not make it the less important; and many are ready and willing to apply their reason and knowledge to a careful examination of the evidence, on which rests the assertion, that there is, in addition to the Body, a Soul and Spirit; having powers and capabilities in union with, or separate from, the physical, tangible, seen body. To such we say, disguise it as you may, there is an underlying restlessness of mind, touching the probabilities of a human being living after the death of the physical powers; and for them, we think a careful investigation of the ideas propounded, and an earnest consideration of the proofs tendered, will lay the foundation of a superstructure broad at the base, massive in its proportions, and towering in its height. The subject is worthy of thought, by the loftiest and most astute intellect; let such, by a business-like examination, test the validity of the premises, and the justness of the conclusions, contained in this volume; let no one hop, skip, and jump, to the several divisions-skim the pages, reading a dozen lines here and there, and then fill the chair of judgment, and pronounce sentence, as may be done with a fashionable novel, full of diamonds, carriages, love, and intrigue: but sit down as a living, yet dying man; probe the evidences produced, in support of the fact; that, apart from the body, there is at soul and a spirit—and that at the final separation of the two from the body, there will exist in the two-life, feeling, power, and mind. I wish this proposition to be clear to the intellect of the reader; some men appear to require tautology, to enable them to apprehend any given principle or proposition. On the vital subject of man's existence on earth, in a threefold character, wherein he moves, and thinks; and of his hereafter moving and thinking, with twofold or dual powers: grasping, comprehensive minds, must overlook the extra efforts made to lead the less grasping, less comprehensive, to the power of the proofs. MATERIALISM is the giantess of the nineteenth century; she is the negative of Spiritualism, the positive.. Matter is sub stance in various degrees of density-Spirit is substance, but in various degrees of tenuity. Spirit existence is not recognized by science, in the routine of the laws of nature; but by Spiritualists it is declared to be the leaven, the life, which enters matter, and leavens-controls the whole lump. Out of these two great "isms," have arisen on the one hand, the Materialists, who deny the existence of life independent of the seen physical body-so giving to man an average existence of thirty-five years; and on the other, Spiritualists who believe in intensity and life, independent of the physical body, which give to man an existence called Immortal. The one often leads to mud-raking, the other to superstition. Investigators in either the one division or the other, if they narrow the gaze and examination to the exclusive range of either the natural or the supernatural, fall into grievous errors: each has examined the landscape, the one from the plain, the other from the mountain ridge-one at night, the other at dawn; one, from education, or cast of brain, examines the "Geo" under his feet-the other, from the same starting point-education and brain-ranges the ethereal. Their statements are as opposite as any two of the primary colours of light-they, to sight, are antagonistic-opposites; but to those acquainted with the harmony of colours, they blend, they harmonise, and if while in this state, the third primary colour is added, then the elements for perfection are complete-the abandon of colour is in the hands of the manipulator; truth, with its thousand shades of beauty, produces those myriad pictures which deck the pages of our common literature; and bathe the mind or spirit of man in the ocean of light-light, the centre, the parent of all colours-light, the giver of tints to every flower, according to its nature; light, perfect in its prismatic hues, its divisional powers; and light, perfect in its oneness and collective energy! Sectarians, whether in science or theology, too often forget this; they stand in their blue, and the skies are blue; the mountains and the valleys are blue; the cattle and the birds are blue; and if by any means the horizon of their vision, appears tinged with other than their favourite blue, then fulminating powder from the laboratory of language is brought into action, and if naught else be produced, the eye of the observer perceives the shades of blue, deepening to almost the blackness of night; and there, in the shroud of self-esteem, is the man wrapping himself in the folds of mental death. The duty before us, is to prove by experiments, facts, and observations, that the three primary colours, of Body, Soul, and Spirit, blend in one-that physical science, ethereal science, and spirit science, are ONE-are a trinity of powers, each perfect in its division-perfect when united; and, by an attentive examination of the subject in detail, the observer will be shown the points of contact, where they unite, blend, and produce a rainbow of beauty, in the storm-sky of life. To prevent any misconception, it will be advisable that we have a clear apprehension as to the meaning of words which are to be used as the vehicles of ideas. Materialism is generally understood to be the belief, that matter is the origin or foundation of all things; that life, as developed in the vegetable and animal, is merely an integral something, emanating from, and co-operating with matter; that, when a specific change takes place, that emanation or life becomes eternally extinct, and the lifeless mass enters into fresh combinations; that MAN, therefore, in his mental powers, has only a life interest in the universe during the time the chemical constituents of which his body is composed, remain in a given condition. RELIGIONISM, is understood to be a belief-that Man continues in existence after his physical death-that he then becomes immaterial and immortal. As amongst the one, "Materialists," there is a division into two great parties, "the Atheists," who believe that there is no God, and no supernatural beings; that matter is the Creator and mother of all: and "the Deists," who believe that there is a God, a Creator, but that his range of engagements is such as to preclude the possibility of a superintending care over the individual man; and that at death man is resolved again into matter. So "Religionists," on the other hand, split themselves into sects, and while some believe in the future re-union of the body with the mind, and endless existence thereafter; others believe that at death there is a resurrection of the spirit out of the body, with continuous life. From these two leading or main trunks of the tree of life, branches or sects spring out, having to the careless observer a separate and independent existence, but in truth a union with the trunk-both main branches springing out of the oneImmortality. Materialists, with great force and common sense, ask-how can any existence be which is not material, seeing that that which is called immaterial, cannot have an existence? Religionists, avoiding the grasp of the proposition, state that from various sources they have evidence, that man still continues in existence after death-that he is invisible and immortal. These broad, antagonistic positions, are kept up by the clan-feeling of each party refusing to examine with calmness, the propositions and facts which their opponents have to produce. The leading reason for all this, is a misconception of the meaning to be attached to certain words; define their meaning, and the high way of truth will be macadamised, the hugh boulders will be broken up, the ruts filled, and the rough places levelled: both parties will delight in the head and heart examination of the kingdom of nature, heretofore all but closed to both. To the materialists we say, you are mathematically, logically, correct; but, allow religionists the use of the words "Immateriality of the soul," in the same sense that you yourselves use, and allow others to use the phrases" the sun rises," "the sun sets," although you know astronomically, that the sun neither rises nor sets; but that it is the earth's movements which cause those apparent phenomena; other illustrations in common use, will present themselves to the reader. So, with man's life after death, it is in a body-a material body; but, in comparison to man's ordinary physical structure, it is an invisible body; and therefore incautiously, or popularly, called an immaterial body. The task, duty, and pleasure before me, is to lay before the materialist and the religionist, the range of facts or proofs around us; that in the solids of which the crust of our world is composed, there are the visible and invisible-both material according to degrees of density, and that organized life, vegetable and animal, has its visible and invisible—both material. That the being Man, the head of the visible on earth, is also the visible and invisible, combined with a third invisible material power, called Intelligence, Mind, or Spirit—a power, which, too often like "Phaeton," having the dual attributes of the physical body, like two coursers, harnessed with the nerves (reckless or incompetent), holds those reins with so unskilful a grasp, as to lose all self-control; and, governed by the Steeds, is rapidly plunged into the abyss of the invisible; but which, if handled with thoughtfulness and skill, will carry him into the regions of knowledge, physical and mental; a pleasure to himself, and a Mentor to others. As on the severance of the invisible from the visible in metals, there is a separate and distinct existence, and no annihilation of either the one or the other; so, with Man, on the severance of the invisible from the visible, there is no annihilation of that invisible; but a separate, continued existence, kept in cohesion by the spirit, mind, or life, as now acting on the visible; preventing our bodies from fusion or cohesion with other particles of matter. We, therefore, lay down the broad proposition: That man is a threefold power, consisting of— Spirit, a substance; Soul, a substance; and, that on the separation of the body from the soul and spirit, the two latter, not being severed, continue in existence; the spirit still controlling the soul, as it did when it had the additional task of controlling the body. Before taking up the three great divisions of man's nature, in connection and harmony with materiality, as displayed around us; I draw attention to the words Natural and Supernatural. In one sense, nothing is supernatural; as in an en |