"mediums;" for every successful mesmeric subject was found to be already developed for successful mediumship. The phenomena of "clairvoyance" no longer possessed their former significance. What was, under mesmerism, the development of an inherent power of the mind of the subject, under spiritism was a message from some denizen of another world. If any doubt existed upon that point, it was speedily set at rest by the simple process of questioning the intelligence itself. When asked if it was a spirit, the answer was, "Yes." When asked if it was the spirit of John Smith, the answer was "Yes ;" and the same answer would be returned if the identity of the spirit of Socrates was sought. In other words, it was just as easy successfully to invoke the shade of Socrates as it was to call up John Smith, notwithstanding the disparity in numbers.

The law of suggestion had not been discovered; and the fact of duality of consciousness existed in the popular mind only as a Platonic reminiscence.

But this is not the proper place to discuss the errors of spiritism. It is sufficient for present purposes to note that the appearance of spiritism, coming as it did upon the world of human thought and experience simultaneously with mesmerism, seems not only opportune, but almost providential. Together they constitute the great body of the psychic phenomena of the nineteenth century, and neither would have been complete without the other. In spiritism we have a vast series of phenomena, and in mesmerism and hypnotism we have a means of scientifically studying it and thus profiting by the lessons which it teaches. If this is done in a calm and dispassionate spirit, we may rest assured that what we shall learn will be for the highest good of the human race. We shall at least find that when we look upon it as a necessary part of the grand system of evolution of the human mind, it is a factor of inestimable value and significance. Viewed as a factor in the evolution of the

spiritual man, it has been of transcendent value to mankind. It matters not that its phenomena have been grossly misinterpreted. It was impossible to avoid a misunderstanding of it in the absence of the knowledge which modern scientific investigation has revealed within the last decade. It would have been a miracle if it had not been accepted for all that it purported to be, in the absence of any other rational explanation than that afforded by a wholesale denial of its phenomena. Its adherents had daily ocular demonstration of the genuineness of its phenomena, which could not be offset by a priori denials from those who refused to investigate. Moreover, the intelligence behind the manifestations claimed to be that of loved ones who had gone before; and in the then state of human knowledge there was no means of successfully disproving the statement. Besides, it was a statement that millions of stricken hearts dreaded to have disproved. To many it constituted the last ray of hope of a life beyond the grave, and of a reunion with the loved and lost.

It does not always follow that the mistakes of humanity are productive of unmitigated evil. We have already seen how, in times past, the most grossly misinterpreted psychic phenomena led, by the slow but sure steps of evolution, to a knowledge of the true God; and how the propagation of the true religion was promoted by the same means. Spiritism has also served a noble purpose in that it has stayed the wave of materialism which swept like a cyclone over the civilized world upon the announcement of the doctrine of organic evolution. Millions of the human family who could not appreciate the fact that the doctrine of evolution does not touch the question of true religion and leaves the problem of immortality just where it found it, have derived consolation from what they regard as demonstrative evidence of a life beyond the grave.

In making the foregoing remarks, I have not taken into

account any of the vagaries of spiritism.

I have not con

sidered the evils to which it has given rise, the gross immoralities which some of its votaries teach both by precept and example, nor the absurdities into which many of its followers have been led. When a law of Nature is misunderstood, there is inevitable danger to those who rashly place themselves within its reach. This is just as true of the laws of mind as it is of the laws of matter. The law which, rightly understood, is the most beneficent, may become an engine of destruction to those who ignorantly place themselves in wrong relations to it.

What I have here said of spiritism, therefore, must be considered as having reference to its aggregate effect upon the human family. In this respect I have no hesitation in saying that, as a whole, it has been beneficent. But, taking a still broader view of the subject, it must be said that its manifestations are a necessary and an indispensable part of the grand aggregate of psychic phenomena, through which alone man is at last enabled to study the science of the soul. Not that it teaches us just what is in store for man in a future state of existence, for, in the language of the Beloved Disciple, "it doth not yet appear what we shall be ; "but it teaches us what man is. Not that we shall ever be able to enter into communication with the inhabitants of the spirit world, and thus learn more than Jesus revealed to us; but we may learn by induction something of what he knew by intuition; and we may, perchance, learn enough of the laws of the soul to be able to postulate immortality with some degree of scientific certainty. If this should prove to be the outcome of spiritistic phenomena, all will agree that it has not been produced in vain; even though, by the same process of reasoning, it should be demonstrated that spirits of the dead do not communicate with the living, and although the whole superstructure of spiritistic philosophy, based upon the assumption of spirit communion, should be demolished.

It seems to me that I am warranted in saying that enough of thoroughly verified facts have already accumulated to enable us to successfully apply the processes of induction to the solution of the problem of a future life. The facts of mesmerism; the facts of hypnotism, as developed by the scientific investigators of Europe and America; the vast array of scientifically verified facts presented in the reports of the London Society for Psychical Research, together with the rich store of facts presented in the phenomena of spiritism, -- constitute the material from which it is hoped to learn something, not only of what man is, but of the fate to which he is destined.

CHAPTER XII.

HAS MAN A SOUL?

Intuitive Perceptions of the Existence of a Soul in Man.- Plato's Philosophy.- The Doctrine of Body, Soul, and Spirit.—The Doctrine of Jesus. Modern Scientific Scepticism. — Requirements of Modern Science. - The Dual Hypothesis. - The Phenomena of Dreams.-The Objective and Subjective Mental States differentiated. - Limitations of Powers of Reasoning in the Subjective Mind. Its Perfect Power of Deduction. - Telepathy and

Prevision.

T has thus far been provisionally assumed that man has a soul. But, before proceeding to formulate a scientific argument demonstrative of the soul's immortality, it is logically necessary to demonstrate the verity of the provisional assumption. Materialistic science will certainly be satisfied with nothing less; for it is at this point that it invariably calls a halt, and reminds us that the primary rule of logic demands that our premises be not assumed.

In discussing this branch of the subject in a work like this, the reader must be presumed to be somewhat familiar with the current literature relating to the psychic phenomena of the nineteenth century, especially with that which deals with the scientific aspects of the various questions involved. It is obviously impossible, within the limits of a single volume, to present documentary evidence of the verity of every statement that must be made. Therefore results only can be stated; but the reader may rest assured that I shall not attempt to lead him outside the