that the manifestations which have been
taking place for some years have been the result of efforts especially
made by a delegation of philanthropic spirits, to break through the
partition which has so long prevented the communication to mortals of a
correct knowledge of the existence of the human soul after death, and
the requisites to the attainment of celestial happiness.
678. The accomplishment of this object is a step in the progressive
advancement and the means of improvement possessed by the celestial
world, analogous to the invention of printing or of the telegraph in
the mundane sphere.
679. The management is intrusted to advanced spirits acquainted with
the affairs of both worlds. Agreeably to Scripture, heaven is _above_,
over our heads; to prevent the Tower of Babel from reaching it, a
confusion of tongues was ordained. The second commandment speaks of
heaven _above_ and earth beneath. Christ “descended into hell,”
according to the apostles’ creed; of course, hell is below. “Whosoever
calls his brother a fool, is in danger of hell-fire.” That hell and
fire should be thus associated is therefore consistent with the
observations of geologists, who infer that the interior of the earth
consists of ignited matter of which volcanoes are the safety-tubes,
however inconsistent with reason to suppose immortal souls to be
broiling therein.
680. But enlightened Christians do not, I believe, locate hell within
this earth, nor call in fire to aid in their conceptions of it.
Evidently, the more rational idea of the future abode of souls is that
of its being above every point on the earth’s surface, and equidistant
therefrom. This would involve that of a space concentric with the
earth, and which falls in with the idea of that comprising the spheres
of Spiritualism.
681. If we leave this earth, in order to imagine any location beyond
the range of astronomical bodies, it would place the locality at a
distance, according to Herschel, requiring nineteen hundred thousand
years for souls to travel, moving with the velocity of light, two
hundred thousand miles in a second. In one of my lectures, in 1842, I
suggested that heaven might be situated at that central space about
which all the constellations of the universe have been supposed to
revolve.
682. But if we infer a general place of reception for souls, then in
that celestial emporium every soul from all the myriads of planets,
of all the solar systems in the universe, must congregate. Far more
rational does it not seem that our heaven should be associated with our
own planet, in the welfare, the past history, and future prospects of
which the souls who were born upon it, must take pre-eminent interest?
683. The separation of any heaven into spheres seems inevitable, since
the association of spirits according to their virtue and intellectual
acquirements and capacity seems indispensable to harmony and happiness.
Thus the more virtuous, wise, and cultivated spirits are, the higher
their spheres of existence.
684. Let any person contemplate the information respecting the spirit
world given in the preceding pages, in the communications from my
spirit relations and others, and then say whether, in receiving them as
true, any believer in immortality, as vaguely portrayed in the gospel,
will not make a beneficial exchange.
685. How can any person become a spiritualist without forthwith finding
an irresistible impulse to conduct himself in this world, so as to
acquire eminence in the next? For what are we all working? is it not
for happiness, “our being’s end and aim,” the difference being only
in the mode by which it is sought? By some it is through the good of
others as well as of themselves; yet too many seek it without regard
to that portion of their fellow-creatures whom they may deem it their
interest to oppress, deceive, cheat, or rob.
686. But even these will perceive how much better it will be to pursue
the opposite course, since every wrong done by them here, will have to
be expiated by a proportionate penance in the spirit world.
687. By every good action resulting from the wish to do as we would be
done by, we advance a step higher in that heavenly stairway by which we
may ultimately reach the supernal heaven, and become ministering angels
of God.
688. But even during our ascending progression, we shall pass through
a succession of stages wherein every intellectual, social, and amiable
propensity of our nature will be gratified.
689. In justice to myself, and to give more weight to the inferences
drawn from my laborious investigations, I will subjoin the
correspondence between Mr. Holcomb and myself, which succeeded the
receipt of the letter which has been introduced in the commencement
of my narrative, (128.) So far as my judgment goes, there never was a
letter written of which the facts or inferences are more correct; yet
it appears that so late as the 8th of February I was still a doubter.
The tenor of the correspondence will show that if I was conquered, I
did not yield the ground undisputed, and was vanquished only by facts
and reasons which, when understood or admitted, must produce in others
the conviction which they created in me. If I was the victim of an
intellectual epidemic, my mental constitution did not yield at once to
the miasma. It took some three months to include me among its victims.
PHILADELPHIA, January 14, 1854.
690. _Dear Sir_:—Your letter of the 17th of November met my eye as I
was this morning looking over a file of letters. I am led to write,
therefore, that in consequence of your suggestion, and those of others,
I have been giving my attention to the phenomena to which you alluded.
When I come to any conclusion, I will write again.
691. I still concur with Faraday, and have seen nothing to make me
believe in the spiritual manifestations. Yet I am not surprised that
the latter should be believed in by those who have that belief, as
there are phenomena which I cannot explain yet, any more than many
which I have seen resulting from jugglery. The converts are, however,
such worthy persons, that I cannot bring myself to suspect them of
deception. I think you must be mistaken as respects a table moving when
left to itself entirely. The circumstances for producing this phenomena
have been repeatedly made favourable by the mediums in my presence, but
excepting in one instance, when it was within reach of the feet, no
motion ensued.
692. It would, indeed, be a glorious mercy if God would give us some
evidence, which should settle the religious opinions of mankind.