produced from images generously made available by the internet archive.) _price, 50 cents_ do the dead return? a startling story from life crown publishing company san francisco 1900 [illustration: dr. louis schlesinger.] do the dead return? a true story of startling seances in san francisco _notice_ _this work is copyrighted. editors are warned not to make unlawful abridgments._ crown publishing company san francisco 1900 copyright, 1900 by crown publishing co. table of contents. page introduction 5 the author's story 7 the "examiner" seance 14 some startling daylight seances 19 character of the narrators 55 introduction. before this little volume is read a few words of explanation should be carefully weighed, for otherwise the reader might go away with many false impressions. the author desires to say that every word here printed is absolutely and literally true. nothing has been added or suppressed, but the entire truth has been expressed, usually in the exact language of the distinguished gentlemen whose narratives make the bulk of the book. in most instances the witnesses summoned wrote their accounts with their own hands, and the original manuscripts are still preserved. though many years have passed since the events recorded herein transpired, all who witnessed the phenomena are still alive, and all are well-known and reputable citizens of san francisco. it was only a few days ago that the author met captain w. s. barnes, who was district attorney of the city and county of san francisco in 1893 (the date of the occurrences with which the book deals), and he said: "what i saw in the presence of the medium has puzzled me all these years. i can truthfully say that the things that took place at mayor ellert's office are the most wonderful events that i have ever come upon. they are absolutely beyond my understanding." the circumstances with which the narrative deals are an important contribution to the history of psychic research, and they are presented for what they are worth while the witnesses and actors in the story are alive. the author. _san francisco, september, 1900._ chapter i. the author's story. in the autumn of 1891, the author of this narrative was business manager of the modesto (california) _daily news_. one afternoon while he was engaged in an important consultation with the late senator j. d. spencer, one of the owners of the _news_, there was a knock at the door of the editorial rooms. in a twinkling an old gentleman entered; he was a venerable-looking, long-bearded man, with hebraic features. before senator spencer and i could say, "good day, sir!" the old man said something like this: "gentlemen, i am dr. louis schlesinger, the famous spiritualist medium. it is well known that i can talk with the good angels, and i desire to have a series of seances here in modesto." "our advertising columns are open," i said, "and we shall be pleased to announce your meetings at the regular rates." "i have no money to spare," he replied; "but i think you will say something about me when i show you that man lives after death." the senator whispered to me (on discovering that the old gentleman was quite deaf), "i guess he's escaped from the stockton lunatic asylum." stockton was but twenty miles away, and i assented, but said, "suppose we sound him before we send for an officer." so we agreed to give dr. schlesinger an opportunity to convince us that he was a man of rare endowments, as he pretended to be. coming to the point, it was arranged that the senator should retire to the press-room while i remained with the aged suspect. "take eight or ten slips of paper," said dr. schlesinger, "and write one name on each--some of living, some of dead persons; and don't tell me or anybody on earth what names you have written on the slips. roll them into little pellets--and come back here with your mind at rest, for i am not insane, as you think." we were somewhat surprised, for both were certain that the old gentleman could not have heard senator spencer's whispered doubt concerning our visitor's sanity. in a few minutes senator spencer returned, bearing a number of paper pellets which he held in his clenched right hand. doors were closed and a table was rolled to the center of the room. dr. schlesinger closed his eyes and appeared to fall into a light slumber. at once there were many distinct raps on the table, as if some one had thumped upon it with a finger. this was rather singular, as we could see that our visitor's hands in no manner touched the table. suddenly the old man opened his eyes and said: "gentlemen, are you satisfied that i do not know any of the names on those papers?" as senator spencer was as truthful and honorable a man as ever lived, one whose word was better than most men's bonds, i replied: "i am sure you have not seen the names and that you do not know one of them." "and some of the names are not known to anybody in california," added the senator. "then i'll have to show you that i can talk with the spirits of the departed," said dr. schlesinger. without further delay he said: "i see the spirit of your mother standing over you. she calls you dillard, which is your middle name, and she says she died in kansas city, and was buried in the old cemetery at westport. am i right?" senator spencer turned pale and said: "that is absolutely correct. which one of the pellets bears her name?" he then held the bits of paper between his right finger and thumb, and when he had picked up three or four of them, the medium said, "that is the one which contains your mother's maiden name." i have now forgotten the maiden name of the senator's mother, though i think it was dillard. the answer, however, was correct. next, without asking me to write anything down, the medium thus addressed me: "i see the spirit of your mother's mother. her name was eliza johnson, and she calls you 'my son,' and says, 'tell anne that immortality is the glorious truth of human life.' anne was the name of her eldest child--your mother." if senator spencer was convinced that dr. schlesinger had told him the truth, i had the same kind of conviction in my case; for every word uttered was correct. i have never understood how this old man came to the results announced, nor have i ever seen any one who was able to explain his power. with the memory of my modesto experiences fresh in mind, i decided, when i came upon dr. schlesinger in san francisco, in 1893, to institute a series of daylight seances in the presence of some of the most distinguished citizens of san francisco. as i was then a writer of the san francisco _daily examiner_ staff i found rare opportunities for enlisting the men desired in the experiments. i was not then, nor am i now, in any manner affiliated with spiritualists, nor do i set forth the facts of this narrative for the purpose of making converts to any theory of mind or matter. the manuscript from which this work is printed was written at the time of the matters recorded, on an order from the _examiner_. owing to the fact that mayor ellert afterwards regretted that he had allowed a seance to be held in his office, the _examiner_ was induced to suppress the story, which now appears in detail for the first time. it should be borne in mind that all that follows was written at the time of the events described. chapter ii. the "examiner" seance. that the reader may fully understand the origin of the experiments recorded in the narrative that follows, it is necessary to state again that i was a writer for the _examiner_ in the autumn of 1893, and that i was on the alert for what newspaper men call "stories," or special articles--things a little outside of the ordinary run of news. ambitious to arrange something of unusual interest, i approached mr. hearst and s. s. chamberlain, who were in charge of the news department of the paper. i told them what i had seen dr. schlesinger do in modesto, and outlined the plans that were afterwards carried out--seances at the office of mayor ellert and the chief of police, in the presence of prominent citizens. first, however, it was necessary for the editors to see the medium at their offices; for they feared there would be some failure, and that the citizens invited would be disgusted because of their loss of time in useless experiments. for these reasons, therefore, the first sittings were at the editorial offices of the _examiner_, where the editors were as much puzzled as anybody else. they were at once convinced that, however he performed his feats, dr. schlesinger was at least not a bungling master of the black art. several intelligent observers were present, among them one or two of the brightest newspaper men in the city. the experiments were not only carefully noted, but they were viewed with grave suspicion. they were, however, wholly informal and merely preliminary to the more important and prolonged seances that followed at the office of the mayor of the city, and later at the office of and in the presence of the city's chief of police. a few facts concerning the occurrences at the _examiner_ office are given that the reader may have the full benefit of the story. one of the investigators (managing editor a. b. henderson) wrote a number of names on slips of paper, before dr. schlesinger arrived. they were not seen or known to any one save the person that prepared them, and the slips on which they were written were carefully folded and clasped in a bundle, by a rubber band or elastic. great pains was taken by mr. henderson to prevent the medium from handling or seeing the slips. without seeing the writing, dr. schlesinger at once gave the names correctly. one of them was that of thaddeus stevens, the eminent pennsylvanian; and when the folded slip on which his name was written was touched by mr. henderson, the medium said: "that is the name of thaddeus stevens, who knew you well. he calls you alexander, and sends you his love." then the name of the sitter's deceased uncle was properly announced, though it had not been written on any of the slips. correct information was also given concerning the uncle's religion while "in the flesh." s. s. chamberlain, now managing editor of the philadelphia _north american_, (then news editor of the _examiner_) was one of the investigators. he wrote down, on separate slips of paper, the names of many living and dead persons, but, contrary to the medium's request, he did not write the names of persons he had ever known. in a few moments dr. schlesinger read the names correctly while the slips were beyond his reach, and firmly clasped in chamberlain's hand. they were of such persons as john ruskin, ralph waldo emerson, shakespeare, longfellow, etc. a faithful report of all that occurred was submitted to the managing editor of the paper, who at once decided that a series of similar experiments, conducted at the office of the mayor of the city and others, in broad daylight, would make the basis for some interesting sunday specials. under his instructions i arranged the seances, and was present at all of them. i subsequently wrote a faithful account of what occurred, but the articles were rejected by the editor of the sunday _examiner_ for personal reasons. this volume embraces the substance of what was then prepared. chapter iii. some startling daylight seances. it was on september 4, 1893, that a number of the most prominent citizens of san francisco held a daylight seance (at high noon) at the office of mayor ellert. the company had assembled in response to the _examiner's_ invitation, and all of the witnesses had agreed in advance to observe everything closely and write an absolutely fair account of what they saw, adding any theory or explanation that seemed sufficient to account for the phenomena. it is as well to say that is was a mirthful assembly at the outset, and the newspaper man who had arranged for the experiments was the butt of many little jokes. the idea that the medium could do anything more than a little clever juggling seemed farthest from anybody's thoughts. dr. louis schlesinger, then a man about sixty-one years of age, was the spiritualist medium who said he could convince all present that the dead return, and that he could hold communion with the living. the following spectators were present, and the written reports of some of them are given in full in the subjoined narrative: mayor levi r. ellert, district attorney w. s. barnes, president theodore f. bonnet, of the san francisco press club, ex-president grant carpenter, of the same club, h. h. mccloskey, then a state central committeeman of the republican party, and many other casual observers. at another seance chief of police crowley, judge robert ferral, dr. r. e. bunker, and attorney charles l. patton were the principal investigators, though captain wright and many others saw all that was done. at this seance the observations were conducted under the test conditions arranged by chief crowley, dr. bunker, and attorney patton. the reader should satisfy himself concerning the mental and moral qualifications of all the witnesses named by glancing at the biographical sketches elsewhere in this volume. at the mayor's office dr. schlesinger was announced as a resident of no. 1 polk street. he said he knew none of the committee, and nobody present except the _examiner's_ representative knew the doctor.[1] [1] he now lives in boston.--editor. "i can converse with the spirits of your deceased friends," said the medium, "and i am giving my life to this work. i gave up a great tea business to teach my fellow men that life does not end at the grave. my home is constantly filled with bands of angels from the celestial depths, but i am able to call a few spirits around any box, table, or desk. i want you to satisfy yourself that all that is done here is absolutely honest." before proceeding further the doctor produced a testimonial from editor will s. green, of the colusa _sun_ (afterwards state treasurer), which explained that dr. schlesinger's performances could not be explained on the theory of trickery. a clipping from the _sun_ of september 5, 1890, gave an account of matters that had puzzled the people of colusa. the investigations began, therefore, with a great deal of interest, and before their conclusion the old doctor had greatly puzzled all present. they could not tell whether it was some psychic power by which he operated, or whether they had been basely deceived. at his own request, dr. schlesinger was not introduced to any of the persons present. he soon called their names, however, and said they were given to him by the spirits in the raps that all could hear on the desk. the doctor's favorite method of communicating startling information was to have the sitters write, before they came into his presence, fifteen or twenty names of living and dead friends. each name being on a separate piece of paper, the visitors were requested to fold each slip tightly, so as to preclude any possibility of its being read by the medium. this done, the slips, all of equal size, were put into a hat and thoroughly shuffled. the doctor would then say: "pick out any slip yourself, and i will read it without looking and before you yourself know what the name is." there would then be raps, and in a few seconds the doctor would give the name correctly. these names were written and folded in a room apart from the doctor. "granting that there is such a thing as mind-reading," said chief crowley, "i do not think mind-reading would account for what was done for me, because he read things that were not in my mind, telling me my mother's maiden name and where she died." dr. schlesinger calls his gift clairaudient mediumship, and says his right ear is deaf to all terrestrial sounds, but quickened, as with a sixth sense, for communications from the other world. he says he can both see and hear spirits, and that bands of them encircle him, and at times, in the presence of some peculiarly "fit" visitors, manifest themselves with great clearness and power. to prove that the sounds he hears are celestial voices, he does many things which baffle those who witness the strange phenomena which abound in his presence wherever he goes. it was with much difficulty that those who participated in these seances and whose accounts of what they saw are subjoined, were induced to give the medium a hearing. chief crowley was particularly opposed to giving serious attention to what he denounced as "trickery and sleight of hand," and afterwards called "marvelous and beyond power of explanation." finally he wrote down a number of names on separate slips, as explained in the foregoing, and among those names appeared that of his mother--her maiden name. the medium at once told the chief which pellet contained his mother's name, then read it, and in a few moments told where she died and where she was buried. a few minutes later the aged doctor said: "the spirit of detective hutton, who died a violent death, hovers near you." the medium then spoke of matters that were known to nobody but chief crowley and the dead detective. this greatly puzzled the chief, who was later deeply affected over purported messages from a son and others who had been dear to him in life. speaking of the purported message from his dead mother the chief said: "i cannot explain this, which is marvelous, for i do not believe a human being in san francisco knew that my mother's maiden name was elizabeth mccarthy, that she died in new jersey and was buried in new york." chief crowley then wrote down a list of years, among them the year of his mother's death. dr. schlesinger pointed to the year 1833 as that of her death. "correct!" replied chief crowley; whereupon the medium said, "and the name of your father, patrick j. crowley, is also here, and he comes with your son lewis, who has not been dead long." the chief thought it the most wonderful performance he had ever seen. "he does marvelous and inexplicable things," said the chief, "and i'll admit i cannot tell how it is done. while i cannot believe he converses with spirits, i am puzzled. i want to see him again and look into the matter further." [illustration: ex-chief of police p. crowley.] the experiments with mayor l. r. ellert, who sprang from his chair and positively declined to be thrown into a trance condition when the doctor requested him thus to visit the spirit world, were fully as startling as those with chief crowley. mayor ellert took a chair in front of his official table, which had thus been dedicated to spiritual uses, and asked if any spirits desired to communicate with him, whereupon the medium grasped his honor's hands and the line of communication with the spirits was declared fully established. quite distinct raps were then heard on the table, and dr. schlesinger looked at the mayor and said: "you are a medium yourself, sir! my, what a power!" the mayor was urged "to sit alone often and be patient," and was told that he could develop much power by such a course. [illustration: hon. l. r. ellert.] mayor ellert then wrote down ten of fifteen names of living and dead friends, on separate slips of paper. he refused to use the paper handed him by dr. schlesinger, but cut up an official letter head which lay on his own desk. as he began to write the names, the medium stepped away and engaged in conversation with district attorney barnes and mr. bonnet at the other side of the room, so that he could not see what mayor ellert wrote. the mayor carefully folded the slips, put them in a hat, and shuffled them. he then brought one forth from the hatful. "that's a dead one," said dr. schlesinger. "open it and see whether i am correct; but don't let me see it." the mayor obeyed the request, and answered, "yes, this is a dead person's name!" "don't let me see it," said the mysterious visitor, "and i'll tell you what it is," whereupon he at once correctly pronounced the name of the mayor's sister, which was not ellert. the mayor then announced that he was unable to explain the phenomena. he watched the medium's movements and convinced himself that there had been no juggling in the shuffle, and said that his visitor out-hermanned hermann. he would leave the solution of the phenomena to others learned in the arts of divination. [illustration: charles l. patton.] the outcome of the seances and the story of what occurred may best be told by those who were present, and the subjoined versions are given:-attorney patton's story. "i desire to preface what i have to say by remarking that while i have never been nor am i now a spiritualist, nor have i ever before been present at the performance of a medium, yet what i saw of dr. schlesinger's so-called manifestations from the spirit world is entirely inexplicable to me upon any scientific hypothesis with which i am familiar; yet at the same time i must admit that i cannot explain the phenomena exhibited upon any theory of legerdemain or sleight of hand within my knowledge. therefore, i merely state that i have seen, or seemingly seen, and heard the following remarkable things, during the sitting or seance with dr. schlesinger, leaving it to others more competent than i to determine whether they are the manifestations of some psychic force at present unadmitted by scientists or the legerdemain of a sleight-of-hand performer. "the facts are as follows: at the request of the doctor, i wrote eight or ten names of different persons on as many slips of paper, two of the number being dead, and folded the slips in such a manner that the doctor could not read them; and so far as i can judge, the doctor could not have had any method of knowing what names i wrote. i then placed the folded papers in a hat, and one of the other gentlemen present drew them out one by one. the doctor, as each paper was drawn out, asked some question, such as 'guide, is this the one dead?' finally, after all the papers had been held up and the questions asked, some raps on the table, seeming to have indicated according to the doctor that the persons whose names were on two of the slips were dead, i, on examination, found that he was correct in his judgment. he then without (so far as i could see) having had any opportunity to have seen the names, desired me to place the slips with the names on in my pocket. presently he said: 'i see two faces over your shoulder; the name of one is j. b. the other says: "i am glad you have commemorated my name by writing it here," the name is v. c.;' the doctor being correct in naming the deceased person in each instance, and the message being appropriate to the character of the deceased person. i will add, that, so far as i know, dr. schlesinger had no possible means of knowing the name or anything about either person. one of the names, i feel confident, was not known to any person in california outside of myself. "chas. l. patton." barnes was puzzled. district attorney barnes gives the following account of the seance:-"i was completely surprised at the performance in the mayor's office. it was the first seance i had ever attended, and i must confess that i had not the slightest respect for such manifestations other than a natural admiration for the quickness of the operator. i had always supposed that batteries, wires, a tolerable acquaintance with the sitter, all aided by darkness, were the causes of the effects produced by the medium. in this case, however, the seance took place in broad daylight, and no attempt was made, so far as i could see, to use any mechanical means. the medium sat two or three feet from the mayor's desk, and only touched the desk occasionally with his hand, yet from that desk came the spirit rappings that were clearly audible to all of us in the room. i watched the others write lists of names containing each the name of some dead person, and saw the quickness with which dr. schlesinger picked out the persons who had passed away, and gave messages from them. when it came my turn i wrote a number of names on small slips of paper, folded them and held them in my hand. among these names was that of a classmate of mine at harvard, who died long ago at philadelphia, who had never been in california, and whose name i have not mentioned for years. hardly had i sat down when dr. schlesinger called his full name and gave me a message from him, recalling an occurrence, so far as i am aware, known only to the dead man and myself. to say that i was amazed but feebly expresses it; and when i asked the doctor whence he got his information, he replied, 'it is borne to me on angels' wings.' [illustration: attorney w. s. barnes.] "whether it was or not, it was a most remarkable thing, and deeply impressed upon me that 'there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy.' "william s. barnes." seven years after the foregoing was written, mr. barnes expressed himself as still deeply puzzled. "i cannot think of any experience in life so marvelous," he said, "so beyond my power to explain." judge ferral's testimony. ex-judge robert ferral's narrative largely corroborates what the others said. he presents the case in his own way. "having taken a deep interest from early boyhood in exhibitions of a marvelous nature, such as magic, legerdemain, mesmerism, hypnotism, mind-reading, and spiritualism, it was with pleasure that i accepted the kind invitation to visit dr. schlesinger and personally witness his experiments and manifestations. "i found the doctor an aged, venerable man, in a large room, surrounded by a company of ladies and gentlemen, bright, cheerful, and intelligent, all apparently bent upon the rational enjoyment of this life, and happy in the belief of companionable intercourse with the realm of spirits. "retiring to more quiet quarters, consisting of an ordinary bedroom and parlor, the business began without waste of words or loss of time. having written the names of half a dozen persons, living and dead, each name on a separate slip, carefully folded and looking precisely alike, which were tossed into a hat and well shaken up, the doctor proceeded to name the contents of each paper as it was drawn out. occasionally he made a mistake, but in nearly every instance succeeded at the first or second trial. he first separated the living from the dead, without opening the slips, and sometimes not even touching them; then proceeded to give the names. afterward, upon writing place and cause of death, age, occupation, etc., upon other slips, the same result followed. some of the names submitted by me were peculiar, and i believe known to no one else in this city, yet they were announced--read off, as it were--with but little hesitation and generally exactly as written. the same thing occurred as to the diseases and places of death. [illustration: judge robert ferral.] "during this manifestation of his power dr. schlesinger simply formed a circle or chain of hands, connecting with himself, frequently tapped the table, and appealed to an unseen 'guide' for his information. raps were said to have been heard also, but of this i cannot bear testimony. "how was this done? by mesmerism? no; for there was nothing in the nature of sleep or putting to sleep. mind-reading? possibly; although some of the slips of paper were read correctly when the contents were for the time forgotten and unknown to myself. hypnotism? don't know, having but a faint idea how far these phenomena extend. by sharpness of sight, trickery, sleight of hand? i cannot answer, at least for the present, remaining, as before, an agnostic on these matters; unable to give an intelligent explanation, but at the same time not disposed to jeer or scoff at what i do not understand. respectfully, "robert ferral." september 5, 1893. dr. bunker's narrative. the following is dr. r. e. bunker's account, written at his old office, no. 802 kearny street, just after the seances and while he was still in charge of the city receiving hospital:-"i saw dr. schlesinger in company with the other gentlemen named, and i saw wonderful things which i am wholly unable to explain. the phenomena, manifestations, or things that occur in the medium's presence are not only interesting, but marvelous. i went possessed of something like eight or ten slips of paper, on each of which i had previously written (at my office) a name of some person i had known--some living, some dead. not a soul ever saw the slips, for i was alone when i wrote the names. furthermore, they were so folded that no one could possibly have read a single name. dr. schlesinger at once picked out the names of living and dead persons, while the slips were held between my fingers and when i did not know what person's name was on the particular slip that i held. he pronounced every name correctly while i held the pellet, or as it lay untouched on his table. "to say that what he did was by the aid of wires or batteries would be to impart to wires and batteries more intelligence than the greatest philosophers have ever possessed. this is no explanation; nor has any one ever been able to explain to me how these things were done. i do not believe it was mind-reading (a term that conveys no intelligent idea to me anyhow), for i did not know the name on the slip under question--not until i afterwards unfolded it and corroborated the doctor's readings. you understand that the entire bunch had been thoroughly shuffled in a hat before any slip was picked up. "to come to specific instances, let me give a few cases as they occurred. on one slip i had written my mother's maiden name, which was not known to anybody in san francisco. it was placed among eight or ten other names of women--some married, some unmarried, some wholly fictitious. all slips were folded alike and placed in a hat under the table, which i held in my hands. dr. schlesinger asked me to pick out the pellets, one at a time and hold them between my finger and thumb. he would say, 'that is not the name, throw it aside;' and so on, until he hesitated at one pellet and said, 'that is your mother's maiden name; it is emily j. laumann.' "the answer was correct, and in a similar manner he read other names and told me all about the persons. i had written the name of dick foster on one slip. foster had died of consumption at the old bella union theater, on june 21st. the medium did not read his name, but wrote a message backwards--that is, from left to right--very rapidly, and when i held it up to the light with the written surface from me, i could read the following:- _i am glad to be here, and if i can obtain the appropriate conditions i will show my identity._ _dick foster._ "this was a puzzling thing, and i should like for some one to explain how it was done, if there was not communication with some invisible intelligence. in regard to foster's name it should be said that the medium had not seen nor heard it, and that his hand flew over the paper very fast while he wrote the backward message. so far as i could see, dr. schlesinger was quite deaf and near-sighted. he was an old man of heavy weight and clumsy fingers. his manner was that of a devout believer in the genuineness of his theory. if any one can explain to me how these things were done, he will interest me far more than dr. schlesinger did, and it should be said that my attention to what he did was held without interruption from the start. there were several other like tests wherein he read for me other names by a process equally startling, making one feel that he had marvelous powers. "r. e. bunker, m. d." what mr. bonnet saw. theodore f. bonnet, who was a reporter for the _daily report_ at the time of the seance at the mayor's office, was a guest of the author during the seance. mr. bonnet, who is now editor and owner of _town talk_, an influential weekly newspaper, wrote the following account of what he saw and handed it to the author just after the seance:-"after witnessing the efforts of dr. schlesinger as a medium, one cannot but be impressed by his marvelous powers of divination. they are impossible of explanation on any hypothesis calculated to reduce his work to the vulgar plane of legerdemain. yet the manifestations, as he is pleased to call his marvelous, puzzling and apparently supernatural revelations concerning matters with which he could not become familiar under ordinary circumstances, are after all, unsatisfactory to the person engaged in testing his power. i must give him credit, however, for having startled me by one message. i had written on small slips of paper, which were then carefully folded--all this an hour or more before the meeting. one of the names was joseph touhill, an oakland burglar, who had been killed by a policeman who caught him robbing a saloon. i had known touhill, and had been quite friendly with him in late years, but had never suspected that he was of the jekyll and hyde species. the medium did not at once direct me to the piece of paper on which touhill's name was written, but afterwards he suddenly said: 'the spirit of the man with whom you wish to communicate is here now.' [illustration: editor theodore f. bonnet.] "i signified my willingness to hear from the spirit, whereupon the doctor said, 'old boy, i'm not quite as dead as you think.' then he mentioned the name of joseph touhill. now, this circumstance deeply impressed me, because the language was so characteristic of the dead burglar, it having been customary with him to address me as 'old boy.' mind-reading will have to be rejected as an explanation, because the doctor subsequently read a name that was on a pellet that i had not opened, and knew nothing about until i subsequently read it. i picked up the pellet from the desk where i had put it with a number of others, and handed it to mayor ellert, who, without examining it, deposited it in his vest-pocket. then came rappings on the table, and the medium said: 'behind you stands the spirit of the man whose name is on that paper. he was an eminent person, and he died far away from here. he is waving a flag over your head, and on it is written the name of victor hugo.' "the name was correct. subsequently the doctor correctly read the name of william cullen bryant, which i had also written. the doctor quoted the spirit of the poet as saying that he was delighted that i was interested in demonstrating that there was a world of spirits. dr. schlesinger's feats are bewildering to the human mind. if he is a mere trickster he possesses in a marvelous way the skill to disguise his character, for his appearance and demeanor are those peculiar to fanaticism or strong faith in a cause. "theo. f. bonnet." mr. m'closkey's version. the following is the narrative of mr. h. h. mccloskey, a resident of merced at the time of the seance, but now a san francisco lawyer:-"i did not attend the little seance at the mayor's office by appointment. i was on my way to finish up some business and catch the 4-o'clock boat, when district attorney barnes suggested that i drop in and see the fun. intending to remain but a few moments, i accepted the invitation, and have no reason to regret having done so. as to what happened there, while i remember perfectly well what was done, and kept careful note of all that i saw, i am unable to account for it on any other hypothesis than that the doctor was, as he claims to be, a spiritual medium. at the same time i am not prepared to admit that much. "what i saw i saw clearly; it was real and devoid of illusion. there being no one present but the mayor and thoroughly reputable gentlemen, collusion by which a portion of the events of that afternoon might be accounted for is, of course, out of the question; and neither collusion, mind-reading, nor anything else could account for all that occurred. "the doctor requested me to write on seven slips of paper, one on each slip, the names of six acquaintances, five of whom were living and the sixth dead. on the seventh my own name was to be written. i had never seen the doctor before, and have no reason to suppose that he had ever seen me. i used my own pencil in writing the names, and wrote upon paper furnished by the city and county for the use of his honor the mayor. when writing the names i was twenty feet away from the doctor, and as i wrote upon each slip i folded it up carefully, so that i myself could not see anything of the writing, nor tell one of the seven slips from the others. five of the names were those of intimate personal friends, the sixth of a man whom i knew in a business way, but for whom, while i was not at all intimate with him, i had always a great regard. this man is dead, and has been so for a couple of years. "in obedience to the doctor's request, i placed the seven slips on the table. taking the hand of mr. barnes, i holding the hand of the latter, the doctor proceeded to take the slips one by one from the table. the first he held a second and dropped. the second he handed to me saying, 'this contains your name.' upon opening it i found the doctor to be correct, and asking him what my name was he promptly told us. "i confess i was a little mystified, but the doctor didn't stop there. continuing, he picked up the other slips until the fifth one had been reached. 'this is the name of your dead friend. his name is v. c. w. hooker--not exactly, but a name very similar. i can't quite make it out. he says he will talk to you at another time.' as you saw when i opened the slip it showed as i had written it the name of v. c. w. hooper, a man who was quite prominent in merced during his lifetime. just how the doctor found that out i leave to others who were there to explain when they have time after accounting for the mysterious things that happened to themselves. i cannot and will not pretend to. it was not mind-reading, however. of that i am satisfied. for as he picked up the fifth slip and said, 'this is the name of the dead man,' he did not get that information by reading my mind, for there were two more slips remaining, and i couldn't say which was which. that is beyond any explanation. mind-reading will not fit it at all. "one of the party--i think it was mr. barnes--wrote the name of _two_ dead men in his list. leaving out the first problem--the picking up of the right slip--putting that aside, how is it to be explained that the doctor chose the right name of the two dead ones? mr. barnes did not know. he had not opened the slip; therefore the doctor could not read his mind. for myself, i give up the conundrum. "very truly. "h. h. mccloskey." chapter iv. character of the narrators. to any one who has a fair knowledge of human nature, a glance at the line pictures of the gentlemen who participated in the events with which this book deals will tell that they are men of character and keen observation. in san francisco and throughout the west many of them are as well known as the governor of the state. their names need no introduction, and since they have been representative men for many years it is not necessary to say much about them. for the benefit of persons who know nothing concerning them, however, the following information is submitted:-patrick crowley, chief of police, was born in albany county, new york, on march 17, 1831. when quite young he went to new york and worked in different printing-offices. he came to san francisco in 1850, and worked in the mining-camps for two or three years. he was engaged in the boating business here, when in 1854 he was elected to the office of town constable on the democratic ticket. he was re-elected on the same ticket in 1855, and from 1856 he was re-elected every two years on the old people's party ticket till 1866, when he was elected chief of police. he held that office by election for six years, when he quit the force and went into the brokerage business. in 1878, by an act of the legislature, the board of police commissioners received the power to appoint the chief of police. the office was tendered him, and after considerable pressure he reluctantly accepted it, as he was making an excellent living at his business. he held the office by election or appointment for twenty-four successive years. his wide experience with criminals, bunko-men, and all sorts of tricksters gave him excellent training and amply fitted him for a thorough inspection of all that was done during the seances. in fact, it was his boast at the beginning of his sitting with dr. schlesinger that he had helped to trap the eddies and other disreputable mediums, and that he would soon expose the fraud in the case in hand. william s. barnes, son of the eloquent and famous general w. h. l. barnes (known all over america as the greatest living after-dinner orator, and known all over the united states as a republican orator), is a graduate of harvard and a man of fine legal attainments. he is one of the most prominent native sons, and is famous for his shrewdness as prosecuting attorney for the great city and county of san francisco. it was he who prosecuted and convicted theodore durrant in one of the most marvelous criminal cases of the century. he was also the star lawyer in the prosecution of the great sydney bell footpad case. mr. barnes was the organizer and president of the association of district attorneys of california; is an active member of california lodge no. 1, f. & a. m., a member of the pacific-union club, also of the union league, of which he is one of a committee on political action, of the juarez manufacturing company, of which he is president. thus his mastery in the legal profession is no less equaled in his social and business associations. attorney charles l. patton is grand master of california masonic fraternity, and is a gentleman of the highest personal and professional character. he was a strong competitor against mayor phelan, and was chosen by the republican party a few years ago as the best candidate against the present (1900) mayor of the city. mr. patton is a man of much erudition and wide experience with men and books. he, like all his associates, and like the writer of this book, was and is a skeptic regarding the truth of so-called spiritual phenomena. his account speaks for itself. mayor l. r. ellert is a man of legal attainments and of wide business interests. he was a popular reform mayor, and was in office at the time of the occurrences narrated. he is to-day one of the best-known and most highly respected lawyers and business men of san francisco. for many years he was a skillful pharmacist, and his wide knowledge of drugs and physiology was useful in the attempted solution of the various problems presented by the medium. judge robert ferral is the warhorse of democracy, and one of the nestors of the california bar. he made some of the most spirited races ever entered upon for congress, and polled the largest vote ever known for an unpopular political party in the old days. as a judge and criminal lawyer of wide experience, as well as by reason of his unexcelled literary attainments and extended experience in the science of hypnotism and kindred phenomena, the judge was an invaluable spectator and participant, especially as his native wit usually enables him to see through many things that puzzle other men. here, however, he stood dumbfounded. dr. r. e. bunker is a regular physician of high reputation and personal standing. he was at the time of the matters recorded in charge of the city receiving hospital, and was considered one of the most careful and competent observers at the seance. like all others named, dr. bunker's word is absolutely above reproach, and there is not a more competent man in the country. theodore f. bonnet was at the time of the seance a reporter for the _daily report_. he was afterwards elected to the important position of license collector, and is now editor and owner of _town talk_. this is one of the best weekly papers in the united states, and its success dates from its purchase by the gentleman named. mr. bonnet is an elk of high standing, and a man of good family and social position. in addition to all these facts, it should be borne in mind that his long training as a reporter fitted him in a peculiarly advantageous way for the duties of trying to detect what was done by the medium. h. h. mccloskey was a casual visitor at the seance, being the guest of district attorney barnes. mr. mccloskey was at the time a resident of merced, and was a prominent lawyer and politician. he was also a republican state central committeeman and was considered one of the ablest of the party. he is to-day a well-known san francisco attorney. his account of the seance explains just what occurred. these facts, with some of the pictures, will give the reader an idea of the men whose narratives he has doubtless read with pleasure. in conclusion, it should be remembered that this book is sold by the publishers only. it will be sent to any address for fifty cents. if you have enjoyed reading it, recommend it to the next friend you meet. the mansion by henry van dyke there was an air of calm and reserved opulence about the weightman mansion that spoke not of money squandered, but of wealth prudently applied. standing on a corner of the avenue no longer fashionable for residence, it looked upon the swelling tide of business with an expression of complacency and half-disdain. the house was not beautiful. there was nothing in its straight front of chocolate-colored stone, its heavy cornices, its broad, staring windows of plate glass, its carved and bronze-bedecked mahogany doors at the top of the wide stoop, to charm the eye or fascinate the imagination. but it was eminently respectable, and in its way imposing. it seemed to say that the glittering shops of the jewelers, the milliners, the confectioners, the florists, the picture-dealers, the furriers, the makers of rare and costly antiquities, retail traders in luxuries of life, were beneath the notice of a house that had its foundations in the high finance, and was built literally and figuratively in the shadow of st. petronius' church. at the same time there was something self-pleased and congratulatory in the way in which the mansion held its own amid the changing neighborhood. it almost seemed to be lifted up a little, among the tall buildings near at hand, as if it felt the rising value of the land on which it stood. john weightman was like the house into which he had built himself thirty years ago, and in which his ideals and ambitions were incrusted. he was a self-made man. but in making himself he had chosen a highly esteemed pattern and worked according to the approved rules. there was nothing irregular, questionable, flamboyant about him. he was solid, correct, and justly successful. his minor tastes, of course, had been carefully kept up to date. at the proper time, pictures of the barbizon masters, old english plate and portraits, bronzes by barye and marbles by rodin, persian carpets and chinese porcelains, had been introduced to the mansion. it contained a louis quinze reception-room, an empire drawing-room, a jacobean dining-room, and various apartments dimly reminiscent of the styles of furniture affected by deceased monarchs. that the hallways were too short for the historic perspective did not make much difference. american decorative art is capable de tout, it absorbs all periods. of each period mr. weightman wished to have something of the best. he understood its value, present as a certificate, and prospective as an investment. it was only in the architecture of his town house that he remained conservative, immovable, one might almost say early-victorian-christian. his country house at dulwich-on-the-sound was a palace of the italian renaissance. but in town he adhered to an architecture which had moral associations, the nineteenth-century-brownstone epoch. it was a symbol of his social position, his religious doctrine, and even, in a way, of his business creed. "a man of fixed principles," he would say, "should express them in the looks of his house. new york changes its domestic architecture too rapidly. it is like divorce. it is not dignified. i don't like it. extravagance and fickleness are advertised in most of these new houses. i wish to be known for different qualities. dignity and prudence are the things that people trust. every one knows that i can afford to live in the house that suits me. it is a guarantee to the public. it inspires confidence. it helps my influence. there is a text in the bible about 'a house that hath foundations.' that is the proper kind of a mansion for a solid man." harold weightman had often listened to his father discoursing in this fashion on the fundamental principles of life, and always with a divided mind. he admired immensely his father's talents and the single-minded energy with which he improved them. but in the paternal philosophy there was something that disquieted and oppressed the young man, and made him gasp inwardly for fresh air and free action. at times, during his college course and his years at the law school, he had yielded to this impulse and broken away--now toward extravagance and dissipation, and then, when the reaction came, toward a romantic devotion to work among the poor. he had felt his father's disapproval for both of these forms of imprudence; but is was never expressed in a harsh or violent way, always with a certain tolerant patience, such as one might show for the mistakes and vagaries of the very young. john weightman was not hasty, impulsive, inconsiderate, even toward his own children. with them, as with the rest of the world, he felt that he had a reputation to maintain, a theory to vindicate. he could afford to give them time to see that he was absolutely right. one of his favorite scripture quotations was, "wait on the lord." he had applied it to real estate and to people, with profitable results. but to human persons the sensation of being waited for is not always agreeable. sometimes, especially with the young, it produces a vague restlessness, a dumb resentment, which is increased by the fact that one can hardly explain or justify it. of this john weightman was not conscious. it lay beyond his horizon. he did not take it into account in the plan of life which he made for himself and for his family as the sharers and inheritors of his success. "father plays us," said harold, in a moment of irritation, to his mother, "like pieces in a game of chess. "my dear," said that lady, whose faith in her husband was religious, "you ought not to speak so impatiently. at least he wins the game. he is one of the most respected men in new york. and he is very generous, too." "i wish he would be more generous in letting us be ourselves," said the young man. "he always has something in view for us and expects to move us up to it." "but isn't it always for our benefit?" replied his mother. "look what a position we have. no one can say there is any taint on our money. there are no rumors about your father. he has kept the laws of god and of man. he has never made any mistakes." harold got up from his chair and poked the fire. then he came back to the ample, well-gowned, firm-looking lady, and sat beside her on the sofa. he took her hand gently and looked at the two rings--a thin band of yellow gold, and a small solitaire diamond--which kept their place on her third finger in modest dignity, as if not shamed, but rather justified, by the splendor of the emerald which glittered beside them. "mother," he said, "you have a wonderful hand. and father made no mistake when he won you. but are you sure he has always been so inerrant?" "harold," she exclaimed, a little stiffly, "what do you mean? his life is an open book." "oh," he answered, "i don't mean anything bad, mother dear. i know the governor's life is an open book--a ledger, if you like, kept in the best bookkeeping hand, and always ready for inspection--every page correct, and showing a handsome balance. but isn't it a mistake not to allow us to make our own mistakes, to learn for ourselves, to live our own lives? must we be always working for 'the balance,' in one thing or another? i want to be myself--to get outside of this everlasting, profitable 'plan'--to let myself go, and lose myself for a while at least--to do the things that i want to do, just because i want to do them." "my boy," said his mother, anxiously, "you are not going to do anything wrong or foolish? you know the falsehood of that old proverb about wild oats." he threw back his head and laughed. "yes, mother," he answered, "i know it well enough. but in california, you know, the wild oats are one of the most valuable crops. they grow all over the hillsides and keep the cattle and the horses alive. but that wasn't what i meant--to sow wild oats. say to pick wild flowers, if you like, or even to chase wild geese--to do something that seems good to me just for its own sake, not for the sake of wages of one kind or another. i feel like a hired man, in the service of this magnificent mansion--say in training for father's place as majordomo. i'd like to get out some way, to feel free--perhaps to do something for others." the young man's voice hesitated a little. "yes, it sounds like cant, i know, but sometimes i feel as if i'd like to do some good in the world, if father only wouldn't insist upon god's putting it into the ledger." his mother moved uneasily, and a slight look of bewilderment came into her face. "isn't that almost irreverent?" she asked. "surely the righteous must have their reward. and your father is good. see how much he gives to all the established charities, how many things he has founded. he's always thinking of others, and planning for them. and surely, for us, he does everything. how well he has planned this trip to europe for me and the girls--the court-presentation at berlin, the season on the riviera, the visits in england with the plumptons and the halverstones. he says lord halverstone has the finest old house in sussex, pure elizabethan, and all the old customs are kept up, too--family prayers every morning for all the domestics. by-the-way, you know his son bertie, i believe." harold smiled a little to himself as he answered: "yes, i fished at catalina island last june with the honorable ethelbert; he's rather a decent chap, in spite of his ingrowing mind. but you?--mother, you are simply magnificent! you are father's masterpiece." the young man leaned over to kiss her, and went up to the riding club for his afternoon canter in the park. so it came to pass, early in december, that mrs. weightman and her two daughters sailed for europe, on their serious pleasure trip, even as it had been written in the book of providence; and john weightman, who had made the entry, was left to pass the rest of the winter with his son and heir in the brownstone mansion. they were comfortable enough. the machinery of the massive establishment ran as smoothly as a great electric dynamo. they were busy enough, too. john weightman's plans and enterprises were complicated, though his principle of action was always simple--to get good value for every expenditure and effort. the banking-house of which he was the chief, the brain, the will, the absolutely controlling hand, was so admirably organized that the details of its direction took but little time. but the scores of other interests that radiated from it and were dependent upon it--or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, that contributed to its solidity and success--the many investments, industrial, political, benevolent, reformatory, ecclesiastical, that had made the name of weightman well known and potent in city, church, and state, demanded much attention and careful steering, in order that each might produce the desired result. there were board meetings of corporations and hospitals, conferences in wall street and at albany, consultations and committee meetings in the brownstone mansion. for a share in all this business and its adjuncts john weightman had his son in training in one of the famous law firms of the city; for he held that banking itself is a simple affair, the only real difficulties of finance are on its legal side. meantime he wished the young man to meet and know the men with whom he would have to deal when he became a partner in the house. so a couple of dinners were given in the mansion during december, after which the father called the son's attention to the fact that over a hundred million dollars had sat around the board. but on christmas eve father and son were dining together without guests, and their talk across the broad table, glittering with silver and cut glass, and softly lit by shaded candles, was intimate, though a little slow at times. the elder man was in rather a rare mood, more expansive and confidential than usual; and, when the coffee was brought in and they were left alone, he talked more freely of his personal plans and hopes than he had ever done before. "i feel very grateful to-night," said he, at last; "it must be something in the air of christmas that gives me this feeling of thankfulness for the many divine mercies that have been bestowed upon me. all the principles by which i have tried to guide my life have been justified. i have never made the value of this salted almond by anything that the courts would not uphold, at least in the long run, and yet--or wouldn't it be truer to say and therefore?--my affairs have been wonderfully prospered. there's a great deal in that text 'honesty is the best'--but no, that's not from the bible, after all, is it? wait a moment; there is something of that kind, i know." "may i light a cigar, father," said harold, turning away to hide a smile, "while you are remembering the text?" "yes, certainly," answered the elder man, rather shortly; "you know i don't dislike the smell. but it is a wasteful, useless habit, and therefore i have never practised it. nothing useless is worth while, that's my motto--nothing that does not bring the reward. oh, now i recall the text, 'verily i say unto you they have their reward.' i shall ask doctor snodgrass to preach a sermon on that verse some day." "using you as an illustration?" "well, not exactly that; but i could give him some good materials from my own experience to prove the truth of scripture. i can honestly say that there is not one of my charities that has not brought me in a good return, either in the increase of influence, the building up of credit, or the association with substantial people. of course you have to be careful how you give, in order to secure the best results--no indiscriminate giving--no pennies in beggars' hats! it has been one of my principles always to use the same kind of judgment in charities that i use in my other affairs, and they have not disappointed me." "even the check that you put in the plate when you take the offertory up the aisle on sunday morning?" "certainly; though there the influence is less direct; and i must confess that i have my doubts in regard to the collection for foreign missions. that always seems to me romantic and wasteful. you never hear from it in any definite way. they say the missionaries have done a good deal to open the way for trade; perhaps--but they have also gotten us into commercial and political difficulties. yet i give to them--a little--it is a matter of conscience with me to identify myself with all the enterprises of the church; it is the mainstay of social order and a prosperous civilization. but the best forms of benevolence are the well-established, organized ones here at home, where people can see them and know what they are doing." "you mean the ones that have a local habitation and a name." "yes; they offer by far the safest return, though of course there is something gained by contributing to general funds. a public man can't afford to be without public spirit. but on the whole i prefer a building, or an endowment. there is a mutual advantage to a good name and a good institution in their connection in the public mind. it helps them both. remember that, my boy. of course at the beginning you will have to practise it in a small way; later, you will have larger opportunities. but try to put your gifts where they can be identified and do good all around. you'll see the wisdom of it in the long run." "i can see it already, sir, and the way you describe it looks amazingly wise and prudent. in other words, we must cast our bread on the waters in large loaves, carried by sound ships marked with the owner's name, so that the return freight will be sure to come back to us." the father laughed, but his eyes were frowning a little as if he suspected something irreverent under the respectful reply. "you put it humorously, but there's sense in what you say. why not? god rules the sea; but he expects us to follow the laws of navigation and commerce. why not take good care of your bread, even when you give it away?" "it's not for me to say why not--and yet i can think of cases--" the young man hesitated for a moment. his half-finished cigar had gone out. he rose and tossed it into the fire, in front of which he remained standing--a slender, eager, restless young figure, with a touch of hunger in the fine face, strangely like and unlike the father, at whom he looked with half-wistful curiosity. "the fact is, sir," he continued, "there is such a case in my mind now, and it is a good deal on my heart, too. so i thought of speaking to you about it to-night. you remember tom rollins, the junior who was so good to me when i entered college?" the father nodded. he remembered very well indeed the annoying incidents of his son's first escapade, and how rollins had stood by him and helped to avoid a public disgrace, and how a close friendship had grown between the two boys, so different in their fortunes. "yes," he said, "i remember him. he was a promising young man. has he succeeded?" "not exactly--that is not yet. his business has been going rather badly. he has a wife and little baby, you know. and now he has broken down,--something wrong with his lungs. the doctor says his only chance is a year or eighteen months in colorado. i wish we could help him." "how much would it cost?" "three or four thousand, perhaps, as a loan." "does the doctor say he will get well?" "a fighting chance--the doctor says." the face of the older man changed subtly. not a line was altered, but it seemed to have a different substance, as if it were carved out of some firm, imperishable stuff. "a fighting chance," he said, "may do for a speculation, but it is not a good investment. you owe something to young rollins. your grateful feeling does you credit. but don't overwork it. send him three or four hundred, if you like. you'll never hear from it again, except in the letter of thanks. but for heaven's sake don't be sentimental. religion is not a matter of sentiment; it's a matter of principle." the face of the younger man changed now. but instead of becoming fixed and graven, it seemed to melt into life by the heat of an inward fire. his nostrils quivered with quick breath, his lips were curled. "principle!" he said. "you mean principal--and interest too. well, sir, you know best whether that is religion or not. but if it is, count me out, please. tom saved me from going to the devil, six years ago; and i'll be damned if i don't help him to the best of my ability now." john weightman looked at his son steadily. "harold," he said at last, "you know i dislike violent language, and it never has any influence with me. if i could honestly approve of this proposition of yours, i'd let you have the money; but i can't; it's extravagant and useless. but you have your christmas check for a thousand dollars coming to you to-morrow. you can use it as you please. i never interfere with your private affairs." "thank you," said harold. "thank you very much! but there's another private affair. i want to get away from this life, this town, this house. it stifles me. you refused last summer when i asked you to let me go up to grenfell's mission on the labrador. i could go now, at least as far as the newfoundland station. have you changed your mind?" "not at all. i think it is an exceedingly foolish enterprise. it would interrupt the career that i have marked out for you." "well, then, here's a cheaper proposition. algy vanderhoof wants me to join him on his yacht with--well, with a little party--to cruise in the west indies. would you prefer that?" "certainly not! the vanderhoof set is wild and godless--i do not wish to see you keeping company with fools who walk in the broad and easy way that leads to perdition." "it is rather a hard choice," said the young man, with a short laugh, turning toward the door. "according to you there's very little difference--a fool's paradise or a fool's hell! well, it's one or the other for me, and i'll toss up for it to-night: heads, i lose; tails, the devil wins. anyway, i'm sick of this, and i'm out of it." "harold," said the older man (and there was a slight tremor in his voice), "don't let us quarrel on christmas eve. all i want is to persuade you to think seriously of the duties and responsibilities to which god has called you--don't speak lightly of heaven and hell--remember, there is another life." the young man came back and laid his hand upon his father's shoulder. "father," he said, "i want to remember it. i try to believe in it. but somehow or other, in this house, it all seems unreal to me. no doubt all you say is perfectly right and wise. i don't venture to argue against it, but i can't feel it--that's all. if i'm to have a soul, either to lose or to save, i must really live. just now neither the present nor the future means anything to me. but surely we won't quarrel. i'm very grateful to you, and we'll part friends. good-night, sir." the father held out his hand in silence. the heavy portiere dropped noiselessly behind the son, and he went up the wide, curving stairway to his own room. meantime john weightman sat in his carved chair in the jacobean dining-room. he felt strangely old and dull. the portraits of beautiful women by lawrence and reynolds and raeburn, which had often seemed like real company to him, looked remote and uninteresting. he fancied something cold and almost unfriendly in their expression, as if they were staring through him or beyond him. they cared nothing for his principles, his hopes, his disappointments, his successes; they belonged to another world, in which he had no place. at this he felt a vague resentment, a sense of discomfort that he could not have defined or explained. he was used to being considered, respected, appreciated at his full value in every region, even in that of his own dreams. presently he rang for the butler, telling him to close the house and not to sit up, and walked with lagging steps into the long library, where the shaded lamps were burning. his eye fell upon the low shelves full of costly books, but he had no desire to open them. even the carefully chosen pictures that hung above them seemed to have lost their attraction. he paused for a moment before an idyll of corot--a dance of nymphs around some forgotten altar in a vaporous glade--and looked at it curiously. there was something rapturous and serene about the picture, a breath of spring-time in the misty trees, a harmony of joy in the dancing figures, that wakened in him a feeling of half-pleasure and half-envy. it represented something that he had never known in his calculated, orderly life. he was dimly mistrustful of it. "it is certainly very beautiful," he thought, "but it is distinctly pagan; that altar is built to some heathen god. it does not fit into the scheme of a christian life. i doubt whether it is consistent with the tone of my house. i will sell it this winter. it will bring three or four times what i paid for it. that was a good purchase, a very good bargain." he dropped into the revolving chair before his big library table. it was covered with pamphlets and reports of the various enterprises in which he was interested. there was a pile of newspaper clippings in which his name was mentioned with praise for his sustaining power as a pillar of finance, for his judicious benevolence, for his support of wise and prudent reform movements, for his discretion in making permanent public gifts--"the weightman charities," one very complaisant editor called them, as if they deserved classification as a distinct species. he turned the papers over listlessly. there was a description and a picture of the "weightman wing of the hospital for cripples," of which he was president; and an article on the new professor in the "weightman chair of political jurisprudence" in jackson university, of which he was a trustee; and an illustrated account of the opening of the "weightman grammar-school" at dulwich-on-the-sound, where he had his legal residence for purposes of taxation. this last was perhaps the most carefully planned of all the weightman charities. he desired to win the confidence and support of his rural neighbors. it had pleased him much when the local newspaper had spoken of him as an ideal citizen and the logical candidate for the governorship of the state; but upon the whole it seemed to him wiser to keep out of active politics. it would be easier and better to put harold into the running, to have him sent to the legislature from the dulwich district, then to the national house, then to the senate. why not? the weightman interests were large enough to need a direct representative and guardian at washington. but to-night all these plans came back to him with dust upon them. they were dry and crumbling like forsaken habitations. the son upon whom his complacent ambition had rested had turned his back upon the mansion of his father's hopes. the break might not be final; and in any event there would be much to live for; the fortunes of the family would be secure. but the zest of it all would be gone if john weightman had to give up the assurance of perpetuating his name and his principles in his son. it was a bitter disappointment, and he felt that he had not deserved it. he rose from the chair and paced the room with leaden feet. for the first time in his life his age was visibly upon him. his head was heavy and hot, and the thoughts that rolled in it were confused and depressing. could it be that he had made a mistake in the principles of his existence? there was no argument in what harold had said--it was almost childish--and yet it had shaken the elder man more deeply than he cared to show. it held a silent attack which touched him more than open criticism. suppose the end of his life were nearer than he thought--the end must come some time--what if it were now? had he not founded his house upon a rock? had he not kept the commandments? was he not, "touching the law, blameless"? and beyond this, even if there were some faults in his character--and all men are sinners--yet he surely believed in the saving doctrines of religion--the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, the life everlasting. yes, that was the true source of comfort, after all. he would read a bit in the bible, as he did every night, and go to bed and to sleep. he went back to his chair at the library table. a strange weight of weariness rested upon him, but he opened the book at a familiar place, and his eyes fell upon the verse at the bottom of the page. "lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth." that had been the text of the sermon a few weeks before. sleepily, heavily, he tried to fix his mind upon it and recall it. what was it that doctor snodgrass had said? ah, yes--that it was a mistake to pause here in reading the verse. we must read on without a pause--lay not up treasures upon earth where moth and rust do corrupt and where thieves break through and steal--that was the true doctrine. we may have treasures upon earth, but they must not be put into unsafe places, but into safe places. a most comforting doctrine! he had always followed it. moths and rust and thieves had done no harm to his investments. john weightman's drooping eyes turned to the next verse, at the top of the second column. "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." now what had the doctor said about that? how was it to be understood--in what sense--treasures--in heaven? the book seemed to float away from him. the light vanished. he wondered dimly if this could be death, coming so suddenly, so quietly, so irresistibly. he struggled for a moment to hold himself up, and then sank slowly forward upon the table. his head rested upon his folded hands. he slipped into the unknown. how long afterward conscious life returned to him he did not know. the blank might have been an hour or a century. he knew only that something had happened in the interval. what is was he could not tell. he found great difficulty in catching the thread of his identity again. he felt that he was himself; but the trouble was to make his connections, to verify and place himself, to know who and where he was. at last it grew clear. john weightman was sitting on a stone, not far from a road in a strange land. the road was not a formal highway, fenced and graded. it was more like a great travel-trace, worn by thousands of feet passing across the open country in the same direction. down in the valley, into which he could look, the road seemed to form itself gradually out of many minor paths; little footways coming across the meadows, winding tracks following along beside the streams, faintly marked trails emerging from the woodlands. but on the hillside the threads were more firmly woven into one clear band of travel, though there were still a few dim paths joining it here and there, as if persons had been climbing up the hill by other ways and had turned at last to seek the road. from the edge of the hill, where john weightman sat, he could see the travelers, in little groups or larger companies, gathering from time to time by the different paths, and making the ascent. they were all clothed in white, and the form of their garments was strange to him; it was like some old picture. they passed him, group after group, talking quietly together or singing; not moving in haste, but with a certain air of eagerness and joy as if they were glad to be on their way to an appointed place. they did not stay to speak to him, but they looked at him often and spoke to one another as they looked; and now and then one of them would smile and beckon him a friendly greeting, so that he felt they would like him to be with them. there was quite an interval between the groups; and he followed each of them with his eyes after it had passed, blanching the long ribbon of the road for a little transient space, rising and receding across the wide, billowy upland, among the rounded hillocks of aerial green and gold and lilac, until it came to the high horizon, and stood outlined for a moment, a tiny cloud of whiteness against the tender blue, before it vanished over the hill. for a long time he sat there watching and wondering. it was a very different world from that in which his mansion on the avenue was built; and it looked strange to him, but most real--as real as anything he had ever seen. presently he felt a strong desire to know what country it was and where the people were going. he had a faint premonition of what it must be, but he wished to be sure. so he rose from the stone where he was sitting, and came down through the short grass and the lavender flowers, toward a passing group of people. one of them turned to meet him, and held out his hand. it was an old man, under whose white beard and brows john weightman thought he saw a suggestion of the face of the village doctor who had cared for him years ago, when he was a boy in the country. "welcome," said the old man. "will you come with us?" "where are you going?" "to the heavenly city, to see our mansions there." "and who are these with you?" "strangers to me, until a little while ago; i know them better now. but you i have known for a long time, john weightman. don't you remember your old doctor?" "yes," he cried--"yes; your voice has not changed at all. i'm glad indeed to see you, doctor mclean, especially now. all this seems very strange to me, almost oppressive. i wonder if--but may i go with you, do you suppose?" "surely," answered the doctor, with his familiar smile; "it will do you good. and you also must have a mansion in the city waiting for you--a fine one, too--are you not looking forward to it?" "yes," replied the other, hesitating a moment; "yes--i believe it must be so, although i had not expected to see it so soon. but i will go with you, and we can talk by the way." the two men quickly caught up with the other people, and all went forward together along the road. the doctor had little to tell of his experience, for it had been a plain, hard life, uneventfully spent for others, and the story of the village was very simple. john weightman's adventures and triumphs would have made a far richer, more imposing history, full of contacts with the great events and personages of the time. but somehow or other he did not care to speak much about it, walking on that wide heavenly moorland, under that tranquil, sunless arch of blue, in that free air of perfect peace, where the light was diffused without a shadow, as if the spirit of life in all things were luminous. there was only one person besides the doctor in that little company whom john weightman had known before--an old bookkeeper who had spent his life over a desk, carefully keeping accounts--a rusty, dull little man, patient and narrow, whose wife had been in the insane asylum for twenty years and whose only child was a crippled daughter, for whose comfort and happiness he had toiled and sacrificed himself without stint. it was a surprise to find him here, as care-free and joyful as the rest. the lives of others in the company were revealed in brief glimpses as they talked together--a mother, early widowed, who had kept her little flock of children together and labored through hard and heavy years to bring them up in purity and knowledge--a sister of charity who had devoted herself to the nursing of poor folk who were being eaten to death by cancer--a schoolmaster whose heart and life had been poured into his quiet work of training boys for a clean and thoughtful manhood--a medical missionary who had given up a brilliant career in science to take the charge of a hospital in darkest africa--a beautiful woman with silver hair who had resigned her dreams of love and marriage to care for an invalid father, and after his death had made her life a long, steady search for ways of doing kindnesses to others--a poet who had walked among the crowded tenements of the great city, bringing cheer and comfort not only by his songs, but by his wise and patient works of practical aid--a paralyzed woman who had lain for thirty years upon her bed, helpless but not hopeless, succeeding by a miracle of courage in her single aim, never to complain, but always to impart a bit of joy and peace to every one who came near her. all these, and other persons like them, people of little consideration in the world, but now seemingly all full of great contentment and an inward gladness that made their steps light, were in the company that passed along the road, talking together of things past and things to come, and singing now and then with clear voices from which the veil of age and sorrow was lifted. john weightman joined in some of the songs--which were familiar to him from their use in the church--at first with a touch of hesitation, and then more confidently. for as they went on his sense of strangeness and fear at his new experience diminished, and his thoughts began to take on their habitual assurance and complacency. were not these people going to the celestial city? and was not he in his right place among them? he had always looked forward to this journey. if they were sure, each one, of finding a mansion there, could not he be far more sure? his life had been more fruitful than theirs. he had been a leader, a founder of new enterprises, a pillar of church and state, a prince of the house of israel. ten talents had been given him, and he had made them twenty. his reward would be proportionate. he was glad that his companions were going to find fit dwellings prepared for them; but he thought also with a certain pleasure of the surprise that some of them would feel when they saw his appointed mansion. so they came to the summit of the moorland and looked over into the world beyond. it was a vast, green plain, softly rounded like a shallow vase, and circled with hills of amethyst. a broad, shining river flowed through it, and many silver threads of water were woven across the green; and there were borders of tall trees on the banks of the river, and orchards full of roses abloom along the little streams, and in the midst of all stood the city, white and wonderful and radiant. when the travelers saw it they were filled with awe and joy. they passed over the little streams and among the orchards quickly and silently, as if they feared to speak lest the city should vanish. the wall of the city was very low, a child could see over it, for it was made only of precious stones, which are never large. the gate of the city was not like a gate a all, for it was not barred with iron or wood, but only a single pearl, softly gleaming, marked the place where the wall ended and the entrance lay open. a person stood there whose face was bright and grave, and whose robe was like the flower of the lily, not a woven fabric, but a living texture. "come in," he said to the company of travelers; "you are at your journey's end, and your mansions are ready for you." john weightman hesitated, for he was troubled by a doubt. suppose that he was not really, like his companions, at his journey's end, but only transported for a little while out of the regular course of his life into this mysterious experience? suppose that, after all, he had not really passed through the door of death, like these others, but only through the door of dreams, and was walking in a vision, a living man among the blessed dead. would it be right for him to go with them into the heavenly city? would it not be a deception, a desecration, a deep and unforgivable offense? the strange, confusing question had no reason in it, as he very well knew; for if he was dreaming, then it was all a dream; but if his companions were real, then he also was with them in reality, and if they had died then he must have died too. yet he could not rid his mind of the sense that there was a difference between them and him, and it made him afraid to go on. but, as he paused and turned, the keeper of the gate looked straight and deep into his eyes, and beckoned to him. then he knew that it was not only right but necessary that he should enter. they passed from street to street among fair and spacious dwellings, set in amaranthine gardens, and adorned with an infinitely varied beauty of divine simplicity. the mansions differed in size, in shape, in charm: each one seemed to have its own personal look of loveliness; yet all were alike in fitness to their place, in harmony with one another, in the addition which each made to the singular and tranquil splendor of the city. as the little company came, one by one, to the mansions which were prepared for them, and their guide beckoned to the happy inhabitant to enter in and take possession, there was a soft murmur of joy, half wonder and half recognition; as if the new and immortal dwelling were crowned with the beauty of surprise, lovelier and nobler than all the dreams of it had been; and yet also as if it were touched with the beauty of the familiar, the remembered, the long-loved. one after another the travelers were led to their own mansions, and went in gladly; and from within, through the open doorways came sweet voices of welcome, and low laughter, and song. at last there was no one left with the guide but the two old friends, doctor mclean and john weightman. they were standing in front of one of the largest and fairest of the houses, whose garden glowed softly with radiant flowers. the guide laid his hand upon the doctor's shoulder. "this is for you," he said. "go in; there is no more pain here, no more death, nor sorrow, nor tears; for your old enemies are all conquered. but all the good that you have done for others, all the help that you have given, all the comfort that you have brought, all the strength and love that you have bestowed upon the suffering, are here; for we have built them all into this mansion for you." the good man's face was lighted with a still joy. he clasped his old friend's hand closely, and whispered: "how wonderful it is! go on, you will come to your mansion next, it is not far away, and we shall see each other again soon, very soon." so he went through the garden, and into the music within. the keeper of the gate turned to john weightman with level, quiet, searching eyes. then he asked, gravely: "where do you wish me to lead you now?" "to see my own mansion," answered the man, with half-concealed excitement. "is there not one here for me? you may not let me enter it yet, perhaps, for i must confess to you that i am only--" "i know," said the keeper of the gate--"i know it all. you are john weightman." "yes," said the man, more firmly than he had spoken at first, for it gratified him that his name was known. "yes, i am john weightman, senior warden of st. petronius' church. i wish very much to see my mansion here, if only for a moment. i believe that you have one for me. will you take me to it?" the keeper of the gate drew a little book from the breast of his robe and turned over the pages. "certainly," he said, with a curious look at the man, "your name is here; and you shall see your mansion if you will follow me." it seemed as if they must have walked miles and miles, through the vast city, passing street after street of houses larger and smaller, of gardens richer and poorer, but all full of beauty and delight. they came into a kind of suburb, where there were many small cottages, with plots of flowers, very lowly, but bright and fragrant. finally they reached an open field, bare and lonely-looking. there were two or three little bushes in it, without flowers, and the grass was sparse and thin. in the center of the field was a tiny hut, hardly big enough for a shepherd's shelter. it looked as if it had been built of discarded things, scraps and fragments of other buildings, put together with care and pains, by some one who had tried to make the most of cast-off material. there was something pitiful and shamefaced about the hut. it shrank and drooped and faded in its barren field, and seemed to cling only by sufferance to the edge of the splendid city. "this," said the keeper of the gate, standing still and speaking with a low, distinct voice--"this is your mansion, john weightman." an almost intolerable shock of grieved wonder and indignation choked the man for a moment so that he could not say a word. then he turned his face away from the poor little hut and began to remonstrate eagerly with his companion. "surely, sir," he stammered, "you must be in error about this. there is something wrong--some other john weightman--a confusion of names--the book must be mistaken." "there is no mistake," said the keeper of the gate, very calmly; "here is your name, the record of your title and your possessions in this place." "but how could such a house be prepared for me," cried the man, with a resentful tremor in his voice--"for me, after my long and faithful service? is this a suitable mansion for one so well known and devoted? why is it so pitifully small and mean? why have you not built it large and fair, like the others?" "that is all the material you sent us." "what!" "we have used all the material that you sent us," repeated the keeper of the gate. "now i know that you are mistaken," cried the man, with growing earnestness, "for all my life long i have been doing things that must have supplied you with material. have you not heard that i have built a school-house; the wing of a hospital; two--yes, three--small churches, and the greater part of a large one, the spire of st. petro--" the keeper of the gate lifted his hand. "wait," he said; "we know all these things. they were not ill done. but they were all marked and used as foundation for the name and mansion of john weightman in the world. did you not plan them for that?" "yes," answered the man, confused and taken aback, "i confess that i thought often of them in that way. perhaps my heart was set upon that too much. but there are other things--my endowment for the college--my steady and liberal contributions to all the established charities--my support of every respectable--" "wait," said the keeper of the gate again. "were not all these carefully recorded on earth where they would add to your credit? they were not foolishly done. verily, you have had your reward for them. would you be paid twice?" "no," cried the man, with deepening dismay, "i dare not claim that. i acknowledge that i considered my own interest too much. but surely not altogether. you have said that these things were not foolishly done. they accomplished some good in the world. does not that count for something?" "yes," answered he keeper of the gate, "it counts in the world--where you counted it. but it does not belong to you here. we have saved and used everything that you sent us. this is the mansion prepared for you." as he spoke, his look grew deeper and more searching, like a flame of fire. john weightman could not endure it. it seemed to strip him naked and wither him. he sank to the ground under a crushing weight of shame, covering his eyes with his hands and cowering face downward upon the stones. dimly through the trouble of his mind he felt their hardness and coldness. "tell me, then," he cried, brokenly, "since my life has been so little worth, how came i here at all?" "through the mercy of the king"--the answer was like the soft tolling of a bell. "and how have i earned it?" he murmured. "it is never earned; it is only given," came the clear, low reply. "but how have i failed so wretchedly," he asked, "in all the purpose of my life? what could i have done better? what is it that counts here?" "only that which is truly given," answered the bell-like voice. "only that good which is done for the love of doing it. only those plans in which the welfare of others is the master thought. only those labors in which the sacrifice is greater than the reward. only those gifts in which the giver forgets himself." the man lay silent. a great weakness, an unspeakable despondency and humiliation were upon him. but the face of the keeper of the gate was infinitely tender as he bent over him. "think again, john weightman. has there been nothing like that in your life?" "nothing," he sighed. "if there ever were such things, it must have been long ago--they were all crowded out--i have forgotten them." there was an ineffable smile on the face of the keeper of the gate, and his hand made the sign of the cross over the bowed head as he spoke gently: "these are the things that the king never forgets; and because there were a few of them in your life, you have a little place here." the sense of coldness and hardness under john weightman's hands grew sharper and more distinct. the feeling of bodily weariness and lassitude weighed upon him, but there was a calm, almost a lightness, in his heart as he listened to the fading vibrations of the silvery bell-tones. the chimney clock on the mantel had just ended the last stroke of seven as he lifted his head from the table. thin, pale strips of the city morning were falling into the room through the narrow partings of the heavy curtains. what was it that had happened to him? had he been ill? had he died and come to life again? or had he only slept, and had his soul gone visiting in dreams? he sat for some time, motionless, not lost, but finding himself in thought. then he took a narrow book from the table drawer, wrote a check, and tore it out. he went slowly up the stairs, knocked very softly at his son's door, and, hearing no answer, entered without noise. harold was asleep, his bare arm thrown above his head, and his eager face relaxed in peace. his father looked at him a moment with strangely shining eyes, and then tiptoed quietly to the writing-desk, found a pencil and a sheet of paper, and wrote rapidly: "my dear boy, here is what you asked me for; do what you like with it, and ask for more if you need it. if you are still thinking of that work with grenfell, we'll talk it over to-day after church. i want to know your heart better; and if i have made mistakes--" a slight noise made him turn his head. harold was sitting up in bed with wide-open eyes. "father!" he cried, "is that you?" "yes, my son," answered john weightman; "i've come back--i mean i've come up--no, i mean come in--well, here i am, and god give us a good christmas together." the mansion [illustration: [see page 57 "but how have i failed so wretchedly?"] the mansion by henry van dyke with illustrations by elizabeth shippen green [illustration] harper & brothers publishers new york and london . m . c . m . x . i copyright 1910, 1911, by harper & brothers printed in the united states of america published october, 1911 [illustration] the mansion there was an air of calm and reserved opulence about the weightman mansion that spoke not of money squandered, but of wealth prudently applied. standing on a corner of the avenue no longer fashionable for residence, it looked upon the swelling tide of business with an expression of complacency and half-disdain. the house was not beautiful. there was nothing in its straight front of chocolate-colored stone, its heavy cornices, its broad, staring windows of plate glass, its carved and bronze-bedecked mahogany doors at the top of the wide stoop, to charm the eye or fascinate the imagination. but it was eminently respectable, and in its way imposing. it seemed to say that the glittering shops of the jewelers, the milliners, the confectioners, the florists, the picture-dealers, the furriers, the makers of rare and costly antiquities, retail traders in luxuries of life, were beneath the notice of a house that had its foundations in the high finance, and was built literally and figuratively in the shadow of st. petronius' church. at the same time there was something self-pleased and congratulatory in the way in which the mansion held its own amid the changing neighborhood. it almost seemed to be lifted up a little, among the tall buildings near at hand, as if it felt the rising value of the land on which it stood. john weightman was like the house into which he had built himself thirty years ago, and in which his ideals and ambitions were incrusted. he was a self-made man. but in making himself he had chosen a highly esteemed pattern and worked according to the approved rules. there was nothing irregular, questionable, flamboyant about him. he was solid, correct, and justly successful. his minor tastes, of course, had been carefully kept up to date. at the proper time, pictures by the barbizon masters, old english plate and portraits, bronzes by barye and marbles by rodin, persian carpets and chinese porcelains, had been introduced to the mansion. it contained a louis quinze reception-room, an empire drawing-room, a jacobean dining-room, and various apartments dimly reminiscent of the styles of furniture affected by deceased monarchs. that the hallways were too short for the historic perspective did not make much difference. american decorative art is _capable de tout_, it absorbs all periods. of each period mr. weightman wished to have something of the best. he understood its value, present as a certificate, and prospective as an investment. it was only in the architecture of his town house that he remained conservative, immovable, one might almost say early-victorian-christian. his country house at dulwich-on-the-sound was a palace of the italian renaissance. but in town he adhered to an architecture which had moral associations, the nineteenth-century-brownstone epoch. it was a symbol of his social position, his religious doctrine, and even, in a way, of his business creed. "a man of fixed principles," he would say, "should express them in the looks of his house. new york changes its domestic architecture too rapidly. it is like divorce. it is not dignified. i don't like it. extravagance and fickleness are advertised in most of these new houses. i wish to be known for different qualities. dignity and prudence are the things that people trust. every one knows that i can afford to live in the house that suits me. it is a guarantee to the public. it inspires confidence. it helps my influence. there is a text in the bible about 'a house that hath foundations.' that is the proper kind of a mansion for a solid man." harold weightman had often listened to his father discoursing in this fashion on the fundamental principles of life, and always with a divided mind. he admired immensely his father's talents and the single-minded energy with which he improved them. but in the paternal philosophy there was something that disquieted and oppressed the young man, and made him gasp inwardly for fresh air and free action. at times, during his college course and his years at the law school, he had yielded to this impulse and broken away--now toward extravagance and dissipation, and then, when the reaction came, toward a romantic devotion to work among the poor. he had felt his father's disapproval for both of these forms of imprudence; but it was never expressed in a harsh or violent way, always with a certain tolerant patience, such as one might show for the mistakes and vagaries of the very young. john weightman was not hasty, impulsive, inconsiderate, even toward his own children. with them, as with the rest of the world, he felt that he had a reputation to maintain, a theory to vindicate. he could afford to give them time to see that he was absolutely right. one of his favorite scripture quotations was, "wait on the lord." he had applied it to real estate and to people, with profitable results. but to human persons the sensation of being waited for is not always agreeable. sometimes, especially with the young, it produces a vague restlessness, a dumb resentment, which is increased by the fact that one can hardly explain or justify it. of this john weightman was not conscious. it lay beyond his horizon. he did not take it into account in the plan of life which he made for himself and for his family as the sharers and inheritors of his success. "father plays us," said harold, in a moment of irritation, to his mother, "like pieces in a game of chess." "my dear," said that lady, whose faith in her husband was religious, "you ought not to speak so impatiently. at least he wins the game. he is one of the most respected men in new york. and he is very generous, too." "i wish he would be more generous in letting us be ourselves," said the young man. "he always has something in view for us and expects to move us up to it." "but isn't it always for our benefit?" replied his mother. "look what a position we have. no one can say there is any taint on our money. there are no rumors about your father. he has kept the laws of god and of man. he has never made any mistakes." harold got up from his chair and poked the fire. then he came back to the ample, well-gowned, firm-looking lady, and sat beside her on the sofa. he took her hand gently and looked at the two rings--a thin band of yellow gold, and a small solitaire diamond--which kept their place on her third finger in modest dignity, as if not shamed, but rather justified, by the splendor of the emerald which glittered beside them. "mother," he said, "you have a wonderful hand. and father made no mistake when he won you. but are you sure he has always been so inerrant?" "harold," she exclaimed, a little stiffly, "what do you mean? his life is an open book." "oh," he answered, "i don't mean anything bad, mother dear. i know the governor's life is an open book--a ledger, if you like, kept in the best bookkeeping hand, and always ready for inspection--every page correct, and showing a handsome balance. but isn't it a mistake not to allow us to make our own mistakes, to learn for ourselves, to live our own lives? must we be always working for 'the balance,' in one thing or another? i want to be myself--to get outside of this everlasting, profitable 'plan'--to let myself go, and lose myself for a while at least--to do the things that i want to do, just because i want to do them." "my boy," said his mother, anxiously, "you are not going to do anything wrong or foolish? you know the falsehood of that old proverb about wild oats." he threw back his head and laughed. "yes, mother," he answered, "i know it well enough. but in california, you know, the wild oats are one of the most valuable crops. they grow all over the hillsides and keep the cattle and the horses alive. but that wasn't what i meant--to sow wild oats. say to pick wild flowers, if you like, or even to chase wild geese--to do something that seems good to me just for its own sake, not for the sake of wages of one kind or another. i feel like a hired man, in the service of this magnificent mansion--say in training for father's place as majordomo. i'd like to get out some way, to feel free--perhaps to do something for others." the young man's voice hesitated a little. "yes, it sounds like cant, i know, but sometimes i feel as if i'd like to do some good in the world, if father only wouldn't insist upon god's putting it into the ledger." his mother moved uneasily, and a slight look of bewilderment came into her face. "isn't that almost irreverent?" she asked. "surely the righteous must have their reward. and your father is good. see how much he gives to all the established charities, how many things he has founded. he's always thinking of others, and planning for them. and surely, for us, he does everything. how well he has planned this trip to europe for me and the girls--the court-presentation at berlin, the season on the riviera, the visits in england with the plumptons and the halverstones. he says lord halverstone has the finest old house in sussex, pure elizabethan, and all the old customs are kept up, too--family prayers every morning for all the domestics. by-the-way, you know his son bertie, i believe." harold smiled a little to himself as he answered: "yes, i fished at catalina island last june with the honorable ethelbert; he's rather a decent chap, in spite of his ingrowing mind. but you?--mother, you are simply magnificent! you are father's masterpiece." the young man leaned over to kiss her, and went up to the riding club for his afternoon canter in the park. so it came to pass, early in december, that mrs. weightman and her two daughters sailed for europe, on their serious pleasure trip, even as it had been written in the book of providence; and john weightman, who had made the entry, was left to pass the rest of the winter with his son and heir in the brownstone mansion. they were comfortable enough. the machinery of the massive establishment ran as smoothly as a great electric dynamo. they were busy enough, too. john weightman's plans and enterprises were complicated, though his principle of action was always simple--to get good value for every expenditure and effort. the banking-house of which he was the chief, the brain, the will, the absolutely controlling hand, was so admirably organized that the details of its direction took but little time. but the scores of other interests that radiated from it and were dependent upon it--or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, that contributed to its solidity and success--the many investments, industrial, political, benevolent, reformatory, ecclesiastical, that had made the name of weightman well known and potent in city, church, and state, demanded much attention and careful steering, in order that each might produce the desired result. there were board meetings of corporations and hospitals, conferences in wall street and at albany, consultations and committee meetings in the brownstone mansion. for a share in all this business and its adjuncts john weightman had his son in training in one of the famous law firms of the city; for he held that banking itself is a simple affair, the only real difficulties of finance are on its legal side. meantime he wished the young man to meet and know the men with whom he would have to deal when he became a partner in the house. so a couple of dinners were given in the mansion during december, after which the father called the son's attention to the fact that over a hundred million dollars had sat around the board. but on christmas eve father and son were dining together without guests, and their talk across the broad table, glittering with silver and cut glass, and softly lit by shaded candles, was intimate, though a little slow at times. the elder man was in rather a rare mood, more expansive and confidential than usual; and, when the coffee was brought in and they were left alone, he talked more freely of his personal plans and hopes than he had ever done before. "i feel very grateful to-night," said he, at last; "it must be something in the air of christmas that gives me this feeling of thankfulness for the many divine mercies that have been bestowed upon me. all the principles by which i have tried to guide my life have been justified. i have never made the value of this salted almond by anything that the courts would not uphold, at least in the long run, and yet--or wouldn't it be truer to say and therefore?--my affairs have been wonderfully prospered. there's a great deal in that text 'honesty is the best'--but no, that's not from the bible, after all, is it? wait a moment; there is something of that kind, i know." "may i light a cigar, father," said harold, turning away to hide a smile, "while you are remembering the text?" "yes, certainly," answered the elder man, rather shortly; "you know i don't dislike the smell. but it is a wasteful, useless habit, and therefore i have never practised it. nothing useless is worth while, that's my motto--nothing that does not bring the reward. oh, now i recall the text, 'verily i say unto you they have their reward.' i shall ask doctor snodgrass to preach a sermon on that verse some day." "using you as an illustration?" "well, not exactly that; but i could give him some good material from my own experience to prove the truth of scripture. i can honestly say that there is not one of my charities that has not brought me in a good return, either in the increase of influence, the building up of credit, or the association with substantial people. of course you have to be careful how you give, in order to secure the best results--no indiscriminate giving--no pennies in beggars' hats! it has been one of my principles always to use the same kind of judgment in charities that i use in my other affairs, and they have not disappointed me." "even the check that you put in the plate when you take the offertory up the aisle on sunday morning?" "certainly; though there the influence is less direct; and i must confess that i have my doubts in regard to the collection for foreign missions. that always seems to me romantic and wasteful. you never hear from it in any definite way. they say the missionaries have done a good deal to open the way for trade; perhaps--but they have also gotten us into commercial and political difficulties. yet i give to them--a little--it is a matter of conscience with me to identify myself with all the enterprises of the church; it is the mainstay of social order and a prosperous civilization. but the best forms of benevolence are the well-established, organized ones here at home, where people can see them and know what they are doing." "you mean the ones that have a local habitation and a name." "yes; they offer by far the safest return, though of course there is something gained by contributing to general funds. a public man can't afford to be without public spirit. but on the whole i prefer a building, or an endowment. there is a mutual advantage to a good name and a good institution in their connection in the public mind. it helps them both. remember that, my boy. of course at the beginning you will have to practise it in a small way; later, you will have larger opportunities. but try to put your gifts where they can be identified and do good all around. you'll see the wisdom of it in the long run." "i can see it already, sir, and the way you describe it looks amazingly wise and prudent. in other words, we must cast our bread on the waters in large loaves, carried by sound ships marked with the owner's name, so that the return freight will be sure to come back to us." the father laughed, but his eyes were frowning a little as if he suspected something irreverent under the respectful reply. "you put it humorously, but there's sense in what you say. why not? god rules the sea; but he expects us to follow the laws of navigation and commerce. why not take good care of your bread, even when you give it away?" "it's not for me to say why not--and yet i can think of cases--" the young man hesitated for a moment. his half-finished cigar had gone out. he rose and tossed it into the fire, in front of which he remained standing--a slender, eager, restless young figure, with a touch of hunger in the fine face, strangely like and unlike the father, at whom he looked with half-wistful curiosity. "the fact is, sir," he continued, "there is such a case in my mind now, and it is a good deal on my heart, too. so i thought of speaking to you about it to-night. you remember tom rollins, the junior who was so good to me when i entered college?" the father nodded. he remembered very well indeed the annoying incidents of his son's first escapade, and how rollins had stood by him and helped to avoid a public disgrace, and how a close friendship had grown between the two boys, so different in their fortunes. "yes," he said, "i remember him. he was a promising young man. has he succeeded?" "not exactly--that is, not yet. his business has been going rather badly. he has a wife and little baby, you know. and now he has broken down,--something wrong with his lungs. the doctor says his only chance is a year or eighteen months in colorado. i wish we could help him." "how much would it cost?" "three or four thousand, perhaps, as a loan." "does the doctor say he will get well?" "a fighting chance--the doctor says." the face of the older man changed subtly. not a line was altered, but it seemed to have a different substance, as if it were carved out of some firm, imperishable stuff. "a fighting chance," he said, "may do for a speculation, but it is not a good investment. you owe something to young rollins. your grateful feeling does you credit. but don't overwork it. send him three or four hundred, if you like. you'll never hear from it again, except in the letter of thanks. but for heaven's sake don't be sentimental. religion is not a matter of sentiment; it's a matter of principle." [illustration: "it is not a good investment"] the face of the younger man changed now. but instead of becoming fixed and graven, it seemed to melt into life by the heat of an inward fire. his nostrils quivered with quick breath, his lips were curled. "principle!" he said. "you mean principal--and interest too. well, sir, you know best whether that is religion or not. but if it is, count me out, please. tom saved me from going to the devil, six years ago; and i'll be damned if i don't help him to the best of my ability now." john weightman looked at his son steadily. "harold," he said at last, "you know i dislike violent language, and it never has any influence with me. if i could honestly approve of this proposition of yours, i'd let you have the money; but i can't; it's extravagant and useless. but you have your christmas check for a thousand dollars coming to you to-morrow. you can use it as you please. i never interfere with your private affairs." "thank you," said harold. "thank you very much! but there's another private affair. i want to get away from this life, this town, this house. it stifles me. you refused last summer when i asked you to let me go up to grenfell's mission on the labrador. i could go now, at least as far as the newfoundland station. have you changed your mind?" "not at all. i think it is an exceedingly foolish enterprise. it would interrupt the career that i have marked out for you." "well, then, here's a cheaper proposition. algy vanderhoof wants me to join him on his yacht with--well, with a little party--to cruise in the west indies. would you prefer that?" "certainly not! the vanderhoof set is wild and godless--i do not wish to see you keeping company with fools who walk in the broad and easy way that leads to perdition." "it is rather a hard choice," said the young man, with a short laugh, turning toward the door. "according to you there's very little difference--a fool's paradise or a fool's hell! well, it's one or the other for me, and i'll toss up for it to-night: heads, i lose; tails, the devil wins. anyway, i'm sick of this, and i'm out of it." "harold," said the older man (and there was a slight tremor in his voice), "don't let us quarrel on christmas eve. all i want is to persuade you to think seriously of the duties and responsibilities to which god has called you--don't speak lightly of heaven and hell--remember, there is another life." the young man came back and laid his hand upon his father's shoulder. "father," he said, "i want to remember it. i try to believe in it. but somehow or other, in this house, it all seems unreal to me. no doubt all you say is perfectly right and wise. i don't venture to argue against it, but i can't feel it--that's all. if i'm to have a soul, either to lose or to save, i must really live. just now neither the present nor the future means anything to me. but surely we won't quarrel. i'm very grateful to you, and we'll part friends. good-night, sir." the father held out his hand in silence. the heavy portiã¨re dropped noiselessly behind the son, and he went up the wide, curving stairway to his own room. meantime john weightman sat in his carved chair in the jacobean dining-room. he felt strangely old and dull. the portraits of beautiful women by lawrence and reynolds and raeburn, which had often seemed like real company to him, looked remote and uninteresting. he fancied something cold and almost unfriendly in their expression, as if they were staring through him or beyond him. they cared nothing for his principles, his hopes, his disappointments, his successes; they belonged to another world, in which he had no place. at this he felt a vague resentment, a sense of discomfort that he could not have defined or explained. he was used to being considered, respected, appreciated at his full value in every region, even in that of his own dreams. presently he rang for the butler, telling him to close the house and not to sit up, and walked with lagging steps into the long library, where the shaded lamps were burning. his eye fell upon the low shelves full of costly books, but he had no desire to open them. even the carefully chosen pictures that hung above them seemed to have lost their attraction. he paused for a moment before an idyll of corot--a dance of nymphs around some forgotten altar in a vaporous glade--and looked at it curiously. there was something rapturous and serene about the picture, a breath of spring-time in the misty trees, a harmony of joy in the dancing figures, that wakened in him a feeling of half-pleasure and half-envy. it represented something that he had never known in his calculated, orderly life. he was dimly mistrustful of it. "it is certainly very beautiful," he thought, "but it is distinctly pagan; that altar is built to some heathen god. it does not fit into the scheme of a christian life. i doubt whether it is consistent with the tone of my house. i will sell it this winter. it will bring three or four times what i paid for it. that was a good purchase, a very good bargain." he dropped into the revolving chair before his big library table. it was covered with pamphlets and reports of the various enterprises in which he was interested. there was a pile of newspaper clippings in which his name was mentioned with praise for his sustaining power as a pillar of finance, for his judicious benevolence, for his support of wise and prudent reform movements, for his discretion in making permanent public gifts--"the weightman charities," one very complaisant editor called them, as if they deserved classification as a distinct species. he turned the papers over listlessly. there was a description and a picture of the "weightman wing of the hospital for cripples," of which he was president; and an article on the new professor in the "weightman chair of political jurisprudence" in jackson university, of which he was a trustee; and an illustrated account of the opening of the "weightman grammar-school" at dulwich-on-the-sound, where he had his legal residence for purposes of taxation. this last was perhaps the most carefully planned of all the weightman charities. he desired to win the confidence and support of his rural neighbors. it had pleased him much when the local newspaper had spoken of him as an ideal citizen and the logical candidate for the governorship of the state; but upon the whole it seemed to him wiser to keep out of active politics. it would be easier and better to put harold into the running, to have him sent to the legislature from the dulwich district, then to the national house, then to the senate. why not? the weightman interests were large enough to need a direct representative and guardian at washington. but to-night all these plans came back to him with dust upon them. they were dry and crumbling like forsaken habitations. the son upon whom his complacent ambition had rested had turned his back upon the mansion of his father's hopes. the break might not be final; and in any event there would be much to live for; the fortunes of the family would be secure. but the zest of it all would be gone if john weightman had to give up the assurance of perpetuating his name and his principles in his son. it was a bitter disappointment, and he felt that he had not deserved it. he rose from the chair and paced the room with leaden feet. for the first time in his life his age was visibly upon him. his head was heavy and hot, and the thoughts that rolled in it were confused and depressing. could it be that he had made a mistake in the principles of his existence? there was no argument in what harold had said--it was almost childish--and yet it had shaken the elder man more deeply than he cared to show. it held a silent attack which touched him more than open criticism. suppose the end of his life were nearer than he thought--the end must come some time--what if it were now? had he not founded his house upon a rock? had he not kept the commandments? was he not, "touching the law, blameless"? and beyond this, even if there were some faults in his character--and all men are sinners--yet he surely believed in the saving doctrines of religion--the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, the life everlasting. yes, that was the true source of comfort, after all. he would read a bit in the bible, as he did every night, and go to bed and to sleep. he went back to his chair at the library table. a strange weight of weariness rested upon him, but he opened the book at a familiar place, and his eyes fell upon the verse at the bottom of the page. "_lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth._" that had been the text of the sermon a few weeks before. sleepily, heavily, he tried to fix his mind upon it and recall it. what was it that doctor snodgrass had said? ah, yes--that it was a mistake to pause here in reading the verse. we must read on without a pause--_lay not up treasures upon earth where moth and rust do corrupt and where thieves break through and steal_--that was the true doctrine. we may have treasures upon earth, but they must not be put into unsafe places, but into safe places. a most comforting doctrine! he had always followed it. moths and rust and thieves had done no harm to his investments. john weightman's drooping eyes turned to the next verse, at the top of the second column. "_but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven._" now what had the doctor said about that? how was it to be understood--in what sense--treasures--in heaven? the book seemed to float away from him. the light vanished. he wondered dimly if this could be death, coming so suddenly, so quietly, so irresistibly. he struggled for a moment to hold himself up, and then sank slowly forward upon the table. his head rested upon his folded hands. he slipped into the unknown. * * * * * how long afterward conscious life returned to him he did not know. the blank might have been an hour or a century. he knew only that something had happened in the interval. what it was he could not tell. he found great difficulty in catching the thread of his identity again. he felt that he was himself; but the trouble was to make his connections, to verify and place himself, to know who and where he was. at last it grew clear. john weightman was sitting on a stone, not far from a road in a strange land. the road was not a formal highway, fenced and graded. it was more like a great travel-trace, worn by thousands of feet passing across the open country in the same direction. down in the valley, into which he could look, the road seemed to form itself gradually out of many minor paths; little footways coming across the meadows, winding tracks following along beside the streams, faintly marked trails emerging from the woodlands. but on the hillside the threads were more firmly woven into one clear band of travel, though there were still a few dim paths joining it here and there, as if persons had been climbing up the hill by other ways and had turned at last to seek the road. from the edge of the hill, where john weightman sat, he could see the travelers, in little groups or larger companies, gathering from time to time by the different paths, and making the ascent. they were all clothed in white, and the form of their garments was strange to him; it was like some old picture. they passed him, group after group, talking quietly together or singing; not moving in haste, but with a certain air of eagerness and joy as if they were glad to be on their way to an appointed place. they did not stay to speak to him, but they looked at him often and spoke to one another as they looked; and now and then one of them would smile and beckon him a friendly greeting, so that he felt they would like him to be with them. there was quite an interval between the groups; and he followed each of them with his eyes after it had passed, blanching the long ribbon of the road for a little transient space, rising and receding across the wide, billowy upland, among the rounded hillocks of aerial green and gold and lilac, until it came to the high horizon, and stood outlined for a moment, a tiny cloud of whiteness against the tender blue, before it vanished over the hill. for a long time he sat there watching and wondering. it was a very different world from that in which his mansion on the avenue was built; and it looked strange to him, but most real--as real as anything he had ever seen. presently he felt a strong desire to know what country it was and where the people were going. he had a faint premonition of what it must be, but he wished to be sure. so he rose from the stone where he was sitting, and came down through the short grass and the lavender flowers, toward a passing group of people. one of them turned to meet him, and held out his hand. it was an old man, under whose white beard and brows john weightman thought he saw a suggestion of the face of the village doctor who had cared for him years ago, when he was a boy in the country. [illustration: "welcome! will you come with us?"] "welcome," said the old man. "will you come with us?" "where are you going?" "to the heavenly city, to see our mansions there." "and who are these with you?" "strangers to me, until a little while ago; i know them better now. but you i have known for a long time, john weightman. don't you remember your old doctor?" "yes," he cried--"yes; your voice has not changed at all. i'm glad indeed to see you, doctor mclean, especially now. all this seems very strange to me, almost oppressive. i wonder if--but may i go with you, do you suppose?" "surely," answered the doctor, with his familiar smile; "it will do you good. and you also must have a mansion in the city waiting for you--a fine one, too--are you not looking forward to it?" "yes," replied the other, hesitating a moment; "yes--i believe it must be so, although i had not expected to see it so soon. but i will go with you, and we can talk by the way." the two men quickly caught up with the other people, and all went forward together along the road. the doctor had little to tell of his experience, for it had been a plain, hard life, uneventfully spent for others, and the story of the village was very simple. john weightman's adventures and triumphs would have made a far richer, more imposing history, full of contacts with the great events and personages of the time. but somehow or other he did not care to speak much about it, walking on that wide heavenly moorland, under that tranquil, sunless arch of blue, in that free air of perfect peace, where the light was diffused without a shadow, as if the spirit of life in all things were luminous. there was only one person besides the doctor in that little company whom john weightman had known before--an old bookkeeper who had spent his life over a desk, carefully keeping accounts--a rusty, dull little man, patient and narrow, whose wife had been in the insane asylum for twenty years and whose only child was a crippled daughter, for whose comfort and happiness he had toiled and sacrificed himself without stint. it was a surprise to find him here, as care-free and joyful as the rest. [illustration: that free air of perfect peace] the lives of others in the company were revealed in brief glimpses as they talked together--a mother, early widowed, who had kept her little flock of children together and labored through hard and heavy years to bring them up in purity and knowledge--a sister of charity who had devoted herself to the nursing of poor folk who were being eaten to death by cancer--a schoolmaster whose heart and life had been poured into his quiet work of training boys for a clean and thoughtful manhood--a medical missionary who had given up a brilliant career in science to take the charge of a hospital in darkest africa--a beautiful woman with silver hair who had resigned her dreams of love and marriage to care for an invalid father, and after his death had made her life a long, steady search for ways of doing kindnesses to others--a poet who had walked among the crowded tenements of the great city, bringing cheer and comfort not only by his songs, but by his wise and patient works of practical aid--a paralyzed woman who had lain for thirty years upon her bed, helpless but not hopeless, succeeding by a miracle of courage in her single aim, never to complain, but always to impart a bit of her joy and peace to every one who came near her. all these, and other persons like them, people of little consideration in the world, but now seemingly all full of great contentment and an inward gladness that made their steps light, were in the company that passed along the road, talking together of things past and things to come, and singing now and then with clear voices from which the veil of age and sorrow was lifted. john weightman joined in some of the songs--which were familiar to him from their use in the church--at first with a touch of hesitation, and then more confidently. for as they went on his sense of strangeness and fear at his new experience diminished, and his thoughts began to take on their habitual assurance and complacency. were not these people going to the celestial city? and was not he in his right place among them? he had always looked forward to this journey. if they were sure, each one, of finding a mansion there, could not he be far more sure? his life had been more fruitful than theirs. he had been a leader, a founder of new enterprises, a pillar of church and state, a prince of the house of israel. ten talents had been given him, and he had made them twenty. his reward would be proportionate. he was glad that his companions were going to find fit dwellings prepared for them; but he thought also with a certain pleasure of the surprise that some of them would feel when they saw his appointed mansion. so they came to the summit of the moorland and looked over into the world beyond. it was a vast, green plain, softly rounded like a shallow vase, and circled with hills of amethyst. a broad, shining river flowed through it, and many silver threads of water were woven across the green; and there were borders of tall trees on the banks of the river, and orchards full of roses abloom along the little streams, and in the midst of all stood the city, white and wonderful and radiant. when the travelers saw it they were filled with awe and joy. they passed over the little streams and among the orchards quickly and silently, as if they feared to speak lest the city should vanish. the wall of the city was very low, a child could see over it, for it was made only of precious stones, which are never large. the gate of the city was not like a gate at all, for it was not barred with iron or wood, but only a single pearl, softly gleaming, marked the place where the wall ended and the entrance lay open. a person stood there whose face was bright and grave, and whose robe was like the flower of the lily, not a woven fabric, but a living texture. "come in," he said to the company of travelers; "you are at your journey's end, and your mansions are ready for you." john weightman hesitated, for he was troubled by a doubt. suppose that he was not really, like his companions, at his journey's end, but only transported for a little while out of the regular course of his life into this mysterious experience? suppose that, after all, he had not really passed through the door of death, like these others, but only through the door of dreams, and was walking in a vision, a living man among the blessed dead. would it be right for him to go with them into the heavenly city? would it not be a deception, a desecration, a deep and unforgivable offense? the strange, confusing question had no reason in it, as he very well knew; for if he was dreaming, then it was all a dream; but if his companions were real, then he also was with them in reality, and if they had died then he must have died too. yet he could not rid his mind of the sense that there was a difference between them and him, and it made him afraid to go on. but, as he paused and turned, the keeper of the gate looked straight and deep into his eyes, and beckoned to him. then he knew that it was not only right but necessary that he should enter. they passed from street to street among fair and spacious dwellings, set in amaranthine gardens, and adorned with an infinitely varied beauty of divine simplicity. the mansions differed in size, in shape, in charm: each one seemed to have its own personal look of loveliness; yet all were alike in fitness to their place, in harmony with one another, in the addition which each made to the singular and tranquil splendor of the city. as the little company came, one by one, to the mansions which were prepared for them, and their guide beckoned to the happy inhabitant to enter in and take possession, there was a soft murmur of joy, half wonder and half recognition; as if the new and immortal dwelling were crowned with the beauty of surprise, lovelier and nobler than all the dreams of it had been; and yet also as if it were touched with the beauty of the familiar, the remembered, the long-loved. one after another the travelers were led to their own mansions, and went in gladly; and from within, through the open doorways, came sweet voices of welcome, and low laughter, and song. at last there was no one left with the guide but the two old friends, doctor mclean and john weightman. they were standing in front of one of the largest and fairest of the houses, whose garden glowed softly with radiant flowers. the guide laid his hand upon the doctor's shoulder. "this is for you," he said. "go in; there is no more pain here, no more death, nor sorrow, nor tears; for your old enemies are all conquered. but all the good that you have done for others, all the help that you have given, all the comfort that you have brought, all the strength and love that you have bestowed upon the suffering, are here; for we have built them all into this mansion for you." the good man's face was lighted with a still joy. he clasped his old friend's hand closely, and whispered: "how wonderful it is! go on, you will come to your mansion next, it is not far away, and we shall see each other again soon, very soon." so he went through the garden, and into the music within. the keeper of the gate turned to john weightman with level, quiet, searching eyes. then he asked, gravely: "where do you wish me to lead you now?" "to see my own mansion," answered the man, with half-concealed excitement. "is there not one here for me? you may not let me enter it yet, perhaps, for i must confess to you that i am only--" "i know," said the keeper of the gate--"i know it all. you are john weightman." "yes," said the man, more firmly than he had spoken at first, for it gratified him that his name was known. "yes, i am john weightman, senior warden of st. petronius' church. i wish very much to see my mansion here, if only for a moment. i believe that you have one for me. will you take me to it?" the keeper of the gate drew a little book from the breast of his robe and turned over the pages. "certainly," he said, with a curious look at the man, "your name is here; and you shall see your mansion if you will follow me." it seemed as if they must have walked miles and miles, through the vast city, passing street after street of houses larger and smaller, of gardens richer and poorer, but all full of beauty and delight. they came into a kind of suburb, where there were many small cottages, with plots of flowers, very lowly, but bright and fragrant. finally they reached an open field, bare and lonely-looking. there were two or three little bushes in it, without flowers, and the grass was sparse and thin. in the center of the field was a tiny hut, hardly big enough for a shepherd's shelter. it looked as if it had been built of discarded things, scraps and fragments of other buildings, put together with care and pains, by some one who had tried to make the most of cast-off material. there was something pitiful and shamefaced about the hut. it shrank and drooped and faded in its barren field, and seemed to cling only by sufferance to the edge of the splendid city. "this," said the keeper of the gate, standing still and speaking with a low, distinct voice--"this is your mansion, john weightman." an almost intolerable shock of grieved wonder and indignation choked the man for a moment so that he could not say a word. then he turned his face away from the poor little hut and began to remonstrate eagerly with his companion. "surely, sir," he stammered, "you must be in error about this. there is something wrong--some other john weightman--a confusion of names--the book must be mistaken." "there is no mistake," said the keeper of the gate, very calmly; "here is your name, the record of your title and your possessions in this place." "but how could such a house be prepared for me," cried the man, with a resentful tremor in his voice--"for me, after my long and faithful service? is this a suitable mansion for one so well known and devoted? why is it so pitifully small and mean? why have you not built it large and fair, like the others?" "that is all the material you sent us." "what!" "we have used all the material that you sent us," repeated the keeper of the gate. "now i know that you are mistaken," cried the man, with growing earnestness, "for all my life long i have been doing things that must have supplied you with material. have you not heard that i have built a school-house; the wing of a hospital; two--yes, three--small churches, and the greater part of a large one, the spire of st. petro--" the keeper of the gate lifted his hand. "wait," he said; "we know all these things. they were not ill done. but they were all marked and used as foundation for the name and mansion of john weightman in the world. did you not plan them for that?" "yes," answered the man, confused and taken aback, "i confess that i thought often of them in that way. perhaps my heart was set upon that too much. but there are other things--my endowment for the college--my steady and liberal contributions to all the established charities--my support of every respectable--" "wait," said the keeper of the gate again. "were not all these carefully recorded on earth where they would add to your credit? they were not foolishly done. verily, you have had your reward for them. would you be paid twice?" "no," cried the man, with deepening dismay, "i dare not claim that. i acknowledge that i considered my own interest too much. but surely not altogether. you have said that these things were not foolishly done. they accomplished some good in the world. does not that count for something?" "yes," answered the keeper of the gate, "it counts in the world--where you counted it. but it does not belong to you here. we have saved and used everything that you sent us. this is the mansion prepared for you." as he spoke, his look grew deeper and more searching, like a flame of fire. john weightman could not endure it. it seemed to strip him naked and wither him. he sank to the ground under a crushing weight of shame, covering his eyes with his hands and cowering face downward upon the stones. dimly through the trouble of his mind he felt their hardness and coldness. "tell me, then," he cried, brokenly, "since my life has been so little worth, how came i here at all?" "through the mercy of the king"--the answer was like the soft tolling of a bell. "and how have i earned it?" he murmured. "it is never earned; it is only given," came the clear, low reply. "but how have i failed so wretchedly," he asked, "in all the purpose of my life? what could i have done better? what is it that counts here?" "only that which is truly given," answered the bell-like voice. "only that good which is done for the love of doing it. only those plans in which the welfare of others is the master thought. only those labors in which the sacrifice is greater than the reward. only those gifts in which the giver forgets himself." the man lay silent. a great weakness, an unspeakable despondency and humiliation were upon him. but the face of the keeper of the gate was infinitely tender as he bent over him. "think again, john weightman. has there been nothing like that in your life?" "nothing," he sighed. "if there ever were such things, it must have been long ago--they were all crowded out--i have forgotten them." there was an ineffable smile on the face of the keeper of the gate, and his hand made the sign of the cross over the bowed head as he spoke gently: "these are the things that the king never forgets; and because there were a few of them in your life, you have a little place here." * * * * * the sense of coldness and hardness under john weightman's hands grew sharper and more distinct. the feeling of bodily weariness and lassitude weighed upon him, but there was a calm, almost a lightness, in his heart as he listened to the fading vibrations of the silvery bell-tones. the chimney clock on the mantel had just ended the last stroke of seven as he lifted his head from the table. thin, pale strips of the city morning were falling into the room through the narrow partings of the heavy curtains. what was it that had happened to him? had he been ill? had he died and come to life again? or had he only slept, and had his soul gone visiting in dreams? he sat for some time, motionless, not lost, but finding himself in thought. then he took a narrow book from the table drawer, wrote a check, and tore it out. he went slowly up the stairs, knocked very softly at his son's door, and, hearing no answer, entered without noise. harold was asleep, his bare arm thrown above his head, and his eager face relaxed in peace. his father looked at him a moment with strangely shining eyes, and then tiptoed quietly to the writing-desk, found a pencil and a sheet of paper, and wrote rapidly: "my dear boy, here is what you asked me for; do what you like with it, and ask for more if you need it. if you are still thinking of that work with grenfell, we'll talk it over to-day after church. i want to know your heart better; and if i have made mistakes--" [illustration: "god give us a good christmas together"] a slight noise made him turn his head. harold was sitting up in bed with wide-open eyes. "father!" he cried, "is that you?" "yes, my son," answered john weightman; "i've come back--i mean i've come up--no, i mean come in--well, here i am, and god give us a good christmas together." the end eternal life by professor henry drummond philadelphia henry altemus copyright 1896 by henry altemus. eternal life. "this is life eternal--that they might know thee, the true god, and jesus christ whom thou has sent."--_jesus christ_. "perfect correspondence would be perfect life. were there no changes in the environment but such as the organism had adapted changes to meet, and were it never to fail in the efficiency with which it met them, there would be eternal existence and eternal knowledge."--_herbert spencer_. one of the most startling achievements of recent science is a definition of eternal life. to the religious mind this is a contribution of immense moment. for eighteen hundred years only one definition of life eternal was before the world. now there are two. through all these centuries revealed religion had this doctrine to itself. ethics had a voice, as well as christianity, on the question of the _summum bonum_; philosophy ventured to speculate on the being of a god. but no source outside christianity contributed anything to the doctrine of eternal life. apart from revelation, this great truth was unguaranteed. it was the one thing in the christian system that most needed verification from without, yet none was forthcoming. and never has any further light been thrown upon the question why in its very nature the christian life should be eternal. christianity itself even upon this point has been obscure. its decision upon the bare fact is authoritative and specific. but as to what there is in the spiritual life necessarily endowing it with the element of eternity, the maturest theology is all but silent. it has been reserved for modern biology at once to defend and illuminate this central truth of the christian faith. and hence in the interests of religion, practical and evidential, this second and scientific definition of eternal life is to be hailed as an announcement of commanding interest. why it should not yet have received the recognition of religious thinkers--for already it has lain some years unnoticed--is not difficult to understand. the belief in science as an aid to faith is not yet ripe enough to warrant men in searching there for witnesses to the highest christian truths. the inspiration of nature, it is thought, extends to the humbler doctrines alone. and yet the reverent inquirer who guides his steps in the right direction may find even now in the still dim twilight of the scientific world much that will illuminate and intensify his sublimest faith. here, at least, comes, and comes unbidden, the opportunity of testing the most vital point of the christian system. hitherto the christian philosopher has remained content with the scientific evidence against annihilation. or, with butler, he has reasoned from the metamorphoses of insects to a future life. or again, with the authors of "the unseen universe," the apologist has constructed elaborate, and certainly impressive, arguments upon the law of continuity. but now we may draw nearer. for the first time science touches christianity _positively_ on the doctrine of immortality. it confronts us with an actual definition of an eternal life, based on a full and rigidly accurate examination of the necessary conditions. science does not pretend that it can fulfil these conditions. its votaries make no claim to possess the eternal life. it simply postulates the requisite conditions without concerning itself whether any organism should ever appear, or does now exist, which might fulfil them. the claim of religion, on the other hand, is that there are organisms which possess eternal life. and the problem for us to solve is this: do those who profess to possess eternal life fulfil the conditions required by science, or are they different conditions? in a word, is the christian conception of eternal life scientific? it may be unnecessary to notice at the outset that the definition of eternal life drawn up by science was framed without reference to religion. it must indeed have been the last thought with the thinker to whom we chiefly owe it, that in unfolding the conception of a life in its very nature necessarily eternal, he was contributing to theology. mr. herbert spencer--for it is to him we owe it--would be the first to admit the impartiality of his definition; and from the connection in which it occurs in his writings, it is obvious that religion was not even present to his mind. he is analyzing with minute care the relations between environment and life. he unfolds the principle according to which life is high or low, long or short. he shows why organisms live and why they die. and finally he defines a condition of things in which an organism would never die--in which it would enjoy a perpetual and perfect life. this to him is, of course, but a speculation. life eternal is a biological conceit. the conditions necessary to an eternal life do not exist in the natural world. so that the definition is altogether impartial and independent. a perfect life, to science, is simply a thing which is theoretically possible--like a perfect vacuum. before giving, in so many words, the definition of mr. herbert spencer, it will render it fully intelligible if we gradually lead up to it by a brief rehearsal of the few and simple biological facts on which it is based. in considering the subject of death, we have formerly seen that there are degrees of life. by this is meant that some lives have more and fuller correspondence with environment than others. the amount of correspondence, again, is determined by the greater or less complexity of the organism. thus a simple organism like the amoeba is possessed of very few correspondences. it is a mere sac of transparent structureless jelly for which organization has done almost nothing, and hence it can only communicate with the smallest possible area of environment. an insect, in virtue of its more complex structure, corresponds with a wider area. nature has endowed it with special faculties for reaching out to the environment on many sides; it has more life than the amoeba. in other words, it is a higher animal. man again, whose body is still further differentiated, or broken up into different correspondences, finds himself _en rapport_ with his surroundings to a further extent. and therefore he is higher still, more living still. and this law, that the degree of life varies with the degree of correspondence, holds to the minutest detail throughout the entire range of living things. life becomes fuller and fuller, richer and richer, more and more sensitive and responsive to an ever-widening environment as we rise in the chain of being. now it will speedily appear that a distinct relation exists, and must exist, between complexity and longevity. death being brought about by the failure of an organism to adjust itself to some change in the environment, it follows that those organisms which are able to adjust themselves most readily and successfully will live the longest. they will continue time after time to effect the appropriate adjustment, and their power of doing so will be exactly proportionate to their complexity--that is, to the amount of environment they can control with their correspondences. there are, for example, in the environment of every animal certain things which are directly or indirectly dangerous to life. if its equipment of correspondences is not complete enough to enable it to avoid these dangers in all possible circumstances, it must sooner or later succumb. the organism then with the most perfect set of correspondences, that is, the highest and most complex organism, has an obvious advantage over less complex forms. it can adjust itself more perfectly and frequently. but this is just the biological way of saying that it can live the longest. and hence the relation between complexity and longevity may be expressed thus--the most complex organisms are the longest lived. to state and illustrate the proposition conversely may make the point still further clear. the less highly organized an animal is, the less will be its chance of remaining in lengthened correspondence with its environment. at some time or other in its career circumstances are sure to occur to which the comparatively immobile organism finds itself structurally unable to respond. thus a _medusa_ tossed ashore by a wave, finds itself so out of correspondence with its new surroundings that its life must pay the forfeit. had it been able by internal change to adapt itself to external change--to correspond sufficiently with the new environment, as for example to crawl, as an eel would have done, back into that environment with which it had completer correspondence--its life might have been spared. but had this happened it would continue to live henceforth only so long as it could continue in correspondence with all the circumstances in which it might find itself. even if, however, it became complex enough to resist the ordinary and direct dangers of its environment, it might still be out of correspondence with others. a naturalist for instance, might take advantage of its want of correspondence with particular sights and sounds to capture it for his cabinet, or the sudden dropping of a yacht's anchor or the turn of a screw might cause its untimely death. again, in the case of a bird in virtue of its more complex organization, there is command over a much larger area of environment. it can take precautions such as the _medusa_ could not; it has increased facilities for securing food; its adjustments all round are more complex; and therefore it ought to be able to maintain its life for a longer period. there is still a large area, however, over which it has no control. its power of internal change is not complete enough to afford it perfect correspondence with all external changes, and its tenure of life is to that extent insecure. its correspondence, moreover, is limited even with regard to those external conditions with which it has been partially established. thus a bird in ordinary circumstances has no difficulty in adapting itself to changes of temperature, but if these are varied beyond the point at which its capacity of adjustment begins to fail--for example, during an extreme winter--the organism being unable to meet the condition must perish. the human organism, on the other hand, can respond to this external condition, as well as to countless other vicissitudes under which lower forms would inevitably succumb. man's adjustments are to the largest known area of environment, and hence he ought to be able furthest to prolong his life. it becomes evident, then, that as we ascend in the scale of life we rise also in the scale of longevity. the lowest organisms are, as a rule, shortlived, and the rate of mortality diminishes more or less regularly as we ascend in the animal scale. so extraordinary indeed is the mortality among lowly-organized forms that in most cases a compensation is actually provided, nature endowing them with a marvellously increased fertility in order to guard against absolute extinction. almost all lower forms are furnished not only with great reproductive powers, but with different methods of propagation, by which, in various circumstances, and in an incredibly short time, the species can be indefinitely multiplied. ehrenberg found that by the repeated subdivisions of a single _paramecium_, no fewer than 268,000,000 similar organisms might be produced in one month. this power steadily decreases as we rise higher in the scale, until forms are reached in which one, two, or at most three, come into being at a birth. it decreases, however because it is no longer needed. these forms have a much longer lease of life. and it may be taken as a rule, although it has exceptions, that complexity in animal organisms is always associated with longevity. it may be objected that these illustrations are taken merely from morbid conditions. but whether the life be cut short by accident or by disease the principle is the same. all dissolution is brought about practically in the same way. a certain condition in the environment fails to be met by a corresponding condition in the organism, and this is death. and conversely the more an organism in virtue of its complexity can adapt itself to all the parts of its environment, the longer it will live. "it is manifest _a priori_," says mr. herbert spencer, "that since changes in the physical state of the environment, as also those mechanical actions and those variations of available food which occur in it, are liable to stop the processes going on in the organism; and since the adaptive changes in the organism have the effects of directly or indirectly counterbalancing these changes in the environment, it follows that the life of the organism will be short or long, low or high, according to the extent to which changes in the environment are met by corresponding changes in the organism. allowing a margin for perturbations, the life will continue only while the correspondence continues; the completeness of the life will be proportionate to the completeness of the correspondence; and the life will be perfect only when the correspondence is perfect." [1] [1] "principles of biology," p. 82. we are now all but in sight of our scientific definition of eternal life. the desideratum is an organism with a correspondence of a very exceptional kind. it must lie beyond the reach of those "mechanical actions" and those "variations of available food," which are "liable to stop the processes going on in the organism." before we reach an eternal life we must pass beyond that point at which all ordinary correspondences inevitably cease. we must find an organism so high and complex, that at some point in its development it shall have added a correspondence which organic death is powerless to arrest. we must, in short, pass beyond that finite region where the correspondences depend on evanescent and material media, and enter a further region where the environment corresponded with is itself eternal. such an environment exists. the environment of the spiritual world is outside the influence of these "mechanical actions," which sooner or later interrupt the processes going on in all finite organisms. if then we can find an organism which has established a correspondence with the spiritual world, that correspondence will possess the elements of eternity-provided only one other condition be fulfilled. that condition is that the environment be perfect. if it is not perfect, if it is not the highest, if it is endowed with the finite quality of change, there can be no guarantee that the life of its correspondents will be eternal. some change might occur in it which the correspondents had no adaptive changes to meet, and life would cease. but grant a spiritual organism in perfect correspondence with a perfect spiritual environment, and the conditions necessary to eternal life are satisfied. the exact terms of mr. herbert spencer's definition of eternal life may now be given. and it will be seen that they include essentially the conditions here laid down. "perfect correspondence would be perfect life. were there no changes in the environment but such as the organism had adapted changes to meet, and were it never to fail in the efficiency with which it met them, there would be eternal existence and eternal knowledge." [1] reserving the question as to the possible fulfilment of these conditions, let us turn for a moment to the definition of eternal life laid down by christ. let us place it alongside the definition of science, and mark the points of contact. uninterrupted correspondence with a perfect environment is eternal life according to science. "this is life eternal," said christ, "that they may know thee, the only true god, and jesus christ whom thou has sent." [2] life eternal is to know god. to know god is to "correspond" with god. to correspond with god is to correspond with a perfect environment. and the organism which attains to this, in the nature of things must live for ever. here is "eternal existence and eternal knowledge." [1] "principles of biology," p. 88. [2] john xvii. the main point of agreement between the scientific and the religious definition is that life consists in a peculiar and personal relation defined as a "correspondence." this conception, that life consists in correspondences, has been so abundantly illustrated already that it is now unnecessary to discuss it further. all life indeed consists essentially in correspondences with various environments. the artist's life is a correspondence with art; the musician's with music. to cut them off from these environments is in that relation to cut off their life. to be cut off from all environment is death. to find a new environment again and cultivate relation with it is to find a new life. to live is to correspond, and to correspond is to live. so much is true in science. but it is also true in religion. and it is of great importance to observe that to religion also the conception of life is a correspondence. no truth of christianity has been more ignorantly or wilfully travestied than the doctrine of immortality. the popular idea, in spite of a hundred protests, is that eternal life is to live forever. a single glance at the _locus classicus_, might have made this error impossible. there we are told that life eternal is not to live. this is life eternal--_to know_. and yet--and it is a notorious instance of the fact that men who are opposed to religion will take their conceptions of its profoundest truths from mere vuglar perversions--this view still represents to many cultivated men the scriptural doctrine of eternal life. from time to time the taunt is thrown at religion, not unseldom from lips which science ought to have taught more caution, that the future life of christianity is simply a prolonged existence, an eternal monotony, a blind and indefinite continuance of being. the bible never could commit itself to any such empty platitude; nor could christianity ever offer to the world a hope so colorless. not that eternal life has nothing to do with everlastingness. that is part of the conception. and it is this aspect of the question that first arrests us in the field of science. but even science has more in its definition than longevity. it has a correspondence and an environment; and although it cannot fill up these terms for religion, it can indicate at least the nature of the relation, the kind of thing that is meant by life. science speaks to us indeed of much more than numbers of years. it defines degrees of life. it explains a widening environment. it unfolds the relation between a widening environment and increasing complexity in organisms. and if it has no absolute contribution to the content of religion, its analogies are not limited to a point. it yields to immortality, and this is the most that science can do in any case, the broad framework for a doctrine. the further definition, moreover, of this correspondence as _knowing_ is in the highest degree significant. is not this the precise quality in an eternal correspondence which the analogies of science would prepare us to look for? longevity is associated with complexity. and complexity in organisms is manifested by the successive addition of correspondences, each richer and larger than those which have gone before. the differentiation, therefore, of the spiritual organism ought to be signalized by the addition of the highest possible correspondence. it is not essential to the idea that the correspondence should be altogether novel; it is necessary rather that it should not. an altogether new correspondence appearing suddenly without shadow or prophecy would be a violation of continuity. what we should expect would be something new, and yet something that we were already prepared for. we should look for a further development in harmony with current developments; the extension of the last and highest correspondence in a new and higher direction. and this is exactly what we have. in the world with which biology deals, evolution culminates in knowledge. at whatever point in the zoological scale this correspondence, or set of correspondences, begins, it is certain there is nothing higher. in its stunted infancy merely, when we meet with its rudest beginnings in animal intelligence, it is a thing so wonderful, as to strike every thoughtful and reverent observer with awe. even among the invertebrates so marvellously are these or kindred powers displayed, that naturalists do not hesitate now, on the ground of intelligence at least, to classify some of the humblest creatures next to man himself. [1] nothing in nature, indeed, is so unlike the rest of nature, so prophetic of what is beyond it, so supernatural. and as manifested in man who crowns creation with his all-embracing consciousness, there is but one word to describe his knowledge; it is divine. if then from this point there is to be any further evolution, this surely must be the correspondence in which it shall take place? this correspondence is great enough to demand development; and yet it is little enough to need it. the magnificence of what it has achieved relatively, is the pledge of the possibility of more; the insignificance of its conquest absolutely involves the probability of still richer triumphs. if anything, in short, in humanity is to go on it must be this. other correspondences may continue likewise; others, again, we can well afford to leave behind. but this cannot cease. this correspondence--or this set of correspondences, for it is very complex--is it not that to which men with one consent would attach eternal life? is there anything else to which they would attach it? is anything better conceivable, anything worthier, fuller, nobler, anything which would represent a higher form of evolution or offer a more perfect ideal for an eternal life? [1] _vide_ sir john lubbock's "ants, bees, and wasps," pp. 1, 181. but these are questions of quality; and the moment we pass from quantity to quality we leave science behind. in the vocabulary of science, eternity is only the fraction of a word. it means mere everlastingness. to religion, on the other hand, eternity has little to do with time. to correspond with the god of science, the eternal unknowable, would be everlasting existence; to correspond with "the true god and jesus christ," is eternal life. the quality of the eternal life alone makes the heaven; mere everlastingness might be no boon. even the brief span of the temporal life is too long for those who spend its years in sorrow. time itself, let alone eternity, is all but excruciating to doubt. and many besides schopenhauer have secretly regarded consciousness as the hideous mistake and malady of nature. therefore we must not only have quantity of years, to speak in the language of the present, but quality of correspondence. when we leave science behind, this correspondence also receives a higher name. it becomes communion. other names there are for it, religious and theological. it may be included in a general expression, faith; or we may call it by a personal and specific term, love. for the knowing of a whole so great involves the co-operation of many parts. communion with god--can it be demonstrated in terms of science that this is a correspondence which will never break? we do not appeal to science for such a testimony. we have asked for its conception of an eternal life; and we have received for answer that eternal life would consist in a correspondence which should never cease, with an environment which should never pass away. and yet what would science demand of a perfect correspondence that is not met by this, _the knowing of god?_ there is no other correspondence which could satisfy one at least of the conditions. not one could be named which would not bear on the face of it the mark and pledge of its mortality. but this, to know god, stands alone. to know god, to be linked with god, to be linked with eternity-if this is not the "eternal existence" of biology, what can more nearly approach it? and yet we are still a great way off--to establish a communication with the eternal is not to secure eternal life. it must be assumed that the communication could be sustained. and to assume this would be to beg the question. so that we have still to prove eternal life. but let it be again repeated, we are not here seeking proofs. we are seeking light. we are merely reconnoitering from the furthest promontory of science if so be that through the haze we may discern the outline of a distant coast and come to some conclusion as to the possibility of landing. but, it may be replied, it is not open to any one handling the question of immortality from the side of science to remain neutral as to the question of fact. it is not enough to announce that he has no addition to make to the positive argument. this may be permitted with reference to other points of contact between science and religion, but not with this. we are told this question is settled--that there is no positive side. science meets the entire conception of immortality with a direct negative. in the face of a powerful consensus against even the possibility of a future life, to content oneself with saying that science pretended to no argument in favor of it would be at once impertinent and dishonest. we must therefore devote ourselves for a moment to the question of possibility. the problem is, with a material body and a mental organization inseparably connected with it, to bridge the grave. emotion, volition, thought itself, are functions of the brain. when the brain is impaired, they are impaired. when the brain is not, they are not. everything ceases with the dissolution of the material fabric; muscular activity and mental activity perish alike. with the pronounced positive statements on this point from many departments of modern science we are all familiar. the fatal verdict is recorded by a hundred hands and with scarcely a shadow of qualification. "unprejudiced philosophy is compelled to reject the idea of an individual immortality and of a personal continuance after death. with the decay and dissolution of its material substratum, through which alone it has acquired a conscious existence and become a person, and upon which it was dependent, the spirit must cease to exist." [l] to the same effect, vogt: "physiology decides definitely and categorically against individual immortality, as against any special existence of the soul. the soul does not enter the foetus like the evil spirit into persons possessed, but is a product of the development of the brain, just as muscular activity is a product of muscular development, and secretion a product of glandular development." after a careful review of the position of recent science with regard to the whole doctrine, mr. graham sums up thus: "such is the argument of science, seemingly decisive against a future life. as we listen to her array of syllogisms, our hearts die within us. the hopes of men, placed in one scale to be weighed, seem to fly up against the massive weight of her evidence, placed in the other. it seems as if all our arguments were vain and unsubstantial, as if our future expectations were the foolish dreams of children, as if there could not be any other possible verdict arrived at upon the evidence brought forward." [2] [1] bã¼chner: "force and matter," 3d ed., p. 232. [2] "the creed of science," p. 169. can we go on in the teeth of so real an obstruction? has not our own weapon turned against us, science abolishing with authoritative hand the very truth we are asking it to define? what the philosopher has to throw into the other scale can be easily indicated. generally speaking, he demurs to the dogmatism of the conclusion. that mind and brain react, that the mental and the physiological processes are related, and very intimately related, is beyond controversy. but how they are related, he submits, is still altogether unknown. the correlation of mind and brain do not involve their identity. and not a few authorities accordingly have consistently hesitated to draw any conclusion at all. even bã¼chner's statement turns out, on close examination, to be tentative in the extreme. in prefacing his chapter on personal continuance, after a single sentence on the dependence of the soul and its manifestations upon a material substratum, he remarks, "though we are unable to form a definite idea as to the _how_ of this connection, we are still by these facts justified in asserting, that the mode of this connection renders it _apparently_ impossible that they should continue to exist separately." [1] there is, therefore, a flaw at this point in the argument for materialism. it may not help the spiritualist in the least degree positively. he may be as far as ever from a theory of how consciousness could continue without the material tissue. but his contention secures for him the right of speculation. the path beyond may lie in hopeless gloom; but it is not barred. he may bring forward his theory if he will. and this is something. for a permission to go on is often the most that science can grant to religion. [1] "force and matter," p. 231. men have taken advantage of this loophole in various ways. and though it cannot be said that these speculations offer us more than a probability, this is still enough to combine with the deep-seated expectation in the bosom of mankind and give fresh lustre to the hope of a future life. whether we find relief in the theory of a simple dualism; whether with ulrici we further define the soul as an invisible enswathement of the body, material yet non-atomic; whether, with the "unseen universe," we are helped by the spectacle of known forms of matter shading off into an evergrowing subtilty, mobility, and immateriality; or whether, with wundt, we regard the soul as "the ordered unity of many elements," it is certain that shapes can be given to the conception of a correspondence which shall bridge the grave such as to satisfy minds too much accustomed to weigh evidence to put themselves off with fancies. but whether the possibilities of physiology or the theories of philosophy do or do not substantially assist us in realizing immortality, is to religion, to religion at least regarded from the present point of view, of inferior moment. the fact of immortality rests for us on a different basis. probably, indeed, after all the christian philosopher never engaged himself in a more superfluous task than in seeking along physiological lines to find room for a soul. the theory of christianity has only to be fairly stated to make manifest its thorough independence of all the usual speculations on immortality. the theory is not that thought, volition, or emotion, as such are to survive the grave. the difficulty of holding a doctrine is this form, in spite of what has been advanced to the contrary, in spite of the hopes and wishes of mankind, in spite of all the scientific and philosophical attempts to make it tenable, is still profound. no secular theory of personal continuance, as even butler acknowledged, does not equally demand the eternity of the brute. no secular theory defines the point in the chain of evolution at which organisms become endowed with immortality. no secular theory explains the condition of the endowment, nor indicates its goal. and if we have nothing more to fan hope than the unexplored mystery of the whole region, or the unknown remainders among the potencies of life, then, as those who have "hope only in this world," we are "of all men the most miserable." when we turn, on the other hand, to the doctrine as it came from the lips of christ, we find ourselves in an entirely different region. he makes no attempt to project the material into the immaterial. the old elements, however refined and subtle as to their matter, are not in themselves to inherit the kingdom of god. that which is flesh is flesh. instead of attaching immortality to the natural organism, he introduces a new and original factor which none of the secular, and few even of the theological theories, seem to take sufficiently into account. to christanity, "he that hath the son of god hath life, and he that hath not the son hath not life." this, as we take it, defines the correspondence which is to bridge the grave. this is the clue to the nature of the life that lies at the back of the spiritual organism. and this is the true solution of the mystery of eternal life. there lies a something at the back of the correspondences of the spiritual organism--just as there lies a something at the back of the natural correspondence. to say that life is a correspondence is only to express the partial truth. there is something behind. life manifests itself in correspondences. but what determines them? the organism exhibits a variety of correspondences. what organizes them? as in the natural, so in the spiritual, there is a principle of life. we cannot get rid of that term. however clumsy, however provisional, however much a mere cloak for ignorance, science as yet is unable to dispense with the idea of a principle of life. we must work with the word till we get a better. now that which determines the correspondence of the spiritual organism is a principle of spiritual life. it is a new and divine possession. he that hath the son hath life; conversely, he that hath life hath the son. and this indicates at once the quality and the quantity of the correspondence which is to bridge the grave. he that hath life hath _the son_. he possesses the spirit of the son. that spirit is, so to speak, organized within him by the son. it is the manifestation of the new nature--of which more anon. the fact to note at present is that this is not an organic correspondence, but a spiritual correspondence. it comes not from generation, but from regeneration. the relation between the spiritual man and his environment is, in theological language, a filial relation. with the new spirit, the filial correspondence, he knows the father and this is life eternal. this is not only the real relation, but the only possible relation: "neither knoweth any man the father save the son, and he to whomsoever the son will reveal him." and this on purely natural grounds. it takes the divine to know the divine--but in no more mysterious sense than it takes the human to understand the human. the analogy, indeed, for the whole field here has been finely expressed already by paul: "what man," he asks, "knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of god knoweth no man, but the spirit of god. now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of god; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of god." [1] [1] 1 cor. ii. 11, 12. it were idle, such being the quality of the new relation, to add that this also contains the guarantee of its eternity. here at last is a correspondence which will never cease. its powers in bridging the grave have been tried. the correspondence of the spiritual man possesses the supernatural virtues of the resurrection and the life. it is known by former experiment to have survived the "changes in the physical state of the environment," and those "mechanical actions" and "variations of available food," which mr. herbert spencer tells us are "liable to stop the processes going on in the organism." in short, this is a correspondence which at once satisfies the demands of science and religion. in mere quantity it is different from every other correspondence known. setting aside everything else in religion, everything adventitious, local, and provisional; dissecting into the bone and marrow we find this--a correspondence which can never break with an environment which can never change. here is a relation established with eternity. the passing years lay no limiting hand on it. corruption injures it not. it survives death. it, and it only, will stretch beyond the grave and be found inviolate- "when the moon is old, and the stars are cold, and the books of the judgment-day unfold." the misgiving which will creep sometimes over the brightest faith has already received its expression and its rebuke: "who shall separate us from the love of christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" shall these "changes in the physical state of the environment" which threaten death to the natural man destroy the spiritual? shall death, or life, or angels, or principalities, or powers, arrest or tamper with his eternal correspondences? "nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. for i am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of god, which is in christ jesus our lord." [1] [1] rom. viii. 35-39. it may seem an objection to some that the "perfect correspondence" should come to man in so extraordinary a way. the earlier stages in the doctrine are promising enough ; they are entirely in line with nature. and if nature had also furnished the "perfect correspondence" demanded for an eternal life the position might be unassailable. but this sudden reference to a something outside the natural environment destroys the continuity, and discovers a permanent weakness in the whole theory? to which there is a twofold reply. in the first place, to go outside what we call nature is not to go outside environment. nature, the natural environment, is only a part of environment. there is another large part which, though some profess to have no correspondence with it, is not on that account unreal, or even unnatural. the mental and moral world is unknown to the plant. but it is real. it cannot be affirmed either that it is unnatural to the plant; although it might be said that from the point of view of the vegetable kingdom it was _supernatural_. things are natural or supernatural simply according to where one stands. man is supernatural to the mineral; god is supernatural to the man. when a mineral is seized upon by the living plant and elevated to the organic kingdom, no tresspass against nature is committed. it merely enters a larger environment, which before was supernatural to it, but which now is entirely natural. when the heart of a man, again, is seized upon by the quickening spirit of god, no further violence is done to natural law. it is another case of the inorganic, so to speak, passing into the organic. but, in the second place, it is complained as if it were an enormity in itself that the spiritual correspondence should be furnished from the spiritual world. and to this the answer lies in the same direction. correspondence in any case is the gift of environment. the natural environment gives men their natural faculties; the spiritual affords them their spiritual faculties. it is natural for the spiritual environment to supply the spiritual faculties; it would be quite unnatural for the natural environment to do it. the natural law of biogenesis forbids it; the moral fact that the finite cannot comprehend the infinite is against it; the spiritual principle that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of god renders it absurd. not, however, that the spiritual faculties are, as it were, manufactured in the spiritual world and supplied ready-made to the spiritual organism--forced upon it as an external equipment. this certainly is not involved in saying that the spiritual faculties are furnished by the spiritual world. organisms are not added to by accretion, as in the case of minerals, but by growth. and the spiritual faculties are organized in the spiritual protoplasm of the soul, just as other faculties are organized in the protoplasm of the body. the plant is made of materials which have once been inorganic. an organizing principle not belonging to their kingdom lays hold of them and elaborates them until they have correspondences with the kingdom to which the organizing principle belonged. their original organizing principle, if it can be called by this name, was crystallization; so that we have now a distinctly foreign power organizing in totally new and higher directions. in the spiritual world, similarly, we find an organizing principle at work among the materials of the organic kingdom, per forming a further miracle, but not a different kind of miracle, producing organizations of a novel kind, but not by a novel method. the second process, in fact, is simply what an enlightened evolutionist would have expected from the first. it marks the natural and legitimate progress of the development. and this in the line of the true evolution--not the _linear_ evolution, which would look for the development of the natural man through powers already inherent, as if one were to look to crystallization to accomplish the development of the mineral into the plant,--but that larger form of evolution which includes among its factors the double law of biogenesis and the immense further truth that this involves. what is further included in this complex correspondence we shall have opportunity to illustrate afterwards. [1] meantime let it be noted on what the christian argument for immortality really rests. it stands upon the pedestal on which the theologian rests the whole of historical christianity--the resurrection of jesus christ. [1] _vide_ "conformity to type," page 287. it ought to be placed in the forefront of all christian teaching that christ's mission on earth was to give men life. "i am come," he said, "that ye might have life, and that ye might have it more abundantly." and that he meant literal life, literal spiritual and eternal life, is clear from the whole course of his teaching and acting. to impose a metaphorical meaning on the commonest word of the new testament is to violate every canon of interpretation, and at the same time to charge the greatest of teachers with persistently mystifying his hearers by an unusual use of so exact a vehicle for expressing definite thought as the greek language, and that on the most momentous subject of which he ever spoke to men. it is a canon of interpretation, according to alford, that "a figurative sense of words is never admissible except when required by the context." the context, in most cases, is not only directly unfavorable to a figurative meaning, but in innumerable instances in christ's teaching life is broadly contrasted with death. in the teaching of the apostles, again, we find that, without exception, they accepted the term in its simple literal sense. reuss defines the apostolic belief with his usual impartiality when--and the quotation is doubly pertinent here--he discovers in the apostle's conception of life, first, "the idea of a real existence, an existence such as is proper to god and to the word; an imperishable existence--that is to say, not subject to the vicissitudes and imperfections of the finite world. this primary idea is repeatedly expressed, at least in a negative form; it leads to a doctrine of immortality, or, to speak more correctly, of life, far surpassing any that had been expressed in the formulas of the current philosophy or theology, and resting upon premises and conceptions altogether different. in fact, it can dispense both with the philosophical thesis of the immateriality or indestructibility of the human soul, and with the theologicial thesis of a miraculous corporeal reconstruction of our person; theses, the first of which is altogether foreign to the religion of the bible, and the second absolutely opposed to reason." second, "the idea of life, as it is conceived in this system, implies the idea of a power, an operation, a communication, since this life no longer remains, so to speak, latent or passive in god and in the word, but through them reaches the believer. it is not a mental somnolent thing; it is not a plant without fruit; it is a germ which is to find fullest development." [1] [1] "history of christian theology in the apostolic age," vol. ii. p. 496. if we are asked to define more clearly what is meant by this mysterious endowment of life, we again hand over the difficulty to science. when science can define the natural life and the physical force we may hope for further clearness on the nature and action of the spiritual powers. the effort to detect the living spirit must be at least as idle as the attempt to subject protoplasm to microscopic examination in the hope of discovering life. we are warned, also, not to expect too much. "thou canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth." this being its quality, when the spiritual life is discovered in the laboratory it will possibly be time to give it up altogether. it may say, as socrates of his soul, "you may bury me--if you can catch me." science never corroborates a spiritual truth without illuminating it. the threshold of eternity is a place where many shadows meet. and the light of science here, where everything is so dark, is welcome a thousand times. many men would be religious if they knew where to begin; many would be more religious if they were sure where it would end. it is not indifference that keeps some men from god, but ignorance. "good master, what must i do to inherit eternal life?" is still the deepest question of the age. what is religion? what am i to believe? what seek with all my heart and soul and mind?--this is the imperious question sent up to consciousness from the depths of being in all earnest hours; sent down again, alas, with many of us, time after time, unanswered. into all our thought and work and reading this question pursues us. but the theories are rejected one by one; the great books are returned sadly to their shelves, the years pass, and the problem remains unsolved. the confusion of tongues here is terrible. every day a new authority announces himself. poets, philosophers, preachers, try their hand on us in turn. new prophets arise, and beseech us for our soul's sake to give ear to them--at last in an hour of inspiration they have discovered the final truth. yet the doctrine of yesterday is challenged by a fresh philosophy to-day; and the creed of to-day will fall in turn before the criticism of to-morrow. increase of knowledge increaseth sorrow. and at length the conflicting truths, like the beams of light in the laboratory experiment, combine in the mind to make total darkness. but here are two outstanding authorities agreed--not men, not philosophers, not creeds. here is the voice of god and the voice of nature. i cannot be wrong if i listen to them. sometimes when uncertain of a voice from its very loudness, we catch the missing syllable in the echo. in god and nature we have voice and echo. when i hear both, i am assured. my sense of hearing does not betray me twice. i recognize the voice in the echo, the echo makes me certain of the voice; i listen and i know. the question of a future life is a biological question. nature may be silent on other problems of religion; but here she has a right to speak. the whole confusion around the doctrine of eternal life has arisen from making it a question of philosophy. we shall do ill to refuse a hearing to any speculation of philosophy; the ethical relations here especially are intimate and real. but in the first instance eternal life, as a question of _life_, is a problem for biology. the soul is a living organism. and for any question as to the soul's life we must appeal to life-science. and what does the life-science teach? that if i am to inherit eternal life, i must cultivate a correspondence with the eternal. this is a simple proposition, for nature is always simple. i take this proposition, and, leaving nature, proceed to fill it in. i search everywhere for a clue to the eternal. i ransack literature for a definition of a correspondence between man and god. obviously that can only come from one source. and the analogies of science permit us to apply to it. all knowledge lies in environment. when i want to know about minerals i go to minerals. when i want to know about flowers i go to flowers. and they tell me. in their own way they speak to me, each in its own way, and each for itself--not the mineral for the flower, which is impossible, nor the flower for the mineral, which is also impossible. so if i want to know about man, i go to his part of the environment. and he tells me about himself, not as the plant or the mineral, for he is neither, but in his own way. and if i want to know about god, i go to his part of the environment. and he tells me about himself, not as a man, for he is not man, but in his own way. and just as naturally as the flower and the mineral and the man, each in their own way, tell me about themselves, he tells me about himself. he very strangely condescends indeed in making things plain to me, actually assuming for a time the form of a man that i at my poor level may better see him. this is my opportunity to know him. this incarnation is god making himself accessible to human thought--god opening to man the possibility of correspondence through jesus christ. and this correspondence and this environment are those i seek. he himself assures me, "this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true god, and jesus christ whom thou has sent." do i not now discern the deeper meaning in "_jesus christ whom thou has sent?_" do i not better understand with what vision and rapture the profoundest of the disciples exclaims, "the son of god is come, and hath given us an understanding that we might know him that is true?" [1] [1] 1 john v. 20. having opened correspondence with the eternal environment, the subsequent stages are in the line of all other normal development. we have but to continue, to deepen, to extend, and to enrich the correspondence that has been begun. and we shall soon find to our surprise that this is accompanied by another and parallel process. the action is not all upon our side. the environment also will be found to correspond. the influence of environment is one of the greatest and most substantial of modern biological doctrines. of the power of environment to form or transform organisms, of its ability to develop or suppress function, of its potency in determining growth, and generally of its immense influence in evolution, there is no need now to speak. but environment is now acknowledged to be one of the most potent factors in the evolution of life. the influence of environment, too, seems to increase rather than diminish as we approach the higher forms of being. the highest forms are the most mobile; their capacity of change is the greatest; they are, in short, most easily acted on by environment. and not only are the highest organisms the most mobile, but the highest parts of the highest organisms are more mobile than the lower. environment can do little, comparatively, in the direction of inducing variation in the body of a child; but how plastic is its mind! how infinitely sensitive is its soul! how infallibly can it be tuned to music or to dissonance by the moral harmony or discord of its outward lot! how decisively indeed are we not all formed and moulded, made or unmade, by external circumstance! might we not all confess with ulysses,- "i am a part of all that i have met?" much more, then, shall we look for the influence of environment on the spiritual nature of him who has opened correspondence with god. reaching out his eager and quickened faculties to the spiritual world around him, shall he not become spiritual? in vital contact with holiness, shall he not become holy? breathing now an atmosphere of ineffable purity, shall he miss becoming pure? walking with god from day to day, shall he fail to be taught of god? growth in grace is sometimes described as a strange, mystical, and unintelligible process. it is mystical, but neither strange nor unintelligible. it proceeds according to natural law, and the leading factor in sanctification is influence of environment. the possibility of it depends upon the mobility of the organism; the result, on the extent and frequency of certain correspondences. these facts insensibly lead on to further suggestion. is it not possible that these biological truths may carry with them the clue to a still profounder philosophy--even that of regeneration? evolutionists tell us that by the influence of environment certain aquatic animals have become adapted to a terrestrial mode of life. breathing normally by gills, as the result and reward of a continued effort carried on from generation to generation to inspire the air of heaven direct, they have slowly acquired the lung-function. in the young organism, true to the ancestral type, the gill still persists--as in the tadpole of the common frog. but as maturity approaches, the true lung appears; the gill gradually transfers its task to the higher organ. it then becomes atrophied and disappears, and finally respiration in the adult is conducted by lungs alone. [1] we may be far, in the meantime, from saying that this is proved. it is for those who accept it to deny the justice of the spiritual analogy. is religion to them unscientific in its doctrine of regeneration? will the evolutionist who admits the regeneration of the frog under the modifying influence of a continued correspondence with a new environment, care to question the possibility of the soul acquiring such a faculty as that of prayer, the marvellous breathing-function of the new creature, when in contact with the atmosphere of a besetting god? is the change from the earthly to the heavenly more mysterious than the change from the aquatic to the terrestrial mode of life? is evolution to stop with the organic? if it be objected that it has taken ages to perfect the function in the batrachian, the reply is, that it will take ages to perfect the function in the christian. for every thousand years the natural evolution will allow for the development of its organism, the higher biology will grant its product millions. we have indeed spoken of the spiritual correspondence as already perfect--but it is perfect only as the bud is perfect. "it doth not yet appear what it shall be," any more than it appeared a million years ago what the evolving batrachian would be. [1] _vide_ also the remarkable experiments of frã¤ulein v. chauvin on the transformation of the mexican axoloti into amblystoma.--weismann's "studies in the theory of descent," vol. ii. pt. iii. but to return. we have been dealing with the scientific aspects of communion with god. insensibly, from quantity we have been led to speak of quality. and enough has now been advanced to indicate generally the nature of that correspondence with which is necessarily associated eternal life. there remain but one or two details to which we must lastly, and very briefly, address ourselves. the quality of everlastingness belongs, as we have seen, to a single correspondence, or rather to a single set of correspondences. but it is apparent that before this correspondence can take full and final effect a further process is necessary. by some means it must be separated from all the other correspondences of the organism which do not share its peculiar quality. in this life it is restrained by these other correspondences. they may contribute to it, or hinder it; but they are essentially of a different order. they belong not to eternity but to time, and to this present world; and, unless some provision is made for dealing with them, they will detain the aspiring organism in this present world till time is ended. of course, in a sense, all that belongs to time belongs also to eternity; but these lower correspondences are in their nature unfitted for an eternal life. even if they were perfect in their relation to their environment, they would still not be eternal. however opposed, apparently, to the scientific definition of eternal life, it is yet true that perfect correspondence with environment is not eternal life. a very important word in the complete definition is, in this sentence, omitted. on that word it has not been necessary hitherto, and for obvious reasons, to place any emphasis, but when we come to deal with false pretenders to immortality we must return to it. were the definition complete as it stands, it might, with the permission of the psycho-physiologist, guarantee the immortality of every living thing. in the dog, for instance, the material framework giving way at death might leave the released canine spirit still free to inhabit the old environment. and so with every creature which had ever established a conscious relation with surrounding things. now the difficulty in framing a theory of eternal life has been to construct one which will exclude the brute creation, drawing the line rigidly at man, or at least somewhere within the human race. not that we need object to the immortality of the dog, or of the whole inferior creation. nor that we need refuse a place to any intelligible speculation which would people the earth to-day with the invisible forms of all things that have ever lived. only we still insist that this is not eternal life. and why? because their environment is not eternal. their correspondence, however firmly established, is established with that which shall pass away. an eternal life demands an eternal environment. the demand for a perfect environment as well as for a perfect correspondence is less clear in mr. herbert spencer's definition than it might be. but it is an essential factor. an organism might remain true to its environment, but what if the environment played it false? if the organism possessed the power to change, it could adapt itself to successive changes in the environment. and if this were guaranteed we should also have the conditions for eternal life fulfilled. but what if the environment passed away altogether? what if the earth swept suddenly into the sun? this is a change of environment against which there could be no precaution and for which there could be as little provision. with a changing environment even, there must always remain the dread and possibility of a falling out of correspondence. at the best, life would be uncertain. but with a changeless environment--such as that possessed by the spiritual organism--the perpetuity of the correspondence, so far as the external relation is concerned, is guaranteed. this quality of permanence in the environment distinguishes the religious relation from every other. why should not the musician's life be an eternal life? because, for one thing, the musical world, the environment with which he corresponds, is not eternal. even if his correspondence in itself could last eternally, the environing material things with which he corresponds must pass away. his soul might last forever--but not his violin. so the man of the world might last forever--but not the world. his environment is not eternal; nor are even his correspondences--the world passeth away _and the lust thereof_. we find, then, that man, or the spiritual man, is equipped with two sets of correspondences. one set possesses the quality of everlastingness, the other is temporal. but unless these are separated by some means the temporal will continue to impair and hinder the eternal. the final preparation, therefore, for the inheriting of eternal life must consist in the abandonment of the non-eternal elements. these must be unloosed and dissociated from the higher elements. and this is effected by a closing catastrophe--death. death ensues because certain relations in the organism are not adjusted to certain relations in the environment. there will come a time in each history when the imperfect correspondences of the organism will betray themselves by a failure to compass some necessary adjustment. this is why death is associated with imperfection. death is the necessary result of imperfection, and the necessary end of it. imperfect correspondence gives imperfect and uncertain life. "perfect correspondence," on the other hand, according to mr. herbert spencer, would be "perfect life." to abolish death, therefore, all that would be necessary would be to abolish imperfection. but it is the claim of christianity that it can abolish death. and it is significant to notice that it does so by meeting this very demand of science--it abolishes imperfection. the part of the organism which begins to get out of correspondence with the organic environment is the only part which is in vital correspondence with it. though a fatal disadvantage to the natural man to be thrown out of correspondence with this environment, it is of inestimable importance to the spiritual man. for so long as it is maintained the way is barred for a further evolution. and hence the condition necessary for the further evolution is that the spiritual be released from the natural. that is to say, the condition of the further evolution is death. _mora janua vitã¦_, therefore, becomes a scientific formula. death, being the final sifting of all the correspondences, is the indispensable factor of the higher life. in the language of science, not less than of scripture, "to die is gain." the sifting of the correspondences is done by nature. this is its last and greatest contribution to mankind. over the mouth of the grave the perfect and the imperfect submit to their final separation. each goes to its own--earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, spirit to spirit. the dust shall return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto god who gave it" altemus' illustrated holly-tree series --altemus' illustrated holly-tree series --a series of good, clean books for young people, by authors whose fame for delightful stories is world-wide. they are well printed on fine paper, handsomely illustrated, have colored frontispieces, and are bound in cloth decorated in gold and colors. 50 cents. .. 1 the holly-tree. _by charles dickens._ .. 2 then marched the brave. _by harriet t. comstock._ .. 3 a modern cinderella. _by louisa m. alcott._ .. 4 the little missionary. _by amanda m. douglas._ .. 5 the rule of three. _by susan coolidge._ .. 6 chuggins. _by h. irving hancock._ .. 7 when the british came. _by harriet t. comstock._ .. 8 little foxes. _by rose terry cooke._ .. 9 an unrecorded miracle. _by florence morse kingsley._ .. 10 the story without an end. _by sarah austin._ .. 11 clover's princess. _by amanda m. douglas._ .. 12 the sweet story of old. _by l. haskeli._ altemus' illustrated one-syllable series --altemus' illustrated one-syllable series for young readers --embracing popular works arranged for the young folks in words of one syllable. printed from extra-large, clear type on fine paper, and fully illustrated by the best artists. the handsomest line of books for young children before the public. handsomely bound in cloth and gold, with illuminated sides, 50 cents. .. 1 ã�sop's fables. 62 illustrations. .. 2 a child's life of christ. 49 illustrations. .. 4 the adventures of robinson crusoe. 70 illustrations. .. 5 bunyan's pilgrim's progress. 46 illustrations. .. 6 swiss family robinson. 50 illustrations. .. 7 gulliver's travels. 50 illustrations. .. 9 a child's story of the old testament. 33 illustrations. .. 10 a child's story of the new testament. 40 illustrations. .. 11 bible stories for little children. 41 illustrations. .. 12 the story of jesus. 40 illustrations [transcriber's note: misspellings have been left as they are in the source material.] the blessed dead. the state of the blessed dead. by henry alford, d. d., dean of canterbury. london: hodder and stoughton, 27, paternoster row. mdccclxix. _the following discourses were delivered in canterbury cathedral during advent,_ 1868, _and appeared in the_ "pulpit analyst," 1869. the state of the blessed dead. i. i have already announced that during this advent season i would call your attention to the state of the blessed dead. my object in so doing is simply that we may recall to ourselves that which scripture has revealed respecting them, for our edification, and for our personal comfort. and i would guard that which will be said by one or two preliminary observations. with death as an object of terror, with death from the mere moralist's point of view, as the termination of human schemes and hopes, we christians have nothing to do. we are believers in and servants of one who has in these senses abolished death. our schemes and hopes are not terminated by death, but reach onward into a state beyond it. again, with that state beyond, except as one of blessedness purchased for us by the son of god, i am not at present dealing. it is of those that die in the lord alone that i speak. and this being so, it is clear that the first point about them demanding our attention is, the very commencement of their state at the moment of death. and this will form our subject to-day. we shall be guided in its consideration by two texts of holy scripture. the one is that where our lord answers the prayer of the dying thief that he would remember him when he came into his kingdom, luke xxiii. 43: "verily i say unto thee, to-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." and the other is an expression of st. paul, phil. i. 23, not improbably taken from those very words recorded in the gospel of that evangelist who was his companion in travel--"to depart and to be with christ." now in both these one fact is simply declared, viz.: that the departed spirit of the faithful man is with christ. it is as if one bright light were lifted for us in the midst of a realm brooded over by impenetrable mist. for who knows whither the departed spirit has betaken itself when it has left us here? one of the most painful pangs in bereavement by death is the utter and absolute severance, without a spark of intelligence of the departed. one hour, life is blest by their presence; the next, it is entirely and for ever gone from us, never to be heard of more. one word, one utterance--how precious in that moment of anguish do we feel that it would be! but we are certain it never will be granted us. none has ever come back who has told the story. where the spirit wakes and finds itself,--this none has ever declared to us; nor shall we know until our own turn comes. now in such a state of uncertainty, these texts speak for us a certain truth: the departed spirit is with christ. i shall regard this revelation negatively and positively: as to what it disproves, and as to what it implies. first, then, it disproves the idea of the spirit passing at death into a state of unconsciousness, from which it is to wake only at the great day of the resurrection. if it is to be with christ, this cannot be. christ is in no such state of unconsciousness; he has entered into his rest, and is waiting till all things shall be put under his feet; and it would be a mere delusion to say of the blessed dead, that they shall be with christ, if they were to be virtually annihilated during this time that christ is waiting for his kingdom. besides, how then would the lord's promise to the thief be fulfilled? what consolation would it have been to him, what answer to his prayer, to be remembered when jesus came in his kingdom, if these words implied that he should be unconsciously sleeping while the lord was enjoying his triumph? therefore we may safely say, that the so-called "sleep of the soul," from the act of death till the resurrection, has no foundation in that which is revealed to us. it is perfectly true, that the state of the departed is described to us as "sleeping in jesus," or rather, for the words are a misrendering, a having fallen asleep _through_, or _by means of jesus_. but our texts are enough to show us, that we must not take such an expression for more than it really implies. sleeping, or falling asleep, was a name current among jews and christians, and even among the best of the heathens, for death, implying its peace and rest, implying also that it should be followed by a waking: but apparently with no intent to convey any idea of unconsciousness. it is a term used with reference to us, as well as to the dead. to us, they are as if they were asleep: removed from us in consciousness, as in presence. the idea also of _taking rest_ tended to make this term appropriate. but it must not be used to prove that to which it evidently had no reference. the spirit, then, of the departed does not pass into unconsciousness. what more do we know of it? it is with jesus. we have now to consider what this implies. and in doing so we shall have further to make certain that which we think we have already proved. for first, it clearly implies more than a mere expression of safe-keeping, or reserve for a future state of blessedness. "the righteous souls are in the hand of god, and there shall no harm happen to them." this is one thing: but to be with christ is another. we might again appeal to the spirit of the promise made to the penitent thief, in order to show this: we might remind you that in the other text, st. paul is comparing the two states--life in the midst of his children in the faith, and death; and he says, "i have a desire to depart and to be with christ, which is far better:" better than being with you, my philippians. so that more must be meant than mere safe keeping in the redeemer's hands. we may surely say, that nothing less than conscious existence in the presence of christ can be intended. and if that is intended, then very much more is intended also, than those words at first seem to imply. remember the contrast which this same apostle elsewhere draws. "we know," he says, "that while we are present in the body, we are absent from the lord: for we walk by faith, not by appearance: we are willing rather to be absent from the body and present with the lord." that is, if we follow out the thought, this present state of dwelling in our home the body is a state of severance from the lord; but there is a better state, into which we shall be introduced when this house of the body is pulled down: and from the context in that place we may add, much as we wish to be clothed upon with our new and glorious body which is from heaven, yet even short of that, we have learned to prefer being simply unclothed from the body, because thus we shall be present with the lord. so that we may safely assume thus much, my brethren: that the moment a christian's spirit is released from the body, it does enter into the presence of our blessed lord and saviour, in a way of which it knows nothing here: a way which, compared to all that its previous faith could know of him, is like presence of friends compared to absence. now let us take another remarkable passage of holy writ bearing on this same matter. st. john, in his first epistle says, "beloved, now are we children of god, and it never yet was manifested what we shall be; but if it should be manifested, we know that we shall be like him: for we shall see him as he is:" for this is the more accurate rendering of the words: meaning, if any one could come back, or come down, to us, and tell us what our future state is to be, the information could amount for us now only to this, that we shall be like him, like christ; because we shall see him as he is. and in treating these words at considerable length last year, i pressed it on you that this concluding sentence might bear two meanings: either, we shall be like him, _because in order to see him as he is, we_ must _be like him;_ or, _we shall be like him, because the sight of him as he is will change us into his perfect likeness_. for, our present purpose, or indeed for any purpose, it matters little which of these meanings we take. at any rate, we have gained this knowledge from st. john's words, that the sight of the blessed lord which will be enjoyed by the christian's spirit on its release from the body, will be accompanied by being also perfectly like him. now, here, my brethren, are the elements of an immediate change, blessed and joyous beyond our conception. let us spend the rest of our time to-day in dwelling upon it. and i will not now insist on the deliverance of the spirit from the infirmity, or pain, or decay of the body; because this is not so in all cases. many a christian's spirit is set free from a body in perfect vigour and health. let us take nothing but what is common to all who believe in and serve the lord. now what is our present state with reference to him whom all christians love? it is, absence. and it is absence aggravated in a way that earthly absence never is. for not only have we never seen him, which is a case perfectly imaginable in earthly relations, but also, which hardly is, we have no absolute proof of his existence, nor of his mind towards us. even as far as this, is matter of faith and not of appearance. we have no token, no communication, from him. i suppose there hardly ever was a christian yet, living under the present dispensation, entirely dependent upon his faith, who has not at some time or other had the dreadful thought cross his mind--overborne by his faith, but still not wholly extinguished, "what if it should not be true after all?" and much and successfully as we may contend with these misgivings of unbelief, yet that frame of mind which is represented by them, that wavering, fitful, unsteady faith, ever accompanies us. the distress arising from it is known to every one who has the christian life in him. only those never doubt who have never believed: for doubt is of the very essence of belief. but some poor souls are utterly cast down by the fact of its existence--shrink from these half-doubting fits as of themselves deadly sin, and are in continual terror about their soul's safety on this account: others, of stronger minds, regard them truly as inevitable accompaniments of present human weakness, but of course struggle with them, and evermore yearn to be rid of them. now if what we have been saying be true,--and i have endeavoured not to go beyond the soberest inferences from the plain language of scripture,--if so much be true, then the moment of departure from the body puts an end for ever to this imperfect, struggling, fitful state of faith and doubt. the spirit that is but a moment gone, that has left that well-known, familiar tabernacle of the body a sudden wreck of inanimate matter, that spirit is with the lord. all doubt, all misgiving, is at an end. every wave raised by this world's storms, this world's currents of interest, this world's rocks and shallows, is suddenly laid, and there is a great calm. certainty, for doubt--the sight of the lord, for the conflict of assurance and misgiving--the face of christ, for the mere faith in christ--these have succeeded, because the departed spirit is "with the lord"--companying with him. before we follow this out farther, let us carefully draw one great distinction. we must not make the too common mistake of confusing this sight of the lord which immediately follows on the act of death, with that complete state of the glorified christian man, of which we shall have to speak in a subsequent sermon. though greater than our thoughts can now conceive, the bliss of which we are speaking to-day is incomplete. the spirit which has been set free from the body is alone, and without a body. this is not the complete state of man. it is a state to us full of mystery--inconceivable in detail, though easily apprehended as a whole. we must take care, in what we have further to say, that this is fully borne in mind. and, bearing it in mind, let us proceed. this sight of christ, this calm of full unbroken assurance of his nearness and presence, what does it further imply? as far as we can at present see, certainly as much as this. first, the entire absence of evil from the spirit. it would be impossible to be with christ in any such sense, unless there were entire agreement in will and desire with him. it would be impossible thus to see him as he is, without being like him. let us imagine, if we can, the effect of the total extinction of evil in any one of our minds. how many energies, now tied and bound with the chain of sin, would spring upward into action! how many imprisoned yearnings would burst their bonds, and carry us onward to higher degrees of good! and all these energies, all these yearnings, can exist in the disembodied spirit. it is in a waiting, a hoping state: the greater the upward yearnings, the greater the accumulated energies for god and his work, the higher will be the measure of glory to be attained after the redemption of the body, and the completion of the entire man. well--as another consequence, following close on the last, all _conflict_, from that same moment, is at an end. conflict is ordained for us, is good for us, now. if it were to cease here below, we should fall back. we have not entered into rest, it would not be good for us to enter into rest, in our present state. here, this little platform, so to speak, of our personality, is drawn two ways, downward and upward: and it is for us who stand thereon, to keep watch and ward that the downward prevail not; but from that moment, the dark links of the downward chain will have been for ever severed, and the golden cord that is let down from the throne will bear us upward and onward, unopposed. so that as to conflict, there will be perfect rest. and let us remember another matter. if the departed spirit were during this time dwelling on its own unworthiness, casting back looks of self-reproach, weighing accurately god's mercies and its own requitals during life past, there would of necessity be conflict: there would be bitter self-loathing, there would be pangs of repentance. it would seem, then, that during the incomplete and disembodied state, this is not so; but that all of this kind is reserved for a day when account is to be given in the body of things done in the body: and we shall see, when we come to treat of that day specially, how its account will be, for the blessed dead, itself made a blessing. again, as all evil will be at an end, and all conflict,--so will all labour, "blessed are the dead which die in the lord: even so saith the spirit, for they rest from their labours." now labour here is a blessing, it is true: but it is also a weariness. it leads ever on to a greater blessing, the blessing of rest. christ has entered into his rest; and the departed spirit shall be with christ: faring as he fares, and a partaker of his condition. any who have lived the ordinary term of human life in god's service (for it is only of such that we are now speaking) can testify how sweet it is to anticipate a cessation of the toil and the harassing of life: to be looking on to keep the great sabbath of the rest reserved for the people of god. what more may be reserved for us in the glorious perfect state which shall follow the resurrection, is another consideration altogether: but it clearly appears that the intermediate disembodied state is one of rest. and let none cavil at the thought, that thus adam may have rested his thousands of years, and the last taken of adam's children only a few moments. time is only a relative term, even to us. a dream of years long may pass during the sound that awakens a man; and a sleep of hours appears but a second. what do we know of time, except as calculated by earthly objects? day and night, the recurrence of meals,--these constitute time to us: shut up a man in darkness, and administer his food at irregular intervals, and he loses all count of time whatever. surely, then, no cavil on this score can be admitted. in that presence where the departed spirits are, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. let us conclude with a consideration, to a christian the most glorious of all. the spirit that is with christ in nearest presence and consciousness, knows him as none know him here. here, we speak of his purity, his righteousness, his love, his triumph and glory, with miserably imperfect thoughts, and in words still more imperfect than our thoughts. we are obliged to employ earthly images to set forth heavenly things. the revelations of scripture itself are made through a medium of man's invention, and are bounded by our limited vocabulary. but then it will be so no longer. the apostle compares our seeing _here_ to that of one who beholds the face of his friend in a mirror of metal, sure to be tarnished and distorting: and our vision _there_ to beholding the same face to face,--the living features, the lips that move, the eyes that glisten. that spirit which has but now passed away, knows the love that passes our knowledge; contemplates things which god has prepared for them that love him, such as eye has never seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive. therefore, beloved, let us be of good cheer concerning them that have fallen asleep through jesus: and let us be of good cheer respecting ourselves. good as it is to obey and serve god here, it has been far better for them to depart and to be with christ; and it will be far better for us, if we hold fast our faith and our confidence in him firm unto the end. if to us to live is christ, then to us to die will be gain. ii. we stand to-day at this point in our consideration of the state of the blessed dead. they depart, and are with christ. "this day," the day of the departure, they are consciously, blissfully, in his presence. their faith is turned into sight: their misgivings are changed for certainty: their mourning for joy. yet, we said, their state is necessarily imperfect. the complete condition of man is body, soul, and spirit. the former of these three, at all events, is wanting to the spirits and souls of the righteous. they are in a waiting, though in an inconceivably blissful state. of the precise nature of that state,--of its employments, if employments it has, we know nothing. all would be speculation, if we were to speak of these matters. our concern to-day is with the termination of that their incomplete condition. when shall it come to an end? we have this very definitely answered for us by st. paul, in a chapter of which we shall have much to say, and in a verse of that chapter which we will take for our text, 1 cor. xv. 23. notice, he is speaking of the resurrection of the dead: and he says, "but every one in his own order: christ the first-fruits: afterward they that are christ's at his coming." well then: from these words it is clear that the end of the expectant state of the blessed dead, and the reunion of their spirits with their risen bodies, will take place at the coming of christ. here at once we are met by a necessity to clear and explain that which these words import. in these days, it is by no means superfluous to say that we christians do look forward to a real personal coming of our lord jesus christ upon this our earth. i sometimes wonder whether ordinary christian men and women ever figure to themselves what this means. i suppose we hardly do, because we fancy it is so far off from ourselves and our times, that we do not feel ourselves called upon to make it a subject of our practical thoughts. to this we might say, first, that we are by no means sure of this; and then, that even if it were true, the interest of that time of his coming for every one of us is hardly lessened by its not being near us, seeing that if we be his, it will be, whenever it comes, the day of our resurrection from the dead. it is evidently the duty of every christian man to make it part of his ordinary thoughts and anticipations--that return of the lord jesus from heaven, even as he was seen to go up into heaven. now, our object to-day is to ascertain how much we know from scripture, without indulging in speculations of our own, about this coming, and this resurrection which shall accompany it. the latter of these two we made the subject of a sermon a very few sundays ago; but it was not so much with our present view, as to lay down the hope of the resurrection as an element among the foundations of the christian life. now one of the first and most important revelations respecting this matter is found in the fourth chapter of 1 thess., ver. 13-18. these thessalonians had been, as we learn from the two epistles to them, strangely excited about the coming of the lord's kingdom. perhaps the apostle's preaching among them had taken especially this form; for he was accused before the magistrates of saying that there was besides or superior to caesar another king, one jesus. and in this excitement of the thessalonians, fancying as they did that the lord's kingdom would come in their own time, they thought that their friends who through jesus had died a happy death were losers by not having lived to witness the lord's coming. indeed, they sorrowed for them as those that had no hope: by which expression it seems likely that they even supposed them to be altogether cut off from the benefits and blessedness of that coming by not having been able to see it in the flesh. thereupon st. paul puts them right by saying,--using the same argument as in that great resurrection chapter, 1 cor. xv.,--that "_if we believe that jesus himself died and rose again, even so also those who through jesus have fallen asleep will god bring with him_," that is, will god bring back to us when he brings back to us jesus. you may just observe, by the way, that the whole force of what the apostle says is very commonly lost, by a wrong method of reading these words. we very commonly hear them read, "will god bring _with_ him." but thus we, as i said, lose the force of the argument, which is:--if jesus, our first-fruits, our representative, died and rose again, so will all who die in union with jesus rise again. and in order to that, the same power of god which brings jesus back to us, will with him, with jesus, bring their spirits back, in order to that resurrection. well, what then? "_this we say unto you by the word of the lord_"--thus the apostle introduces, not an argument, not a command or saying of his own, but a special revelation--"_that we, which are alive and remain unto the coming of the lord_" (for notice that at first, at the early time when these thessalonian epistles were written, first of all st. paul's letters, the apostle looked forward to that day of which neither man nor angel knoweth, as about to come on in his own time) shall have no advantage, no priority, over them which have fallen asleep. and why? for this reason--that "_the lord himself shall come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of god; and the dead in christ shall rise first:_" that is, shall rise before anything else happens--any changing, or summoning to the lord, of us who are alive. now here let us pause in the sacred text, and consider what it is which we have before us. mind, we are speaking to-day, as the apostle is speaking in this passage, entirely of the blessed dead; of those of whom it may be said that through jesus their death is but a holy sleep. we have clearly this before us:--at a certain time, fixed in the counsels of god, the father, known to no created being,--mysteriously unknown also, for he himself assures us of this in words which no ingenuity can explain away, to the son himself in his state of waiting for it,--at that fixed time the lord, that is, christ, shall appear in the sky, visible to men in his glorified body; and his coming shall be announced to men by a mighty call, a signal cry, and by the trumpet of god. now let me at once say that as to such expressions as this, when we are told that they cannot bear their literal meaning, but are only used in condescension to our human ways of speaking, and thus an attempt is made to deprive them in fact of all meaning, i do not recognise any such rule of interpretation. if the _words_ are used to suit our human ways of thinking, i can see no reason why the _things signified_ by those words may not also be used to affect our senses, which will be still human, when the great day comes. as to the sound being heard by all, or as to the lord being seen by all, i can with safety leave that to him who made the eye and the ear, and believe that if he says so, he will find the way for it to be so. now let us follow on with the description. with the lord jesus, accompanying him, though unseen to those below on the earth, will be the myriads of spirits of the blessed dead, and notice,--for it is an important point, since holy scripture is consistent with itself in another place on this matter,--that at this coming none are with the lord, no spirits of the departed, i mean, except those of the blessed dead. in other words, this is not the general coming to judgment, when the whole of the dead shall stand before god, but it is that first resurrection of which the evangelist speaks in the apocalypse, when he says, chap. xx. 5, "_the rest of the dead lived not again until_ (a prescribed time which he mentions, whatever that may mean) _the thousand years were finished this is the first resurrection. blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of god and of christ_." then, the lord being still descending from heaven and on the way to this world, the dead in christ shall rise first--the first thing: the graves shall be opened, and the bodies of the saints that sleep shall come forth, and, for so the words surely imply, their spirits, which have come with the lord, shall be united to those bodies, each to his own. here, again, i can see no difficulty. the same body, even to us now on earth, does not imply that the same particles compose it. and even the expression "the same body" is perhaps a fallacious one. in st. paul's great argument on this subject in 1 cor. xv. he expressly tells us, that it is not that body which was sown in the earth, but a new and glorified one, even as the beautiful plant, which springs from the insignificant or the ill-favoured seed, is not that which was sown, but a body which god has given. whatever the bodies shall be, they will be recognised as those befitting the spirits which are reunited to them, as they also befit the new and glorious state into which they are now entering. this done, they who are alive and remain on earth, having been, which is not asserted here, but is in 1 cor. xv., changed so as to be in the image of the incorruptible, spiritual, heavenly, will be caught up together with the risen saints in clouds, to meet the lord in the air: to _meet_ him, because he is in his way from heaven to earth, on which he is about to stand in that latter day. thus, then, the words which i have chosen for my text will have their fulfilment. christ has been the first-fruits of this great harvest,--already risen, the first-born from the dead, the example and pattern of that which all his shall be. this was his order, his place in the great procession from death into life; and between him and his, the space, indefinite to our eyes, is fixed and determined in the counsels of god. the day of his coming hastens onward. while men are speculating and questioning, god's purpose remains fixed. he is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness. his dealings with the world are on too large a scale for us to be able to measure them, but in them the golden rule is kept, every one in his own order. christ's part has been fulfilled. he was seen alive in his resurrection body; he was seen taking up that body from earth to heaven. and now we are waiting for the next great event, his coming. wisely has the church set apart a season in every year in which this subject may be uppermost in our thoughts. for there is nothing we are so apt--nothing, we may say, that our whole race is so determined to forget and put out of sight. it is alien from our common ideas, it ill suits our settled notions, that the personal appearing of him in whom we believe should break in upon the natural sequence of things in which we are concerned. and the consequence is, that you will hardly find, even among believing men, more than one here and there who at all realizes to himself, or has any vivid expectation of, this personal coming of christ. think of the christian church as taking its faith and hope from the new testament; and then compare that faith and hope, as it actually exists with reference to this point, with the new testament,--and the discrepancy is most remarkable. in the days when it was written, eighteen hundred years ago, every eye was fixed on, every man's thought was busy about, the coming of the lord. you will hardly find a chapter in the epistles in which it is not spoken of, or alluded to, with earnest anticipation and confidence. whereas now, when it is brought so much nearer to us, it has almost vanished out of the consideration of the church altogether. no doubt, something may be said by way of reason why it should occupy a less prominent place in our thoughts than it did in theirs. the lord's own words, and those of the divinely-commissioned messengers who announced his return, spoke of it simply as certain, without any note of time being attached. hence, those who had seen him depart believed that they themselves should behold him returning. there can be no doubt in any fair-judging mind that, besides these eye-witnesses, st. paul, when he wrote that fifth chapter of the second epistle to the corinthians, had a full persuasion that he himself should be of those on whom the house not made with hands that is to be brought from heaven was to be put, without his being unclothed from the earthly tabernacle. he looked at such unclothing in his own case as possible, but was confident that it would not happen so. and again, when, in the over-zeal of the thessalonians, they imagined that the coming of the lord was actually upon them, and he in his second epistle checks and sets right that premature assumption, he does so in words which, as he wrote them, might very well have had all their fulfilment within the lifetime of man. those words now appear to us in more of the true sense in which the spirit, who spoke by paul, intended them: we see that the apostasy there predicted, and the man of sin there set down as to be revealed, are great developments or concentrations of the unbelief of churches and nations; but there is no evidence that the men of that day saw any such meaning in the words. as it was gradually, and not without conflict of thought, revealed to peter and his side of the apostolic band, that the gentiles were to be fellow-heirs and partakers of the peace of christ, so it was gradually, and not without some sickness of hope deferred, made manifest to the church, that the coming of the lord should be for ages and generations delayed. unmistakable indications of this truth appear in the lord's own prophetic discourses, which we now know how to interpret. and all this is no doubt a reason why the great subject should be less constantly and less vividly before our minds, than it was before theirs. but it is no reason why it should have dropped out altogether; none, why we should almost universally neglect the revelations of scripture respecting the manner and details of his coming, and confuse them altogether in a vague popular idea of the judgment day; none, why we should forget the mention of the landmarks which he himself has pointed out along the wilderness journey of his church,--and so, as far as in us lies, provide for her being unprepared when he appears. the end of the state of waiting of the blessed dead, the end of our present state of waiting will be, that day of his appearing. let us fix this well in our minds; and do not let us be kept from doing so by being told that there is danger in allowing the fancy to exercise itself on the unfulfilled prophecies. no doubt there is. but i am not exhorting you to exercise your fancy on them. faith and fancy are two wholly distinct things. to my mind, there can be hardly anything more detrimental to the faith of the church, than always to be fitting together history and prophecy, magnifying insignificant present or past events into fulfilments of prophetic announcements. they who do this are for ever being refuted by the course of things; and then they shift their ground, and come out as confidently with a new scheme, as they did before with their old one. nothing can more tend to throw discredit on god's prophetic word altogether; and it is no doubt in part owing to such speculations, that faith in the lord's coming has become weakened among us. he himself has told us the great use of his announcements of the future. "_these things have i told you, that, when the time is come, ye may remember that i told you of them_." when and as each prophecy comes to its time to be fulfilled, just as the years of the captivity predicted by jeremiah were interpreted by the church in babylon, so the lord's predictions, and the predictions of his apostles, will fall each into its place; and the church, if she endure in faith and watchfulness, will stand on her look-out, and be prepared for the sign of his coming. let us, my brethren, with regard to those who have left us in the lord,--let us, with regard to ourselves and our own future, be ever looking for and hasting to that day of god; the day when that better thing which god hath provided for us shall be manifested, and they with us shall be complete, who without us were not perfect. and let us not be discouraged by unpromising signs, or by prevalent unbelief. remember what our master has said to us in the services of this day, "heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away." iii. we have traced the condition of the blessed dead, from their departure and being with christ, to the glorious day of the resurrection. their spirits are safe in his keeping, till that day when he shall call their bodies out of the graves, and they shall be once more complete in manhood, body, soul, and spirit. and our present consideration is, what, on that resurrection, is the next thing which shall befall them? now the best, because the most general text on this matter, is that in heb. ix. 27, "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment." you will see that here is enounced something common to our nature. we are all to die; we are all to be judged after death. and that this is really true of all, and not merely stated generally, to be met afterwards by special exceptions, st. paul shows, when he, speaking of things belonging entirely to his own practice, and his own justification before god, says, in 1 cor. v., "we labour, that whether present in the body or absent from the body, we may be accepted with him. _for we must all be made manifest_ (there is nothing about _standing_ in the original) _before the judgment seat of christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that which he did, whether it be good or bad_." you will see that here he expressly includes himself among those who are to be made manifest before the judgment seat of christ. now perhaps you are wondering why i am accumulating this scripture evidence to show a matter which seems to all so plain. but i have a sufficient reason. and that reason is, because in other passages of scripture the blessed dead, or rather the believers in christ, whether living or dead at that day, are spoken of as if they were not subjected to the general judgment of all, but passed into the glorious life without undergoing that judgment. thus our blessed lord himself; in john v. 24, says, "_verily, verily, i say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment_" (for that, and not "_condemnation_," is the word used by our lord),--"_cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life_." that would seem to mean that the faithful man has already passed over out of death, and all that belongs to death, sin, and guilt, and judgment, into life; and therefore when the judgment comes he can have no part in it, cannot come into it at all, because he is acquitted already through the faith in him who bore his guilt and took away his sin. and similarly, again, a few verses further on, ver. 29, our lord says, "_an hour cometh in which all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the son of man, and shall come forth: they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment_." that is, i suppose, the one shall rise into eternal life,--into the full bliss of the heavenly state, and the others into the condition, whatever it be, which the judgment shall decide. of course i am fully aware that i have not quoted these texts as they are read in our english bibles. the matter stands thus: the word which i have rendered "_judgment_" is the word always meaning judgment--the word occurring in the very next verse where our lord says, "_as i hear, i judge, and my_ judgment _is just;_" the word used also above in ver. 22, where he says, "_the father committed all_ judgment _unto the son_." in those two places, because there was no difficulty, our translators kept the word "_judgment_." but in these other two which i have quoted, because there was an apparent difficulty, they changed "_judgment_" in one verse into "_condemnation_," and in the other into "_damnation_," without any reason or right soever. indeed, in the latter of the two passages, not only is this so, but the whole sense is broken up by their unfaithfulness. our lord having mentioned the resurrection of judgment, proceeds to vindicate the justice of that judgment: "_as i hear, i judge: and my judgment is just, because i seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me_." so that the difficulty, which man's meddling with the bible has tried to remove, does exist in the bible as it came from god. and we must try to see through it, not to hush it up by being unfaithful to the plain language of our lord. nor does it exist here only. our lord himself has given us one great description of the final day of judgment, in his own discourses; and another by the pen of his beloved apostle. we will take the latter first, as being, for our present purpose, the fuller of the two: and we will show in what remarkable point the two agree. in rev. xx. 4, a passage to which we made reference last sunday, we find the first resurrection taking place, and the faithful dead rising to reign with christ during a period known as a thousand years. and it is expressly said, "_the rest of the dead lived not till the thousand years were finished_." now, i am not here taking upon me to explain the meaning of this, but merely to insist on the fact that, whatever may be the precise import, it is so stated. well, and what then? when the thousand years are expired, and when the last great victory of the cause of god over evil has been gained, then we read, "_and i saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it; and i saw the dead, small and great, stand before god; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. and the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to his works_." so far the description in the revelation. now, in that given us by our lord in matt. xxv. we find the son of man coming in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, and sitting on the throne of his glory, and all the nations gathered before him. but there is this singular coincidence with the other account, that when the king comes to address those on the right hand and those on the left, he says, "_inasmuch as ye did it_ (or _did it not_) _unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it_ (or _did it not_) _unto me_." now "_these my brethren_" cannot of course mean the angels; therefore there must be some with christ to whom the words must refer. in other words, we have here also the risen saints in glory with the lord, as in that other account. but we may go even further yet, and may discover more from scripture respecting the position and employment of these the saints who are with the lord. when st. paul in 1 cor. vi. is dissuading the corinthians from taking their disputes before the heathen courts to be settled, he says, "_know ye not that the saints shall judge the world?_" and again, "_know ye not that we shall judge angels?_" such expressions as these can bear but one meaning, and that is that the saints of christ are actually to bear part in the judgment, as his assessors. further than this we now not. it is not our duty to be wise above that which is written; but it is our duty to be wise up to that which is written: otherwise it was written in vain. what, then, are we to say respecting this apparent discrepancy in the statements of holy scripture concerning the dead in christ? if it be true that it is appointed unto all men once to die, but after that the judgment; if it be true that we all, including even the apostles themselves, shall be manifested, laid open, before the judgment-seat of christ, how can it be also true that the believer in christ has already passed from death into life, and therefore cometh not into judgment at all? how can it be true that while others shall rise to a resurrection of judgment, he shall rise to a resurrection of life? how can those descriptions be correct which we have been quoting, of these living and reigning with christ long before the general judgment, and even taking part in it with him? i believe the answer is not difficult, and perhaps may best be found by remembering another variety of expression in scripture respecting a kindred matter; i mean the way in which the saints of god are spoken of in relation to death itself. on the one hand we know that it is appointed unto all men to die; and that the faith and service of the lord bring with them no exemption from the common lot of all mankind. not only is this proved every day before our eyes, but scripture gives us its most direct testimony that those who believe in christ must expect it. the very expressions, "_the dead in christ_," "_those who through jesus have fallen asleep_," show that this is so. yet again, on the other hand, some passages would almost look as if death itself for the christian man did not exist. christ is said to have abolished death; we learn from his own lips that "if a man keep his word he shall never taste of death;" he has said again, "he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die." now in this case there is no practical difficulty, yet the variety of expression is very instructive. we all know what lies beneath it; namely, the fact, that though the believer in christ must undergo the physical suffering of death like other men, yet death has become to him so altogether without terror and curse, that it has been for him deprived of real existence and power. the apostle in rom. viii. gives the full explanation: "_the body indeed is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness_." well, now let us apply this to the case before us. let us take the same solution, and see whether it will not suffice. the christian shall, like other men, undergo the judgment after death; thus one set of scripture declarations shall be fulfilled. but to the believer, who has died in the lord, what is the judgment? he stands before the judgment-seat perfect in the righteousness of him to whom he is united, and from whom death has not separated him. his sentence of acquittal has been long ago pronounced; he cometh not into judgment, so that it should have any substantial effect in changing or determining his condition. the resurrection is for him not a resurrection of judgment, not one in which the judgment is the leading feature and characteristic, but it is only and purely a resurrection of, and unto life: one in which life is the leading feature and idea. thus for the blessed dead, the judgment has no dark side: "there is no condemnation to them that are in christ jesus." but though it has no dark side, it has a bright one. never for a moment do the christian scriptures lose sight of the christian reward. those who die in the lord, like the rest of men, shall be laid open before the tribunal of christ. their sins have been purged away in his atoning blood; they have been washed and justified and sanctified in the name of jesus and by the spirit of their god. but to what end? for what purpose? was it merely that they might be saved? no indeed, but that god might be glorified in them by the fruits of their faith and love. and these fruits shall then be made known. the father who saw them in secret shall then reward them openly. the acts done and the sacrifices made for the name of christ shall then meet with glorious retribution; yea, even to the least and most insignificant of them,--even according to our lord's own words,--to the cup of cold water given to one of his little ones. it is much the fashion, i know, in our days, to put aside and to depreciate this doctrine of the christian reward. it looks to some people like a sort of reliance on our own works and attainments; and so, though they may in the abstract profess a belief in it because it is in scripture, they shrink from applying it in their own cases or in those of others. now, nothing can justify such a course. we have no right to discard a motive held up for our adoption and guidance in scripture. and that this is so held up, who that knows his bible can for a moment doubt? think of that saying of our lord about the cup of cold water just quoted,--think of the series of sayings of which it is the end--"he _that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward_," etc. think, again, of that series of commands, to do our alms, our prayers, our abstinences, in secret, each ending with--"_and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly_." think, again, of the parable of the labourers in the vineyard, where the great final blessing at the hand of the lord is throughout represented to us as reward, or rather--for so the word used properly means--wages for work done. and it is in vain in this case to try to escape from the cogency of our lord's sayings by alleging that the doctrines of the cross were not manifested till after his death and glorification. for if this were so, then the apostles themselves had never learned those doctrines. for the apostles constantly and persistently set before us the aiming at the christian reward as their own motive, and as that which ought to be ours. hear st. paul saying that, if he preached the gospel as matter of duty only, it was the stewardship committed to him; but if freely and without pay, a reward, or wages, would be due to him. hear him again, in expectation of his departure, glorying in the certainty of his reward: "_i have fought a good fight, i have finished my course, i have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but to all them also that love his appearing_." listen to st. john, whom we are accustomed to regard as the most lofty and heavenly of all the apostles in his thoughts and motives. what does he say to his well-beloved gaius? "_look to yourselves, that we lose not the things which we have wrought, but that we receive the full reward_." listen, again, to the writer of the epistle to the hebrews, that apostolic man, eloquent and mighty in the scriptures, and hear him describing the very qualities and attributes of faith, that he who cometh to god must _believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him_, and saying of one of the first and brightest examples of faith, that _he had respect unto the recompence of reward_. so, then, these holy dead who have died in the lord will in that judgment have each his reward allotted him according to his service and according to his measure. then the good that has been done in secret will all come to light. all mere profession, all that has been artificial and put on, will drop off as though it had never been; and the real kernel of the character, the fair dealing and charity and love of the inner soul, will be made manifest before men and angels. then, not even the least work done for god and for good will be forgotten. how such an estimate of all holy men will be or can be made and published, utterly surpasses our present powers to imagine. we have no faculties now whereby to deal thus truly and fairly with all men: our organs of sense in this present state, and the minds themselves to which those organs convey impressions, are too feeble and limited for the effort required to apprehend all respecting all, as we shall then apprehend it. but this need not form any difficulty in our way to believe that such a thing shall be. the power to understand it and the power to receive it surely do not dwell farther off from our matured powers now, than the full powers of a grownup man from the faculties and conceptions of a child. in all such matters, we are children now. think we then of the blessed dead at that day of the resurrection, as rising sure of bliss and of their perfection in him to whom they were united; being as though there were no judgment, seeing that they have one who shall answer for them at the tribunal: judged notwithstanding before the bar of god, and passing not to condemnation, but to their exceeding great and eternal reward. one more thing only now is left us: to ask what we know of that last and perfected state of man--that highest development and dignity of our race, when body, soul, and spirit, freed from sin and sorrow, shall reign with christ in light. with that question, and its answer, we hope to conclude this course of sermons next sunday. iv. we are to speak to-day of the final state of bliss of those who have died in the lord. their state of waiting has ended; the resurrection has clothed them again with the body, the final judgment has passed over them, and their last unending state has begun. there are no words in holy scripture so well calculated to give a general summary of that state as those concluding ones of a passage from which i have before largely quoted: 1 thess. iv. 17: "and so shall we ever be with the lord." for these words contain in them all that has been revealed of that glorious state, included in one simple description. the bliss of the moment after death consisted in being with christ: the bliss of unlimited ages can only be measured by the same. nearness to him that made us, union with him who redeemed us, the everlasting and unvexed company of him who sanctifieth us: what glory, what dignity, what happiness can be imagined for man greater than this? and yet it is not by dwelling upon this, and this alone, that we shall be able to arrive at even that appreciation of heaven which is within our present powers. we may take these words, "for ever with the lord," and we may find in them, as in our father's house itself, many mansions. in various ways we are far from the lord here; in various ways we shall be near him and with him there. but first of all we must approach these various mansions through their portals and the avenues which lead up to them. and one of those is the consideration, who, and of what sort, they shall be, of whom we are about to speak. it will be very necessary that we should conceive of them aright. well, then, they will be men, with bodies, souls, and spirits like ourselves. the disembodied state will be over, and every one will have been reunited to the body which he or she had before death. what do we know of this body? very glorious thoughts rise up in our minds when we think of it: but in this course of sermons i am not speculating; i am inquiring soberly what is revealed to us about the blessed dead. well then, again, what do we know of this body of the resurrection? in phil. iii. 21, there is a revelation on this point. it is there said that "our home is in heaven, from whence also we expect the saviour, the lord jesus christ: who shall change the body of our degradation that it may be fashioned like unto the body of his glory." and this change is very much dwelt on as a necessary condition of the heavenly state in 1 cor. xv. "_flesh and blood_," we are told, _i.e._, this present natural or psychical body, the body whose informing tenant is the animal soul, _cannot inherit the kingdom of god; neither can corruption_, that which decays and passes away, _inherit incorruption_, that state where there is no decay nor passing away. so, then, a change must take place at the resurrection: a change which shall pass also on those who are alive and remain at the lord's coming. the bodies of the risen saints, and of those who are to join them in being for ever with the lord, will be spiritual bodies: bodies tenanted and informed in chief by that highest part of man, which during this present life is so much dwarfed down and crushed by the usurpations of the animal soul; viz., his spirit. now, it would be idle to conceal the fact, that we cannot form any distinct conception what this spiritual body may be. no such thing has ever come within the range of our experience. but some particulars we do know about it, because god has revealed them. and of those, the principal are specified in this very passage: "_it is sown in corruption: it is raised in incorruption_." it cannot decay. eternal ages will pass over it, and it will remain the same. again, "_it is sown in dishonour: it is raised in glory_." there will be no shame about it, as there will be no sin. thus much from these words is undoubted. what else they may imply we cannot say for certain; probably, unimagined degrees of beauty and radiancy, for so the word glory as applied to anything material seems to imply. further: "_it is sown in weakness: it is raised in power_." that is, i suppose, with all its faculties wonderfully intensified, and possibly with fresh faculties granted, which here it never possessed, and the mind of man could not even imagine. this last also seems to be implied by its being called a spiritual body. as here it was an animal body, subject to the mere animal life or soul, hemmed in by the conditions of that animal life, so there it will be under the dominion of, and suited to the wants of, man's spirit, the lofty and heavenly part of him. and if we want to know what this implies, our best guide will be to contemplate the risen body of our lord, as we have it presented to us in the gospel narrative. as he is, so are we in this world in our essence even now--and as he is so shall we be entirely there. he is the first-fruits, we follow after as the harvest. what, then, was his resurrection body? while it was a real body and admitted of being touched and seen, and had the organs of voice and of hearing, yet it was not subjected to the usual conditions of matter as to its locomotion, or its obstruction by intervening objects. it retained the marks of what had happened before death. in order to convince the disciples of his identity, our lord ate and drank before them. we must therefore infer that these were natural acts of his resurrection body, and not merely assumed at pleasure. with a body, then, of this kind will the blessed be clothed upon at the resurrection, and remain invested for ever in glory. now let us see what further flows from this as an inference. we may further say, that we have implied in it a surrounding of external circumstances fitted to such a state of incorruptibility and glory. man redeemed and glorified will not be a mere spirit in the vast realms of space, but a glorious body moving in a glorious world. nor is this mere inference, however plain and legitimate. holy scripture is full of it. the power of words does not suffice to describe the beauties and glories of that renewed and unfailing world. i need not quote passage after passage--they are familiar to you all. nor, again, is it nature alone which shall be glorious above all our conception here. it would appear that art also shall have advanced forward, and shall minister to the splendour of that better world. the prophets in the old testament, and the beloved apostle in the new, vie with one another in describing the heavenly city, the new jerusalem, adorned as a bride for her husband, lighted by the glory of the indwelling godhead. _where_ this glorious abode of christ and his redeemed shall be, we have not been told by revelation; and it were idle to indulge in speculations of our own. from some expressions in scripture, it would seem not improbable that it may be this earth itself after purification and renewal: from other passages, it would appear as if that inference were hardly safe, and that other of the bodies in space are destined for the high dignity of being the home of the sons of god. we have now, i believe, cleared the way for the answer to a question which presses upon us to-day: as far, at least, as that answer can be given on this side of death. of mankind in glory, thus perfected, what shall be the employ? for i need hardly press it on you that it is impossible to conceive of man in a high and happy estate, without an employment worthy of that estate, and in fact constituting its dignity and happiness. now, some light is thrown on this inquiry by holy scripture, but it must be confessed that it is very scanty. it is true that all our meditations on and descriptions of heaven want balance, and are, so to speak, pictures ill composed. we first build up our glorified human nature by such hints as are furnished us in scripture; we place it in an abode worthy of it: and then, after all, we give it an unending existence with nothing to do. it was not ill said by a great preacher, that most people's idea of heaven was to sit on a cloud and sing psalms. and others, again, strive to fill this out with the bliss of recognising and holding intercourse with those from whom we have been severed on earth. and beyond all doubt such recognition and intercourse shall be, and shall constitute one of the most blessed accessories of the heavenly employment; but it can no more be that employment itself than similar intercourse on earth was the employment of life itself here. to read some descriptions of heaven, one would imagine that it were only an endless prolongation of some social meeting; walking and talking in some blessed country with those whom we love. it is clear that we have not thus provided the renewed energies and enlarged powers of perfected man with food for eternity. nor, if we look in another direction, that of the absence of sickness and care and sorrow, shall we find any more satisfactory answer to our question. nay, rather shall we find it made more difficult and beset with more complication. for let us think how much of employment for our present energies is occasioned by, and finds its very field of action in, the anxieties and vicissitudes of life. they are, so to speak, the winds which fill the sail and carry us onward. by their action, hope and enthusiasm are excited. but suppose a state where they are not, and life would become a dead calm; the sail would flap idly, and the spirit would cease to look onward at all. so that, unless we can supply something over and above the mere absence of anxiety and pain, we have not attained to--nay, we are farther than ever from--a sufficient employment for the life eternal. now, before we seek for it in another direction, let us think for a moment in this way. are we likely to know much of it? we have before in these sermons adopted st. paul's comparison by analogy, and have likened ourselves here to children, and that blessed state to our full development as men. now ask yourselves, what does the child at its play know of the employments of the man? such portions of them as are merely external and material he may take in, and represent in his sport: but the work and anxiety of the student at his book, and the man of business at his desk, these are of necessity entirely hidden from the child. and so it is onward through the advancing stages of life. of each of them it may be said, "we know not with what we must serve the lord, until we come hither." so that we need not be utterly disappointed, if our picture of heaven be at present ill composed: if it seem to be little else than a gorgeous mist after all. we cannot fill in the members of the landscape at present. if we could, we should be in heaven. remembering this our necessary incapacity for the inquiry, let us try to carry it as far as we may. and that we may not be forsaking the guidance of holy scripture for mere speculation, let us take the words of st. paul--"_now we see in a mirror, obscurely, but then face to face: now i know in part, but then i shall know even as also i was known_ (_by god_.)" this immense accession of light and knowledge must of course be interpreted partly of keener and brighter faculties wherewith the blessed shall be endowed; but shall it not also point to glorious employment of those renewed and augmented powers? how could one endowed with them ever remain idle? what a restless, ardent, many-handed thing is genius even here below? how the highly endowed spirit searches about and tries its wings, now hither now thither, in the vast realms of intellectual life! and if it be so here, with the body weighing on us, with the clogs of worldly business and trivial interruption, what will it be there, where everything will be fashioned and arranged for this express purpose, that every highest employment may find its noblest expansion without let or hindrance? besides, think for a moment of the relative positions of men with regard to any even the least amount of this light and knowledge of which we are speaking. in order to take in this the better, think of the lowest and most ignorant of mankind who shall attain to that state of glory. measure the difference between such a spirit and an augustine, and then recollect that augustine himself, that st. paul himself, was but a child in comparison of the maturity of knowledge and insight which all shall there acquire. such a thought may serve to show us what a gap must be bridged over, before any such perfect knowledge will be attained by any of the sons of men. and when we remember that all blessings come by labour and the goodly heat of exercised energy, shall we deny to the highest of all states the choicest of all blessings? so that the attainment of, and advance in, the light and knowledge peculiar to that glorious land must be imagined as affording unending employment for the blessed hereafter. and this gives us another insight into the matter. as there is so great disparity among men here, so we may well believe will there be there. all scripture goes to show that there will be no general equalizing, no flat level of mankind. degrees and ranks as they now are, indeed, there will be none. not the possession of wealth, not the accident of birth, which are held here to put difference between man and man, will make any distinction there: but inequality and distinction will proceed on other grounds; the amount of service done for god, the degree of entrance into the obedience and knowledge of him, these will put the difference between one and another there. but we hasten to a close: and in doing so, we come back to the simple words of our text, "for ever with the lord;" and we would leave on your minds the impression that these, after all, furnish the best key to the employment of the blessed in heaven. if they are fit companions for the lord, then must they be like him as he is there; and thus we seem to have marked out an employment alone sufficient for eternity. look at it in its various aspects. what is, what will be, the lord doing in that state of blessedness? will he be idle like the gods of epicurus, sitting serene above all, and separate from all, created things? no, indeed, no such glorified lord is revealed to us in holy scripture. "my father worketh hitherto, and i work." the created universe will be then as much beholden to his upholding hand as it is now. if they are to be for ever with him, attending and girding his steps, they, too, will doubtless be fellow-workers with him there, as they were here. and in this, only consider how much of his creation was altogether hidden from them here! look abroad on a starry night--behold a field of employment for those who shall be ever with the lord. the greater part of his works never came within sight of this our mortal eye at all. these are only hints, it is true, which we have no power of following out: but they may serve for finger-posts to point to whole realms of possible blessed employment. then, again, there is more in the words "for ever with the lord" than even this. who can tell what past works, not of creation only, but of grace also, the blessed may have to search into--works wrought on themselves and others which may then be brought back to them by memory entirely restored, and then first studied with any power to comprehend or to be thankful for them? then, again, the glory of god himself, then first revealed to them,--the redeeming love of christ,--the glory of the mystery of the indwelling of the spirit,--dry and lofty subjects to the sons of men here, will be to them when there as household words and as daily pursuits. it seems to me, my brethren, when we look at all these sources of blessed employment, though we are unable from our present weakness to follow them out into detail,--and when we think that perhaps after all in our earthly blindness we may be omitting some which shall there constitute the chief, it seems to me, i say, as if we should have to complain not of insufficient employ for the ages of eternity, but of an infinite and inexhaustible variety, for which even endless ages of limited being hardly seem to suffice. such, then, beloved, are the thoughts which have occurred to us on a subject of which i pray that it may be one of personal interest to every one here present. when we are to leave this present state, is a matter hidden from our eyes, and not dependent on ourselves: but how we will leave it, whether as the lord's blessed ones, or with no part in him, this is left for ourselves to determine. there is set before us life and death. may we choose life, that it may be well with us; that we may wake from the bed of death and find ourselves with the lord; that we may pass in joyful hope through the waiting and disembodied state, and wake at the morning of the resurrection to that fulness of completed bliss of which we have this day been speaking. _pardon and sons, printers, paternoster row_. new and recent works. _the prophecies of our lord and his apostles_. by w. hoffmann, d.d., chaplain in ordinary to the king of prussia. crown 8vo, price 7s. 6d. cloth. _the education of the heart: woman's best work_. by mrs. ellis, author of "the women of england," &c. fcap. 8vo, price 3s. 6d. cloth. _the divine mysteries; the divine treatment of sin, and the divine mystery of peace_. by j. baldwin brown, b. a., author of "the soul's exodus," &c. new edition. crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. cloth. _misread passages of scripture_. by the same author. third thousand. crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. cloth. _saint mark's gospel_. a new translation, with notes and practical lessons. by professor j. h. godwin, new college, london, author of "the apocalypse of st. john," &c. crown 8vo, 4s. 6d. _the son of man: discourses on the humanity of jesus christ_. with an address on the teaching of jesus christ. by frank coulin, d.d., minister of the national church, geneva. fcap. 8vo, 5s. cloth. london: hodder & stoughton, 27, paternoster row. works by e. de pressense d.d. _the early years of christianity_. 8vo, 12s. cloth. "this is a sequel to dr. pressense's celebrated book on the 'life, work, and times of jesus christ.' we may say at once that to the bulk of liberal christians dr. pressense's achievement will be very valuable."--_athenaum_. "he holds his brilliant intellectual gifts and his profound learning subordinate to his fervent and absolute faith in the divinity of lie lord and saviour."--_daily telegraph_. _jesus christ: his times, life, and work._ third and cheaper edition, crown 8vo, 9s. cloth. "one of the most valuable additions to christian literature which the present generation has seen."--_contemporary review._ "m. de pressense is not only brilliant and epigrammatic, but his sentences flow on from page to page with a sustained eloquence which never wearies the reader. the 'life of christ' is more dramatically unfolded in this volume than in any other work with which we are acquainted."--spectator. _the mystery of suffering, and other discourses_. new edition, crown 8vo, price 3s. 6d. cloth. _the land of the gospel: notes of a journey in the east_. crown 8vo, 5s. cloth. _the church and the french revolution_. a history of the relations of church and state from 1789 to 1802. crown 8vo, 9s. cloth. london: hodder & stoughton, 27, paternoster row. the book of the dead. by e. a. wallis budge. chapter i the title. "book of the dead" is the title now commonly given to the great collection of funerary texts which the ancient egyptian scribes composed for the benefit of the dead. these consist of spells and incantations, hymns and litanies, magical formulae and names, words of power and prayers, and they are found cut or painted on walls of pyramids and tombs, and painted on coffins and sarcophagi and rolls of papyri. the title "book of the dead" is somewhat unsatisfactory and misleading, for the texts neither form a connected work nor belong to one period; they are miscellaneous in character, and tell us nothing about the lives and works of the dead with whom they were buried. moreover, the egyptians possessed many funerary works that might rightly be called "books of the dead," but none of them bore a name that could be translated by the title "book of the dead." this title was given to the great collection of funerary texts in the first quarter of the nineteenth century by the pioneer egyptologists, who possessed no exact knowledge of their contents. they were familiar with the rolls of papyrus inscribed in the hieroglyphic and the hieratic character, for copies of several had been published, [1] but the texts in them were short and fragmentary. the publication of the facsimile [2] of the papyrus of peta-amen-neb-nest-taui [3] by m. cadet in 1805 made a long hieroglyphic text and numerous coloured vignettes available for study, and the french egyptologists described it as a copy of the "rituel funéraire" of the ancient egyptians. among these was champollion le jeune, but later, on his return from egypt, he and others called it "le livre des morts," "the book of the dead," "das todtenbuch," etc. these titles are merely translations of the name given by the egyptian tomb-robbers to every roll of inscribed papyrus which they found with mummies, namely, "kitâb-al-mayyit," "book of the dead man," or "kitâb al-mayyitun," "book of the dead" (plur.). these men knew nothing of the contents of such a roll, and all they meant to say was that it was "a dead man's book," and that it was found in his coffin with him. chapter ii the preservation of the mummified body in the tomb by thoth. the objects found in the graves of the predynastic egyptians, i.e., vessels of food, flint knives and other weapons, etc., prove that these early dwellers in the nile valley believed in some kind of a future existence. but as the art of writing was, unknown to them their graves contain no inscriptions, and we can only infer from texts of the dynastic period what their ideas about the other world were. it is clear that they did not consider it of great importance to preserve the dead body in as complete and perfect state as possible, for in many of their graves the heads, hands and feet have been found severed from the trunks and lying at some distance from them. on the other hand, the dynastic egyptians, either as the result of a difference in religious belief, or under the influence of invaders who had settled in their country, attached supreme importance to the preservation and integrity of the dead body, and they adopted every means known to them to prevent its dismemberment and decay. they cleansed it and embalmed it with drugs, spices and balsams; they anointed it with aromatic oils and preservative fluids; they swathed it in hundreds of yards of linen bandages; and then they sealed it up in a coffin or sarcophagus, which they laid in a chamber hewn in the bowels of the mountain. all these things were done to protect the physical body against damp, dry rot and decay, and against the attacks of moth, beetles, worms and wild animals. but these were not the only enemies of the dead against which precautions had to be taken, for both the mummified body and the spiritual elements which had inhabited it upon earth had to be protected from a multitude of devils and fiends, and from the powers of darkness generally. these powers of evil had hideous and terrifying shapes and forms, and their haunts were well known, for they infested the region through which the road of the dead lay when passing from this world to the kingdom of osiris. the "great gods" were afraid of them, and were obliged to protect themselves by the use of spells and magical names, and words of power, which were composed and written down by thoth. in fact it was believed in very early times in egypt that ra the sun-god owed his continued existence to the possession of a secret name with which thoth had provided him. and each morning the rising sun was menaced by a fearful monster called aapep, which lay hidden under the place of sunrise waiting to swallow up the solar disk. it was impossible, even for the sun-god, to destroy this "great devil," but by reciting each morning the powerful spell with which thoth had provided him he was able to paralyse all aapep's limbs and to rise upon this world. since then the "great gods," even though benevolently disposed towards them, were not able to deliver the dead from the devils that lived upon the "bodies, souls, spirits, shadows and hearts of the dead," the egyptians decided to invoke the aid of thoth on behalf of their dead and to place them under the protection of his almighty spells. inspired by thoth the theologians of ancient egypt composed a large number of funerary texts which were certainly in general use under the ivth dynasty (about 3700 b.c.), and were probably well known under the ist dynasty, and throughout the whole period of dynastic history thoth was regarded as the author of the "book of the dead." chapter iii the book per-t em hru, or [the chapters of] coming forth by (or, into) the day, commonly called the "book of the dead." the spells and other texts which were written by thoth for the benefit of the dead, and are directly connected with him, were called, according to documents written under the xith and xviiith dynasties, "chapters of the coming forth by (or, into) the day." one rubric in the papyrus of nu (brit. mus. no. 10477) states that the text of the work called "per-t em hru," i.e., "coming forth (or, into) the day," was discovered by a high official in the foundations of a shrine of the god hennu during the reign of semti, or hesepti, a king of the ist dynasty. another rubric in the same papyrus says that the text was cut upon the alabaster plinth of a statue of menkaura (mycerinus), a king of the ivth dynasty, and that the letters were inlaid with lapis lazuli. the plinth was found by prince herutataf, a son of king khufu (cheops), who carried it off to his king and exhibited it as a "most wonderful" thing. this composition was greatly reverenced, for it "would make a man victorious upon earth and in the other world; it would ensure him a safe and free passage through the tuat (under world); it would allow him to go in and to go out, and to take at any time any form he pleased; it would make his soul to flourish, and would prevent him from dying the [second] death." for the deceased to receive the full benefit of this text it had to be recited by a man "who was ceremonially pure, and who had not eaten fish or meat, and had not consorted with women." on coffins of the xith dynasty and on papyri of the xviiith dynasty we find two versions of the per-t em hru, one long and one short. as the title of the shorter version states that it is the "chapters of the per-t em hru in a single chapter," it is clear that this work, even under the ivth dynasty, contained many "chapters," and that a much abbreviated form of the work was also current at the same period. the rubric that attributes the "finding" of the chapter to herutataf associates it with khemenu, i.e., hermopolis, and indicates that thoth, the god of this city, was its author. the work per-t em hru received many additions in the course of centuries, and at length, under the xviiith dynasty, it contained about 190 distinct compositions, or "chapters." the original forms of many of these are to be found in the "pyramid texts" (i.e., the funerary compositions cut on the walls of the chambers and corridors of the pyramids of kings unas, teta, pepi i meri-ra, merenra and pepi ii at sakkârah), which were written under the vth and vith dynasties. the forms which many other chapters had under the xith and xiith dynasties are well represented by the texts painted on the coffins of amamu, sen, and guatep in the british museum (nos. 6654, 30839, 30841), but it is possible that both these and the so-called "pyramid texts" all belonged to the work per-t em hru, and are extracts from it. the "pyramid texts" have no illustrations, but a few of the texts on the coffins of the xith and xiith dynasties have coloured vignettes, e.g., those which refer to the region to be traversed by the deceased on his way to the other world, and the islands of the blessed or the elysian fields. on the upper margins of the insides of such coffins there are frequently given two or more rows of coloured drawings of the offerings which under the vth dynasty were presented to the deceased or his statue during the celebration of the service of "opening the mouth" and the performance of the ceremonies of "the liturgy of funerary offerings." under the xviiith dynasty, when the use of large rectangular coffins and sarcophagi fell somewhat into disuse, the scribes began to write collections of chapters from the per-t em hru on rolls of papyri instead of on coffins. at first the texts were written in hieroglyphs, the greater number of them being in black ink, and an attempt was made to illustrate each text by a vignette drawn in black outline. the finest known example of such a codex is the papyrus of nebseni (brit. mus. no. 9900), which is 77 feet 7 1/2 inches in length and i foot i1/2 inches in breadth. early in the xviiith dynasty scribes began to write the titles of the chapters, the rubrics, and the catchwords in red ink and the text in black, and it became customary to decorate the vignettes with colours, and to increase their size and number. the oldest codex of this class is the papyrus of nu (brit. mus. no. 10477) which is 65 feet 3 1/2 inches in length, and 1 foot 1 1/2 inches in breadth. this and many other rolls were written by their owners for their own tombs, and in each roll both text and vignettes were usually, the work of the same hand. later, however, the scribe wrote the text only, and a skilled artist was employed to add the coloured vignettes, for which spaces were marked out and left blank by the scribe. the finest example of this class of roll is the papyrus of ani (brit. mus., no. 10470). which is 78 feet in length and 1 foot 3 inches in breadth. in all papyri of this class the text is written in hieroglyphs, but under the xixth and following dynasties many papyri are written throughout in the hieratic character; these usually lack vignettes, but have coloured frontispieces. under the rule of the high priests of amen many changes were introduced into the contents of the papyri, and the arrangement cf the texts and vignettes of the per-t em hru was altered. the great confraternity of amen-ra, the "king of the gods," felt it to be necessary to emphasize the supremacy of their god, even in the kingdom of osiris, and they added many prayers, litanies and hymns to the sun-god to every selection of the texts from the per-t em hru that was copied on a roll of papyrus for funerary purposes. the greater number of the rolls of this period are short and contain only a few chapters, e.g., the papyrus of the royal mother netchemet (brit. mus. no. 10541) and the papyrus of queen netchemet (brit. mus. no. 10478). in some the text is very defective and carelessly written, but the coloured vignettes are remarkable for their size and beauty; of this class of roll the finest example is the papyrus of anhai (brit. mus. no. 10472). the most interesting of all the rolls that were written during the rule of the priest-kings over upper egypt is the papyrus of princess nesitanebtashru (brit. mus. no. 10554), now commonly known as the "greenfield papyrus." it is the longest and widest funerary papyrus [4] known, for it measures 123 feet by 1 foot 6 1/2 inches, and it contains more chapters, hymns, litanies, adorations and homages to the gods than any other roll. the 87 chapters from the per-t em hru which it contains prove the princess's devotion to the cult of osiris, and the hymns to amen-ra show that she was able to regard this god and osiris not as rivals but as two aspects of the same god. she believed that the "hidden" creative power which was materialized in amen was only another form of the power of procreation, renewed birth and resurrection which was typified by osiris. the oldest copies of the per-t em hru which we have on papyrus contain a few extracts from other ancient funerary works, such as the "book of opening the mouth," the "liturgy of funerary offerings," and the "book of the two ways." but under the rule of the priest-kings the scribes incorporated with the chapters of the per-t em hru extracts from the "book of ami-tuat" and the "book of gates," and several of the vignettes and texts that are found on the walls of the royal tombs of thebes. one of the most remarkable texts written at this period is found in the papyrus of nesi-khensu, which is now in the egyptian museum in cairo. this is really the copy of a contract which is declared to have been made between nesi-khensu and amen-ra, "the holy god, the lord of all the gods." as a reward for the great piety of the queen, and her devotion to the interests of amen-ra upon earth, the god undertakes to make her a goddess in his kingdom, to provide her with an estate there in perpetuity and a never-failing supply of offerings, and happiness of heart, soul and body, and the [daily] recital upon earth of the "seventy songs of ra" for the benefit of her soul in the khert-neter, or under world. the contract was drawn up in a series of paragraphs in legal phraseology by the priests of amen, who believed they had the power of making their god do as they pleased when they pleased. little is known of the history of the per-t em hru after the downfall of the priests of amen, and during the period of the rule of the nubians, but under the kings of the xxvith dynasty the book enjoyed a great vogue. many funerary rolls were written both in hieroglyphs and hieratic, and were decorated with vignettes drawn in black outline; and about this time the scribes began to write funerary texts in the demotic character. but men no longer copied long selections from the per-t em hru as they had done under the xviiith, xixth and xxth dynasties, partly because the religious views of the egyptians had undergone a great change, and partly because a number of books of the dead of a more popular character had appeared. the cult of osiris was triumphant everywhere, and men preferred the hymns and litanies which dealt with his sufferings, death and resurrection to the compositions in which the absolute supremacy of ra and his solar cycle of gods and goddesses was assumed or proclaimed. thus, in the "lamentations of isis" and the "festival songs of isis and nephthys," and the "litanies of seker," and the "book of honouring osiris," etc., the central figure is osiris, and he alone is regarded as the giver of everlasting life. the dead were no longer buried with large rolls of papyrus filled with chapters of the per-t em hru laid in their coffins, but with small sheets or strips of papyrus, on which were inscribed the above compositions, or the shorter texts of the "book of breathings," or the "book of traversing eternity," or the "book of may my name flourish," or a part of the "chapter of the last judgment." ancient egyptian tradition asserts that the book per-t em hru was used early in the ist dynasty, and the papyri and coffins of the roman period afford evidence that the native egyptians still accepted all the essential beliefs and doctrines contained in it. during the four thousand years of its existence many additions were made to it, but nothing of importance seems to have been taken away from it. in the space here available it is impossible to describe in detail the various recensions of this work, viz., (1) the heliopolitan, (2) the theban and its various forms, and (3) the saïte; but it is proposed to sketch briefly the main facts of the egyptian religion which may be deduced from them generally, and especially from the theban recension, and to indicate the contents of the principal chapters. no one papyrus can be cited as a final authority, for no payprus contains all the chapters, 190 in number, of the theban recension, and in no two papyri are the selection and sequence of the chapters identical, or is the treatment of the vignettes the same. chapter iv thoth, the author of the book of the dead. thoth, in egyptian tchehuti or tehuti, who has already been mentioned as the author of the texts that form the per-t em hru, or book of the dead, was believed by the egyptians to have been the heart and mind of the creator, who was in very early times in egypt called by the natives "pautti," and by foreigners "ra." thoth was also the "tongue" of the creator, and he at all times voiced the will of the great god, and spoke the words which commanded every being and thing in heaven and in earth to come into existence. his words were almighty and once uttered never remained without effect. he framed the laws by which heaven, earth and all the heavenly bodies are maintained; he ordered the courses of the sun, moon, and stars; he invented drawing and design and the arts, the letters of the alphabet and the art of writing, and the science of mathematics. at a very early period he was called the "scribe (or secretary) of the great company of the gods," and as he kept the celestial register of the words and deeds of men, he was regarded by many generations of egyptians as the "recording angel." he was the inventor of physical and moral law and became the personification of justice; and as the companies of the gods of heaven, and earth, and the other world appointed him to "weigh the words and deeds" of men, and his verdicts were unalterable, he became more powerful in the other world than osiris himself. osiris owed his triumph over set in the great judgment hall of the gods entirely to the skill of thoth of the "wise mouth" as an advocate, and to his influence with the gods in heaven. and every follower of osiris relied upon the advocacy of thoth to secure his acquittal on the day of judgment, and to procure for him an everlasting habitation in the kingdom of osiris. chapter v thoth and osiris. the egyptians were not satisfied with the mere possession of the texts of thoth, when their souls were being weighed in the great scales in the judgment hall of osiris, but they also wished thoth to act as their advocate on this dread occasion and to prove their innocence as he had proved that of osiris before the great gods in prehistoric times. according to a very ancient egyptian tradition, the god osiris, who was originally the god of the principle of the fertility of the nile, became incarnate on earth as the son of geb, the earth-god, and nut, the sky-goddess. he had two sisters, isis and nephthys, and one brother, set; he married isis and set married nephthys. geb set osiris on the throne of egypt, and his rule was beneficent and the nation was happy and prosperous. set marked this and became very jealous of his brother, and wished to slay him so that he might seize his throne and take possession of isis, whose reputation as a devoted and loving wife and able manager filled the country. by some means or other set did contrive to kill osiris: according to one story he killed him by the side of a canal at netat, near abydos, and according to another he caused him to be drowned. isis, accompanied by her sister nephthys, went to netat and rescued the body of her lord, and the two sisters, with the help of anpu, a son of ra the sun-god, embalmed it. they then laid the body in a tomb, and a sycamore tree grew round it and flourished over the grave. a tradition which is found in the pyramid texts states that before osiris was laid in his tomb, his wife isis, by means of her magical powers, succeeded in restoring him to life temporarily, and made him beget of her an heir, who was called horus. after the burial of osiris, isis retreated to the marshes in the delta, and there she brought forth horus. in order to avoid the persecution of set, who on one occasion succeeded in killing horus by the sting of a scorpion, she fled from place to place in the delta, and lived a very unhappy life for some years. but thoth helped her in all her difficulties and provided her with the words of power which restored horus to life, and enabled her to pass unharmed among the crocodiles and other evil beasts that infested the waters of the delta at that time. when horus arrived at years of maturity, he set out to find set and to wage war against his father's murderer. at length they met and a fierce fight ensued, and though set was defeated before he was finally hurled to the ground, he succeeded in tearing out the right eye of horus and keeping it. even after this fight set was able to persecute isis, and horus was powerless to prevent it until thoth made set give him the right eye of horus which he had carried off. thoth then brought the eye to horus, and replaced it in his face, and restored sight to it by spitting upon it. horus then sought out the body of osiris in order to raise it up to life, and when he found it he untied the bandages so that osiris might move his limbs, and rise up. under the direction of thoth horus recited a series of formulas as he presented offerings to osiris, and he and his sons and anubis performed the ceremonies which opened the mouth, and nostrils, and the eyes and the ears of osiris. he embraced osiris and so transferred to him his ka, i.e., his own living personality and virility, and gave him his eye which thoth had rescued from set and had replaced in his face. as soon as osiris had eaten the eye of horus he became endowed with a soul and vital power, and recovered thereby the complete use of all his mental faculties, which death had suspended. straightway he rose up from his bier and became the lord of the dead and king of the under world. osiris became the type and symbol of resurrection among the egyptians of all periods, because he was a god who had been originally a mortal and had risen from the dead. but before osiris became king of the under world he suffered further persecution from set. piecing together a number of disconnected hints and brief statements in the texts, it seems pretty clear either that osiris appealed to the "great gods" to take notice that set had murdered him, or that set brought a series of charges against osiris. at all events the "great gods" determined to investigate the matter. the greater and the lesser companies of the gods assembled in the celestial anu, or heliopolis, and ordered osiris to stand up and defend himself against the charges brought against him by set. isis and nephthys brought him before the gods, and horus, "the avenger of his father," came to watch the case on behalf of his father, osiris. thoth appeared in the hall of judgment in his official capacity as "scribe," i.e., secretary to the gods, and the hearing of the evidence began. set seems to have pleaded his own cause, and to have repeated the charges which he had made against osiris. the defence of osiris was undertaken by thoth, who proved to the gods that the charges brought against osiris by set were unfounded, that the statements of set were lies, and that therefore set was a liar. the gods accepted thoth's proof of the innocence of osiris and the guilt of set, and ordered that osiris was to be considered a great god and to have rule over the kingdom of the under world, and that set was to be punished. thoth convinced them that osiris was "maa kheru," "true of word," i.e., that he had spoken the truth when he gave his evidence, and in texts of all periods thoth is frequently described as s-maa kheru asar, i.e., he who proved osiris to be "true of word." as for set the liar, he was seized by the ministers of the great gods, who threw him down on his hands and face and made osiris mount upon his back as a mark of his victory and superiority. after this set was bound with cords like a beast for sacrifice, and in the presence of thoth was hacked in pieces. chapter vi osiris as judge of the dead and king of the under world. when set was destroyed osiris departed from this world to the kingdom which the gods had given him and began to reign over the dead. he was absolute king of this realm, just as ra the sun-god was absolute king of the sky. this region of the dead, or dead-land, is called "tat," or "tuat," but where the egyptians thought it was situated is not quite clear. the original home of the cult of osiris was in the delta, in a city which in historic times was called tetu by the egyptians and busiris by the greeks, and it is reasonable to assume that the tuat, over which osiris ruled, was situated near this place. wherever it was it was not underground, and it was not originally in the sky or even on its confines; but it was located on the borders of the visible world, in the outer darkness. the tuat was not a place of happiness, judging from the description of it in the per-t em hru, or book of the dead. when ani the scribe arrived there he said, "what is this to which i have come? there is neither water nor air here, its depth is unfathomable, it is as dark as the darkest night, and men wander about here helplessly. a man cannot live here and be satisfied, and he cannot gratify the cravings of affection" (chapter clxxv). in the tuat there was neither tree nor plant, for it was the "land where nothing grew"; and in primitive times it was a region of destruction and death, a place where the dead rotted and decayed, a place of abomination, and horror and terror, and annihilation. but in very early times, certainly in the neolithic period, the egyptians believed in some kind of a future life, and they dimly conceived that the attainment of that life might possibly depend upon the manner of life which those who hoped to enjoy it led here. the egyptians "hated death and loved life," and when the belief gained ground among them that osiris, the god of the dead, had himself risen from the dead, and had been acquitted by the gods of heaven after a searching trial, and had the power to "make men and women to be born again," and "to renew life" because of his truth and righteousness, they came to regard him as the judge as well as the god of the dead. as time went on, and moral and religious ideas developed among the egyptians, it became certain to them that only those who had satisfied osiris as to their truth-speaking and honest dealing upon earth could hope for admission into his kingdom. when the power of osiris became predominant in the under world, and his fame as a just and righteous judge became well established among the natives of lower and upper egypt, it was universally believed that after death all men would appear before him in his dread hall of judgment to receive their reward or their sentence of doom. the writers of the pyramid texts, more than fifty-five centuries ago, dreamed of a time when heaven and earth and men did not exist, when the gods had not yet been born, when death had not been created, and when anger, speech (?), cursing and rebellion were unknown. [5] but that time was very remote, and long before the great fight took place between horus and set, when the former lost his eye and the latter was wounded in a vital part of his body. meanwhile death had come into the world, and since the religion of osiris gave man a hope of escape from death, and the promise of everlasting life of the peculiar kind that appealed to the great mass of the egyptian people, the spread of the cult of osiris and its ultimate triumph over all forms of religion in egypt were assured. under the early dynasties the priesthood of anu (the on of the bible) strove to make their sun-god ra pre-eminent in egypt, but the cult of this god never appealed to the people as a whole. it was embraced by the pharaohs, and their high officials, and some of the nobles, and the official priesthood, but the reward which its doctrine offered was not popular with the materialistic egyptians. a life passed in the boat of ra with the gods, being arrayed in light and fed upon light, made no appeal to the ordinary folk since osiris offered them as a reward a life in the field of reeds, and the field of offerings of food, and the field of the grasshoppers, and everlasting existence in a transmuted and beautified body among the resurrected bodies of father and mother, wife and children, kinsfolk and friends. but, as according to the cult of ra, the wicked, the rebels, and the blasphemers of the sun-god suffered swift and final punishment, so also all those who had sinned against the stern moral law of osiris, and who had failed to satisfy its demands, paid the penalty without delay. the judgment of ra was held at sunrise, and the wicked were thrown into deep pits filled with fire, and their bodies, souls, shadows and hearts were consumed forthwith. the judgment of osiris took place near abydos, probably at midnight, and a decree of swift annihilation was passed by him on the damned. their heads were cut off by the headsman of osiris, who was called shesmu, and their bodies dismembered and destroyed in pits of fire. there was no eternal punishment for men, for the wicked were annihilated quickly and completely; but inasmuch as osiris sat in judgment and doomed the wicked to destruction daily, the infliction of punishment never ceased. chapter vii the judgment of osiris. the oldest religious texts suggest that the egyptians always associated the last judgment with the weighing of the heart in a pair of scales, and in the illustrated papyri of the book of the dead great prominence is always given to the vignettes in which this weighing is being carried out. the heart, ab, was taken as the symbol of all the emotions, desires, and passions, both good and evil, and out of it proceeded the issues of life. it was intimately connected with the ka, i.e., the double or personality of a man, and several short spells in the book per-t em hru were composed to ensure its preservation (chapters xxvi-xxxb*). the great chapter of the judgment of osiris, the cxxvth, is divided into three parts, which are sometimes (as in the papyrus of ani) prefaced by a hymn to osiris. the first part contains the following, which was said by the deceased when he entered the hall of maati, in which osiris sat in judgment: "homage to thee, o great god, lord of maati, [6] i have come to thee, o my lord, that i may behold thy beneficence. i know thee, and i know thy name, and the names of the forty-two who live with thee in the hall of maati, who keep ward over sinners, and feed upon their blood on the day of estimating characters before un-nefer [7] ... behold, i have come to thee, and i have brought maat (i.e., truth, integrity) to thee. i have destroyed sin for thee. i have not sinned against men. i have not oppressed [my] kinsfolk. i have done no wrong in the place of truth. i have not known worthless folk. i have not wrought evil. i have not defrauded the oppressed one of his goods. i have not done the things that the gods abominate. i have not vilified a servant to his master. i have not caused pain. i have not let any man hunger. i have made no one to weep. i have not committed murder. i have not commanded any to commit murder for me. i have inflicted pain on no man. i have not defrauded the temples of their oblations. i have not purloined the cakes of the gods. i have not stolen the offerings to the spirits (i.e., the dead). i have not committed fornication. i have not polluted myself in the holy places of the god of my city. i have not diminished from the bushel. i did not take from or add to the acre-measure. i did not encroach on the fields [of others]. i have not added to the weights of the scales. i have not misread the pointer of the scales. i have not taken milk from the mouths of children. i have not driven cattle from their pastures. i have not snared the birds of the gods. i have not caught fish with fish of their kind. i have not stopped water [when it should flow]. i have not cut the dam of a canal. i have not extinguished a fire when it should burn. i have not altered the times of the chosen meat offerings. i have not turned away the cattle [intended for] offerings. i have not repulsed the god at his appearances. i am pure. i am pure. i am pure. i am pure...." in the second part of chapter cxxv osiris is seen seated at one end of the hall of maati accompanied by the two goddesses of law and truth, and the forty-two gods who are there to assist him. each of the forty-two gods represents one of the nomes of egypt and has a symbolic name. when the deceased had repeated the magical names of the doors of the hall, he entered it and saw these gods arranged in two rows, twenty-one on each side of the hall. at the end, near osiris, were the great scales, under the charge of anpu (anubis), and the monster amemit, the eater of the dead, i.e., of the hearts of the wicked who were condemned in the judgment of osiris. the deceased advanced along the hall and, addressing each of the forty-two gods by his name, declared that he had not committed a certain sin, thus: "o usekh-nemmit, comer forth from anu, i have not committed sin. "o fenti, comer forth from khemenu, i have not robbed. "o neha-hau, comer forth from re-stau, i have not killed men. "o neba, comer forth in retreating, i have not plundered the property of god. "o set-qesu, comer forth from hensu, i have not lied. "o uammti, comer forth from khebt, i have not defiled any man's wife. "o maa-anuf, comer forth from per-menu, i have not defiled myself. "o tem-sep, comer forth from tetu, i have not cursed the king. "o nefer-tem, comer forth from het-ka-ptah, i have not acted deceitfully; i have not committed wickedness. "o nekhen, comer forth from heqat, i have not turned a deaf ear to the words of the law (or truth)." the names of most of the forty-two gods are not ancient, but were invented by the priests probably about the same time as the names in the book of him that is in the tuat and the book of gates, i.e., between the xiith and the xviiith dynasties. their artificial character is shown by their meanings. thus usekh-nemmit means "he of the long strides"; fenti means "he of the nose"; neha-hau means "stinking-members"; set-qesu means "breaker of bones," etc. the early egyptologists called the second part of the cxxvth chapter the "negative confession," and it is generally known by this somewhat inexact title to this day. in the third part of the cxxvth chapter comes the address which the deceased made to the gods after he had declared his innocence of the sins enumerated before the forty-two gods. he says: "homage to you, o ye gods who dwell in your hall of maati. i know you and i know your names. let me not fall under your slaughtering knives. bring not my wickedness to the notice of the god whose followers ye are. let not the affair [of my judgment] come under your jurisdiction. speak ye the law (or truth) concerning me before neb-er-tcher, [8] for i performed the law (or, truth) in ta-mera (i.e., egypt). i have not blasphemed the god. no affair of mine came under the notice of the king in his day. homage to you, o ye who are in your hall of maati, who have no lies in your bodies, who live on truth, who eat truth before horus, the dweller in his disk, deliver ye me from babai [9] who liveth upon the entrails of the mighty ones on the day of the great reckoning (apt aat). behold me! i have come to you without sin, without deceit (?), without evil, without false testimony (?) i have not done an [evil] thing. i live upon truth and i feed upon truth. i have performed the behests of men, and the things that satisfy the gods. [10] i have propitiated the god [by doing] his will. i have given bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, raiment to the naked, and a boat to him that needed one. i have made holy offerings to the gods, and sepulchral offerings to the beautified dead. be ye then my saviours, be ye my protectors, and make no accusation against me before the great god. i am pure of mouth, and clean of hands; therefore it hath been said by those who saw me, 'come in peace, come in peace.'" the deceased then addresses osiris, and says, "hail, thou who art exalted upon thy standard, thou lord of the atefu crown, whose name is 'lord of winds,' save me from thy messengers (or assessors) with uncovered faces, who bring charges of evil and make shortcomings plain, because i have performed the law (or truth) for the lord of the law (or truth). i have purified myself with washings in water, my back hath been cleansed with salt, and my inner parts are in the pool of truth. there is not a member of mine that lacketh truth." from the lines that follow the above in the papyrus of nu it seems as though the judgment of the deceased by the forty-two gods was preliminary to the final judgment of osiris. at all events, after questioning him about the performance of certain ceremonies, they invited him to enter the hall of maati, but when he was about to do so the porter, and the door-bolts, and the various parts of the door and its frame, and the floor, refused to permit him to enter until he had repeated their magical names. when he had pronounced these correctly the porter took him in and presented him to maau (?)-taui, who was thoth himself. when asked by him why he had come the deceased answered, "i have come that report may be made of me." then thoth said, "what is thy condition?" and the deceased replied, "i am purified from evil things, i am free from the wickedness of those who lived in my days; i am not one of them." on this thoth said, "thou shalt be reported. [tell me:] who is he whose roof is fire, whose walls are living serpents, and whose floor is a stream of water? who is he?" the deceased having replied "osiris," thoth then led him forward to the god osiris, who received him, and promised that subsistence should be provided for him from the eye of ra. in great papyri of the book of the dead such as those of nebseni, nu, ani, hunefer, etc., the last judgment, or the "great reckoning," is made the most prominent scene in the whole work, and the vignette in which it is depicted is several feet long. the most complete form of it is given in the papyrus of ani, and may be thus described: at one end of the hall of maati osiris is seated on a throne within a shrine made in the form of a funerary coffer; behind him stand isis and nephthys. along one side of the hall are seated the gods harmachis, tem, shu, tefnut, geb, nut, isis and nephthys, horus, hathor, hu and saa, who are to serve as the divine jury; these formed the "great company of the gods" of anu (heliopolis). by these stands the great balance, and on its pillar sits the dog-headed ape astes, or astenu, the associate of thoth. the pointer of the balance is in the charge of anpu. behind anpu are thoth the scribe of the gods, and the monster amemit, with the head of a crocodile, the forepaws and shoulders of a lion, and the hindquarters of a hippopotamus; the duty of the last-named was to eat up the hearts that were light in the balance. on the other side of the balance ani, accompanied by his wife, is seen standing with head bent low in adoration, and between him and the balance stand the two goddesses who nurse and rear children, meskhenet and rennet, ani's soul, in the form of a man-headed hawk, a portion of his body, and his luck shai. since the heart was considered to be the seat of all will, emotion, feeling, reason and intelligence, ani's heart, is seen in one pan of the balance, and in the other is the feather, symbolic of truth and righteousness. whilst his heart was in the balance ani, repeating the words of chapter xxxb* of the book of the dead, addressed it, saying, "my heart of my mother! my heart of my mother! my heart of my being! make no stand against me when testifying, thrust me not back before the tchatchaut (i.e., the overseers of osiris), and make no failure in respect of me before the master of the balance. thou art my ka, the dweller in my body, uniting (?) and strengthening my members. thou shalt come forth to the happiness to which we advance. make not my name to stink with the officers [of osiris] who made men, utter no lie against me before the great god, the lord of amentt." then thoth, the judge of truth, of the great company of the gods who are in the presence of osiris, saith to the gods, "hearken ye to this word: in very truth the heart of osiris hath been weighed, and his soul hath borne testimony concerning him; according to the great balance his case is truth (i.e., just). no wickedness hath been found in him. he did not filch offerings from the temples. he did not act crookedly, and he did not vilify folk when he was on earth." and the great company of the gods say to thoth, who dwelleth in khemenu (hermopolis): "this that cometh forth from thy mouth of truth is confirmed (?) the osiris, the scribe ani, true of voice, hath testified. he hath not sinned and [his name] doth not stink before us; amemit (i.e., the eater of the dead) shall not have the mastery over him. let there be given unto him offerings of food and an appearance before osiris, and an abiding homestead in the field of offerings as unto the followers of horus." thus the gods have declared that ani is "true of voice," as was osiris, and they have called ani "osiris," because in his purity of word and deed he resembled that god. in all the copies of the book of the dead the deceased is always called "osiris," and as it was always assumed that those for whom they were written would be found innocent when weighed in the great balance, the words "true of voice," which were equivalent in meaning to "innocent and acquitted," were always written after their names. it may be noted in passing that when ani's heart was weighed against truth, the beam of the great balance remained perfectly horizontal. this suggests that the gods did not expect the heart of the deceased to "kick the beam," but were quite satisfied if it exactly counterbalanced truth. they demanded the fulfilment of the law and nothing more, and were content to bestow immortality upon the man on whom thoth's verdict was "he hath done no evil." in accordance with the command of the gods ani passes from the great balance to the end of the hall of maati where osiris is seated, and as he approaches the god horus, the son of isis, takes him by the hand and leads him forward, and standing before his father osiris says, "i have come to thee, un-nefer, [11] i have brought to thee the osiris ani. his heart is righteous [and] hath come forth from the balance. it hath no sin before any god or any goddess. thoth hath set down his judgment in writing, and the company of the gods have declared on his behalf that [his] evidence is very true. let there be given unto him of the bread and beer which appear before osiris. let him be like the followers of horus for ever!" next we see ani kneeling in adoration before osiris, and he says, "behold, i am in thy presence, o lord of amentt. there is no sin in my body. i have not uttered a lie knowingly. [i have] no duplicity (?) grant that i may be like the favoured (or rewarded) ones who are in thy train." under favour of osiris ani then became a sahu, or "spirit-body," and in this form passed into the kingdom of osiris. chapter viii the kingdom of osiris. according to the book of gates and the other "guides" to the egyptian under world, the kingdom of osiris formed the sixth division of the tuat; in very early times it was situated in the western delta, but after the xiith dynasty theologians placed it near abydos in upper egypt, and before the close of the dynastic period the tuat of osiris had absorbed the under world of every nome of egypt. when the soul in its beautified or spirit body arrived there, the ministers of osiris took it to the homestead or place of abode which had been allotted to it by the command of osiris, and there it began its new existence. the large vignette to the cxth chapter shows us exactly what manner of place the abode of the blessed was. the country was flat and the fields were intersected by canals of running water in which there were "no fish and no worms" (i.e., water snakes). in one part of it were several small islands, and on one of them osiris was supposed to dwell with his saints. it was called the "island of truth," and the ferry-man of osiris would not convey to it any soul that had not been declared "true of word" by thoth, osiris and the great gods at the "great reckoning." the portion of the kingdom of osiris depicted in the large books of the dead represents in many respects a typical egyptian farm, and we see the deceased engaged in ploughing and reaping and driving the oxen that are treading out the corn. he was introduced into the sekhet heteput (a section of the sekhet aaru, i.e., "field of reeds," or the "elysian fields") by thoth, and there he found the souls of his ancestors, who were joined to the company of the gods. one corner of this region was specially set apart for the dwelling place of the aakhu, i.e., beautified souls, or spirit-souls, who were said to be seven cubits in height, and to reap wheat or barley which grew to a height of three cubits. near this spot were moored two boats that were always ready for the use of the denizens of that region; they appear to have been "spirit boats," i.e., boats which moved of themselves and carried the beautified wheresoever they wanted to go without any trouble or fatigue on their part. how the beautified passed their time in the kingdom of osiris may be seen from the pictures cut on the alabaster sarcophagus of seti i, now preserved in sir john soane's museum in lincoln's inn fields. here we see them occupied in producing the celestial food on which they and the god lived. some are tending the wheat plants as they grow, and others are reaping the ripe grain. in the texts that accompany these scenes the ears of wheat are said to be the "members of osiris," and the wheat plant is called the maat plant. osiris was the wheat-god and also the personification of maat (i.e., truth), and the beautified lived upon the body of their god and ate him daily, and the substance of him was the "bread of everlastingness," which is mentioned in the pyramid texts. the beautified are described as "those who have offered up incense to the gods, and whose kau (i.e., doubles, or persons) have been washed clean. they have been reckoned up and they are maat (i.e., truth) in the presence of the great god who destroyeth sin." osiris says to them, "ye are truth of truth; rest in peace." and of them he says, "they were doers of truth whilst they were upon earth, they did battle for their god, and they shall be called to the enjoyment of the land of the house of life with truth. their truth shall be reckoned to them in the presence of the great god who destroyeth sin." then addressing them again osiris says, "ye are beings of truth, o ye truths. take ye your rest because of what ye have done, becoming even as those who are in my following, and who direct the house of him whose soul is holy. ye shall live there even as they live, and ye shall have dominion over the cool waters of your land. i command that ye have your being to the limit [of that land] with truth and without sin." in these passages we have the two conceptions of osiris well illustrated. as the wheat-god he would satisfy those who wished for a purely material, agricultural heaven, where hunger would be unknown and where the blessed would be able to satisfy every physical desire and want daily; and as the god of truth, of whom the spiritually minded hoped to become the counterpart, he would be their hope, and consolation, and the image of the eternal god. chapter ix a short description of the "doors" or chapters of the book of the dead. all the great papyri of the book of the dead begin with a hymn to ra, who from the period of the ivth dynasty was the "king of the gods" of egypt. his cult was finally "established" under the vth dynasty when the king of egypt began to call himself in official documents and monuments "son of the sun," sa ra. this hymn is supposed to be sung by the deceased, who says:-"homage to thee, o ra, at thy beauteous rising. thou risest, thou risest; thou shinest, thou shinest at the dawn. thou art king of the gods, and the maati goddesses embrace thee. the company of the gods praise thee at sunrise and at sunset. thou sailest over the heights of heaven and thy heart is glad. thy morning boat meeteth thy evening boat with fair winds. thy father is the sky-god and thy mother is the sky-goddess, and thou art horus of the eastern and western skies. ... o thou only one, o thou perfect one, o thou who art eternal, who art never weak, whom no mighty one can abase; none hath dominion over the things which appertain to thee. homage to thee in thy characters of horus, tem, and khepera, thou great hawk, who makest man to rejoice by thy beautiful face. when thou risest men and women live. thou renewest thy youth, and dost set thyself in the place where thou wast yesterday. o divine youth, who art self-created, i cannot comprehend thee. thou art the lord of heaven and earth, and didst create beings celestial and beings terrestrial. thou art the god one, who camest into being in the beginning of time. thou didst create the earth, and man, thou didst make the sky and the celestial river hep; thou didst make the waters and didst give life unto all that therein is. thou hast knit together the mountains, thou hast made mankind and the beasts of the field to come into being, and hast made the heavens and the earth. the fiend nak is overthrown, his arms are cut off. o thou divine youth, thou heir of everlastingness, self-begotten and self-born, one, might, of myriad forms and aspects, prince of an (i.e., on), lord of eternity, everlasting ruler, the company of the gods rejoice in thee. as thou risest thou growest greater: thy rays are upon all faces. thou art unknowable, and no tongue can describe thy similitude; thou existest alone. millions of years have passed over the world, i cannot tell the number of those through which thou hast passed. thou journeyest through spaces [requiring] millions of years [to pass over] in one little moment of time, and then thou settest and dost make an end of the hours." the subject matter of the above extract is treated at greater length in chapter xv, which contains a long hymn to ra at his rising, or amen-ra, or ra united to other solar gods, e.g., horus and khepera, and a short hymn to ra at his setting. in the latter the welcome which ra receives from the dwellers in amentt (i.e., the hidden place, like the greek "hades") is emphasized thus:-"all the beautified dead (aakhu) in the tuat receive him in the horizon of amentt. they shout praises of him in his form of tem (i.e., the setting sun). thou didst rise and put on strength, and thou settest, a living being, and thy glories are in amentt. the gods of amentt rejoice in thy beauties (or beneficence). the hidden ones worship thee, the aged ones bring thee offerings and protect thee. the souls of amentt cry out, and when they meet thy majesty (life, strength, health be to thee!) they shout 'hail! hail!' the lords of the mansions of the tuat stretch out their hands to thee from their abodes, and they cry to thee, and they follow in thy bright train, and the hearts of the lords of the tuat rejoice when thou sendest thy light into amentt. their eyes follow thee, they press forward to see thee, and their hearts rejoice at the sight of thy face. thou hearkenest to the petitions of those who are in their tombs, thou dispellest their helplessness and drivest away evil from them. thou givest breath to their nostrils. thou art greatly feared, thy form is majestic, and very greatly art thou beloved by those who dwell in the other world." the introductory hymn to ra is followed by a hymn to osiris, in which the deceased says:-"glory be to thee, o osiris un-nefer, thou great god in abtu (abydos), king of eternity, lord of everlastingness, god whose existence is millions of years, eldest son of nut, begotten by geb, the ancestor-chief, lord of the crowns of the south and the north, lord of the high white crown. thou art the governor of gods and of men and hast received the sceptre, the whip, and the rank of thy divine fathers. let thy heart in amentt be content, for thy son horus is seated upon thy throne. thou art lord of tetu (busiris) and governor of abtu (abydos). thou makest fertile the two lands (i.e., all egypt) by [thy] true word before the lord to the uttermost limit.... thy power is widespread, and great is the terror of thy name 'osiris.' thou endurest for all eternity in thy name of 'un-nefer' (i.e., beneficent being). homage to thee, king of kings, lord of lords, governor of governors, who from the womb of the sky-goddess hast ruled the world and the under world. thy limbs are as silver-gold, thy hand is blue like lapis-lazuli, and the space on either side of thee is of the colour of turquoise (or emerald). thou god an of millions of years, thy body is all-pervading, o dweller in the land of holiness, thy face is beautiful ... the gods come before thee bowing low. they hold thee in fear. they withdraw and retreat when they see the awfulness of ra upon thee; the [thought] of the conquests of thy majesty is in their hearts. life is with thee. "let me follow thy majesty as when i was on earth, let my soul be summoned, and let it be found near the lords of truth. i have come to the city of god, the region that is eternally old, with my soul (ba), double (ka) and spirit-soul (aakhu), to be a dweller in this land. its god is the lord of truth ... he giveth old age to him that worketh truth, and honour to his followers, and at the last abundant equipment for the tomb, and burial in the land of holiness. i have come unto thee, my hands hold truth, and there is no falsehood in my heart ... thou hast set truth before thee: i know on what thou livest. i have committed no sin in this land, and i have defrauded no man of his possessions." (chapter clxxxiii.) chapter i was recited by the priest who accompanied the mummy to the tomb and performed the burial ceremonies there. in it the priest (kher heb) assumed the character of thoth and promised the deceased to do for him all that he had done for osiris in days of old. chapter ib gave the sahu, or "spirit-body," power to enter the tuat immediately after the burial of the material body, and delivered it from the nine worms that lived on the dead. chapters ii-iv are short spells written to give the deceased power to revisit the earth, to join the gods, and to travel about the sky. chapters v and vi provided for the performance of agricultural labours in the other world. the text of chapter vi was cut on figures made of stone, wood, etc. (ushabtiu), which were placed in the tomb, and when the deceased recited it these figures became alive and did everything he wished. the shabti figure, took the place of the human funerary sacrifice which was common all over egypt before the general adoption of the cult of osiris under the xiith dynasty. about 700 ushabtiu figures were found in the tomb of seti i, and many of them are in the british museum. chapter vii is a spell to destroy the great serpent aapep, the arch-enemy of horus the elder, ra, osiris, horus son of isis, and of every follower of osiris. chapters viii and ix secured a passage for the deceased through the tuat, and chapters x and xi gave him power over the enemies he met there. chapters xii and xiii gave him great freedom of movement in the kingdom of osiris. chapter xiv is a prayer in which osiris is entreated to put away any feeling of dissatisfaction that he may have for the deceased, who says, "wash away my sins, lord of truth; destroy my transgressions, wickedness and iniquity, o god of truth. may this god be at peace with me. destroy the things that are obstacles between us. give me peace, and remove all dissatisfaction from thy heart in respect of me." chapter xv has several forms, and each of them contains hymns to ra, which were sung daily in the morning and evening; specimen paragraphs are given above (pp. 33, 34). chapter xvi is only a vignette that illustrates chapter xv, chapter xvii is a very important chapter, for it contains statements of divine doctrine as understood by the priests of heliopolis. the opening words are, "i am tem in rising. i am the only one. i came into being in nu (the sky). i am ra, who rose in primeval time, ruler of what he had made." following this comes the question, "who is this?" and the answer is, "it is ra who rose in the city of hensu, in primeval time, crowned as king. he existed on the height of the dweller in khemenu (i.e., thoth of hermopolis) before the pillars that support the sky were made." chapter xviii contains the addresses to thoth, who is entreated to make the deceased to be declared innocent before the gods of heliopolis, busiris, latopolis, mendes, abydos, etc. these addresses formed a very powerful spell which was used by horus, and when he recited it four times all his enemies were overthrown and cut to pieces. chapters xix and xx are variant forms of chapter xviii. chapters xxi-xxiii secured the help of thoth in "opening the mouth" of the deceased, whereby he obtained the power to breathe and think and drink and eat. thoth recited spells over the gods whilst ptah untied the bandages and shu forced open their mouths with an iron (?) knife. chapter xxiv gave to the deceased a knowledge of the "words of power" (hekau) which were used by the great god tem-khepera, and chapter xxv restored to him his memory. five chapters, xxvi-xxx, contain prayers and spells whereby the deceased obtained power over his heart and gained absolute possession of it. the most popular prayer is that of chapter xxxb (see above, p. 4) which, according to its rubric, was "found," i.e., edited, by herutataf, the son of the great cheops, about 3600 b.c. this prayer was still in use in the early years of the christian era. in the papyrus of nu it is associated with chapter lxiv, and the earliest form of it was probably in existence under the ist dynasty. chapters xxxi-xlii were written to deliver the deceased from the great crocodile sui, and the serpents rerek and seksek, and the lynx with its deadly claws, and the beetle apshait, and the terrible merti snake-goddesses, and a group of three particularly venomous serpents, and aapep a personification of set the god of evil, and the eater of the ass, and a series of beings who lived by slaughtering the souls of the dead. in chapter xlii every member of the deceased is put under the protection of, or identified with, a god or goddess, e.g., the hair with nu, the face with aten (i.e., the solar disk), the eyes with hathor, and the deceased exclaims triumphantly, "there is no member of my body which is not the member of a god." chapter xliii. a spell to prevent the decapitation of the deceased, who assumes in it the character of osiris the lord of eternity. chapter xliv. an ancient and mighty spell, the recital of which prevented the deceased from dying a second time. chapters xlv and xlvi preserved the mummy of the deceased from decay, and chapter xlvii prevented the removal of his seat or throne. chapter l enabled the deceased to avoid the block of execution of the god shesmu. chapters li-liii provided the deceased with pure food and clean water from the table of the gods; he lived upon what they lived upon, and so became one with them. chapters liv-lxii gave the deceased power to obtain cool water from the celestial nile and the springs of waters of heaven, and being identified with shu, the god of light and air, he was enabled to pass over all the earth at will. his life was that of the egg of the "great cackler," and the goddess sesheta built a house for him in the celestial anu, or heliopolis. the recital of chapter lxiii enabled the deceased to avoid drinking boiling water in the tuat. the water in some of its pools was cool and refreshing to those who were speakers of the truth, but it turned into boiling water and scalded the wicked when they tried to drink of it. chapter lxiv is an epitome of the whole book of the dead, and it formed a "great and divine protection" for the deceased. the text is of a mystical character and suggests that the deceased could, through its recital, either absorb the gods into his being, or become himself absorbed by them. its rubric orders abstention from meats, fish and women on the part of those who were to recite it. chapter lxv gave the deceased victory over all his enemies, and chapters lxvi and lxvii gave him access to the boat of ra. chapters lxviii-lxx procured him complete freedom of motion in heaven and on earth. chapter lxxi is a series of addresses to the seven spirits who punished the wicked in the kingdom of osiris, and chapter lxxii aided the deceased to be reborn in the mesqet chamber. the mesqet was originally a bull's skin in which the deceased was wrapped. chapter lxxiii is the same as chapter ix. chapters lxxiv and lxxv secured a passage for the deceased in the henu boat of seker the death-god, and chapter lxxvi brought to his help the praying mantis which guided him through the "bush" to the house of osiris. by the recital of chapters lxxvii-lxxxviii, i.e., the "chapters of transformations," the deceased was enabled to assume at will the forms of (1) the golden hawk, (2) the divine hawk, (3) the great self-created god, (4) the light-god or the robe of nu, (5) the pure lily, (6) the son of ptah, (7) the benu bird, (8) the heron, (9) the soul of ra, (10) the swallow, (11) the sata or earth-serpent, (12) the crocodile. chapter lxxxix brought the soul (ba) of the deceased to his body in the tuat, and chapter xc preserved him from mutilation and attacks of the god who "cut off heads and slit foreheads." chapters xci and xcii prevented the soul of the deceased from being shut in the tomb. chapter xciii is a spell very difficult to understand. chapters xciv and xcv provided the deceased with the books of thoth and the power of this god, and enabled him to take his place as the scribe of osiris. chapters xcvi and xcvii also placed him under the protection of thoth. the recital of chapter xcviii provided the deceased with a boat in which to sail over the northern heavens, and a ladder by which to ascend to heaven. chapters xcix-ciii gave him the use of the magical boat, the mystic name of each part of which he was obliged to know, and helped him to enter the boat of ra and to be with hathor. the bebait, or mantis, led him to the great gods (chapter civ), and the uatch amulet from the neck of ra provided his double (ka) and his heart-soul (ba) with offerings (chapters cv, cvi). chapters cvii-cix made him favourably known to the spirits of the east and west, and the gods of the mountain of sunrise. in this region lived the terrible serpent-god ami-hem-f; he was 30 cubits (50 feet) long. in the east the deceased saw the morning star, and the two sycamores, from between which the sun-god appeared daily, and found the entrance to the sekhet aaru or elysian fields. chapter cx and its vignette of the elysian fields have already been described (see p. 31). chapters cxi and cxii describe how horus lost the sight of his eye temporarily through looking at set under the form of a black pig, and chapter cxiii refers to the legend of the drowning of horus and the recovery of his body by sebek the crocodile-god. chapter cxiv enabled the deceased to absorb the wisdom of thoth and his eight gods. chapters cxv-cxxii made him lord of the tuats of memphis and heliopolis, and supplied him with food, and chapter cxxiii enabled him to identify himself with thoth. chapters cxxiv and cxxv, which treat of the judgment, have already been described. chapter cxxvi contains a prayer to the four holy apes, chapter cxxvii a hymn to the gods of the "circles" in the tuat, and chapter cxxviii a hymn to osiris. chapters cxxx and cxxxi secured for the deceased the use of the boats of sunrise and sunset, and chapter cxxxii enabled him to return to earth and visit the house he had lived in. chapters cxxxiii (or cxxxix)-cxxxvi resemble in contents chapter cxxxi. chapter cxxxvii describes a series of magical ceremonies that were to be performed for the deceased daily in order to make him to become a "living soul for ever." the formulae are said to have been composed under the ivth dynasty. chapter cxxxviii refers to the ceremony of reconstituting osiris, and chapters cxl-cxlii deal with the setting up of twelve altars, and the making of offerings to all the gods and to the various forms of osiris. chapter cxliii consists of a series of vignettes, in three of which solar boats are represented. chapters cxliv and cxlvii deal with the seven great halls (arit) of the kingdom of osiris. the gate of each hall was guarded by a porter, a watchman, and a messenger; the first kept the door, the second looked out for the arrival of visitors, and the third took their names to osiris. no one could enter a hall without repeating the name of it, of the porter, of the watchman, and of the messenger. according to a late tradition the gates of the kingdom of osiris were twenty-one in number (chapters cxlv and cxlvi), and each had a magical name, and each was guarded by one or two gods, whose names had to be repeated by the deceased before he could pass. chapter cxlviii supplied the deceased with the names of the seven cows and their bull on which the "gods" were supposed to feed. chapters cxlix and cl give the names of the fourteen aats, or districts, of the kingdom of osiris. chapter *cli-a and *cli-b give a picture of the mummy chamber and the magical texts that were necessary for the protection of both the chamber and the mummy in it. chapter clii provided a house for the deceased in the celestial anu, and chapter *cliii-a and *cliii-b enabled his soul to avoid capture in the net of the snarer of souls. chapter cliv is an address to osiris in which the deceased says, "i shall not decay, nor rot, nor putrefy, nor become worms, nor see corruption. i shall have my being, i shall live, i shall flourish, i shall rise up in peace." chapters clv-clxvii are spells which were engraved on the amulets, giving the deceased the protection of ra, osiris, isis, horus, and other gods. the remaining chapters (clxviii-cxc) are of a miscellaneous character, and few of them are found in more than one or two papyri of the book of the dead. a few contain hymns that are not older than the xviiith dynasty, and one is an extract from the text on the pyramid of unas (lines 379-399). the most interesting is, perhaps, chapter clxxv, which describes the tuat as airless, waterless, and lightless. in this chapter the deceased is assured of immortality in the words, "thou shalt live for millions of millions of years, a life of millions of years." e. a. wallis budge. department of egyptian and assyrian antiquities, british museum. april 15, 1920. note. the trustees of the british museum have published:-1. coloured facsimile of the papyrus of hunefer, xixth dynasty, with hieroglyphic transcript and translation. 11 plates, large folio. 2. coloured facsimile of the papyrus of anhai, xxist dynasty, with hieroglyphic transcript and translation. 8 plates, large folio. 3. collotype reproduction of the papyrus of queen netchemet, xxist dynasty, with hieroglyphic transcript and translation. 12 plates, large folio. 4. coloured reproduction of the hieratic text of the book of breathings, with hieroglyphic transcript and translation. with 2 collotypes of the vignettes, large folio. 5. hieroglyphic transcript of the papyrus of nu, with one collotype plate. nos. 1-5 are bound in one volume, price £2 10s. 6. collotype reproduction of the papyrus of queen nesi-ta-nebt-ashru, with full descriptions of the vignettes, translations, and introduction, containing several illustrations, and 116 plates of hieratic text. large 4to. price £2 10s. footnotes [1] see journal de trévoux, june, 1704; caylus, antiq. egypt., tom. i, plate 21; denon, travels, plates 136 and 137; and description de l'égypte, tom. ii, plate 64 ff. [2] copie figurée d'un rouleau de papyrus trouvé à thèbes dans un tombeau des rois. paris, xiii-1805. this papyrus is nearly 30 feet in length and was brought to strassburg by a paymaster in napoleon's army in egypt called poussielgue, who sold it to m. cadet. [3] [hieroglyphs]. [4] the longest papyrus in the world is papyrus harris no. 1 (brit. mus. no. 9999); it measures 133 feet by 1 foot 4 1/2 inches. [5] pyramid of pepi i, ll. 664 and 662. [6] i.e., truth, or law, in a double aspect. [7] a name of osiris. [8] i.e., the "lord to the uttermost limit of everything," or god. [9] he was according to one legend the firstborn son of osiris. [10] i.e., i have kept the moral and divine law. [11] i.e., the "beneficent being," a title of osiris. _theosophical manuals. no. 3._ death--and after? by annie besant. (20th thousand) theosophical publishing society london and benares city agents, percy lund humphries & co. amen corner, london, e.c. 1906 _price one shilling_ preface. _few words are needed in sending this little book out into the world. it is the third of a series of manuals designed to meet the public demand for a simple exposition of theosophical teachings. some have complained that our literature is at once too abstruse, too technical, and too expensive for the ordinary reader, and it is our hope that the present series may succeed in supplying what is a very real want. theosophy is not only for the learned; it is for all. perhaps among those who in these little books catch their first glimpse of its teachings, there may be a few who will be led by them to penetrate more deeply into its philosophy, its science, and its religion, facing its abstruser problems with the student's zeal and the neophyte's ardour. but these manuals are not written for the eager student, whom no initial difficulties can daunt; they are written for the busy men and women of the work-a-day world, and seek to make plain some of the great truths that render life easier to bear and death easier to face. written by servants of the masters who are the elder brothers of our race, they can have no other object than to serve our fellow-men._ death--and after? who does not remember the story of the christian missionary in britain, sitting one evening in the vast hall of a saxon king, surrounded by his thanes, having come thither to preach the gospel of his master; and as he spoke of life and death and immortality, a bird flew in through an unglazed window, circled the hall in its flight, and flew out once more into the darkness of the night. the christian priest bade the king see in the flight of the bird within the hall the transitory life of man, and claimed for his faith that it showed the soul, in passing from the hall of life, winging its way not into the darkness of night, but into the sunlit radiance of a more glorious world. out of the darkness, through the open window of birth, the life of a man comes to the earth; it dwells for a while before our eyes; into the darkness, through the open window of death, it vanishes out of our sight. and man has questioned ever of religion, whence comes it? whither goes it? and the answers have varied with the faiths. to-day, many a hundred year since paulinus talked with edwin, there are more people in christendom who question whether man has a spirit to come anywhence or to go anywhither than, perhaps, in the world's history could ever before have been found at one time. and the very christians who claim that death's terrors have been abolished, have surrounded the bier and the tomb with more gloom and more dismal funeral pomp than have the votaries of any other creed. what can be more depressing than the darkness in which a house is kept shrouded, while the dead body is awaiting sepulture? what more repellent than the sweeping robes of lustreless crape, and the purposed hideousness of the heavy cap in which the widow laments the "deliverance" of her husband "from the burden of the flesh"? what more revolting than the artificially long faces of the undertaker's men, the drooping "weepers", the carefully-arranged white handkerchiefs, and, until lately, the pall-like funeral cloaks? during the last few years, a great and marked improvement has been made. the plumes, cloaks, and weepers have well-nigh disappeared. the grotesquely ghastly hearse is almost a thing of the past, and the coffin goes forth heaped over with flowers instead of shrouded in the heavy black velvet pall. men and women, though still wearing black, do not roll themselves up in shapeless garments like sable winding-sheets, as if trying to see how miserable they could make themselves by the imposition of artificial discomforts. welcome common-sense has driven custom from its throne, and has refused any longer to add these gratuitous annoyances to natural human grief. in literature and in art, alike, this gloomy fashion of regarding death has been characteristic of christianity. death has been painted as a skeleton grasping a scythe, a grinning skull, a threatening figure with terrible face and uplifted dart, a bony scarecrow shaking an hour-glass--all that could alarm and repel has been gathered round this rightly-named king of terrors. milton, who has done so much with his stately rhythm to mould the popular conceptions of modern christianity, has used all the sinewy strength of his magnificent diction to surround with horror the figure of death. the other shape, if shape it might be called, that shape had none distinguishable in member, joint, or limb, or substance might be called that shadow seemed, for each seemed either; black it stood as night, fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell, and shook a dreadful dart; what seemed his head the likeness of a kingly crown had on. satan was now at hand, and from his seat the monster moving onward came as fast, with horrid strides; hell trembled as he strode.... ... so spoke the grisly terror: and in shape so speaking, and so threatening, grew tenfold more dreadful and deform.... ... but he, my inbred enemy, forth issued, brandishing his fatal dart, made to destroy: i fled, and cried out _death!_ hell trembled at the hideous name, and sighed from all her caves, and back resounded _death_.[1] that such a view of death should be taken by the professed followers of a teacher said to have "brought life and immortality to light" is passing strange. the claim, that as late in the history of the world as a mere eighteen centuries ago the immortality of the spirit in man was brought to light, is of course transparently absurd, in the face of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary available on all hands. the stately egyptian ritual with its _book of the dead_, in which are traced the post-mortem journeys of the soul, should be enough, if it stood alone, to put out of court for ever so preposterous a claim. hear the cry of the soul of the righteous: o ye, who make the escort of the god, stretch out to me your arms, for i become one of you. (xvii. 22.) hail to thee, osiris, lord of light, dwelling in the mighty abode, in the bosom of the absolute darkness. i come to thee, a purified soul; my two hands are around thee. (xxi. 1.) i open heaven; i do what was commanded in memphis. i have knowledge of my heart; i am in possession of my heart, i am in possession of my arms, i am in possession of my legs, at the will of myself. my soul is not imprisoned in my body at the gates of amenti. (xxvi. 5, 6.) not to multiply to weariness quotations from a book that is wholly composed of the doings and sayings of the disembodied man, let it suffice to give the final judgment on the victorious soul: the defunct shall be deified among the gods in the lower divine region, he shall never be rejected.... he shall drink from the current of the celestial river.... his soul shall not be imprisoned, since it is a soul that brings salvation to those near it. the worms shall not devour it. (clxiv. 14-16.) the general belief in re-incarnation is enough to prove that the religions of which it formed a central doctrine believed in the survival of the soul after death; but one may quote as an example a passage from the _ordinances of manu_, following on a disquisition on metempsychosis, and answering the question of deliverance from rebirths. amid all these holy acts, the knowledge of self [should be translated, knowledge of the _self_, atmâ] is said (to be) the highest; this indeed is the foremost of all sciences, since from it immortality is obtained.[2] the testimony of the great zarathustrean religion is clear, as is shown by the following, translated from the _avesta_, in which, the journey of the soul after death having been described, the ancient scripture proceeds: the soul of the pure man goes the first step and arrives at (the paradise) humata; the soul of the pure man takes the second step and arrives at (the paradise) hukhta; it goes the third step and arrives at (the paradise) hvarst; the soul of the pure man takes the fourth step and arrives at the eternal lights. to it speaks a pure one deceased before, asking it: how art thou, o pure deceased, come away from the fleshy dwellings, from the earthly possessions, from the corporeal world hither to the invisible, from the perishable world hither to the imperishable, as it happened to thee--to whom hail! then speaks ahura-mazda: ask not him whom thou asketh, (for) he is come on the fearful, terrible, trembling way, the separation of body and soul.[3] the persian _desatir_ speaks with equal definiteness. this work consists of fifteen books, written by persian prophets, and was written originally in the avestaic language; "god" is ahura-mazda, or yazdan: god selected man from animals to confer on him the soul, which is a substance free, simple, immaterial, non-compounded and non-appetitive. and that becomes an angel by improvement. by his profound wisdom and most sublime intelligence, he connected the soul with the material body. if he (man) does good in the material body, and has a good knowledge and religion he is _hartasp_.... as soon as he leaves this material body, i (god) take him up to the world of angels, that he may have an interview with the angels, and behold me. and if he is not hartasp, but has wisdom and abstains from vice, i will promote him to the rank of angels. every person in proportion to his wisdom and piety will find a place in the rank of wise men, among the heavens and stars. and in that region of happiness he will remain for ever.[4] in china, the immemorial custom of worshipping the souls of ancestors shows how completely the life of man was regarded as extending beyond the tomb. the _shû king_--placed by mr. james legge as the most ancient of chinese classics, containing historical documents ranging from b.c. 2357-627--is full of allusions to these souls, who with other spiritual beings, watch over the affairs of their descendants and the welfare of the kingdom. thus pan-kang, ruling from b.c. 1401-1374, exhorts his subjects: my object is to support and nourish you all. i think of my ancestors (who are now) the spiritual sovereigns.... were i to err in my government, and remain long here, my high sovereign (the founder of our dynasty) would send down on me great punishment for my crime, and say, "why do you oppress my people?" if you, the myriads of the people, do not attend to the perpetuation of your lives, and cherish one mind with me, the one man, in my plans, the former kings will send down on you great punishment for your crime, and say, "why do you not agree with our young grandson, but go on to forfeit your virtue?" when they punish you from above, you will have no way of escape.... your ancestors and fathers will (now) cut you off and abandon you, and not save you from death.[5] indeed, so practical is this chinese belief, held to-day as in those long-past ages, that "the change that men call death" seems to play a very small part in the thoughts and lives of the people of the flowery land. these quotations, which might be multiplied a hundred-fold, may suffice to prove the folly of the idea that immortality came to "light through the gospel". the whole ancient world basked in the full sunshine of belief in the immortality of man, lived in it daily, voiced it in its literature, went with it in calm serenity through the gate of death. it remains a problem why christianity, which vigorously and joyously re-affirmed it, should have growing in its midst the unique terror of death that has played so large a part in its social life, its literature, and its art. it is not simply the belief in hell that has surrounded the grave with horror, for other religions have had their hells, and yet their followers have not been harassed by this shadowy fear. the chinese, for instance, who take death as such a light and trivial thing, have a collection of hells quite unique in their varied unpleasantness. maybe the difference is a question of race rather than of creed; that the vigorous life of the west shrinks from its antithesis, and that its unimaginative common-sense finds a bodiless condition too lacking in solidity of comfort; whereas the more dreamy, mystical east, prone to meditation, and ever seeking to escape from the thraldom of the senses during earthly life, looks on the disembodied state as eminently desirable, and as most conducive to unfettered thought. ere passing to the consideration of the history of man in the post-mortem state, it is necessary, however briefly, to state the constitution of man, as viewed by the esoteric philosophy, for we must have in mind the constituents of his being ere we can understand their disintegration. man then consists of _the immortal triad_: atmâ. buddhi. manas. _the perishable quaternary_: kâma. prâna. etheric double. dense body. the dense body is the physical body, the visible, tangible outer form, composed of various tissues. the etheric double is the ethereal counterpart of the body, composed of the physical ethers. prâna is vitality, the integrating energy that co-ordinates the physical molecules and holds them together in a definite organism; it is the life-breath within the organism, the portion of the universal life-breath, appropriated by the organism during the span of existence that we speak of as "a life". kâma is the aggregate of appetites, passions, and emotions, common to man and brute. manas is the thinker in us, the intelligence. buddhi is the vehicle wherein atmâ, the spirit, dwells, and in which alone it can manifest. now the link between the immortal triad and the perishable quaternary is manas, which is dual during earth life, or incarnation, and functions as higher manas and lower manas. higher manas sends out a ray, lower manas, which works in and through the human brain, functioning there as brain-consciousness, as the ratiocinating intelligence. this mingles with kâma, the passional nature, the passions and emotions thus becoming a part of mind, as defined in western psychology. and so we have the link formed between the higher and lower natures in man, this kâma-manas belonging to the higher by its mânasic, and to the lower by its kâmic, elements. as this forms the battleground during life, so does it play an important part in post-mortem existence. we might now classify our seven principles a little differently, having in view this mingling in kâma-manas of perishable and imperishable elements: { atmâ. _immortal_. { buddhi. { higher-manas. _conditionally immortal_. kâma-manas. { prâna. _mortal_. { etheric double. { dense body. some christian writers have adopted a classification similar to this, declaring spirit to be inherently immortal, as being divine; soul to be conditionally immortal, _i.e._, capable of winning immortality by uniting itself with spirit; body to be inherently mortal. the majority of uninstructed christians chop man into two, the body that perishes at death, and the something--called indifferently soul or spirit--that survives death. this last classification--if classification it may be called--is entirely inadequate, if we are to seek any rational explanation, or even lucid statement, of the phenomena of post-mortem existence. the tripartite view of man's nature gives a more reasonable representation of his constitution, but is inadequate to explain many phenomena. the septenary division alone gives a reasonable theory consistent with the facts we have to deal with, and therefore, though it may seem elaborate, the student will do wisely to make himself familiar with it. if he were studying only the body, and desired to understand its activities, he would have to classify its tissues at far greater length and with far more minuteness than i am using here. he would have to learn the differences between muscular, nervous, glandular, bony, cartilaginous, epithelial, connective, tissues, and all their varieties; and if he rebelled, in his ignorance, against such an elaborate division, it would be explained to him that only by such an analysis of the different components of the body can the varied and complicated phenomena of life-activity be understood. one kind of tissue is wanted for support, another for movement, another for secretion, another for absorption, and so on; and if each kind does not have its own distinctive name, dire confusion and misunderstanding must result, and physical functions remain unintelligible. in the long run time is gained, as well as clearness, by learning a few necessary technical terms, and as clearness is above all things needed in trying to explain and to understand very complicated post-mortem phenomena, i find myself compelled--contrary to my habit in these elementary papers--to resort to these technical names at the outset, for the english language has as yet no equivalents for them, and the use of long descriptive phrases is extremely cumbersome and inconvenient. for myself, i believe that very much of the antagonism between the adherents of the esoteric philosophy and those of spiritualism has arisen from confusion of terms, and consequent misunderstanding of each others meaning. one eminent spiritualist lately impatiently said that he did not see the need of exact definition, and that he meant by spirit all the part of man's nature that survived death, and was not body. one might as well insist on saying that man's body consists of bone and blood, and asked to define blood, answer: "oh! i mean everything that is not bone." a clear definition of terms, and a rigid adherence to them when once adopted, will at least enable us all to understand each other, and that is the first step to any fruitful comparison of experiences. the fate of the body. the human body is constantly undergoing a process of decay and of reconstruction. first builded into the etheric form in the womb of the mother, it is built up continually by the insetting of fresh materials. with every moment tiny molecules are passing away from it; with every moment tiny molecules are streaming into it. the outgoing stream is scattered over the environment, and helps to rebuild bodies of all kinds in the mineral, vegetable, animal, and human kingdoms, the physical basis of all these being one and the same. the idea that the human tabernacle is built by countless _lives_, just in the same way as the rocky crust of our earth was, has nothing repulsive in it for the true mystic.... science teaches us that the living as well as the dead organism of both man and animal are swarming with bacteria of a hundred various kinds; that from without we are threatened with the invasion of microbes with every breath we draw, and from within by leucomaines, robes, ærobes, anærobes, and what not. but science never yet went so far as to assert with the occult doctrine that our bodies, as well as those of animals, plants, and stones, are themselves altogether built up of such beings, which, except larger species, no microscope can detect. so far as regards the purely animal and material portion of man, science is on its way to discoveries that will go far towards corroborating this theory. chemistry and physiology are the two great magicians of the future, who are destined to open the eyes of mankind to the great physical truths. with every day, the identity between the animal and physical man, between the plant and man, and even between the reptile and its nest, the rock, and man, is more and more clearly shown. the physical and chemical constituents of all being found to be identical, chemical science may well say that there is no difference between the matter which composes the ox and that which forms man. but the occult doctrine is far more explicit. it says: not only the chemical compounds are the same, but the same infinitesimal _invisible lives_ compose the atoms of the bodies of the mountain and the daisy, of man and the ant, of the elephant, and of the tree which shelters him from the sun. each particle--whether you call it organic or inorganic--_is a life_.[6] these "lives" which, separate and independent, are the minute vehicles of prâna, aggregated together form the molecules and cells of the physical body, and they stream in and stream out, during all the years of bodily life, thus forming a continual bridge between man and his environment. controlling these are the "fiery lives," the devourers, which constrain these to their work of building up the cells of the body, so that they work harmoniously and in order, subordinated to the higher manifestation of life in the complex organism called man. these fiery lives on our plane correspond, in this controlling and organising function, with the one life of the universe,[7] and when they no longer exercise this function in the human body, the lower lives run rampant, and begin to break down the hitherto definitely organised body. during bodily life they are marshalled as an army; marching in regular order under the command of a general, performing various evolutions, keeping step, moving as a single body. at "death" they become a disorganised and tumultuous mob, rushing hither and thither, jostling each other, tumbling over each other, with no common object, no generally recognised authority. the body is never more alive than when it is dead; but it is alive in its units, and dead in its totality; alive as a congeries, dead as an organism. science regards man as an aggregation of atoms temporarily united by a mysterious force called the life-principle. to the materialist, the only difference between a living and a dead body is that in the one case that force is active, in the other latent. when it is extinct or entirely latent, the molecules obey a superior attraction, which draws them asunder and scatters them through space. this dispersion must be death, if it is possible to conceive such a thing as death, where the very molecules of the dead body manifest an intense vital energy.... says eliphas levi: "change attests movement, and movement only reveals life. the corpse would not decompose if it were dead; all the molecules which compose it are living and struggle to separate."[8] those who have read _the seven principles of man_,[9] know that the etheric double is the vehicle of prâna, the life-principle, or vitality. through the etheric double prâna exercises the controlling and co-ordinating force spoken of above, and "death" takes triumphant possession of the body when the etheric double is finally withdrawn and the delicate cord which unites it with the body is snapped. the process of withdrawal has been watched by clairvoyants, and definitely described. thus andrew jackson davis, "the poughkeepsie seer", describes how he himself watched this escape of the ethereal body, and he states that the magnetic cord did not break for some thirty-six hours after apparent death. others have described, in similar terms, how they saw a faint violet mist rise from the dying body, gradually condensing into a figure which was the counterpart of the expiring person, and attached to that person by a glistening thread. the snapping of the thread means the breaking of the last magnetic link between the dense body and the remaining principles of the human constitution; the body has dropped away from the man; he is excarnated, disembodied; six principles still remain as his constitution immediately after death, the seventh, or the dense body, being left as a cast-off garment. death consists, indeed, in a repeated process of unrobing, or unsheathing. the immortal part of man shakes off from itself, one after the other, its outer casings, and--as the snake from its skin, the butterfly from its chrysalis--emerges from one after another, passing into a higher state of consciousness. now it is the fact that this escape from the body, and this dwelling of the conscious entity either in the vehicle called the body of desire, the kâmic or astral body, or in a yet more ethereal thought body, can be effected during earth-life; so that man may become familiar with the excarnated condition, and it may lose for him all the terrors that encircle the unknown. he can know himself as a conscious entity in either of these vehicles, and so prove to his own satisfaction that "life" does not depend on his functioning through the physical body. why should a man who has thus repeatedly "shed" his lower bodies, and has found the process result, not in unconsciousness, but in a vastly extended freedom and vividness of life--why should he fear the final casting away of his fetters, and the freeing of his immortal self from what he realises as the prison of the flesh? this view of human life is an essential part of the esoteric philosophy. man is primarily divine, a spark of the divine life. this living flame, passing out from the central fire, weaves for itself coverings within which it dwells, and thus becomes the triad, the atmâ-buddhi-manas, the reflection of the immortal self. this sends out its ray, which becomes encased in grosser matter, in the desire body, or kâmic elements, the passional nature, and in the etheric double and the physical body. the once free immortal intelligence thus entangled, enswathed, enchained, works heavily and laboriously through the coatings that enwrap it. in its own nature it remains ever the free bird of heaven, but its wings are bound to its side by the matter into which it is plunged. when man recognises his own inherent nature, he learns to open his prison doors occasionally and escapes from his encircling gaol; first he learns to identify himself with the immortal triad, and rises above the body and its passions into a pure mental and moral life; then he learns that the conquered body cannot hold him prisoner, and he unlocks its door and steps out into the sunshine of his true life. so when death unlocks the door for him, he knows the country into which he emerges, having trodden its ways at his own will. and at last he grows to recognise that fact of supreme importance, that "life" has nothing to do with body and with this material plane; that life is his conscious existence, unbroken, unbreakable, and that the brief interludes in that life, during which he sojourns on earth, are but a minute fraction of his conscious existence, and a fraction, moreover, during which he is less alive, because of the heavy coverings which weigh him down. for only during these interludes (save in exceptional cases) may he wholly lose his consciousness of continued life, being surrounded by these coverings which delude him and blind him to the truth of things, making that real which is illusion, and that stable which is transitory. the sunlight ranges over the universe, and at incarnation we step out of it into the twilight of the body, and see but dimly during the period of our incarceration; at death we step out of the prison again into the sunlight, and are nearer to the reality. short are the twilight periods, and long the periods of the sunlight; but in our blinded state we call the twilight life, and to us it is the real existence, while we call the sunlight death, and shiver at the thought of passing into it. well did giordano bruno, one of the greatest teachers of our philosophy in the middle ages, state the truth as to the body and man. of the real man he says: he will be present in the body in such wise that the best part of himself will be absent from it, and will join himself by an indissoluble sacrament to divine things, in such a way that he will not feel either love or hatred of things mortal. considering himself as master, and that he ought not to be servant and slave to his body, which he would regard only as the prison which holds his liberty in confinement, the glue which smears his wings, chains which bind fast his hands, stocks which fix his feet, veil which hides his view. let him not be servant, captive, ensnared, chained, idle, stolid, and blind, for the body which he himself abandons cannot tyrannise over him, so that thus the spirit in a certain degree comes before him as the corporeal world, and matter is subject to the divinity and to nature.[10] when once we thus come to regard the body, and by conquering it we gain our liberty, death loses for us all his terrors, and at his touch the body slips from us as a garment, and we stand out from it erect and free. on the same lines of thought dr. franz hartmann writes: according to certain views of the west man is a developed ape. according to the views of indian sages, which also coincide with those of the philosophers of past ages and with the teachings of the christian mystics, man is a god, who is united during his earthly life, through his own carnal tendencies, to an animal (his animal nature). the god who dwells within him endows man with wisdom. the animal endows him with force. after death, _the god effects his own release from the man_ by departing from the animal body. as man carries within him this divine consciousness, it is his task to battle with his animal inclinations, and to raise himself above them, by the help of the divine principle, a task which the animal cannot achieve, and which therefore is not demanded of it.[11] the "man", using the word in the sense of personality, as it is used in the latter half of this sentence, is only conditionally immortal; the true man, the evolving god, releases himself, and so much of the personality goes with him as has raised itself into union with the divine. the body thus left to the rioting of the countless lives--previously held in constraint by prâna, acting through its vehicle the etheric double--begins to decay, that is to break up, and with the disintegration of its cells and molecules, its particles pass away into other combinations. on our return to earth we may meet again some of those same countless lives that in a previous incarnation made of our then body their passing dwelling; but all that we are just now concerned with is the breaking up of the body whose life-span is over, and its fate is complete disintegration. to the dense body, then, death means dissolution as an organism, the loosing of the bonds that united the many into one. the fate of the etheric double. the etheric double is the ethereal counterpart of the gross body of man. it is the double that is sometimes seen during life in the neighbourhood of the body, and its absence from the body is generally marked by the heaviness or semi-lethargy of the latter. acting as the reservoir, or vehicle, of the life-principle during earth-life, its withdrawal from the body is naturally marked by the lowering of all vital functions, even while the cord which unites the two is still unbroken. as has been already said, the snapping of the cord means the death of the body. when the etheric double finally quits the body, it does not travel to any distance from it. normally it remains floating over the body, the state of consciousness being dreamy and peaceful, unless tumultuous distress and violent emotion surround the corpse from which it has just issued. and here it may be well to say that during the slow process of dying, while the etheric double is withdrawing from the body, taking with it the higher principles, as after it has withdrawn, extreme quiet and self-control should be observed in the chamber of death. for during this time the whole life passes swiftly in review before the ego, the individual, as those have related who have passed in drowning into this unconscious and pulseless state. a master has written: _at the last moment the whole life is reflected in our memory, and emerges from all the forgotten nooks and corners, picture after picture, one event after another.... the man may often appear dead, yet from the last pulsation, from and between the last throbbing of his heart and the moment when the last spark of animal heat leaves the body_, the brain thinks, _and the ego lives over in those few brief seconds his whole life. speak in whispers, ye who assist at a deathbed, and find yourselves in the solemn presence of death. especially have ye to keep quiet just after death has laid her clammy hand upon the body. speak in whispers, i say, lest ye disturb the quiet ripple of thought, and hinder the busy work of the past, casting its reflection upon the veil of the future._[12] this is the time during which the thought-images of the ended earth-life, clustering around their maker, group and interweave themselves into the completed image of that life, and are impressed in their totality on the astral light. the dominant tendencies, the strongest thought-habits, assert their pre-eminence, and stamp themselves as the characteristics which will appear as "innate qualities" in the succeeding incarnation. this balancing-up of the life-issues, this reading of the kârmic records, is too solemn and momentous a thing to be disturbed by the ill-timed wailings of personal relatives and friends. at the solemn moment of death every man, even when death is sudden, sees the whole of his past life marshalled before him, in its minutest details. for one short instant the _personal_ become one with the _individual_ and all-knowing ego. but this instant is enough to show to him the whole chain of causes which have been at work during his life. he sees and now understands himself as he is, unadorned by flattery or self-deception. he reads his life, remaining as a spectator, looking down into the arena he is quitting.[13] this vivid sight is succeeded, in the ordinary person, by the dreamy, peaceful semi-consciousness spoken of above, as the etheric double floats above the body to which it has belonged, now completely separated from it. sometimes this double is seen by persons in the house, or in the neighbourhood, when the thought of the dying has been strongly turned to some one left behind, when some anxiety has been in the mind at the last, something left undone which needed doing, or when some local disturbance has shaken the tranquillity of the passing entity. under these conditions, or others of a similar nature, the double may be seen or heard; when seen, it shows the dreamy, hazy consciousness alluded to, is silent, vague in its aspect, unresponsive. as the days go on, the five higher principles gradually disengage themselves from the etheric double, and shake this off as they previously shook off the grosser body. they pass on, as a fivefold entity, into a state to be next studied, leaving the etheric double, with the dense body of which it is the counterpart, thus becoming an ethereal corpse, as much as the body had become a dense corpse. this ethereal corpse remains near the dense one, and they disintegrate together; clairvoyants see these ethereal wraiths in churchyards, sometimes showing likeness to the dead dense body, sometimes as violet mists or lights. such an ethereal corpse has been seen by a friend of my own, passing through the horribly repulsive stages of decomposition, a ghastly vision in face of which clairvoyance was certainly no blessing. the process goes on _pari passu_, until all but the actual bony skeleton of the dense body is completely disintegrated, and the particles have gone to form other combinations. one of the great advantages of cremation--apart from all sanitary conditions--lies in the swift restoration to mother nature of the physical elements composing the dense and ethereal corpses, brought about by the burning. instead of slow and gradual decomposition, swift dissociation takes place, and no physical remnants are left, working possible mischief. the ethereal corpse may to some extent be revivified for a short period after its death. dr. hartmann says: the fresh corpse of a person who has suddenly been killed may be galvanised into a semblance of life by the application of a galvanic battery. likewise the astral corpse of a person may be brought back into an artificial life by being infused with a part of the life principle of the medium. if that corpse is one of a very intellectual person, it may talk very intellectually; and if it was that of a fool it will talk like a fool.[14] this mischievous procedure can only be carried out in the neighbourhood of the corpse, and for a very limited time after death, but there are cases on record of such galvanising of the ethereal corpse, performed at the grave of the departed person. needless to say that such a process belongs distinctly to "black" magic, and is wholly evil. ethereal corpses, like dense ones, if not swiftly destroyed by burning, should be left in the silence and the darkness, a silence and a darkness that it is the worst profanity to break. kâmaloka, and the fate of prâna and kâma. loka is a sanskrit word that may be translated as place, world, land, so that kâmaloka is literally the place or the world of kâma, kâma being the name of that part of the human organism that includes all the passions, desires, and emotions which man has in common with the lower animals.[15] in this division of the universe, the kâmaloka, dwell all the human entities that have shaken off the dense body and its ethereal double, but have not yet disentangled themselves from the passional and emotional nature. kâmaloka has many other tenants, but we are concerned only with the human beings who have lately passed through the gateway of death, and it is on these that we must concentrate our study. a momentary digression may be pardoned on the question of the existence of regions in the universe, other than the physical, peopled with intelligent beings. the existence of such regions is postulated by the esoteric philosophy, and is known to the adepts and to very many less highly evolved men and women by personal experience; all that is needed for the study of these regions is the evolution of the faculties latent in every man; a "living" man, in ordinary parlance, can leave his dense and ethereal bodies behind him, and explore these regions without going through death's gateway. thus we read in the _theosophist_ that real knowledge may be acquired by the spirit in the living man coming into conscious relations with the world of spirit. as in the case, say, of an initiated adept, who brings back upon earth with him the clear and distinct recollection--correct to a detail--of facts gathered, and the information obtained, in the invisible sphere of _realities_.[16] in this way those regions become to him matters of knowledge as definite, as certain, as familiar, as if he should travel to africa in ordinary fashion, explore its deserts, and return to his own land the richer for the knowledge and experience gained. a seasoned african explorer would care but little for the criticisms passed on his report by persons who had never been thither; he might tell what he saw, describe the animals whose habits he had studied, sketch the country he had traversed, sum up its products and its characteristics. if he was contradicted, laughed at, set right, by untravelled critics, he would be neither ruffled nor distressed, but would merely leave them alone. ignorance cannot convince knowledge by repeated asseveration of its nescience. the opinion of a hundred persons on a subject on which they are wholly ignorant is of no more weight than the opinion of one such person. evidence is strengthened by many consenting witnesses, testifying each to his knowledge of a fact, but nothing multiplied a thousand times remains nothing. strange, indeed, would it be if all the space around us be empty, mere waste void, and the inhabitants of earth the only forms in which intelligence could clothe itself. as dr. huxley said: without stepping beyond the analogy of that which is known, it is easy to people the cosmos with entities, in ascending scale, until we reach something practically indistinguishable from omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience.[17] if these entities did not have organs of sense like our own, if their senses responded to vibrations different from those which affect ours, they and we might walk side by side, pass each other, meet each other, pass through each other, and yet be never the wiser as to each other's existence. mr. crookes gives us a glimpse of the possibility of such unconscious co-existence of intelligent beings, and but a very slight effort of imagination is needed to realise the conception. it is not improbable that other sentient beings have organs of sense which do not respond to some or any of the rays to which our eyes are sensitive, but are able to appreciate other vibrations to which we are blind. such beings would practically be living in a different world to our own. imagine, for instance, what idea we should form of surrounding objects were we endowed with eyes not sensitive to the ordinary rays of light, but sensitive to the vibrations concerned in electric and magnetic phenomena. glass and crystal would be among the most opaque of bodies. metals would be more or less transparent, and a telegraph wire through the air would look like a long narrow hole drilled through an impervious solid body. a dynamo in active work would resemble a conflagration, whilst a permanent magnet would realise the dream of mediæval mystics, and become an everlasting lamp with no expenditure of energy or consumption of fuel.[18] kâmaloka is a region peopled by intelligent and semi-intelligent entities, just as our own is thus peopled; it is crowded, like our world, with many types and forms of living things, as diverse from each other as a blade of grass is different from a tiger, a tiger from a man. it interpenetrates our own world and is interpenetrated by it, but, as the states of matter in the two worlds differ, they co-exist without the knowledge of the intelligent beings in either. only under abnormal circumstances can consciousness of each other's presence arise among the inhabitants of the two worlds; by certain peculiar training a living human being can come into conscious contact with and control many of the sub-human denizens of kâmaloka; human beings, who have quitted earth and in whom the kâmic elements were strong, may very readily be attracted by the kâmic elements in embodied men, and by their help become conscious again of the presence of the scenes they had left; and human beings still embodied may set up methods of communication with the disembodied, and may, as said, leave their own bodies for awhile, and become conscious in kâmaloka by the use of faculties through which they have accustomed their consciousness to act. the point which is here to be clearly grasped is the existence of kâmaloka as a definite region, inhabited by a large diversity of entities, among whom are disembodied human beings. from this necessary digression we return to the particular human being whose fate, as a type, we may be said to be tracing, and of whose dense body and etheric double we have already disposed. let us contemplate him in the state of very brief duration that follows the shaking off of these two casings. says h.p. blavatsky, after quoting from plutarch a description of the man after death: here you have our doctrine, which shows man a _septenary_ during life; a _quintile_ just after death, in kâmaloka.[19] prâna, the portion of the life-energy appropriated by the man in his embodied state, having lost its vehicle, the ethereal double, which, with the physical body, has slipped away from its controlling energy, must pass back into the great life-reservoir of the universe. as water enclosed in a glass vessel and plunged into a tank mingles with the surrounding water if the vessel be broken, so prâna, as the bodies drop from it, mingles again with the life universal. it is only "just after death" that man is a quintile, or fivefold in his constitution, for prâna, as a distinctively human principle, cannot remain appropriated when its vehicle disintegrates. the man now is clothed, but with the kâma rûpa, or body of kâma, the desire body, a body of astral matter, often termed "fluidic," so easily does it, during earth-life, take any form impressed upon it from without or moulded from within. the living man is there, the immortal triad, still clad in the last of its terrestrial garments, in the subtle, sensitive, responsive form which lent it during embodiment the power to feel, to desire, to enjoy, to suffer, in the physical world. when the man dies, his three lower principles leave him for ever; _i.e._, body, life, and the vehicle of the latter, the etheric body, or the double of the living man. and then his four principles--the central or middle principle (the animal soul or kâma rûpa, with what it has assimilated from the lower manas) and the higher triad--find themselves in kâmaloka.[20] this desire body undergoes a marked change soon after death. the different densities of the astral matter of which it is composed arrange themselves in a series of shells or envelopes, the densest being outside, shutting the consciousness away from all but very limited contact and expression. the consciousness turns in on itself, if left undisturbed, and prepares itself for the next step onwards, while the desire body gradually disintegrates, shell after shell. up to the point of this re-arrangement of the matter of the desire body, the post-mortem experience of all is much the same; it is a "dreamy, peaceful semi-consciousness," as before said, and this, in the happiest cases, passes without vivid awakening into the deeper "pre-devachanic unconsciousness" which ends with the blissful wakening in devachan, for the period of repose that intervenes between two incarnations. but as, at this point, different possibilities arise, let us trace a normal uninterrupted progression in kâmaloka, up to the threshold of devachan, and then we can return to consider other classes of circumstances. if a person has led a pure life, and has steadfastly striven to rise and to identify himself with the higher rather than the lower parts of his nature, after shaking off the dense body and the etheric double, and after prâna has re-mingled with the ocean of life, and he is clothed only with the kâma rûpa, the passional elements in him, being but weak and accustomed to comparatively little activity, will not be able to assert themselves strongly in kâmaloka. now during earth-life kâma and the lower manas are strongly united and interwoven with each other; in the case we are considering kâma is weak, and the lower manas has purified kâma to a great extent. the mind, woven with the passions, emotions, and desires, has purified them, and has assimilated their pure part, absorbed it into itself, so that all that is left of kâma is a mere residue, easily to be gotten rid of, from which the immortal triad can readily free itself. slowly this immortal triad, the true man, draws in all his forces; he draws into himself the memories of the earth-life just ended, its loves, its hopes, its aspirations, and prepares to pass out of kâmaloka into the blissful rest of devachan, the "abode of the gods", or as some say, "the land of bliss". kâmaloka is an astral locality, the limbus of scholastic theology, the hades of the ancients, and, strictly speaking, a _locality_ only in a relative sense. it has neither a definite area, nor boundary, but exists _within_ subjective space, _i.e._, is beyond our sensuous perceptions. still it exists, and it is there that the astral _eidolons_ of all the beings that have lived, animals included, await their _second death_. for the animals it comes with the disintegration and the entire fading out of their astral particles to the last. for the human _eidolon_ it begins when the atmâ-buddhi-mânasic triad is said to "separate" itself from its lower principles or the reflection of the ex-personality, by falling into the devachanic state.[21] this second death is the passage, then, of the immortal triad from the kâmalokic sphere, so closely related to the earth sphere, into the higher state of devachan, of which we must speak later. the type of man we are considering passes through this, in the peaceful dreamy state already described, and, if left undisturbed, will not regain full consciousness until these stages are passed through, and peace gives way to bliss. but during the whole period that the four principles--the immortal triad and kâma--remain in kâmaloka, whether the period be long or short, days or centuries, they are within the reach of the earth-influences. in the case of such a person as we have been describing, an awakening may be caused by the passionate sorrow and desires of friends left on earth, and these violently vibrating kâmic elements in the embodied persons may set up vibrations in the desire body of the disembodied, and so reach and rouse the lower manas, not yet withdrawn to and reunited with its parent, the spiritual intelligence. thus it may be roused from its dreamy state to vivid remembrance of the earth-life so lately left, and may--if any sensitive or medium is concerned, either directly, or indirectly through one of these grieving friends in communication with the medium--use the medium's etheric and dense bodies to speak or write to those left behind. this awakening is often accompanied with acute suffering, and even if this be avoided, the natural process of the triad freeing itself is rudely disturbed, and the completion of its freedom is delayed. in speaking of this possibility of communication during the period immediately succeeding death and before the freed man passes on into devachan, h.p. blavatsky says: whether any living mortal, save a few exceptional cases--when the intensity of the desire in the dying person to return for some purpose forced the higher consciousness _to remain awake_, and, therefore, it was really the _individuality_, the "spirit", that communicated--has derived much benefit from the return of the spirit into the _objective_ plane is another question. the spirit is dazed after death, and falls very soon into what we call "pre-devachanic unconsciousness."[22] intense desire may move the disembodied entity to spontaneously return to the sorrowing ones left behind, but this spontaneous return is rare in the case of persons of the type we are just now considering. if they are left at peace, they will generally sleep themselves quietly into devachan, and so avoid any struggle or suffering in connection with the second death. on the final escape of the immortal triad there is left behind in kâmaloka only the desire body, the "shell" or mere empty phantom, which gradually disintegrates; but it will be better to deal with this in considering the next type, the average man or woman, without marked spirituality of an elevated kind, but also without marked evil tendencies. when an average man or woman reaches kâmaloka, the spiritual intelligence is clothed with a desire body, which possesses considerable vigour and vitality; the lower manas, closely interwoven with kâma during the earth-life just ended, having lived much in the enjoyment of objects of sense and in the pleasures of the emotions, cannot quickly disentangle itself from the web of its own weaving, and return to its parent mind, the source of its own being. hence a considerable delay in the world of transition, in kâmaloka, while the desires wear out and fade away to a point at which they can no longer detain the soul with their clinging arms. as said, during the period that the immortal triad and kâma remain together in kâmaloka, communication between the disembodied entity and the embodied entities on earth is possible. such communication will generally be welcomed by these disembodied ones, because their desires and emotions still cling to the earth they have left, and the mind has not sufficiently lived on its own plane to find therein full satisfaction and contentment. the lower manas still yearns towards kâmic gratifications and the vivid highly coloured sensations of earth-life, and can by these yearnings be drawn back to the scenes it has regretfully quitted. speaking of the possibility of communication between the ego of the deceased person and a medium, h.p. blavatsky says in the _theosophist_,[23] as from the teachings received by her from the adept brothers, that such communication may occur during two intervals: interval the first is that period between the physical death and the merging of the spiritual ego into that state which is known in the arhat esoteric doctrine as bar-do. we have translated this as the "gestation" period [pre-devachanic]. some of the communications made through mediums are from this source, from the disembodied entity, thus drawn back to the earth-sphere--a cruel kindness, delaying its forward evolution and introducing an element of disharmony into what should be an orderly progression. the period in kâmaloka is thus lengthened, the desire body is fed and its hold on the ego is maintained, and thus is the freedom of the soul deferred, the immortal swallow being still held down by the bird-lime of earth. persons who have led an evil life, who have gratified and stimulated their animal passions, and have full fed the desire body while they have starved even the lower mind--these remain for long, denizens of kâmaloka, and are filled with yearnings for the earth-life they have left, and for the animal delights that they can no longer--in the absence of the physical body--directly taste. these gather round the medium and the sensitive, endeavouring to utilise them for their own gratification, and these are among the more dangerous of the forces so rashly confronted in their ignorance by the thoughtless and the curious. another class of disembodied entities includes those whose lives on earth have been prematurely cut short, by their own act, the act of others, or by accident. their fate in kâmaloka depends on the conditions which surrounded their outgoings from earthly life, for not all suicides are guilty of _felo de se_, and the measure of responsibility may vary within very wide limits. the condition of such has been thus described: _suicides, although not wholly dissevered from their sixth and seventh principles, and quite potent in the séance room, nevertheless to the day when they would have died a natural death, are separated from their higher principles by a gulf. the sixth and seventh principles remain passive and negative, whereas in cases of_ accidental death _the higher and the lower groups actually attract each other. in cases of good and innocent egos, moreover, the latter gravitates irresistibly toward the sixth and seventh, and thus either slumbers surrounded by happy dreams, or sleeps a dreamless profound sleep until the hour strikes. with a little reflection and an eye to the eternal justice and fitness of things, you will see why. the victim, whether good or bad, is irresponsible for his death. even if his death were due to some action in a previous life or an antecedent birth, was an act, in short, of the law of retribution, still it was not the_ direct _result of an act deliberately committed by the_ personal _ego of that life during which he happened to be killed. had he been allowed to live longer he might have atoned for his antecedent sins still more effectually, and even now, the ego having been made to pay off the debt of his maker, the personal ego is free from the blows of retributive justice. the dhyân chohans, who have no hand in the guidance of the living human ego, protect the helpless victim when it is violently thrust out of its element into a new one, before it is matured and made fit and ready for it._ these, whether suicides or killed by accident, can communicate with those in earth-life, but much to their own injury. as said above, the good and innocent sleep happily till the life-period is over. but where the victim of an accident is depraved and gross, his fate is a sad one. _unhappy shades, if sinful and sensual, they wander about (not shells, for their connection with their two higher principles is not quite broken) until their_ death-_hour comes. cut off in the full flush of earthly passions which bind them to familiar scenes, they are enticed by the opportunities which mediums afford to gratify them vicariously. they are the pishâchas, the incubi and succubæ of mediæval times; the demons of thirst, gluttony, lust, and avarice--elementaries of intensified craft, wickedness, and cruelty; provoking their victims to horrid crimes, and revelling in their commission! they not only ruin their victims, but these psychic vampires, borne along by the torrent of their hellish impulses, at last--at the fixed close of their natural period of life--they are carried out of the earth's aura into regions where for ages they endure exquisite suffering and end with entire destruction. * * * * * now the causes producing the "new being" and determining the nature of karma are trishnâ (tanhâ)--thirst, desire for sentient existence--and upâdâna, which is the realisation or consummation of trishnâ, or that desire. and both of these the medium helps to develop_ ne plus ultra _in an elementary, be he a suicide or a victim. the rule is that a person who dies a natural death will remain from "a few hours to several short years" within the earth's attraction--_i.e._, the kâmaloka. but exceptions are the cases of suicides and those who die a violent death in general. hence, one of such egos who was destined to live, say, eighty or ninety years--but who either killed himself or was killed by some accident, let us suppose at the age of twenty--would have to pass in the kâmaloka not "a few years," but in his case sixty or seventy years, as an elementary, or rather an "earth-walker," since he is not, unfortunately for him, even a "shell." happy, thrice happy, in comparison, are those disembodied entities who sleep their long slumber and live in dream in the bosom of space! and woe to those whose trishnâ will attract them to mediums, and woe to the latter who tempt them with such an easy upâdâna. for, in grasping them and satisfying their thirst for life, the medium helps to develop in them--is, in fact, the cause of--a new set of skandhas, a new body with far worse tendencies and passions than the one they lost. all the future of this new body will be determined thus, not only by the karma of demerit of the previous set or group, but also by that of the new set of the future being. were the mediums and spiritualists but to know, as i said, that with every new "angel-guide" they welcome with rapture, they entice the latter into a upâdâna, which will be productive of untold evils for the new ego that will be reborn under its nefarious shadow, and that with every séance, especially for materialization, they multiply the causes for misery, causes that will make the unfortunate ego fail in his spiritual birth, or be reborn into a far worse existence than ever--they would, perhaps, be less lavish in their hospitality._ premature death brought on by vicious courses, by over-study, or by voluntary sacrifice for some great cause, will bring about delay in kâmaloka, but the state of the disembodied entity will depend on the motive that cut short the life. _there are very few, if any, of the men who indulge in these vices, who feel perfectly sure that such a course of action will lead them eventually to premature death. such is the penalty of mâyâ. the "vices" will not escape their punishment; but it is the_ cause, _not the effect, that will be punished, especially an unforeseen, though probable effect. as well call a man a "suicide" who meets his death in a storm at sea, as one who kills himself with "over-study". water is liable to drown a man, and too much brain work to produce a softening of the brain matter which may carry him away. in such a case no one ought to cross the_ kâlapâni, _nor even to take a bath for fear of getting faint in it and drowned (for we all know of such cases), nor should a man do his duty, least of all sacrifice himself for even a laudable and highly beneficial cause as many of us do. motive is everything, and man is punished in a case of direct responsibility, never otherwise. in the victim's case the natural hour of death was anticipated_ accidentally, _while in that of the suicide death is brought on voluntarily and with a full and deliberate knowledge of its immediate consequences. thus a man who causes his death in a fit of temporary insanity is_ not _a_ felo de se, _to the great grief and often trouble of the life insurance companies. nor is he left a prey to the temptations of the kâmaloka, but falls_ asleep _like any other victim._ the population of kâmaloka is thus recruited with a peculiarly dangerous element by all the acts of violence, legal and illegal, which wrench the physical body from the soul and send the latter into kâmaloka clad in the desire body, throbbing with pulses of hatred, passion, emotion, palpitating with longings for revenge, with unsatiated lusts. a murderer in the body is not a pleasant member of society, but a murderer suddenly expelled from the body is a far more dangerous entity; society may protect itself against the first, but in its present state of ignorance it is defenceless as against the second. finally, the immortal triad sets itself free from the desire body, and passes out of kâmaloka; the higher manas draws back its ray, coloured with the life-scenes it has passed through, and carrying with it the experiences gained through the personality it has informed. the labourer is called in from the field, and he returns home bearing his sheaves with him, rich or poor, according to the fruitage of the life. when the triad has quitted kâmaloka, it passes wholly out of the sphere of earth attractions: _as soon as it has stepped outside the kâmaloka--crossed the "golden bridge" leading to the "seven golden mountains"--the ego can confabulate no more with easy-going mediums._ there are some exceptional possibilities of reaching such an ego, that will be explained later, but the ego is out of the reach of the ordinary medium and cannot be recalled into the earth-sphere. but ere we follow the further course of the triad, we must consider the fate of the now deserted desire body, left as a mere _reliquum_ in kâmaloka. kâmaloka. the shells. the shell is the desire body, emptied of the triad, which has now passed onwards; it is the third of the transitory garments of soul, cast aside and left in kâmaloka to disintegrate. when the past earth-life has been noble, or even when it has been of average purity and utility, this shell retains but little vitality after the passing onwards of the triad, and rapidly dissolves. its molecules, however, retain, during this process of disintegration, the impressions made upon them during the earth-life, the tendency to vibrate in response to stimuli constantly experienced during that period. every student of physiology is familiar with what is termed automatic action, with the tendency of cells to repeat vibrations originally set up by purposive action; thus are formed what we term habits, and we unconsciously repeat motions which at first were done with thought. so strong is this automatism of the body, that, as everyone knows by experience, it is difficult to break off the use of a phrase or of a gesture that has become "habitual." now the desire body is during earth-life the recipient of and the respondent to all stimuli from without, and it also continually receives and responds to stimuli from the lower manas. in it are set up habits, tendencies to repeat automatically familiar vibrations, vibrations of love and desire, vibrations imaging past experiences of all kinds. just as the hand may repeat a familiar gesture, so may the desire body repeat a familiar feeling or thought. and when the triad has left it, this automatism remains, and the shell may thus simulate feelings and thoughts which are empty of all true intelligence and will. many of the responses to eager enquiries at _séances_ come from such shells, drawn to the neighbourhood of friends and relatives by the magnetic attractions so long familiar and dear, and automatically responding to the waves of emotion and remembrance, to the impulse of which they had so often answered during the lately closed earth-life. phrases of affection, moral platitudes, memories of past events, will be all the communications such shells can make, but these may be literally poured out under favourable conditions under the magnetic stimuli freely applied by the embodied friends and relatives. in cases where the lower manas during earth-life has been strongly attached to material objects and to intellectual pursuits directed by a self-seeking motive, the desire body may have acquired a very considerable automatism of an intellectual character, and may give forth responses of considerable intellectual merit. but still the mark of non-originality will be present: the apparent intellectuality will only give out reproductions, and there will be no sign of the new and independent thought which would be the inevitable outcome of a strong intelligence working with originality amid new surroundings. intellectual sterility brands the great majority of communications from the "spirit world"; reflections of earthly scenes, earthly conditions, earthly arrangements, are plentiful, but we usually seek in vain for strong, new thought, worthy of intelligences freed from the prison of the flesh. the communications of a loftier kind occasionally granted are, for the most part, from non-human intelligences, attracted by the pure atmosphere of the medium or sitters. and there is an ever-present danger in this commerce with the shells. just because they are shells, and nothing more, they answer to the impulses that strike on them from without, and easily become malicious and mischievous, automatically responding to evil vibrations. thus a medium, or sitters of poor moral character, will impress the shells that flock around them with impulses of a low order, and any animal desires, petty and foolish thoughts, will set up similar vibrations in the blindly responsive shells. again, the shell is very easily taken possession of by elementals, the semi-conscious forces working in the kingdoms of nature, and may be used by them as a convenient vehicle for many a prank and trick. the etheric double of the medium, and the desire bodies emptied of their immortal tenants, give the material basis by which elementals can work many a curious and startling result; and frequenters of _séances_ may be confidently appealed to, and asked whether many of the childish freaks with which they are familiar--pullings of hair, pinchings, slaps, throwing about of objects, piling up of furniture, playing on accordions, &c.--are not more rationally accounted for as the tricky vagaries of sub-human forces, than as the actions of "spirits" who, while in the body, were certainly incapable of such vulgarities. let us leave the shells alone to peacefully dissolve into their elements, and mingle once again in the crucible of nature. the authors of the _perfect way_ put very well the real character of the shell. the true "ghost" consists of the exterior and earthly portion of the soul, that portion which, being weighted with cares, attachments, and memories merely mundane, is detached by the soul and remains in the astral sphere, an existence more or less definite and personal, and capable of holding, through a sensitive, converse with the living. it is, however, but as a cast-off vestment of the soul, and is incapable of endurance _as ghost_. the true soul and real person, the _anima divina_, parts at death with all those lower affections which would have retained it near its earthly haunts.[24] if we would find our beloved, it is not among the decaying remnants in kâmaloka that we should seek them. "why seek ye the living among the dead?" kâmaloka. the elementaries. the word "elementary" has been so loosely used that it has given rise to a good deal of confusion. it is thus defined by h.p. blavatsky: properly, the disembodied _souls_ of the depraved; these souls having, at some time prior to death, separated from themselves their divine spirits, and so lost their chance for immortality. but at the present stage of learning it has been thought best to apply the term to the spooks or phantoms of disembodied persons, in general to those whose temporary habitation is the kâmaloka.... once divorced from their higher triads and their bodies, these souls remain in their kâma rûpic envelopes, and are irresistibly drawn to the earth amid elements congenial to their gross natures. their stay in the kâmaloka varies as to its duration; but ends invariably in disintegration, dissolving like a column of mist, atom by atom, in the surrounding elements.[25] students of this series of manuals know that it is possible for the lower manas to so entangle itself with kâma as to wrench itself away from its source, and this is spoken of in occultism as "the loss of the soul."[26] it is, in other words, the loss of the personal self, which has separated itself from its parent, the higher ego, and has thus doomed itself to perish. such a soul, having thus separated itself from the immortal triad during its earth-life, becomes a true elementary, after it has quitted the dense and etheric bodies. then, clad in its desire body, it lives for awhile, for a longer or shorter time according to the vigour of its vitality, a wholly evil thing, dangerous and malignant, seeking to renew its fading vitality by any means laid open to it by the folly or ignorance of still embodied souls. its ultimate fate is, indeed, destruction, but it may work much evil on its way to its self-chosen doom. the word elementary is, however, very often used to describe the lower manas in its garment the desire body, not broken away from the higher principles, but not yet absorbed into its parent, the higher manas. such elementaries may be in any stage of progress, harmless or mischievous. some writers, again, use elementary as a synonym for shell, and so cause increased confusion. the word should at least be restricted to the desire body _plus_ lower manas, whether that lower manas be disentangling itself from the kâmic elements, in order that it may be re-absorbed into its source, or separated from the higher ego, and therefore on the road to destruction. devachan. among the various conceptions presented by the esoteric philosophy, there are few, perhaps, which the western mind has found more difficulty in grasping than that of devachan, or devasthân, the devaland, or land of the gods.[27] and one of the chief difficulties has arisen from the free use of the words illusion, dream-state, and other similar terms, as denoting the devachanic consciousness--a general sense of unreality having thus come to pervade the whole conception of devachan. when the eastern thinker speaks of the present earthly life as mâyâ, illusion, dream, the solid western at once puts down the phrases as allegorical and fanciful, for what can be less illusory, he thinks, than this world of buying and selling, of beefsteaks and bottled stout. but when similar terms are applied to a state beyond death--a state which to him is misty and unreal in his own religion, and which, as he sadly feels, is lacking in all the substantial comforts dear to the family man--then he accepts the words in their most literal and prosaic meaning, and speaks of devachan as a delusion in his own sense of the word. it may be well, therefore, on the threshold of devachan to put this question of "illusion" in its true light. in a deep metaphysical sense all that is conditioned is illusory. all phenomena are literally "appearances", the outer masks in which the one reality shows itself forth in our changing universe. the more "material" and solid the appearance, the further is it from reality, and therefore the more illusory it is. what can be a greater fraud than our body, so apparently solid, stable, visible and tangible? it is a constantly changing congeries of minute living particles, an attractive centre into which stream continually myriads of tiny invisibles, that become visible by their aggregation at this centre, and then stream away again, becoming invisible by reason of their minuteness as they separate off from this aggregation. in comparison with this ever-shifting but apparently stable body how much less illusory is the mind, which is able to expose the pretensions of the body and put it in its true light. the mind is constantly imposed on by the senses, and consciousness, the most real thing in us, is apt to regard itself as the unreal. in truth, it is the thought-world that is the nearest to reality, and things become more and more illusory as they take on more and more of a phenomenal character. again, the mind is permanent as compared with the transitory physical world. for the "mind" is only a clumsy name for the living thinker in us, the true and conscious entity, the inner man, "that was, that is, and will be, for whom the hour shall never strike". the less deeply this inner man is plunged into matter, the less unreal is his life; and when he has shaken off the garments he donned at incarnation, his physical, ethereal, and passional bodies, then he is nearer to the soul of things than he was before, and though veils of illusion still dim his vision they are far thinner than those which clouded it when round him was wrapped the garment of the flesh. his freer and less illusory life is that which is without the body, and the disembodied is, comparatively speaking, his normal state. out of this normal state he plunges into physical life for brief periods in order that he may gain experiences otherwise unattainable, and bring them back to enrich his more abiding condition. as a diver may plunge into the depths of the ocean to seek a pearl, so the thinker plunges into the depths of the ocean of life to seek the pearl of experience; but he does not stay there long; it is not his own element; he rises up again into his own atmosphere and shakes off from him the heavier element he leaves. and therefore it is truly said of the soul that has escaped from earth that it has returned to its own place, for its home is the "land of the gods", and here on earth it is an exile and a prisoner. this view was very clearly put by a master of wisdom in a conversation reported by h.p. blavatsky, and printed under the title "life and death."[28] the following extracts state the case: _the vedântins, acknowledging two kinds of conscious existence, the terrestrial and the spiritual, point only to the latter as an undoubted actuality. as to the terrestrial life, owing to its changeability and shortness, it is nothing but an illusion of our senses. our life in the spiritual spheres must be thought an actuality because it is there that lives our endless, never-changing immortal i, the sûtrâtmâ. whereas in every new incarnation it clothes itself in a perfectly different personality, a temporary and short-lived one.... the very essence of all this, that is to say, spirit, force, and matter, has neither end nor beginning, but the shape acquired by this triple unity during its incarnations, their exterior, so to speak, is nothing but a mere illusion of personal conceptions. this is why we call the posthumous life the only reality, and the terrestrial one, including the personality itself, only imaginary._ why in this case should we call the reality sleep, and the phantasm waking? _this comparison was made by me to facilitate your comprehension. from the standpoint of your terrestrial notions it is perfectly accurate._ note the words: "from the standpoint of your terrestrial notions," for they are the key to all the phrases used about devachan as an "illusion." our gross physical matter is not there; the limitations imposed by it are not there; the mind is in its own realm, where to will is to create, where to think is to see. and so, when the master was asked: "would it not be better to say that death is nothing but a birth for a new life, or still better, a going back to eternity?" he answered: _this is how it really is, and i have nothing to say against such a way of putting it. only with our accepted views of material life the words "live" and "exist" are not applicable to the purely subjective condition after death; and were they employed in our philosophy without a rigid definition of their meanings, the vedântins would soon arrive at the ideas which are common in our times among the american spiritualists, who preach about spirits marrying among themselves and with mortals. as amongst the true, not nominal, christians so amongst the vedântins--the life on the other side of the grave is the land where there are no_ _tears, no sighs, where there is neither marrying nor giving in marriage, and where the just realise their full perfection._ the dread of materialising mental and spiritual conceptions has always been very strong among the philosophers and oral teachers of the far east. their constant effort has been to free the thinker as far as possible from the bonds of matter even while he is embodied, to open the cage for the divine swallow, even though he must return to it for awhile. they are ever seeking "to spiritualise the material", while in the west the continual tendency has been "to materialise the spiritual". so the indian describes the life of the freed soul in all the terms that make it least material--illusion, dream, and so on--whereas the hebrew endeavours to delineate it in terms descriptive of the material luxury and splendour of earth--marriage feast, streets of gold, thrones and crowns of solid metal and precious stones; the western has followed the materialising conceptions of the hebrew, and pictures a heaven which is merely a double of earth with earth's sorrows extracted, until we reach the grossest of all, the modern summerland, with its "spirit-husbands", "spirit-wives", and "spirit-infants" that go to school and college, and grow up into spirit-adults. in "notes on devachan",[29] someone who evidently writes with knowledge remarks of the devachanî: _the_ à priori _ideas of space and time do not control his perceptions; for he absolutely creates and annihilates them at the same time. physical existence has its cumulative intensity from infancy to prime, and its diminishing energy from dotage to death; so the dream-life of devachan is lived correspondentially. nature cheats no more the devachanî than she does the living physical man. nature provides for him far more_ real _bliss and happiness_ there _than she does_ here, _where all the conditions of evil and chance are against him. to call the devachan existence a "dream" in any other sense than that of a conventional term, is to renounce for ever the knowledge of the esoteric doctrine, the sole custodian of truth._ "dream" only in the sense that it is not of this plane of gross matter, that it belongs not to the physical world. let us try and take a general view of the life of the eternal pilgrim, the inner man, the human soul, during a cycle of incarnation. before he commences his new pilgrimage--for many pilgrimages lie behind him in the past, during which he gained the powers which enable him to tread the present one--he is a spiritual being, but one who has already passed out of the passive condition of pure spirit, and who by previous experience of matter in past ages has evolved intellect, the self-conscious mind. but this evolution by experience is far from being complete, even so far as to make him master of matter; his ignorance leaves him a prey to all the illusions of gross matter, so soon as he comes into contact with it, and he is not fit to be a builder of a universe, being subject to the deceptive visions caused by gross matter--as a child, looking through a piece of blue glass, imagines all the outside world to be blue. the object of a cycle of incarnation is to free him from these illusions, so that when he is surrounded by and working in gross matter he may retain clear vision and not be blinded by illusion. now the cycle of incarnation is made up of two alternating states: a short one called life on earth, during which the pilgrim-god is plunged into gross matter, and a comparatively long one, called life in devachan, during which he is encircled by subtle matter, illusive still, but far less illusive than that of earth. the second state may fairly be called his normal one, as it is of enormous extent as compared with the breaks in it that he spends upon earth; it is comparatively normal also, as being less removed from his essential divine life; he is less encased in matter, less deluded by its swiftly-changing appearances. slowly and gradually, by reiterated experiences, gross matter loses its power over him and becomes his servant instead of his tyrant. in the partial freedom of devachan he assimilates his experiences on earth, still partly dominated by them--at first, indeed, almost completely dominated by them so that the devachanic life is merely a sublimated continuation of the earth-life--but gradually freeing himself more and more as he recognises them as transitory and external, until he can move through any region of our universe with unbroken self-consciousness, a true lord of mind, the free and triumphant god. such is the triumph of the divine nature manifested in the flesh, the subduing of every form of matter to be the obedient instrument of spirit. thus the master said: _the spiritual ego of the man moves in eternity like a pendulum between the hours of life and death, but if these_ _hours, the periods of life terrestrial and life posthumous, are limited in their continuation, and even the very number of such breaks in eternity between sleep and waking, between illusion and reality, have their beginning as well as their end, the spiritual pilgrim himself is eternal. therefore the_ hours of his posthumous life, _when unveiled he stands face to face with truth, and the short-lived mirages of his terrestrial existence are far from him,_ compose _or make up, in our ideas,_ the only reality. _such breaks, in spite of the fact that they are finite, do double service to the sûtrâtmâ, which, perfecting itself constantly, follows without vacillation, though very slowly, the road leading to its last transformation, when, reaching its aim at last, it becomes a divine being. they not only contribute to the reaching of this goal, but without these finite breaks sûtrâtmâ-buddhi could never reach it. sûtrâtmâ is the actor, and its numerous and different incarnations are the actor's parts. i suppose you would not apply to these parts, and so much the less to their costumes, the term of personality. like an actor the soul is bound to play, during the cycle of births up to the very threshold of parinirvâna, many such parts, which often are disagreeable to it, but like a bee, collecting its honey from every flower, and leaving the rest to feed the worms of the earth, our spiritual individuality, the sûtrâtmâ, collecting only the nectar of moral qualities and consciousness from every terrestrial personality in which it has to clothe itself, forced by karma, unites at last all these qualities in one, having then become a perfect being, a dhyân chohan._[30] it is very significant, in this connection, that every devachanic stage is conditioned by the earth-stage that precedes it, and the man can only assimilate in devachan the kinds of experience he has been gathering on earth. _a colourless, flavourless personality has a colourless, feeble devachanic state._[31] husband, father, student, patriot, artist, christian, buddhist--he must work out the effects of his earth-life in his devachanic life; he cannot eat and assimilate more food than he has gathered; he cannot reap more harvest than he has sown seed. it takes but a moment to cast a seed into a furrow; it takes many a month for that seed to grow into the ripened ear; but according to the kind of the seed is the ear that grows from it, and according to the nature of the brief earth-life is the grain reaped in the field of aanroo. _there is a change of occupation, a continual change in devachan, just as much and far more than there is in the life of any man or woman who happens to follow in his or her whole life one sole occupation, whatever it may be, with this difference, that to the devachanî this spiritual occupation is always pleasant and fills his life with rapture. life in devachan is the function of the aspirations of earth-life; not the indefinite prolongation of that "single instant," but its infinite developments, the various incidents and events based upon and outflowing from that one "single moment" or moments. the dreams of the objective become the realities of the subjective existence.... the reward provided by nature for men who are benevolent in a large systematic way, and who have not focussed their affections on an individual or speciality, is that, if pure, they pass the quicker for that through the kâma and rûpa lokas into the higher sphere of tribhuvana, since it is one where the formulation of abstract ideas and the consideration of general principles fill the thought of its occupant._[32] into devachan enters nothing that defileth, for gross matter has been left behind with all its attributes on earth and in kâmaloka. but if the sower has sowed but little seed, the devachanic harvest will be meagre, and the growth of the soul will be delayed by the paucity of the nutriment on which it has to feed. hence the enormous importance of the earth-life, _the field of sowing, the place where experience is to be gathered_. it conditions, regulates, limits, the growth of the soul; it yields the rough ore which the soul then takes in hand, and works upon during the devachanic stage, smelting it, forging it, tempering it, into the weapons it will take back with it for its next earth-life. the experienced soul in devachan will make for itself a splendid instrument for its next earth-life; the inexperienced one will forge a poor blade enough; but in each case the only material available is that brought from earth. in devachan the soul, as it were, sifts and sorts out its experiences; it lives a comparatively free life, and gradually gains the power to estimate the earthly experiences at their real value; it works out thoroughly and completely as objective realities all the ideas of which it only conceived the germ on earth. thus, noble aspiration is a germ which the soul would work out into a splendid realisation in devachan, and it would bring back with it to earth for its next incarnation that mental image, to be materialised on earth when opportunity offers and suitable environment presents itself. for the mind sphere is the sphere of creation, and earth only the place for materialising the pre-existent thought. and the soul is as an architect that works out his plans in silence and deep meditation, and then brings them forth into the outer world where his edifice is to be builded; out of the knowledge gained in his past life, the soul draws his plans for the next, and he returns to earth to put into objective material form the edifices he has planned. this is the description of a logos in creative activity: whilst brahmâ formerly, in the beginning of the kalpas, was meditating on creation, there appeared a creation beginning with ignorance and consisting of darkness.... brahmâ, beholding that it was defective, designed another; and whilst he thus meditated, the animal creation was manifested.... beholding this creation also imperfect, brahmâ again meditated, and a third creation appeared, abounding with the quality of goodness.[33] the objective manifestation follows the mental meditation; first idea, then form. hence it will be seen that the notion current among many theosophists that devachan is waste time, is but one of the illusions due to the gross matter that blinds them, and that their impatience of the idea of devachan arises from the delusion that fussing about in gross matter is the only real activity. whereas, in truth, all effective action has its source in deep meditation, and out of the silence comes ever the creative word. action on this plane would be less feeble and inefficient if it were the mere blossom of the profound root of meditation, and if the soul embodied passed oftener out of the body into devachan during earth-life, there would be less foolish action and consequent waste of time. for devachan is a state of consciousness, the consciousness of the soul escaped for awhile from the net of gross matter, and may be entered at any time by one who has learned to withdraw his soul from the senses as the tortoise withdraws itself within its shell. and then, coming forth once more, action is prompt, direct, purposeful, and the time "wasted" in meditation is more than saved by the directness and strength of the mind-engendered act. devachan is the sphere of the mind, as said, it is the land of the gods, or the souls. in the before quoted "notes on devachan" we read: _there are two fields of causal manifestations: the objective and the subjective. the grosser energies find their outcome in the new personality of each birth in the cycle of evoluting individuality. the moral and spiritual activities find their sphere of effects in devachan._ as the moral and spiritual activities are the most important, and as on the development of these depends the growth of the true man, and therefore the accomplishing of "the object of creation, the liberation of soul", we may begin to understand something of the vast importance of the devachanic state. the devachanî. when the triad has shaken off its last garment, it crosses the threshold of devachan, and becomes "a devachanî". we have seen that it is in a peaceful dreamy state before this passage out of the earth sphere, the "second death", or "pre-devachanic unconsciousness". this condition is otherwise spoken of as the "gestation" period, because it precedes the birth of the ego into the devachanic life. regarded from the earth-sphere the passage is death, while regarded from that of devachan it is birth. thus we find in "notes on devachan": _as in actual earth-life, so there is for the ego in devachan the first flutter of psychic life, the attainment of prime, the gradual exhaustion of force passing into semi-consciousness and lethargy, total oblivion, and--not death but birth, birth into another personality, and the resumption of action which daily begets new congeries of causes that must be worked out in another term of devachan, and still another physical birth as a new personality. what the lives in devachan and upon earth shall be respectively in each instance is determined by karma, and this weary round of birth must be ever and ever run through until the being reaches the end of the seventh round, or attains in the interim the wisdom of an arhat, then that of a buddha, and thus gets relieved for a round or two._ when the devachanic entity is born into this new sphere it has passed beyond recall to earth. the embodied soul may rise to it, but it cannot be drawn back to our world. on this a master has spoken decisively: _from sukhâvatî down to the "territory of doubt," there is a variety of spiritual states, but ... as soon as it has stepped outside the kâmaloka, crossed the "golden bridge" leading to the "seven golden mountains," the ego can confabulate no more with easy-going mediums. no ernest or joey has ever returned from the rûpa loka, let alone the arupa loka, to hold sweet intercourse with men._ in the "notes on devachan," again, we read: _certainly the new ego, once that it is reborn (in devachan), retains for a certain time--proportionate to its earth-life--a complete recollection "of his life on earth"; but it can never revisit the earth from devachan except in re-incarnation._ the devachanî is generally spoken of as the immortal triad, atmâ-buddhi-manas, but it is well always to bear in mind that atman is no individual property of any man, but is the divine essence which has no body, no form, which is imponderable, invisible, and indivisible, that which does not _exist_ and yet _is_, as the buddhists say of nirvâna. it only overshadows the mortal; that which enters into him and pervades the whole body being only it's omni-present rays or light, radiated through buddhi, its vehicle and direct emanation.[34] buddhi and manas united, with this overshadowing of atmâ, form the devachanî; now, as we have seen in studying the seven principles, manas is dual during earth-life, and the lower manas is redrawn into the higher during the kâmalokic interlude. by this reuniting of the ray and its source, manas re-becomes one, and carries the pure and noble experiences of the earth-life into devachan with it, thus maintaining the past personality as the marked characteristic of the devachanî, and it is in this prolongation of the "personal ego", so to speak, that the "illusion" of the devachanî consists. were the mânasic entity free from all illusion, it would see all egos as its brother-souls, and looking back over its past would recognise all the varied relationships it had borne to others in many lives, as the actor would remember the many parts he had played with other actors, and would think of each brother actor as a man, and not in the parts he had played as his father, his son, his judge, his murderer, his master, his friend. the deeper human relationship would prevent the brother actors from identifying each other with their parts, and so the perfected spiritual egos, recognising their deep unity and full brotherhood, would no longer be deluded by the trappings of earthly relationships. but the devachanî, at least in the lower stages, is still within the personal boundaries of his past earth-life; he is shut into the relationships of the one incarnation; his paradise is peopled with those he "_loved best with an undying love, that holy feeling that alone survives_," and thus the purified personal ego is the salient feature, as above said, in the devachanî. again quoting from the "notes on devachan": "_who goes to devachan?" the personal ego, of course; but beatified, purified, holy. every ego--the combination of the sixth and seventh principles[35]--which after the period of unconscious gestation is reborn into the devachan, is of necessity as innocent and pure as a new-born babe. the fact of his being reborn at all shows the preponderance of good over evil in his old personality. and while the karma [of evil] steps aside for the time being to follow him in his future earth re-incarnation, he brings along with him but the karma of his good deeds, words and thoughts into this devachan. "bad" is a relative term for us--as you were told more than once before--and the law of retribution is the only law that never errs. hence all those who have not slipped down into the mire of unredeemable sin and bestiality go to the devachan. they will have to pay for their sins, voluntary and involuntary, later on. meanwhile they are rewarded; receive the effects of the causes produced by them._ now in some people a sense of repulsion arises at the idea that the ties they form on earth in one life are not to be permanent in eternity. but let us look at the question calmly for a moment. when a mother first clasps her baby-son in her arms, that one relationship seems perfect, and if the child should die, her longing would be to re-possess him as her babe; but as he lives on through youth to manhood the tie changes, and the protective love of the mother and the clinging obedience of the child merge into a different love of friends and comrades, richer than ordinary friendship from the old recollections; yet later, when the mother is aged and the son in the prime of middle life, their positions are reversed and the son protects while the mother depends on him for guidance. would the relation have been more perfect had it ceased in infancy with only the one tie, or is it not the richer and the sweeter from the different strands of which the tie is woven? and so with egos; in many lives they may hold to each other many relationships, and finally, standing as brothers of the lodge closely knit together, may look back over past lives and see themselves in earth-life related in the many ways possible to human beings, till the cord is woven of every strand of love and duty; would not the final unity be the richer not the poorer for the many-stranded tie? "finally", i say; but the word is only of this cycle, for what lies beyond, of wider life and less separateness, no mind of man may know. to me it seems that this very variety of experiences makes the tie stronger, not weaker, and that it is a rather thin and poor thing to know oneself and another in only one little aspect of many-sided humanity for endless ages of years; a thousand or so years of one person in one character would, to me, be ample, and i should prefer to know him or her in some new aspect of his nature. but those who object to this view need not feel distressed, for they will enjoy the presence of their beloved in the one personal aspect held by him or her in the one incarnation they are conscious of _for as long as the desire for that presence remains_. only let them not desire to impose their own form of bliss on everybody else, nor insist that the kind of happiness which seems to them at this stage the only one desirable and satisfying, must be stereotyped to all eternity, through all the millions of years that lie before us. nature gives to each in devachan the satisfaction of all pure desires, and manas there exercises that faculty of his innate divinity, that he "never wills in vain". will not this suffice? but leaving aside disputes as to what may be to us "happiness" in a future separated from our present by millions of years, so that we are no more fitted now to formulate its conditions than is a child, playing with its dolls, to formulate the deeper joys and interests of its maturity, let us understand that, according to the teachings of the esoteric philosophy, the devachanî is surrounded by all he loved on earth, with pure affection, and the union being on the plane of the ego, not on the physical plane, it is free from all the sufferings which would be inevitable were the devachanî present in consciousness on the physical plane with all its illusory and transitory joys and sorrows. it is surrounded by its beloved in the higher consciousness, but is not agonised by the knowledge of what they are suffering in the lower consciousness, held in the bonds of the flesh. according to the orthodox christian view, death is a separation, and the "spirits of the dead" wait for reunion until those they love also pass through death's gateway, or--according to some--until after the judgment-day is over. as against this the esoteric philosophy teaches that death cannot touch the higher consciousness of man, and that it can only separate those who love each other so far as their lower vehicles are concerned; the man living on earth, blinded by matter, feels separated from those who have passed onwards, but the devachanî, says h.p. blavatsky, has a complete conviction "that there is no such thing as death at all", having left behind it all those vehicles over which death has power. therefore, to its less blinded eyes, its beloved are still with it; for it, the veil of matter that separates has been torn away. a mother dies, leaving behind her little helpless children, whom she adores, perhaps a beloved husband also. we say that her "spirit" or ego--that individuality which is now wholly impregnated, for the entire devachanic period, with the noblest feelings held by its late _personality, i.e._, love for her children, pity for those who suffer, and so on--is now entirely separated from the "vale of tears," that its future bliss consists in that blessed ignorance of all the woes it left behind ... that the _post-mortem_ spiritual consciousness of the mother will represent to her that she lives surrounded by her children and all those whom she loved; that no gap, no link will be missing to make her disembodied state the most perfect and absolute happiness.[36] and so again: as to the ordinary mortal his bliss in devachan is complete. it is an absolute oblivion of all that gave it pain or sorrow in the past incarnation, and even oblivion of the fact that such things as pain or sorrow exist at all. the devachanî lives its intermediate cycle between two incarnations surrounded by everything it had aspired to in vain, and in the companionship of everything it loved on earth. it has reached the fulfilment of all its soul-yearnings. and thus it lives throughout long centuries an existence of _unalloyed_ happiness, which is the reward for its sufferings in earth-life. in short, it bathes in a sea of uninterrupted felicity spanned only by events of still greater felicity in degree.[37] when we take the wider sweep in thought demanded by the esoteric philosophy, a far more fascinating prospect of persistent love and union between individual egos rolls itself out before our eyes than was offered to us by the more limited creed of exoteric christendom. "mothers love their children with an immortal love," says h.p. blavatsky, and the reason for this immortality in love is easily grasped when we realise that it is the same egos that play so many parts in the drama of life, that the experience of each part is recorded in the memory of the soul, and that between the souls there is no separation, though during incarnation they may not realise the fact in its fulness and beauty. we are with those whom we have lost in material form, and far, far nearer to them now than when they were alive. and it is not only in the fancy of the devachanî, as some may imagine, but in reality. for pure divine love is not merely the blossom of a human heart, but has its roots in eternity. spiritual holy love is immortal, and karma brings sooner or later all those who loved each other with such a spiritual affection to incarnate once more in the same family group.[38] love "has its roots in eternity", and those to whom on earth we are strongly drawn are the egos we have loved in past earth-lives and dwelt with in devachan; coming back to earth these enduring bonds of love draw us together yet again, and add to the strength and beauty of the tie, and so on and on till all illusions are lived down, and the strong and perfected egos stand side by side, sharing the experience of their well-nigh illimitable past. the return to earth. at length the causes that carried the ego into devachan are exhausted, the experiences gathered have been wholly assimilated, and the soul begins to feel again the thirst for sentient material life that can be gratified only on the physical plane. the greater the degree of spirituality reached, the purer and loftier the preceding earth-life, the longer the stay in devachan, the world of spiritual, pure, and lofty effects. [i am here ignoring the special conditions surrounding one who is forcing his own evolution, and has entered on the path that leads to adeptship within a very limited number of lives.] the "average time [in devachan] is from ten to fifteen centuries", h.p. blavatsky tells us, and the fifteen centuries cycle is the one most plainly marked in history.[39] but in modern life this period has much shortened, in consequence of the greater attraction exercised by physical objects over the heart of man. further, it must be remembered that the "average time" is not the time spent in devachan by any person. if one person spends there 1000 years, and another fifty, the "average" is 525. the devachanic period is longer or shorter according to the type of life which preceded it; the more there was of spiritual, intellectual, and emotional activity of a lofty kind, the longer will be the gathering in of the harvest; the more there was of activity directed to selfish gain on earth, the shorter will be the devachanic period. when the experiences are assimilated, be the time long or short, the ego is ready to return, and he brings back with him his now increased experience, and any further gains he may have made in devachan along the lines of abstract thought; for, while in devachan, in one sense we can acquire more knowledge; that is, we can develop further any faculty which we loved and strove after during life, provided it is concerned with abstract and ideal things, such as music, painting, poetry, &c.[40] but the ego meets, as he crosses the threshold of devachan on his way outwards--dying out of devachan to be reborn on earth--he meets in the "atmosphere of the terrestrial plane", the seeds of evil sown in his preceding life on earth. during the devachanic rest he has been free from all pain, all sorrow, but the evil he did in his past has been in a state of suspended animation, not of death. as seeds sown in the autumn for the spring-time lie dormant beneath the surface of the soil, but touched by the soft rain and penetrating warmth of sun begin to swell and the embryo expands and grows, so do the seeds of evil we have sown lie dormant while the soul takes its rest in devachan, but shoot out their roots into the new personality which begins to form itself for the incarnation of the returning man. the ego has to take up the burden of his past, and these germs or seeds, coming over as the harvest of the past life, are the skandhas, to borrow a convenient word from our buddhist brethren. they consist of material qualities, sensations, abstract ideas, tendencies of mind, mental powers, and while the pure aroma of these attached itself to the ego and passed with it into devachan, all that was gross, base and evil remained in the state of suspended animation spoken of above. these are taken up by the ego as he passes outwards towards terrestrial life, and are built into the new "man of flesh" which the true man is to inhabit. and so the round of births and deaths goes on, the turning of the wheel of life; the treading of the cycle of necessity, until the work is done and the building of the perfect man is completed. nirvâna. what devachan is to each earth-life, nirvâna is to the finished cycle of re-incarnation, but any effective discussion of that glorious state would here be out of place. it is mentioned only to round off the "after" of death, for no word of man, strictly limited within the narrow bounds of his lower consciousness, may avail to explain what nirvâna is, can do aught save disfigure it in striving to describe. what it is not may be roughly, baldly stated--it is not "annihilation", it is not destruction of consciousness. mr. a.p. sinnett has put effectively and briefly the absurdity of many of the ideas current in the west about nirvâna. he has been speaking of absolute consciousness, and proceeds: we may use such phrases as intellectual counters, but for no ordinary mind--dominated by its physical brain and brain-born intellect--can they have a living signification. all that words can convey is that nirvâna is a sublime state of conscious rest in omniscience. it would be ludicrous, after all that has gone before, to turn to the various discussions which have been carried on by students of exoteric buddhism as to whether nirvâna does or does not mean annihilation. worldly similes fall short of indicating the feeling with which the graduates of esoteric science regard such a question. does the last penalty of the law mean the highest honour of the peerage? is a wooden spoon the emblem of the most illustrious pre-eminence in learning? such questions as these but faintly symbolise the extravagance of the question whether nirvâna is held by buddhism to be equivalent to annihilation.[41] so we learn from the _secret doctrine_ that the nirvânî returns to cosmic activity in a new cycle of manifestation, and that _the thread of radiance which is imperishable and dissolves only in nirvâna, re-emerges from it in its integrity on the day when the great law calls all things back into action._[42] communications between the earth and other spheres. we are now in position to discriminate between the various kinds of communication possible between those whom we foolishly divide into "dead" and "living," as though the body were the man, or the man could die. "communications between the embodied and the disembodied" would be a more satisfactory phrase. first, let us put aside as unsuitable the word spirit: spirit does not communicate with spirit in any way conceivable by us. that highest principle is not yet manifest in the flesh; it remains the hidden fount of all, the eternal energy, one of the poles of being in manifestation. the word is loosely used to denote lofty intelligences, who live and move beyond all conditions of matter imaginable by us, but pure spirit is at present as inconceivable by us as pure matter. and as in dealing with possible "communications" we have average human beings as recipients, we may as well exclude the word spirit as much as possible, and so get rid of ambiguity. but in quotations the word often occurs, in deference to the habit of the day, and it then denotes the ego. taking the stages through which the living man passes after "death", or the shaking off of the body, we can readily classify the communications that may be received, or the appearances that may be seen: i. while the soul has shaken off only the dense body, and remains still clothed in the etheric double. this is a brief period only, but during it the disembodied soul may show itself, clad in this ethereal garment. for a very short period after death, while the incorporeal principles remain within the sphere of our earth's attraction, it is _possible_ for spirit, under _peculiar_ and _favourable_ conditions, to appear.[43] it makes no communications during this brief interval, nor while dwelling in this form. such "ghosts" are silent, dreamy, like sleep-walkers, and indeed they are nothing more than astral sleep-walkers. equally irresponsive, but capable of expressing a single thought, as of sorrow, anxiety, accident, murder, &c., are apparitions which are merely a thought of the dying, taking shape in the astral world, and carried by the dying person's will to some particular person, with whom the dying intensely longs to communicate. such a thought, sometimes called a mayâvi rûpa, or illusory form _may be often thrown into objectivity, as in the case of apparitions after death; but, unless it is projected with the knowledge of (whether latent or potential), or owing to the intensity of the desire to see or appear to some one shooting through, the dying brain, the apparition will be simply automatical; it will not be due to any sympathetic attraction, or to any act of volition, any more than the reflection of a person passing unconsciously near a mirror is due to the desire of the latter._ when the soul has left the etheric double, shaking it off as it shook off the dense body, the double thus left as a mere empty corpse may be galvanised into an "artificial life"; but fortunately the method of such galvanisation is known to few. ii. while the soul is in kâmaloka. this period is of very variable duration. the soul is clad in an astral body, the last but one of its perishable garments, and while thus clad it can utilise the physical bodies of a medium, thus consciously procuring for itself an instrument whereby it can act on the world it has left, and communicate with those living in the body. in this way it may give information as to facts known to itself only, or to itself and another person, in the earth-life just closed; and for as long as it remains within the terrestrial atmosphere such communication is possible. the harm and the peril of such communication has been previously explained, whether the lower manas be united with the divine triad and so on its way to devachan, or wrenched from it and on its way to destruction. iii. while the soul is in devachan, if an embodied soul is capable of rising to its sphere, or of coming into _rapport_ with it. to the devachanî, as we have seen, the beloved are present in consciousness and full communication, the egos being in touch with each other, though one is embodied and one is disembodied, but the higher consciousness of the embodied rarely affects the brain. as a matter of fact, all that we know on the physical plane of our friend, while we both are embodied, is the mental image caused by the impression he makes on us. this is, to our consciousness, our friend, and lacks nothing in objectivity. a similar image is present to the consciousness of the devachanî, and to him lacks nothing in objectivity. as the physical plane friend is visible to an observer on earth, so is the mental plane friend visible to an observer on that plane. the amount of the friend that ensouls the image is dependent on his own evolution, a highly evolved person being capable of far more communication with a devachanî than one who is unevolved. communication when the body is sleeping is easier than when it is awake, and many a vivid "dream" of one on the other side of death is a real interview with him in kâmaloka or in devachan. love beyond the grave, illusion though you may call it,[44] has a magic and divine potency that re-acts on the living. a mother's ego, filled with love for the imaginary children it sees near itself, living a life of happiness, as real to it as when on earth--that love will always be felt by the children in flesh. it will manifest in their dreams and often in various events--in providential protections and escapes, for love is a strong shield, and is not limited by space or time. as with this devachanic "mother", so with the rest of human relationships and attachments, save the purely selfish or material.[45] remembering that a thought becomes an active entity, capable of working good or evil, we easily see that as embodied souls can send to those they love helping and protecting forces, so the devachanî, thinking of those dear to him, may send out such helpful and protective thoughts, to act as veritable guardian angels round his beloved on earth. but this is a very different thing from the "spirit" of the mother coming back to earth to be the almost helpless spectator of the child's woes. the soul embodied may sometimes escape from its prison of flesh, and come into relations with the devachanî. h.p. blavatsky writes: whenever years after the death of a person his spirit is claimed to have "wandered back to earth" to give advice to those it loved, it is always in a subjective vision, in dream or in trance, and in that case it is the soul of the living seer that is drawn to the _disembodied_ spirit, and not the latter which wanders back to our spheres.[46] where the sensitive, or medium, is of a pure and lofty nature, this rising of the freed ego to the devachanî is practicable, and naturally gives the impression to the sensitive that the departed ego has come back to him. the devachanî is wrapped in its happy "illusion", and _the souls, or astral egos, of pure loving sensitives, labouring under the same delusion, think their loved ones come down to them on earth, while it is their own spirits that are raised towards those in the devachan._[47] this attraction can be exercised by the departed soul from kâmaloka or from devachan: a "spirit" or the spiritual ego, cannot _descend_ to the medium, but it can _attract_ the spirit of the latter to itself, and it can do this only during the two intervals--before and after its "gestation period". interval the first is that period between the physical death and the merging of the spiritual ego into that state which is known in the arhat esoteric doctrine as "bar-do". we have translated this as the "gestation period", and it lasts from a few days to several years, according to the evidence of the adepts. interval the second lasts so long as the merits of the old [personal] ego entitle the being to reap the fruit of its reward in its new regenerated egoship. it occurs after the gestation period is over, and the new spiritual ego is reborn--like the fabled phoenix from its ashes--from the old one. the locality which the former inhabits is called by the northern buddhist occultists "devachan."[48] so also may the incorporeal principles of pure sensitives be placed _en rapport_ with disembodied souls, although information thus obtained is not reliable, partly in consequence of the difficulty of transferring to the physical brain the impressions received, and partly from the difficulty of observing accurately, when the seer is untrained.[49] a pure medium's ego can be drawn to and made, for an instant, to unite in a magnetic(?) relation with a real disembodied spirit, whereas the soul of an impure medium can only confabulate with the _astral soul_, or shell, of the deceased. the former possibility explains those extremely rare cases of direct writing in recognised autographs, and of messages from the higher class of disembodied intelligences. but the confusion in messages thus obtained is considerable, not only from the causes above-named, but also because even the best and purest sensitive can at most only be placed at any time _en rapport_ with a particular spiritual entity, and can only know, see, and feel what that particular entity knows, sees, and feels. hence much possibility of error if generalisations are indulged in, since each devachanî lives in his own paradise, and there is no "peeping down to earth," nor is there any _conscious_ communication with the flying souls that come as it were to learn where the spirits are, what they are doing, and what they think, feel, and see. what then is being _en rapport_? it is simply an identity of molecular vibration between the astral part of the incarnated sensitive and the astral part of the dis-incarnated personality. the spirit of the sensitive gets "odylised", so to speak, by the aura of the spirit, whether this be hybernating in the earthly region or dreaming in the devachan; identity of molecular vibration is established, and for a brief space the sensitive becomes the departed personality, and writes in its handwriting, uses its language, and thinks its thoughts. at such times sensitives may believe that those with whom they are for the moment _en rapport_ descend to earth and communicate with them, whereas, in reality, it is merely their own spirits which, being correctly attuned to those others, are for the time blended with them.[50] in a special case under examination, h.p. blavatsky said that the communication might have come from an elementary, but that it was far more likely that the medium's spirit really became _en rapport_ with some spiritual entity in devachan, the thoughts, knowledge, and sentiments of which formed the substance, while the medium's own personality and pre-existing ideas more or less governed the forms of the communication.[51] while these communications are not reliable in the facts and opinions stated, we would remark that it may _possibly_ be that there really is a distinct spiritual entity impressing our correspondent's mind. in other words, there may, for all we know, be some spirit, with whom his spiritual nature becomes habitually, for the time, thoroughly harmonised, and whose thoughts, language, &c., become his for the time, the result being that this spirit seems to communicate with him.... it is possible (though by no means probable) that he habitually passes into a state of _rapport_ with a genuine spirit, and, for the time, is assimilated therewith, thinking (to a great extent if not entirely) the thoughts that spirit would think, writing in its handwriting, &c. but even so, mr. terry must not fancy that that spirit is consciously communicating with him, or knows in any way anything of him, or any other person or thing on earth. it is simply that, the _rapport_ established, he, mr. terry, becomes for the nonce assimilated with that other personality, and thinks, speaks, and writes as it would have done on earth.... the molecules of his astral nature may from time to time vibrate in perfect unison with those of some spirit of such a person, now in devachan, and the result may be that he appears to be in communication with that spirit, and to be advised, &c., by him, and clairvoyants may see in the astral light a picture of the earth-life form of that spirit. iv. communications other than those from disembodied souls, passing through normal _post mortem_ states. (a) _from shells._ these, while but the cast-off garment of the liberated soul, retain for some time the impress of their late inhabitant, and reproduce automatically his habits of thought and expression, just as a physical body will automatically repeat habitual gestures. reflex action is as possible to the desire body as to the physical, but all reflex action is marked by its character of repetition, and absence of all power to initiate movement. it answers to a stimulus with an appearance of purposive action, but it initiates nothing. when people "sit for development", or when at a _séance_ they anxiously hope and wait for messages from departed friends, they supply just the stimulus needed, and obtain the signs of recognition for which they expectantly watch. (b) _from elementaries._ these, possessing the lower capacities of the mind, _i.e._, all the intellectual faculties that found their expression through the physical brain during life, may produce communications of a highly intellectual character. these, however, are rare, as may be seen from a survey of the messages published as received from "departed spirits". (c) _from elementals._ these semi-conscious centres of force play a great part at _séances_, and are mostly the agents who are active in producing physical phenomena. they throw about or carry objects, make noises, ring bells, etc., etc. sometimes they play pranks with shells, animating them and representing them to be the spirits of great personalities who have lived on earth, but who have sadly degenerated in the "spirit-world", judging by their effusions. sometimes, in materialising _séances_, they busy themselves in throwing pictures from the astral light on the fluidic forms produced, so causing them to assume likenesses of various persons. there are also elementals of a high type who occasionally communicate with very gifted mediums, "shining ones" from other spheres. (d) _from nirmânakâyas._ for these communications, as for the two classes next mentioned, the medium must be of a very pure and lofty nature. the nirmânakâya is a perfected man, who has cast aside his physical body but retains his other lower principles, and remains in the earth-sphere for the sake of helping forward the evolution of mankind. nirmânakâyas have, out of pity for mankind and those they left on earth, renounced the nirvânic state. such an adept, or saint, or whatever you may call him, believing it a selfish act to rest in bliss while mankind groans under the burden of misery produced by ignorance, renounces nirvâna and determines to remain invisible _in spirit_ on this earth. they have no material body, as they have left it behind; but otherwise they remain with all their principles even _in astral life_ in our sphere. and such can and do communicate with a few elect ones, only surely not with _ordinary_ mediums.[52] (e) _from adepts now living on earth._ these often communicate with their disciples, without using the ordinary methods of communication, and when any tie exists, perchance from some past incarnation, between an adept and a medium, constituting that medium a disciple, a message from the adept might readily be mistaken for a message from a "spirit". the receipt of such messages by precipitated writing or spoken words is within the knowledge of some. (f) _from the medium's higher ego._ where a pure and earnest man or woman is striving after the light, this upward striving is met by a downward reaching of the higher nature, and light from the higher streams downward, illuminating the lower consciousness. then the lower mind is, for the time, united with its parent, and transmits as much of its knowledge as it is able to retain. from this brief sketch it will be seen how varied may be the sources from which communications apparently from "the other side of death" may be received. as said by h.p. blavatsky: the variety of the causes of phenomena is great, and one need be an adept, and actually look into and examine what transpires, in order to be able to explain in each case what really underlies it.[53] to complete the statement it may be added that what the average soul can do when it has passed through the gateway of death, it can do on this side, and communications may be as readily obtained by writing, in trance, and by the other means of receiving messages, from embodied as from disembodied souls. if each developed within himself the powers of his own soul, instead of drifting about aimlessly, or ignorantly plunging into dangerous experiments, knowledge might be safely accumulated and the evolution of the soul might be accelerated. this one thing is sure: man is to-day a living soul, over whom death has no power, and the key of the prison-house of the body is in his own hands, so that he may learn its use if he will. it is because his true self, while blinded by the body, has lost touch with other selves, that death has been a gulf instead of a gateway between embodied and disembodied souls. * * * * * appendix. the following passage on the fate of suicides is taken from the _theosophist_, september, 1882. we do not pretend--we are not permitted--to deal exhaustively with the question at present, but we may refer to one of the most important classes of entities, who can participate in objective phenomena, other than elementaries and elementals. this class comprises the spirits of conscious sane suicides. they are _spirits_, and not _shells_, because there is not in their cases, at any rate until later, a total and permanent divorce between the fourth and fifth principles on the one hand, and the sixth and seventh on the other. the two duads are divided, they exist apart, but a line of connection still unites them, they may yet reunite, and the sorely threatened personality avert its doom; the fifth principle still holds in its hands the clue by which, traversing the labyrinth of earthly sins and passions, it may regain the sacred penetralia. but for the time, though really a spirit, and therefore so designated, it is practically not far removed from a shell. this class of spirit can undoubtedly communicate with men, but, as a rule, its members have to pay dearly for exercising the privilege, while it is scarcely possible for them to do otherwise than lower and debase the moral nature of those with and through whom they have much communication. it is merely, broadly speaking, a question of degree; of much or little injury resulting from such communication; the cases in which real, permanent good can arise are too absolutely exceptional to require consideration. understand how the case stands. the unhappy being revolting against the trials of life--trials, the results of its own former actions, trials, heaven's merciful medicine for the mentally and spiritually diseased--determines, instead of manfully taking arms against a sea of troubles, to let the curtain drop, and, as it fancies, end them. it destroys the body, but finds itself precisely as much alive mentally as before. it had an appointed life-term determined by an intricate web of prior causes, which its own wilful sudden act cannot shorten. that term must run out its appointed sands. you may smash the lower half of the hand hour-glass, so that the impalpable sand shooting from the upper bell is dissipated by the passing aerial currents as it issues; but that stream will run on, unnoticed though it remain, until the whole store in that upper receptacle is exhausted. so you may destroy the body, but not the appointed period of sentient existence, foredoomed (because simply the effect of a plexus of causes) to intervene before the dissolution of the personality; this must run on for its appointed period. this is so in other cases, _e.g._, those of the victims of accident or violence; they, too, have to complete their life-term, and of these, too, we may speak on another occasion--but here it is sufficient to notice that, whether good or bad, their mental attitude at the time of death alters wholly their subsequent position. they, too, have to wait on within the "region of desires" until their wave of life runs on to and reaches its appointed shore, but they wait on, wrapped in dreams soothing and blissful, or the reverse, according to their mental and moral state at, and prior to the fatal hour, but nearly exempt from further material temptations, and, broadly speaking, incapable (except just at the moment of real death) of communicating _scio motu_ with mankind, though not wholly beyond the possible reach of the higher forms of the "accursed science," necromancy. the question is a profoundly abstruse one; it would be impossible to explain within the brief space still remaining to us, how the conditions immediately after death differ so entirely as they do in the case (1) of the man who deliberately _lays down_ (not merely _risks_) his life from altruistic motives in the hope of saving those of others; and (2) of him who deliberately sacrifices his life from selfish motives, in the hope of escaping trials and troubles which loom before him. nature or providence, fate, or god, being merely a self-adjusting machine, it would at first sight seem as if the results must be identical in both cases. but, machine though it be, we must remember that it is a machine _sui generis_- out of himself he span the eternal web of right and wrong; and ever feels the subtlest thrill, the slenderest thread along. a machine compared with whose perfect sensitiveness and adjustment the highest human intellect is but a coarse clumsy replica, _in petto_. and we must remember that thoughts and motives are material, and at times marvellously potent material, forces, and we may then begin to comprehend why the hero, sacrificing his life on pure altruistic grounds, sinks as his life-blood ebbs away into a sweet dream, wherein all that he wishes and all that he loves, come smiling round his sunny way, only to wake into active or objective consciousness when reborn in the region of happiness, while the poor unhappy and misguided mortal who, seeking to elude fate, selfishly loosens the silver string and breaks the golden bowl, finds himself terribly alive and awake, instinct with all the evil cravings and desires that embittered his world-life, without a body in which to gratify these, and capable of only such partial alleviation as is possible by more or less vicarious gratification, and this only at the cost of the ultimate complete rupture with his sixth and seventh principles, and consequent ultimate annihilation after, alas! prolonged periods of suffering. let it not be supposed that there is no hope for this class--the sane deliberate suicide. if, bearing steadfastly his cross, he suffers patiently his punishment, striving against carnal appetites still alive in him, in all their intensity, though, of course, each in proportion to the degree to which it had been indulged in earth-life. if, we say, he bears this humbly, never allowing himself to be tempted here or there into unlawful gratifications of unholy desires, then when his fated death-hour strikes, his four higher principles reunite, and, in the final separation that then ensues, it may well be that all may be well with him, and that he passes on to the gestation period and its subsequent developments. * * * * * footnotes: [footnote 1: book ii., from lines 666-789. the whole passage bristles with horrors.] [footnote 2: xii. 85. trans., of burnell and hopkins.] [footnote 3: from the translation of dhunjeebhoy jamsetjee medhora, _zoroastrian and some other ancient systems_, xxvii.] [footnote 4: trans., by mirza mohamed hadi. _the platonist_, 306.] [footnote 5: _the sacred books of the east_, iii, 109, 110.] [footnote 6: _secret doctrine_, vol. i. p. 281.] [footnote 7: see _ibid._, p. 283.] [footnote 8: _isis unveiled_, vol. i. p. 480.] [footnote 9: theosophical manuals, no. 1.] [footnote 10: _the heroic enthusiasts_, trans., by l. williams. part ii. pp. 22, 23.] [footnote 11: _cremation_, theosophical siftings, vol. iii.] [footnote 12: _man: fragments of forgotten history_, pp. 119, 120.] [footnote 13: _key to theosophy_, h.p. blavatsky, p. 109. third edition.] [footnote 14: _magic, white and black_, dr. franz hartmann, pp. 109, 110. third edition.] [footnote 15: see _the seven principles of man_, pp. 17-21.] [footnote 16: _theosophist_, march, 1882, p. 158, note.] [footnote 17: _essays upon some controverted questions_, p. 36.] [footnote 18: _fortnightly review_, 1892, p. 176.] [footnote 19: _key to theosophy_, p. 67.] [footnote 20: _ibid._, p. 97.] [footnote 21: _key to theosophy_, p. 97] [footnote 22: _ibid._, p. 102.] [footnote 23: june, 1882, art. "seeming discrepancies."] [footnote 24: pp. 73, 74. ed. 1887.] [footnote 25: _theosophical glossary_, elementaries.] [footnote 26: see _the seven principles of man_, p.p. 44-46.] [footnote 27: the name sukhâvatî, borrowed from tibetan buddhism, is sometimes used instead of that of devachan. sukhâvatî, according to schlagintweit, is "the abode of the blessed, into which ascend those who have accumulated much merit by the practice of virtues", and "involves the deliverance from metempsychosis" (_buddhism in tibet_, p. 99). according to the prasanga school, the higher path leads to nirvâna, the lower to sukhâvatî. but eitel calls sukhâvatî "the nirvâna of the common people, where the saints revel in physical bliss for æons, until they reënter the circle of transmigration" (_sanskrit-chinese dictionary_). eitel, however, under "amitâbha" states that the "popular mind" regards the "paradise of the west" as "the haven of final redemption from the eddies of transmigration". when used by one of the teachers of the esoteric philosophy it covers the higher devachanic states, but from all of these the soul comes back to earth.] [footnote 28: see _lucifer_, oct, 1892, vol. xi. no. 62.] [footnote 29: _the path_, may, 1890.] [footnote 30: _ibid._] [footnote 31: "notes on devachan," as cited.] [footnote 32: "notes on devachan," as before. there are a variety of stages in devachan; the rûpa loka is an inferior stage, where the soul is still surrounded by forms. it has escaped from these personalities in the tribhuvana.] [footnote 33: _vishnu purâna_, bk. i. ch. v.] [footnote 34: _key to theosophy_, p. 69. third edition.] [footnote 35: sixth and seventh in the older nomenclature, fifth and sixth in the later--_i.e._, manas and buddhi.] [footnote 36: _key to theosophy_, p. 99. third edition.] [footnote 37: _ibid._, p. 100.] [footnote 38: _ibid._, p. 101.] [footnote 39: see manual no. 2 _re-incarnation_, pp. 60, 61. third edition.] [footnote 40: _key to theosophy_, p. 105. third edition.] [footnote 41: _esoteric buddhism_, p. 197. eighth edition.] [footnote 42: quoted in the _secret doctrine_, vol. ii. p. 83. the student will do well to read, for a fair presentation of the subject, g.r.s. mead's "note on nirvâna" in _lucifer_, for march, april, and may, 1893. (re-printed in _theosophical siftings_).] [footnote 43: _theosophist_, sept., 1882, p. 310.] [footnote 44: see on "illusion" what was said under the heading "devachan".] [footnote 45: _key to theosophy_, p. 102. third edition.] [footnote 46: _theosophist_, sept. 1881.] [footnote 47: "notes on devachan", _path_, june, 1890, p. 80.] [footnote 48: _theosophist_, june, 1882, p. 226.] [footnote 49: summarised from article in _theosophist_, sept., 1882.] [footnote 50: _ibid._, p. 309.] [footnote 51: _ibid._, p. 310.] [footnote 52: _key to theosophy,_ p. 151.] [footnote 53: _theosophist_, sept., 1882, p. 310.] * * * * * index. accident, death by, 37. appendix, 81. astral body, 19, fate of, 31. astral shell or soul, 75. _avesta_, quoted, 9. blavatsky, h.p., quoted, 16, 17, 24, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 45, 49, 60, 65, 66, 67, 73, 74, 78. _book of the dead_, quoted, 8. bruno, giordano, quoted, 21. _buddhism in tibet_, quoted, 47, (note). communications between earth and other spheres, 70. " between earth and soul in etheric body, 71. " between earth, and soul in devachan, 72, " between earth and soul in kâmaloka, 72. " from adepts now living, 79. " from elementals, 78. " from elementaries, 77. " from medium's higher ego, 79. " from nirmânakâyas, 78. " from shells, 43, 77. _controverted questions, essays upon some_, quoted, 28. _cremation_, quoted, 21. cycle of incarnation, 52 et seq. death, a gateway, 79. " chinese ideas of, 11. " christian ideas of, 6. " egyptian ideas of, 8. " theosophic ideas of, 18. _desatir_, quoted, 9. devachan, 33, 46. et seq. devachan, passing into, of the average-living, 33. devachan, the soul in, 72. devachanî, the, 58 et seq. earth, the return to, 66. egos, many lives of, 63 et seq. elementals, 44, 78. elementaries, 45, 77. _esoteric buddhism_, quoted, 69. etheric double, 12, 22 et seq., 24, 25, 71 et seq. fiery lives, 17. _fortnightly review_, quoted, 29. _heroic enthusiasts, the_, quoted, 21. immortal triad, the, 12, 13, 31, 33, 58, 60. _isis unveiled_, quoted, 17. kâmaloka, 26, 27, 29, 32, 34, 41. kâmaloka, the soul in, 72. kâma rûpa, 30. _key to theosophy_, quoted, 24, 30, 31, 33, 60, 65, 67, 73, 78. _lucifer_, quoted, 49, 70. _magic, white and black_, quoted, 26. _man: fragments of forgotten history_, quoted, 23. man: how made, 12 et seq. mâyâ, 47. medium, communications from higher egos of, 79. nirvâna, 69. _ordinances of manu_, quoted, 9. _paradise lost_, quoted, 7. _path_, quoted, 51, 54, 55, 56, 59 et seq. _perfect way_, quoted, 44. perishable quaternary, 12. pishâchas, 38. prâna, 26, 30. premature death, 36, 39. re-incarnation, 8, 67. _sanskrit-chinese dictionary_, quoted, 47 (footnote: 27). _seven principles of man_, quoted, 26, 45. shell, astral soul, or, 75. shells, the, 41. _shû king_, quoted, 10. soul, growth of, in devachan, 56, " powers of the, 80. " relations of, with devachanî, 74 et seq. " the disembodied, 71 et seq. spiritualism and esoteric philosophy, 15. suicides, 36, et seq., 81. _theosophical glossary_, quoted, 45. _theosophical siftings_, quoted, 21. _theosophist, the_, quoted, 27, 35, 71, 74, 75 et seq. _theosophist. the_, summarised, 75, 79, 81. unconscious co-existence of intelligent beings, 28 et seq. _vishnu purâna_, quoted, 57. * * * * * [illustration: cover art] the gates between. by elizabeth stuart phelps, _author of_ "the gates ajar," "gypsy breynton," etc write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. revelation. ward, lock and co., london, new york, and melbourne. [_all rights reserved_]. 1887 the gates between. chapter i. if the narrative which i am about to recount perplex the reader, it can hardly do so more than it has perplexed the narrator. explanations, let me say at the start, i have none to offer. that which took place i relate. i have had no special education or experience as a writer; both my nature and my avocation have led me in other directions. i can claim nothing more in the construction of these pages than the qualities of a faithful reporter. such, i have tried to be. it was on the twenty-fifth of november of the year 187-, that i, esmerald thorne, fell upon the event whose history and consequences i am about to describe. autobiographies i do not like. i should have been positive at any time during my life of forty-nine years, that no temptation could drag me over that precipice of presumption and illusion which awaits the man who confides himself to the world. as it is the unexpected which happens, so it is the unwelcome which we choose. i do not tell this story for my own gratification. i tell it to fulfil the heaviest responsibility of my life. however i may present myself upon these pages is the least of my concern; whether well or ill, that is of the smallest possible consequence. touching the manner of my telling the story, i have heavy thoughts; for i know that upon the manner of the telling will depend effects too far beyond the scope of any one human personality for me to regard them indifferently. i wish i could. i have reason to believe myself the bearer of a message to many men. this belief is in itself enough, one would say, to deplete a man of paltry purpose. i wish to be considered only as the messenger, who comes and departs, and is thought of no more. the message remains, and should remain, the only material of interest. owing to some peculiarities in the situation, i am unable to delegate, and do not see my way to defer, a duty--for i believe it to be a duty--which i shall therefore proceed to perform with as little apology as possible. i must trust to the gravity of my motive to overcome every trifling consideration in the mind of my readers; as it has solemnly done in my own. in order to give force to my narrative, it will be necessary for me to be more personal in some particulars than i could have chosen, and to revert to certain details of my early history belonging to that category which people of my profession or temperament are wont to dismiss as "emotional." i have had strange occasion to learn that this is a deep and delicate word, which can never be scientifically used, which cannot be so much as elementally understood, except by delicacy and by depth. these are precisely the qualities of which this is to be said,--he who most lacks them will be most unaware of the lack. there is a further peculiarity about such unconsciousness; that it is not material for education. you can teach a man that he is not generous, or true, or able. you can never teach him that he is superficial, or that he is not fine. i have been by profession a physician; the son of a chemist; the grandson of a surgeon; a man fairly illustrative of the subtler significance of these circumstances; born and bred, as the children of science are;--a physical fact in a world of physical facts; a man who rises, if ever, by miracle, to a higher set of facts; who thinks the thought of his father, who does the deed of his father's father, who contests the heredity of his mother, who shuts the pressure of his special education like a clasp about his nature, and locks it down with the iron experience of his calling. it was given to me, as it is not given to all men of my kind, to know a woman strong enough--and sweet enough--to fit a key unto this lock. strong enough _or_ sweet enough, i should rather have said. the two are truly the same. the old hebrew riddle read well, that "out of strength shall come forth sweetness." there is the lioness behind the rarest honey. like others of my calling, i had seen the best and the worst and the most of women. the pathological view of that complex subject is the most unfortunate which a man can well have. the habit of classifying a woman as neuralgic, hysteric, dyspeptic, instead of unselfish, intellectual, high-minded, is not a wholesome one for the classifier. something of the abnormal condition of the _clientèle_ extends to the adviser. a physician who has a healthy and natural view of women has the making of a great man in him. i was not a great man. i was only a successful lector; more conscious in those days of the latter fact, and less of the former, be it admitted, than i am now. a man's avocation may be at once his ruin and his exculpation. i do not know whether i was more self-confident or even more wilful than other men to whom is given the autocracy of our profession, and the dependence of women which accompanies it. i should not wish to have the appearance of saying an unmanly thing, if i add that this dependence had wearied me. it is more likely to be true that i differed from most other men in this: that in all my life i have known but one woman whom i loved, or wished to make my wife. i was forty-five years old before i saw her. who of us has not felt at the play, the strong allegorical power in the coming of the first actress before the house? the hero may pose, the clown dance, the villain plot, the warrior, the king, the merchant, the page, fuddle the attention for the nonce: it is a dreary business; it is like parsing poetry; it is a grammatical duty; the play could not, it seems, go on without these superfluities. we listen, weary, regret, find fault, and acquire an aversion, when lo! upon the monotonous, masculine scene, some slender creature, shining, all white gown and yellow hair and soft arms and sweet curves comes gliding--and, hush! with the everwomanly, the play begins. i do not think this feeling is one peculiar to our sex alone; i have heard women express the same in the strongest terms. so, i have sometimes thought it is with the coming of the woman upon the stage of a man's life. if the scenes have shifted for a while too long, monopolized by the old dismal male actors whose trick and pose and accent he knows so well and understands too easily,--and if, then, half-through the drama, late and longed-for, tardily and splendidly, comes the star, and if she be a fine creature, of a high fame, and worthy of it,--ah, then look you to her spectator. rapt and rapturous she will hold him till the play is done. so she found me--held me--holds me. the best of it, thank god, is the last of it. so, i can say, she holds me to this hour, where and as we are. it was on this wise. on my short summer vacation of that year from which i date my happiness, and which i used to call the year of my lady, as others say the year of our lord, i tarried for a time in a mountain village, unfashionable and beautiful, where my city patients were not likely to hunt me down. fifty-three of them had followed me to the seashore the year before, and i went back to town a harder-worked man than i left it. even a doctor has a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of a vacation, and that time i struck out for my rights. i cut adrift--denied my addresses even to my partner--and set forth upon a walking tour alone, among the hills. upon one point my mind was made up: i would not see a sick woman for two weeks. i arrived at this little town of which i speak upon a saturday evening. i remember that it was an extraordinary evening. thunder came up, and clouds of colours such as i found remarkable. i am not an adept in describing these things, but i remember that they moved me. i went out and followed the trout-brook, which was a graceful little stream, and watched the pageant in the skies above the tops of the forest. the trees on either side of the tiny current had the look of souls regarding each other across a barrier, so solemn were they. they stood with their gaze upon the heavens and their feet rooted to the earth, and seemed like sentient creatures who knew why this was as it was. i, walking with my eyes upon them, feet unguarded, and fancy following a cloud of rose-colour that hung fashioned in the outline of a mighty wing above me, caught my foot in a gnarled old hickory root and fell heavily. when i tried to rise i found that i was considerably hurt. i was a well, vigorous man, not accustomed to pain, which took a vigorous form with me; and i was mortified to find myself quite faint, too much so even to disturb myself over the situation, or to wonder who would be likely to institute a searching-party for me,--a stranger, but an hour since, registered at the hotel. with that ease which i condemned so hotly in my patients i abandoned myself to the physical pang, got back somehow against the hickory, and closed my eyes; devoid even of curiosity as to the consequences of the accident; only "attentive to my sensations," as a great writer of my day put it. i had often quoted him to nervous people whom i considered as exaggerating their sufferings; i did not recall the quotation at that moment. "oh! you are hurt!" a low voice said. i was a bit fastidious in voices at that time of my life. to say that this was the sweetest i had ever heard would not express what i mean. it was the _dearest_ i had ever heard. from that first moment,--before i saw her face,--drowned as i was in that wave of mean physical agony, given over utterly to myself, i knew, and to myself i said: "it is the dearest voice in all this world." a woman on the further side of the trout-brook stood uncertain, pitifully regarding me. she was not a girl,--quite a woman; ripe, and self-possessed in bearing. she had a beautiful head, and bright dark hair; her head was bare, and her straw mountain-hat hung across one arm by the strings. she had been bathing her face in the water, which was of a pink tint like the wing above it. as she stood there, she seemed to be shut in and guarded by, dripping with, that rose-colour,--to inhale it, to exhale it, to be a part of it, to be _it_. she looked like a blossom of the live and wonderful evening. "you are seriously hurt," she repeated. "i must get to you. have patience; i will find a way. i will help you." the bridge was at some distance from us, and the little stream was brawling and strong. "but it is not deep," she said. "do not feel any concern. it will do me no harm." as she spoke, she swung herself lightly over into the brook, stepping from stone to stone, till these came to an abrupt end in the current. there for an instant poised, but one could not say uncertain, she hung shining before me--for her dress was white, and it took and took and took the rose-colour as if she were a white rose, blushing. she then plunged directly into the water, which was knee-deep at least, and waded straight across to me. as she climbed the bank, her thick wet dress clinging to her lovely limbs, and her hands outstretched as if in hurrying pity, i closed my eyes again before her. i thought, as i did so, how much exquisite pleasure was like perfect pain. she climbed the bank and stooped from her tall height to look at me; knelt upon the moss, and touched me impersonally, like the spirit that she seemed. "you are very wet!" i cried. "the water is cold. i know these mountain brooks. you will be chilled through. pray get home and send me--somebody." "where are you hurt?" she answered, with a little authoritative wave of the hand, as if she waved my words away. she had firm, fine hands. "i have injured the patella--i mean the knee-pan," i replied. she smiled indulgently. she did not take the trouble to tell me that my lesson in elementary anatomy was at all superfluous. but when i saw her smile i said:-"that was unconscious cerebration." "why, of course," she answered, nodding pleasantly. "go home," i urged. "go and get yourself out of these wet things. no lady can bear it; it will injure you." she lifted her head,--i thought she carried it like a greek,--and regarded me with her wide, grave eyes. i met hers firmly, and for a moment we considered each other. "it is plain that you are a doctor," she said lightly, with a second smile. "i presume you never see a well woman; at least--believe you see one now. i shall mind this wetting no more than if i were a trout or a gray squirrel. i am perfectly able to give you whatever help you require. and by your leave, i shall not go home and get into a dry dress until i see you properly cared for. now! can you step? or shall i get a waggon, and a farm-hand? i think we could back a horse down almost to this spot. but it would take time. so?--will you try it? gently. slowly. don't _let_ me hurt you, or blunder. i see that you are in great pain. don't be afraid to lean on me. i am quite strong. i am able. if you can crawl a few steps"-_steps_! i would have crawled a few miles. for she put her sweet arms about me as simply and nobly as if i had been a wounded child; and with such strength of the flesh and unconsciousness of the spirit as i had never beheld in any woman, she did indeed support me out of the forest in such wise that my poor pain of the body became a great and glorified fact, for the joy of soul that i had because of her. it had begun to be easy, in my day, to make a mock at many dear and delicate beliefs; not those alone which pertain to the life eternal, but those belonging to the life below. the one followed from the other, perhaps. that which we have been accustomed to call love was an angel whose wings had been bruised by our unbelieving clutch. it was not the fashion to love greatly. one of the leading scientists of my time and of my profession had written: "there is nothing particularly holy about love." so far as i had given thought to the subject, i had, perhaps, agreed with him. it is easy for a physician to agree to anything which emphasizes the visible, and erases the invisible fact. if there were any one form of the universal delusion more than all others "gone out" in the days of which i speak, it was the dear, old-fashioned delirium called loving at first sight. i was never exactly a scoffer; but i had mocked at this fable as other men of my sort mock,--a subject for prophylactics, like measles or scarlet fever; and when you said that, you had said the whole. be it, then, recorded, be it admitted, without let or hindrance, that i, esmerald thorne, physician and surgeon, forty-five years old, and of sane mind, did love that one woman, and her only, and her always, from the moment that my unworthy eyes first looked into her own, as she knelt before me on the moss beside the mountain brook,--from that moment to this hour. chapter ii. thus half in perfect poetry, part in simplest prose, opened the first canto of that long song which has made music in me; which has made music of me, since that happy night. of the countless words which we have exchanged together in times succeeding, these, the few of our first meeting are carved upon my brain as salutations are carved in stone above the doorways of mansions. he that has loved as i did, may say why this should be so, if he can. i cannot. time and storm beat against these inscriptions, and give them other colouring,--the tints of years and weather; but while the house lasts and the rock holds the salutation lives. in most other matters, the force of recurring experience weakens association. he who loves cherishes the first words of the beloved as he cherishes her last. the situation was simple enough: an injured man and a lovely woman, guests of the same summer hotel; a slow recovery; a leisurely sweet acquaintance; the light that never was on hill or shore; and so the charm was wrought. my accident held me a prisoner for six weeks. but my love put me in chains in six minutes. her name was helen; like hers of old "who fired the topmost towers of ilium." i liked the stately name of her, for she was of full womanhood,--thirty-three years old; the age at which the french connoisseur said that a charming woman charmed the most. upon the evening before we parted, i ventured--for we sat at the sheltered end of the piazza, away from the patterers and chatterers, a little by ourselves--to ask her a brave question. i had learned that one might ask her anything; she had originality; she was not of the feminine pattern; she had no paltriness nor pettiness in her thoughts; she looked out, as men do, upon a subject; not _down_, as women are wont. she was a woman with whom a man could converse. he need not adapt himself and conceal himself, and play the part of a gallant at real matters which were above gallantry. he could confide in her. now it was new to me to consider that i could confide in any person. in my calling, one becomes such a receptacle of human confidence,--one soaks up other people's lives till one becomes a great sponge, absorptive and absorbing for ever, as sponges should. who notices when the useful thing gets too full? that is what it is there for. pour on--scalding hot, or freezing cold, or pure or foul--pour away. if one day it refuses to absorb any more, and lies limp and valueless--why, the doctor has broken down; or the doctor is dead. who ever thought anything could happen to the _doctor_? one thing in the natural history of the sponge is apt to be overlooked. when the process of absorption reaches a certain point, let the true hand touch the wearied thing, and grasp it in the right way, and lo! back rushes the instinct of confidence, _out_, not in. something of this sort had happened to me. the novelty of real acquaintance with a woman who did not need me had an effect upon me which perhaps few outside of my profession can understand. this woman truly needed nothing of me. she had not so much as a toothache or a sore throat. if she had cares or troubles they were her own. she leaned upon me no more than the sunrise did upon the mountain. she was as radiant, as healthful, as vivid, and as calm; she surrounded me, she overflowed me like the colour of the air. nay, beyond this it was i who had need; it was she who ministered. it was i who suffered the whims and longings of weakness,--the thousand little cravings of the sick for the well. it was i who learned to know that i had never known the meaning of what is called "diversion." i learned to suspect that i had yet to learn the true place of sympathy in therapeutics. i learned, in short, some serious professional lessons which were the simplest human ones. but the question that i spoke of was on this wise. it did not indeed wear the form, but she gave it the hospitality, of a question. "i wish i knew," i said, "why you have not married. i wish you thought me worthy to know." "the whole world might know," she answered, with her sweet straightforward look. "and i, then, as the most unworthy part of it?" for my heart sank at the terms upon which i was admitted to the answer. "i have never seen any man whom i wished to marry. i have no other reason." "nor i," i said, "a woman"- and there i paused. yes, precisely there, where i had not meant to; for she gave me a large, grave look, upon which i could no more have intruded than i could have touched her. this was in september. the year had made the longest circuit of my life before i gathered the courage to finish that sentence, broken by the weight of a delicate look; before i dared to say to her:-"nor i a woman--until now." i hope i was what we call "above" the petty masculine instinct which values a woman who is hard to win chiefly for that circumstance. perhaps i was not as i thought myself. but it seemed to me that the anguish of wooing in doubt overcame all paltry sense of pleasure in pursuit of my delight. my thoughts of her moved like slow travellers up the sides of a mountain of snow. that other feeling would have been a descent to me. so wholly did she rule my soul--how could i stoop to care the more for hers, because she was beyond my reach? be this as it may, beyond my reach for yet another year she did remain. gently as she inclined toward me, to love she made no haste. the force of my feeling was so great at times, it seemed incredible that hers did not rush to meet me like part of the game incoming wave broken by a coast island and joining--seemingly two, but in reality one--upon the shoreward side. for the first time in my life, in that rising tide of my great love, i truly knew humility. my unworthiness of her was more present with me even than my longing for her. if i could have scourged my soul clear of all unfitness for her as our saviour was said to have scourged the tradesmen out of the temple, i should have counted myself blessed, even though i never won her; though i beat out my last hope of her with the very blows which i inflicted upon myself. in the vibrations of my strong emotion it used to surprise me that my will was such a cripple against the sensibilities of that delicate creature. i was a man of as much will as was naturally good for me; and my training had made it abnormal like a prize-fighter's bicepital muscle. people of my profession need some counter-irritant, which they seldom get, to the habit of command. to be the ultimate control for a _clientèle_ of a thousand people, to enforce the personal opinion in every matter from a broken constitution to a broken heart, deprives a man of the usual human challenges to an athletic will. in his case, if ever, motion follows least resistance. his will-power grows by a species of pommelling; not by the higher tactics of wrestling. but i, who gave the fiat on which life or death hung poised as unhesitatingly as i controlled the fluctuations of an influenza; and i, to whom the pliability of the feminine will had long since become an accepted and somewhat elemental fact, like the nature of milk-toast; i, dr. thorne, who had the habit of success, who expected to make his point, who was accustomed to receive obedience, who fought death or hysteria, an opposing school or a tricky patient, with equal fidelity, as one who pursues the avocation of life,--i stood, conquered before this slender woman whose eyes, like the sword of flame, turned this way and that, guarding the barred gates of the only eden i had ever chosen to enter. in short, for the first time in my life i found myself a suppliant; and i found myself thus and there for the sake of a feeling. it was not for science' sake, it was not for the sake of personal fame, or for the glory of an idea, or for the promulgation of a discovery. i had not been overcome upon the intellectual side of my nature. i had been conquered by an emotion. i had been beaten by a thing for which, all my life, i had been prescribing as confidently as i would for a sprain. medical men will understand me, and some others may, when i say that i experienced surprise to come face to face at last, and in this unanswerable personal way, with an invisible, intangible power of the soul and of the body, which could not be treated as "a symptom." i loved her. that was enough, and beyond. i loved her. that was the beginning and end. i loved her. i found nothing in the materia medica that could cure the fact. i loved her. science gave me no explanation of the phenomenon. i did not love her scientifically. i loved her terribly. i was a man of middle age, and had called myself a scientist and philosopher. i had thought, if ever, to love soberly and philosophically. instead of that i loved as poets sing, as artists paint, as the statues look, as the great romances read, as ideals teach,--as the young love. as the young do? nay. what young creature ever loved like that? they know not love who sip it at the spring. youth is a fragile child that plays at love, tosses a shell, and trims a little sail, mimics the passion of the gathered years, and is a loiterer on the shallow bank of the great flood that we have waited for. i do not think of any other thing which a man cannot do better at forty, than at twenty. why, then, should he not the better love? my lady had a stately soul; but she gave it sweet graciousness and little womanly appeals and curves, that were to my heart as the touch of her hand was to my pulse. i was so happy in her presence that i could not believe i had ever been sad; and i longed so for her in absence that i could scarcely believe i had become happy. she was to my thoughts as the light is to the crystal. she came into my life as the miracles came to the unbelieving. she moved through my days and through my dreams, as the rose-cloud moved upon the mountain sky. she floated between me and my sick. she hovered above me and my dying. she was a mist between me and my books. once when i took the knife for a dangerous operation, the steel blade caught a sunbeam and flashed; and i looked at the flash--it seemed to contain a new world--and i thought: "she is my own. i am a happy man!" but i was sorry for my patient. i was not rough with him. and the operation succeeded. what is to be said? i loved her. love is like faith. he who has it understands before you speak. but to him who has it not, it cannot be explained. a year from the time of my most blessed accident beside the trout-brook,--in one year and two months from that day, upon a warm and wonderful september afternoon, my lady and i were married, and i brought her from her mother's house to the mountain village where first we saw each other. there we spent the first week of our happiness. it was as near to eden as we could find. the village was left almost to its own rare resources; the summer tourists were well-nigh gone; the peaceful roads gave no stare of intrusion to our joy. the hills looked down upon us and made us feel how high love was. the forest inclosed us, and made us understand that love was large. the holiness of beauty was the hostess of our delight. oh, i had won her! she was my wife. she was my own. she loved me. if i cherished her as my own soul, what could i give her back, who had given herself to me? i said, "i will make you the happiest woman who was ever beloved by man upon this earth." "but you _have_," she whispered, lifting her dear face. "it is worth being alive for, if it came to an end to-morrow." "love has no end," i cried. "happiness is life. it cannot die. it has an immortal soul. if ever i make you sad, if i am untender to you,--may god strike me"-"hush," she cried, clinging to me, and closing my lips with a kiss for which i would have died; "hush, love! hush!" chapter iii. it ought to be said, at this point in my story, that i had never been what would be called an even-tempered man. truth to tell, i was a spoiled boy. my mother was a saint, but she was a soft-hearted one. my father was a scholar. like many another boy of decided individuality, i came up anyhow. nobody managed me. at an early age my profession made it my duty to manage everybody else. i had a nervous temperament to start on; neither my training nor my occupation had poised it. i do not think i was malicious nor even ill-natured. as men go, i was perhaps a kind man. the thing which i am trying to say is, that i was an irritable one. as i look back upon the whole subject i can see, from my present point of view, that this irritability had seldom struck me as a personal disadvantage. i do not think it usually makes that impression upon temperaments similarly vitiated. as nearly as i can remember, i thought of myself rather as the possessor of an eccentricity, than as the victim of a vice. my father was an overworked college professor,--a quick-tempered man; my mother,--so he told me with streaming tears, upon the day that he buried her,--my mother never spoke one irritated word to him in all her life: he had chafed and she had soothed, he had slashed and she had healed, from the beginning to the end of their days together. a boy imitates for so many years before he reflects, that the liberty to say what one felt like saying appeared to me a mere identification of sex long before it occurred to me that mine might not be the only sex endowed by nature with this form of expression. i regarded it as one regards a beard, or a waistcoat,--simple signs of the variation of species. my mother--heaven rest her sweet soul--did not, that i recall, obviously oppose me in this view. after the time of the first moustache she obeyed her son, as she had obeyed her husband. as has been already said, the profession to which i fell heir failed to recommend to me a different personal attitude toward the will of others. my sick people were my pawns upon the chess-board of life. i played my game with humane intentions, not wholly, i believe, with selfish ones. but i suffered the military dangers of character, without the military apologies for them. he whose duty to god and men requires him to command all with whom he comes in contact should pray god, and not expect men, to have mercy on his soul. it is possible, i do not deny, that i put this view of the case without what literary critics call "the light touch." it is quite possible that i emphasize it. circumstances have made this natural; and if i need any excuse for it i must seek it in them. whether literary or not, it is not human to cherish a light view of a heavy experience. i loved my wife. this, i think, i have sufficiently made plain. i loved her as i might have discovered a new world; and i tried to express this fact, as i should have learned a new, unworldly language. i could no more have spoken unkindly to her than i could vivisect a humming-bird. i obeyed her lightest look as if she had given me an anaesthetic. her love intoxicated me. i seemed to be the first lover who had ever used this phrase. my heart originated it, with a sense of surprise at my own imaginative quality. i was chloroformed with joy. oh, i loved her! i return to that. i find i can say nothing beyond it. i loved her as other people loved,--patients, and uninstructed persons. i, esmerald thorne, president of the state medical society, and foreign correspondent of the national evolutionary association, forty-six years old, and a darwinian,--i loved my wife like any common, ardent, unscientific fellow. it is easy to toss words and a smile at it all, now. there have been times when either would have been impossible from very heart-break. there, again, is another of the phrases to which experience has been my only vocabulary. my patients used to talk to me about their broken hearts. i took the temperature and wrote a prescription. i added that she would be better to-morrow; i would call again in a week. i assured her that i understood the case. i was as well fitted to diagnose the diseases of the queen of some purple planet which the telescope has not yet given to astronomy. i have said that i found it impossible to be irritable to my dear wife. i cannot tell the precise time when it became possible. when does the dawn become the day upon the summer sky? when does the high tide begin to turn beneath the august moon? rather, i might say, when does the blue become the violet, within the prism? did i love her the less, because the distance of the worshipper had dwindled to the lover's clasp? i could have shot the scoffer who told me so. what then? what shall i call that difference with which the man's love differs when he has won the woman? had the miracle gone out of it? god forbid. it was no longer the marvel of the fire come down from heaven to smite the altar. it was the comfortable miracle of the daily manna. had my goddess departed from her divinity, my queen from her throne, my star from her heaven? rather, in becoming mine she had become myself, and if there were a loss, that loss was in my own nature. i should have risen by reason of hers. if i descended, it was by force of my own gravitation. her wing was too light to carry me. it is easier to philosophize about these things than it is to record them in cold fact. with shame and sorrow do i say it, but say it i must: my love went the way of the love of other men who feel (this was and remains the truth) far less than i. i, who had believed myself to love like no other before me, and none to come after me, and i, who had won the dearest woman in all the world--i stooped to suffer myself to grow used to my blessedness, like any low man who was incapable of winning or of wearing it. it cannot be said, it shall not be said, that i loved my wife less than the day i married her. it must be written that i became accustomed to my happiness. that ideal of myself, which my ideal of her created in me, and which no emergency of fate could have shaken, slipped in the old, fatal quicksand of use. our ideal of ourselves is to our highest life like the heart to the pulsation. it is the divinest art of the love of woman for man that she clasps him to his vision of himself, as breath and being are held together. until the time mentioned at the beginning of my narrative, i had in no sense appreciated the state of the case, as it lay between my ideal and my fact. that i had been more or less impatient of speech in my own home for some time past, is probably true. the ungoverned lip is a terrible master; and i had been a slave too long. i was in the habit of finding fault with my patients. i was accustomed to be what we call "quick" with servants. neither had, i thought, as a rule, seemed to care the less for me on this account. if i lost a patient or a coachman now and then, i could afford to. the item did not trouble me. i was inconsiderate at times with personal friends. they said, it is his way, and bore with me. people usually bore with me; they always had. i looked upon this as one of the rights of temperament, so far as i looked upon it at all. i do not think this indulgence had occurred to me as other than a tribute. it is common enough in dealing with men of my sort. (and alas, there are enough of my sort; i must be looked upon rather as a type than a specimen.) such indulgence is a movement of self-defence, or else of philosophy, upon the part of those who come in contact with us. to this view of the subject i had given no attention. i had lived to be almost fifty years old, and no person had ever said: "esmerald thorne, you trust your attractive qualities too far. power and charm do not give a man a permit to be disagreeable. your temperament does not release you from the common-place human duty of self-restraint. a gentleman has no more right to get uncontrollably angry than he has to get drunk. the patience with which others receive you is not a testimony to your strength; it is a concession to your weakness. you are living upon concessions like disease, or childhood, or age." no one had said this--surely not my wife. i can recall an expression of bewilderment at times upon her beautiful face, which for the moment perplexed me. after i had gone out, i would remember that i had been nervous in my manner. i do not think i had ever spoken with actual roughness to her, until this day of which i write. that i had been sometimes cross enough, is undoubtedly the case. on that november day i had been overworked. this was no novelty, and i offer it as no excuse. i had been up for two nights with a dangerous case. i had another in the suburbs, and a consultation out of town. there was a quarrel at the hospital, and a panic in stock street. i had seen sixty patients that day. i had been attacked in the "therapeutic quarterly" upon my famous theory of antisepsis. perhaps i may add the circumstance that my baby was teething. this was, naturally, less important to me than to his mother, who thought the child was ill. i knew better, and it annoyed me that my knowledge did not remove her apprehension. in point of fact, he had cried at night for a week or two, more than he ought to have done. she could not understand why i denied him a dover's powder. i needed sleep, and could not get it. we were both worn, and--i might fill my chapter to the brim with the little reasons for my great error. let it suffice that they were small and that it was large. we had been married three years, and our boy was a year old. he was a fine fellow. helen lost her greek look and took on the madonna expression after he was born. any woman who is fit to be a mother gains that expression with her first child. my wife was a very happy mother. she was sitting in the library when i came in that evening. it was a warm, red library, with heavy curtains and an open fire--a deep room that absorbed colour. i fancied the room, and it was my wife's pleasure to await me in it with the child each evening at the earliest hour when i might by any chance be expected home. she possessed to the full the terrible power of waiting which women have. she could do nothing when she expected me. although three years married, she could not read, or write, or play when she was listening for my step. i do not mean that she told me this. i found it out. she never called my attention to such little feminine weaknesses. she was never over-fond. my wife had a noble reserve. i had never seen the hour when i felt that her tenderness was a treasure to be lightly had, or indifferently treated. it should be said that the library opened from the parlours, and was at that time separated from them by a heavy portière of crimson stuff, the doors not being drawn. this drapery she was in the habit of folding apart at the hours of my probable return, and as i came through the long parlours my eyes had the first greeting of her, before my voice or arms. upon this evening, as upon others, i entered by the parlour door, and came--more quickly than usual--toward the library. i was in a great hurry; one of the acute attacks of the chronic condition which besets the busy doctor. as i crossed the length of the thick carpet, the rooms shook beneath my tread; i burst into, rather than entered, the library,--not seeing her, i think, or not pausing to see her, in the accustomed manner. when i had come to her i found that the child was not with her, as usual. she was sitting alone by the library table under the drop-light, which held a shade of red lace. she had a gown of white wool trimmed with ermine; a costume which gave me pleasure, and which she wore upon cool evenings, not too often for me to weary of it. she regarded my taste in dress as delicately and as delightedly as she did every other wish or will of mine. she had been trying to read; but the magazine lay closed upon her knee below her folded hands. her face wore an anxious look as she turned the fine contours of her head toward me. "oh," she cried, "at last!" she moved to reach me, swiftly, murmuring something which i did not hear, or to which i did not attend; and under the crimson curtains met me, warm and dear and white, putting up her sweet arms. i kissed her carelessly--would to god that i could forget it! i kissed her as if it did not matter much, and said:-"helen, i must have my dinner this instant!" "why, surely," she said, retreating from me with a little shock of pained surprise, "it is all ready, esmerald. i will ring." she melted from my arms. oh, if i had known, if i had known! she stirred and slipped and was gone from me, and i stood stupidly looking at her; her figure, against the tall, full book-cases, shone mistily, while she touched the old-fashioned bell-rope of gold cord. "really, i hadn't time to come home at all," i added testily. "i am driven to death. i've got to go again in ten minutes. but i supposed you would worry if i didn't show myself. it is a foolish waste of time. i don't know how i am ever going to get through. i wish i hadn't come." chapter iv. she changed colour--from fair to flush, from red to white again--and her hand upon the gold cord trembled. i remembered it afterward, though i was not conscious of noticing it at the time. "you need not," she replied, in her low, controlled voice, "on my account. you need never come again." "it is easier to come," i answered irritably, "than to know that you sit here making yourself miserable because i don't." "have i ever fretted you about coming, esmerald? i did not know it." "it would be easier if you did fret!" i cried crossly. "i'd rather you'd say a thing than look it. any man would." indeed, it would have been a paltry satisfaction to me just then if i could have found her to blame. her blamelessness irritated my self-complacence as the light irritates defective eyes. "i am due at the hospital in twenty-two minutes," i went on, excitedly. "chirugeon is behaving like apollyon. if i'm not there to handle him, nobody will. the whole staff are afraid of him--everybody but me. we sha'n't get the new ward built these two years if he carries the day to-night. i've got a consultation at decker's--the old lady is dying. it's no sort of use dragging a tired man out there; i can't do her any good; but they will have it. i'm at the beck and call of every whim. isn't that dinner ready? i wish i had time to change my boots! they are wet through. my head aches horribly. brake telegraphed me to get down to stock street before two o'clock to save what is left of that santa ma stock. i couldn't go. i had an enormous office--forty people. i've lost ten thousand dollars in this panic. i've got to see brake on my way to decker's. i lost a patient this morning--that little girl of the harrowhart's. she was a poor little scrofulous thing. but they are terribly cut up about it.... chowder? i wish you'd had a good clear soup. i don't feel as if i could touch chowder. i hope you have some roast beef, better than the last. you mustn't let parsnip cheat you. quail? there's no nourishment in a quail for a man in my state. the gas leaks. can't you have it attended to? hurry up the coffee. i must swallow it and go. i've got more than ten men could do." "it is more than one woman can do"--she began gently, when i came to the end of this outbreak and my breath together. "what did you say? do speak louder!" "i said it seems to be more than one woman can do, to rest you." "yes," i said carelessly, "it is. you can't do the first thing for me, except to do me the goodness to ring for a decent cup of coffee. i can't drink this." "esmerald"-"oh, what? i can't stop to talk. there, i've burned my tongue, now. if there's anything i can't stand, it is going to a consultation with a burned tongue." "how tired you are, esmerald! i was only going to say that i am sorry. i can't let you go without saying that." "i can't see that it helps it any. i am so tired i don't want to be touched. never mind my coat. i'll put it on myself. tell joe--no. i left the horse standing. i don't want joe. i suppose donna is uneasy by this time. she won't stand at night--she's got to. i'll get that whim out of her. now, don't look that way. the horse is safe enough. don't you suppose i know how to drive? you're always having opinions of your own against mine. there. i must be off." "where's the baby, helen?" i turned, with my hand upon the latch of my heavy oaken door, and jerked the question out, as cross men do. "the baby isn't just right, somehow, esmerald. i bated to bother you, for you never think it is anything. i dare say he will be better, but i thought i wouldn't let him come out of the nursery. jane is with him. i've been a _little_ troubled about him. he has cried all the afternoon." "he cries because you coddle him!" i exploded. "it is all nonsense, helen. nothing ails the child. i won't encourage this sort of thing. i'll see him when i come home. i can't possibly wait--i am driven to death--for every little whim"-but at the door i stopped. if the baby had been a patient he would have seen no doctor that night. but the father in me got the better of me, and without a word further to my wife i ran up to the nursery. she stayed below; she perceived (helen was always quick), although i had not said so, that i did not wish her to follow me. i examined the child hastily. the little fellow stopped crying at the sight of me, and put up both arms to be taken. i said:-"no, boy. papa can't stop now," and put him gently back into his crib. when i had reached the nursery door i remember that i returned and kissed him. i was very angry, but i could not be angry with my baby. with the touch of his little lips, dewy and sweet, upon mine, i rushed down to my wife, and tempestuously began again:-"helen, i must have an end to this nonsense. nothing ails the baby; he is only a trifle feverish with a new tooth. it really is very unpleasant to me that you make such a fuss over him. if you had married a greengrocer it might have been pardonable. pray remember that you have married a physician who understands his business, and do leave me to manage it. take the child out of the nursery. carry him downstairs as usual for a few minutes. he will sleep better. there! i'm eight minutes behindhand already, all for this senseless anxiety of yours. it is a pity you can't trust me, like other men's wives! i wish i'd married a woman with a little wifely spirit!--or else not married at all." i shut the door; i am afraid i slammed it. i cleared the steps at a bound, and ran fiercely out into the night air. the wind was rising, and the weather was growing sharp. it was frosty and noisy. donna, my chestnut mare, stood pawing the pavement in high temper, and called to me as she heard my step. she had dragged at her weight a little; she was thoroughly displeased with the delay. it occurred to me that she felt as i had acted. it even occurred to me to go back and tell my wife that i was ashamed of myself. i turned and looked in through the parlour windows. the shades were up, and the gas was low. dimly beyond, the bright panel of the lighted library arose between the crimson curtains. she stood against it, midway between the two rooms. her hands had dropped closed one into the other before her. her face was toward the street. she seemed to be gazing at me, whom she could not see. her white dress, which hung in thick folds, the pallor of her face and her delicate hands, gave her the look of a statue; its purity, and to my fancy at that moment its permanence. she seemed to be carved there, like something that must stay. i turned to go back--yes, i would have gone. it is little enough for a man to say for himself under circumstances like these; but perhaps i may be allowed to say it, since to exculpate myself is the last of my motives. i had made a stop or two up the flagging between the deep grass-plots that fronted the house, when the mare, disturbed beyond endurance at a movement of delay which she too well understood, gave a shrill whinny, and reared, pulling and dragging at her weight fiercely. she was a powerful creature, and the weight yielded, hitting at her heels. in an instant she had cramped the wheels, and i saw that the buggy would go over. to spring back, reach the bit, snatch the reins, leap over the wheel, and whirl away in the reeling carriage was the work of some thing less than a thought; it was the elemental instinct by which a man must manage his horse, come life or death. like most doctors, i was something of a horseman, and the idea of being thwarted by any of donna's whims had never occurred to me. i knew that the horse was pulling hard, but beyond that, i could not be said to have knowledge, much less fear; the mad conflict between the brute and the man possessed me to the exclusion of intelligence. it was some moments before it struck me that my own horse was running away with me. my first, perhaps i may say my only emotion at the discovery was one of overpowering rage. i did not mean to strike her. no driver, ever if an angry one, would have done that. but i had the whip in my hand, around which the reins were knotted for the struggle, and when the horse broke into a gallop the jerk gave her a flick. i was not in the habit of whipping her. she felt herself insulted. it was now her turn to be angry; and an angry runaway means a bad business. donna put down her head, struck out viciously from behind, and kicked the dasher flat. from that moment i lost all control of her. i thought:-"she is headed down town. at this rate, in five minutes she will be in the thick of travel. i have so many minutes more." for how long i cannot tell, i had beyond this no other intelligent idea. then i thought;-"i should not like to be the man who has got to tell helen." this repeated itself dully: "i should not care to be the fellow who will be sent to tell helen." i had ceased to call to the mare; it only made matters worse; but there was great hubbub in the streets as we leaped on. there were several attempts to head her off, i think. one man caught at her bridle. this frightened her; she threw him off, and threw him down. i think she must have hurt him. we were now well down town. window lights and carriage lights flared by deliriously. the wind, which was high, at speed like that seemed something demoniac. i remember how much it added to my sense of danger. i remember that my favourite phrase occurred to me:-"_i am driven to death._" suddenly i saw approaching an open landau. the street was full of vehicles, some of which i was sure to run down; but none of them seemed to give me concern except this one carriage. it contained a lady and a little boy, patients of mine. i recognized them forty feet away. he was a pretty little fellow, and she was fond of me; sent for me for everything; trusted me beyond reason; could not live without her doctor--that kind of patient. she had been a great sufferer. it seemed infernal to me that it should be _they_. i shouted to her coachman:-"henry! for god's sake--to the left! to the _left_!" but henry stared at me like one struck dead. i thought i heard him say;-"marm, it's the _doctor_!" and after that i heard no more. as the crash came, i saw the woman's face. she had recognized me with her look of sweet trustfulness; it froze to mortal horror. she clasped the child. i saw his cap come off from his yellow curls, and one little hand tossed out as the landau went over. the mare, now mad as any maniac, ran on. something had broken, but it mattered little what. i think we turned a corner. i think she struck a lamp-post or a tree. at all events, the buggy went over; and, scooped into the top, and dragged, and blinded, and stunned, i came to the ground. as i went down, i uttered the two words of all that are human, most solemn; perhaps, one may add, most automatic. believer or sceptic, saint or sinner, mortal danger hurls them from us, as it wrests the soul from out our bodies. i said, "_my god!_" precisely as i threw out my arms, to catch at whatever could hold me when i could no longer hold myself. chapter v. how long i had lain stunned upon the pavement i had no means of knowing; i thought not long. i was surprised, on coming to myself, to find that my injuries were not more severe. my head felt uncomfortable, and i had a certain numbness or stiffness, as one does from the first trial of long-disused limbs. i had always limped a trifle since that accident beside the trout-brook; and, as i staggered to my feet, i thought:-"this will play the mischief with that old injury. i shouldn't wonder if it came to crutches." on the contrary, when i had walked some dozen steps i found that an interesting thing had happened. the shock had dispersed the limp. it was with a perfectly even and natural gait, although, as i say, rather a weak one, that i trod the pavement to try what manner of man the runaway had left me. i said:-"it is one of those cases of nervous rearrangement. the shock has acted like a battery upon the nerve-centres. instead of a broken neck, i have a cured leg. i'm a lucky fellow." having already, however, considered myself a lucky fellow for the greater part of my life, this conclusion did not impress me with the force which it might some other men; and, laughing lightly, as lucky people do, at fortune, i turned to examine the condition of my horse and carriage. donna was not to be seen. she had broken the traces, the breeching, the shafts, everything, in short, she could, and cleared herself. i had been unconscious long enough to give her time to make herself invisible, and she had made the most of it; in what direction she had gone, it was impossible for me to tell. the buggy was a wreck. no one was in sight who seemed to have interest or anxiety in the matter. i wondered that i did not find myself the victim of a gaping crowd. but i reflected that the mishap had taken place in a quiet dwelling street, not travelled at that hour, and that my fate, therefore, had attracted no attention. i remembered, too, my patient, mrs. faith, and her boy, and that dolt of a henry's helpless face--the whole thing came to mind, vividly. it occurred to me that the crowd might be at the scene of an accident so terrible that no loafer was left to regard my lesser misfortune. it was they who had been sacrificed. it was i who escaped. my first thought was to go at once and learn the worst; but i found myself a little out of my way. i really did not recognize the street in which i stood. i had been for so many years accustomed to driving everywhere that, like other doctors, i hardly knew how to walk; and by the time i made my way back to the great thoroughfare where i had collided with mrs. faith's carriage, no trace of the tragedy was to be found; or at least i could not find any. after looking in vain, for a while, i stopped a man, and asked him if there had not been a carriage accident there within half an hour. he lifted his eyes to me stupidly, and went on. i put the same question to some one else--a lazy fellow, who was leaning against an iron railing and staring at me. but he shook his head decidedly. a young priest passed by, at this moment, saying an ave with moving lips and unworldly eyes, and i made inquiries of him whether a lady and a child had just been injured in that vicinity by a runaway. "nay," he said, gazing at me with a luminous look. "nay, i see nothing." after an instant's hesitation the priest made the sign of the cross both upon himself and me; and then stretched his hands in blessing over me, and silently went his way. i thought this very kind in him; and i bowed, as we parted, saying aloud:-"thank you, father," for my heart was touched, despite myself, at the manner of the young devotee. it had surely been my intention, on failing to find any traces of the accident in the spot where i supposed that it had taken place, to go at once to the house of mrs. faith, and inquire for her welfare and the boy's. it was the least i could do, under the circumstances. apparently, however, i myself was more shaken than i had thought; for after my brief interview with the priest i speedily lost my way, and could not find my patient's street or number. i searched for it for some time confusedly; but the brain was clearly still affected by the concussion--so much so that it was not long before i forgot what i was searching for, and went my ways with a dim and idle purpose, such as must accompany much of the action of those in whom the relation between mind and body has become, for any cause, disarranged. after an interval--how long i cannot tell--of this suspended intelligence, my brain grew more clear and natural, and i remembered that i was very late at the hospital, at the consultation, at brake's, at every appointment of the evening; so late that my accustomed sense of haste now began to possess me to the exclusion of everything else. i remembered my wife, indeed, and wondered if i had better go back and tell her that i was not hurt. but it did not strike me as necessary. donna, if she had not broken her neck somewhere, by this time, would run straight for the stable; she would not go home. the buggy was a wreck, and the police might clear it away. there was no reason to suppose that helen would hear of the accident, that i could see, from any source. there would be no scare. i had better go about my business, and tell her when i got home. news like this would keep an hour or two, and everybody the better for the keeping. reasoning in this manner, if it can be said to be reasoning, i took my way to the hospital as fast as possible. i did not happen to find a cab; and i gave myself the unusual experience of hailing a horse-car. the car did not stop for my signal, and i flung myself aboard as best i might; for a man so recently shaken up, with creditable ease, i thought. trusting to this circumstance, when we reached the hospital i leaped from the car, which was going at full speed; it was not till i was well up the avenue that i recalled having forgotten to offer my fare, which the conductor had forgotten to demand. "my head is not straight yet," i said. the little incident annoyed me. in the hospital i found, as i expected, a professional cyclone raging. the staff were all there except myself, and so hotly engaged in discussion that my arrival was treated with indifference. this was undoubtedly good for me, but it was not, therefore, agreeable to me; and i entered at once with some emphasis upon the dispute in hand. "you are entirely wrong," i began, turning upon my opponents. "this institution had seven hundred more applicants than it could accommodate last year. we are not chartered to turn away suffering. we exist to relieve it. it is our business to find the means to do so, as much as it is to find the true remedy for the individual case. it is"-"it is an act of financial folly," interrupted my most systematic professional enemy, a certain dr. gazell. he had a bland voice which irritated me like sugar sauce put upon horse-radish. "it cannot be done without mortgaging ourselves up to our ears--or our eaves. i maintain that the hospital can better bear to turn off patients than to turn on debt." "and i maintain," i cried, tempestuously, "that this hospital cannot bear to do either! if the gentlemen gathered here to-night--the members of this staff, representing, as they do, the wealthiest and most influential _clientèles_ in the city--if we cannot among us pledge from our patients the sum needed to put this thing through, i say it is a poor show for ourselves. i, for one, am ready to raise fifteen thousand dollars within three months. if the rest of you will do your share in proportion"-"dr. thorne has always been a little too personal, in this matter," said gazell, reddening; he did not look at me, for embarrassment, but addressed the chairman of the meeting with a vague air of being in earnest, if any one could be got to believe it. "no doubt about that," said one of the staff in an undertone. "thorne is"--i thought i caught the added words, "unreasonable fellow," but i would not give myself the appearance of having done so. "but we can't afford to quarrel with him altogether," suggested chirugeon, still in a tone not meant for me to overhear. and with this they went at it again, till the discussion reached such warmth, and the motion to leave the subject with the trustees, such favour, that, in disgust, i seized my hat and strode out of the room. smarting, i rushed away from them, and angrily out-of-doors again. i was exceedingly angry; but this gave me no more, perhaps (though i thought, a little), than the usual discomfort. from the hospital i hurried to the consultation; where i was now well over-due. i found the attendant physician about to leave; in fact, i met him on the stairs, up which i had run rapidly, as soon as my ring was answered in the familiar house. this man was followed by old madam decker's daughter, who was weeping. "she died at six o'clock, dr. halt," miss decker sobbed, "at six precisely, for i noticed. we didn't expect it so soon." "nor i, either," said halt, soothingly, "i did not anticipate"-"dead!" i cried. "mrs. decker dead? i did my best--i have met with an accident. i could not come till now. did she ask for me?" "she talked of dr. thorne," sobbed miss decker, "as long as she could talk of anything. she wondered if he knew, she said, how sick she was." i hastened to explain, to protest, to sympathize, to say the idle words with which we waste ourselves and weary mourners, at such times; but the daughter paid little attention to me. she was evidently hurt at my delay; and, thinking it best to spare her my presence, i bowed my head in silence, and left the house. halt followed me, and we stood together for a moment outside, where his carriage and driver awaited him. "was she conscious to the end?" i asked. "yes," he murmured. "yes, yes, yes. it is a pity. i'm sorry for that girl." nodding shortly in my direction, he sprang into his coupé, and drove away. i had now begun to be very restless to get home. it seemed suddenly important to see helen. i felt, i knew not why, uneasy and impatient, and turned my steps toward town. "but i must stop at brake's," i thought. this seemed imperative; so much so that i went out of my course a little, to reach his house, a pretty, suburban place. i remember passing under trees; and the depth of their shadow; it seemed like a bay of blackness into which the night flowed. i looked up through it at the sky; stars showed through the massed clouds which the wind whipped along like a flock of titanic celestial creatures. i had not looked up before, since the accident. the act gave me strange sensations, as if the sky had lowered, or i had risen; the sense of having lost the usual scale of measurement. this reminded me that i was still not altogether right. "i have really hurt my head," i thought, "i ought to get home. i must hurry this business with brake. i must get to helen." but brake was not at home. as i went up the steps, his servant was ushering out some one, to whom i heard the man say that mr. brake had left word not to expect him to-night. "does he ever stay late at the office?" i asked, thinking that the panic might render this possibly. the man turned the expressionless countenance of a well-trained servant upon me; and repeated:-"mr. brake is not at home. i know nothing further about mr. brake's movements." this reply settled the matter in my own mind, and i made my way to stock street as fast as i might. i could not make it seem unnecessary to see brake. but helen--helen- the sooner this wretched detention was over, the sooner to see her. i had begun to be as nervous as a woman; and, i might add, as unreasonable as a sick one. i had got myself under the domination of one of those fixed ideas with which i had so little patience in the sick. i could not see helen till i had seen brake: this was the delusion. i succumbed to it, and knew that i succumbed to it, and could not help it, and knew that i could not help it, and did the deed it bade me. as i hurried on my way, i thought:-"there has been considerable concussion. but helen will take care of me. it's a pity i spoke so to helen." stock street, when i reached it, had a strange look to me. i was not used to being there at such an hour; few of us are. the relative silence, the few passers, the long empty spaces in the great thoroughfare, told me that the hour was later than i thought. this added to my restlessness, and i sought to look at my watch, for the first time since the accident; it was gone. i glanced at the high clock at the head of the street; but the light was imperfect, and with the vertigo which i had i did not make out the hour. it might, indeed, be really late. this troubled me, and i hastened my steps till i broke into a run. it occurred to me, indeed, that i might be arrested for the suspicions under which such a pace, at such an hour and in such a street, would place me. but as i knew most of the members of the force in that region more or less well, this did not trouble me. i ran on, undisturbed, passing a watchman or two, and came quickly to brake's place. it was locked. this distressed me. i think i had confidently expected to find him there. it did not seem to me possible to go home without seeing my broker. i stood, uncertain, rattling at the heavy door with imbecile impatience. this act brought the police to the spot in three minutes. it was inspector drayton who came up, the well-known inspector, so long on duty in stock street; a man famed for his professional shrewdness and his gentlemanly manner. "i wish," i said, "mr. inspector, that you would be good enough to let me in. i want to see brake. i have reason to believe he is in his office. i must get in." "it is very important," i added; for the inspector did not answer immediately, but looked at me searchingly. "there was certainly some one meddling with this lock," he said, after a moment's hesitation, looking stealthily up and down and around the street. "it was i," i replied, eagerly. "it was only i, dr. thorne. come, drayton, you know me. i want to see brake. i must see brake. it is a matter brought up by this panic--you know--the santa ma. he sent for me. i absolutely must see brake. it is a matter of thousands to me. let me in, mr. inspector." "come," for he still delayed and doubted, "let me in somehow. you fellows have a way. communicate with his watchman--do the proper thing--anyhow--i don't care--only let me in." "i will see," murmured the inspector, with a perplexed air; he had not his usual cordial manner with me, though he was still as polished as possible, and wore the best of kid gloves. i think the inspector touched one of their electric signals--i am not clear about this--but at any rate, a sleepy watchman came from within, holding a safety lantern before him, and gingerly opened the huge door an inch or two. "let me come in," said the inspector, decidedly. "it is i--drayton. i have a reason. i wish to go to mr. brake's rooms, if you please." the inspector slipped in like a ghost, and i followed him. neither of us said anything further to the watchman; we went directly to brake's place. he was not there. "i will wait a few minutes," i said. "i think he will be here. i must see brake." the inspector glanced at me as one does at a fellow who is behaving a little out of the common course of human conduct; but he did not enter into conversation with me, seeing me averse to it. i sank down wearily upon brake's biggest brown leather office chair, and put my head down upon his table. i was now thoroughly tired and confused. i wished with all my heart that i had gone straight home to helen. the inspector and the watchman busied themselves in examining the building, for some purpose to which i paid no attention. they conversed in low tones, "i heard a noise at the door, sir, myself," the watchman said. "why don't you tell him it was i?" i called; but i did not lift my head. i was too tired to trouble myself. i must have fallen into a kind of stupor. i do not know how long i had remained in this position and condition, whether minutes or hours; but when at last i roused myself, and looked about, a singular thing had happened. the inspector had gone. the watchman had gone. i was alone in the broker's office. and i was locked in. chapter vi. so often and so idly it is our custom to say, i shall never forget! that the words scarcely cause a ripple of comment in the mind; whereas, in fact, they are among the most audacious which we ever take upon our lips. how know we what law of selection our memories will obey in that system of mental relations which we call "forever"? i, who believe myself to have obtained some especial knowledge upon this point, not possessed by all my readers, and to be more free than many another to use such language, still retreat before the phrase, and content myself with saying, "i have never forgotten." up to this time i have never been able to forget the smallest detail of that night whose history i am now to record. it seems to me impossible in any set of conditions that memory could blot that experience from my being; but of that what know i? no more than i know of the politics of a meteor. upon discovering my predicament i was, of course, greatly disturbed. i tried the door, and tried again; i urged the latch violently; i exerted myself till the mere moral sense of my helplessness overcame my strength. i called to the watchman, whose distant steps i heard, or fancied that i heard, pacing the corridors. there was a safe deposit in the basement, and the great building was heavily guarded. i shouted for my liberty, i pleaded for it, i demanded it; but i did not get it. no one answered me. i ran to the barred windows and shook the iron casement as prisoners and madmen do. nobody heard me. i bethought me of the private telegraph which stood by brake's desk, mute and mysterious, like a thing that waited an order to speak. i could not help wondering, with something like superstition, what would be the next words which would pass the lips of the silent metal. it occurred to me, of course, to telegraph for relief; but i did not know how, and a kind of respect for the intelligence and power of the instrument deterred me from meddling with it to no visible end. suddenly i remembered the electric signal which so often communicates with watchman or police in places of this kind. this, after some search, i found in a corner, over the desk of brake's assistant, and this i touched. my effort brought no reply. i pressed the button again with more force and more desperation; i might say, with more personality. "obey me!" i cried, setting my teeth, and addressing the electric influence as a man addresses a menial. instantly a thrill passed from the wire to the hand. a distant sound jarred upon the air. steps shuffled somewhere beyond the massive walls. i even thought that i heard voices, as of the watchman and others in possible consultation. no one approached the broker's door. i urged the signal again and again. i became quite frantic, for i had now begun to think with dismay of the effect of all this upon my wife. i railed upon that signal like a delirious patient at the order of a physician. a commotion seemed to follow, in some distant part of the building. but no one came within hearing of my voice; the noise soon ceased, and my efforts at freedom with it. it having now become evident that i must spend the night where i was, i proceeded to make the best of it; and a very bad best it was. i was exhausted, i was angry, and i was distressed. the full force of the situation was beginning to fall upon me. the inspector had put a not unnatural interpretation upon my condition; he thought so little of a gentleman who had dined too freely; it was a perfectly normal incident in his experience. he had mistaken the character of the stupor caused by my accident, and left me in that office for a drunken man. the fact that he was not accustomed to view me in such a light in itself probably explained the originality of his method. we were on pleasant terms. drayton was a good fellow. who knew better than he what would be the professional significance of the circumstance that dr. thorne was seen intoxicated down town at midnight? the city would ring with it in twelve hours, and it would not be for me, though i had been the most popular doctor in town, to undo the deed of that slander, if once it so much as lifted its invisible hand against the proud and pure reputation in whose shelter i lived and laboured, and had been suffered to become what we call "eminent." it was possible, too, that the inspector had some human regard for my family in this matter, and reasoned that to spare them the knowledge of my supposed disgrace was the truest kindness wherewith it was in his power to serve me. he meant to leave me where i was and as i was to sleep it off till morning. he would return in good season and release me quietly, and nobody the wiser but the watchman; who could be feed. this was plainly the purpose and the programme. but helen-i returned to the table near which i had been sitting, and took the office chair again, and tried, like a reasonable creature, to calm myself. what would helen think by this time? i looked about the office stupidly. at first the dreary scene presented few details to me; but after a time they took on the precision and permanence which trifles acquire in emergencies. the gas was not lighted, but i could see with considerable ease, owing to the overwrought brain condition. it occurred to me that i saw like a cat or a medium; i noted this, as indicative of a certain remedy; and then it further occurred to me that i might as well doctor myself, having nothing better to do; and plainly there was something wrong. i therefore put my hand in my pocket for my case. it was gone. now, a physician of my sort is as ill at ease without his case as he would be without his body; and this little circumstance added disproportionately to my discomfort. with some irritable exclamation on my lips i leaned back in the chair, and once more regarded my environment. it was a rather large room, dim now, and as solitary as a graveyard after twilight. before me stood the table, an oblong table covered with brown felt. a blue blotter, of huge dimensions, was spread from end to end; it was a new blotter, not much blurred. inkstand, pens, paper-weight, calendar, and other trifles of a strictly necessary nature stood upon the blotter. letters on file, and brokers' memoranda neatly stabbed by the iron stiletto--i forget the name of the thing--for that purpose made and provided, attracted my sick attention. an advertisement from a western mortgage firm had escaped the neat hand of the clerk who put the office in order for the night, and fell fluttering to my feet. it would be impossible to say how important this seemed to me. i picked it up conscientiously and filed it, to the best of my remembrance, with an invitation to the merchant's banquet, and a subscription list in behalf of the blind man who sold tissue-paper roses at the head of the street. in one corner of the room, as i have said, was the clerk's desk; the electric signal shone faintly above it; it had, to my eyes, a certain phosphorescent appearance. opposite, the steam radiator stood like a skeleton. there was a grate in the room, with a cumberland coal fire laid. on the wall hung a map of the state, and another setting forth the proportions of a great western railroad. at the extreme end of the room stood chairs and settees provided for auctions. between myself and these, the high, guarded public desk of the broker rose like a rampart. in this sombre and severe place i now abandoned myself to my thoughts; and these gave me no mercy. my wife was a reasonable woman; but she was a loving and sensitive one. i was accustomed to spare her all unnecessary uncertainty as to my movements--being more careful in this respect, perhaps, than most physicians would be; our profession covers a multitude of little domestic sins. i had not taken the ground that i was never to be expected till i came. a system of affectionate communication as to my whereabouts existed between us; it was one of the pleasant customs of our honeymoon which had lasted over. the telegraph and the messenger boy we had always with us; it was a little matter for a man to take the trouble to tell his wife why and where he was kept away all night. i do not remember that i had ever failed to do so. it was a bother sometimes, i admit, but the pleasure it gave her usually repaid me; such is the small, sweet coin of daily love. as i sat there at the broker's desk, like a creature in a trap, all that long and wretched night, the image of my wife seemed to devour my brain and my reason. the great clock on the neighbouring church struck one with a heavy and a solemn intonation, of which i can only say that it was to me unlike anything i had ever heard before. it gave me a shudder to hear it, as if i listened to some supernatural thing. the first hour of the new day rang like a long cry. some freak of association brought to my mind that angel in the apocalypse who proclaimed with a mighty voice that time should be no more. i caught myself thinking this preposterous thing: suppose it were all over? suppose we never saw each other again? suppose my wife were to die? to-night? suppose some accident befell her? if she tripped upstairs? if the child's crib took fire and she put it out, and herself received one of those deadly shocks from burns not in themselves mortal? suppose--she herself opening the door to let in the messenger expected from me--that some drunken fellow, or some tramp-"this," i said aloud, "is the kind of thing she does when i am delayed. this is what it means to wait. men don't do it often enough to know what it is. i wonder if we have any scale of measurement for what women suffer?" what she, for instance, by that time was suffering, oh, who in the wide world else could guess or dream? there were such suffering cells in that exquisite nature! who but me could understand? i brought my clinched hand down upon the broker's blue blotting-paper, and laid my heavy head upon it. suppose somebody had got the news to her that the horse had been seen dashing free of the buggy, or had returned alone to the stable, panting and cut? suppose helen thought that my unaccountable absence had something to do with that scene between us? suppose she thought--or if she suspected--perhaps she imagined-i hid my face within my shaking hands and groaned. a curse upon the cruel words that i had spoken to the tenderest of souls, to the dearest and the gentlest of women! a curse upon the lawless temper that had fired them! accursed the hot lips that had uttered them, the unmanly heart that could have let them slip! i thought of her face--i really had not thought of her face before, that wretched night. i had not strictly dared. now i found that daring had nothing to do with it. i thought because i had to think. i dwelt upon her expression when i spoke to her--god forgive me!--as i did; her attitude, the way her hands fell, her silence, the quiver in her delicate mouth. i saw the dim parlour, the lighted room beyond her, the scarlet shade upon the gas; she standing midway, tall and mute, like a statue carved by one stroke of a sword. my own words came back to me; and i was not apt to remember things i said to people. so many impressions passed in and out of my mind in the course of one busy day, that i became their victim rather than their master. but now my language to my wife that unhappy evening returned to my consciousness with incredible vividness and minuteness. it will be seen from the precision with which i have already recorded it, how inexorable this minuteness was. it occurred to me that i might as well have struck her. in this kind of moral pommelling which sensitive women feel--as they do--how could i have indulged! i, who knew what a sensitive woman is, what fearful and wonderful nervous systems these delicate creatures have to manage; i, with what i was pleased to term my high organization and special training--i, like any brutal hind, had berated my wife. i, who was punctilious to draw the silken portière for her, who could not let her pick up so much as her own lace handkerchief, nor allow her to fold a wrap of the weight of a curlew's feather about her own soft throat--i had belaboured her with the bludgeons that bruise the life out of women's souls. i wondered, indeed, if i should have been a less amiable fellow if i had worn cow-hide boots and kicked her. my reproaches, my remorses, my distresses, it is now an idle tale to tell. that night passed like none before it, and none which have come after it. my mind moved with a piteous monotony over and over and about the aching thought: to see helen--to see helen--to be patient till morning, and tell helen--only to get through this horrible night, and hurry, rushing to the morning air, to the nearest cab dashing down the street, and making the mad haste of love and shame, to see my wife--to tell my wife-as never in all our lives before, i should tell her how dear she was; how unworthy was i to love her; how i loved her just as much as if i were worthy, and could not help it though i tried--or (as we say) could not help it though i died! i should run up, ringing the bell, never waiting to find the latch-key--for i could wait for nothing. i should spring into the house, and find her upstairs, in our own room; it would be so early; she would be only half-dressed yet, pale and lovely, looking like a spirit, far across the rich colours of the room, her long hair loose about her. i should gather her to my heart before she saw me; my arms and lips should speak before my breaking voice. i should kiss my soul out on her lifted face. i should love her so, she should forgive me before i could so much as say, forgive! and when i had her--to myself again--when these arms were sure of their own, and these lips of hers, when her precious breath was on this cheek again, and i could say;-"helen, helen, helen"-and could say no more, for love and shame and sorrow, but only-"helen, helen"-"yes," said the watchman's voice in the corridor. "it is all right, sir. me and inspector drayton, we thought we beard a noise, last night, and we considered it safe to look about. we had a thorough search. we thought we'd better. but there wasn't nothing. it's all straight, sir." it was morning, and brake's clerk was coming in. it was very early, earlier than he usually came, perhaps; but i could not tell. he did not notice me at first, and, remembering drayton's hypothesis, i shrank behind the tall desk, and instinctively kept out of sight for a few uncertain minutes, wondering what i had better do. the clerk called the janitor, and scolded a little about the fire, which he ordered lighted in the grate. it was a cold morning. he said the room would chill a corpse. he had the morning papers in his hand. he unfolded the "herald," and laid it down upon his own desk, as if about to read it. at that instant, the telegraph clicked, and he pushed the damp, fresh paper away from him, and went immediately to the wires. the young man listened to the message with an expression of great intentness, and wrote rapidly. moved by some unaccountable impulse, i softly rose and glanced over his shoulder. the dispatch was dated at midnight, and was addressed to henry brake. it said: "_have you seen my husband, to-night?_" and it was signed, "_helen thorne._" oh, poor helen!... now, maniac with haste to get to her, it occurred to me that the moment while the clerk was occupied in recording this message was as good a time as i could ask for in which to escape unobserved, as i greatly wished to do. as quietly as i could--and i succeeded in doing it very quietly--i therefore moved to leave the broker's office. as i did so, my eye caught the heading, in large capitals, of the morning news in the open "herald" which lay upon the desk behind the clerk. i stopped, and stooped, and read. this is what i read:- shocking accident. terrible tragedy. runaway at the west end. _the eminent and popular physician._ _dr. esmerald thorne,_ killed instantly. chapter vii. at this moment, the broker entered the office. with the "herald" in my hand, i made haste to meet him. "brake!" i cried, "mr. brake! thank heaven, you have come! i have passed such a night--and look here! have you seen this abominable canard? this is what has come of my being locked into your"-the broker regarded me with a strange look; so strange, that for very amazement i stood still before it. he did not advance to meet me; neither his hand nor his eyes gave me the human sign of welcome; he looked over me, he looked through me, as a man does at one whose acquaintance he has no desire to recognize. i thought:-"drayton has crammed him. he too believes that i was shut in here to sleep it off. the story will get out in two hours. i am doomed in this town henceforth for a drunken doctor. i'd better have been killed instantly, as this infernal paper says." but i said,-"mr. brake? you don't recognize me, i think. it is i, dr. thorne. i couldn't get here before two. i went to your house last evening. i got the impression you were here, so i came after you. i was locked in here by your confounded watchman. they have this minute let me free. i am in a great hurry to get home. nice job this is going to be! have you seen _that_?" i put my shaking finger upon the "herald's" fiery capitals, and held the column folded towards him. "jason," he said, after an instant's pause, "pick up the 'herald,' will you? a gust of wind has blown it from the table. there must be a draught. please shut the door." to say that i know of no earthly language which can express the sensation that crawled over me as the broker uttered these words is to say little or nothing about it. i use the expression "crawled" with some faint effort to define the slowness and the repulsiveness with which the suspicion of that to which i dared not and did not give a name, made itself manifest to my mind. "excuse me, brake," i said with some agitation, "you did not hear what i said. i was locked in. i am in a hurry to get home. ask drayton. drayton let me in. i must get home at once. i shall sue the 'herald' for that outrageous piece of work- what do you suppose my wife-good god! she must have read it by this time! let me by, brake!" "jason," said the broker, "this is a terrible thing! i feel quite broken up about it." "brake!" i cried, "henry brake! let me pass you! let me home to my wife! you're in my way--don't you see? you're standing directly between me and the door. let me pass!" "there's a private dispatch come," said the clerk badly. "it is for you, sir. it is from mrs. thorne herself." "brake!" i pleaded, "brake, brake!--jason!--mr. brake! don't you hear me?" "give me the message, jason," said brake, holding out his hand; he seated himself, as he did so, at the office table, where i had sat the night out; he looked troubled and pale; he handled the message reluctantly, as people do in the certainty of bad news. "in the name of mercy, henry brake!" i cried, "what is the meaning of this? don't you hear a word i say? don't you feel me?--there!" i gripped the broker by the shoulder, and clinched both hands upon him with all my might. "don't you _feel_ me? god almighty! don't you _see_ me, brake?" "when did this dispatch come, jason?" said the broker. he laid helen's message gently down; he had tears in his eyes. "henry brake," i pleaded brokenly, for my heart failed me with a mighty fear, "answer me, in human pity's name. are you gone deaf and blind? or am i struck dumb? or am i"-"it came ten minutes ago, sir," replied jason. "it is dated, i see, at midnight. they delivered it as soon as anybody was likely to be stirring, here; a bit before, too; considering the nature of the message, i suppose, sir." "it is a terrible affair!" repeated the broker nervously. "i have known the doctor a good many years. he had his peculiarities; but he was a good fellow. say--jason!" "yes, sir?" "how does it happen that mrs. thorne- you say this message was dated at midnight?" "at midnight, sir. 12.15." "how is it she didn't _know_ by that time? i pity the fellow who had to tell her. she's a very attractive woman.... the 'herald' says-where is that paper?" "the 'herald' says," answered jason decorously, "that he was scooped into the buggy-top, and dragged, and dashed against- here it is." he handed his employer the paper, as i had done, or had thought i did, with his finger on the folded column. the broker took the paper, and slowly put on his glasses, and slowly read aloud:-"'dr. thorne was dragged for some little distance, it is thought, before the horse broke free. he must have hit the lamp-post, or the pavement. he was found in the top of the buggy, which was a wreck. the robe was over him, and his face was hidden. his medicine case lay beneath him; the phials were crushed to splinters. life was extinct when he was discovered. his watch had stopped at five minutes past seven o'clock. it so happened that he was not immediately identified, though our reporter could not learn the reason of this extraordinary mischance. by some unpardonable blunder, the body of the distinguished and favourite physician was taken to the morgue'"-"that accounts for it," said jason. --"'was taken to the morgue,'" read on mr. brake with agitated voice. "'it was not until midnight that the mistake was discovered. a messenger was dispatched at twenty minutes after twelve o'clock to the elegant residence of the popular doctor, in delight street. the news was broken to the widow as agreeably as possible. mrs. thorne is a young and very beautiful woman, on whom this shocking blow falls with uncommon cruelty. "'the body was carried to dr. thorne's house at one o'clock. the time of the funeral is not yet appointed. the "herald" will be informed as soon as a decision is reached. "'the death of dr. thorne is a loss to this community which it is impossible to,'--hm--m--'his distinguished talents'--hm--m--hm--m." the broker laid down the paper, and sighed. "i sent for him yesterday, to consult about his affairs," he observed gently. "it is a pity for her to lose that santa ma. she will need it now. i'm sorry for her. i don't know how he left her, exactly. he did a tremendous business, but he spent as he went. he was a good fellow--i always liked the doctor! terrible affair! terrible affair! jason! where is that advertisement of grope county iowa mortgage? you have filed it in the wrong place! be more careful in future." ..."_mr. brake!_" i tried once more; and my voice was the voice of mortal anguish to my own appalled and ringing ear. "do you not hear? can you not see? is there _no one_ in this place who hears? or sees me, _either_?" an early customer had strayed in; drayton was there; and the watchman had entered. the men (there were five in all) collected by the broker's desk, around the morning papers, and spoke to each other with the familiarity which bad news of any public interest creates. they conversed in low tones. their faces wore a shocked expression. they spoke of me; they asked for more particulars of the tragedy reported by the morning press; they mentioned my merits and defects, but said more about merits than defects, in the merciful, foolish way of people who discuss the newly dead. "i've known him ten years," said the broker. "i've had the pleasure of the doctor's acquaintance myself a good while," said the inspector politely. "wasn't he a quick-tempered man?" asked the customer. "he cured a baby of mine of the croup," said the watchman. "it was given up for dead. and he only charged me a dollar and a half. he was very kind to the little chap." "he set an ankle for me, once, after a football match," suggested the clerk. "i wouldn't ask to be better treated. he wasn't a bit rough." ..."gentlemen," i entreated, stretching out my hands toward the group, "there is some mistake--i must make it understood. i am here. it is i, dr. thorne; dr. esmerald thorne. i am in this office. gentlemen! listen to me! look at me! look in this direction! for god's sake, _try_ to see me--some of you!"... "he drove too fast a horse," said the customer. "he always has." "i must answer mrs. thorne's message," said the broker sadly, rising and pushing back the office chair. ...i shrank, and tried no more. i bowed my head, and said no other word. the truth, incredible and terrible though it were, the truth which neither flesh nor spirit can escape, had now forced itself upon my consciousness. i looked across the broker's office at those five warm human beings as if i had looked across the width of the breathing world. naught had i now to say to them; naught could they communicate to me. language was not between us, nor speech, nor any sign. need of mine could reach them not, nor any of their kind. for i was in the dead, and they the living men. ..."here is your dog, sir," said jason. "he has followed you in. he is trying to speak to you, in his way." the broker stooped and patted the dumb brute affectionately. "i understand, lion," he said. "yes, i understand you." the dog looked lovingly up into his master's face, and whined for joy. chapter viii. this incident, trifling as it was, i think, did more than anything which had preceded it to make me aware of the nature of that which had befallen me. the live brute could still communicate with the living man. skill of scientist and philosopher was as naught to help the human spirit which had fled the body to make itself understood by one which occupied it still. more blessed in that moment was lion, the dog, than esmerald thorne, the dead man. i said to myself:-"i am a desolate and an outcast creature. i am become a dumb thing in a deaf world." i thrust my hands before me, and wrung them with a groan. it seemed incredible to me that i could die; that was more wonderful, even, than to know that i was already dead. "it is all over," i moaned. "i have died. i am dead. i am what they call a dead man." now, at this instant, the dog turned his head. no human tympanum in the room vibrated to my cry. no human retina was recipient of my anguish. what fine, unclassified senses had the highly-organized animal by which he should become aware of me? the dog turned his noble head--he was a st. bernard, with the moral qualities of the breed well marked upon his physiognomy; he lifted his eyes and solemnly regarded me. after a moment's pause he gave vent to a long and mournful cry. "don't, lion," i said. "keep quiet, sir. this is dreadful!" the dog ceased howling when i spoke to him; after a little hesitation he came slowly to the spot where i was standing, and looked earnestly into my face, as if he saw me. whether he did, or how he did, or why he did, i knew not, and i know not now. the main business of this narrative will be the recording of facts. explanations it is not mine to offer; and of speculations i have but few, either to give or to withhold. a great wistfulness came into my soul, as i stood shut apart there from those living men, within reach of their hands, within range of their eyes, within the vibration of their human breath. i looked into the animal's eyes with the yearning of a sudden and an awful sense of desolation. "speak to me, lion," i whispered. "won't you speak to me?" "what is that dog about?" asked the customer, staring. "he is standing in the middle of the room and wagging his tail as if he had met somebody." the dog at this instant, with eager signs of pleasure or of pity--i could not, indeed, say which--put his beautiful face against my hand, and kissed, or seemed to kiss it, sympathetically. "he has queer ways," observed jason, the clerk, carelessly; "he knows more than most folks i know." "true," said his master, laughing. "i don't feel that i am lion's equal more than half the time, myself. he is a noble fellow. he has a very superior nature. my wife declares he is a poet, and that when he goes off by himself, and gazes into vacancy with that sort of look, he is composing verses." another customer had strolled in by this time; he laughed at the broker's easy wit; the rest joined in the laugh; some one said something which i did not understand, and drayton threw back his head and guffawed heartily. i think their laughter made me feel more isolate from them than anything had yet done. "why!" exclaimed the broker sharply, "what is this? jason! what does this mean?" his face, as he turned it over his shoulder to address the clerk, had changed colour; he was indeed really pale. he held his fingers on the great sheet of blue blotting-paper, to which he pointed, unsteadily. "upon my soul, sir," said jason, flushing and then paling in his turn. "that is a queer thing! may i show it to mr. drayton?" the inspector stepped forward, as the broker nodded; and examined the blotting-paper attentively. "it is written over," he said in a professional tone, "from end to end. i see that. it is written with one name. it is the name of"-"_helen!_" interrupted the broker. "yes," replied the inspector. "yes, it is: helen; distinctly, helen. someone must have"-but i stayed to hear no more. what some one must have done, i sprang and left the live men to decide--as live men do decide such things--among themselves. i sprang, and crying: "helen! helen! helen!" with one bound i brushed them by, and fled the room, and reached the outer air and sought for her. as nearly as one can characterize the emotion of such a moment i should say that it was one of mortal intensity; perhaps of what in living men we should call maniac intensity. up to this moment i could not be said to have comprehended the effect of what had taken place upon my wife. the full force of her terrible position now struck me like the edge of a weapon with whose sheath i had been idling. hot in the flame of my anger i had gone from her; and cold indeed had i returned. her i had left dumb before my cruel tongue, but dumb was that which had come back to her in my name. i was a dead man. but like any living of them all--oh, more than any living--i loved my wife. i loved her more because i had been cruel to her than if i had been kind. i loved her more because we had parted so bitterly than if we had parted lovingly. i loved her more because i had died than if i had lived. i must see my wife! i must find my wife! i must say to her--i must tell her- why, who in all the world but me could do _anything_ for helen now? out into the morning air i rushed, and got the breeze in my face, and up the thronging street as spirits do, unnoted and unknown of men, i passed; solitary in the throng, silent in the outcry, unsentient in the press. the sun was strong. the day was cool. the dome of the sky hung over me, too, as over those who raised their breathing faces to its beauty. i, too, saw, as i fled on, that the day was fair. i heard the human voices say: "what a morning!" "it puts the soul into you!" said a burly stock speculator to a railroad treasurer; they stood upon the steps of the exchange, laughing, as i brushed by. "it makes life worth while," said a healthy elderly woman, merrily, making the crossing with the light foot that a light heart gives. "it makes life possible," replied a pale young girl beside her, coming slowly after. "poor fellow!" sighed a stranger whom i hit in hurrying on. "it was an ugly way to die. nice air, this morning!" "he will be a loss to the community," replied this man's companion. "there isn't a doctor in town who has his luck with fevers. you can't convince my wife he didn't save her life last winter. frost, last night, wasn't there? very invigorating morning!" now, at the head of the street some ladies were standing, waiting for a car. i was delayed in passing them, and as i stepped back to change my course i saw that one of them was speaking earnestly, and that her eyes showed signs of weeping. "he wouldn't remember me," she said; "it was eleven years ago. but sick women don't forget their doctors. he was as _kind_ to me"-"oh, _poor_ mrs. thorne!" a soft voice answered, in the accented tone of an impulsive, tender-hearted woman. "it's bad enough to be a patient. but, oh, his _wife_!" "let me pass, ladies!" i cried, or tried to cry, forgetting, in the anguish which their words fanned to its fiercest, that i could not be heard and might not be seen. "there seems to be some obstruction. let me by, for i am in mortal haste!" obstruction there was, alas! but it was not in them whom i would have entreated. obstruction there was, but of what nature i could not and i cannot testify. while i had the words upon my lips, even as the group of women broke and left a space about me while they scattered on their ways, there on the corner of the thoroughfare, in the heart of the town, by an invisible force, by an inexplicable barrier, i, the dead man fleeing to my living wife, was beaten back. whence came that awful order? how came it? and wherefore? i knew no more than the november wind that passed me by, and went upon its errand as it listed. i was thrust back by a blast of power incalculable; it was like the current of an unknown natural force of infinite capability. set the will of soul and body as i would, i could not pass the head of the street. chapter ix. struggling to bear the fate which i had met, i turned as manfully as i might, and retraced my steps down the thronging street, within whose limits i now learned that my freedom was confined. it was a sickening discovery. i had been a man of will so developed and freedom so sufficient that helplessness came upon me like a change of temperament; it took the form of hopelessness almost at once. what was death? the secret of life. what knew i of the system of things on which a blow upon the head had ushered me all unready, reluctant, and uninstructed as i was? no more than the ruddiest live stockbroker in the street, whose blood went bounding, that fresh morning, to the antics of the santa ma. i was not accustomed to be uninformed; my ignorance appalled me. even in the deeps of my misery, i found space for a sense of humiliation; i felt profoundly mortified. in that spot, in that way, of all others, why was i withheld? was it the custom of the black country called death, which we mark "unexplored" upon the map of life,--was it the habit to tie a man to the place where he had died? but this was not the spot where i had died. it was the spot where i had learned that i had died. it was the place where the consciousness of death had wrought itself, not upon the nerves of the body, but upon the faculties of the mind. i had been dead twelve hours before i found it out. i looked up and down the street, where the living men scurried to and fro upon their little errands. these seemed immeasurably small. i looked upon them with disgust. fettered to that pavement, like a convict to his ball-and-chain, i passed and repassed in wretchedness whose quality i cannot express, and would not if i could. "i am punished," i said; "i am punished for that which i have done. this is my doom. i am imprisoned here." sometimes i broke into uncontrollable misery, crying upon my wife's dear name. then i would hush the outbreak, lest some one overhear me; and then i would remember that no one could overhear. i looked into the faces of the people whom i met and passed, with such longings for one single sign of recognition as are not to be described. it even occurred to me that among them all one might be found of whom my love and grief and will might make a messenger to helen. but i found none such, or i gained no such power; and, sick at heart, i turned away. suddenly, as i threaded the thick of the press, beating to and fro, and up and down, as dead leaves move before the wind, some one softly touched my hand. it was the st. bernard, the broker's dog. this time, as before, he looked into my face with signs of pleasure or of pity, or of both, and made as if he would caress me. "lion!" i cried, "_you_ know me, don't you? bless you, lion!" now, at the dumb thing's recognition, i could have wept for pleasure. the dog, when i spoke to him, followed me; and for some time walked up and down and athwart the street, beside me. this was a comfort to me. at last his master came out upon the sidewalk and looked for him. brake whistled merrily, and the dog, at the first call, went bounding in. ordinary writers upon usual topics, addressing readers of their own condition, have their share of difficulties; at best one conquers the art of expression as a general conquers an enemy. but the obstacles which present themselves to the recorder of this narrative are such as will be seen at once to have peculiar force. almost at the outset they dishearten me. how shall i tell the story unless i be understood? and how should i be understood if i told the story? were it for me, a man miserable and erring, gone to his doom as untrained for its consequences, or for the use of them, as a drayman for the use of hypnotism in surgery,--were it for me to play the interpreter between life and death? were it for me to expect to be successful in that solemn effort which is as old as time, and as hopeless as the eyes of mourners? what shall i say? it is willed that i shall speak. the angel said unto me: write. how shall i obey, who am the most unworthy of any soul upon whom has been laid the burden of the higher utterance? sacred be the task. would that its sacredness could sanctify the unfitness of him who here fulfils it. the experience which i have already narrated was followed by an indefinite period of great misery. how long i remained a prisoner in that unwelcome spot i cannot accurately tell. what are called by dwellers in the body days and nights, and dawns and darks, succeeded each other, little remarked by my wretchedness, or by the sense of remoteness from these things which now began to grow upon me. the life of what we call a spirit had begun for me in the form of a moral dislocation. the wrench, the agony, the process of setting the nature under its new conditions, took place in due order, but with bitter laggardness. the accident of death did not heal in my soul by what surgeons call "the first intention." i retained for a long time the consciousness of being an injured creature. as i paced and repaced the narrow street where the money-makers and money-lovers of the town jostled and thronged, a great disgust descended upon me. the place, the springs of conduct, wearied me, something in the manner that an educated person is wearied by low conversation. it seemed to be like this:--that the moral motives of the living created the atmosphere of the dead therein confined. it was as if i inhaled the coarse friction, the low aspiration, the feverishness, the selfishness, the dishonour, that the getting of gain, when it became the purpose of life, involved. i experienced a sense of being stifled, and breathed with difficulty; much as those live men would have done, if the gas-pipes had burst in the street. it did not detract from this feeling of asphyxia that i was aware of having, to a certain extent, shared the set of moral compounds which i now found resolved to their elements, by the curious chemistry of death. i had loved money and the getting of money, as men of the world, and of success in it, are apt to do. i was neither better nor worse than others of my sort. i had speculated with the profits of my profession, idly enough, but hotly, too, at times. i had told myself that i did this out of anxiety for the future of my family. i had viewed myself in the light of the model domestic man, who guards his household against an evil day. it had never occurred to me to classify myself with the mere money-changers, into whose atmosphere i had elected to put myself. now, as i glided in and out among them, unseen, unheard, unrecognized, a spirit among their flesh, there came upon me a humiliating sense of my true relation to them. was it thus, i said, or so? did i this or that? was the balance of motives so disproportionate after all? was there so little love of wife and child? so much of self and gain? was the item of the true so small? the sum of the false so large? had i been so much less that was noble, so much more that was low? i mingled with the mass of haggard men at a large stock auction which half the street attended. the panic had spread. sleeplessness and anxiety had carved the crowding faces with hard chisels. the shouts, the scramble, the oaths, the clinched hands, the pitiful pushing, affected me like a dismal spectacular play on some barbarian stage. how shall i express the sickening aspect of the scene to a man but newly dead? the excitement waxed with the morning. the old and placid santa ma throbbed like any little road of yesterday. the stock had gained 32 points in ten minutes, and down again, and up again to heaven knows what. men ran from despair to elation, and behaved like maniacs in both. men who were gentlemen at home turned savages here. men who were honourable in society turned sharpers here. madness had them, as i watched them. a kind of pity for them seized me. i glided in among them, and lifted my whole heart to stay them if i could. i stretched the hands that no one saw. i raised the voice that none could hear. "gentlemen!" i cried, "count me the market value of it--on the margin of two lives! by the bonds wherewith you bind yourselves you shall be bound!... what is the sum of wealth represented within these walls to-day? name it to me.... the whole of it, for the power to leave this place! the whole of it, the whole of it, for one half-hour in a dead man's desolated home! a hundred-fold the whole of it for"-but here i lost command of myself, and fleeing from the place where my presence and my misery and my entreaty alike were lost upon the attention of the living throng as were the elements of the air they breathed, i rushed into the outer world again; there to wander up and down the street, and hate the place, and hate myself for being there, and hate the greed of gain i used to love, and hate myself for having loved it; and yet to know that i was forced to act as if i loved it still, and to be the ghost before the ghost of a desire. "it is my doom," i said. "i am punished. i am fastened to this worldly spot, and to this awful way of being dead." now, while i spoke these words, i came, in the stress of my wretchedness, fleeing to the head of the street; and there, i cannot tell you how, i cannot answer why, as the arrow springs from the bow, or the conduct from the heart, or the spirit from the flesh,--in one blessed instant i knew that i was free to leave the spot, and crying, "helen, helen!" broke from it. chapter x. but no. alas, no, no! i was and was not free. all my soul turned toward her, but something stronger than my soul constrained me. it seemed to me that i longed for her with such longing as might have killed a live man, or might have made a dead one live again. this emotion added much to my suffering, but nothing to my power to turn one footstep toward her or to lift my helpless face in her direction. it was not permitted to me. it was not willed. now this, which might in another temperament have produced a sense of fear or of desire to placate the unknown force which overruled me, created in me at first a stinging rage. this is the truth, and the truth i tell. in my love and misery, and the shock of this disappointment--against the unknown opposition to my will, i turned and raved; even as when i was a man among men i should have raved at him who dared my purpose. "you are playing with me!" i wailed. "you torture a miserable man. who and what are you, that make of death a bitterer thing than life can guess? show me what i have to fight, and let me wrestle for my liberty,--though i am a ghost, let me wrestle like a man! let me to my wife! give way, and let me seek her!" shocking and foreign as words like these must be to many of those who read these pages, it must be remembered that they were uttered by one to whom faith and the knowledge that comes by way of it were the leaves of an abandoned text-book. for so many years had the tenets of the christian religion been put out of my practical life, even as i put aside the opinions of the laity concerning the treatment of disease, that i do not over-emphasize; i speak the simplest truth in saying that my first experience of death had not in any sense revived the vividness of lost belief to me. as the old life had ended had the new begun. where the tree had fallen it did lie. what was habit before death was habit after. what was natural then was natural now. what i loved living i loved dead. that which interested esmerald thorne the man interested esmerald thorne the spirit. the incident of death had raised the temperature of intellect; it had, perhaps, i may say, by this time quickened the pulse of conscience; but it had in no wise wrought any miracle upon me, nor created a religious believer out of a worldly and indifferent man of science. dying had not forthwith made me a devout person. incredible as it may seem, it is the truth that up to this time i had not, since the moment of dissolution, put to myself the solemn queries concerning my present state which occupy the imaginations of the living so much, while yet death is a fact remote from their experience. it was the habit of long years with me, after the manner of my kind, to settle all hard questions by a few elastic phrases, which, once learned, are curiously pliable to the intellectual touch. "phenomena," for instance,--how plastic to cover whatever one does not understand! "law,"--how ready to explain away the inexplicable! up to this point death had struck me as a most unfortunate phenomenon. its personal disabilities i found it easy to attribute to some natural law with which my previous education had left me unfamiliar. now, standing baffled there in that incredible manner half of tragedy, half of the absurd,--even the petty element of the undignified in the position adding to my distress,--a houseless, homeless, outcast spirit, struck still in the heart of that great town, where in hundreds of homes was weeping for me, where i was beloved and honoured and bemoaned, and where my own wife at that hour broke her heart with sorrow for me and for the manner of my parting from her,--then and there to be beaten back, and battered down, and tossed like an atom in some primeval flood, whithersoever i would not,--what a situation was this! now, indeed, i think for the first time, my soul lifted itself, as a sick man lifts himself upon his elbows, in his painful bed. now, flashing straight back upon the outburst of my defiance and despair, like the reflex action of a strong muscle, there came into my mind, if not into my heart, these impulsive and entreating words:-"what art thou, who dost withstand me? i am a dead and helpless man. what wouldst thou with me? where gainest thou thy force upon me? art thou verily that ancient myth which we were wont to call almighty god?" simultaneously with the utterance of these words that blast of will to which i have referred fell heavily upon me. a power not myself overshadowed me and did environ me. guided whithersoever i would not, i passed forth upon errands all unknown to me, rebelling and obeying as i went. "i am become what we used to call a spirit," i thought, bitterly, "and this is what it means. better might one become a molecule, for those, at least, obey the laws of the universe, and do not suffer." now, as i took my course, it being ordered on me, it led me past the door of a certain open church, whence the sound of singing issued. the finest choir in the city, famous far and near, were practising for the sunday service, and singing like the sons of god, indeed, as i passed by. with the love of the scientific temperament for harmony alert in me, i lingered to listen to the anthem which these singers were rendering in their customary great manner. with the instinct of the musically educated, i felt pleasure in this singing, and said:-"magnificently done!" as i went on. it was some moments before the words which the choir sang assumed any vividness in my mind. when they did i found that they were these;-"_for god is a spirit. god is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit_"-now it fell out that my steps were directed to the hospital; and to the hospital i straightway went. i experienced some faint comfort at this improvement in my lot, and hurried up the avenue and up the steps and into the familiar wards with eagerness. all the impulses of the healer were alive in me. i felt it a mercy for my nature to be at its own again. i hastened in among my sick impetuously. the hospital had been a favourite project of mine; from its start, unreasonably dear to me. through the mounting difficulties which blockade such enterprises, i had hewn and hacked, i had fathered and doctored, i had trusteed and collected, i had subscribed and directed and persisted and prophesied and fulfilled, as one ardent person must in most humanitarian successes; and i had loved the success accordingly. i do not think it had ever once occurred to me to question myself as to the chemical proportions of my motives in this great and popular charity. now, as i entered the familiar place, some query of this nature did indeed occupy my mind; it had the strangeness of all mental experiences consequent upon my new condition, and somewhat, if i remember, puzzled me. the love of healing? the relief of suffering? sympathy with the wretched? chivalry for the helpless? generosity to the poor? friendship to the friendless? were these the motives, all the motives, the _whole_ motives, of him who had in my name ministered in that place so long? even the love of science? devotion to a therapeutic creed? sacrifice for a surgical doctrine? enthusiasm for an important professional cause? did these, and only these, sources of conduct _explain_ the great hospital? or the surgeon who had created and sustained it? where did the motive deteriorate? where did the alloy come in? how did the sensitiveness to self, the passion for fame, the joy of power, amalgamate with all that noble feeling? how much residuum was there in the solution of that absorption which (outside of my own home) i had thought the purest and highest of my interests in life? for the first of all the uncounted times that i had entered the hospital for now these many years, i crossed the threshold questioning myself in this manner, and doubting of my fitness to be there, or to be what i had been held to be in that place. life had carried me gaily and swiftly, as it carries successful men. i had found no time, or made none, to cross-question the sources of conduct. my success had been my religion. i had the conviction of a prosperous person that the natural emotions of prosperity were about right. added to this was something of the physician's respect for what was healthful in human life. good luck, good looks, good nerves, a good income, an enviable reputation for professional skill, personal popularity, and private happiness,--these things had struck me as so wholesome that they must be admirable. behind the painted screen which a useful and successful career sets before the souls of men i had been too busy or too light of heart to peer. now it was as if, in the act or the fact of dying, i had moved a step or two, and looked over the edge of the bright shield. thoughts like these came to me so quietly and so naturally, now, that i wondered why i had not been familiar with them before; it even occurred to me that being very busy did not wholly excuse a live man for not thinking; and it was something in the softened spirit of this strange humility that i opened the noiseless door, and found myself among my old patients in the large ward. never before had i entered that sad place that the electric thrill of welcome, which only a physician knows, had not pulsated through it, preceding me, from end to end of the long room. the peculiar _lighting_ of the ward that flashes with the presence of a favourite doctor; the sudden flexible smile on pain-pinched lips; the yearning motion of the eyes in some helpless body where only the eyes can stir; the swift stretching-out of wasted hands; the half-inaudible cry of welcome: "the doctor's come!" "oh, there's the doctor!" "why, it's the _doctor_!"--the loving murmur of my name; the low prayer of blessing on it,--oh, never before had i entered my hospital, and missed the least of these. i thought i was prepared for this, but it was not without a shock that i stood among my old patients, mute and miserable, glancing piteously at them, as they had so often done at me; seeking for their recognition, which i might not have; longing for their welcome, which was not any more for me. the moans of pain, the querulous replies to nurses, the weary cough or plethoric breathing, the feeble convalescent laughter,--these greeted me; and only these. like the light that entered at the window, or the air that circulated through the ward, i passed unnoticed and unthanked. some one called out petulantly that a door had got unfastened, and bade a nurse go shut it, for it blew on her. but when i came up to the bedside of this poor woman, i saw that she was crying. "she's cried herself half-dead," a nurse said, complainingly. "nobody can stop her. she's taking on so for dr. thorne." "i don't blame her," said a little patient from a wheeled-chair. "everybody knows what he did for her. she's got one of her attacks,--and look at her! there can't anybody but him stop it. whatever we're going to do without the doctor"-her own lip quivered, though she was getting well. "i don't see how the doctor _could_ die!" moaned the very sick woman, weeping afresh, "when there's those that nobody but him can keep alive. it hadn't oughter to be let to be. how are sick folks going to get along without their doctor? it ain't _right_!" "lord have mercy on ye, poor creetur," said an old lady from the opposite cot. "don't take on so. it don't _help_ it any. it ain't agoing to bring the doctor back!" sobs arose at this. i could hear them from more beds than i cared to count. sorrow sat heavily in the ward for my sake. it distressed me to think of the effect of all this depression upon the nervous systems of these poor people. i passed from case to case, and watched the ill-effects of the general gloom with a sense of professional disappointment which only physicians will understand as coming uppermost in a man's mind under circumstances such as these. my discomfort was increased by the evidences of what i considered mistakes in treatment on the part of my colleagues; some of which had peculiarly disagreed with certain patients since my death had thrown them into other hands. my helplessness before these facts chafed me sorely. i made no futile effort to make myself known to any of the hospital patients. i had learned too well the limitations of my new condition now. i had in no wise learned to bear them. in truth, i think i bore them less, for my knowledge that these poor creatures did truly love me, and leaned on me, and mourned for me; i found it hard. i think it even occurred to me that a dead man might not be able to bear it to see his wife and child. "doctor!" said a low, sweet voice, "doctor?" my heart leaped within me, as i turned. where was the highly organized one of all my patients, who had baffled death for love of me? who had the clairvoyance or clairaudience, or the wonderful tip in the scale of health and disease, which causes such phenomena? with hungry eyes i gazed from cot to cot. no answering gaze returned to me. craving their recognition more sorely than they had ever, in the old life, craved mine, in such need of their sympathy as never had the weakest of the whole of them for mine, i scanned them all. no--no. there was not a patient in the ward who knew me. no. stung with the disappointment, i sank into a chair beside the weeping woman's bed, and bowed my face upon my hands. at this instant i was touched upon the shoulder. "doctor! why, doctor!" said the voice again. i sprang and caught the speaker by the hands. it was mrs. faith. she stood beside me, sweet and smiling. "the carriage overturned," she said in her quiet way, "i was badly hurt. i only died an hour ago. i started out at once to find you. i want you to see charley. charley's still alive. those doctors don't understand charley. there's nobody i'd trust him to but you. you can save him. come! you can't think how he asked for you, and cried for you.... i thought i should find you at the hospital. come quickly, doctor! come!" chapter xi. some homesick traveller in a foreign land, where he is known of none and can neither speak nor understand the language of the country; taken ill, let us say, at a remote inn, his strength and credit gone, and he, in pain and fever, hears, one blessed day, the voice of an old friend in the court below. such a man may think he has--but i doubt if he have--some crude conception of the state of feeling in which i found myself, when recognized in this touching manner by my old patient. my emotion was so great that i could not conceal it; and she, in her own quick and delicate way, perceiving this almost before i did myself, made as if she saw it not, and lightly adding: "hurry, doctor! i will go before you. let us lose no time!" led me at once out of the hospital and rapidly away. in an incredibly, almost confusingly short space of time, we reached her house; this was done by some method of locomotion not hitherto experienced by me, and which i should, at that time, have found it difficult to describe, unless by saying that she thought us where we wished to be. perhaps it would be more exact to say, _she felt us_. it was as if the great power of the mother's love in her had become a new bodily faculty by which she was able, with extraordinary disregard of the laws of distance, to move herself and to draw another to the suffering child. i should say that i perceived at once, in the presence of this sweet woman, that there were possibilities and privileges in the state immediately succeeding death, which had been utterly denied to me, and were still unknown to me. it was easy to see that her personal experience in the new condition differed as much from mine as our lives had differed in the time preceding death. she had been a patient, unworldly, and devout sufferer; a chronic invalid, who bore her lot divinely. her soul had been as full of trust and gentleness, of the forgetting of self and the service of others, of the scorn of pain, and of what she called trust in heaven, as any woman's soul could be. i had never seen the moment when i could withhold my respect from the devout nature of mrs. faith, any more than i could from her manner of enduring suffering; or, i might add, if i could expect the remark to be properly understood,--from her strong and intelligent trust in me. physicians know what sturdy qualities it takes to make a good patient. perhaps they are, to some extent, the same which go to make a good believer; but in this direction i am less informed. during our passage from the hospital to the house, mrs. faith had not spoken to me; her whole being seemed, as nearly as i could understand it, to be absorbed in the process of getting there. it struck me that she was still unpractised in the use of a new and remarkable faculty, which required strict attention from her, like any other as yet unlearned art. "_you_ are not turned out of your own home it seems!" i exclaimed impulsively, as we entered the house together. "oh, no, _no_!" she cried. "who is? who could be? why, doctor, are _you_?" "death is a terrible respecter of persons," i answered drearily. i could not further explain myself at that moment. "i have been away from charley a good while," she anxiously replied; "it is the first time i have left him since i died. but i had to find you, doctor. charley should not die--i can't have charley die--for his poor father's sake. but i feel quite safe about him now i have got you." she said these words in her old bright, trustful way. the thought of my helplessness to justify such trust smote me sorely; but i said nothing then to undeceive her,--how could i?--and we made haste together to the bedside of the injured child. i saw at a glance that the child was in a bad case. halt was there, and dr. gazell; they were consulting gloomily. the father, haggard with his first bereavement, seemed to have accepted the second as a foregone conclusion; he sat with his face in his hands, beside the little fellow's bed. the boy called for his mother at intervals. a nurse hung about weeping. it was a dismal scene; there was not a spark of hope, or energy, or fight in the whole room. i cried out immoderately that it was enough to kill the well, and protested against the management of the case with the ardent conviction to which my old patient was so used, and in which she believed more thoroughly than i did myself. "they are giving the wrong remedy," i hotly said. "this surgical fever could be controlled,--the boy need not die. but he will! you may as well make up your mind to it, mrs. faith. gazell doesn't understand the little fellow's constitution, and halt doesn't understand anything." now it was that, as i had expected, the mother turned upon me with all a mother's hopeless and heart-breaking want of logic. surely, i, and only i, could save the boy. why, i had always taken care of charley! was it possible that i could stand by and see charley _die_? _she_ should not have died herself if i had been there. she depended upon me to find some way--there must be a way. she never thought i was the kind of a man to be so changed by--by what had happened. i used to be so full of hope and vigour, and so inventive in a sick-room. it was not reasonable! it was not right! it was not possible that, just because i was a spirit, i could not control the minds or bodies of those live men who were so inferior to me. why, she thought i could control _any_body. she thought i could conquer _any_thing. "i don't understand it, doctor," she said, with something like reproach. "you don't seem to be able to do as much--you don't even know as much as _i_ do, now. and you know what a sick and helpless little woman i've always been,--how ignorant, beside you! i thought you were so wise, so strong, so great. where has it all gone to, doctor? what has become of your wisdom and your power? can't you help me? can't you"-"i can do nothing," i interrupted her,--"nothing. i am shorn of it all. it has all gone from me, like the strength of samson. spare me, and torment me not.... i cannot heal your child. i am not like you. i was not prepared for--this condition of things. i did not expect to die. i never thought of becoming a spirit. i find myself extraordinarily embarrassed by it. it is the most unnatural state i ever was in." "why, i find it as natural as life," she said, more gently. she had now moved to the bedside, and taken the little fellow in her arms. "you are not as i," i replied morosely. "we differed--and we differ. truly, i believe that if there is anything to be done for your boy, it rests with you, and not with me." halt and gazell were now consulting in an undertone, touching the selection of a certain remedy; no one noticed them, and they droned on. the mother crooned over the child, and caressed him, and breathed upon his sunken little face, and poured her soul out over him in precious floods and wastes of tenderness as mothers do. "live, my little son!" she whispered. "live, live!" but i, meanwhile, was watching the two physicians miserably. "there!" i said, "they have dropped the phial on the floor. see, that is the one they ought to have. it rolled away. they don't mean to take it. they will give him the wrong thing. oh, how can they?" but now the mother, when she heard me speak, swiftly and gently removed her arms from beneath the boy, and, advancing to the hesitating men, stood silently between them, and laid a hand upon the arm of each. while she stood there she had a rapt, high look of such sort that i could in no wise have addressed her. "are you _sure_, dr. gazell?" asked halt. "i _think_ so," said gazell. he stooped, after a moment's hesitation, and picked up the phial from the floor, read its label; laid it down, looked at the child, and hesitated again. the mother at this juncture sunk upon her knees and bowed her shining face. i thought she seemed to be at prayer. i too bowed my head; but it was for reverence at the sight of her. it was long since i had prayed. i did not find it natural to do so. a strange discontent, something almost like an inclination to prayer, came upon me. but that was all. i would rather have had the power to turn those two men out of the room, and pour the saving remedy upon my little patient's burning tongue with my own flesh-and-blood fingers, and a hearty objurgation on the professional blunder which i had come in time to rectify. "dr. halt," said dr. gazell, slowly, "with your approval i think i will change my mind. on the whole, the indications point to--this. i trust it is the appropriate remedy." he removed the cork from the phial as he spoke, and, rising, passed quickly to the bedside of the child. the mother had now arisen from her knees, and followed him, and got her arms about the boy again, and set her soul to brooding over him in the way that loving women have. i was of no further service to her, and i had vanished from her thought, which had no more room at that moment for anything except the child than the arms with which she clasped him. it amazed me--i was going to say it appalled me--that no person in the room should seem to have consciousness of her presence. she was like an invisible star. how incredible that love like that, and the power of it, could be dependent upon the paltry senses of what are called live people for so much as the proofs of its existence. "it is not scientific," i caught myself saying, as i turned away, "there is a flaw in the logic somewhere. there seems to be a snapped link between two sets of facts. there is no deficiency of data; the difficulty lies wholly in collating them." how, indeed, should i--how did i but a few days since--myself regard such "data" as presumed to indicate the continuance of human life beyond the point of physical decay! "after all," i thought, as i wandered from the house in which i felt myself forgotten and superfluous, and pursued my lonely way, i knew not whither and i knew not why,--"after all, there is another life. i really did not think it." it seemed now to have been an extraordinary narrowness of intellect in me that i had not at least attached more weight to the universal human hypothesis. i did not precisely wonder from a personal point of view that i had not definitely believed it; but i wondered that i had not given the possibility the sort of attention which a view of so much dignity deserved. it really annoyed me that i had made that kind of mistake. we, at least, were alive,--my old patient and i. whether others, or how many, or of what sort, i could not tell; i had yet seen no other spirit. what was the life-force in this new condition of things? where was the central cell? what _made_ us go on living? habit? or selection? thought? emotion? vigour? if the last, what species of vigour? what was that in the individual which gave it strength to stay? whence came the reproductive power which was able to carry on the species under such terrible antagonism as the fact of death? if in the body, where was the common element between that attenuated invalid and my robust organization? if in the soul, between the suffering saint and the joyous man of the world, where again was our common moral protoplasm? nothing occurred to me at the time, at least, as offering any spiritual likeness between myself and mrs. faith, but the fact that we were both people of strong affections which had been highly cultivated. might not a woman _love_ herself into continued existence who felt for any creature what she did for that child? and i--god knew, if there were a god, how it was with me. if i had never done anything, if i had never been anything, if i had never felt anything else in all my life, that was fit to _last_, i had loved one woman, and her only, and had thought high thoughts for her, and felt great emotions for her, and forgotten self for her sake, and thought it sweet to suffer for her, and been a better man for love of her. and i had loved her,--oh, i had so loved her, that i knew in my soul ten thousand deaths could not murder that living love. and i had spoken to her--i had said to her--like any low and brutal fellow, any common wife-tormentor--i had gone from her dear presence to this mute life wherein there was neither speech nor language; where neither earth, nor heaven, nor my love, nor my remorse, nor all my anguish, nor my shame, could give my sealed lips the power to say, forgive. now, while i was cast thus abroad upon the night,--for it was night,--sorely shaken and groaning in spirit, taking no care where my homeless feet should lead me, i lifted my eyes suddenly, and looked straight on before me, and behold! shining afar, fair and sweet and clear, i saw and recognized the lights of my own home. i was still at some distance from the spot, and, beside myself with joy, i started to run unto it. with the swift motions which spirits make, and which i was beginning now to master in a clumsy manner and low degree, i came, compassing the space between myself and all i loved or longed for, and so brought myself tumultuously into the street where the house stood; there, at a stone's throw from it, i felt myself suddenly stifled with my haste, or from some cause, and, pausing (as we used to say) to gather breath, i found that i was stricken back, and fettered to the ground. there was no wind. the night was perfectly still. not a leaf quivered on the topmost branch of the linden which tapped our chamber-window. yet a power like a mighty rushing blast gainsaid me and smote me where i was. not a step, though i writhed for it, not a breath nearer, though my heart should break for it, could i take or make to reach her. this was my doom. within clasp of her dear arms, within sight of her sweet face,--for there! while i stood struggling, i saw a woman's shadow rise and stir upon the dimly lighted wall,--thus to be denied and bidden back from her seemed to me more than heart could bear. while i stood, quite unmanned by what had happened, incredulous of my punishment, and yearning to her through the little distance, and stretching out my hands toward her, and brokenly babbling her dear name, she moved, and i saw her quite distinctly, even as i had seen her that last time. she stood midway between the unlighted parlour and the lighted library beyond. the drop-light with the scarlet shade blazed behind her. i noticed that to-night, as on that other night, the baby was not with her; and i wondered why. she stood alone. she moved up and down the room; she had a weary step. her dress, i saw, was black, dead black. her white hands, clasped before her, shone with startling brilliancy upon the sombre stuff she wore. her lovely head was bent a little, and she seemed to be gazing at me whom she could not see. then i cried with such a cry, it seemed as if the very living must needs hear:-"helen! helen! _helen_!" but she stood quite still; leaning her pale face toward me, like some listening creature that was stricken deaf. the sight was more sorrowful than i could brave; for the first time since i had died i succumbed into something like a swoon, and lost my miserable consciousness in the street before her door. chapter xii. when i came again to myself i found that what i should once have called a "phenomenon" had taken place. the city, the dim street, the familiar architecture of my home, the streams of light from the long windows, the leaves of the linden tapping on the glass, the woman's shadow on the wall, and the stirring toward me of the form and face i loved,--these had vanished. i was in a strange place; and i was a stranger in it. it seemed rather a lonely place at first, though it was not unpleasing to me as i looked abroad. the scenery was mountainous and solemn, but it was therefore on a large scale and restful to the eye. it had more grandeur than beauty, to my first impression; but i remembered that i was not in a condition of mind to be receptive of the merely beautiful, which might exist for me without my perception of it, even as the life of the dead existed without the perception of the living. death, if it had taught me less up to that time than it might have done to nobler men, had at least done so much as this: it had accustomed me to respect the unseen, and to regard its possible action upon the seen as a matter of import. as i looked forth upon the hills and skies, the plains and forests, and on to the distant signs of human habitation in the scenery about me, i thought:-"i am in a world where it is probable that there exist a thousand things which i cannot understand to one which i can." it seemed to me a very uncomfortable state of affairs, whatever it was. i felt estranged from this place, even before i was acquainted with it. nothing in my nature responded to its atmosphere; or, if so, petulantly and with a kind of helpless antagonism, like the first cry of the new-born infant in the old life. as i got myself languidly to my feet, and idly trod the path which lay before me, for lack of knowing any better thing to do, i began to perceive that others moved about the scene; that i was not, as i had thought, alone, but one of a company, each going on his errand as he would. i only seemed to have no errand; and i was at a great distance from these people, whose presence, however, though so remote, gave me something of the sense of companionship which one whose home is in a lonely spot upon a harbour coast has in watching the head-lights of anchored ships upon dark nights. communication there is none, but desolation is less for knowing that there could be, or for fancying that there might. across the space between us, i looked upon my fellow-citizens in this new country, with a dull emotion not unlike gratitude for their existence; but i felt little curiosity about them. i was too unhappy to be so easily diverted. it seemed to me that the memory of my wife would become a mania to me, if i could in no way make known to her how utterly i loved her and how i scorned myself. i cannot say that i felt much definite interest in the novel circumstances surrounding me, except as possible resources for some escape from the situation, as it stood between herself and me. if i could compass any means of communicating with her, i believed that i could accept my doom, let it take me where it might or make of me what it would. walking thus drearily, alone, and not sorry to be alone in that unfamiliar company, lost in the fixed idea of my own misery, i suddenly heard light footsteps hurrying behind me. i thought:-"there is another spirit; one more of the newly dead, come to this strange place." but i did not find it worth my while to turn and greet him, being so wrapt in my own fate; and when a soft hand touched my arm, i moved from it with something like dismay. "why, doctor!" said the gentle voice of mrs. faith, "did i startle you? i have been hunting for you everywhere," she added, laughing lightly. "i was afraid you would feel rather desolate. it is a pity. now, i am as _happy_!" "did charley live?" i asked immediately. "oh yes, charley lived; what we used to call living, when we were there. poor charley! i keep thinking how he would enjoy everything if he were here with me. but his father needed him. it makes me so happy! i am very happy! tell me, doctor, what do you think of this place? how does it strike you?" "it is a foreign country," i said sadly. "is it, doctor? poor doctor! why, i feel so much at _home_!" she lifted a radiant face to me; it was touching to see her expression, and marvellous to behold the idealization of health on features for so many years adjusted to pain and patience. "dear doctor!" she cried joyously, "you never thought to see me _well_! they call this death. why, i never knew what it was to be _alive_ before!" "i must make you acquainted with some of the people who live here," she added, quickly recalling herself from her own interests to mine, with her natural unselfishness, "it is pitiful to come into this place--as you have done. you always knew so many people. you had such friends about you. i never saw you walk alone in all your life before." "i wish to be alone," i answered moodily. "i care nothing for this place, or for the men who live here. it is all unfamiliar to me. i am not happy in it. i am afraid i have not been educated for it. it is the most unhomelike place i ever saw." her eyes filled; she did not answer me at once; when she did it was to say: "it will be better. it will be better by and by. have you seen"-she stopped and hesitated. "have you seen the lord?" she asked, in a low voice. she was wont, i remember, to use this word in a way peculiarly her own; as if she were referring to some personal acquaintance, near to her heart. i shook my head, looking drearily upon her. "don't you _want_ to see him?" "i want to see my wife!" "oh, i am sorry for you," she said, with forbearing gentleness. "it is pretty hard. but i wish you _wanted_ him." "i want to see my wife! i want to see my wife!" i interrupted bitterly. and with this i turned away from her and hid my face, for i could speak no more. when i lifted my eyes, she had gone from me, and i was again alone. when it was thus too late, it occurred to me that i had lost an opportunity which might not easily return to me, and i sought far and wide for mrs. faith. i did not find her, though i aroused myself to the point of accosting some of the inhabitants of the country, and making definite inquiries for her. i was answered with great courtesy and uncommon warmth of manner, as if it were the custom of this place to take a genuine interest in the affairs of strangers; but i was not able, by any effort on my part, to bring myself in proximity to her. this trifling disappointment added to my sense of helplessness in the new life on which i had entered; and i was still as incredulous of helplessness and as galled by it as i should have been by the very world of woe which had formed so irritating a dogma to me in the theology of my day on earth, and which i had regarded as i did the nightmares of a dyspeptic patient. in this state of feeling, it was the greatest comfort to me when, at some period of time which i have no means of defining, but which could not have been long afterward, mrs. faith came suddenly again across my path. she radiated happiness and health and beauty, and when she held out both her hands to me in greeting they seemed to glitter, as if she had stepped from a bath of delight. "oh," she said joyously, "have you seen him _yet_?" it embarrassed me to be forced to answer in the negative; it gave me a strange feeling, as if i had been a convict in the country, and denied the passport of honourable men. i therefore waived her question as well as i might, and proceeded to make known to her the thought which had been occupying me. "_you_ have the _entrée_ of the dear earth," i said sadly. "they do not treat you in the--in the very singular manner with which i am treated. it is important beyond explanation that i get a message to my wife. a beggar in the street may be admitted to her charity,--i saw one at the door the night i stood there. i, only i, am forbidden to enter. whatever may be the natural laws which are sot in opposition to me, they have extraordinary force; i can do nothing against them. i suppose i do not understand them. if i had an opportunity to study them--but i have no opportunities at anything. it is a new experience to me to be so--so disregarded by the general scheme of things. i seem to be of no more consequence in this place than a bootblack was in the world, or a paralytic person. it seems useless for me to fly in the face of fate, since this is fate. i have no hope of being able to reach my wife. you have privileges in this condition which are evidently far superior to mine. i have been thinking that possibly you may be able--and willing--to approach her for me?" "i don't think it would succeed, doctor," replied my old patient quickly. "i'd _do_ it! you know i would! but if i were helen--she is a very reserved person; she never talks about her husband, as different women do; her feeling is of such a sort; i do not think she would _understand_, if another woman were to speak from you to her." "perhaps not," i sighed. "i am afraid it would be the most hopeless experiment you could make," said mrs. faith. "she loves you too much for it," she added, with the divination of her sex. comforted a little by mrs. faith, i quickly abandoned this project; indeed, i soon abandoned every other which concerned itself with helen, and yielded myself with a kind of desperate lethargy, if i may be allowed the expression, to the fate which separated me from her. of resignation i knew nothing. peace was the coldest stranger in that strange land to me. i yielded because i could not help it, not because i would have willed it; and with that dull strength which grows into the sinews of the soul from necessity, sought to adjust myself in such fashion as i might to my new conditions. it occurred to me from time to time that it would have been an advantage if i had felt more interest in the conditions themselves; that it would even have spared me something if i had ever cultivated any familiarity with the possibilities of such a state of existence. i could not remember that i had in the old life satisfactorily proved that another _could_ not follow it. it seemed to me that if i had only so much as exercised my imagination upon the possible course of events in case another did, it would have been of some practical service to me now. i was in the position of a man who is become the victim of a discovery whose rationality he has contemptuously denied. it was like being struck by a projectile while one is engaged in disproving the existence of gunpowder. if a soul may properly be said to be stunned, mine at this time, was that soul. in this condition solitude was still so natural to me that i made no effort to approach the people of the place, and contented myself with observing them and their affairs from a distance. they seemed a very happy people. there could be no mistake about that. i did not see a clouded countenance; nor did i hear an accent of discomfort, or of pain. i wondered at their joyousness, which i found it as impossible to share as the sick find it impossible to share what has been called "the insolence of health." it did, indeed, appear to me as something almost impertinent, as possession always appears to denial. but i had never been denied before. i perceived, also, that the inhabitants of this country were a busy people. they came and went, they met and parted, with the eagerness of occupation; though there was a conspicuous absence of the fretful haste to which i had been used in the conduct of business. i looked upon the avocations of this strange land, and wondered at them. i could not see with what they were occupied, or why, or to what end. they affected me perhaps something as the concerns of the human race may affect the higher animals. i looked on with an unintelligent envy. one day, as i was strolling miserably about, a child came up and spoke to me. he, like myself, was alone. he was a beautiful child,--a little boy; he seemed scarcely more than an infant. he appeared to be in search of some one or of something; his brilliant eyes roved everywhere; he had a noble little head, and carried himself courageously. he gave no evidence of fear or sadness at his isolated position but ran right on,--for he was running when i saw him,--as if he had gone forth upon some happy, childish errand. but at sight of me he paused; regarded me a moment with the piercing candour of childhood, as if he took my moral measure after some inexplicable personal scale of his own; then came directly and put his hand into my own. i grasped it heartily,--who could have helped it?--and lifting the little fellow in my arms kissed him affectionately, as one does a pretty stranger child. this seemed to gratify him rather than to satisfy him; he nestled in my neck, but moved restlessly, slipping to the ground, and back again into my arms; jabbering incoherently and pleasantly; seeming to be diverted rather than comforted; ready to stay, but alert to go; in short, behaving like a baby on a visit. after awhile the child adjusted himself to the situation; grew quiet, and clung to me; and at last, putting both his arms about my neck, he gave the long, sweet sigh of healthy infant weariness, and babbling something to the general effect that boy was tired, he dropped into a sound and happy sleep. here, indeed, was a situation! it drew from me the first smile which had crossed my lips since i had died. what, pray, was i, who seemed to be of no consequence whatever in this amazing country, and who had more than i knew how to do in looking after myself, under its mysterious conditions,--what was i to do with the spirit-baby gone to sleep upon my neck? "i must go and find the orphan asylum," i 'thought; "doubtless they have them in this extraordinary civilization. i must take the little fellow to some women as soon as possible." at this juncture, my friend mrs. faith appeared, making a mock of being out of breath, and laughing heartily. "he ran away from me," she merrily explained. "i had the care of him, and he ran on; he came straight to you. i couldn't hold him. what a comfort he will be to you!... why, doctor! do you mean to say you don't know who the child _is_?" "it seems to me," she added, with a mother's sublime superiority, "_i_ should know my own baby! if i were so fortunate as to find one here!--how much less you know," she proceeded naively, "than i used to think you did!" "did the child _die_?" i asked, trembling so that i had to put the little fellow down lest he should fall from my startled arms. "did something really ail him that night when his mother--that miserable night?" "the child died," she answered gravely. "dear little boy! take him up again, doctor. don't you see? he is uneasy unless you hold him fast." i took boy up; i held him close; i kissed him, and i clung to him, and melted into unintelligible cries above him, never minding mrs. faith, for i quite forgot her. but what i felt was for my child's poor mother, and all my thought was for her, and my heart broke for her, that she should be so bereft. "i should like to know if you suppose for one minute that she wouldn't _rather_ you would have the little fellow, if he is the least bit of comfort to you in the world?" mrs. faith said this; she spoke with a kind of lofty, feminine scorn. "why, helen _loves_ you!" she said, superbly. chapter xiii "i believe," said my old patient, "i believe that was the highest moment of your life." a man of my sort seldom comprehends a woman of hers. i did not understand her, and i told her so, looking at her across the clinging child. "there was no self in it!" she answered eagerly. "oh," i said indifferently, "is that all?" "it is everything," replied the wiser spirit, "in the place that we have come to. it is like a birth. such a moment has to go on living. one is never the same after as one was before it. changes follow. may the lord be in them!" "but stay!" i cried, as she made a signal of farewell, "are you not going to help me--is nobody going to help me take care of this child?" she shook her head, smiling; then laughed outright at my perplexity; and with a merry air of enjoyment in my extraordinary position, she went her ways and left me. there now began for me a singular life. changes followed, as mrs. faith had said. the pains and the privileges of isolation were possible to me no longer. action of some sort, communion of some kind with the world in which i lived, became one of the imperative necessities about which men do not philosophize. for there was the boy! whatever my views about a spiritual state of existence, there always was the boy. no matter how i had demonstrated the unreasonableness of living after death, the child was alive. however i might personally object to my own share of immortality, i was a living father, with my motherless baby in my arms. up to this time i had lived in an indifferent fashion; in the old world, we should have called it "anyhow." food i scarcely took, or if at all, it was to snatch at such wild fruits as grew directly before me, without regard to their fitness or palatableness; paying, in short, as little attention to the subject as possible. home i had none. i wandered till i was weary of wandering, and rested till i could rest no more; seeking such shelter as the country afforded me in lonely and beautiful spots; discontented with what i had, but desiring nothing further; with my own miserable thoughts for housemates and for neighbours, and the absence of hope forbidding the presence of energy. nothing that i could see interested me. much or most that i took the trouble to observe, i should have been frankly obliged to admit that i did not understand. the customs of the people bewildered me. their evident happiness irritated me. their activity produced in me only the desire to get out of sight of it. their personal health and beauty--for they were a very comely people--gave me something the kind of nervous shrinking that i had so often witnessed in the sick, when some buoyant, inconsiderate, bubbling young creature burst into the room of pain. i felt in the presence of the universal blessedness about me like some hurt animal, who cares only to crawl in somewhere and be forgotten. if i drew near, as i had on several occasions done, to give some attention to the occupations of the inhabitants, all these feelings were accentuated so much that i was fain to withdraw before i had studied the subject. study there was in that country, and art and industry; even traffic, if traffic it might be called; it seemed to be an interchange of possessions, conducted upon principles of the purest consideration for the public, as opposed to personal welfare. homes there were, and the construction of them, and the happiest natural absorption in their arrangement and management. there were families and household devotion; parents, children, lovers, neighbours, friends. i saw schools and other resorts of learning, and what seemed to be institutions of benevolence and places of worship, a series of familiar and yet wholly unfamiliar sights. in them all existed a spirit, even as the spirit of man exists in his earthly body, which was and willed and acted as that does, and which, like that, defied analysis. i could perceive at the hastiest glance that these people conducted themselves upon a set of motives entirely strange to me. what they were doing--what they were doing it _for_--i simply did not know. a great central purpose controlled them, such as controls masses of men in battle or at public prayer; a powerful and universal law had hold of them; they treated it as if they loved it. they seemed to feel affectionately toward the whole system of things. they loved, and thought, and wrought straight onward with it; no one put the impediment of a criticism against it,--no one that i could see or suspect, in all the place, except my isolated self. they had the air of those engaged in some sweet and solemn object, common to them all; an object, evidently set above rather than upon the general level. their faces shone with pleasure and with peace. often they wore a high, devout look. they never showed an irritated expression, never an anxious nor that i could see a sad one. it was impossible to deny the marked nobility of their appearance. "if this," i thought, "be what is called a spiritual life, i was not ready to become a spirit." now, when my child awaited and called me, as he had begun, in the dear old days on earth, to learn to do, and like any live human baby proceeded to give vent to a series of incoherent remarks bearing upon the fact that boy would like his supper, i was fain to perceive that being a spirit did not materially change the relation of a man to the plainer human duties; and that, whether personally agreeable or no, i must needs bring myself into some sort of connection with the civilization about me. i might be a homesick fellow, but the baby was hungry. i might be at odds with the whole scheme of things, but the child must have a shelter. i might be a spiritual outcast, but what was to become of boy? the heart of the father arose in me; and, gathering the little fellow to my breast, i set forth quickly to the nearest town. here, after some hesitation, i accosted a stranger, whose appearance pleased me, and besought his assistance in my perplexity. he was a man of lofty bearing; his countenance was strong and benign as the western wind; he had a gentle smile, but eyes which piercingly regarded me. he was of superior beauty, and conducted himself as one having authority. he was much occupied, and hastening upon some evidently important errand; but he stopped at once, and gave his attention to me with the hearty interest in others characteristic of the people. "are you a stranger in the country--but newly come to us?" "a stranger, sir, but not newly arrived." "and the child?" "the child ran into my arms about an hour ago." "is the boy yours?" "he is my only child." "what do you desire for him?" "i would fain provide for him those things which a father must desire. i seek food and shelter. i wish a home, and means of subsistence, and neighbourhood, and the matters which are necessary to the care and comfort of an infant. pray, counsel me. i do not understand the conditions of life in this remarkable place." "i do not know that it is of consequence that i should," i added, less courteously, "but i cannot see the boy deprived. he must be made comfortable as speedily as possible. i shall be obliged to you for some suggestion in the matter." "come hither," replied the stranger, laconically. forthwith, he led me, saying nothing further, and i followed, asking nothing more. this embarrassed me somewhat, and it was with some discomfort that i entered the house of entertainment to which i was directed, and asked for those things which were needful for my child. these were at once and lavishly provided. it soon proved that i had come to a luxurious and hospitable place. the people were most sympathetic in their manner. boy especially excited the kindest of attention; some women fondled him, and all the inmates of the house interested themselves in the little motherless spirit. in spite of myself this touched me, and my heart warmed toward my entertainers. "tell me," i said, turning toward him who had brought me thither, "how shall i make compensation for my entertainment? what is the custom of the country? i--what we used to call property--you will understand that i necessarily left behind me. i am accustomed to the use of it. i hardly know what to do without it. i am accustomed to--some abundance. i wish to remunerate the people of this house." "what _did_ you bring with you?" asked my new acquaintance, with a half-sorrowful look, as if he would have helped me out of an unpleasant position if he could. "nothing," i replied, after some thought, "nothing but my misery. that does not seem to be a marketable commodity in this happy place. i could spare some, if it were." "what had you?" pursued my questioner, without noticing my ill-timed satire. "what were your possessions in the life yonder?" "health. love. happiness. home. prosperity. work. fame. wealth. ambition." i numbered these things slowly and bitterly. "none of them did i bring with me. i have lost them all upon the way. they do not serve me in this differing civilization." "was there by chance nothing more?" "nothing more. unless you count a little incidental usefulness." "and that?" he queried eagerly. i therefore explained to him that i had been a very busy doctor; that i used to think i took pleasure in relieving the misery of the sick, but that it seemed a mixed matter now, as i looked back upon it,--so much love of fame, love of power, love of love itself,--and that i did not put forth my life's work as of importance in his scale of value. "that would not lessen its value," replied my friend. "i myself was a healer of the sick. your case appeals to me. i was known as"-he whispered a name which gave me a start of pleasure. it was a name famous in its day, and that a day long before my own; a name immortal in medical history. few men in the world had done as much as this one to lessen the sum of human suffering. it excited me greatly to meet him. "but you," i cried, "you were not like the rest of us or the most of us. _you_ believed in these--invisible things. you were a man of what is called faith. i have often thought of that. i never laid down a biography of you without wondering that a man of your intelligence should retain that superstitious element of character. i ought to beg your pardon for the adjective. i speak as i have been in the habit of speaking." "do you wonder now?" asked the great surgeon, smiling benignly. i shook my head. i wondered at nothing now. but i felt myself incapable of discussing a set of subjects upon which, for the first time in my life, i now knew myself to be really uninformed. i took the pains to explain to my new friend that in matters of what he would call spiritual import i was, for aught i knew to the contrary, the most ignorant person in the community. i added that i supposed he would expect me to feel humiliated by this. "do you?" he asked, abruptly. "it makes me uncomfortable," i replied, candidly. "i don't know that i can say more than that. i find it embarrassing." "that is straightforward," said the great physician. "there is at least no diseased casuistry about you. i do not regard the indications as unfavourable." he said this with something of the professional manner; it amused me, and i smiled. "take the case, doctor, if you will," i humbly said. "i could not have happened on any person to whom i would have been so willing to intrust it." "we will consider the question," he said gravely. in this remarkable community, and under the guidance of this remarkable man, i now began a difficult and to me astonishing life. the first thing which happened was not calculated to soothe my personal feeling: this was no less than the discovery that i really had nothing wherewith to compensate the citizens who had provided for the comfort of my child and of myself; in short, that i was no more nor less than an object of charity at their hands. i writhed under this, as may be well imagined; and with more impatience than humility urged that i be permitted to perform some service which at least would bring me into relation with the commercial system of the country. i was silenced by being gently asked: what could i do? "but have you no sick here?" i pleaded, "no hospitals or places of need? i am not without experience, i may say that i am even not without attainment, in my profession. is there no use for it all, in this state of being which i have come to?" "sick we have," replied the surgeon, "and hospitals. i myself am much occupied in one of these. but the diseases that men bring here are not of the body. our patients are chiefly from among the newly arrived, like yourself; they are those who are at odds with the spirit of the place; hence they suffer discomfort." "they do not harmonize with the environment, i suppose," i interrupted eagerly. i was conscious of a wish to turn the great man's thought from a personal to a scientific direction. it occurred to me with dismay that i might be selected yet to become a patient under this extraordinary system of things. that would be horrible. i could think of nothing worse. i proceeded to suggest that if anything could be found for me to do, in this superior art of healing, or if, indeed, i could study and perfect myself in it, i was more than willing to learn, or to perform. "canst thou heal a sick spirit?" inquired my friend, solemnly. "canst thou administer holiness to a sinful soul?" i bowed my head before him; for i had naught to say. alas, what art had i, in that high science so far above me, that my earth-bound gaze had never reached unto it? i was not like my friend, who seemed to have carried on the whole range of his great earthly attainments, by force of what i supposed would have to be called his spiritual education. here in this world of spirits i was an unscientific, uninstructed fellow. "give me," i said brokenly, "but the lowliest chance to make an honourable provision for the comfort of my child in your community. i ask no more." the boy ran chattering to me as i said these words, he sprang and clasped my knees, and clasped my neck, and put his little lips to mine, and rubbed his warm, moist curls across my cheek, and asked me where his mother was. and then he crooned my own name over and over again, and kissed and kissed me, and did stroke me with such pretty excesses of his little tenderness that i took heart and held him fast, and loved him and blessed fate for him, as much as if i had not been a spirit; more than any but a lonely and remorseful spirit could. chapter xiv. in consequence, as i suspected, of some private influence on the part of my famous friend, whose importance in this strange world seemed scarcely below that which he held in the other,--a marked contrast to my own lot, which had been thus far in utter reversal of every law and every fact of my earthly life,--a humble position was found for me, connected with the great institution of healing which he superintended; and here, for an indefinite time, i worked and served. i found myself of scarcely more social importance than, let us say, the janitor or steward in my old hospital at home. this circumstance, however galling, could no longer surprise me. i had become familiar enough with the economy of my new surroundings now thoroughly to understand that i was destitute of the attainments which gave men eminence in them. i was conscious that i had become an obscure person; nay, more than this, that i had barely brought with me the requisites for being tolerated at all in the community. it had begun to be evident to me that i was fortunate in obtaining any kind of admission to citizenship. this alone was an experience so novel to me that it was an occupation in itself, for a time, to adjust myself to it. i now established myself with my boy in such a home as could be made for us, under the circumstances. it was far inferior to most of the homes which i observed about me; but the child lacked no necessary comfort, and the luxuries of a spiritual civilization i did not personally crave; they had a foreign air to me, as the customs of the tuileries might have had to pocahontas. with dull gratitude for such plain possessions as now were granted to me, i set myself to my daily tasks, and to the care and rearing of my child. work i found an unqualified mercy. it even occurred to me to be thankful for it, and to desire to express what i felt about it to the unknown fate or force which was controlling my history. i had been all my life such a busy man that the vacuity of my first experience after dying had chafed me terribly. to be of no consequence; not to be in demand; not to be depended upon by a thousand people, and for a thousand things; not to dash somewhere upon important errands; not to feel that a minute was a treasure, and that mine were valued as hid treasures; not to know that my services were superior; to feel the canker of idleness eat upon me like one of the diseases which i had considered impossible to my organization; to observe the hours, which had hitherto been invisible, like rear forces pushing me to the front; to watch the crippled moments, which had always flown past me like mocking-birds; to know to the full the absence of movement in life; to feel deficiency of purpose like paralysis stiffen me; to have no hope of anything better, and not to know what worse might be before me,--such had been my first experience of the new life. it had done as much as this for me: it had fitted me for the humblest form of activity which my qualifications made possible; it had taught me the elements of gratitude for an improved condition, as suffering, when it vibrates to the intermission of relief, teaches cheerfulness to the sick. an appreciable sense of gratification, which, if it could not be called pleasure, was at least a diminution of pain, came to me from the society of my friend, the distinguished man and powerful spirit who had so befriended me. i admit that i was glad to have a man to deal with; though i did not therefore feel the less a loyalty to my dear and faithful patient, whose services to me had been so true and tender. i missed her. i needed her counsel about the child. i would fain have spoken to her of many little matters. i watched for her, and wondered that she came no more to us. although so new a comer, mrs. faith proved to be a person of position in the place; her name was well and honourably known about the neighbourhood; and i therefore easily learned that she was absent on a journey. it was understood that she had been called to her old home, where for some reason her husband and her child had need of her. it was her precious privilege to minister to them, i knew not how; it was left to me to imagine why. bitterly i thought of helen. between herself and me the awful gates of death had shut; to pass them, though i would have died again for it,--to pass them, for one hour, for one moment, for love's sake, for grief's sake, or for shame's, or for pity's own,--i was forbidden. i had confided the circumstances of my parting from my wife to no one of my new acquaintances. in the high order of character pervading these happy people, such a confession would have borne the proportions that a crime might in the world below. bearing my secret in my own heart, i felt like a felon in this holier society. i cherished it guiltily and miserably, as solitary people do such things; it seemed to me like an ache which i should go on bearing for ever. i remembered how men on earth used to trifle with a phrase called endless punishment. what worse punishment were there, verily, than the consciousness of having done the sort of deed that i had? it seemed to me, as i brooded over it, one of the saddest in the universe. i became what i should once have readily called "morbid" over this thought. there seemed to me nothing in the nature of remorse itself which should, if let alone, ever come to a visible end. my longing for the forgiveness of my wife gnawed upon me. sometimes i tried to remind myself that i was as sure of her love and of her mercy as the sun was of rising beyond the linden that tapped the chamber window in my dear lost home; that her unfathomable tenderness, so far passing the tenderness of women, leaned out, as ready to take me back to itself as her white arms used to be to take me to her heart, when i came later than usual, after a hard day's work, tired and weather-beaten, into the house, hurrying and calling to her. "helen? helen?" but the anguish of the thought blotted the comfort out of it, till, for very longing for her, i would fain almost have forgotten her; and then i would pray never to forget her before i had forgotten, for i loved her so that i would rather think of her and suffer because of her than not to think of her at all. in all this memorable and unhappy period, my boy was the solace of my soul. i gave myself to the care of him lovingly, and as nearly as i can recollect i did not chafe against the narrow limits of my lot in that respect. it occurred to me sometimes that i should once have called this a humble service to be the visible boundary of a man's life. to what had all those old attainments come? command of science? developed skill? public power? extended fame? all those forms of personality which go with intellectual position and the use of it? verily, i was brought to lowly tasks; we left them to women in the world below. but really, i think this troubled me less than it might have done; perhaps less than it should have done. i accepted the strange reversal of my fate as one accepts any turn of affairs which, he is convinced, is better than he might have expected. it had begun to be evident to me that it was better than i had deserved. if i am exceptional in being forced to admit that this consciousness was a novelty in my experience, the admission is none the less necessary for that. i had been in the habit of considering myself rather a good fellow, as a man with no vices in particular is apt to. i had possessed no standards of life below which my own fell to an embarrassing point. the situation to which i was now brought, was not unlike that of one who finds himself in a land where there are new and delicate instruments for indicating the state of the weather. i was aware, and knew that my neighbours were, of fluctuations in the moral atmosphere which had never before come under my attention. the whole subtle and tremendous force of public sentiment now bore upon me to make me uneasy before achievements with which i had hitherto been complacent. it had inconceivable effects to live in a community where spiritual character formed the sole scale of social position. i, who had been always socially distinguished, found myself now exposed to incessant mortifications, such as spring from the fact that one is of no consequence. i should say, however, that i felt this much less for myself than for my child; indeed, that it was because of boy that i first felt the fact at all, or brooded over it after i had begun to feel it. the little fellow developed rapidly, much faster than children of his age do in the human life; he ceased to be a baby, and was a little boy while i was yet wondering what i should do with him when he had outgrown his infancy. his intellect, his character, his physique, lifted themselves with a kind of luxuriance of growth, such as plants show in tropical countries; he blossomed as a thing does which has every advantage and no hindrance; nature moved magnificently to her ends in him; it was a delight to watch such vigorous processes; he was a rich, unthwarted little creature. with all a father's heart and a physician's sensibility, i was proud of him. i was proud of him, alas! until i began to perceive that, as matters were working, the boy was morally certain to be ashamed of me. this was a hard discovery; and it went hard with me after i had made it. but nothing could reduce the poignancy of the inquiry with which i had first gathered him to my heart, in the solitudes where he had found me lurking: if i were a spiritual outcast, what would become of boy? as the child waxed in knowledge and in strength questions like these dropped from his lips so frequently that they distressed me:-"papa, what is god?" "papa, who is worship?" "tell me how boys pray." "is it a kind of game?" "what is christ, papa? is it people's mother? what is it for?" my friend, the eminent surgeon, left me much to myself in these perplexities; regarding my natural reserve, and trusting, i thought, to nature, or to some power beyond nature, to assist me. but on one occasion, happening to be present when the child interrogated me in this manner, he bent a piercing gaze upon me. "why do you not answer the child, esmerald thorne?" he asked me in a voice of authority. "alas," i said, "i have no answer. i know nothing of these matters. they have been so foreign to my temperament, that--i"-but here i faltered. i felt ashamed of my excuse, and of myself for offering it. "it is a trying position for a man to be put in," i ventured to add, putting an arm about my boy; "naturally, i wish my child to develop in accordance with the social and educational system of the place." "naturally, i should suppose," replied he, dryly. he offered me no further suggestion on the subject and with some severity of manner moved to leave me. now it happened to be the vesper hour in the hospital, and my visitor was going to his patients, the "sick of soul," with whom he was wont to join in the evening chant which, at a certain hour, daily arose from every roof in the wide city, and waxed mightily to the sides. it was music of a high order, and i always enjoyed it; no person of any musical taste could have done otherwise. "listen!" said my friend, as he turned to depart from me. i had only to glance at his rapt and noble countenance to perceive the high acoustic laws which separated his sensibility to the vesper from my own. to him it was religious expression. to me it was classical music. while i was thus thinking, from the great wards of the home of healing the prayer went up. the sinful, the sorely stricken, the ungodly, the ignorant of heavenly mercy, all the diseased of spirit who were gathered there in search of the soul's health, sang together: not as the morning-stars which shouted for joy, but like living hearts that cried for purity; yea, like hearts that so desired it, they would have broken for it, and blessed god. "_god is a spirit. god is a spirit. we would worship him. we would worship him in spirit. yea, in spirit. and in truth._" my little boy was playing in the garden, decking himself with the strange and beautiful flowers which luxuriated in the spot. i remember that he had tall white lilies and scarlet passion flowers, or something like them, held above one shoulder, and floating like a banner in the bright, white air. he was absorbed in his sport, and had the sweet intentness of expression between the eyes that his mother used to wear. when the vesper anthems sounded out, the child stopped, and turned his nobly moulded head toward the unseen singers. a puzzled and afterward a saddened look clouded his countenance; he listened for a moment, and then walked slowly to me, trailing the white and scarlet flowers in the grass behind him as he came. "father, teach me how to sing! the other children do. i'm the only little boy i know that can't sing that nice song. teach me it!" he demanded. "alas, my son!" i answered, "how can i teach you that which i myself know not?" "i thought boys' fathers knew everything," objected the child, bending his brows severely on me. a certain constraint, a something not unlike distrust, a subtle barrier which one could not define, but which one felt the more uncomfortably for this very reason, after this incident, seemed to arise in the child's consciousness between himself and me. as docile, as dutiful, as beautiful as ever, as loving and as lovable, yet the little fellow would at times withdraw from me and stand off; as if he looked on at me, and criticised me, and kept his criticism to himself. verily the child was growing. he had become a separate soul. in a world of souls, what was mine--miserable, ignorant, half-developed, wholly unfit--what was mine to do with his? how was i to foster him? when i came face to face with the problem of boy's general education, this question pressed upon me bitterly. looking abroad upon the people and their principles of life, the more i studied them, the more did i stand perplexed before them. i was in the centre of a vast theocracy. plainly, our community was but one of who knew how many?--governed by an unseen being, upon laws of which i knew nothing. the service of this invisible monarch vied only with the universal affection for him. so far as i could understand the spiritual life at all, it seemed to be the highest possible development and expression of love. what these people did that was noble, pure, and fine, they did, not because they must, but because they would. they believed because they chose. they were devout because they wished to be. they were unselfish and true, and what below we should have called "unworldly," because it was the most natural thing in the world. they seemed so happy, they had such content in life, that i could have envied them from my soul. how, now, was i to compass this national kind of happiness for my son? misery i could bear; i was sick and sore with it, but i was used to it. my child must never suffer. passed beyond the old system of suffering, why should he? joy was his birthright in this blessed place. how was i, being at discord from it, to bring my child into harmony with it? i was at odds, to start on, with the whole system of education. the letters, art, science, industry, of the country were of a sort that i knew not. they were consecrated to ends with which i was unfamiliar. they were pursued in a spirit incomprehensible to me. they were dedicated to the interests of a being, himself a stranger to me. proficiency, superiority, were rated on a scale quite out of my experience. to be distinguished was to possess high spiritual traits. deep at the root of every public custom, of every private deed, there hid the seed of one universal emotion,--the love of a living soul for the being who had created it. i, who knew not of this feeling, i, who was as a savage among this intelligence, who was no more than an object of charity at the hands of this community,--what had i to offer to my son? a father's personal position? loving influence? power to push the little fellow to the front? a chance to endow him with every social opportunity, every educational privilege, such as it is a father's pride to enrich his child wherewith? nay, verily. an obscure man ignorant of the learning of the land, destitute of its wealth, unacquainted among its magnates, and without a share in its public interests--nothing was i; nothing had i; nothing could i hope to do, or be, for which my motherless boy should live to bless his father's name. stung by such thoughts as these, which rankled the more in me the longer i cherished them, i betook myself to brooding and to solitary strolling in quiet places, where i could ponder on my situation undisturbed. i was in great intellectual and spiritual stress, less for myself than for the child; not more for him, than because of his mother. what would helen say? how would she hold me to account for him? how should i meet her--if i ever saw her face again--to own myself scarcely other than a pauper in this spiritual kingdom; our child an untaught, unimportant little fellow, of no more consequence in this place than the _gamins_ of the street before her door? in these cold and solitary experiences which many a man has known before me, and many more will follow after me, the soul is like a skater, separated from his fellows upon a field of ice. every movement that he makes seems to be bearing him farther from the society and the sympathy of his kind. too benumbed, perhaps, to turn, he glides on, helpless as an ice-boat before the wind. conscious of his mistake, of his danger, and knowing not how to retract the one or avoid the other, his helpless motions, seemingly guided by idleness, by madness, or by folly, lead him to the last place whither he would have led himself,--the weak spot in the ice. suddenly, he falls crashing, and sinks. then lo! as he goes under, crying out that he is lost because no man is with him, hands are down-stretched, swimmers plunge, the crowd gathers, and it seems the whole world stoops to save him. the sympathy of his kind wanted nothing but a chance to reach him. i cannot tell; no man can tell such things; i cannot explain how i came to do it, or even why i came to do it. but it was on this wise with me. being alone one evening in a forest, at twilight, taking counsel with myself and pondering upon the mystery from which i could not gather light, these words came into my heart; and when i had cherished them in my heart for a certain time, i uttered them aloud: "thou great god! if there be a god. reveal thyself unto my immortal soul! if i have a soul immortal." chapter xv. my little boy came flying to me one fair day; he cried out that he had news for me, that great things were going on in the town. a visitor was expected, whose promised arrival had set the whole place astir with joy. the child knew nothing of what or whom he spoke, but i gathered the impression that some distinguished guest was about to reach us, to whom the honours of the city would be extended. the matter did not interest me; i had so little in common with the people; and i was about to dismiss it idly, when boy posed me by demanding that i should personally conduct him through the events of the gala day. he was unusually insistent about this; for he was a docile little fellow, who seldom urged his will uncomfortably against my own. but in this case i could not compromise with him, and half reluctantly i yielded. i had no sooner done so than an urgent message to the same effect reached me from my friend the surgeon. "go with the current to-day," he wrote; "it sets strongly. question it not. resist it not. follow and be swept." immediately upon this some neighbours came hurriedly in, and spoke with me of the same matter eagerly. they pleaded with me on no account to miss the event of the day, upon whose specific nature they were somewhat reticent. they evinced the warmest possible interest in my personal relation to it; as people do who possess a happy secret that they wish, but may not feel at liberty, fully to share with another. they were excited, and overflowed with happiness. their very presence raised my spirits. i could not remember when i had received precisely this sort of attention from my neighbours; and it was, somehow, a comfort to me. i should not have supposed that i should value being made of consequence in this trifling way; yet it warmed my heart. i felt less desolate than usual, when i took the hand of my happy boy, and set forth. the whole vicinity was aroused. everybody moved in one direction, like "a current," as my friend had said. shining, solemn, and joyous faces filled the streets and fields. the voices of the people were subdued and sweet. there was no laughter, only smiles, and gentle expectation, and low consulting together, and some there were who mused apart. the "sick of soul" were present with the happier folk: these first had a wistful look, as of those not certain of themselves or of their welcome; but i saw that they were tenderly regarded by the more fortunate. i myself was most gently treated; many persons spoke with me, and i heard expressions of pleasure at my presence. in the crowd, as we moved on, i began to recognize here and there a face; acquaintances, whom i had known in the lower life, became visible to me. now and then, some one, hastening by, said:-"why, doctor!" and then i would perceive some old patients; the look which only loving patients wear was on their faces, the old impulse of trust and gratitude; they would grasp me heartily by the hand; this touched me; i began to feel a stir of sympathy with the general excitement; i was glad that i had joined the people. i pressed the hand of my little boy, who was running and leaping at my side. he looked confidingly up into my face, and asked me questions about the day's event; but these i could not answer. "god knows, my child," i said. "your father is not a learned man." as we swept on, the crowd thickened visibly. the current from the city met streams from the fields, the hills, the forests; all the distance overflowed; the concourse began to become imposing. here and there i observed still other faces that were not strange to me; flashes of recognition passed between us; some also of my own kin, dead years ago, i saw, far off, and i felt drawn to them. in the distance, not near enough to speak with her, shining and smiling, i thought that i perceived mrs. faith, once more. my boy threw kisses to her and laughed merrily; he was electric with the universal joy; he seemed to dance upon the air like a tuft of thistledown; to be "light-hearted" was to be light-bodied; the little fellow's frame seemed to exist only as the expression of his soul. i thought:-"if he is properly educated in this place, what a spirit he will make!" i was amazed to see his capacity for happiness. i thought of his mother. i wished to be happy, too. now, as we moved on toward the plain, the sound of low chanting began to swell from the crowd. the strain gained in distinctness; power gathered on it; passion grew in it; prayer ascended from it. i could not help being moved by this billow of sweet sound. the forms and faces of the people melted together before my eyes; their outlines seemed to quiver in the flood of song; it was as if their manifold personalities blurred in the unity of their feeling; they seemed to me, as i regarded them, like the presence of one great, glad, loving human soul. this was their supplication. thus arose the heavenly song:- "thou that takest away the sins of the world! whosoever believeth shall have life. whosoever believeth on thee shall have eternal life. thou that takest away the sins of the world! and givest--and givest eternal life!" "i cannot sing that pretty song," said my boy sadly. "there is nobody to teach me. father, i wish you _were_ a learned man!" now, this smote me to the heart, so that i would even have lifted my voice and sought to join the chant, for the child's sake, and to comfort him; but when i would have done so, behold, i could not lift my soul; it resisted me like a weight too heavy for my lips; for, in this land, song never rises higher than the level of the soul; there are fine laws governing this fact whose nature i may not explain, and could not at that time even understand, but of the fact itself i testify. "alas, alas, my son!" i said, "would god i were!" now suddenly, while i was conversing with my child, i perceived a stir among the people, as if they moved to greet some person who was advancing toward them. i looked in the direction whither all eyes were turned; but i saw nothing to account for the excitement. while i stood gazing and wondering, at one movement, as if it were by one heart-heat, the great throng bowed their heads. some object, some presence of which i could not catch a glimpse, had entered among them. whispers ran from lip to lip. i heard men say that he was here, that he was there, that he was yonder, that he had passed them, that he touched them. "he blesseth me!" they murmured. "and me! and me!" "oh, even me!" i heard low cries of delight and sobs of moving tenderness. i heard strange, wistful words from the disabled of soul who were among us,--pleadings for i knew not what, offered to i knew not whom. i heard words of sorrow and words of utter love, and i saw signs of shame, and looks of rapture, and attitudes of peace and eager hope. i saw men kneeling in reverence. i saw them prostrate in petition. i saw them as if they were clinging affectionately to hands that they kissed and wept upon. i saw them bowed as one bows before the act of benediction. these things i perceived, but alas, i could perceive no more. what went i out, with the heavenly, happy people, for to see? naught, god help me, worse than naught; for mine eyes were holden. dark amid that spiritual vision, i stood stricken. alone in all that blessedness, was i bereft? whom, for very rapture, did they melt to welcome? whom greeted they, with that great wave of love, so annihilating to their consciousness of themselves that i knew when i beheld it, i had never seen the face of love before? among them all, i stood alone--blind, blind. them i saw, and their blessedness, till i was filled with such a sacred envy of it that i would have suffered some new misery to share it. but he who did move among them thus royally and thus benignly, who passed from each man to each man, like the highest longing and the dearest wish of his own heart, who was to them one knew not whether the more of master or of chosen friend,--him, alas, i saw not. to me he was denied. no spiritual optic nerve in me announced his presence. i was blind,--i was blind. overcome by this discovery, i did not notice that my boy had loosened his hold upon my hand until his little fingers were quite disengaged from my clasp; and then, turning to speak to him, i found that he had slipped from me in the crowd. this was so great and the absorption so universal that no one noticed the mishap; and grateful, indeed, at that miserable moment, to be unobserved, i went in search of him. now, i did not find the child, though i sought long and patiently; and when i was beginning to feel perplexed, and to wonder what chance could have befallen him, i turned, and behold, while i had been searching, the throng had dispersed. night was coming on all the citizens were strolling to their homes. on street, and plain, and hill stirred the shadows of the departing people. they passed quietly. every voice was hushed. all the world was as still as a heart is after prayer. in the silent purple plain, only i was left alone. moved by solitude, which is the soul's sincerity, i yielded myself to strange impulses, and turning to the spot, where he who was invisible had passed or seemed to pass, i sought to find upon the ground and in the dusk some chance imprint of his steps. to do this it was necessary for me to stoop; and while i was bowed, searching for some least sign of him, in the dew and dark, i knew not what wave of shame and sorrow came upon me, but i fell upon my knees. there was no creature to hear me, and i spoke aloud, and said:-"_thou departest from me, for i am a sinful man, o lord!_" ... "_lord,_" i said, "_that i may receive my sight!_" i thought i had more to say than this, but when i had uttered these words no more did follow them. they seemed to fill my soul and flood it till it overflowed. and when i had lifted up my eyes, the first sight which did meet them was the face of my own child. i saw at once that he was quite safe and happy. but i saw that he was not alone. one towered above me, strange and dim, who held the little fellow in his arms. when i cried out to him, he smiled. and he did give the child to me, and spoke with me. chapter xvi. the natural step to knowledge is through faith. even human science teaches as much as this. the faith of the scholar in the theoretic value of his facts precedes his intelligent use of them. invention dreams before it does. discovery believes before it finds. creation imagines before it achieves. spiritual intelligence, when it came at last, to me, came with something of the jar of all abnormal processes. the wholesome movements of trust i had omitted from my soul's economy. the function of faith was a disused thing in me. truth had to treat me as an undeveloped mind. in the depth of my consciousness, i knew that, come what might, i had for ever lost the chance to be a symmetrical healthy human creature, whose spiritual faculties are exercised like his brain or muscle; who has lived upon the earth, and loved it, and gathered its wealth and sweetness and love of living into his being, as visible food whereby to create invisible stature; whose earthly experience has carried him on, as nature carries growth--unconsciously, powerfully, perfectly, into a diviner life. for ever it must remain with me that i had missed the natural step. if i say that the realization of knowledge was the first thing to teach me the value of faith, i shall be understood by those who may have read this narrative with any sort of sympathy to the present point; and, for the rest, some wiser, better man than i must write. i do not address those who follow these pages as i myself should once have done. i do not hope to make myself intelligible to you, as i would to god i could! personal misery is intelligible, and the shock of belated discovery. but the experience of another in matters of this kind has not a "scientific" character. no one can know better than i how my story will be dismissed as something which is not "a fact." in the times to be, it is my belief that there shall yet arise a soul, worthier of the sacred task than i to which shall be given the perilous and precious commission of interpreter between the visible life and the life invisible. on this soul high privilege will be bestowed, and awful opportunity. through it the deaf shall hear, the dumb shall speak. the bereaved shall bless it, and the faint of heart shall lean on it, and those who know not god shall listen to it, and the power of god shall be upon it. but mine is not that soul. even as one who was above man did elect to experience the earthly lot of man to save him; so one who is a man among men may yet be permitted to use the heavenly lot in such wise as to comfort them. the first mission called for superhuman power. the second may need only human purity. i now enter upon a turn in my narrative, where my vehicle of communication begins to fail me. human language, as employed upon the earth, has served me to some extent to express those phases of celestial fact upon which i still looked with earth-blind eyes. with spiritual vision comes the immediate need of a spiritual vocabulary. like most men of my temperament and training, i have been accustomed to some caution in the use of words. i know not any, which would be intelligible to the readers of this record, that can serve to express my experiences onward from this point. "a man becomes _terrestrialized_ as he grows older," said an unbeliever of our day, once, to me. it is at least true that the terrestrial intellect celestializes by the hardest; and it remains obvious, as it was written, that the things which are prepared may not enter into the heart of man. this is only another way of saying that my life from the solemn hour which i have recorded underwent revolutions too profound for me to desire to utter them, and that most of my experiences were of a nature which i lack the means to report. my story draws to a stop, as a cry of anguish comes to a hush of peace. what word is there to say? there is, indeed, one. with lips that tremble and praise god, i add it. at a period not immediately following the event which i have described, yet not so far beyond it that the time, as i recall it, seemed wearisome to me, i received a summons to go upon an errand to a distant place. it was the first time that i had been intrusted with any business of a wider nature than the care of my own affairs or the immediate offices of neighbourhood, and i was gratified thereby. i had, indeed, longed to be counted worthy to perform some special service at the will of him who guided all our service, and had cherished in my secret heart some project of praying that i might be elected to a special task which had grown, from much musing, dear to me. i did most deeply desire to become worthy to wear the seal of a commission to the earth; but i had ceased to urge the selfish cry of my personal heart-break. i did not pray now for the precious right to visit my own home, nor weary the will in which i had learned to confide with passionate demands for my beloved. i may rather say that i had come almost to feel that when i was worthy to see helen i should be worthy of life eternal; and that i had dropped my love and my longing and my shame into the hands of infinite love, and seen them close over these, as over a trust. the special matter to which i refer was this: i desired to be permitted to visit human homes, and set myself, as well as i might, to the effort of cultivating their kindliness. i longed to cherish the sacred graces of human speech. i wished to emphasize the opportunity of those who love each other. i groaned within me, till i might teach the preciousness and the poignancy of _words_. it seemed to me that if i might but set the whole force of a man's experience and a spirit's power to make an irritable scene in loving homes held as degrading as a blow, that i could say what no man ever said before, and do what no spirit would ever do again. if this be called an exaggerated view of a specific case, i can only say that every human life learns one lesson perfectly, and is qualified to teach that, and that alone, as no other can. this was mine. when, therefore, i received the summons to which i have alluded, i inferred that the wish of my heart had been heard, and i set forth joyfully, expecting to be sent upon some service of the nature at which i have hinted. my soul was full of it, and i made haste to depart, putting no question in the way of my obedience. no information, indeed, was granted to me beyond the fact that i should follow a certain course until i came to its apparent end, and there await what should occur, and act as my heart prompted. the vagueness of this command stirred my curiosity a little, i confess; but that only added to the pleasure of the undertaking. it would be difficult to say how much relief i found in being occupied once again to some purpose, like a man. but it would be impossible to tell the solemn happiness i had in being counted fit humbly to fulfil the smallest trust placed in me by him who was revealed, at this late, last moment, after all, to me, unworthy. i set forth alone. the child was left behind me with a neighbour, for so i thought the way of wisdom in this matter. following only the general directions which i had received, i found myself soon within the open country toward the region of the hills. as i advanced, the scenery became familiar to me, and i was not slow to recognize the path as the one which i myself had trodden on my first entrance to the city wherein of recent days i had found my home. i stopped to consider this fact, and to gather landmarks, gazing about me diligently and musing on my unknown course; for the ways divided before me as foot-paths do in fields, each looking like all and all like each. while i stood uncertain, and sensitively anxious to make no mistake, i heard the hit! hit! of light feet patting the grass behind me, and, turning, saw a little fellow coming like the morning wind across the plain. his bright hair blew straight before him, from his forehead. he ran sturdily. how beautiful he was! he did not call me nor show the slightest fear lest he should fail to overtake me. ha had already learned that love always overtakes the beloved in that blessed land. "you forgot your little boy," he said reproachfully, and put his hand quietly within mine and walked on beside me, and forgot that he had been forgotten immediately, and looked upward at me radiantly. remembering the command to await what should occur, and do as my heart prompted, i accepted this accident as part of a purpose wiser than my own, and kissed the little fellow, and we travelled on together. as we came into the hill country, our way grow wilder and more desolate. the last of the stray travellers whom we chanced to meet was now well behind us. in the wide spaces we were quite alone. behind us, dim and distant, shimmering like an opal in a haze of fair half-tints, the city shone. on either side of us, the forest trees began to tread solemnly, like a vast procession which no man could number, keeping step to some inaudible march. before us, the great crest of the mountains towered dark as death against the upper sky. as we drew near, the loneliness of these hills was to me as something of which i had never conceived before. earth did not hold their likeness, and my heart had never held their meaning. i could almost have dreaded them, as we came nearer to them; but the deviation of the paths had long since ceased. in the desolate country which we were now crossing choice was removed from conduct. there was but one course for me to take; i took it unhesitatingly and without fear, which belongs wholly to the lower life. as we advanced, the great mountain barrier rose high and higher before us, till it seemed to shut out the very sky from our sight, and to crush us apart from all the world--nay, from either world or any, i could have thought, so desolate and so awful was the spot. but when we had entered the shadow formed by the mighty range, and had accustomed our eyes to it for a time, i perceived, not far ahead of me, but in fact quite near and sudden to the view, a long, dark, sharp defile cut far into the heart of the hills. the place had an unpleasant look, and i stopped before it to regard it. it was so grim of aspect and so assured of outline, like a trap for travellers which had hung there from all eternity, that i liked it not, and would not that the child should enter till i had first inspected it. therefore, i bade him sit and rest upon a bed of crimson mosses which grew at the feet of a great rock, and to remain until he saw me turn to him again; and with many cautions and the most minute directions for his obedience and his comfort, i left him, and advanced alone. my way had now grown quite or almost dark. the light of heaven and earth alike seemed banished from the dreadful spot. as it narrowed, the footing grew uncertain and slippery, and the air dense and damp. i had to remind myself that i was now become a being for whom physical danger had ceased for ever. "what a place," i thought, "for one less fortunate!" as these words were in my mind, i lifted my eyes and looked, and saw that i was not alone in the dark defile. a figure was coming toward me, slight of build and delicate; yet it had a firm tread, and moved with well-nigh the balance of a spirit over the rough and giddy way. as i watched it, i saw that it was a woman. uncertain for the moment what to do, i remembered the command. "await what shall occur, and do as thy heart prompteth." and therefore--for my heart prompted me, as a man's must, to be of service to the woman--i hastened, and advanced, and midway of the place i met her. it was now perfectly dark. i could not see her face. when i would have spoken with her, and given her good cheer, i could not find my voice. if she said aught to me, i could not hear her. but i gathered her hands, and held her, and led her on, and shielded her, and gave her such comfort as a man by strength and silence may give a woman when she has need of him; and as i supported her and aided her, i thought of my dear wife, and prayed god that there might be found some soul of fire and snow--since to me it was denied--to do as much as this for her in some hour of her unknown need. but when i had led the woman out into the lighter space, and turned to look upon her, lo, it was none other. it was she herself. it was my wife. it was no man's beloved but my own.... so, then, crying, "_helen!_" and "forgive me, helen!" till the dark place rang with her dear name, i bowed myself and sunk before her, and could not put forth my hand to touch her, for i thought of how we parted, and it seemed my heart would break. but she said, "why, my dear love! oh, my poor love! did you think i would remember _that_?" and i felt her sacred tears upon my face, and she crept to me--oh, not royally, not royally, like a wife who was wronged, but like the sweetest woman in the world, who clung to me because she could not help it, and would not if she could.... but when we turned our footsteps toward the light, and came out together, hand in hand, there was our little boy, at play upon the bed of crimson moss, and smiling like the face of joy eternal. so his mother held out her arms, and the child ran into them. and when we came to ourselves, we blessed almighty god. perceiving that inquiry will be raised touching the means by which i have been enabled to give this record to the living earth, i have this reply to make: that is my secret. let it remain such. the end. the family gift series. 1 the swiss family robinson. with 200 engravings. 2 bunyan's pilgrim's progress. memoir. 100 illusts. 3 robinson crusoe. memoir and many engravings. 4 sandford and merton. with 100 engravings. 5 famous boys, and how they became great men. 6 fifty celebrated women. with portraits, &c. 7 the gentlemen adventurers. w. h. g. kingston. 8 evenings at home. with many illustrations. 9 the adventures of captain hatteras. by jules verne. with coloured plates. 10 twenty thousand leagues under the sea. by jules verne. with coloured plates. 11 the wonderful travels. by the same. col. plates. 12 the moon voyage. jules verne. coloured plates. 13 getting on in the world. by w. mathews, ll.d. 14 the boy's own book of manufactures and industries of the world. with 365 engravings. 15 great inventors: the sources of their usefulness, and the results of their efforts. with 109 engravings. 16 the marvels of nature. with 400 engravings. 17 the boy's own sea stories. with page engravings. 18 grimm's fairy tales. with many illustrations. 19 fifty celebrated men. with portraits. 20 the wonders of the world. with 123 engravings. 21 triumphs of perseverance and enterprise. illust. 22 keble's christian year. with page engravings. 23 a face illumined. by e. p. roe. 24 the scottish chiefs. by miss jane porter. 25 what can she do? by e. p. roe. 26 barriers burned away. by e. p. roe. 27 opening of a chestnut burr. by e. p. roe. 28 orange blossoms. by t. s. arthur. illustrated. 29 mary bunyan. by s. r. ford. 30 margaret catchpole. by rev. r. cobbold. 31 julamerk; or, the converted jewess. by mrs. webb. 33 amy and hester; or, the long holidays. illustrated. 34 edwin and mary; or, the mother's cabinet. illustrated. 35 wonders and beauties of the year. h. g. adams. 36 modern society. by catherine sinclair. 37 beatrice. by catherine sinclair. 38 looking heavenward: a series of tales and sketches for the young. with numerous illustrations. 39 life's contrasts; or, the four homes. illustrated. 40 nature's gifts, and how we use them. illust. 41 pilgrims heavenward: counsel and encouragement. 42 children's hymns and rhymes. illustrated. 43 preachers and preaching, in ancient and modern times. by rev. henry christmas. with portraits. 44 character and culture. by the bishop of durham. 45 popular preachers: their lives and their works. 46 boy's handy book of games and sports, illust. 47 boy's handy book of natural history. illust. 48 a knight of the nineteenth century. e. p. roe. 49 near to nature's heart. by e. p. roe. 50 a day of fate. by e. p. roe. 51 odd or even? by mrs. whitney. 52 gutenburg, and the art of printing. illustrated. 53 uncle mark's money; or, more ways than one. 54 without a home. by e. p. roe. 55 the arabian nights' entertainments. illustrated. 56 andersen's popular tales. illustrated. 57 andersen's popular stories. illustrated. 58 lion hunting. by gerard. illust. by doré and others. 59 the backwoodsman. ed. by sir c. f. l. wraxall. 60 the young marooners. by f. r. goulding. illust. 61 the crusades and crusaders. by j. g. edgar. do. 62 hunting adventures in forest and field. illust. 63 the boy's book of modern travel and adventure. 64 famous people and famous places. illustrated. 65 cheerful homes; how to get and keep them. author of "buy your own cherries." &c. (also cheap edition) 66 helen. by maria edgeworth. 67 our helen. by sophie may. 68 the little ragamuffins of outcast london. by the author of "a night in a workhouse," &c. illustrated. 69 heaven's messengers: a series of stirring addresses. 70 from log cabin to white house: the life of general garfield. illustrated. ward, lock & co., london. melbourne, and new york. [transcriber's note: the html version of this etext contains the publisher's catalog] books on egypt and chaldea by e. a. wallis budge, m. a., litt d., d. lit. _keeper of the egyptian and assyrian antiquities in the british museum_ and l. w. king, m. a. _assistant in the department of egyptian and assyrian antiquities in the british museum_ crown 8vo, 3s, 6d, net each vol i--egyptian religion. egyptian ideas of the future life by e. a. wallis budge vol ii--egyptian magic. by e. a. wallis budge vol. iii--egyptian language. easy lessons in egyptian hieroglyphics by e. a. wallis budge vol iv--babylonian religion. babylonian religion and mythology. by l. w. king vol v--assyrian language. easy lessons in the cuneiform texts by l. w. king, m. a. vols vi, vii, viii--the book of the dead. an english translation of the chapters, hymns, &c., of the theban recension with introduction, notes, and numerous illustrations by e. a. wallis budge, litt. d. vols ix-xvi--a history of egypt. from the end of the neolithic period to the death of cleopatra vii, b.c. 30 by e. a. wallis budge, litt. d. 8 vols. illustrated. * * * * * vol. i. egyptian ideas of the future life publishers' note. in the year 1894, dr. wallis budge prepared for messrs. kegan paul, trench, trübner & co. an elementary work on the egyptian language, entitled "first steps in egyptian," and two years later the companion volume, "an egyptian reading book," with transliterations of all the texts printed in it, and a full vocabulary. the success of these works proved that they had helped to satisfy a want long felt by students of the egyptian language, and as a similar want existed among students of the languages written in the cuneiform character, mr. l.w. king, of the british museum, prepared, on the same lines as the two books mentioned above, an elementary work on the assyrian and babylonian languages ("first steps in assyrian"), which appeared in 1898. these works, however, dealt mainly with the philological branch of egyptology and assyriology, and it was impossible in the space allowed to explain much that needed explanation in the other branches of those subjects--that is to say, matters relating to the archaeology, history, religion, etc., of the egyptians, assyrians, and babylonians. in answer to the numerous requests which have been made, a series of short, popular handbooks on the most important branches of egyptology and assyriology have been prepared, and it is hoped that these will serve as introductions to the larger works on these subjects. the present is the first volume of the series, and the succeeding volumes will be published at short intervals, and at moderate prices. egyptian ideas of the future life by e.a. wallis budge, m. a., litt. d., d. lit. keeper of the egyptian and assyrian antiquities of the british museum with eight illustrations _third edition_ 1908 to sir john evans, k. c. b., d. c. l., f. r. s., etc., etc., etc. in grateful remembrance of much friendly help and encouragement preface. * * * * * the following pages are intended to place before the reader in a handy form an account of the principal ideas and beliefs held by the ancient egyptians concerning the resurrection and the future life, which is derived wholly from native religious works. the literature of egypt which deals with these subjects is large and, as was to be expected, the product of different periods which, taken together, cover several thousands of years; and it is exceedingly difficult at times to reconcile the statements and beliefs of a writer of one period with those of a writer of another. up to the present no systematic account of the doctrine of the resurrection and of the future life has been discovered, and there is no reason for hoping that such a thing will ever be found, for the egyptians do not appear to have thought that it was necessary to write a work of the kind. the inherent difficulty of the subject, and the natural impossibility that different men living in different places and at different times should think alike on matters which must, after all, belong always to the region of faith, render it more than probable that no college of priests, however powerful, was able to formulate a system of beliefs which would be received throughout egypt by the clergy and the laity alike, and would be copied by the scribes as a final and authoritative work on egyptian eschatology. besides this, the genius and structure of the egyptian language are such as to preclude the possibility of composing in it works of a philosophical or metaphysical character in the true sense of the words. in spite of these difficulties, however, it is possible to collect a great deal of important information on the subject from the funereal and religious works which have come down to us, especially concerning the great central idea of immortality, which existed unchanged for thousands of years, and formed the pivot upon which the religious and social life of the ancient egyptians actually turned. from the beginning to the end of his life the egyptian's chief thought was of the life beyond the grave, and the hewing of his tomb in the rock, and the providing of its furniture, every detail of which was prescribed by the custom of the country, absorbed the best thoughts of his mind and a large share of his worldly goods, and kept him ever mindful of the time when his mummified body would be borne to his "everlasting house" in the limestone plateau or hill. the chief source of our information concerning the doctrine of the resurrection and of the future life as held by the egyptians is, of course, the great collection of religious texts generally known by the name of "book of the dead." the various recensions of these wonderful compositions cover a period of more than five thousand years, and they reflect faithfully not only the sublime beliefs, and the high ideals, and the noble aspirations of the educated egyptians, but also the various superstitions and childish reverence for amulets, and magical rites, and charms, which they probably inherited from their pre-dynastic ancestors, and regarded as essentials for their salvation. it must be distinctly understood that many passages and allusions in the book of the dead still remain obscure, and that in some places any translator will be at a difficulty in attempting to render certain, important words into any modern european language. but it is absurd to talk of almost the whole text of the book of the dead as being utterly corrupt, for royal personages, and priests, and scribes, to say nothing of the ordinary educated folk, would not have caused costly copies of a very lengthy work to be multiplied, and illustrated by artists possessing the highest skill, unless it had some meaning to them, and was necessary for the attainment by them of the life which is beyond the grave. the "finds" of recent years in egypt have resulted in the recovery of valuable texts whereby numerous difficulties have been cleared away; and we must hope that the faults made in translating to-day may be corrected by the discoveries of to-morrow. in spite of all difficulties, both textual and grammatical, sufficient is now known of the egyptian religion to prove, with certainty, that the egyptians possessed, some six thousand years ago, a religion and a system of morality which, when stripped of all corrupt accretions, stand second to none among those which have been developed by the greatest nations of the world. e. a. wallis budge. london, _august 21st_, 1899. contents. chapter i. the belief in god almighty ii. osiris the god of the resurrection iii. the "gods" of the egyptians iv. the judgment of the dead v. the resurrection and immortality list of illustrations. chapter i. the creation ii. isis suckling horus in the papyrus swamp iii. the soul of osiris and the soul of r[=a] meeting in tattu. r[=a], in the form of a cat, cutting off the head of the serpent of darkness iv. the judgment of the dead in the hall of ma[=a]ti v. the deceased being led into the presence of osiris vi. the sekhet-aaru or "elysian fields"- (1) from the papyrus of nebseni (2) from the papyrus of ani (3) from the papyrus of anilai chapter i. the belief in god almighty. a study of ancient egyptian religious texts will convince the reader that the egyptians believed in one god, who was self-existent, immortal, invisible, eternal, omniscient, almighty, and inscrutable; the maker of the heavens, earth, and underworld; the creator of the sky and the sea, men and women, animals and birds, fish and creeping things, trees and plants, and the incorporeal beings who were the messengers that fulfilled his wish and word. it is necessary to place this definition of the first part of the belief of the egyptian at the beginning of the first chapter of this brief account of the principal religious ideas which he held, for the whole of his theology and religion was based upon it; and it is also necessary to add that, however far back we follow his literature, we never seem to approach a time when he was without this remarkable belief. it is true that he also developed polytheistic ideas and beliefs, and that he cultivated them at certain periods of his history with diligence, and to such a degree that the nations around, and even the stranger in his country, were misled by his actions, and described him as a polytheistic idolater. but notwithstanding all such departures from observances, the keeping of which befitted those who believed in god and his unity, this sublime idea was never lost sight of; on the contrary, it is reproduced in the religious literature of all periods. whence came this remarkable characteristic of the egyptian religion no man can say, and there is no evidence whatsoever to guide us in formulating the theory that it was brought into egypt by immigrants from the east, as some have said, or that it was a natural product of the indigenous peoples who formed the population of the valley of the nile some ten thousand years ago, according to the opinion of others. all that is known is that it existed there at a period so remote that it is useless to attempt to measure by years the interval of time which has elapsed since it grew up and established itself in the minds of men, and that it is exceedingly doubtful if we shall ever have any very definite knowledge on this interesting point. but though we know nothing about the period of the origin in egypt of the belief in the existence of an almighty god who was one, the inscriptions show us that this being was called by a name which was something like _neter_, [footnote: there is no _e_ in egyptian, and this vowel is added merely to make the word pronounceable.] the picture sign for which was an axe-head, made probably of stone, let into a long wooden handle. the coloured picture character shews that the axe-head was fastened into the handle by thongs of leather or string, and judging by the general look of the object it must have been a formidable weapon in strong, skilled hands. a theory has recently been put forward to the effect that the picture character represents a stick with a bit of coloured rag tied to the, but it will hardly commend itself to any archaeologist. the lines which cross the side of the axe-head represent string or strips of leather, and indicate that it was made of stone which, being brittle, was liable to crack; the picture characters which delineate the object in the latter dynasties shew that metal took the place of the stone axe-head, and being tough the new substance needed no support. the mightiest man in the prehistoric days was he who had the best weapon, and knew how to wield it with the greatest effect; when the prehistoric hero of many fights and victories passed to his rest, his own or a similar weapon was buried with him to enable him to wage war successfully in the next world. the mightiest man had the largest axe, and the axe thus became the symbol of the mightiest man. as he, by reason of the oft-told narrative of his doughty deeds at the prehistoric camp fire at eventide, in course of time passed from the rank of a hero to that of a god, the axe likewise passed from being the symbol of a hero to that of a god. far away back in the early dawn of civilization in egypt, the object which i identify as an axe may have had some other signification, but if it had, it was lost long before the period of the rule of the dynasties in that country. passing now to the consideration of the meaning of the name for god, _neter_, we find that great diversity of opinion exists among egyptologists on the subject. some, taking the view that the equivalent of the word exists in coptic, under the form of _nuti_, and because coptic is an ancient egyptian dialect, have sought to deduce its meaning by seeking in that language for the root from which the word may be derived. but all such attempts have had no good result, because the word _nuti_ stands by itself, and instead of being derived from a coptic root is itself the equivalent of the egyptian _neter_, [footnote: the letter _r_ has dropped out in coptic through phonetic decay.] and was taken over by the translators of the holy scriptures from that language to express the words "god" and "lord." the coptic root _nomti_ cannot in any way be connected with _nuti_, and the attempt to prove that the two are related was only made with the view of helping to explain the fundamentals of the egyptian religion by means of sanskrit and other aryan analogies. it is quite possible that the word _neter_ means "strength," "power," and the like, but these are only some of its derived meanings, and we have to look in the hieroglyphic inscriptions for help in order to determine its most probable meaning. the eminent french egyptologist, e. de rougé, connected the name of god, _neter_, with the other word _neter_, "renewal" or "renovation," and it would, according to his view, seem as if the fundamental idea of god was that of the being who had the power to renew himself perpetually--or in other words, "self-existence." the late dr. h. brugsch partly accepted this view, for he defined _neter_ as being "the active power which produces and creates things in regular recurrence; which bestows new life upon them, and gives back to them their youthful vigour." [footnote: _religion und mythologie_, p. 93.] there seems to be no doubt that, inasmuch as it is impossible to find any one word which will render _neter_ adequately and satisfactorily, "self-existence" and "possessing the power to renew life indefinitely," may together be taken as the equivalent of _neter_ in our own tongue, m. maspero combats rightly the attempt to make "strong" the meaning of _neter_ (masc.), or _neterit_ (fem.) in these words: "in the expressions 'a town _neterit_ 'an arm _neteri_,' ... is it certain that 'a strong city,' 'a strong arm,' give us the primitive sense of _neter_? when among ourselves one says 'divine music,' 'a piece of divine poetry,' 'the divine taste of a peach,' 'the divine beauty of a woman,' [the word] divine is a hyperbole, but it would be a mistake to declare that it originally meant 'exquisite' because in the phrases which i have imagined one could apply it as 'exquisite music,' 'a piece of exquisite poetry,' 'the exquisite taste of a peach,' 'the exquisite beauty of a woman.' similarly, in egyptian, 'a town _neterit_ is 'a divine town;' 'an arm _netsri_' is 'a divine arm,' and _neteri_ is employed metaphorically in egyptian as is [the word] 'divine' in french, without its being any more necessary to attribute to [the word] _neteri_ the primitive meaning of 'strong,' than it is to attribute to [the word] 'divine' the primitive meaning of 'exquisite.'" [footnote: _la mythologie egyptienne_, p. 215.] it may be, of course, that _neter_ had another meaning which is now lost, but it seems that the great difference between god and his messengers and created things is that he is the being who is self-existent and immortal, whilst they are not self-existent and are mortal. here it will be objected by those who declare that the ancient egyptian idea of god is on a level with that evolved by peoples and tribes who stand comparatively little removed from very intelligent animals, that such high conceptions as self-existence and immortality belong to a people who are already on a high grade of development and civilization. this is precisely the case with the egyptians when we first know them. as a matter of fact, we know nothing of their ideas of god before they developed sufficiently to build the monuments which we know they built, and before they possessed the religion, and civilization, and complex social system which their writings have revealed to us. in the remotest prehistoric times it is probable that their views about god and the future life were little better than those of the savage tribes, now living, with whom some have compared them. the primitive god was an essential feature of the family, and the fortunes of the god varied with the fortunes of the family; the god of the city in which a man lived was regarded as the ruler of the city, and the people of that city no more thought of neglecting to provide him with what they considered to be due to his rank and position than they thought of neglecting to supply their own wants. in fact the god of the city became the centre of the social fabric of that city, and every inhabitant thereof inherited automatically certain duties, the neglect of which brought stated pains and penalties upon him. the remarkable peculiarity of the egyptian religion is that the primitive idea of the god of the city is always cropping up in it, and that is the reason why we find semi-savage ideas of god side by side with some of the most sublime conceptions, and it of course underlies all the legends of the gods wherein they possess all the attributes of men and women. the egyptian in his semi-savage state was neither better nor worse than any other man in the same stage of civilization, but he stands easily first among the nations in his capacity for development, and in his ability for evolving conceptions concerning god and the future life, which are claimed as the peculiar product of the cultured nations of our time. we must now, however, see how the word for god, _neter_, is employed in religious texts and in works which contain moral precepts. in the text of unas, [footnote: ed maspero, _pyramides de saqqarah_; p. 25.] a king who reigned about b.c. 3300, we find the passage:--"that which is sent by thy _ka_ cometh to thee, that which is sent by thy father cometh to thee, that which is sent by r[=a] cometh to thee, and it arriveth in the train of thy r[=a]. thou art pure, thy bones are the gods and the goddesses of heaven, thou existest at the side of god, thou art unfastened, thou comest forth towards thy soul, for every evil word (or thing) which hath been written in the name of unas hath been done away." and, again, in the text of teta, [footnote: _ibid_., p. 113.] in the passage which refers to the place in the eastern part of heaven "where the gods give birth unto themselves, where that to which they give birth is born, and where they renew their youth," it is said of this king, "teta standeth up in the form of the star...he weigheth words (_or_ trieth deeds), and behold god hearkeneth unto that which he saith." elsewhere [footnote: ed. maspero, _pyramides da saqqarah_, p. 111.] in the same text we read, "behold, teta hath arrived in the height of heaven, and the _henmemet_ beings have seen him; the semketet [footnote: the morning boat of the sun.] boat knoweth him, and it is teta who saileth it, and the m[=a]ntchet [footnote: the evening boat of the sun.] boat calleth unto him, and it is teta who bringeth it to a standstill. teta hath seen his body in the semketet boat, he knoweth the uraeus which is in the m[=a]ntchet boat, and god hath called him in his name...and hath taken him in to r[=a]." and again [footnote: _ibid_., p. 150.] we have: "thou hast received the form (_or_ attribute) of god, and thou hast become great therewith before the gods"; and of pepi i., who reigned about b.c. 3000, it is said, "this pepi is god, the son of god." [footnote: _ibid_., p. 222.] now in these passages the allusion is to the supreme being in the next world, the being who has the power to invoke and to obtain a favourable reception for the deceased king by r[=a], the sun-god, the type and symbol of god. it may, of course, be urged that the word _neter_ here refers to osiris, but it is not customary to speak of this god in such a way in the texts; and even if we admit that it does, it only shows that the powers of god have been attributed to osiris, and that he was believed to occupy the position in respect of r[=a] and the deceased which the supreme being himself occupied. in the last two extracts given above we might read "a god" instead of "god," but there is no object in the king receiving the form or attribute of a nameless god; and unless pepi becomes the son of god; the honour which the writer of that text intends to ascribe to the king becomes little and even ridiculous. passing from religious texts to works containing moral precepts, we find much light thrown upon the idea of god by the writings of the early sages of egypt. first and foremost among these are the "precepts of kaqemna" and the "precepts of ptah-hetep," works which were composed as far back as b.c. 3000. the oldest copy of them which we possess is, unfortunately, not older than b.c. 2500, but this fact in no way affects our argument. these "precepts" are intended to form a work of direction and guidance for a young man in the performance of his duty towards the society in which he lived and towards his god. it is only fair to say that the reader will look in vain in them for the advice which is found in writings of a similar character composed at a later period; but as a work intended to demonstrate the "whole duty of man" to the youth of the time when the great pyramid was still a new building, these "precepts" are very remarkable. the idea of god held by ptah-hetep is illustrated by the following passages:- 1. "thou shalt make neither man nor woman to be afraid, for god is opposed thereto; and if any man shall say that he will live thereby, he will make him to want bread." 2. "as for the nobleman who possesseth abundance of goods, he may act according to his own dictates; and he may do with himself that which he pleaseth; if he will do nothing at all, that also is as he pleaseth. the nobleman by merely stretching out his hand doeth that which mankind (_or_ a person) cannot attain to; but inasmuch as the eating of bread is according to the plan of god, this cannot be gainsaid." 3. "if thou hast ground to till, labour in the field which god hath given thee; rather than fill thy mouth with that which belongeth to thy neighbours it is better to terrify him that hath possessions [to give them unto thee]." 4. "if thou abasest thyself in the service of a perfect man, thy conduct shall be fair before god." 5. "if thou wouldst be a wise man, make thou thy son to be pleasing unto god." 6. "satisfy those who depend upon thee as far as thou art able so to do; this should be done by those whom god hath favoured." 7. "if, having been of no account, thou hast become great; and if, having been poor, thou hast become rich; and if thou hast become governor of the city, be not hard-hearted on account of thy advancement, because thou hast become merely the guardian of the things which god hath provided." 8. "what is loved of god is obedience; god hateth disobedience." 9. "verily a good son is of the gifts of god." [footnote: the text was published by prisse d'avennes, entitled _facsimile d'un papyrus égyptien en caractères hieratiques_, paris, 1847. for a translation of the whole work, see virey, _études sur le papyrus prisse_, paris, 1887.] the same idea of god, but considerably amplified in some respects, may be found in the _maxims of khensu-hetep_, a work which was probably composed during the xviiith dynasty. this work has been studied in detail by a number of eminent egyptologists, and though considerable difference of opinion has existed among them in respect of details and grammatical niceties, the general sense of the maxims has been clearly established. to illustrate the use of the word _neter_, the following passages have been chosen from it:[footnote: they are given with interlinear transliteration and translation in my _papyrus of ani_, p. lxxxv. ff., where references to the older literature on the subject will be found.]- 1. "god magnifieth his name." 2. "what the house of god hateth is much speaking. pray thou with a loving heart all the petitions which are in secret. he will perform thy business, he will hear that which thou sayest and will accept thine offerings." 3. "god decreeth the right." 4. "when thou makest an offering unto thy god, guard thou against the things which are an abomination unto him. behold thou his plans with thine eye, and devote thyself to the adoration of his name. he giveth souls unto millions of forms, and him that magnifieth him doth he magnify." 5. "if thy mother raise her hands to god he will hear her prayers [and rebuke thee]." 7. "give thyself to god, and keep thou thyself daily for god." now, although the above passages prove the exalted idea which the egyptians held of the supreme being, they do not supply us with any of the titles and epithets which they applied to him; for these we must have recourse to the fine hymns and religious meditations which form so important a part of the "book of the dead." but before we quote from them, mention must be made of the _neteru_, _i.e._, the beings or existences which in some way partake of the nature or character of god, and are usually called "gods." the early nations that came in contact with the egyptians usually misunderstood the nature of these beings, and several modern western writers have done the same. when we examine these "gods" closely, they are found to be nothing more nor less than forms, or manifestations, or phases, or attributes, of one god, that god being r[=a] the sun-god, who, it must be remembered, was the type and symbol of god. nevertheless, the worship of the _neteru_ by the egyptians has been made the base of the charge of "gross idolatry" which has been brought against them, and they have been represented by some as being on the low intellectual level of savage tribes. it is certain that from the earliest times one of the greatest tendencies of the egyptian religion was towards monotheism, and this tendency may be observed in all important texts down to the latest period; it is also certain that a kind of polytheism existed in egypt side by side with monotheism from very early times. whether monotheism or polytheism be the older, it is useless in our present state of knowledge to attempt to enquire. according to tiele, the religion of egypt was at the beginning polytheistic, but developed in two opposite directions: in the one direction gods were multiplied by the addition of local gods, and in the other the egyptians drew nearer and nearer to monotheism. [footnote: _geschiedenis van den godedienst in de oudheid_, amsterdam, 1893, p. 25. a number of valuable remarks on this subject are given by lieblein in _egyptian religion_, p. 10.] dr. wiedemann takes the view that three main elements may be recognized in the egyptian religion: (1) a solar monotheism, that is to say one god, the creator of the universe, who manifests his power especially in the sun and its operations; (2) a cult of the regenerating power of nature, which expresses itself in the adoration of ithyphallic gods, of fertile goddesses, and of a series of animals and of various deities of vegetation; (3) a perception of an anthropomorphic divinity, the life of whom in this world and in the world beyond this was typical of the ideal life of man [footnote: _le livre dei moris_ (review in _muséon_, tom. xiii. 1893).]--this last divinity being, of course, osiris. but here again, as dr. wiedemann says, it is an unfortunate fact that all the texts which we possess are, in respect of the period of the origin of the egyptian religion, comparatively late, and therefore in them we find these three elements mixed together, along with a number of foreign matters, in such a way as to make it impossible to discover which of them is the oldest. no better example can be given of the loose way in which different ideas about a god and god are mingled in the same text than the "negative confession" in the hundred and twenty-fifth chapter of the book of the dead. here, in the oldest copies of the passages known, the deceased says, "i have not cursed god" (1. 38), and a few lines after (1. 42) he adds, "i have not thought scorn of the god living in my city." it seems that here we have indicated two different layers of belief, and that the older is represented by the allusion to the "god of the city," in which case it would go back to the time when the egyptian lived in a very primitive fashion. if we assume that god (who is mentioned in line 38) is osiris, it does not do away with the fact that he was regarded as a being entirely different from the "god of the city" and that he was of sufficient importance to have one line of the "confession" devoted to him. the egyptian saw no incongruity in setting references to the "gods" side by side with allusions to a god whom we cannot help identifying with the supreme being and the creator of the world; his ideas and beliefs have, in consequence, been sadly misrepresented, and by certain writers he has been made an object of ridicule. what, for example, could be a more foolish description of egyptian worship than the following? "who knows not, o volusius of bithynia, the sort of monsters egypt, in her infatuation, worships. one part venerates the crocodile; another trembles before an ibis gorged with serpents. the image of a sacred monkey glitters in gold, where the magic chords sound from memnon broken in half, and ancient thebes lies buried in ruins, with her hundred gates. in one place they venerate sea-fish, in another river-fish; there, whole towns worship a dog: no one diana. it is an impious act to violate or break with the teeth a leek or an onion. o holy nations! whose gods grow for them in their gardens! every table abstains from animals that have wool: it is a crime there to kill a kid. but human flesh is lawful food." [footnote: juvenal, satire xv. (evans' translation in bohn's series, p. 180). led astray by juvenal, our own good george herbert (_church militant_) wrote:- "at first he (_i.e._, sin) got to egypt, and did sow gardens of gods, which every year did grow fresh and fine deities. they were at great cost, who for a god clearly a sallet lost. ah, what a thing is man devoid of grace, adoring garlic with an humble face, begging his food of that which he may eat, starving the while he worshippeth his meat! who makes a root his god, how low is he, if god and man be severed infinitely! what wretchedness can give him any room, whose house is foul, while he adores his broom?"] the epithets which the egyptians applied to their gods also bear valuable testimony concerning the ideas which they held about god. we have already said that the "gods" are only forms, manifestations, and phases of r[=a], the sun-god, who was himself the type and symbol of god, and it is evident from the nature of these epithets that they were only applied to the "gods" because they represented some qualify or attribute which they would have applied to god had it been their custom to address him. let us take as examples the epithets which are applied to h[=a]pi the god of the nile. the beautiful hymn [footnote: the whole hymn has been published by maspero in _hymns au nil_, paris, 1868.] to this god opens as follows:- "homage to thee, o h[=a]pi! thou comest forth in this land, and dost come in peace to make egypt to live, o thou hidden one, thou guide of the darkness whensoever it is thy pleasure to be its guide. thou waterest the fields which r[=a] hath created, thou makest all animals to live, thou makest the land to drink without ceasing; thou descendest the path of heaven, thou art the friend of meat and drink, thou art the giver of the grain, and thou makest every place of work to flourish, o ptah! ... if thou wert to be overcome in heaven the gods would fall down headlong, and mankind would perish. thou makest the whole earth to be opened (_or_ ploughed up) by the cattle, and prince and peasant lie down to rest.... his disposition (_or_ form) is that of khnemu; when he shineth upon the earth there is rejoicing, for all people are glad, the mighty man (?) receiveth his meat, and every tooth hath food to consume." after praising him for what he does for mankind and beasts, and for making the herb to grow for the use of all men, the text says:- "he cannot be figured in stone; he is not to be seen in the sculptured images upon which men place the united crowns of the south and the north furnished with uraei; neither works nor offerings can be made to him; and he cannot be made to come forth from his secret place. the place where he liveth is unknown; he is not to be found in inscribed shrines; there existeth no habitation which can contain him; and thou canst not conceive his form in thy heart." first we notice that hapi is addressed by the names of ptah and khnemu, not because the writer thought these three gods were one, but because hapi as the great supplier of water to egypt became, as it were, a creative god like ptah and khnemu. next we see that it is stated to be impossible to depict him in paintings, or even to imagine what his form may be, for he is unknown and his abode cannot be found, and no place can contain him. but, as a matter of fact, several pictures and sculptures of h[=a]pi have been preserved, and we know that he is generally depicted in the form of two gods; one has upon his head a papyrus plant, and the other a lotus plant, the former being the nile-god of the south, and the latter the nile-god of the north. elsewhere he is portrayed in the form of a large man having the breasts of a woman. it is quite clear, then, that the epithets which we have quoted are applied to him merely as a form of god. in another hymn, which was a favourite in the xviiith and xixth dynasties, h[=a]pi is called "one," and is said to have created himself; but as he is later on in the text identified with r[=a] the epithets which belong to the sun-god are applied to him. the late dr. h. brugsch collected [footnote: _religion and mythologie_, pp. 96-99.] a number of the epithets which are applied to the gods, from texts of all periods; and from these we may see that the ideas and beliefs of the egyptians concerning god were almost identical with those of the hebrews and muhammadans at later periods. when classified these epithets read thus:- "god is one and alone, and none other existeth with him; god is the one, the one who hath made all things. "god is a spirit, a hidden spirit, the spirit of spirits, the great spirit of the egyptians, the divine spirit. "god is from the beginning, and he hath been from the beginning; he hath existed from of old and was when nothing else had being. he existed when nothing else existed, and what existeth he created after he had come into being. he is the father of beginnings. "god is the eternal one, he is eternal and infinite; and endureth for ever and aye; he hath endured for countless ages, and he shall endure to all eternity. "god is the hidden being, and no man hath known his form. no man hath been able to seek out his likeness; he is hidden, from gods and men, and he is a mystery unto his creatures. "no man knoweth how to know him, his name remaineth hidden; his name is a mystery unto his children. his names are innumerable, they are manifold and none knoweth their number. "god is truth, and he liveth by truth, and he feedeth thereon. he is the king of truth, he resteth upon truth, he fashioneth truth, and he executeth truth throughout all the world. "god is life, and through him only man liveth, he giveth life to man, and he breatheth the breath of life into his nostrils. "god is father and mother, the father of fathers, and the mother of mothers. he begetteth, but was never begotten; he produceth, but was never produced he begat himself and produced himself. he createth, but was never created; he is the maker of his own form, and the fashioner of his own body. "god himself is existence he liveth in all things, and liveth upon all things. he endureth without increase or diminution, he multiplieth himself millions of times, and he possesseth multitudes of forms and multitudes of members. "god hath made the universe, and he hath created all that therein is: he is the creator of what is in this world, of what was, of what is, and of what shall be. he is the creator of the world, and it was he who fashioned it with his hands before there was any beginning; and he stablished it with that which went forth from him. he is the creator of the heavens and the earth; the creator of the heavens, and the earth, and the deep; the creator of the heavens, and the earth, and the deep, and the waters, and the mountains. god hath stretched out the heavens and founded the earth. what his heart conceived came to pass straightway, and when he had spoken his word came to pass, and it shall endure for ever. "god is the father of the gods, and the father of the father of all deities; he made his voice to sound, and the deities came into being, and the gods sprang into existence after he had spoken with his mouth. he formed mankind and fashioned the gods. he is the great master, the primeval potter who turned men and gods out of his hands, and he formed men and gods upon a potter's table. "the heavens rest upon his head, and the earth supporteth his feet; heaven hideth his spirit, the earth hideth his form, and the underworld shutteth up the mystery of him within it. his body is like the air, heaven resteth upon his head, and the new inundation [of the nile] containeth his form. "god is merciful unto those who reverence him, and he heareth him that calleth upon him. he protecteth the weak against the strong, and he heareth the cry of him that is bound in fetters; he judgeth between the mighty and the weak, god knoweth him that knoweth him, he rewardeth him that serveth him, and he protecteth him that followeth him." we have now to consider the visible emblem, and the type and symbol of god, namely the sun-god r[=a], who was worshipped in egypt in prehistoric times. according to the writings of the egyptians, there was a time when neither heaven nor earth existed, and when nothing had being except the boundless primeval [footnote: see brugsch, _religion_, p. 101.] water, which was, however, shrouded with thick darkness. in this condition the primeval water remained for a considerable time, notwithstanding that it contained within it the germs of the things which afterwards came into existence in this world, and the world itself. at length the spirit of the primeval water felt the desire for creative activity, and having uttered the word, the world sprang straightway into being in the form which had already been depicted in the mind of the spirit before he spake the word which resulted in its creation. the next act of creation, was the formation of a germ, or egg, from which sprang r[=a], the sun-god, within whose shining form was embodied the almighty power of the divine spirit. such was the outline of creation as described by the late dr. h. brugsch, and it is curious to see how closely his views coincide with a chapter in the _papyrus of nesi amsu_ preserved in the british museum. [footnote: no. 10,188. see my transcript and translation of the whole papyrus in _archaeologia_ vol. 52, london, 1801.] in the third section of this papyrus we find a work which was written with the sole object of overthrowing [=a]pep, the great enemy of r[=a], and in the composition itself we find two versions of the chapter which describes the creation of the earth and all things therein. the god neb-er-tcher is the speaker, and he says:- "i evolved the evolving of evolutions. i evolved myself under the form of the evolutions of the god khepera, which were evolved at the beginning of all time. i evolved with the evolutions of the god khepera; i evolved by the evolution of evolutions--that is to say, i developed myself from the primeval matter which i made, i developed myself out of the primeval matter. my name is ausares (osiris), the germ of primeval matter. i have wrought my will wholly in this earth, i have spread abroad and filled it, i have strengthened it [with] my hand. i was alone, for nothing had been brought forth; i had not then emitted from myself either shu or tefnut. i uttered my own name, as a word of power, from my own mouth, and i straightway evolved myself. i evolved myself under the form of the evolutions of the god khepera, and i developed myself out of the primeval matter which has evolved multitudes of evolutions from the beginning of time. nothing existed on this earth then, and i made all things. there was none other who worked with me at that time. i performed all evolutions there by means of that divine soul which i fashioned there, and which had remained inoperative in the watery abyss. i found no place there whereon to stand. but i was strong in my heart, and i made a foundation for myself, and i made everything which was made. i was alone. i made a foundation for my heart (_or_ will), and i created multitudes of things which evolved themselves like unto the evolutions of the god khepera, and their offspring came into being from the evolutions of their births. i emitted from myself the gods shu and tefnut, and from being one i became three; they [illustration: the creation. the god nu rising out of the primeval water and bearing in his hands the boat of r[=a], the sun-god, who is accompanied by a number of deities. in the upper portion of the scene is the region of the underworld which is enclosed by the body of osiris, on whose head stands the goddess nut with arms stretched out to receive the disk of the sun.] sprang from me, and came into existence in this earth. ...shu and tefnut brought forth seb and nut, and nut brought forth osiris, horus-khent-an-maa, sut, isis, and nephthya at one birth." the fact of the existence of two versions of this remarkable chapter proves that the composition is much older than the papyrus [footnote: about b.c. 300.] in which it is found, and the variant readings which occur in each make it certain that the egyptian scribes had difficulty in understanding what they were writing. it may be said that this version of the cosmogony is incomplete because it does not account for the origin of any of the gods except those who belong to the cycle of osiris, and this objection is a valid one; but in this place we are only concerned to shew that r[=a], the sun-god, was evolved from the primeval abyss of water by the agency of the god khepera, who brought this result about by pronouncing his own name. the great cosmic gods, such as ptah and khnemu, of whom mention will be made later, are the offspring of another set of religious views, and the cosmogony in which these play the leading parts is entirely different. we must notice, in passing, that the god whose words we have quoted above declares that he evolved himself under the form, of khepera, and that his name is osiris, "the primeval matter of primeval matter," and that, as a result, osiris is identical with khepera in respect of his evolutions and new births. the word rendered "evolutions" is _kheperu_, literally "rollings"; and that rendered "primeval matter" is _paut_, the original "stuff" out of which everything was made. in both versions we are told that men and women came into being from the tears which fell from the "eye" of khepera, that is to say from the sun, which, the god says, "i made take to up its place in my face, and afterwards it ruled the whole earth." we have seen how r[=a] has become the visible type and symbol of god, and the creator of the world and of all that is therein; we may now consider the position which he held with, respect to the dead. as far back as the period of the ivth dynasty, about b.c. 3700, he was regarded as the great god of heaven, and the king of all the gods, and divine beings, and of the beatified dead who dwelt therein. the position of the beatified in heaven is decided by r[=a], and of all the gods there osiris only appears to have the power to claim protection for his followers; the offerings which the deceased would make to r[=a] are actually presented to him by osiris. at one time the egyptian's greatest hope seems to have been that he might not only become "god, the son of god," by adoption, but that r[=a] would become actually his father. for in the text of pepi i, [footnote: ed. maspero, line 570.] it is said: "pepi is the son of r[=a] who loveth him; and he goeth forth and raiseth himself up to heaven. r[=a] hath begotten pepi, and he goeth forth and raiseth himself up to heaven. r[=a] hath conceived pepi, and he goeth forth and raiseth himself up to heaven. r[=a] hath given birth, to pepi, and he goeth forth and raiseth himself up to heaven." substantially these ideas remained the same from the earliest to the latest times, and r[=a] maintained his position as the great head of the companies, notwithstanding the rise of amen into prominence, and the attempt to make aten the dominant god of egypt by the so-called "disk worshippers." the following good typical examples of hymns to r[=a] are taken from the oldest copies of the theban recension of the book of the dead. i. from the papyrus of ani. [footnote: see _the chapters of coming forth by day_, p. 3.] "homage to thee, o thou who hast come as khepera, khepera the creator of the gods. thou risest and thou shinest, and thou makest light to be in thy mother nut (_i.e._, the sky); thou art crowned king of the gods. thy mother nut doeth an act of homage unto thee with both her hands. the laud of manu (_i.e._, the land where the sun sets) receiveth thee with satisfaction, and the goddess ma[=a]t embraceth thee both, at morn and at eve. [footnote: _i.e._, ma[=a]t, the goddess of law, order, regularity, and the like, maketh the sun to rise each day in his appointed place and at his appointed time with absolute and unfailing regularity.] hail, all ye gods of the temple of the soul, [footnote: _i.e._, the soul referred to above in the account of the creation; see p. 24.] who weigh heaven and earth in the balance, and who provide divine food in abundance! hail, tatunen, thou one, thou creator of mankind and maker of the substance of the gods of the south and of the north, of the west and of the east! o come ye and acclaim r[=a], the lord of heaven and the creator of the gods, and adore ye him in his beautiful form as he cometh in the morning in his divine bark. "o r[=a], those who dwell in the heights and those who dwell in the depths adore thee. the god thoth and the goddess ma[=a]t have marked out for thee [thy course] for each and every day. thine enemy the serpent hath been given over to the fire, the serpent-fiend sebau hath fallen down headlong; his arms have been bound in chains, and thou hast hacked off his legs; and the sons of impotent revolt shall nevermore rise up against thee. the temple of the aged one [footnote: _i.e._, r[=a] of heliopolis.] (_i.e._, r[=a]) keepeth festival, and the voice of those who rejoice is in the mighty dwelling. the gods exult when they see thy rising, o r[=a], and when thy beams flood the world with light. the majesty of the holy god goeth forth and advanceth even unto the land of manu; he maketh brilliant the earth at his birth each day; he journeyeth on to the place where he was yesterday." ii. from the papyrus of hunefer. [footnote: from the papyrus of hunefer (brit. mus. no. 9901).] "homage to thee, o thou who art r[=a] when thou risest and temu when thou settest. thou risest, thou risest, thou shinest, thou shinest, o thou who art crowned king of the gods. thou art the lord of heaven, thou art the lord of earth; thou art the creator of those who dwell in the heights, and of those who dwell in the depths. thou art the one god who came into being in the beginning of time. thou didst create the earth, thou didst fashion man, thou didst make the watery abyss of the sky, thou didst form hapi (_i.e._, the nile), thou didst create the great deep, and thou dost give life unto all that therein is. thou hast knit together the mountains, thou hast made mankind and the beasts of the field to come into being, thou hast made the heavens and the earth. worshipped be thou whom the goddess maat embraceth at morn and at eve. thou dost travel across the sky with thy heart swelling with joy; the great deep of heaven is content thereat. the serpent-fiend nak [footnote: a name of the serpent of darkness which r[=a] slew daily.] hath fallen, and his arms are cut off. the sektet [footnote: the boat in which r[=a] sailed from noon to sunset.] boat receiveth fair winds, and the heart of him that is in the shrine thereof rejoiceth. "thou art crowned prince of heaven, and thou art the one [dowered with all sovereignty] who appearest in the sky. r[=a] is he who is true of voice. [footnote: _i.e._, whatsoever r[=a] commandeth taketh place straightway; see the chapter on the judgment of the dead, p. 110.] hail, thou divine youth, thou heir of everlastingness, thou self-begotten one! hail, thou who didst give thyself birth! hail, one, thou mighty being, of myriad forms and aspects, thou king of the world, prince of annu (heliopolis), lord of eternity, and ruler of everlastingness! the company of the gods rejoice when thou risest and dost sail across the sky, o thou who art exalted in the sektet boat." "homage to thee, o amen-r[=a], [footnote: on the god amen, see the chapter, "the gods of the egyptians."] who dost rest upon maat; [footnote: _i.e._, "thy existence, and thy risings and settings are ordered and defined by fixed, unchanging, and unalterable law."] thou passest over heaven and every face seeth thee. thou dost wax great as thy majesty doth advance, and thy rays are upon all faces. thou art unknown, and no tongue can declare thy likeness; thou thyself alone [canst do this]. thou art one... men praise thee in thy name, and they swear by thee, for thou art lord over them. thou hearest with thine ears, and thou seest with thine eyes. millions of years have gone over the world. i cannot tell the number of those through which thou hast passed. thy heart hath decreed a day of happiness in thy name of 'traveller.' thou dost pass over and dost travel through untold spaces [requiring] millions and hundreds of thousands of years [to pass over]; thou passest through them in peace, and thou steerest thy way across the watery abyss to the place which thou lovest; this thou doest in one little moment of time, and then thou dost sink down and dost make an end of the hours." iii. from the papyrus of ani. [footnote: plate 20.] the following beautiful composition, part hymn and part prayer, is of exceptional interest. "hail, thou disk, thou lord of rays, who risest on the horizon day by day! shine thou with thy beams of light upon the face of osiris ani, who is true of voice; for he singeth hymns of praise unto thee at dawn, and he maketh thee to set at eventide with words of adoration, may the soul of ani come forth with thee into heaven, may he go forth in the m[=a]tet boat, may he come into port in the sektet boat, and may he cleave his path among the never-resting stars in the heavens. "osiris ani, being in peace and triumph, adoreth his lord, the lord of eternity, saying, 'homage to thee, o heru-khuti (harmachis), who art the god khepera, the self-created one; when thou risest on the horizon and sheddest thy beams of light upon the lands of the north and of the south, thou art beautiful, yea beautiful, and all the gods rejoice when they behold thee, the king of heaven. the goddess nebt-unnut is stablished upon thy head; and her uraei of the south and of the north are upon thy brow; she taketh up her place before thee. the god. thoth is stablished in the bows of thy boat to destroy utterly all thy foes. those who are in the tuat (underworld) come forth to meet thee, and they bow low in homage as they come towards thee, to behold thy beautiful form. and i have come before thee that i may be with thee to behold thy disk each day. may i not be shut up [in the tomb], may i not be turned back, may the limbs of my body be made new again when i view thy beauties, even as [are those of] all thy favoured ones, because i am one of those who worshipped thee upon earth. may i come unto the land of eternity, may i come even unto the everlasting land, for behold, o my lord, this hast thou ordained for me.' "'homage to thee, o thou who risest in thy horizon as r[=a], thou restest upon ma[=a]t, [footnote: _i.e._, unchanging and unalterable law.] thou passest over the sky, and every face watcheth thee and thy course, for thou hast been hidden from their gaze. thou dost show thyself at dawn and at eventide day by day. the sektet boat, wherein, is thy majesty, goeth forth with might; thy beams are upon [all] faces; thy rays of red and yellow cannot be known, and thy bright beams cannot be told. the lands of the gods and the eastern lands of punt [footnote: _i.e._, the east and west coasts of the red sea, and the north-east coast of africa.] must be seen ere that which, is hidden [in thee] may be measured. [footnote: i am doubtful about the meaning of this passage.] alone and by thyself thou, dost manifest thyself [when] thou comest into being above nu. may i advance, even as thou dost advance; may i never cease [to go forward], even as thy majesty ceaseth not [to go forward], even though it be for a moment; for with strides dost thou in one brief moment pass over spaces which [man] would need hundreds of thousand; yea, millions of years to pass over; [this] thou doest, and then thou dost sink to rest. thou puttest an end to the hours of the night, and thou dost count them, even thou; thou endest them in thine own appointed season, and the earth, becometh light, thou settest thyself before thy handiwork in the likeness of r[=a]; thou risest in the horizon.' "osiris; the scribe ani, declareth his praise of thee when thou shinest, and when thou risest at dawn he crieth in his joy at thy birth, saying:- "'thou art crowned with the majesty of thy beauties; thou mouldest thy limbs as thou dost advance, and thou bringest them forth without birth-pangs in the form of r[=a], as thou dost rise up in the celestial height. grant thou that i may come unto the heaven which is everlasting, and unto the mountain where dwell thy favoured ones. may i be joined unto those shining beings, holy and perfect, who are in the underworld; and may i come forth with them to behold thy beauties when thou shinest at eventide, and goest to thy mother nut. thou dost place thyself in the west, and my hands adore [thee] when thou settest as a living being. [footnote: _i.e._, "because when thou settest thou dost not die."] behold, thou art the everlasting creator, and thou art adored [as such when] thou settest in the heavens. i have given my heart to thee without wavering, o thou who art mightier than the gods.' "a hymn of praise to thee, o thou who risest like unto gold, and who dost flood the world with light on the day of thy birth. thy mother giveth thee birth, and straightway thou dost give light upon the path of [thy] disk, o thou great light who shinest in the heavens. thou makest the generations of men to flourish through the nile-flood, and thou dost cause gladness to exist in all lands, and in, all cities, and in all temples. thou art glorious by reason of thy splendours, and thou makest strong thy ka (_i.e._ double) with, divine foods, o thou mighty one of victories, thou power of powers, who dost make strong thy throne against evil fiends--thou who art glorious in majesty in the sektet boat, and most mighty in the [=a]tet [footnote: the sun's evening and morning boats respectively.] boat!" this selection may be fittingly closed by a short hymn [footnote: from the papyrus of nekht (brit. mus. no. 10,471).] which, though, of a later date, reproduces in a brief form all the essentials of the longer hymns of the xviiith dynasty (about b.c. 1700 to 1400). "homage to thee, o thou glorious being, thou who art dowered [with all sovereignty]. o temu-harma-chis, [footnote: the evening and morning sun respectively.] when thou risest in the horizon of heaven, a cry of joy cometh forth, to thee from the mouth of all peoples, o thou beautiful being, thou dost renew thyself in thy season in the form of the disk within thy mother hathor; [footnote: like nut, a goddess of the sky, but particularly of that portion of it in which the sun rises.] therefore in every place every heart swelleth with joy at thy rising for ever. the regions of the north and south come to thee with homage, and send forth, acclamations at thy rising in the horizon of heaven; thou illuminest the two lands with rays of turquoise light. hail, r[=a], thou who art r[=a]-harmachis, thou divine man-child, heir of eternity, self-begotten and self-born, king of the earth, prince of the underworld, governor of the regions of aukert (_i.e._ the underworld)! thou didst come forth, from the water, thou hast sprung from the god nu, who cherisheth thee and ordereth thy members. hail, god of life, thou lord of love, all men live when thou shinest; thou art crowned king of the gods. the goddess nut doeth homage unto thee, and the goddess ma[=a]t embraceth thee at all times. those who are in thy following sing unto thee with joy and bow down their foreheads to the earth when they meet thee, thou lord of heaven, thou lord of earth, thou king of right and truth, thou lord of eternity, thou prince of everlastingness, thou sovereign of all the gods, thou god of life, thou creator of eternity, thou maker of heaven, wherein thou art firmly established. the company of the gods rejoice at thy rising, the earth is glad when it beholdeth thy rays; the peoples that have been long dead come forth with cries of joy to see thy beauties every day. thou goest forth each day over heaven and earth, and art made strong each day by thy mother nut. thou passest through the heights of heaven, thy heart swelleth with joy; the abyss of the sky is content thereat. the serpent-fiend hath fallen, his arms are hewn off, and the knife hath cut asunder his joints, r[=a] liveth in ma[=a]t the beautiful. the sektet boat draweth on and cometh into port; the south and the north, the west and the east, turn, to praise thee, o thou primeval substance of the earth who didst come into being of thine own accord, isis and nephthys salute thee, they sing unto thee songs of joy at thy rising in the boat, they protect thee with their hands. the souls of the east follow thee, the souls of the west praise thee. thou art the ruler of all the gods, and thou hast joy of heart within thy shrine; for the serpent-fiend nak hath been condemned to the fire, and thy heart shall be joyful for ever." from the considerations set forth in the preceding pages, and from the extracts from religious texts of various periods, and from the hymns quoted, the reader may himself judge the views which the ancient egyptian held concerning god almighty and his visible type and symbol r[=a], the sun-god. egyptologists differ in their interpretations of certain passages, but agree as to general facts. in dealing with the facts it cannot be too clearly understood that the religious ideas of the prehistoric egyptian were very different from those of the cultured priest of memphis in the iind dynasty, or those of the worshippers of temu or atum, the god of the setting sun, in the ivth dynasty. the editors of religious texts of all periods have retained many grossly superstitious and coarse beliefs, which they knew well to be the products of the imaginations of their savage, or semi-savage ancestors, not because they themselves believed in them, or thought that the laity to whom they ministered would accept them, but because of their reverence for inherited traditions. the followers of every great religion in the world have never wholly shaken off all the superstitions which they have in all generations inherited from their ancestors; and what is true of the peoples of the past is true, in a degree, of the peoples of to-day. in the east the older the ideas, and beliefs, and traditions, are, the more sacred they become; but this has not prevented men there from developing high moral and spiritual conceptions and continuing to believe in them, and among such must be counted the one, self-begotten, and self-existent god whom the egyptians worshipped. chapter ii. osiris the god of the resurrection. the egyptians of every period in which they are known to us believed that osiris was of divine origin, that he suffered death and mutilation at the hands of the powers of evil, that after a great struggle with these powers he rose again, that he became henceforth the king of the underworld and judge of the dead, and that because he had conquered death the righteous also might conquer death; and they raised osiris to such an exalted position in heaven that he became the equal and, in certain cases, the superior of r[=a], the sun-god, and ascribed to him the attributes which belong unto god. however far back we go, we find that these views about osiris are assumed to be known to the reader of religious texts and accepted by him, and in the earliest funeral book the position of osiris in respect of the other gods is identical with that which he is made to hold in the latest copies of the book of the dead. the first writers of the ancient hieroglyphic funeral texts and their later editors have assumed so completely that the history of osiris was known unto all men, that none of them, as far as we know, thought it necessary to write down a connected narrative of the life and sufferings upon earth of this god, or if they did, it has not come down to us. even in the vth dynasty we find osiris and the gods of his cycle, or company, occupying a peculiar and special place in the compositions written for the benefit of the dead, and the stone and other monuments which belong to still earlier periods mention ceremonies the performance of which assumed the substantial accuracy of the history of osiris as made known to us by later writers. but we have a connected history of osiris which, though not written in egyptian, contains so much that is of egyptian origin that we may be sure that its author drew his information from egyptian sources: i refer to the work, _de iside et osìride_, of the greek writer, plutarch, who flourished about the middle of the first century of our era. in it, unfortunately, plutarch identifies certain of the egyptian gods with the gods of the greeks, and he adds a number of statements which rest either upon his own imagination, or are the results of misinformation. the translation [footnote: _plutarchi de iside et osirids liber: graece et anglice_. by s. squire, cambridge, 1744.] by squire runs as follows:- "rhea, [footnote: _i.e._, nut.] say they, having accompanied saturn [footnote: _i.e._, seb.] by stealth, was discovered by the sun, [footnote: _i.e._, r[=a].] who hereupon denounced a curse upon her, 'that she should not he delivered in any month or year'--mercury, however, being likewise in love with the same goddess, in recompense of the favours which he had received from her, plays at tables with the moon, and wins from her the seventieth part of each of her illuminations; these several parts, mating in the whole five days, he afterwards joined together, and added to the three hundred and sixty, of which the year formerly consisted, which days therefore are even yet called by the egyptians the epact or superadded, and observed by them as the birthdays of their gods. for upon the first of them, say they, was osiris born, just at whose entrance into the world a voice was heard, saying, 'the lord of all the earth is born.' there are some indeed who relate this circumstance in a different manner, as that a certain person, named pamyles, as he was fetching water from the temple of jupiter at thebes, heard a voice commanding him to proclaim aloud that 'the good and great king osiris was then born'; and that for this reason saturn committed the education of the child to him, and that in memory of this event the pamylia were afterwards instituted, a festival much resembling the phalliphoria or priapeia of the greeks. upon the second of these days was aroueris [footnote: _i.e._, hera-ur, "horus the elder."] born, whom some call apollo, and others distinguish by the name of the elder orus. upon the third typho [footnote: _i.e._, set.] came into the world, being born neither at the proper time, nor by the proper place, but forcing his way through a wound which he had made in his mother's side. isis was born upon the fourth of them in the marshes of egypt, as nepthys was upon the last, whom some call teleute and aphrodite, and others nike--now as to the fathers of these children, the two first of them are said to have been begotten by the sun, isis by mercury, typho and nepthys by saturn; and accordingly, the third of these superadded days, because it was looked upon as the birthday of typho, was regarded by the kings as inauspicious, and consequently they neither transacted any business on it, or even suffered themselves to take any refreshment until the evening. they further add, that typho married nepthys; and that isis and osiris, having a mutual affection, loved each other in their mother's womb before they were born, and that from this commerce sprang aroueris, whom the egyptians likewise call the elder orus, and the greeks apollo. "osiris, being now become king of egypt, applied himself towards civilizing his countrymen, by turning them from their former indigent and barbarous course of life; he moreover taught them how to cultivate and improve the fruits of the earth; he gave them a body of laws to regulate their conduct by, and instructed them in that reverence and worship which they were to pay to the gods. with the same good disposition he afterwards travelled over the rest of the world inducing the people everywhere to submit to his discipline; not indeed compelling them by force of arms, but persuading them to yield to the strength of his reasons, which were conveyed to them in the most agreeable manner, in hymns and songs, accompanied by instruments of music: from which last circumstance the greeks conclude him to have been the same with their dionysius or bacchus--during osiris' absence from his kingdom, typho had no opportunity of making any innovations in the state, isis being extremely vigilant in the government, and always upon her guard. after his return, however, having first persuaded seventy-two other persons to join with him in the conspiracy, together with a certain queen of ethiopia named aso, who chanced to be in egypt at that time, he contrived a proper stratagem to execute his base designs. for having privily taken the measure of osiris' body, he caused a chest to be made exactly of the same size with it, as beautiful as may be, and set off with all the ornaments of art. this chest he brought into his banqueting-room; where, after it had been much admired by all who were present, typho, as it were in jest, promised to give it to any one of them whose body upon trial it might be found to fit. upon this the whole company one after another, go into it; but as it did not fit any of them, last of all osiris lays himself down in it, upon which the conspirators immediately ran together, clapped the cover upon it, and then fastened it down on the outside with nails, pouring likewise melted lead over it. after this they carried it away to the river side, and conveyed it to the sea by the tanaïtic mouth of the nile; which, for this reason, is still held in the utmost abomination by the egyptians, and never named by them but with proper marks of detestation. these things, say they, were thus executed upon the 17th [footnote: in the egyptian calendar this day was marked triply unlucky.] day of the month athyr, when the sun was in scorpio, in the 28th year of osiris' reign; though there are others who tell us that he was no more than 28 years old at this time. "the first who knew the accident which had befallen their king were the pans and satyrs who inhabited the country about chemmis (panopolis); and they immediately acquainting the people with the news gave the first occasion to the name panic terrors, which has ever since been made use of to signify any sudden affright or amazement of a multitude. as to isis, as soon as the report reached her she immediately cut off one of the locks of her hair, [footnote: the hair cut off as a sign of mourning was usually laid in the tomb of the dead.] and put on mourning apparel upon the very spot where she then happened to be, which accordingly from this accident has ever since been called koptis, or _the city of mourning_, though some are of opinion that this word rather signifies _deprivation_. after this she wandered everywhere about the country full of disquietude and perplexity in search, of the chest, inquiring of every person she met with, even, of some children whom she chanced to see, whether they knew what was become of it. now it happened that these children had seen what typho's accomplices had done with the body, and accordingly acquainted her by what mouth of the nile it had been conveyed into the sea--for this reason therefore the egyptians look upon children as endued with a kind of faculty of divining, and in consequence of this notion are very curious in observing the accidental prattle which they have with one another whilst they are at play (especially if it be in a sacred place), forming omens and presages from it--isis, during this interval, having been informed that osiris, deceived by her sister nepthys who was in love with him, had unwittingly united with her instead of herself, as she concluded from the melilot-garland, [footnote: _i.e._, a wreath of clover.] which he had left with her, made it her business likewise to search out the child, the fruit of this unlawful commerce (for her sister, dreading the anger of her husband typho, had exposed it as soon as it was born), and accordingly, after much pains and difficulty, by means of some dogs that conducted her to the place where it was, she found it and bred it up; so that in process of time it became her constant guard and attendant, and from hence obtained the name of anubis, being thought to watch and guard the gods, as dogs do mankind. "at length she receives more particular news of the chest, that it had been carried by the waves of the sea to the coast of byblos, [footnote: not the byblos of syria (jebêl) but the papyrus swamps of the delta.] and there gently lodged in the branches of a bush of tamarisk, which, in a short time, had shot up into a large and beautiful tree, growing round the chest and enclosing it on every side, so that it was not to be seen; and farther, that the king of the country, amazed at its unusual size, had cut the tree down, and made that part of the trunk wherein the chest was concealed, a pillar to support; the roof of his house. these things, say they, being made known to isis in an extraordinary manner by the report of demons, sue immediately went to byblos; where, setting herself down by the side of a fountain, she refused to speak to anybody, excepting only to the queen's women who chanced to be there; these indeed she saluted and caressed in the kindest manner possible, plaiting their hair for them, and transmitting into them part of that wonderfully grateful odour which issued from her own body. this raised a great desire in the queen their mistress to see the stranger who had this admirable faculty of transfusing so fragrant a smell from herself into the hair and skin of other people. she therefore sent for her to court, and, after a further acquaintance with her, made her nurse to one of her sons. now the name of the king who reigned at this time at byblos, was meloarthus, as that of his queen was astarte, or, according to others, saosis, though some call her nemanoun, which answers to the greek name athenais. "isis fed the child by giving it her finger to suck instead of the breast; she likewise put him every night into the fire in order to consume his mortal part, whilst transforming herself into a swallow, she hovered round the pillar and bemoaned her sad fate. thus continued she to do for some time, till the queen, who stood watching her, observing the child to be all in a flame, cryed out, and thereby deprived him of that immortality which would otherwise have been conferred upon him. the goddess upon this, discovering herself, requested that the pillar, which supported the roof, might be given her; which she accordingly took down, and then easily cutting it open, after she had taken, out what she wanted, she wrapped up the remainder of the trunk in fine linnen, and pouring perfumed oil upon it, delivered it again into the hands of the king and queen (which piece of wood is to this day preserved in the temple of isis, and worshipped by the people of byblos). when this was done, she threw herself upon the chest, making at the same time such a loud and terrible lamentation over it, as frightened the younger of the king's sons, who heard her, out of his life. but the elder of them she took with, her and set sail with the chest for egypt; and it being now about morning, the river phaedrus sending forth a rough and sharp air, she in her anger dried up its current. "no sooner was she arrived at a desart place, where she imagined herself to be alone, but she presently opened the chest, and laying her face upon her dead husband's, embraced his corpse, and wept bitterly; but, perceiving that the little boy had silently stolen behind her, and found out the occasion of her grief, she turned herself about on the sudden, and in her anger gave him so fierce and stern a look that he immediately died of the affright. others indeed say that his death did not happen in this manner, but, as was hinted above, that he fell into the sea, and afterwards received the greatest honours on account of the goddess; for that the maneros, [footnote: a son of the first egyptian king, who died in his early youth; see herodotus, ii. 79.] whom the egyptians so frequently call upon in their banquets, is none other than this very boy. this relation is again contradicted by such as tell us that the true name of the child was palaestinus, or pelusius, and that the city of this name was built by the goddess in memory of him; adding farther, that the maneros above mentioned is thus honoured by the egyptians at their feasts, because he was the first who invented music. there are others, again, who affirm that maneros is not the name of any particular person, but a mere customary form, and complimental manner of greeting made use of by the egyptians one towards another at their more solemn feasts and banquets, meaning no more by it, than to wish, that what they were then about might prove fortunate and happy to them, for that this is the true import of the word. in like manner, say they, the human skeleton, which at these times of jollity is carried about in a box, and shewn to all the guests, is not designed, as some imagine, to represent the particular misfortunes of osiris, but rather to remind them of their mortality, and thereby to excite them freely to make use of and to enjoy the good things which are set before them, seeing they must quickly become such as they there saw; and that this is the true reason of introducing it at their banquets--but to proceed in the narration. "isis intending a visit to her son orus, who was brought up at butus, deposited the chest in the meanwhile in a remote and unfrequented place: typho however, as he was one night hunting by the light of the moon, accidentally met with it; and knowing the body which was enclosed in it, tore it into several pieces, fourteen, in all, dispersing them up and down, in different parts of the country--upon being made acquainted with this event, isis once more sets out in search of the scattered fragments of her husband's body, making use of a boat made of the reed papyrus in order the more easily to pass thro' the lower and fenny parts of the country--for which, reason, say they, the crocodile never touches any persons, who sail in this sort of vessels, as either fearing the anger of the goddess, or else respecting it on account of its having once carried her. to this occasion therefore is it to be imputed, that there are so many different sepulchres of osiris shewn, in egypt; for we are told, that wherever isis met with any of the scattered limbs of her husband, she there buried it. there are others however who contradict this relation, and tell us, that this variety of sepulchres was owing rather to the policy of the queen, who, instead of the real body, as was pretended, presented these several cities with the image only of her husband: and that she did this, not only to render the honours, which would by this means be paid to his memory, more extensive, but likewise that she might hereby elude the malicious search of typho; who, if he got the better of orus in the war wherein they were going to be engaged, distracted by this multiplicity of sepulchres, might despair of being able to find the true one--we are told moreover, that notwithstanding all her search, isis was never able to recover the member of osiris, which having been thrown into the nile immediately upon its separation from the rest of the body, had been devoured by the lepidotus, the phagrus, and the oxyrynchus, fish which of all others, for this reason, the egyptians have in more especial avoidance. in order however to make some amends for the loss, isis consecrated the phallus made in imitation of it, and instituted a solemn festival to its memory, which is even, to this day observed by the egyptians. "after these things, osiris returning from the other world, appeared to his son orus, encouraged him to the battle, and at the same time instructed him in the exercise of arms. he then asked him, 'what he thought was the moat glorious action a man could perform?' to which orua replied, 'to revenge the injuries offered to his father and mother.' he then asked him, 'what animal he thought most serviceable to a soldier?' and being answered 'a horse'; this raised the wonder of osiris, so that he farther questioned him, 'why he preferred a horse before a lion?' because, adds orus, 'tho' the lion be the more serviceable creature to one who stands in need of help, yet is the horse [footnote: the horse does not appear to have been known in egypt before the xviiith dynasty; this portion of plutarch's version of the history of osiris must, then, be later than b.c. 1500.] more useful in overtaking and cutting off a flying adversary.' these replies much rejoiced osiris, as they showed him that his son was sufficiently prepared for his enemy--we are moreover told, that among the great numbers who were continually deserting from typho's party was his concubine thueris, and that a serpent pursuing her as she was coming over to orus, was slain by her soldiers--the memory of which action, say they, is still preserved in that cord which is thrown into the midst of their assemblies, and then chopt into pieces--afterwards it came to a battle between, them which lasted many days; but victory at length inclined to orus, typho himself being taken prisoner. isis however, to whose custody he was committed, was so far from putting him to death, that she even loosed his bonds and set him at liberty. this action of his mother so extremely incensed orus, that he laid hands upon her, and pulled off the ensign of royalty which she wore on her head; and instead thereof hermes clapt on an helmet made in the shape of an oxe's head--after this, typho publicly accused orus of bastardy; but by the assistance of hermes (thoth) his legitimacy was fully established by the judgment of the gods themselves--after this; there were two other battles fought between them, in both of which typho had the worst. furthermore, isis is said to have accompanied with osiris after his death, and in consequence hereof to have brought forth harpocrates, who came into the world before his time, and lame in his lower limbs." when we examine this story by the light of the results of hieroglyphic decipherment, we find that a large portion of it is substantiated by egyptian texts: _e.g._, osiris was the son of seb and nut; the epact is known in the calendars as "the five additional days of the year"; the five gods, osiris, horus, set, isis, and nephthys, were born on the days mentioned by plutarch; the 17th day of athyr (hathor) is marked as triply unlucky in the calendars; the wanderings and troubles of isis are described, and "lamentations" which she is supposed to have uttered are found in the texts; lists of the shrines of osiris are preserved in several inscriptions; the avenging of his father by horus is referred to frequently in papyri and other documents; the conflict between set and horus is described fully in a papyrus in the british museum (no. 10,184); a hymn in the papyrus of hunefer relates all that thoth performed for osiris; and the begetting of horus by osiris after death is mentioned in a hymn to osiris dating from the xviiith dynasty in the following passage:- "thy sister put forth her protecting power for thee, she scattered abroad those who were her enemies, she drove away evil hap, she pronounced mighty words of power, she made cunning her tongue, and her words failed not. the glorious isis was perfect in command and in speech, and she avenged her brother. she sought him without ceasing, she wandered round and round the earth uttering cries of pain, and she rested (_or_ alighted) not until she had found him. she overshadowed him with her feathers, she made air (_or_ wind) with her wings, and she uttered cries at the burial of her brother. she raised up the prostrate form of him whose heart was still, she took from him of his essence, she conceived and brought forth a child, she suckled it in secret, and none knew the place thereof; and the arm of the child hath waxed strong in the great house of seb. the company of the gods rejoice, and are glad at the coming of osiris's son horus, and firm of heart and triumphant is the son of isis, the heir of osiris." [footnote: this remarkable hymn was first made known by chabas, who published a translation of it, with notes, in _revue archéologique_, paris, 1857, t. xiv. p. 65 ff.] [illustration: 1. isis suckling her child horus in the papyrus swamps. 2. thoth giving the emblem of magical protection to isis. 3. amen-r[=a] presenting the symbol of "life" to isis. 4. the goddess nekhebet presenting years, and life, stability, power, and sovereignty to the son of osiris. 5. the goddess sati presenting periods of years, and life, stability, power, and sovereignty to the son of osiris.] what form the details of the history of osiris took in the early dynasties it is impossible to say, and we know not whether osiris was the god of the resurrection to the predynastic or prehistoric egyptians, or whether that _rôle_ was attributed to him after mena began to rule in egypt. there is, however, good reason for assuming that in the earliest dynastic times he occupied the position of god and judge of those who had risen from the dead by his help, for already in the ivth dynasty, about b.c. 3800, king mea-kau-r[=a] (the mycerinus of the greeks) is identified with him, and on his coffin not only is he called "osiris, king of the south and north, men-kau-r[=a], living for ever," but the genealogy of osiris is attributed to him, and he is declared to be "born of heaven, offspring of nut, flesh and bone of seb." it is evident that the priests of heliopolis "edited" the religious texts copied and multiplied in the college to suit their own views, but in the early times when they began their work, the worship of osiris was so widespread, and the belief in him as the god of the resurrection so deeply ingrained in the hearts of the egyptians, that even in the heliopolitan system of theology osiris and his cycle, or company of gods, were made to hold a very prominent position. he represented to men the idea of a man who was both god and man, and he typified to the egyptians in all ages the being who by reason of his sufferings and death as a man could sympathize with them in their own sickness and death. the idea of his human personality also satisfied their cravings and yearnings for intercourse with a being who, though he was partly divine, yet had much in common with themselves. originally they looked upon osiris as a man who lived on the earth as they lived, who ate and drank, who suffered a cruel death, who by the help of certain gods triumphed over death, and attained unto everlasting life. but what osiris did they could do, and what the gods did for osiris they must also do for them, and as the gods brought about his resurrection so they must bring about theirs, and as they made him the ruler of the underworld so they must make them to enter his kingdom and to live there as long as the god himself lived. osiris, in some of his aspects, was identified with the nile, and with r[=a], and with several other "gods" known to the egyptians, but it was in his aspect as god of the resurrection and of eternal life that he appealed to men in the valley of the nile; and for thousands of years men and women died believing that, inasmuch as all that was done for osiris would be done for them symbolically, they like him would rise again, and inherit life everlasting. however far back we trace religious ideas in egypt, we never approach a time when it can be said that there did not exist a belief in the resurrection, for everywhere it is assumed that osiris rose from the dead; sceptics must have existed, and they probably asked their priests what the corinthians asked saint paul, "how are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?" but beyond doubt the belief in the resurrection was accepted by the dominant classes in egypt. the ceremonies which the egyptians performed with the view of assisting the deceased to pass the ordeal of the judgment, and to overcome his enemies in the next world, will be described elsewhere, as also will be the form in which the dead were raised up; we therefore return to the theological history of osiris. the centre and home of the worship of osiris in egypt under the early dynasties was abydos, where the head of the god was said to be buried. it spread north and south in the course of time, and several large cities claimed to possess one or other of the limbs of his body. the various episodes in the life of the god were made the subject of solemn representations in the temple, and little by little the performance of the obligatory and non-obligatory services in connection with them occupied, in certain temples, the greater part of the time of the priests. the original ideas concerning the god were forgotten and new ones grew up; from being the _example_ of a man who had risen from the dead and had attained unto life everlasting, he became the _cause_ of the resurrection of the dead; and the power to bestow eternal life upon mortals was transferred from the gods to him. the alleged dismemberment of osiris was forgotten in the fact that he dwelt in a perfect body in the underworld, and that, whether dismembered or not, he had become after his death the father of horus by isis. as early as the xiith dynasty, about b.c. 2500, the worship of this god had become almost universal, and a thousand years later osiris had become a sort of national god. the attributes of the great cosmic gods were ascribed to him, and he appeared to man not only as the god and judge of the dead, but also as the creator of the world and of all things in it. he who was the son of r[=a] became the equal of his father, and he took his place side by side with him in heaven. we have an interesting proof of the identification of osiris with r[=a] in chapter xvii. of the book of the dead. it will be remembered that this chapter consists of a series of what might almost be called articles of faith, each of which is followed by one or more explanations which represent one or more quite different opinions; the chapter also is accompanied by a series of vignettes. in line 110 it is said, "i am the soul which dwelleth in the two _tchafi_, [footnote: _i.e._, the souls of osiris and r[=a].] what is this then? it is osiris when he goeth into tattu (_i.e._, busiris) and findeth there the soul of r[=a]; there the one god embraceth the other, and souls spring into being within the two _tchafi_." in the vignette which illustrates this passage the souls of r[=a] and osiris are seen in the forms of hawks standing on a pylon, and facing each other in tattu; the former has upon his head a disk, and the latter, who is human-headed, the white crown. it is a noticeable fact that even at his meeting with r[=a] the soul of osiris preserves the human face, the sign of his kinship with man. now osiris became not only the equal of r[=a], but, in many respects, a greater god than he. it is said, that from the nostrils of the head of osiris, which was buried at abydos, came forth the scarabaeus [footnote: see von berginaun in _aeg zeitschrift_, 1880, p. 88 ff.] which was at once the emblem and type of the god khepera, who caused all things to come into being, and of the resurrection. in this manner osiris became the source and origin of gods, men, and things, and [illustration: the soul of r[=a] (1) meeting the soul of osiris (2) in tattu. the cat (_i.e._, r[=a]) by the persea tree (3) cutting off the head of the serpent which typified night.] the manhood of the god was forgotten. the next step was to ascribe to him the attributes of god, and in the xviiith and xixth dynasties he seems to have disputed the sovereignty of the three companies of gods, that is to say of the trinity of trinities of trinities, [footnote: each company of the gods contained three trinities or triads.] with amen-r[=a], who by this time was usually called the "king of the gods." the ideas held concerning osiris at this period will best be judged by the following extracts from contemporary hymns:- "glory [footnote: see _chapters of coming forth by day_ (translation), p. 11.] be to thee, o osiris, un-nefer, the great god within abtu (abydos), king of eternity, lord of everlastingness, who passest through millions of years in thy existence. the eldest son of the womb of nut, engendered by seb the ancestor [of the gods], lord of the crowns of the south and of the north, lord of the lofty white crown; as prince of gods and men he hath received the crook and the whip, and the dignity of his divine fathers. let thy heart, which dwelleth in the mountain of ament, be content, for thy son horus is stablished upon thy throne. thou art crowned lord of tattu (busiris) and ruler in abydos." "praise [footnote: _ibid._, p. 34.] be unto thee, o osiris, lord of eternity, un-nefer, heru-khuti (harmachis) whose forms are manifold, and whose attributes are great, who art ptah-seker-tem in annu (heliopolis), the lord of the hidden place, and the creator of het-ka-ptah (memphis) and of the gods [therein], the guide of the underworld, whom [the gods] glorify when thou settest in nut. isis embraceth thee in peace, and she driveth away the fiends from the mouth of thy paths. thou turnest thy face upon amentet, and thou makest the earth to shine as with refined copper. the dead rise up to see thee, they breathe the air and they look upon thy face when the disk riseth on its horizon; their hearts are at peace, inasmuch as they behold thee, o thou who art eternity and everlastingness." in the latter extract osiris is identified with the great gods of heliopolis and memphis, where shrines of the sun-god existed in almost pre-dynastic times, and finally is himself declared to be "eternity and everlastingness"; thus the ideas of resurrection and immortality are united in the same divine being. in the following litany the process of identification with the gods is continued:- 1. "homage to thee, o thou who art the starry deities in annu, and the heavenly beings in kher-aba; [footnote: a district near memphis.] thou god unti, [footnote: a god who walks before the boat of the god, af, holding a star in each hand.] who art more glorious than the gods who are hidden in annu. o grant thou unto me a path whereon i may pass in peace, for i am just and true; i have not spoken lies wittingly, nor have i done aught with deceit." 2. "homage to thee, o an in antes, harmachis; thou stridest over heaven with, long strides, o harmachis. o grant thou unto me a path," etc. [footnote: this petition is only written once, but it is intended to be repeated after each of the nine sections of the litany.] 3. "homage to thee, o soul of everlastingness, thou soul who dwellest in tattu, un-nefer, son of nut; thou art lord of akert (_i.e._, the underworld). o grant thou unto me a path," etc. 4. "homage to thee in thy dominion over tattu; the ureret crown is stablished upon thy head; thou art the one who maketh the strength which protecteth himself, and thou dwellest in peace in tattu. o grant thou unto me a path," etc. 5. "homage to thee, o lord of the acacia [footnote: this tree was in heliopolis, and the cat, _i.e._, the sun, sat near it. (see p. 63).] tree, the seker boat [footnote: the ceremony of setting the seker boat on its sledge was performed at dawn.] is set upon its sledge; thou turnest back the fiend, the worker of evil, and thou causest the utchat (_i.e._, the eye of horus or r[=a]), to rest upon its seat. o grant thou unto me a path," etc. 6. "homage to thee, o thou who art mighty in thine hour, thou great and mighty prince, dweller in an-rut-f, [footnote: the place where nothing grows--the underworld.] lord of eternity and creator of everlastingness, thou art the lord of suten-henen _(_i.e._, heracleopolis magna). o grant," etc. 7. "homage to thee, o thou who restest upon right and truth, thou art lord of abydos, and thy limbs are joined unto ta-tchesert (_i.e._, the holy land, the underworld); thou art he to whom fraud and guile are hateful. o grant," etc. 8. "homage to thee, o thou who art within thy boat; thou bringest h[=a]pi (_i.e._, the nile) forth from his source; the light shineth upon thy body, and thou art the dweller in nekhen. o grant," etc. 9. "homage to thee, o creator of the gods, thou king of the south and of the north, o osiris, victorious one, ruler of the world in thy gracious seasons; thou art the lord of the celestial world. o grant," etc. and, again: "r[=a] setteth as osiris with all the diadems of the divine spirits and of the gods of amentet. he is the one divine form, the hidden one of the tuat, the holy soul at the head of amentet, un-nefer, whose duration of life is for ever and ever." [footnote: see _chapters of coming forth by day_, p. 334.] we have already referred to the help which thoth gave to isis when he provided her with the words which caused her dead husband to live again, but the best summary of the good deeds which this god wrought for osiris is contained in a hymn in the _papyrus of hunefer_, [footnote: _ibid_., p. 343.] where the deceased is made to say:- "i have come unto thee, o son of nut, osiris, prince of everlastingness; i am, in the following of the god thoth, and i have rejoiced at everything which he hath done for thee. he brought the sweet air into thy nostrils, and life and strength to thy beautiful face; and the north wind which cometh forth from temu for thy nostrils, o lord of ta-tchesert. he made the god shu to shine upon thy body; he illumined thy path with rays of light; he destroyed for thee the faults and defects of thy members by the magical power of the words of his mouth; he made set and horus to be at peace for thy sake; he destroyed the storm-wind and the hurricane; he made the two combatants (_i.e._, set and horus) to be gracious unto thee and the two lauds to be at peace before thee; he did away the wrath which was in their hearts, and each became reconciled unto his brother (_i.e._, thyself). "thy son horus is triumphant in the presence of the full assembly of the gods, the sovereignty over the world hath been given unto him, and his dominion extendeth unto the uttermost parts of the earth. the throne of the god seb hath been adjudged unto him, together with the rank which was created by the god temu, and which hath been stablished by decrees [made] in the chamber of archives, and hath been inscribed upon an iron tablet according to the command of thy father ptah-tanen when he sat upon the great throne. he hath set his brother upon that which the god shu beareth up (_i.e._, the heavens), to stretch out the waters over the mountains, and to make to spring up that which groweth upon the hills, and the grain (?) which shooteth upon the earth, and he giveth increase by water and by land. gods celestial and gods terrestrial transfer themselves to the service of thy son horus, and they follow him into his hall [where] a decree is passed that he shall be lord over them, and they do [his will] straightway. "let thy heart rejoice, o lord of the gods, let thy heart rejoice greatly; egypt and the red land are at peace, and they serve humbly under thy sovereign power. the temples are stablished upon their own lands, cities and nomes possess securely the goods which they have in their names, and we will make unto thee the divine offerings which we are bound to make, and offer sacrifices in thy name for ever. acclamations are made in thy name, libations are poured out to thy ka, and sepulchral meals [are brought unto thee] by the spirits who are in thy following, and water is sprinkled ... on each side of the souls of the dead in this land. every plan for thee which hath been decreed by the commands of r[=a] from the beginning hath been perfected. now therefore, o son of nut, thou art crowned as neb-er-tcher is crowned at his rising. thou livest, thou art stablished, thou renewest thy youth, and thou art true and perfect; thy father r[=a] maketh strong thy members, and the company of the gods make acclamations unto thee. the goddess isis is with thee and she never leaveth thee; [thou art] not overthrown by thine enemies. the lords of all lands praise thy beauties, even as they praise r[=a] when he riseth at the beginning of each day. thou risest up like an exalted being upon thy standard, thy beauties lift up the face [of man] and make long [his] stride. the sovereignty of thy father seb hath, been given unto thee, and the goddess nut, thy mother, who gave birth to the gods, brought thee forth as the firstborn, of five gods, and created thy beauties and fashioned thy members. thou art established as king, the white crown is upon thy head, and thou hast grasped in thy hands the crook and whip; whilst thou wert in the womb, and hadst not as yet come forth therefrom upon the earth, thou wert crowned lord of the two lands, and the 'atef' crown of r[=a] was upon thy brow. the gods come unto thee bowing low to the ground, and they hold thee in fear; they retreat and depart when, they see thee with the terror of r[=a], and the victory of thy majesty is in their hearts. life is with thee, and offerings of meat and drink follow thee, and that which is thy due is offered up before thy face." in one paragraph of another somewhat similar hymn [footnote: see _chapters of coming forth by day_, p. 342.] other aspects of osiris are described, and after the words "homage to thee, o governor of those who are in amentet," he is called the being who "giveth birth unto men and women a second time," [footnote: the words are _mes tememu em nem_.] _i.e._, "who maketh mortals to be born again." as the whole paragraph refers to osiris "renewing himself," and to his making himself "young like unto r[=a] each and every day," there can be no doubt that the resurrection of the dead, that is to say, their birth into a new life, is what the writer means by the second birth of men and women. from this passage also we may see that osiris has become the equal of r[=a], and that he has passed from being the god of the dead to being the god of the living. moreover, at the time when the above extracts were copied osiris was not only assumed to have occupied the position which r[=a] formerly held, but his son horus, who was begotten after his death, was, by virtue of his victory over set, admitted to be the heir and successor of osiris. and he not only succeeded to the "rank and dignity" of his father osiris, but in his aspect of "avenger of his father," he gradually acquired the peculiar position of intermediary and intercessor on behalf of the children of men. thus in the judgment scene he leads the deceased into the presence of osiris and makes an appeal to his father that the deceased may be allowed to enjoy the benefits enjoyed by all those who are "true of voice" and justified in the judgment. such an appeal, addressed to osiris in the presence of isis, from the son born under such remarkable circumstances was, the egyptian thought, certain of acceptance; and the offspring of a father, after the death of whose body he was begotten, was naturally the best advocate for the deceased. but although such exalted ideas of osiris and his position among the gods obtained generally in egypt during the xviiith dynasty (about b.c. 1600) there is evidence that some believed that in spite of every precaution the body might decay, and that it was necessary to make a special appeal unto osiris if this dire result was to be avoided. the following remarkable prayer was first found inscribed upon a linen swathing which had enveloped the mummy of thothmes iii., but since that time the text, written in hieroglyphics, has been found inscribed upon the _papyrus of nu_, [footnote: brit. mus., no. 10,477, sheet 18. i have published the text in my _chapters of coming forth by day_, pp. 398-402.] and it is, of course, to be found also in the late papyrus preserved at turin, which the late dr. lepsius published so far back as 1842. this text, which is now generally known as chapter cliv of the book of the dead, is entitled "the chapter of not letting the body perish." the text begins:- "homage to thee, o my divine father osiris! i have come to thee that thou mayest embalm, yea embalm these my members, for i would not perish and come to an end, [but would be] even like unto my divine father khepera, the divine type of him that never saw corruption. come, then, and make me to have the mastery over my breath, o thou lord of the winds, who dost magnify those divine beings who are like unto thyself. stablish thou me, then, and strengthen me, o lord of the funeral chest. grant thou that i may enter into the land of everlastingness, even as it was granted unto thee, and unto thy father temu, o thou whose body did not see corruption, and who thyself never sawest corruption. i have never wrought that which thou hatest, nay, i have uttered acclamations with those who have loved thy ka. let not my body turn into worms, but deliver me [from them] even as thou didst deliver thyself. i beseech thee, let me not fall into rottenness as thou dost let every god, and every goddess, and every animal, and every reptile to see corruption when the soul hath gone forth from them after their death. for when the soul departeth, a man seeth corruption, and the bones of his body rot and become wholly loathsomeness, the members decay piecemeal, the bones crumble into an inert mass, the flesh turneth into foetid liquid, and he becometh a brother unto the decay which cometh upon him. and he turneth into a host of worms, and he becometh a mass of worms, and an end is made of him, and he perisheth in the sight of the god shu even as doth every god, and every goddess, and every feathered fowl, and every fish, and every creeping thing, and every reptile, and every animal, and every thing whatsoever. when the worms see me and know me, let them fall upon their bellies, and let the fear of me terrify them; and thus let it be with every creature after [my] death, whether it be animal, or bird, or fish, or worm, or reptile. and let life arise out of death. let not decay caused by any reptile make an end [of me], and let not them come against me in their various forms. do not thou give me over unto that slaughterer who dwelleth in his torture-chamber (?), who killeth the members of the body and maketh them to rot, who worketh destruction upon many dead bodies, whilst he himself remaineth hidden and liveth by slaughter; let me live and perform his message, and let me do that which is commanded by him. gave me not over unto his fingers, and let him not gain, the mastery over me, for i am under thy command, o lord of the gods. "homage to thee; o my divine father osiris, thou hast thy being with thy members. thou didst not decay, thou didst not become worms, thou didst not diminish, thou didst not become corruption, thou didst not putrefy, and thou didst not turn into worms." the deceased then identifying himself with khepera, the god who created osiris and his company of gods, says:- "i am the god khepera, and my members shall have an everlasting existence. i shall not decay, i shall not rot, i shall not putrefy, i shall not turn into worms, and i shall not see corruption under the eye of the god shu. i shall have my being, i shall have my being; i shall live, i shall live; i shall germinate, i shall germinate, i shall germinate; i shall wake up in peace. i shall not putrefy; my bowels shall not perish; i shall not suffer injury; mine eye shall not decay; the form of my countenance shall not disappear; mine ear shall not become deaf; my head shall not be separated from my neck; my tongue shall not be carried away; my hair shall not be cut off; mine eyebrows shall not be shaved off, and no baleful injury shall come upon me. my body shall be stablished, and it shall neither fall into ruin, nor be destroyed on this earth." judging from such passages as those given above we might think that certain of the egyptians expected a resurrection of the physical body, and the mention of the various members of the body seems to make this view certain. but the body of which the incorruption and immortality are so strongly declared is the s[=a]hu; or spiritual body, that sprang into existence out of the physical body, which had become transformed by means of the prayers that had been recited and the ceremonies that had been performed on the day of the funeral, or on that wherein it was laid in the tomb. it is interesting to notice that no mention is made of meat or drink in the clivth chapter, and the only thing which the deceased refers to as necessary for his existence is air, which he obtains through, the god temu, the god who is always depicted in human form; the god is here mentioned in his aspect of the night sun as opposed to r[=a] the day sun, and a comparison of the sun's daily death with the death of the deceased is intended to be made. the deposit of the head of the god-man osiris at abydos has already been mentioned, and the belief that it was preserved there was common throughout egypt. but in the text quoted above the deceased says, "my head shall not be separated from my neck," which seems to indicate that he wished to keep his body whole, notwithstanding that osiris was almighty, and could restore the limbs and reconstitute the body, even as he had done for his own limbs and body which had been hacked to pieces by set. chapter xliii of the book of the dead [footnote: see _the chapters of coming forth by day_, p. 98.] also has an important reference to the head of osiris. it is entitled "the chapter of not letting the head of a man be cut off from him in the underworld," and must be of considerable antiquity. in it the deceased says: "i am the great one, the son of the great one; i am fire, and the son of the fire, to whom was given his head after it had been cut off. the head of osiris was not taken away from him, let not the head of the deceased be taken away from him. i have knit myself together (_or_ reconstituted myself); i have made myself whole and complete; i have renewed my youth; i am osiris, the lord of eternity." from the above it would seem that, according to one version of the osiris story, the head of osiris was not only cut off, but that it was passed through the fire also; and if this version be very ancient, as it well may be and probably is, it takes us back to prehistoric times in egypt when the bodies of the dead were mutilated and burned. prof. wiedemann thinks [footnote: see j. de morgan, _ethnographie préhistorique_, p. 210.] that the mutilation and breaking of the bodies of the dead were the results of the belief that in order to make the ka, or "double," leave this earth, the body to which it belonged must be broken, and he instances the fact that objects of every kind were broken at the time when they were placed in the tombs. he traces also a transient custom in the prehistoric graves of egypt where the methods of burying the body whole and broken into pieces seem to be mingled, for though in some of them the body has been broken into pieces, it is evident that successful attempts have been made to reconstitute it by laying the pieces as far as possible in their proper places. and it may be this custom which is referred to in various places in the book of the dead, when the deceased declares that he has collected his limbs "and made his body whole again," and already in the vth dynasty king teta is thus addressed--"rise up, o thou teta! thou hast received thy head, thou hast knitted together thy bones, [footnote: _recueil de travaux_, tom. v. p. 40 (i. 287).] thou hast collected thy members." the history of osiris, the god of the resurrection, has now been traced from the earliest times to the end of the period of the rule of the priests of amen (about b.c. 900), by which time amen-r[=a] had been thrust in among the gods of the underworld, and prayers were made, in some cases, to him instead of to osiris. from this time onwards amen maintained this exalted position, and in the ptolemaic period, in an address to the deceased ker[=a]sher we read. "thy face shineth before r[=a], thy soul liveth before amen, and thy body is renewed before osiris." and again it is said, "amen is nigh unto thee to make thee to live again.... amen cometh to thee having the breath of life, and he causeth thee to draw thy breath within thy funeral house." but in spite of this, osiris kept and held the highest place in the minds of the egyptians, from first to last, as the god-man, the being who was both divine and human; and no foreign invasion, and no religious or political disturbances, and no influence which any outside peoples could bring to bear upon them, succeeded in making them regard the god as anything less than the cause and symbol and type of the resurrection, and of the life everlasting. for about five thousand years men were mummified in imitation of the mummied form of osiris; and they went to their graves believing that their bodies would vanquish the powers of death, and the grave, and decay, because osiris had vanquished them; and they had certain hope of the resurrection in an immortal, eternal, and spiritual body, because osiris had risen in a transformed spiritual body, and had ascended into heaven, where he had become the king and the judge of the dead, and had attained unto everlasting life therein. the chief reason for the persistence of the worship of osiris in egypt was, probably, the fact that it promised both resurrection and eternal life to its followers. even after the egyptians had embraced christianity they continued to mummify their dead, and for long after they continued to mingle the attributes of their god and the "gods" with those of god almighty and christ. the egyptians of their own will never got away from the belief that the body must be mummified if eternal life was to be assured to the dead, but the christians, though preaching the same doctrine of the resurrection as the egyptians, went a step further, and insisted that there was no need to mummify the dead at all. st. anthony the great besought his followers not to embalm his body and keep it in a house, but to bury it and to tell no man where it had been buried, lest those who loved him should come and draw it forth, and mummify it as they were wont to do to the bodies of those whom they regarded as saints. "for long past," he said, "i have entreated the bishops and preachers to exhort the people not to continue to observe this useless custom"; and concerning his own body, he said, "at the resurrection of the dead i shall receive it from the saviour incorruptible." [footnote: see rosweyde, _vitae patrum_, p. 59; _life of st. anthony_, by athanusius (migne), _patrologiae_, scr. graec, tom. 26, col. 972.] the spread of this idea gave the art of mummifying its death-blow, and though from innate conservatism, and the love of having the actual bodies of their beloved dead near them, the egyptians continued for a time to preserve their dead as before, yet little by little the reasons for mummifying were forgotten, the knowledge of the art died out, the funeral ceremonies were curtailed, the prayers became a dead letter, and the custom of making mummies became obsolete. with the death of the art died also the belief in and the worship of osiris, who from being the god of the dead became a dead god, and to the christians of egypt, at least, his place was filled by christ, "the firstfruits of them that slept," whose resurrection and power to grant eternal life were at that time being preached throughout most of the known world. in osiris the christian egyptians found the prototype of christ, and in the pictures and statues of isis suckling her son horus, they perceived the prototypes of the virgin mary and her child. never did christianity find elsewhere in the world a people whose minds were so thoroughly well prepared to receive its doctrines as the egyptians. this chapter may be fittingly ended by a few extracts from, the _songs of isis and nephthys_, which were sung in the temple of amen-r[=a] at thebes by two priestesses who personified the two goddesses. [footnote 1: see my _hieratic papyrus of nesi-amsu (archaeologia, vol. iii_)] "hail, thou lord of the underworld, thou bull of those who are therein, thou image of r[=a]-harmachis, thou babe of beautiful appearance, come thou to us in peace. thou didst repel thy disasters, thou didst drive away evil hap; lord, come to us in peace. o un-nefer, lord of food, thou chief, thou who art of terrible majesty, thou god, president of the gods, when thou dost inundate the land [all] things are engendered. thou art gentler than the gods. the emanations of thy body make the dead and the living to live, o thou lord of food, thou prince of green herbs, thou mighty lord, thou staff of life, thou giver of offerings to the gods, and of sepulchral meals to the blessed dead. thy soul flieth after r[=a], thou shinest at dawn, thou settest at twilight, thou risest every day; thou shalt rise on the left hand of atmu for ever and ever. thou art the glorious one, the vicar of r[=a]; the company of the gods cometh to thee invoking thy face, the flame whereof reacheth unto thine enemies. we rejoice when thou gatherest together thy bones, and when thou hast made whole thy body daily. anubis cometh to thee, and the two sisters (_i.e._, isis and nephthys) come to thee. they have obtained beautiful things for thee, and they gather together thy limbs for thee, and they seek to put together the mutilated members of thy body. wipe thou the impurities which are on them upon our hair and come thou to us having no recollection, of that which hath caused thee sorrow. come thou in thy attribute of 'prince of the earth,' lay aside thy trepidation and be at peace with us, o lord. thou shalt be proclaimed heir of the world, and the one god, and, the fulfiller of the designs of the gods. all the gods invoke thee, come therefore to thy temple and be not afraid. o r[=a] (_i.e._, osiris), thou art beloved of isis and nephthys; rest thou in thy habitation forever." chapter iii. the "gods" of the egyptians. throughout this book we have had to refer frequently to the "gods" of egypt; it is now time to explain who and what they were. we have already shown how much the monotheistic side of the egyptian religion resembles that of modern christian nations, and it will have come as a surprise to some that a people, possessing such exalted ideas of god as the egyptians, could ever have become the byword they did through their alleged worship of a multitude of "gods" in various forms. it is quite true that the egyptians paid honour to a number of gods, a number so large that the list of their mere names would fill a volume, but it is equally true that the educated classes in egypt at all times never placed the "gods" on the same high level as god, and they never imagined that their views on this point could be mistaken. in prehistoric times every little village or town, every district and province, and every great city, had its own particular god; we may go a step farther, and say that every family of any wealth and position had its own god. the wealthy family selected some one to attend to its god, and to minister unto his wants, and the poor family contributed, according to its means, towards a common fund for providing a dwelling-house for the god, and for vestments, etc. but the god was an integral part of the family, whether rich or poor, and its destiny was practically locked up with that of the family. the overthrow of the family included the overthrow of the god, and seasons of prosperity resulted in abundant offerings, new vestments; perhaps a new shrine, and the like. the god of the village, although he was a more important being, might be led into captivity along with the people of the village, but the victory of his followers in a raid or fight caused the honours paid to him to be magnified and enhanced his renown. the gods of provinces or of great cities were, of course, greater than those of villages and private families, and in the large houses dedicated to them, _i.e._, temples, a considerable number of them, represented by statues, would be found. sometimes the attributes of one god would be ascribed to another, sometimes two or more gods would be "fused" or united and form one, sometimes gods were imported from remote villages and towns and even from foreign countries, and occasionally a community or town would repudiate its god or gods, and adopt a brand new set from some neighbouring district thus the number of the gods was always changing, and the relative position of individual gods was always changing; an obscure and almost unknown, local god to-day might through a victory in war become the chief god of a city, and on the other hand, a god worshipped with abundant offerings and great ceremony one month might sink into insignificance and become to all intents and purposes a dead god the next. but besides family and village gods there were national gods, and gods of rivers and mountains, and gods of earth and sky, all of which taken together made a formidable number of "divine" beings whose good-will had to be secured, and whose ill-will must be appeased. besides these, a number of animals as being sacred to the gods were also considered to be "divine," and fear as well as love made the egyptians add to their numerous classes of gods. the gods of egypt whose names are known to us do not represent all those that have been conceived by the egyptian imagination, for with them as with much else, the law of the survival of the fittest holds good. of the gods of the prehistoric man we know nothing, but it is more than probable that some of the gods who were worshipped in dynastic times represent, in a modified form, the deities of the savage, or semi-savage, egyptian that held their influence on his mind the longest. a typical example of such a god will suffice, namely thoth, whose original emblem was the dog-headed ape. in very early times great respect was paid to this animal on account of his sagacity, intelligence, and cunning; and the simple-minded egyptian, when he heard him chattering just before the sunrise and sunset, assumed that he was in some way holding converse or was intimately connected with the sun. this idea clung to his mind, and we find in dynastic times, in the vignette representing the rising sun, that the apes, who are said to be the transformed openers of the portals of heaven, form a veritable company of the gods, and at the same time one of the most striking features of the scene. thus an idea which came into being in the most remote times passed on from generation to generation until it became crystallized in the best copies of the book of the dead, at a period when egypt was at its zenith of power and glory. the peculiar species of the dog-headed ape which is represented in statues and on papyri is famous for its cunning, and it was the words which it supplied to thoth, who in turn transmitted them to osiris, that enabled osiris to be "true of voice," or triumphant, over his enemies. it is probably in this capacity, _i.e._, as the friend of the dead, that the dog-headed ape appears seated upon the top of the standard of the balance in which the heart of the deceased is being weighed against the feather symbolic of ma[=a]t; for the commonest titles of the god are "lord of divine books," "lord of divine words," _i.e._, the formulae which make the deceased to be obeyed by friend and foe alike in the next world. in later times, when thoth came to be represented by the ibis bird, his attributes were multiplied, and he became the god of letters, science, mathematics, etc.; at the creation he seems to have played a part not unlike that of "wisdom" which is so beautifully described by the writer of proverbs (see chap. viii. vv. 23-31). whenever and wherever the egyptians attempted to set up a system of gods they always found that the old local gods had to be taken into consideration, and a place had to be found for them in the system. this might be done by making them members of triads, or of groups of nine gods, now commonly called "enneads"; but in one form or other they had to appear. the researches made during the last few years have shown that there must have been several large schools of theological thought in egypt, and of each of these the priests did their utmost to proclaim the superiority of their gods. in dynastic times there must have been great colleges at heliopolis, memphis, abydos, and one or more places in the delta, not to mention the smaller schools of priests which, probably existed at places on both sides of the nile from memphis to the south. of the theories and doctrines of all such schools and colleges, those of heliopolis have survived in the completest form, and by careful examination of the funeral texts which were inscribed on the monuments of the kings of egypt of the vth and vith dynasties we can say what views they held about many of the gods. at the outset we see that the great god of heliopolis was temu or atmu, the setting sun, and to him the priests of that place ascribed the attributes which rightly belong to r[=a], the sun-god of the day-time. for some reason or other they formulated the idea of a company of the gods, nine in number, which was called the "great company _(paut)_ of the gods," and at the head of this company they placed the god temu. in chapter xvii of the book of the dead [footnote: see _chapters of coming forth by day_, p. 49.] we find the following passage:- "i am the god temu in his rising; i am the only one. i came into being in nu. i am r[=a] who rose in the beginning." next comes the question, "but who is this?" and the answer is: "it is r[=a] when at the beginning he rose in the city of suten-henen (heracleopolis magna) crowned like a king in rising. the pillars of the god shu were not as yet created when he was upon the staircase of him that dwelleth in khemennu (hermopolis magna)." from these statements we learn that temu and r[=a] were one and the same god, and that he was the first offspring of the god nu, the primeval watery mass out of which all the gods came into being. the text continues: "i am the great god nu who gave birth to himself, and who made his names to come into being and to form the company of the gods. but who is this? it is r[=a], the creator of the names of his members which came into being in the form of the gods who are in the train of r[=a]." and again: "i am he who is not driven back among the gods. but who is this? it is tem, the dweller in his disk, or as others say, it is r[=a] in his rising in the eastern horizon of heaven." thus we learn further that nu was self-produced, and that the gods are simply the names of his limbs; but then r[=a] is nu, and the gods who are in his train or following are merely personifications of the names of his own members. he who cannot be driven back among the gods is either temu or r[=a], and so we find that nu, temu, and r[=a] are one and the same god. the priests of heliopolis in setting temu at the head of their company of the gods thus gave r[=a], and nu also, a place of high honour; they cleverly succeeded in making their own local god chief of the company, but at the same time they provided the older gods with positions of importance. in this way worshippers of r[=a], who had regarded their god as the oldest of the gods, would have little cause to complain of the introduction of temu into the company of the gods, and the local vanity of heliopolis would be gratified. but besides the nine gods who were supposed to form the "great company" of gods of the city of heliopolis, there was a second group of nine gods called the "little company" of the gods, and yet a third group of nine gods, which formed the least company. now although the _paut_ or company of nine gods might be expected to contain nine always, this was not the case, and the number nine thus applied is sometimes misleading. there are several passages extant in texts in which the gods of a _paut_ are enumerated, but the total number is sometimes ten and sometimes eleven. this fact is easily explained when we remember that the egyptians deified the various forms or aspects of a god, or the various phases in his life. thus the setting sun, called temu or atmu, and the rising sun, called khepera, and the mid-day sun, called r[=a], were three forms of the same god; and if any one of these three forms was included in a _paut_ or company of nine gods, the other two forms were also included by implication, even though the _paut_ then contained eleven, instead of nine gods. similarly, the various forms of each god or goddess of the _paut_ were understood to be included in it, however large the total number of gods might become. we are not, therefore, to imagine that the three companies of the gods were limited in number to 9 x 3, or twenty-seven, even though the symbol for god be given twenty-seven times in the texts. we have already alluded to the great number of gods who were known to the egyptians, but it will be readily imagined that it was only those who were thought to deal with man's destiny, here and hereafter, who obtained the worship and reverence of the people of egypt. these were, comparatively, limited in number, and in fact may be said to consist of the members of the great company of the gods of heliopolis, that is to say, of the gods who belonged to the cycle of osiris. these may be briefly described as follows:- 1. temu or atmu, _i.e._, the "closer" of the day, just as ptah was the "opener" of the day. in the story of the creation he declares that he evolved himself under the form of the god khepera, and in hymns he is said to be the "maker of the gods", "the creator of men", etc., and he usurped the position of r[=a] among the gods of egypt. his worship must have been already very ancient at the time of the kings of the vth dynasty, for his traditional form is that of a man at that time. 2. shu was the firstborn son of temu. according to one legend he sprang direct from the god, and according to another the goddess hathor was his mother; yet a third legend makes him the son of temu by the goddess ius[=a]set. he it was who made his way between the gods seb and nut and raised up the latter to form the sky, and this belief is commemorated by the figures of this god in which he is represented as a god raising himself up from the earth with the sun's disk on his shoulders. as a power of nature he typified the light, and, standing on the top of a staircase at hermopolis magua, [footnote: see above, pp. 69 and 89.] he raised up the sky and held it up during each day. to assist him in this work he placed a pillar at each of the cardinal points, and the "supports of shu" are thus the props of the sky. 3. tefnut was the twin-sister of shu; as a power of nature she typified moisture or some aspect of the sun's heat, but as a god of the dead she seems to have been, in some way, connected with the supply of drink to the deceased. her brother shu was the right eye of temu, and she was the left, _i.e._, shu represented an aspect of the sun, and tefnut of the moon. the gods temu, shu, and tefnut thus formed a trinity, and in the story of the creation the god temu says, after describing how shu and tefnut proceeded from himself, "thus from being one god i became three." 4. seb was the son of the god shu. he is called the "erp[=a]," _i.e._, the "hereditary chief" of the gods, and the "father of the gods," these being, of course, osiris, isis, set, and nephthys. he was originally the god of the earth, but later he became a god of the dead as representing the earth wherein the deceased was laid. one legend identifies him with the goose, the bird which, in later times was sacred to him, and he is often called the "great cackler," in allusion to the idea that he made the primeval egg from which the world came into being. 5. nut was the wife of seb and the mother of osiris, isis, set, and nephthys. originally she was the personification of the sky, and represented the feminine principle which was active at the creation of the universe. according to an old view, seb and nut existed in the primeval watery abyss side by side with shu and tefnut; and later seb became the earth and nut the sky. these deities were supposed to unite every evening, and to remain embraced until the morning, when the god shu separated them, and set the goddess of the sky upon his four pillars until the evening. nut was, naturally, regarded as the mother of the gods and of all things living, and she and her husband seb were considered to be the givers of food, not only to the living but also to the dead. though different views were current in egypt as to the exact location of the heaven of the beatified dead, yet all schools of thought in all periods assigned it to some region in the sky, and the abundant allusions in the texts to the heavenly bodies--that is, the sun, moon, and stars--which the deceased dwells with, prove that the final abode of the souls of the righteous was not upon earth. the goddess nut is sometimes represented as a female along whose body the sun travels, and sometimes as a cow; the tree sacred to her was the sycamore. 6. osiris was the son of seb and nut, the husband of isis and the father of horus. the history of this god is given elsewhere in this book so fully that it is only necessary to refer briefly to him. he was held to be a man although of divine origin; he lived and reigned as a king on this earth; he was treacherously murdered by his brother set, and his body was cut up into fourteen pieces, which were scattered about egypt; after his death, isis, by the use of magical formulae supplied to her by thoth, succeeded in raising him to life, and he begot a son called horus; when horus was grown up, he engaged in combat with set, and overcame him, and thus "avenged his father"; by means of magical formulae, supplied to him by thoth, osiris reconstituted and revivified his body, and became the type of the resurrection and the symbol of immortality; he was also the hope, the judge, and the god of the dead, probably even in pre-dynastic times. osiris was in one aspect a solar deity, and originally he seems to have represented the sun after it had set; but he is also identified with the moon. in the xviiith dynasty, however, he is already the equal of r[=a], and later the attributes of god and of all the "gods" were ascribed to him. 7. isis was the wife of osiris and mother of horus; as a nature goddess she had a place in the boat of the sun at the creation, when she probably typified the dawn. by reason of her success in revivifying her husband's body by means of the utterance of magical formulae, she is called the "lady of enchantments." her wanderings in search of her husband's body, and the sorrow which she endured in bringing forth and rearing her child in the papyrus swamps of the delta, and the persecution which she suffered at the hands of her husband's enemies, form the subject of many allusions in texts of all periods. she has various aspects, but the one which appealed most to the imagination of the egyptians, was that of "divine mother"; in this character thousands of statues represent her seated and suckling her child horus whom she holds upon her knees. 8. set was the son of seb and nut, and the husband of nephthys. at a very early period he was regarded as the brother and friend of "horus the elder," the aroueris of the greeks, and set represented the night whilst horus represented the day. each of these gods performed many offices of a friendly nature for the dead, and among others they set up and held the ladder by which the deceased made his way from this earth to heaven, and helped him to ascend it. but, at a later period, the views of the egyptians concerning set changed, and soon after the reign of the kings called "seti," _i.e._, those whose names were based upon that of the god, he became the personification of all evil, and of all that is horrible and terrible in nature, such as the desert in its most desolate form, the storm and the tempest, etc. set, as a power of nature, was always waging war with horus the elder, _i.e._, the night did battle with the day for supremacy; both gods, however, sprang from the same source, for the heads of both are, in one scene, made to belong to one body. when horus, the son of isis, had grown up, he did battle with set, who had murdered horus's father osiris, and vanquished him; in many texts these two originally distinct fights are confused, and the two horus gods also. the conquest of set by horus in the first conflict typified only the defeat of the night by the day, but the defeat of set in the second seems to have been understood as the victory of life over death, and of good over evil. the symbol of set was an animal with a head something like that of a camel, but it has not yet been satisfactorily identified; figures of the god are uncommon, for most of them were destroyed by the egyptians when they changed their views about him. 9. nephthys was the sister of isis and her companion in all her wanderings and troubles; like her she had a place in the boat of the sun at creation, when she probably typified the twilight or very early night. she was, according to one legend, the mother of anubis by osiris, but in the texts his father is declared to be r[=a]. in funeral papyri, stelae, etc., she always accompanies isis in her ministrations to the dead, and as she assisted osiris and isis to defeat the wickedness of her own husband (set), so she helped the deceased to overcome the powers of death and the grave. here then we have the nine gods of the divine company of heliopolis, but no mention is made of horus, the son of isis, who played such an important part in the history of his father osiris, and nothing is said about thoth; both gods are, however, included in the company in various passages of the text, and it may be that their omission from it is the result of an error of the scribe. we have already given the chief details of the history of the gods horus and thoth, and the principal gods of the other companies may now be briefly named. nu was the "father of the gods," and progenitor of the "great company of the gods"; he was the primeval watery mass out of which all things came. ptah was one of the most active of the three great gods who carried out the commands of thoth, who gave expression in words to the will of the primeval, creative power; he was self-created, and was a form of the sun-god r[=a] as the "opener" of the day. from certain allusions in the book of the dead he is known to have "opened the mouth" [footnote: "may the god ptah open my mouth"; "may the god shu open my mouth with his implement of iron wherewith he opened the mouth of the gods" (chap. xxiii.)] of the gods, and it is in this capacity that he became a god of the cycle of osiris. his feminine counterpart was the goddess sekhet, and the third member of the triad of which he was the chief was nefer-temu. ptah-seker is the dual god formed by fusing seker, the egyptian name of the incarnation of the apis bull of memphis, with ptah. ptah-seker-ausar was a triune god who, in brief, symbolized life, death, and the resurrection. khnemu was one of the old cosmic gods who assisted ptah in carrying out the commands of thoth, who gave expression in words to the will of the primeval, creative power, he is described as "the maker of things which are, the creator of things which shall be, the source of created things, the father of fathers, and the mother of mothers." it was he who, according to one legend, fashioned man upon a potter's wheel. khepera was an old primeval god, and the type of matter which contains within itself the germ of life which is about to spring into a new existence; thus he represented the dead body from which the spiritual body was about to rise. he is depicted in the form of a man having a beetle for a head, and this insect became his emblem because it was supposed to be self-begotten and self-produced. to the present day certain of the inhabitants of the sûdân, pound the dried scarabaeus or beetle and drink it in water, believing that it will insure them a numerous progeny. the name "khepera" means "he who rolls," and when the insect's habit of rolling along its ball filled with eggs is taken into consideration, the appropriateness of the name is apparent. as the ball of eggs rolls along the germs mature and burst into life; and as the sun rolls across the sky emitting light and heat and with them life, so earthly things are produced and have their being by virtue thereof. r[=a] was probably the oldest of the gods worshipped in egypt, and his name belongs to such a remote period that its meaning is unknown. he was in all periods the visible emblem of god, and was the god of this earth to whom offerings and sacrifices were made daily; time began when r[=a] appeared above the horizon at creation in the form of the sun, and the life of a man was compared to his daily course at a very early date. r[=a] was supposed to sail over heaven in two boats, the [=a]tet or m[=a] tet boat in which he journeyed from sunrise until noon, and the sektet boat in which he journeyed from noon until sunset. at his rising he was attacked by [=a]pep, a mighty "dragon" or serpent, the type of evil and darkness, and with this monster he did battle until the fiery darts which he discharged into the body of =apep scorched and burnt him up; the fiends that were in attendance upon this terrible foe were also destroyed by fire, and their bodies were hacked in pieces. a repetition of this story is given in the legend of the fight between horus and set, and in both forms it represented originally the fight which was supposed to go on daily between light and darkness. later, however, when osiris had usurped the position of r[=a], and horus represented a divine power who was about to avenge the cruel murder of his father, and the wrong which had been done to him, the moral conceptions of right and wrong, good and evil, truth and falsehood were applied to light and darkness, that is to say, to horus and set. as r[=a] was the "father of the gods," it was natural that every god should represent some phase of him, and that he should represent every god. a good illustration of this fact is afforded by a hymn to r[=a], a fine copy of which is found inscribed on the walls of the sloping corridor in the tomb of seti i., about b.c. 1370, from which we quote the following:- 11. "praise be unto thee, o r[=a], thou exalted power, who dost enter into the habitations of ament, behold [thy] body is temu. 12. "praise be unto thee, o r[=a], thou exalted power, who dost enter into the hidden place of anubis, behold, [thy] body is khepera. 13. "praise be unto thee, o r[=a], thou exalted power, whose duration of life is greater than that of the hidden forms, behold [thy] body is shu. 14. "praise be unto thee, o r[=a], thou exalted power, .... behold [thy] body is tefnut. 15. "praise be unto thee, o r[=a], thou exalted power, who bringest forth, green things in their season, behold [thy] body is seb. 16. "praise be unto thee, o r[=a], thou exalted power, thou mighty being who dost judge,... behold [thy] body is nut. 17. "praise be unto thee, o r[=a], thou exalted power, the lord.... behold [thy] body is isis. 18. "praise be unto thee, o r[=a], thou exalted power, whose head giveth light to that which is in front of thee, behold [thy] body is nephthys. 19. "praise be unto thee, o r[=a], thou exalted power, thou source of the divine members, thou one, who bringest into being that which hath been begotten, behold [thy] body is horus. 20. "praise be unto thee, o r[=a], thou exalted power, who dost dwell in and illumine the celestial deep, behold [thy] body is nu." [footnote: for the text see _annales du musée guimet: le tombeau de seti 1_. (ed. lefébure), paris, 1886, pl. v.] in the paragraphs which follow r[=a] is identified with a large number of gods and divine personages whose names are not of such common occurrence in the texts as those given above, and in one way or another the attributes of all the gods are ascribed to him. at the time when the hymn was written it is clear that polytheism, not pantheism as some would have it, was in the ascendant, and notwithstanding the fact that the theban god amen was gradually being forced to the headship of the companies of the gods of egypt, we find everywhere the attempt being made to emphasize the view that every god, whether foreign or native, was an aspect or form of r[=a]. the god amen just referred to was originally a local god of thebes, whose shrine was either founded or rebuilt as far back as the xiith dynasty, about b.c. 2500. this "hidden" god, for such is the meaning of the name amen, was essentially a god of the south of egypt, but when the theban kings vanquished their foes in the north, and so became masters of the whole country, amen became a god of the first importance, and the kings of the xviiith, xixth, and xxth dynasties endowed his temples on a lavish scale. the priests of the god called amen "the king of the gods," and they endeavoured to make all egypt accept him as such, but in spite of their power they saw that they could not bring this result about unless they identified him with the oldest gods of the land. they declared that he represented the hidden and mysterious power which created and sustains the universe, and that the sun was the symbol of this power; they therefore added his name to that of r[=a], and in this form he gradually usurped the attributes and powers of nu, khnemu, ptah, h[=a]pi, and other great gods. a revolt headed by amen-hetep, or amenophis iv. (about b.c. 1500), took place against the supremacy of amen in the middle of the xviiith dynasty, but it was unsuccessful. this king hated the god and his name so strongly that he changed his own name into that of "khu-en-aten," _i.e._, "the glory of the solar disk," and ordered the name of amen to be obliterated, wherever possible, on temples and other great monuments; and this was actually done in many places. it is impossible to say exactly what the religious views of the king were, but it is certain that he wished to substitute the cult of aten, a form of the sun-god worshipped at annu (_i.e._, on or heliopolis) in very ancient times, for that of amen. "aten" means literally the "disk of the sun," and though it is difficult to understand at this distance of time in what the difference between the worship of r[=a] and the worship of "r[=a] in his disk" consisted, we may be certain that there must have been some subtle, theological distinction between them. but whatever the difference may have been, it was sufficient to make amenophis forsake the old capital thebes and withdraw to a place [footnote: the site is marked by the ruins of tell el-amarna.]some distance to the north of that city, where he carried on the worship of his beloved god aten. in the pictures of the aten worship which have come down to us the god appears in the form of a disk from which proceed a number of arms and hands that bestow life upon his worshippers. after the death of amenophis the cult of aten declined, and amen resumed his sway over the minds of the egyptians. want of space forbids the insertion here of a full list of the titles of amen, and a brief extract from the papyrus of the princess nesi-khensu [footnote: for a hieroglyphic transcript of the hieratic text, see maspero, _mémoires_, tom. i., p. 594 ff.] must suffice to describe the estimation in which the god was held about b.c. 1000. in this amen is addressed as "the holy god, the lord of all the gods, amen-r[=a], the lord of the thrones of the world, the prince of apt (_i.e._, karnak), the holy soul who came into being in the beginning, the great god who liveth by right and truth, the first ennead who gave birth unto the other two enneads, [footnote: _i.e._, the great, the little, and the least companies of the gods; each company (_paut_) contained nine gods.] the being in whom every god existeth, the one of one, the creator of the things which came into being when the earth took form in the beginning, whose births are hidden, whose forms are manifold, and whose growth cannot be known. the holy form, beloved and terrible and mighty.... the lord of space, the mighty one of the form of khepera, who came into existence through khepera, the lord of the form of khepera; when he came into being nothing existed except himself. he shone upon the earth from primeval time, he the disk, the prince of light and radiance.... when this holy god moulded himself, the heavens and the earth were made by his heart (_or_ mind).... he is the disk of the moon, the beauties whereof pervade the heavens and the earth, the untiring and beneficent king whose will germinateth from rising to setting, from whose divine eyes men and women come forth, and from whose mouth the gods do come, and [by whom] food and meat and drink are made and provided, and [by whom] the things which exist are created. he is the lord of time, and he traverseth eternity; he is the aged one who reneweth his youth.... he is the being who cannot be known, and he is more hidden than all the gods.... he giveth long life and multiplieth the years of those who are favoured by him, he is the gracious protector of him whom he setteth in his heart, and he is the fashioner of eternity and everlastingness. he is the king of the north and of the south, amen-r[=a], king of the gods, the lord of heaven, and of earth, and of the waters and of the mountains, with whose coming into being the earth began its existence, the mighty one, more princely than, all the gods of the first company." in the above extract, it will be noticed that amen is called the "one of one," or the "one one," a title which has been explained as having no reference whatever to the unity of god as understood in modern times: but unless these words are intended to express the idea of unity, what is their meaning? it is also said that he is "without second," and thus there is no doubt whatever that when the egyptians declared their god to be one, and without a second, they meant precisely what the hebrews and arabs meant when they declared their god to be one. [footnote: see deut., vi. 4; and _koran_, chapter cxii.] such a god was an entirely different being from the personifications of the powers of nature and the existences which, for want of a better name, have been called "gods." but, besides r[=a], there existed in very early times a god called horus, whose symbol was the hawk, which, it seems, was the first living thing worshipped by the egyptians; horus was the sun-god, like r[=a], and in later times was confounded with horus the son of isis. the chief forms of horus given in the texts are: (1) heru-ur (aroueris), (2) heru-merti, (3) heru-nub, (4) heru-khent-khat, (5) heru-khent-an-maa, (6) heru-khuti, (7) heru-sam-taui, (8) heru-hekennu, (9) heru-behutet. connected with one of the forms of horus, originally, were the four gods of the cardinal points, or the "four, spirits of horus," who supported heaven at its four corners; their names were hapi, tuamutee, amset, and qebhsennuf, and they represented the north, east, south, and west respectively. the intestines of the dead were embalmed and placed in four jars, each being under the protection, of one of these four gods. other important gods of the dead are: (1) anubis, the son of r[=a] or osiris, who presided over the abode of the dead, and with ap-uat shared the dominion of the "funeral mountain"; the symbol of each of these gods is a jackal. (2) hu and sa, the children of temu, or r[=a], who appear in the boat of the sun at the creation, and later in the judgment scene. (3) the goddess ma[=a]t, who was associated with thoth, ptah, and khnemu in the work of creation; the name means "straight," hence what is right, true, truth, real, genuine, upright, righteous, just, steadfast, unalterable, and the like. (4) the goddess het-hert (hathor), _i.e._, the "house of horus," which was that part of the sky where the sun rose and set. the sycamore tree was sacred to her, and the deceased prays to be fed by her with celestial food from out of it (5) the goddess meh-urt, who represented that portion of the sky in which the sun takes his daily course; here it was, according to the view held at one period at least, that the judgment of the deceased was supposed to take place. (6) neith, the mother of sebek, who was also a goddess of the eastern portion of the sky. (7) sekhet and bast, who are represented with the heads of a lion and a cat, and who were symbols of the destroying, scorching power of the sun, and of the gentle heat thereof, respectively. (8) serq, who was a form of isis. (9) ta-urt (thoueris), who was the genetrix of the gods. (10) uatchet, who was a form of hather, and who had dominion over the northern sky, just as nekhebet was mistress of the southern sky. (11) neheb-ka, who was a goddess who possessed magical powers, and in some respects resembled isis in her attributes. (12) sebak, who was a form of the sun-god, and was in later times confounded with sebak, or sebek, the friend of set. (13) amsu (or min or kuem), who was the personification of the generative and reproductive powers of nature. (14) beb or baba, who was the "firstborn son of osiris." (15) h[=a]pi, who was the god of the nile, and with whom most of the great gods were identified. the names of the beings who at one time or another were called "gods" in egypt are so numerous that a mere list of them would fill scores of pages, and in a work of this kind would be out of place. the reader is, therefore, referred to lanzone's _mitologia egizia_, where a considerable number are enumerated and described. chapter iv. the judgment of the dead. the belief that the deeds done in the body would be subjected to an analysis and scrutiny by the divine powers after the death of a man belongs to the earliest period of egyptian civilization, and this belief remained substantially the same in all generations. though we have no information as to the locality where the last judgment took place, or whether the egyptian soul passed into the judgment-hall immediately after the death of the body, or after the mummification was ended and the body was deposited in the tomb, it is quite certain that the belief in the judgment was as deeply rooted in the egyptians as the belief in immortality. there seems to have been no idea of a general judgment when all those who had lived in the world should receive their reward for the deeds done in the body; on the contrary, all the evidence available goes to show that each soul was dealt with individually, and was either permitted to pass into the kingdom of osiris and of the blessed, or was destroyed straightway. certain passages in the texts seem to suggest the idea of the existence of a place for departed spirits wherein the souls condemned in the judgment might dwell, but it must be remembered that it was the enemies of r[=a], the sun-god, that inhabited this region; and it is impossible to imagine that the divine powers who presided over the judgment would permit the souls of the wicked to live after they had been condemned and to become enemies of those who were pure and blessed. on the other hand, if we attach any importance to the ideas of the copts upon this subject, and consider that they represent ancient beliefs which they derived from the egyptians traditionally, it must be admitted that the egyptian underworld contained some region wherein the souls of the wicked were punished for an indefinite period. the coptic lives of saints and martyrs are full of allusions to the sufferings of the damned, but whether the descriptions of these are due to imaginings of the mind of the christian egyptian or to the bias of the scribe's opinions cannot always be said. when we consider that the coptic hell was little more than a modified form of the ancient egyptian amenti, or amentet, it is difficult to believe that it was the name of the egyptian underworld only which was borrowed, and that the ideas and beliefs concerning it which were held by the ancient egyptians were not at the same time absorbed. some christian writers are most minute in their classification of the wicked in hell, as we may see from the following extract from the life of pisentios, [footnote: ed. amélineau, paris, 1887, p. 144 f.] bishop of keft, in the viith century of our era. the holy man had taken refuge in a tomb wherein a number of mummies had been piled up, and when he had read the list of the names of the people who had been buried there he gave it to his disciple to replace. then he addressed his disciple and admonished him to do the work of god with diligence, and warned him that every man must become even as were the mummies which lay before them. "and some," said he, "whose sins have been many are now in amenti, others are in the outer darkness, others are in pits and ditches filled with fire, and others are in the river of fire: upon these last no one hath bestowed rest. and others, likewise, are in a place of rest, by reason of their good works." when the disciple had departed, the holy man began to talk to one of the mummies who had been a native of the town of erment, or armant, and whose father and mother had been called agricolaos and eustathia. he had been a worshipper of poseidon, and had never heard that christ had come into the world. "and," said he "woe, woe is me because i was born into the world. why did not my mother's womb become my tomb? when, it became necessary for me to die, the kosmokratôr angels were the first to come round about me, and they told me of all the sins which i had committed, and they said unto me, 'let him that can save thee from the torments into which thou shalt be cast come hither.' and they had in their hands iron knives, and pointed goads which were like unto sharp spears, and they drove them into my sides and gnashed upon me with their teeth. when a little time afterwards my eyes were opened i saw death hovering about in the air in its manifold forms, and at that moment angels who were without pity came and dragged my wretched soul from my body, and having tied it under the form of a black horse they led me away to amonti. woe be unto every sinner like unto myself who hath been born into the world! o my master and father, i was then delivered into the hands of a multitude of tormentors who were without pity and who had each a different form. oh, what a number of wild beasts did i see in the way! oh, what a number of powers were there that inflicted punishment upon me! and it came to pass that when i had been cast into the outer darkness, i saw a great ditch which was more than two hundred cubits deep, and it was filled with reptiles; each reptile had seven heads, and the body of each was like unto that of a scorpion. in this place also lived the great worm, the mere sight of which terrified him that looked thereat. in his mouth he had teeth like unto iron stakes, and one took me and threw me to this worm which never ceased to eat; then immediately all the [other] beasts gathered together near him, and when he had filled his mouth [with my flesh], all the beasts who were round about me filled theirs." in answer to the question of the holy man as to whether he had enjoyed any rest or period without suffering, the mummy replied: "yea, o my father, pity is shown unto those who are in torment every saturday and every sunday. as soon as sunday is over we are cast into the torments which we deserve, so that we may forget the years which we have passed in the world; and as soon as we have forgotten the grief of this torment we are cast into another which is still more grievous." now, it is easy to see from the above description of the torments which the wicked were supposed to suffer, that the writer had in his mind some of the pictures with which we are now familiar, thanks to the excavation of tombs which has gone on in egypt during the last few years; and it is also easy to see that he, in common with many other coptic writers, misunderstood the purport of them. the outer darkness, _i.e._, the blackest place of all in the underworld, the river of fire, the pits of fire, the snake and the scorpion, and such like things, all have their counterparts, or rather originals, in the scenes which accompany the texts which describe the passage of the sun through the underworld during the hours of the night. having once misunderstood the general meaning of such scenes, it was easy to convert the foes of r[=a], the sun-god, into the souls of the damned, and to look upon the burning up of such foes--who were after all only certain powers of nature personified--as the well-merited punishment of those who had done evil upon the earth. how far the copts reproduced unconsciously the views which had been held by their ancestors for thousands of years cannot be said, but even after much allowance has been made for this possibility, there remains still to be explained a large number of beliefs and views which seem to have been the peculiar product of the egyptian christian imagination. it has been said above that the idea of the judgment of the dead is of very great antiquity in egypt; indeed, it is so old that it is useless to try to ascertain the date of the period when it first grew up. in the earliest religious texts known to us, there are indications that the egyptians expected a judgment, but they are not sufficiently definite to argue from; it is certainly doubtful if the judgment was thought to be as thorough and as searching then as in the later period. as far back as the reign of men-kau-r[=a], the mycerinus of the greeks, about b.c. 3600, a religious text, which afterwards formed chapter 30b of the book of the dead, was found inscribed on an iron slab; in the handwriting of the god thoth, by the royal son or prince herut[=a]t[=a]f. [footnote: see _chapters of coming forth by day_, translation, p. 80.] the original purpose of the composition of this text cannot be said, but there is little doubt that it was intended, to benefit the deceased in the judgment, and, if we translate its title literally, it was intended to prevent his heart from "falling away from him in the underworld." in the first part of it the deceased, after adjuring his heart, says, "may naught stand up to oppose me in the judgment; may there be no opposition to me in the presence of the sovereign princes; may there be no parting of thee from me in the presence of him that keepeth the balance!... may the officers of the court of osiris (in egyptian _shenit_), who form the conditions of the lives of men, not cause my name to stink! let [the judgment] be satisfactory unto me, let the hearing be satisfactory unto me, and let me have joy of heart at the weighing of words. let not that which is false be uttered against me before the great god, the lord of amentet." now, although the papyrus upon, which this statement and prayer are found was written about two thousand years after men-kau-r[=a] reigned, there is no doubt that they were copied from texts which were themselves copied at a much earlier period, and that the story of the finding of the text inscribed upon an iron slab is contemporary with its actual discovery by herut[=a]t[=a]f. it is not necessary to inquire here whether the word "find" (in egyptian _qem_) means a genuine discovery or not, but it is clear that those who had the papyrus copied saw no absurdity or impropriety in ascribing the text to the period of men-kau-r[=a]. another text, which afterwards also became a chapter of the book of the dead, under the title "chapter of not letting the heart of the deceased be driven away from him in the underworld," was inscribed on a coffin of the xith dynasty, about b.c. 2500, and in it we have the following petition: "may naught stand up to oppose me in judgment in the presence of the lords of the trial (literally, 'lords of things'); let it not be said of me and of that which i have done, 'he hath done deeds against that which is very right and true'; may naught be against me in the presence of the great god, the lord of amentet." [footnote: _chapters of coming forth by day_, p. 78.] from these passages we are right in assuming that before the end of the ivth dynasty the idea of being "weighed in the balance" was already evolved; that the religious schools of egypt had assigned to a god the duty of watching the balance when cases were being tried; that this weighing in the balance took place in the presence of the beings called _shenit_, who were believed to control the acts and deeds of men; that it was thought that evidence unfavourable to the deceased might be produced by his foes at the judgment; that the weighing took place in the presence of the great god, the lord of amentet; and that the heart of the deceased might fail him either physically or morally. the deceased addresses his heart, calling it is "mother," and next identifies it with his _ka_ or double, coupling the mention of the _ka_ with the name of the god khnemu: these facts are exceedingly important, for they prove that the deceased considered his heart to be the source of his life and being, and the mention of the god khnemu takes the date of the composition back to a period coaeval with the beginnings of religious thought in egypt. it was the god khnemu who assisted thoth in performing the commands of god at the creation, and one very interesting sculpture at philae shows khnemu in the act of fashioning man upon a potter's wheel. the deceased, in mentioning khnemu's name, seems to invoke his aid in the judgment as fashioner of man and as the being who is in some respects responsible for the manner of his life upon earth. in chapter 30a there is no mention made of the "guardian of the balance," and the deceased says, "may naught stand up to oppose me in judgment in the presence of the lords of things!" the "lords of things" may be either the "lords of creation," _i.e._, the great cosmic gods, or the "lords of the affairs [of the hall of judgment]," _i.e._, of the trial. in this chapter the deceased addresses not khnemu, but "the gods who dwell in the divine clouds, and who are exalted by reason of their sceptres," that is to say, the four gods of the cardinal points, called mestha, h[=a]pi tuamutef, and qebhsennuf, who also presided over the chief internal organs of the human body. here, again, it seems as if the deceased was anxious to make these gods in some way responsible for the deeds done by him in his life, inasmuch as they presided, over the organs that were the prime movers of his actions. in any case, he considers them in, the light of intercessors, for he beseeches them to "speak fair words unto r[=a]" on his behalf, and to make him to prosper before the goddess nehebka. in this case, the favour of r[=a], the sun-god, the visible emblem of the almighty and eternal god, is sought for, and also that of the serpent goddess, whose attributes are not yet accurately defined, but who has much to do with the destinies of the dead. no mention whatever is made of the lord of amentet--osiris. before we pass to the consideration of the manner in which the judgment is depicted upon the finest examples of the illustrated papyri, reference must be made to an interesting vignette in the papyri of nebseni [footnote: british museum, no. 9900.] and amen-neb. [footnote 2: british museum, no. 0964.] in both of these papyri we see a figure of the deceased himself being weighed in the balance against his own heart in the presence of the god osiris. it seems probable that a belief was current at one time in ancient egypt concerning the possibility of the body being weighed against the heart, with the view of finding out if the former had obeyed the dictates of the latter; be that as it may, however, it is quite certain that this remarkable variant of the vignette of chapter 30b had some special meaning, and, as it occurs in two papyri which date from the xviiith dynasty, we are justified in assuming that it represents a belief belonging to a much older period. the judgment here depicted must, in any case, be different from that which forms such a striking scene in the later illustrated papyri of the xviiith and following dynasties. we have now proved that the idea of the judgment of the dead was accepted in religious writings as early as the ivth dynasty, about b.c. 3600, but we have to wait nearly two thousand years before we find it in picture form. certain scenes which are found in the book of the dead as vignettes accompanying certain texts or chapters, _e.g._, the fields of hetep, or the elysian fields, are exceedingly old, and are found on sarcophagi of the xith and xiith dynasties; but the earliest picture known of the judgment scene is not older than the xviiith dynasty. in the oldest theban papyri of the book of the dead no judgment scene is forthcoming, and when we find it wanting in such authoritative documents as the papyrus of nebseni and that of nu, [footnote: british museum, no. 10,477.] we must take it for granted that there was some reason for its omission. in the great illustrated papyri, in which, the judgment scene is given in full, it will be noticed that it comes at the beginning of the work, and that it is preceded by hymns and by a vignette. thus, in the papyrus of ani, [footnote: british museum, no. 10,470.] we have a hymn to r[=a] followed by a vignette representing the sunrise, and a hymn to osiris; and in the papyrus of hunefer, [footnote 2: british museum, no. 9901.] though the hymns are different, the arrangement is the same. we are justified, then, in assuming that the hymns and the judgment scene together formed an introductory section to the book of the dead, and it is possible that it indicates the existence of the belief, at least during the period of the greatest power of the priests of amen, from b.c. 1700 to b.c. 800, that the judgment of the dead for the deeds done in the body preceded the admission of the dead into the kingdom of osiris. as the hymns which accompany the judgment scene are fine examples of a high class of devotional compositions, a few translations from some of them are here given. hymn to r[=a]. [footnote: see _the chapters of coming forth by day_, p. 7.] "homage to thee, o thou who risest in nu, [footnote: the sky personified.] and who at thy manifestation dost make the world bright with light; the whole company of the gods sing hymns of praise unto thee after thou hast come forth. the divine merti [footnote: literally, the two eyes, _i.e._, isis and nephthys.] goddesses who minister unto thee cherish thee as king of the north and south, thou beautiful and beloved man-child. when, thou risest men and women live. the nations rejoice in thee, and the souls of annu [footnote: _i.e._, r[=a], shu and tefnut.] (heliopolis) sing unto thee songs of joy. the souls of the city of pe, [footnote: part of the city of buto (per-uatchit). the souls of pe were horus, mestha, h[=a]pi.] and the souls of the city of nekhen [footnote: _i.e._, horus, tuamutef, and qebhsennuf.] exalt thee, the apes of dawn adore thee, and all beasts and cattle praise thee with one accord. the goddess seba overthroweth thine enemies, therefore hast thou rejoicing in thy boat; thy mariners are content thereat. thou hast attained unto the [= a]tet boat, [footnote: _i.e._, the boat in which the sun travels until noon.] and thy heart swelleth with joy. o lord of the gods, when thou didst create them they shouted for joy. the azure goddess nut doth compass thee on every side, and the god nu floodeth thee with his rays of light. o cast thou thy light upon me and let me see thy beauties, and when thou goest forth over the earth i will sing praises unto thy fair face. thou risest in heaven's horizon, and thy disk is adored when it resteth upon the mountain to give life unto the world." "thou risest, thou risest, and thou comest forth from the god nu. thou dost renew thy youth, and thou dost set thyself in the place where thou wast yesterday. o thou divine child, who didst create thyself, i am not able [to describe] thee. thou hast come with thy risings, and thou hast made heaven and earth resplendent with thy rays of pure emerald light. the land of punt [footnote: _i.e._, the land on each side of the red sea and north-east africa.] is established [to give] the perfumes which, thou smellest with thy nostrils. thou risest, o marvellous being, in heaven, and the two serpent-goddesses, merti, are established upon thy brow. thou art the giver of laws, o thou lord of the world and of all the inhabitants thereof; all the gods adore thee." hymn to osiris [footnote: see _the chapters of coming forth by day_, p. 11.] "glory be to thee, o osiris un-nefer, the great god within abydos, king of eternity and lord of everlastingness, the god who passest through millions of years in thy existence. thou art the eldest son of the womb of nut, thou wast engendered by seb, the ancestor of the gods, thou art the lord of the crowns of the north and of the south, and of the lofty white crown. as prince of the gods and of men thou hast received the crook, and the whip, and the dignity of thy divine fathers. let thy heart which is in the mountain of ament [footnote: _i.e._, the underworld.] be content, for thy son horus is established upon thy throne. thou art crowned the lord of tattu (mendes) and ruler in abtu (abydos). through thee the world waxeth green in triumph before the might of neb-er-tcher. [footnote: a name of osiris.] thou leadest in thy train that which is, and that which is not yet, in thy name of 'ta-her-sta-nef;' thou towest along the earth in thy name of 'seker;' thou art exceedingly mighty and most terrible in thy name of 'osiris;' thou endurest for ever and for ever in thy name of 'un-nefer.'" "homage to thee, o thou king of kings, lord of lords, prince of princes! from the womb of nut thou hast ruled the world and the underworld. thy body is of bright and shining metal, thy head is of azure blue, and the brilliance of the turquoise encircleth thee. o thou god an, who hast had existence for millions of years, who pervadest all things with thy body, who art beautiful in countenance in the land of holiness (_i.e._, the underworld), grant thou to me splendour in heaven, might upon earth, and triumph in the underworld. grant thou that i may sail down to tattu like a living soul, and up to abtu like the phoenix; and grant that i may enter in and come forth from the pylons of the lands of the underworld without let or hindrance. may loaves of bread be given unto me in the house of coolness, and offerings of food and drink in annu (heliopolis), and a homestead for ever and for ever in the field of reeds [footnote: a division of the "fields of peace" or elysian fields.] with wheat and barley therefor." in the long and important hymn in the papyrus of hunefer [footnote: see _the chapters of coming forth by day_, pp. 343-346.] occurs the following petition, which is put into the mouth of the deceased:- "grant that i may follow in the train of thy majesty even as i did upon earth. let my soul be called [into the presence], and let it be found by the side of the lords of right and truth. i have come into the city of god, the region which existed in primeval time, with [my] soul, and with [my] double, and with [my] translucent form, to dwell in this land. the god thereof is the lord of right and truth, he is the lord of the _tchefau_ food of the gods, and he is most holy. his land draweth unto itself every land; the south cometh sailing down the river thereto, and the north, steered thither by winds, cometh daily to make festival therein according to the command of the god thereof, who is the lord of peace therein. and doth he not say, 'the happiness thereof is a care unto me'? the god who dwelleth therein worketh right and truth; unto him that doeth these things he giveth old age, and to him that followeth after them rank and honour, until at length he attaineth unto a happy funeral and burial in the holy land" (_i.e._, the underworld). the deceased, having recited these words of prayer and adoration to r[=a], the symbol of almighty god, and to his son osiris, next "cometh forth into the hall of ma[=a]ti, that he may be separated from every sin which he hath done, and may behold the faces of the gods." [footnote: this quotation is from the title of chapter cxxv. of the book of the dead.] from the earliest times the ma[=a]ti were the two goddesses isis and nephthys, and they were so called because they represented the ideas of straightness, integrity, righteousness, what is right, the truth, and such like; the word ma[=a]t originally meant a measuring reed or stick. they were supposed either to sit in the hall of ma[=a]t outside the shrine of osiris, or to stand by the side of this god in the shrine; an example of the former position will be seen in the papyrus of ani (plate 31), and of the latter in the papyrus of hunefer (plate 4). the original idea of the hall of ma[=a]t or ma[=a]ti was that it contained forty-two gods; a fact which we may see from the following passage in the introduction to chapter cxxv. of the book of the dead. the deceased says to osiris:- "homage to thee, o thou great god, thou lord of the two ma[=a]t goddesses! i have come to thee, o my lord, and i have made myself to come hither that i may behold thy beauties. i know thee, and i know thy name, and i know the names of the two and forty gods who live with thee in this hall of ma[=a]ti, who live as watchers of sinners and who feed upon their blood on that day when the characters (_or_ lives) of men are reckoned up (_or_ taken into account) in the presence of the god un-nefer. verily, god of the rekhti-merti (_i.e._, the twin sisters of the two eyes), the lord of the city of ma[=a]ti is thy name. verily i have come to thee, and i have brought ma[=a]t unto thee, and i have destroyed wickedness." the deceased then goes on to enumerate the sins or offences which he has not committed; and he concludes by saying: "i am pure; i am pure; i am pure; i am pure. my purity is the purity of the great bennu which is in the city of suten-henen (heracleopolis), for, behold., i am the nostrils of the god of breath, who maketh all mankind to live on the day when the eye of r[=a] is full in annu (heliopolis) at the end of the second month of the season pert. [footnote: _i.e._, the last day of the sixth month of the egyptian year, called by the copta mekhir.] i have seen the eye of r[=a] when it was full in annu; [footnote: the allusion here seems to be to the summer or winter solstice.] therefore let not evil befall me either in this land or in this hall of ma[=a]ti, because i, even i, know the names of the gods who are therein." now as the gods who live in the hall of ma[=a]t with osiris are two and forty in number, we should expect that two and forty sins or offences would be mentioned in the addresses which the deceased makes to them; but this is not the case, for the sins enumerated in the introduction never reach this number. in the great illustrated papyri of the xviiith and xixth dynasties we find, however, that notwithstanding the fact that a large number of sins, which the deceased declares he has not committed, are mentioned in the introduction, the scribes and artists added a series of negative statements, forty-two in number, which they set out in a tabular form. this, clearly, is an attempt to make the sins mentioned equal in number to the gods of the hall of ma[=a]t, and it would seem as if they preferred to compose an entirely new form of this section of the one hundred and twenty-fifth chapter to making any attempt to add to or alter the older section. the artists, then, depicted a hall of ma[=a]t, the doors of which are wide open, and the cornice of which is formed of uraei and feathers, symbolic of ma[=a]t. over the middle of the cornice is a seated deity with hands extended, the right over the eye of horus, and the left over a pool. at the end of the hall are seated the goddesses of ma[=a]t, _i.e._, isis and nephthys, the deceased adoring osiris who is seated on a throne, a balance with the heart of the deceased in one scale, and the feather, symbolic of ma[=a]t, in the other, and thoth painting a large feather. in this hall sit the forty-two gods, and as the deceased passes by each, the deceased addresses him by his name and at the same time declares that he has not committed a certain sin. an examination of the different papyri shows that the scribes often made mistakes in writing this list of gods and list of sins, and, as the result, the deceased is made to recite before one god the confession which strictly belongs to another. inasmuch, as the deceased always says after pronouncing the name of each god, "i have not done" such and such a sin, the whole group of addresses has been called the "negative confession." the fundamental ideas of religion and morality which underlie this confession are exceedingly old, and we may gather from it with tolerable clearness what the ancient egyptian believed to constitute his duty towards god and towards his neighbour. it is impossible to explain, the fact that forty-two gods only are addressed, and equally so to say why this number was adopted. some have believed that the forty-two gods represented each a name of egypt, and much support is given to this view by the fact that most of the lists of names make the number to be forty-two; but then, again, the lists do not agree. the classical authors differ also, for by some of these writers the names are said to be thirty-six in number, and by others forty-six are enumerated. these differences may, however, be easily explained, for the central administration may at any time have added to or taken from the number of names for fiscal or other considerations, and we shall probably be correct in assuming that at the time the negative confession was drawn up in the tabular form in which we meet it in the xviiith dynasty the names were forty-two in number. support is also lent to this view by the fact that the earliest form of the confession, which forms the introduction to chapter cxxv., mentions less than forty sins. incidentally we may notice that the forty-two gods are subservient to osiris, and that they only occupy a subordinate position in the hall of judgment, for it is the result of the weighing of the heart of the deceased in the balance that decides his future. before passing to the description of the hall of judgment where the balance is set, it is necessary to give a rendering of the negative confession which, presumably, the deceased recites before his heart is weighed in the balance; it is made from the papyrus of nu. [footnote: british museum, no. 10,477.] 1. "hail usekh-nemtet (_i.e._, long of strides), who comest forth from anuu (heliopolis), i have not done iniquity. 2. "hail hept-seshet (_i.e._, embraced by flame), who comest forth from kher-[=a]ba, [footnote: a city near memphis.] i have not robbed with violence. 3. "hail fenti (_i.e._, nose), who comest forth from khemennu (hermopolis), i have not done violence to any man. 4. "hail [=a]m-khaibitu (_i.e._, eater of shades), who comest forth from the qereret (_i.e._, the cavern where the nile rises), i have not committed theft. 5. "hail neha-bra (_i.e._, stinking face), who comest forth from restau, i have slain neither man nor woman. 6. "hail rereti (_i.e._, double lion-god), who comest forth from heaven, i have not made light the bushel. 7. "hail maata-f-em-seshet (_i.e._, fiery eyes), who comest forth from sekhem (letopolis), i have not acted deceitfully. 8. "hail neba (_i.e._, flame), who comest forth and retreatest, i have not purloined the things which belong unto god. 9. "hail set-qesu (_i.e._, crusher of bones), who comest forth from suten-henen (heracleopolis), i have not uttered falsehood. 10. "hail khemi (_i.e._, overthrower), who comest forth from shetait (_i.e._, the hidden place), i have not carried off goods by force. 11. "hail uatch-nesert (_i.e._, vigorous of flame), who comest forth from het-ka-ptah (memphis), i have not uttered vile (_or_ evil) words. 12. "hail hra-f-ha-f (_i.e._, he whose face is behind him), who comest forth from the cavern and the deep, i have not carried off food by force. 13. "hail qerti (_i.e._, the double nile source), who comest forth from the underworld, i have not acted deceitfully. 14. "hail ta-ret (_i.e._, fiery-foot), who comest forth out of the darkness, i have not eaten my heart (_i.e._ lost my temper and become angry). 15. "hail hetch-abehu (_i.e._, shining teeth), who comest forth from ta-she (_i.e._, the fayyûm), i have invaded no [man's land]. 16. "hail [=a]m-senef (_i.e._, eater of blood), who comest forth from the house of the block, i have not slaughtered animals which are the possessions of god. 17. "hail [=a]m-besek (_i.e._, eater of entrails), who comest forth from m[=a]bet, i have not laid waste the lands which have been ploughed. 18. "hail neb-ma[=a]t (_i.e._, lord of ma[=a]t), who comest forth from the city of the two ma[=a]ti, i have not pried into matters to make mischief. 19. "hail thenemi (_i.e._, retreater), who comest forth from bast (_i.e._, bubastis), i have not set my mouth in motion against any man. 20. "hail [=a]nti, who comest forth from annu (heliopolis), i have not given way to wrath without due cause. 21. "hail tututef, who comest forth from the home of ati, i have not committed fornication, and i have not committed sodomy. 22. "hail uamemti, who comest forth from the house of slaughter, i have not polluted myself. 23. "hail maa-ant-f (_i.e._, seer of what is brought to him), who comest forth from the house of the god amsu, i have not lain with the wife of a man. 24. "hail her-seru, who comest forth from nehatu, i have not made any man to be afraid. 25. "hail neb-sekhem, who comest forth from the lake of kaui, i have not made my speech to burn with anger. [footnote: literally, "i have not been hot of mouth."] 26. "hail seshet-kheru (_i.e._, orderer of speech), who comest forth from urit, i have not made myself deaf unto the words of right and truth. 27. "hail nekhen (_i.e._, babe), who comest forth from the lake of heq[=a] t, i have not made another person to weep. 28. "hail kenemti, who comest forth from kenemet, i have not uttered blasphemies. 29. "hail an-hetep-f (_i.e._, bringer of his offering), who comest forth from sau, i have not acted with violence. 30. "hail ser-kheru (_i.e._, disposer of speech), who comest forth from unsi, i have not hastened my heart. [footnote: _i.e._, acted without due consideration.] 31. "hail neb-hrau (_i.e._, lord of faces), who comest forth from netchefet, i have not pierced (?) my skin (?), and i have not taken vengeance on the god. 32. "hail serekhi, who comest forth from uthent, i have not multiplied my speech beyond what should be said. 33. "hail neb-abui (_i.e._, lord of horns), who comest forth from sauti, i have not committed fraud, [and i have not] looked upon evil. 34. "hail nefer-tem, who comest forth from ptah-het-ka (memphis), i have never uttered curses against the king. 35. "hail tem-sep, who comest forth from tattu, i have not fouled running water. 36. "hail ari-em-ab-f, who comest forth from tebti, i have not exalted my speech. 37. "hail ahi, who comest forth from nu, i have not uttered curses against god. 38. "hail uatch-rekhit [who comest forth from his shrine (?)], i have not behaved with insolence. 39. "hail neheb-nefert, who comest forth from his temple, i have not made distinctions. [footnote: _i.e._, i have not been guilty of favouritism.] 40. "hail neheb-kau, who comest forth from thy cavern, i have not increased my wealth except by means of such things as are mine own possessions. 41. "hail tcheser-tep, who comest forth from thy shrine, i have not uttered curses against that which belongeth to god and is with me. 42. "hail an-[=a]-f (_i.e._, bringer of his arm), [who comest forth from aukert], i have not thought scorn of the god of the city." a brief examination of this "confession" shows that the egyptian code of morality was very comprehensive, and it would be very hard to find an act, the commission of which would be reckoned a sin when the "confession" was put together, which is not included under one or other part of it. the renderings of the words for certain sins are not always definite or exact, because we do not know the precise idea which the framer of this remarkable document had. the deceased states that he has neither cursed god, nor thought scorn of the god of his city, nor cursed the king, nor committed theft of any kind, nor murder, nor adultery, nor sodomy, nor crimes against the god of generation; he has not been imperious or haughty, or violent, or wrathful, or hasty in deed, or a hypocrite, or an accepter of persons, or a blasphemer, or crafty, or avaricious, or fraudulent, or deaf to pious words, or a party to evil actions, or proud, or puffed up; he has terrified no man, he has not cheated in the market-place, and he has neither fouled the public watercourse nor laid waste the tilled land of the community. this is, in brief, the confession which the deceased makes; and the next act in the judgment scene is weighing the heart of the deceased in the scales. as none of the oldest papyri of the book of the dead supplies us with a representation of this scene, we must have recourse to the best of the illustrated papyri of the latter half of the xviiith and of the xixth dynasties. the details of the judgment scene vary greatly in various papyri, but the essential parts of it are always preserved. the following is the description of the judgment of ani, as it appears in his wonderful papyrus preserved in the british museum. in the underworld, and in that portion of it which is called the hall of ma[=a]ti, is set a balance wherein the heart of the deceased is to be weighed. the beam is suspended by a ring upon a projection from the standard of the balance made in the form of the feather which is the symbol of ma[=a]t, or what is right and true. the tongue of the balance is fixed to the beam, and when this is exactly level, the tongue is as straight as the standard; if either end of the beam inclines downwards the tongue cannot remain in a perpendicular position. it must be distinctly understood that the heart which was weighed in the one scale was not expected to make the weight which was in the other to kick the beam, for all that was asked or required of the deceased was that his heart should balance exactly the symbol of the law. the standard was sometimes surmounted by a human head wearing the feather of ma[=a]t; sometimes by the head of a jackal, the animal sacred to anubis; and sometimes by the head of an ibis, the bird sacred to thoth; in the papyrus of ani a dog-headed ape, the associate of thoth, sits on the top of the standard. in some papyri (_e.g._, those of ani [footnote: about b.c. 1500.] and hunefer [footnote: about b.c. 1370.]), in addition to osiris, the king of the underworld and judge of the dead, the gods of his cycle or company appear as witnesses of the judgment. in the papyrus of the priestess anhai [footnote: about b.c. 1000.] in the british museum the great and the little companies of the gods appear as witnesses, but the artist was so careless that instead of nine gods in each group he painted six in one and five in the other. in the turin papyrus [footnote: written in the ptolemaic period.] we see the whole of the forty-two gods, to whom the deceased recited the [illustration: the weighing of the heart of the scribe ani in the balance in the presence of the gods.] "negative confession," seated in the judgment-hall. the gods present at the weighing of ani's heart are- 1. r[=a]-harmachis, hawk-headed, the sun-god of the dawn and of noon. 2. temu, the sun-god of the evening, the great god of heliopolis. he is depicted always in human form and with the face of a man, a fact which proves that he had at a very early period passed through all the forms in which gods are represented, and had arrived at that of a man. he has upon his head the crowns of the south and north. 3. shu, man-headed, the son of r[=a] and hathor, the personification of the sunlight. 4. tefnut, lion-headed, the twin-sister of shu, the personification of moisture. 5. seb, man-headed, the son of shu, the personification of the earth. 6. nut, woman-headed, the female counterpart of the gods nu and seb; she was the personification of the primeval water, and later of the sky. 7. isis, woman-headed, the sister-wife of osiris, and mother of horus. 8. nephthys, woman-headed, the sister-wife of osiris, and mother of anubis. 9. horus, the "great god," hawk-headed, whose worship was probably the oldest in egypt. 10. hathor, woman-headed, the personification of that portion of the sky where the sun rose and set. 11. hu, man-headed, and 12. sa, also man-headed; these gods are present in the boat of r[=a] in the scenes which depict the creation. on one side of the balance kneels the god anubis, jackal-headed, who holds the weight of the tongue of the balance in his right hand, and behind him stands thoth, the scribe of the gods, ibis-headed, holding in his hands a reed wherewith to write down the result of the weighing. near him is seated the tri-formed beast [=a]m-mit, the, "eater of the dead," who waits to devour the heart of ani should it be found to be light. in the papyrus of neb-qet at paris this beast is seen lying by the side of a lake of fire, at each corner of which is seated a dog-headed ape; this lake is also seen in chapter cxxvi. of the book of the dead. the gods who are seated before a table of offerings, and anubis, and thoth, and [=a]m-mit, are the beings who conduct the case, so to speak, against ani. on the other side of the balance stand ani and his wife thuthu with their heads reverently bent; they are depicted in human form, and wear garments and ornaments similar to those which they wore upon earth. his soul, in the form of a man-headed hawk standing upon a pylon, is present, also a man-headed, rectangular object, resting upon a pylon, which has frequently been supposed to represent the deceased in an embryonic state. in the papyrus of anhai two of these objects appear, one on each side of the balance; they are described as shai and renenet, two words which are translated by "destiny" and "fortune" respectively. it is most probable, as the reading of the name of the object is _meskhenet_, and as the deity meskhenet represents sometimes both shai and renenet, that the artist intended the object to represent both deities, even though we find the god shai standing below it close to the standard of the balance. close by the soul stand two goddesses called meskhenet and renenet respectively; the former is, probably, one of the four goddesses who assisted at the resurrection of osiris, and the latter the personification of fortune, which has already been included under the _meskhenet_ object above, the personification of destiny. it will be remembered that meskhenet accompanied isis, nephthys, heqet, and khnemu to the house of the lady rut-tettet, who was about to bring forth three children. when these deities arrived, having changed their forms into those of women, they found r[=a]-user standing there. and when they had made music for him, he said to them, "mistresses, there is a woman in travail here;" and they replied, "let us see her, for we know how to deliver a woman." r[=a]-user then brought them into the house, and the goddesses shut themselves in with the lady rut-tettet. isis took her place before her, and nephthys behind her, whilst heqet hastened the birth of the children; as each child was born meskhenet stepped up to him and said, "a king who shall have dominion over the whole land," and the god khnemu bestowed health upon his limbs. [footnote: see erman, _westcar papyrus_, berlin, 1890, hieroglyphic transcript, plates 9 and 10.] of these five gods, isis, nephthys, meskhenet, heqet, and khnemu, the first three are present at the judgment of ani; khnemu is mentioned in ani's address to his heart (see below), and only heqet is unrepresented. as the weighing of his heart is about to take place ani says, "my heart, my mother! my heart, my mother! my heart whereby i came into being! may naught stand up to oppose me in the judgment; may there be no opposition to me in the presence of the sovereign princes; may there be no parting of thee from me in the presence of him that keepeth the balance! thou art my _ka_, the dweller in my body; the god khnemu who knitteth and strengtheneth my limbs. mayest thou come forth into the place of happiness whither we go. may the princes of the court of osiris, who order the circumstances of the lives of men, not cause my name to stink." some papyri add, "let it be satisfactory unto us, and let the listening be satisfactory unto us, and let there be joy of heart unto us at the weighing of words. let not that which is false be uttered against me before the great god, the lord of amentet! verily how great shalt thou be when thou risest in triumph!" the tongue of the balance having been examined by anubis, and the ape having indicated to his associate thoth that the beam is exactly straight, and that the heart, therefore, counterbalances the feather symbolic of ma[=a]t _(_i.e._, right, truth, law, etc.), neither outweighing nor underweighing it, thoth writes down the result, and then makes the following address to the gods:- "hear ye this judgment. the heart of osiris hath in very truth been weighed, and his soul hath stood as a witness for him; it hath been found true by trial in the great balance. there hath not been found any wickedness in him; he hath not wasted the offerings in the temples; he hath not done harm by his deeds; and he spread abroad no evil reports while he was upon earth." in answer to this report the company of the gods, who are styled "the great company of the gods," reply, "that which cometh forth from thy mouth, o thoth, who dwellest in khemennu (hermopolis), is confirmed. osiris, the scribe ani, triumphant, is holy and righteous. he hath not sinned, neither hath he done evil against us. the devourer [=a]m-mit shall not be allowed to prevail over him, and meat-offerings and entrance into the presence of the god osiris shall be granted unto him, together with a homestead for ever in the field of peace, as unto the followers of horus." [footnote: these are a class of mythological beings, or demi-gods, who already in the vth dynasty were supposed to recite prayers on behalf of the deceased, and to assist horus and set in performing funeral ceremonies. see my _papyrus of ani_, p. cxxv.] here we notice at once that the deceased is identified with osiris, the god and judge of the dead, and that they have bestowed upon him the god's own name; the reason of this is as follows. the friends of the deceased performed for him all the ceremonies and rites which were performed for osiris by isis and nephthys, and it was assumed that, as a result, the same things which took place in favour of osiris would also happen on behalf of the deceased, and that in fact, the deceased would become the counterpart of osiris. everywhere in the texts of the book of the dead the deceased is identified with osiris, from b.c. 3400 to the roman period. another point to notice is the application of the words _ma[=a] kheru_ to the deceased, a term which i have, for want of a better word, rendered "triumphant." these words actually mean "true of voice" or "right of word," and indicate that the person to whom they are applied has acquired the power of using his voice in such a way that when the invisible beings are addressed by him they will render unto him all the service which he has obtained the right to demand. it is well known that in ancient times magicians and sorcerers were wont to address spirits or demons in a peculiar tone of voice, and that all magical formulae were recited in a similar manner; the use of the wrong sound or tone of voice would result in the most disastrous consequences to the speaker, and perhaps in death. the deceased had to make his way through a number of regions in the underworld, and to pass through many series of halls, the doors of which were guarded by beings who were prepared, unless properly addressed, to be hostile to the new-comer; he also had need to take passage in a boat, and to obtain the help of the gods and of the powers of the various localities wherein he wanted to travel if he wished to pass safely into the place where he would be. the book of the dead provided him with all the texts and formulae which he would have to recite to secure this result, but unless the words contained in them were pronounced in a proper manner, and said in a proper tone of voice, they would have no effect upon the powers of the underworld. the term _ma[=a] kheru_ is applied but very rarely to the living, but commonly to the dead, and indeed the dead needed most the power which these words indicated. in the case of ani, the gods, having accepted the favourable report of the result obtained by weighing ani's heart by thoth, style him _ma[=a] kheru_, which is equivalent to conferring upon him power to overcome all opposition, of every kind, which he may meet. henceforth every door will open at his command, every god will hasten to obey immediately ani has uttered his name, and those whose duty it is to provide celestial food for the beatified will do so for him when once the order has been given. before passing on to other matters it is interesting to note that the term _ma[=a] kheru_ is not applied to ani by himself in the judgment scene, nor by thoth, the scribe of the gods, nor by horus when he introduces him to osiris; it is only the gods who can make a man _ma[=a] kheru_, and thereby he also escapes from the devourer. the judgment ended, horus, the son of isis, who has assumed all the attributes of his father osiris, takes ani's left hand in his right and leads him up to the shrine wherein the god osiris is seated. the god wears the white crown with feathers, and he holds in his hands a sceptre, a crook, and whip, or flail, which typify sovereignty and dominion. his throne is a tomb, of which the bolted doors and the cornice of uraei may be seen painted on the side. at the back of his neck hangs the _menat_ or symbol of joy and happiness; on his right hand stands nephthys, and on his left stands isis. before him, standing on a lotus flower, are the four children of horus, mestha, h[=a]pi, tuamutef, and qebhsennuf, who presided over and protected the intestines of the dead; close by hangs the skin of a bull with which magical ideas seem to have been associated. the top of the shrine in which the god sits is surmounted by uraei, wearing disks on their heads, and the cornice also is similarly decorated. in several papyri the god is seen standing up in the shrine, sometimes with and sometimes without the goddesses isis and nephthys. in the papyrus of hunefer we find a most interesting variant of this [illustration: horus, the son of isis, leading the scribe ani into the presence of osiris, the god and judge of the dead; before the shrine of the god am kneels in adoration and presents offerings.] portion of the scene, for the throne of osiris rests upon, or in, water. this reminds us of the passage in the one hundred and twenty-sixth chapter of the book of the dead in which the god thoth says to the deceased, "who is he whose roof is of fire, whose walls are living uraei, and the floor of whose house is a stream of running water? who is he, i say?" the deceased answers, "it is osiris," and the god says, "come forward, then; for verily thou shalt be mentioned [to him]." when horus had led in ani he addressed osiris, saying, "i have come unto thee, o un-nefer, and i have brought the osiris ani unto thee. his heart hath been found righteous and it hath come forth from the balance; it hath not sinned against any god or any goddess. thoth hath weighed it according to the decree uttered unto him by the company of the gods; and it is very true and right. grant unto him cakes and ale; and let him enter into thy presence; and may he be like unto the followers of horus for ever!" after this address ani, kneeling by the side of tables of offerings of fruit, flowers, etc., which he has brought unto osiris, says, "o lord of amentet, i am in thy presence. there is no sin in me, i have not lied wittingly, nor have i done aught with a false heart. grant that i may be like unto those favoured ones who are round about thee, and that i may be an osiris greatly favoured of the beautiful god and beloved of the lord of the world, [i], the royal scribe of ma[=a]t, who loveth him, ani, triumphant before osiris." [footnote: or "true of voice in respect of osiris;" _i.e._, ani makes his petition, and osiris is to hear and answer because he has uttered the right words in the right manner, and in the right tone of voice.] thus we come to the end of the scene of the weighing of the heart. the man who has passed safely through this ordeal has now to meet the gods of the underworld, and the book of the dead provides the words which "the heart which is righteous and sinless" shall say unto them. one of the fullest and most correct texts of "the speech of the deceased when he cometh forth true of voice from the hall of the ma[=a]ti goddesses" is found in the papyrus of nu; in it the deceased says:- "homage to you, o ye gods who dwell in the hall of the ma[=a]ti goddesses, i, even i, know you, and i know your names. let me not fall under your knives of slaughter, and bring ye not forward my wickedness unto the god in whose train ye are; and let not evil hap come upon, me by your means. o declare ye me true of voice in the presence of neb-er-teber, because i have done that which is right and true in ta-mera (_i.e._, egypt). i have not cursed god, therefore let not evil hap come upon me through the king who dwelleth in his day. "homage to you, o ye gods, who dwell in the hall of the ma[=a]ti goddesses, who are without evil in your bodies, and who live upon right and truth, and who feed yourselves upon right and truth in the presence of the god horus, who dwelleth in his divine disk; deliver ye me from the god baba [footnote: the first born son of osiris.] who feedeth upon the entrails of the mighty ones upon the day of the great reckoning, o grant ye that i may come to you, for i have not committed faults, i have not sinned, i have not done evil, i have not borne false witness; therefore let nothing [evil] be done unto me. i live upon right and truth, and i feed upon right and truth. i have performed the commandments of men [as well as] the things whereat are gratified the gods; i have made god to be at peace [with me by doing] that which is his will. i have given bread to the hungry man, and water to the thirsty man, and apparel to the naked man, and a boat to the [shipwrecked] mariner. i have made holy offerings to the gods, and sepulchral meals to the beatified dead. be ye then my deliverers, be ye then my protectors, and make ye not accusation against me in the presence of [osiris]. i am clean of mouth and clean of hands; therefore let it be said unto me by those who shall behold me, 'come in peace, come in peace.' i have heard the mighty word which the spiritual bodies spake unto the cat [footnote: _i.e._, r[=a] as the slayer of the serpent of darkness, the head of which be cuts off with a knife. (see above, p. 63). the usual reading is "which the ass spake to the cat;" the ass being osiris and the cat r[=a].] in the house of hapt-re. i have testified in the presence of hra-f-ha-f, and he hath given [his] decision. i have seen the things over which the persea tree spreadeth within re-stau. i am he who hath offered up prayers to the gods and who knoweth their persons. i have come, and i have advanced to make the declaration of right and truth, and to set the balance upon what supporteth it in the region of aukert. "hail, thou who art exalted upon thy standard (_i.e._, osiris), thou lord of the 'atefu' crown whose name is proclaimed as 'lord of the winds,' deliver thou me from thy divine messengers who cause dire deeds to happen, and who cause calamities to come into being, and who are without coverings for their faces, for i have done that which is right and true for the lord of right and truth. i have purified myself and my breast with libations, and my hinder parts with the things which make clean, and my inward parts have been [immersed] in the pool of right and truth. there is no single member of mine which lacketh right and truth. i have been purified in the pool of the south, and i have rested in the city of the north, which is in the field of the grasshoppers, wherein the divine sailors of r[=a] bathe at the second hour of the night and at the third hour of the day; and the hearts of the gods are gratified after they have passed through it, whether it be by night, or whether it be by day. and i would that they should say unto me, 'come forward,' and 'who art thou?' and 'what is thy name?' these are the words which, i would have the gods say unto me. [then would i reply] 'my name is he who is provided with flowers, and dweller in his olive tree.' then let them say unto me straightway, 'pass on,' and i would pass on to the city to the north of the olive tree, 'what then wilt thou see there?' [say they. and i say]' the leg and the thigh,' 'what wouldst thou say unto them?' [say they.] 'let me see rejoicings in the land of the fenkhu' [i reply]. 'what will they give thee? [say they]. 'a fiery flame and a crystal tablet' [i reply]. 'what wilt thou do therewith?' [say they]. 'bury them by the furrow of m[=a][=a]at as things for the night' [i reply]. 'what wilt thou find by the furrow of m[=a][=a]at?' [say they]. 'a sceptre of flint called giver of air' [i reply]. 'what wilt thou do with the fiery flame and the crystal tablet after thou hast buried them?' [say they]. 'i will recite words over them, in the furrow. i will extinguish the fire, and i will break the tablet, and i will make a pool of water' [i reply]. then let the gods say unto me, 'come and enter in through the door of this hall of the m[=a][=a]ti goddesses, for thou knowest us.'" after these remarkable prayers follows a dialogue between each part of the hall of m[=a][=a]ti and the deceased, which reads as follows:- _door bolts_. "we will not let thee enter in through us unless thou tellest our names." _deceased_. "'tongue of the place of right and truth' is your name." _right post_. "i will not let thee enter in by me unless thou tellest my name." _deceased_. "'scale of the lifter up of right and truth' is thy name." _left post_. "i will not let thee enter in by me unless thou tellest my name." _deceased_. "'scale of wine' is thy name." _threshold_. "i will not let thee pass over me unless thou tellest my name." _deceased_. "'ox of the god seb' is thy name." _hasp_. "i will not open unto thee unless thou tellest my name." _deceased_. "'leg-bone of his mother' is thy name." _socket-hole_. "i will not open unto thee unless thou tellest my name." _deceased_. "'living eye of sebek, the lord of bakhau,' is thy name." _porter_. "i will not open unto thee unless thou tellest my name." _deceased_. "'elbow of the god shu when he placeth himself to protect osiris' is thy name." _side posts_. "we will not let thee pass in by us, unless thou tellest our names." _deceased_. "'children of the uraei-goddesses' is your name." "thou knowest us; pass on, therefore, by us" [say these]. _floor_. "i will not let thee tread upon me, because i am silent and i am holy, and because i do not know the names of thy feet wherewith thou wouldst walk upon me; therefore tell them to me." _deceased_. "'traveller of the god khas' is the name of my right foot, and 'staff of the goddess hathor' is the name of my left foot." "thou knowest me; pass on, therefore, over me" [it saith]. _doorkeeper_. "i will not take in thy name unless thou tellest my name." _deceased_. "'discerner of hearts and searcher of the reins' is thy name." _doorkeeper_. "who is the god that dwelleth in his hour? utter his name." _deceased_. "'m[=a]au-taui' is his name." _doorkeeper_. "and who is m[=a]au-taui?" _deceased_. "he is thoth." _thoth_. "come! but why hast thou come?" _deceased_. "i have come and i press forward that my name may be mentioned." _thoth_, "in what state art thou?" _deceased_. "i am purified from evil things, and i am protected from the baleful deeds of those who live in their days; and i am not of them." _thoth_. "now will i make mention of thy name [to the god]. and who is he whose roof is of fire, whose walls are living uraei, and the floor of whose house is a stream of water? who is he, i say?" _deceased_. "it is osiris." _thoth_. "come forward, then; verily, mention of thy name shall be made unto him. thy cakes [shall come] from the eye of r[=a]; and thine ale [shall come] from the eye of r[=a]; and thy sepulchral meals upon earth [shall come] from the eye of r[=a]." with these words chapter cxxv comes to an end. we have seen how the deceased has passed through the ordeal of the judgment, and how the scribes provided him with hymns and prayers, and with the words of a confession with a view of facilitating his passage through the dread hall of the ma[=a]ti goddesses. unfortunately the answer which the god osiris may be supposed to have made to his son horus in respect of the deceased is not recorded, but there is no doubt that the egyptian assumed that it would be favourable to him, and that permission would be accorded him to enter into each and every portion of the underworld, and to partake of all the delights which the beatified enjoyed under the rule of r[=a] and osiris. chapter v. the resurrection and immortality. in perusing the literature of the ancient egyptians one of the first things which forces itself upon the mind of the reader is the frequency of allusions to the future life or to things which appertain thereto. the writers of the various religious and other works, belonging to all periods of egyptian history, which have come down to us, tacitly assume throughout that those who once have lived in this world have "renewed" their life in that which is beyond the grave, and that they still live and will live until time shall be no more. the egyptian belief in the existence of almighty god is old, so old that we must seek for its beginnings in pre-dynastic times; but the belief in a future life is very much older, and its beginnings must be as old, at least, as the oldest human remains which have been found in egypt. to attempt to measure by years the remoteness of the period when these were committed to the earth, is futile, for no date that could be given them is likely to be even approximately correct, and they may as well date from b.c. 12,000 as from b.c. 8000. of one fact, however, we may be quite certain; that is to say, that the oldest human remains that have been found in egypt bear upon them traces of the use of bitumen, which proves that the egyptians at the very beginning of their stay in the valley of the nile made some attempt to preserve their dead by means of mummification. [footnote: see j. de morgan, _ethnographie préhistorique_, paris, 1897, p. 189.] if they were, as many think, invaders who had made their way across arabia and the red sea and the eastern desert of the nile, they may have brought the idea and habit of preserving their dead with them, or they may have adopted, in a modified form, some practice in use among the aboriginal inhabitants whom they found on their arrival in egypt; in either case the fact that they attempted to preserve their dead by the use of substances which would arrest decay is certain, and in a degree their attempt has succeeded. the existence of the non-historic inhabitants of egypt has been revealed to us in recent years by means of a number of successful excavations which have been made in upper egypt on both sides of the nile by several european and native explorers, and one of the most striking results has been the discovery of three different kinds of burials, which undoubtedly belong to three different periods, as we may see by examining the various objects which have been found in the early graves at nak[=a]dah and other non-historic sites of the same age and type. in the oldest tombs we find the skeleton laid upon its left side, with the limbs bent: the knees are on a level with the breast, and the hands are placed in front of the face. generally the head faces towards the south, but no invariable rule seems to have been observed as to its "orientation." before the body was laid in the ground it was either wrapped in gazelle skin or laid in loose grass; the substance used for the purposes of wrapping probably depended upon the social condition of the deceased. in burials of this class there are no traces of mummification, or of burning, or of stripping the flesh from the bones. in the next oldest graves the bodies are found to have been wholly or partly stripped of their flesh; in the former case all the bones are found cast indiscriminately is the grave, in the latter the bones of the hands and the feet were laid together, while the rest of the skeleton is scattered about in wild confusion. graves of this period are found to be oriented either north or south, and the bodies in them usually have the head separated from the body; sometimes it is clear that the bodies have been "jointed" so that they might occupy less space. occasionally the bodies are found lying upon their backs with their legs and arms folded over them; in this case they are covered over with clay casings. in certain graves it is clear that the body has been burnt. now in all classes of tombs belonging to the prehistoric period in egypt we find offerings in vases and vessels of various kinds, a fact which proves beyond all doubt that the men who made these graves believed that their dead friends and relatives would live again in some place, of the whereabouts of which they probably had very vague ideas, in a life which was, presumably, not unlike that which they had lived upon earth. the flint tools, knives, scrapers and the like indicate that they thought they would hunt and slay their quarry when brought down, and fight their foes; and the schist objects found in the graves, which m. de morgan identifies as amulets, shows that even in those early days man believed that he could protect himself against the powers of supernatural and invisible enemies by talismans. the man who would hunt and fight in the next world must live again; and if he would live again it must be either in his old body or in a new one; if in the old body, it must be revivified. but once having imagined a new life, probably in a new body, death a second time was not, the prehistoric egyptian hoped, within the bounds of possibility. here, then, we have the origin of the grand ideas of the resurrection and immortality. there is every reason for believing that the prehistoric egyptian expected to eat, and to drink, and to lead a life of pleasure in the region where he imagined his heaven to be, and there is little doubt that he thought the body in which he would live there would be not unlike the body which he had while he was upon earth. at this stage his ideas of the supernatural and of the future life would be like those of any man of the same race who stood on the same level in the scale of civilization, but in every way he was a great contrast to the egyptian who lived, let us say, in the time of mena, the first historical king of egypt, the date of whom for convenience' sake is placed at b.c. 4400. the interval between the time when the prehistoric egyptians made the graves described above and the reign of mena must have been very considerable, and we may justly believe it to represent some thousands of years; but whatever its length, we find that the time was not sufficient to wipe out the early views which had been handed on from generation to generation, or even to modify some of the beliefs which we now know to have existed in an almost unchanged state at the latest period of egyptian history. in the texts which were edited by the priests of heliopolis we find references to a state or condition of things, as far as social matters are concerned, which could only exist in a society of men who were half savages. and we see from later works, when extracts are made from the earlier texts which contain such references, that the passages in which objectionable allusions occur are either omitted altogether or modified. we know of a certainty that the educated men of the college of heliopolis cannot have indulged in the excesses which the deceased kings for whom they prepared the funeral texts are assumed to enjoy, and the mention of the nameless abomination which the savage egyptian inflicted upon his vanquished foe can only have been allowed to remain in them because of their own reverence for the written word. in passing it must be mentioned that the religious ideas of the men who were buried without mutilation of limbs, or stripping of flesh from the body, or burning, must have been different from those of the men who practised such things on the dead. the former are buried in the ante-natal position of a child, and we may perhaps be justified in seeing in this custom the symbol of a hope that as the child is born from this position into the world, so might the deceased be born into the life in the world beyond the grave; and the presence of amulets, the object of which was to protect the body, seems to indicate that they expected the actual body to rise again. the latter, by the mutilation of the bodies and the burning of the dead, seem to show that they had no hope of living again in their natural bodies, and how far they had approached to the conception of the resurrection of a spiritual body we shall probably never know. when we arrive at the ivth dynasty we find that, so far from any practice of mutilation or burning of the body being common, every text assumes that the body is to be buried whole; this fact indicates a reversal of the custom of mutilation, or burning, which must have been in use, however, for a considerable time. it is to this reversal that we probably owe such passages as, "o flesh of pepi, rot not, decay not, stink not;" "pepi goeth forth with his flesh;" "thy bones shall not be destroyed, and thy flesh shall not perish," [footnote: see _recueil de travaux_, tom. v. pp. 55, 185 (lines 160, 317, 353).] etc.; and they denote a return to the views and ways of the earliest people known to us in egypt. in the interval which elapsed between the period of the prehistoric burials and the ivth dynasty, the egyptian formulated certain theories about the component parts of his own body, and we must consider these briefly before we can describe the form in which the dead were believed to rise. the physical body of a man was called khat, a word which indicates something in which decay is inherent; it was this which was buried in the tomb after mummification, and its preservation from destruction of every kind was the object of all amulets, magical ceremonies, prayers, and formulae, from the earliest to the latest times. the god osiris even possessed such a body, and its various members were preserved as relics in several shrines in egypt. attached to the body in some remarkable way was the ka, or "double," of a man; it may be defined as an abstract individuality or personality which was endowed with all his characteristic attributes, and it possessed an absolutely independent existence. it was free to move from place to place upon earth at will, and it could enter heaven and hold converse with the gods. the offerings made in, the tombs at all periods were intended for the nourishment of the ka, and it was supposed to be able to eat and drink and to enjoy the odour of incense. in the earliest times a certain portion of the tomb was set apart for the use of the ka, and the religious organization of the period ordered that a class of priests should perform ceremonies and recite prayers at stated seasons for the benefit of the ka in the ka chapel; these men were known as "ka priests." in the period when the pyramids were built it was firmly believed that the deceased, in some form, was able to be purified, and to sit down and to eat bread with it "unceasingly and for ever;" and the ka who was not supplied with a sufficiency of food in the shape of offerings of bread, cakes, flowers, fruit, wine, ale, and the like, was in serious danger of starvation. the soul was called ba, and the ideas which the egyptians held concerning it are somewhat difficult to reconcile; the meaning of the word seems to be something like "sublime," "noble," "mighty." the ba dwelt in the ka, and seems to have had the power of becoming corporeal or incorporeal at will; it had both substance and form, and is frequently depicted on the papyri and monuments as a human-headed hawk; in nature and substance it is stated to be ethereal. it had the power to leave the tomb, and to pass up into heaven where it was believed to enjoy an eternal existence in a state of glory; it could, however, and did, revisit the body in the tomb, and from certain texts it seems that it could re-animate it and hold converse with it. like the heart ab it was, in some respects, the seat of life in man. the souls of the blessed dead dwelt in heaven with the gods, and they partook of all the celestial enjoyments for ever. the spiritual intelligence, or spirit, of a man was called khu, and it seems to have taken form as a shining, luminous, intangible shape of the body; the khus formed a class of celestial beings who lived with the gods, but their functions are not clear. the khu, like the ka, could be imprisoned in the tomb, and to obviate this catastrophe special formulae were composed and duly recited. besides the khu another very important part of a man's entity went into heaven, namely, his sekhem. the word literally means "to have the mastery over something," and, as used in the early texts, that which enables one to have the mastery over something; _i.e._, "power." the sekhem of a man was, apparently, his vital force or strength personified, and the egyptians believed that it could and did, under certain conditions, follow him that possessed it upon earth into heaven. another part of a man was the khaibit or "shadow," which is frequently mentioned in connexion with the soul and, in late times, was always thought to be near it. finally we may mention the ren, or "name" of a man, as one of his most important constituent parts. the egyptians, in common with all eastern nations, attached the greatest importance to the preservation of the name, and any person, who effected the blotting out of a man's name was thought to have destroyed him also. like the ka it was a portion, of a man's most special identity, and it is easy to see why so much importance grew to be attached to it; a nameless being could not be introduced to the gods, and as no created thing exists without a name the man who had no name was in a worse position before the divine powers than the feeblest inanimate object. to perpetuate the name of a father was a good son's duty, and to keep the tombs of the dead in good repair so that all might read the names of those who were buried in them was a most meritorious act. on the other hand, if the deceased knew the names of divine beings, whether friends or foes, and could pronounce them, he at once obtained power over them, and was able to make them perform his will. we have seen that the entity of a man consisted of body, double, soul, heart, spiritual intelligence or spirit, power, shadow, and name. these eight parts may be reduced to three by leaving out of consideration the double, heart, power, shadow and name as representing beliefs which were produced by the egyptian as he was slowly ascending the scale of civilization, and as being the peculiar product of his race; we may then say that a man consisted of body, soul, and spirit. but did all three rise, and live in the world beyond the grave? the egyptian texts answer this question definitely; the soul and the spirit of the righteous passed from the body and lived with the beatified and the gods in heaven; but the physical body did not rise again, and it was believed never to leave the tomb. there were ignorant people in egypt who, no doubt, believed in the resurrection of the corruptible body, and who imagined that the new life would be, after all, something very much like a continuation of that which they were living in this world; but the egyptian who followed the teaching of his sacred writings knew that such beliefs were not consistent with the views of their priests and of educated people in general. already in the vth dynasty, about b.c. 3400, it is stated definitely:- "the soul to heaven, the body to earth;" [footnote: _recueil de travaux_, tom. iv. p. 71 (l. 582).] and three thousand years later the egyptian writer declared the same thing, but in different words, when he wrote:--[footnote: horrack, _lamentations d' isis_, paris, 1866, p. 6.] "heaven hath thy soul, and earth thy body." the egyptian hoped, among other things, that he would sail over the sky in the boat of r[=a], but he knew well that he could not do this in his mortal body; he believed firmly that he would live for millions of years, but with the experience of the human race before him he knew that this also was impossible if the body in which he was to live was that in which he had lived upon earth. at first he thought that his physical body might, after the manner of the sun, be "renewed daily," and that his new life would resemble that of that emblem of the sun-god r[=a] with which he sought to identify himself. later, however, his experience taught him that the best mummified body was sometimes destroyed, either by damp, or dry rot, or decay in one form or another, and that mummification alone was not sufficient to ensure resurrection or the attainment of the future life; and, in brief, he discovered that by no human means could that which is corruptible by nature be made to become incorruptible, for the very animals in which the gods themselves were incarnate became sick and died in their appointed season. it is hard to say why the egyptians continued to mummify the dead since there is good reason for knowing that they did not expect the physical body to rise again. it may be that they thought its preservation necessary for the welfare of the ka, or "double," and for the development of a new body from it; also the continued custom may have been the result of intense conservatism. but whatever the reason, the egyptian never ceased to take every possible precaution to preserve the dead body intact, had he sought for help in his trouble from another source. it will be remembered that when isis found the dead body of her husband osiris, she at once set to work to protect it. she drove away the foes, and made the ill-luck which had come upon it to be of no effect. in order to bring about this result "she made strong her speech with all the strength of her mouth, she was perfect of tongue, and she halted not in her speech," and she pronounced a series of words or formulae with which thoth had provided her; thus she succeeded in "stirring up the inactivity of the still-heart" and in accomplishing her desire in respect of him. her cries, prompted by love and grief, would have had no effect on the dead body unless they had been accompanied by the words of thoth, which she uttered with boldness (_ichu_), and understanding (_ager_), and without fault in pronunciation (_an-uh_). the egyptian of old kept this fact in his mind, and determined to procure the resurrection of his friends and relatives by the same means as isis employed, _i.e._, the formulae of thoth; with this object in view each dead person, was provided with a series of texts, either written upon his coffin, or upon papyri and amulets, which would have the same effect as the words of thoth which were spoken by isis. but the relatives of the deceased had also a duty to perform in this matter, and that was to provide for the recital of certain prayers, and for the performance of a number of symbolical ceremonies over the dead body before it was laid to rest finally in the tomb. a sacrifice had to be offered up, and the deceased and his friends and relatives assisted at it, and each ceremony was accompanied by its proper prayers; when all had been done and said according to the ordinances of the priests, the body was taken, to its place in the mummy chamber. but the words of thoth and the prayers of the priests caused the body to become changed into a "s[=a]hu," or incorruptible, spiritual body, which passed straightway out of the tomb and made its way to heaven where it dwelt with the gods. when, in the book of the dead the deceased says, "i exist, i exist; i live, i live; i germinate, i germinate," [footnote: see chap. cliv.] and again, "i germinate like the plants," [footnote: see chap. lxxxviii. 3.] the deceased does not mean that his physical body is putting forth the beginnings of another body like the old one, but a spiritual body which "hath neither defect nor, like r[=a], shall suffer diminution for ever." into the s[=a]hu passed the soul which had lived in the body of a man upon earth, and it seems as if the new, incorruptible body formed the dwelling-place of the soul in heaven just as the physical body had been its earthly abode. the reasons why the egyptians continued to mummify their dead is thus apparent; they did not do so believing that their physical bodies would rise again, but because they wished the spiritual body to "sprout" or "germinate" from them, and if possible--at least it seems so--to be in the form of the physical body. in this way did the dead rise according to the egyptians, and in this body did they come. from what has been said above, it will be seen that there is no reason for doubting the antiquity of the egyptian belief in the resurrection of the dead and in immortality, and the general evidence derived both from archaeological and religious considerations supports this view. as old, however, as this belief in general is the specific belief in a spiritual body (s[=a]h or s[=a]hu); for we find it in texts of the vth dynasty incorporated with ideas which belong to the prehistoric egyptian in his savage or semi-savage state. one remarkable extract will prove this point. in the funeral chapters which are inscribed on the walls of the chambers and passages inside the pyramid of king unas, who flourished at the end of the vth dynasty, about b.c. 3300, is a passage in which the deceased king terrifies all the powers of heaven and earth because he "riseth as a soul (ba) in the form of the god who liveth upon his fathers and who maketh food of his mothers. unas is the lord of wisdom and his mother knoweth not his name. he hath become mighty like unto the god temu, the father who gave him birth, and after temu gave him birth he became stronger than his father." the king is likened unto a bull, and he feedeth upon every god, whatever may be the form in which he appeareth; "he hath weighed words with the god whose name is hidden," and he devoureth men and liveth upon gods. the dead king is then said to set out to limit the gods in their meadows, and when he has caught them with nooses, he causes them to be slain. they are next cooked in blazing cauldrons, the greatest for his morning meal, the lesser for his evening meal, and the least for his midnight meal; the old gods and goddesses serve as fuel for his cooking pots. in this way, having swallowed the magical powers and spirits of the gods, he becomes the great power of powers among the gods, and the greatest of the gods who appear in visible forms. "whatever he hath found upon his path he hath consumed, and his strength is greater than that of any spiritual body (s[=a]hu) in the horizon; he is the firstborn of all the firstborn, and ... he hath carried off the hearts of the gods.... he hath eaten the wisdom of every god, and his period of existence is everlasting, and his life shall be unto all eternity, ... for the souls and the spirits of the gods are in him." we have, it is clear, in this passage an allusion to the custom of savages of all nations and periods, of eating portions of the bodies of valiant foes whom they have vanquished in war in order to absorb their virtues and strength; the same habit has also obtained in some places in respect of animals. in the case of the gods the deceased is made to covet their one peculiar attribute, that is to say, everlasting life; and when he has absorbed their souls and spirits he is declared to have obtained all that makes him superior to every other spiritual body in strength and in length of life. the "magical powers" (_heka_) which the king is also said to have "eaten," are the words and formulae, the utterance of which by him, in whatever circumstances he may be placed, will cause every being, friendly or unfriendly, to do his will. but apart from any question of the slaughter of the gods the egyptians declared of this same king, "behold, thou hast not gone as one dead, but as one living, to sit upon the throne of osiris." [footnote: _recuell de travaux_, tom. v. p. 167 (l. 65).] and in a papyrus written nearly two thousand years later the deceased himself says, "my soul is god, my soul is eternity," [footnote: papyrus of ani, plate 28, l. 15 (chapter lxxxiv.).] a clear proof that the ideas of the existence of god and of eternity were identical. yet one other example is worth quoting, if only to show the care that the writers of religious texts took to impress the immortality of the soul upon their readers. according to chapter clxxv. of the book of the dead the deceased finds himself in a place where there is neither water nor air, and where "it is depth unfathomable, it is black as the blackest night, and men wander helplessly therein. in it a man may not live in quietness of heart, nor may the longings of love be satisfied therein. but," says the deceased to the god thoth, "let the state of the spirits be given unto me instead of water, and air, and the satisfying of the longings of love, and let quietness of heart be given unto me instead of cakes and ale. the god temu hath decreed that i shall see thy face, and that i shall not suffer from the things which pained thee; may every god transmit unto thee [o osiris] his throne for millions of years! thy throne hath descended unto thy son horus, and the god temu hath decreed that his course shall be among the holy princes. verily he shall rule over thy throne, and he shall be heir of the throne of the dweller in the lake of the two fires. verily it hath been decreed that in me he shall see his likeness, [footnote: _i.e._, i shall be like horus, the son of osiris.] and that my face shall look upon the face of the lord tem." after reciting these words, the deceased asks thoth, "how long have i to live?" and the god replies, "it is decreed that thou shalt live for millions of millions of years, a life of millions of years." to give emphasis and additional effect to his words the god is made to speak tautologically so that the most unlettered man may not miss their meaning. a little later in the chapter the deceased says, "o my father osiris, thou hast done for me that which thy father r[=a] did for thee. so shall i abide on the earth lastingly, i shall keep possession of my seat; my heir shall be strong; my tomb and my friends who are upon earth shall flourish; my enemies shall be given over to destruction and to the shackles of the goddess serq. i am thy son, and r[=a] is my father; for me likewise thou shalt make life, and strength, and health!" it is interesting to note that the deceased first identifies osiris with r[=a], and then he identifies himself with osiris; thus he identifies himself with r[=a]. with the subjects of resurrection and immortality must be mentioned the frequent references in the religious texts of all periods to the meat and drink on which lived the beings who were believed to exist in the world beyond the grave. in prehistoric days if was natural enough for the dead man's friends to place food in his grave, because they thought that he would require it on his journey to the next world; this custom also presupposed that the deceased would have a body like unto that which he had left behind him in this world, and that it would need food and drink. in the vth dynasty the egyptians believed that the blessed dead lived upon celestial food, and that they suffered neither hunger nor thirst; they ate what the gods ate, they drank what they drank, they were what they were, and became in such matters as these the counterparts of the gods. in another passage we read that they are apparelled in white linen, that they wear white sandals, and that they go to the great lake which is in the midst of the field of peace whereon the great gods sit, and that the gods give them to eat of the food (_or_ tree) of life of which they themselves eat that they also may live. it is certain, however, that other views than these were held concerning the food of the dead, for already in the vth dynasty the existence of a region called sekhet-aaru, or sekhet-aanru had been formulated, and to this place the soul, or at least some part, of the pious egyptian hoped to make its way. where sekhet-aaru was situated we have no means of saying, and the texts afford us no clue as to its whereabouts; some scholars think that it lay away to the east of egypt, but it is far more likely to represent some district of the delta either in its northern or north-eastern portion. fortunately we have a picture of it in the papyrus of nebseni, [footnote: brit. mus., no. 9900; this document belongs to the xviiith dynasty.] the oldest probably on papyrus, and from this we may see that sekhet-aaru, _i.e._, the "field of reeds," typified some very fertile region where farming operations could be carried on with ease and success. canals and watercourses abound, and in one section, we are told, the spirits of the blessed dwelt; the picture probably represents a traditional "paradise" or "elysian fields," and the general characteristics of this happy land are those of a large, well-kept, and well-stocked homestead, situated at no great distance from the nile or one of its main branches. in the papyrus of nebseni the divisions of the sekhet-auru contain the following:-[illustration: the elysian fields of the egyptians according to the papyrus of nebseni (xviiith dynasty).] 1. nebseni, the scribe and artist of the temple of ptah, with his arms hanging by his sides, entering the elysian fields. 2. nebseni making an offering of incense to the "great company of the gods." 3. nebseni seated in a boat paddling; above the boat are three symbols for "city." 4. nebseni addressing a bearded mummied figure. 5. three pools or lakes called urti, hetep, and qetqet. 6. nebseni reaping in sekhet-hetepet. 7. nebseni grasping the bennu bird, which is perched upon a stand; in front are three kau and three khu. 8. nebseni seated and smelling a flower; the text reads: "thousands of all good and pure things to the ka of nebseni." 9. a table of offerings. 10. four pools or lakes called nebt-tani, uakha, kha(?), and hetep. 11. nebseni ploughing with oxen by the side of a stream which is one thousand [measures] in length, and the width of which cannot be said; in it there are neither fish nor worms. 12. nebseni ploughing with oxen on an island "the length of which is the length of heaven." 13. a division shaped like a bowl, in which is inscribed: "the birthplace(?) of the god of the city qenqentet nebt." 14. an island whereon are four gods and a flight of steps; the legend reads: "the great company of the gods who are in sekhet-hetep." 15. the boat tchetetfet, with eight oars, four at the bows, and four at the stern, floating at the end of a canal; in it is a flight of steps. the place where it lies is called the "domain of neth." 16. two pools, the names of which are illegible. the scene as given in the papyrus of ani [footnote: brit. mus., no. 10,470, plate 35] gives some interesting variants and may be described thus:- 1. ani making an offering before a hare-headed god, a snake-headed god, and a bull-headed god; behind him stand his wife thuthu and thoth holding his reed and palette. ani paddling a boat. ani addressing a hawk, before which are a table of offerings, a statue, three ovals, and the legend, "being at peace in the field, and having air for the nostrils." 2. ani reaping corn, ani driving the oxen which tread out the corn; ani addressing (_or_ adoring) a bennu bird perched on a stand; ani seated holding the _kherp_ sceptre; a heap of red and a heap of white corn; three kau and three khu, which are perhaps to be read, "the food of the spirits;" and three pools. 3. ani ploughing a field near a stream which contains [illustration: the elysian fields of the egyptians according to the papyrus of ani (xviiith dynasty).] neither fish, nor serpents, nor worms of any kind whatsoever. 4. the birthplace of the "god of the city;" an island on which is a flight of steps; a region called the "place of the spirits" who are seven cubits high, where the wheat is three cubits high, and where the s[=a]hu, or spiritual bodies, reap it; the region ashet, the god who dwelleth therein being un-nefer (_i.e._, a form of osiris); a boat with eight oars lying at the end of a canal; and a boat floating on a canal. the name of the first boat is behutu-tcheser, and that of the second tohefau. so far we have seen that in heaven and in the world beyond the grave the deceased has found only divine beings, and the doubles, and the souls, and the spirits, and the spiritual bodies of the blessed; but no reference has been made to the possibility of the dead recognizing each other, or being able to continue the friendships or relationships which they had when upon earth. in the sekhet-aaru the case is, however, different, for there we have reason to believe relationships were recognized and rejoiced in. thus in chapter lii. of the book of the dead, which was composed with the idea of the deceased, from lack of proper food in the underworld, being obliged to eat filth, [footnote: this idea is a survival of prehistoric times, when it was thought that if the proper sepulchral meals were not deposited at regular intervals where the ka, or "double," of the deceased could get at them it would be obliged to wander about and pick up whatever it might find to eat upon its road.] and with the object of preventing such an awful thing, the deceased says: "that which is an abomination unto me, that which is an abomination unto me, let me not eat. that which is an abomination unto me, that which is an abomination unto me, is filth; let me not be obliged to eat thereof in the place of the sepulchral cakes which are offered unto the kau (_i.e._, "doubles"). let it not touch my body, let me not be obliged to hold it in my hands; and let me not be compelled to tread thereon in my sandals." some being or beings, probably the gods, then ask him, "what, now, wilt thou live upon in the presence of the gods?" and he replies, "let food come to me from the place of food, and let me live upon the seven loaves of bread which shall be brought as food before horus, and upon the bread which is brought before thoth. and when the gods shall say unto me, 'what manner of food wouldst thou have given unto thee?' i will reply, 'let me eat my food under the sycamore tree of my lady, the goddess hathor, and let my times be among the divine beings who have alighted thereon. let me have the power to order my own fields in tattu (busiris), and my own growing crops in annu. let me live upon bread made of white grain, and let my beer be made from red grain, and may the persons of my father and mother be given unto me as guardians of my door, and for the ordering of my homestead. let me be sound and strong, and let me have much room wherein to move, and let me be able to sit wheresoever i please." this chapter is most important as showing that the deceased wished to have his homestead and its fields situated in tattu, that is to say, near the capital of the busirite or ixth nome of lower egypt, a district not far from the city of semennûd (_i.e._, sebennytus) and lying a little to the south of the thirty-first parallel of latitude. it was here that the reconstitution of the dismembered body of osiris took place, and it was here that the solemn ceremony of setting up the backbone of osiris was performed each year. the original sekhet-aaru was evidently placed here, and we are therefore right in assuming that the fertile fields of this part of the delta formed the prototype of the elysian fields of the egyptian. at the same time he also wished to reap crops on the fields round about heliopolis, the seat of the greatest and most ancient shrine of the sun-god. the white grain of which he would have his bread made is the ordinary _dhura_, and the red grain is the red species of the same plant, which is not so common as the white. as keepers of the door of his estate the deceased asks for the "forms (_or_ persons) of his father and his mother," and thus we see a desire on the part of the egyptian to continue the family life which he began upon earth; it goes almost without saying that he would not ask this thing if he thought there would be no prospect of knowing his parents in the next world. an interesting proof of this is afforded by the picture of the sekhet-aaru, or elysian fields, which is given in the papyrus of anhai, [footnote: brit. mus., no. 10,472.] [illustration: anhai bowing before her father and mother. the elysian fields. from the papyrus of anhai (xxiind dynasty).] a priestess of amen who lived probably about b.c. 1000. here we see the deceased entering into the topmost section of the district and addressing two divine persons; above one of these are written the words "her mother," followed by the name neferitu. the form which comes next is probably that of her father, and thus we are sure that the egyptians believed they would meet their relatives in the next world and know and be known by them. accompanying the picture of the elysian fields is a long text which forms chapter cx. of the book of the dead. as it supplies a great deal of information concerning the views held in early times about that region, and throws so much light upon the semi-material life which the pious egyptians, at one period of their history, hoped to lead, a rendering of it is here given. it is entitled, "the chapters of sekhet-hetepet, and the chapters of coming forth by day; of going into and of coming forth from the underworld; of coming to sekhet-aaru; of being in sekhet-hetepet, the mighty land, the lady of winds; of having power there; of becoming a spirit (khu) there; of reaping there; of eating there; of drinking there; of making love there; and of doing everything even as a man doeth upon the earth." the deceased says:- "set hath seized horus, who looked with the two eyes [footnote: _i.e._, the eye of r[=a] and the eye of horus.] upon the building (?) round sekhet-hetep, but i have released horus [and taken him from] set, and set hath opened the path of the two eyes [which are] in heaven. set hath cast (?) his moisture to the winds upon the soul that hath his day, and that dwelleth in the city of mert, and he hath delivered the interior of the body of horus from the gods of akert. "behold me now, for i make this mighty boat to travel over the lake of hetep, and i brought it away with might from the palace of shu; the domain of his stars groweth young and reneweth the strength which it had of old. i have brought the boat into the lakes thereof, so that i may come forth into the cities thereof, and i have sailed into their divine city hetep. and behold, it is because i, even i, am at peace with his seasons, and with his direction, and with his territory, and with the company of the gods who are his firstborn. he maketh horus and set to be at peace with those who watch over the living ones whom he hath created in fair form, and he bringeth peace; he maketh horus and set to be at peace with those who watch over them. he cutteth off the hair from horus and set, he driveth away storm from the helpless, and he keepeth away harm from the spirits (khu). let me have dominion within that field, for i know it, and i have sailed among its lakes so that i might come into its cities. my mouth is firm, [footnote: _i.e._, i know how to utter the words of power which i possess with vigour.] and i am equipped to resist the spirits (khu), therefore they shall not have dominion over me. let me be rewarded with thy fields, o thou god hetep; but that which is thy wish do, o thou lord of the winds. may i become a spirit therein, may i eat therein, may i drink therein, may i plough therein, may i reap therein, may i fight therein, may i make love therein, may my words be mighty therein; may i never be in a state of servitude therein; but may i be in authority therein. thou hast made strong the mouth (_or_ door) and the throat (_?_) of hetep; qetet-bu is his name. he is stablished upon the pillars [footnote: _i.e._, the four pillars, one placed at each cardinal point, which support the sky.] of shu, and is linked unto the pleasant things of r[=a]. he is the divider of years, he is hidden of mouth, his mouth is silent, that which he uttereth is secret, he fulfilleth eternity and hath possession of everlasting existence as hetep, the lord hetep. "the god horus maketh himself to be strong like unto the hawk which is one thousand cubits in length, and two thousand [cubits in width] in life; he hath equipments with him, and he journeyeth on and cometh where his heart's throne wisheth to be in the pools [of hetep] and in the cities thereof. he was begotten in the birth-chamber of the god of the city, offerings of the god of the city are made unto him, he performeth that which it is meet to do therein, and causeth the union thereof, and doeth everything which appertaineth to the birth-chamber of the divine city. when he setteth in life, like crystal, he performeth everything therein, and the things which he doeth are like unto the things which are done in the lake of twofold fire, wherein there is none that rejoiceth, and wherein are all manner of evil things. the god hetep goeth in, and cometh out, and goeth backwards [in] that field which gathereth together all manner of things for the birth-chamber of the god of the city. when he setteth in life, like crystal, he performeth all manner of things therein which are like unto the things which are done in the lake of twofold fire, wherein there is none that rejoiceth, and wherein are all manner of evil things. "let me live with the god hetep, clothed and not plundered by the lords of the north, and let the lord of divine things bring food unto me. let him make me to go forward, and let me come out, and let him bring my power unto me there; let me receive it, and let my equipment be from the god hetep. let me gain the mastery over the great and mighty word which is in my body in this place wherein i am, for by means of it i will remember and i will forget. let me go forward on my way and let me plough. i am at peace with the god of the city, and i know the waters, and the cities, and the nomes, and the lakes which are in sekhet-hetep. i exist therein, i am strong therein, i have become a spirit (khu) therein, i eat therein, i sow seed therein, i reap the harvest therein, i plough therein, i make love therein, and i am at peace with the god hetep therein. behold i scatter seed therein, i sail about among its lakes, and i advance to the cities thereof, o divine hetep. behold, my mouth is provided with my [teeth which are like] horns; grant me therefore an overflowing supply of the food whereon, the 'doubles' (kau) and the spirits (khu) do live. i have passed the judgment which shu passeth upon him that knoweth him, therefore let me go forth to the cities of [hetep], and let me sail about among its lakes, and let me walk about in sekhet-hetep. behold r[=a] is in heaven, and behold the god hetep is the twofold offering thereof. i have come forward to the land [of hetep], i have girded up my loins and come forth so that the gifts which are about to be given unto me may be given, and i am glad, and i have laid hold upon my strength which the god hetep hath greatly increased for me." "o unen-em-hetep, [footnote: the name of the first large section of sekhet-aaru.] i have entered into thee, and my soul followeth after me, and my divine food is upon my hands. o lady of the two lands, [footnote: a lake in the second section of sekhet-aaru.] who stablishest my word whereby i remember and forget, let me live uninjured, and without any injury [being done] unto me. o grant to me, o do thou grant to me, joy of heart; make thou me to be at peace, bind thou up my sinews and muscles, and make me to receive the air." "o unen-em-hetep, o lady of the winds, i have entered into thee, and i have shewn [footnote: literally, "opened."] my head [therein]. r[=a] sleepeth, but i am awake, and there is the goddess hast at the gate of heaven by night. obstacles have been set before me, but i have gathered together what r[=a] hath emitted. i am in my city." "o nut-urt, [footnote: the name of a lake in the first section of sekhet-aaru.] i have entered into thee and i have reckoned up my harvest, and i go forward to uakh. [footnote: the name of a lake in the second section of sekhet-aaru.] i am the bull enveloped in turquoise, the lord of the field of the bull, the lord of the divine speech of the goddess septet (sothis) at her hours. o uakh, i have entered into thee, i have eaten my bread, i have gotten the mastery over choice pieces of the flesh of oxen and of feathered fowl, and the birds of shu have been given unto me; i follow after the gods, and the divine 'doubles' (kau)." "o tohefet, [footnote: the name of a district in the third section of sekhet-aaru.] i have entered into thee, i array myself in apparel, and i have guarded myself with the _sa_ garment of r[=a]; now behold, he is in heaven, and those who dwell therein follow him, and i also follow r[=a] in heaven, o unen-em-hetep, lord of the two lands, i have entered into thee, and i have plunged into the lakes of tohesert; behold me now, for all uncleanness hath departed from me. the great god groweth therein, and behold, i have found [food therein]; i have snared feathered fowl and i feed upon, the finest of them." "o qenqentet, [footnote: the name of a lake in the first section, of sekhet-aaru.] i have entered into thee, and i have seen, the osiris [my father], and i have gazed upon my mother, and i have made love. i have captured the worms and serpents [which are there] and have delivered myself. i know the name of the god who is opposite to the goddess tohesert, who hath straight hair and is provided with horns; he reapeth, but i both plough and reap." "o hast, [footnote: the name of a lake in the third section of sekhet-aaru.] i have entered into thee, and i have driven back those who would come to the turquoise [sky]; and i have followed the winds of the company of the gods. the great god hath given my head unto me, and he who hath bound on me my head is the mighty one with the eyes of turquoise, that is to say, ari-en-ab-f (_i.e._, he who doeth as he pleaseth)." "o usert, [footnote: the name of a lake in the third section of sekhet-aaru.] i have come unto thee at the house where the divine food is brought unto me." "o smam, [footnote: the name of a lake in the third section of sekhet-aaru.] i have come unto thee. my heart watcheth, and i am provided with the white crown. i am led into celestial regions, and i make the things of earth to flourish; and there is joy of heart for the bull, and for celestial beings, and for the company of the gods. i am the god who is the bull, the lord of the gods as he goeth forth from the turquoise [sky]." "o divine nome of wheat and barley, i have come unto thee, i have come forward to thee, and i have taken up that which followeth me, namely, the best of the libations of the company of the gods. i have tied my boat in the celestial lakes, i have lifted up the post at which to anchor, i have recited the prescribed words with my voice, and i have ascribed praises unto the gods who dwell in sekhet-hetep." other joys, however, than those described above, await the man who has passed satisfactorily through the judgment and has made his way into the realm of the gods. for, in answer to a long petition in the papyrus of ani, which has been given above (see p. 33 f.), the god r[=a] promises to the deceased the following: "thou shalt come forth into heaven, thou shalt pass over the sky, thou shalt be joined unto the starry deities. praises shall be offered unto thee in thy boat, thou shalt be hymned in the [=a]tet boat, thou shalt behold r[=a] within his shrine, thou shalt set together with his disk day by day, thou shalt see the ant [footnote 1: the name of a mythological fish which swam at the bow of the boat of r[=a].] fish when it springeth into being in the waters of turquoise, and thou shalt see the abtu [footnote: the name of a mythological fish which swam at the bow of the boat of r[=a].] fish in his hour. it shall come to pass that the evil one shall fall when he layeth a snare to destroy thee, and the joints of his neck and of his back shall be hacked asunder. r[=a] [saileth] with a fair wind, and the sektet boat draweth on and cometh into port. the mariners of r[=a] rejoice, and the heart of nebt-[=a]nkh (_i.e._, isis) is glad, for the enemy of r[=a] hath fallen to the ground. thou shalt behold horus on the standing-place of the pilot of the boat, and thoth and ma[=a]t shall stand one upon each side of him. all the gods shall rejoice when they behold r[=a] coming in peace to make the hearts of the shining ones to live, and osiris ani, triumphant, the scribe of the divine offspring of the lords of thebes, shall be along with them." but, not content with sailing in the boat of r[=a] daily as one of many beatified beings, the deceased hoped to transform each of his limbs into a god, and when this was effected to become r[=a] himself. thus in chapter xlii. of the book of the dead [footnote: see _the chapters of coming forth by day_, p. 93.] the deceased says- "my hair is the hair of nu. "my face is the face of the disk. "my eyes are the eyes of hathor. "my ears are the ears of ap-uat. "my nose is the nose of khenti-khas. "my lips are the lips of anpu. "my teeth are the teeth of serqet. "my neck is the neck of the divine goddess isis. "my hands are the hands of ba-neb-tattu. "my fore-arms are the fore-arms of neith, the lady of saïs. "my backbone is the backbone of suti. "my phallus is the phallus of osiris. "my reins are the reins of the lords of kher-[=a]ba. "my chest is the chest of the mighty one of terror. "my belly and back are the belly and back of sekhet. "my buttocks are the buttocks of the eye of horus. "my hips and legs are the hips and legs of nut. "my feet are the feet of ptah. "my fingers and my leg-bones are the fingers and leg-bones of the living gods." [footnote: the idea of the deification of the human members was current already in the vith dynasty. see _recueil de travaux_, tom. viii, pp. 87, 88.] and immediately after this the deceased says: "there is no member of my body which is not the member of a god. the god thoth shieldeth my body altogether, and i am r[=a] day by day." thus we see by what means the egyptians believed that mortal man could be raised from the dead, and attain unto life everlasting. the resurrection was the object with which every prayer was said and every ceremony performed, and every text, and every amulet, and every formula, of each and every period, was intended to enable the mortal to put on immortality and to live eternally in a transformed glorified body. if this fact be borne in mind many apparent difficulties will disappear before the readers in this perusal of egyptian texts, and the religion of the egyptians will be seen to possess a consistence of aim and a steadiness of principle which, to some, it at first appears to lack. the end. printed ballantyne, hanson & co edinburgh & london there is no death works by florence marryat published in the international series. no. cts. 85. blindfold, 50 135. brave heart and true, 50 42. mount eden, 30 13. on circumstantial evidence, 30 148. risen dead, the, 50 77. scarlet sin, a, 50 159. there is no death, 50 there is no death by florence marryat author of "love's conflict," "veronique," etc., etc. "there is no death--what seems so is transition. this life of mortal breath is but a suburb of the life elysian whose portal we call----death."--longfellow. new york national book company 3, 4, 5 and 6 mission place copyright, 1891, by united states book company there is no death. chapter i. family ghosts. it has been strongly impressed upon me for some years past to write an account of the wonderful experiences i have passed through in my investigation of the science of spiritualism. in doing so i intend to confine myself to recording facts. i will describe the scenes i have witnessed with my own eyes, and repeat the words i have heard with my own ears, leaving the deduction to be drawn from them wholly to my readers. i have no ambition to start a theory nor to promulgate a doctrine; above all things i have no desire to provoke an argument. i have had more than enough of arguments, philosophical, scientific, religious, and purely aggressive, to last a lifetime; and were i called upon for my definition of the rest promised to the weary, i should reply--a place where every man may hold his own opinion, and no one is permitted to dispute it. but though i am about to record a great many incidents that are so marvellous as to be almost incredible, i do not expect to be disbelieved, except by such as are capable of deception themselves. they--conscious of their own infirmity--invariably believe that other people must be telling lies. byron wrote, "he is a fool who denies that which he cannot disprove;" and though carlyle gives us the comforting assurance that the population of great britain consists "chiefly of fools," i pin my faith upon receiving credence from the few who are not so. why should i be disbelieved? when the late lady brassey published the "cruise of the _sunbeam_," and sir samuel and lady baker related their experiences in central africa, and livingstone wrote his account of the wonders he met with whilst engaged in the investigation of the source of the nile, and henry stanley followed up the story and added thereto, did they anticipate the public turning up its nose at their narrations, and declaring it did not believe a word they had written? yet their readers had to accept the facts they offered for credence, on their authority alone. very few of them had even _heard_ of the places described before; scarcely one in a thousand could, either from personal experience or acquired knowledge, attest the truth of the description. what was there--for the benefit of the general public--to _prove_ that the _sunbeam_ had sailed round the world, or that sir samuel baker had met with the rare beasts, birds, and flowers he wrote of, or that livingstone and stanley met and spoke with those curious, unknown tribes that never saw white men till they set eyes on them? yet had any one of those writers affirmed that in his wanderings he had encountered a gold field of undoubted excellence, thousands of fortune-seekers would have left their native land on his word alone, and rushed to secure some of the glittering treasure. why? because the authors of those books were persons well known in society, who had a reputation for veracity to maintain, and who would have been quickly found out had they dared to deceive. i claim the same grounds for obtaining belief. i have a well-known name and a public reputation, a tolerable brain, and two sharp eyes. what i have witnessed, others, with equal assiduity and perseverance, may witness for themselves. it would demand a voyage round the world to see all that the owners of the _sunbeam_ saw. it would demand time and trouble and money to see what i have seen, and to some people, perhaps, it would not be worth the outlay. but if i have journeyed into the debateable land (which so few really believe in, and most are terribly afraid of), and come forward now to tell what i have seen there, the world has no more right to disbelieve me than it had to disbelieve lady brassey. because the general public has not penetrated central africa, is no reason that livingstone did not do so; because the general public has not seen (and does not care to see) what i have seen, is no argument against the truth of what i write. to those who _do_ believe in the possibility of communion with disembodied spirits, my story will be interesting perhaps, on account of its dealing throughout in a remarkable degree with the vexed question of identity and recognition. to the materialistic portion of creation who may credit me with not being a bigger fool than the remainder of the thirty-eight millions of great britain, it may prove a new source of speculation and research. and for those of my fellow-creatures who possess no curiosity, nor imagination, nor desire to prove for themselves what they cannot accept on the testimony of others, i never had, and never shall have, anything in common. they are the sort of people who ask you with a pleasing smile if irving wrote "the charge of the light brigade," and say they like byron's "sardanapalus" very well, but it is not so funny as "our boys." now, before going to work in right earnest, i do not think it is generally known that my father, the late captain marryat, was not only a believer in ghosts, but himself a ghost-seer. i am delighted to be able to record this fact as an introduction to my own experiences. perhaps the ease with which such manifestations have come to me is a gift which i inherit from him, anyway i am glad he shared the belief and the power of spiritual sight with me. if there were no other reason to make me bold to repeat what i have witnessed, the circumstance would give me courage. my father was not like his intimate friends, charles dickens, lord lytton, and many other men of genius, highly strung, nervous, and imaginative. i do not believe my father had any "nerves," and i think he had very little imagination. almost all his works are founded on his personal experiences. his _forte_ lay in a humorous description of what he had seen. he possessed a marvellous power of putting his recollections into graphic and forcible language, and the very reason that his books are almost as popular to-day as when they were written, is because they are true histories of their time. there is scarcely a line of fiction in them. his body was as powerful and muscular as his brain. his courage was indomitable--his moral courage as well as his physical (as many people remember to their cost to this day), and his hardness of belief on many subjects is no secret. what i am about to relate therefore did not happen to some excitable, nervous, sickly sentimentalist, and i repeat that i am proud to have inherited his constitutional tendencies, and quite willing to stand judgment after him. i have heard that my father had a number of stories to relate of supernatural (as they are usually termed) incidents that had occurred to him, but i will content myself with relating such as were proved to be (at the least) very remarkable coincidences. in my work, "the life and letters of captain marryat," i relate an anecdote of him that was entered in his private "log," and found amongst his papers. he had a younger brother, samuel, to whom he was very much attached, and who died unexpectedly in england whilst my father, in command of h. m. s. _larne_, was engaged in the first burmese war. his men broke out with scurvy and he was ordered to take his vessel over to pulu pinang for a few weeks in order to get the sailors fresh fruit and vegetables. as my father was lying in his berth one night, anchored off the island, with the brilliant tropical moonlight making everything as bright as day, he saw the door of his cabin open, and his brother samuel entered and walked quietly up to his side. he looked just the same as when they had parted, and uttered in a perfectly distinct voice, "fred! i have come to tell you that i am dead!" when the figure entered the cabin my father jumped up in his berth, thinking it was some one coming to rob him, and when he saw who it was and heard it speak, he leaped out of bed with the intention of detaining it, but it was gone. so vivid was the impression made upon him by the apparition that he drew out his log at once and wrote down all particulars concerning it, with the hour and day of its appearance. on reaching england after the war was over, the first dispatches put into his hand were to announce the death of his brother, who had passed away at the very hour when he had seen him in the cabin. but the story that interests me most is one of an incident which occurred to my father during my lifetime, and which we have always called "the brown lady of rainham." i am aware that this narrative has reached the public through other sources, and i have made it the foundation of a christmas story myself. but it is too well authenticated to be omitted here. the last fifteen years of my father's life were passed on his own estate of langham, in norfolk, and amongst his county friends were sir charles and lady townshend of rainham hall. at the time i speak of, the title and property had lately changed hands, and the new baronet had re-papered, painted, and furnished the hall throughout, and come down with his wife and a large party of friends to take possession. but to their annoyance, soon after their arrival, rumors arose that the house was haunted, and their guests began, one and all (like those in the parable), to make excuses to go home again. sir charles and lady townshend might have sung, "friend after friend departs," with due effect, but it would have had none on the general exodus that took place from rainham. and it was all on account of a brown lady, whose portrait hung in one of the bedrooms, and in which she was represented as wearing a brown satin dress with yellow trimmings, and a ruff around her throat--a very harmless, innocent-looking young woman. but they all declared they had seen her walking about the house--some in the corridor, some in their bedrooms, others in the lower premises, and neither guests nor servants would remain in the hall. the baronet was naturally very much annoyed about it, and confided his trouble to my father, and my father was indignant at the trick he believed had been played upon him. there was a great deal of smuggling and poaching in norfolk at that period, as he knew well, being a magistrate of the county, and he felt sure that some of these depredators were trying to frighten the townshends away from the hall again. the last baronet had been a solitary sort of being, and lead a retired life, and my father imagined some of the tenantry had their own reasons for not liking the introduction of revelries and "high jinks" at rainham. so he asked his friends to let him stay with them and sleep in the haunted chamber, and he felt sure he could rid them of the nuisance. they accepted his offer, and he took possession of the room in which the portrait of the apparition hung, and in which she had been often seen, and slept each night with a loaded revolver under his pillow. for two days, however, he saw nothing, and the third was to be the limit of his stay. on the third night, however, two young men (nephews of the baronet) knocked at his door as he was undressing to go to bed, and asked him to step over to their room (which was at the other end of the corridor), and give them his opinion on a new gun just arrived from london. my father was in his shirt and trousers, but as the hour was late, and everybody had retired to rest except themselves, he prepared to accompany them as he was. as they were leaving the room, he caught up his revolver, "in case we meet the brown lady," he said, laughing. when the inspection of the gun was over, the young men in the same spirit declared they would accompany my father back again, "in case you meet the brown lady," they repeated, laughing also. the three gentlemen therefore returned in company. the corridor was long and dark, for the lights had been extinguished, but as they reached the middle of it, they saw the glimmer of a lamp coming towards them from the other end. "one of the ladies going to visit the nurseries," whispered the young townshends to my father. now the bedroom doors in that corridor faced each other, and each room had a double door with a space between, as is the case in many old-fashioned country houses. my father (as i have said) was in a shirt and trousers only, and his native modesty made him feel uncomfortable, so he slipped within one of the _outer_ doors (his friends following his example), in order to conceal himself until the lady should have passed by. i have heard him describe how he watched her approaching nearer and nearer, through the chink of the door, until, as she was close enough for him to distinguish the colors and style of her costume, he recognized the figure as the facsimile of the portrait of "the brown lady." he had his finger on the trigger of his revolver, and was about to demand it to stop and give the reason for its presence there, when the figure halted of its own accord before the door behind which he stood, and holding the lighted lamp she carried to her features, grinned in a malicious and diabolical manner at him. this act so infuriated my father, who was anything but lamb-like in disposition, that he sprang into the corridor with a bound, and discharged the revolver right in her face. the figure instantly disappeared--the figure at which for the space of several minutes _three_ men had been looking together--and the bullet passed through the outer door of the room on the opposite side of the corridor, and lodged in the panel of the inner one. my father never attempted again to interfere with "the brown lady of rainham," and i have heard that she haunts the premises to this day. that she did so at that time, however, there is no shadow of doubt. but captain marryat not only held these views and believed in them from personal experience--he promulgated them in his writings. there are many passages in his works which, read by the light of my assertion, prove that he had faith in the possibility of the departed returning to visit this earth, and in the theory of re-incarnation or living more than one life upon it, but nowhere does he speak more plainly than in the following extract from the "phantom ship":-"think you, philip," (says amine to her husband), "that this world is solely peopled by such dross as we are?--things of clay, perishable and corruptible, lords over beasts and ourselves, but little better? have you not, from your own sacred writings, repeated acknowledgments and proofs of higher intelligences, mixing up with mankind, and acting here below? why should what was _then_ not be _now_, and what more harm is there to apply for their aid now than a few thousand years ago? why should you suppose that they were permitted on the earth then and not permitted now? what has become of them? have they perished? have they been ordered back? to where?--to heaven? if to heaven, the world and mankind have been left to the mercy of the devil and his agents. do you suppose that we poor mortals have been thus abandoned? i tell you plainly, i think not. we no longer have the communication with those intelligences that we once had, because as we become more enlightened we become more proud and seek them not, but that they still exist a host of good against a host of evil, invisibly opposing each other, is my conviction." one testimony to such a belief, from the lips of my father, is sufficient. he would not have written it unless he had been prepared to maintain it. he was not one of those wretched literary cowards who we meet but too often now-a-days, who are too much afraid of the world to confess with their mouths the opinions they hold in their hearts. had he lived to this time i believe he would have been one of the most energetic and outspoken believers in spiritualism that we possess. so much, however, for his testimony to the possibility of spirits, good and evil, revisiting this earth. i think few will be found to gainsay the assertion that where _he_ trod, his daughter need not be ashamed to follow. before the question of spiritualism, however, arose in modern times, i had had my own little private experiences on the subject. from an early age i was accustomed to see, and to be very much alarmed at seeing, certain forms that appeared to me at night. one in particular, i remember, was that of a very short or deformed old woman, who was very constant to me. she used to stand on tiptoe to look at me as i lay in bed, and however dark the room might be, i could always see every article in it, as if illuminated, whilst she remained there. i was in the habit of communicating these visions to my mother and sisters (my father had passed from us by that time), and always got well ridiculed for my pains. "another of flo's optical illusions," they would cry, until i really came to think that the appearances i saw were due to some defect in my eye-sight. i have heard my first husband say, that when he married me he thought he should never rest for an entire night in his bed, so often did i wake him with the description of some man or woman i had seen in the room. i recall these figures distinctly. they were always dressed in white, from which circumstance i imagined that they were natives who had stolen in to rob us, until, from repeated observation, i discovered they only formed part of another and more enlarged series of my "optical illusions." all this time i was very much afraid of seeing what i termed "ghosts." no love of occult science led me to investigate the cause of my alarm. i only wished never to see the "illusions" again, and was too frightened to remain by myself lest they should appear to me. when i had been married for about two years, the head-quarters of my husband's regiment, the 12th madras native infantry, was ordered to rangoon, whilst the left wing, commanded by a major cooper, was sent to assist in the bombardment of canton. major cooper had only been married a short time, and by rights his wife had no claim to sail with the head-quarters for burmah, but as she had no friends in madras, and was moreover expecting her confinement, our colonel permitted her to do so, and she accompanied us to rangoon, settling herself in a house not far from our own. one morning, early in july, i was startled by receiving a hurried scrawl from her, containing only these words, "come! come! come!" i set off at once, thinking she had been taken ill, but on my arrival i found mrs. cooper sitting up in bed with only her usual servants about her. "what is the matter?" i exclaimed. "mark is dead," she answered me; "he sat in that chair" (pointing to one by the bedside) "all last night. i noticed every detail of his face and figure. he was in undress, and he never raised his eyes, but sat with the peak of his forage cap pulled down over his face. but i could see the back of his head and his hair, and i know it was he. i spoke to him but he did not answer me, and i am _sure_ he is dead." naturally, i imagined this vision to have been dictated solely by fear and the state of her health. i laughed at her for a simpleton, and told her it was nothing but fancy, and reminded her that by the last accounts received from the seat of war, major cooper was perfectly well and anticipating a speedy reunion with her. laugh as i would, however, i could not laugh her out of her belief, and seeing how low-spirited she was, i offered to pass the night with her. it was a very nice night indeed. as soon as ever we had retired to bed, although a lamp burned in the room, mrs. cooper declared that her husband was sitting in the same chair as the night before, and accused me of deception when i declared that i saw nothing at all. i sat up in bed and strained my eyes, but i could discern nothing but an empty arm-chair, and told her so. she persisted that major cooper sat there, and described his personal appearance and actions. i got out of bed and sat in the chair, when she cried out, "don't, don't! _you are sitting right on him!_" it was evident that the apparition was as real to her as if it had been flesh and blood. i jumped up again fast enough, not feeling very comfortable myself, and lay by her side for the remainder of the night, listening to her asseverations that major cooper was either dying or dead. she would not part with me, and on the third night i had to endure the same ordeal as on the second. after the third night the apparition ceased to appear to her, and i was permitted to return home. but before i did so, mrs. cooper showed me her pocket-book, in which she had written down against the 8th, 9th, and 10th of july this sentence: "mark sat by my bedside all night." the time passed on, and no bad news arrived from china, but the mails had been intercepted and postal communication suspended. occasionally, however, we received letters by a sailing vessel. at last came september, and on the third of that month mrs. cooper's baby was born and died. she was naturally in great distress about it, and i was doubly horrified when i was called from her bedside to receive the news of her husband's death, which had taken place from a sudden attack of fever at macao. we did not intend to let mrs. cooper hear of this until she was convalescent, but as soon as i re-entered her room she broached the subject. "are there any letters from china?" she asked. (now this question was remarkable in itself, because the mails having been cut off, there was no particular date when letters might be expected to arrive from the seat of war.) fearing she would insist upon hearing the news, i temporized and answered her, "we have received none." "but there is a letter for me," she continued: "a letter with the intelligence of mark's death. it is useless denying it. i know he is dead. he died on the 10th of july." and on reference to the official memorandum, this was found to be true. major cooper had been taken ill on the first day he had appeared to his wife, and died on the third. and this incident was the more remarkable, because they were neither of them young nor sentimental people, neither had they lived long enough together to form any very strong sympathy or accord between them. but as i have related it, so it occurred. chapter ii. my first sã�ance. i had returned from india and spent several years in england before the subject of modern spiritualism was brought under my immediate notice. cursorily i had heard it mentioned by some people as a dreadfully wicked thing, diabolical to the last degree, by others as a most amusing pastime for evening parties, or when one wanted to get some "fun out of the table." but neither description charmed me, nor tempted me to pursue the occupation. i had already lost too many friends. spiritualism (so it seemed to me) must either be humbug or a very solemn thing, and i neither wished to trifle with it or to be trifled with by it. and after twenty years' continued experience i hold the same opinion. i have proved spiritualism _not_ to be humbug, therefore i regard it in a sacred light. for, _from whatever cause_ it may proceed, it opens a vast area for thought to any speculative mind, and it is a matter of constant surprise to me to see the indifference with which the world regards it. that it _exists_ is an undeniable fact. men of science have acknowledged it, and the churches cannot deny it. the only question appears to be, "_what_ is it, and _whence_ does the power proceed?" if (as many clever people assert) from ourselves, then must these bodies and minds of ours possess faculties hitherto undreamed of, and which we have allowed to lie culpably fallow. if our bodies contain magnetic forces sufficient to raise substantial and apparently living forms from the bare earth, which our eyes are clairvoyant enough to see, and which can articulate words which our ears are clairaudient enough to hear--if, in addition to this, our minds can read each other's inmost thoughts, can see what is passing at a distance, and foretell what will happen in the future, then are our human powers greater than we have ever imagined, and we ought to do a great deal more with them than we do. and even regarding spiritualism from _that_ point of view, i cannot understand the lack of interest displayed in the discovery, to turn these marvellous powers of the human mind to greater account. to discuss it, however, from the usual meaning given to the word, namely, as a means of communication with the departed, leaves me as puzzled as before. all christians acknowledge they have spirits independent of their bodies, and that when their bodies die, their spirits will continue to live on. wherein, then, lies the terror of the idea that these liberated spirits will have the privilege of roaming the universe as they will? and if they argue the _impossibility_ of their return, they deny the records which form the only basis of their religion. no greater proof can be brought forward of the truth of spiritualism than the truth of the bible, which teems and bristles with accounts of it from beginning to end. from the period when the lord god walked with adam and eve in the garden of eden, and the angels came to abram's tent, and pulled lot out of the doomed city; when the witch of endor raised up samuel, and balaam's ass spoke, and ezekiel wrote that the hair of his head stood up because "a spirit" passed before him, to the presence of satan with jesus in the desert, and the reappearance of moses and elias, the resurrection of christ himself, and his talking and eating with his disciples, and the final account of john being caught up to heaven to receive the revelations--_all is spiritualism, and nothing else_. the protestant church that pins its faith upon the bible, and nothing but the bible, cannot deny that the spirits of mortal men have reappeared and been recognized upon this earth, as when the graves opened at the time of the christ's crucifixion, and "many bodies of those that were dead arose and went into the city, and were seen of many." the catholic church does not attempt to deny it. all her legends and miracles (which are disbelieved and ridiculed by the protestants aforesaid) are founded on the same truth--the miraculous or supernatural return (as it is styled) of those who are gone, though i hope to make my readers believe, as i do, that there is nothing miraculous in it, and far from being _super_natural it is only a continuation of nature. putting the churches and the bible, however, on one side, the history of nations proves it to be possible. there is not a people on the face of the globe that has not its (so-called) superstitions, nor a family hardly, which has not experienced some proofs of spiritual communion with earth. where learning and science have thrust all belief out of sight, it is only natural that the man who does not believe in a god nor a hereafter should not credit the existence of spirits, nor the possibility of communicating with them. but the lower we go in the scale of society, the more simple and childlike the mind, the more readily does such a faith gain credence, and the more stories you will hear to justify belief. it is just the same with religion, which is hid from the wise and prudent, and revealed to babes. if i am met here with the objection that the term "spiritualism" has been at times mixed up with so much that is evil as to become an offence, i have no better answer to make than by turning to the irrefragable testimony of the past and present to prove that in all ages, and of all religions, there have been corrupt and demoralized exponents whose vices have threatened to pull down the fabric they lived to raise. christianity itself would have been overthrown before now, had we been unable to separate its doctrine from its practice. i held these views in the month of february, 1873, when i made one of a party of friends assembled at the house of miss elizabeth philip, in gloucester crescent, and was introduced to mr. henry dunphy of the _morning post_, both of them since gone to join the great majority. mr. dunphy soon got astride of his favorite hobby of spiritualism, and gave me an interesting account of some of the _sã©ances_ he had attended. i had heard so many clever men and women discuss the subject before, that i had begun to believe on their authority that there must be "something in it," but i held the opinion that sittings in the dark must afford so much liberty for deception, that i would engage in none where i was not permitted the use of my eyesight. i expressed myself somewhat after this fashion to mr. dunphy. he replied, "then the time has arrived for you to investigate spiritualism, for i can introduce you to a medium who will show you the faces of the dead." this proposal exactly met my wishes, and i gladly accepted it. annie thomas (mrs. pender cudlip,) the novelist, who is an intimate friend of mine, was staying with me at the time and became as eager as i was to investigate the phenomena. we took the address mr. dunphy gave us of mrs. holmes, the american medium, then visiting london, and lodging in old quebec street, portman square, but we refused his introduction, preferring to go _incognito_. accordingly, the next evening, when she held a public _sã©ance_, we presented ourselves at mrs. holmes' door; and having first removed our wedding-rings, and tried to look as virginal as possible, sent up our names as miss taylor and miss turner. i am perfectly aware that this medium was said afterwards to be untrustworthy. so may a servant who was perfectly honest, whilst in my service, leave me for a situation where she is detected in theft. that does not alter the fact that she stole nothing from me. i do not think i know _a single medium_ of whom i have not (at some time or other) heard the same thing, and i do not think i know a single woman whom i have not also, at some time or other, heard scandalized by her own sex, however pure and chaste she may imagine the world holds her. the question affects me in neither case. i value my acquaintances for what they are _to me_, not for what they may be to others; and i have placed trust in my media from what i individually have seen and heard, and proved to be genuine in their presence, and not from what others may imagine they have found out about them. it is no detriment to my witness that the media i sat with cheated somebody else, either before or after. my business was only to take care that _i_ was not cheated, and i have never, in spiritualism, accepted anything at the hands of others that i could not prove for myself. mrs. holmes did not receive us very graciously on the present occasion. we were strangers to her--probably sceptics, and she eyed us rather coldly. it was a bitter night, and the snow lay so thick upon the ground that we had some difficulty in procuring a hansom to take us from bayswater to old quebec street. no other visitors arrived, and after a little while mrs. holmes offered to return our money (ten shillings), as she said if she did sit with us, there would probably be no manifestations on account of the inclemency of the weather. (often since then i have proved her assertion to be true, and found that any extreme of heat or cold is liable to make a _sã©ance_ a dead failure). but annie thomas had to return to her home in torquay on the following day, and so we begged the medium to try at least to show us something, as we were very curious on the subject. i am not quite sure what i expected or hoped for on this occasion. i was full of curiosity and anticipation, but i am sure that i never thought i should see any face which i could recognize as having been on earth. we waited till nine o'clock in hopes that a circle would be formed, but as no one else came, mrs. holmes consented to sit with us alone, warning us, however, several times to prepare for a disappointment. the lights were therefore extinguished, and we sat for the usual preliminary dark _sã©ance_, which was good, perhaps, but has nothing to do with a narrative of facts, proved to be so. when it concluded, the gas was re-lit and we sat for "spirit faces." there were two small rooms connected by folding doors. annie thomas and i, were asked to go into the back room--to lock the door communicating with the landings, and secure it with our own seal, stamped upon a piece of tape stretched across the opening--to examine the window and bar the shutter inside--to search the room thoroughly, in fact, to see that no one was concealed in it--and we did all this as a matter of business. when we had satisfied ourselves that no one could enter from the back, mr. and mrs. holmes, annie thomas, and i were seated on four chairs in the front room, arranged in a row before the folding doors, which were opened, and a square of black calico fastened across the aperture from one wall to the other. in this piece of calico was cut a square hole about the size of an ordinary window, at which we were told the spirit faces (if any) would appear. there was no singing, nor noise of any sort made to drown the sounds of preparation, and we could have heard even a rustle in the next room. mr. and mrs. holmes talked to us of their various experiences, until, we were almost tired of waiting, when something white and indistinct like a cloud of tobacco smoke, or a bundle of gossamer, appeared and disappeared again. "they are coming! i _am_ glad!" said mrs. holmes. "i didn't think we should get anything to-night,"--and my friend and i were immediately on the tiptoe of expectation. the white mass advanced and retreated several times, and finally settled before the aperture and opened in the middle, when a female face was distinctly to be seen above the black calico. what was our amazement to recognize the features of mrs. thomas, annie thomas' mother. here i should tell my readers that annie's father, who was a lieutenant in the royal navy and captain of the coastguard at morston in norfolk, had been a near neighbor and great friend of my father, captain marryat, and their children had associated like brothers and sisters. i had therefore known mrs. thomas well, and recognized her at once, as, of course, did her daughter. the witness of two people is considered sufficient in law. it ought to be accepted by society. poor annie was very much affected, and talked to her mother in the most incoherent manner. the spirit did not appear able to answer in words, but she bowed her head or shook it, according as she wished to say "yes" or "no." i could not help feeling awed at the appearance of the dear old lady, but the only thing that puzzled me was the cap she wore, which was made of white net, quilled closely round her face, and unlike any i had ever seen her wear in life. i whispered this to annie, and she replied at once, "it is the cap she was buried in," which settled the question. mrs. thomas had possessed a very pleasant but very uncommon looking face, with bright black eyes, and a complexion of pink and white like that of a child. it was some time before annie could be persuaded to let her mother go, but the next face that presented itself astonished her quite as much, for she recognized it as that of captain gordon, a gentleman whom she had known intimately and for a length of time. i had never seen captain gordon in the flesh, but i had heard of him, and knew he had died from a sudden accident. all i saw was the head of a good-looking, fair, young man, and not feeling any personal interest in his appearance, i occupied the time during which my friend conversed with him about olden days, by minutely examining the working of the muscles of his throat, which undeniably stretched when his head moved. as i was doing so, he leaned forward, and i saw a dark stain, which looked like a clot of blood, on his fair hair, on the left side of the forehead. "annie! what did captain gordon die of?" i asked. "he fell from a railway carriage," she replied, "and struck his head upon the line." i then pointed out to her the blood upon his hair. several other faces appeared, which we could not recognize. at last came one of a gentleman, apparently moulded like a bust in plaster of paris. he had a kind of smoking cap upon the head, curly hair, and a beard, but from being perfectly colorless, he looked so unlike nature, that i could not trace a resemblance to any friend of mine, though he kept on bowing in my direction, to indicate that i knew, or had known him. i examined this face again and again in vain. nothing in it struck me as familiar, until the mouth broke into a grave, amused smile at my perplexity. in a moment i recognized it as that of my dear old friend, john powles, whose history i shall relate _in extenso_ further on. i exclaimed "powles," and sprang towards it, but with my hasty action the figure disappeared. i was terribly vexed at my imprudence, for this was the friend of all others i desired to see, and sat there, hoping and praying the spirit would return, but it did not. annie thomas' mother and friend both came back several times; indeed, annie recalled captain gordon so often, that on his last appearance the power was so exhausted, his face looked like a faded sketch in water-colors, but "powles" had vanished altogether. the last face we saw that night was that of a little girl, and only her eyes and nose were visible, the rest of her head and face being enveloped in some white flimsy material like muslin. mrs. holmes asked her for whom she came, and she intimated that it was for me. i said she must be mistaken, and that i had known no one in life like her. the medium questioned her very closely, and tried to put her "out of court," as it were. still, the child persisted that she came for me. mrs. holmes said to me, "cannot you remember _anyone_ of that age connected with you in the spirit world? no cousin, nor niece, nor sister, nor the child of a friend?" i tried to remember, but i could not, and answered, "no! no child of that age." she then addressed the little spirit. "you have made a mistake. there is no one here who knows you. you had better move on." so the child did move on, but very slowly and reluctantly. i could read her disappointment in her eyes, and after she had disappeared, she peeped round the corner again and looked at me, longingly. this was "florence," my dear _lost_ child (as i then called her), who had left me as a little infant of ten days old, and whom i could not at first recognize as a young girl of ten years. her identity, however, has been proved to me since, beyond all doubt, as will be seen in the chapter which relates my reunion with her, and is headed "my spirit child." thus ended the first _sã©ance_ at which i ever assisted, and it made a powerful impression upon my mind. mrs. holmes, in bidding us good-night, said, "you two ladies must be very powerful mediums. i never held so successful a _sã©ance_ with strangers in my life before." this news elated us--we were eager to pursue our investigations, and were enchanted to think we could have _sã©ances_ at home, and as soon as annie thomas took up her residence in london, we agreed to hold regular meetings for the purpose. this was the _sã©ance_ that made me a student of the psychological phenomena, which the men of the nineteenth century term spiritualism. had it turned out a failure, i might now have been as most men are. _quien sabe?_ as it was, it incited me to go on and on, until i have seen and heard things which at that moment would have seemed utterly impossible to me. and i would not have missed the experience i have passed through for all the good this world could offer me. chapter iii. curious coincidences. before i proceed to write down the results of my private and premeditated investigations, i am reminded to say a word respecting the permission i received for the pursuit of spiritualism. as soon as i expressed my curiosity on the subject, i was met on all sides with the objection that, as i am a catholic, i could not possibly have anything to do with the matter, and it is a fact that the church strictly forbids all meddling with necromancy, or communion with the departed. necromancy is a terrible word, is it not? especially to such people as do not understand its meaning, and only associate it with the dead of night and charmed circles, and seething caldrons, and the arch fiend, in _propria persona_, with two horns and a tail. yet it seems strange to me that the catholic church, whose very doctrine is overlaid with spiritualism, and who makes it a matter of belief that the saints hear and help us in our prayers and the daily actions of our lives, and recommends our kissing the ground every morning at the feet of our guardian angel, should consider it unlawful for us to communicate with our departed relatives. i cannot see the difference in iniquity between speaking to john powles, who was and is a dear and trusted friend of mine, and saint peter of alcantara, who is an old man whom i never saw in this life. they were both men, both mortal, and are both spirits. again, surely my mother who was a pious woman all her life, and is now in the other world, would be just as likely to take an interest in my welfare, and to try and promote the prospect of our future meeting, as saint veronica guiliani, who is my patron. yet were i to spend half my time in prayer before saint veronica's altar, asking her help and guidance, i should be doing right (according to the church), but if i did the same thing at my mother's grave, or spoke to her at a _sã©ance_, i should be doing wrong. these distinctions without a difference were hard nuts to crack, and i was bound to settle the matter with my conscience before i went on with my investigations. it is a fact that i have met quite as many catholics as protestants (especially of the higher classes) amongst the investigators of spiritualism, and i have not been surprised at it, for who could better understand and appreciate the beauty of communications from the spirit world than members of that church which instructs us to believe in the communion of saints, as an ever-present, though invisible mystery. whether my catholic acquaintances had received permission to attend _sã©ances_ or not, was no concern of mine, but i took good care to procure it for myself, and i record it here, because rumors have constantly reached me of people having said behind my back that i can be "no catholic" because i am a spiritualist. my director at that time was father dalgairn, of the oratory at brompton, and it was to him i took my difficulty. i was a very constant press writer and reviewer, and to be unable to attend and report on spiritualistic meetings would have seriously militated against my professional interests. i represented this to the father, and (although under protest) i received his permission to pursue the research in the cause of science. he did more than ease my conscience. he became interested in what i had to tell him on the subject, and we had many conversations concerning it. he also lent me from his own library the lives of such saints as had heard voices and seen visions, of those in fact who (like myself) had been the victims of "optical illusions." amongst these i found the case of saint anne-catherine of emmerich, so like my own, that i began to think that i too might turn out to be a saint in disguise. it has not come to pass yet, but there is no knowing what may happen. she used to see the spirits floating beside her as she walked to mass, and heard them asking her to pray for them as they pointed to "les taches sur leurs robes." the musical instruments used to play without hands in her presence, and voices from invisible throats sound in her ears, as they have done in mine. i have only inserted this clause, however, for the satisfaction of those catholic acquaintances with whom i have sat at _sã©ances_, and who will probably be the first to exclaim against the publication of _our_ joint experiences. i trust they will acknowledge, after reading it, that i am not worse than themselves, though i may be a little bolder in avowing my opinions. before i began this chapter, i had an argument with that friend of mine called self (who has but too often worsted me in the battle of life), as to whether i should say anything about table-rapping or tilting. the very fact of so common an article of furniture as a table, as an agent of communication with the unseen world, has excited so much ridicule and opens so wide a field for chicanery, that i thought it would be wiser to drop the subject, and confine myself to those phases of the science or art, or religion, or whatever the reader may like to call it, that can be explained or described on paper. the philosophers of the nineteenth century have invented so many names for the cause that makes a table turn round--tilt--or rap--that i feel quite unable (not being a philosopher) to cope with them. it is "magnetic force" or "psychic force,"--it is "unconscious cerebration" or "brain-reading"--and it is exceedingly difficult to tell the outside world of the private reasons that convince individuals that the answers they receive are _not_ emanations from their own brains. i shall not attempt to refute their reasonings from their own standpoint. i see the difficulties in the way, so much so that i have persistently refused for many years past to sit at the table with strangers, for it is only a lengthened study of the matter that can possibly convince a person of its truth. i cannot, however, see the extreme folly myself of holding communication (under the circumstances) through the raps or tilts of a table, or any other object. these tiny indications of an influence ulterior to our own are not necessarily confined to a table. i have received them through a cardboard box, a gentleman's hat, a footstool, the strings of a guitar, and on the back of my chair, even on the pillow of my bed. and which, amongst the philosophers i have alluded to, could suggest a simpler mode of communication? i have put the question to clever men thus: "suppose yourself, after having been able to write and talk to me, suddenly deprived of the powers of speech and touch, and made invisible, so that we could not understand each other by signs, what better means than by taps or tilts on any article, when the right word or letter is named, could you think of by which to communicate with me?" and my clever men have never been able to propose an easier or more sensible plan, and if anybody can suggest one, i should very much like to hear of it. the following incidents all took place through the much-ridiculed tipping of the table, but managed to knock some sense out of it nevertheless. on looking over the note book which i faithfully kept when we first held _sã©ances_ at home, i find many tests of identity which took place through my own mediumship, and which could not possibly have been the effects of thought-reading. i devote this chapter to their relation. i hope it will be observed with what admirable caution i have headed it. i have a few drops of scotch blood in me by the mother's side, and i think they must have aided me here. "curious coincidences." why, not the most captious and unbelieving critic of them all can find fault with so modest and unpretending a title. everyone believes in the occasional possibility of "curious coincidences." it was not until the month of june, 1873, that we formed a home circle, and commenced regularly to sit together. we became so interested in the pursuit, that we used to sit every evening, and sometimes till three and four o'clock in the morning, greatly to our detriment, both mental and physical. we seldom sat alone, being generally joined by two or three friends from outside, and the results were sometimes very startling, as we were a strong circle. the memoranda of these sittings, sometimes with one party and sometimes with another, extend over a period of years, but i shall restrict myself to relating a few incidents that were verified by subsequent events. the means by which we communicated with the influences around us was the usual one. we sat round the table and laid our hands upon it, and i (or anyone who might be selected for the purpose) spelled over the alphabet, and raps or tilts occurred when the desired letter was reached. this in reality is not so tedious a process as it may appear, and once used to it, one may get through a vast amount of conversation in an hour by this means. a medium is soon able to guess the word intended to be spelt, for there are not so many after all in use in general conversation. some one had come to our table on several occasions, giving the name of "valerie," but refusing to say any more, so we thought she was an idle or frivolous spirit, and had been in the habit of driving her away. one evening, on the 1st of july, however, our circle was augmented by mr. henry stacke, when "valerie" was immediately spelled out, and the following conversation ensued. mr. stacke said to me, "who is this?" and i replied carelessly, "o! she's a little devil! she never has anything to say." the table rocked violently at this, and the taps spelled out. "je ne suis pas diable." "hullo! valerie, so you can talk now! for whom do you come?" "monsieur stacke." "where did you meet him?" "on the continent." "whereabouts?" "between dijon and macon." "how did you meet him?" "in a railway carriage." "what where you doing there?" here she relapsed into french, and said, "ce m'est impossible de dire." at this juncture mr. stacke observed that he had never been in a train between dijon and macon but once in his life, and if the spirit was with him then, she must remember what was the matter with their fellow-passenger. "mais oui, oui--il etait fou," she replied, which proved to be perfectly correct. mr. stacke also remembered that two ladies in the same carriage had been terribly frightened, and he had assisted them to get into another. "valerie" continued, "priez pour moi." "pourquoi, valerie?" "parce que j'ai beaucoup pã©chã©." there was an influence who frequented our society at that time and called himself "charlie." he stated that his full name had been "stephen charles bernard abbot,"--that he had been a monk of great literary attainments--that he had embraced the monastic life in the reign of queen mary, and apostatized for political reasons in that of elizabeth, and been "earth bound" in consequence ever since. "charlie" asked us to sing one night, and we struck up the very vulgar refrain of "champagne charlie," to which he greatly objected, asking for something more serious. i began, "ye banks and braes o' bonnie doon." "why, that's as bad as the other," said charlie. "it was a ribald and obscene song in the reign of elizabeth. the drunken roysterers used to sing it in the street as they rolled home at night." "you must be mistaken, charlie! it's a well-known scotch air." "it's no more scotch than i am," he replied. "the scotch say they invented everything. it's a tune of the time of elizabeth. ask brinley richards." having the pleasure of the acquaintance of that gentleman, who was the great authority on the origin of national ballads, i applied to him for the information, and received an answer to say that "charlie" was right, but that mr. richards had not been aware of the fact himself until he had searched some old mss. in the british museum for the purpose of ascertaining the truth. i was giving a sitting once to an officer from aldershot, a cousin of my own, who was quite prepared to ridicule every thing that took place. after having teased me into giving him a _sã©ance_, he began by cheating himself, and then accused me of cheating him, and altogether tired out my patience. at last i proposed a test, though with little hope of success. "let us ask john powles to go down to aldershot," i said, "and bring us word what your brother officers are doing." "o, yes! by jove! capital idea! here! you fellow powles, cut off to the camp, will you, and go to the barracks of the 84th, and let us know what major r---is doing." the message came back in about three minutes. "major r---has just come in from duty," spelt out powles. "he is sitting on the side of his bed, changing his uniform trousers for a pair of grey tweed." "i'm sure that's wrong," said my cousin, "because the men are never called out at this time of the day." it was then four o'clock, as we had been careful to ascertain. my cousin returned to camp the same evening, and the next day i received a note from him to say, "that fellow powles is a brick. it was quite right. r---was unexpectedly ordered to turn out his company yesterday afternoon, and he returned to barracks and changed his things for the grey tweed suit exactly at four o'clock." but i have always found my friend powles (when he _will_ condescend to do anything for strangers, which is seldom) remarkably correct in detailing the thoughts and actions of absentees, sometimes on the other side of the globe. i went one afternoon to pay an ordinary social call on a lady named mrs. w----, and found her engaged in an earnest conversation on spiritualism with a stout woman and a commonplace man--two as material looking individuals as ever i saw, and who appeared all the more so under a sultry august sun. as soon as mrs. w---saw me, she exclaimed, "o! here is mrs. ross-church. she will tell you all about the spirits. do, mrs. ross-church, sit down at the table and let us have a _sã©ance_." a _sã©ance_ on a burning, blazing afternoon in august, with two stolid and uninteresting, and worse still, _uninterested_ looking strangers, who appeared to think mrs. w---had a "bee in her bonnet." i protested--i reasoned--i pleaded--all in vain. my hostess continued to urge, and society places the guest at the mercy of her hostess. so, in an evil temper, i pulled off my gloves, and placed my hands indifferently on the table. the following words were at once rapped out-"i am edward g----. did you ever pay johnson the seventeen pounds twelve you received for my saddlery?" the gentleman opposite to me turned all sorts of colors, and began to stammer out a reply, whilst his wife looked very confused. i asked the influence, "who are you?" it replied, "_he_ knows! his late colonel! why hasn't johnson received that money?" this is what i call an "awkward" coincidence, and i have had many such occur through me--some that have driven acquaintances away from the table, vowing vengeance against me, and racking their brains to discover _who_ had told me of their secret peccadilloes. the gentleman in question (whose name even i do not remember) confessed that the identity and main points of the message were true, but he did _not_ confide to us whether johnson had ever received that seventeen pounds twelve. i had a beautiful english greyhound, called "clytie," a gift from annie thomas to me, and this dog was given to straying from my house in colville road, bayswater, which runs parallel to portobello road, a rather objectionable quarter, composed of inferior shops, one of which, a fried fish shop, was an intolerable nuisance, and used to fill the air around with its rich perfume. on one occasion "clytie" stayed away from home so much longer than usual, that i was afraid she was lost in good earnest, and posted bills offering a reward for her. "charlie" came to the table that evening and said, "don't offer a reward for the dog. send for her." "where am i to send?" i asked. "she is tied up at the fried fish shop in portobello road. send the cook to see." i told the servant in question that i had heard the greyhound was detained at the fish shop, and sent her to inquire. she returned with "clytie." her account was, that on making inquiries, the man in the shop had been very insolent to her, and she had raised her voice in reply; that she had then heard and recognized the sharp, peculiar bark of the greyhound from an upper storey, and, running up before the man could prevent her, she had found "clytie" tied up to a bedstead with a piece of rope, and had called in a policeman to enable her to take the dog away. i have often heard the assertion that spiritualism is of no practical good, and, doubtless, it was never intended to be so, but this incident was, at least, an exception to the rule. when abroad, on one occasion, i was asked by a catholic abbã© to sit with him. he had never seen any manifestations before, and he did not believe in them, but he was curious on the subject. i knew nothing of him further than that he was a priest, and a jesuit, and a great friend of my sister's, at whose house i was staying. he spoke english, and the conversation was carried on in that language. he had told me beforehand that if he could receive a perfectly private test, that he should never doubt the truth of the manifestations again. i left him, therefore, to conduct the investigation entirely by himself, i acting only as the medium between him and the influence. as soon as the table moved he put his question direct, without asking who was there to answer it. "where is my chasuble?" now a priest's chasuble, _i_ should have said, must be either hanging in the sacristy or packed away at home, or been sent away to be altered or mended. but the answer was wide of all my speculations. "at the bottom of the red sea." the priest started, but continued-"who put it there?" "elias dodo." "what was his object in doing so?" "he found the parcel a burthen, and did not expect any reward for delivering it." the abbã© really looked as if he had encountered the devil. he wiped the perspiration from his forehead, and put one more question. "of what was my chasuble made?" "your sister's wedding dress." the priest then explained to me that his sister had made him a chasuble out of her wedding dress--one of the forms of returning thanks in the church, but that after a while it became old fashioned, and the bishop, going his rounds, ordered him to get another. he did not like to throw away his sister's gift, so he decided to send the old chasuble to a priest in india, where they are very poor, and not so particular as to fashion. he confided the packet to a man called elias dodo, a sufficiently singular name, but neither he nor the priest he sent it to had ever heard anything more of the chasuble, or the man who promised to deliver it. a young artist of the name of courtney was a visitor at my house. he asked me to sit with him alone, when the table began rapping out a number of consonants--a farrago of nonsense, it appeared to me, and i stopped and said so. but mr. courtney, who appeared much interested, begged me to proceed. when the communication was finished, he said to me, "this is the most wonderful thing i have ever heard. my father has been at the table talking to me in welsh. he has told me our family motto, and all about my birth-place and relations in wales." i said, "i never heard you were a welshman." "yes! i am," he replied, "my real name is powell. i have only adopted the name of courtney for professional purposes." this was all news to me, but had it not been, _i cannot speak welsh_. i could multiply such cases by the dozen, but that i fear to tire my readers, added to which the majority of them were of so strictly private a nature that it would be impossible to put them into print. this is perhaps the greatest drawback that one encounters in trying to prove the truth of spiritualism. the best tests we receive are when the very secrets of our hearts, which we have not confided to our nearest friends, are revealed to us. i could relate (had i the permission of the persons most interested) the particulars of a well-known law suit, in which the requisite evidence, and names and addresses of witnesses, were all given though my mediumship, and were the cause of the case being gained by the side that came to me for "information." some of the coincidences i have related in this chapter might, however, be ascribed by the sceptical to the mysterious and unknown power of brain reading, whatever that may be, and however it may come, apart from mediumship, but how is one to account for the facts i shall tell you in my next chapter. chapter iv. embodied spirits. i was having a sitting one day in my own house with a lady friend, named miss clark, when a female spirit came to the table and spelt out the name "tiny." "who are you?" i asked, "and for whom do you come?" "i am a friend of major m----" (mentioning the full name), "and i want your help." "are you any relation to major m----?" "i am the mother of his child." "what do you wish me to do for you?" "tell him he must go down to portsmouth and look after my daughter. he has not seen her for years. the old woman is dead, and the man is a drunkard. she is falling into evil courses. he must save her from them." "what is your real name?" "i will not give it. there is no need. he always called me 'tiny.'" "how old is your daughter." "nineteen! her name is emily! i want her to be married. tell him to promise her a wedding trousseau. it may induce her to marry." the influence divulged a great deal more on the subject which i cannot write down here. it was an account of one of those cruel acts of seduction by which a young girl had been led into trouble in order to gratify a man's selfish lust, and astonished both miss clark and myself, who had never heard of such a person as "tiny" before. it was too delicate a matter for me to broach to major m---(who was a married man, and an intimate friend of mine), but the spirit came so many times and implored me so earnestly to save her daughter, that at last i ventured to repeat the communication to him. he was rather taken aback, but confessed it was true, and that the child, being left to his care, had been given over to the charge of some common people at portsmouth, and he had not enquired after it for some time past. neither had he ever heard of the death of the mother, who had subsequently married, and had a family. he instituted inquiries, however, at once, and found the statement to be quite true, and that the girl emily, being left with no better protection than that of the drunken old man, had actually gone astray, and not long after she was had up at the police court for stabbing a soldier in a public-house--a fit ending for the unfortunate offspring of a man's selfish passions. but the strangest part of the story to the uninitiated will lie in the fact that the woman whose spirit thus manifested itself to two utter strangers, who knew neither her history nor her name, was at the time _alive_, and living with her husband and family, as major m---took pains to ascertain. and now i have something to say on the subject of communicating with the spirits of persons still in the flesh. this will doubtless appear the most incomprehensible and fanatical assertion of all, that we wear our earthly garb so loosely, that the spirits of people still living in this world can leave the body and manifest themselves either visibly or orally to others in their normal condition. and yet it is a fact that spirits have so visited myself (as in the case i have just recorded), and given me information of which i had not the slightest previous idea. the matter has been explained to me after this fashion--that it is not really the spirit of the living person who communicates, but the spirit, or "control," that is nearest to him: in effect what the church calls his "guardian angel," and that this guardian angel, who knows his inmost thoughts and desires better even than he knows them himself, is equally capable of speaking in his name. this idea of the matter may shift the marvel from one pair of shoulders to another, but it does not do away with it. if i can receive information of events before they occur (as i will prove that i have), i present a nut for the consideration of the public jaw, which even the scientists will find difficult to crack. it was at one time my annual custom to take my children to the sea-side, and one summer, being anxious to ascertain how far the table could be made to act without the aid of "unconscious cerebration," i arranged with my friends, mr. helmore and mrs. colnaghi, who had been in the habit of sitting with us at home, that _we_ should continue to sit at the sea-side on tuesday evenings as theretofore, and _they_ should sit in london on the thursdays, when i would try to send them messages through "charlie," the spirit i have already mentioned as being constantly with us. the first tuesday my message was, "ask them how they are getting on without us," which was faithfully delivered at their table on the following thursday. the return message from them which "charlie" spelled out for us on the second tuesday, was: "tell her london is a desert without her," to which i emphatically, if not elegantly, answered, "fiddle-de-dee!" a few days afterwards i received a letter from mr. helmore, in which he said, "i am afraid 'charlie' is already tired of playing at postman, for to all our questions about you last thursday, he would only rap out, 'fiddle-de-dee.'" the circumstance to which this little episode is but an introduction happened a few days later. mr. colnaghi and mr. helmore, sitting together as usual on thursday evening, were discussing the possibility of summoning the spirits of _living persons_ to the table, when "charlie" rapped three times to intimate they could. "will you fetch some one for us, charlie?" "yes." "whom will you bring?" "mrs. ross-church." "how long will it take you to do so?" "fifteen minutes." it was in the middle of the night when i must have been fast asleep, and the two young men told me afterwards that they waited the results of their experiment with much trepidation, wondering (i suppose) if i should be conveyed bodily into their presence and box their ears well for their impertinence. exactly fifteen minutes afterwards, however, the table was violently shaken and the words were spelt out. "i am mrs. ross-church. how _dared_ you send for me?" they were very penitent (or they said they were), but they described my manner as most arbitrary, and said i went on repeating, "let me go back! let me go back! there is a great danger hanging over my children! i must go back to my children!" (and here i would remark _par parenthã¨se_, and in contradiction of the guardian angel theory, that i have always found that whilst the spirits of the departed come and go as they feel inclined, the spirits of the living invariably _beg_ to be sent back again or permitted to go, as if they were chained by the will of the medium.) on this occasion i was so positive that i made a great impression on my two friends, and the next day mr. helmore sent me a cautiously worded letter to find out if all was well with us at charmouth, but without disclosing the reason for his curiosity. the _facts_ are, that on the morning of _friday_, the day _after_ the _sã©ance_ in london, my seven children and two nurses were all sitting in a small lodging-house room, when my brother-in-law, dr. henry norris, came in from ball practice with the volunteers, and whilst exhibiting his rifle to my son, accidentally discharged it in the midst of them, the ball passing through the wall within two inches of my eldest daughter's head. when i wrote the account of this to mr. helmore, he told me of my visit to london and the words i had spelt out on the occasion. but how did i know of the occurrence the _night before_ it took place? and if i--being asleep and unconscious--did _not_ know of it, "charlie" must have done so. my ã¦rial visits to my friends, however, whilst my body was in quite another place, have been made still more palpable than this. once, when living in the regent's park, i passed a very terrible and painful night. grief and fear kept me awake most of the time, and the morning found me exhausted with the emotion i had gone through. about eleven o'clock there walked in, to my surprise, mrs. fitzgerald (better known as a medium under her maiden name of bessie williams), who lived in the goldhawk road, shepherd's bush. "i couldn't help coming to you," she commenced, "for i shall not be easy until i know how you are after the terrible scene you have passed through." i stared at her. "whom have you seen?" i asked. "who has told you of it?" "yourself," she replied. "i was waked up this morning between two and three o'clock by the sound of sobbing and crying in the front garden. i got out of bed and opened the window, and then i saw you standing on the grass plat in your night-dress and crying bitterly. i asked you what was the matter, and you told me so and so, and so and so." and here followed a detailed account of all that had happened in my own house on the other side of london, with the _very words_ that had been used, and every action that had happened. i had seen no one and spoken to no one between the occurrence and the time mrs. fitzgerald called upon me. if her story was untrue, _who_ had so minutely informed her of a circumstance which it was to the interest of all concerned to keep to themselves? when i first joined mr. d'oyley carte's "patience" company in the provinces, to play the part of "lady jane," i understood i was to have four days' rehearsal. however, the lady whom i succeeded, hearing i had arrived, took herself off, and the manager requested i would appear the same night of my arrival. this was rather an ordeal to an artist who had never sung on the operatic stage before, and who was not note perfect. however, as a matter of obligation, i consented to do my best, but i was very nervous. at the end of the second act, during the balloting scene, lady jane has to appear suddenly on the stage, with the word "away!" i forget at this distance of time whether i made a mistake in pitching the note a third higher or lower. i know it was not out of harmony, but it was sufficiently wrong to send the chorus astray, and bring my heart up into my mouth. it never occurred after the first night, but i never stood at the wings again waiting for that particular entrance but i "girded my loins together," as it were, with a kind of dread lest i should repeat the error. after a while i perceived a good deal of whispering about me in the company, and i asked poor federici (who played the colonel) the reason of it, particularly as he had previously asked me to stand as far from him as i could upon the stage, as i magnetized him so strongly that he couldn't sing if i was near him. "well! do you know," he said to me in answer, "that a very strange thing occurs occasionally with reference to you, miss marryat. while you are standing on the stage sometimes, you appear seated in the stalls. several people have seen it beside myself. i assure you it is true." "but _when_ do you see me?" i enquired with amazement. "it's always at the same time," he answered, "just before you run on at the end of the second act. of course it's only an appearance, but it's very queer." i told him then of the strange feelings of distrust of myself i experienced each night at that very moment, when my spirit seems to have preceded myself upon the stage. i had a friend many years ago in india, who (like many other friends) had permitted time and separation to come between us, and alienate us from each other. i had not seen him nor heard from him for eleven years, and to all appearance our friendship was at an end. one evening the medium i have alluded to above, mrs. fitzgerald, who was a personal friend of mine, was at my house, and after dinner she put her feet up on the sofa--a very unusual thing for her--and closed her eyes. she and i were quite alone in the drawing-room, and after a little while i whispered softly, "bessie, are you asleep?" the answer came from her control "dewdrop," a wonderfully sharp red indian girl. "no! she's in a trance. there's somebody coming to speak to you! i don't want him to come. he'll make the medium ill. but it's no use. i see him creeping round the corner now." "but why should it make her ill?" i argued, believing we were about to hold an ordinary _sã©ance_. "because he's a _live_ one, he hasn't passed over yet," replied dewdrop, "and live ones always make my medium feel sick. but it's no use. i can't keep him out. he may as well come. but don't let him stay long." "who is he, dewdrop?" i demanded curiously. "_i_ don't know! guess _you_ will! he's an old friend of yours, and his name is george." whereupon bessie fitzgerald laid back on the sofa cushions, and dewdrop ceased to speak. it was some time before there was any result. the medium tossed and turned, and wiped the perspiration from her forehead, and pushed back her hair, and beat up the cushions and threw herself back upon them with a sigh, and went through all the pantomime of a man trying to court sleep in a hot climate. presently she opened her eyes and glanced languidly around her. her unmistakable actions and the name "george" (which was that of my friend, then resident in india) had naturally aroused my suspicions as to the identity of the influence, and when bessie opened her eyes, i asked softly, "george, is that you?" at the sound of my voice the medium started violently and sprung into a sitting posture, and then, looking all round the room in a scared manner, she exclaimed, "where am i? who brought me here?" then catching sight of me, she continued, "mrs. ross-church!--florence! is this _your_ room? o! let me go! _do_ let me go!" this was not complimentary, to say the least of it, from a friend whom i had not met for eleven years, but now that i had got him i had no intention of letting him go, until i was convinced of his identity. but the terror of the spirit at finding himself in a strange place seemed so real and uncontrollable that i had the greatest difficulty in persuading him to stay, even for a few minutes. he kept on reiterating, "who brought me here? i did not wish to come. do let me go back. i am so very cold" (shivering convulsively), "so very, _very_ cold." "answer me a few questions," i said, "and then you shall go. do you know who i am?" "yes, yes, you are florence." "and what is your name?" he gave it at full length. "and do you care for me still?" "very much. but let me go." "in a minute. why do you never write to me?" "there are reasons. i am not a free agent. it is better as it is." "i don't think so. i miss your letters very much. shall i ever hear from you again?" "yes!" "and see you?" "yes; but not yet. let me go now. i don't wish to stay. you are making me very unhappy." if i could describe the fearful manner in which, during this conversation, he glanced every moment at the door, like a man who is afraid of being discovered in a guilty action, it would carry with it to my readers, as it did to me, the most convincing proof that the medium's body was animated by a totally different influence from her own. i kept the spirit under control until i had fully convinced myself that he knew everything about our former friendship and his own present surroundings; and then i let him fly back to india, and wondered if he would wake up the next morning and imagine he had been laboring under nightmare. these experiences with the spirits of the living are certainly amongst the most curious i have obtained. on more than one occasion, when i have been unable to extract the truth of a matter from my acquaintances i have sat down alone, as soon as i believed them to be asleep, and summoned their spirits to the table and compelled them to speak out. little have they imagined sometimes how i came to know things which they had scrupulously tried to hide from me. i have heard that the power to summons the spirits of the living is not given to all media, but i have always possessed it. i can do so when they are awake as well as when they are asleep, though it is not so easy. a gentleman once _dared_ me to do this with him, and i only conceal his name because i made him look ridiculous. i waited till i knew he was engaged at a dinner-party, and then about nine o'clock in the evening i sat down and summoned him to come to me. it was some little time before he obeyed, and when he did come, he was eminently sulky. i got a piece of paper and pencil, and from his dictation i wrote down the number and names of the guests at the dinner-table, also the dishes of which he had partaken, and then in pity for his earnest entreaties i let him go again. "you are making me ridiculous," he said, "everyone is laughing at me." "but why? what are you doing?" i urged. "i am standing by the mantel-piece, and i have fallen fast asleep," he answered. the next morning he came pell-mell into my presence. "what did you do to me last night?" he demanded. "i was at the watts philips, and after dinner i went fast asleep with my head upon my hand, standing by the mantel-piece, and they were all trying to wake me and couldn't. have you been playing any of your tricks upon me?" "i only made you do what you declared i couldn't," i replied. "how did you like the white soup and the turbot, and the sweetbreads, etc., etc." he opened his eyes at my nefariously obtained knowledge, and still more when i produced the paper written from his dictation. this is not a usual custom of mine--it would not be interesting enough to pursue as a custom--but i am a dangerous person to _dare_ to do anything. the old friend whose spirit visited me through mrs. fitzgerald had lost a sister to whom he was very tenderly attached before he made my acquaintance, and i knew little of her beyond her name. one evening, not many months after the interview with him which i have recorded, a spirit came to me, giving the name of my friend's sister, with this message, "my brother has returned to england, and would like to know your address. write to him to the club, leamington, and tell him where to find you." i replied, "your brother has not written to me, nor inquired after me for the last eleven years. he has lost all interest in me, and i cannot be the first to write to him, unless i am sure that he wishes it." "he has _not_ lost all interest in you," said the spirit; "he thinks of you constantly, and i hear him pray for you. he wishes to hear from you." "that may be true," i replied, "but i cannot accept it on your authority. if your brother really wishes to renew our acquaintance, let him write and tell me so." "he does not know your address, and i cannot get near enough to him to influence him." "then things must remain as they are," i replied somewhat testily. "i am a public person. he can find out my address, if he chooses to do so." the spirit seemed to reflect for a moment; then she rapped out, "wait, and i will fetch my brother. he shall come here himself and tell you what he thinks about it." in a short time there was a different movement of the table, and the name of my old friend was given. after we had exchanged a few words, and i had told him i required a test of his identity, he asked me to get a pencil and paper, and write from his dictation. i did as he requested, and he dictated the following sentence, "long time, indeed, has passed since the days you call to mind, but time, however long, does not efface the past. it has never made me cease to think of and pray for you as i felt you, too, did think of and pray for me. write to the address my sister gave you. i want to hear from you." notwithstanding the perspicuity and apparent genuineness of this message, it was some time before i could make up my mind to follow the directions it gave me. my pride stood in the way to prevent it. _ten days afterwards_, however, having received several more visits from the sister, i did as she desired me, and sent a note to her brother to the leamington club. the answer came by return of post, and contained (amongst others) _the identical words_ he had told me to write down. will mr. stuart cumberland, or any other clever man, explain to me _what_ or _who_ it was that had visited me ten days beforehand, and dictated words which could hardly have been in my correspondent's brain before he received my letter? i am ready to accept any reasonable explanation of the matter from the scientists, philosophers, chemists, or arguists of the world, and i am open to conviction, when my sense convinces me, that their reasoning is true. but my present belief is, that not a single man or woman will be found able to account on any ordinary grounds for such an extraordinary instance of "unconscious cerebration." being subject to "optical illusions," i naturally had several with regard to my spirit child, "florence," and she always came to me clothed in a white dress. one night, however, when i was living alone in the regent's park, i saw "florence" (as i imagined) standing in the centre of the room, dressed in a green riding habit slashed with orange color, with a cavalier hat of grey felt on her head, ornamented with a long green feather and a gold buckle. she stood with her back to me, but i could see her profile as she looked over her shoulder, with the skirt of her habit in her hand. this being a most extraordinary attire in which to see "florence," i felt curious on the subject, and the next day i questioned her about it. "florence!" i said, "why did you come to me last night in a green riding habit?" "i did not come to you last night, mother! it was my sister eva." "good heavens!" i exclaimed, "is anything wrong with her?" "no! she is quite well." "how could she come to me then?" "she did not come in reality, but her thoughts were much with you, and so you saw her spirit clairvoyantly." my daughter eva, who was on the stage, was at that time fulfilling a stock engagement in glasgow, and very much employed. i had not heard from her for a fortnight, which was a most unusual occurrence, and i had begun to feel uneasy. this vision made me more so, and i wrote at once to ask her if all was as it should be. her answer was to this effect: "i am so sorry i have had no time to write to you this week, but i have been so awfully busy. we play 'the colleen bawn' here next week, and i have had to get my dress ready for 'anne chute.' it's so effective. i wish you could see it. _a green habit slashed with orange, and a grey felt hat with a long green feather and a big gold buckle._ i tried it on the other night, and it looked so nice, etc., etc." well, my darling girl had had her wish, and i _had_ seen it. chapter v. optical illusions. as i have alluded to what my family termed my "optical illusions," i think it as well to describe a few of them, which appeared by the context to be something more than a mere temporary disturbance of my visual organs. i will pass over such as might be traced, truly or otherwise, to physical causes, and confine myself to those which were subsequently proved to be the reflection of something that, unknown to me, had gone before. in 1875 i was much engaged in giving dramatic readings in different parts of the country, and i visited dublin for the first time in my life, for that purpose, and put up at the largest and best-frequented hotel there. through the hospitality of the residents and the duties of my professional business, i was engaged both day and night, and when i _did_ get to bed, i had every disposition to sleep, as the saying is, like a "top." but there was something in the hotel that would not let me do so. i had a charming bedroom, cheerful, bright and pretty, and replete with every comfort, and i would retire to rest "dead beat," and fall off to sleep at once, to be waked perhaps half-a-dozen times a night by that inexplicable something (or nothing) that rouses me whenever i am about to enjoy an "optical illusion," and to see figures, sometimes one, sometimes two or three, sometimes a whole group standing by my bedside and gazing at me with looks of the greatest astonishment, as much as to ask what right i had to be there. but the most remarkable part of the matter to me was, that all the figures were those of men, and military men, to whom i was too well accustomed to be able to mistake. some were officers and others soldiers, some were in uniform, others in undress, but they all belonged to the army, and they all seemed to labor under the same feeling of intense surprise at seeing _me_ in the hotel. these apparitions were so life-like and appeared so frequently, that i grew quite uncomfortable about them, for however much one may be used to see "optical illusions," it is not pleasant to fancy there are about twenty strangers gazing at one every night as one lies asleep. spiritualism is, or was, a tabooed subject in dublin, and i had been expressly cautioned not to mention it before my new acquaintances. however, i could not keep entire silence on this subject, and dining _en famille_ one day, with a hospitable family of the name of robinson, i related to them my nightly experiences at the hotel. father, mother, and son exclaimed simultaneously. "good gracious," they said, "don't you know that that hotel was built on the site of the old barracks? the house immediately behind it, which formed part of the old building, was vacated by its last tenants on account of its being haunted. every evening at the hour the soldiers used to be marched up to bed, they heard the tramp, tramp, tramp of the feet ascending the staircase." "that may be," i replied, "but they _knew_ their house stood on the site of the barracks, and _i didn't_." my eldest daughter was spending a holiday with me once after my second marriage, and during the month of august. she had been very much overworked, and i made her lie in bed till noon. one morning i had been to her room at that hour to wake her, and on turning to leave it (in the broad daylight, remember), i encountered a man on the landing outside her door. he was dressed in a white shirt with black studs down the front, and a pair of black cloth trousers. he had dark hair and eyes, and small features; altogether, he struck me as having rather a sinister and unpleasant appearance. i stood still, with the open door in my hand, and gazed at him. he looked at me also for a minute, and then turned and walked upstairs to an upper storey where the nursery was situated, beckoning me, with a jerk of his hand, to follow him. my daughter (remarking a peculiar expression in my eyes, which i am told they assume on such occasions) said, "mother! what do you see?" "only a spirit," i answered, "and he has gone upstairs." "now, what _is_ the good of seeing them in that way," said eva, rather impatiently (for this dear child always disliked and avoided spiritualism), and i was fain to confess that i really did _not_ know the especial good of encountering a sinister-looking gentleman in shirt and trousers, on a blazing noon in august. after which the circumstance passed from my mind, until recalled again. a few months later i had occasion to change the children's nurse, and the woman who took her place was an icelandic girl named margaret thommassen, who had only been in england for three weeks. i found that she had been educated far above the average run of domestic servants, and was well acquainted with the writings of swedenborg and other authors. one day as i walked up the nursery stairs to visit the children in bed, i encountered the same man i had seen outside my daughter's room, standing on the upper landing, as though waiting my approach. he was dressed as before, but this time his arms were folded across his breast and his face downcast, as though he were unhappy about something. he disappeared as i reached the landing, and i mentioned the circumstance to no one. a few days later, margaret thommassen asked me timidly if i believed in the possibility of the spirits of the departed returning to this earth. when i replied that i did, she appeared overjoyed, and said she had never hoped to find anyone in england to whom she could speak about it. she then gave me a mass of evidence on the subject which forms a large part of the religion of the icelanders. she told me that she felt uneasy about her eldest brother, to whom she was strongly attached. he had left iceland a year before to become a waiter in germany, and had promised faithfully that so long as he lived she should hear from him every month, and when he failed to write she must conclude he was dead. margaret told me she had heard nothing from him now for three months, and each night when the nursery light was put out, someone came and sat at the foot of her bed and sighed. she then produced his photograph, and to my astonishment i recognized at once the man who had appeared to me some months before i knew that such a woman as margaret thommassen existed. he was taken in a shirt and trousers, just as i had seen him, and wore the same repulsive (to me) and sinister expression. i then told his sister that i had already seen him twice in that house, and she grew very excited and anxious to learn the truth. in consequence i sat with her in hopes of obtaining some news of her brother, who immediately came to the table, and told her that he was dead, with the circumstances under which he had died, and the address where she was to write to obtain particulars. and on margaret thommassen writing as she was directed, she obtained the practical proofs of her brother's death, without which this story would be worthless. my sister cecil lives with her family in somerset, and many years ago i went down there to visit her for the first time since she had moved into a new house which i had never seen before. she put me to sleep in the guest chamber, a large, handsome room, just newly furnished by oetzmann. but i could not sleep in it. the very first night some one walked up and down the room, groaning and sighing close to my ears, and he, she, or it especially annoyed me by continually touching the new stiff counterpane with a "scrooping" sound that set my teeth on edge, and sent my heart up into my mouth. i kept on saying, "go away! don't come near me!" for its proximity inspired me with a horror and repugnance which i have seldom felt under similar circumstances. i did not say anything at first to my sister, who is rather nervous on the subject of "bogies," but on the third night i could stand it no longer, and told her plainly the room was haunted, and i wished she would put me in her dressing-room, or with her servants, sooner than let me remain there, as i could get no rest. then the truth came out, and she confessed that the last owner of the house had committed suicide in that very room, and showed me the place on the boards, underneath the carpet, where the stain of his blood still remained. a lively sort of room to sleep all alone in. another sister of mine, blanche, used to live in a haunted house in bruges, of which a description will be found in the chapter headed, "the story of the monk." long, however, before the monk was heard of, i could not sleep in her house on account of the disturbances in my room, for which my sister used to laugh at me. but even when my husband, colonel lean, and i stayed there together, it was much the same. one night i waked him to see the figure of a woman, who had often visited me, standing at the foot of the bed. she was quaintly attired in a sort of leathern boddice or jerkin, laced up the front over a woollen petticoat of some dark color. she wore a cap of mechlin lace, with the large flaps at the side, adopted by flemish women to this day; her hair was combed tightly off her forehead, and she wore a profusion of gold ornaments. my husband could describe her as vividly as i did, which proves how plainly the apparition must have shown itself. i waked on several occasions to see this woman busy (apparently) with the contents of an old carved oak armoir which stood in a corner of the room, and which, i suppose, must have had something to do with herself. my eldest son joined me at bruges on this occasion. he was a young fellow of twenty, who had never practised, nor even enquired into spiritualism--fresh from sea, and about as free from fear or superstitious fancies as a mortal could be. he was put to sleep in a room on the other side of the house, and i saw from the first that he was grave about it, but i did not ask him the reason, though i felt sure, from personal experience, that he would hear or see something before long. in a few days he came to me and said-"mother! i'm going to take my mattress into the colonel's dressing-room to-night and sleep there." i asked him why. he replied, "it's impossible to stay in that room any longer. i wouldn't mind if they'd let me sleep, but they won't. there's something walks about half the night, whispering and muttering, and touching the bed-clothes, and though i don't believe in any of your rubbishy spirits, i'll be 'jiggered' if i sleep there any longer." so he was not "jiggered" (whatever that may be), as he refused to enter the room again. i cannot end this chapter more appropriately than by relating a very remarkable case of "optical illusion" which was seen by myself alone. it was in the month of july, 1880, and i had gone down alone to brighton for a week's quiet. i had some important literary work to finish, and the exigencies of the london season made too many demands upon my time. so i packed up my writing materials, and took a lodging all to myself, and set hard to work. i used to write all day and walk in the evening. it was light then till eight or nine o'clock, and the esplanade used to be crowded till a late hour. i was pushing my way, on the evening of the 9th of july, through the crowd, thinking of my work more than anything else, when i saw, as i fully thought, my step-son, francis lean, leaning with his back against the palings at the edge of the cliff and smiling at me. he was a handsome lad of eighteen who was supposed to have sailed in his ship for the brazils five months before. but he had been a wild young fellow, causing his father much trouble and anxiety, and my first impression was one of great annoyance, thinking naturally that, since i saw him there, he had never sailed at all, but run away from his ship at the last moment. i hastened up to him, therefore, but as i reached his side, he turned round quite methodically, and walked quickly down a flight of steps that led to the beach. i followed him, and found myself amongst a group of ordinary seamen mending their nets, but i could see francis nowhere. i did not know what to make of the occurrence, but it never struck me that it was not either the lad himself or some one remarkably like him. the same night, however, after i had retired to bed in a room that was unpleasantly brilliant with the moonlight streaming in at the window, i was roused from my sleep by someone turning the handle of my door, and there stood francis in his naval uniform, with the peaked cap on his head, smiling at me as he had done upon the cliff. i started up in bed intending to speak to him, when he laid his finger on his lips and faded away. this second vision made me think something must have happened to the boy, but i determined not to say anything to my husband about it until it was verified. shortly after my return to london, we were going, in company with my own son (also a sailor), to see his ship which was lying in the docks, when, as we were driving through poplar, i again saw my stepson francis standing on the pavement, and smiling at me. that time i spoke. i said to colonel lean, "i am sure i saw francis standing there. do you think it is possible he may not have sailed after all?" but colonel lean laughed at the idea. he believed it to be a chance likeness i had seen. only the lad was too good-looking to have many duplicates in this world. we visited the seaside after that, and in september, whilst we were staying at folkestone, colonel lean received a letter to say that his son francis had been drowned by the upsetting of a boat in the surf of the bay of callao, in the brazils, _on the 9th of july_--the day i had seen him twice in brighton, two months before we heard that he was gone. chapter vi. on scepticism. there are two classes of people who have done more harm to the cause of spiritualism than the testimony of all the scientists has done good, and those are the enthusiasts and the sceptics. the first believe everything they see or hear. without giving themselves the trouble to obtain proofs of the genuineness of the manifestations, they rush impetuously from one acquaintance to the other, detailing their experience with so much exaggeration and such unbounded faith, that they make the absurdity of it patent to all. they are generally people of low intellect, credulous dispositions, and weak nerves. they bow down before the influences as if they were so many little gods descended from heaven, instead of being, as in the majority of instances, spirits a shade less holy than our own, who, for their very shortcomings, are unable to rise above the atmosphere that surrounds this gross and material world. these are the sort of spiritualists whom _punch_ and other comic papers have very justly ridiculed. who does not remember the picture of the afflicted widow, for whom the medium has just called up the departed jones? "jones," she falters, "are you happy?" "much happier than i was down here," growls jones. "o! then you _must_ be in heaven!" "on the contrary, quite the reverse," is the reply. who also has not sat a _sã©ance_ where such people have not made themselves so ridiculous as to bring the cause they profess to adore into contempt and ignominy. yet to allow the words and deeds of fools to affect one's inward and private conviction of a matter would be tantamount to giving up the pursuit of everything in which one's fellow creatures can take a part. the second class to which i alluded--the sceptics--have not done so much injury to spiritualism as the enthusiasts, because they are as a rule, so intensely bigoted and hard-headed, and narrow-minded, that they overdo their protestations, and render them harmless. the sceptic refuses to believe _anything_, because he has found out _one_ thing to be a fraud. if one medium deceives, all the mediums must deceive. if one _sã©ance_ is a failure, none can be successful. if he gains no satisfactory test of the presence of the spirits of the departed, no one has ever gained such a test. now, such reason is neither just nor logical. again, a sceptic fully expects _his_ testimony to be accepted and believed, yet he will never believe any truth on the testimony of another person. and if he is told that, given certain conditions, he can see this or hear the other, he says, "no! i will see it and hear it without any conditions, or else i will proclaim it all a fraud." in like manner, we might say to a savage, on showing him a watch, "if you will keep your eye on those hands, you will see them move round to tell the hours and minutes," and he should reply, "i must put the watch into boiling water--those are my conditions--and if it won't go then, i will not believe it can go at all." i don't mind a man being a sceptic in spiritualism. i don't see how he can help (considering the belief in which we are reared) being a sceptic, until he has proved so strange a matter for himself. but i _do_ object to a man or a woman taking part in a _sã©ance_ with the sole intention of detecting deceit, not _when_ it has happened, but before it has happened--of bringing an argumentative, disputatious mind, full of the idea that it is going to be tricked and humbugged into (perhaps) a private circle who are sitting (like rosa dartle) "simply for information," and scattering all the harmony and good-will about him broadcast. he couldn't do it to a human assembly without breaking up the party. why should he expect to be more kindly welcomed by a spiritual one? i have seen an immense deal of courtesy shown under such circumstances to men whom i should have liked to see kicked downstairs. i have seen them enter a lady's private drawing-room, by invitation, to witness manifestations which were never, under any circumstances, made a means of gain, and have heard them argue, and doubt, and contradict, until they have given their hostess and her friends the lie to their faces. and the world in general would be quite ready to side with these (so-called) gentlemen, not because their word or their wisdom was better worth than that of their fellow guests, but because they protested against the truth of a thing which it had made up its mind to be impossible. i don't mind a sceptic myself, as i said before, but he must be unbiassed, which few sceptics are. as a rule, they have decided the question at issue for themselves before they commence to investigate it. i find that few people outside the pale of spiritualism have heard of the dialectical society, which was a scientific society assembled a few years ago for the sole purpose of enquiring into the truth of the matter. it was composed of forty members,--ten lawyers, ten scientists, ten clergymen, and ten chemists (i think that was the arrangement), and they held forty _sã©ances_, and the published report at the close of them was, that not one of these men of learning and repute could find any natural cause for the wonders he had witnessed. i know that there are a thousand obstacles in the way of belief. the extraordinarily contradictory manner in which protestants are brought up, to believe in one and the same breath that spirits were common visitants to earth at the periods of which the bible treats, but that it is impossible they can return to it now, although the lord is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. the conditions of darkness for the creation of materialized spirits, and the resemblance they sometimes bear to the medium, are two fearful stumbling-blocks. yet one must know that _all_ things are created in the dark, and that even a seed cannot sprout if you let the light in upon it, while as for the resemblance between the spirit and the medium, from whom it takes the material being that enables it to appear, if investigators would only persevere with their enquiries, they would find, as i have, that that is a disappointment which has its remedy in time. when people call on me to explain such things, i can only say that i know no more how they come than they do, or that i know how _i_ came, a living, sentient creature, into the world. besides (as i have said before), i write these pages to tell only _what i have seen_, and not to argue how it came to pass that i saw it. i have a little story to tell here which powerfully illustrates the foregoing remarks. the lines, "a woman convinced against her will is of the same opinion still," might have been penned with as much truth of sceptics. men who are sceptical, _i.e._, so thoroughly wrapt up in conceit of their powers of judgment and determination that it becomes impossible for them to believe themselves mistaken, will deny the evidence of all their senses sooner than confess they may be in the wrong. such an one may be a clever scientist or a shrewd man of business, but he can never be a genius. for genius is invariably humble of its own powers, and, therefore, open to conviction. but the lesser minds, who are only equal to grasping such details as may have been drummed into them by sheer force of study, appear to have no capability of stretching beyond a certain limit. they are hedged in and cramped by the opinions in which they have been reared, or that they have built up for themselves out of the petty material their brain affords them, and have lost their powers of elasticity. "thus far shalt thou go and no further," seems to be the fiat pronounced on too many men's reasoning faculties. instead of believing the power of god and the resources of nature to be illimitable, they want to keep them within the little circle that encompasses their own brains. "i can't see it, and therefore it cannot be." there was a time when i used to take the trouble to try and convince such men, but i have long ceased to do so. it is quite indifferent to me what they believe or don't believe. and with such minds, even if they _were_ convinced of its possibility, they would probably make no good use of spiritual intercourse. for there is no doubt it can be turned to evil uses as well as to good. some years ago i was on friendly terms with a man of this sort. he was a doctor, accounted clever in his profession, and i knew him to be an able arguist, and thought he had common sense enough not to eat his own words, but the sequel proved that i was mistaken. we had several conversations together on spiritualism, and as dr. h---was a complete disbeliever in the existence of a god and a future life, i was naturally not surprised to find that he did not place any credence in the account i gave him of my spiritualistic experiences. many medical men attribute such experiences entirely to a diseased condition of mind or body. but when i asked dr. h---what he should think if he saw them with his own eyes, i confess i was startled to hear him answer that he should say his eyes deceived him. "but if you heard them speak?" i continued. "i should disbelieve my ears." "and if you touched and handled them?" "i should mistrust my sense of feeling." "then by what means," i argued, "do you know that i am florence marryat? you can only see me and hear me and touch me! what is there to prevent your senses misleading you at the present moment?" but to this argument dr. h---only returned a pitying smile, professing to think me, on this point at least, too feeble-minded to be worthy of reply, but in reality not knowing what on earth to say. he often, however, recurred to the subject of spiritualism, and on several occasions told me that if i could procure him the opportunity of submitting a test which he might himself suggest, he should be very much obliged to me. it was about this time that a young medium named william haxby, now passed away, went to live with mr. and mrs. olive in ainger terrace, and we were invited to attend a _sã©ance_ given by him. mrs. olive, when giving the invitation, informed me that mr. haxby had been very successful in procuring direct writing in sealed boxes, and she asked me, if i wished to try the experiment, to take a secured box, with writing materials in it, to the _sã©ance_, and see what would happen to it. here was, i thought, an excellent opportunity for dr. h----'s test, and i sent for him and told him what had been proposed. i urged him to prepare the test entirely by himself, and to accompany me to the _sã©ance_ and see what occurred,--to all of which he readily consented. indeed, he became quite excited on the subject, being certain it would prove a failure; and in my presence he made the following preparations:-i. half a sheet of ordinary cream-laid note-paper and half a cedar-wood black lead pencil were placed in a jeweller's cardwood box. ii. the lid of the box was carefully glued down all round to the bottom part. iii. the box was wrapt in white writing paper, which was gummed over it. iv. it was tied eight times with a peculiar kind of silk made for tying up arteries, and the eight knots were knots known to (as dr. h---informed me) medical men only. v. each of the eight knots was sealed with sealing-wax, and impressed with dr. h----'s crest seal, which he always wore on his watch-chain. vi. the packet was again folded in brown paper, and sealed and tied to preserve the inside from injury. when dr. h---had finished it, he said to me, "if the spirits (or anybody) can write on that paper without cutting the silk, _i will believe whatever you wish_." i asked, "are you _quite_ sure that the packet could not be undone without your detecting it?" his answer was--"that silk is not to be procured except from a medical man; it is manufactured expressly for the tying of arteries; and the knots i have made are known only to medical men. they are the knots we use in tying arteries. the seal is my own crest, which never leaves my watch-chain, and i defy anyone to undo those knots without cutting them, or to tie them again, if cut. i repeat--if your friends can make, or cause to be made, the smallest mark on that paper, and return me the box in the condition it now is, _i will believe anything you choose_." and i confess i was very dubious of the result myself, and almost sorry that i had subjected the doctor's incredulity to so severe a test. on the evening appointed we attended the _sã©ance_, dr. h---taking the prepared packet with him. he was directed to place it under his chair, but he tied a string to it and put it under his foot, retaining the other end of the string in his hand. the meeting was not one for favorably impressing an unbeliever in spiritualism. there were too many people present, and too many strangers. the ordinary manifestations, to my mind, are worse than useless, unless they have been preceded by extraordinary ones; so that the doctor returned home more sceptical than before, and i repented that i had taken him there. one thing had occurred, however, that he could not account for. the packet which he had kept, as he thought, under his foot the whole time, was found, at the close of the meeting, to have disappeared. another gentleman had brought a sealed box, with paper and pencil in it, to the _sã©ance_; and at the close it was opened in the presence of all assembled, and found to contain a closely written letter from his deceased wife. but the doctor's box had evaporated, and was nowhere to be found. the door of the room had been locked all the time, and we searched the room thoroughly, but without success. dr. h---was naturally triumphant. "they couldn't undo _my_ knots and _my_ seals," he said, exulting over me, "and so they wisely did not return the packet. both packets were of course taken from the room during the sitting by some confederate of the medium. the other one was easily managed, and put back again--_mine_ proved unmanageable, and so they have retained it. i _knew_ it would be so!" and he twinkled his eyes at me as much as to say, "i have shut _you_ up. you will not venture to describe any of the marvels you have seen to me after this." of course the failure did not discompose me, nor shake my belief. i never believed spiritual beings to be omnipotent, omnipresent, nor omniscient. they had failed before, and doubtless they would fail again. but if an acrobatic performer fails to turn a double somersault on to another man's head two or three times, it does not falsify the fact that he succeeds on the fourth occasion. i was sorry that the test had been a failure, for dr. h----'s sake, but i did not despair of seeing the box again. and at the end of a fortnight it was left at my house by mr. olive, with a note to say that it had been found that morning on the mantel-piece in mr. haxby's bedroom, and he lost no time in returning it to me. it was wrapt in the brown paper, tied and sealed, apparently just as we had carried it to the _sã©ance_ in ainger terrace; and i wrote at once to dr. h---announcing its return, and asking him to come over and open it in my presence. he came, took the packet in his hand, and having stripped off the outer wrapper, examined it carefully. there were four tests, it may be remembered, applied to the packet. i. the arterial silk, procurable only from a medical man. ii. the knots to be tied only by medical men. iii. dr. h----'s own crest, always kept on his watch chain, as a seal. iv. the lid of the cardboard box, glued all round to the bottom part. as the doctor scrutinized the silk, the knots, and the seals, i watched him narrowly. "are you _quite sure_," i asked, "that it is the same paper in which you wrapt it?" "i am _quite sure_." "and the same silk?" "quite sure." "your knots have not been untied?" "i am positive that they have not." "nor your seal been tampered with?" "certainly not! it is just as i sealed it." "be careful, dr. h----," i continued. "remember i shall write down all you say." "i am willing to swear to it in a court of justice," he replied. "then will you open the packet?" dr. h---took the scissors and cut the silk at each seal and knot, then tore off the gummed white writing paper (which was as fresh as when he had put it on), and tried to pull open the card-board box. but as he could not do this in consequence of the lid being glued down, he took out his penknife and cut it all round. as he did so, he looked at me and said, "mark my words. there will be nothing written on the paper. it is impossible!" he lifted the lid, and behold _the box was empty_! the half sheet of notepaper and the half cedar wood pencil had both _entirely disappeared_. not a crumb of lead, nor a shred of paper remained behind. i looked at the doctor, and the doctor looked completely bewildered. "_well!_" i said, interrogatively. he shifted about--grew red--and began to bluster. "what do you make of it?" i asked. "how do you account for it?" "in the easiest way in the world," he replied, trying to brave it out. "it's the most transparent deception i ever saw. they've kept the thing a fortnight and had time to do anything with it. a child could see through this. surely your bright wits can want no help to an explanation." "i am not so bright as you give me credit for," i answered. "will you explain your meaning to me?" "with pleasure. they have evidently made an invisible slit in the joining of the box cover, and with a pair of fine forceps drawn the paper through it, bit by bit. for the pencil, they drew that by the same means to the slit and then pared it, little by little, with a lancet, till they could shake out the fragments." "that must have required very careful manipulation," i observed. "naturally. but they've taken a fortnight to do it in." "but how about the arterial silk?" i said. "they must have procured some from a surgeon." "and your famous knots?" "they got some surgeon to tie them!" "but your crest and seal?" "oh! they must have taken a facsimile of that in order to reproduce it. it is very cleverly done, but quite explicable!" "but you told me before you opened the packet that you would take your oath in a court of justice it had not been tampered with." "i was evidently deceived." "and you really believe, then, that an uneducated lad like mr. haxby would take the trouble to take impressions of seals and to procure arterial silk and the services of a surgeon, in order, not to mystify or convert _you_, but to gratify _me_, whose box he believes it to be." "i am sure he has done so!" "but just now you were equally sure he had _not_ done so. why should you trust your senses in one case more than in the other? and if mr. haxby has played a trick on me, as you suppose, why did you not discover the slit when you examined the box, before opening?" "because my eyes misled me!" "then after all," i concluded, "the best thing you can say of yourself is that you--a man of reputed science, skill, and sense, and with a strong belief in your own powers--are unable to devise a test in which you shall not be outwitted by a person so inferior to yourself in age, intellect and education as young haxby. but i will give you another chance. make up another packet in any way you like. apply to it the severest tests which your ingenuity can devise, or other men of genius can suggest to you, and let me give it to haxby and see if the contents can be extracted, or tampered with a second time." "it would be useless," said dr. h----. "if they were extracted through the iron panels of a fireproof safe, i would not believe it was done by any but natural means." "because you do not _wish_ to believe," i argued. "you are right," he confessed, "i do _not_ wish to believe. if you convinced me of the truth of spiritualism, you would upset all the theories i have held for the best part of my life. i don't believe in a god, nor a soul, nor a future existence, and i would rather not believe in them. we have quite enough trouble, in my opinion, in this life, without looking forward to another, and i would rather cling to my belief that when we die we have done with it once and for ever." so there ended my attempt to convince dr. h----, and i have often thought since that he was but a type of the genus sceptic. in this world, we mostly believe what we want to believe, and the thought of a future troubles us in proportion to the lives we lead here. it must often strike spiritualists (who mostly look forward to the day of their departure for another world, as a schoolboy looks forward to the commencement of the holidays) as a very strange thing, that people, as a rule, evince so little curiosity on the subject of spiritualism. the idea of the spirits of the departed returning to this world to hold communication with their friends may be a new and startling one to them, but the very wonder of it would make one expect to see them evince a little interest in a matter which concerns us all. yet the generality of carlyle's british millions either pooh-pooh the notion as too utterly ridiculous for their exalted minds to entertain, or inform you, with superior wisdom, that if spiritualism is true, they cannot see the use of it, and have no craving for any further knowledge. if these same people expected to go to canada or australia in a few months' time, how eagerly they would ask questions concerning their future home, and procure the best information on what to do, whilst they remained in england, in order to fit themselves for the journey and the change. but a journey to the other world--to the many worlds which perhaps await us--a certain proof that we shall live again (or rather, that we shall never die but need only time and patience and well-living here to reunite us to the dear one gone before)--_that_ is a subject not worthy of our trying to believe--of not sufficient importance for us to take the trouble of ascertaining. i pity from my soul the men and women who have no dead darling buried in their hearts whom they _know_ they shall meet in a home of god's own choosing when this life ends. the old, cold faiths have melted away beneath the sun of progress. we can no longer be made to believe, like little children, in a shadowy indefinite heaven where the saints sit on damp clouds with harps in their hands forever singing psalms and hymns and heavenly songs. that sort of existence could be a heaven to none, and to most it would be a hell. we do not accept it now, any more than we do the other place, with its typical fire and brimstone, and pitch-forking devils with horns and tails. but what has religion given us instead? those whose common-sense will not permit them to believe in the parson's heaven and hell generally believe (like dr. h----) in nothing at all. but spiritualism, earnestly and faithfully followed, leaves us in no doubt. spiritualists know where they are going to. the spheres are almost as familiar to them as this earth--it is not too much to say that many live in them as much as they do here, and often they seem the more real, as they are the more lasting of the two. spiritualists are in no manner of doubt _who_ their eyes will see when opening on another phase of life. _they_ do not expect to be carried straight up into abraham's bosom, and lie snugly there, whilst revengeful demons are torturing those who were, perhaps, nearest and dearest to them down below. they have a better and more substantial religion than that--a revelation that teaches them that the works we do in the flesh must bear their fruit in the spirit, and that no tardy deathbed repentance, no crying out for mercy because justice is upon us, like an unruly child howling as soon as the stick is produced for chastisement--will avail to wipe off the sins we have indulged in upon earth. they know their expiation will be a bitter one, yet not without hope, and that they will be helped, as well as help others, in the upward path that leads to ultimate perfection. the teaching of spiritualism is such as largely to increase belief in our divine father's love, our saviour's pity, and the angels' ministering help. but it does more than this, more than any religion has done before. it affords the _proof_--the only proof we have ever received, and our finite natures can accept--of a future existence. the majority of christians _hope_ and _trust_, and say they _believe_. it is the spiritualist only that _knows_. i think that the marvellous indifference displayed by the crowd to ascertain these truths for themselves must be due, in a large number of instances, to the unnatural but universal fear which is entertained of death and all things connected with it. the same people who loudly declaim again the possibility of seeing a "ghost," shudder at the idea of doing so. the creature whom they have adored and waited on with tenderest devotion passes away, and they are afraid to enter the room where his body lies. that which they clung to and wept over yesterday, they fear to look at or touch to-day, and the idea that he would return and speak to them would inspire them with horror. but why afraid of an impossibility? their very fears should teach them that there is a cause. from numerous notes made on the subject i have invariably found that those who have had the opportunity of testing the reality of spiritualism, and either rejected or denied it, have been selfish, worldly, and cold-hearted people who neither care, nor are cared for, by those who have passed on to another sphere. plenty of love is sure to bring you plenty of proof. the mourners, who have lost sight of what is dearest to them, and would give all they possess for one more look at the face they loved so much, or one more tone of the voice that was music to their ears, are only too eager and grateful to hear of a way by which their longings may be gratified, and would take any trouble and go to any expense to accomplish what they desire. it is this intense yearning to speak again with those that have left us, on the part of the bereaved, that has led to chicanery on the part of media in order to gratify it. wherever money is to be made, unfortunately cheating will step in; but because some tradesmen will sell you brass for gold is no reason to vote all jewellers thieves. the account of the raising of samuel by the witch of endor is an instance that my argument is correct. the witch was evidently an impostor, for she had no expectation of seeing samuel, and was frightened by the apparition she had evoked; but spiritualism must be a truth, because it was samuel himself who appeared and rebuked saul for calling him back to this earth. what becomes, in the face of this story, of the impassable gulf between the earthly and spiritual spheres? that atheists who believe in nothing should not believe in spiritualism is credible, natural, and consistent. but that christians should reject the theory is tantamount to acknowledging that they found their hopes of salvation upon a lie. there is no way of getting out of it. if it be _impossible_ that the spirits of the departed can communicate with men, the bible must be simply a collection of fabulous statements; if it be _wrong_ to speak with spirits, all the men whose histories are therein related were sinners, and the almighty helped them to sin; and if all the spirits who have been heard and seen and touched in modern times are devils sent on earth to lure us to our destruction, how are we to distinguish between them and the greatest spirit of all, who walked with mortal adam and eve in the garden of eden. "o! yes!" i think i hear somebody cry, "but that was in the bible;" as if the bible were a period or a place. and did it ever strike you that there is something else recorded in the bible? "and he did not many miracles there because of their _unbelief_." and yet christ came to call "not the righteous but the sinners to repentance." surely, then, the unbelieving required the conviction of the miracles more than those who knew him to be god. yet there he did them not, _because_ of their unbelief, because their _scepticism_ produced a condition in which miracles could not be wrought. and yet the nineteenth century is surprised because a sceptic, whose jarring element upsets all union and harmony, is not an acceptable addition to a spiritual meeting, and that the miracles of the present--gross and feeble, compared to those of the past, because worked by grosser material though grosser agents--ceased to be manifested when his unbelief intrudes itself upon them. chapter vii. the story of john powles. on the 4th of april, 1860, there died in india a young officer in the 12th regiment m.n.i., of the name of john powles. he was an intimate friend of my first husband for several years before his death, and had consequently become intimate with me; indeed, on several occasions he shared our house and lived with us on the terms of a brother. i was very young at that time and susceptible to influence of all sorts--extremely nervous, moreover, on the subject of "ghosts," and yet burning with curiosity to learn something of the other world--a topic which it is most difficult to induce anybody to discuss with you. people will talk of dress, or dinner, or their friend's private affairs--of anything, in fact, sooner than death and immortality and the world to come which we must all inevitably enter. even parsons--the legalized exponents of what lies beyond the grave--are no exceptions to the rule. when the bereaved sufferer goes to them for comfort, they shake their heads and "hope" and "trust," and say "god's mercy has no limits," but they cannot give him one reasonable proof to rest upon that death is but a name. john powles, however, though a careless and irreligious man, liked to discuss the unseen. we talked continually on the subject, even when he was apparently in perfect health, and he often ended our conversation by assuring me that should he die first (and he always prophesied truly that he should not reach the age of thirty) he would (were such a thing possible) come back to me. i used to laugh at the absurdity of the idea, and remind him how many friends had made the same promise to each other and never fulfilled it. for though i firmly believed that such things _had_ been, i could not realize that they would ever happen to me, or that i should survive the shock if they did. john powles' death at the last was very sudden, although the disease he died of was of long standing. he had been under the doctor's hands for a few days when he took an unexpected turn for the worse, and my husband and myself, with other friends, were summoned to his bedside to say good-bye to him. when i entered the room he said to me, "so you see it has come at last. don't forget what i said to you about it." they were his last intelligible words to me, though for several hours he grasped my dress with his hand to prevent my leaving him, and became violent and unmanageable if i attempted to quit his side. during this time, in the intervals of his delirium, he kept on entreating me to sing a certain old ballad, which had always been a great favorite with him, entitled "thou art gone from my gaze." i am sure if i sung that song once during that miserable day, i must have sung it a dozen times. at last our poor friend fell into convulsions which recurred with little intermission until his death, which took place the same evening. his death and the manner of it caused me a great shock. he had been a true friend to my husband and myself for years, and we both mourned his loss very sincerely. that, and other troubles combined, had a serious effect upon my health, and the doctors advised my immediate return to england. when an officer dies in india, it is the custom to sell all his minor effects by auction. before this took place, my husband asked me if there was anything belonging to john powles that i should like to keep in remembrance of him. the choice i made was a curious one. he had possessed a dark green silk necktie, which was a favorite of his, and when it became soiled i offered to turn it for him, when it looked as good as new. whereupon he had worn it so long that it was twice as dirty as before, so i turned it for him the second time, much to the amusement of the regiment. when i was asked to choose a keepsake of him, i said, "give me the green tie," and i brought it to england with me. the voyage home was a terrible affair. i was suffering mentally and physically, to such a degree that i cannot think of the time without a shudder. john powles' death, of course, added to my distress, and during the many months that occupied a voyage "by long sea," i hoped and expected that his spirit would appear to me. with the very strong belief in the possibility of the return to earth of the departed--or rather, i should say, with my strong belief _in_ my belief--i lay awake night after night, thinking to see my lost friend, who had so often promised to come back to me. i even cried aloud to him to appear and tell me where he was, or what he was doing, but i never heard or saw a single thing. there was silence on every side of me. ten days only after i landed in england i was delivered of a daughter, and when i had somewhat recovered my health and spirits--when i had lost the physical weakness and nervous excitability, to which most medical men would have attributed any mysterious sights or sounds i might have experienced before--then i commenced to _know_ and to _feel_ that john powles was with me again. i did not see him, but i felt his presence. i used to lie awake at night, trembling under the consciousness that he was sitting at my bedside, and i had no means of penetrating the silence between us. often i entreated him to speak, but when a low, hissing sound came close to my ear, i would scream with terror and rush from my room. all my desire to see or communicate with my lost friend had deserted me. the very idea was a terror. i was horror-struck to think he had returned, and i would neither sleep alone nor remain alone. i was advised to try a livelier place than winchester (where i then resided), and a house was taken for me at sydenham. but there, the sense of the presence of john powles was as keen as before, and so, at intervals, i continued to feel it for the space of several years--until, indeed, i became an inquirer into spiritualism as a science. i have related in the chapter that contains an account of my first _sã©ance_, that the only face i recognized as belonging to me was that of my friend john powles, and how excited i became on seeing it. it was that recognition that brought back all my old longing and curiosity to communicate with the inhabitants of the unseen world. as soon as i commenced investigations in my home circle, john powles was the very first spirit who spoke to me through the table, and from that time until the present i have never ceased to hold communion with him. he is very shy, however, (as he was, whilst with us) of conversing before strangers, and seldom intimates his presence except i am alone. at such times, however, he will talk by the hour of all such topics as interested him during his earth life. soon after it became generally known that i was attending _sã©ances_, i was introduced to miss showers, the daughter of general showers of the bombay army. this young lady, besides being little more than a child--i think she was about sixteen when we met--was not a professional medium. the _sã©ances_ to which her friends were invited to witness the extraordinary manifestations that took place in her presence were strictly private. they offered therefore an enormous advantage to investigators, as the occurrences were all above suspicion, whilst miss showers was good enough to allow herself to be tested in every possible way. i shall have occasion to refer more particularly to miss showers' mediumship further on--at present, therefore, i will confine myself to those occasions which afforded proofs of john powles' presence. mrs. and miss showers were living in apartments when i visited them, and there was no means nor opportunity of deceiving their friends, even had they had any object in doing so. i must add also, that they knew nothing of my indian life nor experiences, which were things of the past long before i met them. at the first sitting miss showers gave me for "spirit faces," she merely sat on a chair behind the window curtains, which were pinned together half-way up, so as to leave a v-shaped opening at the top. the voice of "peter" (miss showers' principal control) kept talking to us and the medium from behind the curtains all the time, and making remarks on the faces as they appeared at the opening. presently he said to me, "mrs. ross-church, here's a fellow says his name is powles, and he wants to speak to you, only he doesn't like to show himself because he's not a bit like what he used to be." "tell him not to mind that," i answered, "i shall know him under any circumstances." "well! if he was anything like that, he was a beauty," exclaimed peter; and presently a face appeared which i could not, by any stretch of imagination, decide to resemble in the slightest degree my old friend. it was hard, stiff and unlifelike. after it had disappeared, peter said, "powles says if you'll come and sit with rosie (miss showers) often, he'll look quite like himself by-and-by," and of course i was only too anxious to accept the invitation. as i was setting out another evening to sit with miss showers, the thought suddenly occurred to me to put the green necktie in my pocket. my two daughters accompanied me on that occasion, but i said nothing to them about the necktie. as soon as we had commenced, however, peter called out, "now, mrs. ross-church, hand over that necktie. powles is coming." "what necktie?" i asked, and he answered, "why powles' necktie, of course, that you've got in your pocket. he wants you to put it round his neck." the assembled party looked at me inquisitively as i produced the tie. the face of john powles appeared, very different from the time before, as he had his own features and complexion, but his hair and beard (which were auburn during life) appeared phosphoric, as though made of living fire. i mounted on a chair and tied the necktie round his throat, and asked him if he would kiss me. he shook his head. peter called out, "give him your hand." i did so, and as he kissed it, his moustaches _burned_ me. i cannot account for it. i can only relate the fact. after which he disappeared with the necktie, which i have never seen since, though we searched the little room for it thoroughly. the next thing i have to relate about john powles is so startling that i dread the criticism it will evoke; but if i had not startling stories to tell, i should not consider them worth writing down. i left my house in bayswater one sunday evening to dine with mr. and mrs. george neville in regent's park terrace, to have a _sã©ance_ afterwards with miss showers. there was a large company present, and i was placed next to miss showers at table. during dinner she told me complainingly that her mother had gone to norwood to spend the night, and she (rosie) was afraid of sleeping alone, as the spirits worried her so. in a moment it flashed across me to ask her to return to bayswater and sleep with me, for i was most desirous of testing her powers when we were alone together. miss showers accepted my invitation, and we arranged that she should go home with me. after dinner, the guests sat for a _sã©ance_, but to everybody's surprise and disappointment, nothing occurred. it was one o'clock in the morning when miss showers and i entered a cab to return to bayswater. we had hardly started when we were greeted with a loud peal of laughter close to our ears. "what's the matter, peter?" demanded miss showers. "i can't help laughing," he replied, "to think of their faces when no one appeared! did you suppose i was going to let you waste all your power with them, when i knew i was going home with you and mrs. ross-church? i mean to show you what a real good _sã©ance_ is to-night." when we reached home i let myself in with a latchkey. the house was full, for i had seven children, four servants, and a married sister staying with me; but they were all in bed and asleep. it was cold weather, and when i took miss showers into my bedroom a fire was burning in the grate. my sister was occupying a room which opened into mine; but i locked her door and my own, and put the keys under my pillow. miss showers and i then undressed and got into bed. when we had extinguished the gas, we found the room was, comparatively speaking, light, for i had stirred the fire into a blaze, and a street lamp just opposite the window threw bars of light through the venetian blinds, right across the ceiling. as soon as miss showers had settled herself in bed, she said, "i wonder what peter is going to do," and i replied, "i hope he won't strip off the bed-clothes." we were lying under four blankets, a counterpane, and an eider-down _duvet_, and as i spoke, the whole mass rose in the air, and fell over the end of the bed, leaving us quite unprotected. we got up, lit a candle, and made the bed again, tucking the clothes well in all round, but the minute we laid down the same thing was repeated. we were rather cross the second time, and abused peter for being so disagreeable, upon which the voice declared he wouldn't do it any more, but we shouldn't have provoked him to try. i said, "you had much better shew yourself to us, peter. that is what i want you to do." he replied, "here i am, my dear, close to you!" i turned my head, and there stood a dark figure beside the bed, whilst another could be plainly distinguished walking about the room. i said, "i can't see your face," and he replied, "i'll come nearer to you!" upon this the figure rose in the air until it hung suspended, face downward, over the bed. in this position it looked like a huge bat with outspread wings. it was still indistinct, except as to substance, but peter said we had exhausted all the phosphorus in our bodies by the long evening we had spent, and left him nothing to light himself up with. after a while he lowered himself on to the bed, and lay between miss showers and myself on the outside of the _duvet_. to this we greatly objected, as he was very heavy and took up a great deal of room; but it was some time before he would go away. during this manifestation, the other spirit, whom peter called the "pope," kept walking about and touching everything in the room, which was full of ornaments; and peter called out several times, "take care, pope! take care! don't break mrs. ross-church's things." the two made so much noise that they waked my sister in the adjoining room, and she knocked at the door, asking in an alarmed voice, "florence! _whom_ have you there? you will wake the whole house." when i replied, "never mind, it's only spirits," she gave one fell shriek and dived under her bed-clothes. she maintains to this day that she fully believed the steps and voices to be human. at last the manifestations became so rapid, as many as eight and ten hands touching us at once, that i asked miss showers if she would mind my tying hers together. she was very amiable and consented willingly. i therefore got out of bed again, and having securely fastened her hands in the sleeves of the nightdress she wore, i sewed them with needle and thread to the mattress. miss showers then said she felt sleepy, and with her back to me--a position she was obliged to maintain on account of her hands being sewn down--she apparently dropt off to sleep, though i knew subsequently she was in a trance. for some time afterwards nothing occurred, the figures had disappeared, the voices ceased, and i thought the _sã©ance_ was over. presently, however, i felt a hand laid on my head and the fingers began to gently stroke and pull the short curls upon my forehead. i whispered, "who is this?" and the answer came back, "don't you know me? i am powles! at last--at last--after a silence of ten years i see you and speak with you again, face to face." "how can i tell this is _your_ hand?" i said. "peter might be materializing a hand in order to deceive me." the hand immediately left my head and the _back_ of it passed over my mouth, when i felt it was covered with short hair. i then remembered how hairy john powles' hands had become from exposure to the indian sun whilst shooting, and how i had nicknamed him "esau" in consequence. i recollected also that he had dislocated the left wrist with a cricket ball. "let me feel your wrist," i said, and my hand was at once placed on the enlarged bone. "i want to trace your hand to where it springs from," i next suggested; and on receiving permission i felt from the fingers and wrist to the elbow and shoulder, where it terminated _in the middle of miss showers' back_. still i was not quite satisfied, for i used to find it very hard to believe in the identity of a person i had cared for. i was so terribly afraid of being deceived. "i want to see your face," i continued. "i cannot show you my face to-night," the voice replied, "but you shall feel it;" and the face, with beard and moustaches, was laid for a moment against my own. then the hand was replaced on my hair, and whilst it kept on pulling and stroking my curls, john powles' own voice spoke to me of everything that had occurred of importance when he and i were friends on earth. fancy, two people who were intimately associated for years, meeting alone after a long and painful separation, think of all the private things they would talk about together, and you will understand why i cannot write down the conversation that took place between us that night here. in order to convince me of his identity, john powles spoke of all the troubles i had passed through and was then enduring--he mentioned scenes, both sad and merry, which we had witnessed together; he recalled incidents which had slipped my memory, and named places and people known only to ourselves. had i been a disbeliever in spiritualism, that night must have made a convert of me. whilst the voice, in the well-remembered tones of my old friend, was speaking, and his hand wandered through my hair, miss showers continued to sleep, or to appear to sleep, with her back towards me, and her hands sewn into her nightdress sleeves, and the sleeves sewn down to the bed. but had she been wide awake and with both hands free, she could not have spoken to me in john powles' unforgotten voice of things that had occurred when she was an infant and thousands of miles away. and i affirm that the voice spoke to me of things that no one but john powles could possibly have known. he did not fail to remind me of the promise he had made, and the many times he had tried to fulfil it before, and he assured me he should be constantly with me from that time. it was daylight before the voice ceased speaking, and then both miss showers and i were so exhausted, we could hardly raise our heads from the pillows. i must not forget to add that when we _did_ open our eyes again upon this work-a-day world, we found there was hardly an article in the room that had not changed places. the pictures were all turned with their faces to the wall--the crockery from the washstand was piled in the fender--the ornaments from the mantel-piece were on the dressing-table--in fact, the whole room was topsy-turvy. when mr. william fletcher gave his first lecture in england, in the steinway hall, my husband, colonel lean, and i, went to hear him. we had never seen mr. fletcher before, nor any of his family, nor did he know we were amongst the audience. our first view of him was when he stepped upon the platform, and we were seated quite in the body of the hall, which was full. it was mr. fletcher's custom, after his lecture was concluded, to describe such visions as were presented to him, and he only asked in return that if the people and places were recognized, those who recognized them would be brave enough to say so, for the sake of the audience and himself. i can understand that strangers who went there and heard nothing that concerned themselves would be very apt to imagine it was all humbug, and that those who claimed a knowledge of the visions were simply confederates of mr. fletcher. but there is nothing more true than that circumstances alter cases. i entered steinway hall as a perfect stranger, and as a press-writer, quite prepared to expose trickery if i detected it. and this is what i heard. after mr. fletcher had described several persons and scenes unknown to me, he took out a handkerchief and began to wipe his face, as though he were very warm. "i am no longer in england, now," he said. "the scene has quite changed, and i am taken over the sea, thousands of miles away, and i am in a chamber with all the doors and windows open. oh! how hot it is! i think i am somewhere in the tropics. o! i see why i have been brought here! it is to see a young man die! this is a death chamber. he is lying on a bed. he looks very pale, and he is very near death, but he has only been ill a short time. his hair is a kind of golden chestnut color, and he has blue eyes. he is an englishman, and i can see the letter 'p' above his head. he has not been happy on earth, and he is quite content to die. he pushes all the influences that are round his bed away from him. now i see a lady come and sit down beside him. he holds her hand, and appears to ask her to do something, and i hear a strain of sweet music. it is a song he has heard in happier times, and on the breath of it his spirit passes away. it is to this lady he seems to come now. she is sitting on my left about half way down the hall. a little girl, with her hands full of blue flowers, points her out to me. the little girl holds up the flowers, and i see they are woven into a resemblance of the letter f. she tells me that is the initial letter of her mother's name and her own. and i see this message written. "'to my dearest friend, for such you ever were to me from the beginning. i have been with you through all your time of trial and sorrow, and i am rejoiced to see that a happier era is beginning for you. i am always near you. the darkness is fast rolling away, and happiness will succeed it. pray for me, and i shall be near you in your prayers. i pray god to bless you and to bless me, and to bring us together again in the summer land.' "and i see the spirit pointing with his hand far away, as though to intimate that the happiness he speaks of is only the beginning of some that will extend to a long distance of time. i see this scene more plainly than any i have ever seen before." these words were written down at the time they were spoken. colonel lean and i were sitting in the very spot indicated by mr. fletcher, and the little girl with the blue flowers was my spirit child, "florence," whose history i shall give in the next chapter. but my communications with john powles, though very extraordinary, were not satisfactory to me. i am the "thomas, surnamed didymus," of the spiritualistic world, who wants to see and touch and handle before i can altogether believe. i wanted to meet john powles and talk with him face to face, and it seemed such an impossibility for him to materialize in the light that, after his two failures with miss showers, he refused to try. i was always worrying him to tell me if we should meet in the body before i left this world, and his answer was always, "yes! but not just yet!" i had no idea then that i should have to cross the atlantic before i saw my dear old friend again. chapter viii. my spirit child. the same year that john powles died, 1860, i passed through the greatest trouble of my life. it is quite unnecessary to my narrative to relate what that trouble was, nor how it affected me, but i suffered terribly both in mind and body, and it was chiefly for this reason that the medical men advised my return to england, which i reached on the 14th of december, and on the 30th of the same month a daughter was born to me, who survived her birth for only ten days. the child was born with a most peculiar blemish, which it is necessary for the purpose of my argument to describe. on the left side of the upper lip was a mark as though a semi-circular piece of flesh had been cut out by a bullet-mould, which exposed part of the gum. the swallow also had been submerged in the gullet, so that she had for the short period of her earthly existence to be fed by artificial means, and the jaw itself had been so twisted that could she have lived to cut her teeth, the double ones would have been in front. this blemish was considered to be of so remarkable a type that dr. frederick butler of winchester, who attended me, invited several other medical men, from southampton and other places, to examine the infant with him, and they all agreed that _a similar case had never come under their notice before_. this is a very important factor in my narrative. i was closely catechized as to whether i had suffered any physical or mental shock, that should account for the injury to my child, and it was decided that the trouble i had experienced was sufficient to produce it. the case, under feigned names, was fully reported in the _lancet_ as something quite out of the common way. my little child, who was baptized by the name of "florence," lingered until the 10th of january, 1861, and then passed quietly away, and when my first natural disappointment was over i ceased to think of her except as of something which "might have been," but never would be again. in this world of misery, the loss of an infant is soon swallowed up in more active trouble. still i never quite forgot my poor baby, perhaps because at that time she was happily the "one dead lamb" of my little flock. in recounting the events of my first _sã©ance_ with mrs. holmes, i have mentioned how a young girl much muffled up about the mouth and chin appeared, and intimated that she came for me, although i could not recognize her. i was so ignorant of the life beyond the grave at that period, that it never struck me that the baby who had left me at ten days old had been growing since our separation, until she had reached the age of ten years. i could not interpret longfellow (whom i consider one of the sublimest spiritualists of the age) as i can now. "day after day we think what she is doing, in those bright realms of air: year after year, her tender steps pursuing, behold her grown more fair. . . . . . "not as a child shall we again behold her: for when, with rapture wild, in our embraces we again enfold her, she will not be a child; but a fair maiden in her father's mansion, clothed with celestial grace. and beautiful with all the soul's expansion, shall we behold her face!" * * * * * the first _sã©ance_ made such an impression on my mind that two nights afterwards i again presented myself (this time alone) at mrs. holmes' rooms to attend another. it was a very different circle on the second occasion. there were about thirty people present, all strangers to each other, and the manifestations were proportionately ordinary. another professional medium, a mrs. davenport, was present, as one of her controls, whom she called "bell," had promised, if possible, to show her face to her. as soon, therefore, as the first spirit face appeared (which was that of the same little girl that i had seen before), mrs. davenport exclaimed, "there's 'bell,'" "why!" i said, "that's the little nun we saw on monday." "o! no! that's my 'bell,'" persisted mrs. davenport. but mrs. holmes took my side, and was positive the spirit came for me. she told me she had been trying to communicate with her since the previous _sã©ance_. "i know she is nearly connected with you," she said. "have you never lost a relation of her age?" "_never!_" i replied; and at that declaration the little spirit moved away, sorrowfully as before. a few weeks after i received an invitation from mr. henry dunphy (the gentleman who had introduced me to mrs. holmes) to attend a private _sã©ance_, given at his own house in upper gloucester place, by the well-known medium florence cook. the double drawing-rooms were divided by velvet curtains, behind which miss cook was seated in an arm-chair, the curtains being pinned together half-way up, leaving a large aperture in the shape of a v. being a complete stranger to miss cook, i was surprised to hear the voice of her control direct that _i_ should stand by the curtains and hold the lower parts together whilst the forms appeared above, lest the pins should give way, and necessarily from my position i could hear every word that passed between miss cook and her guide. the first face that showed itself was that of a man unknown to me; then ensued a kind of frightened colloquy between the medium and her control. "take it away. go away! i don't like you. don't touch me--you frighten me! go away!" i heard miss cook exclaim, and then her guide's voice interposed itself, "don't be silly, florrie. don't be unkind. it won't hurt you," etc., and immediately afterwards the same little girl i had seen at mrs. holmes' rose to view at the aperture of the curtains, muffled up as before, but smiling with her eyes at me. i directed the attention of the company to her, calling her again my "little nun." i was surprised, however, at the evident distaste miss cook had displayed towards the spirit, and when the _sã©ance_ was concluded and she had regained her normal condition, i asked her if she could recall the faces she saw under trance. "sometimes," she replied. i told her of the "little nun," and demanded the reason of her apparent dread of her. "i can hardly tell you," said miss cook; "i don't know anything about her. she is quite a stranger to me, but her face is not fully developed, i think. there is _something wrong about her mouth_. she frightens me." this remark, though made with the utmost carelessness, set me thinking, and after i had returned home, i wrote to miss cook, asking her to inquire of her guides _who_ the little spirit was. she replied as follows: "dear mrs. ross-church, i have asked 'katie king,' but she cannot tell me anything further about the spirit that came through me the other evening than that she is a young girl closely connected with yourself." i was not, however, yet convinced of the spirit's identity, although "john powles" constantly assured me that it _was_ my child. i tried hard to communicate with her at home, but without success. i find in the memoranda i kept of our private _sã©ances_ at that period several messages from "powles" referring to "florence." in one he says, "your child's want of power to communicate with you is not because she is too pure, but because she is too weak. she will speak to you some day. she is _not_ in heaven." this last assertion, knowing so little as i did of a future state, both puzzled and grieved me. i could not believe that an innocent infant was not in the beatific presence--yet i could not understand what motive my friend could have in leading me astray. i had yet to learn that once received into heaven no spirit could return to earth, and that a spirit may have a training to undergo, even though it has never committed a mortal sin. a further proof, however, that my dead child had never died was to reach me from a quarter where i least expected it. i was editor of the magazine _london society_ at that time, and amongst my contributors was dr. keningale cook, who had married mabel collins, the now well-known writer of spiritualistic novels. one day dr. cook brought me an invitation from his wife (whom i had never met) to spend saturday to monday with them in their cottage at redhill, and i accepted it, knowing nothing of the proclivities of either of them, and they knowing as little of my private history as i did of theirs. and i must take this opportunity to observe that, at this period, i had never made my lost child the subject of conversation even with my most intimate friends. the memory of her life and death, and the troubles that caused it, was not a happy one, and of no interest to any but myself. so little, therefore, had it been discussed amongst us that until "florence" reappeared to revive the topic, my _elder children were ignorant_ that their sister had been marked in any way differently from themselves. it may, therefore, be supposed how unlikely it was that utter strangers and public media should have gained any inkling of the matter. i went down to redhill, and as i was sitting with the keningale cooks after dinner, the subject of spiritualism came on the _tapis_, and i was informed that the wife was a powerful trance medium, which much interested me, as i had not, at that period, had any experience of her particular class of mediumship. in the evening we "sat" together, and mrs. cook having become entranced, her husband took shorthand notes of her utterances. several old friends of their family spoke through her, and i was listening to them in the listless manner in which we hear the conversation of strangers, when my attention was aroused by the medium suddenly leaving her seat, and falling on her knees before me, kissing my hands and face, and sobbing violently the while. i waited in expectation of hearing who this might be, when the manifestations as suddenly ceased, the medium returned to her seat, and the voice of one of her guides said that the spirit was unable to speak through excess of emotion, but would try again later in the evening. i had almost forgotten the circumstance in listening to other communications, when i was startled by hearing the word "_mother!_" sighed rather than spoken. i was about to make some excited reply, when the medium raised her hand to enjoin silence, and the following communication was taken down by mr. cook as she pronounced the words. the sentences in parentheses are my replies to her. "mother! i am 'florence.' i must be very quiet. i want to feel i have a mother still. i am so lonely. why should i be so? i cannot speak well. i want to be like one of you. i want to feel i have a mother and sisters. i am so far away from you all now." ("but i always think of you, my dear dead baby.") "that's just it--your _baby_. but i'm not a baby now. i shall get nearer. they tell me i shall. i do not know if i can come when you are alone. it's all so dark. i know you are there, but _so dimly_. i've grown _all by myself_. i'm not really unhappy, but i want to get nearer you. i know you think of me, but you think of me as a baby. you don't know me as i _am_. you've seen me, because in my love i have forced myself upon you. i've not been amongst the flowers yet, but i shall be, very soon now; but i want _my mother_ to take me there. all has been given me that can be given me, but i cannot receive it, except in so far----" here she seemed unable to express herself. ("did the trouble i had before your birth affect your spirit, florence?") "only as things cause each other. i was with you, mother, all through that trouble. i should be nearer to you, _than any child you have_, if i could only get close to you." ("i can't bear to hear you speak so sadly, dear. i have always believed that _you_, at least, were happy in heaven.") "i am _not_ in heaven! but there will come a day, mother--i can laugh when i say it--when we shall go to heaven _together_ and pick blue flowers--_blue flowers_. they are so good to me here, but if your eye cannot bear the daylight you cannot see the buttercups and daisies." i did not learn till afterwards that in the spiritual language blue flowers are typical of happiness. the next question i asked her was if she thought she could write through me. "i don't seem able to write through you, but why, i know not." ("do you know your sisters, eva and ethel?") "no! no!" in a weary voice. "the link of sisterhood is only through the mother. that kind of sisterhood does not last, because there is a higher." ("do you ever see your father?") "no! he is far, far away. i went once, not more. mother, dear, he'll love me when he comes here. they've told me so, and they always tell truth here! i am but a child, yet not so very little. i seem composed of two things--a child in ignorance and a woman in years. why can't i speak at other places? i have wished and tried! i've come very near, but it seems so easy to speak now. this medium seems so different." ("i wish you could come to me when i am alone, florence.") "you _shall_ know me! i _will_ come, mother, dear. i shall always be able to come here. i _do_ come to you, but not in the same way." she spoke in such a plaintive, melancholy voice that mrs. cook, thinking she would depress my spirits, said, "don't make your state out to be sadder than it really is." her reply was very remarkable. "_i am, as i am!_ friend! when you come here, if you find that sadness _is_, you will not be able to alter it by plunging into material pleasures. _our sadness makes the world we live in._ it is not deeds that make us wrong. it is the state in which _we were born_. mother! you say i died sinless. that is nothing. i was born _in a state_. had i lived, i should have caused you more pain than you can know. i am better here. i was not fit to battle with the world, and they took me from it. mother! you won't let this make you sad. you must not." ("what can i do to bring you nearer to me?") "i don't know what will bring me nearer, but i'm helped already by just talking to you. there's a ladder of brightness--every step. i believe i've gained just one step now. o! the divine teachings are so mysterious. mother! does it seem strange to you to hear your 'baby' say things as if she knew them? i'm going now. good-bye!" and so "florence" went. the next voice that spoke was that of a guide of the medium, and i asked her for a personal description of my daughter as she then appeared. she replied, "her face is downcast. we have tried to cheer her, but she is very sad. it is the _state in which she was born_. every physical deformity is the mark of a condition. a weak body is not necessarily the mark of a weak spirit, but the _prison_ of it, because the spirit might be too passionate otherwise. you cannot judge in what way the mind is deformed because the body is deformed. it does not follow that a canker in the body is a canker in the mind. but the mind may be too exuberant--may need a canker to restrain it." i have copied this conversation, word for word, from the shorthand notes taken at the time of utterance; and when it is remembered that neither mrs. keningale cook nor her husband knew that i had lost a child--that they had never been in my house nor associated with any of my friends--it will at least be acknowledged, even by the most sceptical, that it was a very remarkable coincidence that i should receive such a communication from the lips of a perfect stranger. only once after this did "florence" communicate with me through the same source. she found congenial media nearer home, and naturally availed herself of them. but the second occasion was almost more convincing than the first. i went one afternoon to consult my solicitor in the strictest confidence as to how i should act under some very painful circumstances, and he gave me his advice. the next morning as i sat at breakfast, mrs. cook, who was still living at redhill, ran into my room with an apology for the unceremoniousness of her visit, on the score that she had received a message for me the night before which "florence" had begged her to deliver without delay. the message was to this effect: "tell my mother that i was with her this afternoon at the lawyer's, and she is _not_ to follow the advice given her, as it will do harm instead of good." mrs. cook added, "i don't know to what 'florence' alludes, of course, but i thought it best, as i was coming to town, to let you know at once." the force of this anecdote does not lie in the context. the mystery is contained in the fact of a secret interview having been overheard and commented upon. but the truth is, that having greater confidence in the counsel of my visible guide than in that of my invisible one, i abided by the former, and regretted it ever afterwards. the first conversation i held with "florence" had a great effect upon me. i knew before that my uncontrolled grief had been the cause of the untimely death of her body, but it had never struck me that her spirit would carry the effects of it into the unseen world. it was a warning to me (as it should be to all mothers) not to take the solemn responsibility of maternity upon themselves without being prepared to sacrifice their own feelings for the sake of their children. "florence" assured me, however, that communion with myself in my improved condition of happiness would soon lift her spirit from its state of depression, and consequently i seized every opportunity of seeing and speaking with her. during the succeeding twelve months i attended numerous _sã©ances_ with various media, and my spirit child (as she called herself) never failed to manifest through the influence of any one of them, though, of course, in different ways. through some she touched me only, and always with an infant's hand, that i might recognize it as hers, or laid her mouth against mine that i might feel the scar upon her lip; through others she spoke, or wrote, or showed her face, but i never attended a _sã©ance_ at which she omitted to notify her presence. once at a dark circle, held with mr. charles williams, after having had my dress and that of my next neighbor, lady archibald campbell, pulled several times as if to attract our attention, the darkness opened before us, and there stood my child, smiling at us like a happy dream, her fair hair waving about her temples, and her blue eyes fixed on me. she was clothed in white, but we saw no more than her head and bust, about which her hands held her drapery. lady archibald campbell saw her as plainly as i did. on another occasion mr. william eglinton proposed to me to try and procure the spirit-writing on his arm. he directed me to go into another room and write the name of the friend i loved best in the spirit world upon a scrap of paper, which i was to twist up tightly and take back to him. i did so, writing the name of "john powles." when i returned to mr. eglinton, he bared his arm, and holding the paper to the candle till it was reduced to tinder, rubbed his flesh with the ashes. i knew what was expected to ensue. the name written on the paper was to reappear in red or white letters on the medium's arm. the sceptic would say it was a trick of thought-reading, and that, the medium knowing what i had written, had prepared the writing during my absence. but to his surprise and mine, when at last he shook the ashes from his arm, we read, written in a bold, clear hand, the words--"florence is the dearest," as though my spirit child had given me a gentle rebuke for writing any name but her own. it seems curious to me now to look back and remember how melancholy she used to be when she first came back to me, for as soon as she had established an unbroken communication between us, she developed into the merriest little spirit i have ever known, and though her childhood has now passed away, and she is more dignified and thoughtful and womanly, she always appears joyous and happy. she has manifested largely to me through the mediumship of mr. arthur colman. i had known her, during a dark _sã©ance_ with a very small private circle (the medium being securely held and fastened the while) run about the room, like the child she was, and speak to and kiss each sitter in turn, pulling off the sofa and chair covers and piling them up in the middle of the table, and changing the ornaments of everyone present--placing the gentlemen's neckties round the throats of the ladies, and hanging the ladies' earrings in the buttonholes of the gentlemen's coats--just as she might have done had she been still with us, a happy, petted child, on earth. i have known her come in the dark and sit on my lap and kiss my face and hands, and let me feel the defect in her mouth with my own. one bright evening on the 9th of july--my birthday--arthur colman walked in quite unexpectedly to pay me a visit, and as i had some friends with me, we agreed to have a _sã©ance_. it was impossible to make the room dark, as the windows were only shaded by venetian blinds, but we lowered them, and sat in the twilight. the first thing we heard was the voice of "florence" whispering--"a present for dear mother's birthday," when something was put into my hand. then she crossed to the side of a lady present and dropped something into her hand, saying, "and a present for dear mother's friend!" i knew at once by the feel of it that what "florence" had given me was a chaplet of beads, and knowing how often, under similar circumstances, articles are merely carried about a room, i concluded it was one which lay upon my drawing-room mantel-piece, and said as much. i was answered by the voice of "aimã©e," the medium's nearest control. "you are mistaken," she said, "'florence' has given you a chaplet you have never seen before. she was exceedingly anxious to give you a present on your birthday, so i gave her the beads which were buried with me. they came from my coffin. i held them in my hand. all i ask is, that you will not shew them to arthur until i give you leave. he is not well at present, and the sight of them will upset him." i was greatly astonished, but, of course, i followed her instructions, and when i had an opportunity to examine the beads, i found that they really were strangers to me, and had not been in the house before. the present my lady friend had received was a large, unset topaz. the chaplet was made of carved wood and steel. it was not till months had elapsed that i was given permission to show it to arthur colman. he immediately recognized it as the one he had himself placed in the hands of "aimã©e" as she lay in her coffin, and when i saw how the sight affected him, i regretted i had told him anything about it. i offered to give the beads up to him, but he refused to receive them, and they remain in my possession to this day. but the great climax that was to prove beyond all question the personal identity of the spirit who communicated with me, with the body i had brought into the world, was yet to come. mr. william harrison, the editor of the _spiritualist_ (who, after seventeen years' patient research into the science of spiritualism, had never received a personal proof of the return of his own friends, or relations) wrote me word that he had received a message from his lately deceased friend, mrs. stewart, to the effect that if he would sit with the medium, florence cook, and one or two harmonious companions, she would do her best to appear to him in her earthly likeness and afford him the test he had so long sought after. mr. harrison asked me, therefore, if i would join him and miss kidlingbury--the secretary to the british national association of spiritualists--in holding a _sã©ance_ with miss cook, to which i agreed, and we met in one of the rooms of the association for that purpose. it was a very small room, about 8 feet by 16 feet, was uncarpeted and contained no furniture, so we carried in three cane-bottomed chairs for our accommodation. across one corner of the room, about four feet from the floor, we nailed an old black shawl, and placed a cushion behind it for miss cook to lean her head against. miss florence cook, who is a brunette, of a small, slight figure, with dark eyes and hair which she wore in a profusion of curls, was dressed in a high grey merino, ornamented with crimson ribbons. she informed me previous to sitting, that she had become restless during her trances lately, and in the habit of walking out amongst the circle, and she asked me as a friend (for such we had by that time become) to scold her well should such a thing occur, and order her to go back into the cabinet as if she were "a child or a dog;" and i promised her i would do so. after florence cook had sat down on the floor, behind the black shawl (which left her grey merino skirt exposed), and laid her head against the cushion, we lowered the gas a little, and took our seats on the three cane chairs. the medium appeared very uneasy at first, and we heard her remonstrating with the influences for using her so roughly. in a few minutes, however, there was a tremulous movement of the black shawl, and a large white hand was several times thrust into view and withdrawn again. i had never seen mrs. stewart (for whom we were expressly sitting) in this life, and could not, therefore, recognize the hand; but we all remarked how large and white it was. in another minute the shawl was lifted up, and a female figure crawled on its hands and knees from behind it, and then stood up and regarded us. it was impossible, in the dim light and at the distance she stood from us, to identify the features, so mr. harrison asked if she were mrs. stewart. the figure shook its head. i had lost a sister a few months previously, and the thought flashed across me that it might be her. "is it you, emily?" i asked; but the head was still shaken to express a negative, and a similar question on the part of miss kidlingbury, with respect to a friend of her own, met with the same response. "who _can_ it be?" i remarked curiously to mr. harrison. "mother! don't you know me?" sounded in "florence's" whispering voice. i started up to approach her, exclaiming, "o! my darling child! i never thought i should meet you here!" but she said, "go back to your chair, and i will come to you!" i reseated myself, and "florence" crossed the room and sat down _on my lap_. she was more unclothed on that occasion than any materialized spirit i have ever seen. she wore nothing on her head, only her hair, of which she appears to have an immense quantity, fell down her back and covered her shoulders. her arms were bare and her feet and part of her legs, and the dress she wore had no shape or style, but seemed like so many yards of soft thick muslin, wound round her body from the bosom to below the knees. she was a heavy weight--perhaps ten stone--and had well-covered limbs. in fact, she was then, and has appeared for several years past, to be, in point of size and shape, so like her eldest sister eva, that i always observe the resemblance between them. this _sã©ance_ took place at a period when "florence" must have been about seventeen years old. "florence, my darling," i said, "is this _really_ you?" "turn up the gas," she answered, "and look at my mouth." mr. harrison did as she desired, and we all saw distinctly _that peculiar defect on the lip_ with which she was born--a defect, be it remembered, which some of the most experienced members of the profession had affirmed to be "_so rare as never to have fallen under their notice before_." she also opened her mouth that we might see she had no gullet. i promised at the commencement of my book to confine myself to facts, and leave the deduction to be drawn from them to my readers, so i will not interrupt my narrative to make any remarks upon this incontrovertible proof of identity. i know it struck me dumb, and melted me into tears. at this juncture miss cook, who had been moaning and moving about a good deal behind the black shawl, suddenly exclaimed, "i can't stand this any longer," and walked out into the room. there she stood in her grey dress and crimson ribbons whilst "florence" sat on my lap in white drapery. but only for a moment, for directly the medium was fully in view, the spirit sprung up and darted behind the curtain. recalling miss cook's injunctions to me, i scolded her heartily for leaving her seat, until she crept back, whimpering, to her former position. the shawl had scarcely closed behind her before "florence" reappeared and clung to me, saying, "don't let her do that again. she frightens me so." she was actually trembling all over. "why, florence," i replied. "do you mean to tell me you are frightened of your medium? in this world it is we poor mortals who are frightened of the spirits." "i am afraid she will send me away, mother," she whispered. however, miss cook did not disturb us again, and "florence" stayed with us for some time longer. she clasped her arms round my neck, and laid her head upon my bosom, and kissed me dozens of times. she took my hand and spread it out, and said she felt sure i should recognize her hand when she thrust it outside the curtain, because it was so much like my own. i was suffering much trouble at that time, and "florence" told me the reason god had permitted her to show herself to me in her earthly deformity was so that i might be sure that she was herself, and that spiritualism was a truth to comfort me. "sometimes you doubt, mother," she said, "and think your eyes and ears have misled you; but after this you must never doubt again. don't fancy i am like this in the spirit land. the blemish left me long ago. but i put it on to-night to make you certain. don't fret, dear mother. remember _i_ am always near you. no one can take _me_ away. your earthly children may grow up and go out into the world and leave you, but you will always have your spirit child close to you." i did not, and cannot, calculate for how long "florence" remained visible on that occasion. mr. harrison told me afterwards that she had remained for nearly twenty minutes. but her undoubted presence was such a stupendous fact to me, that i could only think that _she was there_--that i actually held in my arms the tiny infant i had laid with my own hands in her coffin--that she was no more dead than i was myself, but had grown to be a woman. so i sat, with my arms tight round her, and my heart beating against hers, until the power decreased, and "florence" was compelled to give me a last kiss and leave me stupefied and bewildered by what had so unexpectedly occurred. two other spirits materialized and appeared after she had left us, but as neither of them was mrs. stewart, the _sã©ance_, as far as mr. harrison was concerned, was a failure. i have seen and heard "florence" on numerous occasions since the one i have narrated, but not with the mark upon her mouth, which she assures me will never trouble either of us again. i could fill pages with accounts of her pretty, caressing ways and her affectionate and sometimes solemn messages; but i have told as much of her story as will interest the general reader. it has been wonderful to me to mark how her ways and mode of communication have changed with the passing years. it was a simple child who did not know how to express itself that appeared to me in 1873. it is a woman full of counsel and tender warning that comes to me in 1890. but yet she is only nineteen. when she reached that age, "florence" told me she should never grow any older in years or appearance, and that she had reached the climax of womanly perfection in the spirit world. only to-night--the night before christmas day--as i write her story, she comes to me and says, "mother! you must not give way to sad thoughts. the past is past. let it be buried in the blessings that remain to you." and amongst the greatest of those blessings i reckon my belief in the existence of my spirit-child. chapter ix. the story of emily. my sister emily was the third daughter of my late father, and several years older than myself. she was a handsome woman--strictly speaking, perhaps, the handsomest of the family, and quite unlike the others. she had black hair and eyes, a pale complexion, a well-shaped nose, and small, narrow hands and feet. but her beauty had slight detractions--so slight, indeed, as to be imperceptible to strangers, but well known to her intimate friends. her mouth was a little on one side, one shoulder was half an inch higher than the other, her fingers were not quite straight, nor her toes, and her hips corresponded with her shoulders. she was clever, with a versatile, all-round talent, and of a very happy and contented disposition. she married dr. henry norris of charmouth, in dorset, and lived there many years before her death. she was an excellent wife and mother, a good friend, and a sincere christian; indeed, i do not believe that a more earnest, self-denying, better woman ever lived in this world. but she had strong feelings, and in some things she was very bigoted. one was spiritualism. she vehemently opposed even the mention of it, declared it to be diabolical, and never failed to blame me for pursuing such a wicked and unholy occupation. she was therefore about the last person whom i should have expected to take advantage of it to communicate with her friends. my sister emily died on the 20th of april, 1875. her death resulted from a sudden attack of pleurisy, and was most unexpected. i was sitting at an early dinner with my children on the same day when i received a telegram from my brother-in-law to say, "emily very ill; will telegraph when change occurs," and i had just despatched an answer to ask if i should go down to charmouth, or could be of any use, when a second message arrived, "all is over. she died quietly at two o'clock." those who have received similar shocks will understand what i felt. i was quite stunned, and could not realize that my sister had passed away from us, so completely unanticipated had been the news. i made the necessary arrangements for going down to her funeral, but my head was filled with nothing but thoughts of emily the while, and conjectures of _how_ she had died and of _what_ she had died (for that was, as yet, unknown to me), and what she had thought and said; above all, what she was thinking and feeling at that moment. i retired to rest with my brain in a whirl, and lay half the night wide awake, staring into the darkness, and wondering where my sister was. _now_ was the time (if any) for my cerebral organs to play me a trick, and conjure up a vision of the person i was thinking of. but i saw nothing; no sound broke the stillness; my eyes rested only on the darkness. i was quite disappointed, and in the morning i told my children so. i loved my sister emily dearly, and i hoped she would have come to wish me good-bye. on the following night i was exhausted by want of sleep and the emotion i had passed through, and when i went to bed i was very sleepy. i had not been long asleep, however, before i was waked up--i can hardly say by what--and there at my bedside stood emily, smiling at me. when i lost my little "florence," emily had been unmarried, and she had taken a great interest in my poor baby, and nursed her during her short lifetime, and, i believe, really mourned her loss, for (although she had children of her own) she always wore a little likeness of "florence" in a locket on her watch-chain. when emily died i had of course been for some time in communication with my spirit-child, and when my sister appeared to me that night, "florence" was in her arms, with her head resting on her shoulder. i recognized them both at once, and the only thing which looked strange to me was that emily's long black hair was combed right back in the chinese fashion, giving her forehead an unnaturally high appearance. this circumstance made the greater impression on me, because we all have such high foreheads with the hair growing off the temples that we have never been able to wear it in the style i speak of. with this exception my sister looked beautiful and most happy, and my little girl clung to her lovingly. emily did not speak aloud, but she kept on looking down at "florence," and up at me, whilst her lips formed the words, "little baby," which was the name by which she had always mentioned my spirit-child. in the morning i mentioned what i had seen to my elder girls, adding, "i hardly knew dear aunt emily, with her hair scratched back in that fashion." this apparition happened on the wednesday night, and on the friday following i travelled down to charmouth to be present at the funeral, which was fixed for saturday. i found my sister cecil there before me. as soon as we were alone, she said to me, "i am so glad you came to-day. i want you to arrange dear emily nicely in her coffin. the servants had laid her out before my arrival, and she doesn't look a bit like herself. but i haven't the nerve to touch her." it was late at night, but i took a candle at once and accompanied cecil to the death-chamber. our sister was lying, pale and calm, with a smile upon her lips, much as she had appeared to me, and with _all her black hair combed back from her forehead_. the servants had arranged it so, thinking it looked neater. it was impossible to make any alteration till the morning, but when our dear sister was carried to her grave, her hair framed her dead face in the wavy curls in which it always fell when loose; a wreath of flowering syringa was round her head, a cross of violets on her breast, and in her waxen, beautifully-moulded hands, she held three tall, white lilies. i mention this because she has come to me since with the semblance of these very flowers to ensure her recognition. after the funeral, my brother-in-law gave me the details of her last illness. he told me that on the monday afternoon, when her illness first took a serious turn and she became (as he said) delirious, she talked continually to her father, captain marryat (to whom she had been most reverentially attached), and who, she affirmed, was sitting by the side of the bed. her conversation was perfectly rational, and only disjointed when she waited for a reply to her own remarks. she spoke to him of langham and all that had happened there, and particularly expressed her surprise at his having _a beard_, saying, "does hair grow up there, father?" i was the more impressed by this account, because dr. norris, like most medical men, attributed the circumstance entirely to the distorted imagination of a wandering brain. and yet my father (whom i have never seen since his death) has been described to me by various clairvoyants, and always as _wearing a beard_, a thing he never did during his lifetime, as it was the fashion then for naval officers to wear only side whiskers. in all his pictures he is represented as clean shorn, and as he was so well known a man, one would think that (were they dissembling) the clairvoyants, in describing his personal characteristics, would follow the clue given by his portraits. for some time after my sister emily's death i heard nothing more of her, and for the reasons i have given, i never expected to see her again until we met in the spirit-world. about two years after her death, however, my husband, colonel lean, bought two tickets for a series of _sã©ances_ to be held in the rooms of the british national association of spiritualists under the mediumship of mr. william eglinton. this was the first time we had ever seen or sat with mr. eglinton, but we had heard a great deal of his powers, and were curious to test them. on the first night, which was a saturday, we assembled with a party of twelve, all complete strangers, in the rooms i have mentioned, which were comfortably lighted with gas. mr. eglinton, who is a young man inclined to stoutness, went into the cabinet, which was placed in the centre of us, with spectators all round it. the cabinet was like a large cupboard, made of wood and divided into two parts, the partition being of wire-work, so that the medium might be padlocked into it, and a curtain drawn in front of both sides. after a while, a voice called out to us not to be frightened, as the medium was coming out to get more power, and mr. eglinton, in a state of trance and dressed in a suit of evening clothes, walked out of the cabinet and commenced a tour of the circle. he touched every one in turn, but did not stop until he reached colonel lean, before whom he remained for some time, making magnetic passes down his face and figure. he then turned to re-enter the cabinet, but as he did so, some one moved the curtain from inside and mr. eglinton _actually held the curtain to one side to permit the materialized form to pass out_ before he went into the cabinet himself. the figure that appeared was that of a woman clothed in loose white garments that fell to her feet. her eyes were black and her long black hair fell over her shoulders. i suspected at the time who she was, but each one in the circle was so certain she came for him or for her, that i said nothing, and only mentally asked if it were my sister that i might receive a proof of her identity. on the following evening (sunday) colonel lean and i were "sitting" together, when emily came to the table to assure us that it was she whom we had seen, and that she would appear again on monday and show herself more clearly. i asked her to think of some means by which she could prove her identity with the spirit that then spoke to us, and she said, "i will hold up my right hand." colonel lean cautioned me not to mention this promise to any one, that we might be certain of the correctness of the test. accordingly, on the monday evening we assembled for our second _sã©ance_ with mr. eglinton, and the same form appeared, and walking out much closer to us, _held up the right hand_. colonel lean, anxious not to be deceived by his own senses, asked the company what the spirit was doing. "cannot you see?" was the answer. "she is holding up her hand." on this occasion emily came with all her old characteristics about her, and there would have been no possibility of mistaking her (at least on my part) without the proof she had promised to give us. the next startling assurance we received of her proximity happened in a much more unexpected manner. we were staying, in the autumn of the following year, at a boarding-house in the rue de vienne at brussels, with a large party of english visitors, none of whom we had ever seen till we entered the house. amongst them were several girls, who had never heard of spiritualism before, and were much interested in listening to the relation of our experiences on the subject. one evening when i was not well, and keeping my own room, some of these young ladies got hold of colonel lean and said, "oh! do come and sit in the dark with us and tell us ghost stories." now sitting in the dark and telling ghost stories to five or six nice looking girls is an occupation few men would object to, and they were all soon ensconced in the dark and deserted _salle-ã -manger_. amongst them was a young girl of sixteen, miss helen hill, who had never shown more interest than the rest in such matters. after they had been seated in the dark for some minutes, she said to colonel lean, "do you know, i can see a lady on the opposite side of the table quite distinctly, and she is nodding and smiling at you." the colonel asked what the lady was like. "she is very nice looking," replied the girl, "with dark eyes and hair, but she seems to want me to notice her ring. she wears a ring with a large blue stone in it, of such a funny shape, and she keeps on twisting it round and round her finger, and pointing to it. oh! now she has got up and is walking round the room. only fancy! she is holding up her feet for me to see. they are bare and very white, but her toes are crooked!" then miss hill became frightened and asked them to get a light. she declared that the figure had come up, close to her, and torn the lace off her wrists. and when the light was procured and her dress examined, a frill of lace that had been tacked into her sleeve that morning had totally disappeared. the young ladies grew nervous and left the room, and colonel lean, thinking the description helen hill had given of the spirit tallied with that of my sister emily, came straight up to me and surprised me by an abrupt question as to whether she had been in the habit of wearing any particular ring (for he had not seen her for several years before her death). i told him that her favorite ring was an uncut turquoise--so large and uneven that she used to call it her "potato." "had she any peculiarity about her feet?" he went on, eagerly. "why do you wish to know?" i said. "she had crooked toes, that is all." "good heavens!" he exclaimed, "then she has been with us in the _salle-ã -manger_." i have never met miss hill since, and i am not in a position to say if she has evinced any further possession of clairvoyant power; but she certainly displayed it on that occasion to a remarkable degree; for she had never even heard of the existence of my sister emily, and was very much disturbed and annoyed when told that the apparition she had described was reality and not imagination. chapter x. the story of the green lady. the story i have to tell now happened a very short time ago, and every detail is as fresh in my mind as if i had heard and seen it yesterday. mrs. guppy-volckman has been long known to the spiritualistic world as a very powerful medium, also as taking a great private interest in spiritualism, which all media do not. her means justify her, too, in gratifying her whims; and hearing that a certain house in broadstairs was haunted, she became eager to ascertain the truth. the house being empty, she procured the keys from the landlord, and proceeded on a voyage of discovery alone. she had barely recovered, at the time, from a most dangerous illness, which had left a partial paralysis of the lower limbs behind it; it was therefore with considerable difficulty that she gained the drawing-room of the house, which was on the first floor, and when there she abandoned her crutches, and sat down on the floor to recover herself. mrs. volckman was now perfectly alone. she had closed the front door after her, and she was moreover almost helpless, as it was with great difficulty that she could rise without assistance. it was on a summer's evening towards the dusky hour, and she sat on the bare floor of the empty house waiting to see what might happen. after some time (i tell this part of the story as i received it from her lips) she heard a rustling or sweeping sound, as of a long silk train coming down the uncarpeted stairs from the upper storey. the room in which she sat communicated with another, which led out upon the passage, and it was not long before the door between these two apartments opened and the figure of a woman appeared. she entered the room in which mrs. volckman sat, very cautiously, and commenced to walk round it, feeling her way along the walls as though she were blind or tipsy. she was dressed in a green satin robe that swept behind her--round the upper part of her body was a kind of scarf of glistening white material, like silk gauze--and on her head was a black velvet cap, or coif, from underneath which her long black hair fell down her back. mrs. volckman, although used all her life to manifestations and apparitions of all sorts, told me she had never felt so frightened at the sight of one before. she attempted to rise, but feeling her incapability of doing so quickly, she screamed with fear. as soon as she did so, the woman turned round and ran out of the room, apparently as frightened as herself. mrs. volckman got hold of her crutches, scrambled to her feet, found her way downstairs, and reached the outside of the house in safety. most people would never have entered it again. she, on the contrary, had an interview with the landlord, and actually, then and there, purchased a lease of the house and entered upon possession, and as soon as it was furnished and ready for occupation, she invited a party of friends to go down and stay with her at broadstairs, and make the acquaintance of the "green lady," as we had christened her. colonel lean and i were amongst the visitors, the others consisting of lady archibald campbell, miss shaw, mrs. olive, mrs. bellew, colonel greck, mr. charles williams, and mr. and mrs. henry volckman, which, with our host and hostess, made up a circle of twelve. we assembled there on a bright day in july, and the house, with its large rooms and windows facing the sea, looked cheerful enough. the room in which mrs. volckman had seen the apparition was furnished as a drawing-room, and the room adjoining it, which was divided by a _portiã¨re_ only from the larger apartment, she had converted for convenience sake into her bedroom. the first evening we sat it was about seven o'clock, and so light that we let down all the venetians, which, however, did little to remedy the evil. we had no cabinet, nor curtains, nor darkness, for it was full moon at the time, and the dancing, sparkling waves were quite visible through the interstices of the venetians. we simply sat round the table, holding hands in an unbroken circle and laughing and chatting with each other. in a few minutes mrs. volckman said something was rising beside her from the carpet, and in a few more the "green lady" was visible to us all standing between the medium and mr. williams. she was just as she had been described to us, both in dress and appearance, but her face was as white and as cold as that of a corpse, and her eyes were closed. she leaned over the table and brought her face close to each of us in turn, but she seemed to have no power of speech. after staying with us about ten minutes, she sunk as she had risen, through the carpet, and disappeared. the next evening, under precisely similar circumstances, she came again. this time she had evidently gained more vitality in a materialized condition, for when i urged her to tell me her name, she whispered, though with much difficulty, "julia!" and when lady archibald observed that she thought she had no hands, the spirit suddenly thrust out a little hand, and grasped the curls on her forehead with a violence that gave her pain. unfortunately, mr. williams' professional engagements compelled him to leave us on the following day, and mrs. volckman had been too recently ill to permit her to sit alone, so that we were not able to hold another _sã©ance_ for the "green lady" during our visit. but we had not seen the last of her. one evening mrs. bellew and i were sitting in the bay window of the drawing-room, just "between the lights," and discussing a very private matter indeed, when i saw (as i thought) my hostess maid raise the _portiã¨re_ that hung between the apartments and stand there in a listening attitude. i immediately gave mrs. volckman the hint. "let us talk of something else," i said, in a low voice. "jane is in your bedroom." "o! no! she's not," was the reply. "but i saw her lift the _portiã¨re_," i persisted; "she has only just dropped it." "you are mistaken," replied my hostess, "for jane has gone on the beach with the child." i felt sure i had _not_ been mistaken, but i held my tongue and said no more. the conversation was resumed, and as we were deep in the delicate matter, the woman appeared for the second time. "mrs. volckman," i whispered, "jane is really there. she has just looked in again." my friend rose from her seat. "come with me," she said, "and i will convince you that you are wrong." i followed her into the bedroom, where she showed me that the door communicating with the passage was locked _inside_. "now, do you see," she continued, "that no one but the 'green lady' could enter this room but through the one we are sitting in." "then it must have been the 'green lady,'" i replied, "for i assuredly saw a woman standing in the doorway." "that is likely enough," said mrs. volckman; "but if she comes again she shall have the trouble of drawing back the curtains." and thereupon she unhooped the _portiã¨re_, which consisted of two curtains, and drew them right across the door. we had hardly regained our seats in the bay window before the two curtains were sharply drawn aside, making the brass rings rattle on the rod, and the "green lady" stood in the opening we had just passed through. mrs. volckman told her not to be afraid, but to come out and speak to us; but she was apparently not equal to doing so, and only stood there for a few minutes gazing at us. i imprudently left my seat and approached her, with a view to making overtures of friendship, when she dropped the curtains over her figure. i passed through them immediately to the other side, and found the bedroom empty and the door locked inside, as before. chapter xi. the story of the monk. a lady named uniacke, a resident in bruges, whilst on a visit to my house in london, met and had a _sã©ance_ with william eglinton, with which she was so delighted that she immediately invited him to go and stay with her abroad, and as my husband and i were about to cross over to bruges to see my sister, who also resided there, we travelled in company--mr. eglinton living at mrs. uniacke's home, whilst we stayed with our own relations. mrs. uniacke was a medium herself, and had already experienced some very noisy and violent demonstrations in her own house. she was, therefore, quite prepared for her visitor, and had fitted up a spare room with a cabinet and blinds to the windows, and everything that was necessary. but, somewhat to her chagrin, we were informed at the first sitting by mr. eglinton's control, "joey," that all future _sã©ances_ were to take place at my sister's house instead. we were given no reason for the change; we were simply told to obey it. my sister's house was rather a peculiar one, and i have already alluded to it, and some of the sights and sounds by which it was haunted, in the chapter headed "optical illusions." the building is so ancient that the original date has been completely lost. a stone set into one of the walls bore an inscription to the effect that it was restored in the year 1616. and an obsolete plan of the city shows it to have stood in its present condition in 1562. prior to that period, however, probably about the thirteenth century, it is supposed, with three houses on either side of it, to have formed a convent, but no printed record remains of the fact. beneath it are subterraneous passages, choked with rubbish, which lead, no one knows whither. i had stayed in this house several times before, and always felt unpleasant influences from it, as i have related, especially in a large room on the lower floor, then used as a drawing-room, but which is said to have formed, originally, the chapel to the convent. others had felt the influence beside myself, though we never had had reason to suppose that there was any particular cause for it. when we expressed curiosity, however, to learn why "joey" desired us to hold our _sã©ance_ in my sister's house, he told us that the medium had not been brought over to bruges for _our_ pleasure or edification, but that there was a great work to be done there, and mrs. uniacke had been expressly influenced to invite him over, that the purposes of a higher power than his own should be accomplished. consequently, on the following evening mrs. uniacke brought mr. eglinton over to my sister's house, and "joey" having been asked to choose a room for the sitting, selected an _entresol_ on the upper floor, which led by two short passages to the bedrooms. the bedroom doors being locked a dark curtain was hung at the entrance of one of these passages, and "joey" declared it was a first-rate cabinet. we then assembled in the drawing-room, for the purposes of music and conversation, for we intended to hold the _sã©ance_ later in the evening. the party consisted only of the medium, mrs. uniacke, my sister, my husband, and myself. after i had sung a song or two, mr. eglinton became restless and moved away from the piano, saying the influence was too strong for him. he began walking up and down the room, and staring fixedly at the door, before which hung a _portiã¨re_. several times he exclaimed with knitted brows, "what is the matter with that door? there is something very peculiar about it." once he approached it quickly, but "joey's" voice was heard from behind the _portiã¨re_, saying, "don't come too near." mr. eglinton then retreated to a sofa, and appeared to be fighting violently with some unpleasant influence. he made the sign of the cross, then extended his fingers towards the door, as though to exorcise it: finally he burst into a mocking, scornful peal of laughter that lasted for some minutes. as it concluded, a diabolical expression came over his face. he clenched his hands, gnashed his teeth, and commenced to grope in a crouching position towards the door. we concluded he wished to get up to the room where the cabinet was, and let him have his way. he crawled, rather than walked, up the steep turret stairs, but on reaching the top, came to himself suddenly and fell back several steps. my husband, fortunately, was just behind him and saved him from a fall. he complained greatly of the influence and of a pain in his head, and we sat at the table to receive directions. in a few seconds the same spirit had taken possession of him. he left the table and groped his way towards the bedrooms, listening apparently to every sound, and with his hand holding an imaginary knife which was raised every now and then as if to strike. the expression on mr. eglinton's face during this possession is too horrible to describe. the worst passions were written as legibly there as though they had been labelled. there was a short flight of stairs leading from the _entresol_ to the corridor, closed at the head by a padded door, which we had locked for fear of accident. when, apparently in pursuit of his object, the spirit led the medium up to this door and he found it fastened, his moans were terrible. half-a-dozen times he made his weary round of the room, striving to get downstairs to accomplish some end, and to return to us moaning and baffled. at this juncture, he was so exhausted that one of his controls, "daisy," took possession of him and talked with us for some time. we asked "daisy" what the spirit was like that had controlled mr. eglinton last, and she said she did not like him--he had a bad face, no hair on the top of his head, and a long black frock. from this we concluded he had been a monk or a priest. when "daisy" had finished speaking to us "joey" desired mr. eglinton to go into the cabinet; but as soon as he rose, the same spirit got possession again and led him grovelling as before towards the bedrooms. his "guides" therefore carried him into the cabinet before our eyes. he was elevated far above our heads, his feet touching each of us in turn; he was then carried past the unshaded window, which enabled us to judge of the height he was from the ground, and finally over a large table, into the cabinet. nothing, however, of consequence occurred, and "joey" advised us to take the medium downstairs to the supper room. accordingly we adjourned there, and during supper mr. eglinton appeared to be quite himself, and laughed with us over what had taken place. as soon as the meal was over, however, the old restlessness returned on him, and he began pacing up and down the room, walking out every now and then into the corridor. in a few minutes we perceived that the uneasy spirit again controlled him, and we all followed. he went steadily towards the drawing-room, but, on finding himself pursued, turned back, and three times pronounced emphatically the word "go." he then entered the drawing-room, which was in darkness, and closed the door behind him, whilst we waited outside. in a little while he reopened it, and speaking in quite a different voice, said "bring a light! i have something to say to you." when we reassembled with a lamp we found the medium controlled by a new spirit, whom "joey" afterwards told us was one of his highest guides. motioning us to be seated, he stood before us and said, "i have been selected from amongst the controls of this medium to tell you the history of the unhappy being who has so disturbed you this evening. he is present now, and the confession of his crime through my lips will help him to throw off the earthbound condition to which it has condemned him. many years ago, the house in which we now stand was a convent, and underneath it were four subterraneous passages running north, south, east, and west, which communicated with all parts of the town. (i must here state that mr. eglinton had not previously been informed of any particulars relating to the former history of my sister's home, neither were mrs. uniacke or myself acquainted with it.) "in this convent there lived a most beautiful woman--a nun, and in one of the neighboring monasteries a priest who, against the strict law of his church, had conceived and nourished a passion for her. he was an italian who had been obliged to leave his own country, for reasons best known to himself, and nightly he would steal his way to this house, by means of one of the subterraneous passages, and attempt to overcome the nun's scruples, and make her listen to his tale of love; but she, strong in the faith, resisted him. at last, maddened one day by her repeated refusals, and his own guilty passion, he hid himself in one of the northern rooms in the upper story of this house, and watched there in the dark for her to pass him on her way from her devotions in the chapel; but she did not come. then he crept downstairs stealthily, with a dagger hid beneath his robes, and met her in the hall. he conjured her again to yield to him, but again she resisted, and he stabbed her within the door on the very spot where the medium first perceived him. her pure soul sought immediate consolation in the spirit spheres, but his has been chained down ever since to the scene of his awful crime. he dragged her body down the secret stairs (which are still existent) to the vaults beneath, and hid it in the subterraneous passage. "after a few days he sought it again, and buried it. he lived many years after, and committed many other crimes, though none so foul as this. it is his unhappy spirit that asks your prayers to help it to progress. it is for this purpose that we were brought to this city, that we might aid in releasing the miserable soul that cannot rest." i asked, "by what name shall we pray for him?" "pray for 'the distressed being.' call him by no other name." "what is your own name?" "i prefer to be unknown. may god bless you all and keep you in the way of prayer and truth and from all evil courses, and bring you to everlasting life. amen." the medium then walked up to the spot he had indicated as the scene of the murder, and knelt there for some minutes in prayer. thus concluded the first _sã©ance_ at which the monk was introduced to us. but the next day as i sat at the table with my sister only, the name of "hortense dupont" was given us, and the following conversation was rapped out. "who are you?" "i am the nun. i did love him. i couldn't help it. it is such a relief to think that he will be prayed for." "when did he murder you?" "in 1498." "what was his name?" "i cannot tell you." "his age." "thirty-five!" "and yours." "twenty-three." "are you coming to see us to-morrow?" "i am not sure." on that evening, by "joey's" orders, we assembled at seven. mr. eglinton did not feel the influence in the drawing-room that day, but directly he entered the _sã©ance_ room, he was possessed by the same spirit. his actions were still more graphic than on the first occasion. he watched from the window for the coming of his victim through the courtyard, and then recommenced his crawling stealthy pursuit, coming back each time from the locked door that barred his egress with such heart-rending moans that no one could have listened to him unmoved. at last, his agony was so great, as he strove again and again, like some dumb animal, to pass through the walls that divided him from the spot he wished to visit, whilst the perspiration streamed down the medium's face with the struggle, that we attempted to make him speak to us. we implored him in french to tell us his trouble, and believe us to be his friends; but he only pushed us away. at last we were impressed to pray for him, and kneeling down, we repeated all the well-known catholic prayers. as we commenced the "de profundis" the medium fell prostrate on the earth, and seemed to wrestle with his agony. at the "salve regina" and "ave maria" he lifted his eyes to heaven and clasped his hands, and in the "pater noster" he appeared to join. but directly we ceased praying the evil passions returned, and his face became distorted in the thirst for blood. it was an experience that no one who had seen could ever forget. at last my sister fetched a crucifix, which we placed upon his breast. it had not been there many seconds before a different expression came over his face. he seized it in both hands, straining it to his eyes, lips, and heart, holding it from him at arm's length, then passionately kissing it, as we repeated the "anima christi." finally, he held the crucifix out for each of us to kiss; a beautiful smile broke out on the medium's face, and the spirit passed out of him. mr. eglinton awoke on that occasion terribly exhausted. his face was as white as a sheet, and he trembled violently. his first words were: "they are doing something to my forehead. burn a piece of paper, and give me the ashes." he rubbed them between his eyes, when the sign of the cross became distinctly visible, drawn in deep red lines upon his forehead. the controls then said, exhausted as mr. eglinton was, we were to place him in the cabinet, as their work was not yet done. he was accordingly led in trance to the arm-chair behind the curtain, whilst we formed a circle in front of him. in a few seconds the cabinet was illuminated, and a cross of fire appeared outside of it. this manifestation having been seen twice, the head and shoulders of a nun appeared floating outside the curtain. her white coif and "chin-piece" were pinned just as the "_religieuses_" are in the habit of pinning them, and she seemed very anxious to show herself, coming close to each of us in turn, and re-appearing several times. her face was that of a young and pretty woman. "joey" said, "that's the nun, but you'll understand that this is only a preliminary trial, preparatory to a more perfect materialization." i asked the apparition if she were the "hortense dupont" that had communicated through me, and she nodded her head several times in acquiescence. thus ended our second _sã©ance_ with the monk of bruges. on the third day we were all sitting at supper in my sister's house at about ten o'clock at night, when loud raps were heard about the room, and on giving the alphabet, "joey" desired us to go upstairs and sit, and to have the door at the head of the staircase (which we had hitherto locked for fear of accidents) left open; which we accordingly did. as soon as we were seated at the table, the medium became entranced, and the same pantomime which i have related was gone through. he watched from the window that looked into the courtyard, and silently groped his way round the room, until he had crawled on his stomach up the stairs that led to the padded door. when he found, however, that the obstacle that had hitherto stood in his way was removed (by its being open) he drew a long breath and started away for the winding turret staircase, listening at the doors he passed to find out if he were overheard. when he came to the stairs, in descending which we had been so afraid he might hurt himself, he was carried down them in the most wonderful manner, only placing his hand on the balustrades, and swooping to the bottom in one flight. we had placed a lamp in the hall, so that as we followed him we could observe all his actions. when he reached the bottom of the staircase he crawled on his stomach to the door of the drawing-room (originally the chapel) and there waited and listened, darting back into the shadow every time he fancied he heard a sound. imagine our little party of four in that sombre old house, the only ones waking at that time of night, watching by the ghastly light of a turned-down lamp the acting of that terrible tragedy. we held our breath as the murderer crouched by the chapel door, opening it noiselessly to peep within, and then, retreating with his imaginary dagger in his hand, ready to strike as soon as his victim appeared. at last she seemed to come. in an instant he had sprung to meet her, stabbing her first in a half-stooping attitude, and then, apparently, finding her not dead, he rose to his full height and stabbed her twice, straight downwards. for a moment he seemed paralyzed at what he had done, starting back with both hands clasped to his forehead. then he flung himself prostrate on the supposed body, kissing the ground frantically in all directions. presently he woke to the fear of detection, and raised the corpse suddenly in his arms. he fell once beneath the supposed weight, but staggering to his feet again, seized and dragged it, slipping on the stone floor as he went, to the head of the staircase that led to the cellars below, where the mouth of one of the subterraneous passages was still to be seen. the door at the head of this flight was modern, and he could not undo the lock, so, prevented from dragging the body down the steps, he cast himself again upon it, kissing the stone floor of the hall and moaning. at last he dragged himself on his knees to the spot of the murder, and began to pray. we knelt with him, and as he heard our voices he turned on his knees towards us with outstretched hands. i suggested that he wanted the crucifix again, and went upstairs to fetch it, when the medium followed me. when i had found what i sought, he seized it from me eagerly, and carrying it to the window, whence he had so often watched, fell down again upon his knees. after praying for some time he tried to speak to us. his lips moved and his tongue protruded, but he was unable to articulate. suddenly he seized each of our hands in turn in both of his own, and wrung them violently. he tried to bless us, but the words would not come. the same beautiful smile we had seen the night before broke out over his countenance, the crucifix dropped from his hands, and he fell prostrate on the floor. the next moment mr. eglinton was asking us where he was and what on earth had happened to him, as he felt so queer. he declared himself fearfully exhausted, but said he felt that a great calm and peace had come over him notwithstanding the weakness, and he believed some great good had been accomplished. he was not again entranced, but "joey" ordered the light to be put out, and spoke to us in the direct voice as follows:-"i've just come to tell you what i know you will be very glad to hear, that through the medium's power, and our power, and the great power of god, the unhappy spirit who has been confessing his crime to you is freed to-night from the heaviest part of his burden--the being earth-chained to the spot. i don't mean to say that he will go away at once to the spheres, because he's got a lot to do still to alter the conditions under which he labors, but the worst is over. this was the special work mr. eglinton was brought to bruges to do, and ernest and i can truly say that, during the whole course of our control of him, we have never had to put forth our own powers, nor to ask so earnestly for the help of god, as in the last three days. you have all helped in a good work,--to free a poor soul from earth, and to set him on the right road, and _we_ are grateful to you and to the medium, as well as he. he will be able to progress rapidly now until he reaches his proper sphere, and hereafter the spirits of himself and the woman he murdered will work together to undo for others the harm they brought upon themselves. she is rejoicing in her high sphere at the work we have done for him, and will be the first to help and welcome him upward. there are many more earth-bound spirits in this house and the surrounding houses who are suffering as he was, though not to the same extent, nor for the same reason. but they all ask for and need your help and your prayers, and this is the greatest and noblest end of spiritualism--to aid poor, unhappy spirits to free themselves from earth and progress upwards. after a while when this spirit can control the medium with calmness, he will come himself and tell you, through him, all his history and how he came to fall. meanwhile, we thank you very much for allowing us to draw so much strength from you and helping us with your sympathy, and i hope you will believe me always to remain, your loving friend, joey." * * * * * this account, with very little alteration, was published in the _spiritualist_ newspaper, august 29th, 1879, when the _sã©ances_ had just occurred. there is a sequel to the story, however, which is almost as remarkable as itself, and which has not appeared in print till now. from bruges on this occasion my husband and i went to brussels, where we diverted ourselves by means very dissimilar to anything so grave as spiritualism. there were many sales going on in brussels at that moment, and one of our amusements was to make a tour of the salerooms and inspect the articles put up for competition. during one of these visits i was much taken by a large oil pointing, in a massive frame, measuring some six or seven feet square. it represented a man in the dress of a franciscan monk--_i.e._, a brown serge robe, knotted with cords about the waist--kneeling in prayer with outstretched hands upon a mass of burning embers. it was labelled in the catalogue as the picture of a spanish monk of the order of saint francis xavier, and was evidently a painting of some value. i was drawn to go and look at it several days in succession before the sale, and i told my husband that i coveted its possession. he laughed at me and said it would fetch a great deal more money than we could afford to give for it, in which opinion i acquiesced. the day of the sale, however, found us in our places to watch the proceedings, and when the picture of the monk was put up i bid a small sum for it. col. lean looked at me in astonishment, but i whispered to him that i was only in fun, and i should stop at a hundred francs. the bidding was very languid, however, and to my utter amazement, the picture was knocked down to me for _seventy-two francs_. i could hardly believe that it was true. directly the sale was concluded, the brokers crowded round me to ask what i would take for the painting, and they told me they had not thought of bidding until it should have reached a few hundred francs. but i told them i had got my bargain, and i meant to stick by it. when we returned next day to make arrangements for its being sent to us, the auctioneer informed us that the frame alone in which it had been sent for sale had cost three hundred francs, so that i was well satisfied with my purchase. this occurrence took place a short time before we returned to england, where we arrived long before the painting, which, with many others, was left to follow us by a cheaper and slower route. the sunday after we reached home (having seen no friends in the meanwhile), we walked into steinway hall to hear mr. fletcher's lecture. at its conclusion he passed as usual into a state of trance, and described what he saw before him. in the midst of mentioning people, places, and incidents unknown to us, he suddenly exclaimed: "now i see a very strange thing, totally unlike anything i have ever seen before, and i hardly know how to describe it. a man comes before me--a foreigner--and in a dress belonging to some monastic order, a brown robe of coarse cloth or flannel, with a rope round his waist and beads hanging, and bare feet and a shaved head. he is dragging a picture on to the platform, a very large painting in a frame, and it looks to me like a portrait of himself, kneeling on a carpet of burning wood. no! i am wrong. the man tells me the picture is _not_ a portrait of himself, but of the founder of his order, and it is in the possession of some people in this hall to-night. the man tells me to tell these people that it was _his_ spirit that influenced them to buy this painting at some place over the water, and he did so in order that they might keep it in remembrance of what they have done for him. and he desires that they shall hang that picture in some room where they may see it every day, that they may never forget the help which spirits on this earth may render by their prayers to spirits that have passed away. and he offers them through me his heartfelt thanks for the assistance given him, and he says the day is not far off when he shall pray for himself and for them, that their kindness may return into their own bosoms." * * * * * the oil painting reached england in safety some weeks afterwards, and was hung over the mantel-piece in our dining-room, where it remained, a familiar object to all our personal acquaintances. chapter xii. the mediumship of miss showers. some time before i had the pleasure of meeting miss showers, i heard, through friends living in the west of england, of the mysterious and marvellous powers possessed by a young lady of their acquaintance, who was followed by voices in the air, which held conversations with her, and the owners of which were said to have made themselves visible. i listened with curiosity, the more so, as my informants utterly disbelieved in spiritualism, and thought the phenomena were due to trickery. at the same time i conceived a great desire to see the girl of sixteen, who, for no gain or apparent object of her own, was so clever as to mystify everyone around her; and when she and her mother came to london, i was amongst the first to beg for an introduction, and i shall never forget the experiences i had with her. she was the first _private_ medium through whom my personal friends returned to converse with me; and no one but a spiritualist can appreciate the blessing of spiritual communications through a source that is above the breath of suspicion. i have already written at length about miss showers in "the story of john powles." she was a child, compared to myself, whose life had hardly commenced when mine was virtually over, and neither she, nor any member of her family, had ever had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with even the names of my former friends. yet (as i have related) john powles made miss showers his especial mouthpiece, and my daughter "florence" (then a little child) also appeared through her, though at long intervals, and rather timidly. her own controls, however, or cabinet spirits (as they call them in america)--_i.e._, such spirits as are always about the medium, and help the strangers to appear--"peter," "florence," "lenore," and "sally," were very familiar with me, and afforded me such facilities of testing their medium as do not often fall to the lot of inquirers. indeed, at one time, they always requested that i should be present at their _sã©ances_, so that i considered myself to be highly favored. and i may mention here that miss showers and i were so much _en rapport_ that her manifestations were always much stronger in my presence. we could not sit next each other at an ordinary tea or supper table, when we had no thought of, or desire to hold a _sã©ance_, without manifestations occurring in the full light. a hand, that did not belong to either of us, would make itself apparent under the table-cloth between us--a hand with power to grasp ours--or our feet would be squeezed or kicked beneath the table, or fingers would suddenly appear, and whisk the food off our plates. some of their jests were inconvenient. i have had the whole contents of a tumbler, which i was raising to my lips, emptied over my dress. it was generally known that our powers were sympathetic, and at last "peter" gave me leave, or, rather, ordered me to sit in the cabinet with "rosie," whilst the manifestations went on outside. he used to say he didn't care for me any more than if i had been "a spirit myself." one evening "peter" called me into the cabinet (which was simply a large box cupboard at one end of the dining-room) before the _sã©ance_ began, and told me to sit down at the medium's feet and "be a good girl and keep quiet." miss showers was in a low chair, and i sat with my arms resting on her lap. she did not become entranced, and we talked the whole time together. presently, without any warning, two figures stood beside us. i could not have said where they came from. i neither saw them rise from the floor nor descend from the ceiling. there was no beginning to their appearance. in a moment they were simply _there_--"peter" and "florence" (not my child, but miss showers' control of the same names). "peter" sent "florence" out to the audience, where we heard her speaking to them and their remarks upon her (there being only a thin curtain hung before the entrance of the cabinet), but he stayed with us himself. we could not see him distinctly in the dim light, but we could distinctly hear and feel him. he changed our ornaments and ribbons, and pulled the hair-pins out of our hair, and made comments on what was going on outside. after a while "florence" returned to get more power, and both spirits spoke to and touched us at the same time. during the whole of this _sã©ance_ my arms rested on miss showers' lap, and she was awake and talking to me about the spirits. one evening, at a sitting at mr. luxmore's house in hyde park square, the spirit "florence" had been walking amongst the audience in the lighted front drawing-room for a considerable time--even sitting at the piano and accompanying herself whilst she sung us a song in what she called "the planetary language." she greatly resembled her medium on that occasion, and several persons present remarked that she did so. i suppose the inferred doubt annoyed her, for before she finally left us she asked for a light, and a small oil lamp was brought to her which she placed in my hand, telling me to follow her and look at her medium, which i accordingly did. "florence" led the way into the back drawing-room, where i found miss showers reposing in an arm-chair. the first sight of her terrified me. for the purpose of making any change in her dress as difficult as possible, she wore a high, tight-fitting black velvet frock, fastened at the back, and high hessian boots, with innumerable buttons. but she now appeared to be shrunk to half her usual size, and the dress hung loosely on her figure. her arms had disappeared, but putting my hands up the dress sleeves, i found them diminished to the size of those of a little child--the fingers reaching only to where the elbows had been. the same miracle had happened to her feet, which only occupied half her boots. she looked in fact like the mummy of a girl of four or six years old. the spirit told me to feel her face. the forehead was dry, rough, and burning hot, but from the chin water was dropping freely on to the bosom of her dress. "florence" said to me, "i wanted _you_ to see her, because i know you are brave enough to tell people what you have seen." there was a marked difference in the personality of the two influences "florence" and "lenore," although both at times resembled miss showers, and sometimes more than others. "florence" was taller than her medium, and a very beautiful woman. "lenore" was much shorter and smaller, and not so pretty, but more vivacious and pert. by the invitation of mrs. macdougal gregory, i attended several _sã©ances_ with miss showers at her residence in green street, when these spirits appeared. "lenore" was fond of saying that she wouldn't or couldn't come out unless _i_ held her hand, or put my arm round her waist. to tell the truth, i didn't care for the distinction, for this influence was very peculiar in some things, and to me she always appeared "uncanny," and to leave an unpleasant feeling behind her. she was seldom completely formed, and would hold up a foot which felt like wet clay, and had no toes to it, or not the proper quantity. on occasions, too, there was a charnel-house smell about her, as if she had been buried a few weeks and dug up again, an odor which i have never smelt from any materialized spirit before or after. one evening at mrs. gregory's, when "lenore" had insisted upon walking round the circle supported by my arm, i nearly fainted from the smell. it resembled nothing but that of a putrid corpse, and when she returned to the cabinet, i was compelled to leave the room and retch from the nausea it had caused me. it was on this occasion that the sitters called "lenore" so many times back into the circle, that all the power was gone, and she was in danger of melting away before their eyes. still they entreated her to remain with them a little longer. at last she grew impatient, and complained to me of their unreasonableness. she was then raised from the floor--actually floating just outside the curtain--and she asked me to put my hands up her skirts and convince myself that she was half-dematerialized. i did as she told me, and felt that she had _no legs_, although she had been walking round the room a few minutes before. i could feel nothing but the trunk of a body, which was completely lifted off the ground. her voice, too, had grown faint and her face indistinct, and in another moment she had totally disappeared. one evening at mrs. gregory's, after the _sã©ance_ was concluded, "florence" looked round the curtain and called to me to come inside of it. i did so and found myself in total darkness. i said, "what's the good of my coming here? i can't see anything." "florence" took me by one hand, and answered, "i will lead you! don't be afraid." then some one else grasped my other hand, and "peter's" voice said, "we've got you safe. we want you to feel the medium." the two figures led me between them to the sofa on which miss showers was lying. they passed my hand all over her head and body. i felt, as before, her hands and feet shrunk to half their usual size, but her heart appeared to have become proportionately increased. when my hand was placed upon it, it was leaping up and down violently, and felt like a rabbit or some other live animal bounding in her bosom. her brain was burning as before, but her extremities were icy cold. there was no doubt at all of the abnormal condition into which the medium had been thrown, in order to produce these strong physical manifestations which were borrowed, for the time being, from her life, and could never (so they informed me) put the _whole_ of what they borrowed back again. this seems to account for the invariable deterioration of health and strength that follows physical manifestations in both sexes. these were the grounds alone on which they explained to me the fact that, on several occasions, when the materialized spirit has been violently seized and held apart from the medium, it has been found to have become, or been changed into the medium, and always with injury to the latter--as in the case of florence cook being seized by mr. volckman and sir george sitwell. mr. volckman concluded because when he seized the spirit "katie king," he found he was holding florence cook, that the latter must have impersonated the former; yet i shall tell you in its proper place how i have sat in the same room with "katie king," whilst miss cook lay in a trance between us. the medium nearly lost her life on the occasion alluded to, from the sudden disturbance of the mysterious link that bound her to the spirit. i have had it from the lips of the countess of caithness, who was one of the sitters, and stayed with miss cook till she was better, that she was in convulsions the whole night after, and that it was some time before they believed she would recover. if a medium could simulate a materialized spirit, it is hardly likely that she would (or could) simulate convulsions with a medical man standing by her bedside. "you see," said miss showers' "florence," whilst pointing out to me the decreased size of her medium under trance, "that 'rosie' is half her usual size and weight. _i_ have borrowed the other half from her, which, combined with contributions from the sitters, goes to make up the body in which i shew myself to you. if you seize and hold me tight, you _are_ holding her, _i.e._, half of her, and you increase the action of the vital half to such a degree that, if the two halves did not reunite, you would kill her. you see that i can detach certain particles from her organism for my own use, and when i dematerialize, i restore these particles to her, and she becomes once more her normal size. you only hurry the reunion by violently detaining me, so as to injure her. but you might drive her mad, or kill her in the attempt, because the particles of brain, or body, might become injured by such a violent collision. if you believe i can take them from her (as you see i do) in order to render my invisible body visible to you, why can't you believe i can make them fly together again on the approach of danger. and granted the one power, i see no difficulty in acknowledging the other." one day mrs. showers invited me to assist at a _sã©ance_ to be given expressly for friends living at a distance. when i reached the house, however, i found the friends were unable to be present, and the meeting was adjourned. mrs. showers apologized for the alteration of plan, but i was glad of it. i had often sat with "rosie" in company with others, and i wanted to sit with her quite alone, or rather to sit with her in a room quite alone, and see what would spontaneously occur, without any solicitation on our parts. we accordingly annexed the drawing-room for our sole use--locked the door, extinguished the lights, and sat down on a sofa side by side, with our arms round each other. the manifestations that followed were not all nice ones. they formed an experience to be passed through once, but not willingly repeated, and i should not relate them here, excepting that they afford so strong a proof that they were produced by a power outside and entirely distinct from our own--a power, which having once called into action, we had no means of repressing. we had sat in the dark for some minutes, without hearing or seeing anything, when i thoughtlessly called out, "now, peter, do your worst," and extending my arms, singing, "come! for my arms are empty." in a moment a large, heavy figure fell with such force into my outstretched arms as to bruise my shoulder--it seemed like a form made of wood or iron, rather than flesh and blood--and the rough treatment that ensued for both of us is almost beyond description. it seemed as if the room were filled with materialized creatures, who were determined to let us know they were not to be trifled with. our faces and hands were slapped, our hair pulled down, and our clothes nearly torn off our backs. my silk skirt being separate from the bodice was torn off at the waistband, and the trimming ripped from it, and miss showers' muslin dress was also much damaged. we were both thoroughly frightened, but no expostulations or entreaties had any effect with our tormentors. at the same time we heard the sound as of a multitude of large birds or bats swooping about the room. the fluttering of wings was incessant, and we could hear them "scrooping" up and down the walls. in the midst of the confusion, "rosie" was whisked out of my arms (for fright had made us cling tighter than ever together) and planted on the top of a table at some distance from me, at which she was so frightened she began to cry, and i called out, "powles, where are you? can't you stop them?" my appeal was heard. peter's voice exclaimed, "hullo! here's powles coming!" and all the noise ceased. we heard the advent of my friend, and in another moment he was smoothing down the ruffled hair and arranging the disordered dresses and telling me to light the gas and not be frightened. as soon as i could i obeyed his directions and found rosie sitting doubled up in the centre of the table, but the rest of the room and furniture in its usual condition. "peter" and his noisy crowd had vanished--so had "powles," and there was nothing but our torn skirts and untidy appearance to prove that we had not been having an unholy dream. "peter" is not a wicked spirit--far from it--but he is a very earthly and frivolous one. but when we consider that nine-tenths of the spirits freed from the flesh are both earthly and frivolous (if not worse), i know not what right we have to expect to receive back angels in their stead. at one time when my sister blanche (who was very sceptical as to the possibility of the occurrences i related having taken place before me) was staying in my house at bayswater, i asked miss showers if she would give us a _sã©ance_ in my own home, to which she kindly assented. this was an unusual concession on her part, because, in consequence of several accidents and scandals that had occurred from media being forcibly detained (as i have just alluded to), her mother was naturally averse to her sitting anywhere but in their own circle. however, on my promising to invite no strangers, mrs. showers herself brought her daughter to my house. we had made no preparation for the _sã©ance_ except by opening part of the folding doors between the dining-room and study, and hanging a curtain over the aperture. but i had carefully locked the door of the study, so that there should be no egress from it excepting through the dining-room, and had placed against the locked door a heavy writing-table laden with books and ornaments to make "assurance doubly sure." we sat first in the drawing-room above, where there was a piano. the lights were extinguished, and miss showers sat down to the instrument and played the accompaniment to a very simple melody, "under the willow she's sleeping." four voices, sometimes alone and sometimes _all together_, accompanied her own. one was a baritone, supposed to proceed from "peter," the second, a soprano, from "lenore." the third was a rumbling bass, from an influence who called himself "the vicar of croydon," and sung in a fat, unctuous, and conceited voice; and the fourth was a cracked and quavering treble, from another spirit called "the abbess." these were the voices, mrs. showers told me, that first followed her daughter about the house in devonshire, and gained her such an unenviable notoriety there. the four voices were perfectly distinct from one another, and sometimes blended most ludicrously and tripped each other up in a way which made the song a medley--upon which each one would declare it was the fault of the other. "the vicar of croydon" always required a great deal of solicitation before he could be induced to exhibit his powers, but having once commenced, it was difficult to make him leave off again, whereas "the abbess" was always complaining that they would not allow her to sing the solos. an infant's voice also sung some baby songs in a sweet childish treble, but she was also very shy and seldom was heard, in comparison with the rest. "all ventriloquism!" i hear some reader cry. if so, miss showers ought to have made a fortune in exhibiting her talent in public. i have heard the best ventriloquists in the world, but i never heard one who could produce _four_ voices at the same time. after the musical portion of the _sã©ance_ was over, we descended to the dining-room, where the gas was burning, and the medium passed through it to the secured study, where a mattress was laid upon the floor for her accommodation. "florence" was the first to appear, tall and beautiful in appearance, and with upraised eyes like a nun. she measured her height against the wall with me, and we found she was the taller of the two by a couple of inches,--my height being five feet six, the medium's five feet, and the spirit's five feet eight, an abnormal height for a woman. "lenore" came next, very short indeed, looking like a child of four or six, but she grew before our eyes, until her head was on a level with mine. she begged us all to observe that she had _not_ got on "rosie's" petticoat body. she said she had borrowed it on one occasion, and mrs. showers had recognized it, and slipped upstairs in the middle of the _sã©ance_ and found it missing from her daughter's chest of drawers, and that she had been so angry in consequence (fearing rosie's honor might be impeached) that she said if "lenore" did not promise never to do so again, she should not be allowed to assist at the _sã©ances_ at all. so miss "lenore," in rather a pert and defiant mood, begged mrs. showers to see that what she wore was her own property, and not that of the medium. she was succeeded on that occasion by a strange being, totally different from the other two, who called herself "sally," and said she had been a cook. she was one of those extraordinary influences for whose return to earth one can hardly account; quick, and clever, and amusing as she could be, but with an unrefined wit and manner, and to all appearance, more earthly-minded than ourselves. but do we not often ask the same question with respect to those still existent here below? what were they born for? what good do they do? why were they ever permitted to come? god, without whose permission nothing happens, alone can answer it. we had often to tease "peter" to materialize and show himself, but he invariably refused, or postponed the work to another occasion. his excuse was that the medium being so small, he could not obtain sufficient power from her to make himself appear as a big man, and he didn't like to come, "looking like a girl in a billycock hat." "i came once to mrs. showers," he said, "and she declared i was 'rosie' dressed up, and so i have resolved never to show myself again." at the close of that _sã©ance_, however, "peter" asked me to go into the study and see him wake the medium. when i entered it and made my way up to the mattress, i found miss showers extended on it in a deep sleep, whilst "peter," materialized, sat at her feet. he made me sit down next to him and take his hand and feel his features with my own hand. then he proceeded to rouse "rosie" by shaking her and calling her by name, holding me by one hand, as he did so. as miss showers yawned and woke up from her trance, the hand slipped from mine, and "peter" evaporated. when she sat up i said to her gently, "i am here! peter brought me in and was sitting on the mattress by my side till just this moment." "ha, ha!" laughed his voice close to my ear, "and i'm here still, my dears, though you can't see me." who can account for such things? i have witnessed them over and over again, yet i am unable, even to this day, to do more than believe and wonder. chapter xiii. the mediumship of william eglinton. in the stones i have related of "emily" and "the monk" i have alluded freely to the wonderful powers exhibited by william eglinton, but the marvels there spoken of were by no means the only ones i have witnessed through his mediumship. at the _sã©ance_ which produced the apparition of my sister emily, mr. eglinton's control "joey" made himself very familiar. "joey" is a remarkably small man--perhaps two-thirds lighter in weight than the medium--and looks more like a little jockey than anything else, though he says he was a clown whilst in this world, and claims to be the spirit of the immortal joe grimaldi. he has always appeared to us clothed in a tight-fitting white dress like a woven jersey suit, which makes him look still smaller than he is. he usually keeps up a continuous chatter, whether visible or invisible, and is one of the cleverest and kindest controls i know. he is also very devotional, for which the public will perhaps give him as little credit now as they did whilst he was on earth. on the first occasion of our meeting in the russell street rooms he did not show himself until quite the last, but he talked incessantly of and for the other spirits that appeared. my sister was, as i have said, the first to show herself--then came an extraordinary apparition. on the floor, about three feet from the cabinet, appeared a head--only the head and throat of a dark man, with black beard and moustaches, surmounted by the white turban usually worn by natives. it did not speak, but the eyes rolled and the lips moved, as if it tried to articulate, but without success. "joey" said the spirit came for colonel lean, and was that of a foreigner who had been decapitated. colonel lean could not recognize the features; but, strange to say, he had been present at the beheading of two natives in japan who had been found guilty of murdering some english officers, and we concluded from "joey's" description that this must be the head of one of them. i knelt down on the floor and put my face on a level with that of the spirit, that i might assure myself there was no body attached to it and concealed by the curtain of the cabinet, and i can affirm that it was _a head only_, resting on the neck--that its eyes moved and its features worked, but that there was nothing further on the floor. i questioned it, and it evidently tried hard to speak in return. the mouth opened and the tongue was thrust out, and made a sort of dumb sound, but was unable to form any words, and after a while the head sunk through the floor and disappeared. if this was not one of the pleasantest apparitions i have seen, it was one of the most remarkable. there was no possibility of trickery or deception. the decapitated head rested in full sight of the audience, and had all the peculiarities of the native appearance and expression. after this the figures of two or three englishmen came, friends of others of the audience--then "joey" said he would teach us how to "make muslin." he walked right outside the cabinet, a quaint little figure, not much bigger than a boy of twelve or thirteen, with a young, old face, and dressed in the white suit i have described. he sat down by me and commenced to toss his hands in the air, as though he were juggling with balls, saying the while, "this is the way we make ladies' dresses." as he did so, a small quantity of muslin appeared in his hands, which he kept on moving in the same manner, whilst the flimsy fabric increased and increased before our eyes, until it rose in billows of muslin above "joey's" head and fell over his body to his feet, and enveloped him until he was completely hidden from view. he kept on chattering till the last moment from under the heap of snowy muslin, telling us to be sure and "remember how he made ladies' dresses"--when, all of a sudden, in the twinkling of an eye, the heap of muslin rose into the air, and before us stood the tall figure of "abdullah," mr. eglinton's eastern guide. there had been no darkness, no pause to effect this change. the muslin had remained on the spot where it was fabricated until "joey" evaporated, and "abdullah" rose up from beneath it. now "abdullah" is not a spirit to be concealed easily. he is six foot two--a great height for a native--and his high turban adds to his stature. he is a very handsome man, with an aquiline nose and bright black eyes--a persian, i believe, by birth, and naturally dark in complexion. he does not speak english, but "salaams" continually, and will approach the sitters when requested, and let them examine the jewels, of which he wears a large quantity in his turban and ears and round his throat, or to show them and let them feel that he has lost one arm, the stump being plainly discernible through his thin clothing. "abdullah" possesses all the characteristics of the eastern nation, which are unmistakable to one who, like myself, has been familiar with them in the flesh. his features are without doubt those of a persian; so is his complexion. his figure is long and lithe and supple, as that of a cat, and he can bend to the ground and rise again with the utmost ease and grace. anybody who could pretend for a moment to suppose that mr. eglinton by "making up" could personate "abdullah" must be a fool. it would be an impossibility, even were he given unlimited time and assistance, to dress for the character. there is a peculiar boneless elasticity in the movements of a native which those who have lived in the east know that no englishmen can imitate successfully. "abdullah's" hand and feet also possess all the characteristics of his nationality, being narrow, long and nerveless, although i have heard that he can give rather too good a grip with his one hand when he chooses to exert his power or to show his dislike to any particular sitter. he has always, however, shown the utmost urbanity towards us, but he is not a particularly friendly or familiar spirit. when "abdullah" had retired on this occasion, "joey" drew back the curtain that shaded the cabinet, and showed us his medium and himself. there sat mr. eglinton attired in evening dress, with the front of his shirt as smooth and spotless as when it left the laundress' hands, lying back in his chair in a deep sleep, whilst little joey sat astride his knee, his white suit contrasting strangely with his medium's black trousers. whilst in this position he kissed mr. eglinton several times, telling him to wake up, and not look so sulky; then, having asked if we all saw him distinctly, and were satisfied he was not the medium, he bade god bless us, and the curtains closed once more upon this incomprehensible scene. mr. eglinton subsequently became an intimate friend of ours, and we often had the pleasure of sitting with him, but we never saw anything more wonderful (to my mind) than we did on our first acquaintance. when he accompanied us to bruges (as told in the history of the "monk"), "joey" took great trouble to prove to us incontrovertibly that he is not an "emanation," or double, of his medium, but a creature completely separate and wholly distinct. my sister's house being built on a very old-fashioned principle, had all the bedrooms communicating with each other. the entresol in which we usually assembled formed the connecting link to a series of six chambers, all of which opened into each other, and the entrance to the first and last of which was from the entresol. we put mr. eglinton into no. 1, locking the connecting door with no. 2, so that he had no exit except into our circle as we sat round the curtain, behind which we placed his chair. "joey" having shown himself outside the curtain, informed us he was going through the locked door at the back into our bedrooms, nos. 2, 3 and 4, and would bring us something from each room. accordingly, in another minute we heard his voice in no. 2, commenting on all he saw there; then he passed into no. 3, and so on, making a tour of the rooms, until he appeared at the communicating door of no. 5, and threw an article taken from each room into the entresol. he then told us to lift the curtain and inspect the medium, which we did, finding him fast asleep in his chair, with the door behind him locked. "joey" then returned by the way he had gone, and presented himself once more outside the cabinet, the key of the locked door being all the time in our possession. "ernest" is another well-known control of mr. eglinton's, though he seldom appears, except to give some marvellous test or advice. he is a very earnest, deep-feeling spirit, like his name, and his symbol is a cross of light; sometimes large and sometimes small, but always bright and luminous. "ernest" seldom shows his whole body. it is generally only his face that is apparent in the midst of the circle, a more convincing manifestation for the sceptic or inquirer than any number of bodies which are generally attributed to the chicanery of the medium. "ernest" always speaks in the direct voice in a gentle, bass tone, entirely distinct from "joey's" treble, and his appearance is usually indicative of a harmonious and successful meeting. "daisy," a north american indian girl, is another control of william eglinton's, but i have only heard her speak in trance. i do not know which of these spirits it is who conducts the manifestations of writing on the arm, with which mr. eglinton is very successful; sometimes it seems to be one, and sometimes the other. as he was sitting with our family at supper one evening, i mentally asked "joey" to write something on some part of his body where his hand could not reach. this was in order to prove that the writing had not been prepared by chemical means beforehand, as some people are apt to assert. in a short time mr. eglinton was observed to stop eating, and grow very fidgety and look uncomfortable, and on being questioned as to the cause, he blushed and stammered, and could give no answer. after a while he rose from table, and asked leave to retire to his room. the next morning he told us that he had been so uneasy at supper, it had become impossible for him to sit it out; that on reaching his room he had found that his back, which irritated him as though covered with a rash, _had a sentence written across it_, of which he could only make out a few words by looking at it backwards in a glass; and as there were only ladies in the house beside himself, he could not call in an interpreter to his assistance. one day, without consulting him, i placed a small card and a tiny piece of black lead between the leaves of a volume of the _leisure hour_, and asked him to hold the book with me on the dining table. i never let the book out of my hand, and it was so thick that i had difficulty afterwards in finding my card (from the corner of which i had torn a piece) again. mr. eglinton sat with me in the daylight with the family about, and all he did was to place his hand on mine, which rested on the book. the perspiration ran down his face whilst he did so, but there was no other sign of power, and, honestly, i did not expect to find any writing on my card. when i had shaken it out of the leaves of the book, however, i found a letter closely written on it from my daughter "florence" to this effect:- "dear mama,--i am so glad to be able to communicate with you again, and to demonstrate by actual fact that i am really present. of course, you quite understand that i do not write this myself. 'charlie' is present with me, and so are many more, and we all unite in sending you our love. "your daughter, florence." mr. eglinton's mediumship embraces various phases of phenomena, as may be gathered from his own relations of them, and the testimony of his friends. a narrative of his spiritual work, under the title of "'twixt two worlds," has been written and published by mr. john t. farmer, and contains some exhaustive descriptions of, and testimonies to, his undoubtedly wonderful gifts. in it appear several accounts written by myself, and which, for the benefit of such of my readers as have not seen the book in question, i will repeat here. the first is that of the "monk," given _in extenso_, as i have given it in the eleventh chapter of this book. the second is of a _sã©ance_ held on the 5th september, 1884. the circle consisted of mr. and mrs. stewart, colonel and mrs. wynch, mr. and mrs. russell-davies, mr. morgan, and colonel lean and myself, and was held in mr. eglinton's private chambers in quebec street. we sat in the front drawing-room, with one gas-burner alight, and the door having been properly secured, mr. eglinton went into the back room, which was divided by curtains from the front. he had not left us a couple of minutes before a man stepped out through the _portiã¨re_, and walked right into the midst of us. he was a large, stout man, and very dark, and most of the sitters remarked that he had a very peculiar smell. no one recognized him, and after appearing two or three times he left, and was _immediately_ succeeded by a woman, very much like him, who also had to leave us without any recognition. these two spirits, before taking a final leave, came out _together_, and seemed to examine the circle curiously. after a short interval a much smaller and slighter man came forward, and darted in a peculiar slouching attitude round the circle. colonel lean asked him to shake hands. he replied by seizing his hand, and nearly dragging him off his seat. he then darted across the room, and gave a similar proof of his muscular power to mr. stewart. but when i asked him to notice _me_, he took my hand and squeezed it firmly between his own. he had scarcely disappeared before "abdullah," with his one arm and his six feet two of height, stood before us, and salaamed all round. then came my daughter florence, a girl of nineteen by that time, very slight and feminine in appearance. she advanced two or three times, near enough to touch me with her hand, but seemed fearful to approach nearer. but the next moment she returned, dragging mr. eglinton after her. he was in deep trance, breathing with difficulty, but "florence" held him by the hand and brought him up to my side, when he detached my hands from those of the sitters either side of me, and making me stand up, he placed my daughter in my arms. as she stood folded in my embrace, she whispered a few words to me relative to a subject _known to no one but myself_, and she placed my hand upon her heart, that i might feel she was a living woman. colonel lean asked her to go to him. she tried and failed, but having retreated behind the curtain to gather strength, she appeared the second time _with mr. eglinton_, and calling colonel lean to her, embraced him. this is one of the most perfect instances on record of a spirit form being seen distinctly by ten witnesses with the medium under gas. the next materialization that appeared was for mr. stewart. this gentleman was newly arrived from australia, and a stranger to mr. eglinton. as soon as he saw the female form, who beckoned him to the _portiã¨re_ to speak to her, he exclaimed, "my god! pauline," with such genuine surprise and conviction as were unmistakable. the spirit then whispered to him, and putting her arms round his neck, affectionately kissed him. he turned after a while, and addressing his wife, told her that the spirit bore the very form and features of their niece pauline, whom they had lost the year before. mr. stewart expressed himself entirely satisfied with the identity of his niece, and said she looked just as she had done before she was taken ill. i must not omit to say that the medium also appeared with this figure, making the third time of showing himself in one evening with the spirit form. the next apparition, being the seventh that appeared, was that of a little child apparently about two years old, who supported itself in walking by holding on to a chair. i stooped down, and tried to talk to this baby, but it only cried in a fretful manner, as though frightened at finding itself with strangers, and turned away. the attention of the circle was diverted from this sight by seeing "abdullah" dart between the curtains, and stand with the child in our view, whilst mr. eglinton appeared at the same moment between the two forms, making a _tria juncta in uno_. thus ended the _sã©ance_. the second one of which i wrote took place on the 27th of the same month, and under very similar circumstances. the circle this time consisted of mrs. wheeler, mr. woods, mr. gordon, the honorable gordon sandeman, my daughter eva, my son frank, colonel lean, and myself. mr. eglinton appeared on this occasion to find some difficulty in passing under control, and he came out so frequently into the circle to gather power, that i guessed we were going to have uncommonly good manifestations. the voice of "joey," too, begged us under _no circumstances whatever_, to lose hands, as they were going to try something very difficult, and we might defeat their efforts at the very moment of victory. when the medium was at last under control in the back drawing room, a tall man, with an uncovered head of dark hair, and a large beard, appeared and walked up to a lady in the company. she was very much affected by the recognition of the spirit, which she affirmed to be that of her brother. she called him by name and kissed him, and informed us, that he was just as he had been in earth life. her emotion was so great, we thought she would have fainted, but after a while she became calm again. we next heard the notes of a clarionet. i had been told that mr. woods (a stranger just arrived from the antipodes) had lost a brother under peculiarly distressing circumstances, and that he hoped (though hardly expected) to see his brother that evening. it was the first time i had ever seen mr. woods; yet so remarkable was the likeness between the brothers, that when a spirit appeared with a clarionet in his hand, i could not help knowing who it was, and exclaimed, "oh, mr. woods, there is your brother!" the figure walked up to mr. woods and grasped his hand. as they appeared thus with their faces turned to one another, they were _strikingly_ alike both in feature and expression. this spirit's head was also bare, an unusual occurrence, and covered with thick, crisp hair. he appeared twice, and said distinctly, "god bless you!" each time to his brother. mrs. wheeler, who had known the spirit in earth life, was startled by the tone of the voice, which she recognized at once; and mr. morgan, who had been an intimate friend of his in australia, confirmed the recognition. we asked mr. woods the meaning of the clarionet, which was a black one, handsomely inlaid with silver. he told us his brother had been an excellent musician, and had won a similar instrument as a prize at some musical competition. "but," he added wonderingly, "his clarionet is locked up in my house in australia." my daughter "florence" came out next, but only a little way, at which i was disappointed, but "joey" said they were reserving the strength for a manifestation further on. he then said, "here comes a friend for mr. sandeman," and a man, wearing the masonic badge and scarf, appeared, and made the tour of the circle, giving the masonic grip to those of the craft present. he was a good looking young man, and said he had met some of those present in australia, but no one seemed to recognize him. he was succeeded by a male figure, who had materialized on the previous occasion. as he passed through the curtain, a female figure appeared beside him, bearing a very bright light, as though to show him the way. she did not come beyond the _portiã¨re_, but every one in the room saw her distinctly. on account of the dress and complexion of the male figure, we had wrongly christened him "the bedouin;" but my son, frank marryat, who is a sailor, now found out he was an east indian by addressing him in hindustani, to which he responded in a low voice. some one asked him to take a seat amongst us, upon which he seized a heavy chair in one hand and flourished it above his head. he then squatted, native fashion, on his haunches on the floor and left us, as before, by vanishing suddenly. "joey" now announced that they were going to try the experiment of "_showing us how the spirits were made from the medium_." this was the crowning triumph of the evening. mr. eglinton appeared in the very midst of us in trance. he entered the room backwards, and as if fighting with the power that pushed him in, his eyes were shut, and his breath was drawn with difficulty. as he stood thus, holding on to a chair for support, an airy mass like a cloud of tobacco smoke was seen on his left hip, his legs became illuminated by lights travelling up and down them, and a white film settled about his head and shoulders. the mass increased, and he breathed harder and harder, whilst invisible hands _pulled the filmy drapery out of his hip_ in long strips, that amalgamated as soon as formed, and fell to the ground to be succeeded by others. the cloud continued to grow thicker, and we were eagerly watching the process, when, in the twinkling of an eye, the mass had evaporated, and a spirit, full formed, stood beside him. no one could say _how_ it had been raised in the very midst of us, nor whence it came, but _it was there_. mr. eglinton then retired with the new-born spirit behind the curtains, but in another moment he came (or he was thrown out) amongst us again, and fell upon the floor. the curtains opened again, and the full figure of "ernest" appeared and raised the medium by the hand. as he saw him, mr. eglinton fell on his knees, and "ernest" drew him out of sight. thus ended the second of these two wonderful _sã©ances_. thus published reports of them were signed with the full names and addresses of those who witnessed them. william eglinton's powers embrace various phases of phenomena, amongst which levitation is a common occurrence; indeed, i do not think i have ever sat with him at a _sã©ance_ during which he has _not_ been levitated. i have seen him on several occasions rise, or be carried, into the air, so that his head touched the ceiling, and his feet were above the sitters' heads. on one occasion whilst sitting with him a perfectly new manifestation was developed. as each spirit came the name was announced, written on the air in letters of fire, which moved round the circle in front of the sitters. as the names were those of friends of the audience and not of friends of mr. eglinton, and the phenomenon ended with a letter written to me in the same manner on private affairs, it could not be attributed to a previously arranged trick. i have accompanied mr. eglinton, in the capacity of interpreter, to a professional _sã©ance_ in paris consisting of some forty persons, not one of whom could speak a word of english whilst he was equally ignorant of foreign languages. and i have heard french and german spirits return through him to converse with their friends, who were radiant with joy at communicating with them again, whilst their medium could not (had he been conscious) have understood or pronounced a single word of all the news he was so glibly repeating. i will conclude this testimony to his powers by the account of a sitting with him for slate writing--that much abused and most maligned manifestation. because a few ignorant pig-headed people who have never properly investigated the science of spiritualism decide that a thing cannot be, "because it can't," men of honor and truth are voted charlatans and tricksters, and those who believe in them fools and blind. the day will dawn yet when it will be seen which of the two classes best deserve the name. some years ago, when i first became connected in business with mr. edgar lee of the _st. stephen's review_, i found him much interested in the subject of spiritualism, though he had never had an opportunity of investigating it, and through my introduction i procured him a test _sã©ance_ with william eglinton. we met one afternoon at the medium's house in nottingham place for that purpose, and sat at an ordinary table in the back dining-room for slate-writing. the slate used on the occasion (as mr. lee had neglected to bring his own slate as requested) was one which was presented to mr. eglinton by mr. gladstone. it consisted of two slates of medium size, set in mahogany frames, with box hinges, and which, when shut, were fastened with a bramah lock and key. on the table cloth was a collection of tiny pieces of different colored chalk. in the front room, which was divided from us by folding doors, were some bookcases. mr. eglinton commenced by asking mr. lee to go into the front room by himself, and select, in his mind's eye, any book he chose as the one from which extracts should be given. mr. lee having done as he was told, returned to his former place beside us, without giving a hint as to which book he had selected. mr. gladstone's slate was then delivered over to him to clean with sponge and water; that done, he was directed to choose four pieces of chalk and place them between the slates, to lock them and retain the key. the slates were left on the table in the sight of all; mr. lee's hand remained on them all the time. all that mr. eglinton did was to place _his_ hand above mr. lee's. "you chose, i think," he commenced, "four morsels of chalk--white, blue, yellow and red. please say which word, on which line, on which page of the book you selected just now, the white chalk shall transcribe." mr. lee answered (i forget the exact numbers) somewhat in this wise, "the 3rd word on the 15th line of the 102nd page," he having, it must be remembered, no knowledge of the contents of the volume, which he had not even touched with his hand. immediately he had spoken, a scratching noise was heard between the two slates. when it ceased, mr. eglinton put the same question with regard to the blue, yellow and red chalks, which was similarly responded to. he then asked mr. lee to unlock the slates, read the words, and then fetch the book he had selected, and compare notes, and in each instance the word had been given correctly. several other experiments were then made, equally curious, the number of mr. lee's watch, which he had not taken from his pocket, and which he said he did not know himself, being amongst them. then mr. eglinton said to mr. lee, "have you any friend in the spirit-world from whom you would like to hear? if so, and you will mentally recall the name, we will try and procure some writing from him or her." (i must say here that these two were utter strangers to each other, and had met for the first time that afternoon, and indeed [as will be seen by the context] _i_ had a very slight knowledge of mr. edgar lee myself at that time.) mr. lee thought for a moment, and then replied that there was a dead friend of his from whom he should like to hear. the cleaning and locking process was gone through again, and the scratching re-commenced, and when it concluded, mr. lee unlocked the slates and read a letter to this effect:- "my dear will,--i am quite satisfied with your decision respecting bob. by all means, send him to the school you are thinking of. he will get on better there. his education requires more pushing than it gets at present. thanks for all you have done for him. god bless you.--your affectionate cousin, r. tasker." i do not pretend to give the exact words of this letter; for though they were afterwards published, i have not a copy by me. but the gist of the experiment does not lie in the exactitude of the words. when i saw the slate, i looked at mr. lee in astonishment. "who is it for?" i asked. "it is all right," he replied; "it is for me. it is from my cousin, who left his boy in my charge. _my real name is william tasker._" now, i had never heard it hinted before that edgar lee was only a _nom de plume_, and the announcement came on me as a genuine surprise. so satisfied was mr. william tasker edgar lee with his experimental _sã©ance_, that he had the slate photographed and reproduced in the _st. stephen's review_, with an account of the whole proceedings, which were sufficient to make any one stop for a moment in the midst of the world's harassing duties and think. chapter xiv. the mediumship of arthur colman. arthur colman was so intimate a friend of mr. eglinton's, and so much associated with him in my thoughts in the days when i first knew them both, that it seems only natural that i should write of him next. his powers were more confined to materialization than eglinton's, but in that he excelled. he is the most wonderful materializing medium i ever met in england; but of late years, owing to the injury it did him in his profession, he has been compelled, in justice to himself, to give up sitting for physical manifestations, and, indeed, sitting at all, except to oblige his friends. i cannot but consider this decision on his part as a great public loss; but until the public takes more interest in the next world than they do in this, it will not make it worth the while of such as mr. colman to devote their lives, health and strength to their enlightenment. for to be a good physical medium means literally to part, little by little, with one's own life, and no man can be expected to do so much for the love of a set of unbelievers and sceptics, who will use up all his powers, and then go home to call him a rogue and a cheat and a trickster. if, as i am persuaded, each one of us is surrounded by the influences we gather of our own free-will about us--the loving and noble-hearted by angels, the selfish and unbelieving by devils--and we consider how the latter preponderate over the former in this world, is it to be wondered at that most _sã©ances_ are conducted by an assemblage of evil spirits brought there by the sitters themselves? sceptical, blasphemous and sensual men and women collect together to try and find out the falsehood, _not the truth_, of spiritualism, and are tricked by the very influences that attend their footsteps and direct their daily lives; and therein lies the danger of spiritualism as a pursuit, taken up out of curiosity rather than a desire to learn. it gives increased power to the evil that surrounds ourselves, and the devil that goes out of us returns with seven other devils worse than himself. the drunkard, who, by giving rein to a weakness which he knows he should resist, has attracted to him the spirits of drunkards gone before, joins a _sã©ance_, and by the collaboration of forces, as it were, bestows increased power on the guides he has chosen for himself to lead him into greater evil. this dissertation, however, called forth by the never-ceasing wonder i feel at the indifference of the world towards such sights as i have seen, has led me further than i intended from the subject of my chapter. arthur colman is a young man of delicate constitution and appearance, who was at one time almost brought down to death's door by the demands made by physical phenomena upon his strength; but since he has given up sitting, he has regained his health, and looks quite a different person. this fact proves of itself what a tax is laid upon the unfortunate medium for such manifestations. since he has resolved, however, never to sit again, i am all the more anxious to record what i have seen through him, probably for the last time. when i first knew my husband colonel lean, he had seen nothing of spiritualism, and was proportionately curious, and naturally a little sceptical on the subject, or, rather let me say, incredulous. he was hardly prepared to receive all the marvels i told him of without proof; and mr. colman's guide, "aimã©e," was very anxious to convince him of their truth. she arranged, therefore, a _sã©ance_ at which he was to be present, and which was to be held at the house of mr. and mrs. george neville. the party dined there together previously, and consisted only of mr. and mrs. neville, arthur colman, colonel lean, and myself. as we were in the drawing-room, however, after dinner, and before we had commenced the _sã©ance_, an american lady, who was but slightly known to any of us, was announced. we had particularly wished to have no strangers present, and her advent proportionately annoyed us, but we did not know on what excuse to get rid of her. she was a pushing sort of person; and when mrs. neville told her we were going to hold a _sã©ance_, as a sort of hint that she might take her leave, it only made her resolve to stay; indeed, she declared she had had a premonition of the fact. she said that whilst in her own room that morning, a figure had appeared standing by her bed, dressed in blue and white, like the pictures of the virgin mary, and that all day she had had an impression that she must spend the evening with the nevilles, and she should hear something more about it. we could not get rid of the lady, so we were obliged to ask her to remain and assist at the _sã©ance_, which she had already made up her mind to do, so we commenced our preparations. the two drawing-rooms communicated by folding doors, which were opened, and a _portiã¨re_ drawn across the opening. in the back room we placed mr. colman's chair. he was dressed in a light grey suit, which we secured in the following manner:--his hands were first sewn inside the sleeves of the coat, then his arms were placed behind his back, and the coat sleeves sewn together to the elbow. we then sewed his trouser legs together in the same way. we then tied him round the throat, waist and legs with _white cotton_, which the least movement on his part would break, and the ends of each ligament were sealed to the wall of the room with wax and stamped with my seal with "_florence marryat_" on it. considering him thus secure, without any _possibility_ of escape unless we discovered it, we left him in the back room, and arranged ourselves on a row of five chairs before the _portiã¨re_ in the front one, which was lighted by a single gas-burner. i sat at the head of the row, then the american lady, mrs. neville, colonel lean and mr. neville. i am not sure how long we waited for the manifestations; but i do not think it was many minutes before a female figure glided from the side of the curtain and took a vacant chair by my side. i said, "_who is this?_" and she whispered, "_florence_," and laid her head down on my shoulder, and kissed my neck. i was turning towards her to distinguish her features more fully, when i became aware that a second figure was standing in front of me, and "florence" said "mother, there is powles;" and at the same time, as he bent down to speak to me, his beard touched my face. i had not had time to draw the attention of my friends to the spirits that stood by me, when i was startled by hearing one exclamation after another from the various sitters. the american lady called out, "there's the woman that came to me this morning." mr. neville said, "that is my father," and colonel lean was asking some one if he would not give his name, i looked down the line of sitters. before colonel lean there stood an old man with a long, white beard; a somewhat similar figure was in front of mr. neville. before the dark curtain appeared a woman dressed in blue and white, like a nun; and meanwhile, "florence" and "powles" still maintained their station by my side. as if this were not enough of itself to turn a mortal's brain, the _portiã¨re_ was at the same moment drawn aside, and there stood arthur colman in his grey suit, freed from all his bonds, but under the control of "aimã©e," who called out joyously to my husband, "_now, frank, will you believe?_" she dropped the curtain, the apparitions glided or faded away, and we passed into the back drawing-room, to find mr. colman still in trance, just as we had left him, and _with all the seals and stitches_ intact. not a thread of them all was broken. this is the largest number of spirits i have ever seen at one time with one medium. i have seen two materialized spirits at a time, and even three, from mr. williams and miss showers and katie cook; but on this occasion there were five apparent with the medium, all standing together before us. and this is the sort of thing that the majority of people do not consider it worth their while to take a little trouble to see. i have already related how successfully "florence" used to materialize through this medium, and numerous friends, utterly unknown to him, have revisited us through his means. his trance mediumship is as wonderful as his physical phenomena; some people might think more so. amongst others, two spirits have come back to us through mr. colman, neither of whom he knew in this life, and both of whom are, in their way, too characteristic to be mistaken. one is phillis glover the actress; the other my stepson, francis lean, who was drowned by an accident at sea. phillis glover was a woman who led a very eventful life, chiefly in america, and was a versatile genius in conversation, as in everything else. she was peculiar also, and had a half-yankee way of talking, and a store of familiar sayings and anecdotes, which she constantly introduced into her conversation. she was by no means an ordinary person whilst in this life, and in order to imitate her manner and speech successfully, one would need to be as clever a person as herself. and, without wishing to derogate from the powers of mr. colman's mind, he knows, and i know, that phillis glover was cleverer than either of us. when her influence or spirit therefore returns through him, it is quite unmistakable. it is not only that she retains all her little tricks of voice and feature and manner (which mr. colman has never seen), but she alludes to circumstances that took place in this life and people she was associated with here that he has never heard of. more, she will relate her old stories and anecdotes, and sing her old songs, and give the most incontrovertible tests of her identity, even to recalling facts and incidents that have entirely passed from our minds. when she appears through him, it is phillis glover we are sitting with again and talking with, as familiarly as we did in the days gone by. "francis," in his way too, is quite as remarkable. the circumstances of his death and the events leading to it were unknown to us, till he related them through mr. colman; and he speaks to us of the contents of private letters, and repeats conversations and alludes to circumstances and names that are known only to him and ourselves. he had a peculiar manner also--quick and nervous--and a way of cutting his words short, which his spirit preserves to the smallest particular, and which furnish the strongest proofs possible of his identity to those who knew him here below. but these are but a very few amongst the innumerable tests furnished by arthur colman's occult powers of the assured possibility of communicating with the spirits of those gone before us. chapter xv. the mediumship of mrs. guppy volckman. the mediumship of this lady is so well known, and has been so universally attested, that nothing i can write of could possibly add to her fame; and as i made her acquaintance but a short time before she relinquished sitting for manifestations, i have had but little experience of her powers, but such as i enjoyed were very remarkable. i have alluded to them in the story of "the green lady," whose apparition was due solely to mrs. guppy volckman's presence, and on that occasion she gave us another wonderful proof of her mediumship. a sheet was procured and held up at either end by mr. charles williams and herself. it was held in the light, in the centre of the room, forming a white wall of about five feet high, _i.e._, as high as their arms could conveniently reach. _both_ the hands of mrs. volckman and mr. williams were placed _outside_ the sheet, so that no trickery might be suspected through their being concealed. in a short time the head of a woman appeared above the sheet, followed by that of a man, and various pairs of hands, both large and small, which bobbed up and down, and seized the hands of the spectators, whilst the faces went close to the media, as if with the intention of kissing them. this frightened mrs. volckman, so that she frequently screamed and dropped her end of the sheet, which, had there been any deception, must inevitably have exposed it. it seemed to make no difference to the spirits, however, who reappeared directly they had the opportunity, and made her at last so nervous that she threw the sheet down and refused to hold it any more. the faces were life-size, and could move their eyes and lips; the hands were some as large as a man's, and covered with hair, and others like those of a woman or child. they had all the capability of working the fingers and grasping objects presented to them; whilst the four hands belonging to the media were kept in sight of the audience, and could not have worked machinery even if they could have concealed it. the first time i was introduced to mrs. volckman (then mrs. guppy) was at a _sã©ance_ at her own house in victoria road, where she had assembled a large party of guests, including several names well known in art and literature. we sat in a well-lighted drawing-room, and the party was so large that the circle round the table was three deep. mrs. mary hardy, the american medium (since dead), was present, and the honors of the manifestations may be therefore, i conclude, divided between the two ladies. the table, a common deal one, made for such occasions, with a round hole of about twenty inches in diameter in the middle of it, was covered with a cloth that hung down, and was nailed to the ground, leaving only the aperture free. (i must premise that this cloth had been nailed down by a committee of the gentlemen visitors, in order that there might be no suspicion of a confederate hidden underneath it.) we then sat round the table, but without placing our hands on it. in a short time hands began to appear through the open space in the table, all sorts of hands, from the woman's taper fingers and the baby's dimpled fist, to the hands of old and young men, wrinkled or muscular. some of the hands had rings on the fingers, by which the sitters recognized them, some stretched themselves out to be grasped; and some appeared in pairs, clasped together or separate. one hand took a glove from a sitter and put it on the other, showing the muscular force it possessed by the way in which it pressed down each finger and then buttoned the glove. another pair of hands talked through the dumb alphabet to us, and a third played on a musical instrument. i was leaning forward, before i had witnessed the above, peering inquisitively down the hole, and saying, "i wonder if they would have strength to take anything down with them," when a large hand suddenly appeared and very nearly took _me_ down, by seizing my nose as if it never meant to let go again. at all events, it took me a peg or two down, for i remember it brought the tears into my eyes with the force it exhibited. after the hands had ceased to appear, the table was moved away, and we sat in a circle in the light. mrs. guppy did not wish to take a part in the _sã©ance_, except as a spectator, so she retired to the back drawing-room with the baroness adelma vay and other visitors, and left mrs. hardy with the circle in the front. suddenly, however, she was levitated and carried in the sight of us all into the midst of our circle. as she felt herself rising in the air, she called out, "don't let go hands for heaven's sake." we were standing in a ring, and i had hold of the hand of prince albert of solms. as mrs. guppy came sailing over our heads, her feet caught his neck and mine, and in our anxiety to do as she had told us, we gripped tight hold of each other, and were thrown forward on our knees by the force with which she was carried past us into the centre. this was a pretty strong proof to us, whatever it may be to others, that our senses did not deceive us when we thought we saw mrs. guppy over our heads in the air. the influence that levitated her, moreover, placed her on a chair with such a bump that it broke the two front legs off. as soon as mrs. guppy had rejoined us, the order was given to put out the light and to wish for something. we unanimously asked for flowers, it being the middle of december, and a hard frost. simultaneously we smelt the smell of fresh earth, and were told to light the gas again, when the following extraordinary sight met our view. in the middle of the sitters, still holding hands, was piled up _on the carpet_ an immense quantity of mould, which had been torn up apparently with the roots that accompanied it. there were laurestinus, and laurels, and holly, and several others, just as they had been pulled out of the earth and thrown down in the midst of us. mrs. guppy looked anything but pleased at the state of her carpet, and begged the spirits would bring something cleaner next time. they then told us to extinguish the lights again, and each sitter was to wish _mentally_ for something for himself. i wished for a yellow butterfly, knowing it was december, and as i thought of it, a little cardboard box was put into my hand. prince albert whispered to me, "have you got anything?" "yes," i said; "but not what i asked for. i expect they have given me a piece of jewellery." when the gas was re-lit, i opened the box, and there lay _two yellow butterflies_; dead, of course, but none the less extraordinary for that. i wore at that _sã©ance_ a tight-fitting, high white muslin dress, over a tight petticoat body. the dress had no pocket, and i carried my handkerchief, a fine cambric one, in my hand. when the _sã©ance_ was over, i found this handkerchief had disappeared, at which i was vexed, as it had been embroidered for me by my sister emily, then dead. i inquired of every sitter if they had seen it, even making them turn out their pockets in case they had taken it in mistake for their own, but it was not to be found, and i returned home, as i thought, without it. what was my surprise on removing my dress and petticoat bodice to find the handkerchief, neatly folded into a square of about four inches, _between_ my stays and the garment beneath them; placed, moreover, over the smallest part of my waist, where no fingers could have penetrated even had my dress been loose. my woman readers may be able better than the men to appreciate the difficulty of such a manoeuvre by mortal means; indeed it would have been quite impossible for myself or anybody else to place the handkerchief in such a position without removing the stays. and it was folded so neatly also, and placed so smoothly, that there was not a crumple in the cambric. chapter xvi. the mediumship of florence cook. in writing of my own mediumship, or the mediumship of any other person, i wish it particularly to be understood that i do not intend my narrative to be, by any means, an account of _all sã©ances_ held under that control (for were i to include everything that i have seen and heard during my researches into spiritualism, this volume would swell to unconscionable dimensions), but only of certain events which i believe to be remarkable, and not enjoyed by every one in like measure. most people have read of the ordinary phenomena that take place at such meetings. my readers, therefore, will find no description here of marvels which--whether true or false--can be accounted for upon natural grounds. miss florence cook, now mrs. elgie corner, is one of the media who have been most talked of and written about. mr. alfred crookes took an immense interest in her, and published a long account of his investigation of spiritualism under her mediumship. mr. henry dunphy, of the _morning post_, wrote a series of papers for _london society_ (of which magazine i was then the editor), describing her powers, and the proof she gave of them. the first time i ever met florence cook was in his private house, when my little daughter appeared through her (_vide_ "the story of my spirit child"). on that occasion, as we were sitting at supper after the _sã©ance_--a party of perhaps thirty people--the whole dinner-table, with everything upon it, rose bodily in the air to a level with our knees, and the dishes and glasses swayed about in a perilous manner, without, however, coming to any permanent harm. i was so much astonished at, and interested by, what i saw that evening, that i became most anxious to make the personal acquaintance of miss cook. she was the medium for the celebrated spirit, "katie king," of whom so much has been believed and disbelieved, and the _sã©ances_ she gave at her parents' house in hackney for the purpose of seeing this figure alone used to be crowded by the cleverest and most scientific men of the day, sergeants cox and ballantyne, mr. s. c. hall, mr. alfred crookes, and many others, being on terms of the greatest intimacy with her. mr. william harrison, of the _spiritualist_ paper, was the one to procure me an introduction to the family and an entrance to the _sã©ances_, for which i shall always feel grateful to him. for the benefit of the uninitiated, let me begin by telling _who_ "katie king" was supposed to be. her account of herself was that her name was "annie owens morgan;" that she was the daughter of sir henry morgan, a famous buccaneer who lived about the time of the commonwealth, and suffered death upon the high seas, being, in fact, a pirate; that she herself was about twelve years old when charles the first was beheaded; that she married and had two little children; that she committed more crimes than we should like to hear of, having murdered men with her own hands, but yet died quite young, at about two or three and twenty. to all questions concerning the reason of her reappearance on earth, she returned but one answer, that it was part of the work given her to do to convince the world of the truth of spiritualism. this was the information i received from her own lips. she had appeared to the cooks some years before i saw her, and had become so much one of the family as to walk about the house at all times without alarming the inmates. she often materialized and got into bed with her medium at night, much to florrie's annoyance; and after miss cook's marriage to captain corner, he told me himself that he used to feel at first as if he had married two women, and was not quite sure which was his wife of the two. the order of these _sã©ances_ was always the same. miss cook retired to a back room, divided from the audience by a thin damask curtain, and presently the form of "katie king" would appear dressed in white, and walk out amongst the sitters in gaslight, and talk like one of themselves. florence cook (as i mentioned before) is a very small, slight brunette, with dark eyes and dark curly hair and a delicate aquiline nose. sometimes "katie" resembled her exactly; at others, she was totally different. sometimes, too, she measured the same height as her medium; at others, she was much taller. i have a large photograph of "katie" taken under limelight. in it she appears as the double of florrie cook, yet florrie was looking on whilst the picture was taken. i have sat for her several times with mr. crookes, and seen the tests applied which are mentioned in his book on the subject. i have seen florrie's dark curls _nailed down to the floor_, outside the curtain, in view of the audience, whilst "katie" walked about and talked with us. i have seen florrie placed on the scale of a weighing machine constructed by mr. crookes for the purpose, behind the curtain, whilst the balance remained in sight. i have seen under these circumstances that the medium weighed eight stone in a normal condition, and that as soon as the materialized form was fully developed, the balance ran up to four stone. moreover, i have seen both florrie and "katie" together on several occasions, so i can have no doubt on the subject that they were two separate creatures. still, i can quite understand how difficult it must have been for strangers to compare the strong likeness that existed between the medium and the spirit, without suspecting they were one and the same person. one evening "katie" walked out and perched herself upon my knee. i could feel she was a much plumper and heavier woman than miss cook, but she wonderfully resembled her in features, and i told her so. "katie" did not seem to consider it a compliment. she shrugged her shoulders, made a grimace, and said, "i know i am; i can't help it, but i was much prettier than that in earth life. you shall see, some day--you shall see." after she had finally retired that evening, she put her head out at the curtain again and said, with the strong lisp she always had, "i want mrs. ross-church." i rose and went to her, when she pulled me inside the curtain, when i found it was so thin that the gas shining through it from the outer room made everything in the inner quite visible. "katie" pulled my dress impatiently and said, "sit down on the ground," which i did. she then seated herself in my lap, saying, "and now, dear, we'll have a good 'confab,' like women do on earth." florence cook, meanwhile, was lying on a mattress on the ground close to us, wrapped in a deep trance. "katie" seemed very anxious i should ascertain beyond doubt that it was florrie. "touch her," she said, "take her hand, pull her curls. do you see that it is florrie lying there?" when i assured her i was quite satisfied there was no doubt of it, the spirit said, "then look round this way, and see what i was like in earth life." i turned to the form in my arms, and what was my amazement to see a woman fair as the day, with large grey or blue eyes, a white skin, and a profusion of golden red hair. "katie" enjoyed my surprise, and asked me, "ain't i prettier than florrie now?" she then rose and procured a pair of scissors from the table, and cut off a lock of her own hair and a lock of the medium's, and gave them to me. i have them safe to this day. one is almost black, soft and silky; the other a coarse golden red. after she had made me this present, "katie" said, "go back now, but don't tell the others to-night, or they'll all want to see me." on another very warm evening she sat on my lap amongst the audience, and i felt perspiration on her arm. this surprised me; and i asked her if, for the time being, she had the veins, nerves, and secretions of a human being; if blood ran through her body, and she had a heart and lungs. her answer was, "i have everything that florrie has." on that occasion also she called me after her into the back room, and, dropping her white garment, stood perfectly naked before me. "now," she said "you can see that i am a woman." which indeed she was, and a most beautifully-made woman too; and i examined her well, whilst miss cook lay beside us on the floor. instead of dismissing me this time, "katie" told me to sit down by the medium, and, having brought me a candle and matches, said i was to strike a light as soon as she gave three knocks, as florrie would be hysterical on awaking, and need my assistance. she then knelt down and kissed me, and i saw she was still naked. "where is your dress, katie?" i asked. "oh that's gone," she said; "i've sent it on before me." as she spoke thus, kneeling beside me, she rapped three times on the floor. i struck the match almost simultaneously with the signal; but as it flared up, "katie king" was gone like a flash of lightning, and miss cook, as she had predicted, awoke with a burst of frightened tears, and had to be soothed into tranquillity again. on another occasion "katie king" was asked at the beginning of the _sã©ance_, by one of the company, to say _why_ she could not appear in the light of more than one gasburner. the question seemed to irritate her, and she replied, "i have told you all, several times before, that i can't stay under a searching light. i don't know _why_; but i can't, and if you want to prove the truth of what i say, turn up all the gas and see what will happen to me. only remember, it you do there will be no _sã©ance_ to-night, because i shan't be able to come back again, and you must take your choice." upon this assertion it was put to the vote if the trial should be made or not, and all present (mr. s. c. hall was one of the party) decided we would prefer to witness the effect of a full glare of gas upon the materialized form than to have the usual sitting, as it would settle the vexed question of the necessity of gloom (if not darkness) for a materializing _sã©ance_ for ever. we accordingly told "katie" of our choice, and she consented to stand the test, though she said afterwards we had put her to much pain. she took up her station against the drawing-room wall, with her arms extended as if she were crucified. then three gas-burners were turned on to their full extent in a room about sixteen feet square. the effect upon "katie king" was marvellous. she looked like herself for the space of a second only, then she began gradually to melt away. i can compare the dematerialization of her form to nothing but a wax doll melting before a hot fire. first, the features became blurred and indistinct; they seemed to run into each other. the eyes sunk in the sockets, the nose disappeared, the frontal bone fell in. next the limbs appeared to give way under her, and she sank lower and lower on the carpet like a crumbling edifice. at last there was _nothing but her head_ left above the ground--then a heap of white drapery only, which disappeared with a whisk, as if a hand had pulled it after her--and we were left staring by the light of three gas-burners at the spot on which "katie king" had stood. she was always attired in white drapery, but it varied in quality. sometimes it looked like long cloth; at others like mull muslin or jaconet; oftenest it was a species of thick cotton net. the sitters were much given to asking "katie" for a piece of her dress to keep as a souvenir of their visit; and when they received it, would seal it up carefully in an envelope and convey it home; and were much surprised on examining their treasure to find it had totally disappeared. "katie" used to say that nothing material about her could be made to last without taking away some of the medium's vitality, and weakening her in consequence. one evening, when she was cutting off pieces of her dress rather lavishly, i remarked that it would require a great deal of mending. she answered, "i'll show you how we mend dresses in the spirit world." she then doubled up the front breadth of her garment a dozen times, and cut two or three round holes in it. i am sure when she let it fall again there must have been thirty or forty holes, and "katie" said, "isn't that a nice cullender?" she then commenced, whilst we stood close to her, to shake her skirt gently about, and in a minute it was as perfect as before, without a hole to be seen. when we expressed our astonishment, she told me to take the scissors and cut off her hair. she had a profusion of ringlets falling to her waist that night. i obeyed religiously, hacking the hair wherever i could, whilst she kept on saying, "cut more! cut more! not for yourself, you know, because you can't take it away." so i cut off curl after curl, and as fast as they fell to the ground, _the hair grew again upon her head_. when i had finished, "katie" asked me to examine her hair, to see if i could detect any place where i had used the scissors, and i did so without any effect. neither was the severed hair to be found. it had vanished out of sight. "katie" was photographed many times, by limelight, by mr. alfred crookes, but her portraits are all too much like her medium to be of any value in establishing her claim to a separate identity. she had always stated she should not appear on this earth after the month of may, 1874; and accordingly, on the 21st, she assembled her friends to say "good-bye" to them, and i was one of the number. "katie" had asked miss cook to provide her with a large basket of flowers and ribbons, and she sat on the floor and made up a bouquet for each of her friends to keep in remembrance of her. mine, which consists of lilies of the valley and pink geranium, looks almost as fresh to-day, nearly seventeen years after, as it did when she gave it to me. it was accompanied by the following words, which "katie" wrote on a sheet of paper in my presence:- "from annie owen de morgan (_alias_ 'katie') to her friend florence marryat ross-church. with love. _pensez ã  moi._ "_may 21st, 1874._" the farewell scene was as pathetic as if we had been parting with a dear companion by death. "katie" herself did not seem to know how to go. she returned again and again to have a last look, especially at mr. alfred crookes, who was as attached to her as she was to him. her prediction has been fulfilled, and from that day, florence cook never saw her again nor heard anything about her. her place was shortly filled by another influence, who called herself "marie," and who danced and sung in a truly professional style, and certainly as miss cook never either danced or sung. i should not have mentioned the appearance of this spirit, whom i only saw once or twice, excepting for the following reason. on one occasion miss cook (then mrs. corner) was giving a public _sã©ance_ at the rooms of the national british association of spiritualists, at which a certain sir george sitwell, a very young man, was present, and at which he declared that the medium cheated, and that the spirit "marie" was herself, dressed up to deceive the audience. letters appeared in the newspapers about it, and the whole press came down upon spiritualists, and declared them all to be either knaves or fools. these notices were published on the morning of a day on which miss cook was engaged to give another public _sã©ance_, at which i was present. she was naturally very much cut up about them. her reputation was at stake; her honor had been called into question, and being a proud girl, she resented it bitterly. her present audience was chiefly composed of friends; but, before commencing, she put it to us whether, whilst under such a stigma, she had better not sit at all. we, who had all tested her and believed in her, were unanimous in repudiating the vile charges brought against her, and in begging the _sã©ance_ should proceed. florrie refused, however, to sit unless some one remained in the cabinet with her, and she chose me for the purpose. i was therefore tied to her securely with a stout rope, and we remained thus fastened together for the whole of the evening. under which conditions "marie" appeared, and sung and danced outside the cabinet, just as she had done to sir george sitwell whilst her medium remained tied to me. so much for men who decide a matter before they have sifted it to the bottom. mrs. elgie corner has long since given up mediumship either private or public, and lives deep down in the heart of wales, where the babble and scandal of the city affect her no longer. but she told me, only last year, that she would not pass through the suffering she had endured on account of spiritualism again for all the good this world could give her. chapter xvii. the mediumship of katie cook. in the matter of producing physical phenomena the cooks are a most remarkable family, all three daughters being powerful media, and that without any solicitation on their part. the second one, katie, is by no means the least powerful of the three, although she has sat more privately than her sister florence, and not had the same scientific tests (i believe) applied to her. the first time i had an opportunity of testing katie's mediumship was at the private rooms of signor rondi, in a circle of nine or ten friends. the apartment was small and sparsely furnished, being an artist's studio. the gas was kept burning, and before the sitting commenced the door was locked and strips of paper pasted over the opening inside. the cabinet was formed of a window curtain nailed across one corner of the room, behind which a chair was placed for the medium, who is a remarkably small and slight girl--much slighter than her sister florence--with a thin face and delicate features. she was dressed, on this occasion, in a tight-fitting black gown and hessian boots that buttoned half-way to her knee, and which, she informed me, she always wore when sitting (just as miss showers did), because they had each eighteen buttons, which took a long time to fasten and unfasten. the party sat in a semicircle, close outside the curtain, and the light was lowered, but not extinguished. there was no darkness, and no holding of hands. i mention these facts to show how very simple the preparations were. in a few minutes the curtain was lifted, and a form, clothed in white, who called herself "lily," was presented to our view. she answered several questions relative to herself and the medium; and perceiving some doubt on the part of some of the sitters, she seated herself on my knee, i being nearest the curtain, and asked me to feel her body, and tell the others how differently she was made from the medium. i had already realized that she was much heavier than katie cook, as she felt like a heavy girl of nine or ten stone. i then passed my hand up and down her figure. she had full breasts and plump arms and legs, and could not have been mistaken by the most casual observers for miss cook. whilst she sat on my knee, however, she desired my husband and signor rondi to go inside the curtain and feel that the medium was seated in her chair. when they did so, they found katie was only half entranced. she thrust her feet out to view, and said, "i am not 'lily;' feel my boots." my husband had, at the same moment, one hand on miss cook's knee, and the other stretched out to feel the figure seated on my lap. there remained no doubt in _his_ mind of there being two bodies there at the same time. presently "lily" passed her hand over my dress, and remarked how nice and warm it was, and how she wished she had one on too. i asked her, "are you cold?" and she said, "wouldn't you be cold if you had nothing but this white thing on?" half-jestingly, i took my fur cloak, which was on a sofa close by, and put it round her shoulders, and told her to wear it. "lily" seemed delighted. she exclaimed, "oh, how warm it is! may i take it away with me?" i said, "yes, if you will bring it back before i go home. i have nothing else to wear, remember." she promised she would, and left my side. in another moment she called out, "turn up the gas!" we did so. "lily" was gone, and so was my large fur cloak! we searched the little room round for it. it had entirely disappeared. there was a locked cupboard in which signor rondi kept drawing materials. i insisted on its being opened, although he declared it had not been unlocked for weeks, and we found it full of dust and drawing blocks, but nothing else, so the light was again lowered, and the _sã©ance_ resumed. in a short time the heavy cloak was flung, apparently from the ceiling, evidently from somewhere higher than my head, and fell right over it. i laid it again on the sofa, and thought no more about it until i returned home. i then found, to my astonishment, and considerably to my annoyance, that the fur of my cloak (which was a new one) was all coming out. my dress was covered with it, and from that day i was never able to wear the cloak again. "lily" said she had _de_-materialized it, to take it away. of the truth of that assertion i had no proof, but i am quite sure that she did not put it together again when she brought it back. an army of moths encamped in it could not have damaged it more, and i can vouch that until that evening the fur had been as perfect as when i purchased it. i think my next sitting with katie cook was at a _sã©ance_ held in museum street, and on the invitation of mr. chas. blackburn, who is one of the most earnest friends of spiritualism, and has expended a large amount of money in its research. the only other guests were my husband, and general and mrs. maclean. we sat round a small uncovered table with the gas burning and _without a cabinet_, miss katie cook had a seat between general maclean and myself, and we made sure of her proximity to us during the whole _sã©ance_. in fact, i never let go of her hand, and even when she wished to use her pocket-handkerchief, she had to do it with my hand clinging to her own. neither did she go into a trance. we spoke to her occasionally during the sitting, and she answered us, though in a very subdued voice, as she complained of being sick and faint. in about twenty minutes, during which the usual manifestations occurred, the materialized form of "lily" appeared _in the middle of the table_, and spoke to us and kissed us all in turn. her face was very small, and she was _only formed to the waist_, but her flesh was quite firm and warm. whilst "lily" occupied the table in the full sight of all the sitters, and i had my hand upon miss cook's figure (for i kept passing my hand up and down from her face to her knees, to make sure it was not only a hand i held), some one grasped my chair from behind and shook it, and when i turned my head and spoke, in a moment one arm was round my neck and one round the neck of my husband, who sat next to me, whilst the voice of my daughter "florence" spoke to us both, and her long hair and her soft white dress swept over our faces and hands. her hair was so abundant and long, that she shook it out over my lap, that i might feel its length and texture. i asked "florence" for a piece of her hair and dress, and scissors not being forthcoming, "lily" materialized more fully, and walked round from the other side of the table and cut off a piece of "florence's" dress herself with my husband's penknife, but said they could not give me the hair that time. the two spirits remained with us for, perhaps, half an hour or more, whilst general maclean and i continued to hold miss cook a prisoner. the power then failing, they disappeared, but every one present was ready to take his oath that two presences had been with us that never entered at the door. the room was small and unfurnished, the gas was burning, the medium sat for the whole time in our sight. mrs. maclean and i were the only other women present, yet two girls bent over and kissed us, spoke to us, and placed their bare arms on our necks at one and the same time. there was again also a marked difference between the medium and the materializations. i have already described her appearance. both of these spirits had plump faces and figures, my daughter "florence's" hands especially being large and firm, and her loose hair nearly down to her knees. i had the pleasure of holding another _sã©ance_ with katie cook in the same rooms, when a new manifestation occurred. she is (as i have said) a very small woman, with very short arms. i am, on the contrary, a very large woman, with very long arms, yet the arm of the hand i held was elongated to such an extent that it reached the sitters on the other side of the table, where it would have been impossible for mine to follow it. i should think the limb must have been stretched to thrice its natural length, and that in the sight of everybody. i sat again with katie cook in her own house, where, if trickery is employed, she had every opportunity of tricking us, but the manifestations were much the same, and certainly not more marvellous than those she had exhibited in the houses of strangers. "lily" and "florence" both appeared at the same time, under circumstances that admitted of no possibility of fraud. my husband and i were accompanied on that occasion by our friends, captain and mrs. kendal, and the order of sitting round the table was as follows:--myself, katie, captain k., florence cook, my husband, mrs. cook, mrs. kendal. each member of the family, it will be observed, was held between two detectives, and their hands were not once set free. i must say also that the _sã©ance_ was a free one, courteously accorded us on the invitation of mrs. cook; and if deception had been intended, we and our friends might just as well have been left to sit with katie alone, whilst the other members of the family superintended the manifestation of the "ghosts" outside. miss florence cook, indeed (mrs. corner), objected at first to sitting with us, on the score that her mediumship usually neutralized that of her sister, but her mother insisted on her joining the circle, lest any suspicion should be excited by her absence. the cooks, indeed, are, all of them, rather averse to sitting than not, and cordially agree in disliking the powers that have been thrust upon them against their own will. these influences take possession of them, unfitting them for more practical work, and they must live. this is, i believe, the sole reason that they have never tried to make money by the exercise of their mediumship. but i, for one, fully believe them when they tell me that they consider the fact of their being media as the greatest misfortune that has ever happened to them. on the occasion of this last _sã©ance_, cherries and rosebuds were showered in profusion on the table during the evening. these may easily be believed to have been secreted in the room before the commencement of the sitting, and produced at the proper opportunity, although the hands of everybody interested in their production were fast held by strangers. but it is less easy to believe that a lady of limited income, like mrs. cook, should go to such an expense for an unpaid _sã©ance_, for the purpose of making converts of people who were strangers to her. mediumship pays very badly as it is. i am afraid it would pay still worse if the poor media had to purchase the means for producing the phenomena, especially when, in a town like london, they run (as in this instance) to hothouse fruit and flowers. one more example of katie cook's powers and i have done. we were assembled one evening by the invitation of mr. charles blackburn at his house, elgin crescent. we sat in a small breakfast room on the basement floor, so small, indeed, for the size of the party, that as we encircled a large round table, the sitters' backs touched the wall on either side, thus entirely preventing any one crossing the room whilst we were established there. the only piece of furniture of any consequence in the room, beside the chairs and table, was a trichord cabinet piano, belonging to mrs. cook (who was keeping house at the time for mr. blackburn), and which she much valued. katie cook sat amongst us as usual. in the middle of the _sã©ance_ her control "lily," who was materialized, called out, "keep hands fast. don't let go, whatever you do!" and at the same time, without seeing anything (for we were sitting in complete darkness), we became conscious that something large and heavy was passing or being carried over our heads. one of the ladies of the party became nervous, and dropped her neighbor's hand with a cry of alarm, and, at the same moment, a weighty body fell with a fearful crash on the other side of the room. "lily" exclaimed, "some one has let go hands," and mrs. cook called out; "oh! it's my piano." lights were struck, when we found the cabinet piano had actually been carried from its original position right over our heads to the opposite side of the room, where it had fallen on the floor and been seriously damaged. the two carved legs were broken off, and the sounding board smashed in. any one who had heard poor mrs. cook's lamentations over the ruin of her favorite instrument, and the expense it would entail to get it restored, would have felt little doubt as to whether _she_ had been a willing victim to this unwelcome proof of her daughter's physical mediumship. chapter xviii. the mediumship of bessie fitzgerald. one evening i went to have a cup of tea with my friend miss schonberg at shepherd's bush, when she proposed that we should go and have a _sã©ance_ with mrs. henry jencken (kate fox), who lived close by. i hailed the idea, as i had heard such great things of the medium in question, and never had an opportunity of testing them. consequently, i was proportionately disappointed when, on sending round to her house to ask if she could receive us that evening, we received a message to say that mr. jencken, her husband, had died that morning, and she could see no one. miss schonberg and i immediately cast about in our minds to see what we should do with our time, and she suggested we should call on mrs. fitzgerald. "who is mrs. fitzgerald?" i queried. "a wonderful medium," replied my friend, "whom i met at mrs. wilson's last week, and who gave me leave to call on her. let us go together." and accordingly we set forth for mrs. fitzgerald's residence in the goldhawk road. i only mention these circumstances to show how utterly unpremeditated was my first visit to her. we arrived at her house, and were ushered into a sitting-room, miss schonberg only sending up her name. in a few minutes the door opened, and a small, fair woman, dressed in black velvet, entered the room. miss schonberg saluted her, and was about to tender some explanation regarding _my_ presence there, when mrs. fitzgerald walked straight up to me and took my hand. her eyes seemed to dilate and contract, like the opening and shutting off of a light, in a manner which i have often seen since, and she uttered rapidly, "you have been married once; you have been married twice; and you will be married a third time." i answered, "if you know anything, mrs. fitzgerald, you must know that i am very much attached to my husband, and that your information can give me no pleasure to hear." "no!" she said, "no! i suppose not, but you cannot alter fate." she then proceeded to speak of things in my past life which had had the greatest influence over the whole of it, occurrences of so private and important a nature that it becomes impossible to write them down here, and for that very reason doubly convincing to the person whom they concern. presently mrs. fitzgerald wandered to her piano, and commenced to play the air of the ballad so firmly connected in my mind with john powles, "thou art gone from my gaze," whilst she turned and nodded at me saying, "_he's_ here!" in fact, after a couple of hours' conversation with her, i felt that this stranger in the black velvet dress had turned out every secret of my life, and laid it naked and bare before me. i was wonderfully attracted to her. her personality pleased me; her lonely life, living with her two babies in the goldhawk road, made me anxious to give her society and pleasure, and her wonderful gifts of clairvoyance and trance mediumship, all combined to make me desire her friendship, and i gave her a cordial invitation to my house in the regent's park, where for some years she was a constant visitor, and always sure of a hearty welcome. it was due to her kindness that i first had the opportunity to study trance mediumship at my leisure, and in a short time we became so familiar with her most constant control, "dewdrop," a red indian girl, and so accustomed to speak through mrs. fitzgerald with our own friends gone before, that we welcomed her advent to our house as the signal for holding a spiritual party. for the sake of the uninitiated and curious, i think i had better here describe what is meant by trance mediumship. a person thus gifted has the power of giving him or herself up to the control of the influences in command, who send him or her off to sleep, a sleep so deep and so like death that the spirit is actually parted _pro tem_ from the body, which other spirits, sometimes living, but far oftener dead, enter and use as if it were their own. i have mentioned in my chapter on "embodied spirits" how my living friend in india conversed with me through bessie fitzgerald in this way, also how "florence" spoke to me through the unconscious lips of mabel keningale cook. of course, i am aware that it would be so easy for a medium simply to close her eyes, and, professing to be entranced, talk a lot of commonplaces, which open-mouthed fools might accept as a new gospel, that it becomes imperative to test this class of media strictly by _what they utter_, and to place no faith in them until you are convinced that the matters they speak of cannot possibly have been known to any one except the friend whose mouthpiece they profess to be. all this i fully proved for myself from repeated trials and researches; but the unfortunate part of it is, that the more forcible and convincing the private proof, the more difficult it is to place it before the public. i must content myself, therefore, with saying that some of my dead friends (so called) came back to me so frequently through bessie fitzgerald, and familiarized themselves so completely with my present life, that i forgot sometimes that they had left this world, and flew to them (or rather to bessie) to seek their advice or ask their sympathy as naturally as if she were their earthly form. of these my daughter "florence" was necessarily the most often with me, and she and "dewdrop" generally divided the time which mrs. fitzgerald spent with us between them. i never saw a control so completely identified with its medium as "dewdrop" was with bessie. it was difficult at times to know which was which, and one could never be certain until she spoke whether the spirit or the medium had entered the house. when she _did_ speak, however, there was no mistaking them. their characters were so different. bessie fitzgerald, a quiet, soft spoken little woman, devoted to her children, and generally unobtrusive; "dewdrop," a sioux indian girl, wary and deep as her tribe and cute and saucy as a yankee, with an amount of devilry in her that must at times have proved very inconvenient. she used to play mrs. fitzgerald tricks in those days that might have brought her into serious trouble, such as controlling her whilst travelling in an omnibus, and talking her yankee indian to the passengers until she had made their hair stand on end, with the suspicion that they had a lunatic for a companion. one evening we had a large and rather "swell" evening party, chiefly composed of ladies and gentlemen of the theatrical profession, and entirely of non-spiritualists, excepting ourselves. mrs. fitzgerald had been invited to this party, and declined, because it was out of her line. we were therefore rather astonished, when all the guests were assembled, to hear her name announced and see her enter the room in a morning dress. directly i cast eyes upon her, however, i saw that it was not herself, but "dewdrop." the stride with which she walked, the waggish way she rolled from side to side, the devilry in her eye, all betokened the indian control. to make matters worse, she went straight up to colonel lean, and, throwing herself on the ground at his feet, affectionately laid her head upon his knee, and said, "i'se come to the party." imagine the astonishment of our guests! i was obliged at once, in defence of my friend, to explain to them how matters stood; and though they looked rather incredulous, they were immensely interested, and "dewdrop's" visit proved to be _the_ event of the evening. she talked to each one separately, telling them home truths, and prophesying their future in a way that made their cheeks go pale with fright, or red with conscious shame, and there was quite a contest between the men as to who should take "dewdrop" down to the supper table. when there, she made herself particularly lively, making personal remarks aloud that were, in some instances, rather trying to listen to, and which bessie fitzgerald would have cut out her tongue sooner than utter. she ate, too, of dishes which would have made bessie ill for a week. this was another strange peculiarity of "dewdrop's" control. she not only ousted the spirit; she regulated the internal machinery of her medium's body. bessie in her normal condition was a very delicate woman with a weak heart and lungs, and obliged to be most careful in her diet. she ate like a sparrow, and of the simplest things. "dewdrop," on the other hand, liked indigestible food, and devoured it freely; yet bessie has told me that she never felt any inconvenience from the food amalgamated with her system whilst under "dewdrop's" control. one day when mrs. fitzgerald was dining with us, we had some apples at dessert, which she would have liked to partake of, but was too much afraid of the after consequences. "i _dare_ not," she said; "if i were to eat a raw apple, i should have indigestion for a week." she took some preserved ginger instead; and we were proceeding with our dessert, when i saw her hand steal out and grasp an apple. i looked in her face. "dewdrop" had taken her place. "dewdrop," i said, authoritatively, "you must not eat that. you will hurt bessie. put it down directly." "i shan't," replied "dewdrop," drawing the dish towards her; "i like apples. i'm always wanting 'medy' to eat them, and she won't, so she must go away till i've had as many as i want." and in effect she ate three or four of them, and bessie would never have been cognizant of the fact unless i had informed her. on the occasion of the party to which she came uninvited, "dewdrop" remained with us to the very last, and went home in a cab, and landed mrs. fitzgerald at her house without her being aware that she had ever left it. at that time we were constantly at each other's houses, and many an evening have i spent alone with bessie in the goldhawk road, her servant out marketing and her little children asleep in the room overhead. her baby was then a great fat fellow of about fifteen months old, who was given to waking and crying for his mother. if "dewdrop" were present, she was always very impatient with these interruptions. "bother dat george," she would say; "i must go up and quiet him." then she would disappear for a few minutes, while bessie woke and talked to me, and then, in the twinkling of an eye, "dewdrop" would be back again. one day, apparently, "george" would not be comforted, for on "dewdrop's" return she said to me, "it's no good; i've had to bring him down. he's on the mat outside the door;" and there, sure enough, we found the poor baby wailing in his nightshirt. not being able to walk, how he had been spirited from the top storey to the bottom i leave my readers to determine. bessie's little girl mabel promised to be as wonderful a medium as her mother. she would come in from the garden flushed from her play with the "spirit-children," of whom she talked as familiarly as of her little neighbors next door. i have watched her playing at ball with an invisible child, and have seen the ball thrown, arrested half-way in the air, and then tossed back again just as if a living child had been mab's opponent. i had lost several infants from premature birth during my second marriage, and the eldest of these, a girl, appeared to be a constant companion of mabel's. she was always talking of what "mrs. lean's girl" (as she called her) had done and said; and one day she had a violent fit of weeping because her mother would not promise to buy her a frock like the one "mrs. lean's girl" wore. _apropos_ of these still-born children, i had a curious experience with mrs. fitzgerald. i had had no idea until then that children so born possessed any souls, or lived again, but "florence" undeceived me when she told me she had charge of her little brothers and sisters. she even professed to know the names by which they were known in the spirit world. when a still-born baby is launched upon the other side, she said it is delivered over to the nearest relative of its parent, to be called by what name he may choose. thus my first girl was christened by colonel lean's mother "gertrude," after a bosom friend of hers, and my second my father named "joan," as he said it was his favorite female name. upon subsequent inquiry, we found that mrs. lean _had_ a friend called "gertrude," and that "joan" was distinctly captain marryat's _beau ideal_ of a woman's name. however, that signified but little. i became very curious to see or speak with these unknown babies of mine, and used to worry "florence" to bring them to me. she would expostulate with me after this fashion: "dear mother, be reasonable. remember what babies they are, and that this world is quite strange to them. when your earthly children were small you never allowed them to be brought down before strangers, for fear they should cry. 'gertie' and 'yonnie' would behave just the same if i brought them back to you now." however, i went on teasing her till she made the attempt, and "gertie" returned through mrs. fitzgerald. it was a long time before we could coax her to remain with us, and when she overcame her first shyness, it was like talking to a little savage. "gertie" didn't know the meaning of anything, or the names of anything. her incessant questions of "what's a father?" "what a mother?" "what's a dog?" were very difficult to answer; but she would chatter about the spirit-world, and what she did there, as glibly as possible. she told us that she knew her brother francis (the lad who was drowned at sea) very well, and she "ran races, and francis 'chivied' her; and when he caught her, he held her under the fountain, and the spray wetted her frock, and made it look like silver." the word "_chivied_" sounding to me very much of a mundane character, i asked "gertie" where she learned it; and she said, "francis says 'chivy,' so _i_ may," and it was indeed a common expression with him. "gertie" took, after a while, such a keen interest in my ornaments and china, rather to their endangerment, that i bought a doll to see if she would play with it. at first she was vastly delighted with the "little spirit," as she called it, and nursed it just as a mortal child would have done. but when she began to question me as to the reason the doll did not look at her, or answer her, or move about, and i said it was because it was not alive, she was dreadfully disappointed. "_not alive!_" she echoed; "didn't god make it?" and when i replied in the negative, she threw it to the other end of the room, and would never look at it again. "gertie" was about five years old at this period, and seemed to have a great idea of her own importance. she always announced herself as "the princess gertie," and was very dignified in her behavior. one day, when a lady friend was present when "gertie" came and asked her to kiss her, she extended her hand instead of her face, saying, "you may kiss my hand." "yonnie" (as "joan" called herself) was but eighteen months old, and used to manifest herself, _roaring_ like a child forcibly dragged before strangers, and the only word we could ever extract from her was "sugar-plums." accordingly, i invested in some for her benefit, with which she filled her mouth so full as nearly to choke the medium, and "florence" rebuked me seriously for my carelessness, and threatened never to bring "yonnie" down to this earth again. there had been three other children--boys--whom i was equally anxious to see again, but, for some inexplicable reason, "florence" said it was impossible that they could manifest. the little girls, however, came until we were quite familiar with them. i am aware that all this must sound very childish, but had it not borne a remarkable context, i should not have related it. all the wonder of it will be found later on. mrs. fitzgerald suffered very much at this time from insomnia, which she always declared was benefitted after a visit to me. i proposed one night, therefore, when she had stayed with us later than usual, that she should remain and share my bed, and return home in the morning. she consented, and at the usual hour we retired to rest together, i taking care to lock the bedroom door and keep the gas burning; indeed, bessie was so nervous of what she might see that she would not have remained in the dark for any consideration. the bed we occupied was what is called a half tester, with a canopy and curtains on either side. as soon as ever bessie got into it, she burrowed under the clothes like a dormouse, and went fast asleep. i was too curious to see what might happen to follow her example, so my head remained on the pillow, and my eyes wide open, and turning in every direction. presently i saw the curtains on the opposite side of the bed gently shaken, next a white hand and arm appeared round them, and was passed up and down the ridge that represented bessie fitzgerald's body; finally, after several times stepping forward and retreating again, a female figure emerged and walked to the foot of the bedstead and stood there regarding me. she was, to all appearance, as solidly formed as any human creature could be, and she was as perfectly distinct as though seen by daylight. her head and bust reminded me at once of the celebrated "clytie," they were so classically and beautifully formed. her hair and skin were fair, her eyes luminously liquid and gentle, her whole attitude one of modest dignity. she was clothed in some creamy white material, thick and soft, and intermixed with dull gold. she wore no ornaments, but in her right hand she carried a long branch of palm, or olive, or myrtle, something tall and tapering, and of dark green. she scarcely could be said to smile at me, but there was an indescribable appearance of peace and tranquillity about her. when i described this apparition to bessie in the morning, she recognized it at once as that of her control, "goodness," whom she had seen clairvoyantly, but she affirmed that i was the only person who had ever given her a correct description of this influence, which was the best and purest about her. after "goodness" had remained in the same position for a few minutes, she walked back again behind the curtain, which served as a cabinet, and "florence" came out and had a whispered conversation with me. next a dark face, but only a face, said to be that of "dewdrop," peeped out four or five times, and disappeared again; then a voice said, "no more! good-night," and i turned round to where bessie lay sleeping beside me, and went to sleep myself. after that, she often came, when suffering worse than usual from insomnia, to pass the night with me, as she said my magnetism caused her to sleep, and similar manifestations always occurred when we were alone and together. mrs. fitzgerald's mediumship was by no means used, however, for the sole purpose of gratifying curiosity or foretelling the future. she was a wonderful medical diagnoser, and sat for a long time in the service of a well-known medical man. she would be ensconced in a corner of his waiting-room and tell him the exact disease of each patient that entered. she told me she could see the inside of everybody as perfectly as though they were made of glass. this gift, however, induced her to take on a reflection (as it were) of the disease she diagnosed, and after a while her failing strength compelled her to give it up. her control "dewdrop" was what she called herself, "a metal spirit," _i.e._, her advice was very trustworthy with regard to all speculations and monetary transactions. many stockbrokers and city men used regularly to consult bessie before they engaged in any speculation, and she received many valuable presents in return for her assistance in "making a pile." one gentleman, indeed, settled a large sum of money when he died on her little son in gratitude for the fortune "dewdrop" had helped him to accumulate. persons who sneer at spiritualism and declare it to be useless, little know how much advantage is taken of spiritual forethought and prevision by those who believe in it. i have never been sorry but when i have neglected to follow the advice of a medium whom i had proved to be trustworthy. in the autumn of 1883 i introduced my own entertainment of "love letters" to the provincial british public, and it had an immediate and undeniable success. my engagements poured in rapidly, and i had already booked dates for the whole spring of 1884, when mr. edgar bruce offered me an engagement at the prince of wales' (then the prince's) theatre, about to be opened in piccadilly. i had been anxiously waiting to obtain an engagement on the london boards, and was eager to accept it; still, i did not know if i would be wise in relinquishing my provincial engagements. i wrote to bessie to ask "dewdrop" what i should do; the answer was, "don't accept, only a flash in the pan." thereupon i sent to mr. bruce to ask how long the engagement was likely to last, and his answer was that he expected "the palace of truth" to run a year at least, and at any rate i was to consider myself one of a "stock company." thereupon i cancelled all my entertainment engagements, returned to london, appeared at the prince's theatre for just _eleven_ _weeks_, and got into four law suits with my disappointed patrons for my trouble. it is one of the commonest remarks made by stupid people, "if the spirits know anything, let them tell me the name of the winner of the derby, and then i will believe them," etc. i was speaking of this once to "dewdrop," and she said, "we _could_ tell if we choose, but we are not allowed to do so. if spiritualism was generally used for such things, all the world would rush to it in order to cheat one another. but if you will promise me not to open it until after the derby is run, i will give you the name of the winner now in a sealed envelope, to prove that what i say is the truth." we gave her the requisite materials, and she made a few pencil marks on a piece of paper, and sealed it up. it was the year that "shotover" won the derby. the day after the race, we opened the envelope and found the drawing of a man with a gun in his hand, a hedge, and a bird flying away on the other side; very sketchy, but perfectly intelligible to one who could read between the lines. i was at the theatre one night with bessie in a box, when i found out that "dewdrop" had taken her place. "dewdrop" was very fond of going to the play, and her remarks were so funny and so naã¯ve as to keep one constantly amused. presently, between the acts, she said to me, "do you see that man in the front row of the stalls with a bald head, sitting next to the old lady with a fat neck?" i replied i did. "now you watch," said "dewdrop;" "i'm going down there to have some fun. first i'll tickle the old man's head, and then i'll scratch the old woman's neck. now, you and 'medie' watch." the next moment bessie spoke to me in her own voice, and i told her what "dewdrop" proposed to do. "oh, poor things!" she said, compassionately, "how she will torment them!" to watch what followed was a perfect farce. first, the old man put his hand up to his bald head, and then he took out his handkerchief and flicked it, then he rubbed it, and finally _scrubbed_ it to alleviate the increasing irritation. then the old lady began the same business with her neck, and finding it of no avail, glared at the old man as if she thought _he_ had done it; in fact, they were both in such evident torture that there was no doubt "dewdrop" had kept her promise. when she returned to me she said, "there! didn't you see me walking along the front row of stalls, in my moccasins and beads and feathers, and all my war-paint on, tickling the old fellow's head?" "i didn't _see_ you, 'dewdrop,'" i answered, "but i'm sure you were there." "ah! but the old fellow _felt_ me, and so did the old girl," she replied. bessie fitzgerald is now mrs. russell davies, and carries on her _sã©ances_ in upper norwood. no one who attends them can fail to feel interested in the various phenomena he will meet with there. chapter xix. the mediumship of lottie fowler. as i was introduced to lottie fowler many years before i met bessie fitzgerald, i suppose the account of her mediumship should have come first; but i am writing this veracious narrative on no fixed or artificial plan, but just as it occurs to me, though not from memory, because notes were taken of every particular at the time of occurrence. in 1874 i was largely employed on the london press, and constantly sent to report on anything novel or curious, and likely to afford matter for an interesting article. it was for such a purpose that i received an order from one of the principal newspapers in town to go and have a complimentary _sã©ance_ with an american clairvoyant newly arrived in england, miss lottie fowler. until i received my directions i had never heard the medium's name, and i knew very little of clairvoyance. she was lodging in conduit street, and i reached her house one morning as early as ten o'clock, and sent in a card with the name of the paper only written on it. i was readily admitted. miss fowler was naturally anxious to be noticed by the press and introduced to london society. i found her a stylish-looking, well-dressed woman of about thirty, with a pleasant, intelligent face. those of my readers who have only met her since sickness and misfortune made inroads on her appearance may smile at my description, but i repeat that seventeen years ago lottie fowler was prosperous and energetic-looking. she received me very cordially, and asked me into a little back parlor, of which, as it was summer weather, both the windows and doors were left open. here, in the sunshine, she sat down and took my hand in hers, and began chatting of what she wished and hoped to do in london. suddenly her eyes closed and her head fell back. she breathed hard for a few minutes, and then sat up, still with her eyes closed, and began to talk in a high key, and in broken english. this was her well-known control, "annie," without doubt one of the best clairvoyants living. she began by explaining to me that she had been a german girl in earth life, and couldn't speak english properly, but i should understand her better when i was more familiar with her. she then commenced with my birth by the sea, described my father's personality and occupation, spoke of my mother, my brothers and sisters, my illnesses, my marriage, and my domestic life. then she said, "wait! now i'll go to your house, and tell you what i see there." she then repeated the names of all my children, giving a sketch of the character of each one, down to the "baby with the flower name," as she called my little daisy. after she had really exhausted the subject of my past and present, she said, "you'll say i've read all this out of your mind, so now i'll tell you what i see in the future. you'll be married a second time." now, at this period i was editing a fashionable magazine, and drew a large number of literary men around me. i kept open house on tuesday evenings, and had innumerable friends, and i _may_ (i don't say i _had_), but i may have sometimes speculated what my fate might be in the event of my becoming free. the _sã©ance_ i speak of took place on a wednesday morning; and when "annie" told me i should be married a second time, my thoughts involuntarily took to themselves wings, i suppose, for she immediately followed up her assertion by saying, "no! not to the man who broke the tumbler at your house last night. you will marry another soldier." "no, thank-you," i exclaimed; "no more army men for me. i've had enough of soldiers to last me a lifetime." "annie" looked very grave. "you _will_ marry another soldier," she reiterated; "i can see him now, walking up a terrace. he is very tall and big, and has brown hair cut quite short, but so soft and shiny. at the back of his head he looks as sleek as a mole. he has a broad face, a pleasant, smiling face, and when he laughs he shows very white teeth. i see him knocking at your door. he says, 'is mrs. ross-church at home?' 'yes, sir.' then he goes into a room full of books. 'florence, my wife is dead. will you be my wife?' and you say 'yes.'" "annie" spoke so naturally, and i was so astonished at her knowledge of my affairs, that it never struck me till i returned home that she had called me by my name, which had been kept carefully from her. i asked her, "when will my husband die?" "i don't see his death anywhere," she answered. "but how can i marry again unless he dies?" i said. "i don't know, but i can't tell you what i don't see. i see a house all in confusion, papers are thrown about, and everything is topsy-turvy, and two people are going different ways; and, oh, there is so much trouble and so many tears! but i don't see any death anywhere." i returned home, very much astonished at all miss fowler had said regarding my past and present, but very incredulous with respect to her prophecies for the future. yet, three years afterwards, when much of what she told me had come to pass, i was travelling from charing cross to fareham with mr. grossmith, to give our entertainment of "_entre nous_," when the train stopped as usual to water at chatham. on the platform stood colonel lean, in uniform, talking to some friends. i had never set eyes on him till that moment; but i said at once to mr. grossmith, "do you see that officer in the undress uniform? that is the man lottie fowler told me i should marry." her description had been so exact that i recognized him at once. of course, i got well laughed at, and was ready after a while to laugh at myself. two months afterwards, however, i was engaged to recite at the literary institute at chatham, where i had never set foot in my life before. colonel lean came to the recital, and introduced himself to me. he became a visitor at my house in london (which, by the by, had been changed for one in a _terrace_), and two years afterwards, in, june 1879, we were married. i have so far overcome a natural scruple to make my private affairs public, in justice to lottie fowler. it is useless narrating anything to do with the supernatural (although i have been taught that this is a wrong term, and that nothing that exists is _above_ nature, but only a continuation of it), unless one is prepared to prove that it was true. lottie fowler did not make a long stay in england on that occasion. she returned to america for some time, and i was mrs. lean before i met her again. the second visit was a remarkable one. i had been to another medium, who had made me very unhappy by some prophecies with regard to my husband's health; indeed, she had said he would not live a couple of years, and i was so excited about it that my friend miss schonberg advised our going then and there to see lottie fowler, who had just arrived in england, and was staying in vernon place, bloomsbury; and though it was late at night, we set off at once. the answer to our request to see miss fowler was that she was too tired to receive any more visitors that day. "do ask her to see me," i urged. "i won't detain her a moment; i only want to ask her one question." upon this, we were admitted, and found lottie nearly asleep. "miss fowler," i began, "you told me five years ago that i should be married a second time. well, i _am_ married, and now they tell me i shall loose my husband." and then i told her how ill he was, and what the doctors said, and what the medium said. "you told me the truth before," i continued; "tell it me now. will he die?" lottie took a locket containing his hair in her hand for a minute, and then replied confidently, "they know nothing about it. he will not die--that is not yet--not for a long while." "but _when_?" i said, despairingly. "leave that to god, child," she answered, "and be happy now." and in effect colonel lean recovered from his illness, and became strong and hearty again. but whence did miss fowler gain the confidence to assert that a man whom she had never seen, nor even heard of, should recover from a disease which the doctors pronounced to be mortal? from that time lottie and i became fast friends, and continue so to this day. it is a remarkable thing that she would never take a sixpence from me in payment for her services, though i have sat with her scores of times, nor would she accept a present, and that when she has been sorely in need of funds. she said she had been told she should never prosper if she touched my money. she has one of the most grateful and affectionate and generous natures possible, and has half-starved herself for the sake of others who lived upon her. i have seen her under sickness, and poverty, and trouble, and i think she is one of the kindest-hearted and best women living, and i am glad of even this slight opportunity to bear testimony to her disposition. at one time she had a large and fashionable _clientã¨le_ of sitters, who used to pay her handsomely for a _sã©ance_, but of late years her clients have fallen off, and her fortunes have proportionately decreased. she has now returned to the southern states of america, and says she has seen the last of england. all i can say is, that i consider her a great personal loss as a referee in all business matters as well as a prophet for the future. she also, like bessie fitzgerald, is a great medical diagnoser. she was largely consulted by physicians about the court at the time of the prince of wales' dangerous illness, and predicted his recovery from the commencement. it was through her mediumship that the body of the late lord lindesay of balcarres, which was stolen from the family vault, was eventually recovered; and the present lord lindesay gave her a beautiful little watch, enamelled and set in diamonds, in commemoration of the event. she predicted the riot that took place in london some years ago, and the tay bridge disaster; but who is so silly as to believe the prophecies of media now-a-days? there has hardly been an event in my life, since i have known lottie fowler, that she has not prepared me for beforehand, but the majority of them are too insignificant to interest the reader. one, however, the saddest i have ever been called upon to encounter, was wonderfully foretold. in february, 1886, lottie (or rather, "annie") said to me, "there is a great trouble in store for you, florris" (she always called me "florris"); "you are passing under black clouds, and there is a coffin hanging over you. it will leave your house." this made me very uneasy. no one lived in my house but my husband and myself. i asked, "is it my own coffin?" "no!" "is it my husband's?" "no; it is that of a much younger person." i questioned her very closely, but she would not tell me any more, and i tried to dismiss the idea from my mind. still it would constantly recur, for i knew, from experience, how true her predictions were. at last i felt as if i could bear the suspense no longer, and i went to her and said, "you _must_ tell me that the coffin you spoke of is not for one of my children, or the uncertainty will drive me mad." "annie" thought a minute, and then said slowly, "no; it is not for one of your children." "then i can bear anything else," i replied. the time went on, and in april an uncle of mine died. i rushed again to lottie fowler. "is _this_ the death you prophesied?" i asked her. "no," she replied; "the coffin must leave your house. but this death will be followed by another in the family," which it was within the week. the following february my next-door neighbors lost their only son. i had known the boy for years, and i was very sorry for them. as i was watching the funeral preparations from my bedroom window, i saw the coffin carried out of the hall door, which adjoined mine with only a railing between. knowing that many prophetical media _see_ the future in a series of pictures, it struck me that lottie must have seen this coffin leaving, and mistaken the house for mine. i went to her again. this proves how the prediction had weighed all this time upon my mind. "has not the death you spoke of taken place _now_?" i asked her. "has not the coffin left my house?" "no," she answered; "it will be a relative, one of the family. it is much nearer now than it was." i felt uncomfortable, but i would not allow it to make me unhappy. "annie" had said it was not one of my own children, and so long as they were spared i felt strong enough for anything. in the july following my eldest daughter came to me in much distress. she had heard of the death of a friend, one who had been associated with her in her professional life, and the news had shocked her greatly. she had always been opposed to spiritualism. she didn't see the good of it, and thought i believed in it a great deal more than was necessary. i had often asked her to accompany me to _sã©ances_, or to see trance media, and she had refused. she used to say she had no one on the other side she cared to speak to. but when her young friend died, she begged me to take her to a medium to hear some news of him, and we went together to lottie fowler. "annie" did not wait for any prompting, but opened the ball at once. "you've come here to ask me how you can see your friend who has just passed over," she said. "well, he's all right. he's in this room now, and he says you will see him very soon." "to which medium shall i go?" said my daughter. "don't go to any medium. wait a little while, and you will see him with your own eyes." my daughter was a physical medium herself, though i had prevented her sitting for fear it should injure her health; and i believed, with her, that "annie" meant that her friend would manifest through her own power. she turned to me and said, "oh, mother, i shall be awfully frightened if he appears to me at night;" and "annie" answered, "no, you won't be frightened when you see him. you will be very pleased. your meeting will be a source of great pleasure on both sides." my daughter had just signed a lucrative engagement, and was about to start on a provincial tour. her next request was, "tell me what you see for me in the future." "annie" replied, "i cannot see it clearly. another day i may be able to tell you more, but to-day it is all dim. every time i try to see it a wall seems to rise behind your head and shut it out." then she turned to me and said, "florris, that coffin is very near you now. it hangs right over your head!" i answered carelessly, "i wish it would come and have done with it. it is eighteen months now, annie, since you uttered that dismal prophecy!" little did i really believe that it was to be so quickly and so terribly fulfilled. three weeks after that _sã©ance_, my beloved child (who was staying with me) was carried out of my house in her coffin to kensal green. i was so stunned by the blow, that it was not for some time after that i remembered "annie's" prediction. when i asked her _why_ she had tortured me with the suspense of coming evil for eighteen months, she said she had been told to do so by my guardian spirits, or my brain would have been injured by the suddenness of the shock. when i asked why she had denied it would be one of my children, she still maintained that she had obeyed a higher order, because to tell the truth so long beforehand would have half-killed me as indeed it would. "annie" said she had no idea, even during that last interview, that the death she predicted was that of the girl before her. she saw her future was misty, and that the coffin was over my head, but she did not connect the two facts together. in like manner i have heard almost every event of my future through lottie fowler's lips, and she has never yet proved to be wrong, except in one instance of _time_. she predicted an event for a certain year and it did not take place till afterwards; and it has made "annie" so wary, that she steadfastly refuses now to give any dates. i always warn inquirers not to place faith in any given dates. the spirits have told me they have _no time_ in the spheres, but judge of it simply as the reflection of the future appears nearer, or further, from the sitter's face. thus, something that will happen years hence appears cloudy and far off, whilst the events of next week or next month seem bright and distinct, and quite near. this is a method of judging which can only be gained by practice, and must at all times be uncertain and misleading. i have often acted as amanuensis for lottie fowler, for letters are constantly arriving for her from every part of the world which can only be answered under trance, and she has asked me to take down the replies as "annie" dictated them. i have answered by this means the most searching questions from over the seas relating to health and money and lost articles whilst lottie was fast asleep and "annie" dictated the letters, and have received many answers thanking me for acting go-between, and saying how wonderfully correct and valuable the information "annie" had sent them had proved to be. of course, it would be impossible, in this paper, to tell of the constant intercourse i have had with lottie fowler during the last ten or twelve years, and the manner in which she has mapped out my future for me, preventing my cherishing false hopes that would never be realized, making bad bargains that would prove monetary losses, and believing in apparent friendship that was only a cloak for selfishness and treachery. i have learned many bitter lessons from her lips. i have also made a good deal of money through her means. she has told me what will happen to me between this time and the time of my death, and i feel prepared for the evil and content with the good. lottie fowler had very bad health for some time before she left england, and it had become quite necessary that she should go; but i think if the british public had known what a wonderful woman was in their midst, they would have made it better worth her while to stay amongst them. chapter xx. the mediumship of william fletcher. it may be remembered in the "story of john powles" that when, as a perfect stranger to mr. fletcher, i walked one evening into the steinway hall, i heard him describe the circumstances of my old friend's death in a very startling manner. it made such an impression on me that i became anxious to hear what more mr. fletcher might have to say to me in private, and for that purpose i wrote and made an appointment with him at his private residence in gordon square. i did not conceal my name, and i knew my name must be familiar to him; for although he had only just arrived from america, i am better known as an author in that country perhaps than in this. but i had no intention of gauging his powers by what he told me of my exterior life; and by what followed, his guide "winona" evidently guessed my ideas upon the subject. after the _sã©ance_ i wrote thus concerning it to the _banner of light_, a new york spiritualistic paper:-"i had seen many clairvoyants before, both in public and private, and had witnessed wonderful feats of skill on their part in naming and describing concealed objects, and reading print or writing when held far beyond their reach of sight; but i knew the trick of all that. if mr. fletcher is going to treat me to any mental legerdemain, i thought, as i took my way to gordon square, i shall have wasted both my time and trouble upon him; and, i confess, as i approached the house, that i felt doubtful whether i might not be deceived against my senses by the clever lecturer, whose eloquence had charmed me into desiring a more intimate acquaintance with him. even the private life of a professional person soon becomes public property in london; and had mr. fletcher wished to find out my faults and failings, he had but to apply to ----, say, my dearest friend, or the one upon whom i had bestowed most benefits, to learn the worst aspect of the worst side of my character. but the neat little page-boy answered my summons so promptly that i had no time to think of turning back again; and i was ushered through a carpeted hall, and up a staircase into a double drawing-room, strewn with evidence that my clairvoyant friend possessed not only artistic taste, but the means to indulge it. the back room into which i was shown was hung with paintings and fitted with a luxurious _causeuse_, covered with art needlework, and drawn against the open window, through which might be seen some fine old trees in the garden below, and mr. fletcher's dogs enjoying themselves beneath their shade. nothing could be further removed from one's ideas of a haunt of mystery or magic, or the abode of a man who was forced to descend to trickery for a livelihood. in a few minutes mr. fletcher entered the room and saluted me with the air of a gentleman. we did not proceed to business, however, until he had taken me round his rooms, and shown me his favorite pictures, including a portrait of sara bernhardt, etched by herself, in the character of mrs. clarkson in _l'etrangã¨re_. after which we returned to the back drawing-room, and without darkening the windows or adopting any precautions, we took our seats upon the _causeuse_ facing each other, whilst mr. fletcher laid his left hand lightly upon mine. in the course of a minute i observed several convulsive shivers pass through his frame, his eyes closed, and his head sunk back upon the cushions, apparently in sleep. i sat perfectly still and silent with my hand in his. presently he reopened his eyes quite naturally, and sitting upright, began to speak to me in a very soft, thin, feminine voice. he (or rather his guide "winona") began by saying that she would not waste my time on facts that she might have gathered from the world, but would confine herself to speaking of my inner life. thereupon, with the most astonishing astuteness, she told me of my thoughts and feelings, reading them off like a book. she repeated to me words and actions that had been said and done in privacy hundred of miles away. she detailed the characters of my acquaintance, showing who were true and who were false, giving me their names and places of residence. she told me the motives i had had for certain actions, and what was more strange, revealed truths concerning myself which i had not recognized until they were presented to me through the medium of a perfect stranger. every question i put to her was accurately answered, and i was repeatedly invited to draw further revelations from her. the fact being that i was struck almost dumb by what i had heard, and rendered incapable of doing anything but marvel at the wonderful gift that enabled a man, not only to read each thought that passed through my brain, but to see, as in a mirror, scenes that were being enacted miles away with the actors concerned in them and the motives that animated them. "winona" read the future for me as well as the past, and the first distinct prophecy she uttered has already most unexpectedly come to pass. when i announced that i was satisfied, the clairvoyant laid his head back again upon the cushions, the same convulsive shudders passed through his frame, and in another minute he was smiling in my face, and hoping i had a good _sã©ance_." this is part of the letter i wrote concerning mr. fletcher to the _banner of light_. but a description of words, however strongly put, can never carry the same weight as the words themselves. so anxious am i to make this statement as trustworthy as possible, however, that i will now go further, and give the exact words as "winona" spoke them to me on that occasion, and as i took them down from her lips. _some_ parts i _must_ omit, not for my own sake, but because of the treachery they justly ascribed to persons still living in this world. but enough will, i trust, remain to prove how intimately the spirit must have penetrated to my inner life. this is, then, the greater part of what "winona" said to me on the 27th of june, 1879: "you are a child of destiny, who never was a child. your life is fuller of tragedies than any life i ever read yet. i will not tell you of the past _facts_, because they are known to the world, and i might have heard them from others. but i will speak of yourself. i have to leave the earth-world when i come in contact with you, and enter a planetary sphere in which you dwell (and ever must dwell) _alone_. it is as if you were in a room shut off from the rest of mankind. you are one of the world's magnets. you have nothing really in common with the rest. you draw people to you, and live upon their life; and when they have no more to give, nor you to demand, the liking fades on both sides. it must be so, because the spirit requires food the same as the body; and when the store is exhausted, the affection is starved out, and the persons pass out of your life. you have often wondered to yourself why an acquaintance who seemed necessary to you to-day you can live perfectly well without to-morrow. this is the reason. more than that, if you continue to cling to those whose spiritual system you have exhausted, they would poison you, instead of nourishing you. you may not like it, but those you value most you should oftenest part with. separation will not decrease your influence over them; it will increase it. constant intercourse may be fatal to your dearest affections. you draw so much on others, you _empty_ them, and they have nothing more to give you. you have often wondered, too, why, after you have lived in a place a little while, you become sad, weary, and ill--not physically ill, but mentally so--and you feel as if you _must_ leave it, and go to another place. when you settle in this fresh place, you think at first that it is the very place where you will be content to live and die; but after a little while the same weariness and faintness comes back again, and you think you cannot breathe till you leave it, as you did the other. this is not fancy. it is because your nature has exhausted all it can draw from its surroundings, and change becomes a necessity to life. you will never be able to live long in any place without change, and let me warn you never to settle yourself down anywhere with the idea of living there entirely. were you forced to do so, you would soon die. you would be starved to death spiritually. all people are not born under a fate, but you were, and you can do very little to change it. england is the country of your fate. you will never prosper in health, mind, or money in a foreign country. it is good to go abroad for change, but never try to live there. you are thinking of going abroad now, but you will not remain there nearly so long as you anticipate. something will arise to make you alter your plans--not a real trouble--but an uneasiness. the plan you think of will not answer." (this prediction was fulfilled to the letter.) "this year completes an era in your professional career--not of ill-luck, so much as of stagnation. your work has been rather duller of late years. the christmas of 1879 will bring you brighter fortune. some one who has appeared to drop you will come forward again, and take up your cause, and bring you in much money." (this also came to pass.) "you have not nearly reached the zenith of your success. it is yet to come. it is only beginning. you will have another child, certainly _one_, but i am not sure if it will live in this world. i do not see its earth-life, but i see you in that condition. * * * * * "your nervous system was for many years strung up to its highest tension--now it is relaxed, and your physical powers are at their lowest ebb. you could not bear a child in your present condition. you must become much lighter-hearted, more contented and at ease before that comes to pass. you must have ceased to wish for a child, or even to expect it. you have never had a heart really at ease yet. all your happiness has been feverish. * * * * * "i see your evil genius. she is out of your life at present, but she crossed your path last year, and caused you much heart-burning, and not without reason. it seems to me that some sudden shock or accident put an end to the acquaintance; but she will cross your path again, and cause you more misery, perhaps, than anything else has done. she is not young, but stout, and not handsome, as it seems to me. she is addicted to drinking. i see her rolling about now under the influence of liquor. she has been married more than once. i see the name ------written in the air. she would go any lengths to take that you value from you, even to compassing your death. she is madly in love with what is yours. she would do anything to compass her ends--not only immoral things, but filth--filth. i have no hesitation in saying this. whenever she crosses your path, in public or private, flee from her as from a pestilence." (this information was correct in every detail. the name was given at full length. i repeat it as a specimen of the succinctness of intelligence given through trance mediumship.) "1883 will be a most unfortunate year for you. you will have a severe illness, your friends will not know if you are going to live or die, and during this illness you will endure great mental agony, caused through a woman, one of whose names begins with ----. you will meet her some time before, and she will profess to be your dearest friend. i see her bending over you, and telling you she is your best friend, and you are disposed to believe it. she is as tall as you are, but does not look so tall from a habit she has of carrying herself. she is not handsome, strictly speaking, but dark and very fascinating. she has a trick of keeping her eyes down when she speaks. she is possibly french, or of french extraction, but speaks english. she will get a hold upon ----'s mind that will nearly separate you." (at this juncture i asked, "how can i prevent it?") "if i told you, that if you went by the 3 o'clock train from gower street, you would be smashed, you would not take that train. when you meet a woman answering this description, stop and ask yourself whether she is the one i have warned you against, before you admit her across the threshold of your house. * * * * * "----'s character is positive for good, and negative for evil. if what is even for his good were urged upon him, he would refuse to comply; but present evil to him as a possible good, and he will stop to consider whether it is not so. if he is to be guided aright, it must be by making him believe it would be impossible for him to go wrong. elevate his nature by elevating his standard of right. make it impossible for him to lower himself, by convincing him that he _would_ be lowered. he is very conceited. admiration is the breath of his life. he is always thinking what people will say of him or his actions. he is very weak under temptation, especially the temptation of flattery. he is much too fond of women. you have a difficult task before you, and you have done much harm already through your own fault. he believes too little in the evil of others--much too little. if he were unfaithful to those who trust him, he would be quite surprised to find he had broken their hearts. your work is but beginning. hitherto all has been excitement, and there has been but little danger. now comes monotony and the fear of satiety. your fault through life has been in not asserting the positive side of your character. you were born to rule, and you have sat down a slave. either through indolence or despair of success, you have presented a negative side to the insults offered you, and in the end you have been beaten. you make a great mistake in letting your female friends read all your joys and sorrows. men would sympathize and pity. women will only take advantage of them. assert your dignity as mistress in your own house, and don't let those visitors invite themselves who do not come for you. you are, as it were, the open door for more than one false friend. i warn you especially against two unmarried women--at least, if they are married, i don't see their husbands anywhere. they are both too fond of ----; one _very much_ too fond of him, and you laugh at it, and give your leave for caresses and endearments, which should never be permitted. if i were to tell them that they visit at your house for ----, and not for you, they would be very indignant. they give you presents, and really like you; but ---is the attraction, and with one of them it only needs time, place and opportunity to cause the ruin of ---and yourself. she has an impediment in walking. i need say no more. she wants to become still more familiar, and live under the same roof with you. you must prevent it. the other is doing more harm to herself than to anyone else. she is silly and romantic, and must dream of some one. it is a pity it should be encouraged by familiarity. ---has no feeling for them beyond pity and friendship, but it is not necessary he should love a woman to make her dangerous to him. as far as i can see your lives extend, ---will love you, and you will retain your influence over him if you _choose_ to do so. but it is in your own hands what you make of him. you must not judge his nature by your own. you are shutting yourself up too much. you should be surrounded by a circle of men, so that you might not draw influence from ---alone. you should go out more, and associate with clever men, and hear what they have to say to you. you must not keep so entirely with ----. it is bad for both of you. you are making too great a demand upon his spiritual powers, and you will exhaust them too soon. a woman cannot draw spiritual life from women only. she must take it from men. there is another acquaintance i must warn you against ----; a widow, fair hair, light eyes, not clever, but cunning. she has but one purpose in visiting you. she would like to stand in your shoes. she would not hesitate to usurp your rights. be civil to her if you will, but do not encourage her visits. it were best if she passed out of your lives altogether. she can never bring you any good luck. she may be the cause of much annoyance yet. ---should have work, active and constant, or his health will fail, living in idleness, spiritually and bodily. you tell him too often that you love him. let him feel there is always a higher height to gain, a lower depth to fall to, in your esteem. he is not the only man in the world. why should you deceive him by saying so? you are much to blame." (considering that mr. fletcher had never seen, or, as far as i knew, heard of the persons he mentioned in this tirade, it becomes a matter of speculation where or from whom he gathered this keen insight to their character and personalities, every word of which i can vouch for as being strictly true.) "many spirits are round you. some wish to speak.... a grand and noble spirit stands behind you, with his hands spread in blessing over your head. he is your father. he sends this message: 'my dear child, there were so many influences antagonistic to my own in your late married life, that i found it very difficult to get near you. now they are removed. the present conditions are much more favorable to me, and i hope to be with you often, and to help you through the life that lies before you.' there is the face of a glorified spirit, just above your head, and i see the name 'powles.' this spirit is nearer you, and more attached to you than any other in spirit land. he comes only to you, and one other creature through you--your second child. he says you will know him by the token, the song; you sung to him upon his death-bed. his love for you is the best and purest, and he is always by you, though lower influences sometimes forbid his manifesting himself. your child comes floating down, and joins hands with him. she is a very pure and beautiful spirit. she intimates that her name on earth was the same as yours, but she is called by another name in the spheres--a name that has something to do with flowers. she brings me a bunch of pure white lilies, tinged with blue, with blue petals, tied with a piece of blue ribbon, and she intimates to me by gesture that her spirit-name has something to do with them. i think i must go now, but i hope you will come and sit with me again. i shall be able to tell you more next time. my name is 'winona,' and when you ask for me i will come. good-bye...." this was the end of my first _sã©ance_ with mr. fletcher, and i think even sceptics will allow that it was sufficiently startling for the first interview with an entire stranger. the following year i wrote again to the _banner of light_ concerning mr. fletcher, but will only give an extract from my letter. "i told you in my letter of last year that i had held a _sã©ance_ with mr. fletcher of so private a nature that it was impossible to make it public. during that interview 'winona' made several startling prophecies concerning the future, which, it may interest your readers to know, have already been fulfilled. wishing to procure some further proofs of mr. fletcher's power before i wrote this letter to you, i prepared a different sort of test for him last week. from a drawer full of old letters i selected, _with my eyes shut_, four folded sheets of paper, which i slipped into four blank envelopes, ready prepared for them--still without looking--and closed them in the usual manner with the adhesive gum, after which i sealed them with sealing wax. i carried these envelopes to mr. fletcher, and requested "winona" to tell me the characters of the persons by whom their contents had been written. she placed them consecutively to the medium's forehead, and as she returned them to me, one by one, i wrote her comments on each on the side of the cover. on breaking the seals, the character of each writer was found to be most accurately defined, although the letters had all been written years before--(a fact which "winona" had immediately discovered). she also told me which of my correspondents were dead, and which living. here, you will observe, there could have been no reaction of my own brain upon that of the sensitive, as i was perfectly ignorant, until i reopened the envelopes, by whom the letters had been sent to me. two months ago i was invited to join in a speculation, of the advisability of which i felt uncertain. i went therefore to mr. fletcher, and asked for an interview with "winona," intending to consult her in the matter. but before i had time to mention the subject, she broached it to me, and went on to speak of the speculation itself, of the people concerned in it, and the money it was expected to produce; and, finally, she explained to me how it would collapse, with the means that would bring it to an end, putting her decided veto on my having anything to do with it. i followed "winona's" advice, and have been thankful since that i did so, as everything has turned out just as she predicted." * * * * * i think those people who desire to gain the utmost good they can out of clairvoyance should be more ready to listen and learn, and less to cavil and to question. many who have heard me relate the results of my experience have rushed off pell-mell to the same medium, perhaps, and came away woefully disappointed. were they to review the interview they would probably find they had done all the talking, and supplied all the information, leaving the clairvoyant no work to do whatever. to such i always say, whether their aim is to obtain advice in their business, or news of a lost friend, _be perfectly passive_, until the medium has said all he or she may have to say. give them time to become _en rapport_ with you, and quietude, that he may commune with the spirits you bring with you; for it is _they_, and not _his_ controls, that furnish him with the history of your life, or point out the dangers that are threatening. when he has finished speaking, he will probably ask if you have any questions to put to him, and _then_ is your turn for talking, and for gaining any particular information you may wish to acquire. if these directions are carried out, you are likely to have a much more satisfactory _sã©ance_ than otherwise. chapter xxi. private media. people who wish to argue against spiritualism are quite sure, as a rule, that media will descend to any trickery and cheating for the sake of gain. if you reply, as in my own case, that the _sã©ances_ have been given as a free-will offering, they say that they expected introductions or popularity or advertisement in exchange. but what can be adduced against the medium who lends his or her powers to a person whom he has never seen, and probably never will see, and for no reason, excepting that his controls urge him to the deed? such a man is mr. george plummer of massachusetts, america. in december, 1887, when my mind was very unsettled, my friend miss schonberg advised me to write to this medium and ask his advice. she told me i must not expect an immediate reply, as mr. plummer kept a box into which he threw all the letters he received from strangers on spiritualistic subjects, and when he felt impressed to do so, he went and took out one, haphazard, and wrote the answer that was dictated to him. all i had to do was to enclose an addressed envelope, not a _stamped_ one, in my letter, to convey the answer back again. accordingly, i prepared a diplomatic epistle to this effect. "dear sir,--hearing that you are good enough to sit for strangers, i shall be much obliged if you will let me know what you see for me.--yours truly, f. lane." it will be seen that i transposed the letters of my name "lean." i addressed the return envelope in the same manner to the house in regent's park, which i then occupied, and i wrote it all in a feigned hand to conceal my identity as much as possible. the time went on and i heard nothing from mr. plummer. i was touring in the provinces for the whole of 1888, and at the end of the year i came back to london and settled down in a new house in a different quarter of the town. by this time i had almost forgotten mr. plummer and my letter to him, and when in _december_, 1889, two years after i had sent it, my own envelope in my own handwriting, forwarded by the postal authorities from regent's park, was brought to me, i did not at first recognize it. i kept twisting it about, and thinking how like it was to my own writing, when the truth suddenly flashed on me. i opened it and read as follows: "georgetown, november 28th, 1889. "mrs. lane,--dear madam,--please pardon me for seeming neglect in answering your request. at the time of receiving your letter i could not write, and it got mislaid. coming across it now, even at the eleventh hour, i place myself in condition to answer. i see a lady with dark blue eyes before me, of a very nervous life--warm-hearted--impulsive--tropical in her nature. a woman of intense feeling--a woman whose life has been one of constant disappointment. to-day the current of life flows on smoothly but monotonous. i sense from the sphere of this lady, a weariness of life--should think she felt like alexander, because there are no more worlds for her to conquer. she is her own worst enemy. naturally generous, she radiates her refined magnetic sphere to others, and does not get back that which she can utilize. i see a bright-complexioned gentleman in earth life--brave, generous, and kind--but does not comprehend your interior life. and yet thinks the world of you to-day. i feel from you talent of a marked order. and yet life is a disappointment. not but what you have been successful in a refined, worldly sense, but your spiritual nature has been repressed. the society you move in is one of intellectual culture; that is not of the soul. and it is soul food that you are hungering for to-day. you are an inspired woman. thought seems to you, all prepared, so to speak. but it does not seem to free the tiny little messengers of your soul life. somehow i don't feel that confidence in myself in writing to you. the best kind of a reading is usually obtained in reading to a person direct. but if i don't meet your case we will call it a failure and let it go. the year of 1890 is going to be more favorable to you than for the last ten years. i think in some way you are to meet with more reciprocity of soul. as the divining rod points to the stream of water in the earth, so i find my intuitive eye takes cognizance of your interior life. you will in a degree catch my meaning through this, and it will come clearer, more through your intuition than through your intellect. i should say to you, follow your instincts and intuitions always through life. if this throws any light over your path i am glad.--i remain, most respectfully yours, george plummer." now there are two noticeable things in this letter. first, mr. plummer's estimate of my interior life almost coincides with mr. fletcher's given in 1879, ten years before. next, although he read it through the medium of a letter written in 1887, he draws a picture of my position and surroundings in 1889. both these things appeared to me very curious as coming from a stranger across the atlantic, and i answered his letter at once, still preserving my slight incognita, and telling him that as he had read so much of my life from my handwriting of so long ago, i wished he would try to read more from words which went fresh from me to him. i also enclosed a piece of the handwriting of a friend. mr. plummer did not keep me waiting this time. his next letter was dated february 8th, 1890. "dear madam,--i received yours of january 3rd, and would have answered before, but the spirit did not move. i have been tied to a sick room going on three months, with its cares and anxieties. not the best condition for writing. the best condition to reflect your life, to give your soul strength, is to be at rest and have all earth conditions nullified. but that cannot be to-day. so i will try to penetrate the mystery of your life as best i can, and radiate to you at least some strength. the relation of soul is the difficulty of your life, and you are so perfectly inspirational that it makes the condition worse. grand types of manhood and womanhood come to you from the higher life, and your spirit and soul catch the reflection, and are disappointed because they cannot live that life. but you are getting a development out of all this friction. now if you would come in contact with that nature that could radiate to you just what you could give to it, you would be happy. love is absolute, you well know. often in the exchange of thought we give each other strength. and then every letter we write, every time we shake hands, we give some of our own personality out. you are too sensitive to the spheres of people. you have such a strong personality of life that the power that inspires you could not make the perfect junction until you get so, you had rather die than live. that was a condition of negation. now you have been running on a dead level of nothingness for two years and a half." (this was exactly the time since my daughter had been taken from me). "_i mean it seems so to you._ such a sameness of things. i get from the writing of the gentleman. a good sphere--warm hearted--true to his understanding of things. he seems to be a sort of a half-way house to you. that is, you roam in the sea of ideality, down deep, you know. and he rather holds on to matter-of-fact--sort of ballast for you. you need it. for you are, in fact, ripe for the other life, though it is not time to go yet. although a writer, yet you are a disappointed one. no mortal but yourself knows this. you have winged your way in flights, grand and lofty, and cannot _pen it_, is what is the matter. now, in time you will, more perfectly than to-day, by the touch of your pen, portray your soul and its flights. then i see you happy. this gentleman is an auxiliary power, whether the power in full of your life i do not to-day get. you are emphatically a woman of destiny, and should follow your _impressions_, for through that intuitive law you will be saved. i mean by 'saved,' leap, as it were, across difficulties instead of going round. for your soul is more positive and awake to its necessities to-day than ever before in your life, particularly in the last six months. body marriages are good under the physical law--bring certain unfoldments. but when mortal man and woman reach a certain condition of development, they become dissatisfied, and yearn for the full fruition of love. and there is no limitation of this law. women usually bow to the heart-love law, that sometimes brings great joy and misery. the time is ripe for rulers. there will be put into the field men, and more specifically women, who have exemplified love divine. they will teach the law so plainly that they who run can read. and it can only be taught by those who have embodied it. some years ago, in this country, there was a stir-up. it did its work in fermentation. the next must be humanization. the material world must come under the spiritual. women will come to the front as inspired powers. this is what comes to me to write to you to-day. if it brings strength, or one ray of sun-shine to you, i am glad.--i remain, most respectfully yours, george plummer." mr. plummer is not occupying a high position in the world, nor is he a rich man. he gains no popularity by his letters--he hears no applause--he reaps no personal benefit, nor will he take any money. it would be difficult, with any degree of reason, to charge him with cheating the public for the sake of emptying their pockets. i fail to see, therefore, how he can obtain his insight to one's interior life by mortal means, nor, unless compelled by a power superior to his own, why he should take the trouble to obtain it. another medium, whose health paid the sacrifice demanded of her for the exhibition of a power over which, at one time, she had no control, and which never brought her in anything but the thanks of her friends, is mrs. keningale cook (mabel collins), whom i have mentioned in the "story of my spirit child." there was a photographer in london, named hudson, who had been very successful in developing spirit photographs. he would prepare to take an ordinary photograph, and on developing the plate, one or more spirit forms would be found standing by the sitter, in which forms were recognized the faces of deceased friends. of course, the generality of people said that the plates were prepared beforehand with vague misty figures, and the imagination of the sitter did the rest. i had been for some time anxious to test mr. hudson's powers for myself, and one morning very early, between nine and ten o'clock, i asked mrs. cook, as a medium, to accompany me to his studio. he was not personally acquainted with either of us, and we went so early that we found him rather unwilling to set to work. indeed, at first he declined. we disturbed him at breakfast and in his shirt sleeves, and he told us his studio had been freshly painted, and it was quite impossible to use it until dry. but we pressed him to take our photographs until he consented, and we ascended to the studio. it was certainly very difficult to avoid painting ourselves, and the screen placed behind was perfectly wet. we had not mentioned a word to mr. hudson about spirit photographs, and the first plate he took out and held up to the light, we saw him draw his coat sleeve across. when we asked him what he was doing, he turned to us and said, "are you ladies spiritualists?" when we answered in the affirmative, he continued, "i rubbed out the plate because i thought there was something on it, and most sitters would object. i often have to destroy three or four negatives before i get a clear picture." we begged him not to rub out any more as we were curious to see the results. he, consequently, developed three photographs of us, sitting side by side. the first was too indistinct to be of any use. it represented us, with a third form, merely a patch of white, lying on the ground, whilst a mass of hair was over my knee. "florence" afterwards informed me that this was an attempt to depict herself. the second picture showed mrs. cook and myself as before, with "charlie" standing behind me. i have spoken of "charlie" (stephen charles bernard abbott) in "curious coincidences," and how much he was attached to me and mine. in the photograph he is represented in his cowl and monk's frock--with ropes round his waist, and his face looking down. in the third picture, an old lady in a net cap and white shawl was standing with her two hands on mrs. cook's shoulders. this was her grandmother, and the profile was so distinctly delineated, that her father, mr. mortimer collins, recognized it at once as the portrait of his mother. the old lady had been a member of the plymouth brethren sect, and wore the identical shawl of white silk with an embroidered border which she used to wear during her last years on earth. i have seen many other spirit photographs taken by mr. hudson, but i adhere to my resolution to speak only of that which i have proved by the exercise of my own senses. i have the two photographs i mention to this day, and have often wished that mr. hudson's removal from town had not prevented my sitting again to him in order to procure the likenesses of other friends. miss caroline pawley is a lady who advertises her willingness to obtain messages for others from the spirit world, but is forbidden by her guides to take presents or money. i thought at first this must be a "_ruse_." "surely," i said to a friend who knew miss pawley, "i ought to take books, or flowers, or some little offering in my hand." "if you do she will return them," was the reply. "all that is necessary is to write and make an appointment, as her time is very much taken up." accordingly i did write, and miss pawley kindly named an early date for my visit. it was but a few months after i had lost my beloved daughter, and i longed for news of her. i arrived at miss pawley's residence, a neat little house in the suburbs, and was received by my hostess, a sweet, placid-faced woman, who looked the embodiment of peace and calm happiness. after we had exchanged greetings she said to me, "you have lost a daughter." "i lost one about twenty years ago--a baby of ten days old," i replied. "i don't mean her," said miss pawley, "i mean a young woman. i will tell you how i came to know of it. i took out my memoranda yesterday and was looking it through to see what engagements i had made for to-day, and i read the names aloud to myself. as i came to the entry, 'mrs. lean, 3 o'clock,' i heard a low voice say behind me, 'that is my dear, _dear_ mother!' and when i turned round, i saw standing at my elbow a young woman about the middle height, with blue eyes and very long brown hair, and she told me that it is _she_ whom you are grieving for at present." i made no answer to this speech, for my wound was too fresh to permit me to talk of her; and miss pawley proceeded. "come!" she said cheerfully, "let us get paper and pencil and see what the dear child has to say to us." she did not go under trance, but wrote rapidly for a few moments and then handed me a letter written in the following manner. i repeat (what i have said before) that i do not test the genuineness of such a manifestation by the act itself. _anyone_ might have written the letter, but no one but myself could recognize the familiar expressions and handwriting, nor detect the apparent inconsistencies that made it so convincing. it was written in two different hands on alternate lines, the first line being written by "eva," and the next by "florence," and so on. now, my earthly children from their earliest days have never called me anything but "mother," whilst "florence," who left me before she could speak, constantly calls me "mamma." this fact alone could never have been known to miss pawley. added to which the portion written by my eldest daughter was in her own clear decided hand, whilst "florence's" contribution was in rather a childish, or "young ladylike" scribble. the lines ran thus. the italics are florence's:- "my own beloved mother. _my dear, dear, dearest mamma._ you must not grieve so terribly for me. _and knowing all we have taught you, you should not grieve._ believe me, i am not unhappy. _of course not, and she will be very happy soon._ but i suffer pain in seeing you suffer. _dear mamma, do try to see that it is for the best._ florence is right. it is best! dear mother. _and we shall all meet so soon, you know._ god bless you for all your love for me. _good-bye, dear, dearest mamma._ your own girl. _your loving little florence._" i cannot comment on this letter. i only make it public in a cause that is sacred to me. to instance another case of mediumship which is exercised for neither remuneration nor applause. i am obliged in this example to withhold the name, because to betray their identity would be to ill requite a favor which was courteously accorded me. i had heard of a family of the name of d---who held private sittings once a week, at which the mother and brothers and sisters gone before materialized and joined the circle; and having expressed my desire, through a mutual acquaintance, to assist at their _sã©ances_, mr. d---kindly sent me an invitation to one. i found he was a high-class tradesman, living in a good house in the suburbs, and that strangers were very seldom (if ever) admitted to their circle. mr. d---explained to me before the _sã©ance_ commenced, that they regarded spiritualism as a most sacred thing, that they sat only to have communication with their own relations, his wife and children, and that his wife never manifested except when they were alone. his earth family consisted of a young married daughter and her husband, and four or five children of different ages. he had lost, i think he told me, a grown-up son, and two little ones. william haxby, the medium, whom i wrote of in my chapter "on sceptics," and who had passed over since then, had been intimate with their family, and often came back to them. these explanations over, the _sã©ance_ began. the back and front parlors were divided by lace curtains only. in the back, where the young married daughter took up her position on a sofa, were a piano and an american organ. in the front parlor, which was lighted by an oil lamp, we sat about on chairs and sofas, but without any holding of hands. in a very short time the lace curtains parted and a young man's face appeared. this was the grown-up brother. "hullo! tom," they all exclaimed, and the younger ones went up and kissed him. he spoke a while to his father, telling what they proposed to do that evening, but saying his mother would not be able to materialize. as he was speaking, a little boy stood by his side. "here's harry," cried the children, and they brought their spirit brother out into the room between them. he seemed to be about five years old. his father told him to come and speak to me, and he obeyed, just like a little human child, and stood before me with his hand resting on my knee. then a little girl joined the party, and the two children walked about the room, talking to everybody in turn. as we were occupied with them, we heard the notes of the american organ. "here's haxby," said mr. d----. "now we shall have a treat." (i must say here that mr. haxby was an accomplished organist on earth.) as he heard his name, he, too, came to the curtains, and showed his face with its ungainly features, and intimated that he and "tom" would play a duet. accordingly the two instruments pealed forth together, and the spirits really played gloriously--a third influence joining in with some stringed instrument. this _sã©ance_ was so much less wonderful than many i have written of, that i should not have included a description of it, except to prove that all media do not ply their profession in order to prey upon their fellow-creatures. the d---family are only anxious to avoid observation. there could be no fun or benefit in deceiving each other, and yet they devote one evening in each week to holding communion with those they loved whilst on earth and feel are only hidden from them for a little while, and by a very flimsy veil. their _sã©ances_ truly carry out the great poet's belief. "then the forms of the departed enter at the open door; the belovã©d, the true-hearted, come to visit me once more. * * * * * with a slow and noiseless footstep comes that messenger divine, takes the vacant chair beside me, lays her gentle hand in mine. * * * * * uttered not, yet, comprehended, is the spirit's voiceless prayer. soft rebukes, in blessings ended, breathing from her lips of air." in the house of the lady i have mentioned in "the story of the monk," mrs. uniacke of bruges, i have witnessed marvellous phenomena. they were not pleasant manifestations, very far from it, but there was no doubt that they were genuine. whether they proceeded from the agency of mrs. uniacke, my sister blanche, or a young lady called miss robinson, who sat with them, or from the power of all three combined, i cannot say, but they had experienced them on several occasions before i joined them, and were eager that i should be a witness of them. we sat in mrs. uniacke's house, in a back drawing-room, containing a piano and several book-cases, full of books--some of them very heavy. we sat round a table in complete darkness, only we four women, with locked doors and bolted windows. accustomed as i was to all sorts of manifestations and mediumship, i was really frightened by what occurred. the table was most violent in its movements, our chairs were dragged from under us, and heavy articles were thrown about the room. the more mrs. uniacke expostulated and miss robinson laughed, the worse the tumult became. the books were taken from the shelves and hurled at our heads, several of the blows seriously hurting us; the keys of the piano at the further end of the room were thumped and crashed upon, as if they would be broken; and in the midst of it all miss robinson fell prone upon the floor, and commenced talking in flemish, a language of which she had no knowledge. my sister understands it, and held a conversation with the girl; and she told us afterwards that miss robinson had announced herself by the name of a fleming lately deceased in the town, and detailed many events of his life, and messages which he wished to be delivered to his family--all of which were conveyed in good and intelligible flemish. when the young lady had recovered she resumed her place at the table, as my sister was anxious i should see another table, which they called "mademoiselle" dance, whilst unseen hands thumped the piano. the manifestation not occurring, however, they thought it must be my presence, and ordered me away from the table. i went and stood up close against the folding doors that led into the front room, keeping my hand, with a purpose, on the handle. the noise and confusion palpably increased when the three ladies were left alone. "mademoiselle," who stood in a corner of the room, commenced to dance about, and the notes of the piano crashed forcibly. there was something strange to me about the manifestation of the piano. it sounded as if it were played with feet instead of hands. when the tumult was at its height, i suddenly, and without warning, threw open the folding door and let the light in upon the scene, and i saw _the music-stool mounted on the keyboard_ and hammering the notes down. as the light was admitted, both "mademoiselle" and the music-stool fell with a crash to the floor, and the _sã©ance_ was over. the ladies were seated at the table, and the floor and articles of furniture were strewn with the books which had been thrown down--the bookshelves being nearly emptied--and pots of flowers. i was never at such a pandemonium before or after. the late sir percy shelley and his wife lady shelley, having no children of their own, adopted a little girl, who, when about four or five years, was seriously burned about the chest and shoulders, and confined for some months to her bed. the child's cot stood in lady shelley's bedroom, and when her adopted mother was about to say her prayers, she was accustomed to give the little girl a pencil and piece of paper to keep her quiet. one day the child asked for pen and ink instead of a pencil, and on being refused began to cry, and said, "the _man_ said she must have pen and ink." as it was particularly enjoined that she must not cry for fear of reopening her wounds, lady shelley provided her with the desired articles, and proceeded to her devotions. when she rose from them, she saw to her surprise that the child had drawn an outline of a group of figures in the flaxman style, representing mourners kneeling round a couch with a sick man laid upon it. she did not understand the meaning of the picture, but she was struck with amazement at the execution of it, as was everybody who saw it. from that day she gave the little girl a sheet of card-board each morning, with pen and ink, and obtained a different design, the child always talking glibly of "the man" who helped her to draw. this went on until the drawings numbered thirty or forty, when a "glossary of symbols" was written out by this baby, who could neither write nor spell, which explained the whole matter. it was then discovered that the series of drawings represented the life of the soul on leaving the body, until it was lost "in the infinity of god"--a likely subject to be chosen, or understood, by a child of five. i heard this story from lady shelley's lips, and i have seen (and well examined) the original designs. they were at one time to be published by subscription, but i believe it never came to pass. i have also seen the girl who drew them, most undoubtedly under control. she was then a young married woman and completely ignorant of anything relating to spiritualism. i asked her if she remembered the circumstances under which she drew the outlines, and she laughed and said no. she knew she had drawn them, but she had no idea how. all she could tell me was that she had never done anything wonderful since, and she had no interest in spiritualism whatever. chapter xxii. various media. a very strong and remarkable clairvoyant is mr. towns, of portobello road. as a business adviser or foreteller of the future, i don't think he is excelled. the inquirer after prophecy will not find a grand mansion to receive him in portobello road. on the contrary, this soothsayer keeps a small shop in the oil trade, and is himself only an honest, and occasionally rather rough spoken, tradesman. he will see clients privately on any day when he is at home, though it is better to make an appointment, but he holds a circle on his premises each tuesday evening, to which everybody is admitted, and where the contribution is anything you may be disposed to give, from coppers to gold. these meetings, which are very well attended, are always opened by mr. towns with prayer, after which a hymn is sung, and the _sã©ance_ commences. there is full gas on all the time, and mr. towns sits in the midst of the circle. he does not go under trance, but rubs his forehead for a few minutes and then turns round suddenly and addresses members of his audience, as it may seem, promiscuously, but it is just as he is impressed. he talks, as a rule, in metaphor, or allegorically, but his meaning is perfectly plain to the person he addresses. it is not only silly women, or curious inquirers, who attend mr. towns' circles. you may see plenty of grave, and often anxious, business men around him, waiting to hear if they shall sell out their shares, or hold on till the market rises; where they are to search for lost certificates or papers of value; or on whom they are to fix the blame of money or articles of value that have disappeared. once in my presence a serious-looking man had kept his eye fixed on him for some time, evidently anxious to speak. mr. towns turned suddenly to him. "you want to know, sir," he commenced, without any preface, "where that baptismal certificate is to be found." "i do, indeed," replied the man; "it is a case of a loss of thousands if it is not forthcoming." "let me see," said mr. towns, with his finger to his forehead. "have you tried a church with a square tower without any steeple, an ugly, clumsy building, white-washed inside, standing in a village. stop! i can see the registrar books--the village's name is ----. the entry is at page 200. the name is ----. the mother's name is ----. is that the certificate you want?" "it is, indeed," said the man; "and it is in the church at ----?" "didn't i say it was in the church at ----?" replied mr. towns, who does not like to be doubted or contradicted. "go and you will find it there." and the man _did_ go and did find it there. to listen to the conversations that go on between him and his clients at these meetings, mr. towns is apparently not less successful with love affairs than with business affairs, and it is an interesting experience to attend them, if only for the sake of curiosity. but naturally, to visit him privately is to command much more of his attention. he will not, however, sit for everybody, and it is of no use attempting to deceive him. he is exceedingly keen-sighted into character, and if he takes a dislike to a man he will tell him so without the slightest hesitation. no society lies are manufactured in the little oil shop. a relative of mine, who was not the most faithful husband in the world, and who, in consequence, judged of his wife's probity by his own, went, during her temporary absence, to mr. towns to ask him a delicate question. the lady was well known to the medium, but the husband he had never seen before, and had no notion who his sitter was, until he pulled out a letter from his pocket, thrust it across the table, and said, "there! look at that letter and tell me if the writer is faithful to me." mr. towns told me that as he took the envelope in his hand, he saw the lady's face photographed upon it, and at the same moment, all the blackness of the husband's own life. he rose up like an avenging deity and pointed to the door. "this letter," he said, "was written by mrs. ----. go! man, and wash your own hands clean, and _then_ come and ask me questions about your wife." and so the "heavy swell" had to slink downstairs again. i have often gone myself to mr. towns before engaging in any new business, and always received the best advice, and been told exactly what would occur during its progress. when i was about to start on the "golden goblin" tour in management with my son--i went to him to ask if it would be successful. he not only told me what money it would bring in, but where the weak points would occur. the drama was then completed, and in course of rehearsal, and had been highly commended by all who had heard and seen it. mr. towns, however, who had neither seen nor heard it, insisted it would have to be altered before it was a complete success. this annoyed me, and i knew it would annoy my son, the author; besides, i believed it was a mistake, so i said nothing about it. before it had run a month, however, the alterations were admitted on all sides to be necessary, and were consequently made. everything that mr. towns prognosticated on that occasion came to pass, even to the strangers i should encounter on tour, and how their acquaintance would affect my future life; also how long the tour would last, and in which towns it would achieve the greatest success. i can assure some of my professional friends, that if they would take the trouble to consult a trustworthy clairvoyant about their engagements before booking them, they would not find themselves so often in the hands of the bogus manager as they do now. a short time ago i received a summons to the county court, and although i _knew_ i was in the right, yet law has so many loopholes that i felt nervous. the case was called for eleven o'clock on a certain wednesday, and the evening before i joined mr. towns' circle. when it came to my turn to question him, i said, "do you see where i shall be to-morrow morning?" he replied, "i can see you are called to appear in a court-house, but the case will be put off." "_put off_," i repeated, "but it is fixed for eleven. it can't be put off." "cases are sometimes relegated to another court," said mr. towns. then i thought he had quite got out of his depth, and replied, "you are making a mistake. this is quite an ordinary business. it can't go to a higher court. but shall i gain it?" "in the afternoon," said the medium. his answers so disappointed me that i placed no confidence in them, and went to the county court on the following morning in a nervous condition. but he was perfectly correct. the case was called for eleven, but as the defendant was not forthcoming, it was passed over, and the succeeding hearings occupied so much time, that the magistrate thought mine would never come off, so he _relegated it at two o'clock to another court_ to be heard before the registrar, who decided it at once in my favor, so that i _gained it in the afternoon_. * * * * * one afternoon in my "green sallet" days of spiritualism, when every fresh experience almost made my breath stop, i turned into the progressive library in southampton row, to ask if there were any new media come to town. mr. burns did not know of any, but asked me if i had ever attended one of mrs. olive's _sã©ances_, a series of which were being held weekly in the library rooms. i had not, and i bought a half-crown ticket for admission, and returned there the same evening. when i entered the _sã©ance_ room, the medium had not arrived, and i had time to take stock of the audience. it seemed a very sad and serious one. there was no whispering nor giggling going on, and it struck me they looked more like patients waiting the advent of the doctor, than people bound on an evening's amusement. and that, to my surprise, was what i afterwards found they actually were. mrs. olive did not keep us long waiting, and when she came in, dressed in a lilac muslin dress, with her golden hair parted plainly on her forehead, her _very_ blue eyes, and a sweet, womanly smile for her circle, she looked as unlike the popular idea of a professional medium as anyone could possibly do. she sat down on a chair in the middle of the circle, and, having closed her eyes, went off to sleep. presently she sat up, and, still with her eyes closed, said in a very pleasant, but decidedly _manly_, voice: "and now, my friends, what can i do for you?" a lady in the circle began to ask advice about her daughter. the medium held up her hand. "stop!" she exclaimed, "you are doing _my_ work. friend, your daughter is ill, you say. then it is _my_ business to see what is the matter with her. will you come here, young lady, and let me feel your pulse." having done which, the medium proceeded to detail exactly the contents of the girl's stomach, and to advise her what to eat and drink for the future. another lady then advanced with a written prescription. the medium examined her, made an alteration or two in the prescription, and told her to go on with it till further orders. my curiosity was aroused, and i whispered to my next neighbor to tell me who the control was. "sir john forbes, a celebrated physician," she replied. "he has almost as large a connection now as he had when alive." i was not exactly ill at the time, but i was not strong, and nothing that my family doctor prescribed for me seemed to do me any good. so wishing to test the abilities of "sir john forbes," i went up to the medium and knelt down by her side. "what is the matter with me, sir john?" i began. "don't call me by that name, little friend," he answered; "we have no titles on this side the world." "what shall i call you, then?" i said. "doctor, plain doctor," was the reply, but in such a kind voice. "then tell me what is the matter with me, doctor." "come nearer, and i'll whisper it in your ear." he then gave me a detailed account of the manner in which i suffered, and asked what i had been taking. when i told him, "all wrong, all wrong," he said, shaking his head. "here! give me a pencil and paper." i had a notebook in my pocket, with a metallic pencil, which i handed over to him, and he wrote a prescription in it. "take that, and you'll be all the better, little friend," he said, as he gave it to me back again. when i had time to examine what he had written, i found to my surprise that the prescription was in abbreviated latin, with the amount of each ingredient given in the regular medical shorthand. mrs. olive, a simple though intelligent looking woman, seemed a very unlikely person to me to be educated up to this degree. however, i determined to obtain a better opinion than my own, so the next time my family doctor called to see me, i said: "i have had a prescription given me, doctor, which i am anxious, with your permission, to try. i wish you would glance your eye over it and see if you approve of my taking it." at the same time i handed him the note-book, and i saw him grow very red as he looked at the prescription. "anything wrong?" i inquired. "o! dear no!" he replied in an offended tone; "you can try your remedy, and welcome, for aught i care--only, next time you wish to consult a new doctor, i advise you to dismiss the old one first." "but this prescription was not written by a doctor," i argued. at this he looked still more offended. "it's no use trying to deceive me, mrs. ross-church! that prescription was written by no one but a medical man." it was a long time before i could make him really believe _who_ had transcribed it, and under what circumstances. when he was convinced of the truth of my statement, he was very much astonished, and laid all his professional pique aside. he did more. he not only urged me to have the prescription made up, but he confessed that his first chagrin was due to the fact that he felt he should have thought of it himself. "_that_," he said, pointing to one ingredient, "is the very thing to suit your case, and it makes me feel such a fool to think that a _woman_ should think of what _i_ passed over." nothing would make this doctor believe in spiritualism, though he continued to aver that only a medical man could have prescribed the medicine; but as i saw dozens of other cases treated at the time by mrs. olive, and have seen dozens since, i know that she does it by a power not her own. for several years after that "sir john forbes" used to give me advice about my health, and when his medium married colonel greck and went to live in russia, he was so sorry to leave his numerous patients, and they to lose him, that he wanted to control _me_ in order that i might carry on his practice, but after several attempts he gave it up as hopeless. he said my brain was too active for any spirit to magnetize; and he is not the first, nor last, who has made the same attempt, and failed. "sir john forbes" was not mrs. olive's only control. she had a charming spirit called "sunshine," who used to come for clairvoyance and prophecy; and a very comical negro named "hambo," who was as humorous and full of native wit and repartee, as negroes generally are, and as mrs. olive, who is a very gentle, quiet woman, decidedly was _not_. "hambo" was the business adviser and director, and sometimes materialized, which the others did not. these three influences were just as opposite from one another, and from mrs. olive, as any creatures could possibly be. "sir john forbes," so dignified, courteous, and truly benevolent--such a thorough old _gentleman_; "sunshine," a sweet, sympathetic indian girl, full of gentle reproof for wrong and exhortations to lead a higher life; and "hambo," humorous and witty, calling a spade a spade, and occasionally descending to coarseness, but never unkind or wicked. i knew them all over a space of years until i regarded them as old friends. mrs. greck is now a widow, and residing in england, and, i hear, sitting again for her friends. if so, a great benefit in the person of "sir john forbes" has returned for a portion of mankind. i have kept a well-known physical medium to the last, not because i do not consider his powers to be completely genuine, but because they are of a nature that will not appeal to such as have not witnessed them. i allude to mr. charles williams, with whom i have sat many times alone, and also with mrs. guppy volckman. the manifestations that take place at his _sã©ances_ are always material. the much written of "john king" is his principal control, and invariably appears under his mediumship; and "ernest" is the name of another. i have seen charles williams leave the cabinet under trance and wander in an aimless manner about the room, whilst both "john king" and "ernest" were with the circle, and have heard them reprove him for rashness. i have also seen him under the same circumstances, during an afternoon _sã©ance_, mistake the window curtains for the curtains of the cabinet, and draw them suddenly aside, letting the full light of day in upon the scene, and showing vacancy where a moment before two figures had been standing and talking. once when "john king" asked colonel lean what he should bring him, he was told _mentally_ to fetch the half-hoop diamond ring from my finger and place it on that of my husband. this half-hoop ring was worn between my wedding ring and a heavy gold snake ring, and i was holding the hand of my neighbor all the time, and yet the ring was abstracted from between the other two and transferred to colonel lean's finger without my being aware of the circumstance. these and various other marvels, i have seen under mr. williams' mediumship; but as i can adduce no proof that they were genuine, except my own conviction, it would be useless to write them down here. only i could not close the list of the media with whom i have familiarly sat in london, and from whom i have received both kindness and courtesy, without including his name. it is the same with several others--with mr. frank herne (now deceased) and his wife mrs. herne, whom i first knew as mrs. bassett, a famous medium for the direct spirit voice; with mrs. wilkinson, a clairvoyant who has a large _clientã¨le_ of wealthy and aristocratic patrons; with mrs. wilkins and mr. vango, both reliable, though, as yet, less well known to the spiritualistic public; and with dr. wilson, the astrologer, who will tell you all you have ever done, and all you are ever going to do, if you will only give him the opportunity of casting your horoscope. to all and each i tender my thanks for having afforded me increased opportunities of searching into the truth of a science that possesses the utmost interest for me, and that has given me the greatest pleasure. chapter xxiii. on laying the cards. at the risk of being laughed at, i cannot refrain, in the course of this narrative of my spiritualistic experiences, from saying a few words about what is called "laying the cards." "imagine!" i fancy i hear some dear creature with nose "tip-tilted like a flower" exclaim, "any sensible woman believing in cards." and yet napoleon believed in them, and regulated the fate of nations by them; and the only times he neglected their admonitions were followed by the retreat from moscow and the defeat at waterloo. still i did not believe in card-telling till the belief was forced upon me. i always thought it rather cruel to give imprisonment and hard labor to old women who laid the cards for servant girls. who can tell whether or no it is obtaining money upon false pretences; and if it is, why not inflict the same penalty on every cheating tradesman who sells inferior articles or gives short weight? women would be told they should look after their own interests in the one case--so why not in the other? but all the difference lies in _who_ lays the cards. very few people can do it successfully, and my belief is that it must be done by a person with mediumistic power, which, in some mysterious manner, influences the disposition of the pack. i have seen cards shuffled and cut twenty times in the hope of getting rid of some number antagonistic to the inquirer's good fortune, and yet each time the same card would turn up in the juxtaposition least to be desired. however, to narrate my own experience. when i was living in brussels, years before i heard of modern spiritualism, i made the acquaintance of an irish lady called mrs. thorpe, a widow who was engaged as a _chã¢peron_ for some young belgian ladies of high birth, who had lost their mother. we lived near each other, and she often came in to have a chat with me. after a while i heard through some other friends that mrs. thorpe was a famous hand at "laying the cards;" and one day, when we were alone, i asked her to tell me my fortune. i didn't in the least believe in it, but i wanted to be amused. mrs. thorpe begged to be excused at once. she told me her predictions had proved so true, she was afraid to look into futurity any more. she had seen a son and heir for a couple who had been married twenty years without having any children, and death for a girl just about to become a bride--and both had come true; and, in fact, her employer, the baron, had strictly forbidden her doing it any more whilst in his house. however, this only fired my curiosity, and i teased her until, on my promising to preserve the strictest secrecy, she complied with my request. she predicted several things in which i had little faith, but which i religiously wrote down in case they came true--the three most important being that my husband, colonel ross-church (who was then most seriously ill in india), would not die, but that his brother, edward church, would; that i should have one more child by my first marriage--a daughter with exceedingly fair skin and hair, who would prove to be the cleverest of all my children, and that after her birth i should never live with my husband again. all these events were most unlikely to come to pass at that time, and, indeed, did not come to pass for years afterwards, yet each one was fulfilled, and the daughter who, unlike all her brothers and sisters, is fair as a lily, will be by no means the last in the race for talent. yet these cards were laid four years before her birth. mrs. thorpe told me she had learnt the art from a pupil of the identical italian countess who used to lay the cards for the emperor napoleon. but it is not an art, and it is not to be learnt. it is inspiration. many years after this, when i had just begun to study spiritualism, my sister told me of a wonderful old lady, a neighbor of hers, who had gained quite an evil reputation in the village by her prophetical powers with the cards. like mrs. thorpe, she had become afraid of herself, and professed to have given up the practice. the last time she had laid them, a girl acquaintance had walked over joyously from an adjacent village to introduce her affianced husband to her, and to beg her to tell them what would happen in their married life. the old lady had laid the cards, and saw the death card turn up three times with the marriage ring, and told the young people, much to their chagrin, that they must prepare for a disappointment, as their marriage would certainly be postponed from some obstacle arising in the way. she told me afterwards that she dared not tell them more than this. they left her somewhat sobered, but still full of hope, and started on their way home. before they reached it the young man staggered and fell down dead. no one had expected such a catastrophe. he had been apparently in the best of health and spirits. _what_ was it that had made this old lady foresee what no one else had seen? these are no trumped-up tales after the prediction had been fulfilled. everyone knew it to be true, and became frightened to look into the future for themselves. i was an exception to the general rule, however, and persuaded mrs. simmonds to lay the cards for me. i had just completed a two months' sojourn at the seaside, was in robust health, and anticipating my return home for the sake of meeting again with a friend who was very dear to me. i shuffled and cut the cards according to directions. the old lady looked rather grave. "i don't like your cards," she said, "there is a good deal of trouble before you--trouble and sickness. you will not return home so soon as you anticipate. you will be detained by illness, and when you do return, you will find a letter on the table that will cut you to the heart. i am sorry you have stayed away so long. there has been treachery in your absence, and a woman just your opposite, with dark eyes and hair, has got the better of you. however, it will be a sharp trouble, but not a lengthy one. you will see the wisdom of it before long, and be thankful it has happened." i accepted my destiny with complacency, never supposing (notwithstanding all that i had heard) that it would come true. i was within a few days of starting for home, and had received affectionate letters from my friend all the time i had been away. however, as fate and the cards would have it, i was taken ill the very day after they were laid for me, and confined for three weeks with a kind of low fever to my bed; and when weakened and depressed i returned to my home i found _the letter on my table_ that mrs. simmonds had predicted for me, to say that my friendship with my (supposed) friend _was over and done with for ever_. after this i began to have more respect for cards, or rather for the persons who successfully laid them. in 1888, when i was touring with my company with the "golden goblin," i stayed for the first time in my life in accrington. our sojourn there was to be only for a week, and, as may be supposed, the accommodation in the way of lodgings was very poor. when we had been there a few days a lady of the company said to me, "there is such a funny old woman at my lodgings, miss marryat! i wish you'd come and see her. she can tell fortunes with the cards, and i know you believe in such things. she has told my husband and me all about ourselves in the most wonderful manner; but you mustn't come when the old man is at home, because he says it's devilry, and he has forbidden her doing it." "i _am_ very much interested in that sort of thing," i replied, "and i will certainly pay her a visit, if you will tell me when i may come." a time was accordingly fixed for my going to the lady's rooms, and on my arrival there i was introduced to a greasy, snuffy old landlady, who didn't look as if she had a soul above a bottle of gin. however, i sat down at a table with her, and the cards were cut. she told me nothing that my friends might have told her concerning me, but dived at once into the future. my domestic affairs were in a very complicated state at that period, and i had no idea myself how they would end. she saw the whole situation at a glance--described the actors in the scene, the places they lived in, the people by whom they were surrounded, and exactly how the whole business would end, and _did_ end. she foretold the running of the tour, how long it would last, and which of the company would leave before it concluded. she told me that a woman in the company, whom i believed at that time to be attached to me, would prove to be one of my greatest enemies, and be the cause of estrangement between me and one of my nearest relations, and she opened my eyes to that woman's character in a way which forced me afterwards to find out that to which i might have been blind forever. and this information emanated from a dirty, ignorant, old lodging keeper, who had probably never heard of my name until it was thrust before her, and yet told me things that my most intimate and cleverest friends had no power to tell me. after the woman at accrington i never looked at a card for the purpose of divination until my attention was directed last year to a woman in london who is very clever at the same thing, and a friend asked me to go with her and see what she could tell us. this woman, who is quite of the lower class, and professedly a dressmaker, received us in a bedroom, the door of which was carefully locked. she was an elderly woman and rather intelligent and well educated for her position, but she could adduce no reason whatever for her facility in reading the cards. she told me "it _came_ to her," she didn't know why or how. it "came to her" with a vengeance for me. she rattled off my past, present and future as if she had been reading from an open book, and she mentioned the description of a person (which i completely recognized) so constantly with reference to my future, that i thought i would try her by a question. "stop a minute," i said, "this person whom you have alluded to so often--have i ever met him?" "of course you have met him," she replied, "you know him intimately." "i don't recognize the description," i returned, fallaciously. the woman turned round and looked me full in the face. "_you don't recognize him?_" she repeated in an incredulous tone, "then you must be very dull. well! i'll tell you how to recognize him. next time you meet a gentleman out walking who raises his hat, and before he shakes hands with you, draws a written or printed paper from his pocket and presents it to you, you can remember my words. _that_ is the man i mean." i laughed at the quaintness of the idea and returned home. as i was walking from the station to my own house i met the person she had described. as he neared me he raised his hat, and then putting his hand in his pocket he said, "good afternoon! i have something for you! i met burrows this morning. he was going on to you, but as he was in a great hurry he asked me if i was likely to see you to-day to give you this." and he presented me with a printed paper of regulations which i had asked the man he mentioned to procure for me. now, here was no stereotyped utterance of the cards--no stock phrase--but a deliberate prophecy of an unfulfilled event. it is upon such things that i base my opinion that, given certain persons and certain circumstances, the cards are a very fertile source of information. it is absurd in cases like those i have related to lay it all down to chance, to clever guessing, or to trickery. if my readers believe so, let me ask them to try it for themselves. if it is all folly, and any stupid, ignorant old woman can do it, of course _they_ must be able to master the trick. let them get a pack of cards and lay them according to the usual directions--there are any number of books published that will tell them how to do it--and then see if they can foretell a single event of importance correctly. they will probably find (as _i_ do) that the cards are a sealed book to them. i would give a great deal to be able to lay the cards with any degree of success for myself or my friends. but nothing "comes to me." the cards remain painted pieces of cardboard, and nothing more. and yet an ignorant creature who has no brains of her own can dive deep into the mysteries of my mind, and turn my inmost thoughts and wishes inside out,--more, can pierce futurity and tell me what _shall_ be. however, if my hearers continue to doubt my story, i can only repeat my admonition to try it for themselves. if they once succeed, they will not give it up again. chapter xxiv. spiritualism in america. i. _mrs. m. a. williams._ i went to america on a professional engagement in october, 1884. some months beforehand a very liberal offer had been made me by the spiritualists of great britain to write my experiences for the english press, but i declined to do so until i could add my american notes to them. i had corresponded (as i have shown) with the _banner of light_ in new york; and what i had heard of spiritualism in america had made me curious to witness it. but i was determined to test it on a strictly private plan. i said to myself: "i have seen and heard pretty nearly all there is to be seen and heard on the subject in england, but, with one or two exceptions, i have never sat at any _sã©ance_ where i was not known. now i am going to visit a strange country where, in a matter like spiritualism, i can conceal my identity, so as to afford the media no clue to my surroundings or the names of my deceased friends." i sailed for america quite determined to pursue a strictly secret investigation, and with that end in view i never mentioned the subject to anyone. i had a few days holiday in new york before proceeding to boston, where my work opened, and i stayed at one of the largest hotels in the city. i landed on sunday morning, and on monday evening i resolved to make my first venture. had i been a visitor in london, i should have had to search out the right sort of people, and make a dozen inquiries before i heard where the media were hiding themselves from dread of the law; but they order such things better on the other side of the atlantic. people are allowed to hold their private opinions and their private religion there without being swooped down upon and clapped into prison for rogues and vagabonds. whatever the views of the majority may be, upon this subject or any other (and heaven knows i would have each man strong enough to cling to his opinion, and brave enough to acknowledge it before the world), i think it is a discredit to a civilized country to allow old laws, that were made when we were little better than savages, to remain in force at the present day. we are far too much over-ridden by a paternal government, which has grown so blind and senile that it swallows camels while it is straining after a gnat. there was no obstacle to my wish, however, in new york. i had but to glance down the advertisement columns of the newspapers to learn where the media lived, and on what days they held their public _sã©ances_. it so happened that mrs. m. a. williams was the only one who held open house on monday evenings for materialization; and thither i determined to go. there is no such privacy as in a large _hã´tel_, where no one has the opportunity to see what his neighbor is doing. as soon, therefore, as my dinner was concluded, i put on a dark cloak, hat and veil, and walking out into the open, got into one of the cars that ran past the street where mrs. williams resided. arrived at the house, i knocked at the door, and was about to inquire if there was to be any _sã©ance_ there, that evening, when the attendant saved me the trouble by saying, "upstairs, if you please, madam," and nothing more passed between us. when i had mounted the stairs, i found myself in a large room, the floor of which was covered with a thick carpet, nailed all round the wainscotting. on one side were some thirty or forty cane-bottomed chairs, and directly facing them was the cabinet. this consisted of four uprights nailed over the carpet, with iron rods connecting them at the top. there was no roof to it, but curtains of a dark maroon color were usually drawn around, but when i entered, they were flung back over the iron rods, so as to disclose the interior. there was a stuffed armchair for the use of the medium, and in front of the cabinet a narrow table with papers and pencils on it, the use of which i did not at first discover. at the third side of the room was a harmonium, so placed that the performer sat with his back both to the cabinet and the sitters. a large gas lamp, almost like a limelight, made in a square form like a lantern, was fixed against the wall, so as to throw the light upon the cabinet, but it was fitted with a sliding shade of red silk, with which it could be darkened if necessary. i was early, and only a few visitors were occupying the chairs. i asked a lady if i might sit where i chose, and on her answering "yes," i took the chair in the front row, exactly opposite the cabinet, not forgetting that i was there in the cause of spiritualism as well as for my own interests. the seats filled rapidly and there must have been thirty-five or forty people present, when mrs. williams entered the room, and nodding to those she knew, went into the cabinet. mrs. williams is a stout woman of middle age, with dark hair and eyes, and a fresh complexion. she was dressed in a tight-fitting gown of pale blue, with a good deal of lace about the neck and sleeves. she was accompanied by a gentleman, and i then discovered for the first time that it is usual in america to have, what they call, a "conductor" of the _sã©ance_. the conductor sits close to the cabinet curtains, and, if any spirit is too weak to shew itself outside, or to speak audibly, he conveys the message it may wish to send to its friends; and when i knew how very few precautions the americans take to prevent such outrages as have occurred in england, and how many more materializations take place in an evening there than here, i saw the necessity of a conductor to protect the medium, and to regulate the order of the _sã©ance_. mrs. williams' conductor opened the proceedings with a very neat little speech. he said, "i see several strange faces here this evening, and i am very pleased to see them, and i hope they may derive both pleasure and profit from our meeting. we have only one rule for the conduct of our _sã©ances_, that you shall behave like ladies and gentlemen. you may not credit all you see, but remember this is our religion, and the religion of many present, and as you would behave yourselves reverently and decorously, if you were in a church of another persuasion to your own, so i beg of you to behave yourselves here. and if any spirits should come for you whom you do not immediately recognize, don't wound them by denying their identity. they may have been longing for this moment to meet you again, and doing their very utmost to assume once more the likeness they wore on earth; yet some fail. don't make their failure harder to bear by roughly repudiating all knowledge of them. the strangers who are present to-night may mistake the reason of this little table being placed in front of the cabinet, and think it is intended to keep them from too close an inspection of the spirits. no such thing! on the contrary, all will be invited in turn to come up and recognize their friends. but we make it a rule at these _sã©ances_ that no materialized spirit, who is strong enough to come beyond that table, shall be permitted to return to the cabinet. they must dematerialize in sight of the sitters, that no possible suspicion may rest upon the medium. these pencils and papers are placed here in case any spirit who is unable to speak may be impressed to write instead. and now we will begin the evening with a song." the accompanist then played "footsteps of angels," the audience sung it with a will, and the curtains having been drawn round mrs. williams, the shade was drawn across the gaslight, and the _sã©ance_ began. i don't think it could have been more than a minute or two before we heard a voice whispering, "father," and _three girls_, dressed in white clinging garments, appeared at the opening in the curtains. an old man with white hair left his seat and walked up to the cabinet, when they all three came out at once and hung about his neck and kissed him, and whispered to him. i almost forgot where i was. they looked so perfectly human, so joyous and girl-like, somewhere between seventeen and twenty, and they all spoke at once, so like what girls on earth would do, that it was most mystifying. the old man came back to his seat, wiping his eyes. "are those your daughters, sir?" asked one of the sitters. "yes! my three girls," he replied. "i lost them all before ten years old, but you see i've got them back again here." several other forms appeared after this--one, a little child of about three years old, who fluttered in and out of the cabinet like a butterfly, and ran laughing away from the sitters who tried to catch her. some of the meetings that took place for the first time were very affecting. one young man of about seventeen or eighteen, who was called up to see his mother's spirit, sobbed so bitterly, it broke my heart to hear him. there was not the least doubt if _he_ recognized her or no. he was so overcome, he hardly raised his eyes for the rest of the evening. one lady brought her spirit-son up to me, that i might see how perfectly he had materialized. she spoke of it as proudly as she might have done if he had passed some difficult examination. the young man was dressed in a suit of evening clothes, and he shook hands with me at his mother's bidding, with the firm grasp of a mortal. naturally, i had seen too much in england for all this to surprise me. still i had never assisted at a _sã©ance_ where everything appeared to be so strangely human--so little mystical, except indeed the rule of dematerializing before the sitters, which i had only seen "katie king" do before. but here, each form, after having been warned by the conductor that its time was up, sunk down right through the carpet as though it were the most ordinary mode of egression. some, and more especially the men, did not advance beyond the curtains; then their friends were invited to go up and speak to them, and several went inside the cabinet. there were necessarily a good many forms, familiar to the rest, of whom i knew nothing; one was an old minister under whom they had all sat, another a gentleman who had been a constant attendant at mrs. williams' _sã©ances_. once the conductor spoke to me. "i am not aware of your name," he said (and i thought, "no! my friend, and you won't be aware of it just yet either!"), "but a spirit here wishes you would come up to the cabinet." i advanced, expecting to see some friend, and there stood a catholic priest with his hand extended in blessing. i knelt down, and he gave me the usual benediction and then closed the curtains. "did you know the spirit?" the conductor asked me. i shook my head; and he continued, "he was father hayes, a well-known priest in this city. i suppose you are a catholic?" i told him "yes," and went back to my seat. the conductor addressed me again. "i think father hayes must have come to pave the way for some of your friends," he said. "here is a spirit who says she has come for a lady named 'florence,' who has just crossed the sea. do you answer to the description?" i was about to say "yes," when the curtains parted again and my daughter "florence" ran across the room and fell into my arms. "mother!" she exclaimed, "i said i would come with you and look after you--didn't i?" i looked at her. she was exactly the same in appearance as when she had come to me in england--the same luxuriant brown hair and features and figure, as i had seen under the different mediumships of florence cook, arthur colman, charles williams and william eglinton; the same form which in england had been declared to be half-a-dozen different media dressed up to represent my daughter stood before me there in new york, thousands of miles across the sea, and by the power of a person who did not even know who i was. if i had not been convinced before, how could i have helped being convinced then? "florence" appeared as delighted as i was, and kept on kissing me and talking of what had happened to me on board ship coming over, and was evidently quite _au fait_ of all my proceedings. presently she said, "there's another friend of yours here, mother! we came over together. i'll go and fetch him." she was going back to the cabinet when the conductor stopped her. "you must not return this way, please. any other you like," and she immediately made a kind of court curtsey and went down through the carpet. i was standing where "florence" had left me, wondering what would happen next, when she came _up again_ a few feet off from me, head first, and smiling as if she had discovered a new game. she was allowed to enter the cabinet this time, but a moment afterwards she popped her head out again, and said, "here's your friend, mother!" and by her side was standing william eglinton's control, "joey," clad in his white suit, with a white cap drawn over his head. "'florence' and i have come over to make new lines for you here," he said: "at least, i've come over to put her in the way of doing it, but i can't stay long, you know, because i have to go back to 'willy.'" i really didn't care if he stayed long or not. i seemed to have procured the last proof i needed of the truth of the doctrine i had held so long, that there is no such thing as death, as we understand it in this world. here were the two spiritual beings (for believing in the identity of whom i had called myself a credulous fool fifty times over, only to believe in them more deeply still) in _prã´pria personã¦_ in new york, claiming me in a land of strangers, who had not yet found out who i was. i was more deeply affected than i had ever been under such circumstances before, and more deeply thankful. "florence" made great friends with our american cousins even on her first appearance. mrs. williams' conductor told me he thought he had never heard anything more beautiful than the idea of the spirit-child crossing the ocean to guard its mother in a strange country, and particularly, as he could feel by her influence, what a pure and beautiful spirit she was. when i told him she had left this world at ten days old, he said that accounted for it, but he could see there was nothing earthly about her. i was delighted with this _sã©ance_, and hoped to sit with mrs. williams many times more, but fate decreed that i should leave new york sooner than i had anticipated. the perfect freedom with which it was conducted charmed me, and the spirits seemed so familiar with the sitters. there was no "sweet spirit, hear my prayer," business about it. no fear of being detained or handled among the spirits, and no awe, only intense tenderness on the part of their relations. it was to this cause i chiefly attributed the large number of materializations i witnessed--_forty_ having taken place that evening. they spoke far more distinctly and audibly too than those i had seen in england, but i believe the dry atmosphere of the united states is far more favorable to the process of materialization. i perceived another difference. although the female spirits were mostly clad in white, they wore dresses and not simply drapery, whilst the men were invariably attired in the clothes (or semblances of the clothes) they would have worn had they been still on earth. i left mrs. williams' rooms, determined to see as much as i possibly could of mediumship whilst i was in the united states. chapter xxv. ii. _mrs. eva hatch._ i was so disappointed at being hurried off to boston before i had seen any more of the new york media, that i took the earliest opportunity of attending a _sã©ance_ there. a few words i had heard dropped about eva hatch made me resolve to visit her first. she was one of the shaker sect, and i heard her spoken of as a remarkably pure and honest woman, and most reliable medium. her first appearance quite gave me that impression. she had a fair, placid countenance, full of sweetness and serenity, and a plump matronly figure. i went incognita, as i had done to mrs. williams, and mingled unnoticed with the crowd. mrs. hatch's cabinet was quite different from mrs. williams'. it was built of planks like a little cottage, and the roof was pierced with numerous round holes for ventilation, like a pepper-box. there was a door in the centre, with a window on either side, all three of which were shaded by dark curtains. the windows, i was told, were for the accommodation of those spirits who had not the power to materialize more than a face, or head and bust. mrs. hatch's conductor was a woman, who sat near the cabinet, as in the other case. mrs. eva hatch had not entered the cabinet five minutes before she came out again, under trance, with a very old lady with silver hair clinging to her arm, and walked round the circle. as they did so, the old lady extended her withered hand, and blessed the sitters. she came quite close to each one and was distinctly visible to all. i was told that this was the spirit of mrs. hatch's mother, and that it was her regular custom to come first and give her blessing to the _sã©ance_. i had never seen the spirit of an aged person before, and it was a beautiful sight. she was the sweetest old lady too, very small and fragile looking, and half reclining on her daughter's bosom, but smiling serenely upon every one there. when they had made the tour of the room, mrs. hatch re-entered the cabinet, and did not leave it again until the sitting was concluded. there were a great many sitters present, most of whom were old patrons of mrs. hatch, and so, naturally, their friends came for them first. it is surprising though, when once familiarized with materialization, how little one grows to care to see the spirits who come for one's next door neighbor. they are like a lot of prisoners let out, one by one, to see their friends and relations. the few moments they have to spare are entirely devoted to home matters of no possible interest to the bystander. the first wonder and possible shock at seeing the supposed dead return in their old likeness to greet those they left on earth over, one listens with languid indifference, and perhaps a little impatience for one's own turn to come, to the whispered utterances of strangers. mrs. hatch's "cabinet spirits" or "controls," however, were very interesting. one, who called herself the "spirit of prayer," came and knelt down in the middle of the circle, and prayed with us. she had asked for the gas to be extinguished first, and as she prayed she became illuminated with flashes of light, in the shape of stars and crosses, until she was visible from head to foot, and we could see her features and dress as if she had been surrounded by electricity. two more cabinet spirits were a negro and negress, who appeared together, chanting some of their native hymns and melodies. when i saw these apparitions, i thought to myself: "here is a good opportunity to discover trickery, if trickery there is." the pair were undoubtedly of the negro race. there was no mistaking their thick lips and noses and yellow-white eyes, nor their polished brown skins, which no charcoal can properly imitate. they were negroes without doubt; but how about the negro bouquet? everyone who has mixed with colored people in the east or the west knows what that is, though it is very difficult to describe, being something like warm rancid oil mingled with the fumes of charcoal, with a little worse thrown in. "now," i thought, "if these forms are human, there will be some odor attached to them, and that i am determined to find out." i caught, therefore, at the dress of the young woman as she passed, and asked her if she would kiss me. she left her companion directly, and put her arms (which were bare) round my neck, and embraced me several times; and i can declare, on my oath, that she was as completely free from anything like the smell of a colored woman as it was possible for her to be. she felt as fresh and sweet and pure as a little child. many other forms appeared and were recognized by the circle, notably a very handsome one who called herself the empress josephine; but as they could not add a grain's weight to my testimony i pass them over. i had begun to think that "florence" was not going to visit me that evening, when the conductor of the _sã©ance_ asked if there was anybody in the room who answered to the name of "bluebell." i must indulge in a little retrospect here, and tell my readers that ten years previous to the time i am writing of, i had lost my brother-in-law, edward church, under very painful circumstances. he had been left an orphan and in control of his fortune at a very early age, and had lived with my husband, colonel ross-church, and myself. but poor "ted" had been his own worst enemy. he had possessed a most generous heart and affectionate disposition, but these had led him into extravagances that swallowed up his fortune, and then he had taken to drinking and killed himself by it. i and my children had loved him dearly, but all our prayers and entreaties had had no avail, and in the end he had become so bad that the doctors had insisted upon our separation. poor "ted" had consequently died in exile, and this had been a further aggravation of our grief. for ten years i had been trying to procure communication with him in vain, and i had quite given up expecting to see him again. only once had i heard "bluebell" (his pet name for me) gasped out by an entranced clairvoyant, but nothing further had come of it. now, as i heard it for the second time, from a stranger's lips in a foreign country, it naturally roused my expectations, but i thought it might be only a message for me from "ted." "is there anyone here who recognizes the name of 'bluebell'?" repeated the conductor. "i was once called so by a friend," i said. "someone is asking for that name. you had better come up to the cabinet," she replied. i rose at once and did as she told me, but when i reached the curtain i encountered "florence." "my darling child," i said, as i embraced her, "why did you ask for 'bluebell'?" she did not answer me, except by shaking her head, placing her finger on her lips, and pointing downwards to the carpet. i did not know what to make of it. i had never known her unable to articulate before. "what is the matter, dear?" i said; "can't you speak to me to-night?" still she shook her head, and tapped my arm with her hand, to attract my attention to the fact that she was pointing vigorously downwards. i looked down, too, when, to my astonishment, i saw rise through the carpet what looked to me like the bald head of a baby or an old man, and a little figure, _not more than three feet in height_, with edward church's features, but no hair on its head, came gradually into view, and looked up in my face with a pitiful, deprecating expression, as if he were afraid i should strike him. the face, however, was so unmistakably ted's, though the figure was so ludicrously insignificant, that i could not fail to recognize him. "why, ted!" i exclaimed, "have you come back to see me at last?" and held out my hand. the little figure seized it, tried to convey it to his lips, burst into tears, and sank down through the carpet much more rapidly than he had come up. i began to cry too. it was so pitiful. with her uncle's disappearance "florence" found her tongue. "don't cry, mother," she said; "poor uncle ted is overcome at seeing you. that's why he couldn't materialize better. he was in such a terrible hurry. he'll look more like himself next time. i was trying so hard to help him, i didn't dare to use up any of the power by speaking. he'll be so much better, now he's seen you. you'll come here again, won't you?" i told her i certainly would, if i could; and, indeed, i was all anxiety to see my poor brother-in-law again. to prove how difficult it would have been to deceive me on this subject, i should like to say a little about edward church's personal appearance. he was a very remarkable looking man--indeed, i have never seen anyone a bit like him before or after. he was very small; not short only, but small altogether, with tiny hands and feet, and a little head. his hair and eyes were of the deepest black--the former parted in the middle, with a curl on either side, and was naturally waved. his complexion was very dark, his features delicate, and he wore a small pointed moustache. as a child he had suffered from an attack of confluent small-pox, which had deeply pitted his face, and almost eaten away the tip of his nose. such a man was not to be easily imitated, even if anyone in boston had ever heard of his inconsequential existence. to me, though, he had been a dear friend and brother, before the curse of drink had seemed to change his nature, and i had always been anxious to hear how he fared in that strange country whither he had been forced to journey, like all of us, _alone_. i was very pleased then to find that business would not interfere with my second visit to mrs. eva hatch, which took place two nights afterward. on this occasion "florence" was one of the first to appear, and "ted" came with her, rather weak and trembling on his second introduction to this mundane sphere, but no longer bald-headed nor under-sized. he was his full height now, about five feet seven; his head was covered with his black crisp hair, parted just as he used to wear it while on earth; in every particular he resembled what he used to be, even down to his clothes. i could have sworn i had seen that very suit of clothes; the little cut-away coat he always wore, with the natty tie and collar, and a dark blue velvet smoking cap upon his head, exactly like one i remembered being in his possession. "florence" still seemed to be acting as his interpreter and guide. when i said to him, "why! ted, you look quite like your old self to-day," she answered, "he can't talk to you, mamma, he is weak still, and he is so thankful to meet you again. he wants me to tell you that he has been trying to communicate with you often, but he never could manage it in england. he will be so glad when he can talk freely to you." whilst she was speaking, "ted" kept on looking from her to me like a deaf and dumb animal trying to understand what was going on in a manner that was truly pitiful. i stooped down and kissed his forehead. the touch seemed to break the spell that hung over him. "_forgive_," he uttered in a choked voice. "there is nothing to forgive, dear," i replied, "except as we all have need to forgive each other. you know how we all loved you, ted, and we loved you to the last and grieved for you deeply. you remember the children, and how fond you were of them and they of you. they often speak to this day of their poor uncle ted." "eva--ethel," he gasped out, naming my two elder children. at this juncture he seemed suddenly to fail, and became so weak that "florence" took him back into the cabinet again. no more spirits came for me that evening, but towards the close of the _sã©ance_ "florence" and "ted" appeared again together and embraced me fondly. "florence" said, "he's so happy now, mother; he says he shall rest in peace now that he knows that you have forgiven him. and he won't come without his hair again," she added, laughing. "i hope he won't," i answered, "for he frightened me." and then they both kissed me "good-night," and retreated to the cabinet, and i looked after them longingly and wished i could go there too. chapter xxvi. iii. _the misses berry._ no one introduced me to the misses berry. i saw their advertisement in the public papers and went incognita to their _sã©ance_, as i had done to those of others. the first thing that struck me about them was the superior class of patrons whom they drew. in the ladies' cloak room, where they left their heavy wraps and umbrellas, the conversation that took place made this sufficiently evident. helen and gertrude berry were pretty, unaffected, lady-like girls; and their conductor, mr. abrow, one of the most courteous gentlemen i have ever met. the sisters, both highly mediumistic, never sat together, but on alternate nights, but the one who did _not_ sit always took a place in the audience, in order to prevent suspicion attaching to her absence. gertrude berry had been lately married to a mr. thompson, and on account of her health gave up her _sã©ances_, soon after i made her acquaintance she was a tall, finely-formed young woman, with golden hair and a beautiful complexion. her sister helen was smaller, paler and more slightly built. she had been engaged to be married to a gentleman who died shortly before the time fixed for their wedding, and his spirit, whom she called "charley," was the principal control at her _sã©ances_, though he never showed himself. i found the _sã©ance_ room, which was not very large, crammed with chairs which had all been engaged beforehand, so mr. abrow fetched one from downstairs and placed it next his own for me, which was the very position i should have chosen. i asked him afterwards how he dared admit a stranger to such close proximity, and he replied that he was a medium himself and knew who he could and who he could _not_ trust at a glance. as my professional duties took me backwards and forwards to boston, which was my central starting-point, sometimes giving me only a day's rest there, i was in the habit afterwards, when i found i should have "a night off," of wiring to mr. abrow to keep me a seat, so difficult was it to secure one unless it were bespoken. altogether i sat five or six times with the berry sisters, and wished i could have sat fifty or sixty times instead, for i never enjoyed any _sã©ances_ so _much_ in my life before. the cabinet was formed of an inner room with a separate door, which had to undergo the process of being sealed up by a committee of strangers every evening. strips of gummed paper were provided for them, on which they wrote their names before affixing them across the inside opening of the door. on the first night i inspected the cabinet also as a matter of principle, and gummed my paper with "mrs. richardson" written on it across the door. the cabinet contained only a sofa for miss helen berry to recline upon. the floor was covered with a nailed-down carpet. the door which led into the cabinet was shaded by two dark curtains hung with rings upon a brass rod. the door of the _sã©ance_ room was situated at a right angle with that of the cabinet, both opening upon a square landing, and, to make "assurance doubly sure," the door of the _sã©ance_ room was left open, so that the eyes of the sitters at that end commanded a view, during the entire sitting, of the outside of the locked and gummed-over cabinet door. to make this fully understood, i append a diagram of the two rooms-[illustration] by the position of these doors, it will be seen how impossible it would have been for anybody to leave or enter the cabinet without being detected by the sitters, who had their faces turned towards the _sã©ance_ room door. the first materialization that appeared that evening was a bride, dressed in her bridal costume; and a gentleman, who was occupying a chair in the front row, and holding a white flower in his hand, immediately rose, went up to her, embraced her, and whispered a few words, then gave her the white flower, which she fastened in the bosom of her dress, after which he bowed slightly to the company, and, instead of resuming his seat, left the room. mr. abrow then said to me, "if you like, madam, you can take that seat now," and as the scene had excited my curiosity i accepted his offer, hoping to find some one to tell me the meaning of it. i found myself next to a very sweet-looking lady, whom i afterwards knew personally as mrs. seymour. "can you tell me why that gentleman left so suddenly?" i asked her in a whisper. "he seldom stays through a _sã©ance_," she replied; "he is a business man, and has no time to spare, but he is here every night. the lady you saw him speak to is his wife. she died on her wedding day, eleven years ago, and he has never failed to meet her on every opportunity since. he brings her a white flower every time he comes. she appears always first, in order that he may be able to return to his work." this story struck me as very interesting, and i always watched for this gentleman afterwards, and never failed to see him waiting for his bride, with the white flower in his hand. "do you expect to see any friends to-night?" i said to my new acquaintance. "o! yes!" she replied. "i have come to see my daughter 'bell.' she died some years ago, and i am bringing up the two little children she left behind her. i never do anything for them without consulting their mother. just now i have to change their nurse, and i have received several excellent characters of others, and i have brought them here this evening that 'bell' may tell me which to write for. i have the pattern for the children's winter frocks, too," she continued, producing some squares of woolen cloths, "and i always like to let 'bell' choose which she likes best." this will give my readers some idea of how much more the american spiritualists regard their departed friends as still forming part of the home circle, and interested in their domestic affairs. "bell" soon after made her appearance, and mrs. seymour brought her up to me. she was a young woman of about three or four and twenty, and looked very happy and smiling. she perused the servants' characters as practically as her mother might have done, but said she would have none of them, and mrs. seymour was to wait till she received some more. the right one had not come yet. she also looked at the patterns, and indicated the one she liked best. then, as she was about to retire, she whispered to her mother, and mrs. seymour said, to my surprise (for it must be remembered i had not disclosed my name to her), "bell tells me she knows a daughter of yours in the spirit life, called 'florence.' is that the case?" i answered i had a daughter of that name; and mrs. seymour added "'bell' says she will be here this evening, that she is a very pure and very elevated spirit, and they are great friends." very shortly after this, mr. abrow remarked, "there is a young girl in the cabinet now, who says that if her mother's name is 'mrs. richardson,' she must have married for the third time since she saw her last, for she was 'mrs. lean' then." at this remark i laughed; and mr. abrow said, "is she come for you, madam? does the cap fit?" i was obliged to acknowledge then that i _had_ given a false name in order to avoid recognition. but the mention of my married name attracted no attention to me, and was only a proof that it had not been given from any previous knowledge of mr. abrow's concerning myself. i was known in the united states as "florence marryat" only, and to this day they believe me to be still "mrs. ross-church," that being the name under which my first novels were written. so i recognized "florence" at once in the trick that had been played me, and had risen to approach the curtain, when she came _bounding_ out and ran into my arms. i don't think i had ever seen her look so charming and girlish before. she looked like an embodiment of sunshine. she was dressed in a low frock which seemed manufactured of lace and muslin, her hair fell loose down her back to her knees, and her hands were full of damask roses. this was in december, when hot-house roses were selling for a dollar a piece in boston, and she held, perhaps, twenty. their scent was delicious, and she kept thrusting them under my nose, saying, "smell my roses, mother. don't you wish you had my garden? we have _fields_ of them in the summer land! o! how i wish you were there." "shan't i come soon, darling?" i said. "no! not yet," replied "florence." "you have a lot of work to do still. but when you come, it will be all flowers for you and me." i asked her if she knew "bell," and she said, "o! yes! we came together this evening." then i asked her to come and speak to "bell's" mother, and her manner changed at once. she became shy and timid, like a young girl, unused to strangers, and quite hung on my arm, as i took her up to mrs. seymour's side. when she had spoken a few words to her in a very low voice, she turned to me and said, "i must go now, because we have a great surprise for you this evening--a _very_ great surprise." i told her i liked great surprises, when they were pleasant ones, and "florence" laughed, and went away. i found that her _dã©but_ had created such a sensation amongst the sitters--it being so unusual for a materialized spirit to appear so strong and perfect on the first occasion of using a medium--that i felt compelled to give them a little explanation on the subject. and when i told them how i had lost her as a tiny infant of ten days old--how she had returned to me through various media in england, and given such unmistakable proofs of her _identity_--and how i, being a stranger in their country, and only landed there a few weeks, had already met her through mrs. williams, mrs. hatch and miss berry--they said it was one of the most wonderful and perfect instances of materialization they had ever heard of. and when one considers how perfect the chain is, from the time when "florence" first came back to me as a child, too weak to speak, or even to understand where she was, to the years through which she had grown and became strong almost beneath my eyes, till she could "_bound_" (as i have narrated) into my arms like a human being, and talk as distinctly as (and far more sensible than) i did myself, i think my readers will acknowledge also, that hers is no common story, and that i have some reason to believe in spiritualism. miss berry's cabinet spirits were quite different from the common type. one was, or rather had been, a dancing girl--not european, but rather more, i fancy, of the asiatic or egyptian type. anyway she used to come out of the cabinet--a lithe lissom creature like a panther or a snake--and execute such twists and bounds and pirouettes, as would have made her fortune on the stage. indeed i used to think (being always on the lookout for chicanery) that no _human_ creature who could dance as she did would ever waste her talents, especially in a smart country like america, on an audience of spiritualists, whose only motive for meeting was to see their friends, and who would not pay an extra cent to look at a "cabinet spirit." another one was an indian whom they called "the brave." he was also a lithe, active creature, without an ounce of superfluous flesh upon his body, but plenty of muscle. he appeared to like the ladies of the company very much, but evidently distrusted the men. one stout, big man who was, i fancy, a bit of a sceptic, wished to test the "brave's" muscular power by feeling his biceps, and was invited to step in front of the circle for that purpose. he had no sooner approached him than the indian seized him up in his arms and threw him _right over his head_. he did not hurt him, but as the gentleman got up again, he said, "well! i weigh 200 pounds, and i didn't think any man in the room could have done that." the ladies in the circle mostly wore flowers in their bosom--bouquets, after the custom of american ladies--and they began, one and all, to detach flowers from their bouquets and give them to the "brave," "to give to his squaw." he nodded and gabbled some unintelligible sioux or cherokee in reply, and went all round the circle on his knees. the stout man had surmised that he was painted, and his long, straight, black hair was a wig. when he came to me i said, "brave! may i try if your hair is a wig?" he nodded and said, "pull--pull!" which i did, and found that it undoubtedly grew on his head. then he took my finger and drew it across his face several times to show he was not painted. i had no flowers to present him with, so i said, "come here, brave, and i'll give you something for your squaw," and when he approached near enough i kissed him. he chuckled, and his eyes sparkled with mischief as he ran chatting in his native dialect behind the curtains. in another minute he dashed out again, and coming up to me ejaculated, "no--give--squaw!" and rushed back. mr. abrow laughed heartily at this incident, and so did all the sitters, the former declaring i had entirely captivated the "brave." presently the cabinet curtains were shaken, and after a pause they parted slowly, and the figure of an indian squaw crept out. anything more malignant and vicious than her look i have seldom seen. mr. abrow asked her _who_ she wanted and _what_ she wanted, but she would not speak. she stood there silent, but scowling at me from beneath the tangles of her long black hair. at last mr. abrow said to her, "if you don't want to speak to anyone in the circle you must go away, as you are only preventing other spirits from coming." the squaw backed behind the curtains again rather sulkily, but the next time the "brave" appeared she came with him, and _never_ did he come again in my presence but what his "squaw" stood at the curtains and watched his actions. mrs. abrow told me that the "brave" had been in the habit of manifesting at their _sã©ances_ for years, but that they had never seen the "squaw" until that evening. indeed, i don't think they were very grateful to me for having by my rashness eliminated this new feature in their evening's entertainment, for the "squaw" proved to be a very earthly and undeveloped spirit, and subsequently gave them some trouble, as they could not drive her away when they wanted to do so. towards the close of the evening mr. abrow said, "there is a spirit here now who is very anxious to show himself, but it is the first time he has ever attempted to fully materialize, and he is not at all certain of success. he tells me there is a lady in the circle who has newly arrived in america, and that this lady years ago sang a song by his dying bed in india. if she will step up to the cabinet now and sing that song again he will try and shew himself to her." such of my readers as have perused "the story of john powles" will recognize at once who this was. i did, of course, and i confess that as i rose to approach the cabinet i trembled like an aspen leaf. i had tried so often, and failed so often to see this dear old friend of mine, that to think of meeting him now was like a veritable resurrection from the dead. think of it! we had parted in 1860, and this was 1884--twenty-four years afterwards. i had been a girl when we said "good-bye," and he went forth on that journey which seemed then so mysterious an one to me. i was a middle-aged woman now, who had passed through so much from which _he_ had been saved, that i felt more like his mother than his friend. of all my experiences this was to me really the most solemn and interesting. i hardly expected to see more than his face, but i walked up to the cabinet and commenced to sing in a very shaky voice the first stanza of the old song he was so fond of:- "thou art gone from my gaze like a beautiful dream, and i seek thee in vain by the meadow and stream; oft i breathe thy dear name to the winds passing by, but thy sweet voice is mute to my bosom's lone sigh. in the stillness of night when the stars mildly shine, o! then oft my heart holds communion with thine, for i feel thou art near, and where'er i may be, that the spirit of love keeps a watch over me." i had scarcely reached the finish of these lines when both the curtains of the cabinet were drawn apart so sharply that the brass rings rattled on the rod, and john powles stood before me. not a face, nor a half-formed figure, nor an apparition that was afraid to pass into the light--but _john powles himself_, stalwart and living, who stepped out briskly and took me in his arms and kissed me four or five times, as a long-parted brother might have done; and strange to say, i didn't feel the least surprised at it, but clung to him like a sister. for john powles had never once kissed me during his lifetime. although we had lived for four years in the closest intimacy, often under the same roof, we had never indulged in any familiarities. i think men and women were not so lax in their manners then as they are now; at anyrate, the only time i had ever kissed him was when he lay dead, and my husband had told me to do so. and yet it seemed quite natural on meeting him again to kiss him and cry over him. at last i ventured to say, "o, powles! is this really you?" "look at me and see for yourself," he answered. i looked up. it was indeed himself. he had possessed _very_ blue eyes in earth life, good features, a florid complexion, auburn hair, and quite a golden beard and moustache. the eyes and hair and features were just the same, only his complexion was paler, and he wore no beard. "o!" i exclaimed, "where is your beard?" "don't you remember i cut it off just before i left this world?" he said; and then i recalled the fact that he had done so owing to a government order on the subject. and bearing on this question i may mention what seems a curious thing--that spirits almost invariably return to earth the first time _just as they left it_, as though their thoughts at the moment of parting clothed them on their return. this, however, was not john powles' first _attempt_ at materialization, although it was his first success, for it may be remembered he tried to show himself through miss showers, and then he _had_ a beard. however, when i saw him through miss berry, he had none, nor did he resume it during my stay in america. when we had got over the excitement of meeting, he began to speak to me of my children, especially of the three who were born before his death, and of whom he had been very fond. he spoke of them all by name, and seemed quite interested in their prospects and affairs. but when i began to speak of other things he stopped me. "i know it all," he said, "i have been with you in spirit through all your trials, and i can never feel the slightest interest in, or affection for, those who caused them. my poor friend, you have indeed had your purgatory upon earth." "but tell me of yourself, dear powles! are you quite happy?" i asked him. he paused a moment and then replied, "quite happy, waiting for you." "surely you are not suffering still?" i said, "after all these years?" "my dear florence," he answered, "it takes more than a few years to expiate a life of sin. but i am happier than i was, and every year the burden is lighter, and coming back to you will help me so much." as he was speaking to me the curtain opened again, and there stood my brother-in-law, edward church, not looking down-spirited and miserable, as he had done at mrs. eva hatch's, but bright and smiling, and dressed in evening clothes, as also i perceived, when i had time to think of it, was john powles. i didn't know which to talk to first, but kept turning from one to the other in a dazed manner. john powles was telling me that _he_ was preparing my house for me in the summer land, and would come to take me over to it when i died, when "ted" interrupted him. "that ought to have been _my_ work, bluebell," he said, "only powles had anticipated me." "i wish i could go back with you both at once, i am sick of this world," i replied. "ted" threw his arms round me and strained me to his breast. "o! it is so hard to part again. how i wish i could carry you away in my arms to the summer land! i should have nothing left to wish for then." "you don't want to come back then, ted?" i asked him. "_want to come back_," he said with a shudder; "not for anything! why, bluebell, death is like an operation which you must inevitably undergo, but which you fear because you know so little about it. well, with me _the operation's over_. i know the worst, and every day makes the term of punishment shorter. i am _thankful_ i left the earth so soon." "you look just like your old self, ted," i said; "the same little curls and scrubby little moustache." "pull them," he answered gaily. "don't go away, bluebell, and say they were false and i was miss berry dressed up. feel my biceps," he continued, throwing up his arm as men do, "and feel my heart," placing my hand above it, "feel how it is beating for my sister bluebell." i said to john powles, "i hardly know you in evening costume. i never saw you in it before" (which was true, as all our acquaintance had taken place in india, where the officers are never allowed to appear in anything but uniform, especially in the evenings). "i wish," i continued, "that you would come next time in uniform." "i will try," he replied, and then their time was up for that occasion, and they were obliged to go. a comical thing occurred on my second visit to the berrys. of course i was all eagerness to see my brother-in-law and "powles" again, and when i was called up to the cabinet and saw a slim, dark, young man standing there, i took him at once for "ted," and, without looking at him, was just about to kiss him, when he drew backwards and said, "i am not 'edward!' i am his friend 'joseph,' to whom he has given permission to make your acquaintance." i then perceived that "joseph" was very different from "ted," taller and better looking, with a jewish cast of countenance. i stammered and apologized, and felt as awkward as if i had nearly kissed a mortal man by mistake. "joseph" smiled as if it were of very little consequence. he said he had never met "ted" on earth, but they were close friends in the spirit world, and "ted" had talked so much to him of me, that he had become very anxious to see me, and speak to me. he was a very elegant looking young man, but he did not seem to have very much to say for himself, and he gave me the impression that he had been a "masher" whilst here below, and had not quite shaken off the remembrance in the spirit world. there was one spirit who often made her appearance at these sittings and greatly interested me. this was a mother with her infant of a few weeks old. the lady was sweet and gentle looking, but it was the baby that so impressed me--a baby that never whined nor squalled, nor turned red in the face, and yet was made of neither wax nor wood, but was palpably living and breathing. i used always to go up to the cabinet when this spirit came, and ask her to let me feel the little baby. it was a tiny creature, with a waxen-looking face, and she always carried it enveloped in a full net veil, yet when i touched its hand, the little fingers tightened round mine in baby fashion, as it tried to convey them to its mouth. i had seen several spirit children materialized before, but never such a young infant as this. the mother told me she had passed away in child-birth, and the baby had gone with her. she had been a friend of the misses berry, and came to them for that reason. on christmas eve i happened to be in boston, and disengaged, and as i found it was a custom of the american spiritualists to hold meetings on that anniversary for the purpose of seeing their spirit friends, i engaged a seat for the occasion. i arrived some time before the _sã©ance_ commenced, and next to me was seated a gentleman, rather roughly dressed, who was eyeing everything about him with the greatest attention. presently he turned to me and said, rather sheepishly, "do you believe in this sort of thing?" "i do," i replied, "and i have believed in it for the last fifteen years." "have you ever seen anybody whom you recognized?" he continued. "plenty," i said. then he edged a little nearer to me, and lowered his voice. "do you know," he commenced, "that i have ridden on horseback forty miles through the snow to-day to be present at this meeting, because my old mother sent me a message that she would meet me here! i don't believe in it, you know. i've never been at a _sã©ance_ before, and i feel as if i was making a great fool of myself now, but i couldn't neglect my poor old mother's message, whatever came of it." "of course not," i answered, "and i hope your trouble will be rewarded." i had not much faith in my own words, though, because i had seen people disappointed again and again over their first _sã©ance_, from either the spirits of their friends being too weak to materialize, or from too many trying to draw power at once, and so neutralizing the effect on all. my bridegroom friend was all ready on that occasion with his white flowers in his hand and i ventured to address him and tell him how very beautiful i considered his wife's fidelity and his own. he seemed pleased at my notice, and began to talk quite freely about her. he told me she had returned to him before her body was buried, and had been with him ever since. "she is so really and truly _my wife_," he said, "as i received her at the altar, that i could no more marry again than i could if she were living in my house." when the _sã©ance_ commenced she appeared first as usual, and her husband brought her up to my side. "this is miss florence marryat, dear," he said (for by this time i had laid aside my _incognita_ with the berrys). "you know her name, don't you?" "o! yes," she answered, as she gave me her hand, "i know you quite well. i used to read your books." her face was covered with her bridal veil, and her husband turned it back that i might see her. she was a very pretty girl of perhaps twenty--quite a gipsy, with large dark eyes and dark curling hair, and a brown complexion. "she has not altered one bit since the day we were married," said her husband, looking fondly at her, "whilst i have grown into an old man." she put up her hand and stroked his cheek. "we shall be young together some day," she said. then he asked her if she was not going to kiss me, and she held up her face to mine like a child, and he dropped the veil over her again and led her away. the very next spirit that appeared was my rough friend's mother, and his astonishment and emotion at seeing her were very unmistakeable. when first he went up to the cabinet and saw her his head drooped, and his shoulders shook with the sobs he could not repress. after a while he became calmer, and talked to her, and then i saw him also bringing her up to me. "i must bring my mother to you," he said, "that you may see she has really come back to me." i rose, and the old lady shook hands with me. she must have been, at the least, seventy years old, and was a most perfect specimen of old age. her face was like wax, and her hair like silver; but every wrinkle was distinct, and her hands were lined with blue veins. she had lost her teeth, and mumbled somewhat in speaking, and her son said, "she is afraid you will not understand what she says; but she wants you to know that she will be quite happy if her return will make me believe in a future existence." "and will it?" i asked. he looked at his mother. "i don't understand it," he replied. "it seems too marvellous to be true; but how _can_ i disbelieve it, when _here she is_?" and his words were so much the echo of my own grounds for belief, that i quite sympathized with them. "john powles," and "ted," and "florence," all came to see me that evening; and when i bid "florence" "good-bye" she said, "oh, it isn't 'good-bye' yet, mother! i'm coming again, before you go." presently something that was the very farthest thing from my mind--that had, indeed, never entered it--happened to me. i was told that a young lady wanted to speak to me, and on going up to the cabinet i recognized a girl whom _i knew by sight, but had never spoken to_--one of a large family of children, living in the same terrace in london as myself, and who had died of malignant scarlet fever about a year before. "mrs. lean," she said, hurriedly, noting my surprise, "don't you know me? i am may ----." "yes, i do recognize you, my dear child," i replied; "but what makes you come to me?" "minnie and katie are so unhappy about me," she said. "they do not understand. they think i have gone away. they do not know what death is--that it is only like going into the next room, and shutting the door." "and what can i do, may?" i asked her. "tell them you have seen me, mrs. lean. say i am alive--more alive than they are; that if they sit for me, i will come to them and tell them so much they know nothing of now." "but where are your sisters?" i said. she looked puzzled. "i don't know. i can't say the place; but you will meet them soon, and you will tell them." "if i meet them, i certainly will tell them," i said; but i had not the least idea at that moment where the other girls might be. four months later, however, when i was staying in london, ontario, they burst unexpectedly into my hotel room, having driven over (i forget how many miles) to see me play. naturally i kept my promise; but though they cried when "may" was alluded to, they evidently could not believe my story of having seen her, and so, i suppose, the poor little girl's wish remains ungratified. i think the worst purgatory in the next world must be to find how comfortably our friends get on without us in this. as a rule, i did not take much interest in the spirits that did not come for me; but there was one who appeared several times with the berrys, and seemed quite like an old friend to me. this was "john brown," not her majesty's "john brown," but the hero of the song- "hang john brown on a sour apple tree, but his soul goes touting around. glory! glory! halleluia! for his soul goes touting around." when i used to hear this song sung with much shouting and some profanity in england, i imagined (and i fancy most people did) that it was a comic song in america. but it was no such thing. it was a patriotic song, and the motive is (however comically put) to give glory to god, that, _although_ they may hang "john brown" on a sour apple tree, his soul will yet "go touting around." so, rightly or wrongly, it was explained to me. "john brown" is a patriotic hero in america, and when he appeared, the whole room crowded round to see him. he was a short man, with a _singularly_ benevolent countenance, iron grey hair, mutton-chop whiskers, and deep china blue eyes. a kind of man, as he appeared to me, made for deeds of love rather than heroism, but from all accounts he was both kind and heroic. a gentleman present on christmas eve pushed forward eagerly to see the materialization, and called out, "aye! that's him--that's my old friend--that's 'john brown'--the best man that ever trod this earth." before this evening's _sã©ance_ was concluded mr. abrow said, "there is a little lady in the cabinet at present who announces herself as a very high personage. she says she is the 'princess gertrude.'" "_what_ did you say, mr. abrow?" i exclaimed, unable to believe my own ears. "'the princess gertie,' mother," said "florence," popping her head out of the curtains. "you've met her before in england, you know." i went up to the cabinet, the curtains divided, there stood my daughter "florence" as usual, but holding in front of her a little child of about seven years old. i knelt down before this spirit of my own creation. she was a fragile-looking little creature, very fair and pale, with large grey eyes and brown hair lying over her forehead. she looked like a lily with her little white hands folded meekly in front of her. "are you my little gertie, darling?" i said. "i am the 'princess gertie,'" she replied, "and 'florence' says you are my mother." "and are you glad to see me, gertie?" i asked. she looked up at her sister, who immediately prompted her. "say, 'yes, mother,' gertie." "yes! mother," repeated the little one, like a parrot. "will you come to me, darling?" i said. "may i take you in my arms?" "not this evening, mother," whispered 'florence,' "you couldn't. she is attached to me. we are tied together. you couldn't separate us. next time, perhaps, the 'princess' will be stronger, and able to talk more. i will take her back now." "but where is 'yonnie'?" i asked, and "florence" laughed. "couldn't manage two of them at once," she said. "'yonnie' shall come another day," and i returned to my seat, more mystified than usual. i alluded to the "princess gertie" in my account of the mediumship of bessie fitzgerald, and said that my allusion would find its signification further on. at that time i had hardly believed it could be true that the infants who had been born prematurely and never breathed in this world should be living, sentient spirits to meet me in the next, and half thought some grown spirit must be tricking me for its own pleasure. but here, in this strange land, where my blighted babies had never been mentioned or thought of, to meet the "princess gertie" here, calling herself by her own name, and brought by her sister "florence," set the matter beyond a doubt. it recalled to my mind how once, long before, when "aimã©e" (mr. arthur colman's guide), on being questioned as to her occupation in the spirit spheres, had said she was "a little nurse maid," and that "florence" was one too, my daughter had added, "yes! i'm mamma's nurse maid. i have enough to do to look after her babies. she just looked at me, and 'tossed' me back into the spirit world, and she's been 'tossing' babies after me ever since." i had struck up a pleasant acquaintanceship with mrs. seymour, "bell's" mother, by that time, and when i went back to my seat and told her what had occurred, she said to me, "i wish you would share the expenses of a private _sã©ance_ with me here. we can have one all to ourselves for ten dollars (two pounds), and it would be so charming to have an afternoon quite alone with our children and friends." i agreed readily, and we made arrangements with mr. abrow before we left that evening, to have a private sitting on the afternoon following christmas day, when no one was to be admitted except our two selves. when we met there the _sã©ance_ room was lighted with gas as for the evening, but we preferred to close the door. helen berry was the medium, and mr. abrow only sat with us. the rows of chairs looked very empty without any sitters, but we established ourselves on those which faced the cabinet in the front row. the first thing which happened was the advent of the "squaw," looking as malignant and vicious as ever, who crept in in her dirty blanket, with her black hair hanging over her face, and deliberately took a seat at the further end of the room. mr. abrow was unmistakably annoyed at the occurrence. he particularly disliked the influence of this spirit, which he considered had a bad effect on the _sã©ance_. he first asked her why she had come, and told her her "brave" was not coming, and to go back to him. then he tried severity, and ordered her to leave the _sã©ance_, but it was all in vain. she kept her seat with persistent obstinacy, and showed no signs of "budging." i thought i would try what kindness would do for her, and approached her with that intention, but she looked so fierce and threatening, that mr. abrow begged me not to go near her, for fear she should do me some harm. so i left her alone, and she kept her seat through the whole of the _sã©ance_, evidently with an eye upon me, and distrusting my behavior when removed from the criticism of the public. her presence, however, seemed to make no difference to our spirit friends. they trooped out of the cabinet one after another, until we had mrs. seymour's brother and her daughter "bell," who brought little "jimmie" (a little son who had gone home before herself) with her, and "florence," "ted," and "john powles," all so happy and strong and talkative, that i told mrs. seymour we only wanted a tea-table to think we were holding an "at home." last, but not least (at all events in her own estimation) came the "princess gertie." mr. abrow tried to make friends with her, but she repulsed his advances vehemently. "i don't like you, mr. mans," she kept on saying, "you's nasty. i don't like any mans. they's _all_ nasty." when i told her she was very rude, and mr. abrow was a very kind gentleman and loved little children, she still persisted she wouldn't speak "to no mans." she came quite alone on this occasion, and i took her in my arms and carried her across to mrs. seymour. she was a feather weight. i felt as if i had nothing in my arms. i said to mrs. seymour, "please tell me what this child is like. i am so afraid of my senses deceiving me that i cannot trust myself." mrs. seymour looked at her and answered, "she has a broad forehead, with dark brown hair cut across it, and falling straight to her shoulders on either side. her eyes are a greyish blue, large and heavy lidded, her nose is short, and her mouth decided for such a child." this testimony, given by a stranger, of the apparition of a child that had never lived, was an exact description (of course in embryo) of her father, colonel lean, who had never set foot in america. perhaps this is as good a proof of identity as i have given yet. our private _sã©ance_ lasted for two hours, and although the different spirits kept on entering the cabinet at intervals to gain more power, they were all with us on and off during the entire time. the last pleasant thing i saw was my dear "florence" making the "princess" kiss her hand in farewell to me, and the only unpleasant one, the sight of the sulky "squaw" creeping in after them with the evident conviction that her afternoon had been wasted. chapter xxvii. iv. _the doctor._ i wonder if it has struck any of my readers as strange that, during all these manifestations in england and america, i had never seen the form, nor heard the voice, of my late father, captain marryat. surely if these various media lived by trickery and falsehood, and wished successfully to deceive me, _some_ of them would have thought of trying to represent a man so well known, and whose appearance was so familiar. other celebrated men and women have come back and been recognized from their portraits only, but, though i have sat at numbers of _sã©ances_ given _for me_ alone, and at which i have been the principal person, my father has never reappeared at any. especially, if these manifestations are all fraud, might this have been expected in america. captain marryat's name is still "a household word" amongst the americans, and his works largely read and appreciated, and wherever i appeared amongst them i was cordially welcomed on that account. when once i had acknowledged my identity and my views on spiritualism, every medium in boston and new york had ample time to get up an imitation of my father for my benefit had they desired to do so. but never has he appeared to me; never have i been told that he was present. twice only in the whole course of my experience have i received the slightest sign from him, and on those occasions he sent me a message--once through mr. fletcher (as i have related), and once through his grandson and my son, frank marryat. that time he told me he should never appear to me and i need never expect him. but since the american media knew nothing of this strictly private communication, and i had seen, before i parted with them, _seventeen_ of my friends and relations, none of whom (except "florence," "powles," and "emily,") i had ever seen in england, it is at the least strange, considering his popularity (and granted their chicanery) that captain marryat was not amongst them. as soon as i became known at the berry's _sã©ances_ several people introduced themselves to me, and amongst others mrs. isabella beecher hooker, the sister of mrs. harriet beecher stowe and henry ward beecher. she was delighted to find me so interested in spiritualism, and anxious i should sit with a friend of hers, a great medium whose name became so rubbed out in my pencil notes, that i am not sure if it was doctor carter, or carteret, and therefore i shall speak of him here as simply "the doctor." the doctor was bound to start for washington the following afternoon, so mrs. hooker asked me to breakfast with her the next morning, by which time she would have found out if he could spare us an hour before he set out on his journey. when i arrived at her house i heard that he had very obligingly offered to give me a complimentary _sã©ance_ at eleven o'clock, so, as soon as we had finished breakfast, we set out for his abode. i found the doctor was quite a young man, and professed himself perfectly ignorant on the subject of spiritualism. he said to me, "i don't know and i don't profess to know _what_ or _who_ it is that appears to my sitters whilst i am asleep. i know nothing of what goes on, except from hearsay. i don't know whether the forms that appear are spirits, or transformations, or materializations. you must judge of that for yourself. there is one peculiarity in my _sã©ances_. they take place in utter darkness. when the apparitions (or whatever you choose to call them) appear, they must bring their own lights or you won't see them, i have no conductor to my _sã©ances_. if whatever comes can't announce itself it must remain unknown. but i think you will find that, as a rule, they can shift for themselves. this is my _sã©ance_ room." as he spoke he led us into an unfurnished bedroom, i say bedroom, because it was provided with the dressing closet fitted with pegs, usual to all bedrooms in america. this closet the doctor used as his cabinet. the door was left open, and there was no curtain hung before it. the darkness he sat in rendered that unnecessary. the bedroom was darkened by two frames, covered with black american cloth, which fitted into the windows. the doctor, having locked the bedroom door, delivered the key to me. he then requested us to go and sit for a few minutes in the cabinet to throw our influence about it. as we did so we naturally examined it. it was only a large cupboard. it had no window and no door, except that which led into the room, and no furniture except a cane-bottomed chair. when we returned to the _sã©ance_ room, the doctor saw us comfortably established on two armchairs before he put up the black frames to exclude the light. the room was then pitch dark, and the doctor had to grope his way to his cabinet. mrs. hooker and i sat for some minutes in silent expectation. then we heard the voice of a negress, singing "darkey" songs, and my friend told me it was that of "rosa," the doctor's control. presently "rosa" was heard to be expostulating with, or encouraging some one, and faint lights, like sparks from a fire, could be seen flitting about the open door of the cabinet. then the lights seemed to congregate together, and cluster about a tall form, draped in some misty material, standing just outside the cabinet. "can't you tell us who you are?" asked mrs. hooker. "you must tell your name, you know," interposed "rosa," whereupon a low voice said, "i am janet e. powles." now this was an extraordinary coincidence. i had seen mrs. powles, the mother of my friend "john powles," only once--when she travelled from liverpool to london to meet me on my return from india, and hear all the particulars of her son's death. but she had continued to correspond with me, and show me kindness till the day of her own death, and as she had a daughter of the same name, she always signed herself "janet _e._ powles." even had i expected to see the old lady, and published the fact in the boston papers, that initial _e_ would have settled the question of her identity in my mind. "mrs. powles," i exclaimed, "how good of you to come and see me." "johnny has helped me to come," she replied. "he is so happy at having met you again. he has been longing for it for so many years, and i have come to thank you for making him happy." (here was another coincidence. "john powles" was never called anything but "powles" by my husband and myself. but his mother had retained the childish name of "johnny," and i could remember how it used to vex him when she used it in her letters to him. he would say to me, "if she would only call me 'john' or 'jack,' or anything but 'johnny.'") i replied, "i may not leave my seat to go to you. will you not come to me?" for the doctor had requested us not to leave our seats, but to insist on the spirits approaching us. "mrs. powles" said, "i cannot come out further into the room to-day. i am too weak. but you shall see me." the lights then appeared to travel about her face and dress till they became stationary, and she was completely revealed to view under the semblance of her earthly likeness. she smiled and said, "we were all at the opera house on thursday night, and rejoiced at your success. 'johnny' was so proud of you. many of your friends were there beside ourselves." i then saw that, unlike the spirits at miss berry's, the form of "mrs. powles" was draped in a kind of filmy white, _over_ a dark dress. all the spirits that appeared with the doctor were so clothed, and i wondered if the filmy substance had anything to do with the lights, which looked like electricity. an incident which occurred further on seemed to confirm my idea. when "mrs. powles" had gone, which we guessed by the extinguishing of the lights, the handsome face and form of "harry montagu" appeared. i had known him well in england, before he took his fatal journey to america, and could never be mistaken in his sweet smile and fascinating manner. he did not come further than the door, either, but he was standing within twelve or fourteen feet of us for all that. he only said, "good-luck to you. we can't lose an interest in the old profession, you know, any more than in the old people." "i wish you'd come and help me, harry," i answered. "oh, i do!" he said, brightly; "several of us do. we are all links of the same chain. half the inspiration in the world comes from those who have gone before. but i must go! i'm getting crowded out. here's ada waiting to see you. good-bye!" and as his light went out, the sweet face of adelaide neilson appeared in his stead. she said, "you wept when you heard of my death; and yet you never knew me. how was that?" "did i weep?" i answered, half forgetting; "if so, it must have been because i thought it so sad that a woman so young, and beautiful, and gifted as you were, should leave the world so soon." "oh no! not sad," she answered, brightly; "glorious! glorious! i would not be back again for worlds." "have you ever seen your grave?" i asked her. she shook her head. "what are _graves_ to us? only cupboards, where you keep our cast-off clothes." "you don't ask me what the world says about you, now," i said to her. "and i don't care," she answered. "don't _you_ forget me! good-bye!" she was succeeded by a spirit who called herself "charlotte cushman," and who spoke to me kindly about my professional life. mrs. hooker told me that, to the best of her knowledge, none of these three spirits had ever appeared under the doctor's mediumship before. but now came out "florence," dancing into the room--_literally dancing_, holding out in both hands the skirt of a dress, which looked as if it were made of the finest muslin or lace, and up and down which fireflys were darting with marvellous rapidity. she looked as if clothed in electricity, and infinitely well pleased with herself. "look!" she exclaimed; "look at my dress! isn't it lovely? look at the fire! the more i shake it, the more fire comes! oh, mother! if you could only have a dress like this for the stage, what a _sensation_ you would make!" and she shook her skirts about, till the fire seemed to set a light to every part of her drapery, and she looked as if she were in flames. i observed, "i never knew you to take so much interest in your dress before, darling." "oh, it isn't the dress," she replied; "it's the _fire_!" and she really appeared as charmed with the novel experience as a child with a new toy. as she left us, a dark figure advanced into the room, and ejaculated, "ma! ma!" i recognized at once the peculiar intonation and mode of address of my stepson, francis lean, with whom, since he had announced his own death to me, i had had no communication, except through trance mediumship. "is that you, my poor boy," i said, "come closer to me. you are not afraid of me, are you?" "o, no! ma! of course not, only i was at the opera house, you know, with the others, and that piece you recited, ma--you know the one--it's all true, ma--and i don't want you to go back to england. stay here, ma--stay here!" i knew perfectly well to what the lad alluded, but i would not enter upon it before a stranger. so i only said, "you forget my children, francis--what would they say if i never went home again." this seemed to puzzle him, but after a while he answered, "then go to _them_, ma; go to _them_." all this time he had been talking in the dark, and i only knew him by the sound of his voice. i said, "are you not going to show yourself to me, francis. it is such a long time since we met." "never since you saw me at the docks. that was _me_, ma, and at brighton, too, only you didn't half believe it till you heard i was gone." "tell me the truth of the accident, francis," i asked him. "was there foul play?" "no," he replied, "but we got quarrelling about _her_ you know, and fighting, and that's how the boat upset. it was _my_ fault, ma, as much as anybody else's." "how was it your body was never found?" "it got dragged down in an undercurrent, ma. it was out at cape horn before they offered a reward for it." then he began to light up, and as soon as the figure was illuminated i saw that the boy was dressed in "jumpers" and "jersey" of dark woollen material, such as they wear in the merchant service in hot climates, but over it all--his head and shoulders included--was wound a quantity of flimsy white material i have before mentioned. "i can't bear this stuff. it makes me look like a girl," said "francis," and with his hands he tore it off. simultaneously the illumination ceased, and he was gone. i called him by name several times, but no sound came out of the darkness. it seemed as though the veiling which he disliked preserved his materialization, and that, with its protection removed, he had dissolved again. when another dark figure came out of the cabinet, and approaching me, knelt at my feet, i supposed it to be "francis" come back again, and laying my hand on the bent head, i asked, "is this you again, dear?" a strange voice answered, with the words, "forgive! forgive!" "_forgive!_" i repeated, "what have i to forgive?" "the attempt to murder your husband in 1856. arthur yelverton brooking has forgiven. he is here with me now. will you forgive too?" "certainly," i replied, "i have forgiven long ago. you expiated your sin upon the gallows. you could do no more." the figure sprung into a standing position, and lit up from head to foot, when i saw the two men standing together, arthur yelverton brooking and the madras sepoy who had murdered him. i never saw anything more brilliant than the appearance of the sepoy. he was dressed completely in white, in the native costume, with a white "puggree" or turban on his head. but his "puggree" was flashing with jewels--strings of them were hung round his neck--and his sash held a magnificent jewelled dagger. you must please to remember that i was not alone, but that this sight was beheld by mrs. hooker as well as myself (to whom it was as unexpected as to her), and that i know she would testify to it to-day. and now to explain the reason of these unlooked-for apparitions. in 1856 my husband, then lieutenant ross-church, was adjutant of the 12th madras native infantry, and arthur yelverton brooking, who had for some time done duty with the 12th, was adjutant of another native corps, both of which were stationed at madras. lieutenant church was not a favorite with his men, by whom he was considered a martinet, and one day when there had been a review on the island at madras, and the two adjutants were riding home together, a sepoy of the 12th fired at lieutenant church's back with the intent to kill him, but unfortunately the bullet struck lieutenant brooking instead, who, after lingering for twelve hours, died, leaving a young wife and a baby behind him. for this offence the sepoy was tried and hung, and on his trial the whole truth of course came out. this then was the reason that the spirits of the murdered and the murderer came like friends, because the injury had never been really intended for brooking. when i said that i had forgiven, the sepoy became (as i have told) a blaze of light, and then knelt again and kissed the hem of my dress. as he knelt there he became covered, or heaped over, with a mass of the same filmy drapery as enveloped "francis," and when he rose again he was standing in a cloud. he gathered an end of it, and laying it on my head he wound me and himself round and round with it, until we were bound up in a kind of cocoon. mrs. hooker, who watched the whole proceeding, told me afterwards that she had never seen anything like it before--that she could distinctly see the dark face and the white face close together all the time beneath the drapery, and that i was as brightly illuminated as the spirit. of this i was not aware myself, but _his_ brightness almost dazzled me. let me observe also that i have been in the east indies, and within a few yards' length of sepoys, and that i am sure i could never have been wrapt in the same cloth with a mortal one without having been made painfully aware of it in more ways than one. the spirit did not _unwind_ me again, although the winding process had taken him some time. he whisked off the wrapping with one pull, and i stood alone once more. i asked him by what name i should call him, and he said, "the spirit of light." he then expressed a wish to magnetize something i wore, so as to be the better able to approach me. i gave him a brooch containing "john powles'" hair, which his mother had given me after his death, and he carried it back into the cabinet with him. it was a valuable brooch of onyx and pearls, and i was hoping my eastern friend would not carry it _too_ far, when i found it had been replaced and fastened at my throat without my being aware of the circumstance. "arthur yelverton brooking" had disappeared before this, and neither of them came back again. these were not all the spirits that came under the doctor's mediumship during that _sã©ance_, but only those whom i had known and recognized. several of mrs. hooker's friends appeared and some of the doctor's controls, but as i have said before, they could not help my narrative, and so i omit to describe them. the _sã©ance_ lasted altogether two hours, and i was very grateful to the doctor for giving me the opportunity to study an entirely new phase of the science to me. chapter xxviii. v. _mrs. fay._ there was a young woman called "annie eva fay," who came over from america to london some years ago, and appeared at the hanover square rooms, in an exhibition after the manner of the davenport brothers and messrs. maskelyne and cook. she must not be confounded with the mrs. fay who forms the subject of this chapter, because they had nothing to do with one another. some one in boston advised me _not_ to go and sit at one of this mrs. fay's public _sã©ances_. they were described to me as being too physical and unrefined; that the influences were of a low order, and the audiences matched them. however, when i am studying a matter, i like to see everything i can and hear everything i can concerning it, and to form my own opinion independent of that of anybody else. so i walked off by myself one night to mrs. fay's address, and sat down in a quiet corner, watching everything that occurred. the circle certainly numbered some members of a humble class, but i conclude we should see that everywhere if the fees were lower. media, like other professional people, fix their charges according to the quarter of the city in which they live. but every member was silent and respectful, and evidently a believer. one young man, in deep mourning, with a little girl also in black, of about five or six years old, attracted my attention at once, from his sorrowful and abstracted manner. he had evidently come there, i thought, in the hope of seeing some one whom he had lost. mrs. fay (as she passed through the room to her cabinet) appeared a very quiet, simple-looking little woman to me, without any loudness or vulgarity about her. her cabinet was composed of two curtains only, made of some white material, and hung on uprights at one angle, in a corner of the room, the most transparent contrivance possible. anything like a bustle or confusion inside it, such as would be occasioned by dressing or "making up," would have been apparent at once to the audience outside, who were sitting by the light of an ordinary gas-burner and globe. yet mrs. fay had not been seated there above a few minutes, when there ran out into the _sã©ance_ room two of the most extraordinary materializations i had ever seen, and both of them about as opposite to mrs. fay in appearance as any creatures could be. one was an irish charwoman or apple-woman (she might have been either) with a brown, wrinkled face, a broken nose, tangled grey hair, a crushed bonnet, general dirt and disorder, and a tongue that could talk broad irish, and call "a spade a spade" at one and the same time. "biddy," as she was named, was accompanied by a street newspaper boy--one of those urchins who run after carriages and turn catherine-wheels in the mud, and who talked "gutter-slang" in a style that was utterly unintelligible to the decent portion of the sitters. these two went on in a manner that was undoubtedly funny, but not at all edifying and calculated to drive any enquirer into spiritualism out of the room, under the impression that they were evil spirits bent on our destruction. that either of them was represented by mrs. fay was out of the question. in the first place, she would, in that instance, have been so clever an actress and mimic, that she would have made her fortune on the stage--added to which the boy "teddy" was much too small for her, and "biddy" was much too large. besides, no actress, however experienced, could have "made up" in the time. i was quite satisfied, therefore, that neither of them was the medium, even if i could not have seen her figure the while, through the thin curtains, sitting in her chair. _why_ such low, physical manifestations are permitted i am unable to say. it was no wonder they had shocked the sensibility of my friend. i felt half inclined myself when they appeared to get up and run away. however, i was very glad afterwards that i did not. they disappeared after a while, and were succeeded by a much pleasanter person, a cabinet spirit called "gipsy," who looked as if she might have belonged to one of the gipsy tribes when on earth, she was so brown and arch and lively. presently the young man in black was called up, and i saw him talking to a female spirit very earnestly. after a while he took her hand and led her outside the curtain, and called the little girl whom he had left on his seat by her name. the child looked up, screamed "mamma! mamma!" and flew into the arms of the spirit, who knelt down and kissed her, and we could hear the child sobbing and saying, "oh! mamma, why did you go away?--why did you go away?" it was a very affecting scene--at least it seemed so to me. the instant recognition by the little girl, and her perfect unconsciousness but that her mother had returned _in propria persona_, would have been more convincing proof of the genuineness of spiritualism to a sceptic, than fifty miracles of greater importance. when the spirit mother had to leave again the child's agony at parting was very apparent. "take me with you," she kept on saying, and her father had actually to carry her back to her seat. when they got there they both wept in unison. afterwards he said to me in an apologetic sort of way--he was sitting next to me--"it is the first time, you see, that mary has seen her poor mother, but i wanted to have her testimony to her identity, and i think she gave it pretty plainly, poor child! she'll never be content to let me come alone now." i said, "i think it is a pity you brought her so young," and so i did. "florence" did not appear (she told me afterwards the atmosphere was so "rough" that she could not), and i began to think that no one would come for me, when a common seaman, dressed in ordinary sailor's clothes, ran out of the cabinet and began dancing a hornpipe in front of me. he danced it capitally too, and with any amount of vigorous snapping his fingers to mark the time, and when he had finished he "made a leg," as sailors call it, and stood before me. "have you come for me, my friend?" i enquired. "not exactly," he answered, "but i came with the cap'en. i came to pave the way for him. the cap'en will be here directly. we was in the _avenger_ together." (now all the world knows that my eldest brother, frederick marryat, was drowned in the wreck of the _avenger_ in 1847; but as i was a little child at the time, and had no remembrance of him, i had never dreamt of seeing him again. he was a first lieutenant when he died, so i do not know why the seaman gave him brevet rank, but i repeat his words as he said them.) after a minute or two i was called up to the cabinet, and saw my brother frederick (whom i recognized from his likeness) standing there dressed in naval uniform, but looking very stiff and unnatural. he smiled when he saw me, but did not attempt to kiss me. i said, "why! fred! is it really you? i thought you would have forgotten all about me." he replied, "forgotten little flo? why should i? do you think i have never seen you since that time, nor heard anything about you? i know everything--everything!" "you must know, then, that i have not spent a very happy life," i said. "never mind," he answered, "you needed it. it has done you good!" but all he said was without any life in it, as if he spoke mechanically--perhaps because it was the first time he had materialized. i had said "good-bye" to him, and dropped the curtain, when i heard my name called twice, "flo! flo!" and turned to receive my sister "emily" in my arms. she looked like herself exactly, but she had only time to kiss me and gasp out, "so glad, so happy to meet again," when she appeared to faint. her eyes closed, her head fell back on my shoulder, and before i had time to realize what was going to happen, she had passed _through_ the arm that supported her, and sunk down _through_ the floor. the sensation of her weight was still making my arm tingle, but "emily" was gone--_clean gone_. i was very much disappointed. i had longed to see this sister again, and speak to her confidentially; but whether it was something antagonistic in the influence of this _sã©ance_ room ("florence" said afterwards that it _was_), or there was some other cause for it, i know not, but most certainly my friends did not seem to flourish there. i had another horrible disappointment before i left. a voice from inside the cabinet called out, "here are two babies who want the lady sitting under the picture." now, there was only one picture hanging in the room, and i was sitting under it. i looked eagerly towards the cabinet, and saw issue from it the "princess gertie" leading a little toddler with a flaxen poll and bare feet, and no clothing but a kind of white chemise. this was "joan," the "yonnie" i had so often asked to see, and i rose in the greatest expectation to receive the little pair. just as they gained the centre of the room, however, taking very short and careful steps, like babies first set on their feet, the cabinet spirit "gipsy" _bounced_ out of the curtains, and saying decidedly, "here! we don't want any children about," she placed her hand on the heads of my little ones, and _pressed them down_ through the floor. they seemed to crumble to pieces before my eyes, and their place knew them no more. i couldn't help feeling angry. i exclaimed, "o! what did you do that for? those were my babies, and i have been longing to see them so." "i can't help it," replied "gipsy," "but this isn't a _sã©ance_ for children." i was so vexed that i took no more interest in the proceedings. a great number of forms appeared, thirty or forty in all, but by the time i returned to my hotel and began to jot down my notes, i could hardly remember what they were. i had been dreaming all the time of how much i should have liked to hold that little flaxen-haired "yonnie" in my arms. chapter xxix. vi. _virginia roberts._ when i returned to new york, it was under exceptional circumstances. i had taken cold whilst travelling in the western states, had had a severe attack of bronchitis and pneumonia at chicago, was compelled to relinquish my business, and as soon as i was well enough to travel, was ordered back to new york to recuperate my health. here i took up my abode in the victoria hotel, where a lady, whose acquaintance i had made on my former visit to the city, was living. as i have no permission to publish this lady's name, i must call her mrs. s----. she had been a spiritualist for some time before i knew her, and she much interested me by showing me an entry in her diary, made _four years_ previous to my arrival in america. it was an account of the utterances of a mrs. philips, a clairvoyant then resident in new york, during which she had prophesied my arrival in the city, described my personal appearance, profession, and general surroundings perfectly, and foretold my acquaintanceship with mrs. s----. the prophecy ended with words to the effect that our meeting would be followed by certain effects that would influence her future life, and that on the 17th of march, 1885, would commence a new era in her existence. it was at the beginning of march that we first lived under the same roof. as soon as mrs. s---found that i was likely to have some weeks of leisure, she became very anxious that we should visit the new york media together; for although she had so long been a believer in spiritualism, she had not (owing to family opposition) met with much sympathy on the subject, or had the opportunity of much investigation. so we determined, as soon as i was well enough to go out in the evening, that we would attend some _sã©ances_. as it happened, when that time came, we found the medium most accessible to be miss virginia roberts, of whom neither of us knew anything but what we had learned from the public papers. however, it was necessary that i should be exposed as little as possible to the night air, and so we fixed, by chance as it were, to visit miss roberts first. we found her living with her mother and brother in a small house in one of the back streets of the city. she was a young girl of sixteen, very reserved and rather timid-looking, who had to be drawn out before she could be made to talk. she had only commenced sitting a few months before, and that because her brother (who was also a medium) had had an illness and been obliged to give up his _sã©ances_ for a while. the _sã©ance_ room was very small, the manifestations taking place almost in the midst of the circle, and the cabinet (so-called) was the flimsiest contrivance i had ever seen. four uprights of iron, not thicker than the rod of a muslin blind, with cross-bars of the same, on which were hung thin curtains of lilac print, formed the construction of this cabinet, which shook and swayed about each time a form left or entered it. a harmonium for accompanying the voices, and a few chairs for the audience, was all the furniture the room contained. the first evening we went to see miss roberts there were only two or three sitters beside ourselves. the medium seemed to be pretty nearly unknown, and i resolved, as i usually do in such cases, not to expect anything, for fear i should be disappointed. mrs. s----, on the contrary, was all expectation and excitement. if she had ever sat for materializations, it had been long before, and the idea was like a new one to her. after two or three forms had appeared, of no interest to us, a gentleman in full evening dress walked suddenly out of the cabinet, and said, "kate," which was the name of mrs. s----. he was a stout, well-formed man, of an imposing presence, with dark hair and eyes, and he wore a solitaire of diamonds of unusual brilliancy in his shirt front. i had no idea who he was; but mrs. s---recognized him at once as an old lover who had died whilst under a misunderstanding with her, and she was powerfully affected--more, she was terribly frightened. it seems that she wore at her throat a brooch which he had given her; but every time he approached her with the view of touching it, she shrieked so loudly, and threw herself into such a state of nervous agitation, that i thought she would have to return home again. however, on her being accommodated with a chair in the last row so that she might have the other sitters between her and the materialized spirits, she managed to calm herself. the only friend who appeared for me that evening was "john powles;" and, to my surprise and pleasure, he appeared in the old uniform of the 12th madras native infantry. this corps wore facings of fawn, with buttons bearing the word "ava," encircled by a wreath of laurel. the mess jackets were lined with wadded fawn silk, and the waistcoats were trimmed with three lines of narrow gold braid. their "karkee," or undress uniform, established in 1859, consisted of a tunic and trousers of a sad green cloth, with the regimental buttons and a crimson silk sash. the marching dress of all officers in the indian service is made of white drill, with a cap cover of the same material. their forage cloak is of dark blue cloth, and hangs to their heels. their forage cap has a broad square peak to shelter the face and eyes. i mention these details for the benefit of those who are not acquainted with the general dress of the indian army, and to show how difficult it would have been for virginia roberts, or any other medium, to have procured them, even had she known the private wish expressed by me to "john powles" in boston, that he would try and come to me in uniform. on this first occasion of his appearing so, he wore the usual everyday coat, buttoned up to his chin, and he made me examine the buttons to see that they bore the crest and motto of the regiment. and i may say here, that before i left new york he appeared to me in every one of the various dresses i have described above, and became quite a marked figure in the city. when it was made known through the papers that an old friend of florence marryat had appeared through the mediumship of virginia roberts, in a uniform of thirty years before, i received numbers of private letters inquiring if it were true, and dozens of people visited miss roberts' _sã©ances_ for the sole purpose of seeing him. he took a great liking for mrs. s----, and when she had conquered her first fear she became quite friendly with him, and i heard, after leaving new york, that he continued to appear for her as long as she attended those _sã©ances_. there was one difference in the female spirits that came through virginia roberts from those of other media. those that were strong enough to leave the cabinet invariably disappeared by floating upwards through the ceiling. their mode of doing this was most graceful. they would first clasp their hands behind their heads and lean backward; then their feet were lifted off the ground, and they were borne upward in a recumbent position. when i related this to my friend, dr. george lefferts (under whom i was for throat treatment to recover my voice), he declared there must be some machinery connected with the uprights that supported the cabinet, by which the forms were elevated. he had got it all so "pat" that he was able to take a pencil and demonstrate to me on paper exactly how the machinery worked, and how easy it would be to swing full-sized human bodies up to the ceiling with it. how they managed to disappear when they got there he was not quite prepared to say; but if he once saw the trick done, he would explain the whole matter to me, and expose it into the bargain. i told dr. lefferts, as i have told many other clever men, that i shall be the first person open to conviction when they can convince me, and i bore him off to a private _sã©ance_ with virginia roberts for that purpose only. he was all that was charming on the occasion. he gave me a most delightful dinner at delmonico's first (for which i tender him in print my grateful recollection), and he tested all miss roberts' manifestations in the most delicate and gentlemanly manner (sceptics as a rule are neither delicate nor gentlemanly), but he could neither open my eyes to chicanery nor detect it himself. he handled and shook the frail supports of the cabinet, and confessed they were much too weak to bear any such weight as he had imagined. he searched the carpeted floor and the adjoining room for hidden machinery without finding the slightest thing to rouse his suspicions, and yet he saw the female forms float upwards through the whitewashed ceiling, and came away from the _sã©ance_ room as wise as when he had entered it. but this occurred some weeks after. i must relate first what happened after our first _sã©ance_ with miss roberts. mrs. s---and i were well enough pleased with the result to desire to test her capabilities further, and with that intent we invited her to visit us at our hotel. spiritualism is as much tabooed by one section of the american public as it is encouraged by the other, and so we resolved to breathe nothing of our intentions, but invite the girl to dine and spend the evening in our rooms with us just as if she were an ordinary visitor. consequently, we dined together at the _table d'hã´te_ before we took our way upstairs. mrs. s---and i had a private sitting-room, the windows of which were draped with white lace curtains only, and we had no other means to shut out the light. consequently, when we wished to sit, all we could do was to place a chair for virginia roberts in the window recess, behind one of these pairs of curtains, and pin them together in front of her, which formed the airiest cabinet imaginable. we then locked the door, lowered the gas, and sat down on a sofa before the curtains. in the space of five minutes, without the lace curtains having been in the slightest degree disturbed, francis lean, my stepson, walked _through_ them, and came up to my side. he was dressed in his ordinary costume of jersey and "jumpers," and had a little worsted cap upon his head. he displayed all the peculiarities of speech and manner i have noticed before; but he was much less timid, and stood by me for a long time talking of my domestic affairs, which were rather complicated, and giving me a detailed account of the accident which caused his death, and which had been always somewhat of a mystery. in doing this, he mentioned names of people hitherto unknown to me, but which i found on after inquiry to be true. he seemed quite delighted to be able to manifest so indisputably like himself, and remarked more than once, "i'm not much like a girl now, am i, ma?" next, mrs. s----'s old lover came, of whom she was still considerably alarmed, and her father, who had been a great politician and a well-known man. "florence," too, of course, though never so lively through miss roberts as through other media, but still happy though pensive, and full of advice how i was to act when i reached england again. presently a soft voice said, "aunt flo, don't you know me?" and i saw standing in front of me my niece and godchild, lilian thomas, who had died as a nun in the convent of the "dames anglaises" at bruges. she was clothed in her nun's habit, which was rather peculiar, the face being surrounded by a white cap, with a crimped border that hid all the hair, and surmounted by a white veil of some heavy woollen material which covered the head and the black serge dress. "lilian" had died of consumption, and the death-like, waxy complexion which she had had for some time before was exactly reproduced. she had not much to say for herself; indeed, we had been completely separated since she had entered the convent, but she was undoubtedly _there_. she was succeeded by my sister "emily," whom i have already so often described. and these apparitions, six in number, and all recognizable, were produced in the private room of mrs. s---and myself, and with no other person but virginia roberts, sixteen years old. it was about this time that we received an invitation to attend a private _sã©ance_ in a large house in the city, occupied by mr. and mrs. newman, who had maud lord staying with them as a visitor. maud lord's mediumship is a peculiar one. she places her sitters in a circle, holding hands. she then seats herself on a chair in the centre, and keeps on clapping her hands, to intimate that she has not changed her position. the _sã©ance_ is held in darkness, and the manifestations consist of "direct voices," _i.e._ voices that every one can hear, and by what they say to you, you must judge of their identity and truthfulness. i had only witnessed powers of this kind once before--through mrs. bassett, who is now mrs. herne--but as no one spoke to me through her whom i recognized, i have omitted to give any account of it. as soon as maud lord's sitting was fully established, i heard her addressing various members of the company, telling them who stood beside them, and i heard them putting questions to, or holding conversations with, creature who were invisible to me. the time went on, and i believed i was going to be left out of it, when i heard a voice close to my ear whisper, "arthur." at the same moment maud lord's voice sounded in my direction, saying that the lady in the brown velvet hat had a gentleman standing near her, named "arthur," who wished to be recognized. i was the only lady present in a brown velvet hat, yet i could not recall any deceased friend of the name of "arthur" who might wish to communicate with me. (it is a constant occurrence at a _sã©ance_ that the mind refuses to remember a name, or a circumstance, and on returning home, perhaps the whole situation makes itself clear, and one wonders how one could have been so dull as not to perceive it.) so i said that i knew no one in the spirit-world of that name, and maud lord replied, "well, _he_ knows _you_, at all events." a few more minutes elapsed, when i felt a touch on the third finger of my left hand, and the voice spoke again and said, "arthur! 'arthur's ring.' have you quite forgotten?" this action brought the person to my memory, and i exclaimed, "oh! johnny cope, is it you?" to explain this, i must tell my readers that when i went out to india in 1854, arthur cope of the lancers was a passenger by the same steamer; and when we landed in madras, he made me a present of a diamond ring, which i wore at that _sã©ance_ as a guard. but he was never called by anything but his nickname of "johnny," so that his real appellation had quite slipped my memory. the poor fellow died in 1856 or 1857, and i had been ungrateful enough to forget all about him, and should never have remembered his name had it not been coupled with the ring. it would have been still more remarkable, though, if maud lord, who had never seen me till that evening, had discovered an incident which happened thirty years before, and which i had completely forgotten. before i had been many days in new york, i fell ill again from exposing myself to the weather, this time with a bad throat. mrs. s---and i slept in the same room, and our sitting-room opened into the bedroom. she was indefatigable in her attentions and kindness to me during my illness, and kept running backwards and forwards from the bedroom to the sitting-room, both by night and day, to get me fresh poultices, which she kept hot on the steam stove. one evening about eleven o'clock she got out of bed in her nightdress, and went into the next room for this purpose. almost directly after she entered it, i heard a heavy fall. i called her by name, and receiving no answer, became frightened, jumped out of bed, and followed her. to my consternation, i found her stretched out, at full length, on a white bearskin rug, and quite insensible. she was a delicate woman, and i thought at first that she had fainted from fatigue; but when she showed no signs of returning consciousness, i became alarmed. i was very weak myself from my illness, and hardly able to stand, but i managed to put on a dressing-gown and summon the assistance of a lady who occupied the room next to us, and whose acquaintance we had already made. she was strong and capable, and helped me to place mrs. s---upon the sofa, where she lay in the same condition. after we had done all we could think of to bring her to herself without effect, the next-door lady became frightened. she said to me, "i don't like this. i think we ought to call in a doctor. supposing she were to die without regaining consciousness." i replied, "i should say the same, excepting i begin to believe she has not fainted at all, but is in a trance; and in that case, any violent attempts to bring her to herself might injure her. just see how quietly she breathes, and how very young she looks." when her attention was called to this fact, the next-door lady was astonished. mrs. s----, who was a woman past forty, looked like a girl of sixteen. she was a very pretty woman, but with a dash of temper in her expression which spoiled it. now with all the passions and lines smoothed out of it, she looked perfectly lovely. so she might have looked in death. but she was not dead. she was breathing. so i felt sure that the spirit had escaped for a while and left her free. i covered her up warmly on the sofa, and determined to leave her there till the trance had passed. after a while i persuaded the next-door lady to think as i did, and to go back to her own bed. as soon as she had gone, i administered my own poultice, and sat down to watch beside my friend. the time went on until seven in the morning--seven hours she had lain, without moving a limb, upon the sofa--when, without any warning, she sat up and gazed about her. i called her by name, and asked her what she wanted; but i could see at once, by her expression, that she did not know me. presently she asked me, "who are you?" i told her. "are you kate's friend?" she said. i answered, "yes." "do you know who _i_ am?" was the next question, which, of course, i answered in the negative. mrs. s---thereupon gave me the name of a german gentleman which i had never heard before. an extraordinary scene then followed. influenced by the spirit that possessed her, mrs. s---rose and unlocked a cabinet of her own, which stood in the room, and taking thence a bundle of old letters, she selected several and read portions of them aloud to me. she then told me a history of herself and the gentleman whose spirit was speaking through her, and gave me several messages to deliver to herself the following day. it will be sufficient for me to say that this history was of so private a nature, that it was most unlikely she would have confided it to me or any one, particularly as she was a woman of a most secretive nature; but names, addresses, and even words of conversations were given, in a manner which would have left no room for doubt of their truthfulness, even if mrs. s---had not confirmed them to be facts afterwards. this went on for a long time, the spirit expressing the greatest animosity against mrs. s---all the while, and then the power seemed suddenly to be spent, and she went off to sleep again upon the sofa, waking up naturally about an hour afterwards, and very much surprised to hear what had happened to her meanwhile. when we came to consider the matter, we found that this unexpected seizure had taken place upon _the 17th of march_, the day predicted by mrs. philips four years previously as one on which a new era would commence for mrs. s----. from that time she continually went into trances, and used to predict the future for herself and others; but whether she has kept it up to this day i am unable to say, as i have heard nothing from her since i left america. that event took place on the 13th of june, 1885. we had been in the habit of spending our sunday evenings in miss roberts' _sã©ance_ room, and she begged me not to miss the last opportunity. when we arrived there, we found that the accompanist who usually played the harmonium for them was unable to be present, and miss roberts asked if i would be his substitute. i said i would, on condition that they moved the instrument on a line with the cabinet, so that i might not lose a sight of what was going on. this was accordingly done, and i commenced to play "thou art gone from my gaze." almost immediately "john powles" stepped out, dressed in uniform, and stood by the harmonium with his hand upon my shoulder. "i never was much of a singer, you know, flo," he said to me; "but if you will sing that song with me, i'll try and go through it." and he actually did sing (after a fashion) the entire two verses of the ballad, keeping his hand on my shoulder the whole time. when we came to the line, "i seek thee in vain by the meadow and stream," he stooped down and whispered in my ear, "not _quite_ in vain, flo, has it been?" i do not know if my english spiritualistic friends can "cap" this story, but in america they told me it was quite a unique performance, particularly at a public _sã©ance_, where the jarring of so many diverse influences often hinders instead of helping the manifestations. "powles" appeared to be especially strong on that occasion. towards the middle of the evening a kind of whining was heard to proceed from the cabinet; and miss roberts, who was not entranced, said, "there's a baby coming out for miss marryat." at the same time the face of little "yonnie" appeared at the opening of the curtains, but nearly level with the ground, as she was crawling out on all fours. before she had had time to advance beyond them, "powles" stepped over her and came amongst us. "oh, powles!" i exclaimed, "you used to love my little babies. do pick up that one for me that i may see it properly." he immediately returned, took up "yonnie," and brought her out into the circle on his arm. the contrast of the baby's white kind of nightgown with his scarlet uniform was very striking. he carried the child to each sitter that it might be thoroughly examined; and when he had returned "yonnie" to the cabinet, he came out again on his own account. that evening i was summoned into the cabinet myself by the medium's guide, a little italian girl, who had materialized several times for our benefit. when i entered it, i stumbled up against miss roberts' chair. there was barely room for me to stand beside it. she said to me, "is that _you_, miss marryat?" and i replied, "yes; didn't you send for me?" she said "no; i didn't send, i know nothing about it!" a voice behind me said, "_i_ sent for you!" and at the same moment two strong arms were clasped round my waist, and a man's face kissed me over my shoulder. i asked, "who are you?" and he replied, "walk out of the cabinet and you shall see." i turned round, two hands were placed upon my shoulders, and i walked back into the circle with a tall man walking behind me in that position. when i could look at him in the gaslight, i recognized my brother, frank marryat, who died in 1855, and whom i had never seen since. of course, the other spirits who were familiar with mrs. s---and myself came to wish me a pleasant voyage across the atlantic, but i have mentioned them all so often that i fear i must already have tired out the patience of my readers. but in order to be impressive it is so necessary to be explicit. all i can bring forward in excuse is, that every word i have written is the honest and unbiassed truth. here, therefore, ends the account of my experience in spiritualism up to the present moment--not, by any means, the half, nor yet _the quarter of it_, but all i consider likely to interest the general public. and those who have been interested in it may see their own friends as i have done, if they will only take the same trouble that i have done. chapter xxx. "qui bono?" my friends have so often asked me this question, that i think, before i close this book, i am justified in answering it, at all events, as far as i myself am concerned. how often have i sat, surrounded by an interested audience, who knew me too well to think me either a lunatic or a liar; and after i have told them some of the most marvellous and thrilling of my experiences, they have assailed me with these questions, "but what _is_ it? and what _good_ does it do? _what is it?_" there, my friends, i confess you stagger me! i can no more tell you what it is than i can tell you what _you_ are or what _i_ am. we know that, like topsy, we "grew." we know that, given certain conditions and favorable accessories, a child comes into this world, and a seed sprouts through the dark earth and becomes a flower; but though we know the cause and see the effect, the greatest man of science, or the greatest botanist, cannot tell you how the child is made, nor how the plant grows. neither can i (or any one) tell you _what_ the power is that enables a spirit to make itself apparent. i can only say that it can do so, and refer you to the creator of you and me and the entire universe. the commonest things the earth produces are all miracles, from the growing of a mustard seed to the expansion of a human brain. what is more wonderful than the hatching of an egg? you see it done every day. it has become so common that you regard it as an event of no consequence. you know the exact number of days the bird must sit to produce a live chicken with all its functions ready for nature's use, but you see nothing wonderful in it. all birds can do the same, and you would not waste your time in speculating on the wondrous effect of heat upon a liquid substance which turns to bone and blood and flesh and feathers. if you were as familiar with the reappearance of those who have gone before as you are with chickens, you would see nothing supernatural in their manifesting themselves to you, and nothing more miraculous than in the birth of a child or the hatching of an egg. why should it be? who has fixed the abode of the spirit after death? who can say where it dwells, or that it is not permitted to return to this world, perhaps to live in it altogether? still, however the almighty sends them, the fact remains that they come, and that thousands can testify to the fact. as to the theory advanced by some people that they are devils, sent to lure us to our destruction, that is an insult to the wisdom or mercy of an omnipotent creator. they cannot come except by his permission, just as he sends children to some people and withholds them from others. and the conversation of most of those that i have talked with is all on the side of religion, prayer, and self-sacrifice. _my_ friends, at all events, have never denied the existence of a god or a saviour. they have, on the contrary (and especially "florence"), been very quick to rebuke me for anything i may have done that was wrong, for neglect of prayer and church-going, for speaking evil of my neighbors, or any other fault. they have continually inculcated the doctrine that religion consists in unselfish love to our fellow-creatures, and in devotion to god. i do not deny that there are frivolous and occasionally wicked spirits about us. is it to be wondered at? for one spirit that leaves this world calculated to do good to his fellow-creatures, a hundred leave it who will do him harm. that is really the reason that the church discourages spiritualism. she does not disbelieve in it. she knows it to be true; but she also knows it to be dangerous. since like attracts like, the numbers of thoughtless spirits who still dwell on earth would naturally attract the numbers of thoughtless spirits who have left it, and their influence is best dispensed with. talk of devils. i have known many more devils in the flesh than out of it, and could name a number of acquaintances who, when once passed out of this world, i should steadfastly refuse to have any communication with. i have no doubt myself whatever as to _what_ it is, or that i have seen my dear friends and children as i knew them upon earth. but _how_ they come or _where_ they go, i must wait until i join them to ascertain, even if i shall do it then. the second question, however, i can more easily deal with, _what good is it?_ the only wonder to me is that people who are not stone-blind to what is going on in this world can put such a question. what good is it to have one's faith in immortality and another life confirmed in an age of freethought, scepticism and utter callousness? when i look around me and see the young men nowadays--ay, and the young women too--who believe in no hereafter, who lie down and die, like the dumb animals who cannot be made to understand the love of the dear god who created them although they feel it, i cannot think of anything calculated to do them more good than the return of a father or a mother or a friend, who could convince them by ocular demonstration that there is a future life and happiness and misery, according to the one we have led here below. "oh, but," i seem to hear some readers exclaim, "we _do_ believe in all that you say. we have been taught so from our youth up, and the bible points to it in every line." you may _think_ you believe it, my friends, and in a theoretical way you may; but you do not _realize_ it, and the whole of your lives proves it. death, instead of being the blessed portal to the life elysian, the gate of which may swing open for you any day, and admit you to eternal and unfading happiness, is a far-off misty phantom, whose approach you dread, and the sight of which in others you run away from. the majority of people avoid the very mention of death. they would not look at a corpse for anything; the sight of a coffin or a funeral or a graveyard fills them with horror; the idea of it for themselves makes them turn pale with fright. is _this_ belief in the existence of a tender father and a blessed home waiting to receive them on the other side? even professed christians experience what they term a "natural" horror at the thought of death! i have known persons of fixed religious principles who had passed their lives (apparently) in prayer, and expressed their firm belief in heaven waiting for them, fight against death with all their mortal energies, and try their utmost to baffle the disease that was sent to carry them to everlasting happiness. is this logical? it is tantamount in my idea to the pauper in the workhouse who knows that directly the gate is open to let him through, he will pass from skilly, oakum, and solitary confinement to the king's palace to enjoy youth, health, and prosperity evermore; and who, when he sees the gates beginning to unclose, puts his back and all his neighbors' backs against them to keep them shut as long as possible. death should not be a "horror" to any one; and if we knew more about it, it would cease to be so. it is the _mystery_ that appals us. we see our friends die, and no word or sign comes back to tell us that there _is_ no death, so we picture them to ourselves mouldering in the damp earth till we nearly go mad with grief and dismay. some people think me heartless because i never go near the graves of those whom i love best. why should i? i might with more reason go and sit beside a pile of their cast-off garments. i could _see_ them, and they would actually retain more of their identity and influence than the corpse which i could _not_ see. i mourn their loss just the same, but i mourn it as i should do if they had settled for life in a far distant land, from which i could only enjoy occasional glimpses of their happiness. and i may say emphatically that the greatest good spiritualism does is to remove the fear of one's own death. one can never be quite certain of the changes that circumstances may bring about, nor do i like to boast overmuch. disease and weakness may destroy the nerve i flatter myself on possessing; but i think i may say that as matters stand at present _i have no fear of death whatever_, and the only trouble i can foresee in passing through it will be to witness the distress of my friends. but when i remember all those who have gathered on the other side, and whom i firmly believe will be present to help me in my passage there, i can feel nothing but a great curiosity to pierce the mysteries as yet unrevealed to me, and a great longing for the time to come when i shall join those whom i loved so much on earth. not to be happy at once by any manner of means. i am too sinful a mortal for that, but "to work out my salvation" in the way god sees best for me, to make my own heaven or hell according as i have loved and succoured my fellow-creatures here below. yet however much i may be destined to suffer, never without hope and assistance from those whom i have loved, and never without feeling that through the goodness of god each struggle or reparation brings me near to the fruition of eternal happiness. _this_ is my belief, _this_ is the good that the certain knowledge that we can never die has done for me, and the worst i wish for anybody is that they may share it with me. "oh! though oft depressed and lonely, all my fears are laid aside, if i but remember only such as these have lived and died." the end. united states book company's announcements and new publications. *.*_the books mentioned in this list can be obtained_ to order _by any bookseller if not in stock, or will be sent by the publisher post free on receipt of price_. lovell's international series =_13. on circumstantial evidence_=--by florence marryat this is a story in which love and intrigue are the two disturbing elements. miss marryat is well-known to the readers of sentimental novels. she has a bright and crisp way of presenting the frailties of the human race, which makes her stories entertaining.--_boston herald._ cloth, $1.00. paper cover, 30 cents. =_14. miss kate, or the confessions of a caretaker_=--by rita this is a novel of much interest in the first part, of the objectionable "guilty love" order in the latter half. there are some beautiful bits of character drawing in it, and some very clever hits at american foibles. this story is exceedingly well told.--_nashville american._ cloth, $1.00. paper cover, 30 cents. =_15. a vagabond lover_=--by rita is a mere sketch. the hero having been a child who was washed on shore from a shipwreck during a storm, and found by a man who believed that he had discovered the cause and generation of life. the child was made a subject for experiment; life was breathed into it, but only physical life and not its higher principle. the result is that the child grows up to manhood without one redeeming virtue, and seems to delight in doing all manner of evil.--_philadelphia record._ cloth, $1.00. paper cover, 20 cents. _=16. the search for basil lyndhurst=_--by rosa n. carey is a well written english novel, into which are woven numerous historical sketches, adding the merit of instructiveness to its other qualities.--_pittsburgh post._ cloth, $1.00. paper cover, 30 cents. =_39. sylvia arden_=--by oswald crawfurd is a novel whose story is supposed to be told by a man who confesses at the outset that life has been with him a failure. he has been successful in nothing though trying everything--and the novel deals with the most remarkable incidents in that sort of a career. it is a cleverly done book, and there is much in it which is fresh as well as exciting.--_columbus, o., journal._ cloth, $1.00. paper cover, 30 cents. =_40. young mr. ainslie's courtship_=--by f. c. philips it seems impossible for f. c. philips, the author of "as in a looking glass," to keep sensational tragedy out of his novels. in "young mr. ainslie's courtship" he has written a story which is charming, witty? and agreeable up to the very last chapter.--_san francisco chronicle._ cloth, $1.00. paper cover, 30 cents. _=41. the haute noblesse=_--by geo. manville fenn is a well wrought story of which the heroine is a child of the high aristocracy, but nevertheless such admirable traits and qualities that even the humblest reader cannot fail to love her.--_columbus, o., journal._ cloth. $1.00. paper cover, 30 cents. =_42. mount eden_=--by florence marryat miss florence marryat is well known to the readers of sentimental novels. she has a bright and crisp way of presenting the frailties of the human race, which makes her stories entertaining, even if they are devoid of all good moral purpose. they open one's eyes to the inconsistencies of life without wholly destroying his faith in his fellow citizens.--_boston herald._ cloth, $1.00. paper cover, 30 cents. _=82. a woman's heart=_--by mrs. alexander the name of this author is familiar to all lovers of fiction who will need nothing more to assure them that they will not regret the time spent in reading "a woman's heart." it is a refined and interesting story, pleasant and easy reading, as is usual with all mrs. alexander's works. cloth, $1.00. paper cover, 50 cents. _=83. syrlin=_--by ouida the announcement of a new novel by ouida, sends a thrill of delight through the countless host of faithful admirers of that petulant priestess of mild improprieties. her new books are just like her old ones. there is the usual abundance of gilded vice and wilful wickedness lugged in to give the book its wonted flavor.--_n. o. states._ cloth, $1.00. paper cover, 50 cents. =_84. the rival princess_=--by justin mccarthy and mrs. campbell praed it is a romance of contemporary english politics wherein many well-known public men appear under thin disguises. there is a stuart princess with lineal claims to the english throne, and there is an unmasked mr. gladstone, who boldly urges the abolition of the house of lords.-_-charleston sunday times._ cloth, $1.00. paper cover, 50 cents. _=85. blindfold=_--by florence marryat is, in many respects, the best novel which has been given us by the prolific pen of the well-known englishwoman. the story is novel, well told, and events follow upon each other quickly, never allowing the interest to flag.--_denver news._ cloth, $1.00. paper cover, 50 cents. united states book company, publishers, n. y. transcriber's notes: text that was written in bold is marked =like this=. page 4, "marryatt" changed to "marryat" (normalising spelling of author's name) page 18, "nor" changed to "not" (a single medium of whom i have not) page 47, "bood" changed to "blood" (where the stain of his blood still remained) page 49, "briliant" changed to "brilliant" (a room that was unpleasantly brilliant) page 58, "tempered" changed to "tampered" (it had not been tampered with) page 61, "seing" changed to "seeing" (the possibility of seeing a "ghost,") page 127, "foreigh" changed to "foreign" (he was equally ignorant of foreign languages) page 134, "succssefully" changed to "successfully" (in order to imitate her manner and speech successfully) page 137, "gupyy" changed to "guppy" (as mrs. guppy came sailing over our heads) page 138, "it" changed to "if" (i inquired of every sitter if they had seen) page 155, "eartly" changed to "earthly" (as naturally as if she were their earthly form) page 156, "fitzgarald" changed to "fitzgerald" (mrs. fitzgerald was dining with us) page 158, "fitzgereld" changed to "fitzgerald" (returned through mrs. fitzgerald) page 176, "don" changed to "done" (perhaps, than anything else has done) page 180, added missing end single quote in probable correct place (through the life that lies before you.') page 182, "forgetten" changed to "forgotten" (i had almost forgotten mr. plummer) page 185, "mamed" changed to "named" (a photographer in london, named hudson) page 189, "instrument" changed to "instruments" (the two instruments pealed forth) page 198, "ocsion" changed to "occasion" (mr. towns prognosticated on that occasion) page 201, "conducter" changed to "conductor" ("did you know the spirit?" the conductor asked) page 220, "aquaintance" changed to "acquaintance" (soon after i made her acquaintance) page 255, "creature" changed to "creatures" (creatures who were invisible to me) page 256, "mr" changed to "mrs" (mrs. s---and i slept in the same room) page 264, "christian" changed to "christians" (even professed christians experience what they term) end catalogue, no. 13, "circumstatial" changed to "circumstantial" (on circumstantial evidence) end catalogue, no. 39, "successfu" changed to "successful" (he has been successful in nothing) n.b. 1. some punctuation corrections have not been noted here. 2. two non-matching instances of latin word: "prã´pria" and "propria". left as-is. e-text donated by the kempton project, submitted by william rotella heaven and its wonders and hell from things heard and seen by emanuel swedenborg. translated by john ager. 1. the lord, speaking in the presence of his disciples of the consummation of the age, which is the final period of the church,{1} says, near the end of what he foretells about its successive states in respect to love and faith:{2} immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn; and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. and he shall send forth his angels with a trumpet and a great sound; and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the end to end of the heavens (matt. 24:29-31). those who understood these words according to the sense of the letter have no other belief than that during that latest period, which is called the final judgment, all these things are to come to pass just as they are described in the literal sense, that is, that the sun and moon will be darkened and the stars will fall from the sky, that the sign of the lord will appear in the sky, and he himself will be seen in the clouds, attended by angels with trumpets; and furthermore, as is foretold else where, that the whole visible universe will be destroyed, and afterwards a new heaven with a new earth will come into being. such is the opinion of most men in the church at the present day. but those who so believe are ignorant of the arcana that lie hid in every particular of the word. for in every particular of the word there is an internal sense which treats of things spiritual and heavenly, not of things natural and worldly, such as are treated of in the sense of the letter. and this is true not only of the meaning of groups of words, it is true of each particular word.{3} for the word is written solely by correspondences,{4} to the end that there may be an internal sense in every least particular of it. what that sense is can be seen from all that has been said and shown about it in the arcana coelestia; also from quotations gathered from that work in the explanation of the white horse spoken of in the apocalypse. it is according to that sense that what the lord says in the passage quoted above respecting his coming in the clouds of heaven is to be understood. the "sun" there that is to be darkened signifies the lord in respect to love;{5} the "moon" the lord in respect to faith;{6} "stars" knowledges of good and truth, or of love and faith;{7} "the sign of the son of man in heaven" the manifestation of divine truth; "the tribes of the earth" that shall mourn, all things relating to truth and good or to faith and love;{8} "the coming of the lord in the clouds of heaven with power and glory" his presence in the word, and revelation,{9} "clouds" signifying the sense of the letter of the word,{10} and "glory" the internal sense of the word;{11} "the angels with a trumpet and great voice" signify heaven as a source of divine truth.{12} all this makes clear that these words of the lord mean that at the end of the church, when there is no longer any love, and consequently no faith, the lord will open the internal meaning of the word and reveal arcana of heaven. the arcana revealed in the following pages relate to heaven and hell, and also to the life of man after death. the man of the church at this date knows scarcely anything about heaven and hell or about his life after death, although all these matters are set forth and described in the word; and yet many of those born within the church refuse to believe in them, saying in their hearts, "who has come from that world and told us?" lest, therefore, such a spirit of denial, which especially prevails with those who have much worldly wisdom, should also infect and corrupt the simple in heart and the simple in faith, it has been granted me to associate with angels and to talk with them as man with man, also to see what is in the heavens and what is in the hells, and this for thirteen years; so now from what i have seen and heard it has been granted me to describe these, in the hope that ignorance may thus be enlightened and unbelief dissipated. such immediate revelation is granted at this day because this is what is meant by the coming of the lord. [references to the author's arcana coelestia.] {footnote 1} the consummation of the age is the final period of the church (n. 4535, 10622). {footnote 2} the lord's predictions in matthew (24 and 25), respecting the consummation of the age and his coming, and the consequent successive vastation of the church and the final judgment, are explained in the prefaces to chapters 26-40 of genesis (n. 3353-3356, 3486-3489, 3650-3655, 3751-3757, 3897-3901, 4056-4060, 4229-4231, 4332-4335, 4422-4424, 4635 4638, 4661-4664, 4807-4810, 4954-4959, 5063-5071). {footnote 3} both in the wholes and in the particulars of the word there is an internal or spiritual sense (n. 1143, 1984, 2135, 2333, 2395, 2495, 4442, 9048, 9063, 9086). {footnote 4} the word is written solely by correspondences, and for this reason each thing and all things in it have a spiritual meaning (n. 1404, 1408, 1409, 1540, 1619, 1659, 1709, 1783, 2900, 9086). {footnote 5} in the word the "sun" signifies the lord in respect to love, and in consequence love to the lord (n. 1529, 1837, 2441, 2495, 4060, 4696, 7083, 10809). {footnote 6} in the word the "moon" signifies the lord in respect to faith, and in consequence faith in the lord (n. 1529, 1530, 2495, 4060, 4696, 7083). {footnote 7} in the word "stars" signify knowledges of good and truth (n. 2495, 2849,4697). {footnote 8} "tribes" signify all truths and goods in the complex, thus all things of faith and love (n. 3858, 3926, 4060, 6335). {footnote 9} the coming of the lord signifies his presence in the word, and revelation (n 3900,4060). {footnote 10} in the word clouds signify the word in the letter or the sense of its letter (n. 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752, 8106, 8781, 9430, 10551, 10574). {footnote 11} in the word "glory" signifies divine truth as it is in heaven and as it is in the internal sense of the word (n. 4809, 5922, 8267, 8427, 9429, 10574). {footnote 12} a "trumpet" or "horn" signifies divine truth in heaven, and revealed from heaven (n. 8158, 8823, 8915); and "voice" has a like signification (n. 6771, 9926). 2. i. the god of heaven is the lord first of all it must be known who the god of heaven is, since upon that all the other things depend. throughout all heaven no other than the lord alone is acknowledged as the god of heaven. there it is said, as he himself taught, that he is one with the father; that the father is in him, and he in the father; that he who sees him sees the father; and that everything that is holy goes forth from him (john 10:30, 35; 14:9-11; 16:13-15). i have often talked with angels on this subject, and they have invariably declared that in heaven they are unable to divide the divine into three, because they know and perceive that the divine is one and this one is in the lord. they also said that those of the church who come from this world having an idea of three divine beings cannot be admitted into heaven, since their thought wanders from one divine being to another; and it is not allowable there to think three and say one.{1} because in heaven everyone speaks from his thought, since speech there is the immediate product of the thought, or the thought speaking. consequently, those in this world who have divided the divine into three, and have adopted a different idea of each, and have not made that idea one and centered it in the lord, cannot be received into heaven, because in heaven there is a sharing of all thoughts, and therefore if any one came thinking three and saying one, he would be at once found out and rejected. but let it be known that all those who have not separated what is true from what is good, or faith from love, accept in the other life, when they have been taught, the heavenly idea of the lord, that he is the god of the universe. it is otherwise with those who have separated faith from life, that is, who have not lived according to the precepts of true faith. {footnote 1} christians were examined in the other life in regard to their idea of the one god and it was found that they held the idea of three gods (n. 2329, 5256, 10736, 10738, 10821). a divine trinity in the lord is acknowledged in heaven (n. 14, 15, 1729, 2005, 5256, 9303). 3. those within the church who have denied the lord and have acknowledged the father only, and have confirmed themselves in that belief, are not in heaven; and as they are unable to receive any influx from heaven, where the lord alone is worshiped, they gradually lose the ability to think what is true about any subject whatever; and finally they become as if dumb, or they talk stupidly, and ramble about with their arms dangling and swinging as if weak in the joints. again, those who, like the socinians, have denied the divinity of the lord and have acknowledged his humanity only, are likewise outside of heaven; they are brought forward a little towards the right and are let down into the deep, and are thus wholly separated from the rest that come from the christian world. finally, those who profess to believe in an invisible divine, which they call the soul of the universe [ens universi], from which all things originated, and who reject all belief in the lord, find out that they believe in no god; since this invisible divine is to them a property of nature in her first principles, which cannot be an object of faith and love, because it is not an object of thought.{1} such have their lot among those called naturalists. it is otherwise with those born outside the church, who are called the heathen; these will be treated of hereafter. {footnote 1} a divine that cannot be perceived by any idea cannot be received by faith (n. 4733, 5110, 5663, 6982, 6996, 7004, 7211, 9356, 9359, 9972, 10067, 10267). 4. infants, who form a third part of heaven, are all initiated into the acknowledgment and belief that the lord is their father, and afterwards that he is the lord of all, thus the god of heaven and earth. that children grow up in heaven and are perfected by means of knowledges, even to angelic intelligence and wisdom, will be seen in the following pages. 5. those who are of the church cannot doubt that the lord is the god of heaven, for he himself taught, that all things of the father are his (matt. 11:27; john 16:15; 17:2). and that he hath all power in heaven and on earth (matt. 28:18). he says "in heaven and on earth," because he that rules heaven rules the earth also, for the one depends upon the other.{1} "ruling heaven and earth" means to receive from the lord every good pertaining to love and every truth pertaining to faith, thus all intelligence and wisdom, and in consequence all happiness, in a word, eternal life. this also the lord taught when he said: he that believeth on the son hath eternal life; but he that believeth not the son shall not see life (john 3:36). again: i am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth on me, though he die yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die (john 11:26, 26). and again: i am the way, the truth, and the life (john 14:6). {footnote 1} the entire heaven is the lord's (n. 2751, 7086). he has all power in the heavens and on the earths (n. 1607, 10089, 10827). as the lord rules heaven he rules also all things that depend thereon, thus all things in the world (n. 2026, 2027, 4523, 4524). the lord alone has power to remove the hells, to withhold from evil and hold in good, and thus to save (n. 10019). 6. there were certain spirits who while living in the world had professed to believe in the father; but of the lord they had the same idea as of any other man, and therefore did not believe him to be the god of heaven. for this reason they were permitted to wander about and inquire wherever they wished whether there were any other heaven than the heaven of the lord. they searched for several days, but nowhere found any. these were such as place the happiness of heaven in glory and dominion; and as they were unable to get what they desired, and were told that heaven does not consist in such things, they became indignant, and wished for a heaven where they could lord it over others and be eminent in glory like that in the world. 7. ii. it is the divine of the lord that makes heaven. the angels taken collectively are called heaven, for they constitute heaven; and yet that which makes heaven in general and in particular is the divine that goes forth from the lord and flows into the angels and is received by them. and as the divine that goes forth from the lord is the good of love and the truth of faith, the angels are angels and are heaven in the measure in which they receive good and truth from the lord. 8. everyone in the heavens knows and believes and even perceives that he wills and does nothing of good from himself, and that he thinks and believes nothing of truth from himself, but only from the divine, thus from the lord; also that good from himself is not good, and truth from himself is not truth, because these have in them no life from the divine. moreover, the angels of the inmost heaven clearly perceive and feel the influx, and the more of it they receive the more they seem to themselves to be in heaven, because the more are they in love and faith and in the light of intelligence and wisdom, and in heavenly joy therefrom; and since all these go forth from the divine of the lord, and in these the angels have their heaven, it is clear that it is the divine of the lord, and not the angels from anything properly their own that makes heaven.{1} this is why heaven is called in the word the "dwelling-place" of the lord and "his throne," and those who are there are said to be in the lord.{2} but in what manner the divine goes forth from the lord and fills heaven will be told in what follows. {footnote 1} the angels of heaven acknowledge all good to be from the lord, and nothing from themselves, and the lord dwells in them in his own and not in their own (n. 9338, 10125, 10151, 10157). therefore in the word by "angels" something of the lord is meant (n. 1925, 2821, 3039, 4085, 8192, 10528). furthermore, angels are called "gods" from the reception of the divine from the lord (n. 4295, 4402, 7268, 7873, 8192, 8301). again, all good that is good, and all truth that is truth, consequently all peace, love, charity, and faith, are from the lord (n. 1614, 2016, 2751, 2882, 2883, 2891, 2892, 2904). also all wisdom and intelligence (n. 109, 112, 121, 124). {footnote 2} those who are in heaven are said to be in the lord (n. 3637, 3638). 9. angels from their wisdom go still further. they say that not only everything good and true is from the lord, but everything of life as well. they confirm it by this, that nothing can spring from itself, but only from something prior to itself; therefore all things spring from a first, which they call the very being [esse] of the life of all things. and in like manner all things continue to exist, for continuous existence is a ceaseless springing forth, and whatever is not continually held by means of intermediates in connection with the first instantly disperses and is wholly dissipated. they say also that there is but one fountain of life, and that man's life is a rivulet therefrom, which if it did not unceasingly continue from its fountain would immediately flow away. [2] again, they say that from this one fountain of life, which is the lord, nothing goes forth except divine good and divine truth, and that each one is affected by these in accordance with his reception of them, those who receive them in faith and life find heaven in them while those who reject them or stifle them change them into hell; for they change good into evil and truth into falsity, thus life into death. again, that everything of life is from the lord they confirm by this: that all things in the universe have relation to good and truth,-the life of man's will, which is the life of his love, to good; and the life of his understanding, which is the life of his faith, to truth; and since everything good and true comes from above it follows that everything of life must come from above. [3] this being the belief of the angels they refuse all thanks for the good they do, and are displeased and withdraw if any one attributes good to them. they wonder how any one can believe that he is wise from himself or does anything good from himself. doing good for one's own sake they do not call good, because it is done from self. but doing good for the sake of good they call good from the divine; and this they say is the good that makes heaven, because this good is the lord.{1} {footnote 1} good from the lord has the lord inwardly in it, but good from one's own has not (n. 1802, 3951, 8480). 10. such spirits as have confirmed themselves during their life in the world in the belief that the good they do and the truth they believe is from themselves, or is appropriated to them as their own (which is the belief of all who place merit in good actions and claim righteousness to themselves) are not received into heaven. angels avoid them. they look upon them as stupid and as thieves; as stupid because they continually have themselves in view and not the divine; and as thieves because they steal from the lord what is his. these are averse to the belief of heaven, that it is the divine of the lord in the angels that makes heaven. 11. the lord teaches that those that are in heaven and in the church are in the lord and the lord is in them, when he says: abide in me and i in you. as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, so neither can ye, except ye abide in me. i am the vine, ye are the branches. he that abideth in me and i in him, the same beareth much fruit; for apart from me ye can do nothing (john 15:4,5). 12. from all this it can now be seen that the lord dwells in the angels of heaven in what is his own, and thus that the lord is the all in all things of heaven; and this for the reason that good from the lord is the lord in angels, for what is from the lord is the lord; consequently heaven to the angels is good from the lord, and not anything of their own. 13. iii. in heaven the divine of the lord is love to him and charity towards the neighbor. the divine that goes forth from the lord is called in heaven divine truth, for a reason that will presently appear. this divine truth flows into heaven from the lord from his divine love. the divine love and the divine truth therefrom are related to each other as the fire of the sun and the light therefrom in the world, love resembling the fire of the sun and truth therefrom light from the sun. moreover, by correspondence fire signifies love, and light truth going forth from love.{1} from this it is clear what the divine truth that goes forth from the lord's divine love is-that in its essence it is divine good joined to divine truth, and being so conjoined it vivifies all things of heaven; just as in the world when the sun's heat is joined to light it makes all things of the earth fruitful, which takes place in spring and summer. it is otherwise when the heat is not joined with the light, that is, when the light is cold; then all things become torpid and lie dead. with the angels this divine good, which is compared to heat, is the good of love; and divine truth, which is compared to light, is that through which and out of which good of love comes. {footnote 1} in the word "fire" signifies heavenly love and infernal love (n. 934, 4906, 5215). "holy and heavenly fire" signifies divine love, and every affection that belongs to that love (n. 934, 6314, 6832). "light" from fire signifies truth going forth from good of love; and light in heaven signifies divine truth (n. 3195, 3485, 3636, 3643, 3993, 4302, 4413, 4415, 9548, 9684). 14. the divine in heaven which makes heaven is love, because love is spiritual conjunction. it conjoins angels to the lord and conjoins them to one another, so conjoining them that in the lord's sight they are all as one. moreover, love is the very being [esse] of everyone's life; consequently from love both angels and men have life. everyone who reflects can know that the inmost vitality of man is from love, since he grows warm from the presence of love and cold from its absence, and when deprived of it he dies.{1} but it is to be remembered that the quality of his love is what determines the quality of each one's life. {footnote 1} love is the fire of life, and life itself is actually therefrom (n. 4906, 5071, 6032, 6314). 15. in heaven there are two distinct loves, love to the lord and love towards the neighbor, in the inmost or third heaven love to the lord, in the second or middle heaven love towards the neighbor. they both go forth from the lord, and they both make heaven. how these two loves are distinct and how they are conjoined is seen in heaven in clear light, but in the world only obscurely. in heaven loving the lord does not mean loving him in respect to his person, but it means loving the good that is from him; and to love good is to will and do good from love; and to love the neighbor does not mean loving a companion in respect to his person, but loving the truth that is from the word; and to love truth is to will and do it. this makes clear that these two loves are distinct as good and truth are distinct, and that they are conjoined as good is conjoined with truth.{1} but this can scarcely be comprehended by men unless it is known what love is, what good is, and what the neighbor is.{2} {footnote 1} to love the lord and the neighbor is to live according to the lord's commandments (n. 10143, 10153, 10310, 10578, 10648). {footnote 2} to love the neighbor is not to love the person, but to love that in him from which he is what he is, that is, his truth and good (n. 5028. 10336). those who love the person, and not that in him from which he is what he is, love evil and good alike (n. 3820). charity is willing truths and being affected by truths for the sake of truths (n. 3876, 3877). charity towards the neighbor is doing what is good, just, and right, in every work and in every function (n. 8120-8122). 16. i have repeatedly talked with angels about this matter. they were astonished, they said, that men of the church do not know that to love the lord and to love the neighbor is to love what is good and true, and to do this from the will, when they ought to know that one evinces love by willing and doing what another wishes, and it is this that brings reciprocal love and conjunction, and not loving another without doing what he wishes, which in itself is not loving; also that men should know that the good that goes forth from the lord is a likeness of him, since he is in it; and that those who make good and truth to belong to their life by willing them and doing them become likenesses of the lord and are conjoined to him. willing is loving to do. that this is so the lord teaches in the word, saying, he that hath my commandments and doeth them, he it is that loveth me; and i will love him and will make my abode with him (john 14:21, 23). and again: if ye do my commandments ye shall abide in my love (john 15:10). 17. all experience in heaven attests that the divine that goes forth from the lord and that affects angels and makes heaven is love; for all who are in heaven are forms of love and charity, and appear in ineffable beauty, with love shining forth from their faces, and from their speech and from every particular of their life.{1} moreover, there are spiritual spheres of life emanating from and surrounding every angel and every spirit, by which their quality in respect to the affections of their love is known, sometimes at a great distance. for with everyone these spheres flow forth from the life of his affection and consequent thought, or from the life of his love and consequent faith. the spheres that go forth from angels are so full of love as to affect the inmosts of life of those who are with them. they have repeatedly been perceived by me and have thus affected me.{2} that it is love from which angels have their life is further evident from the fact that in the other life everyone turns himself in accordance with his love-those who are in love to the lord and in love towards the neighbor turning themselves always to the lord, while those who are in love of self turn themselves always away from the lord. this is so, however their bodies may turn, since with those in the other life spaces conform to the states of their interiors, likewise quarters, which are not constant as they are in this world, but are determined in accordance with the direction of their faces. and yet it is not the angels that turn themselves to the lord; but the lord turns to himself those that love to do the things that are from him.{3} but more on this subject hereafter, where the quarters in the other life are treated of. {footnote 1} angels are forms of love and charity (n. 3804, 4735, 4797, 4985, 5199, 5530, 9879, 10177). {footnote 2} a spiritual sphere, which is a sphere of the life, overflows and pours forth from every man, spirit, and angel, and encompasses them (n. 4464, 5179, 7454, 8630). it flows from the life of their affection and consequent thought (n. 2489, 4464, 6206). {footnote 3} spirits and angels turn themselves constantly to their loves, and those in the heavens turn themselves constantly to the lord (n. 10130, 10189, 10420, 10702). quarters in the other life are to each one in accordance with the direction of his face, and are thereby determined, otherwise than in the world (n. 10130, 10189, 10420, 10702). 18. the divine of the lord in heaven is love, for the reason that love is receptive of all things of heaven, such as peace, intelligence, wisdom and happiness. for love is receptive of each and all things that are in harmony with it; it longs for them, seeks them, and drinks them in as it were spontaneously, for it desires unceasingly to be enriched and perfected by them.{1} this, too, man well knows, for with him love searches as it were the stores of his memory and draws forth all things that are in accord with itself, collecting and arranging them in and under itself-in itself that they may be its own, and under itself that they may be its servants; but other things not in accord with it it discards and expels. that there is present in love every capacity for receiving truths in harmony with itself, and a longing to conjoin them to itself, has been made clear also by the fact that some who were simple-minded in the world were taken up into heaven, and yet when they were with the angels they came into angelic wisdom and heavenly blessedness, and for the reason that they had loved what is good and true for its own sake, and had implanted it in their life, and had thereby become capacities for receiving heaven with all that is ineffable there. but those who are in love of self and of the world have no capacity for receiving what is good and true; they loathe and reject it, and at its first touch and entrance they flee and associate themselves with those in hell who are in loves like their own. there were spirits who had doubts about there being such capacities in heavenly love, and who wished to know whether it were true; whereupon they were let into a state of heavenly love, whatever opposed being for the time removed, and were brought forward some distance, where there was an angelic heaven, and from it they talked with me, saying that they perceived a more interior happiness than they could possibly express in words, and they lamented greatly that they must return into their former state. others also were taken up into heaven; and the higher or more interiorly they were exalted the more of intelligence and wisdom were they admitted into, such as enabled them to perceive what had before been incomprehensible to them. from this it is clear that the love that goes forth from the lord is receptive of heaven and all things therein. {footnote 1} innumerable things are contained in love, and love gathers to itself all things that are in harmony with it (n. 2500, 2572, 3078, 3189, 6323, 7490, 7750). 19. that love to the lord and love towards the neighbor include in themselves all divine truths is made evident by what the lord himself said of these two loves: thou shalt love thy god with all thy heart and with all thy soul. this is the greatest and first commandment. and the second, like unto it, is, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. on these two commandments hang the law and the prophets (matt. 22:37-40). "the law and the prophets" are the whole word, thus all divine truth. 20. iv. heaven is divided into two kingdoms. as there are infinite varieties in heaven, and no one society nor any one angel is exactly like any other,{1} there are in heaven general, specific, and particular divisions. the general division is into two kingdoms, the specific into three heavens, and the particular into innumerable societies. each of these will be treated of in what follows. the general division is said to be into kingdoms, because heaven is called "the kingdom of god." {footnote 1} there is infinite variety, and nowhere any thing the same as another (n. 7236, 9002). also in the heavens there is infinite variety (n. 684, 690, 3744, 5598, 7236). varieties in heaven are varieties of good (n. 3744, 4005, 7236, 7833, 7836, 9002). all societies in the heavens, and all angels in a society, are thereby distinguished from each other (n. 690, 3241, 3519, 3804, 3986, 4067, 4149, 4263, 7236, 7833, 7836). nevertheless they are all made one by love from the lord (n. 457, 3986). 21. there are angels that receive more interiorly the divine that goes forth from the lord, and others that receive it less interiorly; the former are called celestial angels, and the latter spiritual angels. because of this difference heaven is divided into two kingdoms, one called the celestial kingdom, the other the spiritual kingdom.{1} {footnote 1} heaven as a whole is divided into two kingdoms, a celestial kingdom and a spiritual kingdom (n. 3887, 4138). the angels of the celestial kingdom receive the divine of the lord in their voluntary part, thus more interiorly than the spiritual angels, who receive it in their intellectual part (n. 5113, 6367, 8521, 9936, 9995, 10124). 22. as the angels that constitute the celestial kingdom receive the divine of the lord more interiorly they are called interior and also higher angels; and for the same reason the heavens that they constitute are called interior and higher heavens.{1} they are called higher and lower, because these terms designate what is interior and what is exterior.{2} {footnote 1} the heavens that constitute the celestial kingdom are called higher while those that constitute the spiritual kingdom are called lower (n. 10068). {footnote 2} interior things are portrayed by higher things, and higher things signify interior things (n. 2148, 3084, 4599, 5146, 8325). 23. the love in which those are, who are in the celestial kingdom is called celestial love, and the love in which those are who are in the spiritual kingdom is called spiritual love. celestial love is love to the lord, and spiritual love is love towards the neighbor. and as all good pertains to love (for good to any one is what he loves) the good also of the other kingdom is called celestial, and the good of the other spiritual. evidently, then, the two kingdoms are distinguished from each other in the same way as good of love to the lord is distinguished from good of love towards the neighbor.{1} and as the good of love to the lord is an interior good, and that love is interior love, so the celestial angels are interior angels, and are called higher angels. {footnote 1} the good of the celestial kingdom is good of love to the lord, and the good of the spiritual kingdom is good of charity towards the neighbor (n. 3691, 6435, 9468, 9680, 9683, 9780). 24. the celestial kingdom is called also the lord's priestly kingdom, and in the word "his dwelling-place;" while the spiritual kingdom is called his royal kingdom, and in the word "his throne." and from the celestial divine the lord in the world was called "jesus," while from the spiritual divine he was called "christ." 25. the angels in the lord's celestial kingdom, from their more interior reception of the divine of the lord, far excel in wisdom and glory the angels that are in his spiritual kingdom; for they are in love to the lord, and consequently are nearer and more closely conjoined to him.{1} these angels are such because they have received and continue to receive divine truths at once in their life, and not first in memory and thought, as the spiritual angels do. consequently they have divine truths written in their hearts, and they perceive them, and as it were see them, in themselves; nor do they ever reason about them whether they are true or not.{2} they are such as are described in jeremiah: i will put my law in their mind, and will write it in their heart. they shall teach no more everyone his friend and everyone his brother, saying, know ye jehovah. they shall know me, from the least of them even to the greatest of them (31:33, 34). and they are called in isaiah: taught of jehovah (54:13). that the "taught of jehovah" are those who are taught by the lord he himself teaches in john (6:45, 46). {footnote 1} the celestial angels immeasurably surpass in wisdom the spiritual angels (n. 2718, 9995). the nature of the distinction between celestial angels and spiritual angels (n. 2088, 2669, 2708, 2715, 3235, 3240, 4788, 7068, 8521, 9277, 10295). {footnote 2} the celestial angels do not reason about truths of faith, because they perceive them in themselves; but the spiritual angels reason about them whether they are true or not (n. 202, 337, 597, 607, 784, 1121, 1384, 1898, 1919, 3246, 4448, 7680, 7877, 8780, 9277, 10786). 26. it has been said that these angels have wisdom and glory above others for the reason that they have received and continue to receive divine truths at once in their life. for as soon as they hear divine truths, they will and do them, instead of storing them up in the memory and afterwards considering whether they are true. they know at once by influx from the lord whether the truth they hear is true; for the lord flows directly into man's willing, but mediately through his willing into his thinking. or what is the same, the lord flows directly into good, but mediately through good into truth.{1} that is called good which belongs to the will and action therefrom, while that is called truth that belongs to the memory and to the thought therefrom. moreover, every truth is turned into good and implanted in love as soon as it enters into the will; but so long as truth remains in the memory and in the thought therefrom it does not become good, nor does it live, nor is it appropriated to man, since man is a man from his will and understanding therefrom, and not from his understanding separated from his will.{2} {footnote 1} the lord's influx is into good and through good into truth, and not the reverse; thus into the will and through that into the understanding, and not the reverse (n. 5482, 5649, 6027, 8685, 8701, 10153). {footnote 2} the will of man is the very being [esse] of his life, and the receptacle of the good of love, while his understanding is the outgo [existere] of his life therefrom, and the receptacle of the truth and good of faith (n. 3619, 5002, 9282). thus the will's life is the chief life of man, and the life of the understanding goes forth therefrom (n. 585, 590, 3619, 7342, 8885, 9282, 10076, 10109, 10110). whatever is received by the will comes to be the life, and is appropriated to man (n. 3161, 9386, 9393). man is a man from his will and his understanding therefrom (n. 8911, 9069, 9071, 10076, 10109, 10110). moreover, everyone who wills and understands rightly is loved and valued by others, while he that understands rightly and does not will rightly is rejected and despised (n. 8911, 10076). also, after death man remains such as his will and his understanding therefrom have been, while the things that pertain to the understanding and not also to the will then vanish, because they are not in the man (n. 9069, 9071, 9282, 9386, 10153). 27. because of this difference between the angels of the celestial kingdom and the angels of the spiritual kingdom they are not together, and have no interaction with each other. they are able to communicate only through intermediate angelic societies, which are called celestial-spiritual. through these the celestial kingdom flows into the spiritual;{1} and from this it comes to pass that although heaven is divided into two kingdoms it nevertheless makes one. the lord always provides such intermediate angels through whom there is communication and conjunction. {footnote 1} between the two kingdoms there is communication and conjunction by mean's of angelic societies which are called celestial-spiritual (n. 4047, 6435, 8796, 8802). the influx of the lord through the celestial kingdom into the spiritual (n. 3969, 6366). 28. as the angels of these two kingdoms will be fully treated of in what follows, particulars are here omitted. 29. v. there are three heavens. there are three heavens, entirely distinct from each other, an inmost or third, a middle or second, and an outmost or first. these have a like order and relation to each other as the highest part of man, or his head, the middle part, or body, and the lowest, or feet; or as the upper, the middle, and the lower stories of a house. in the same order is the divine that goes forth and descends from the lord; consequently heaven, from the necessity of order, is threefold. 30. the interiors of man, which belong to his mind and disposition, are also in like order. he has an inmost, a middle, and an outmost part; for when man was created all things of divine order were brought together in him, so that he became divine order in form, and consequently a heaven in miniature.{1} for this reason also man, as regards his interiors, has communication with the heavens and comes after death among the angels, either among those of the inmost, or of the middle, or of the outmost heaven, in accordance with his reception of divine good and truth from the lord during his life in the world. {footnote 1} all things of divine order are brought together in man, and by creation man is divine order in form (n. 3628, 4219, 4220, 4223, 4523, 4524, 5114, 5168, 6013, 6057, 6605, 6626, 9706, 10156, 10472). in man the internal man was formed after the image of heaven, and the external after the image of the world, and this is why man was called by the ancients a microcosm (n. 3628, 4523, 5115, 6013, 6057, 9279, 9706, 10156, 10472). thus man is respect to his interiors is by creation a heaven in least form after the image of the greatest; and such also man becomes when he has been created anew or regenerated by the lord (n. 911, 1900, 1928, 3624-3631, 3634, 3884, 4041, 4279, 4523, 4524, 4625, 6013, 6057, 9279, 9632). 31. the divine that flows in from the lord and is received in the third or inmost heaven is called celestial, and in consequence the angels there are called celestial angels; the divine that flows in from the lord and is received in the second or middle heaven is called spiritual, and in consequence the angels there are called spiritual angels; while the divine that flows in from the lord and is received in the outmost or first heaven is called natural; but as the natural of that heaven is not like the natural of the world, but has the spiritual and the celestial within it, that heaven is called the spiritual-natural and the celestial-natural, and in consequence the angels there are called spiritual-natural and celestial-natural.{1} those who receive influx from the middle or second heaven, which is the spiritual heaven, are called spiritual-natural; and those who receive influx from the third or inmost heaven, which is the celestial heaven, are called celestial-natural. the spiritual-natural angels and the celestial-natural angels are distinct from each other; nevertheless they constitute one heaven, because they are in one degree. {footnote 1} there are three heavens, inmost, middle, and outmost, or third, second, and first (n. 684 9594, 10270). goods therein also follow in triple order (n. 4938, 4939, 9992, 10005, 10017). the good of the inmost or third heaven is called celestial, the good of the middle or second is called spiritual, and the good of the outmost or first, spiritual-natural (n. 4279, 4286, 4938, 4939, 9992, 10005, 10017, 10068). 32. in each heaven there is an internal and an external; those in the internal are called there internal angels, while those in the external are called external angels. the internal and the external in the heavens, or in each heaven, hold the same relation as the voluntary and intellectual in man-the internal corresponding to the voluntary, and the external to the intellectual. everything voluntary has its intellectual; one cannot exist without the other. the voluntary may be compared to a flame and the intellectual to the light therefrom. 33. let it be clearly understood that with the angels it is the interiors that cause them to be in one heaven or another; for as their interiors are more open to the lord they are in a more interior heaven. there are three degrees of interiors in each angel and spirit, and also in man. those in whom the third degree is opened are in the inmost heaven. those in whom the second degree is opened, or only the first, are in the middle or in the outmost heaven. the interiors are opened by reception of divine good and divine truth. those who are affected by divine truths and admit them at once into the life, thus into the will and into action therefrom, are in the inmost or third heaven, and have their place there in accordance with their reception of good from affection for truth. those who do not admit truths at once into the will but into the memory, and thence into the understanding, and from the understanding will and do them, are in the middle or second heaven. but those who live morally and who believe in a divine, and who care very little about being taught, are in the outmost or first heaven.{1} from this it is clear that the states of the interiors are what make heaven, and that heaven is within everyone, and not outside of him; as the lord teaches when he says: the kingdom of god cometh not with observation, neither shall they say, lo here, or lo there; for behold the kingdom of god ye have within you (luke 17:20, 21). {footnote 1} there are as many degrees of life in man as there are heavens, and these are opened after death in accordance with his life (n. 3747, 9594). heaven is in man (n. 3884). therefore he that has received heaven into himself in the world, comes into heaven after death (n. 10717). 34. furthermore, all perfection increases towards interiors and decreases towards exteriors, since interiors are nearer to the divine, and are in themselves pure, while exteriors are more remote from the divine and are in themselves grosser.{1} intelligence, wisdom, love, everything good and the resulting happiness, are what constitute angelic perfection; but not happiness apart from these, for such happiness is external and not internal. because in the angels of the inmost heaven the interiors have been opened in the third degree their perfection immeasurably surpasses the perfection of angels in the middle heaven, whose interiors have been opened in the second degree. so the perfection of these angels exceeds in like measure the perfection of angels of the outmost heaven. {footnote 1} interiors are more perfect because nearer to the divine (n. 3405, 5146, 5147). in the internal there are thousands and thousands of things that appear in the external as one general thing (n. 5707). as far as man is raised from externals towards interiors, so far he comes into light and thus into intelligence and the elevation is like rising out of a cloud into clearness (n. 4598, 6183, 6313). 35. because of this distinction an angel of one heaven cannot go among the angels of another heaven, that is, no one can ascend from a lower heaven and no one can descend from a higher heaven. one ascending from a lower heaven is seized with a distress even to anguish, and is unable to see those who are there, still less to talk with them; while one descending from a higher heaven is deprived of his wisdom, stammers in his speech, and is in despair. there were some from the outmost heaven who had not yet been taught that the interiors of angels are what constitute heaven, and who believed that they might come into a higher heavenly happiness by simply gaining access to a heaven where higher angels are. these were permitted to enter among such angels. but when they were there they could see no one, however much they searched, although there was a great multitude present; for the interiors of the newcomers not having been opened in the same degree as the interiors of the angels there, their sight was not so opened. presently they were seized with such anguish of heart that they scarcely knew whether they were alive or not. therefore they hastily betook themselves to the heaven from which they came, glad to get back among their like, and pledging themselves that they would no longer covet higher things than were in agreement with their life. again, i have seen some let down from a higher heaven; and these were deprived of their wisdom until they no longer knew what their own heaven was. it is otherwise when, as is often done, angels are raised up by the lord out of a lower heaven into a higher that they may behold its glory; for then they are prepared beforehand, and are encompassed by intermediate angels, through whom they have communication with those they come among. from all this it is plain that the three heavens are entirely distinct from each other. 36. those, however, who are in the same heaven can affiliate with any who are there; but the delights of such affiliation are measured by the kinships of good they have come into; of which more will be said in the following chapters. 37. but although the heavens are so distinct that there can be no companionship between the angels of one heaven and the angels of another, still the lord joins all the heavens together by both direct and mediate influx-direct from himself into all the heavens, and mediate from one heaven into another.{1} he thus makes the three heavens to be one, and all to be in such connection from the first to the last that nothing unconnected is possible. whatever is not connected through intermediates with the first can have no permanent existence, but is dissipated and becomes nothing.{2} {footnote 1} influx from the lord is direct from himself and also mediate through on heaven into another, and in like manner into man's interiors (n. 6063, 6307, 6472, 9682, 9683). direct influx of the divine from the lord (n. 6058, 6474-6478, 8717, 8728). mediate influx through the spiritual world into the natural world (n. 4067, 6982, 6985, 6996). {footnote 2} all things spring from things prior to themselves, thus from a first, and in like inner subsist, because subsistence is unceasing springing forth; therefore nothing unconnected is possible (n. 3626-3628, 3648, 4523, 4524, 6040, 6056). 38. only he who knows how degrees are related to divine order can comprehend how the heavens are distinct, or even what is meant by the internal and the external man. most men in the world have no other idea of what is interior and what is exterior, or of what is higher and what is lower, than as something continuous, or coherent by continuity, from purer to grosser. but the relation of what is interior to what is exterior is discrete, not continuous. degrees are of two kinds, those that are continuous and those that are not. continuous degrees are related like the degrees of the waning of a light from its bright blaze to darkness, or like the degrees of the decrease of vision from objects in the light to those in the shade, or like degrees of purity in the atmosphere from bottom to top. these degrees are determined by distance. [2] on the other hand, degrees that are not continuous, but discrete, are distinguished like prior and posterior, like cause and effect, and like what produces and what is produced. whoever looks into the matter will see that in each thing and all things in the whole world, whatever they are, there are such degrees of producing and compounding, that is, from one a second, and from that a third, and so on. [3] until one has acquired for himself a perception of these degrees he cannot possibly understand the differences between the heavens, nor between the interior and exterior faculties of man, nor the differences between the spiritual world and the natural world, nor between the spirit of man and his body. so neither can he understand the nature and source of correspondences and representations, or the nature of influx. sensual men do not apprehend these differences, for they make increase and decrease, even according to these degrees, to be continuous, and are therefore unable to conceive of what is spiritual otherwise than as a purer natural. and in consequence they remain outside of and a great way off from intelligence.{1} {footnote 1} things interior and things exterior are not continuous but distinct and discrete according to degrees, and each degree has its bounds (n. 3691, 5114, 5145, 8603, 10099). one thing is formed from another, and the things so formed are not continuously purer and grosser (n. 6326, 6465). until the difference between what is interior and what is exterior according to such degrees is perceived, neither the internal and external man nor the interior and exterior heavens can be clearly understood (n. 5146, 6465, 10099, 10181). 39. finally, a certain arcanum respecting the angels of the three heavens, which has not hitherto come into any one's mind, because degrees have not been understood, may be related. in every angel and also in every man there is an inmost or highest degree, or an inmost or highest something, into which the divine of the lord primarily or proximately flows, and from which it disposes the other interiors in him that follow in accordance with the degrees of order. this inmost or highest degree may be called the entrance of the lord to the angel or man, and his veriest dwelling-place in them. it is by virtue of this inmost or highest that a man is a man, and is distinguished from irrational animals, for these do not have it. from this it is that man, unlike the animals, is capable, in respect to all his interiors which pertain to his mind and disposition, of being raised up by the lord to himself, of believing in the lord, of being moved by love to the lord, and thereby beholding him, and of receiving intelligence and wisdom, and speaking from reason. also, it is by virtue of this that he lives to eternity. but what is arranged and provided by the lord in this inmost does not distinctly flow into the perception of any angel, because it is above his thought and transcends his wisdom. 40. these now are the general truths respecting the three heavens; but in what follows each heaven will be particularly treated of. 41. vi. the heavens consist of innumerable societies. the angels of each heaven are not together in one place, but are divided into larger and smaller societies in accordance with the differences of good of love and of faith in which they are, those who are in like good forming a single society. goods in the heavens are in infinite variety, and each angel is as it were his own good.{1} {footnote 1} there is infinite variety, and never any thing the same with any other (n. 7236, 9002). so in the heavens there is infinite variety (n. 684, 690, 3744, 5598, 7236). varieties in the heavens, which are infinite, are varieties of good (n. 3744, 4005, 7236, 7833, 7836, 9002). these varieties exist through truths, which are manifold from which is each one's good (n. 3470, 3804, 4149, 6917, 7236). it is because of this that all the societies in the heavens, and all angels in a society, are distinct from each other (n. 690, 3241, 3519, 3804, 3986, 4067, 4149, 4263, 7236, 7833, 836). nevertheless they all make one through love from the lord (n. 457, 3986). 42. moreover, the angelic societies in the heavens are at a distance from each other as their goods differ in general and in particular. for in the spiritual world the only ground of distance is difference in the state of interiors, thus in the heavens difference in the states of love, those who differ much being far apart, and those who differ but little being but little apart, and likeness causing them to be together.{1} {footnote 1} all the societies of heaven have a constant position in accordance with the differences of their state of life, thus in accordance with the differences of love and faith (n. 1274, 3638, 3639). wonderful things in the other life, that is, in the spiritual world, respecting distance, situation, place space and time (n. 1273-1277). 43. all who are in the same society are arranged in like manner in respect to each other; those who are more perfect, that is, who excel in good, thus in love, wisdom, and intelligence, being in the middle; those who are less pre-eminent being round about at a distance in accordance with the decrease of their perfection. the arrangement is like light diminishing from the middle to the circumference, those who are in the middle being in the greatest light, and those towards the circumference in less and less. 44. like are drawn spontaneously as it were to their like; for with their like they are as if with their own and at home, but with others they are as if with strangers and abroad; also when with their like they are in their freedom, and consequently in every delight of life. 45. all this makes clear that all in the heavens are affiliated by good, and are distinguished according to the quality of the good. nevertheless it is not the angels who thus affiliate themselves, but the lord, from whom the good is. the lord leads them, conjoins and separates them, and preserves them in freedom proportionate to their good. thus he holds everyone in the life of his love and faith, of his intelligence and wisdom, and the resulting happiness.{1} {footnote 1} all freedom pertains to love and affection, since what a man loves, that he does freely (n. 2870, 3158, 8987, 8990, 9555, 9591). because freedom pertains to love everyone's life and delight is therefrom (n. 2873). nothing appears as one's own, except what is from his freedom (n. 2880). the veriest freedom is to be led by the lord, because one is thus led by the love of good and truth (n. 892, 905, 2872, 2886, 2890-2892, 9096, 9586-9591). 46. again, all who are in like good, even though they have never seen each other before, know each other, just as men in the world do their kinsmen, near relations, and friends; and for the reason that in the other life there are none but spiritual kinships, relationships, and friendships, thus such as spring from love and faith.{1} this it has sometimes been granted me to see, when i have been in the spirit, and thus withdrawn from the body, and in the society of angels. some of those i then saw seemed as if i had known them from childhood, but others as if not known at all. those whom i seemed to have known from childhood were such as were in a state similar to that of my spirit; but those who seemed unknown were in a dissimilar state. {footnote 1} all nearness, relationship, connections, and as it were ties of blood, in heaven are from good and in accordance with its agreements and differences (n. 685, 917, 1394, 2739, 3612, 3815, 4121). 47. all who form the same angelic society resemble each other in countenance in a general way, but not in particulars. how these general resemblances are related to differences in particulars can in some measure be seen from like things in the world. it is well known that with every race there is a certain general resemblance of face and eyes, by which it is known and distinguished from all other races. this is still more true of different families. in the heavens this is much more fully the case, because there all the interior affections appear in and shine forth from the face, for there the face is the external and representative form of those affections. no one there can have any other face than that of his own affection. it was also shown how this general likeness is varied in particulars with individuals in the same society. a face like an angel's appeared to me, and this was varied in accordance with such affections for good and truth as are in those who belong to a single society. these changes went on for a long time, and i noticed that the same face in general continued as a ground work, all besides being what was derived and produced from that. thus by means of this face the affections of the whole society were exhibited, whereby the faces of those in it are varied. for, as has been said above, the faces of angels are the forms of their interiors, thus of the affections that belong to their love and faith. 48. from this it also comes to pass that an angel who excels in wisdom instantly sees the quality of another from his face. in heaven no one can conceal his interiors by his expression, or feign, or really deceive and mislead by craft or hypocrisy. there are hypocrites who are experts in disguising their interiors and fashioning their exteriors into the form of that good in which those are who belong to a society, and who thus make themselves appear angels of light; and these sometimes insinuate themselves into a society; but they cannot stay there long, for they begin to suffer inward pain and torture, to grow livid in the face, and to become as it were lifeless. these changes arise from the contrariety of the life that flows in and affects them. therefore they quickly cast themselves down into hell where their like are, and no longer want to ascend. these are such as are meant by the man found among the invited guests at the feast not clothed with a wedding garment, who was cast out into outer darkness (matt. 22:11, seq.). 49. all the societies of heaven have communication with one another, though not by open interaction; for few go out of their own society into another, since going out of their own society is like going away from themselves or from their own life, and passing into another life which is less congenial. but all the societies communicate by an extension of the sphere that goes forth from the life of each. this sphere of the life is the sphere of the affections of love and faith. this sphere extends itself far and wide into the surrounding societies, and farther and wider in proportion as the affections are the more interior and perfect.{1} in the measure of that extension do the angels have intelligence and wisdom. those that are in the inmost heaven and in the middle of it have extension into the entire heavens; thus there is a sharing of all in heaven with each one, and of each one with all.{2} but this extension will be considered more fully hereafter, where the form of heaven in accord with which the angelic societies are arranged, and also the wisdom and intelligence of angels, will be treated of, for in accordance with that form all extension of affections and thoughts proceeds. {footnote 1} a spiritual sphere, which is the sphere of life flows out from every man, spirit, and angel, and encompasses them (n. 4464, 5179, 7454, 5630). it flows forth from the life of their affection and thought (n. 2459, 4464, 6206). these spheres extend themselves far into angelic societies in accordance with the quality and quantity of their good (n. 6598-6612, 8063, 5794, 5797). {footnote 2} in the heavens a sharing of all goods is possible because heavenly love shares with another everything that is its own (n. 549, 550, 1390, 1391, 1399, 10130, 10723). 50. it has been said above that in the heavens there are larger and smaller societies. the larger consist of myriads of angels, the smaller of some thousands, and the least of some hundreds. there are also some that dwell apart, house by house as it were, and family by family. although these live in this scattered way, they are arranged in order like those who live in societies, the wiser in the middle and the more simple in the borders. such are more closely under the divine auspices of the lord, and are the best of the angels. 51. vii. each society is a heaven in a smaller form, and each angel in the smallest form. each society is a heaven in a smaller form, and each angel in the smallest form, because it is the good of love and of faith that makes heaven, and this good is in each society of heaven and in each angel of a society. it does not matter that this good everywhere differs and varies, it is still the good of heaven; and there is no difference except that heaven has one quality here and another there. so when any one is raised up into any society of heaven he is said to come into heaven; and those who are there are said to be in heaven, and each one in his own. this is known to all in the other life; consequently those standing outside of or beneath heaven, when they see at a distance companies of angels, say that heaven is in this or that place. it is comparatively like civil and military officers and attendants in a royal palace or castle, who, although dwelling apart in their own quarters or chambers above and below, are yet in the same palace or castle, each in his own position in the royal service. this makes evident the meaning of the lord's words, that: in his father's house are many abiding places (john 14:2); also what is meant by the dwelling-places of heaven, and the heavens of heavens, in the prophets. 52. that each society is a heaven in a smaller form can be seen from this also, that each society there has a heavenly form like that of heaven as a whole. in the whole heavens those who are superior to the rest are in the middle, with the less excellent round about in a decreasing order even to the borders (as stated in a preceding chapter, n. 43). it can be seen also from this, that the lord directs all in the whole heaven as if they were a single angel; and the same is true of all in each society; and as a consequence an entire angelic society sometimes appears in angelic form like a single angel, as i have been permitted by the lord to see. moreover, when the lord appears in the midst of the angels he does not appear as one surrounded by many, but the appearance is as a one, in an angelic form. this is why the lord is called "an angel" in the word, and why an entire society is so called. "michael," "gabriel," and "raphael" are no other than angelic societies so named from their function.{1} {footnote 1} in the word the lord is called an angel (n. 6280, 6831, 8192, 9303). a whole angelic society is called an angel, and michael and raphael are angelic societies, so called from their functions (n. 8192). the societies of heaven and the angels have no names, but are distinguished by the quality of their good, and by the idea of it (n. 1705, 1754). 53. as an entire society is a heaven in a smaller form, so an angel is a heaven in the smallest form. for heaven is not outside of the angel, but is within him, since the interior things which belong to his mind are arranged into the form of heaven, thus for the reception of all things of heaven that are outside of him. these also he receives according to the quality of the good that is in him from the lord. it is from this that an angel is a heaven. 54. it can in no sense be said that heaven is outside of any one; it is within him. for it is in accordance with the heaven that is within him that each angel receives the heaven that is outside of him. this makes clear how greatly misled is he who believes that to come into heaven is simply to be taken up among angels, without regard to what one's interior life may be, thus that heaven is granted to each one by mercy apart from means;{1} when, in fact, unless heaven is within one, nothing of the heaven that is outside can flow in and be received. there are many spirits who have this idea. because of this belief they have been taken up into heaven; but when they came there, because their interior life was contrary to the angelic life, their intellectual faculties began to be blinded until they became like fools; and they began to be tortured in their voluntary faculties until they became like madmen. in a word, if those that have lived wickedly come into heaven they gasp for breath and writhe about, like fishes out of water in the air, or like animals in ether in an airpump when the air has been exhausted. from this it can be seen that heaven is not outside of a man, but within him.{2} {footnote 1} heaven is not granted from mercy apart from means, but in accordance with the life; yet everything of the life by which man is led to heaven by the lord belongs to mercy; this is what is meant by mercy (n. 5057, 10659). if heaven were granted from mercy apart from means it would be granted to all (n. 2401). about some evil spirits cast down from heaven who believed that heaven was granted to everyone from mercy apart from means (n. 4226). {footnote 2} heaven is in man (n. 3884). 55. as everyone receives the heaven that is outside of him in accordance with the quality of the heaven that is within him, so in like manner does everyone receive the lord, since it is the divine of the lord that makes heaven. and for this reason when the lord becomes manifestly present in any society his appearance there is in accord with the quality of the good in which the society is, thus not the same in one society as in another. this diversity is not in the lord; it is in the angels who behold him from their own good, and thus in accordance with their good. and they are affected by his appearance in accordance with the quality of their love, those who love him inmostly being inmostly affected, and those who love him less being less affected; while the evil who are outside of heaven are tortured by his presence. when the lord is seen in any society he is seen as an angel, but is distinguished from others by the divine that shines through. 56. again, heaven is where the lord is acknowledged, believed in, and loved. variety in worship of the lord from the variety of good in different societies is not harmful, but beneficial, for the perfection of heaven is therefrom. this can scarcely be made clear to the comprehension without employing terms that are in common use in the learned world, and showing by means of these how unity, that it may be perfect, must be formed from variety. every whole exists from various parts, since a whole without constituents is not anything; it has no form, and therefore no quality. but when a whole exists from various parts, and the various parts are in a perfect form, in which each attaches itself like a congenial friend to another in series, then the quality is perfect. so heaven is a whole from various parts arranged in a most perfect form, for the heavenly form is the most perfect of all forms. that this is the ground of all perfection is evident from the nature of all beauty, agreeableness and delight, by which the senses and the mind are affected; for these qualities spring and flow from no other source than the concert and harmony of many concordant and congenial parts, either coexisting in order or following in order, and never from a whole without many parts. from this is the saying that variety gives delight; and the nature of variety, as is known, is what determines the delight. from all this it can be seen as in a mirror how perfection comes from variety even in heaven. for from the things that exist in the natural world the things of the spiritual world can be seen as in a mirror.{1} {footnote 1} every whole is from the harmony and concert of many parts. otherwise it has no quality (n. 457). from this the entire heaven is a whole (n. 457). and for the reason that all there have regard to one end, which is the lord (n. 9828). 57. what has been said of heaven may be said also of the church, for the church is the lord's heaven on earth. there are also many churches, each one of which is called a church, and so far as the good of love and faith reigns therein is a church. here, too, the lord out of various parts forms a unity, that is, one church out of many churches.{1} and the like may be said of the man of the church in particular that is said of the church in general, namely, that the church is within man and not outside of him; and that every man is a church in whom the lord is present in the good of love and of faith.{2} again, the same may be said of a man that has the church in him as of an angel that has heaven in him, namely, that he is a church in the smallest form, as an angel is a heaven in the smallest form; and furthermore that a man that has the church in him, equally with an angel, is a heaven. for man was created that he might come into heaven and become an angel; consequently he that has good from the lord is a man-angel.{3} what man has in common with an angel and what he has in contrast with angels may be mentioned. it is granted to man, equally with the angel, to have his interiors conformed to the image of heaven, and to become, so far as he is in the good of love and faith, an image of heaven. but it is granted to man and not to angels to have his exteriors conform to the image of the world; and so far as he is in good to have the world in him subordinated to heaven and made to serve heaven.{4} and then the lord is present in him both in the world and in heaven just as if he were in his heaven. for the lord is in his divine order in both worlds, since god is order.{5} {footnote 1} if good were the characteristic and essential of the church, and not truth apart from good, the church would be one (n. 1255, 1316, 2952, 3267, 3445, 3451. 3452). from good all churches make one church before the lord (n. 7396, 9276). {footnote 2} the church is in man, and not outside of him, and the church in general is made up of men that have the church in them (n. 3884 [6637]). {footnote 3} a man who is a church is a heaven in the smallest form after the image of the greatest, because his interiors, which belong to his mind, are arranged after the form of heaven, and consequently for reception of all things of heaven (n. 911, 1900, 1928, 3624-3631, 3634, 3884, 4041, 4279, 4523, 4524, 4625, 6013, 6057 9279, 9632). {footnote 4} man has an internal and an external; hid internal is formed by creation after the image of heaven, and his external after the image of the world; and for this reason man was called by the ancients a microcosm (n. 3628, 4523, 4524, 5115, 5368, 6013, 6057, 9279, 9706, 10156, 10472). therefore man was created to have the world in him serve heaven, and this takes place with the good; but it is the reverse with the evil, in whom heaven serves the world (n. 9278, 9283). {footnote 5} the lord is order, since the divine good and truth that go forth from the lord make order (n. 1728, 1919, 2011, 2258, 5110, 5703, 8988, 10336, 10619). divine truths are laws of order (n. 2447, 7995). so far as a man lives according to order, that is, so far as he lives in good in accordance with divine truths, he is a man, and the church and heaven are in him (n. 4839, 6605, 8513, [8547]). 58. finally it should be said that he who has heaven in himself has it not only in the largest or most general things pertaining to him but also in every least or particular thing, and that these least things repeat in an image the greatest. this comes from the fact that everyone is his own love, and is such as his ruling love is. that which reigns flows into the particulars and arranges them, and every where induces a likeness of itself.{1} in the heavens love to the lord is the ruling love, for there the lord is loved above all things. hence the lord there is the all-in-all, flowing into all and each, arranging them, clothing them with a likeness of himself, and making it to be heaven wherever he is. this is what makes an angel to be a heaven in the smallest form, a society to be a heaven in a larger form, and all the societies taken together a heaven in the largest form. that the divine of the lord is what makes heaven, and that he is the all-in-all, may be seen above (n. 7-12). {footnote 1} the ruling or dominant love with everyone is in each thing and all things of his life, thus in each thing and all things of his thought and will (n. 6159, 7648, 8067, 8853). man is such as is the ruling quality of his life (n. 987, 1040, 1568, 3570, 6571, 6935, 6938, 8853-8858, 10076, 10109, 10110, 10284). when love and faith rule they are in all the particulars of man's life, although he does not know it (n. 8854, 8864, 8865). 59. viii. all heaven in the aggregate reflects a single man. that heaven in its whole complex reflects a single man is an arcanum hitherto unknown in the world, but fully recognized in the heavens. to know this and the specific and particular things relating to it is the chief thing in the intelligence of the angels there, and on it many things depend which without it as their general principle would not enter distinctly and clearly into the ideas of their minds. knowing that all the heavens with their societies reflect a single man they call heaven the greatest man and the divine man;{1}--divine because it is the divine of the lord that makes heaven (see above, n. 7-12). {footnote 1} heaven in the whole complex appears in form like a man, and for this reason heaven is called the greatest man (n. 2996, 2998, 3624-3649, 3741-3745, 4625). 60. that into such a form and image celestial and spiritual things are arranged and joined cannot be seen by those who have no right idea of spiritual and heavenly things. such think that the earthy and material things of which man's outmost nature is composed are what makes the man; and that apart from these man is not a man. but let them know that it is not from these that man is a man, but from his ability to understand what is true and to will what is good. such understanding and willing are the spiritual and celestial things of which man is made. moreover, it is known that everyone's quality is determined by the quality of his understanding and will; and it can also be known that his earthly body is formed to serve the understanding and the will in the world, and to skillfully accomplish their uses in the outmost sphere of nature. for this reason the body by itself can do nothing, but is moved always in entire subservience to the bidding of the understanding and will, even to the extent that whatever a man thinks he speaks with his tongue and lips, and whatever he wills he does with his body and limbs, and thus the understanding and the will are what act, while the body by itself does nothing. evidently, then, the things of the understanding and will are what make man; and as these act into the minutest particulars of the body, as what is internal into what is external, they must be in a like form, and on this account man is called an internal or spiritual man. heaven is such a man in its greatest and most perfect form. 61. such being the angelic idea of man, the angels give no thought to what a man does with his body, but only to the will from which the body acts. this they call the man himself, and the understanding they call the man so far as it acts in unison with the will.{1} {footnote 1} the will of man is the very being [esse] of his life, and his understanding is the outgo [existere] of his life therefrom (n. 3619, 5002, 9282). the chief life of man is the life of his will, and from that the life of the understanding proceeds (n. 585, 590, 3619, 7342, 8885, 9282, 10076, 10109, 10110). man is man by virtue of his will and his understanding therefrom (n. 8911, 9069, 9071, 10076, 10109, 10110). 62. the angels, it is true, do not see heaven in its whole complex in the human form, for heaven as a whole does not come within view of any angel; but remote societies, consisting of many thousands of angels, they sometimes see as a one in the human form; and from a society, as from a part, they draw their conclusion as to the general, which is heaven. for in the most perfect form generals are like the parts, and parts are like the generals, with simply such a difference as there is between like things of greater or less magnitude; consequently, the angels say that since the divine from what is inmost or highest sees all things, so in the lord's sight heaven as a whole must be in the human form. 63. heaven being such, it is ruled by the lord as a single man is ruled, thus as a one. for although man, as we know, consists of an innumerable variety of parts, not only as a whole but also in each part-as a whole, of members, organs, and viscera; and in each part, of series of fibers, nerves, and blood-vessels, thus of members within members, and of parts within parts-nevertheless, when he acts he acts as a single man. such likewise is heaven under the auspices and direction of the lord. 64. so many different things in man act as a one, because there is no least thing in him that does not do something for the general welfare and perform some use. the general performs a use for its parts, and the parts for the general, for the general is composed of the parts and the parts constitute the general; therefore they provide for each other, have regard for each other, and are joined together in such a form that each thing and all things have reference to the general and its good; thus it is that they act as one. [2] in the heavens there are like affiliations. those there are conjoined according to uses in a like form; and consequently those who do not perform uses for the common good are cast out of heaven as something heterogeneous. to perform use is to will well to others for the sake of the common good; but to will well to others not for the sake of the common good but for the sake of self is not to perform use. these latter are such as love themselves supremely, while the former are such as love the lord supremely. thence it is that those who are in heaven act as a one; and this they do from the lord, not from themselves, for they look to him as the only one, the source of all things, and they regard his kingdom as the general, the good of which is to be sought. this is what is meant by the lord's words, seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness, and all things shall be added unto you (matt. 6:33). "to seek his righteousness" means to seek his good.{1} [3] those who in the world love their country's good more than their own, and their neighbor's good as their own, are they who in the other life love and seek the lord's kingdom; for there the lord's kingdom takes the place of country; and those who love doing good to others, not with self as an end but with good as an end, love the neighbor; for in heaven good is the neighbor.{2} all such are in the greatest man, that is, heaven. {footnote 1} in the wood "righteousness" is predicated of good, and "judgment" of truth; therefore "to do righteousness and judgment" is to do what is good and true (n. 2235, 9857). {footnote 2} in the highest sense the lord is the neighbor; consequently to love the lord is to love that which is from him, that is to love good and truth because the lord is in everything that is from him (n. 2425, 3419, 6706, 6711 6819, 6823, 8123). therefore all good that is from the lord is the neighbor, and to will and do that good is to love the neighbor (n. 5028, 10336). 65. as the whole heaven reflects a single man, and is a divine spiritual man in the largest form, even in figure, so heaven like a man is arranged into members and parts, and these are similarly named. moreover, angels know in what member this or that society is. this society, they say, is in a certain part or province of the head, that in a certain part or province of the breast, that in a certain part or province of the loins, and so on. in general, the highest or third heaven forms the head down to the neck; the middle or second heaven forms the breast down to the loins and knees; the lowest or first heaven forms the feet down to the soles, and also the arms down to the fingers. for the arms and hands belong to the lowest parts of man, although at the sides. from this again it is plain why there are three heavens. 66. the spirits that are beneath heaven are greatly astonished when they hear that heaven is not only above but below, for they have a like faith and opinion as men in the world, that heaven is nowhere but above, for they do not know that the arrangement of the heavens is like the arrangement of the members, organs, and viscera in man, some of which are above and some below; or like the arrangement of the parts in each of the members, organs, and viscera, some of which are within and some without. hence their confused notions about heaven. 67. these things about heaven as the greatest man are set forth, because what follows in regard to heaven cannot be at all comprehended until these things are known, neither can there be any clear idea of the form of heaven, of the conjunction of the lord with heaven, of the conjunction of heaven with man, of the influx of the spiritual world into the natural, or any idea at all of correspondence-subjects to be treated of in their proper order in what now follows. to throw some light on these subjects, therefore, the above has been premised. 68. ix. each society in heaven reflects a single man. i have frequently been permitted to see that each society of heaven reflects a single man, and is in the likeness of a man. there was a society into which several had insinuated themselves who knew how to counterfeit angels of light. these were hypocrites. when these were being separated from the angels i saw that the entire society appeared at first like a single indistinct body, then by degrees in a human form, but still indistinctly, and at last clearly as a man. those that were in that man and made up the man were such as were in the good of that society; the others who were not in the man and did not make up the man were hypocrites; these were cast out and the former were retained; and thus a separation was effected. hypocrites are such as talk well and also do well, but have regard to themselves in everything. they talk as angels do about the lord, heaven, love, and heavenly life, and also act rightly, so that they may appear to be what they profess to be. but their thinking is different; they believe nothing; and they wish good to none but themselves. their doing good is for the sake of self, or if for the sake of others it is only for the appearance, and thus still for the sake of self. 69. i have also been permitted to see that an entire angelic society, where the lord is visibly present, appears as a one in the human form. there appeared on high towards the east something like a cloud, from glowing white becoming red, and with little stars round about, which was descending; and as it gradually descended it became brighter, and at last appeared in a perfect human form. the little stars round about the cloud were angels, who so appeared by virtue of light from the lord. 70. it must be understood that although all in a heavenly society when seen together as one appear in the likeness of a man; yet no one society is just such a man as another. societies differ from one another like the faces of different individuals of the same family, for the reason given above (n. 47), that is, they differ in accordance with the varieties of good in which they are and which determines their form. the societies of the inmost or highest heaven, and in the center there, are those that appear in the most perfect and beautiful human form. 71. it is worthy of mention that the greater the number in any society in heaven and the more these make a one, the more perfect is its human form, for variety arranged in a heavenly form is what constitutes perfection, as has been shown above (n. 56), and number gives variety. moreover, every society of heaven increases in number daily, and as it increases it becomes more perfect. thus not only the society becomes more perfect, but also heaven in general, because it is made up of societies. as heaven gains in perfection by increase of numbers, it is evident how mistaken those are who believe that heaven may be closed by becoming full; for the opposite is true, that it will never be closed, but is perfected by greater and greater fullness. therefore, the angels desire nothing so much as to have new angel guests come to them. 72. each society, when it appears as one whole is in the form of a man, for the reason that heaven as a whole has that form (as has been shown in the preceding chapter); moreover, in the most perfect form, such as the form of heaven is, there is a likeness of the parts to the whole, and of lesser forms to the greatest. the lesser forms and parts of heaven are the societies of which it consists, which are also heavens in lesser form (see 51-58). this likeness is perpetual because in the heavens the goods of all are from a single love, that is, from a single origin. the single love, which is the origin of the good of all in heaven, is love to the lord from the lord. it is from this that the entire heaven in general, each society less generally, and each angel in particular, is a likeness of the lord, as has been shown above (n. 58). 73. x. therefore every angel is in a complete human form. in the two preceding chapters it has been shown that heaven in its whole complex, and likewise each society in heaven, reflects a single man. from the sequence of reasons there set forth it follows that this is equally true of each angel. as heaven is a man in largest form, and a society of heaven in a less form, so is an angel in least. for in the most perfect form, such as the form of heaven is, there is a likeness of the whole in the part and of the part in the whole. this is so for the reason that heaven is a common sharing, for it shares all it has with each one, and each one receives all he has from that sharing. because an angel is thus a recipient he is a heaven in least form, as shown above in its chapter; and a man also, so far as he receives heaven, is a recipient, a heaven, and an angel (see above, n. 57). this is thus described in the apocalypse: he measured the wall of the holy jerusalem, a hundred and forty and four cubits, the measure of a man, which is that of an angel (21:17). "jerusalem" means here the lord's church, and in a more eminent sense, heaven;{1} the "wall" means truth, which is a defence against the assault of falsities and evils;{2} "a hundred and forty and four" means all goods and truths in the complex;{3} "measure" means what a thing is,{4} a "man" means one in whom are goods and truths in general and in particular, thus in whom is heaven. and as it is from this that an angel is a man, it is said "the measure of a man, which is that of an angel." this is the spiritual meaning of these words. without that meaning how could it be seen that "the wall of the holy jerusalem" is "the measure of a man, which is that of an angel?"{5} {footnote 1} "jerusalem" means the church (n. 402, 3654, 9166). {footnote 2} the "wall" means truth defending against the assault of falsities and evils (n. 6419). {footnote 3} "twelve" means all truths and goods in the complex (n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913). likewise "seventy-two," and "a hundred and forty-four," since this comes from twelve multiplied into itself (n. 7973). all numbers in the word signify things (n. 482, 487, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 5265). multiplied numbers have a like signification as the simple numbers from which they arise by multiplication (n. 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973). {footnote 4} "measure" in the word signifies the quality of a thing in respect to truth and good (n. 3104, 9603). {footnote 5} in regard to the spiritual or internal sense of the word see the explanation of the white horse in the apocalypse, and the appendix to the heavenly doctrine. 74. let us now turn to experience. that angels are human forms, or men, has been seen by me a thousand times. i have talked with them as man with man, sometimes with one, sometimes with many together; and i have seen nothing whatever in their form different from the human form; and have occasionally been surprised to find them such. and that this might not be said to be a delusion or a vision of fancy, i have been permitted to see angels when fully awake or in possession of all my bodily senses, and in a state of clear perception. and i have often told them that men in the christian world are in such blind ignorance in regard to angels and spirits as to believe them to be minds without form, even pure thoughts, of which they have no idea except as something ethereal in which there is some vitality. and as they thus ascribe to angels nothing human except a thinking faculty, they believe that having no eyes they do not see, having no ears they do not hear, and having no mouth or tongue they do not speak. [2] to this the angels replied that they are aware that such a belief is held by many in the world, and is prevalent among the learned, and to their surprise, even among the clergy. the reason, they said, is that the learned, who were the leaders and who first concocted such an idea of angels and spirits, conceived of them from the sense-conceptions of the external man; and those who think from these, and not from interior light and from the general idea implanted in everyone, must needs fabricate such notions, since the sense-conceptions of the external man take in only what belongs to nature, and nothing above nature, thus nothing whatever of the spiritual world.{1} from these leaders as guides this falsity of thought about angels extended to others who did not think from themselves but adopted the thoughts of their leaders; and those who first take their thoughts from others and make that thought their belief, and then view it with their own understanding, cannot easily recede from it, and are therefore in most cases satisfied with confirming it. [3] the angels said, furthermore, that the simple in faith and heart have no such idea about angels, but think of them as the men of heaven, and for the reason that they have not extinguished by learning what is implanted in them from heaven, and have no conception of anything apart from form. this is why angels in churches, whether sculptured or painted, are always depicted as men. in respect to this insight from heaven they said that it is the divine flowing into such as are in the good of faith and life. {footnote 1} unless man is raised above the sense-conceptions of the external man he has very little wisdom (n. 5089). the wise man thinks above these sense-conceptions (n. 5089, 5094). when man is raised above these, he comes into clearer light, and finally into heavenly light (n. 6183, 6313, 6315, 9407, 9730, 9922). elevation and withdrawal from these was known to the ancients (n. 6313). 75. from all my experience, which is now of many years, i am able to say and affirm that angels are wholly men in form, having faces, eyes, ears, bodies, arms, hands, and feet; that they see and hear one another, and talk together, and in a word lack nothing whatever that belongs to men except that they are not clothed in material bodies. i have seen them in their own light, which exceeds by many degrees the noonday light of the world, and in that light all their features could be seen more distinctly and clearly than the faces of men are seen on the earth. it has also been granted me to see an angel of the inmost heaven. he had a more radiant and resplendent face than the angels of the lower heavens. i observed him attentively, and he had a human form in all completeness. 76. but it must be remembered that a man cannot see angels with his bodily eyes, but only with the eyes of the spirit within him,{1} because his spirit is in the spiritual world, and all things of the body are in the natural world. like sees like from being like. moreover, as the bodily organ of sight, which is the eye, is too gross, as everyone knows, to see even the smaller things of nature except through magnifying glasses, still less can it see what is above the sphere of nature, as all things in the spiritual world are. nevertheless these things can be seen by man when he has been withdrawn from the sight of the body, and the sight of his spirit has been opened; and this can be effected instantly whenever it is the pleasure of the lord that man should see these things; and in that case man does not know but what he is seeing them with his bodily eyes. thus were angels seen by abraham, lot, manoah, and the prophets; and thus, too, the lord was seen by the disciples after the resurrection; and in the same way angels have been seen by me. because the prophets saw in this way they were called "seers," and were said "to have their eyes opened" (1 sam. 9:8; num. 24:3); and enabling them to see thus was called "opening their eyes," as with elisha's servant, of whom we read: elisha prayed and said, jehovah, i pray thee open his eyes that he may see; and jehovah opened the eyes of the young man and he saw, and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about elisha (2 kings 6:17). {footnote 1} in respect to his interiors man is a spirit (n. 1594). and that spirit is the man himself, and it is from that spirit that the body lived (n. 447, 4622, 6054). 77. good spirits, with whom i have spoken about this matter, have been deeply grieved at such ignorance in the church about the condition of heaven and of spirits and angels; and in their displeasure they charged me to declare positively that they are not formless minds nor ethereal breaths, but are men in very form, and see, hear, and feel equally with those who are in this world.{1} {footnote 1} inasmuch as each angel is a recipient of divine order from the lord, he is in a human form, perfect and beautiful in the measure of his reception (n. 322, 1880, 1881, 3633, 3804, 4622, 4735, 4797, 4985, 5199, 5530, 6054, 9879, 10177, 10594). it is by means of divine truth that order exists; and divine good is the essential of order (n. 2451, 3166, 4390, 4409, 5232, 7256, 10122, 10555). 78. xi. it is from the lord's divine human that heaven as a whole and in part reflects man. that it is from the lord's divine human that heaven as a whole and in part reflects man, follows as a conclusion from all that has been stated and shown in the preceding chapters, namely: (i) that the god of heaven is the lord. (ii) it is the divine of the lord that makes heaven. (iii) heaven consists of innumerable societies; and each society is a heaven in a smaller form, and each angel in the smallest form. (iv) all heaven in the aggregate reflects a single man. (v) each society in the heavens reflects a single man. (vi) therefore every angel is in a complete human form. all this leads to the conclusion that as it is the divine that makes heaven, heaven must be human in form. that this divine is the lord's divine human can be seen still more clearly, because in a compendium, in what has been collected, brought together and collated from the arcana coelestia and placed as a supplement at the end of this chapter. that the lord's human is divine, and that it is not true that his human is not divine, as those with in the church believe, may also be seen in the same extracts, also in the chapter on the lord, in the new jerusalem and its heavenly doctrine, at the end. 79. that this is true has been proved to me by much experience, about which something shall now be said. no angel in the heavens ever perceives the divine as being in any other than a human form; and what is remarkable, those in the higher heavens are unable to think of the divine in any other way. the necessity of thinking in this way comes from the divine itself that flows in, and also from the form of heaven in harmony with which their thoughts spread forth. for every thought of an angel spreads forth into heaven; and the angels have intelligence and wisdom in the measure of that extension. it is in consequence of this that all in heaven acknowledge the lord, because only in him does the divine human exist. not only have i been told all this by angels, but when elevated into the inner sphere of heaven i have been able to perceive it. from this it is evident that the wiser the angels are the more clearly they perceive this truth; and it is from this that the lord is seen by them; for the lord is seen in a divine angelic form, which is the human form, by those who acknowledge and believe in a visible divine being, but not by those who believe in an invisible divine. for the former can see their divine being, but the latter cannot. 80. because the angels have no perception of an invisible divine, which they call a divine devoid of form, but perceive only a visible divine in human form, they are accustomed to say that the lord alone is man, and that it is from him that they are men, and that each one is a man in the measure of his reception of the lord. by receiving the lord they understand receiving good and truth which are from him, since the lord is in his good and in his truth, and this they call wisdom and intelligence. everyone knows, they say, that intelligence and wisdom make man, and not a face without these. the truth of this is made evident from the appearance of the angels of the interior heavens, for these, being in good and truth from the lord and in consequent wisdom and intelligence, are in a most beautiful and most perfect human form; while the angels of the lower heavens are in human form of less perfection and beauty. on the other hand, those who are in hell appear in the light of heaven hardly as men, but rather as monsters, since they are not in good and truth but in evil and falsity, and consequently in the opposites of wisdom and intelligence. for this reason their life is not called life, but spiritual death. 81. because heaven as a whole and in part, from the lord's divine human, reflects a man, the angels say that they are in the lord; and some say that they are in his body, meaning that they are in the good of his love. and this the lord himself teaches, saying, abide in me and i in you. as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, so neither can ye, except ye abide in me. for apart from me ye can do nothing. abide in my love. if ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love (john 15:4-10). 82. because such a perception of the divine exists in the heavens, to think of god as in a human form is implanted in every man who receives any influx from heaven. thus did the ancients think of him; and thus do the moderns think of him both outside of the church and within it. the simple see him in thought as the ancient one in shining light. but this insight has been extinguished in all those that by self-intelligence and by a life of evil have rejected influx from heaven. those that have extinguished it by self-intelligence prefer an invisible god; while those that have extinguished it by a life of evil prefer no god. neither of these are aware that such an insight exists, because they do not have it; and yet it is the divine heavenly itself that primarily flows into man out of heaven, because man is born for heaven, and no one without a conception of a divine can enter heaven. 83. for this reason he that has no conception of heaven, that is, no conception of the divine from which heaven is, cannot be raised up to the first threshold of heaven. as soon as such a one draws near to heaven a resistance and a strong repulsion are perceived; and for the reason that his interiors, which should be receptive of heaven, are closed up from their not being in the form of heaven, and the nearer he comes to heaven the more tightly are they closed up. such is the lot of those within the church who deny the lord, and of those who, like the socinians, deny his divinity. but the lot of those who are born out of the church, and who are ignorant of the lord because they do not have the word, will be described hereafter. 84. that the men of old time had an idea of the divine as human is evident from the manifestation of the divine to abraham, lot, joshua, gideon, manoah and his wife, and others. these saw god as a man, but nevertheless adored him as the god of the universe, calling him the god of heaven and earth, and jehovah. that it was the lord who was seen by abraham he himself teaches in john (8:56); and that it was he who was seen by the rest is evident from his words: no one hath seen the father, nor heard his voice, nor seen his form (john 1:18; 5:37). 85. but that god is man can scarcely be comprehended by those who judge all things from the sense-conceptions of the external man, for the sensual man must needs think of the divine from the world and what is therein, and thus of a divine and spiritual man in the same way as of a corporeal and natural man. from this he concludes that if god were a man he would be as large as the universe; and if he ruled heaven and earth it would be done through many others, after the manner of kings in the world. if told that in heaven there is no extension of space as in the world, he would not in the least comprehend it. for he that thinks only from nature and its light must needs think in accord with such extension as appears before his eyes. but it is the greatest mistake to think in this way about heaven. extension there is not like extension in the world. in the world extension is determinate, and thus measurable; but in heaven it is not determinate, and thus not measurable. but extension in heaven will be further treated of hereafter in connection with space and time in the spiritual world. furthermore, everyone knows how far the sight of the eye extends, namely, to the sun and to the stars, which are so remote; and whoever thinks deeply knows that the internal sight, which is of thought, has a still wider extension, and that a yet more interior sight must extend more widely still. what then must be said of divine sight, which is the inmost and highest of all? because thoughts have such extension, all things of heaven are shared with everyone there, so, too, are all things of the divine which makes heaven and fills it, as has been shown in the preceding chapters. 86. those in heaven wonder that men can believe themselves to be intelligent who, in thinking of god, think about something invisible, that is, inconceivable under any form; and that they can call those who think differently unintelligent and simple, when the reverse is the truth. they add, "let those who thus believe themselves to be intelligent examine themselves, whether they do not look upon nature as god, some the nature that is before their eyes, others the invisible side of nature; and whether they are not so blind as not to know what god is, what an angel is, what a spirit is, what their soul is which is to live after death, what the life of heaven in man is, and many other things that constitute intelligence; when yet those whom they call simple know all these things in their way, having an idea of their god that he is the divine in a human form, of an angel that he is a heavenly man, of their soul that is to live after death that it is like an angel, and of the life of heaven in man that it is living in accord with the divine commandments." such the angels call intelligent and fitted for heaven; but the others, on the other hand, they call not intelligent. extracts from the arcana coelestia relating to the lord and his divine human. [2] the divine was in the lord from very conception (n. 4641, 4963, 5041, 5157, 6716, 10125). the lord alone had a divine seed (n. 1438). his soul was jehovah (n. 1999, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025). thus the lord's inmost was the divine itself, while the clothing was from the mother (n. 5041). the divine itself was the being [esse] of the lord's life, and from this the human afterwards went forth and became the outgo [existere] from that being [esse] (n. 3194, 3210, 10269, 10738). [3] within the church where the word is and by it the lord is known, the lord's divine ought not to be denied, nor the holy that goes forth from him (n. 2359). those within the church who do not acknowledge the lord have no conjunction with the divine; but it is otherwise with those outside of the church (n. 10205). the essential of the church is to acknowledge the lord's divine and his union with the father (n. 10083, 10112, 10370, 10730, 10738, 10816-10820). [4] the glorification of the lord is treated of in the word in many passages (n. 10828). and in the internal sense of the word everywhere (n. 2249, 2523, 3245). the lord glorified his human, but not the divine, since this was glorified in itself (n. 10057). the lord came into the world to glorify his human (n. 3637, 4287, 9315). the lord glorified his human by means of the divine love that was in him from conception (n. 4727). the lord's life in the world was his love towards the whole human race (n. 2253). the lord's love transcends all human understanding (n. 2077). the lord saved the human race by glorifying his human (n. 4180, 10019; 10152, 10655, 10659 10828). otherwise the whole human race would have perished in eternal death (n. 1676). the state of the lord's glorification and humiliation (n. 1785, 1999, 2159, 6866). glorification in respect to the lord is the uniting of his human with the divine; and to glorify is to make divine (n. 1603, 10053, 10828). when the lord glorified his human he put off everything human that was from the mother, until at last he was not her son (n. 2159, 2574, 2649, 3036, 10830). [5] the son of god from eternity was the divine truth in heaven (n. 2628, 2798, 2803, 3195, 3704). when the lord was in the world he made his human divine truth from the divine good that was in him (n. 2803, 3194, 3195, 3210, 6716, 6864, 7014, 7499, 8127, 8724, 9199). the lord then arranged all things in himself into a heavenly form, which is in accord with divine truth (n. 1928, 3633). for this reason the lord was called the word, which is divine truth (n. 2533, 2813, 2859, 2894, 3393, 3712). the lord alone had perception and thought from himself, and this was above all angelic perception and thought (n. 1904, 1914, 1919). the divine truth which was himself, the lord united with divine good which was in himself (n. 10047, 10052, 10076). the union was reciprocal (n. 2004, 10067). [6] in passing out of the world the lord also made his human divine good (n. 3194, 3210, 6864, 7499, 8724, 9199, 10076). this is what is meant by his coming forth from the father and returning to the father (n. 3194, 3210). thus he became one with the father (n. 2751, 3704, 4766). since that union divine truth goes forth from the lord (n. 3704, 3712, 3969, 4577, 5704, 7499, 8127, 8241, 9199, 9398). how divine truth goes forth, illustrated (n. 7270, 9407). it was from his own power that the lord united the human with the divine (n. 1616, 1749, 1752, 1813, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2523, 3141, 5005, 5045, 6716). from this it is clear that the lord's human was not like the human of any other man, in that it was conceived from the divine itself (n. 10125, 10825, 10826). his union with the father, from whom was his soul, was not as between two persons, but as between soul and body (n. 3737, 10824). [7] the most ancient people could not worship the divine being [esse], but could worship only the divine outgo [existere], which is the divine human; therefore the lord came into the world in order to become the divine existere from the divine esse (n. 4687, 5321). the ancients acknowledged the divine because he appeared to them in a human form, and this was the divine human (n. 5110, 5663, 6845, 10737). the infinite being [esse] could flow into heaven with the angels and with men only by means of the divine human (n. 1676, 1990, 2016, 2034). in heaven no other divine than the divine human is perceived (n. 6475, 9303, 10067, 10267). the divine human from eternity was the divine truth in heaven and the divine passing through heaven; thus it was the divine outgo [existere] which afterwards in the lord became the divine being [esse] per se, from which is the divine existere in heaven (n. 3061, 6280, 6880, 10579). what the state of heaven was before the lord's coming (n. 6371-6373). the divine was not perceptible except when it passed through heaven (n. 6982, 6996, 7004). [8] the inhabitants of all the earth worship the divine under a human form, that is, the lord (n. 6700, 8541-8547, 10736-10738). they rejoice when they hear that god actually became man (n. 9361). all who are in good and who worship the divine under the human form, are received by the lord (n. 9359). god cannot be thought of except in human form; and what is incomprehensible does not fall into any idea, so neither into belief (n. 9359, 9972). man is able to worship that of which he has some idea, but not that of which he has no idea (n. 4733, 5110, 5663, 7211, 9356, 10067, 10267). therefore the divine is worshiped under a human form by most of the inhabitants of the entire globe, and this is the effect of influx from heaven (n. 10159). all who are in good in regard to their life, when they think of the lord, think of the divine human, and not of the human separate from the divine; it is otherwise with those who are not in good in regard to their life (n. 2326, 4724, 4731, 4766, 8878, 9193, 9198). in the church at this day those that are in evil in regard to their life, and those that are in faith separate from charity, think of the human of the lord apart from the divine, and do not even comprehend what the divine human is,-why they do not (n. 3212, 3241, 4689, 4692, 4724, 4731, 5321, 6872, 8878, 9193, 9198). the lord's human is divine because it is from the being [esse] of the father, and this was his soul,--illustrated by a father's likeness in children (n. 10269, 10372, 10823). also because it was from the divine love, which was the very being [esse] of his life from conception (n. 6872). every man is such as his love is, and is his love (n. 6872, 10177, 10284). the lord made all his human, both internal and external, divine (n. 1603, 1815, 1902, 1926, 2083, 2093). therefore, differently from any man, he rose again as to his whole body (n. 1729, 2083, 5078, 10825). [9] that the lord's human is divine is acknowledged from his omnipresence in the holy supper (n. 2343, 2359). also from his transfiguration before his three disciples (n. 3212). also from the word of the old testament, in that he is called god (n. 10154); and is called jehovah (n. 1603, 1736, 1815, 1902, 2921, 3035, 5110, 6281, 6303, 8864, 9194, 9315). in the sense of the letter a distinction is made between the father and the son, that is, between jehovah and the lord, but not in the internal sense of the word, in which the angels of heaven are (n. 3035). in the christian world the lord's human has been declared not to be divine; this was done in a council for the pope's sake, that he might be acknowledged as the lord's vicar (n. 4738). [10] christians were examined in the other life in regard to their idea of one god, and it was found they held an idea of three gods (n. 2329, 5256, 10736-10738, 10821). a divine trinity or trine in one person, constituting one god, is conceivable, but not in three persons (n. 10738, 10821, 10824). a divine trine in the lord is acknowledged in heaven (n. 14, 15, 1729, 2004, 5256, 9303). the trine in the lord is the divine itself, called the father, the divine human, called the son, and the divine going forth, called the holy spirit and this divine trine is a one (n. 2149, 2156, 2288, 2319, 2329, 2447, 3704, 6993, 7182, 10738, 10822, 10823). the lord himself teaches that the father and he are one (n. 1729, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2751, 3704, 3736, 4766); also that the holy divine goes forth from him and is his (n. 3969, 4673, 6788, 6993, 7499, 8127, 8302, 9199, 9228, 9229, 9264, 9407, 9818, 9820, 10330). [11] the divine human flows into heaven and makes heaven (n. 3038). the lord is the all in heaven and is the life of heaven (n. 7211, 9128). in the angels the lord dwells in what is his own (n. 9338, 10125, 10151, 10157). consequently those who are in heaven are in the lord (n. 3637, 3638). the lord's conjunction with angels is measured by their reception of the good of love and charity from him (n. 904, 4198, 4205, 4211, 4220, 6280, 6832, 7042, 8819, 9680, 9682, 9683, 10106, 10810). the entire heaven has reference to the lord (n. 551, 552). the lord is the common center of heaven (n. 3633, 3641). all in heaven turn themselves to the lord, who is above the heavens (n. 9828, 10130, 10189). nevertheless angels do not turn themselves to the lord, but the lord turns them to himself (n. 10189). it is not a presence of angels with the lord, but the lord's presence with angels (n. 9415). in heaven there is no conjunction with the divine itself, but conjunction with the divine human (n. 4211, 4724, 5663). [12] heaven corresponds to the divine human of the lord; consequently heaven in general is as a single man, and for this reason heaven is called the greatest man (n. 2996, 2998, 3624-3649, 3741-3745, 4625). the lord is the only man, and those only are men who receive the divine from him (n. 1894). so far as they receive are they men and images of him (n. 8547). therefore angels are forms of love and charity in human form, and this from the lord (n. 3804, 4735, 4797, 4985, 5199, 5530, 9879, 10177). [13] the whole heaven is the lord's (n. 2751, 7086). he has all power in the heavens and on earth (n. 1607, 10089, 10827). as the lord rules the whole heaven he also rules all things depending thereon, thus all things in the world (n. 2025, 2026, 4523, 4524). the lord alone has the power to remove the hells, to withhold from evils, and to hold in good, thus to save (n. 10019). 87. xii. there is a correspondence of all things of heaven with all things of man. what correspondence is is not known at the present day, for several reasons, the chief of which is that man has withdrawn himself from heaven by the love of self and love of the world. for he that loves self and the world above all things gives heed only to worldly things, since these appeal to the external senses and gratify the natural longings; and he does not give heed to spiritual things, since these appeal to the internal senses and gratify the mind, therefore he casts them aside, saying that they are too high for his comprehension. this was not so with the ancient people. to them the knowledge of correspondences was the chief of knowledges. by means of it they acquired intelligence and wisdom; and by means of it those who were of the church had communication with heaven; for the knowledge of correspondences is angelic knowledge. the most ancient people, who were celestial men, thought from correspondence itself, as the angels do. and therefore they talked with angels, and the lord frequently appeared to them, and they were taught by him. but at this day that knowledge has been so completely lost that no one knows what correspondence is.{1} {footnote 1} how far the knowledge of correspondences excels other knowledges (n. 4280). the knowledge of correspondences was the chief knowledge of the ancient people; but at the present day it is wholly forgotten (n. 3021, 3419, 4280, 4749, 4844, 4964, 4966, 6004, 7729, 10252). the knowledge of correspondences flourished among the eastern nations and in egypt (5702, 6692, 7097, 7779, 9391, 10407). 88. since, then, without a perception of what correspondence is there can be no clear knowledge of the spiritual world or of its inflow into the natural world, neither of what the spiritual is in its relation to the natural, nor any clear knowledge of the spirit of man, which is called the soul, and its operation into the body, neither of man's state after death, it is necessary to explain what correspondence is and the nature of it. this will prepare the way for what is to follow. 89. first, what correspondence is. the whole natural world corresponds to the spiritual world, and not merely the natural world in general, but also every particular of it; and as a consequence everything in the natural world that springs from the spiritual world is called a correspondent. it must be understood that the natural world springs from and has permanent existence from the spiritual world, precisely like an effect from its effecting cause. all that is spread out under the sun and that receives heat and light from the sun is what is called the natural world; and all things that derive their subsistence therefrom belong to that world. but the spiritual world is heaven; and all things in the heavens belong to that world. 90. since man is both a heaven and a world in least form after the image of the greatest (see above, n. 57), there is in him both a spiritual and a natural world. the interior things that belong to his mind, and that have relation to understanding and will, constitute his spiritual world; while the exterior things that belong to his body, and that have relation to its senses and activities, constitute his natural world. consequently, everything in his natural world (that is, in his body and its senses and activities), that has its existence from his spiritual world (that is, from his mind and its understanding and will) is called a correspondent. 91. from the human face it can be seen what correspondence is. in a face that has not been taught to dissemble, all the affections of the mind present themselves to view in a natural form, as in their type. this is why the face is called the index of the mind; that is, it is man's spiritual world presented in his natural world. so, too, what pertains to the understanding is presented in speech, and what pertains to the will is presented in the movements of the body. so whatever effects are produced in the body, whether in the face, in speech, or in bodily movements, are called correspondences. 92. all this shows also what the internal man is and what the external, namely, that the internal is what is called the spiritual man, and the external what is called the natural man; also that the one is distinct from the other as heaven is from the world; also that all things that take place and come forth in the external or natural man take place and come forth from the internal or spiritual man. 93. this much has been said about the correspondence of man's internal or spiritual with his external or natural; now the correspondence of the whole heaven with everything pertaining to man shall be treated of. 94. it has been shown that the entire heaven reflects a single man, and that it is in image a man and is therefore called the greatest man. it has also been shown that the angelic societies, of which heaven consists, are therefore arranged as the members, organs, and viscera are in man, that is, some are in the head, some in the breast, some in the arms, and some in each of their particulars (see above, n. 59-72); consequently the societies in any member there correspond to the like member in man; those in the head corresponding to the head in man, those in the breast to the breast in man, those in the arms to the arms in man; and so with all the rest. it is from this correspondence that man has permanent existence, for from heaven alone does man have permanent existence. 95. that heaven is divided into two kingdoms, one called the celestial kingdom and the other the spiritual kingdom, may be seen above in its own chapter. the celestial kingdom corresponds in general to the heart and all things of the heart in the whole body, and the spiritual kingdom to the lungs and to all things of the lungs in the whole body. likewise in man heart and lungs form two kingdoms, the heart ruling there through the arteries and veins, and the lungs through the tendinous and motor fibers, both together in every exertion and movement. so in every man, in his spiritual world, which is called his spiritual man, there are two kingdoms, one of the will and the other of the understanding, the will ruling through affections for good, and the understanding through affections for truth; and these kingdoms correspond to the kingdoms of the heart and of the lungs in the body. it is the same in the heavens; the celestial kingdom is the voluntary part of heaven, and in it good of love reigns; the spiritual kingdom is the intellectual part of heaven, and in it truth reigns. these are what correspond to the functions of the heart and lungs in man. it is on account of this correspondence that in the word the "heart" signifies the will and also good of love, and the "breath" of the lungs signifies the understanding and the truth of faith. for the same reason affections are ascribed to the heart, although they are neither in it nor from it.{1} {footnote 1} the correspondence of the heart and lungs with the greatest man, which is heaven, from experience (n. 3883-3896), the heart corresponds to those in the celestial kingdom, and the lungs to those in the spiritual kingdom (n. 3885-3887). there is in heaven a pulse like that of the heart, and a respiration like that of the lungs but interior (n. 3884, 3885, 3887). there the pulse of the heart varies in conformity to states of love, and the respiration in conformity to states of charity and faith (n. 3886, 3887, 3889). in the word the "heart" means the will, and "from the heart" means from the will (n. 2930, 7542, 8910, 9113, 10336). in the word the "heart" also signifies love, and "from the heart" means from love (7542, 9050, 10336). 96. the correspondence of the two kingdoms of heaven with the heart and lungs is the general correspondence of heaven with man. there is a less general correspondence with each one of his members, organs, and viscera; and what this is shall also be explained. in the greatest man, which is heaven, those that are in the head excel all others in every good, being in love, peace, innocence, wisdom, intelligence, and consequent joy and happiness. these flow into the head of man and the things belonging to the head and corresponding thereto. in the greatest man, or heaven, those that are in the breast are in the good of charity and of faith, and these flow into the breast of man and correspond to it. in the greatest man, or heaven, those that are in the loins and the organs devoted to generation are in marriage love. those in the feet are in the lowest good of heaven, which is called spiritual natural good. those in the arms and hands are in the power of truth from good. those that are in the eyes are in understanding; those in the ears are in attention and obedience; those in the nostrils are in perception; those in the mouth and tongue are in the ability to converse from understanding and perception; those in the kidneys are in truths searching, separating, and correcting; those in the liver, pancreas, and spleen are in various purifications of good and truth; and so with the rest. all these flow into the like things of man and correspond to them. this inflow of heaven is into the functions and uses of the bodily members; and the uses, since they are from the spiritual world, take on a form by means of such things as are in the natural world, and thus present themselves in effect. from this is the correspondence. 97. for the same reason these same members, organs, and viscera have a like significance in the word; for everything there has a meaning in accordance with correspondence. thus the "head" signifies intelligence and wisdom; the "breast" charity; the "loins" marriage love; the "arms and hands" power of truth; the "feet" what is natural; the "eyes" understanding; the "nostrils" perception; the "ears" obedience, the "kidneys" the scrutiny of truth, and so on.{1} so, too, in the common speech of man it is said of one who is intelligent and wise that he has a good head; of one who is charitable that he is a bosom friend; of one who has clear perception that he is keen scented; of one who is intelligent that he is sharp sighted; of one who is powerful that he is long handed; of one who exercises his will from love that it is done from the heart. these and many other expressions in the speech of men are from correspondence, for they are from the spiritual world, although man is ignorant of it. {footnote 1} in the word the "breast" signifies charity (n. 3934, 10081, 10087). the "loins" and organs of generation signify marriage love (n. 3021, 4280, 4462, 5050-5052). the "arms" and "hands" signify the power of truth (n. 878, 3091, 4931-4937, 6947, 7205, 10019). the "feet" signify the natural (n. 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952). the "eye" signifies understanding (n. 2701, 4403-4421, 4523-4534, 6923, 9051, 10569). the "nostrils" signify perception (n. 3577, 4624, 4625, 4748, 5621, 8286, 10054, 10292). the "ears" signify obedience (n. 2542, 3869, 4523, 4653, 5017, 7216, 8361, 8990, 9311, 9397, 10061). the "kidneys" signify the scrutiny and correction of truth (n. 5380-5386, 10032). 98. that there is such a correspondence of all things of heaven with all things of man has been made clear to me by much experience, by so much that i am as convinced of it as of any evident fact that admits of no doubt. but it is not necessary to describe all this experience here; nor would it be permissible on account of its abundance. it may be seen set forth in the arcana coelestia, where correspondences, representations, the influx of the spiritual world into the natural world, and the interaction between soul and body, are treated of.{1} {footnote 1} the correspondence of all the members of the body with the greatest man, or heaven, in general and in particular, from experience (n. 3021, 3624-3649, 3741-3750, 3883-3895, 4039-4054, 4218-4228, 4318-4331, 4403-4421, 4523-4533, 4622-4633, 4652-4660, 4791-4805, 4931-4953, 5050-5061, 5171-5189, 5377-5396, 5552-5573, 5711-5727, 10030). the influx of the spiritual world into the natural world or of heaven into the world, and the influx of the soul into all things of the body, from experience (n. 6053-6058, 6189-6215, 6307-6326, 6466-6495, 6598-6626). the interaction between soul and body, from experience (n. 6053-6058, 6189-6215, 6307-6327, 6466-6495, 6598-6626). 99. but notwithstanding that all things of man's body correspond to all things of heaven, it is not in respect to his external form that man is an image of heaven, but in respect to his internal form; for man's interiors are what receive heaven, while his exteriors receive the world. so far, therefore, as his interiors receive heaven man is in respect to them a heaven in least form, after the image of the greatest. but so far as his interiors do not receive heaven he is not a heaven and an image of the greatest, although his exteriors, which receive the world, may be in a form in accordance with the order of the world, and thus variously beautiful. for the source of outward beauty which pertains to the body is in parents and formation in the womb, and it is preserved afterwards by general influx from the world. for this reason the form of one's natural man differs greatly from the form of his spiritual man. what the form of a man's spirit is i have been shown occasionally; and in some who were beautiful and charming in appearance the spirit was seen to be so deformed, black and monstrous that it might be called an image of hell, not of heaven; while in others not beautiful there was a spirit beautifully formed, pure, and angelic. moreover, the spirit of man appears after death such as it has been in the body while it lived therein in the world. 100. but correspondence applies far more widely than to man; for there is a correspondence of the heavens with one another. to the third or inmost heaven the second or middle heaven corresponds, and to the second or middle heaven the first or outmost heaven corresponds, and this corresponds to the bodily forms in man called his members, organs, and viscera. thus it is the bodily part of man in which heaven finally terminates, and upon which it stands as upon its base. but this arcanum will be more fully unfolded elsewhere. 101. especially it must be understood that all correspondence with heaven is with the lord's divine human, because heaven is from him, and he is heaven, as has been shown in previous chapters. for if the divine human did not flow into all things of heaven, and in accordance with correspondences into all things of the world, no angel or man could exist. from this again it is evident why the lord became man and clothed his divine from first to last with a human. it was because the divine human, from which heaven existed before the lord's coming, was no longer sufficient to sustain all things, for the reason that man, who is the foundation of the heavens, had subverted and destroyed order. what the divine human was before the lord's coming, and what the condition of heaven was at that time may be seen in the extracts appended to the preceding chapter. 102. angels are amazed when they hear that there are men who attribute all things to nature and nothing to the divine, and who also believe that their body, into which so many wonders of heaven are gathered, is a product of nature. still more are they amazed that the rational part of man is believed to be from nature, when, if men will but lift their minds a little, they can see that such effects are not from nature but from the divine; and that nature has been created simply for clothing the spiritual and for presenting it in a correspondent form in the outmost of order. such men they liken to owls, which see in darkness, but in light see nothing. 103. xiii. there is a correspondence of heaven with all things of the earth. what correspondence is has been told in the preceding chapter, and it has there been shown that each thing and all things of the animal body are correspondences. the next step is to show that all things of the earth, and in general all things of the universe, are correspondences. 104. all things of the earth are distinguished into three kinds, called kingdoms, namely, the animal kingdom, the vegetable kingdom, and the mineral kingdom. the things of the animal kingdom are correspondences in the first degree, because they live; the things of the vegetable kingdom are correspondences in the second degree, because they merely grow; the things of the mineral kingdom are correspondences in the third degree, because they neither live nor grow. correspondences in the animal kingdom are living creatures of various kinds, both those that walk and creep on the ground and those that fly in the air; these need not be specially named, as they are well known. correspondences in the vegetable kingdom are all things that grow and abound in gardens, forests, fields, and meadows; these, too, need not be named, because they are well known. correspondences in the mineral kingdom are metals more and less noble, stones precious and not precious, earths of various kinds, and also the waters. besides these the things prepared from them by human activity for use are correspondences, as foods of every kind, clothing, dwellings and other buildings, with many other things. 105. also the things above the earth, as the sun, moon, and stars, and those in the atmosphere, as clouds, mists, rain, lightning and thunder, are likewise correspondences. things resulting from the presence and absence of the sun, as light and shade, heat and cold, are also correspondences, as well as those that follow in succession therefrom, as the seasons of the year, spring, summer, autumn, and winter; and the times of day, morning, noon, evening, and night. 106. in a word, all things that have existence in nature, from the least to the greatest thereof, are correspondences.{1} they are correspondences because the natural world with all things in it springs forth and subsists from the spiritual world, and both worlds from the divine. they are said to subsist also, because everything subsists from that from which it springs forth, subsistence being a permanent springing forth; also because nothing can subsist from itself, but only from that which is prior to itself, thus from a first, and if separated from that it would utterly perish and vanish. {footnote 1} all things that are in the world and its three kingdoms correspond to the heavenly things that are in heaven, that is, the things in the natural world correspond to the things in the spiritual world (n. 1632, 1881, 2758, 2760-2763, 2987-3003, 3213-3227, 3483, 3624-3649, 4044, 4053, 4116, 4366, 4939, 5116, 5377, 5428, 5477, 9280). by correspondences the natural world is conjoined to the spiritual world (n. 8615). for this reason all nature is a theatre representative of the lord's kingdom (n. 2758, 2999, 3000, 3483, 4938, 4939, 8848, 9280). 107. everything in nature that springs forth and subsists in accordance with divine order is a correspondence. divine order is caused by the divine good that flows forth from the lord. it begins in him, goes forth from him through the heavens in succession into the world, and is terminated there in outmosts; and everything there that is in accordance with order is a correspondence. everything there is in accordance with order that is good and perfect for use, because everything good is good in the measure of its use; while its form has relation to truth, truth being the form of good. and for this reason everything in the whole world and of the nature thereof that is in divine order has reference to good and truth.{1} {footnote 1} everything in the universe, both in heaven and in the world, that is in accordance with order, has reference to good and truth (n. 2451, 3166, 4390, 4409, 5232, 7256, 10122); and to the conjunction of these, in order to be anything (n. 10555). 108. that all things in the world spring from the divine, and are clothed with such things in nature as enable them to exist there and perform use, and thus to correspond, is clearly evident from the various things seen in both the animal and vegetable kingdoms. in both there are things that any one who thinks interiorly can see to be from heaven. for illustration a few things out of a countless number may be mentioned; and first some things from the animal kingdom. many are aware what knowledge there is engrafted as it were in every animal. bees know how to gather honey from flowers, to build cells out of wax in which to store their honey, and thus provide food for themselves and their families, even for a coming winter. that a new generation may be born their queen lays eggs, and the rest take care of them and cover them. they live under a sort of government which all know by instinct. they preserve the working bees and cast out the drones, depriving them of their wings; besides other wonderful things implanted in them from heaven for the sake of their use, their wax everywhere serving the human race for candles, their honey for adding sweetness to food. [2] again, what wonders do we see in worms, the meanest creatures in the animal kingdom! they know how to get food from the juice of the leaves suited to them, and afterward at the appointed time to invest themselves with a covering and enter as it were into a womb, and thus hatch offspring of their own kind. some are first turned into nymphs and chrysalides, spinning threads about themselves; and this travail being over they come forth clad with a different body, furnished with wings with which they fly in the air as in their heaven, and celebrate marriages and lay eggs and provide posterity for themselves. [3] besides these special instances all creatures in general that fly in the air know the proper food for their nourishment, not only what it is but where to find it; they know how to build nests for themselves, one kind in one way and another kind in another way; how to lay their eggs in the nests, how to sit upon them, how to hatch their young and feed them, and to turn them out of their home when they are able to shift for themselves. they know, too, their enemies that they must avoid and their friends with whom they may associate, and this from early infancy; not to mention the wonders in the eggs themselves, in which all things lie ready in their order for the formation and nourishment of the chicks; besides numberless other things. [4] who that thinks from any wisdom of reason will ever say that these instincts are from any other source than the spiritual world, which the natural serves in clothing what is from it with a body, or in presenting in effect what is spiritual in the cause? the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air are born into all this knowledge, while man, who is far superior to them, is not; for the reason that animals are in the order of their life, and have not been able to destroy what is in them from the spiritual world, because they have no rational faculty. man, on the other hand, whose thought is from the spiritual world, having perverted what is in him from that world by a life contrary to order, which his rational faculty has favored, must needs be born into mere ignorance and afterwards be led back by divine means into the order of heaven. 109. how the things in the vegetable kingdom correspond can be seen from many instances, as that little seeds grow into trees, put forth leaves, produce flowers, and then fruit, in which again they deposit seed, these things taking place in succession and existing together in an order so wonderful as to be indescribable in a few words. volumes might be filled, and yet there would be still deeper arcana, relating more closely to their uses, which science would be unable to exhaust. since these things, too, are from the spiritual world, that is, from heaven, which is in the human form (as has been shown above in its own chapter), so all the particulars in this kingdom have a certain relation to such things as are in man, as some in the learned world know. that all things in this kingdom also are correspondences has been made clear to me by much experience. often when i have been in gardens and have been looking at the trees, fruits, flowers, and plants there, i have recognized their correspondences in heaven, and have spoken with those with whom these were, and have been taught whence and what they were. 110. but at the present day no one can know the spiritual things in heaven to which the natural things in the world correspond except from heaven, since the knowledge of correspondences is now wholly lost. but the nature of the correspondence of spiritual things with natural i shall be glad to illustrate by some examples. the animals of the earth correspond in general to affection, mild and useful animals to good affections, fierce and useless ones to evil affections. in particular, cattle and their young correspond to the affections of the natural mind, sheep and lambs to the affections of the spiritual mind; while birds correspond, according to their species, to the intellectual things of the natural or the spiritual mind.{1} for this reason various animals, as cattle and their young, rams, sheep, he-goats, and she-goats, he-lambs and she-lambs, also pigeons and turtledoves, were devoted to a sacred use in the israelitish church, which was a representative church, and sacrifices and burnt offerings were made of them. for they correspond in that use to spiritual things, and in heaven these were understood in accordance with the correspondences. moreover, animals according to their kinds and species, because they have life, are affections; and the life of each one is solely from affection and in accordance with affection; consequently every animal has an innate knowledge that is in accord with its life's affection. man is like an animal so far as his natural man is concerned, and is therefore likened to animals in common speech; for example, if he is gentle he is called a sheep or lamb, if fierce a bear or wolf, if cunning a fox or serpent, and so on. {footnote 1} from correspondence animals signify affections; mild and useful animals good affections, fierce and useless ones evil affections (n. 41, 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 716, 719, 2179, 2180, 3519, 9280); illustrated by experience from the spiritual world (n. 3218, 5198, 9090). influx of the spiritual world into the lives of animals (n. 1633, 3646). cattle and their young from correspondence signify affections of the natural mind (n. 2180, 2566, 9391, 10132, 10407). what sheep signify (n. 4169, 4809); and lambs (n. 3994, 10132). flying creatures signify intellectual things (n. 40, 745, 776, 778, 866, 988, 991, 5149, 7441); with a difference according to their genera and species, from experience in the spiritual world (n. 3219). 111. there is a like correspondence with things in the vegetable kingdom. in general, a garden corresponds to the intelligence and wisdom of heaven; and for this reason heaven is called the garden of god, and paradise;{1} and men call it the heavenly paradise. trees, according to their species, correspond to the perceptions and knowledges of good and truth which are the source of intelligence and wisdom. for this reason the ancient people, who were acquainted with correspondences, held their sacred worship in groves;{2} and for the same reason trees are so often mentioned in the word, and heaven, the church, and man are compared to them; as the vine, the olive, the cedar, and others, and the good works done by men are compared to fruits. also the food derived from trees, and more especially from the grain harvests of the field, corresponds to affections for good and truth, because these affections feed the spiritual life, as the food of the earth does the natural life;{3} and bread from grain, in a general sense, because it is the food that specially sustains life, and because it stands for all food, corresponds to an affection for all good. it is on account of this correspondence that the lord calls himself the bread of life; and that loaves of bread had a holy use in the israelitish church, being placed on the table in the tabernacle and called "the bread of faces;" also the divine worship that was performed by sacrifices and burnt offerings was called "bread." moreover, because of this correspondence the most holy act of worship in the christian church is the holy supper, in which bread is given, and wine.{4} from these few examples the nature of correspondence can be seen. {footnote 1} from correspondence a garden and a paradise signify intelligence and wisdom (n. 100, 108); from experience (n. 3220). all things that have a correspondence have in the word the same significance (n. 2896, 2987, 2989, 2990, 2991, 3002, 3225). {footnote 2} trees signify perceptions and knowledges (n. 103, 2163, 2682, 2722, 2972, 7692). for this reason the ancient people held divine worship in groves under trees according to their correspondence (n. 2722, 4552). influx of heaven into subjects of the vegetable kingdom, as into trees and plants (n. 3648). {footnote 3} from correspondence foods signify such things as nourish the spiritual life (n. 3114, 4459, 4792, 4976, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5410, 5426, 5576, 5582, 5588, 5655, 5915, 6277, 8562, 9003). {footnote 4} bread signifies every good that nourishes the spiritual life of man (n. 2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 9323, 9545, 10686). such was the signification of the loaves that were on the table in the tabernacle (n. 3478, 9545). sacrifices in general were called bread (n. 2165). bread includes all food (n. 2165). thus it signifies all heavenly and spiritual food (n. 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3478, 6118, 8410). 112. how conjunction of heaven with the world is effected by means of correspondences shall also be told in a few words. the lord's kingdom is a kingdom of ends, which are uses; or what is the same thing, a kingdom of uses which are ends. for this reason the universe has been so created and formed by the divine that uses may be every where clothed in such a way as to be presented in act, or in effect, first in heaven and afterwards in the world, thus by degrees and successively, down to the outmost things of nature. evidently, then, the correspondence of natural things with spiritual things, or of the world with heaven, is through uses, and uses are what conjoin; and the form in which uses are clothed are correspondences and are conjunctions just to the extent that they are forms of uses. in the nature of the world in its threefold kingdom, all things that exist in accordance with order are forms of uses, or effects formed from use for use, and this is why the things in nature are correspondences. but in the case of man, so far as he is in accordance with divine order, that is, so far as he is in love to the lord and in charity towards the neighbor, are his acts uses in form, and correspondences, and through these he is conjoined to heaven. to love the lord and the neighbor means in general to perform uses.{1} furthermore, it must be understood that man is the means by which the natural world and the spiritual world are conjoined, that is, man is the medium of conjunction, because in him there is a natural world and there is a spiritual world (see above, n. 57); consequently to the extent that man is spiritual he is the medium of conjunction; but to the extent that a man is natural, and not spiritual, he is not a medium of conjunction. nevertheless, apart from this mediumship of man, a divine influx into the world and into the things pertaining to man that are of the world goes on, but not into man's rational faculty. {footnote 1} every good has its delight as well as its quality from use and in accordance with use; therefore such as the use is, such is the good (n. 3049, 4984, 7038). angelic life consists in the goods of love and charity, that is, in performing uses (n. 454). the lord, and consequently the angels, look only, in regard to man, to ends, which are uses (n. 1317, 1645, 5854). the lord's kingdom is a kingdom of uses that is, of ends (n. 454, 696, 1103, 3645, 4054, 7038). serving the lord is performing uses (n. 7038). each thing and all things in man have been formed for use (n. 3626, 4104, 5189 9297; also from use, that is, the use is prior to the organic forms in man through which the use is performed, because use is from the inflowing of the lord through heaven (n. 4223, 4926). moreover man's interiors, which constitute his mind, when he grows to maturity are formed from use and for use (n. 1964, 6815, 9297). consequently man is such as are the uses with him (n. 1568, 3570, 4054, 6571, 6935, 6938, 10284). uses are the ends for the sake of which (n. 3565, 4054, 4104, 6815). use is the first and the last, thus the all of man (n. 1964). 113. as all things that are in accord with divine order correspond to heaven, so all things contrary to divine order correspond to hell. all things that correspond to heaven have relation to good and truth; but those that correspond to hell have relation to evil and falsity. 114. something shall now be said about the knowledge of correspondences and its use. it has been said above that the spiritual world, which is heaven, is conjoined with the natural world by means of correspondences; therefore by means of correspondences communication with heaven is granted to man. for the angels of heaven do not think from natural things, as man does; but when man has acquired a knowledge of correspondences he is able, in respect to the thoughts of his mind, to be associated with the angels, and thus in respect to his spiritual or internal man to be conjoined with them. that there might be such a conjunction of heaven with man the word was written wholly by correspondences, each thing and all things in it being correspondent.{1} if man, therefore, had a knowledge of correspondences he would understand the spiritual sense of the word, and from that it would be given him to know arcana of which he sees nothing in the sense of the letter. for there is a literal sense and there is a spiritual sense in the word, the literal sense made up of such things as are in the world, and the spiritual sense of such things as are in heaven. and such a word, in which everything down to the least jot is a correspondence, was given to men because the conjunction of heaven with the world is effected by means of correspondences.{2} {footnote 1} the word was written wholly by correspondences (n. 8615). by means, of the word man has conjunction with heaven (n. 2899, 6943, 9396, 9400, 9401, 10375, 10452). {footnote 2} concerning the spiritual sense of the word see the little work on the white horse referred to in the apocalypse. 115. i have been taught from heaven that the most ancient men on our earth, who were celestial men, thought from correspondences themselves, the natural things of the world before their eyes serving them as means of thinking in this way; and that they could be in fellowship with angels and talk with them because they so thought, and that thus through them heaven was conjoined to the world. for this reason that period was called the golden age, of which it is said by ancient writers that the inhabitants of heaven dwelt with men and associated with them as friends with friends. but after this there followed a period when men thought, not from correspondences themselves, but from a knowledge of correspondences, and there was then also a conjunction of heaven with man, but less intimate. this period was called the silver age. after this there followed men who had a knowledge of correspondences but did not think from that knowledge, because they were in natural good, and not, like those before them in spiritual good. this period was called the copper age. after this man gradually became external, and finally corporeal, and then the knowledge of correspondences was wholly lost, and with it a knowledge of heaven and of the many things pertaining to heaven. it was from correspondence that these ages were named from gold, silver, and copper,{1} and for the reason that from correspondence gold signifies celestial good in which were the most ancient people, silver spiritual good in which were the ancient people that followed, and copper natural good in which were the next posterity; while iron, from which the last age takes its name, signifies hard truth apart from good. {footnote 1} gold from correspondence signifies celestial good (n. 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 9510, 9874, 9881). silver signifies spiritual good, that is, truth from a celestial origin (n. 1551, 1552, 2954, 5658). copper signifies natural good (n. 425, 1551). iron signifies truth in the outmost of order (n. 425, 426). 116. xiv. the sun in heaven. in heaven neither the sun of the world, nor anything from that sun, is seen, because it is wholly natural. for nature has its beginning from that sun, and whatever is produced by means of it is called natural. but the spiritual, to which heaven belongs, is above nature and wholly distinct from what is natural; and there is no communication between the two except by correspondences. what the distinction between them is may be understood from what has been already said about degrees (n. 38), and what the communication is from what has been said in the two preceding chapters about correspondences. 117. although the sun of the world is not seen in heaven, nor anything from that sun, there is nevertheless a sun there, and light and heat, and all things that are in the world, with innumerable others, but not from a like origin; since the things in heaven are spiritual, and those in the world are natural. the sun of heaven is the lord; the light there is the divine truth and the heat the divine good that go forth from the lord as a sun. from this origin are all things that spring forth and are seen in the heavens. this light and heat and things existing therefrom in heaven will be treated of in the following chapters; in this chapter we will speak only of the sun there. in heaven the lord is seen as a sun, for the reason that he is divine love, from which all spiritual things, and by means of the sun of the world all natural things, have their existence. that love is what shines as a sun. 118. that the lord is actually seen in heaven as a sun i have not only been told by angels, but it has occasionally been granted me to see it; and therefore what i have heard and seen respecting the lord as a sun i shall be glad to tell in a few words. the lord is seen as a sun, not in heaven, but high above the heavens; and not directly overhead or in the zenith, but before the faces of the angels at a middle height. he is seen at a considerable distance, in two places, one before the right eye and the other before the left eye. before the right eye he is seen exactly like a sun, as it were, with a glow and size like that of the sun of the world. but before the left eye he is not seen as a sun, but as a moon, glowing white like the moon of our earth, and of like size, but more brilliant, and surrounded with many little moons, as it were, each of them of similar whiteness and splendor. the lord is seen so differently in two places because every person sees the lord in accordance with the quality of his reception of the lord, thus he is seen in one way by those that receive him with the good of love, and in another by those that receive him with the good of faith. those that receive him with the good of love see him as a sun, fiery and flaming, in accordance with their reception of him; these are in his celestial kingdom; while those that receive him with the good of faith see him as a moon, white and brilliant in accordance with their reception of him, and these are in his spiritual kingdom.{1} this is so because good of love corresponds to fire; therefore in the spiritual sense fire is love; and the good of faith corresponds to light, and in the spiritual sense light is faith.{2} and the lord appears before the eyes because the interiors, which belong to the mind, see through the eyes, from good of love through the right eye, and from good of faith through the left eye;{3} since with angels and also with men all things at the right correspond to good from which truth is derived, and all at the left to truth that is from good.{4} good of faith is in its essence truth from good. {footnote 1} the lord is seen in heaven as a sun, and is the sun of heaven (n. 1053, 3636, 3643, 4060). the lord is seen as a sun by those who are in his celestial kingdom, where love to him reigns, and as a moon by those who are in his spiritual kingdom, where charity to the neighbor and faith reign (n. 1521, 1529-1531, 1837, 4696). the lord is seen as a sun at a middle height before the right eye, and an a moon before the left eye (n. 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 3636, 3643, 4321, 5097, 7078, 7083, 7173, 7270, 8812, 10809). the lord is seen as a sun and as a moon (n. 1531, 7173). the lord's divine itself is far above his divine in heaven (n. 7270, 8760). {footnote 2} "fire" in the word signifies love, both in a good sense and in a bad sense (n. 934, 4906, 5215). holy or heavenly fire signifies the divine love (n. 934, 6314, 6832). infernal fire signifies love of self and of the world and every lust of those loves (n. 1861, 5071, 6314, 6832, 7575, 10747). love is the fire of life and life itself is really from it (n. 4906, 5071, 6032, 6314). "light" signifies the truth of faith (n. 3195, 3485, 3636, 3643, 3993, 4302, 4413, 4415, 9548, 9684). {footnote 3} the sight of the left eye corresponds to truths of faith, and the sight of the right eye to their goods (n. 4410, 6923). {footnote 4} the things on man's right have relation to good from which is truth, and those on his left to truth from good (n. 9495, 9604). 119. this is why in the word the lord in respect to love is likened to the sun, and in respect to faith to the moon; also that the "sun" signifies love from the lord to the lord, and the "moon" signifies faith from the lord in the lord, as in the following passages: the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days (isa. 30:26). and when i shall extinguish thee i will cover the heavens and make the stars thereof dark; i will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not make her light to shine. all luminaries of light in the heavens will i make dark over thee, and i will set darkness upon thy land (ezek. 32:7, 8). i will darken the sun in his going forth, and the moon shall not make her light to shine (isa. 13:10) the sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood (joel 2:2, 10, 31; 3:16). the sun became black as sackcloth and hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars fell unto the earth (apoc. 6:12, 13). immediately after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven (matt. 24:29). and elsewhere. in these passages the "sun" signifies love, and the "moon" faith, and the "stars" knowledges of good and truth.{1} these are said to be darkened, to lose their light, and to fall from heaven, when they are no more. that the lord is seen as a sun in heaven is evident also from his appearance when transfigured before peter, james, and john, that his face did shine as the sun (matt. 17:2). these disciples thus saw the lord when they were withdrawn from the body, and were in the light of heaven. it was because of this correspondence that the ancient people, with whom was a representative church, turned the face to the sun in the east when they were in divine worship; and for the same reason they gave to their temples an eastern aspect. {footnote 1} "stars" and "constellations" in the word signify knowledges of good and truth (n. 2495, 2849, 4697). 120. how great the divine love is and what it is can be seen by comparison with the sun of the world, that it is most ardent, if you will believe it, much more ardent than that sun. for this reason the lord as a sun does not flow without mediums into the heavens, but the ardor of his love is gradually tempered on the way. these temperings appear as radiant belts about the sun; furthermore, the angels are veiled with a thin adapting cloud to prevent their being harmed by the influx.{1} for this reason the heavens are more or less near in accordance with reception. as the higher heavens are in good of love they are nearest to the lord as the sun; and as the lower heavens are in good of faith they are farther away from him. but those that are in no good, like those in hell, are farthest away, at different distances in accordance with their opposition to good.{2} {footnote 1} what the lord's divine love is, and how great it is, illustrated by comparison with the fire of this world's sun (n. 6834, 6849, 8644). the lord's divine love is love toward the whole human race to save it (n. 1820, 1865, 2253, 6872). the love that first goes forth from the fire of the lord's love does not enter heaven, but is seen as radiant belts about the sun (n. 7270). the angels are veiled with a corresponding thin cloud, to prevent their being harmed by the glow of burning love (n. 6849). {footnote 2} the lord's presence with the angels is in proportion to their reception of good of love and faith from him (n. 904, 4198, 4320, 6280, 6832, 7042, 8819, 9680, 9682, 9683, 10106, 10811). the lord appears to each one in accordance with what he is (n. 1861, 3235, 4198, 4206). the hells are at a distance from the heavens because they cannot bear the presence of divine love from the lord (n. 4299, 7519, 7738, 7989, 8137, 8265, 9327). for this reason the hells are very far away from the heavens, and this is the "great gulf" (n. 9346, 10187). 121. when, however, the lord appears in heaven, which often occurs, he does not appear encompassed with a sun, but in the form of an angel, yet distinguished from angels by the divine shining through from his face, since he is not there in person, for in person the lord is constantly encompassed by the sun, but he is present by look. for it is a common occurrence in heaven for persons to appear to be present in a place where their look is fixed or is terminated, even when this place is far away from where they really are. this presence is called the presence of internal sight, which will be treated of further on. i have also seen the lord out of the sun in an angelic form, at a height a little below the sun; also near by in a like form, with shining face, and once in the midst of angels as a flame-like radiance. 122. to the angels the sun of the world appears like a dense darkness opposite to the sun of heaven, and the moon like a darkness opposite to the moon of heaven, and this constantly; and for the reason that the world's fieriness corresponds to the love of self, and the light from it corresponds to what is false from that love; and the love of self is the direct opposite of the divine love; and what is false from that love is the direct opposite of the divine truth; and the opposite of the divine love and the divine truth is to the angels thick darkness. therefore, in the word, to worship the sun and moon of this world and bow down to them, signifies to love self and the falsities that spring from the love of self, and it is said that such would be cut off. (deut. 4:19; 16:3-5; jer. 8:1, 2; ezek. 8:15, 16, 18; apoc. 16:8; matt. 13:6).{1} {footnote 1} the sun of the world is not seen by the angels, but in its place something dark behind, opposite to the sun of heaven or the lord (n. 7078, 9755). in the opposite sense the sun signifies the love of self (n. 2441); and in this sense "to worship the sun" signifies to worship what is contrary to heavenly love or to the lord (n. 2441, 10584). to those in the hells the sun of heaven is thick darkness (n. 2441). 123. as it is from the divine love that is in and from him that the lord appears in heaven like a sun, so all in the heavens are turned constantly to him those in the celestial kingdom to him as a sun and those in the spiritual kingdom to him as a moon. but those that are in hell turn themselves to an opposite darkness and dense darkness, that is, they turn backwards, away from the lord; and for the reason that all in the hells are in love of self and the world, thus antagonistic to the lord. those who turn themselves to the dense darkness that is in the place where this world's sun is are in the hells behind, and are called genii; while those that turn themselves to the darkness that is in the place of the moon are in the hells more in front, and are called spirits. this is why those in the hells are said to be in darkness, and those in the heavens in light, "darkness" signifying falsity from evil, and "light" truth from good. they so turn themselves because all in the other life look towards what rules in their interiors, thus to their loves; and with angels and spirits the interiors determine the face; and in the spiritual world quarters are not fixed, as in the natural world, but are determined by the face. in respect to his spirit man turns himself in like manner as a spirit does, backwards from the lord if he is in love of self and the world, and towards the lord if he is in love to the lord and the neighbor. but of this man is ignorant, because he is in the natural world where quarters are determined by the rising and setting of the sun. but as this cannot be easily comprehended by men it will be elucidated hereafter when quarters, space, and time in heaven are treated of. 124. because the lord is the sun of heaven and everything that is from him looks to him, he is also the common center, the source of all direction and determination.{1} so, too, all things beneath are in his presence and under his auspices, both in the heavens and on the earths. {footnote 1} the lord is the common center to which all things of heaven turn (n. 3633, 3641). 125. from all this what has been said and shown in previous chapters about the lord may now be seen in clearer light, namely: that he is the god of heaven (n. 2-6). that it is his divine that makes heaven (n. 7-12). that the lord's divine in heaven is love to him and charity towards the neighbor (n. 13-19). that there is a correspondence of all things of the world with heaven, and through heaven with the lord (n. 87-115). also that the sun and moon of the world are correspondences (n. 105). 126. xv. light and heat in heaven. that there is light in the heavens those who think from nature alone cannot comprehend; and yet such is the light in the heavens that it exceeds by many degrees the noon-day light of the world. that light i have often seen, even during the evening and night. at first i wondered when i heard the angels say that the light of this world is little more than a shadow in comparison with the light of heaven; but having seen it i can testify that it is so. the brightness and splendor of the light of heaven are such as cannot be described. all things that i have seen in the heavens have been seen in that light, thus more clearly and distinctly than things in this world. 127. the light of heaven is not a natural light, like the light of the world, but a spiritual light, because it is from the lord as a sun, and that sun is the divine love (as has been shown in the foregoing chapter). that which goes forth from the lord as a sun is called in the heavens divine truth, but in its essence it is divine good united to divine truth. from this the angels have light and heat, light from divine truth, and heat from divine good. as the light of heaven, and the heat also, are from such a source, it is evident that they are spiritual and not natural.{1} {footnote 1} all light in the heavens is from the lord as a sun (n. 1053, 1521, 3195, 3341, 3636, 3643, 4415, 9548, 9684, 10809). the divine truth that goes forth from the lord appears in heaven as light, and furnishes all the light of heaven (n. 3195, 3222, 3223, 5400, 8644, 9399, 9548, 9684). 128. the divine truth is light to the angels because the angels are spiritual and not natural. spiritual beings see from their sun, and natural beings from theirs. it is from divine truth that angels have understanding, and their understanding is their inner sight, which flows into and produces their outer sight; therefore in heaven whatever is seen from the lord as the sun is seen in light.{1} this being the source of light in heaven the light is varied there in accordance with the reception of divine truth from the lord; or what is the same, in accordance with the intelligence and wisdom in which the angels are, thus differently in the celestial kingdom and in the spiritual kingdom, and differently in each society. in the celestial kingdom the light appears flaming because the angels there receive light from the lord as a sun; but in the spiritual kingdom the light is shining white, because the angels there receive light from the lord as a moon (see above, n. 118). so, too, the light differs in different societies, and again in each society, those that are at the center being in greater light and those in the circumference in less light (see n. 43). in a word, the angels have light in the same degree in which they are recipients of divine truth, that is, are in intelligence and wisdom from the lord;{2} and this is why the angels of heaven are called angels of light. {footnote 1} the light of heaven illumines both the sight and the understanding of angels and spirits (n. 2776, 3138). {footnote 2} the light in heaven is in harmony with the intelligence and wisdom of the angels (n. 1524, 1529, 1530, 3339). differences of light in the heavens are as many as there are angelic societies; and as there are in the heavens endless varieties of good and truth, so are there of wisdom and intelligence (n. 684, 690, 3241, 3744, 3745, 4414, 5598, 7236, 7833, 7836). 129. as the lord in the heavens is divine truth, and the divine truth there is light, so in the word he is called light, likewise all truth is from him, as in the following passages: jesus said, i am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (john 8:12). as long as i am in the world i am the light of the world (john 9:5). jesus said, yet a little while is the light with you. walk while ye have the light, lest darkness overtake you. while ye have the light believe in the light, that ye may be sons of light. i have come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in me may not abide in darkness (john 12:35, 36, 46). light has come into the world, but men have loved the darkness rather than the light (john 3:19). john says of the lord: this is the true light which lighteneth every man (john 1:9). the people that sit in darkness have seen a great light, and to them that were sitting in the shadow of death light is sprung up (matt. 4:16). i will give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the gentiles (isa. 13:6). i have established thee for a light of the gentiles that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth (isa. 19:6). the nations of them that are saved shall walk in his light (apoc. 21:24). send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me (psalm 43:3). in these and other passages the lord is called light from divine truth, which is from him; and the truth itself is likewise called light. as light in the heavens is from the lord as a sun, so when he was transfigured before peter, james, and john: his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light (matt. 17:2). and his garments became shining, exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can whiten them (mark 9:3; matt. 17:2). the lord's garments had this appearance because they represented divine truth which is from him in the heavens, "garments" also in the word signifying truths,{1} consequently it is said in david: o jehovah, thou coverest thyself with light as with a garment (psalm 104:2). {footnote 1} in the word "garments" signify truths, because truths clothe good (n. 1073, 2576, 5248, 5319, 5954, 9216, 9952, 10536). the lord's garments when he was transfigured signified divine truth going forth from his divine love (n. 9212, 9216). 130. that light in the heavens is spiritual and that this light is divine truth may be inferred also from the fact that men as well as angels have spiritual light, and have enlightenment from that light so far as they are in intelligence and wisdom from divine truth. man's spiritual light is the light of his understanding, and the objects of that light are truths, which he arranges analytically into groups, forms into reason, and from them draws conclusions in series.{1} the natural man does not know that the light from which the understanding sees such things is a real light, for he neither sees it with his eyes nor perceives it by thought. and yet there are many who recognize this light, and distinguish it from the natural light in which those are who think naturally and not spiritually. those think naturally who take account of the world only, and attribute all things to nature; while those think spiritually who take account of heaven and attribute all things to the divine. it has often been granted me to perceive and also to see that there is a true light that enlightens the mind, wholly distinct from the light that is called natural light [lumen]. i have been raised up interiorly into that light by degrees; and as i was raised up my understanding became so enlightened as to enable me to perceive what i did not perceive before, and finally such things as i could not even comprehend by thought from natural light. sometimes i felt indignant that i could not comprehend these things when they were so clearly and plainly perceived in the light of heaven.{2} because there is a light that belongs to the understanding, the same things are said of it as of the eye, as that it sees and is in light when it perceives, and is in obscurity and shade when it does not perceive, and so on. {footnote 1} man is rational because his understanding is illumined by the light of heaven (n. 1524, 3138, 3167, 4408, 6608, 8707, 9128, 9399, 10569). the understanding is enlightened because it is a recipient of truth (n. 6222, 6608, 10659). the understanding is enlightened to the extent that man receives truth in good from the lord (n. 3619). the understanding is such as are the truths from good by which it is formed (n. 10064). the understanding has light from heaven, as the sight has light from the world (n. 1524, 5114, 6608, 9128). the light of heaven from the lord is always present with man, but it flows in only in the degree that man is in truth from good (n. 4060, 4214). {footnote 2} when man is raised up from the sensual he comes into a milder light, and at length into heavenly light (n. 6313, 6315, 9407). when man is raised up into intelligence there is an actual elevation into the light of heaven (n. 3190). how great a light was perceived when i was withdrawn from worldly ideas (n. 1526, 6608). 131. as the light of heaven is divine truth, that light is also divine wisdom and intelligence; therefore to be raised up into the light of heaven means the same as to be raised up into intelligence and wisdom and enlightened. for this reason the angels have light in just the same degree as they have intelligence and wisdom. because the light of heaven is divine wisdom, in that light the character of everyone is recognized. the interiors of everyone lie open to view in his face just as they are, with not the least thing hidden. and interior angels love to have all things that pertain to them lying open, since they will nothing but good. it is otherwise with those beneath heaven, who do not will what is good, and for that reason fear greatly to be seen in the light of heaven. and wonderful to tell, while those in hell appear to one another as men, in the light of heaven they appear as monsters, with a horrid face and body, the exact form of their own evil.{1} in respect to his spirit man appears, when seen by angels, in a like way; if good as a man, beautiful in accord with his good; if evil as a monster, ugly in accord with his evil. from this it is clear that in the light of heaven all things are made manifest, and for the reason that the light of heaven is divine truth. {footnote 1} those in the hells, in their own light, which is like the light from burning coals, appear to themselves as men but in the light of heaven they appear as monsters (n. 4531, 4533, 4674, 5057, 5058, 6605, 6626). 132. as divine truth is light in the heavens, so all truths wherever they are, whether within an angel or outside of him, or whether within the heavens or outside of them, emit light. nevertheless, truths outside of the heavens do not shine as truths within the heavens do. truths outside of the heavens shine coldly, like something snowy, without heat, because they do not draw their essence from good, as truths within the heavens do; therefore that cold light vanishes as soon as the light of heaven falls on it, and if there is evil underneath it it is turned into darkness. this i have occasionally seen, with many other noteworthy things about the shining of truth, which must be omitted here. 133. something shall now be said about the heat of heaven. that heat in its essence is love. it goes forth from the lord as a sun, which is divine love in the lord and from the lord, as has been shown in the preceding chapter. it is evident, therefore, that the heat of heaven, like the light of heaven, is spiritual, because from the same source.{1} there are two things that go forth from the lord as a sun, divine truth and divine good; divine truth is manifested in the heavens as light, and divine good as heat; and yet divine truth and divine good are so united that they are not two, but one. nevertheless, with angels they are separate, for there are angels that receive more of divine good than of divine truth, and there are those that receive more of divine truth than of divine good. those who receive more of divine good are in the lord's celestial kingdom, and those who receive more of divine truth are in his spiritual kingdom. those that receive both in a like degree are the most perfect angels. {footnote 1} there are two sources of heat and also two sources of light, the sun of the world and the sun of heaven (n. 3338, 5215, 7324). heat from the lord as a sun is affection of love (n. 3636, 3643). therefore spiritual heat in its essence is love (n. 2146, 3338, 3339, 6314). 134. the heat of heaven, like the light of heaven, is everywhere different. it is different in the celestial kingdom from what it is in the spiritual kingdom, and it is different in each society therein. it differs both in degree and in quality. it is more intense and more pure in the lord's celestial kingdom, because the angels there receive more of divine good; and it is less intense and pure in his spiritual kingdom, because the angels there receive more of divine truth. also in each society the heat differs in accordance with reception. there is heat in the hells, but it is unclean heat.{1} the heat in heaven is what is meant by holy and heavenly fire, and the heat of hell by profane and infernal fire. both mean love--heavenly fire meaning love to the lord and love to the neighbor and every affection of those loves, and infernal fire meaning love of self and love of the world and every lust of those loves. that love is heat from a spiritual source is shown from one's growing warm with love; for in accordance with the strength and nature of his love a man is inflamed and grows warm; and the heat of his love is made manifest when it is opposed. from this also it is customary to speak of being inflamed, growing hot, burning, boiling, being on fire, both in regard to the affections of the love of good and the lusts of the love of evil. {footnote 1} there is heat in the hells, but it is unclean (n. 1773, 2757, 3340). the odor from it is like the odor from dung and excrement in the world and in the worst hells like the odor of dead bodies (n. 814, 815, 817, 819, 820, 943, 944, 5394). 135. love going forth from the lord as a sun is felt in heaven as heat, because the interiors of the angels are in a state of love from the divine good that is from the lord; and in consequence their exteriors which grow warm therefrom are in a state of heat. for this reason heat and love so correspond to each other in heaven that everyone there is in heat such as his love is, according to what has been said just above. this world's heat does not enter heaven at all, because it is too gross, and is natural, and not spiritual; but with men it is otherwise, because they are in both the spiritual world and the natural world. as to their spirits they grow warm in exact accordance with their loves; but as to the body they grow warm both from the heat of their spirit and from the heat of the world. the former flows into the latter, because they correspond. the nature of the correspondence of the two kinds of heat can be seen from animal life, in that the love of animals-the chief of which is the love of propagating offspring of their kind-bursts forth and becomes active in accordance with the presence and influence of heat from the sun of the world, which is the heat of the spring and the summer seasons. those who believe that the world's heat flows in and excites these loves are greatly mistaken, for there can be no influx from the natural into the spiritual, but only from the spiritual into the natural. this influx is of divine order, but the other would be contrary to divine order.{1} {footnote 1} there is spiritual influx, but not physical, that is, there is influx from the spiritual world into the natural, but not from the natural world into the spiritual (n. 3219, 5119, 5259, 5427, 5428, 5477, 6322, 9109, 9110, 9111). 136. angels, like men, have understanding and will. the light of heaven constitutes the life of their understanding, because that light is divine truth and divine wisdom therefrom; and the heat of heaven constitutes the life of their will, because that heat is divine good and divine love therefrom. the veriest life of the angels is from heat, and from light only so far as heat is in it. that life is from heat is shown by the fact that when heat is taken away life perishes. the same is true of faith without love or of truth without good; since the truth that is called truth of faith is light, and the good that is called good of love is heat. {1} this is more clearly shown by the heat and light of the world, to which the heat and light of heaven correspond. by the world's heat when conjoined with light, as in spring and summer, all things on the earth are quickened and grow, but by light separate from heat nothing is quickened or grows, but everything lies torpid and dies. they are not conjoined in winter, when heat is absent though light remains. from this correspondence heaven is called paradise, since truth is there joined with good, or faith with love, as light is with heat in springtime on the earth. all this makes more clear the truth set forth in its own chapter (n. 13-19), that the divine of the lord in heaven is love to him and charity towards the neighbor. {footnote 1} truths apart from good are not in themselves truths because they have no life; for truths have all their life from good (n. 9603). thus truths apart from good are like a body without a soul (n. 3180, 9154). truths apart from good are not accepted by the lord (n. 4368). what truth apart from good, that is, what faith apart from love is, and what truth from good or faith from love is (n. 1949-1951, 1964, 5830, 5951). it amounts to the same thing whether you say truth or faith, or whether you say good or love, since truth is of faith and good is of love (n. 2839, 4352, 4353, 4997, 7178, 7623, 7624, 10367). 137. it is said in john: in the beginning was the word, and the word was with god, and god was the word. all things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that hath been made. in him was life, and the life was the light of men. he was in the world, and the world was made through him. and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory (1:1-14). evidently the lord is here meant by "the word," for it is said that "the word became flesh." but what is specifically meant by "the word" is not known and shall therefore be explained. here "the word" means the divine truth which is in the lord and from the lord;{1} and this is why it is also called "the light," which is the divine truth, as has been already shown in this chapter. that it was by means of divine truth that all things were created and made shall now be explained. [2] in heaven divine truth has all power, and apart from it there is no power whatever.{2} from the divine truth angels are called powers, and are powers to the extent that they are recipients or receptacles of it. by means of it they prevail over the hells and over all that oppose them. a thousand enemies there cannot stand against a single ray of the light of heaven, which is divine truth. as angels are angels by their reception of divine truth it follows that the entire heaven is from no other source, since heaven consists of angels. [3] that there is such power in divine truth those cannot believe that have no other idea of truth than that it is thought or speech, which has in it no power except as others do it from obedience. but divine truth has power in itself, and such power that by means of it heaven was created and the world with all things therein. that there is such power in divine truth may be shown by two comparisons-by the power of truth and good in man, and by the power of light and heat from the sun in the world. by the power of good and truth in man, in that everything that a man does he does from his understanding and will-from his will by means of good and from his understanding by means of truth; for all things in the will have relation to good and all things in the understanding have relation to truth.{3} therefore it is from good and truth that man moves his whole body, and a thousand things therein rush with one accord to do their will and pleasure. this makes clear that the whole body is formed for subservience to good and truth, consequently is formed by good and truth. [4] by the power of heat and light from the sun in the world, in that all things that grow in the world, as trees, cereals, flowers, grasses, fruits, and seeds, come into existence wholly by means of the heat and light of the sun; which shows what power of producing there is in them. what, then, must be the power in divine light, which is divine truth, and in divine heat, which is divine good? because heaven has its existence from these, so does the world have its existence therefrom, since the world has its existence by means of heaven, as has been already shown. from all this the meaning of these words can be seen that "all things were made through the word, and without the word was not anything made that has been made;" also that "the world was made through him," that is, through divine truth from the lord.{4} for the same reason, in the book of creation, light is first spoken of, and then the things that are from light (gen. 1:3, 4). for this reason also all things in the universe, both in heaven and in the world, have relation to good and truth and to their conjunction, in order to be anything. {footnote 1} in the sacred scripture word signifies various things, namely, speech, thought of the mind, any thing that really exists, also something, and in the highest sense divine truth, and the lord (n. 9987). "word" signifies divine truth (n. 2803, 2894, 4692, 5075, 5272, 9383, 9987). "word" signifies the lord (n. 2533, 2859). {footnote 2} divine truth going forth from the lord has all power (n. 6948, 8200). truth from good has all power in heaven (n. 3091, 3563, 6344, 6423, 8304, 9643, 10019, 10182). angels are called powers, and are powers by the reception of divine truth from the lord (n. 9639). angels are recipients of divine truth from the lord and therefore in the word are sometimes called gods (n. 4295, 4402, 7873, 8192, 8301). {footnote 3} the understanding is a recipient of truth, and the will a recipient of good (n. 3623, 6125, 7503, 9300, 9930). therefore all things in the understanding have relation to truths, whether they are really truths or are believed by man to be truths, and all things in the will in like manner have relation to goods (n. 803, 10122). {footnote 4} divine truth going forth from the lord is the only real thing (n. 6880, 7004, 8200). by means of divine truth all things were created and made (n. 2803, 2884, 5272, 7678). 139.{1} it must be understood that the divine good and the divine truth that are from the lord as a sun in the heavens are not in the lord, but are from the lord. in the lord there is only divine love, which is the being [esse] from which the divine good and the divine truth spring. outgo [existere] from being [esse] is meant by going forth [procedere]. this, too, can be made clear by comparison with the world's sun. the heat and light that are in the world are not in the sun, but are from the sun. in the sun there is fire only, and it is from this that heat and light spring and go forth. {footnote 1} [there is no n. 138 in the original. -editor.] 140. since the lord as a sun is divine love, and divine love is divine good itself, the divine that goes forth from the lord, which is his divine in heaven, is called, for the sake of distinction, divine truth, although it is in fact divine good united to divine truth. this divine truth is what is called the holy that goes forth from him. 141. xvi. the four quarters in heaven. both in heaven and in the world there are four quarters, east, south, west, and north, determined in each world by its own sun; in heaven by the sun of heaven, which is the lord, in the world by the sun of the world. and yet there are great differences between them. in the first place, in the world that is called the south where the sun is in its greatest altitude above the earth, north where it is in its opposite position beneath the earth, east where it rises at an equinox, and west where it then sets. thus in the world it is from the south that all the quarters are determined. but in heaven that is called the east where the lord is seen as a sun, opposite to this is the west, at the right is the south in heaven, and at the left the north; and this in whatever direction the face and the body are turned. thus in heaven it is from the east that all the quarters are determined. that is called the east [oriens] where the lord is seen as a sun, because all origin [origo] of life is from him as a sun; moreover, so far as angels receive heat and light or love and intelligence from the lord he is said to arise [exoriri] upon them. for the same reason the lord is called the east [oriens] in the word.{1} {footnote 1} in the highest sense the lord is the east [oriens], because he is the sun of heaven, which is always rising and never setting (n. 101, 5097, 9668). 142. another difference is that to the angels the east is always before the face, the west behind, the south to the right, and the north to the left. but since this cannot be easily comprehended in the world, for the reason that men turn the face to every quarter, it shall be explained. the entire heaven turns itself to the lord as to its common center; to that center do all the angels turn themselves. also on the earth, as is well known, there is a directing of all things towards a common center; but there is this difference between this directing in the world and that in heaven, that in heaven the front parts are turned to the common center, but in the world the lower parts of the body. in the world this directing is called centripetal force, also gravitation. the interiors of angels are actually turned forwards; and since interiors manifest themselves in the face it is the face that determines the quarters.{1} {footnote 1} in heaven all turn themselves to the lord (n. 9828, 10130, 10189, 10420). nevertheless, it is not the angels that turn themselves to the lord, but the lord turns the angels to himself (n. 10189). it is not that the angels are present with the lord, but the lord is present with the angels (n. 9415). 143. it is still more difficult to comprehend in the world that in every turning of their face and body the angels have the east before the face, since man according as he turns, has every quarter before his face. this shall also be explained. although angels, like men, turn and direct their faces and bodies in every direction, they nevertheless have the east always before their eyes. but the turnings of angels are unlike the turnings of men, because they are from a different origin. they appear alike, but they are not. the origin of these turnings is their ruling love, and from this all directions with angels and spirits are determined, for, as just said, their interiors are actually turned towards their common center, which in heaven is the lord as a sun; consequently their ruling love is always before their face, because their love is always before their interiors, and the face has existence from the interiors, for it is their outward form; and in the heavens this love is the lord as a sun because it is from him that they have their love.{1} and as the lord himself is in angels in his love, it is the lord who causes them to look to him whithersoever they turn. this cannot be explained any farther now; but it will be made clearer to the understanding in subsequent chapters, especially where representations and appearances, and time and space in heaven, are treated of. that the angels have the lord constantly before their faces it has been granted me to know and also to perceive from much experience; for whenever i have been in company with angels i have noticed the lord's presence before my face, not actually seen, and yet perceptible in a light; and angels have often testified that this is so. as the lord is constantly before the faces of the angels, so it is said in the world of those who believe in the lord and love him that they have god before their eyes and their face, and that they look to god, and see god. these expressions have their origin in the spiritual world, from which are many things in human speech, although their source is unknown to men. {footnote 1} in the spiritual world all constantly turn themselves to their loves; and the quarters there have their beginning in the face and are determined by it (n. 10130, 10189, 10420, 10702). the face is formed to a correspondence with the interiors (n. 4791-4805, 5695). therefore the interiors shine forth from the face (n. 3527, 4066, 4796). with angels the face makes one with the interiors (n. 4796, 4797, 4799, 5695, 8250). the influx of the interiors into the face and its muscles (n. 3631, 4800). 144. this turning to the lord is among the wonderful things in heaven. there may be many together in one place, some turning the face and body one way and some another, and yet all see the lord before them, and have everyone has the south at his right, the north at his left, and the west behind him. another wonderful thing is that, although the angels look only to the east they have also a look towards the other three quarters; but the look to these is from their interior sight, which pertains to their thought. and it is yet another wonderful thing that in heaven no one is ever permitted to stand behind another and look at the back of his head, for this would disturb the influx of good and truth from the lord. 145. the lord is seen by the angels, and the angels are seen by the lord in another way. angels see the lord through their eyes; but the lord sees the angels in the forehead, and this for the reason that the forehead corresponds to love, and it is through love that the lord flows into their will, while it is through the understanding, to which the eyes correspond, that he causes himself to be seen.{1} {footnote 1} the forehead corresponds to heavenly love; therefore in the word the "forehead" signifies that love (n. 9936). the eye corresponds to the understanding, because the understanding is internal sight (n. 2701, 4410, 4526, 9051, 10569). for this reason "to lift up the eyes" and "to see" signifies to understand, perceive, and observe (n. 2789, 2829, 3198, 3202, 4083, 4086, 4339, 5684). 146. the quarters in the heavens that give form to the lord's celestial kingdom differ from the quarters in the heavens that give form to his spiritual kingdom, for the reason that he is seen by the angels in his celestial kingdom as a sun, but by the angels in his spiritual kingdom as a moon; and where the lord is seen is the east. the distance there between the position of the sun and that of the moon is thirty degrees, and there is a like difference in the position of the quarters. that heaven is divided into two kingdoms, called the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom, may be seen in its own chapter (n. 20-28); and that the lord is seen in the celestial kingdom as a sun, and in the spiritual kingdom as a moon (n. 118). but it does not follow that the quarters of heaven become confused on this account, for neither can the spiritual angels ascend among the celestial angels, nor the celestial descend among the spiritual, as may be seen above (n. 35). 147. this makes clear the nature of the lord's presence in the heavens, that he is every where and with everyone in the good and truth that go forth from him; consequently he is with angels in what is his own, as has been said above (n. 12). the perception of the lord's presence is in their interiors; and it is from these that their eyes see, and it is by this continuity that they see the lord outside of themselves. this shows what is meant by the lord's being in them and they in him, according to his own words: abide in me and i in you (john 15:4). he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me and i in him (john 6:56). "the lord's flesh" signifies divine good and "his blood" divine truth.{1} {footnote 1} in the word "the lord's flesh" signifies his divine human, and the divine good of his love (n. 3813, 7850, 9127, 10283). and "the lord's blood" signifies divine truth and the holy of faith (n. 4735, 4978, 6978, 7317, 7326, 7846, 7850, 7877, 9127, 9393, 10026, 10033, 10152, 10210). 148. all in the heavens have their own places of abode in accordance with the quarters. those who are in the good of love dwell towards the east and west, those who are in clear perception of it towards the east, and those who are in obscure perception of it towards the west. those who are in wisdom from the good of love dwell towards the south and north-those who are in the clear light of wisdom towards the south, and those who are in obscure light of it towards the north. the angels of the lord's spiritual kingdom and those of his celestial kingdom dwell in a like order, but differently as their good of love and light of truth from good differ; for in the celestial kingdom the love is love to the lord, and the light of truth therefrom is wisdom; while in the spiritual kingdom there is love towards the neighbor, which is called charity, and the light of truth therefrom is intelligence, which is also called faith (see above, n. 23). the quarters differ also in the two kingdoms by thirty degrees, as has been said just above (n. 146). 149. in like order the angels in each society in heaven dwell in relation to one another-towards the east there those who are in greater degree of love and charity, towards the west those who are in less degree; towards the south those who are in greater light of wisdom and intelligence, and towards the north those who are in less. this arrangement prevails because each society represents heaven, and is a heaven in a smaller form (see above, n. 51-58). the same arrangement prevails in their assemblies. they are brought into this order by virtue of the form of heaven, from which everyone knows his own place. the lord also provides that there be in each society those of every kind, for the reason that in form heaven is every where like itself; and yet the arrangement of the whole heaven differs from the arrangement of a society as what is general from its parts, since the societies towards the east surpass those towards the west, and those towards the south surpass those towards the north. 150. because of this the quarters in the heavens signify such things as pertain to those that dwell in them,--the east signifying love and its good clearly perceived, the west the same obscurely perceived, the south wisdom and intelligence in clear light, and the north the same in obscure light. and because of this signification of the quarters in heaven they have a like signification in the internal or spiritual sense of the word,{1} since the internal or spiritual sense of the word is in entire accord with what is in heaven. {footnote 1} in the word the "east" signifies love clearly perceived (n. 1250, 3708); the "west" love obscurely perceived (n. 3708, 9653); the "south" a state of light, that is, of wisdom and intelligence (n. 1458, 3708, 5672); and the "north" that state in obscurity (n. 3708). 151. the reverse is true of those in the hells. those who are there do not look to the lord as a sun nor as a moon; but they look backward away from the lord to that dense darkness that is in the place of the sun of the world, and to the darkness that is in the place of the earth's moon. those that are called genii look to that dense darkness that is in the place of the world's sun, and those called spirits look to the darkness that is in the place of the earth's moon.{1} it has been shown above (n. 122) that the world's sun and the earth's moon are not seen in the spiritual world, but in place of that sun a dense darkness over against the sun of heaven, and in place of that moon a darkness over against the moon of heaven. for this reason the quarters with those in the hells are opposite to the quarters of heaven. the east to them is where that dense darkness and darkness are, the west is where the sun of heaven is, the south is to their right, and the north to their left, and this also in every turning of their bodies. nor can they face otherwise, because the whole bent and consequent determination of their interiors tends and strives that way. it has been shown above (n. 143) that the bent and consequent actual determination of the interiors of all in the other life are in harmony with their love. the love of those in the hells is the love of self and the world, and these loves are what are signified by the world's sun and the earth's moon (see n. 122); and these loves are opposite to love to the lord and love towards the neighbor;{2} and this is the cause of their turning themselves backwards away from the lord to this dense darkness. moreover, those in the hells dwell likewise in accordance with their quarters, those who are in evil from love of self dwelling from their east to their west, and those who are in the falsities of evil from their south to their north. but more will be said about this below, where the hells are treated of. {footnote 1} who and what those are who are called genii, and who and what those are who are called spirits (n. 947, 5035, 5977, 8593, 8622, 8625). {footnote 2} those that are in the loves of self and of the world turn themselves backwards from the lord (n. 10130, 10189, 10420, 10702). love to the lord and charity towards the neighbor make heaven, while love of self and love of the world make hell, because the two are opposite (n. 2041, 3610, 4225, 4776 6210, 7366, 7369, 7490, 8232, 8678, 10455, 10741-10745). 152. when an evil spirit comes among good spirits the quarters are usually so confused that the good scarcely know where their east is. this i have sometimes seen take place, and have also heard about it from spirits who complained of it. 153. evil spirits are sometimes seen turned towards the quarters of heaven; and they then have intelligence and perception of truth, but no affection for good; but as soon as they turn back to their own quarters they have no intelligence or perception of truth; and then they declare that the truths they heard and perceived are falsities and not truths, and they wish falsities to be truths. in respect to this turning i have been told that with the evil the intellectual part of the mind can be so turned, but not the voluntary part; and that this is provided by the lord to the end that everyone may have the ability to see and acknowledge truths, but that no one can receive truths unless he is in good, since it is good, and never evil, that receives them; also that man has a like ability to the end that he may be made better by means of truths. nevertheless, he is made better only so far as he is in good; consequently a man can in like manner be turned to the lord; but if his life is evil he immediately turns himself back and confirms in himself the falsities of his evil, which are contrary to the truths he had understood and seen; and this takes place when he thinks in himself from his interior states. 154. xvii. changes of state of the angels in heaven. by changes of state of angels their changes in respect to love and faith, and wisdom and intelligence therefrom, are meant, thus their changes in respect to states of life. states are predicated of life and of what belongs to life; and as angelic life is a life of love and faith, and of wisdom and intelligence therefrom, states are predicated of these and are called states of love and faith, and states of wisdom and intelligence. how with angels these states are changed shall now be told. 155. angels are not constantly in the same state in respect to love, and in consequence in the same state in respect to wisdom; for all their wisdom is from their love and in accordance with their love. sometimes they are in a state of intense love, sometimes in a state of love not so intense. the state decreases by degrees from its greatest degree to its least. when in their greatest degree of love they are in the light and warmth of their life, or in a clear and delightful state; but in their least degree they are in shade and cold, or in an obscure and undelightful state. from this last state they return again to the first, and so on, these alternations following one after another with variety. there is a sequence of these states like the varied states of light and shade, or of heat and cold, or like morning, noon, evening, and night, day after day in the world, with unceasing variety throughout the year. there is also a correspondence, morning corresponding to the state of their love in its clearness, noon to the state of their wisdom in its clearness, evening to the state of their wisdom in its obscurity, and night to a state of no love or wisdom. but it must be understood that there is no correspondence of night with the states of life of those in heaven, although there is what corresponds to the dawn that precedes morning; what corresponds to night is with those in hell.{1} from this correspondence "day" and "year" signify in the word states of life in general; "heat" and "light" signify love and wisdom; "morning" the first and highest degree of love "noon" wisdom in its light; "evening" wisdom in its shade; "dawn" the obscurity that precedes the morning; and "night" the absence of love and wisdom.{2} {footnote 1} in heaven there is a state corresponding to the dawn that precedes morning, but no state corresponding to night (n. 6110). the "dawn" signifies a middle state between the last and the first (n. 10134). {footnote 2} alternations of state in respect to enlightenment and perception occur in heaven, like the times of day in the world (n. 5672, 5962, 6110, 8426, 9213, 10605). in the word "day" and "year" signify all states in general (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 4850, 10656). "morning" signifies the beginning of a new state, and a state of love (n. 7218, 8426, 8427, 10114, 10134). "evening" signifies a state of declining light and love (n. 10134, 10135). "night" signifies a state of no love or faith (n. 221, 709, 2353, 6000, 6110, 7870, 7947). 156. together with the state of the angels' interiors which pertain to their love and wisdom, the states of various things that are outside of them and that they see with their eyes are changed; for the things outside of them take on an appearance that is in accord with the things within them. but what things these are, and what kind of things they are, shall be told presently in the chapter on representatives and appearances in heaven. 157. every angel undergoes and passes through such changes of state, and also every society in general, and yet each one differently, for the reason that they differ in love and wisdom, those in the middle being in a more perfect state than those round about even to the circumference (see above, n. 43, 128). but it would be tedious to specify the differences, since the changes each one undergoes are in accord with the quality of his love and faith. from this it happens that while one may be in clearness and delight another may be in obscurity and lack of delight, and this at the same time within the same society. so, too, the state differs in different societies; it is different in the societies of the celestial kingdom from what it is in those of the spiritual kingdom. these differences in the changes of state are in general like the variations of the states of days in different climates on the earth, for with some it is morning when with others it is evening, and with some it is hot when with others it is cold. 158. i have been taught from heaven why there are such changes of state there. the angels said that there are many reasons-first, the delight of life and of heaven, which they have from love and wisdom from the lord, would gradually lose its value if they were in it continually, as happens with those that are in allurements and pleasures without variety. a second reason is that angels, as well as men, have what is their own [proprium], which is loving self; and all that are in heaven are withheld from what is their own, and so far as they are withheld from it by the lord are in love and wisdom; but so far as they are not withheld they are in the love of self; and because everyone loves what is his own and is drawn by it{1} they have changes of state or successive alternations. a third reason is that they are in this way perfected, for they thus become accustomed to being held in love to the lord and withheld from love of self; also that by alternations between delight and lack of delight the perception and sense of good becomes more exquisite.{2} the angels added that their changes of state are not caused by the lord, since the lord as a sun is unceasingly flowing in with heat and light, that is, with love and wisdom; but the cause is in themselves, in that they love what is their own, and this continually leads them away. this was illustrated by comparison with the sun of the world, that the cause of the changes of state of heat and cold and of light and shade, year by year and day by day, is not in that sun, since it stands unchanged, but the cause is in the earth. {footnote 1} man's own [proprium] is loving self (n. 694, 731, 4317, 5660). the lord cannot be present unless what is man's own is set aside (n. 1023, 1044). it is actually set aside when one is held in good by the lord (n. 9334-9336, 9447, 9452-9454, 9938). {footnote 2} the angels are being perfected to eternity (n. 4803, 6648). in the heavens one state is never just like another, and from this there is an unceasing process of perfection (n. 10200). 159. i have been shown how the lord as a sun appears to the angels of the celestial kingdom in their first state, in their second state, and in their third state. i saw the lord as a sun, at first glowing and brilliant with a splendor that cannot be described; and i was told that such is the appearance of the lord as a sun to the angels in their first state. afterwards there appeared a great obscure belt about the sun, and by this its first glow and brilliancy, which gave it such splendor, began to be dulled, and i was told that such is the appearance of the sun to them in their second state. then the belt seemed by degrees to grow darker, and the sun to appear less glowing, and this by degrees until at length it took on a shining whiteness; and i was told that such is the appearance of the sun to them in their third state. after this, that shining whiteness was seen to move to the left towards the moon of heaven, and to add itself to her light; and in consequence the moon shone forth with unwonted splendor; and i was told that such is the fourth state of those in the celestial kingdom and the first state of those in the spiritual kingdom, and that in both kingdoms changes of state have such alternations; yet not in the whole kingdom at once, but in one society after another. furthermore, i was told that these alternations are not fixed, but come upon them sooner or later without their knowledge. and it was added that the sun in itself is not thus changed or moved; but it takes on this appearance in accord with their successive progressions of state, since the lord appears to everyone in accord with what his state is, thus glowing when one is in intense love and less glowing and finally shining white as his love subsides; and the quality of each one's state was represented by the obscure belt that induced upon the sun these apparent variations in its glow and light. 160. when angels are in the last of these states, which is when they are in what is their own, they begin to be sad. i have talked with them when they were in that state and have seen their sadness; but they said that they hoped to return soon to their former state, and thus into heaven again, as it were; for to them it is heaven to be withheld from what is their own. 161. there are also changes of state in the hells, but these will be described later when hell is treated of. 162. xviii. time in heaven. although there is a succession and a progression of all things in heaven, as in the world, yet angels have no notion or idea of time and space; and this so completely that they do not even know at all what time and space are. time in heaven will here be considered, and space in its own chapter. 163. angels do not know what time is, although with them there is a successive progression of all things, as there is in the world, and this so completely that there is no difference whatever; and the reason is that in heaven instead of years and days there are changes of state; and where there are years and days there are times, but where there are changes of state there are states. 164. in the world there are times because the sun of the world seemingly advances in succession from one degree to another, producing times that are called seasons of the year; and besides, it revolves about the earth, producing times that are called times of day; both of these by fixed alternations. with the sun of heaven it is different. this does not mark years and days by successive progressions and revolutions, but in its appearance it marks changes of state; and this, as has been shown in the preceding chapter, is not done by fixed alternations. consequently no idea of time is possible to angels; but in its place they have an idea of state (see above n. 154). 165. as angels have no idea derived from time, such as men in the world have, so neither do they have any idea about time and what pertains to it. they do not even know what is meant by the terms of time, such as year, month, week, day, hour, to-day, to-morrow, yesterday. when angels hear these terms used by man (for angels are always associated with man by the lord) in place of them they perceive state and what pertains to states. thus the natural thought of man is turned into spiritual thought with angels. this is why times in the word signify states, and the terms of time, as enumerated above, signify corresponding spiritual things.{1} {footnote 1} times in the word signify states (n. 2788, 2837, 3254, 3356, 4814, 4901, 4916, 7218, 8070, 10133, 10605). angels think apart from the idea of time and space (n. 3404); the reasons why (n. 1274, 1382, 3356, 4882, 4901, 6110, 7218, 7381). what a "year" signifies in the word (n. 487, 488, 493, 893, 2906, 7828, 10209). what a "month" (n. 3814). what a "week" (n. 2044, 3845). what a "day" (n. 23, 487, 488, 6110, 7680, 8426, 9213, 10132, 10605). what "today" (n. 2838, 3998, 4304, 6165, 6984, 9939). what "to-morrow" (n. 3998, 10497). what "yesterday" (n. 6983, 7114, 7140). 166. the like is true of all things that exist from time, as the four seasons of the year, called spring, summer, autumn, and winter; the four periods of the day, morning, noon, evening, and night; and the four ages of man, infancy, youth, manhood, and old age; and all other things that either exist from time or have a succession in accordance with time. in thinking of these a man thinks from time, but an angel from state; and in consequence what there is in them from time with man is with the angels turned into an idea of state. spring and morning are turned into an idea of the state of love and wisdom such as they are in angels in their first state; summer and noon are turned into an idea of love and wisdom such as they are in the second state; autumn and evening such as they are in the third state; night and winter into an idea of such a state as exists in hell. this is why these periods have a like significance in the word (see above, n. 155). this makes clear how natural things in the thought of man become spiritual with the angels who are with man. 167. as angels have no notion of time so they have an idea of eternity different from that which men on the earth have. eternity means to the angels infinite state, not infinite time.{1} i was once thinking about eternity, and was able, with the idea of time, to perceive what to eternity means, namely, without end, but not what from eternity means, thus not what god did from eternity before creation. when anxiety on this account arose in my mind i was raised up into the sphere of heaven, and thus into the perception that angels have in respect to eternity; and it was then made clear to me that eternity must be thought of, not from time but from state; and then the meaning of from eternity can be seen. this then happened to me. {footnote 1} men have an idea of eternity associated with time, but angels apart from time (n. 1382, 3404, 8325). 168. when angels speak with men they never express themselves in natural ideas proper to man, all of which are from time, space, matter, and things analogous thereto, but in spiritual ideas, all of which are from states and their various changes within the angels and outside of them. nevertheless, when these angelic ideas, which are spiritual, flow into men, they are turned in a moment and of themselves into natural ideas proper to man, that correspond perfectly to the spiritual ideas. neither angels nor men know that this takes place; but such is all influx of heaven into man. certain angels were permitted to enter more nearly into my thoughts, even into the natural thoughts in which there were many things from time and space; but as they then understood nothing they suddenly withdrew; and after they had withdrawn i heard them talking, and saying that they had been in darkness. [2] it has been granted me to know by experience how ignorant the angels are about time. there was a certain one from heaven who was able to enter into natural ideas, such as man has; and after he had done this i talked with him as man with man. at first he did not know what it was that i called time, and i was therefore obliged to tell him all about it, how the sun appears to be carried about our earth, and to produce years and days, and how years are thereby divided into four seasons, and also into months and weeks, and days into twenty-four hours; and how these times recur by fixed alternations, and how this is the source of times. on hearing this he was surprised, saying that he knew nothing about such things, but only what states are. [3] in speaking with him i added that it is known in the world, for men speak as if they knew that there is no time in heaven, saying of those who die that they "leave the things of time," and that they "pass out of time," meaning by this out of the world. i said also that some know that times in their origin are states, for they know that times are in exact accord with the states of their affections, short to those who are in pleasant and joyous states, long to those who are in unpleasant and sorrowful states, and various in a state of hope and expectation; and this therefore leads learned men to inquire what time and space are, and some know that time belongs to the natural man. 169. the natural man might think that he would be deprived of all thought if the ideas of time, space, and material things were taken away; for upon these all the thought of man rests.{1} but let him know that so far as thoughts partake of time, space, and matter they are limited and confined, but are unlimited and extended so far as they do not partake of these, since the mind is in that measure raised above bodily and worldly things. this is the source of wisdom to the angels; and such wisdom as is called incomprehensible, because it does not fall into ideas that are wholly made up of what is material. {footnote 1} man does not think, as angels do, apart from the idea of time (n. 3404). 170. xix. representatives and appearances in heaven. the man who thinks from natural light alone is unable to comprehend that there is any thing in heaven like what is in the world; and for the reason that from natural light he has previously thought, and established himself in the idea, that angels are nothing but minds, and that minds are like ethereal breaths, having no senses like those of men, thus no eyes, and if no eyes no objects of sight; and yet the angels have every sense that a man has, and far more exquisite senses; and the light by which angels see is far brighter than the light by which man sees. that angels are men in the most complete form, and enjoy every sense, may be seen above (n. 73-77); and that the light in heaven is far brighter than the light in the world (n. 126-132). 171. the nature of the objects that are visible to angels in heaven cannot be described in a few words. for the most part they are like things on earth, but in form far more perfect, and in number more abundant. that such things exist in the heavens is evident from things seen by the prophets,--as by ezekiel in relation to the new temple and the new earth (as described from chaps. 40 to 48); by daniel (from chap. 7 to 12); by john (from the first chapter of the apocalypse to the last); and by others, as described both in the historic and the prophetic part of the word. these things were seen by them when heaven was open to them, and heaven is said to be opened when the interior sight, which is the sight of man's spirit, is opened. for what is in the heavens cannot be seen by the eyes of a man's body, but are seen by the eyes of his spirit; and when it seems good to the lord these are opened, and man is then withdrawn from the natural light that he is in from the bodily senses and is raised up into spiritual light, which he is in from his spirit. in that light the things in heaven have been seen by me. 172. but although the things seen in heaven are in large part like those on the earth, in essence they are unlike them; for the things in heaven come forth from the sun of heaven, and those on the earth from the sun of the world. the things that come forth from the sun of heaven are called spiritual; those that come forth from the sun of the world are called natural. 173. the things that come forth in heaven do not come forth in the same manner as those on the earth. all things in heaven come forth from the lord in correspondence with the interiors of the angels. for angels have both interiors and exteriors. all things in their interiors have relation to love and faith, thus to the will and understanding, since the will and understanding are their receptacles; while their exteriors correspond to their interiors. that exterior things correspond to interior things may be seen above (n. 87-115). this is illustrated by what has been said above about the heat and light of heaven, that angels have heat in accordance with the quality of their love, and light in accordance with the quality of their wisdom (n. 128-134). the like is true of all other things that present themselves to the senses of angels. 174. when i have been permitted to be in company with angels, the things there appeared precisely the same as those in the world; and so plainly that i would not have known that i was not in the world and in a king's palace. i also talked with the angels as man with man. 175. as all things that correspond to interiors also represent them they are called representatives; and as they differ in each case in accordance with the state of the interiors they are called appearances. nevertheless, the things that appear before the eyes of angels in heaven and are perceived by their senses appear to their eyes and senses as fully living as things on earth appear to man, and even much more clearly, distinctly and perceptibly. appearances from this source in heaven are called real appearances, because they have real existence. there are appearances also that are not real, which are things that become visible, but do not correspond to interiors.{1} these will be treated of further on. {footnote 1} all things that are visible to the angels are representative (n. 1971, 3213-3226, 3342, 3457, 3475, 3485, 9481, 9457, 9576, 9577). the heavens are full of representatives (n. 1521, 1532, 1619). the representatives are more beautiful as they are more interior in the heavens (n. 3475). as the representatives there are from the light of heaven they are real appearances (n. 3485). the divine influx is turned into representatives in the higher heavens, and therefrom in the lower heavens also (n. 2179, 3213, 9457, 9481, 9576, 9577). those things are called representative that appear before the eyes of the angels in such form as are in nature, that is, such as are in the world (n. 9457). internal things are thus turned into external (n. 1632, 2987-3002). what representatives in the heavens are; this made clear by various examples (n. 1521, 1532, 1619-1628, 1807, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1981, 2299, 2601, 2761, 2762, 3217, 3219, 3220, 3348, 3350, 5198, 9090, 10276). all things seen in the heavens are in accordance with correspondences and are called representatives (n. 3213-3226, 3342, 3475, 3485, 9481, 9457, 9576, 9577). all things that correspond also represent and likewise signify what they correspond to (n. 2896, 2987, 2989-2991, 3002, 3225). 176. to show what the things are that appear to the angels in accordance with correspondences, i will here mention one only for the sake of illustration. by those who are intelligent, gardens and parks full of trees and flowers of every kind are seen. the trees are planted in a most beautiful order, combined to form arbors with arched approaches and encircling walks, all more beautiful than words can describe. there the intelligent walk, and gather flowers and weave garlands with which they adorn little children. moreover, there are kinds of trees and flowers there that are never seen and cannot exist on earth. the trees bear fruit that are in accordance with the good of love, in which the intelligent are. these things are seen by them because a garden or park and fruit trees and flowers correspond to intelligence and wisdom.{1} that there are such things in heaven is known also on the earth, but only to those who are in good, and who have not extinguished in themselves the light of heaven by means of natural light and its fallacies; for when such think about heaven they think and say that there are such things there as ear hath not heard and eye hath not seen. {footnote 1} a "garden" or "park" signifies intelligence and wisdom (n. 100, 108, 3220). what is meant by "the garden of eden" and "the garden of jehovah" (n. 99, 100, 1588). how magnificent the things seen in parks are in the other life (n. 1122, 1622, 2296, 4528, 4529). "trees" signify perceptions and knowledges, from which wisdom and intelligence are derived (n. 103, 2163, 2682, 2722, 2972, 7692). "fruits" signify goods of love and goods of charity (n. 3146, 7690, 9337). 177. xx. the garments with which angels appear clothed. since angels are men, and live among themselves as men do on the earth, they have garments and dwellings and other such things, with the difference, however, that as they are in a more perfect state all things with them are in greater perfection. for as angelic wisdom surpasses human wisdom to such a degree as to be called ineffable, so is it with all things that are perceived and seen by angels, inasmuch as all things perceived and seen by them correspond to their wisdom (see above, n. 173). 178. the garments with which angels are clothed, like all other things with them, correspond; and because they correspond they have real existence (see above n. 175). their garments correspond to their intelligence, and therefore all in the heavens appear clothed in accordance with their intelligence; and as one is more intelligent than another so the garments of one surpass those of another. the most intelligent have garments that blaze as if with flame, others have garments that glisten as if with light; the less intelligent have garments that are glistening white or white without the effulgence; and the still less intelligent have garments of various colors. but the angels of the inmost heaven are not clothed. 179. as the garments of angels correspond to their intelligence they correspond also to truth, since all intelligence is from divine truth; and therefore it is the same thing whether you say that angels are clothed in accordance with intelligence or in accordance with divine truth. the garments of some blaze as if with flame, and those of others glisten as if with light, because flame corresponds to good, and light corresponds to truth from good.{1} some have garments that are glistening white and white without the effulgence, and others garments of various colors, because with the less intelligent the divine good and truth are less effulgent, and are also received in various ways,{2} glistening white and white corresponding to truth,{3} and colors to its varieties.{4} those in the inmost heaven are not clothed, because they are in innocence, and innocence corresponds to nakedness.{5} {footnote 1} from correspondence "garments" in the word signify truths (n. 1073, 2576, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216, 9952, 10536). for the reason that truths clothe good (n. 5248). a "covering" signifies something intellectual, because the intellect is the recipient of truth (n. 6378). "shining garments of fine linen" signify truths from the divine (n. 5319, 9469). "flame" signifies spiritual good, and the light therefrom truth from that good (n. 3222, 6832). {footnote 2} angels and spirits appear clothed with garments in accordance with their truths, thus in accordance with their intelligence (n. 165, 5248, 5954, 9212, 9216, 9814, 9952, 10536). the garments of some angels are resplendent, others are not (n. 5248). {footnote 3} in the word "glistening white" and "white" signify truth because they are from light in heaven (n. 3301, 3993, 4007). {footnote 4} colors in heaven are variegations of the light there (n. 1042, 1043, 1053, 1624, 3993, 4530, 4742, 4922). colors signify various things pertaining to intelligence and wisdom (n. 4530, 4677, 4922, 9466). the precious stones in the urim and thummim signified, in accordance with their colors, all things of truth from good in the heavens (n. 9865, 9868, 9905). so far as colors partake of red they signify good; so far as they partake of white they signify truth (n. 9466). {footnote 5} all in the inmost heavens are innocences, and in consequence appear naked (n. 154, 165, 297, 2736, 3887, 8375, 9960). innocence is presented in heaven as nakedness (n. 165, 8375, 9960). to the innocent and the chaste nakedness is no shame, because without offence (n. 165, 213, 8375). 180. as in heaven the angels are clothed with garments, so when seen in the world they have appeared clothed with garments, as those seen by the prophets and those seen at the lord's sepulchre: whose appearance was as lightning, and their garments glistening and white (matt. 28:3; mark 16:5; luke 24:4; john 20:12, 13); and those seen in heaven by john: who had garments of fine linen and white (apoc. 4:4; 19:14). and because intelligence is from divine truth: the garments of the lord, when he was transfigured, were radiant and glistening white like the light (matt. 17:2; mark 9:3; luke 9:29). as light is divine truth going forth from the lord (see above, n. 129), so in the word garments signify truths and intelligence from truths, as in the apocalypse: those that have not defiled their garments shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. he that overcometh shall be clothed in white garments (3:4, 5); blessed is he that is awake and keepeth his garments (16:15). and of jerusalem, which means a church that is in truth,{1} it is written in isaiah: awake, put on thy strength, o zion; put on the garments of thy beauty, o jerusalem (52:1). and in ezekiel: jerusalem, i girded thee about with fine linen, and covered thee with silk. thy garments were of fine linen and silk (16:10, 13); besides many other passages. but he who is not in truths is said "not to be clothed with a wedding garment," as in matthew: when the king came in he saw a man that had not on a wedding garment; and he said unto him, friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? wherefore he was cast out into the outer darkness (22:11-13). the house of the wedding feast means heaven and the church because of the conjunction of the lord with heaven and the church by means of his divine truth; and for this reason the lord is called in the word the bridegroom and husband; and heaven, with the church, is called the bride and the wife. {footnote 1} "jerusalem" signifies a church in which there is genuine doctrine (n. 402, 3654, 9166). 181. that the garments of angels do not merely appear as garments, but are real garments, is evident from the fact that angels both see them and feel them, that they have many garments, and that they put them off and put them on, that they care for those that are not in use, and put them on again when they need them. that they are clothed with a variety of garments i have seen a thousand times. when i asked where they got their garments, they said from the lord, and that they receive them as gifts, and sometimes they are clothed with them unconsciously. they said also that their garments are changed in accordance with their changes of state, that in the first and second state their garments are shining and glistening white, and in the third and fourth state a little less bright; and this likewise from correspondence, because their changes of state have respect to intelligence and wisdom (of which see above, n. 154, 161). 182. as everyone in the spiritual world has garments in accordance with his intelligence, that is, in accordance with truths which are the source of intelligence, so those in the hells, because they have no truths, appear clothed in garments, but in ragged, squalid, and filthy garments, each one in accordance with his insanity; and they can be clothed in no others. it is granted them by the lord to be clothed, lest they be seen naked. 183. xxi. the places of abode and dwellings of angels. as there are societies in heaven and the angels live as men, they have also places of abode, and these differ in accordance with each one's state of life. they are magnificent for those in higher dignity, and less magnificent for those in lower condition. i have frequently talked with angels about the places of abode in heaven, saying that scarcely any one will believe at the present day that they have places of abode and dwellings; some because they do not see them, some because they do not know that angels are men, and some because they believe that the angelic heaven is the heaven that they see with their eyes around them, and as this appears empty and they suppose that angels are ethereal forms, they conclude that they live in ether. moreover, they do not comprehend how there can be such things in the spiritual world as there are in the natural world, because they know nothing about the spiritual. [2] the angels replied that they are aware that such ignorance prevails at this day in the world, and to their astonishment, chiefly within the church, and more with the intelligent than with those whom they call simple. they said also that it might be known from the word that angels are men, since those that have been seen have been seen as men; and the lord, who took all his human with him, appeared in like manner. it might be known also that as angels are men they have dwellings and places of abode, and do not fly about in air, as some think in their ignorance, which the angels call insanity, and that although they are called spirits they are not winds. this they said might be apprehended if men would only think independently of their acquired notions about angels and spirits, as they do when they are not bringing into question and submitting to direct thought whether it is so. for everyone has a general idea that angels are in the human form, and have homes which are called the mansions of heaven, which surpass in magnificence earthly dwellings; but this general idea, which flows in from heaven, at once falls to nothing when it is brought under direct scrutiny and inquiry whether it is so, as happens especially with the learned, who by their own intelligence have closed up heaven to themselves and the entrance of heavenly light. [3] the like is true of the belief in the life of man after death. when one speaks of it, not thinking at the same time about the soul from the light of worldly learning or from the doctrine of its reunion with the body, he believes that after death he is to live a man, and among angels if he has lived well, and that he will then see magnificent things and perceive joys; but as soon as he turns his thoughts to the doctrine of reunion with the body, or to his theory about the soul, and the question arises whether the soul be such, and thus whether this can be true, his former idea is dissipated. 184. but it is better to present the evidence of experience. whenever i have talked with angels face to face, i have been with them in their abodes. these abodes are precisely like abodes on the earth which we call houses, but more beautiful. in them there are chambers, parlors, and bedrooms in great number; there are also courts, and there are gardens and flower beds and lawns round about. where they live together their houses are near each other, arranged one next to the other in the form of a city, with avenues, streets, and public squares, exactly like cities on the earth. i have been permitted to pass through them, looking about on every side, and sometimes entering the houses. this occurred when my inner sight was opened, and i was fully awake.{1} {footnote 1} angels have cities, palaces and houses (n. 940-942, 1116, 1626-1631, 4622). 185. i have seen palaces in heaven of such magnificence as cannot be described. above they glittered as if made of pure gold, and below as if made of precious stones, some more splendid than others. it was the same within. both words and knowledge are inadequate to describe the decorations that adorned the rooms. on the side looking to the south there were parks, where, too, everything shone, in some places the leaves glistening as if made of silver, and fruit as if made of gold; while the flowers in their beds formed rainbows with their colors. beyond the borders, where the view terminated, were seen other palaces. such is the architecture of heaven that you would say that art there is in its art; and no wonder, because the art itself is from heaven. the angels said that such things and innumerable others still more perfect are presented before their eyes by the lord; and yet these things are more pleasing to their minds than to their eyes, because in everyone of them they see a correspondence, and through the correspondences what is divine. 186. as to these correspondences i have also been told that not only the palaces and houses, but all things and each thing, both inside and outside of them, correspond to the interior things which they have from the lord, the house itself in general corresponding to their good, the particular things inside of a house to the various things of which their good consists,{1} and the things outside to truths derived from good, and also to their perceptions and knowledges {2} and as these things correspond to the goods and truths they have from the lord they correspond to their love, and to their wisdom and intelligence from love, since love belongs to good, wisdom to good and truth together, and intelligence to truth from good. these are what the angels perceive when they behold what is around them, and thus their minds are more delighted and moved by them than their eyes. {footnote 1} "houses," with their contents, signify the things in man that belong to his mind, thus his interiors (n. 710, 2233, 2331, 2559, 3128, 3538, 4973, 5023, 6639, 6690, 7353, 7848, 7910, 7929, 9150); consequently the things relating to good and truth (n. 2233, 2331, 2559, 4982, 7848, 7929). "rooms" and "bed-chambers" signify interior things there (n. 3900, 5694, 7353). the "roof of a house" signifies what is inmost (n. 3652, 10184). a "house of wood" signifies what relates to good, and a "house of stone" what relates to truth (n. 3720). {footnote 2} a "garden" or "park" signifies intelligence and wisdom (n. 100, 108, 3220). what is meant by "the garden of eden" and "the garden of jehovah" (n. 99, 100, 1588). how magnificent the things seen in parks are in the other life (n. 1122, 1622, 2296, 4528, 4529). "trees" signify perceptions and knowledges, from which wisdom and intelligence are derived (n. 103, 2163, 2682, 2722, 2972, 7692). "fruits" signify goods of love and goods of charity (n. 3146, 7690, 9337). 187. this makes clear why the lord called himself the temple at jerusalem (john 2:19, 21),{1} namely, because the temple represented his divine human; also why the new jerusalem was seen to be of pure gold, its gates of pearls, and its foundations of precious stones (apoc. 21), namely, because the new jerusalem signifies the church which was afterwards to be established, the twelve gates its truths leading to good, and the foundations the truths on which the church is founded.{2} {footnote 1} in the highest sense "the house of god" signifies the lord's divine human in respect to divine good, and "the temple" the same in respect to divine truth; and in a relative sense, heaven and the church in respect to good and truth (n. 3720). {footnote 2} "jerusalem" signifies the church in which is genuine doctrine (n. 402, 3654, 9166). "gates" signify introduction to the doctrine of the church, and through doctrine introduction into the church (n. 2943, 4477, 4478). "foundation" signifies the truth on which heaven, the church, and doctrine are founded (n. 9643). 188. the angels of whom the lord's celestial kingdom consists dwell for the most part in elevated places that appear as mountains of soil; the angels of whom the lord's spiritual kingdom consists dwell in less elevated places that appear like hills; while the angels in the lowest parts of heaven dwell in places that appear like ledges of stone. these things spring from correspondence, for interior things correspond to higher things, and exterior things to lower things;{1} and this is why in the word "mountains" signify celestial love, "hills" spiritual love, and "rocks" faith.{2} {footnote 1} in the word what is interior is expressed by what is higher and what is higher signifies what is interior (n. 2148, 3084, 4599, 5146, 8325). what is "high" signifies what is internal, and likewise heaven (n. 1735, 2148, 4210, 4599, 8153). {footnote 2} in heaven, mountains, hills, rocks, valleys, and lands are seen exactly the same as in the world (n. 10608). on the mountains angels who are in the good of love dwell, on the hills those who are in the good of charity, on the rocks those who are in the good of faith (n. 10438). therefore in the word "mountains" signify the good of love (n. 795, 4210, 6435, 8327, 8758, 10438, 10608). "hills" signify the good of charity (n. 6435, 10438). "rocks" signify the good and truth of faith (n. 8581, 10580). "stone," of which rock consists, in like manner signifies the truth of faith (n. 114, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, 10376). this is why "mountains" signify heaven (n. 8327, 8805, 9420). and "the summit of a mountain" signifies the highest part of heaven (n. 9422, 9434, 10608). also why the ancients had their holy worship on mountains (n. 796, 2722). 189. there are also angels who do not live associated together, but apart, house by house. these dwell in the midst of heaven, since they are the best of angels. 190. the houses in which angels dwell are not erected, as houses in the world are, but are given to them gratuitously by the lord, to everyone in accordance with his reception of good and truth. they also change a little in accordance with changes of the state of interiors of the angels (of which above, n. 154-160). everything whatsoever that the angels possess they hold as received from the lord; and everything they have need of is given them. 191. xxii. space in heaven. all things in heaven appear, just as in the world, to be in place and in space, and yet the angels have no notion or idea of place and space. as this must needs sounds like a paradox, i will endeavor to present the matter in a clear light, as it is of great importance. 192. all changes of place in the spiritual world are effected by changes of state of the interiors, which means that change of place is nothing else than change of state.{1} in this way i have been taken by the lord into the heavens and also to the earths in the universe; and it was my spirit that so journeyed, while my body remained in the same place.{2} such are all movements of the angels; and in consequence they have no distances, and having no distances they have no spaces, but in place of spaces they have states and their changes. {footnote 1} in the word places and spaces signify states (n. 2625, 2837, 3356, 3387, 7381, 10580); from experience (n. 1274, 1277, 1376-1381, 4321, 4882, 10146, 10580). distance signifies difference of state of life (n. 9104, 9967). in the spiritual world movements and changes of place are changes of the state of life, because they originate in these (n. 1273-1275, 1377, 3356, 9440). the same is true of journeyings (n. 9440, 10734); illustrated by experience (n. 1273-1277, 5605). for this reason "to journey" signifies in the word to live and progress in life; and "to sojourn has a like meaning (n. 3335, 4554, 4585, 4882, 5493, 5605, 5996, 8345, 8397, 8417, 8420, 8557). to go with the lord means to live with him (n. 10567). {footnote 2} man may be led a long distance in respect to his spirit by means of changes of state, while his body remains in its place, also from experience (n. 9440, 9967, 10734). what it is to be "led by the spirit to another place" (n. 1884). 193. as changes of place are thus effected it is evident that approaches are likenesses of state of the interiors, and separations are unlikenesses; and for this reason those are near each other who are in like states, and those are at a distance who are in unlike states; and spaces in heaven are simply the external conditions corresponding to the internal states. for the same reason the heavens are distinct from each other, also the societies of each heaven and the individuals in each society; and this is why also that the hells are entirely separated from the heavens, because they are in a contrary state. 194. for the same reason, again, any one in the spiritual world who intensely desires the presence of another comes into his presence, for he thereby sees him in thought, and puts himself in his state; and conversely, one is separated from another so far as he is averse to him. and since all aversion comes from contrariety of affection and from disagreement of thought, whenever in that world several are together in one place they are visible [to one another] so long as they agree, but vanish as soon as they disagree. 195. again, when any one goes from one place to another, whether it be in his own city, or in courts or in gardens, or to others out of his own society, he arrives more quickly when he eagerly desires it, and less quickly when he does not, the way itself being lengthened and shortened in accordance with the desire, although it remains the same. this i have often seen to my surprise. all this again makes clear how distances, and consequently spaces, are wholly in accord with states of the interiors of the angels;{1} and this being so, no notion or idea of space can enter their thought, although there are spaces with them equally as in the world. {footnote 1} places and spaces are presented to the sight in accordance with the states of the interiors of angels and spirits (n. 5605, 9440, 10146). 196. this can be illustrated by the thoughts of man, in that space does not pertain to thought, for whatever is thought of intently is set before one as present. again, whoever reflects about it knows that his sight recognizes space only by intermediate objects on the earth that are seen at the same time, or by recalling what he already knows about the distance. this happens because of the continuity; and in what is continuous there is no appearance of distance except from things not continuous. this is even more true of the angels, because their sight acts as one with their thought, and their thought acts as one with their affection, and things appear near or remote, and also varied, in accordance with the states of their interiors, as has been said above. 197. it follows from this that in the word places and spaces, and all things that in any way relate to space, signify such things as relate to states, such as distances, near, far off, ways, journeys, sojourning, miles and furlongs, plains, fields, gardens, cities and streets, motions, measures of various kinds, long, broad, high, and deep, and innumerable other things; for most things in man's thought from the world take on something from space and time. [2] i will mention here only what is signified in the word by length, breadth, and height. in this world, that is called long or broad which is long or broad in relation to space, and the same is true of height. but in heaven, where there is no thought from space, length means a state of good, breadth a state of truth, and height the distinction between them in accordance with degrees (see n. 38). such is the meaning of these three dimensions, because length in heaven is from east to west, and those that dwell there are in good of love; while breadth in heaven is from south to north, and those that dwell there are in truth from good (see n. 148); while height in heaven applies to both of these in respect to degrees. this is why length, breadth, and height have these significations in the word, as in ezekiel (from chap. 40 to 48), where the new temple and the new earth, with the courts, chambers, gates, doors, windows, and surroundings are described by measures giving the length, breadth, and height, by which a new church, and the goods and truths that are in it are signified. otherwise to what purpose would be all those measures? [3] in like manner the new jerusalem is described in the apocalypse in these words: the city lieth foursquare, and the length thereof is as great as the breadth; and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs; the length, the breadth, and the height are equal (21:16). because "the new jerusalem" here signifies a new church these measures signify the things of the church, "length" its good of love, "breadth" truth from that good, "height" good and truth in respect to degrees, "twelve thousand furlongs" all good and truth in the complex. otherwise, how could there be said to be a height of twelve thousand furlongs, the same as the length and the breadth? that "breadth" in the word signifies truth is evident from david: jehovah, thou hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy, thou hast made my feet to stand in a broad place (psalm 31:8). out of straitness i called upon jah; he answereth me in a broad place (psalm 118:5). besides other passages (as in isaiah 8:8; and in habakkuk 1:6). so in all other cases. 198. from all this it can be seen that although there are spaces in heaven as in the world, still nothing there is reckoned in accordance with spaces but in accordance with states; and in consequence spaces there cannot be measured as in the world, but can be seen only from the state and in accordance with the state of the interiors there.{1} {footnote 1} in the word length signifies good (n. 1613, 9487). "breadth" signifies truth (n. 1613, 3433, 3434, 4482, 9487, 10179). height signifies good and truth in respect to their degrees (n. 9489, 9773, 10181). 199. the primary and veriest cause of this is that the lord is present with everyone in the measure of his love and faith,{1} and that it is in accordance with the lord's presence that all things appear near or far away, for it is from this that all things in the heavens are determined. also it is through this that angels have wisdom, for it is through this that they have extension of thought and through this a sharing of all things in the heavens; in a word, it is through this that they think spiritually, and not naturally like men. {footnote 1} the conjunction and presence of the lord with the angels is according to their reception of love and charity from him (n. 290, 681, 1954, 2658, 2886, 2888, 2889, 3001, 3741-3743, 4318 4319, 4524, 7211, 9128). 200. xxiii. the form of heaven which determines affiliations and communications there. what the form of heaven is can be seen in some measure from what has been shown in the preceding chapters; as that heaven is like itself both in its greatest and in its least divisions (n. 72); that consequently each society is a heaven in a lesser form, and each angel in the least form (n. 51-58); that as the entire heaven reflects a single man, so each society of heaven reflects a man in a lesser form, and each angel in the least form (n. 59-77); that the wisest are at the center, and the less wise are round about even to the borders, and the like is true of each society (n. 43); and that those who are in the good of love dwell from the east to the west in heaven, and those who are in truths from good from the south to the north; and the same is true of each society (n. 148, 149). all this is in accord with the form of heaven; consequently it may be concluded from this what this form is in general.{1} {footnote 1} the entire heaven in respect to all angelic societies, is arranged by the lord in accordance with his divine order, since it is the divine of the lord with the angels that makes heaven (n. 3038, 7211, 9128, 9338, 10125, 10151, 10157). concerning the heavenly form (n. 4040-4043, 6607, 9877). 201. it is important to know what the form of heaven is, because not only is all affiliation there in accordance with it, but also all mutual communication, and in consequence of this all extension of thoughts and affections, and thus all the intelligence and wisdom of angels. from this it follows that each one there is wise just to the extent that he is in the form of heaven, and is thus a form of heaven. it makes no difference whether you say in the form of heaven, or in the order of heaven, since the form of any thing is from its order and in accordance with its order.{1} {footnote 1} the form of heaven is a form in accordance with the divine order (n. 4040-4043, 6607, 9877). 202. let us consider first what is meant by being in the form of heaven. man was created both in the image of heaven and in the image of the world; his internal in the image of heaven, and his external in the image of the world (see above, n. 57); and in the image means the same thing as in accordance with the form. but as man by the evils of his will and consequent falsities of thought has destroyed in himself the image of heaven, that is, the form of heaven, and in place of it has brought in the image and form of hell, his internal is closed up from his very birth; and this is why man is born into pure ignorance, while animals of every kind are not. and that man may have the image of heaven or form of heaven restored to him he must be taught the things that pertain to order; since form, as has been said, is in accord with order. the word contains all the laws of divine order, for its precepts are the laws of divine order; therefore to the extent that man knows these and lives in accordance with them his internal is opened and the order or image of heaven is there formed anew. this makes clear what is meant by being in the form of heaven, namely, that it is to live in accordance with those things that are in the word.{1} {footnote 1} divine truths are the laws of order (n. 2447, 7995). man is a man to the extent that he lives in accordance with order, that is, to the extent that he is in good in accordance with divine truths (n. 4839, 6605, 6626). all things of divine order are gathered up in man and he is from creation divine order in form (n. 4219, 4220, 4222, 4223, 4523, 4524, 5114, 6013, 6057, 6605, 6626, 9706, 10156, 10472). man is not born into good and truth, but into evil and falsity, that is, into the opposite of divine order, and consequently into pure ignorance; and for this reason he must needs be born anew that is, be regenerated, which is effected by means of divine truths from the lord, that he may be introduced into order (n. 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10283, 10284, 10286, 10731). when the lord forms man anew, that is, regenerates him, he arranges all things in him in accordance with order, which means, into the form of heaven (n. 5700, 6690, 9931, 10303). 203. so far as any one is in the form of heaven he is in heaven, and is, in fact, a heaven in the least form (n. 57); consequently he is to the same extent in intelligence and wisdom; for as has been said above, all the thought of his understanding and all the affection of his will extend themselves on every side into heaven in accord with its form, and wonderfully communicate with the societies there, and these in turn with him.{1} [2] there are some who do not believe that thoughts and affections really extend themselves around about them, but believe that they are within them, because whatever they think they see within in themselves, and not as distant; but such are greatly mistaken. for as the sight of the eye has extension to remote objects, and is affected in accordance with the order of the things seen in that extension, so the interior sight, which is that of the understanding, has a like extension in the spiritual world, although not perceived by man, for the reason given above (n. 196). the only difference is that the sight of the eye is affected in a natural way, because it is affected by the things in the natural world, while the sight of the understanding is affected in a spiritual way, because by the things in the spiritual world, all of which have relation to good and truth; and man's ignorance of this is because of his not knowing that there is any light that enlightens the understanding; and yet without the light that enlightens the understanding man could not think at all (of which light see above, n. 126-132). [3] there was a certain spirit who believed that his thought was from himself, thus without any extension outside of himself and communication thereby with societies outside of him. that he might learn that this was not true his communication with neighboring societies was cut off, and in consequence, not only was he deprived of thought but he fell down as if lifeless, although tossing his arms about like a new-born infant. after a while the communication was restored to him, and then as it was gradually restored he returned into the state of his thought. [4] when other spirits had seen this they confessed that all thought and affection, and in consequence, everything of life, flow in in accordance with communication, since everything of man's life consists in his ability to think and be moved by affection, or what is the same, in his ability to understand and will.{2} {footnote 1} everyone in heaven has communication of life, which may be called its extension into angelic societies round about, according to the quantity and quality of his good (n. 8794, 8797). thoughts and affections have such extension (n. 2470, 6598-6613). they are united and separated in accordance with the ruling affections (n. 4111). {footnote 2} there is only one life, from which all, both in heaven and in the world, live (n. 1954, 2021, 2536, 2658, 2886-2889, 3001, 3484, 3742, 5847, 6467). that life is from the lord above (n. 2886-2889, 3344, 3484, 4319, 4320, 4524, 4882, 5986, 6325, 6468-6470, 9276, 10196). it flows into angels, spirits, and men, in a wonderful manner (n. 2886-2889, 3337, 3338, 3484, 3742). the lord flows in from his divine love, which is such that what is its own it wills should be another's (n. 3472, 4320). for this reason life appears to be in man, and not flowing in (n. 3742, 4320). of the joy of angels, perceived and confirmed by what they told me, because of their not living from themselves but from the lord (n. 6469). the evil are unwilling to be convinced that life flows in (n. 3743). life from the lord flows in also with the evil (n. 2706, 3743, 4417, 10196). but they turn good into evil, and truth into falsity; for such as man is such is his reception of life illustrated (n. 4319, 4320, 4417). 204. but let it be understood that intelligence and wisdom vary with everyone in accordance with this communication, those whose intelligence and wisdom are formed out of genuine truths and goods having communication with societies in accordance with the form of heaven; while those whose intelligence and wisdom are not formed out of genuine truths and goods, and yet out of what is in accord therewith, have a broken and variously coherent communication, since it is not with societies that are in a series in which there is a form of heaven. on the other hand, those that are not in intelligence and wisdom, because they are in falsities from evil, have communication with societies in hell; and their extension is determined by the degree of their confirmation. let it also be known that this communication with societies is not such a communication with them as is clearly perceptible to those there, but is a communication with what they really are, which is in them and flows from them.{1} {footnote 1} thought pours itself into societies of spirits and of angels round about (n. 6600-6605). still it does not move or disturb the thoughts of the societies (n. 6601, 6603). 205. there is an affiliation of all in heaven in accordance with spiritual relationships, that is, relationships of good and truth in their order. it is so in the whole heaven; so in each society, and so in each house. because of this angels who are in like good and truth recognize each other, as relatives by blood and marriage do on the earth, precisely as if they had been acquainted from infancy. the good and truth in each angel, which constitute his wisdom and intelligence, are affiliated in like manner; they recognize each other in like manner, and as they recognize each other they join themselves together;{1} and in consequence those in whom truths and goods are thus joined in accordance with a form of heaven see things following one another in series, and how they cohere widely round about; but those in whom goods and truths are not conjoined in accordance with the form of heaven do not see this. {footnote 1} good recognizes its truth, and truth its good (n. 2429, 3101, 3102, 3161, 3179, 3180, 4358, 5704, 5835, 9637). in this way good and truth are conjoined (n. 3834, 4096, 4097, 4301, 4345, 4353, 4364, 4368, 5365, 7623-7627, 7752-7762, 8530, 9258, 10555). this is effected by influx from heaven (n. 9079). 206. in each heaven there is such a form, and in accordance with it the angels have communication and extension of thoughts and affections, and thus in accordance with it they have intelligence and wisdom. but the communication of one heaven with another is different, that is, of the third or inmost with the second or middle, and of this with the first or outmost. but the communication between the heavens should not be called communication but influx. about this something shall now be said. that there are three heavens distinct from each other can be seen above in its own chapter (n. 29-40). 207. that between one heaven and another there is influx but not communication can be seen from their relative position. the third or inmost heaven is above, the second or middle heaven is below, and the first or outmost heaven is still lower. there is a like arrangement in all the societies in each heaven, for example, some dwell on elevated places that appear like mountains (n. 188); on the top of which those of the inmost heaven dwell; below these are the societies of the second heaven, below these again the societies of the outmost heaven. the same is true every where, both in elevated places and in those not elevated. a society of a higher heaven has no communication with a society of a lower except by correspondences (see above, n. 100); and communication by correspondences is what is called influx. 208. one heaven is joined with another, or a society of one heaven with the society of another, by the lord alone, both by direct and by mediate influx, directly from himself, and mediately through the higher heavens in order into the lower.{1} as the conjunction of the heavens by this inflowing is from the lord alone there is a most careful precaution against any angel of a higher heaven looking down into a society of a lower heaven and talking with any one there; for the angel is thus immediately deprived of his intelligence and wisdom. the reason of this also shall be told. as there are three degrees of heaven, so each angel has three degrees of life, those in the inmost heaven having the third or inmost degree open, while the second and first degrees are closed; those in the middle heaven have the second degree opened and the first and third closed; and those in the lowest heaven have the first degree opened and the second and third closed. consequently, as soon as an angel of the third heaven looks down into a society of the second heaven and talks with any one there his third degree is at once closed; and as his wisdom resides in that degree, if that is closed he is deprived of his wisdom, for he has none in the second or first degree. this is what is meant by the words of the lord in matthew: he that is on the housetop, let him not go down to take what is in his house; and he that is in the field, let him not turn back to take his garment (24:17, 18). and in luke: in that day he that shall be on the housetop and his goods in the house, let him not go down to take them away; and he that is in the field let him not turn back. remember lot's wife (17:31, 32). {footnote 1} there is direct influx from the lord and mediate influx through heaven (n. 6063, 6307, 6472, 9682, 9683). there is a direct influx of the lord into the minutest parts of all things (n. 6058, 6474-6478, 8717, 8728). of the mediate influx of the lord through the heavens (n. 4067, 6982, 6985, 6996). 209. no influx is possible from the lower heavens into the higher, because this is contrary to order; but there is influx from the higher heavens into the lower. moreover, the wisdom of the angels of a higher heaven surpasses the wisdom of the angels of a lower heaven as a myriad to one; and this is another reason why the angels of a lower heaven cannot converse with those of a higher heaven; and in fact when they look towards them they do not see them, the higher heaven appearing like a cloudy something over their heads. but the angels of a higher heaven can see those in a lower heaven, although if permitted to talk with them they would lose their wisdom, as has been said above. 210. the thoughts and affections as well as the speech of the angels of the inmost heaven are never perceived in the middle heaven, because they so transcend what is there. but when it pleases the lord there is seen in the lower heavens from that source something like a flame, and from the thoughts and affections in the middle heaven there is seen in the outmost heaven something luminous, and sometimes a cloud glowing white and variegated. from that cloud, its ascent, descent, and form, what is being said there is in some measure known. 211. from all this it can be seen what the form of heaven is, namely, that it is the most perfect of all in the inmost heaven; in the middle heaven it is also perfect, but in a lower degree, and in the outmost heaven in a degree still lower; also that the form of one heaven has its permanent existence from another by means of influx from the lord. but what communication by influx is cannot be understood unless it is known what degrees of height are, and how they differ from degrees of length and breadth. what these different degrees are may be seen above (n 38). 212. when it comes to the particulars of the form of heaven and how it proceeds and flows, this not even the angels can comprehend. some conception of it can be gained from the form of all things in the human body, when this is scanned and investigated by an acute and wise man; for it has been shown above, in their respective chapters, that the entire heaven reflects a single man (see n. 59-72) and that all things in man correspond to the heavens (n. 87-102). how incomprehensible and inexplicable that form is is evident only in a general way from the nervous fibers, by which each part and all parts of the body are woven together. what these fibers are, and how they proceed and flow in the brain, the eye cannot at all perceive; for innumerable fibers are there so interwoven that taken together they appear like a soft continuous mass; and yet it is in accord with these that each thing and all things of the will and understanding flow with the utmost distinctness into acts. how again they interweave themselves in the body is clear from the various plexuses, such as those of the heart, the mesentery, and others; and also from the knots called ganglions, into which many fibers enter from every region and there intermingle, and when variously joined together go forth to their functions, and this again and again; besides like things in every viscus, member, organ, and muscle. whoever examines these fibers and their many wonders with the eye of wisdom will be utterly bewildered. and yet the things seen with the eye are few, and those not seen are still more wonderful because they belong to an inner realm of nature. it is clearly evident that this form corresponds to the form of heaven, because all the workings of the understanding and the will are within it and are in accordance with it; for it is in accordance with this form that whatever a man wills passes spontaneously into act, and whatever he thinks spreads through the fibers from their beginnings even to their terminations, which is the source of sensations; and inasmuch as it is the form of thought and will, it is the form of intelligence and wisdom. such is the form that corresponds to the form of heaven. and from this it can be known that such is the form in accordance with which every affection and thought of angels extends itself, and that so far as the angels are in that form they are in intelligence and wisdom. that this form of heaven is from the divine human of the lord can be seen above (n. 78-86). all this has been said to make clear also that the heavenly form is such that even as to its generals it can never be completely known, thus that it is incomprehensible even to the angels, as has been said above. 213. xxiv. governments in heaven. as heaven is divided into societies, and the larger societies consist of some hundreds of thousands of angels (n. 50), and all within a society, although in like good, are not in like wisdom (n. 43), it must needs follow that governments exist there, since order must be observed, and all things of order must be guarded. but the governments in the heavens differ; they are of one sort in societies that constitute the lord's celestial kingdom, and of another sort in the societies that constitute his spiritual kingdom; they differ also in accordance with the functions of the several societies. nevertheless, no other government than the government of mutual love is possible in the heavens, and the government of mutual love is heavenly government. 214. government in the lord's celestial kingdom is called righteousness because all in that kingdom are in the good of love to the lord from the lord, and whatever is from that good is called righteous. government there belongs to the lord alone. he leads them and teaches them in the affairs of life. the truths that are called truths of judgment are written on their hearts; everyone knows them, perceives them, and sees them;{1} and in consequence matters of judgment there never come into question, but only matters of righteousness, which belong to the life. about these matters the less wise consult the more wise, and these consult the lord and receive answers. their heaven, that is, their inmost joy, is to live rightly from the lord. {footnote 1} the celestial angels do not think and speak from truths, as the spiritual angels do, because they have from the lord a perception of all things of truth (n. 202, 597, 607, 784, 1121, 1384, 1398, 1442, 1919, 7680, 7877, 8780, 9277, 10336). in respect to truths the celestial angels say, yea, yea, or nay, nay; but the spiritual angels reason about them whether they are true or not (n. 2715, 3246, 4448, 9166, 10786, where the lord's words, let your speech be yea, yea, nay, nay; what is beyond these is from evil (matt. 5:37). are explained). 215. in the lord's spiritual kingdom the government is called judgment; because those in that kingdom are in spiritual good, which is the good of charity towards the neighbor, and that good in its essence is truth;{1} and truth pertains to judgment, as good pertains to righteousness.{2} these, too, are led by the lord, but mediately (n. 208); and in consequence they have governors, few or many according to the need of the society in which they are. they also have laws according to which they live together. the governors administer all things in accordance with the laws, which they understand because they are wise, and in doubtful matters they are enlightened by the lord. {footnote 1} those in the spiritual kingdom are in truths, and those in the celestial kingdom are in good (n. 863, 875, 927, 1023, 1043, 1044, 1555, 2256, 4328, 4493, 5113, 9596). the good of the spiritual kingdom is the good of charity towards the neighbor and this good in its essence is truth (n. 8042, 10296). {footnote 2} in the word "righteousness" is predicated of good, and "judgment" of truth therefore "to do righteousness and judgment" means good and truth (n. 2235, 9857). "great judgments" means the law of divine order, thus divine truths (n. 7206). 216. as government from good, which is the kind of government that exists in the lord's celestial kingdom, is called righteousness; and government from truth, which is the kind of government that exists in the lord's spiritual kingdom, is called judgment, so the terms "righteousness and judgment" are used in the word when heaven and the church are treated of, "righteousness" signifying celestial good, and "judgment" spiritual good, which good, as has been said above, is in its essence truth, as in the following passages: of peace there shall be no end upon the throne of david and upon his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it in judgment and in righteousness from henceforth and even to eternity (isaiah 9:7). by "david" here the lord is meant;{1} and by "his kingdom" heaven, as is evident from the following passage: i will raise unto david a righteous branch, and he shall reign as king, and shall deal intelligently and shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land (jer. 23:5). jehovah is exalted, for he dwelleth on high; he hath filled zion with judgment and righteousness (isaiah 33:5). "zion" also means heaven and the church.{2} i, jehovah, doing judgment and righteousness on the earth, for in these things i delight (jer. 9:24). i will betroth thee unto me forever, and i will betroth thee unto me in righteousness and judgment (hosea 2:19). o jehovah, in the heavens thy righteousness is like the mountains of god, and thy judgments are like the great deep (psalm 36:5, 6). they ask of me the judgments of righteousness, they long for an approach unto god (isaiah 58:2). so in other places. {footnote 1} by "david" in the prophetic parts of the word, the lord is meant (n. 1888, 9954). {footnote 2} in the word "zion" means the church, and specifically the celestial church (n. 2362, 9055). 217. in the lord's spiritual kingdom there are various forms of government, differing in different societies, the variety being in accord with the functions performed by the societies; and the functions of these are in accord with the functions of all things in man to which they correspond. that these are various is well known, the heart having one function, the lungs another, the liver another, the pancreas and spleen another, and each sensory organ another. as in the body these organs perform various services, so there are various services pertaining to the societies in the greatest man, which is heaven for the societies there correspond to these organs. that there is a correspondence of all things of heaven with all things of man may be seen in its own chapter above (n. 87-102). but all these forms of government agree in this, that they look to the public good as their end, and in that good to the good of the individual.{1} and this is so because everyone in the whole heaven is under the auspices of the lord, who loves all, and from divine love ordains that there shall be a common good, from which each individual shall receive his own good. each one, moreover, receives good according as he loves the common good; for so far as he loves the common good he loves all and everyone; and as that love is love of the lord he is to that extent loved by the lord, and good comes to him. {footnote 1} every man and every community, also one's country and the church and in the universal sense the kingdom of the lord, is a neighbor, and to do good to these from love of good in accordance with their state is to love the neighbor; that is, the neighbor is the good of these, which is the common good that must be consulted (n. 6818-6824, 8123). civil good also, which is justice, is a neighbor (n. 2915, 4730, 8120-8123). therefore charity towards the neighbor extends itself to all things and each thing of the life of man; and loving good and doing good from love of good and truth, and also doing what is just from a love of what is just in every function and in every work, is loving the neighbor (n. 2417, 8121-8124). 218. from all this it can be seen what the governors there are, namely, that they are such as are preeminent in love and wisdom, and therefore desire the good of all, and from wisdom know how to provide for the realization of that good. such governors do not domineer or dictate, but they minister and serve (to serve meaning to do good to others from a love of the good, and to minister meaning to see to it that the good is done); nor do they make themselves greater than others, but less, for they put the good of society and of the neighbor in the first place, and put their own good last; and whatever is in the first place is greater and what is last is less. nevertheless, the rulers have honor and glory; they dwell in the midst of the society, in higher position than the rest, and also in magnificent palaces; and this glory and honor they accept not for the sake of themselves but for the sake of obedience; for all there know that they have this honor and glory from the lord, and on that account should be obeyed. this is what is meant by the lord's words to his disciples: whosoever would become great among you let him be your minister; and whosoever would be first among you let him be your servant; as the son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister (matt. 20:27, 28). he that is greatest among you let him be as the least, and he that is chief as he that doth minister (luke 22:26). 219. also in each house there is a like government in a lesser form. in every house there is a master and there are servants; the master loves the servants and the servants love the master, consequently they serve each other from love. the master teaches how they ought to live, and tells what is to be done; the servants obey and perform their duties. to perform use is the delight of everyone's life. this shows that the lord's kingdom is a kingdom of uses. 220. also in the hells there are governments, for without governments they could not be kept in restraint; but the governments there are opposite to the governments in the heavens; they are governments of the love of self. everyone there wishes to dictate to others and to be over others. they hate those that do not favor them, and make them objects of their vengeance and fury, for such is the nature of the love of self. therefore the more malignant are set over them as governors, and these they obey from fear.{1} but of this below, where the hells are treated of. {footnote 1} there are two kinds of rule, one from love towards the neighbor the other from love of self (n. 10814). from the rule that is from love towards the neighbor flow all goods and all happinesses (n. 10160, 10814). in heaven no one desires to rule from the love of self, but all desire to minister, which means to rule from love to the neighbor; this is the source of their great power (n. 5732). from rule from the love of self all evils flow in (n. 10038). when the loves of self and the world had begun to prevail men were compelled to subject themselves to governments as a means of security (n. 7364, 10160, 10814). 221. xxv. divine worship in heaven. divine worship in the heavens is not unlike in externals divine worship on the earth, but in internals it is different. in the heavens, as on the earth, there are doctrines, preachings, and church edifices. in essentials the doctrines there are everywhere the same; but in the higher heavens they contain more interior wisdom than in the lower. the preachings are in harmony with the doctrines; and as they have houses and palaces (n. 183-190), so they have also church edifices, in which there is preaching. such things exist in heaven, because the angels are being perfected continually in wisdom and love. for they possess, as men do, understanding and will; and both their understanding and their will are capable of being continually perfected, the understanding by means of truths of intelligence, and the will by means of the goods of love.{1} {footnote 1} the understanding is receptive of truth, and the will of good (n. 3623, 6125, 7503, 9300, 9930). as all things have relation to truth and good, so everything of man's life has relation to understanding and will (n. 803, 10122). angels are perfected to eternity (n. 4803, 6648). 222. but essential divine worship in the heavens does not consist in going to church and hearing preaching, but in a life of love, charity, and faith, in accordance with doctrine; preachings in churches serve solely as means of instruction in matters of life. i have talked with angels on this subject, and have told them that it is believed in the world that divine worship consists solely in attending church, listening to the preaching, observing the sacrament of the supper three or four times a year, and performing other acts of worship according to the requirements of the church; also devoting special times to prayers, and at such times, behaving devoutly. the angels said that these are outward acts that ought to be done, but are of no avail unless there is an internal from which they proceed, which is a life in accordance with the precepts that doctrine teaches. 223. that i might learn about their meeting in places of worship, i have been permitted at times to attend and to hear the preaching. the preacher stands in a pulpit at the east. those who are in the light of wisdom more than others sit in front of him; those who are in less light sit to the right and left of these. there is a circular arrangement of the seats, so that all are in the preacher's view, no one so sitting at either side as to be out of his view. at the entrance, which is at the east of the building and on the left of the pulpit, those stand who are being initiated. no one is permitted to stand behind the pulpit; when there is any one there the preacher becomes confused. it is the same if any one in the congregation dissents; and for this reason the dissenter must needs turn away his face. the wisdom of the preachings is such as to be above all comparison with the preachings of this world, for those in the heavens are in interior light. the church edifices in the spiritual kingdom are apparently built of stone, and those in the celestial kingdom of wood; because stone corresponds to truth, and those who are in the spiritual kingdom are in truth, while wood corresponds to good, and those in the celestial kingdom are in good.{1} in that kingdom the sacred edifices are not called churches but houses of god. in that kingdom they are without magnificence; but in the spiritual kingdom they are more or less magnificent. {footnote 1} "stone" signifies truth (n. 114, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, 10376). "wood" signifies good (n. 643, 3720, 8354). for this reason the most ancient people, who were in celestial good, had sacred buildings of wood (n. 3720). 224. i have also talked with one of the preachers about the holy state in which those are who listen to the preaching in the churches. he said that everyone is pious, devout, and holy in harmony with his interiors, which pertain to love and faith, for holiness itself is in love and faith, because the divine of the lord is in them. he also said that he did not know what outward holiness is apart from love and faith; and when he thought about it he said that perhaps it is something counterfeiting holiness in outward appearance, either conventional or hypocritical; and that such holiness is kindled and sustained by spurious fire from the love of self and the world. 225. all the preachers are from the lord's spiritual kingdom; none are from the celestial kingdom. they are from the spiritual kingdom because the angels there are in truths from good, and all preaching must be from truths. there are no preachers from the celestial kingdom because those who are there are in the good of love, and they see and perceive truths from good, but do not talk about them. but although the angels in the celestial kingdom perceive and see truths there are preachings there, since by means of preachings they are enlightened in the truths that they already know, and are perfected by many truths that they did not know before. as soon as they hear truths they acknowledge them and thus perceive them; and the truths they perceive they love, and by living in accordance with them they make them to be of their life, declaring that living in accordance with truths is loving the lord.{1} {footnote 1} loving the lord and the neighbor is living in accordance with the lord's commandments (n. 10143, 10153, 10310, 10578, 10645, 10683). 226. all preachers are appointed by the lord, and have therefrom a gift for preaching. no others are permitted to preach in the churches. they are not called priests, but preachers. they are not called priests because the celestial kingdom is the priesthood of heaven; for priesthood signifies the good of love to the lord, and those in the celestial kingdom are in that good; while the spiritual kingdom is the kingship of heaven, for kingship signifies truth from good, and those in the spiritual kingdom are in that truth (see above, n. 24).{1} {footnote 1} priests represented the lord in respect to the divine good, kings in respect to divine truth (n. 2015, 6148). therefore, in the word a "priest" signifies those who are in the good of love to the lord, and the priesthood signifies that good (n. 9806, 9809). a "king" in the word signifies those who are in divine truth, and therefrom kingship signifies truth from good (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044). 227. the doctrines with which their preachings are in accord all look to life as their end, and none look to faith separate from the life. the doctrine of the inmost heaven is more full of wisdom than the doctrine of the middle heaven, and this more full of intelligence than the doctrine of the outmost heaven; for in each heaven the doctrines are adapted to the perceptions of the angels. the essential of all doctrines is acknowledging the divine human of the lord. 228. xxvi. the power of the angels of heaven. that the angels possess power cannot be comprehended by those who know nothing about the spiritual world and its influx into the natural world. such think that angels can have no power because they are spiritual and are even so pure and unsubstantial that no eye can see them. but those who look more interiorly into the causes of things take a different view. such know that all the power that a man has is from his understanding and will (for apart from these he is powerless to move a particle of his body), and his understanding and will are his spiritual man. this moves the body and its members at its pleasure; for whatever it thinks the mouth and tongue speak, and whatever it wills the body does; and it bestows its strength at pleasure. as man's will and understanding are ruled by the lord through angels and spirits, so also are all things of his body, because these are from the will and understanding; and if you will believe it, without influx from heaven man cannot even move a step. that this is so has been shown me by much experience. angels have been permitted to move my steps, my actions, and my tongue and speech, as they pleased, and this by influx into my will and thought; and i have learned thereby that of myself i could do nothing. i was afterwards told by them that every man is so ruled, and that he can know this from the doctrine of the church and from the word, for he prays that god may send his angels to lead him, direct his steps, teach him, and inspire in him what to think and what to say, and other like things; although he says and believes otherwise when he is thinking by himself apart from doctrine. all this has been said to make known what power angels have with man. 229. but so great is the power of angels in the spiritual world that if i should make known all that i have witnessed in regard to it it would exceed belief. any obstruction there that ought to be removed because it is contrary to divine order the angels cast down or overthrow merely by an effort of the will and a look. thus i have seen mountains that were occupied by the evil cast down and overthrown, and sometimes shaken from end to end as in earthquakes; also rocks cleft asunder to their bottoms, and the evil who were upon them swallowed up. i have seen also hundreds of thousands of evil spirits dispersed by angels and cast down into hell. numbers are of no avail against them; neither are devices, cunning, or combinations; for they see through them all, and disperse them in a moment. (but more may be seen on this subject in the account of the destruction of babylon.) such power do angels have in the spiritual world. it is evident from the word that they have like power in the natural world also when it is permitted; for instance, that they have given to destruction entire armies; and that they brought on a pestilence from which seventy thousand men died. of this angel it is said: the angel stretched out his hand against jerusalem to destroy it but jehovah repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, it is enough, now stay thy hand. and david saw the angel that smote the people (2 samuel 24:16, 17); besides other passages. because the angels have such power they are called powers; as in david: bless jehovah, ye angels, mighty in power (psalm 103:20). 230. but it must be understood that the angels have no power whatever from themselves, but that all their power is from the lord; and that they are powers only so far as they acknowledge this. whoever of them believes that he has power from himself instantly becomes so weak as not to be able to resist even a single evil spirit. for this reason angels ascribe no merit whatever to themselves, and are averse to all praise and glory on account of any thing they do, ascribing all the praise and glory to the lord. 231. it is the divine truth that goes forth from the lord that has all power in the heavens, for the lord in heaven is divine truth united to divine good (see n. 126-140). to the extent that angels are receptions of this truth they are powers.{1} moreover each one is his own truth and his own good because each one is such as his understanding and will are. the understanding pertains to truth because everything of it is from truths, and the will pertains to good because everything of it is from goods; for whatever any one understands he calls truth, and whatever he wills he calls good. from this it is that everyone is his own truth and his own good.{2} therefore so far as an angel is truth from the divine and good from the divine he is a power, because to that extent the lord is in him. and as no one's good and truth are wholly like or the same as another's, since in heaven, as in the world, there is endless variety (n. 20), so the power of one angel is not like the power of another. those who constitute the arms in the greatest man, or heaven, have the greatest power because such are more in truths than others, and into their truths good flows from the entire heaven. moreover, the power of the whole man passes into the arms, and by means of these the whole body exercises its powers. it is for this reason that in the word "arms" and "hand" signify powers.{3} sometimes on this account a naked arm is seen in heaven so powerful as to be able to break in pieces everything in its way, even though it were a great rock on the earth. once it was moved towards me, and i perceived that it was able to crush my bones to atoms. {footnote 1} angels are called powers and are powers from their reception of divine truth from the lord (n. 9639). angels are recipients of divine truth from the lord and on this account are sometimes called "gods" in the word (n. 4295, 4402, 7268, 7873, 8192, 8301, 9160). {footnote 2} a man or an angel is his own good and his own truth, thus his own love and his own faith (n. 10298, 10367). he is his own understanding and his own will, for everything of life is there from; the life of good is from the will, and the life of truth is from the understanding (n. 10076, 10177, 10264, 10284). {footnote 3} the correspondence of the hands, arms, and shoulders, with the greatest man or heaven (n. 4931-4937). in the word, "arms" and hands signify power (n. 878, 3091, 4932, 4933, 6947, 10019). 232. it has been shown above (n. 137) that the divine truth that goes forth from the lord has all power, and that angels have power to the extent that they are receptions of divine truth from the lord. but angels are so far receptions of divine truth as they are receptions of divine good, for truths have all their power from good, and none apart from good. so, too, good has all its power through truths, and none apart from truths. power springs from the conjunction of these two. the same is true of faith and love; for it is the same whether you say truth or faith, since everything of faith is truth; also it is the same whether you say good or love, since everything of love is good.{1} the great power that angels have by means of truths from good is shown also from this, that when an evil spirit is merely looked at by the angels he falls into a swoon, and does not appear like a man, and this until the angel turns away his eyes. such an effect is produced by the look of the eyes of angels, because the sight of angels is from the light of heaven, and the light of heaven is divine truth (see above, n. 126-132). moreover, the eyes correspond to truths from good.{2} {footnote 1} all power in heaven is the power of truth from good, thus of faith from loves (n. 3091, 3563, 6423, 8304, 9643, 10019, 10182). all power is from the lord, because from him is every truth of faith and every good of love (n. 9327, 9410). this power is meant by the keys given to peter (n. 6344). it is divine truth going forth from the lord that has all power (n. 6948, 8200). this power of the lord is what is meant by "sitting at the right hand of jehovah" (n. 3387, 4592, 4933, 7518, 7673, 8281, 9133). the right had means power (n. 10019). {footnote 2} the eyes correspond to truths from good (n. 4403-4421, 4523-4534, 6923). 233. as truths from good have all power, so falsities from evil have no power at all;{1} and as all in hell are in falsities from evil they have no power against truth and good. but what power they have among themselves, and what power evil spirits have before they are cast into hell, will be told hereafter. {footnote 1} falsity from evil has no power, because truth from food has all power (n. 6784, 10481). 234. xxvii. the speech of angels. angels talk with each other just as men do in the world, and on various subjects, as on domestic matters, and on matters of the civil state, and of moral, and spiritual life. and there is no difference except that their talk is more intelligent than that of men, because it is from more interior thought. i have been permitted to associate with them frequently, and to talk with them as friend with friend, and sometimes as stranger with stranger; and as i was then in a state like theirs i knew no otherwise than that i was talking with men on the earth. 235. angelic speech, like human speech, is distinguished into words; it is also audibly uttered and heard; for angels, like men, have mouth, tongue, and ears, and an atmosphere in which the sound of their speech is articulated, although it is a spiritual atmosphere adapted to angels, who are spiritual. in their atmosphere angels breathe and utter words by means of their breath, as men do in their atmosphere.{1} {footnote 1} in the heavens there is respiration, but it is of an interior kind (n. 3884, 3885) from experience (n. 3884, 3885, 3891, 3893). there are differing respirations there, varying in accordance with their states (n. 1119, 3886, 3887, 3889, 3892, 3893). the evil are wholly unable to breathe in heaven, and they are suffocated if they go there (n. 3894). 236. in the entire heaven all have the same language, and they all understand one another, to whatever society, near or remote, they belong. language there is not learned but is instinctive with everyone, for it flows from their very affection and thought, the tones of their speech corresponding to their affections, and the vocal articulations which are words corresponding to the ideas of thought that spring from the affections; and because of this correspondence the speech itself is spiritual, for it is affection sounding and thought speaking. [2] any one who gives any thought to it can see that all thought is from affection which pertains to love, and that the ideas of thought are the various forms into which the general affection is distributed; for no thought or idea is possible apart from affection-the soul and life of thought is from affection. this enables angels to know, merely from another's speech, what he is-from the tone what his affection is, and from the vocal articulations or words what his mind is. the wiser angels know what the ruling affection is from a single series of words, for that affection is what they chiefly attend to. [3] it is known that each individual has a variety of affections, one affection when in joy, another when in grief, another when in sympathy and compassion, another when in sincerity and truth, another when in love and charity, another when in zeal or in anger, another when in simulation and deceit, another when in quest of honor and glory, and so on. but the ruling affection or love is in all of these; and for this reason the wiser angels, because they perceive that love, know from the speech the whole state of another. [4] this it has been granted me to know from much experience. i have heard angels disclosing the character of another's life merely from hearing him speak. they also said that from any ideas of another's thought they could know all things of his life, because from those ideas they know his ruling love, in which are all things in their order. they know also that man's book of life is nothing else. 237. angelic language has nothing in common with human languages except certain words that are the sounds of a specific affection; yet this is true not of the words themselves but of their sounds; on which subject something will be said in what follows that angelic language has nothing in common with human languages is evident from the fact that angels are unable to utter a single word of human language. this was tried but they could not do it, because they can utter nothing except what is in entire agreement with their affections; whatever is not in agreement is repugnant to their very life, for life belongs to affection, and their speech is from their life. i have been told that the first language of men on our earth coincided with angelic language because they had it from heaven; and that the hebrew language coincides with it in some respects. 238. as the speech of angels corresponds to their affection, and their affection belongs to their love, and as the love of heaven is love to the lord and love towards the neighbor (see above, n. 13-19), it is evident how choice and delightful their talk must be, affecting not the ears only but also the interiors of the mind of those who listen to it. there was a certain hard-hearted spirit with whom an angel spoke. at length he was so affected by what was said that he shed tears, saying that he had never wept before, but he could not refrain, for it was love speaking. 239. the speech of angels is likewise full of wisdom because it proceeds from their interior thoughts, and their interior thought is wisdom, as their interior affection is love, and in their speech their love and wisdom unite. for this reason their speech is so full of wisdom that they can express in a single word what man cannot express in a thousand words also the ideas of their thought include things that are beyond man's comprehension, and still more his power of expression. this is why the things that have been heard and seen in heaven are said to be ineffable, and such as ear hath never heard nor eye seen. [2] that this is true i have also been permitted to learn by experience. at times i have entered into the state in which angels are, and in that state have talked with them, and i then understood everything. but when i was brought back into my former state, and thus into the natural thought proper to man, and wished to recall what i had heard i could not; for there were thousands of things unadapted to the ideas of natural thought, and therefore inexpressible except by variegations of heavenly light, and thus not at all by human words. [3] also the ideas of thought of the angels from which their words spring are modifications of the light of heaven, and the affections from which the tones of the words spring are variations of the heat of heaven, the light of heaven being divine truth or wisdom, and the heat of heaven the divine good or love (see above, n. 126-140); and the angels have their affection from the divine love, and their thought from the divine wisdom.{1} {footnote 1} the ideas of angels, from which they speak, are expressed by wonderful variegations of the light of heaven (n. 1646, 3343, 3993). 240. because the speech of angels proceeds directly from their affection, and the ideas of their thought are the various forms into which their general affection is distributed (see above, n. 236), angels can express in a moment what a man cannot express in half an hour; also they can set forth in a few words what has been expressed in writing on many pages; and this, too, has been proved to me by much experience.{1} thus the angels' ideas of thought and the words of their speech make one, like effecting cause and effect; for what is in the ideas of thought as cause is presented in the words as effect, and this is why every word comprehends in itself so many things. also all the particulars of angelic thought, and thus of angelic speech, appear when presented to view like a thin wave or circumfluent atmosphere, in which are innumerable things in their order derived from angelic wisdom, and these enter another's thought and affect him. the ideas of thought of everyone, both angel and man, are presented to view in the light of heaven, whenever the lord pleases.{2} {footnote 1} angels can express by their speech in a moment more than a man can express by his in half an hour; and they can also express things that do not fall into the expressions of human speech (n. 1641-1643, 1645, 4609, 7089). {footnote 2} the innumerable things contained in one idea of thought (n. 1008, 1869, 4946, 6613-6618). the ideas of man's thought are opened in the other life, and what they are is presented to view to the life (n. 1869, 3310, 5510). what their appearance is (n. 6601, 8885). the ideas of angels of the inmost heaven present an appearance of flamy light (n. 6615). the ideas of angels of the outmost heaven present an appearance of thin white clouds (n. 6614). an angelic idea seen, from which there was a radiation towards the lord (n. 6620). ideas of thought extend themselves widely into the societies of angels round about (n. 6598-6613). 241. the speech of angels of the lord's celestial kingdom resembles the speech of the angels of his spiritual kingdom, but it is from more interior thought. celestial angels are in good of love to the lord, and therefore speak from wisdom; while spiritual angels are in the good of charity towards the neighbor, which in its essence is truth (n. 215), and therefore speak from intelligence, for wisdom is from good, and intelligence is from truth. for this reason the speech of celestial angels is like a gentle stream, soft, and as it were continuous; but the speech of spiritual angels is slightly vibratory and divided. the speech of celestial angels has much of the tones of the vowels u and o; while the speech of spiritual angels has much of the tones of e and i;{1} for the vowels stand for tone, and in the tone there is affection, the tone of the speech of angels corresponding to their affection, as has been said above (n. 236); while the vocal articulations, which are words, correspond to the ideas of thought which spring from affection. as the vowels are not essential to a language, but serve by means of tones to elevate the words to the various affections according to each one's state, so in the hebrew tongue the vowels are not expressed, and are also variously pronounced. from this a man's quality in respect to his affection and love is known to the angels. also in the speech of celestial angels there are no hard consonants, and it rarely passes from one consonant to another without the interposition of a word beginning with a vowel. this is why in the word the particle "and" is so often interposed, as can be seen by those who read the word in the hebrew, in which this particle is soft, beginning and ending with a vowel sound. again, in the word, in hebrew, it can in some measure be seen from the words used whether they belong to the celestial class or the spiritual class, that is, whether they involve good or truth. those involving good partake largely of the sounds of u and o, and also somewhat of a, while those involving truth partake of the sounds of e and i. because it is especially in tones that affections express themselves, so in human speech, when great subjects are discussed, such as heaven [caelum] and god [deus], those words are preferred that contain the vowels u and o; and musical tones, whenever such themes are to be expressed, rise to the same fullness; but not when less exalted themes are rendered. by such means musical art is able to express affections of various kinds. {footnote 1} [as these vowels are pronounced in european language. -tr.] 242. in angelic speech there is a kind of symphony that cannot be described;{1} which comes from the pouring forth and diffusion of the thoughts and affections from which speech flows, in accordance with the form of heaven, and all affiliation and all communication in heaven is in accordance with that form. that angels are affiliated in accordance with the form of heaven, and that their thoughts and affections flow in accordance with it may be seen above (n. 200-212). {footnote 1} in angelic speech there is a symphony with harmonious cadence (n. 1648, 1649, 7191). 243. speech like that in the spiritual world is inherent in every man in his interior intellectual part; but man does not know this, because this speech does not with man, as with angels, fall into words analogous to affection; nevertheless this is what causes man, when he enters the other life, to come into the same speech as spirits and angels, and thus to know how to speak without instruction.{1} but more on this subject hereafter. {footnote 1} there is spiritual or angelic speech belonging to man, though he does not know it (n. 4104). the ideas of the internal man are spiritual, but during his life in the world man perceives them naturally, because he then thinks in what is natural (n. 10236, 10237, 10551). man comes after death into his interior ideas (n. 3226, 3342, 3343, 10568, 10604). those ideas then form his speech (n. 2470-2479). 244. in heaven, as has been said above, all have one speech; but it is varied in this respect, that the speech of the wise is more interior and more full of variations of affections and ideas of thought, while the speech of the less wise is more external and less full; and the speech of the simple is still more external, consisting of words from which the meaning is to be gathered in the same way as when men are talking to one another. there is also speech by the face, terminating in something sonorous modified by ideas. again, there is speech in which heavenly representatives are mingled with the ideas, and go forth from ideas to sight. there is also speech by gestures that correspond to affections, and represent things like those expressed by their words. there is speech by means of the generals of affections and the generals of thoughts. there is speech like thunder; besides other kinds. 245. the speech of evil and infernal spirits is likewise natural to them because it is from affections; but it is from evil affections and consequent filthy ideas, to which angels are utterly averse. thus the modes of speaking in hell are opposite to those of heaven; and in consequence evil spirits cannot endure angelic speech, and angels cannot endure infernal speech. to the angels infernal speech is like a bad odor striking the nostrils. the speech of hypocrites, who are such as are able to feign themselves angels of light, resembles in respect to words the speech of angels, but in respect to affections and consequent ideas of thought it is the direct opposite. consequently, when the inner nature of their speech is perceived as wise angels perceive it, it is heard as the gnashing of teeth, and strikes with horror. 246. xxviii. the speech of angels with man. angels who talk with man do not talk in their own language, nor in any language unknown to man, but in the man's own language, or in some other language with which he is acquainted. this is so because when angels speak with man they turn themselves to him and conjoin themselves with him; and this conjunction of angel with man causes the two to be in like thought; and as man's thought coheres to his memory, and this is the source of his speech, the two have the same language. moreover, when an angel or a spirit comes to a man, and by turning to him is conjoined to him, he so enters into the entire memory of the man that he is scarcely conscious that he does not himself know whatever the man knows, including his languages. [2] i have talked with angels about this, and have said that perhaps they thought that they were addressing me in my mother tongue, since it is so perceived; and yet it was i and not they that spoke; and that this is evident from the fact that angels cannot utter a single word of human language (see n. 237); furthermore, human language is natural and they are spiritual, and spiritual beings cannot give expression to any thing in a natural way. to this they replied that they are aware that their conjunction with the man with whom they are speaking is with his spiritual thought; but because his spiritual thought flows into his natural thought, and his natural thought coheres to his memory, the language of the man and all his knowledge appear to them to be their own; and that this is so for this reason, that while it is the lord's pleasure that there should be such a conjunction with and sort of insertion of man into heaven, yet the state of man is now such that there can no longer be such conjunction with angels, but only with spirits who are not in heaven. [3] when i talked about this with spirits also they were unwilling to believe that it is the man that speaks, insisting that they spoke in man, also that man's knowledge is their knowledge and not the man's knowledge, consequently that everything that man knows is from them. i tried to convince them by many proofs that this is not true, but in vain. who are meant by spirits and who are meant by angels will be told further on when the world of spirits is treated of. 247. there is another reason why angels and spirits conjoin themselves so closely with man as not to know but that what is man's is their own, namely, that there is such conjunction between the spiritual world and the natural world in man that the two are seemingly one. but inasmuch as man has separated himself from heaven the lord has provided that there should be angels and spirits with each individual, and that man should be ruled by the lord through these. this is the reason for such close conjunction. it would have been otherwise if man had not separated himself; for in that case he might have been ruled by the lord through the general influx from heaven, without spirits and angels being adjoined to him. but this subject will be specially considered in what follows when the conjunction of heaven with man is treated of. 248. the speech of an angel or spirit with man is heard by him as audibly as the speech of man with man, yet by himself only, and not by others who stand near; and for the reason that the speech of an angel or spirit flows first into a man's thought, and by an inner way into his organ of hearing, and thus moves it from within; while the speech of man with man flows first into the air and by an outward way into his organ of hearing, and moves it from without. evidently, then, the speech of an angel or spirit with man is heard within him; but as the organs of hearing are thus equally moved, the speech is equally audible. that the speech of an angel or a spirit flows down from within even into the ear has been made clear to me by the fact that it flows also into the tongue, causing a slight vibration, but without any such motion as when the man himself by means of the tongue forms the sound of speech into words. 249. but at the present day to talk with spirits is rarely granted because it is dangerous;{1} for then the spirits know, what otherwise they do not know, that they are with man; and evil spirits are such that they hold man in deadly hatred, and desire nothing so much as to destroy him both soul and body, and this they do in the case of those who have so indulged themselves in fantasies as to have separated from themselves the enjoyments proper to the natural man. some also who lead a solitary life sometimes hear spirits talking with them, and without danger; but that the spirits with them may not know that they are with man they are at intervals removed by the lord; for most spirits are not aware that there is any other world than that in which they live, and therefore are unaware that there are men anywhere else; and this is why man is not permitted to speak with them in return. if he did they would know. again, those who meditate much on religious subjects, and are so intent upon them as to see them as it were inwardly within themselves, begin to hear spirits speaking with them; for religious persuasions, whatever they are, when man dwells upon them by himself and does not adapt them to the various things of use in the world, penetrate to the interiors and rest there, and occupy the whole spirit of the man, and even enter into the spiritual world and act upon the spirits there. but such persons are visionaries and enthusiasts; and whatever spirit they hear they believe to be the holy spirit, when, in fact, such spirits are enthusiastic spirits. such spirits see falsities as truths, and so seeing them they induce not themselves only but also those they flow into to believe them. such spirits, however, have been gradually removed, because they began to lure others into evil and to gain control over them. enthusiastic spirits are distinguished from other spirits by their believing themselves to be the holy spirit, and believing what they say to be divine. as man honors such spirits with divine worship they do not attempt to harm him. i have sometimes talked with them, and the wicked things they infused into their worshipers were then disclosed. they dwell together towards the left, in a desert place. {footnote 1} man is able to talk with spirits and angels; and the ancient people frequently talked with them (n. 67-69, 784, 1634, 1636, 7802). in some earths angels and spirits appear in human form and talk with the inhabitants (n. 10751, 10752). but on this earth at this day it is dangerous to talk with spirits, unless man is in true faith, and is led by the lord (n. 784, 9438, 10751). 250. but to speak with the angels of heaven is granted only to those who are in truths from good, especially to those who are in the acknowledgment of the lord and of the divine in his human, because this is the truth in which the heavens are. for, as it has been shown above, the lord is the god of heaven (n. 2-6); it is the divine of the lord that makes heaven (n. 7-12); the divine of the lord in heaven is love to him and charity towards the neighbor from him (n. 13-19); the whole heaven in one complex reflects a single man; also every society of heaven; and every angel is in complete human form, and this from the divine human of the lord (n. 59-86). all of which makes evident that only those whose interiors are opened by divine truths, even to the lord, are able to speak with the angels of heaven, since it is into these truths with man that the lord flows, and when the lord flows in heaven also flows in. divine truths open the interiors of man because man was so created as to be in respect to his internal man an image of heaven, and in respect to his external an image of the world (n. 57); and the internal man is opened only by means of divine truth going forth from the lord, because that is the light of heaven and the life of heaven (n. 126-140). 251. the influx of the lord himself into man is into his forehead, and from that into the whole face, because the forehead of man corresponds to love, and the face corresponds to all his interiors.{1} the influx of spiritual angels into man is into his head every where, from the forehead and temples to the whole part that contains the cerebrum, because that region of the head corresponds to intelligence; but the influx of celestial angels is into that part of the head that contains the cerebellum, and is called the occiput, from the ears all around even to the neck, for that region corresponds to wisdom. all the speech of angels with man enters by these ways into his thought; and by this means i have perceived what angels they were that spoke with me. {footnote 1} the "forehead" corresponds to heavenly love, and consequently in the word signifies that love (n. 9936). the "face" corresponds to the interiors of man, which belong to thought and affection (n. 1568, 2988 2989, 3631, 4796, 4797, 4800, 5165, 5168, 5695, 9306). the face is formed to correspondence with the interiors (n. 4791-4805, 5695). consequently the "face," in the word, signifies the interiors (n. 1999, 2434, 3527, 4066, 4796). 252. those who talk with the angels of heaven also see the things that exist in heaven, because they are then seeing in the light of heaven, for their interiors are in that light; also the angels through them see the things that are on the earth,{1} because in them heaven is conjoined to the world and the world is conjoined to heaven. for (as has been said above n. 246), when the angels turn themselves to man they so conjoin themselves to him as to be wholly unaware that what pertains to the man is not theirs--not only what pertains to his speech but also to his sight and hearing; while man, on the other hand, is wholly unaware that the things that flow in through the angels are not his. such was the conjunction that existed between angels of heaven and the most ancient people on this earth, and for this reason their times were called the golden age. because this race acknowledged the divine under a human form, that is, the lord, they talked with the angels of heaven as with their friends, and angels of heaven talked with them as with their friends; and in them heaven and the world made one. but after those times man gradually separated himself from heaven by loving himself more than the lord and the world more than heaven, and in consequence began to feel the delights of the love of self and the world as separate from the delights of heaven, and finally to such an extent as to be ignorant of any other delight. then his interiors that had been open into heaven were closed up, while his exteriors were open to the world; and when this takes place man is in light in regard to all things of the world, but in thick darkness in regard to all things of heaven. {footnote 1} spirits are unable to see through man any thing that is in this solar world, but they have seen through my eyes; the reason (n. 1880). 253. since those times it is only rarely that any one has talked with the angels of heaven; but some have talked with spirits who are not in heaven. this is so because man's interior and exterior faculties are such that they are turned either towards the lord as their common center (n. 124), or towards self, that is, backwards from the lord. those that are turned towards the lord are also turned towards heaven. but those that are turned towards self, are turned also towards the world. and to elevate these is a difficult matter; nevertheless the lord elevates them as much as is possible, by turning the love about; which is done by means of truths from the word. 254. i have been told how the lord spoke with the prophets through whom the word was given. he did not speak with them as he did with the ancients, by an influx into their interiors, but through spirits who were sent to them, whom he filled with his look, and thus inspired with the words which they dictated to the prophets; so that it was not influx but dictation. and as the words came forth directly from the lord, each one of them was filled with the divine and contains within it an internal sense, which is such that the angels of heaven understand the words in a heavenly and spiritual sense, while men understand them in a natural sense. thus has the lord conjoined heaven and the world by means of the word. how the lord fills spirits with the divine by his look has also been made clear. a spirit that has been filled by the lord with the divine does not know otherwise than that he is the lord, and that it is the divine that is speaking; and this continues until he has finished speaking. after that he perceives and acknowledges that he is a spirit, and that he spoke from the lord and not from himself. because this was the state of the spirits who spoke with the prophets they said that it was jehovah that spoke; the spirits even called themselves jehovah, as can be seen both from the prophetical and historical parts of the word. 255. that the nature of the conjunction of angels and spirits with man may be understood i am permitted to mention some notable things by which it may be elucidated and verified. when angels and spirits turn themselves to man they do not know otherwise than that the man's language is their own and that they have no other language; and for the reason that they are there in the man's language, and not in their own, which they have forgotten. but as soon as they turn themselves away from the man they are in their own angelic and spiritual language, and know nothing about the man's language. i have had a like experience when in company with angels and in a state like theirs. i then talked with them in their language and knew nothing of my own, having forgotten it; but as soon as i ceased to be present with them i was in my own language. [2] another notable fact is that when angels and spirits turn themselves to a man they are able to talk with him at any distance; they have talked with me at a considerable distance as audibly as when they were near. but when they turn themselves away from man and talk with each other man hears nothing at all of what they are saying, even if it be close to his ear. from this it was made clear that all conjunction in the spiritual world is determined by the way they turn. [3] another notable fact is that many spirits together can talk with a man, and the man with them; for they send one of their number to the man with whom they wish to speak, and the spirit sent turns himself to the man and the rest of them turn to their spirit and thus concentrate their thoughts, which the spirit utters; and the spirit then does not know otherwise than that he is speaking from himself, and they do not know otherwise than that they are speaking. thus also is the conjunction of many with one effected by turning.{1} but of these emissary spirits, who are also called subjects, and of communication by means of them, more will be said hereafter. {footnote 1} spirits sent from one society of spirits to other societies are called subjects (n. 4403, 5856). communications in the spiritual world are effected by such emissary spirits (n. 4403, 5856, 5983). a spirit when he is sent forth, and serves as a subject thinks from those by whom he is sent forth and not from himself (n. 5985-5987). 256. an angel or spirit is not permitted to speak with a man from his own memory, but only from the man's memory; for angels and spirits have a memory as well as man. if a spirit were to speak from his own memory with a man the man would not know otherwise than that the thoughts then in his mind were his own, although they were the spirit's thoughts. this would be like the recollection of something which the man had never heard or seen. that this is so has been given me to know from experience. this is the source of the belief held by some of the ancients that after some thousands of years they were to return into their former life, and into everything they had done, and in fact, had returned. this they concluded because at times there came to them a sort of recollection of things that they had never seen or heard. this came from an influx from the memory of spirits into their ideas of thought. 257. there are also spirits called natural and corporeal spirits. when these come to a man they do not conjoin themselves with his thought, like other spirits, but enter into his body, and occupy all his senses, and speak through his mouth, and act through his members, believing at the time that all things of the man are theirs. these are the spirits that obsess man. but such spirits have been cast into hell by the lord, and thus wholly removed; and in consequence such obsessions are not possible at the present time.{1} {footnote 1} external or bodily obsessions are not permitted at the present time, as they were formerly (n. 1983). but at present internal obsessions, which pertain to the mind, are permitted more than formerly (n. 1983, 4793). man is inwardly obsessed when he has filthy and scandalous thoughts about god and the neighbor, and is withheld from making them known only by external consideration, which are fear of the loss of reputation, honor, gain and fear of the law and of loss of life (n. 5990). of the devilish spirits who chiefly obsess the interiors of man (n. 4793). of the devilish spirits who long to obsess the exteriors of man; that such are shut up in hell (n. 2752, 5990). 258. xxix. writings in heaven. as the angels have speech, and their speech consists of words, they also have writings; and by writing as well as by speech they give expression to what is in their minds. at times i have had papers sent to me, traced with written words precisely like manuscripts in the world, and others like printed sheets; and i was able to read them in a like way, but was allowed to get from them only an idea here and there; for the reason that it is not in accordance with divine order for man to be taught by writings from heaven; but he must be taught by means of the word only; for it is only by means of the word that there is communication and conjunction of heaven with the world, thus of the lord with man. that papers written in heaven were seen also by the prophets is shown in ezekiel: when i looked, behold a hand was put forth by a spirit unto me, and a roll of a book was therein which he unrolled in my sight; it was written on the front and on the back (2:9, 10). and in john: i saw upon the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the back, sealed up with seven seals (apoc. 5:1). 259. the existence of writings in the heavens is a provision of the lord for the sake of the word; for the word in its essence is divine truth, and from it is all heavenly wisdom, both with men and with angels; for the word was dictated by the lord, and what is dictated by the lord passes through all the heavens in order and terminates with man. thereby it is adapted both to the wisdom of angels and the intelligence of men. thereby, too, the angels have a word, and read it the same as men do on the earth, and also draw from it their doctrinals, and preach from it (n. 221). it is the same word; but its natural sense, which is the sense of the letter with us, does not exist in heaven, but only the spiritual sense, which is its internal sense. what this sense is can be seen in the small treatise on the white horse spoken of in the apocalypse. 260. a little paper was at one time sent to me from heaven, on which there were a few words only written in hebrew letters, and i was told that every letter involved arcana of wisdom, and that these arcana were contained in the inflections and curvatures of the letters, and thus also in the sounds. this made clear to me what is signified by these words of the lord: verily i say unto you, until heaven and earth pass away, one iota or one tittle shall not pass away from the law (matt. 5:18). that the word in every tittle of it is divine is known in the church; but just where the divine lies hid in every tittle has not been known heretofore, and therefore shall be told. in the inmost heaven the writing consists of various inflected and circumflected forms, and the inflections and circumflections are in accordance with the forms of heaven. by means of these angels express the arcana of their wisdom, and also many things that they are unable to express in spoken words; and what is wonderful, the angels know this writing without training or a teacher, it being implanted in them like their speech (see n. 236); therefore this writing is heavenly writing. it is implanted because all extension of thoughts and affections and consequent communication of intelligence and wisdom of the angels proceeds in accordance with the form of heaven (n. 201); and for the same reason their writing flows into that form. i have been told that the most ancient people on this earth, before letters were invented, had such writing; and that it was transferred into the letters of the hebrew language, and these letters in ancient times were all inflected, and none of them, as at present, were bounded by straight lines. thus it is that in the word divine things and arcana of heaven are contained even in its iotas, points and tittles. 261. this writing in characters of a heavenly form is in use in the inmost heaven, the angels of which surpass all others in wisdom. by means of these characters they express the affections, from which thoughts flow and follow in order in accordance with the subject treated of. consequently these writings, which i have also been permitted to see, involve arcana which thought cannot exhaust. but such writings do not exist in the lower heavens. the writings there resemble the writings in the world, having like characters, and yet they are not intelligible to man, because they are in angelic language; and angelic language is such that it has nothing in common with human languages (n. 237), since by the vowels they express affections, and by the consonants the ideas of thought from the affections, and by the words from these the sense of the matter (see above, n. 236, 241). moreover, in this writing, which i have also seen, more is involved in a few words than a man can express in several pages. in this way they have the word written in the lower heavens; but in the inmost heaven in heavenly characters. 262. it is a notable fact that the writings in the heavens flow naturally from their very thoughts, and this so easily that the thought puts itself forth, as it were, and the hand never hesitates in the choice of a word, because both the words they speak and those they write correspond to the ideas of their thought; and all correspondence is natural and spontaneous. there are also writings in the heavens that exist without the aid of the hand, from mere correspondence with the thoughts; but these are not permanent. 263. i have also seen writings from heaven made up of mere numbers set down in order and in a series, just as in writings made up of letters and words; and i have been taught that this writing is from the inmost heaven, and that their heavenly writing (spoken of above, n. 260, 261), when the thought from it flows down, is set forth before the angels of the lower heavens in numbers, and that this numerical writing likewise involves arcana, some of which can neither be comprehended by thought nor expressed by words. for all numbers correspond, and have a meaning, the same as words do, in accordance with the correspondence;{1} yet with the difference that in numbers generals are involved, and in words particulars; and as one general involves innumerable particulars, so more arcana are involved in numerical writing than in literal writing. from this i could see that in the word numbers as well as words signify things. what the simple numbers signify, as 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, and what the compound numbers, as 20, 30, 50, 70, 100, 144, 1000, 10,000, 12,000, and others, may be seen in the arcana celestia, where they are treated of. in this writing in heaven, a number is always prefixed on which those following in a series depend as on their subject; for that number is as it were an index to the matter treated of, and from it is the determination of the numbers that follow to the particular point. {footnote 1} all numbers in the word signify things (n. 482, 487, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 6470, 6175, 9488, 9659, 10217, 10253). shown from heaven (n. 4495, 5265). composite numbers have the same signification as the simple numbers from which they result by multiplication (n. 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973). the most ancient people possessed heavenly arcana expressed in numbers forming a kind of computation of states of the church (n. 575). 264. those who know nothing about heaven, and who are unwilling to have any other idea of it than as of something purely atmospherical, in which the angels fly about as intellectual minds, having no sense of hearing or seeing, are unable to conceive that the angels have speech and writing; for they place the existence of everything real in what is material; and yet the writings in heaven have as real an existence as those in the world, and the angels there have everything that is useful for life and useful for wisdom. 265. xxx. the wisdom of the angels of heaven. the nature of angelic wisdom can scarcely be comprehended, because it so greatly transcends human wisdom that the two cannot be compared; and whatever is thus transcendent does not seem to be any thing. moreover, some truths that must enter into a description of it are as yet unknown, and until these become known they exist in the mind as shadows, and thus hide the thing as it is in itself. nevertheless, these truths can be known, and when known be comprehended, provided the mind takes any interest in them; for interest carries light with it because it is from love; and upon those who love the things pertaining to divine and heavenly wisdom light shines forth from heaven and gives enlightenment. 266. what the wisdom of the angels is can be inferred from the fact that they are in the light of heaven, and the light of heaven in its essence is divine truth or divine wisdom; and this light enlightens at the same time their inner sight, or sight of the mind, and their outer sight, or sight of the eyes. (that the light of heaven is divine truth or divine wisdom may be seen above, n. 126-133.) the angels are also in heavenly heat, which in its essence is divine good or divine love, and from that they have an affection and longing to become wise. (that the heat of heaven is divine good or divine love may be seen above, n. 133-140.) that the angels are in wisdom, even to the extent that they may be called wisdoms, follows from the fact that their thoughts and affections all flow in accordance with the heavenly form, and this form is the form of divine wisdom; also that their interiors, which are recipients of wisdom, are arranged in that form. (that the thoughts and affections of angels flow in accordance with the form of heaven, and consequently their intelligence and wisdom, may be seen above, n. 201-212.) [2] that the angels have supereminent wisdom is shown also by the fact that their speech is the speech of wisdom, for it flows directly and spontaneously from thought, and their thought from their affection, thus their speech is thought from affection in outward form; consequently there is nothing to withdraw them from the divine influx, and nothing from without such as enters into the speech of man from other thoughts. (that the speech of angels is the speech of their thought and affection may be seen above, n. 234-235.) that the angels have such wisdom is in accord with the fact that all things that they behold with their eyes and perceive by their senses agree with their wisdom, since they are correspondences of it, and thus the objects perceived are representative forms of the things that constitute their wisdom. (that all things seen in the heavens are correspondences with the interiors of angels and representations of their wisdom may be seen above, n. 170-182.) [3] furthermore, the thoughts of angels are not limited and contracted by ideas from space and time, as human thoughts are, for spaces and times belong to nature, and the things that belong to nature withdraw the mind from spiritual things, and deprive intellectual sight of its proper range. (that the ideas of angels are apart from time and space, and thus less limited than human ideas, may be seen above, n. 162-169 and 191-199.) again, the thoughts of angels are neither brought down to earthly and material things, nor interrupted by anxieties about the necessities of life; thus they are not withdrawn by such things from the delights of wisdom, as the thoughts of men in the world are; for all things come to them gratuitously from the lord; they are clothed gratuitously, are fed gratuitously, are housed gratuitously (n. 181-190), and besides this they receive delights and pleasures in the degree of their reception of wisdom from the lord. these things have been said to make clear why it is that angels have so great wisdom.{1} {footnote 1} the wisdom of angels, that it is incomprehensible and ineffable (n. 2795, 2796, 2802, 3314, 3404, 3405, 9094, 9176). 267. angels are capable of receiving such wisdom because their interiors are open; and wisdom, like every other perfection, increases towards the interiors, thus to the extent that interiors are opened.{1} in every angel there are three degrees of life, corresponding to the three heavens (see n. 29-40)--those in whom the first degree has been opened are in the first or outmost heaven; those in whom the second degree has been opened are in the second or middle heaven; while those in whom the third degree has been opened are in the third or inmost heaven. the wisdom of angels in the heavens is in accordance with these degrees. therefore the wisdom of the angels of the inmost heaven immeasurably surpasses the wisdom of angels of the middle heaven, and the wisdom of these immeasurably surpasses the wisdom of angels of the outmost heaven (see above, n. 209, 210; and what degrees are, n. 38). there are such differences because the things which are in the higher degree are particulars, and those in the lower degree are generals, and generals are containants of particulars. particulars compared with generals are as thousands or myriads to one; and such is the wisdom of the angels of a higher heaven compared with the wisdom of the angels of a lower heaven. in like manner the wisdom of the latter surpasses the wisdom of man, for man is in a bodily state and in those things that belong to the bodily senses, and man's bodily sense belongs to the lowest degree. this makes clear what kind of wisdom those possess who think from things of sense, that is, who are called sensual men, namely, that they have no wisdom, but merely knowledge.{2} but it is otherwise with men whose thoughts are raised above the things of sense, and especially with those whose interiors have been opened even into the light of heaven. {footnote 1} so far as man is raised up from outward towards inward things he comes into light, that is, into intelligence (n. 6183, 6313). there is an actual elevation (n. 7816, 10330). elevation from outward to inward things is like elevation out of a mist into light (n. 4598). as outer things in man are farther removed from the divine they are relatively obscure (n. 6451). likewise relatively confused (n. 996, 3855). inner things are more perfect because they are nearer to the divine (n. 5146, 5147). in what is internal there are thousands and thousands of things that appear in what is external as one general thing (n. 5707). consequently as thought and perception are more interior they are clearer (n. 5920). {footnote 2} the sensual is the outmost of man's life adhering to and inhering in his bodily part (n. 5077, 5767, 9212, 9216, 9331, 9730). he is called a sensual man who judges all things and draws all his conclusions from the bodily senses, and believes nothing except what he sees with his eyes and touches with his hands (n. 5094, 7693). such a man thinks in externals, and not interiorly in himself (n. 5089, 5094, 6564, 7693). his interiors are so closed up that he sees nothing of spiritual truth in them (n. 6564, 6844, 6845). in a word, he is in gross natural light and thus perceives nothing that is from the light of heaven (n. 6201, 6310, 6564, 6598, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624, 6844, 6845). interiorly he is antagonistic to the things of heaven and the church (n. 6201, 6316, 6844, 6845, 6948, 6949). the learned who have confirmed themselves against the truths of the church come to be such (n. 6316). sensual men are more cunning and malicious than others (n. 7693, 10236). they reason keenly and cunningly, but from the bodily memory, in which they place all intelligence (n. 195, 196, 5700, 10236). but they reason from the fallacies of the senses (n. 5084, 6948, 6949, 7693). 268. it can be seen how great the wisdom of angels is from the fact that in the heavens there is a communication of all things; intelligence and wisdom are communicated from one to another, and heaven is a common sharing of all goods; and this for the reason that heavenly love is such that it wishes what is its own to be another's; consequently no one in heaven perceives his own good in himself to be good unless it is also in another; and this is the source of the happiness of heaven. this the angels derive from the lord, for such is his divine love. that there is such a communication of all things in the heavens it has been permitted me to know by experience. certain simple spirits were at one time taken up into heaven, and when there they entered into angelic wisdom, and then understood things that they were never before able to comprehend, and spoke things that they were unable to utter in their former state. 269. the wisdom of the angels is indescribable in words; it can only be illustrated by some general things. angels can express in a single word what a man cannot express in a thousand words. again, a single angelic word contains innumerable things that cannot be expressed in the words of human language; for in each of the things uttered by angels there are arcana of wisdom in continuous connection that human knowledges never reach. again, what the angels fail to express in the words of their speech they make up by the tone, in which there is an affection for the things in their order; for (as has been said above, n. 236, 241) tones express affections, as words express ideas of thought from the affections; and for this reason the things heard in heaven are said to be ineffable. so, too, the angels are able to express in a few words every least thing written in an entire volume, and give to every word meanings that elevate the mind to interior wisdom; for their speech is such as to be in accord with their affections, and each word is in accord with their ideas; and their words are varied in infinite ways in accord with the series of things which in complex are in the thought. [2] still again, the interior angels are able to perceive from the tone and from a few words the entire life of one speaking; for from the tone as varied by the ideas in the words they perceive his ruling love upon which, as it were, every particular of his life is inscribed.{1} all this makes clear the nature of angelic wisdom. in comparison with human wisdom it is as a myriad to one, or as the moving forces of the whole body, which are numberless, to the activities from them which appear to human sense as a single thing, or as the thousand particulars of an object seen under a perfect microscope to the one obscure thing seen by the naked eye. [3] let me illustrate the subject by an example. an angel from his wisdom was describing regeneration, and brought forward arcana respecting it in their order even to some hundreds, filling each of them with ideas in which there were interior arcana, and this from beginning to end; for he explained how the spiritual man is conceived anew, is carried as it were in the womb, is born, grows up and is gradually perfected. he said that the number of arcana could be increased even to thousands, and that those told were only about the regeneration of the external man, while there were numberless more about the regeneration of the internal man. from these and other like things heard from the angels it has been made clear to me how great is their wisdom, and how great in comparison is the ignorance of man, who scarcely knows what regeneration is, and is ignorant of every least step of the process when he is being regenerated. {footnote 1} that which universally rules or is dominant in man is in every particular of his life, thus in each thing and all things of his thought and affection (n. 4459, 5949, 6159, 6571, 7648, 8067, 8853-8858). a man is such as his ruling love is (n. 917, 1040, 8858); illustrated by examples (n. 8854, 8857). that which rules universally constitutes the life of the spirit of man (n. 7648). it is his very will, his very love, and the end of his life, since that which a man will he loves, and that which he loves he has as an end (n. 1317, 1568, 1571, 1909, 3796, 5949, 6936). therefore man is such as his will is, or such as his ruling love is, or such as the end of his life is (n. 1568, 1571, 3570, 4054, 6571, 6935, 6938, 8856, 10076, 10109, 10110, 10284). 270. the wisdom of the angels of the third or inmost heaven shall now be described, and also how far it surpasses the wisdom of the angels of the first or outmost heaven. the wisdom of the angels of the third or inmost heaven is incomprehensible even to those who are in the outmost heaven, for the reason that the interiors of the angels of the third heaven have been opened to the third degree, while the interiors of angels of the first heaven have been opened only to the first degree; and all wisdom increases towards interiors and is perfected as these are opened (n. 208, 267). [2] because the interiors of the angels of the third or inmost heaven have been opened to the third degree, divine truths are as it were inscribed on them; for the interiors of the third degree are more in the form of heaven than the interiors of the second and first degrees, and the form of heaven is from the divine truth, thus in accord with the divine wisdom, and this is why the truth is as it were inscribed on these angels, or are as it were instinctive or inborn in them. therefore as soon as these angels hear genuine divine truths they instantly acknowledge and perceive them, and afterwards see them as it were inwardly in themselves. as the angels of that heaven are such they never reason about divine truths, still less do they dispute about any truth whether it is so or not; nor do they know what it is to believe or to have faith. they say, "what is faith? for i perceive and see that a thing is so." this they illustrate by comparisons; for example, that it would be as when any one with a companion, seeing a house and the various things in it and around it, should say to his companion that he ought to believe that these things exist, and that they are such as he sees them to be; or seeing a garden and trees and fruit in it, should say to his companion that he ought to have faith that there is a garden and trees and fruits, when yet he is seeing them clearly with his eyes. for this reason these angels never mention faith, and have no idea what it is; neither do they reason about divine truths, still less do they dispute about any truth whether it is so or not.{1} [3] but the angels of the first or outmost heaven do not have divine truths thus inscribed on their interiors, because with them only the first degree of life is opened; therefore they reason about truths, and those who reason see almost nothing beyond the fact of the matter about which they are reasoning, or go no farther beyond the subject than to confirm it by certain considerations, and having confirmed it they say that it must be a matter of faith and must be believed. [4] i have talked with angels about this, and they said that the difference between the wisdom of the angels of the third heaven and the wisdom of the angels of the first heaven is like that between what is clear and what is obscure; and the former they compared to a magnificent palace full of all things for use, surrounded on all sides by parks, with magnificent things of many kinds round about them; and as these angels are in the truths of wisdom they can enter into the palace and behold all things, and wander about in the parks in every direction and delight in it all. but it is not so with those who reason about truths, especially with those who dispute about them, as such do not see truths from the light of truth, but accept truths either from others or from the sense of the letter of the word, which they do not interiorly understand, declaring that truths must be believed, or that one must have faith, and are not willing to have any interior sight admitted into these things. the angels said that such are unable to reach the first threshold of the palace of wisdom, still less to enter into it and wander about in its grounds, for they stop at the first step. it is not so with those that are in truths themselves; nothing impedes these from going on and progressing without limit, for the truths they see lead them wherever they go, and into wide fields, for every truth has infinite extension and is in conjunction with manifold others. [5] they said still further that the wisdom of the angels of the inmost heaven consists principally in this, that they see divine and heavenly things in every single object, and wonderful things in a series of many objects; for everything that appears before their eyes is a correspondent; as when they see palaces and gardens their view does not dwell upon the things that are before their eyes, but they see the interior things from which they spring, that is, to which they correspond, and this with all variety in accordance with the aspect of the objects; thus they see innumerable things at the same time in their order and connection; and this so fills their minds with delight that they seem to be carried away from themselves. that all things that are seen in the heavens correspond to the divine things that are in the angels from the lord may be seen above (n. 170-176). {footnote 1} the celestial angels know innumerable things, and are immeasurably wiser than the spiritual angels (n. 2718). the celestial angels do not think and talk from faith, as the spiritual angels do, for they have from the lord a perception of all things that constitute faith (n. 202, 597, 607, 784, 1121, 1384, 1442, 1898, 1919, 7680, 7877, 8780, 9277, 10336). in regard to the truths of faith they say only "yea, yea, or nay, nay," while the spiritual angels reason about whether a thing is true (n. 2715, 3246, 4448, 9166, 10786, where the lord's words, "let your discourse be yea, yea, nay nay" (matt. 5:37), are explained). 271. such are the angels of the third heaven because they are in love to the lord, and that love opens the interiors of the mind to the third degree, and is a receptacle of all things of wisdom. it must be understood also that the angels of the inmost heaven are still being continually perfected in wisdom, and this differently from the angels of the outmost heaven. the angels of the inmost heaven do not store up divine truths in the memory and thus make out of them a kind of science; but as soon as they hear them they perceive them and apply them to the life. for this reason divine truths are as permanent with them as if they were inscribed on them, for what is committed in such a way to the life is contained in it. but it is not so with the angels of the outmost heaven. these first store up divine truths in the memory and stow them away with their knowledge, and draw them out therefrom to perfect their understanding by them, and will them and apply them to the life, but with no interior perception whether they are truths; and in consequence they are in comparative obscurity. it is a notable fact that the angels of the third heaven are perfected in wisdom by hearing and not by seeing. what they hear from preachings does not enter into their memory, but enters directly into their perception and will, and comes to be a matter of life; but what they see with their eyes enters into their memory, and they reason and talk about it; which shows that with them the way of hearing is the way of wisdom. this, too, is from correspondence, for the ear corresponds to obedience, and obedience belongs to the life; while the eye corresponds to intelligence, and intelligence is a matter of doctrine.{1} the state of these angels is described in different parts of the word, as in jeremiah: i will put my law in their mind, and write it on their heart. they shall teach no more everyone his friend and everyone his brother, saying, know ye jehovah; for they shall all know me, from the least of them even unto the greatest of them (31:33, 34). and in matthew, let your speech be yea, yea, nay, nay; what is more than these is from evil (5:37). "what is more than these is from evil" because it is not from the lord; and inasmuch as the angels of the third heaven are in love to the lord the truths that are in them are from the lord. in that heaven love to the lord is willing and doing divine truth, for divine truth is the lord in heaven. {footnote 1} of the correspondence of the ear and of hearing (n. 4652-4660). the ear corresponds to and therefore signifies perception and obedience (n. 2542, 3869, 4653, 5017, 7216, 8361, 9311, 9397, 10061). the ear signifies the reception of truths (n. 5471, 5475, 9926). the correspondence of the eye and its sight (n. 4403-4421, 4523-4534); from which the sight of the eye signifies the intelligence that belongs to faith, and also faith (n. 2701, 4410, 4526, 6923 9051, 10569). 272. there is a still further reason, and this is in heaven the primary reason, why the angels are able to receive so great wisdom, namely, that they are without the love of self; for to the extent that any one is without the love of self he can become wise in divine things. it is that love that closes up the interiors against the lord and heaven, and opens the exteriors and turns them toward itself; and in consequence all in whom that love rules are in thick darkness in respect to the things of heaven, however much light they may have in worldly matters. the angels, on the other hand, are in the light of wisdom because they are without the love of self, for the heavenly loves in which they are, which are love to the lord and love towards the neighbor, open the interiors, because these loves are from the lord and the lord himself is in them. (that these loves constitute heaven in general, and form heaven in each one in particular, may be seen above, n. 13-19). as heavenly loves open the interiors to the lord so all angels turn their faces towards the lord (n. 142); because in the spiritual world the love turns the interiors of everyone to itself, and whichever way it turns the interiors it also turns the face, since the face there makes one with the interiors, for it is their outward form. because the love turns the interiors and the face to itself, it also conjoins itself to them (love being spiritual conjunction), and shares its own with them. from that turning and consequent conjunction and sharing the angels have their wisdom. that all conjunction and all turning in the spiritual world are in accord may be seen above (n. 255). 273. although the angels are continually perfected in wisdom,{1} their wisdom, even to eternity, cannot become so perfect that there can be any ratio between it and the lord's divine wisdom; for the lord's divine wisdom is infinite and the wisdom of angels finite; and between what is infinite and what is finite no ratio is possible. {footnote 1} angels are perfected to eternity (n. 4803, 6648). 274. as it is wisdom that makes the angels perfect and constitutes their life, and as heaven with its goods flows into everyone in accordance with his wisdom, so all in heaven desire and hunger for wisdom much as a hungry man hungers for food. so, too, knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom are spiritual nutriment, as food is natural nutriment; and the one corresponds to the other. 275. the angels in the same heaven, or in the same society of heaven, are not all in like wisdom; their wisdom differs. those at the center are in the greatest wisdom, and those round about even to the borders are in less wisdom. the decrease of wisdom in accord with the distance from the center is like the decrease of light verging to shade (see n. 43 and 128). their light is in the same degree as their wisdom, since the light of heaven is the divine wisdom, and everyone is in light in the measure of his reception of wisdom. respecting the light of heaven and the varying kinds of reception of it see above (n. 126-132). 276. xxxi. the state of innocence of angels in heaven. what innocence is and its nature few in the world know, and those who are in evil know nothing about it. it is, indeed, visible to the eyes, as seen in the face, speech and movements, particularly of children; and yet what innocence is, and especially that it is that in which heaven is stored up in man is unknown. in making this known let us proceed in order, and consider first the innocence of childhood, then the innocence of wisdom, and lastly the state of heaven in regard to innocence. 277. the innocence of childhood or of children is not genuine innocence, for it is innocence not in internal form but only in external form. nevertheless one may learn from it what innocence is, since it shines forth from the face of children and from some of their movements and from their first speech, and affects those about them. it can be seen that children have no internal thought, for they do not yet know what is good and what is evil, or what is true and what is false, of which such thought consists. [2] consequently they have no prudence from what is their own, no purpose or deliberation, thus no end that looks to evil; neither have they anything of their own acquired from love of self and the world; they do not attribute anything to themselves, regarding all that they have as received from their parents; they are content with the few and paltry things presented to them, and find delight in them; they have no solicitude about food and clothing, and none about the future; they do not look to the world and covet many things from it; they love their parents and nurses and their child companions with whom they play in innocence; they suffer themselves to be led; they give heed and obey. [3] and being in this state they receive everything as a matter of life; and therefore, without knowing why, they have becoming manners, and also learn to talk, and have the beginning of memory and thought, their state of innocence serving as a medium whereby these things are received and implanted. but this innocence, as has been said above, is external because it belongs to the body alone, and not to the mind;{1} for their minds are not yet formed, the mind being understanding and will and thought and affection therefrom. [4] i have been told from heaven that children are specially under the lord's auspices, and that they receive influx from the inmost heaven, where there is a state of innocence that this influx passes through their interiors, and that in its passing through, their interiors are affected solely by the innocence; and for this reason innocence is shown in their faces and in some of their movements and becomes evident; and that it is this innocence by which parents are inmostly affected, and that gives rise to the love that is called storge. {footnote 1} the innocence of children is not true innocence, but true innocence has its abode in wisdom (n. 1616, 2305, 2306, 3494, 4563, 4797, 5608, 9301, 10021). the good of childhood is not spiritual good, but it becomes such by the implantation of truth (n. 3504). nevertheless the good of childhood is a medium whereby intelligence is implanted (n. 1616, 3183, 9301, 10110). without the good of innocence in childhood man would be a wild man (n. 3494). whatever the mind is imbued with in childhood appears natural (n. 3494). 278. the innocence of wisdom is genuine innocence, because it is internal, for it belongs to the mind itself, that is, to the will itself and from that to the understanding. and when there is innocence in these there is also wisdom, for wisdom belongs to the will and understanding. this is why it is said in heaven that innocence has its abode in wisdom, and that an angel has just so much of innocence as he has of wisdom. this is confirmed by the fact that those who are in a state of innocence attribute nothing of good to themselves, but regard all things as received and ascribe them to the lord; that they wish to be led by him and not by themselves; that they love everything that is good and find delight in everything that is true, because they know and perceive that loving what is good, that is, willing and doing it, is loving the lord, and loving truth is loving the neighbor; that they live contented with their own, whether it be little or much, because they know that they receive just as much as is good for them-those receiving little for whom a little is useful, and those receiving much for whom much is useful; also that they do not themselves know what is good for them, the lord alone knowing this, who looks in all things that he provides to what is eternal. [2] neither are they anxious about the future; anxiety about the future they call care for the morrow, which they define as grief on account of losing or not receiving things that are not necessary for the uses of life. with companions they never act from an evil end but from what is good, just, and sincere. acting from an evil end they call cunning, which they shun as the poison of a serpent, since it is wholly antagonistic to innocence. as they love nothing so much as to be led of the lord, attributing all things they receive to him, they are kept apart from what is their own [proprium]; and to the extent that they are kept apart from what is their own the lord flows into them; and in consequence of this whatever they hear from the lord, whether through the word or by means of preaching, they do not store up in the memory, but instantly obey it, that is, will it and do it, their will being itself their memory. these for the most part outwardly appear simple, but inwardly they are wise and prudent. these are meant by the lord in the words, be ye prudent as serpents and simple as doves (matt. 10:16). such is the innocence that is called the innocence of wisdom. [3] because innocence attributes nothing of good to itself, but ascribes all good to the lord, and because it thus loves to be led by the lord, and is the source of the reception of all good and truth, from which wisdom comes,--because of this man is so created as to be during his childhood in external innocence, and when he becomes old in internal innocence, to the end that he may come by means of the former into the latter, and from the latter return into the former. for the same reason when a man becomes old he dwindles in body and becomes again like a child, but like a wise child, that is, an angel, for a wise child is in an eminent sense an angel. this is why in the word, "a little child" signifies one who is innocent, and "an old man" signifies one who is wise in whom is innocence.{1} {footnote 1} in the word "little children" signify innocence (n. 5608); likewise "sucklings" (n. 3183). an "old man" signifies one who is wise, and in an abstract sense wisdom (n. 3183, 6524). man is so created that in proportion as he verges towards old age he may become like a little child, and that innocence may then be in his wisdom, and in that state he may pass into heaven and become an angel (n. 3183, 5608). 279. the same is true of everyone who is being regenerated. regeneration, as regards the spiritual man, is re-birth. man is first introduced into the innocence of childhood, which is that one knows no truth and can do no good from himself, but only from the lord, and desires and seeks truth only because it is truth, and good only because it is good. as man afterwards advances in age good and truth are given him by the lord. at first he is led into a knowledge of them, then from knowledge into intelligence, and finally from intelligence into wisdom, innocence always accompanying, which consists, as has been said, in his knowing nothing of truth, and being unable to do anything good from himself but only from the lord. without such a belief and such a perception of it no one can receive any thing of heaven. therein does the innocence of wisdom chiefly consist. 280. as innocence consists in being led by the lord and not by self, so all who are in heaven are in innocence; for all who are there love to be led by the lord, knowing that to lead themselves is to be led by what is their own, and what is one's own is loving oneself, he that loves himself not permitting himself to be led by any one else. therefore, so far as an angel is in innocence he is in heaven, in other words, is in divine good and divine truth, for to be in these is to be in heaven. consequently the heavens are distinguished by degrees of innocence-those who are in the outmost or first heaven are in innocence of the first or outmost degree; those who are in the middle or second heaven are in innocence of the second or middle degree; while those who are in the inmost or third heaven are in innocence of the third or inmost degree, and are therefore the veriest innocences of heaven, for more than all others they love to be led by the lord as little children by their father; and for the same reason the divine truth that they hear immediately from the lord or mediately through the word and preaching they take directly into their will and do it, thus committing it to life. and this is why their wisdom is so superior to that of the angels of the lower heavens (see n. 270, 271). these angels of the inmost heaven, being such are nearest to the lord from whom they receive innocence, and are so separated from what is their own that they live as it were in the lord. externally they appear simple, and before the eyes of the angels of the lower heavens they appear like children, that is, as very small, and not very wise, although they are the wisest of the angels of heaven; since they know that they have nothing of wisdom from themselves, and that acknowledging this is being wise. they know also that what they know is as nothing compared to what they do not know; and they say that knowing, acknowledging, and perceiving this is the first step towards wisdom. these angels have no clothing, because nakedness corresponds to innocence.{1} {footnote 1} all in the inmost heaven are innocences (n. 154, 2736, 3887). therefore they appear to others like children (n. 154). they are also naked (n. 165, 8375, 9960). nakedness belongs to innocence (n. 165, 8375). spirits have a custom of exhibiting innocence by laying aside their garments and presenting themselves naked (n. 165, 8375, 9960). 281. i have talked much with angels about innocence, and have been told that innocence is the being [esse] of all good, and that good is therefore so far good as it has innocence in it, consequently that wisdom is so far wisdom as it partakes of innocence; and the same is true of love, charity, and faith;{1} and therefore no one can enter heaven unless he possesses innocence; and this the lord teaches when he says: suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of the heavens. verily i say unto you, whoever shall not receive the kingdom of the heavens as a little child, he shall not enter into it (mark 10:14, 16; luke 18:16, 17), here as elsewhere in the word "little children" mean those who are innocent. a state of innocence is also described by the lord in matthew (6:25-34), but by correspondences only. good is good so far as it has innocence in it, for the reason that all good is from the lord, and innocence is a willingness to be led by the lord. i have also been told that truth can be conjoined to good and good to truth only by means of innocence, and therefore an angel is not an angel of heaven unless he has innocence in him; for heaven is not in any one until good is conjoined to truth in him; and this is why the conjunction of truth and good is called the heavenly marriage, and the heavenly marriage is heaven. again, i have been told that true marriage love derives its existence from innocence, because it derives its existence from the conjunction of good and truth, and the two minds of husband and wife are in that conjunction, and when that conjunction descends it presents the appearance of marriage love; for consorts are in mutual love, as their minds are. this is why in marriage love there is a playfulness like that of childhood and like that of innocence.{2} {footnote 1} every good of love and truth of faith, to be good and true must have innocence in it (n. 2526, 2780, 3111, 3994, 6013, 7840, 9262, 10134). innocence is the essential of good and truth (n. 2780, 7840). no one is admitted into heaven unless he possesses something of innocence (4797). {footnote 2} true marriage love is innocence (n. 2736). marriage love consists in willing what the other wills, thus mutually and reciprocally (n. 2731). they who are in marriage love dwell together in the inmosts of life (n. 2732). there is a union of the two minds, and thus from love they are a one (n. 10168, 10169). true marriage love derives its origin and essence from the marriage of good and truth (n. 2728, 2729). about angelic spirits who have a perception from the idea of the conjunction of good and truth whether anything of marriage exists (n. 10756). marriage love is wholly like the conjunction of good and truth (n. 1904, 2173, 2508, 2729, 3103, 3132, 3155, 3179, 3180, 4358, 5807, 5835, 9206, 9207, 9495, 9637). therefore in the word "marriage" means the marriage of good and truth, such as there is in heaven and such as there will be in the church (n. 3132, 4434, 4835). 282. because innocence with the angels of heaven is the very being [esse] of good, it is evident that the divine good that goes forth from the lord is innocence itself, for it is that good that flows into angels, and affects their inmosts, and arranges and fits them for receiving all the good of heaven. it is the same with children, whose interiors are not only formed by means of innocence flowing through them from the lord, but also are continually being fitted and arranged for receiving the good of heavenly love, since the good of innocence acts from the inmost; for that good, as has been said, is the being [esse] of all good. from all this it can be seen that all innocence is from the lord. for this reason the lord is called in the word a "lamb," a lamb signifying innocence.{1} because innocence is the inmost in all the good of heaven, it so affects minds that when it is felt by any one-as when an angel of the inmost heaven approaches-he seems to himself to be no longer his own master and is moved and as it were carried away by such a delight that no delight of the world seems to be anything in comparison with it. this i say from having perceived it. {footnote 1} in the word a "lamb" signifies innocence and its good. (n. 3994, 10132). 283. everyone who is in the good of innocence is affected by innocence, and is affected to the extent that he is in that good; but those who are not in the good of innocence are not affected by innocence. for this reason all who are in hell are wholly antagonistic to innocence; they do not know what it is; their antagonism is such that so far as any one is innocent they burn to do him mischief; therefore they cannot bear to see little children; and as soon as they see them they are inflamed with a cruel desire to do them harm. from this it is clear that what is man's own, and therefore the love of self, is antagonistic to innocence; for all who are in hell are in what is their own, and therefore in the love of self.{1} {footnote 1} what is man's own is loving self more than god, and the world more than heaven, and making one's neighbor of no account as compared with oneself; thus it is the love of self and of the world (n. 694, 731, 4317, 5660). the evil are wholly antagonistic to innocence, even to the extent that they cannot endure its presence (n. 2126). 284. xxxii. the state of peace in heaven. only those that have experienced the peace of heaven can have any perception of the peace in which the angels are. as man is unable, as long as he is in the body, to receive the peace of heaven, so he can have no perception of it, because his perception is confined to what is natural. to perceive it he must be able, in respect to thought, to be raised up and withdrawn from the body and kept in the spirit, and at the same time be with angels. in this way has the peace of heaven been perceived by me; and for this reason i am able to describe it, yet not in words as that peace is in itself, because human words are inadequate, but only as it is in comparison with that rest of mind that those enjoy who are content in god. 285. there are two inmost things of heaven, namely, innocence and peace. these are said to be inmost things because they proceed directly from the lord. from innocence comes every good of heaven, and from peace every delight of good. every good has its delight; and both good and delight spring from love, for whatever is loved is called good, and is also perceived as delightful. from this it follows that these two inmost things, innocence and peace, go forth from the lord's divine love and move the angels from what is inmost. that innocence is the inmost of good may be seen in the preceding chapter, where the state of innocence of the angels of heaven is described. that peace is the inmost of delight from the good of innocence shall now be explained. 286. the origin of peace shall be first considered. divine peace is in the lord; it springs from the union of the divine itself and the divine human in him. the divine of peace in heaven is from the lord, springing from his conjunction with the angels of heaven, and in particular from the conjunction of good and truth in each angel. these are the origins of peace. from this it can be seen that peace in the heavens is the divine inmostly affecting with blessedness everything good therefrom, and from this is every joy of heaven; also that it is in its essence the divine joy of the lord's divine love, resulting from his conjunction with heaven and with everyone there. this joy, felt by the lord in angels and by angels from the lord, is peace. by derivation from this the angels have everything that is blessed, delightful, and happy, or that which is called heavenly joy.{1} {footnote 1} by peace in the highest sense the lord is meant, because peace is from him, and in the internal sense heaven is meant, because those are in a state of peace (n. 3780, 4681). peace in the heavens is the divine inmostly affecting with blessedness everything good and true there, and this peace is incomprehensible to man (n. 92, 3780, 5662, 8455, 8665). divine peace is in good, but not in truth apart from good (n. 8722). 287. because these are the origins of peace the lord is called "the prince of peace," and he declares that from him is peace and in him is peace; and the angels are called angels of peace, and heaven is called a habitation of peace, as in the following passages: unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called wonderful, counsellor, god, mighty, father of eternity, prince of peace. of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end (isa. 9:6, 7). jesus said, peace i leave with you, my peace i give unto you; not as the world giveth give i unto you (john 14:27). these things have i spoken unto you that in me ye may have peace (john 16:33). jehovah lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace (num. 6:26). the angels of peace weep bitterly, the highways are wasted (isa. 33:7, 8). the work of righteousness shall be peace; and my people shall dwell in a habitation of peace (isa. 32:17, 18). [2] that it is divine and heavenly peace that is meant in the word by "peace" can be seen also from other passages where it is mentioned (as isa. 52:7; 54:10; 59:8; jer. 16:5; 25:37; 29:11; hag. 2:9; zech. 8:12; psalm 37:37; and elsewhere.) because "peace" means the lord and heaven, and also heavenly joy and the delight of good, "peace be with you" was an ancient form of salutation that is still in use; and it was ratified by the lord in his saying to the disciples whom he sent forth: into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, peace be to this house; and if a son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it (luke 10:5, 6). and when the lord himself appeared to the apostles, he said peace be with you (john 20:19, 21, 26). [3] a state of peace is also meant in the word where it is said that: jehovah smelled an odor of rest (as exod. 29:18, 25, 41; lev. 1:9, 13, 17; 2:2, 9; 6:8, 14; 23:12, 13, 18; num, 15:3, 7, 13; 28:6, 8, 13; 29:2, 6, 8, 13, 36). "odor of rest" in the heavenly sense signifies a perception of peace.{1} as peace signifies the union of the divine itself and the divine human in the lord, also the conjunction of the lord with heaven and with the church, and with all who are in heaven, and with all in the church who receive him, so the sabbath was instituted as a reminder of these things, its name meaning rest or peace, and was the most holy representative of the church. for the same reason the lord called himself "the lord of the sabbath" (matt. 12:8; mark 2:27, 28; luke 6:5).{2} {footnote 1} in the word an "odor" signifies the perception of agreeableness or disagreeableness, according to the quality of the love and faith of which it is predicated (n. 3577, 4626, 4628, 4748, 5621, 10292). an "odor of rest," in reference to jehovah, means a perception of peace (n. 925, 10054). this is why frankincense, incense, and odors in oils and ointments, became representative (n. 925, 4748, 5621, 10177). {footnote 2} the "sabbath" signifies in the highest sense the union of the divine itself and the divine human in the lord; in the internal sense the conjunction of the divine human of the lord with heaven and with the church; in general, the conjunction of good and truth, thus the heavenly marriage (n. 8495, 10356, 10730). therefore "rest on the sabbath day" signified the state of that union, because then the lord had rest, and thereby there is peace and salvation in the heavens and on the earth; and in a relative sense it signified the conjunction of the lord with man, because man then has peace and salvation (n. 8494, 8510, 10360, 10367, 10370, 10374, 10668, 10730). 288. because the peace of heaven is the divine inmostly affecting with blessedness the veriest good in angels, it can be clearly perceived by them only in the delight of their hearts when they are in the good of their life, in the pleasure with which they hear truth that agrees with their good, and in gladness of mind when they perceive the conjunction of good and truth. from this it flows into all the acts and thoughts of their life, and there presents itself as joy, even in outward appearance. [2] but peace in the heavens differs in quality and quantity in agreement with the innocence of those who are there; since innocence and peace walk hand in hand; for every good of heaven, as said above, is from innocence, and every delight of that good is from peace. evidently, then, the same that has been said in the foregoing chapter about the state of innocence in the heavens may be said here of the state of peace there, since innocence and peace are conjoined like good and its delight; for good is felt in its delight, and delight is known from its good. this being so, it is evident that angels of the inmost or third heaven are in the third or inmost degree of peace, because they are in the third or inmost degree of innocence; and that angels of the lower heavens are in a less degree of peace, because they are in a less degree of innocence (see above n. 280). [3] that innocence and peace go together like good and its delight can be seen in little children, who are in peace because they are in innocence, and because they are in peace are in their whole nature full of play. yet the peace of little children is external peace; while internal peace, like internal innocence, is possible only in wisdom, and for this reason only in the conjunction of good and truth, since wisdom is from that conjunction. heavenly or angelic peace is also possible in men who are in wisdom from the conjunction of good and truth, and who in consequence have a sense of content in god; nevertheless, while they live in the world this peace lies hidden in their interiors, but it is revealed when they leave the body and enter heaven, for their interiors are then opened. 289. as the divine peace springs from the conjunction of the lord with heaven, and specially from the conjunction of good and truth in each angel, so when the angels are in a state of love they are in a state of peace; for then good and truth are conjoined in them. (that the states of angels undergo successive changes may be seen above, n. 154-160.) the like is true also of a man who is being regenerated. as soon as good and truth come to be conjoined in him, which takes place especially after temptations, he comes into a state of delight from heavenly peace.{1} this peace may be likened to morning or dawn in spring time, when, the night being passed, with the rising of the sun all things of the earth begin to live anew, the fragrance of growing vegetation is spread abroad with the dew that descends from heaven, and the mild vernal temperature gives fertility to the ground and imparts pleasure to the minds of men, and this because morning or dawn in the time of spring corresponds to the state of peace of angels in heaven (see n. 155).{2} {footnote 1} the conjunction of good and truth in a man who is being regenerated is effected in a state of peace (n. 3696, 8517). {footnote 2} the state of peace in the heavens is like a state of dawn or springtime on the earth (n. 1726, 2780, 5662). 290. i have talked with the angels about peace, saying that what is called peace in the world is when wars and hostilities cease between kingdoms, and when enmities or hostilities cease among men; also that internal peace is believed to consist in rest of mind when cares are removed, especially in tranquility and enjoyment from success in affairs. but the angels said that rest of mind and tranquility and enjoyment from the removal of cares and success in affairs seem to be constituents of peace, but are so only with those who are in heavenly good, for only in that good is peace possible. for peace flows in from the lord into the inmost of such, and from their inmost descends and flows down into the lower faculties, producing a sense of rest in the mind, tranquility of disposition, and joy therefrom. but to those who are in evil peace is impossible.{1} there is an appearance of rest, tranquility, and delight when things succeed according to their wishes; but it is external peace and not at all internal, for inwardly they burn with enmity, hatred, revenge, cruelty, and many evil lusts, into which their disposition is carried whenever any one is seen to be unfavorable to them, and which burst forth when they are not restrained by fear. consequently the delight of such dwells in insanity, while the delight of those who are in good dwells in wisdom. the difference is like that between hell and heaven. {footnote 1} the lusts that originate in love of self and of the world wholly take away peace (n. 3170, 5662). there are some who think to find peace in restlessness, and in such things as are contrary to peace (n. 5662). peace is possible only when the lusts of evil are removed (n. 5662). 291. xxxiii. the conjunction of heaven with the human race. it is well known in the church that all good is from god, and that nothing of good is from man, consequently that no one ought to ascribe any good to himself as his own. it is also well known that evil is from the devil. therefore those who speak from the doctrine of the church say of those who behave well, and of those who speak and preach piously, that they are led by god; but the opposite of those who do not behave well and who speak impiously. for this to be true man must have conjunction with heaven and with hell; and this conjunction must be with man's will and with his understanding; for it is from these that the body acts and the mouth speaks. what this conjunction is shall now be told. 292. with every individual there are good spirits and evil spirits. through good spirits man has conjunction with heaven, and through evil spirits with hell. these spirits are in the world of spirits, which lies midway between heaven and hell. this world will be described particularly hereafter. when these spirits come to a man they enter into his entire memory, and thus into his entire thought, evil spirits into the evil things of his memory and thought, and good spirits into the good things of his memory and thought. these spirits have no knowledge whatever that they are with man; but when they are with him they believe that all things of his memory and thought are their own; neither do they see the man, because nothing that is in our solar world falls into their sight.{1} the lord exercises the greatest care that spirits may not know that they are with man; for if they knew it they would talk with him, and in that case evil spirits would destroy him; for evil spirits, being joined with hell, desire nothing so much as to destroy man, not alone his soul, that is, his faith and love, but also his body. it is otherwise when spirits do not talk with man, in which case they are not aware that what they are thinking and also what they are saying among themselves is from man; for although it is from man that they talk with one another, they believe that what they are thinking and saying is their own, and everyone esteems and loves what is their own. in this way spirits are constrained to love and esteem man, although they do not know it. that such is the conjunction of spirits with man has become so well known to me from a continual experience of many years that nothing is better known to me. {footnote 1} there are angels and spirits with every man, and by means of them man has communication with the spiritual world (n. 697, 2796, 2886, 2887, 4047, 4048, 5846-5866, 5976-5993). man without spirits attending him cannot live (n. 5993). man is not seen by spirits, even as spirits are not seen by man (n. 5862). spirits can see nothing in our solar world pertaining to any man except the one with whom they are speaking (n. 1880). 293. the reason why spirits that communicate with hell are also associated with man is that man is born into evils of every kind, consequently his whole life is wholly from evil; and therefore unless spirits like himself were associated with him he could not live, nor indeed could he be withdrawn from his evils and reformed. he is therefore both held in his own life by means of evil spirits and withheld from it by means of good spirits; and by the two he is kept in equilibrium; and being in equilibrium he is in freedom, and can be drawn away from evils and turned towards good, and thus good can be implanted in him, which would not be possible at all if he were not in freedom; and freedom is possible to man only when the spirits from hell act on one side and spirits from heaven on the other, and man is between the two. again, it has been shown that so far as a man's life is from what he inherits, and thus from self, if he were not permitted to be in evil he would have no life; also if he were not in freedom he would have no life; also that he cannot be forced to what is good, and that what is forced does not abide; also that the good that man receives in freedom is implanted in his will and becomes as it were his own.{1} these are the reasons why man has communication with hell and communication with heaven. {footnote 1} all freedom pertains to love and affection, since what a man loves, that he does freely (n. 2870, 3158, 8987, 8990, 9585, 9591). as freedom belongs to man's love, so it belongs to man's life (n. 2873). nothing appears as man's own except what is from freedom (n. 2880). man must have freedom that he may be reformed (n. 1937, 1947, 2876, 2881, 3145, 3146, 3158, 4031, 8700). otherwise no love of good and truth can be implanted in man and be appropriated seemingly as his own (n. 2877, 2879, 2880, 2883, 8700). nothing that comes from compulsion is conjoined to man (n. 2875, 8700). if man could be reformed by compulsion everyone would be reformed (n. 2881). compulsion in reformation is harmful (n. 4031). what states of compulsion are (n. 8392). 294. what the communication of heaven is with good spirits, and what the communication of hell is with evil spirits, and the consequent conjunction of heaven and hell with man, shall also be told. all spirits who are in the world of spirits have communication with heaven or with hell, evil spirits with hell, and good spirits with heaven. heaven is divided into societies, and hell also. every spirit belongs to some society, and continues to exist by influx from it, thus acting as one with it. consequently as man is conjoined with spirits so is he conjoined with heaven or with hell, even with the society there to which he is attached by his affection or his love; for the societies of heaven are all distinguished from each other in accordance with their affections for good and truth, and the societies of hell in accordance with their affections for evil and falsity. (as to the societies of heaven see above, n. 41-45 also n. 148-151.) 295. the spirits associated with man are such as he himself is in respect to his affection or love; but the lord associates good spirits with him, while evil spirits are invited by the man himself. the spirits with man, however, are changed in accordance with the changes of his affections; thus there are some spirits that are with him in early childhood, others in boyhood, others in youth and manhood, and others in old age. in early childhood those spirits are present who are in innocence and who thus communicate with the heaven of innocence, which is the inmost or third heaven; in boyhood those spirits are present who are in affection for knowing, and who thus communicate with the outmost or first heaven; in youth and manhood spirits are present who are in affection for what is true and good, and in consequent intelligence, and who thus communicate with the second or middle heaven; while in old age spirits are present who are in wisdom and innocence, and who thus communicate with the inmost or third heaven. but the lord maintains this association with such as can be reformed and regenerated. it is otherwise with such as cannot be reformed or regenerated. while with these also good spirits are associated, that they may be thereby withheld from evil as much as possible, they are directly conjoined with evil spirits who communicate with hell, whereby they have such spirits with them as are like themselves. if they are lovers of self or lovers of gain, or lovers of revenge, or lovers of adultery, like spirits are present, and as it were dwell in their evil affections; and man is incited by these, except so far as he can be kept from evil by good spirits, and they cling to him, and do not withdraw, so far as the evil affection prevails. thus it is that a bad man is conjoined to hell and a good man is conjoined to heaven. 296. man is governed by the lord through spirits because he is not in the order of heaven, for he is born into evils which are of hell, thus into the complete opposite of divine order; consequently he needs to be brought back into order, and this can only be done mediately by means of spirits. it would be otherwise if man were born into the good that is in accord with the order of heaven; then he would be governed by the lord not through spirits, but by means of the order itself, thus by means of general influx. by means of this influx man is governed in respect to whatever goes forth from his thought and will into act, that is, in respect to speech and acts; for both of these proceed in harmony with natural order, and therefore with these the spirits associated with man have nothing in common. animals also are governed by means of this general influx from the spiritual world, because they are in the order of their life, and animals have not been able to pervert and destroy that order because they have no rational faculty.{1} what the difference between man and beasts is may be seen above (n. 39). {footnote 1} the difference between men and beasts is, that men are capable of being raised up by the lord to himself, of thinking about the divine, loving it, and being thereby conjoined to the lord, from which they have eternal life; but it is otherwise with beasts (n. 4525, 6323, 9231). beasts are in the order of their life, and are therefore born into things suitable to their nature, but man is not, and he must therefore be led into the order of his life by intellectual means (n. 637, 5850, 6323). according to general influx thought with man falls into speech and will into movements (n. 5862, 5990, 6192, 6211). the general influx of the spiritual world into the lives of beasts (n. 1633, 3646). 297. as to what further concerns the conjunction of heaven with the human race, let it be noted that the lord himself flows into each man, in accord with the order of heaven, both into his inmosts and into his outmosts, and arranges him for receiving heaven, and governs his outmosts from his inmosts, and at the same time his inmosts from his outmosts, thus holding in connection each thing and all things in man. this influx of the lord is called direct influx; while the other influx that is effected through spirits is called mediate influx. the latter is maintained by means of the former. direct influx, which is that of the lord himself, is from his divine human, and is into man's will and through his will into his understanding, and thus into his good and through his good into his truth, or what is the same thing, into his love and through his love into his faith; and not the reverse, still less is it into faith apart from love or into truth apart from good or into understanding that is not from will. this divine influx is unceasing, and in the good is received in good, but not in the evil; for in them it is either rejected or suffocated or perverted; and in consequence they have an evil life which in a spiritual sense is death.{1} {footnote 1} there is direct influx from the lord, and also mediate influx through the spiritual world (n. 6063, 6307, 6472, 9682, 9683). the lord's direct influx is into the least particulars of all things (n. 6058, 6474-6478, 8717, 8728). the lord flows in into firsts and at the same time into lasts-in what manner (n. 5147, 5150, 6473, 7004, 7007, 7270). the lord's influx is into the good in man, and through the good into truth and not the reverse (n. 5482, 5649, 6027, 8685, 8701, 10153). the life that flows in from the lord varies in accordance with the state of man and in accordance with reception (n. 2069, 5986, 6472, 7343). with the evil the good that flows in from the lord is turned into evil and the truth into falsity; from experience (n. 3642, 4632). the good and the truth therefrom that continually flow in from the lord are received just to the extent that evil and falsity therefrom do not obstruct (n. 2411, 3142, 3147, 5828). 298. the spirits who are with man, both those conjoined with heaven and those conjoined with hell, never flow into man from their own memory and its thought, for if they should flow in from their own thought, whatever belonged to them would seem to man to be his (see above n. 256). nevertheless there flows into man through them out of heaven an affection belonging to the love of good and truth, and out of hell an affection belonging to the love of evil and falsity. therefore as far as man's affection agrees with the affection that flows in, so far that affection is received by him in his thought, since man's interior thought is wholly in accord with his affection or love; but so far as man's affection does not agree with that affection it is not received. evidently, then, since thought is not introduced into man through spirits, but only an affection for good and an affection for evil, man has choice, because he has freedom; and is thus able by his thought to receive good and reject evil, since he knows from the word what is good and what is evil. moreover, whatever he receives by thought from affection is appropriated to him; but whatever he does not receive by thought from affection is not appropriated to him. all this makes evident the nature of the influx of good out of heaven with man, and the nature of the influx of evil out of hell. 299. i have also been permitted to learn the source of human anxiety, grief of mind, and interior sadness, which is called melancholy. there are spirits not as yet in conjunction with hell, because they are in their first state; these will be described hereafter when treating of the world of spirits. such spirits love things undigested and pernicious, such as pertain to food becoming foul in the stomach; consequently they are present with man in such things because they find delight in them; and they talk there with one another from their own evil affection. the affection that is in their speech flows in from this source into man; and when this affection is the opposite of man's affection there arises in him sadness and melancholy anxiety; but when it agrees with it it becomes in him gladness and cheerfulness. these spirits appear near to the stomach, some to the left and some to the right of it, and some beneath and some above, also nearer and more remote, thus variously in accordance with their affections. that this is the source of anxiety of mind has been shown and proved to me by much experience. i have seen these spirits, i have heard them, i have felt the anxieties arising from them, and i have talked with them; when they have been driven away the anxiety ceased; when they returned the anxiety returned; and i have noted the increase and decrease of it according to their approach and removal. from this it has been made clear to me why some who do not know what conscience is, because they have no conscience, ascribe its pangs to the stomach.{1} {footnote 1} those who have no conscience do not know what conscience is (n. 7490, 9121). there are some who laugh at conscience when they hear what it is (n. 7217). some believe that conscience is nothing; some that it is something natural that is sad and mournful, arising either from causes in the body or from causes in the world; some that it is something that the common people get from their religion (n. 206, 831, 950; [tcr n. 665]). there is true conscience, spurious conscience, and false conscience (n. 1033). pain of conscience is an anxiety of mind on account of what is unjust, insincere, or in any respect evil, which man believes to be against god and against the good of the neighbor (n. 7217). those have conscience who are in love to god and in charity towards the neighbor, but those who are not so have no conscience (n. 831, 965, 2380, 7490). 300. the conjunction of heaven with man is not like the conjunction of one man with another, but the conjunction is with the interiors of man's mind, that is, with his spiritual or internal man; although there is a conjunction with his natural or external man by means of correspondences, which will be described in the next chapter where the conjunction of heaven with man by means of the word will be treated of. 301. it will also be shown in the next chapter that the conjunction of heaven with the human race and of the human race with heaven is such that one has its permanent existence with the other. 302. i have talked with angels about the conjunction of heaven with the human race, saying that while the man of the church declares that all good is from god, and that angels are with man, yet few believe that angels are conjoined to man, still less that they are in his thought and affection. the angels replied that they knew that such a belief and such a mode of speaking still exist in the world, and especially, to their surprise, within the church, where the word is present to teach men about heaven and its conjunction with man; nevertheless, there is such a conjunction that man is unable to think the least thing unless spirits are associated with him, and on this his spiritual life depends. they said that the cause of ignorance in this matter is man's belief that he lives from himself, and that he has no connection with the first being [esse] of life; together with his not knowing that this connection exists by means of the heavens; and yet if that connection were broken man would instantly fall dead. if man only believed, as is really true, that all good is from the lord and all evil from hell, he would neither make the good in him a matter of merit nor would evil be imputed to him; for he would then look to the lord in all the good he thinks and does, and all the evil that flows in would be cast down to hell from which it comes. but because man does not believe that anything flows into him either from heaven or from hell, and therefore supposes that all things that he thinks and wills are in himself and therefore from himself, he appropriates the evil to himself, and the good that flows in he defiles with merit. 303. xxxiv. conjunction of heaven with man by means of the word. those who think from interior reason can see that there is a connection of all things through intermediates with the first, and that whatever is not in connection is dissipated. for they know, when they think about it, that nothing can have permanent existence from itself, but only from what is prior to itself, thus all things from a first; also that the connection with what is prior is like the connection of an effect with its effecting cause; for when the effecting cause is taken away from its effect the effect is dissolved and dispersed. because the learned thought thus they saw and said that permanent existence is a perpetual springing forth; thus that all things have permanent existence from a first; and as they sprang from that first so they perpetually spring forth, that is, have permanent existence from it. but what the connection of everything is with that which is prior to itself, thus with the first which is the source of all things, cannot be told in a few words, because it is various and diverse. it can only be said in general that there is a connection of the natural world with the spiritual world, and that in consequence there is a correspondence of all things in the natural world with all things in the spiritual (see n. 103-115); also that there is a connection and consequently a correspondence of all things of man with all things of heaven (see n. 87-102). 304. man is so created as to have a conjunction and connection with the lord, but with the angels of heaven only an affiliation. man has affiliation with the angels, but not conjunction, because in respect to the interiors of his mind man is by creation like an angel, having a like will and a like understanding. consequently if a man has lived in accordance with the divine order he becomes after death an angel, with the same wisdom as an angel. therefore when the conjunction of man with heaven is spoken of his conjunction with the lord and affiliation with the angels is meant; for heaven is heaven from the lord's divine, and not from what is strictly the angels' own [proprium]. that it is the lord's divine that makes heaven may be seen above (n. 7-12). [2] but man has, beyond what the angels have, that he is not only in respect to his interiors in the spiritual world, but also at the same time in respect to his exteriors in the natural world. his exteriors which are in the natural world are all things of his natural or external memory and of his thought and imagination therefrom; in general, knowledges and sciences with their delights and pleasures so far as they savor of the world, also many pleasures belonging to the senses of the body, together with his senses themselves, his speech, and his actions. and all these are the outmosts in which the lord's divine influx terminates; for that influx does not stop midway, but goes on to its outmosts. all this shows that the outmost of divine order is in man; and being the outmost it is also the base and foundation. [3] as the lord's divine influx does not stop midway but goes on to its outmosts, as has been said, and as this middle part through which it passes is the angelic heaven, while the outmost is in man, and as nothing can exist unconnected, it follows that the connection and conjunction of heaven with the human race is such that one has its permanent existence from the other, and that the human race apart from heaven would be like a chain without a hook; and heaven without the human race would be like a house without a foundation.{1} {footnote 1} nothing springs from itself, but from what is prior to itself, thus all things from a first, and they also have permanent existence from him from whom they spring forth, and permanent existence is a perpetual springing forth (n. 2886, 2888, 3627, 3628, 3648, 4523, 4524, 6040, 6056). divine order does not stop midway, but terminates in an outmost, and that outmost is man, thus divine order terminates in man (n. 634, 2853, 3632, 5897, 6239, 6451, 6465, 9215, 9216, 9824, 9828, 9836, 9905, 10044, 10329, 10335, 10548). interior things flow into external things, even into the extreme or outmost in successive order, and there they spring forth and have permanent existence (n. 634, 6239, 6465, 9215, 9216). interior things spring forth and have permanent existence in what is outmost in simultaneous order (n. 5897, 6451, 8603, 10099). therefore all interior things are held together in connection from a first by means of a last (n. 9828). therefore "the first and the last" signify all things and each thing, that is, the whole (n. 10044, 10329, 10335). consequently in outmosts there is strength and power (n. 9836). 305. but man has severed this connection with heaven by turning his exteriors away from heaven, and turning them to the world and to self by means of his love of self and of the world, thereby so withdrawing himself that he no longer serves as a basis and foundation for heaven; therefore the lord has provided a medium to serve in place of this base and foundation for heaven, and also for the conjunction of heaven with man. this medium is the word. how the word serves as such a medium has been shown in many places in the arcana coelestia, all of which may be seen gathered up in the little work on the white horse mentioned in the apocalypse; also in the appendix to the new jerusalem and its heavenly doctrine, from which some notes are here appended.{1} {footnote 1} the word in the sense of the letter is natural (n. 8783). for the reason that the natural is the outmost in which spiritual and heavenly things, which are interior things, terminate and on which they rest, like a house upon its foundation (n. 9430, 9433, 9824, 10044, 10436). that the word may be such it is composed wholly of correspondences (n. 1404, 1408, 1409, 1540, 1619, 1659, 1709, 1783, 8615, 10687). because the word is such in the sense of the letter it is the containant of the spiritual and heavenly sense (n. 9407). and it is adapted both to men and to angels (n. 1769-1772, 1887, 2143, 2157, 2275, 2333, 2395, 2540, 2541, 2547, 2553, 7381, 8862, 10322). and it is what makes heaven and earth one (n. 2310, 2495, 9212, 9216, 9357, 9396, 10375). the conjunction of the lord with man is through the word, by means of the internal sense (n. 10375). there is conjunction by means of all things and each particular thing of the word, and in consequence the word is wonderful above all other writing (n. 10632-10634). since the word was written the lord speaks with men by means of it (n. 10290). the church, where the word is and the lord is known by means of it, in relation to those who are out of the church where there is no word and the lord is unknown is like the heart and lungs in man in comparison with the other parts of the body, which live from them as from the fountains of their life (n. 637, 931, 2054, 2853). before the lord the universal church on the earth is as a single man (n. 7396, 9276). consequently unless there were on this earth a church where the word is, and where the lord is known by means of it, the human race here would perish (n. 468, 637, 931, 4545, 10452). 306. i have been told from heaven that the most ancient people, because their interiors were turned heavenwards, had direct revelation, and by this means there was at that time a conjunction of the lord with the human race. after their times, however, there was no such direct revelation, but there was a mediate revelation by means of correspondences, inasmuch as all their divine worship then consisted of correspondences, and for this reason the churches of that time were called representative churches. for it was then known what correspondence is and what representation is, and that all things on the earth correspond to spiritual things in heaven and in the church, or what is the same, represent them; and therefore the natural things that constituted the externals of their worship served them as mediums for thinking spiritually, that is, thinking with the angels. when the knowledge of correspondences and representations had been blotted out of remembrance a word was written, in which all the words and their meanings are correspondences, and thus contain a spiritual or internal sense, in which are the angels; and in consequence, when a man reads the word and perceives it according to the sense of the letter or the outer sense the angels perceive it according to the internal or spiritual sense; for all the thought of angels is spiritual while the thought of man is natural. these two kinds of thought appear diverse; nevertheless they are one because they correspond. thus it was that when man had separated himself from heaven and had severed the bond the lord provided a medium of conjunction of heaven with man by means of the word. 307. how heaven is conjoined with man by means of the word i will illustrate by some passages from it. "the new jerusalem" is described in the apocalypse in these words: i saw a new heaven and a new earth, and the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. and i saw the holy city new jerusalem coming down from god out of heaven. the city was foursquare, its length as great as its breadth; and an angel measured the city with a reed, twelve thousand furlongs; the length, the breadth, and the height of it are equal. and he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. the building of the wall was of jasper; but the city itself was pure gold, and like unto pure glass; and the foundations of the wall were adorned with every precious stone. the twelve gates were twelve pearls; and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass (21:1, 2, 16-19, 21). when man reads these words he understands them merely in accordance with the sense of the letter, namely, that the visible heaven with the earth is to perish, and a new heaven is to come into existence; and upon the new earth the holy city jerusalem is to descend, with all its dimensions as here described. but the angels that are with man understand these things in a wholly different way, that is, everything that man understands naturally they understand spiritually. [2] by "the new heaven and the new earth" they understand a new church; by "the city jerusalem coming down from god out of heaven" they understand its heavenly doctrine revealed by the lord; by "its length, breadth, and height, which are equal," and "twelve thousand furlongs," they understand all the goods and truths of that doctrine in the complex; by its "wall" they understand the truths protecting it; by "the measure of the wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel," they understand all those protecting truths in the complex and their character; by its "twelve gates, which were of pearls," they understand introductory truths, "pearls" signifying such truths; by "the foundations of the wall, which were of precious stones," they understand the knowledge on which that doctrine is founded; by "the gold like unto pure glass," of which the city and its street were made, they understand the good of love which makes the doctrine and its truths transparent. thus do the angels perceive all these things; and therefore not as man perceives them. the natural ideas of man thus pass into the spiritual ideas with the angels without their knowing anything of the sense of the letter of the word, that is, about "a new heaven and a new earth," "a new city jerusalem," its "wall, the foundations of the wall, and its dimensions." and yet the thoughts of angels make one with the thoughts of man, because they correspond; they make one almost the same as the words of a speaker make one with the understanding of them by a hearer who attends solely to the meaning and not to the words. all this shows how heaven is conjoined with man by means of the word: [3] let us take another example from the word: in that day there shall be a highway from egypt to assyria, and assyria shall come into egypt and egypt into assyria; and the egyptians shall serve assyria. in that day shall israel be a third to egypt and to assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land, which jehovah of hosts shall bless, saying, blessed be my people the egyptian, and the assyrian the work of my hands, and israel mine inheritance (isaiah 19:23-25). what man thinks when these words are read, and what the angels think, can be seen from the sense of the letter of the word and from its internal sense. man from the sense of the letter thinks that the egyptians and assyrians are to be converted to god and accepted, and are then to become one with the israelitish nation; but angels in accordance with the internal sense think of the man of the spiritual church who is here described in that sense, whose spiritual is "israel," whose natural is the "egyptian," and whose rational, which is the middle, is the "assyrian."{1} nevertheless, these two senses are one because they correspond; and therefore when the angels thus think spiritually and man naturally they are conjoined almost as body and soul are; in fact, the internal sense of the word is its soul and the sense of the letter is its body. such is the word throughout. this shows that it is a medium of conjunction of heaven with man, and that its literal sense serves as a base and foundation. {footnote 1} in the word "egypt" and "egyptian" signify the natural and its knowledge (n. 4967, 5079, 5080, 5095, 5160, 5460, 5799, 6015, 6147, 6252, 7355, 7648, 9340, 9391). "assyria" signifies the rational (n. 119, 1186). "israel" signifies the spiritual (n. 5414, 5801, 5803, 5806, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833, 5879, 5951, 6426, 6637, 6862, 6868, 7035, 7062, 7198, 7201, 7215, 7223, 7957, 8234, 8805, 9340). 308. there is also a conjunction of heaven by means of the word with those who are outside of the church where there is no word; for the lord's church is universal, and is with all who acknowledge the divine and live in charity. moreover, such are taught after death by the angels and receive divine truths;{1} on which subject more may be seen below, in the chapter on the heathen. the universal church on the earth in the sight of the lord resembles a single man, just as heaven does (see n. 59-72); but the church where the word is and where the lord is known by means of it is like the heart and lungs in that man. it is known that all the viscera and members of the entire body draw their life from the heart and lungs through various derivations; and it is thus that those of the human race live who are outside of the church where the word is, and who constitute the members of that man. again, the conjunction of heaven with those who are at a distance by means of the word may be compared to light radiating from a center all around. the divine light is in the word, and there the lord with heaven is present, and from that presence those at a distance are in light; but it would be otherwise if there were no word. this may be more clearly seen from what has been shown above respecting the form of heaven in accordance with which all who are in heaven have affiliation and communication. but while this arcanum may be comprehended by those who are in spiritual light, it cannot be comprehended by those who are only in natural light; for innumerable things are clearly seen by those who are in spiritual light that are not seen or are seen obscurely as a single thing by those who are only in natural light. {footnote 1} the church specifically is where the word is and where the lord is known by means of it, thus where divine truths from heaven are revealed (n. 3857, 10761). the lord's church is with all in the whole globe who live in good in accordance with the principles of their religion (n. 3263, 6637, 10765). all wherever they are who live in good in accordance with the principles of their religion and who acknowledge the divine are accepted of the lord (n. 2589-2604, 2861, 2863, 3263, 4190, 4197, 6700, 9256). and besides these all children wheresoever they are born (n. 2289-2309, 4792). 309. unless such a word had been given on this earth the man of this earth would have been separated from heaven; and if separated from heaven he would have ceased to be rational, for the human rational exists by an influx of the light of heaven. again, the man of this earth is such that he is not capable of receiving direct revelation and of being taught about divine truths by such revelation, as the inhabitants of other earths are, that have been especially described in another small work. for the man of this earth is more in worldly things, that is, in externals, than the men of other earths, and it is internal things that are receptive of revelation; if it were received in external things the truth would not be understood. that such is the man of this earth is clearly evident from the state of those who are within the church, which is such that while they know from the word about heaven, about hell, about the life after death, still in heart they deny these things; although among them there are some who have acquired a pre-eminent reputation for learning, and who might for that reason be supposed to be wiser than others. 310. i have at times talked with angels about the word, saying that it is despised by some on account of its simple style; and that nothing whatever is known about its internal sense, and for this reason it is not believed that so much wisdom lies hid in it. the angels said that although the style of the word seems simple in the sense of the letter, it is such that nothing can ever be compared to it in excellence, since divine wisdom lies concealed not only in the meaning as a whole but also in each word; and that in heaven this wisdom shines forth. they wished to declare that this wisdom is the light of heaven, because it is divine truth, for that which shines in heaven is the divine truth (see n. 132). again, they said that without such a word there would be no light of heaven with the men of our earth, nor would there be any conjunction of heaven with them; for there is conjunction only so far as the light of heaven is present with man, and that light is present only so far as divine truth is revealed to man by means of the word. this conjunction by means of the correspondence of the spiritual sense of the word with its natural sense is unknown to man, because the man of this earth knows nothing about the spiritual thought and speech of angels, and how it differs from the natural thought and speech of men; and until this is known it cannot in the least be known what the internal sense is, and that such conjunction is therefore possible by means of that sense. they said, furthermore, that if this sense were known to man, and if man in reading the word were to think in accordance with some knowledge of it, he would come into interior wisdom, and would be still more conjoined with heaven, since by this means he would enter into ideas like the ideas of the angels. 311. xxxv. heaven and hell are from the human race. in the christian world it is wholly unknown that heaven and hell are from the human race, for it is believed that in the beginning angels were created and heaven was thus formed; also that the devil or satan was an angel of light, but having rebelled he was cast down with his crew, and thus hell was formed. the angels never cease to wonder at such a belief in the christian world, and still more that nothing is really known about heaven, when in fact that is the primary principle of all doctrine in the church. but since such ignorance prevails they rejoice in heart that it has pleased the lord to reveal to mankind at this time many things about heaven and about hell, thereby dispelling as far as possible the darkness that has been daily increasing because the church has come to its end. [2] they wish for this reason that i should declare from their lips that in the entire heaven there is not a single angel who was created such from the beginning, nor in hell any devil who was created an angel of light and cast down; but that all, both in heaven and in hell, are from the human race; in heaven those who lived in the world in heavenly love and belief, in hell those who lived in infernal love and belief, also that it is hell taken as a whole that is called the devil and satan-the name devil being given to the hell that is behind, where those are that are called evil genii, and the name satan being given to the hell that is in front, where those are that are called evil spirits.{1} the character of these hells will be described in the following pages. [3] the angels said that the christian world had gathered such a belief about those in heaven and those in hell from some passages in the word understood according to the mere sense of the letter not illustrated and explained by genuine doctrine from the word; although the sense of the letter of the word until illuminated by genuine doctrine, draws the mind in different directions, and this begets ignorance, heresies, and errors.{2} {footnote 1} the hells taken together, or the infernals taken together, are called the devil and satan (n. 694). those that have been devils in the world become devils after death (n. 968). {footnote 2} the doctrine of the church must be derived from the word (n. 3464, 5402, 6822, 6832, 10763, 10765). without doctrine the word is not understood (n. 9025, 9409, 9424, 9430, 10324, 10431, 10582). true doctrine is a lamp to those who read the word (n. 10400). genuine doctrine must be from those who are enlightened by the lord (n. 2510, 2516, 2519, 9424, 10105). those who are in the sense of the letter without doctrine come into no understanding of divine truths (n. 9409, 9410, 10582). and they are led away into many errors (n. 10431). the difference between those who teach and learn from the doctrine of the church derived from the word and those who teach and learn from the sense of the letter alone (n. 9025). 312. the man of the church also derives this belief from his believing that no man comes into heaven or into hell until the time of the final judgment; and about that he has accepted the opinion that all visible things will perish at that time and new things will come into existence, and that the soul will then return into its body, and from that union man will again live as a man. this belief involves the other-that angels were created such from the beginning; for it is impossible to believe that heaven and hell are from the human race when it is believed that no man can go there until the end of the world. [2] but that men might be convinced that this is not true it has been granted me to be in company with angels, and also to talk with those who are in hell, and this now for some years, sometimes continuously from morning until evening, and thus be informed about heaven and hell. this has been permitted that the man of the church may no longer continue in his erroneous belief about the resurrection at the time of judgment, and about the state of the soul in the meanwhile, also about angels and the devil. as this belief is a belief in what is false it involves the mind in darkness, and with those who think about these things from their own intelligence it induces doubt and at length denial, for they say in heart, "how can so vast a heaven, with so many constellations and with the sun and moon, be destroyed and dissipated; and how can the stars which are larger than the earth fall from heaven to the earth; and can bodies eaten up by worms, consumed by corruption, and scattered to all the winds, be gathered together again to their souls; and where in the meantime is the soul, and what is it when deprived of the senses it had in the body?" [3] with many other like things, which being incomprehensible cannot be believed, and which destroy the belief of many in the life of the soul after death, and their belief in heaven and hell, and with these other matters pertaining to the faith of the church. that this belief has been destroyed is evident from its being said, "who has ever come to us from heaven and told us that there is a heaven? what is hell? is there any? what is this about man's being tormented with fire to eternity? what is the day of judgment? has it not been expected in vain for ages?" with other things that involve a denial of everything. [4] therefore lest those who think in this way-as many do who from their worldly wisdom are regarded as erudite and learned-should any longer confound and mislead the simple in faith and heart, and induce infernal darkness respecting god and heaven and eternal life, and all else that depends on these, the interiors of my spirit have been opened by the lord, and i have thus been permitted to talk with all after their decease with whom i was ever acquainted in the life of the body-with some for days, with some for months, and with some for a year, and also with so many others that i should not exaggerate if i should say a hundred thousand; many of whom were in heaven, and many in hell. i have also talked with some two days after their decease, and have told them that their funeral services and obsequies were then being held in preparation for their interment; to which they replied that it was well to cast aside that which had served them as a body and for bodily functions in the world; and they wished me to say that they were not dead, but were living as men the same as before, and had merely migrated from one world into the other, and were not aware of having lost anything, since they had a body and its senses just as before, also understanding and will just as before, with thoughts and affections, sensations and desires, like those they had in the world. [5] most of those who had recently died, when they saw themselves to be living men as before, and in a like state (for after death everyone's state of life is at first such as it was in the world, but there is a gradual change in it either into heaven or into hell), were moved by new joy at being alive, saying that they had not believed that it would be so. but they greatly wondered that they should have lived in such ignorance and blindness about the state of their life after death; and especially that the man of the church should be in such ignorance and blindness, when above all others in the whole world he might be clearly enlightened in regard to these things.{1} then they began to see the cause of that blindness and ignorance, which is, that external things which are things, relating to the world and the body, had so occupied and filled their minds that they could not be raised into the light of heaven and look into the things of the church beyond its doctrinals; for when matters relating to the body and the world are loved, as they are at the present day, nothing but darkness flows into the mind when men go beyond those doctrines. {footnote 1} there are few in christendom at this day who believe that man rises again immediately after death (preface to genesis, chap. 16 and n. 4622, 10758); but it is believed that he will rise again at the time of the final judgment, when the visible world will perish (n. 10595). the reason of this belief (n. 10595, 10758). nevertheless man does rise again immediately after death, and then he is a man in all respects, and in every least respect (n. 4527, 5006, 5078, 8939, 8991, 10594, 10758). the soul that lives after death is the spirit of man, which in man is the man himself, and in the other life is in a complete human form (n. 322, 1880, 1881, 3633, 4622, 4735, 5883, 6054, 6605, 6626, 7021, 10594); from experience (n. 4527, 5006, 8939); from the word (n. 10597). what is meant by the dead seen in the holy city (matt. 27:53) explained (n. 9229). in what manner man is raised from the dead, from experience (n. 168-189). his state after his resurrection (n. 317-319, 2119, 5079, 10596). false opinions about the soul and its resurrection (n. 444, 445, 4527, 4622, 4658). 313. very many of the learned from the christian world are astonished when they find themselves after death in a body, in garments, and in houses, as in the world. and when they recall what they had thought about the life after death, the soul, spirits, and heaven and hell, they are ashamed and confess that they thought foolishly, and that the simple in faith thought much more wisely than they. when the minds of learned men who had confirmed themselves in such ideas and had ascribed all things to nature were examined, it was found that their interiors were wholly closed up and their exteriors were opened, that they looked towards the world and thus towards hell and not towards heaven. for to the extent that man's interiors are opened he looks towards heaven, but to the extent that his interiors are closed and his exteriors opened he looks towards hell, because the interiors of man are formed for the reception of all things of heaven, but the exteriors for the reception of all things of the world; and those who receive the world, and not heaven also, receive hell.{1} {footnote 1} in man the spiritual world and the natural world are conjoined (n. 6057). the internal of man is formed after the image of heaven, but the external after the image of the world (n. 3628, 4523, 4524, 6013, 6057, 9706, 10156, 10472). 314. that heaven is from the human race can be seen also from the fact that angelic minds and human minds are alike, both enjoying the ability to understand, perceive and will, and both formed to receive heaven; for the human mind is just as capable of becoming wise as the angelic mind; and if it does not attain to such wisdom in the world it is because it is in an earthly body, and in that body its spiritual mind thinks naturally. but it is otherwise when the mind is loosed from the bonds of that body; then it no longer thinks naturally, but spiritually, and when it thinks spiritually its thoughts are incomprehensible and ineffable to the natural man; thus it becomes wise like an angel, all of which shows that the internal part of man, called his spirit, is in its essence an angel (see above, n. 57);{1} and when loosed from the earthly body is, equally with the angel, in the human form. (that an angel is in a complete human form may be seen above, n. 73-77.) when, however, the internal of man is not open above but only beneath, it is still, after it has been loosed from the body, in a human form, but a horrible and diabolical form, for it is able only to look downwards towards hell, and not upwards towards heaven. {footnote 1} there are as many degrees of life in man as there are heavens, and they are opened after death in accordance with his life (n. 3747, 9594). heaven is in man (n. 3884). men who are living a life of love and charity have in them angelic wisdom, although it is for the time hidden, but they come into that wisdom after death (n. 2494). the man who receives from the lord the good of love and of faith is called in the word an angel (n. 10528). 315. moreover, any one who has been taught about divine order can understand that man was created to become an angel, because the outmost of order is in him (n. 304), in which what pertains to heavenly and angelic wisdom can be brought into form and can be renewed and multiplied. divine order never stops midway to form there a something apart from an outmost, for it is not in its fullness and completion there; but it goes on to the outmost; and when it is in its outmost it takes on its form, and by means there collected it renews itself and produces itself further, which is accomplished through procreations. therefore the seed-ground of heaven is in the outmost. 316. the lord rose again not as to his spirit alone but also as to his body, because when he was in the world he glorified his whole human, that is, made it divine; for his soul which he had from the father was of itself the very divine, while his body became a likeness of the soul, that is, of the father, thus also divine. this is why he, differently from any man, rose again as to both;{1} and this he made manifest to the disciples (who when they saw him believed that they saw a spirit), by saying: see my hands and my feet, that it is i myself; handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye behold me having (luke 24:36-39); indicating thereby that he was a man both in respect to his spirit and in respect to his body. {footnote 1} man rises again only as to his spirit (n. 10593, 10594). the lord alone rose again in respect also to his body (n. 1729, 2083, 5078, 10825). 317. that it might be made clear that man lives after death and enters in accordance with his life in the world either into heaven or into hell, many things have been disclosed to me about the state of man after death, which will be presented in due order in the following pages, where the world of spirits is treated of. 318. xxxvi. the heathen, or peoples outside of the church, in heaven. there is a general opinion that those born outside of the church, who are called the nations, or heathen, cannot be saved, because not having the word they know nothing about the lord, and apart from the lord there is no salvation. but that these also are saved this alone makes certain, that the mercy of the lord is universal, that is, extends to every individual; that these equally with those within the church, who are few in comparison, are born men, and that their ignorance of the lord is not their fault. any one who thinks from any enlightened reason can see that no man is born for hell, for the lord is love itself and his love is to will the salvation of all. therefore he has provided a religion for everyone, and by it acknowledgment of the divine and interior life; for to live in accordance with one's religion is to live interiorly, since one then looks to the divine, and so far as he looks to the divine he does not look to the world but separates himself from the world, that is, from the life of the world, which is exterior life.{1} {footnote 1} the heathen equally with the christians are saved (n. 932, 1032, 1059, 2284, 2589, 2590, 3778, 4190, 4197). the lot of the nations and peoples outside of the church in the other life (n. 2589-2604). the church is specifically where the word is, and by it the lord is known (n. 3857, 10761). nevertheless, those born where the word is and where the lord is known are not on that account of the church, but only those who live a life of charity and of faith (n. 6637, 10143, 10153, 10578, 10645, 10829). the lord's church is with all in the whole world who live in good in accordance with their religion and acknowledge a divine, and such are accepted of the lord and come into heaven (n. 2589-2604, 2861, 2863, 3263, 4190, 4197, 6700, 9256). 319. that the heathen equally with christians are saved any one can see who knows what it is that makes heaven in man; for heaven is within man, and those that have heaven within them come into heaven. heaven with man is acknowledging the divine and being led by the divine. the first and chief thing of every religion is to acknowledge the divine. a religion that does not acknowledge the divine is no religion. the precepts of every religion look to worship; thus to the way in which the divine is to be worshiped that the worship may be acceptable to him; and when this has been settled in one's mind, that is, so far as one wills this or so far as he loves it, he is led by the lord. everyone knows that the heathen as well as christians live a moral life, and many of them a better life than christians. moral life may be lived either out of regard to the divine or out of regard to men in the world; and a moral life that is lived out of regard to the divine is a spiritual life. in outward form the two appear alike, but in inward form they are wholly different; the one saves man, the other does not. for he who lives a moral life out of regard to the divine is led by the divine; while he who leads a moral life out of regard to men in the world is led by himself. [2] but this may be illustrated by an example. he that refrains from doing evil to his neighbor because it is antagonistic to religion, that is, antagonistic to the divine, refrains from doing evil from a spiritual motive; but he that refrains from doing evil to another merely from fear of the law, or the loss of reputation, of honor, or gain, that is, from regard to self and the world, refrains from doing evil from a natural motive, and is led by himself. the life of the latter is natural, that of the former is spiritual. a man whose moral life is spiritual has heaven within him; but he whose moral life is merely natural does not have heaven within him; and for the reason that heaven flows in from above and opens man's interiors, and through his interiors flows into his exteriors; while the world flows in from beneath and opens the exteriors but not the interiors. for there can be no flowing in from the natural world into the spiritual, but only from the spiritual world into the natural; therefore if heaven is not also received, the interiors remain closed. all this makes clear who those are that receive heaven within them, and who do not. [3] and yet heaven is not the same in one as in another. it differs in each one in accordance with his affection for good and its truth. those that are in an affection for good out of regard to the divine, love divine truth, since good and truth love each other and desire to be conjoined.{1} this explains why the heathen, although they are not in genuine truths in the world, yet because of their love receive truths in the other life. {footnote 1} between good and truth there is a kind of marriage (n. 1904, 2173, 2508). good and truth are in a perpetual endeavor to be conjoined, and good longs for truth and for conjunction with it (n. 9206, 9207, 9495). how the conjunction of good and truth takes place, and in whom (n. 3834, 3843, 4096, 4097, 4301, 4345, 4353, 4364, 4368, 5365, 7623-7627, 9258). 320. a certain spirit from among the heathen who had lived in the world in good of charity in accordance with his religion, hearing christian spirits reasoning about what must be believed, (for spirits reason with each other far more thoroughly and acutely than men, especially about what is good and true,) wondered at such contentions, and said that he did not care to listen to them, for they reasoned from appearances and fallacies; and he gave them this instruction: "if i am good i can know from the good itself what is true; and what i do not know i can receive." 321. i have been taught in many ways that the heathen who have led a moral life and have lived in obedience and subordination and mutual charity in accordance with their religion, and have thus received something of conscience, are accepted in the other life, and are there instructed with solicitous care by the angels in the goods and truths of faith; and that when they are being taught they behave themselves modestly, intelligently, and wisely, and readily accept truths and adopt them. they have not worked out for themselves any principles of falsity antagonistic to the truths of faith that will need to be shaken off, still less cavils against the lord, as many christians have who cherish no other idea of him than that he is an ordinary man. the heathen on the contrary when they hear that god has become a man, and has thus manifested himself in the world, immediately acknowledge it and worship the lord, saying that because god is the god of heaven and of earth, and because the human race is his, he has fully disclosed himself to men.{1} it is a divine truth that apart from the lord there is no salvation; but this is to be understood to mean that there is no salvation except from the lord. there are many earths in the universe, and all of them full of inhabitants, scarcely any of whom know that the lord took on the human on our earth. yet because they worship the divine under a human form they are accepted and led by the lord. on this subject more may be seen in the little work on the earths in the universe. {footnote 1} difference between the good in which the heathen are and that in which christians are (n. 4189, 4197). truths with the heathen (n. 3263, 3778, 4190). the interiors cannot be so closed up with the heathen as with christians (n. 9256). neither can so thick a cloud exist with the heathen who live in mutual charity in accordance with their religion as with christians who live in no charity; the reasons (n. 1059, 9256). the heathen cannot profane the holy things of the church as the christians do, because they are ignorant of them (n. 1327, 1328, 2051). they have a fear of christians on account of their lives (n. 2596, 2597). those that have lived well in accordance with their religion are taught by angels and readily accept the truths of faith and acknowledge the lord (n. 2049, 2595, 2598, 2600, 2601, 2603, 2861, 2863, 3263). 322. among the heathen, as among christians, there are both wise and simple. that i might learn about them i have been permitted to speak with both, sometimes for hours and days. but there are no such wise men now as in ancient times, especially in the ancient church, which extended over a large part of the asiatic world, and from which religion spread to many nations. that i might wholly know about them i have been permitted to have familiar conversation with some of these wise men. there was with me one who was among the wiser of his time, and consequently well known in the learned world, with whom i talked on various subjects, and had reason to believe that it was cicero. knowing that he was a wise man i talked with him about wisdom, intelligence, order, and the word, and lastly about the lord. [2] of wisdom he said that there is no other wisdom than the wisdom of life, and that wisdom can be predicated of nothing else; of intelligence that it is from wisdom; of order, that it is from the supreme god, and that to live in that order is to be wise and intelligent. as to the word, when i read to him something from the prophets he was greatly delighted, especially with this, that every name and every word signified interior things; and he wondered greatly that learned men at this day are not delighted with such study. i saw plainly that the interiors of his thought or mind had been opened. he said that he was unable to hear more, as he perceived something more holy than he could bear, being affected so interiorly. [3] at length i spoke with him about the lord, saying that while he was born a man he was conceived of god, and that he put off the maternal human and put on the divine human, and that it is he that governs the universe. to this he replied that he knew some things concerning the lord, and perceived in his way that if mankind were to be saved it could not have been done otherwise. in the meantime some bad christians infused various cavils; but to these he gave no attention, remarking that this was not strange, since in the life of the body they had imbibed unbecoming ideas on the subject, and until they got rid of these they could not admit ideas that confirmed the truth, as the ignorant can. 323. it has also been granted me to talk with others who lived in ancient times, and who were then among the more wise. at first they appeared in front at a distance, and were able then to perceive the interiors of my thoughts, thus many things fully. from one idea of thought they were able to discern the entire series and fill it with delightful things of wisdom combined with charming representations. from this they were perceived to be among the more wise, and i was told that they were some of the ancient people; and when they came nearer i read to them something from the word, and they were delighted beyond measure. i perceived the essence of their delight and gratification, which arose chiefly from this, that all things and each thing they heard from the word were representative and significative of heavenly and spiritual things. they said that in their time, when they lived in the world, their mode of thinking and speaking and also of writing was of this nature, and that this was their pursuit of wisdom. 324. but as regards the heathen of the present day, they are not so wise, but most of them are simple in heart. nevertheless, those of them that have lived in mutual charity receive wisdom in the other life, and of these one or two examples may be cited. when i read the seventeenth and eighteenth chapters of judges (about micah, and how the sons of dan carried away his graven image and teraphim and levite) a heathen spirit was present who in the life of the body had worshiped a graven image. he listened attentively to the account of what was done to micah, and his grief on account of his graven image which the danites took away, and such grief came upon him and moved him that he scarcely knew, by reason of inward distress, what to think. not only was this grief perceived, but also the innocence that was in all his affections. the christian spirits that were present watched him and wondered that a worshiper of a graven image should have so great a feeling of sympathy and innocence stirred in him. afterwards some good spirits talked with him, saying that graven images should not be worshiped, and that being a man he was capable of understanding this; that he ought, apart from a graven image, to think of god the creator and ruler of the whole heaven and the whole earth, and that god is the lord. when this was said i was permitted to perceive the interior nature of his adoration, which was communicated to me; and it was much more holy than is the case of christians, this makes clear that at the present day the heathen come into heaven with less difficulty than christians, according to the lord's words in luke: then shall they come from the east and the west, and from the north and the south, and shall recline in the kingdom of god. and behold, there are last who shall be first, and there are first who shall be last (13:29, 30). for in the state in which that spirit was he could be imbued with all things of faith and receive them with interior affection; there was in him the mercy of love, and in his ignorance there was innocence; and when these are present all things of faith are received as it were spontaneously and with joy. he was afterwards received among angels. 325. a choir at a distance was heard one morning, and from the choir's representations i was permitted to know that they were chinese, for they exhibited a kind of woolly goat, then a cake of millet, and an ebony spoon, also the idea of a floating city. they desired to come nearer to me, and when they had joined me they said that they wished to be alone with me, that they might disclose their thoughts. but they were told that they were not alone, and that some were displeased at their wishing to be alone, although they were guests. when they perceived this displeasure they began to think whether they had transgressed against the neighbor, and whether they had claimed any thing to themselves that belonged to others. all thought in the other life being communicated i was permitted to perceive the agitation of their minds. it consisted of a recognition that possibly they had injured those who were displeased, of shame on that account, together with other worthy affections; and it was thus known that they were endowed with charity. soon after i spoke with them, and at last about the lord. when i called him "christ" i perceived a certain repugnance in them; but the reason was disclosed, namely, that they had brought this from the world, from their having learned that christians lived worse lives than they did, and were destitute of charity. but when i called him simply "lord" they were interiorly moved. afterwards, they were taught by the angels that the christian doctrine beyond every other in the world prescribes love and charity, but that there are few who live in accordance with it. there are heathen who have come to know while they lived in the world, both from interaction and report, that christians lead bad lives, are addicted to adultery, hatred, quarreling, drunkenness, and the like, which they themselves abhor because such things are contrary to their religion. these in the other life are more timid than others about accepting the truths of faith; but they are taught by the angels that the christian doctrine, as well as the faith itself, teaches a very different life, but that the lives of christians are less in accord with their doctrine than the lives of heathen. when they recognize this they receive the truths of faith, and adore the lord, but less readily than others. 326. it is a common thing for heathen that have worshiped any god under an image or statue, or any graven thing to be introduced, when they come into the other life, to certain spirits in place of their gods or idols, in order that they may rid themselves of their fantasies. when they have been with these for some days, the fantasies are put away. also those that have worshiped men are sometimes introduced to the men they have worshiped, or to others in their place--as many of the jews to abraham, jacob, moses, and david-but when they come to see that they are human the same as others, and that they can give them no help, they become ashamed, and are carried to their own places in accordance with their lives. among the heathen in heaven the africans are most beloved, for they receive the goods and truths of heaven more readily than others. they especially wish to be called obedient, but not faithful. they say that as christians possess the doctrine of faith they may be called faithful; but not they unless they accept that doctrine, or as they say, have the ability to accept it. 327. i have talked with some who were in the ancient church. that is called the ancient church that was established after the deluge, and extended through many kingdoms, namely, assyria, mesopotamia, syria, ethiopia, arabia, libya, egypt, philistia as far as tyre and zidon, and through the land of canaan on both sides of the jordan.{1} the men of this church knew about the lord that he was to come, and were imbued with the goods of faith, and yet they fell away and became idolaters. these spirits were in front towards the left, in a dark place and in a miserable state. their speech was like the sound of a pipe of one tone, almost without rational thought. they said they had been there for many centuries, and that they are sometimes taken out that they may serve others for certain uses of a low order. from this i was led to think about many christians--who are inwardly though not outwardly idolaters, since they are worshipers of self and of the world, and in heart deny the lord-what lot awaits such in the other life. {footnote 1} the first and most ancient church on this earth was that which is described in the first chapters of genesis, and that church above all others was celestial (n. 607, 895, 920, 1121-1124, 2896, 4493, 8891, 9942, 10545). what the celestial are in heaven (n. 1114-1125). there were various churches after the flood which are called ancient churches (n. 1125-1127, 1327, 10355). what the men of the ancient church were (n. 609, 895). the ancient churches were representative churches (n. 519, 521, 2896). in the ancient church there was a word, but it has been lost (n. 2897). the character of the ancient church when it began to decline (n. 1128). the difference between the most ancient church and the ancient church (n. 597, 607, 640, 641, 765, 784, 895, 4493). the statutes, the judgments, and the laws, which were commanded in the jewish church, were in part like those in the ancient church (n. 4288, 4449, 10149). the god of the most ancient church and of the ancient church was the lord, and he was called jehovah (n. 1343, 6846). 328. that the church of the lord is spread over all the globe, and is thus universal; and that all those are in it who have lived in the good of charity in accordance with their religion; and that the church, where the word is and by means of it the lord is known, is in relation to those who are out of the church like the heart and lungs in man, from which all the viscera and members of the body have their life, variously according to their forms, positions, and conjunctions, may be seen above (n. 308). 329. xxxvii. little children in heaven. it is a belief of some that only such children as are born within the church go to heaven, and that those born out of the church do not, and for the reason that the children within the church are baptized and by baptism are initiated into faith of the church. such are not aware that no one receives heaven or faith through baptism; for baptism is merely for a sign and memorial that man should be regenerated, and that those born within the church can be regenerated because the word is there, and in the word are the divine truths by means of which regeneration is effected, and there the lord who regenerates is known.{1} let them know therefore that every child, wherever he is born, whether within the church or outside of it, whether of pious parents or impious, is received when he dies by the lord and trained up in heaven, and taught in accordance with divine order, and imbued with affections for what is good, and through these with knowledges of what is true; and afterwards as he is perfected in intelligence and wisdom is introduced into heaven and becomes an angel. everyone who thinks from reason can be sure that all are born for heaven and no one for hell, and if man comes into hell he himself is culpable; but little children cannot be held culpable. {footnote 1} baptism signifies regeneration by the lord by means of the truths of faith from the word (n. 4255, 5120, 9088, 10239, 10386-10388, 10392). baptism is a sign that the man baptized is of the church in which the lord, who regenerates, is acknowledged, and where the word is from which are the truths of faith, by means of which regeneration is effected (n. 10386-10388). baptism confers neither faith nor salvation, but it is a witness that those who are being regenerated will receive faith and salvation (n. 10391). 330. when children die they are still children in the other life, having a like infantile mind, a like innocence in ignorance, and a like tenderness in all things. they are merely in the rudiments of a capacity to become angels, for children are not angels but become angels. for everyone passing out of this world enters the other in the same state of life, a little child in the state of a little child, a boy in the state of a boy, a youth, a man, an old man, in the state of a youth, a man, or an old man; but subsequently each one's state is changed. the state of little children surpasses the state of all others in that they are in innocence, and evil has not yet been rooted in them by actual life; and in innocence all things of heaven can be implanted, for it is a receptacle of the truth of faith and of the good of love. 331. the state of children in the other life far surpasses their state in the world, for they are not clothed with an earthly body, but with such a body as the angels have. the earthly body is in itself gross, and receives its first sensations and first motions not from the inner or spiritual world, but from the outer or natural world; and in consequence in this world children must be taught to walk, to guide their motions, and to speak; and even their senses, as seeing and hearing, must be opened by use. it is not so with children in the other life. as they are spirits they act at once in accordance with their interiors, walking without practice, and also talking, but at first from general affections not yet distinguished into ideas of thought; but they are quickly initiated into these also, for the reason that their exteriors are homogeneous with their interiors. the speech of angels (as may be seen above, n, 234-245) so flows forth from affection modified by ideas of thought that their speech completely conforms to their thoughts from affection. 332. as soon as little children are resuscitated, which takes place immediately after death, they are taken into heaven and confided to angel women who in the life of the body tenderly loved little children and at the same time loved god. because these during their life in the world loved all children with a kind of motherly tenderness, they receive them as their own; while the children, from an implanted instinct, love them as their own mothers. there are as many children in each one's care as she desires from a spiritual parental affection. this heaven appears in front before the forehead, directly in the line or radius in which the angels look to the lord. it is so situated because all little children are under the immediate auspices of the lord; and the heaven of innocence, which is the third heaven, flows into them. 333. little children have various dispositions, some that of the spiritual angels and some that of the celestial angels. those who are of a celestial disposition are seen in that heaven to the right, and those of a spiritual disposition to the left. all children in the greatest man, which is heaven, are in the province of the eyes-those of a spiritual disposition in the province of the left eye, and those of a celestial disposition in the province of the right eye. this is because the angels who are in the spiritual kingdom see the lord before the left eye, and those who are in the celestial kingdom before the right eye (see above, n. 118). this fact that in the greatest man or heaven children are in the province of the eyes is a proof that they are under the immediate sight and auspices of the lord. 334. how children are taught in heaven shall also be briefly told. from their nurses they learn to talk. their earliest speech is simply a sound of affection; this by degrees becomes more distinct as ideas of thought enter; for ideas of thought from affections constitute all angelic speech (as may be seen in its own chapter, n. 234-245). into their affections, all of which proceed from innocence, such things as appear before their eyes and cause delight are first instilled; and as these things are from a spiritual origin the things of heaven at once flow into them, and by means of these heavenly things their interiors are opened, and they are thereby daily perfected. but when this first age is completed they are transferred to another heaven, where they are taught by masters; and so on. 335. children are taught chiefly by representatives suited to their capacity. these are beautiful and full of wisdom from within, beyond all belief. in this way an intelligence that derives its soul from good is gradually instilled into them. i will here describe two representatives that i have been permitted to see, from which the nature of others may be inferred. first there was a representation of the lord's rising from the sepulchre, and at the same time of the uniting of his human with the divine. this was done in a manner so wise as to surpass all human wisdom, and at the same time in an innocent infantile manner. an idea of a sepulchre was presented, and with it an idea of the lord, but in so remote a way that there was scarcely any perception of its being the lord, except seemingly afar off; and for the reason that in the idea of a sepulchre there is something funereal, and this was thus removed, after wards they cautiously admitted into the sepulchre something atmospheric, with an appearance of thin vapor, by which with proper remoteness they signified spiritual life in baptism. afterwards i saw a representation by the angels of the lord's descent to those that are "bound," and of his ascent with these into heaven, and this with incomparable prudence and gentleness. in adaptation to the infantile mind they let down little cords almost invisible, very soft and tender, by which they lightened the lord's ascent, always with a holy solicitude that there should be nothing in the representation bordering upon anything that did not contain what is spiritual and heavenly. other representations are there given, whereby, as by plays adapted to the minds of children, they are guided into knowledges of truth and affections for good. 336. it was also shown how tender their understanding is. when i was praying the lord's prayer, and from their under standing they flowed into the ideas of my thought, their influx was perceived to be so tender and soft as to be almost solely a matter of affection; and at the same time it was observed that their understanding was open even from the lord, for what flowed forth from them was as if it simply flowed through them. moreover, the lord flows into the ideas of little children chiefly from inmosts, for there is nothing, as with adults, to close up their ideas, no principles of falsity to close the way to the understanding of truth, nor any life of evil to close the way to the reception of good, and thereby to the reception of wisdom. all this makes clear that little children do not come at once after death into an angelic state, but are gradually brought into it by means of knowledges of good and truth, and in harmony with all heavenly order; for the least particulars of their nature are known to the lord, and thus they are led, in accord with each and every movement of their inclination, to receive the truths of good and the goods of truth. 337. i have also been shown how all things are instilled into them by delightful and pleasant means suited to their genius. i have been permitted to see children most charmingly attired, having garlands of flowers resplendent with most beautiful and heavenly colors twined about their breasts and around their tender arms; and once to see them accompanied by those in charge of them and by maidens, in a park most beautifully adorned, not so much with trees, as with arbors and covered walks of laurel, with paths leading inward; and when the children entered attired as they were the flowers over the entrance shone forth most joyously. this indicates the nature of their delights, also how they are led by means of pleasant and delightful things into the goods of innocence and charity, which goods the lord continually instilled into these delights and pleasures. 338. it was shown me, by a mode of communication common in the other life, what the ideas of children are when they see objects of any kind. each and every object seemed to them to be alive; and thus in every least idea of their thought there is life. and it was perceived that children on the earth have nearly the same ideas when they are at their little plays; for as yet they have no such reflection as adults have about what is inanimate. 339. it has been said above that children are of a genius either celestial or spiritual. those of a celestial genius are easily distinguished from those of a spiritual genius. their thought, speech, and action, is so gentle that hardly anything appears except what flows from a love of good to the lord and from a love for other children. but those of a spiritual genius are not so gentle; but in everything with them there appears a sort of vibration, as of wings. the difference is seen also in their ill-feeling and in other things. 340. many may suppose that in heaven little children remain little children, and continue as such among the angels. those who do not know what an angel is may have had this opinion confirmed by paintings and images in churches, in which angels are represented as children. but it is wholly otherwise. intelligence and wisdom are what constitute an angel, and as long as children do not possess these they are not angels, although they are with the angels; but as soon as they become intelligent and wise they become angels; and what is wonderful, they do not then appear as children, but as adults, for they are no longer of an infantile genius, but of a more mature angelic genius. intelligence and wisdom produce this effect. the reason why children appear more mature, thus as youths and young men, as they are perfected in intelligence and wisdom, is that intelligence and wisdom are essential spiritual nourishment;{1} and thus the things that nourish their minds also nourish their bodies, and this from correspondence; for the form of the body is simply the external form of the interiors. but it should be understood that in heaven children advance in age only to early manhood, and remain in this to eternity. that i might be assured that this is so i have been permitted to talk with some who had been educated as children in heaven, and had grown up there; with some also while they were children, and again with the same when they had become young men; and i have heard from them about the progress of their life from one age to another. {footnote 1} spiritual food is knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom, thus the good and truth from which these are (n. 3114, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5410, 5426, 5576, 5582, 5588, 5655, 8562, 9003). therefore in a spiritual sense everything that comes forth from the mouth of the lord is food (n. 681). because bread means all food in general it signifies every good, celestial and spiritual (n. 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3478, 6118, 8410). and for the reason that these nourish the mind, which belongs to the internal man (n. 4459, 5293, 5576, 6277, 8410). 341. that innocence is a receptacle of all things of heaven, and thus the innocence of children is a plane for all affections for good and truth, can be seen from what has been shown above (n. 276-283) in regard to the innocence of angels in heaven, namely, that innocence is a willingness to be led by the lord and not by oneself; consequently so far as a man is in innocence he is separated from what is his own, and so far as one is separated from what is his own he is in what is the lord's own. the lord's own is what is called his righteousness and merit. but the innocence of children is not genuine innocence, because as yet it is without wisdom. genuine innocence is wisdom, since so far as any one is wise he loves to be led by the lord; or what is the same, so far as any one is led by the lord he is wise. [2] therefore children are led from the external innocence in which they are at the beginning, and which is called the innocence of childhood, to internal innocence, which is the innocence of wisdom. this innocence is the end that directs all their instruction and progress; and therefore when they have attained to the innocence of wisdom, the innocence of childhood, which in the meanwhile has served them as a plane, is joined to them. [3] the innocence of children has been represented to me as a wooden sort of thing, almost devoid of life, which becomes vivified as they are perfected by knowledges of truth and affections for good. afterwards genuine innocence was represented by a most beautiful child, naked and full of life; for the really innocent, who are in the inmost heaven and thus nearest to the lord, always appear before the eyes of other angels as little children, and some of them naked; for innocence is represented by nakedness unaccompanied by shame, as is said of the first man and his wife in paradise (gen. 2:25); so when their state of innocence perished they were ashamed of their nakedness, and hid themselves (chap. 3:7, 10, 11). in a word, the wiser the angels are the more innocent they are, and the more innocent they are the more they appear to themselves as little children. this is why in the word "childhood" signifies innocence (see above, n. 278). 342. i have talked with angels about little children, whether they are free from evils, inasmuch as they have no actual evil as adults have; and i was told that they are equally in evil, and in fact are nothing but evil;{1} but, like all angels, they are so withheld from evil and held in good by the lord as to seem to themselves to be in good from themselves. for this reason when children have become adults in heaven, that they may not have the false idea about themselves that the good in them is from themselves and not from the lord, they are now and then let down into their evils which they inherited, and are left in them until they know, acknowledge and believe the truth of the matter. [2] there was one, the son of a king, who died in childhood and grew up in heaven, who held this opinion. therefore he was let down into that life of evils into which he was born, and he then perceived from the sphere of his life that he had a disposition to domineer over others, and regarded adulteries as of no account; these evils he had inherited from his parents; but after he had been brought to recognize his real character he was again received among the angels with whom he had before been associated. [3] in the other life no one ever suffers punishment on account of his inherited evil, because it is not his evil, that is, it is not his fault that he is such; he suffers only on account of actual evil that is his, that is, only so far as he has appropriated to himself inherited evil by actual life. when, therefore, the children that have become adults are let down into the state of their inherited evil it is not that they may suffer punishment for it, but that they may learn that of themselves they are nothing but evil, and that it is by the mercy of the lord that they are taken up into heaven from the hell in which they are, and that it is from the lord that they are in heaven and not from any merit of their own; and therefore they may not boast before others of the good that is in them, since this is contrary to the good of mutual love, as it is contrary to the truth of faith. {footnote 1} all kinds of men are born into evils of every kind, even to the extent that what is their own is nothing but evil (n. 210, 215, 731, 874-876, 987, 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518, 3701, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10283, 10284, 10286, 10731). consequently man must needs be reborn, that is, regenerated (n. 3701). man's inherited evil consists in his loving himself more than god, and the world more than heaven and in making his neighbor, in comparison with himself, of no account, except for the sake of self, that is, himself alone, thus it consists in the love of self and of the world (n. 694, 731, 4317, 5660). all evils are from the love of self and of the world, when those loves rule (n. 1307, 1308, 1321, 1594, 1691, 3413, 7255, 7376, 7488, 7490, 8318, 9335, 9348, 10038, 10742). these evils are contempt of others, enmity, hatred revenge, cruelty, deceit (n. 6667, 7370-7374, 9348, 10038, 10742). and from these evils comes all falsity (n. 1047, 10283, 10284, 10286). these loves, so far as the reins are given them, rush headlong; and the love of self aspires even to the throne of god (n. 7375, 8678). 343. several times when a number of children that were in a purely infantile state have been with me in choirs, they were heard as a tender unarranged mass, that is, as not yet acting as one, as they do later when they have become more mature. to my surprise the spirits with me could not refrain from inducing them to talk. this desire is innate in spirits. but i noticed, each time, that the children resisted, unwilling to talk in this way. this refusal and resistance, which were accompanied by a kind of indignation, i have often perceived; and when an opportunity to talk was given them they would say nothing except that "it is not so." i have been taught that little children are so tempted in order that they may get accustomed to resisting, and may begin to resist falsity and evil, and also that they may learn not to think, speak, and act, from another, and in consequence may learn to permit themselves to be led by no one but the lord. 344. from what has been said it can be seen what child education is in heaven, namely, that it is leading them by means of an understanding of truth and the wisdom of good into the angelic life, which is love to the lord and mutual love, in which is innocence. but how different in many cases is the education of children on the earth can be seen from this example. i was in the street of a large city, and saw little boys fighting with each other; a crowd flocked around and looked on with much pleasure; and i was told that little boys are incited to such fights by their own parents. good spirits and angels who saw this through my eyes so revolted at it that i felt their horror; and especially that parents should incite their children to such things, saying that in this way parents extinguish in the earliest age all the mutual love and all the innocence that children have from the lord, and initiate them into the spirit of hatred and revenge; consequently by their own endeavors they shut their children out of heaven, where there is nothing but mutual love. let parents therefore who wish well to their children beware of such things. 345. what the difference is between those who die in childhood and those who die in mature life shall also be told. those dying in mature life have a plane acquired from the earthly and material world, and this they carry with them. this plane is their memory and its bodily natural affection. this remains fixed and becomes quiescent, but still serves their thought after death as an outmost plane, since the thought flows into it. consequently such as this plane is, and such as the correspondence is between the things that are in it and the rational faculty, such is the man after death. but the children who die in childhood and are educated in heaven have no such plane, since they derive nothing from the material world and the earthly body; but they have a spiritual-natural plane. for this reason they cannot be in such gross affections and consequent thoughts, since they derive all things from heaven. moreover, these children do not know that they were born in the world, but believe that they were born in heaven. neither do they know about any other than spiritual birth, which is effected through knowledges of good and truth and through intelligence and wisdom, from which man is a man; and as these are from the lord they believe themselves to be the lord's own, and love to be so. nevertheless it is possible for the state of men who grow up on the earth to become as perfect as the state of children who grow up in heaven, provided they put away bodily and earthly loves, which are the loves of self and the world, and receive in their place spiritual loves. 346. xxxviii. the wise and the simple in heaven. it is believed that in heaven the wise will have more glory and eminence than the simple, because it is said in daniel: they that are intelligent shall shine as with the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever (12:3). but few know who are meant by the "intelligent" and by those that "turn many to righteousness." the common belief is that they are such as are called the accomplished and learned, especially such as have taught in the church and have surpassed others in acquirements and in preaching, and still more such among them as have converted many to the faith. in the world all such are regarded as the intelligent; nevertheless such are not the intelligent in heaven that are spoken of in these words, unless their intelligence is heavenly intelligence. what this is will now be told. 347. heavenly intelligence is interior intelligence, arising from a love for truth, not with any glory in the world nor any glory in heaven as an end, but with the truth itself as an end, by which they are inmostly affected and with which they are inmostly delighted. those who are affected by and delighted with the truth itself are affected by and delighted with the light of heaven; and those who are affected by and delighted with the light of heaven are also affected by and delighted with divine truth, and indeed with the lord himself; for the light of heaven is divine truth, and divine truth is the lord in heaven (see above, n. 126-140). this light enters only into the interiors of the mind; for the interiors of the mind are formed for the reception of that light, and are affected by and delighted with that light as it enters; for whatever flows in and is received from heaven has in it what is delightful and pleasant. from this comes a genuine affection for truth, which is an affection for truth for truth's sake. those who are in this affection, or what is the same thing, in this love, are in heavenly intelligence, and "shine in heaven as with the brightness of the firmament." they so shine because divine truth, wherever it is in heaven, is what gives light (see above, n. 132); and the "firmament" of heaven signifies from correspondence the intellectual faculty, both with angels and men, that is in the light of heaven. [2] but those that love the truth, either with glory in the world or glory in heaven as an end, cannot shine in heaven, since they are delighted with and affected by the light of the world, and not with the very light of heaven; and the light of the world without the light of heaven is in heaven mere thick darkness.{1} for the glory of self is what rules, because it is the end in view; and when that glory is the end man puts himself in the first place, and such truths as can be made serviceable to his glory he looks upon simply as means to the end and as instruments of service. for he that loves divine truths for the sake of his own glory regards himself and not the lord in divine truths, thereby turning the sight pertaining to his understanding and faith away from heaven to the world, and away from the lord to himself. such, therefore, are in the light of the world and not in the light of heaven. [3] in outward form or in the sight of men they appear just as intelligent and learned as those who are in the light of heaven, because they speak in a like manner; and sometimes to outward appearance they even appear wiser, because they are moved by love of self, and are skilled in counterfeiting heavenly affections; but in their inward form in which they appear before the angels they are wholly different. all this shows in some degree who those are that are meant by "the intelligent that will shine in heaven as with the brightness of the firmament." who are meant by those that "turn many to righteousness," who will shine as the stars, shall now be told. {footnote 1} the light of the world is for the external man, the light of heaven for the internal man (n. 3222-3224, 3337). the light of heaven flows into the natural light, and so far as the natural man receives the light of heaven he becomes wise (n. 4302, 4408). the things that are in the light of heaven can be seen in the light of heaven but not in the light of the world, which is called natural light (n. 9755). therefore those who are solely in the light of the world do not perceive those things that are in the light of heaven (n. 3108). to the angels the light of the world is thick darkness (n. 1521, 1783, 1880). 348. by those who "turn many to righteousness" are meant those who are wise, and in heaven those are called wise who are in good, and those are in good that apply divine truths at once to the life; for as soon as divine truth comes to be of the life it becomes good, since it comes to be of will and love, and whatever is of will and love is called good; therefore such are called wise because wisdom is of the life. but those that do not commit divine truths at once to the life, but first to the memory, from which they afterwards draw them and apply them to the life, are called the "intelligent." what and how great the difference is between the wise and the intelligent in the heavens can be seen in the chapter that treats of the two kingdoms of heaven, the celestial and the spiritual (n. 20-28), and in the chapter that treats of the three heavens (n. 29-40). those who are in the lord's celestial kingdom, and consequently in the third or inmost heaven, are called "the righteous" because they attribute all righteousness to the lord and none to themselves. the lord's righteousness in heaven is the good that is from the lord.{1} such, then, are here meant by those that "turn to righteousness;" and such are meant also in the lord's words, the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father (matt. 13:43). such "shine forth as the sun" because they are in love to the lord from the lord, and that love is meant by the "sun" (see above, n. 116-125). the light of such is flame-colored; and the ideas of their thought are so tinged with what is flaming because they receive the good of love directly from the lord as the sun in heaven. {footnote 1} the merit and righteousness of the lord is the good that rules in heaven (n. 9486, 9983). he that is "righteous" or "made righteous" is one to whom the merit and righteousness of the lord is ascribed; and he is "unrighteous" who holds to his own righteousness and merit (n. 5069, 9263). the quality of those in the other life who claim righteousness to themselves (n. 942, 2027). in the word "righteousness" is predicated of good and judgment of truth; therefore "doing righteousness and judgment" is doing good and truth (n. 2235, 9857). 349. all who have acquired intelligence and wisdom in the world are received in heaven and become angels, each in accordance with the quality and degree of his intelligence and wisdom. for whatever a man acquires in the world abides, and he takes it with him after death; and it is further increased and filled out, but within and not beyond the degree of his affection and desire for truth and its good, those with but little affection and desire receiving but little, and yet as much as they are capable of receiving within that degree; while those with much affection and desire receive much. the degree itself of affection and desire is like a measure that is filled to the full, he that has a large measure receiving more, and he that has a small measure receiving less. this is so because man's love, to which affection and desire belong, receives all that accords with itself; consequently reception is measured by the love. this is what is meant by the lord's words, to him that hath it shall be given, that he may have more abundantly (matt. 13:12; 25:29). good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, shall be given into your bosom (luke 6:38). 350. all are received into heaven who have loved truth and good for the sake of truth and good; therefore those that have loved much are called the wise, and those that have loved little are called the simple. the wise in heaven are in much light, the simple in less light, everyone in accordance with the degree of his love for good and truth. to love truth and good for the sake of truth and good is to will and do them; for those love who will and do, while those who do not will and do do not love. such also love the lord and are loved by the lord, because good and truth are from the lord. and inasmuch as good and truth are from the lord the lord is in good and truth; and he is in those who receive good and truth in their life by willing and doing. moreover, when man is viewed in himself he is nothing but his own good and truth, because good is of his will and truth of his understanding, and man is such as his will and understanding are. evidently, then, man is loved by the lord just to the extent that his will is formed from good and his understanding from truth. also to be loved by the lord is to love the lord, since love is reciprocal; for upon him who is loved the lord bestows ability to love. 351. it is believed in the world that those who have much knowledge, whether it be knowledge of the teachings of the church and the word or of the sciences, have a more interior and keen vision of truth than others, that is, are more intelligent and wise; and such have this opinion of themselves. but what true intelligence and wisdom are, and what spurious and false intelligence and wisdom are, shall be told in what now follows. [2] true intelligence and wisdom is seeing and perceiving what is true and good, and thereby what is false and evil, and clearly distinguishing between them, and this from an interior intuition and perception. with every man there are interior faculties and exterior faculties; interior faculties belonging to the internal or spiritual man, and exterior faculties belonging to the exterior or natural man. accordingly as man's interiors are formed and made one with his exteriors man sees and perceives. his interiors can be formed only in heaven, his exteriors are formed in the world. when his interiors have been formed in heaven the things they contain flow into his exteriors which are from the world, and so form them that they correspond with, that is, act as one with, his interiors; and when this is done man sees and perceives from what is interior. the interiors can be formed only in one way, namely, by man's looking to the divine and to heaven, since, as has been said, the interiors are formed in heaven; and man looks to the divine when he believes in the divine, and believes that all truth and good and consequently all intelligence and wisdom are from the divine; and man believes in the divine when he is willing to be led by the divine. in this way and none other are the interiors of man opened. [3] the man who is in that belief and in a life that is in accordance with his belief has the ability and capacity to understand and be wise; but to become intelligent and wise he must learn many things, both things pertaining to heaven and things pertaining to the world--things pertaining to heaven from the word and from the church, and things pertaining to the world from the sciences. to the extent that man learns and applies to life he becomes intelligent and wise, for to that extent the interior sight belonging to his understanding and the interior affection belonging to his will are perfected. the simple of this class are those whose interiors have been opened, but not so enriched by spiritual, moral, civil and natural truths. such perceive truths when they hear them, but do not see them in themselves. but the wise of this class are those whose interiors have been both opened and enriched. such both see truths inwardly and perceive them. all this makes clear what true intelligence is and what true wisdom is. 352. spurious intelligence and wisdom is failing to see and perceive from within what is true and what is good, and thereby what is false and what is evil, but merely believing that to be true and good and that to be false and evil which is said by others to be so, and then confirming it. because such see truth from some one else, and not from the truth itself, they can seize upon and believe what is false as readily as what is true, and can confirm it until it appears true; for whatever is confirmed puts on the appearance of truth; and there is nothing that can not be confirmed. the interiors of such are opened only from beneath; but their exteriors are opened to the extent that they have confirmed themselves. for this reason the light from which they see is not the light of heaven but the light of the world, which is called natural light [lumen]; and in that light falsities can shine like truths; and when confirmed they can even appear resplendent, but not in the light of heaven. of this class those are less intelligent and wise who have strongly confirmed themselves, and those are more intelligent and wise who have less strongly confirmed themselves. all this shows what spurious intelligence and wisdom are. [2] but those are not included in this class who in childhood supposed what they heard from their masters to be true, if in a riper age, when they think from their own understanding, they do not continue to hold fast to it, but long for truth, and from that longing seek for it, and when they find it are interiorly moved by it. because such are moved by the truth for the truth's sake they see the truth before they confirm it.{1} [3] this may be illustrated by an example. there was a discussion among spirits why animals are born into all the knowledge suited to their nature, but man is not; and the reason was said to be that animals are in the order of their life, and man is not, consequently man must needs be led into order by means of what he learns of internal and external things. but if man were born into the order of his life, which is to love god above all things and his neighbor as himself, he would be born into intelligence and wisdom, and as knowledges are acquired would come into a belief in all truth. good spirits saw this at once and perceived it to be true, and this merely from the light of truth; while the spirits who had confirmed themselves in faith alone, and had thereby set aside love and charity, were unable to understand it, because the light of falsity which they had confirmed had made obscure to them the light of truth. {footnote 1} it is the part of the wise to see and perceive whether a thing is true before it is confirmed and not merely to confirm what is said by others (n. 1017, 4741, 7012, 7680, 7950). only those can see and perceive whether a thing is true before it is confirmed who are affected by truth for the sake of truth and for the sake of life (n. 8521). the light of confirmation is not spiritual light but natural light, and is even sensual light which the wicked may have (n. 8780). all things, even falsities, may be so confirmed as to appear like truths (n. 2477, 2480, 5033, 6865, 8521). 353. false intelligence and wisdom is all intelligence and wisdom that is separated from the acknowledgment of the divine; for all such as do not acknowledge the divine, but acknowledge nature in the place of the divine, think from the bodily-sensual, and are merely sensual, however highly they may be esteemed in the world for their accomplishments and learning.{1} for their learning does not ascend beyond such things as appear before their eyes in the world; these they hold in the memory and look at them in an almost material way, although the same knowledges serve the truly intelligent in forming their understanding. by sciences the various kinds of experimental knowledge are meant, such as physics, astronomy, chemistry, mechanics, geometry, anatomy, psychology, philosophy, the history of kingdoms and of the literary world, criticism, and languages. [2] the clergy who deny the divine do not raise their thoughts above the sensual things of the external man; and regard the things of the word in the same way as others regard the sciences, not making them matters of thought or of any intuition by an enlightened rational mind; and for the reason that their interiors are closed up, together with those exteriors that are nearest to their interiors. these are closed up because they have turned themselves away from heaven, and have retroverted those faculties that were capable of looking heavenward, which are, as has been said above, the interiors of the human mind. for this reason they are incapable of seeing anything true or good, this being to them in thick darkness, while whatever is false and evil is in light. [3] and yet sensual men can reason, some of them more cunningly and keenly than any one else; but they reason from the fallacies of the senses confirmed by their knowledges; and because they are able to reason in this way they believe themselves to be wiser than others.{2} the fire that kindles with affection their reasonings is the fire of the love of self and the world. such are those who are in false intelligence and wisdom, and who are meant by the lord in matthew: seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand (13:13-15). and again: these things are hid from the intelligent and wise, and revealed unto babes (11:25, 26). {footnote 1} the sensual is the outmost of man's life, clinging to and inhering in his bodily part (n. 5077, 5767, 9212, 9216, 9331, 9730). he is called a sensual man who forms all his judgments and conclusions from the bodily senses, and who believes nothing except what he sees with his eyes and touches with his hands (n. 5094, 7693). such a man thinks in things outermost and not interiorly in himself (n. 5089, 5094, 6564, 7693). his interiors are so closed up that he sees nothing of divine truth (n. 6564, 6844, 6845). in a word he is in gross natural light and thus perceives nothing that is from the light of heaven (n. 6201, 6310, 6564, 6598, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624, 6844, 6845). therefore he is inwardly opposed to all things pertaining to heaven and the church (n. 6201, 6310, 6844, 6845, 6948, 6949). the learned that have confirmed themselves against the truths of the church are sensual (n. 6316). a description of the sensual man (n. 10236). {footnote 2} sensual men reason keenly and cunningly, since they place all intelligence in speaking from the bodily memory (n. 195, 196, 5700, 10236). but they reason from the fallacies of the senses (n. 5084, 6948, 6949, 7693). sensual men are more cunning and malicious than others (n. 7693, 10236). by the ancients such were called serpents of the tree of knowledge (n. 195-197, 6398, 6949, 10313). 354. it has been granted me to speak with many of the learned after their departure from the world; with some of distinguished reputation and celebrated in the literary world for their writings, and with some not so celebrated, although endowed with profound wisdom. those that in heart had denied the divine, whatever their professions may have been, had become so stupid as to have little comprehension even of anything truly civil, still less of anything spiritual. i perceived and also saw that the interiors of their minds were so closed up as to appear black (for in the spiritual world such things become visible), and in consequence they were unable to endure any heavenly light or admit any influx from heaven. this blackness which their interiors presented was more intense and extended with those that had confirmed themselves against the divine by the knowledges they had acquired. in the other life such accept all falsity with delight, imbibing it as a sponge does water; and they repel all truth as an elastic bony substance repels what falls upon it. in fact, it is said that the interiors of those that have confirmed themselves against the divine and in favor of nature become bony, and their heads down to the nose appear callous like ebony, which is a sign that they no longer have any perception. those of this description are immersed in quagmires that appear like bogs; and there they are harassed by the fantasies into which their falsities are turned. their infernal fire is a lust for glory and reputation, which prompts them to assail one another, and from an infernal ardor to torment those about them who do not worship them as deities; and this they do one to another in turns. into such things is all the learning of the world changed that has not received into itself light from heaven through acknowledgment of the divine. 355. that these are such in the spiritual world when they come into it after death may be inferred from this alone, that all things that are in the natural memory and are in immediate conjunction with the things of bodily sense (which is true of such knowledges as are mentioned above) then become quiescent; and only such rational principles as are drawn from these then serve for thought and speech. for man carries with him his entire natural memory, but its contents are not then under his view, and do not come into his thought as when he lived in the world. he can take nothing from that memory and bring it forth into spiritual light because its contents are not objects of that light. but those things of the reason and understanding that man has acquired from knowledges while living in the body are in accord with the light of the spiritual world; consequently so far as the spirit of man has been made rational in the world through knowledge and science it is to the same extent rational after being loosed from the body; for man is then a spirit, and it is the spirit that thinks in the body.{1} {footnote 1} knowledges belong to the natural memory that man has while he is in the body (n. 5212, 9922). man carries with him after death his whole natural memory (n. 2475) from experience (n. 2481-2486). but he is not able, as he was in the world, to draw anything out of that memory, for several reasons (n. 2476, 2477, 2479). 356. but in respect to those that have acquired intelligence and wisdom through knowledge and science, who are such as have applied all things to the use of life, and have also acknowledged the divine, loved the word, and lived a spiritual moral life (of which above, n. 319), to such the sciences have served as a means of becoming wise, and also of corroborating the things pertaining to faith. the interiors of the mind of such have been perceived by me, and were seen as transparent from light of a glistening white, flamy, or blue color, like that of translucent diamonds, rubies, and sapphires; and this in accordance with confirmations in favor of the divine and divine truths drawn from science. such is the appearance of true intelligence and wisdom when they are presented to view in the spiritual world. this appearance is derived from the light of heaven; and that light is divine truth going forth from the lord, which is the source of all intelligence and wisdom (see above, n. 126-133). [2] the planes of that light, in which variegations like those of colors exist, are the interiors of the mind; and these variegations are produced by confirmations of divine truths by means of such things as are in nature, that is, in the sciences.{1} for the interior mind of man looks into the things of the natural memory, and the things there that will serve as proofs it sublimates as it were by the fire of heavenly love, and withdraws and purifies them even into spiritual ideas. this is unknown to man as long as he lives in the body, because there he thinks both spiritually and naturally, and he has no perception of the things he then thinks spiritually, but only of those he thinks naturally. but when he has come into the spiritual world he has no perception of what he thought naturally in the world, but only of what he thought spiritually. thus is his state changed. [3] all this makes clear that it is by means of knowledges and sciences that man is made spiritual, also that these are the means of becoming wise, but only with those who have acknowledged the divine in faith and life. such also before others are accepted in heaven, and are among those there who are at the center (n. 43), because they are in light more than others. these are the intelligent and wise in heaven, who "shine as with the brightness of the firmament" and "who shine as the stars," while the simple there are those that have acknowledged the divine, have loved the word, and have lived a spiritual and moral life, but the interiors of their minds have not been so enriched by knowledges and sciences. the human mind is like soil which is such as it is made by cultivation. {footnote 1} most beautiful colors are seen in heaven (n. 1053, 1624). colors in heaven are from the light there, and are modifications or variegations of that light (n. 1042, 1043, 1053, 1624, 3993, 4530, 4742, 4922). thus they are manifestations of truth from good, and they signify such things as pertain to intelligence and wisdom (n. 4530, 4677, 4922, 9466). extracts from the arcana coelestia respecting knowledges. [in these extracts scientia, scientificum and cognitio are alike rendered knowledge, because any distinction between them intended by the author is not sufficiently obvious to be uniformly indicated in english. -tr.] man ought to be fully instructed in knowledges [scientiis et cognitionibus], since by means of them he learns to think [cogitare], afterwards to understand what is true and good, and finally to be wise (n. 129, 1450, 1451, 1453, 1548, 1802). knowledges [scientifica] are the first things on which the life of man, civil, moral, and spiritual, is built and founded, and they are to be learned for the sake of use as an end (n. 1489, 3310). knowledges [cognitiones] open the way to the internal man, and afterwards conjoin that man with the external in accordance with uses (n. 1563, 1616). the rational faculty has its birth by means of knowledges [scientias et cognitiones] (n. 1895, 1900, 3086). but not by means of knowledges [cognitiones] themselves, but by means of affection for the uses derived from them (n. 1895). [2] there are knowledges [scientifica] that give entrance to divine truths, and knowledges [scientifica] that do not (n. 5213). empty knowledges [scientifica] are to be destroyed (n. 1489, 1492, 1499, 1581). empty knowledges [scientifica] are such as have the loves of self and of the world as an end, and sustain those loves, and withdraw from love to god and love towards the neighbor, because such knowledges close up the internal man, even to the extent that man becomes unable to receive any thing from heaven (n. 1563, 1600). knowledges [scientifica] are means to becoming wise and means to becoming insane and by them the internal man is either opened or closed, and thus the rational is either enriched or destroyed (n. 4156, 8628, 9922). [3] the internal man is opened and gradually perfected by means of knowledges [scientifica] if man has good use as an end, especially use that looks to external life (n. 3086). then knowledges [scientificis], which are in the natural man, are met by spiritual and heavenly things from the spiritual man, and these adopt such of them as are suitable (n. 1495). then the uses of heavenly life are drawn forth by the lord and perfected and raised up out of the knowledges [scientificis] in the natural man by means of the internal man (n. 1895, 1896, 1900, 1901, 1902, 5871, 5874, 5901). while incongruous and opposing knowledges [scientifica] are rejected to the sides and banished (n. 5871, 5886, 5889). [4] the sight of the internal man calls forth from the knowledges [scientificis] of the external man only such things as are in accord with its love (n. 9394). as seen by the internal man what pertains to the love is at the center and in brightness, but what is not of the love is at the sides and in obscurity (n. 6068, 6084). suitable knowledges [scientifica] are gradually implanted in man's loves and as it were dwell in them (n. 6325). if man were born into love towards the neighbor he would be born into intelligence, but because he is born into the loves of self and of the world he is born into total ignorance (n. 6323, 6325). knowledge [scientia], intelligence, and wisdom are sons of love to god and of love towards the neighbor (n. 1226, 2049, 2116). [5] it is one thing to be wise, another thing to understand, another to know [scire], and another to do; nevertheless, in those that possess spiritual life these follow in order, and exist together in doing or deeds (n. 10331). also it is one thing to know [scire], another to acknowledge, and another to have faith (n. 896). [6] knowledges [scientifica], which pertain to the external or natural man, are in the light of the world, but truths that have been made truths of faith and of love, and have thus acquired life, are in the light of heaven (n. 5212). the truths that have acquired spiritual life are comprehended by means of natural ideas (n. 5510). spiritual influx is from the internal or spiritual man into the knowledges [scientifica] that are in the external or natural man (n. 1940, 8005). knowledges [scientifica] are receptacles, and as it were vessels, for the truth and good that belong to the internal man (n. 1469, 1496, 3068, 5489, 6004, 6023, 6052, 6071, 6077, 7770, 9922). knowledges [scientifica] are like mirrors in which the truths and goods of the internal man appear as an image (n. 5201). there they are together as in their outmost (n. 5373, 5874, 5886, 5901, 6004, 6023, 6052, 6071). [7] influx is not physical but spiritual, that is, influx is from the internal man into the external, thus into the knowledges of the external; and not from the external into the internal, thus not from the knowledges [scientificis] of the external into truths of faith (n. 3219, 5119, 5259, 5427, 5428, 5478, 6322, 9110). a beginning must be made from the truths of doctrine of the church, which are from the word, and those truths must first be acknowledged, and then it is permissible to consult knowledges [scientifica] (n. 6047). thus it is permissible for those who are in an affirmative state in regard to truths of faith to confirm them intellectually by means of knowledges [scientifica], but not for those who are in a negative state (n. 2568, 2588, 4760, 6047). he that will not believe divine truths until he is convinced by means of knowledges [scientificis] will never believe (n. 2094, 2832). to enter from knowledge [scientificis] into the truths of faith is contrary to order (n. 10236). those who do so become demented respecting the things of heaven and the church (n. 128, 129, 130). they fall into the falsities of evil (n. 232, 233, 6047). in the other life when they think about spiritual matters they become as it were drunken (n. 1072). more respecting the character of such (n. 196). examples showing that things spiritual cannot be comprehended when entered into through knowledges [scientifica] (n. 233, 2094, 2196, 2203, 2209). in spiritual things many of the learned are more demented than the simple, for the reason that they are in a negative state, which they confirm by means of the knowledges [scientifica] which they have continually and in abundance before their sight (n. 4760, 8629). [8] those who reason from knowledges [scientificis] against the truths of faith reason keenly because they reason from the fallacies of the senses, which are engaging and convincing, because they cannot easily be dispelled (n. 5700). what things are fallacies of the senses, and what they are (n. 5084, 5094, 6400, 6948). those that have no understanding of truth, and also those that are in evil, are able to reason about the truths and goods of faith, but are not able to understand them (n. 4214). intelligence does not consist in merely confirming dogma but in seeing whether it is true or not before it is confirmed (n. 4741, 6047). [9] knowledges [scientiae] are of no avail after death, but only that which man has imbibed in his understanding and life by means of knowledges [scientias] (n. 2480). still all knowledge [scientifica] remains after death, although it is quiescent (n. 2476-2479, 2481-2486). [10] knowledge [scientifica] with the evil are falsities, because they are adapted to evils, but with the good the same knowledges are truths, because applied to what is good (n. 6917). true knowledges [scientifica] with the evil are not true, however much they may appear to be true when uttered, because there is evil within them (n. 10331). [11] an example of the desire to know [sciendi], which spirits have (n. 1974). angels have an illimitable longing to know [sciendi] and to become wise, since learning [scientia], intelligence, and wisdom are spiritual food (n. 3114, 4459, 4792, 4976, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5410, 5426, 5576, 5582, 5588, 5655, 6277, 8562, 9003). the knowledge [scientia] of the ancients was the knowledge [scientia] of correspondences and representations, by which they gained entrance into the knowledge [cognitionem] of spiritual things; but that knowledge [scientia] at this day is wholly lost (n. 4749, 4844, 4964, 4965). [12] for spiritual truths to be comprehended the following universals must be known [scientur]. (i) all things in the universe have relation to good and truth and to their conjunction that they may be anything, thus to love and faith and their conjunction. (ii) man has understanding and will; and the understanding is the receptacle of truth and the will of good; and all things in man have relation to these two and to their conjunction, as all things have relation to truth and good and their conjunction. (iii) there is an internal man and an external man, which are as distinct from each other as heaven and the world are, and yet for a man to be truly a man, these must make one. (iv) the internal man is in the light of heaven, and the external man is in the light of the world; and the light of heaven is divine truth itself, from which is all intelligence. (v) between the things in the internal man and those in the external there is a correspondence, therefore the different aspect they present is such that they can be distinguished only by means of a knowledge [scientiam] of correspondences. unless these and many other things are known [scientur], nothing but incongruous ideas of spiritual and heavenly truths can be conceived and formed; therefore without these universals the knowledges [scientifica et cognitiones] of the natural man can be of but little service to the rational man for understanding and growth. this makes clear how necessary knowledges [scientifica] are. 357. xxxix. the rich and the poor in heaven. there are various opinions about reception into heaven. some are of the opinion that the poor are received and the rich are not; some that the rich and the poor are equally received; some that the rich can be received only by giving up their wealth and becoming like the poor; and proofs are found in the word for all of these opinions. but those who make a distinction in regard to heaven between the rich and the poor do not understand the word. in its interiors the word is spiritual, but in the letter it is natural; consequently those who understand the word only in accordance with its literal sense, and not according to any spiritual sense, err in many respects, especially about the rich and the poor; for example, that it is as difficult for the rich to enter into heaven as for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle; and that it is easy for the poor because they are poor, since it is said, blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens (matt. 5:3; luke 6:20, 21). but those who know anything of the spiritual sense of the word think otherwise; they know that heaven is for all who live a life of faith and love, whether rich or poor. but who are meant in the word by "the rich" and who by "the poor" will be told in what follows. from much conversation and interaction with angels it has been granted me to know with certainty that the rich enter heaven just as easily as the poor, and that no man is shut out of heaven on account of his wealth, or received into heaven on account of his poverty. both the rich and the poor are in heaven, and many of the rich in greater glory and happiness than the poor. 358. it should be said to begin with that a man may acquire riches and accumulate wealth as far as opportunity is given, if it is not done by craft or fraud; that he may enjoy the delicacies of food and drink if he does not place his life therein; that he may have a palatial dwelling in accord with his condition, have interaction with others in like condition, frequent places of amusement, talk about the affairs of the world, and need not go about like a devotee with a sad and sorrowful countenance and drooping head, but may be joyful and cheerful; nor need he give his goods to the poor except so far as affection leads him; in a word, he may live outwardly precisely like a man of the world; and all this will be no obstacle to his entering heaven, provided that inwardly in himself he thinks about god as he ought, and acts sincerely and justly in respect to his neighbor. for a man is such as his affection and thought are, or such as his love and faith are, and from these all his outward acts derive their life; since acting is willing, and speaking is thinking, acting being from the will, and speaking from the thought. so where it is said in the word that man will be judged according to his deeds, and will be rewarded according to his works, it is meant that he will be judged and rewarded in accordance with his thought and affection, which are the source of his deeds, or which are in his deeds; for deeds are nothing apart from these, and are precisely such as these are.{1} all this shows that the man's external accomplishes nothing, but only his internal, which is the source of the external. for example: if a man acts honestly and refrains from fraud solely because he fears the laws and the loss of reputation and thereby of honor or gain, and if that fear did not restrain him would defraud others whenever he could; although such a man's deeds outwardly appear honest, his thought and will are fraud; and because he is inwardly dishonest and fraudulent he has hell in himself. but he who acts honestly and refrains from fraud because it is against god and against the neighbor would have no wish to defraud another if he could; his thought and will are conscience, and he has heaven in himself. the deeds of these two appear alike in outward form, but inwardly they are wholly unlike. {footnote 1} it is frequently said in the word that man will be judged and will be rewarded according to his deeds and works (n. 3934). by "deeds and works" deeds and works in their internal form are meant, not in their external form, since good works in external form are likewise done by the wicked, but in internal and external form together only by the good (n. 3934, 6073). works, like all activities, have their being and outgo [esse et existere] and their quality from the interiors of man, which pertain to his thought and will, since they proceed from these; therefore such as the interiors are such are the works (n. 3934, 8911, 10331). that is, such as the interiors are in regard to love and faith (n. 3934, 6073, 10331, 10332). thus works contain love and faith, and are love and faith in effect (n. 10331). therefore to be judged and rewarded in accordance with deeds and works, means in accordance with love and faith (n. 3147, 3934, 6073, 8911, 10331, 10332). so far as works look to self and the world they are not good, but they are good so far as they look to the lord and the neighbor (n. 3147). 359. since a man can live outwardly as others do, can grow rich, keep a plentiful table, dwell in an elegant house and wear fine clothing according to his condition and function, can enjoy delights and gratifications, and engage in worldly affairs for the sake of his occupation and business and for the life both of the mind and body, provided he inwardly acknowledges the divine and wishes well to the neighbor, it is evident that to enter upon the way to heaven is not so difficult as many believe. the sole difficulty lies in being able to resist the love of self and the world, and to prevent their becoming dominant; for this is the source of all evils.{1} that this is not so difficult as is believed is meant by these words of the lord: learn of me, for i am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls; for my yoke is easy and my burden is light (matt. 11:29, 30). the lord's yoke is easy and his burden light because a man is led by the lord and not by self just to the extent that he resists the evils that flow forth from love of self and of the world; and because the lord then resists these evils in man and removes them. {footnote 1} all evils are from the love of self and of the world (n. 1307, 1308, 1321, 1594, 1691, 3413, 7255, 7376, 7488, 7490, 8318, 9335, 9348, 10038, 10742). these are contempt of others, enmities, hatred, revenge, cruelty, deceit (n. 6667, 7370-7374, 9348, 10038, 10742). into such loves man is born, thus in them are his inherited evils (n. 694, 4317, 5660). 360. i have spoken with some after death who, while they lived in the world, renounced the world and gave themselves up to an almost solitary life, in order that by an abstraction of the thoughts from worldly things they might have opportunity for pious meditations, believing that thus they might enter the way to heaven. but these in the other life are of a sad disposition; they despise others who are not like themselves; they are indignant that they do not have a happier lot than others, believing that they have merited it; they have no interest in others, and turn away from the duties of charity by which there is conjunction with heaven. they desire heaven more than others; but when they are taken up among the angels they induce anxieties that disturb the happiness of the angels; and in consequence they are sent away; and when sent away they betake themselves to desert places, where they lead a life like that which they lived in the world. [2] man can be formed for heaven only by means of the world. in the world are the outmost effects in which everyone's affection must be terminated; for unless affection puts itself forth or flows out into acts, which is done in association with others, it is suffocated to such a degree finally that man has no longer any regard for the neighbor, but only for himself. all this makes clear that a life of charity towards the neighbor, which is doing what is just and right in every work and in every employment, is what leads to heaven, and not a life of piety apart from charity;{1} and from this it follows that only to the extent that man is engaged in the employments of life can charity be exercised and the life of charity grow; and this is impossible to the extent that man separates himself from those employments. [3] on this subject i will speak now from experience. of those who while in the world were employed in trade and commerce and became rich through these pursuits there are many in heaven, but not so many of those who were in stations of honor and became rich through those employments; and for the reason that these latter by the gains and honors that resulted from their dispensing justice and equity, and also by the lucrative and honorable positions bestowed on them were led into loving themselves and the world, and thereby separating their thoughts and affections from heaven and turning them to themselves. for to the extent that a man loves self and the world and looks to self and the world in everything, he alienates himself from the divine and separates himself from heaven. {footnote 1} charity towards the neighbor is doing what is good, just, and right, in every work and every employment (n. 8120-8122). thus charity towards the neighbor extends to all things and each thing that a man thinks, wills, and does (n. 8124). a life of piety apart from a life of charity is of no avail, but together they are profitable for all things (n. 8252, 8253). 361. as to the lot of the rich in heaven, they live more splendidly than others. some of them dwell in palaces within which everything is resplendent as if with gold and silver. they have an abundance of all things for the uses of life, but they do not in the least set their heart on these things, but only on uses. uses are clearly seen as if they were in light, but the gold and silver are seen obscurely, and comparatively as if in shade. this is because while they were in the world they loved uses, and loved gold and silver only as means and instruments. it is the uses that are thus resplendent in heaven, the good of use like gold and the truth of use like silver.{1} therefore their wealth in heaven is such as their uses were in the world, and such, too, are their delight and happiness. good uses are providing oneself and one's own with the necessaries of life; also desiring wealth for the sake of one's country and for the sake of one's neighbor, whom a rich man can in many ways benefit more than a poor man. these are good uses because one is able thereby to withdraw his mind from an indolent life which is harmful, since in such a life man's thoughts run to evil because of the evil inherent in him. these uses are good to the extent that they have the divine in them, that is, to the extent that man looks to the divine and to heaven, and finds his good in these, and sees in wealth only a subservient good. {footnote 1} every good has its delight from use and in accordance with use (n. 3049, 4984, 7038); also its quality; and in consequence such as the use is such is the good (n. 3049). all the happiness and delight of life is from uses (n. 997). in general, life is a life of uses (n. 1964). angelic life consists in the goods of love and charity, thus in performing uses (n. 454). the ends that man has in view, which are uses, are the only things that the lord, and thus the angels, consider (n. 1317, 1645, 5844). the kingdom of the lord is a kingdom of uses (n. 454, 696, 1103, 3645, 4054, 7038). performing uses is serving the lord (n. 7038). everyone's character is such as are the uses he performs (n. 4054, 6315); illustrated (n. 7038). 362. but the lot of the rich that have not believed in the divine, and have cast out of their minds the things pertaining to heaven and the church, is the opposite of this. such are in hell, where filth, misery, and want exist; and into these riches that are loved as an end are changed; and not only riches, but also their very uses, which are either a wish to live as they like and indulge in pleasures, and to have opportunity to give the mind more fully and freely to shameful practices, or a wish to rise above others whom they despise. such riches and such uses, because they have nothing spiritual, but only what is earthly in them, become filthy; for a spiritual purpose in riches and their uses is like a soul in the body, or like the light of heaven in moist ground; and such riches and uses become putrid as a body does without a soul, or as moist ground does without the light of heaven. such are those that have been led and drawn away from heaven by riches. 363. every man's ruling affection or love remains with him after death, nor is it rooted out to eternity, since a man's spirit is wholly what his love is, and what is unknown, the body of every spirit and angel is the outward form of his love, exactly corresponding to his inward form, which is the form of his disposition and mind; consequently the quality of his spirit is known from his face, movements, and speech. while a man is living in the world the quality of the spirit would be known if he had not learned to counterfeit in his face, movements, and speech what is not his own. all this shows that man remains to eternity such as his ruling affection or love is. it has been granted me to talk with some who lived seventeen hundred years ago, and whose lives are well known from writings of that time, and it was found that the same love still rules them as when they were on the earth. this makes clear also that the love of riches, and of uses from riches, remains with everyone to eternity, and that it is exactly the same as the love acquired in the world, yet with the difference that in the case of those who devoted their riches to good uses riches are changed in the other world into delights which are in accord with the uses performed; while in the case of those who devoted their riches to evil uses riches are turned into mere filth, in which they then take the same delight as they did in the world in their riches devoted to evil uses. such then take delight in filth because filthy pleasures and shameful acts, which had been the uses to which they had devoted their riches, and also avarice, which is a love of riches without regard to use, correspond to filth. spiritual filth is nothing else. 364. the poor come into heaven not on account of their poverty but because of their life. everyone's life follows him, whether he be rich or poor. there is no peculiar mercy for one in preference to another;{1} he that has lived well is received, while he that has not lived well is rejected. moreover, poverty leads and draws man away from heaven just as much as wealth does. there are many among the poor who are not content with their lot, who strive after many things, and believe riches to be blessings;{2} and when they do not gain them are much provoked, and harbor ill thoughts about the divine providence; they also envy others the good things they possess, and are as ready as any one to defraud others whenever they have opportunity, and to indulge in filthy pleasures. but this is not true of the poor who are content with their lot, and are careful and diligent in their work, who love labor better than idleness, and act sincerely and faithfully, and at the same time live a christian life. i have now and then talked with those belonging to the peasantry and common people, who while living in the world believed in god and did what was just and right in their occupations. since they had an affection for knowing truth they inquired about charity and about faith, having heard in this world much about faith and in the other life much about charity. they were therefore told that charity is everything that pertains to life, and faith everything that pertains to doctrine; consequently charity is willing and doing what is just and right in every work, and faith is thinking justly and rightly; and faith and charity are conjoined, the same as doctrine and a life in accordance with it, or the same as thought and will; and faith becomes charity when that which a man thinks justly and rightly he also wills and does, and then they are not two but one. this they well understood, and rejoiced, saying that in the world they did not understand believing to be anything else but living. {footnote 1} there can be no mercy apart from means, but only mercy through means, that is, to those who live in accordance with the commandments of the lord; such the lord by his mercy leads continually in the world, and afterwards to eternity (n. 8700, 10659). {footnote 2} dignities and riches are not real blessings, therefore they are granted both to the wicked and to the good (n. 8939, 10775, 10776). the real blessing is reception of love and faith from the lord, and conjunction thereby, for this is the source of eternal happiness (n. 1420, 1422, 2846, 3017, 3406, 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584, 4216, 4981, 8939, 10495). 365. all this makes clear that the rich and the poor alike come into heaven, the one as easily as the other. the belief that the poor enter heaven easily and the rich with difficulty comes from not understanding the word where the rich and the poor are mentioned. in the word those that have an abundance of knowledges of good and truth, thus who are within the church where the word is, are meant in the spiritual sense by the "rich;" while those who lack these knowledges, and yet desire them, thus who are outside of the church and where there is no word, are meant by the "poor." [2] the rich man clothed in purple and fine linen, and cast into hell, means the jewish nation, which is called rich because it had the word and had an abundance of knowledges of good and truth therefrom, "garments of purple" signifying knowledges of good, and "garments of fine linen" knowledges of truth.{1} but the poor man who lay at the rich man's gate and longed to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table, and who was carried by angels into heaven, means the nations that have no knowledges of good and truth and yet desired them (luke 16:19-31). also the rich that were called to a great supper and excused themselves mean the jewish nation, and the poor brought in in their place mean the nations outside of the church (luke 14:16-24). [3] by the rich man of whom the lord says: it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of god (matt. 19:24), the rich in both the natural sense and the spiritual sense are meant. in the natural sense the rich are those that have an abundance of riches and set their heart upon them; but in the spiritual sense they are those that have an abundance of knowledges and learning, which are spiritual riches, and who desire by means of these to introduce themselves into the things of heaven and the church from their own intelligence. and because this is contrary to divine order it is said to be "easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye," a "camel" signifying in general in the spiritual sense the knowing faculty and things known, and a "needle's eye" signifying spiritual truth.{2} that such is the meaning of a "camel" and a "needle's eye" is not at present known, because the knowledge that teaches what is signified in the spiritual sense by the things said in the literal sense of the word has not up to this time been disclosed. in every particular of the word there is a spiritual sense and also a natural sense; for the word was made to consist wholly of correspondences between natural and spiritual things in order that conjunction of heaven with the world, or of angels with men might thereby be effected, direct conjunction having ceased. this makes clear who in particular are meant in the word by the "rich man." [4] that the "rich" in the word mean in the spiritual sense those who are in knowledges of truth and good, and "riches" the knowledges themselves, which are spiritual riches, can be seen from various passages (as in isa. 10:12-14; 30:6, 7; 45:3; jer. 17:3; 48:7; 50:36, 37; 51:13; dan. 5:2-4; ezek. 26:7, 12; 27:1 to the end; zech. 9:3, 4; psalm 45:12; hosea 12:9; apoc. 3:17, 18; luke 14:33; and elsewhere). also that the "poor" in the spiritual sense signify those who do not possess knowledges of good and of truth, and yet desire them (matt. 11:5; luke 6:20, 21; 14:21; isa. 14:30; 29:19; 41:17, 18; zeph. 3:12, 13). all these passages may be seen explained in accordance with the spiritual sense in the arcana coelestia (n. 10227). {footnote 1} "garments" signify truths, thus knowledges (n. 1073, 2576, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216, 9952, 10536). "purple" signifies celestial good (n. 9467). "fine linen" signifies truth from a celestial origin (n. 5319, 9469, 9744). {footnote 2} a "camel" signifies in the word the knowing faculty and knowledge in general (n. 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145). what is meant by "needlework, working with a needle," and therefore by a "needle" (n. 9688). to enter from knowledge into the truths of faith is contrary to divine order (n. 10236). those that do this become demented in respect to the thing of heaven and the church (n. 128-130, 232, 233, 6047). and in the other life, when they think about spiritual things they become as it were drunken (n. 1072). further about such (n. 196). examples showing that when spiritual things are entered into through knowledges they cannot be comprehended (n. 233, 2094, 2196, 2203, 2209). it is permissible to enter from spiritual truth into knowledges which pertain to the natural man, but not the reverse, because there can be spiritual influx into the natural, but not natural influx into the spiritual (n. 3219, 5119, 5259, 5427, 5428, 5478, 6322, 9110). the truths of the word and of the church must first be acknowledged, after which it is permissible to consider knowledges, but not before (n. 6047). 366. xl. marriages in heaven. as heaven is from the human race, and angels therefore are of both sexes, and from creation woman is for man and man is for woman, thus the one belongs to the other, and this love is innate in both, it follows that there are marriages in heaven as well as on the earth. but marriages in heaven differ widely from marriages on the earth. therefore what marriages in heaven are, and how they differ from marriages on the earth and wherein they are like them, shall now be told. 367. marriage in heaven is a conjunction of two into one mind. it must first be explained what this conjunction is. the mind consists of two parts, one called the understanding and the other the will. when these two parts act as one they are called one mind. in heaven the husband acts the part called the understanding and the wife acts the part called the will. when this conjunction, which belongs to man's interiors, descends into the lower parts pertaining to the body, it is perceived and felt as love, and this love is marriage love. this shows that marriage love has its origin in the conjunction of two into one mind. this in heaven is called cohabitation; and the two are not called two but one. so in heaven a married pair is spoken of, not as two, but as one angel.{1} {footnote 1} it is not known at this day what marriage love is, or whence it is (n. 2727). marriage love is willing what another wills, thus willing mutually and reciprocally (n. 2731). those that are in marriage love dwell together in the inmosts of life (n. 2732). it is such a union of two minds that from love they are one (n. 10168, 10169). for the love of minds, which is spiritual love, is a union (n. 1594, 2057, 3939, 4018, 5807, 6195, 7081-7086, 7501, 10130). 368. moreover, such a conjunction of husband and wife in the inmosts of their minds comes from their very creation; for man is born to be intellectual, that is, to think from the understanding, while woman is born to be affectional, that is, to think from her will; and this is evident from the inclination or natural disposition of each, also from their form; from the disposition, in that man acts from reason and woman from affection; from the form in that man has a rougher and less beautiful face, a deeper voice and a harder body; while woman has a smoother and more beautiful face, a softer voice, and a more tender body. there is a like difference between understanding and will, or between thought and affection; so, too, between truth and good and between faith and love; for truth and faith belong to the understanding, and good and love to the will. from this it is that in the word "youth" or "man" means in the spiritual sense the understanding of truth, and "virgin" or "woman" affection for good; also that the church, on account of its affection for good and truth, is called a "woman" and a "virgin;" also that all those that are in affection for good are called "virgins" (as in apoc. 14:4).{1} {footnote 1} in the word "young men" signify understanding of truth, or the intelligent (n. 7668). "men" have the same signification (n. 158, 265, 749, 915, 1007, 2517, 3134, 3236, 4823, 9007). "woman" signifies affection for good and truth (n. 568, 3160, 6014, 7337, 8994); likewise the church (n. 252, 253, 749, 770); "wife" has the same signification (n. 252, 253, 409, 749, 770); with what difference (n. 915, 2517, 3236, 4510, 4823). in the highest sense "husband and wife" are predicated of the lord and of his conjunction with heaven and the church (n. 7022). a "virgin" signifies affection for good (n. 3067, 3110, 3179, 3189, 6729, 6742); likewise the church (n. 2362, 3081, 3963, 4638, 6729, 6775, 6788). 369. everyone, whether man or woman, possesses understanding and will; but with the man the understanding predominates, and with the woman the will predominates, and the character is determined by that which predominates. yet in heavenly marriages there is no predominance; for the will of the wife is also the husband's will, and the understanding of the husband is also the wife's understanding, since each loves to will and to think like the other, that is mutually and reciprocally. thus are they conjoined into one. this conjunction is actual conjunction, for the will of the wife enters into the understanding of the husband, and the understanding of the husband into the will of the wife, and this especially when they look into one another's faces; for, as has been repeatedly said above, there is in the heavens a sharing of thoughts and affections, more especially with husband and wife, because they reciprocally love each other. this makes clear what the conjunction of minds is that makes marriage and produces marriage love in the heavens, namely, that one wishes what is his own to be the others, and this reciprocally. 370. i have been told by angels that so far as a married pair are so conjoined they are in marriage love, and also to the same extent in intelligence, wisdom and happiness, because divine truth and divine good which are the source of all intelligence, wisdom, and happiness, flow chiefly into marriage love; consequently marriage love, since it is also the marriage of good and truth, is the very plane of divine influx. for that love, as it is a conjunction of the understanding and will, is also a conjunction of truth and good, since the understanding receives divine truth and is formed out of truths, and the will receives divine good and is formed out of goods. for what a man wills is good to him, and what he understands is truth to him; therefore it is the same whether you say conjunction of understanding and will or conjunction of truth and good. conjunction of truth and good is what makes an angel; it makes his intelligence, wisdom, and happiness; for an angel is an angel accordingly as good in him is conjoined with truth and truth with good; or what is the same, accordingly as love in him is conjoined with faith and faith with love. 371. the divine that goes forth from the lord flows chiefly into marriage love because marriage love descends from a conjunction of good and truth; for it is the same thing as has been said above, whether you say conjunction of understanding and will or conjunction of good and truth. conjunction of good and truth has its origin in the lord's divine love towards all who are in heaven and on earth. from divine love divine good goes forth, and divine good is received by angels and men in divine truths. as truth is the sole receptacle of good nothing can be received from the lord and from heaven by any one who is not in truths; therefore just to the extent that the truths in man are conjoined to good is man conjoined to the lord and to heaven. this, then, is the very origin of marriage love, and for this reason that love is the very plane of divine influx. this shows why the conjunction of good and truth in heaven is called the heavenly marriage, and heaven is likened in the word to a marriage, and is called a marriage; and the lord is called the "bridegroom" and "husband," and heaven and also the church are called the "bride" and the "wife."{1} {footnote 1} the origin, cause, and essence of true marriage love is the marriage of good and truth; thus it is from heaven (n. 2728, 2729). respecting angelic spirit, who have a perception whether there is anything of marriage from the idea of a conjunction of good and truth (n. 10756). it is with marriage love in every respect the same as it is with the conjunction of good and truth (n. 1904, 2173, 2429, 2508, 3101, 3102, 3155, 3179, 3180, 4358, 5807, 5835, 9206, 9495, 9637). how and with whom the conjunction of good and truth is effected (n. 3834, 4096, 4097, 4301, 4345, 4353, 4364, 4368, 5365, 7623-7627, 9258). only those that are in good and truth from the lord know what true marriage love is (n. 10171). in the word "marriage" signifies the marriage of good and truth (n. 3132, 4434, 4835). the kingdom of the lord and heaven are in true marriage love (n. 2737). 372. good and truth conjoined in an angel or a man are not two but one, since good is then good of truth and truth is truth of good. this conjunction may be likened to a man's thinking what he wills and willing what he thinks, when the thought and will make one, that is, one mind; for thought forms, that is, presents in form that which the will wills, and the will gives delight to it; and this is why a married pair in heaven are not called two, but one angel. this also is what is meant by the lord's words: have ye not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, for this cause shall a man leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain shall become one flesh? therefore, they are no more twain, but one flesh. what, therefore, god hath joined together let not man put asunder. not all can receive this word but they to whom it is given (matt. 19:4-6, 11; mark 10:6-9; gen. 2:24). this is a description both of the heavenly marriage in which the angels are and of the marriage of good and truth, "man's not putting asunder what god has joined together" meaning that good is not to be separated from truth. 373. from all this the origin of true marriage love is made clear, namely, that it is formed first in the minds of those who are in marriage, and descends therefrom and is derived into the body, where it is perceived and felt as love; for whatever is felt and perceived in the body has its origin in the spiritual, because it is from the understanding and the will. the understanding and the will constitute the spiritual man. whatever descends from the spiritual man into the body presents itself there under another aspect, although it is similar and accordant, like soul and body, and like cause and effect; as can be seen from what has been said and shown in the two chapters on correspondences. 374. i heard an angel describing true marriage love and its heavenly delights in this manner: that it is the lord's divine in the heavens, which is divine good and divine truth so united in two persons, that they are not as two but as one. he said that in heaven the two consorts are marriage love, since everyone is his own good and his own truth in respect both to mind and to body, the body being an image of the mind because it is formed after its likeness. from this he drew the conclusion that the divine is imaged in the two that are in true marriage love; and as the divine is so imaged so is heaven, because the entire heaven is divine good and divine truth going forth from the lord; and this is why all things of heaven are inscribed on marriage love with more blessings and delights than it is possible to number. he expressed the number by a term that involved myriads of myriads. he wondered that the man of the church should know nothing about this, seeing that the church is the lord's heaven on the earth, and heaven is a marriage of good and truth. he said he was astounded to think that within the church, even more than outside of it, adulteries are committed and even justified; the delight of which in itself is nothing else in a spiritual sense, and consequently in the spiritual world, than the delight of the love of falsity conjoined to evil, which delight is infernal delight, because it is the direct opposite of the delight of heaven, which is the delight of the love of truth conjoined with good. 375. everyone knows that a married pair who love each other are interiorly united, and that the essential of marriage is the union of dispositions and minds. and from this it can be seen that such as their essential dispositions or minds are, such is their union and such their love for each other. the mind is formed solely out of truths and goods, for all things in the universe have relation to good and truth and to their conjunction; consequently such as the truths and goods are out of which the minds are formed, exactly such is the union of minds; and consequently the most perfect union is the union of minds that are formed out of genuine truths and goods. let it be known that no two things mutually love each other more than truth and good do; and therefore it is from that love that true marriage love descends.{1} falsity and evil also love each other, but this love is afterwards changed into hell. {footnote 1} all things in the universe, both in heaven and in the world, have relation to good and truth (n. 2452, 3166, 4390, 4409, 5232, 7256, 10122). and to the conjunction of these (n. 10555). between good and truth there is marriage (n. 1904, 2173, 2508). good loves truth, and from love longs for truth and for the conjunction of truth with itself, and from this they are in a perpetual endeavor to be conjoined (n. 9206, 9207, 9495). the life of truth is from good (n. 1589, 1997, 2572, 4070, 4096, 4097, 4736, 4757, 4884, 5147, 9667). truth is the form of good (n. 3049, 3180, 4574, 9154). truth is to good as water is to bread (n. 4976). 376. from what has now been said about the origin of marriage love one may conclude who are in that love and who are not; namely, that those are in marriage love who are in divine good from divine truths; and that marriage love is genuine just to the extent that the truths are genuine with which the good is conjoined. and as all the good that is conjoined with truths is from the lord, it follows that no one can be in true marriage love unless he acknowledges the lord and his divine; for without that acknowledgment the lord cannot flow in and be conjoined with the truths that are in man. 377. evidently, then, those that are in falsities, and especially those that are in falsities from evil, are not in marriage love. moreover, those that are in evil and in falsities therefrom have the interiors of their minds closed up; and in such, therefore, there can be no source of marriage love; but below those interiors, in the external or natural man separated from the internal, there can be a conjunction of falsity and evil, which is called infernal marriage. i have been permitted to see what this marriage is between those that are in the falsities of evil, which is called infernal marriage. such converse together, and are united by a lustful desire, but inwardly they burn with a deadly hatred towards each other, too intense to be described. 378. nor can marriage love exist between two partners belonging to different religions, because the truth of the one does not agree with the good of the other; and two unlike and discordant kinds of good and truth cannot make one mind out of two; and in consequence the love of such does not have its origin in any thing spiritual. if they live together in harmony it is solely on natural grounds.{1} and this is why in the heavens marriages are found only with those who are in the same society, because such are in like good and truth and not with those outside of the society. it may be seen above (n. 41, seq.) that all there in a society are in like good and truth, and differ from those outside the society. this was represented in the israelitish nation by marriages being contracted within tribes, and particularly within families, and not outside of them. {footnote 1} marriages between those of different religions are not permissible, because there can be no conjunction of like good and truth in the interiors (n. 8998). 379. nor is true marriage love possible between one husband and several wives; for its spiritual origin, which is the formation of one mind out of two, is thus destroyed; and in consequence interior conjunction, which is the conjunction of good and truth, from which is the very essence of that love, is also destroyed. marriage with more than one is like an understanding divided among several wills; or it is like a man attached not to one but to several churches, since his faith is so distracted thereby as to come to naught. the angels declare that marrying several wives is wholly contrary to divine order, and that they know this from several reasons, one of which is that as soon as they think of marriage with more than one they are alienated from internal blessedness and heavenly happiness, and become like drunken men, because good is separated from its truth in them. and as the interiors of their mind are brought into such a state merely by thinking about it with some intention, they see clearly that marriage with more than one would close up their internal mind, and cause marriage to be displaced by lustful love, which love withdraws from heaven.{1} [2] they declare further that this is not easily comprehended by men because there are few who are in genuine marriage love, and those who are not in it know nothing whatever of the interior delight that is in that love, knowing only the delight of lust, and this delight is changed into what is undelightful after living together a short time; while the delight of true marriage love not only endures to old age in the world, but after death becomes the delight of heaven and is there filled with an interior delight that grows more and more perfect to eternity. they said also that the varieties of blessedness of true marriage love could be enumerated even to many thousands, not even one of which is known to man, or could enter into the comprehension of any one who is not in the marriage of good and truth from the lord. {footnote 1} as husband and wife should be one, and should live together in the inmost of life, and as they together make one angel in heaven, so true marriage love is impossible between one husband and several wives (n. 1907, 2740). to marry several wives at the same time is contrary to divine order (n. 10837). that there is no marriage except between one husband and one wife is clearly perceived by those who are in the lord's celestial kingdom (n. 865, 3246, 9002, 10172). for the reason that the angels there are in the marriage of good and truth (n. 3246). the israelitish nation were permitted to marry several wives, and to add concubines to wives, but not christians, for the reason that that nation was in externals separate from internals, while christians are able to enter into internals, thus into the marriage of good and truth (n. 3246, 4837, 8809.) 380. the love of dominion of one over the other entirely takes away marriage love and its heavenly delight, for as has been said above, marriage love and its delight consists in the will of one being that of the other, and this mutually and reciprocally. this is destroyed by love of dominion in marriage, since he that domineers wishes his will alone to be in the other, and nothing of the other's will to be reciprocally in himself, which destroys all mutuality, and thus all sharing of any love and its delight one with the other. and yet this sharing and consequent conjunction are the interior delight itself that is called blessedness in marriage. this blessedness, with everything that is heavenly and spiritual in marriage love, is so completely extinguished by love of dominion as to destroy even all knowledge of it; and if that love were referred to it would be held in such contempt that any mention of blessedness from that source would excite either laughter or anger. [2] when one wills or loves what the other wills or loves each has freedom, since all freedom is from love; but where there is dominion no one has freedom; one is a servant, and the other who rules is also a servant, for he is led as a servant by the lust of ruling. but all this is wholly beyond the comprehension of one who does not know what the freedom of heavenly love is. nevertheless from what has been said above about the origin and essence of marriage love it can be seen that so far as dominion enters, minds are not united but divided. dominion subjugates, and a subjugated mind has either no will or an opposing will. if it has no will it has also no love; and if it has an opposing will there is hatred in place of love. [3] the interiors of those who live in such marriage are in mutual collision and strife, as two opposites are wont to be, however their exteriors may be restrained and kept quiet for the sake of tranquillity. the collision and antagonism of the interiors of such are disclosed after their death, when commonly they come together and fight like enemies and tear each other; for they then act in accordance with the state of the interiors. frequently i have been permitted to see them fighting and tearing one another, sometimes with great vengeance and cruelty. for in the other life everyone's interiors are set at liberty; and they are no longer restrained by outward bounds or by worldly considerations, everyone then being just such as he is interiorly. 381. to some a likeness of marriage love is granted. yet unless they are in the love of good and truth there is no marriage love, but only a love which from several causes appears like marriage love, namely, that they may secure good service at home; that they may be free from care, or at peace, or at ease; that they may be cared for in sickness or in old age; or that the children whom they love may be attended to. some are constrained by fear of the other consort, or by fear of the loss of reputation, or other evil consequences, and some by a controlling lust. moreover, in the two consorts marriage love may differ, in one there may be more or less of it, in the other little or none; and because of this difference heaven may be the portion of one and hell the portion of the other. 382. [a.] in the inmost heaven there is genuine marriage love because the angels there are in the marriage of good and truth, and also in innocence. the angels of the lower heavens are also in marriage love, but only so far as they are in innocence; for marriage love viewed in itself is a state of innocence; and this is why consorts who are in the marriage love enjoy heavenly delights together, which appear before their minds almost like the sports of innocence, as between little children; for everything delights their minds, since heaven with its joy flows into every particular of their lives. for the same reason marriage love is represented in heaven by the most beautiful objects. i have seen it represented by a maiden of indescribable beauty encompassed with a bright white cloud. it is said that the angels in heaven have all their beauty from marriage love. affections and thought flowing from that love are represented by diamond-like auras with scintillations as if from carbuncles and rubies, which are attended by delights that affect the interiors of the mind. in a word, heaven itself is represented in marriage love, because heaven with the angels is the conjunction of good and truth, and it is this conjunction that makes marriage love. 382. [b.] marriages in heaven differ from marriages on the earth in that the procreation of offspring is another purpose of marriages on the earth, but not of marriages in heaven, since in heaven the procreation of good and truth takes the place of procreation of offspring. the former takes the place of the latter because marriage in heaven is a marriage of good and truth (as has been shown above); and as in that marriage good and truth and their conjunction are loved above all things so these are what are propagated by marriages in heaven. and because of this, in the word births and generations signify spiritual births and generations, which are births and generations of good and truth; mother and father signify truth conjoined to good, which is what procreates; sons and daughters signify the truths and goods that are procreated; and sons-in-law and daughters-in-law conjunction of these, and so on.{1} all this makes clear that marriages in heaven are not like marriages on earth. in heaven marryings are spiritual, and cannot properly be called marryings, but conjunctions of minds from the conjunction of good and truth. but on earth there are marryings, because these are not of the spirit alone but also of the flesh. and as there are no marryings in heaven, consorts there are not called husband and wife; but from the angelic idea of the joining of two minds into one, each consort designates the other by a name signifying one's own, mutually and reciprocally. this shows how the lord's words in regard to marrying and giving in marriage (luke 20:35, 36), are to be understood. {footnote 1} conceptions, pregnancies, births, and generations signify those that are spiritual, that is, such as pertain to good and truth, or to love and faith (n. 613, 1145, 1255, 2020, 2584, 3860, 3868, 4070, 4668, 6239, 8042, 9325, 10249). therefore generation and birth signify regeneration and rebirth through faith and love (n. 5160, 5598, 9042, 9845). mother signifies the church in respect to truth, and thus the truth of the church; father the church in respect to good, and thus the good of the church (n. 2691, 2717, 3703, 5581, 8897). sons signify affections for truth, and thus truths (n. 489, 491, 533, 2623, 3373, 4257, 8649, 9807). daughters signify affections for good, and the goods (n. 489-491, 2362, 3963, 6729, 6775, 6778, 9055). son-in-law signifies truth associated with affection for good (n. 2389). daughter-in-law signifies good associated with its truth (n. 4843). 383. i have also been permitted to see how marriages are contracted in the heavens. as everywhere in heaven those who are alike are united and those who are unlike are separated, so every society in heaven consists of those who are alike. like are brought to like not by themselves but by the lord (see above, n. 41, 43, 44, seq.); and equally consort to consort whose minds can be joined into one are drawn together; and consequently at first sight they inmostly love each other, and see themselves to be consorts, and enter into marriage. for this reason all marriages in heaven are from the lord alone. they have also marriage feasts; and these are attended by many; but the festivities differ in different societies. 384. marriages on the earth are most holy in the sight of the angels of heaven because they are seminaries of the human race, and also of the angels of heaven (heaven being from the human race, as already shown under that head), also because these marriages are from a spiritual origin, namely, from the marriage of good and truth, and because the lord's divine flows especially into marriage love. adulteries on the other hand are regarded by the angels as profane because they are contrary to marriage love; for as in marriages the angels behold the marriage of good and truth, which is heaven, so in adulteries they behold the marriage of falsity and evil, which is hell. if, then, they but hear adulteries mentioned they turn away. and this is why heaven is closed up to man when he commits adultery from delight; and when heaven is closed man no longer acknowledges the divine nor any thing of the faith of church.{1} that all who are in hell are antagonistic to marriage love i have been permitted to perceive from the sphere exhaling from hell, which was like an unceasing endeavor to dissolve and violate marriages; which shows that the reigning delight in hell is the delight of adultery, and the delight of adultery is a delight in destroying the conjunction of good and truth, which conjunction makes heaven. from this it follows that the delight of adultery is an infernal delight directly opposed to the delight of marriage, which is a heavenly delight. {footnote 1} adulteries are profane (n. 9961, 10174). heaven is closed to adulterers (n. 2750). those that have experienced delight in adulteries cannot come into heaven (n. 539, 2733, 2747-2749, 2751, 10175). adulterers are unmerciful and destitute of religion (n. 824, 2747, 2748). the ideas of adulterers are filthy (n. 2747, 2748). in the other life they love filth and are in filthy hells (n. 2755, 5394, 5722). in the word adulteries signify adulterations of good, and whoredoms perversions of truth (n. 2466, 2729, 3399, 4865, 8904, 10648). 385. there were certain spirits who, from a practice acquired in the life of the body, infested me with peculiar craftiness, and this by a very gentle wave-like influx like the usual influx of well disposed spirits; but i perceived that there was craftiness and other like evils in them prompting them to ensnare and deceive. finally, i talked with one of them who, i was told, had been when he lived in the world the leader of an army; and perceiving that there was a lustfulness in the ideas of his thought i talked with him about marriage, using spiritual speech with representatives, which fully expresses all that is meant and many things in a moment. he said that in the life of the body he had regarded adulteries as of no account. but i was permitted to tell him that adulteries are heinous, although to those like himself they do not appear to be such, and even appear permissible, on account of their seductive and enticing delights. that they are heinous he might know from the fact that marriages are the seminaries of the human race, and thus also the seminaries of the heavenly kingdom; consequently they must on no account be violated, but must be esteemed holy. this he might know from the fact, which he ought to know because of his being in the other life and in a state of perception, that marriage love descends from the lord through heaven, and from that love, as from a parent, mutual love, which is the foundation of heaven is derived; and again from this, that if adulterers merely draw near to heavenly societies they perceive their own stench and cast themselves down therefrom towards hell. at least he must have known that to violate marriages is contrary to divine laws, and contrary to the civil laws of all kingdoms, also contrary to the genuine light of reason, because it is contrary to both divine and human order; not to mention other considerations. but he replied that he had not so thought in the life of the body. he wished to reason about whether it were so, but was told that truth does not admit of such reasonings; for reasonings defend what one delights in, and thus one's evils and falsities; that he ought first to think about the things that had been said because they are truths; or at least think about them from the principle well known in the world, that no one should do to another what he is unwilling that another should do to him; thus he should consider whether he himself would not have detested adulteries if any one had in that way deceived his wife, whom he had loved as everyone loves in the first period of marriage, and if in his state of wrath he had expressed himself on the subject; also whether being a man of talent he would not in that case have confirmed himself more decidedly than others against adulteries, even condemning them to hell. 386. i have been shown how the delights of marriage love advance towards heaven, and the delights of adultery towards hell. the advance of the delights of marriage love towards heaven is into states of blessedness and happiness continually increasing until they become innumerable and ineffable, and the more interiorly they advance the more innumerable and more ineffable they become, until they reach the very states of blessedness and happiness of the inmost heaven, or of the heaven of innocence, and this through the most perfect freedom; for all freedom is from love, thus the most perfect freedom is from marriage love, which is heavenly love itself. on the other hand, the advance of adultery is towards hell, and by degrees to the lowest hell, where there is nothing but what is direful and horrible. such a lot awaits adulterers after their life in the world, those being meant by adulterers who feel a delight in adulteries, and no delight in marriages. 387. xli. the employments of angels in heaven. it is impossible to enumerate the employments in the heavens, still less to describe them in detail, but something may be said about them in a general way; for they are numberless, and vary in accordance with the functions of the societies. each society has its peculiar function, for as societies are distinct in accordance with goods (see above, n. 41), so they are distinct in accordance with uses, because with all in the heavens goods are goods in act, which are uses. everyone there performs a use, for the lord's kingdom is a kingdom of uses.{1} {footnote 1} the lord's kingdom is a kingdom of uses (n. 454, 696, 1103, 3645, 4054, 7038). performing uses is serving the lord (n. 7038). in the other life all must perform uses (n. 1103); even the wicked and infernal, but in what manner (n. 696). all are such as are the uses they perform (n. 4054, 6815); illustrated (n. 7038). angelic blessedness consists in the goods of charity, that is, in performing uses (n. 454). 388. in the heavens as on the earth there are many forms of service, for there are ecclesiastical affairs, there are civil affairs, and there are domestic affairs. that there are ecclesiastical affairs is evident from what has been said and shown above, where divine worship is treated of (n. 221-227); civil affairs, where governments in heaven are treated of (n. 213-220); and domestic affairs, where the dwellings and homes of angels are treated of (n. 183-190); and marriages in heaven (n. 366-368); all of which show that in every heavenly society there are many employments and services. 389. all things in the heavens are organized in accordance with divine order, which is everywhere guarded by the services performed by angels, those things that pertain to the general good or use by the wiser angels, those that pertain to particular uses by the less wise, and so on. they are subordinated just as uses are subordinated in the divine order; and for this reason a dignity is connected with every function according to the dignity of the use. nevertheless, an angel does not claim dignity to himself, but ascribes all dignity to the use; and as the use is the good that he accomplishes, and all good is from the lord, so he ascribes all dignity to the lord. therefore he that thinks of honor for himself and subsequently for the use, and not for the use and subsequently for himself, can perform no function in heaven, because this is looking away backwards from the lord, and putting self in the first place and use in the second. when use is spoken of the lord also is meant, because, as has just been said, use is good, and good is from the lord. 390. from this it may be inferred what subordinations in the heavens are, namely, that as any one loves, esteems, and honors the use he also loves, esteems, and honors the person with whom the use is connected; also that the person is loved, esteemed and honored in the measure in which he ascribes the use to the lord and not to himself; for to that extent he is wise, and the uses he performs he performs from good. spiritual love, esteem, and honor are nothing else than the love, esteem, and honor of the use in the person, together with the honor to the person because of the use, and not honor to the use because of the person. this is the way, moreover, in which men are regarded when they are regarded from spiritual truth, for one man is then seen to be like another, whether he be in great or in little dignity, the only perceptible difference being a difference in wisdom; and wisdom is loving use, that is, loving the good of a fellow citizen, of society, of one's country, and of the church. it is this that constitutes love to the lord, because every good that is a good of use is from the lord; and it constitutes also love towards the neighbor, because the neighbor means the good that is to be loved in a fellow citizen, in society, in one's country, and in the church, and that is to be done in their behalf.{1} {footnote 1} loving the neighbor is not loving the person, but loving that which is in him and which constitutes him (n. 5025, 10336). those who love the person, and not that which is in him, and which constitutes him, love equally an evil man and a good man (n. 3820); and do good alike to the evil and to the good; and yet to do good to the evil is to do evil to the good and that is not loving the neighbor (n. 3820, 6703, 8120). the judge who punishes the evil that they may be reformed, and may not contaminate or injure the good, loves his neighbor (n. 3820, 8120, 8121). every individual and every community also one's country and the church, and in the most general sense the kingdom of the lord, are the neighbor, and to do good to these from a love of good in accord with the quality of their state, is loving the neighbor; that is, the neighbor is their good, which is to be consulted (n. 6818-6824, 8123). 391. as all the societies in the heavens are distinct in accordance with their goods (as said above, n. 41, seq.) so they are distinct in accordance with their uses, goods being goods in act, that is, goods of charity which are uses. some societies are employed in taking care of little children; others in teaching and training them as they grow up; others in teaching and training in like manner the boys and girls that have acquired a good disposition from their education in the world, and in consequence have come into heaven. there are other societies that teach the simple good from the christian world, and lead them into the way to heaven; there are others that in like manner teach and lead the various heathen nations. there are some societies that defend from infestations by evil spirits the newly arrived spirits that have just come from the world; there are some that attend upon the spirits that are in the lower earth; also some that attend upon spirits that are in the hells, and restrain them from tormenting each other beyond prescribed limits; and there are some that attend upon those who are being raised from the dead. in general, angels from each society are sent to men to watch over them and to lead them away from evil affections and consequent thoughts, and to inspire them with good affections so far as they will receive them in freedom; and by means of these they also direct the deeds or works of men by removing as far as possible evil intentions. when angels are with men they dwell as it were in their affections; and they are near to man just in the degree in which he is in good from truths, and are distant from him just in the degree in which his life is distant from good.{1} but all these employments of angels are employments of the lord through the angels, for the angels perform them from the lord and not from themselves. for this reason, in the word in its internal sense "angels" mean, not angels, but something belonging to the lord; and for the same reason angels are called "gods" in the word.{2} {footnote 1} of the angels that are with little children and afterwards with boys, and thus in succession (n. 2303). man is raised from the dead by means of angels; from experiences (n. 168-189). angels are sent to those who are in hell to prevent their tormenting each other beyond measure (n. 967). of the services rendered by the angels to men on their coming into the other life (n. 2131). there are spirits and angels with all men and man is led by the lord by means of spirits and angels (n. 50, 697, 2796, 2887, 2888, 5846-5866, 5976-5993, 6209). angels have dominion over evil spirits (n. 1755). {footnote 2} in the word by angels something divine from the lord is signified (n. 1925, 2821, 3039, 4085, 6280, 8192). in the word angels are called "gods," because of their reception of divine truth and good from the lord (n. 4295, 4402, 8192, 8301). 392. these employments of the angels are their general employments; but each one has his particular charge; for every general use is composed of innumerable uses which are called mediate, ministering, and subservient uses, all and each coordinated and subordinated in accordance with divine order, and taken together constituting and perfecting the general use, which is the general good. 393. those are concerned with ecclesiastical affairs in heaven who in the world loved the word and eagerly sought in it for truths, not with honor or gain as an end, but uses of life both for themselves and for others. these in heaven are in enlightenment and in the light of wisdom in the measure of their love and desire for use; and this light of wisdom they receive from the word in heaven, which is not a natural word, as it is in the world, but a spiritual word (see above, n. 259.) these minister in the preaching office; and in accordance with divine order those are in higher positions who from enlightenment excel others in wisdom. [2] those are concerned with civil affairs who in the world loved their country, and loved its general good more than their own, and did what is just and right from a love for what is just and right. so far as these from the eagerness of love have investigated the laws of justice and have thereby become intelligent, they have the ability to perform such functions in heaven, and they perform these in that position or degree that accords with their intelligence, their intelligence being in equal degree with their love of use for the general good. [3] furthermore, there are in heaven more functions and services and occupations than can be enumerated; while in the world there are few in comparison. but however many there may be that are so employed, they are all in the delight of their work and labor from a love of use, and no one from a love of self or of gain; and as all the necessaries of life are furnished them gratuitously they have no love of gain for the sake of a living. they are housed gratuitously, clothed gratuitously, and fed gratuitously. evidently, then, those that have loved themselves and the world more than use have no lot in heaven; for his love or affection remains with everyone after his life in the world, and is not extirpated to eternity (see above, n. 563). 394. in heaven everyone comes into his own occupation in accordance with correspondence, and the correspondence is not with the occupation but with the use of each occupation (see above, n. 112); for there is a correspondence of all things (see n. 106). he that in heaven comes into the employment or occupation corresponding to his use is in much the same condition of life as when he was in the world; since what is spiritual and what is natural make one by correspondences; yet there is this difference, that he then comes into an interior delight, because into spiritual life, which is an interior life, and therefore more receptive of heavenly blessedness. 395. xlii. heavenly joy and happiness. hardly any one at present knows what heaven is or what heavenly joy is. those who have given any thought to these subjects have had so general and so gross an idea about them as scarcely to amount to anything. from spirits that have come from the world into the other life i have been able to learn fully what idea they had of heaven and heavenly joy; for when left to themselves, as they were in the world, they think as they then did. there is this ignorance about heavenly joy for the reason that those who have thought about it have formed their opinion from the outward joys pertaining to the natural man, and have not known what the inner and spiritual man is, nor in consequence the nature of his delight and blessedness; and therefore even if they had been told by those who are in spiritual or inward delight what heavenly joy is, would have had no comprehension of it, for it could have fallen only into an idea not yet recognized, thus into no perception; and would therefore have been among the things that the natural man rejects. yet everyone can understand that when a man leaves his outer or natural man he comes into the inner or spiritual man, and consequently can see that heavenly delight is internal and spiritual, not external and natural; and being internal and spiritual, it is more pure and exquisite, and affects the interiors of man which pertain to his soul or spirit. from these things alone everyone may conclude that his delight is such as the delight of his spirit has previously been and that the delight of the body, which is called the delight of the flesh, is in comparison not heavenly; also that whatever is in the spirit of man when he leaves the body remains after death, since he then lives a man-spirit. 396. all delights flow forth from love, for that which a man loves he feels to be delightful. no one has any delight from any other source. from this it follows that such as the love is such is the delight. the delights of the body or of the flesh all flow forth from the love of self and love of the world; consequently they are lusts and their pleasures; while the delights of the soul or spirit all flow forth from love to the lord and love towards the neighbor, consequently they are affections for good and truth and interior satisfactions. these loves with their delights flow in out of heaven from the lord by an inner way, that is, from above, and affect the interiors; while the former loves with their delights flow in from the flesh and from the world by an external way, that is, from beneath, and affect the exteriors. therefore as far as the two loves of heaven are received and make themselves felt, the interiors of man, which belong to his soul or spirit and which look from the world heavenwards, are opened, while so far as the two loves of the world are received and make themselves felt, his exteriors, which belong to the body or flesh and look away from heaven towards the world, are opened. as loves flow in and are received their delights also flow in, the delights of heaven into the interiors and the delights of the world into the exteriors, since all delight, as has just been said above, belongs to love. 397. heaven in itself is so full of delights that viewed in itself it is nothing else than blessedness and delight; for the divine good that flows forth from the lord's divine love is what makes heaven in general and in particular with everyone there, and the divine love is a longing for the salvation of all and the happiness of all from inmosts and in fullness. thus whether you say heaven or heavenly joy it is the same thing. 398. the delights of heaven are both ineffable and innumerable; but he that is in the mere delight of the body or of the flesh can have no knowledge of or belief in a single one of these innumerable delights; for his interiors, as has just been said, look away from heaven towards the world, thus backwards. for he that is wholly in the delight of the body or of the flesh, or what is the same, in the love of self and of the world, has no sense of delight except in honor, in gain, and in the pleasures of the body and the senses; and these so extinguish and suffocate the interior delights that belong to heaven as to destroy all belief in them; consequently he would be greatly astonished if he were told that when the delights of honor and of gain are set aside other delights are given, and still more if he were told that the delights of heaven that take the place of these are innumerable, and are such as cannot be compared with the delights of the body and the flesh, which are chiefly the delights of honor and of gain. all this makes clear why it is not known what heavenly joy is. 399. one can see how great the delight of heaven must be from the fact that it is the delight of everyone in heaven to share his delights and blessings with others; and as such is the character of all that are in the heavens it is clear how immeasurable is the delight of heaven. it has been shown above (n. 268), that in the heavens there is a sharing of all with each and of each with all. such sharing goes forth from the two loves of heaven, which are, as has been said, love to the lord and love towards the neighbor; and to share their delights is the very nature of these loves. love to the lord is such because the lord's love is a love of sharing everything it has with all, since it wills the happiness of all. there is a like love in everyone of those who love the lord, because the lord is in them; and from this comes the mutual sharing of the delights of angels with one another. love towards the neighbor is of such a nature, as will be seen in what follows. all this shows that it is the nature of these loves to share their delights. it is otherwise with the loves of self and of the world. the love of self takes away from others and robs others of all delight, and directs it to itself, for it wishes well to itself alone; while the love of the world wishes to have as its own what belongs to the neighbor. therefore these loves are destructive of the delights of others; or if there is any disposition to share, it is for the sake of themselves and not for the sake of others. thus in respect to others it is the nature of those loves not to share but to take away, except so far as the delights of others have some relation to self. that the loves of self and of the world, when they rule, are such i have often been permitted to perceive by living experience. whenever the spirits that were in these loves during their life as men in the world drew near, my delight receded and vanished; and i was told that at the mere approach of such to any heavenly society the delight of those in the society diminished just in the degree of their proximity; and what is wonderful, the evil spirits are then in their delight. all this indicates the state of the spirit of such a man while he is in the body, since it is the same as it is after it is separated from the body, namely, that it longs for or lusts after the delights or goods of another, and finds delight so far as it secures them. all this makes clear that the loves of self and of the world tend to destroy the joys of heaven, and are thus direct opposites of heavenly loves, which desire to share. 400. but it must be understood that the delight of those who are in the loves of self and of the world, when they draw near to any heavenly society, is the delight of their lust, and thus is directly opposite to the delight of heaven. and such enter into this delight of their lust in consequence of their taking away and dispelling heavenly delight in those that are in such delight. when the heavenly delight is not taken away or dispelled it is different, for they are then unable to draw near; for so far as they draw near they bring upon themselves anguish and pain; and for this reason they do not often venture to come near. this also i have been permitted to learn by repeated experience, something of which i would like to add. [2] spirits who go from this world into the other life desire more than any thing else to get into heaven. nearly all seek to enter, supposing that heaven consists solely in being admitted and received. because of this desire they are brought to some society of the lowest heaven. but as soon as those who are in the love of self and of the world draw near the first threshold of that heaven they begin to be distressed and so tortured inwardly as to feel hell rather than heaven to be in them; and in consequence they cast themselves down headlong therefrom, and do not rest until they come into the hells among their like. [3] it has also frequently occurred that such spirits have wished to know what heavenly joy is, and having heard that it is in the interiors of angels, they have wished to share in it. this therefore was granted; for whatever a spirit who is not yet in heaven or hell wishes is granted if it will benefit him. but as soon as that joy was communicated they began to be so tortured as not to know how to twist or turn because of the pain. i saw them thrust their heads down to their feet and cast themselves upon the ground, and there writhe into coils like serpents, and this in consequence of their interior agony. such was the effect produced by heavenly delight upon those who are in the delights of the love of self and of the world; and for the reason that these loves are directly opposite to heavenly loves, and when opposite acts against opposite such pain results. and since heavenly delight enters by an inward way and flows into the contrary delight, the interiors which are in the contrary delight are twisted backwards, thus into the opposite direction, and the result is such tortures. [4] they are opposite for the reason given above, that love to the lord and love to the neighbor wish to share with others all that is their own, for this is their delight, while the loves of self and of the world wish to take away from others what they have, and take it to themselves; and just to the extent that they are able to do this they are in their delight. from this, too, one can see what it is that separates hell from heaven; for all that are in hell were, while they were living in the world, in the mere delights of the body and of the flesh from the love of self and of the world; while all that are in the heavens were, while they lived in the world, in the delights of the soul and spirit from love to the lord and love to the neighbor; and as these are opposite loves, so the hells and the heavens are entirely separated, and indeed so separated that a spirit in hell does not venture even to put forth a finger from it or raise the crown of his head, for if he does this in the least he is racked with pain and tormented. this, too, i have frequently seen. 401. one who is in the love of self and love of the world perceives while he lives in the body a sense of delight from these loves and also in the particular pleasures derived from these loves. but one who is in love to god and in love towards the neighbor does not perceive while he lives in the body any distinct sense of delight from these loves or from the good affections derived from them, but only a blessedness that is hardly perceptible, because it is hidden away in his interiors and veiled by the exteriors pertaining to the body and dulled by the cares of the world. but after death these states are entirely changed. the delights of love of self and of the world are then turned into what is painful and direful, because into such things as are called infernal fire, and by turns into things defiled and filthy corresponding to their unclean pleasures, and these, wonderful to tell, are then delightful to them. but the obscure delight and almost imperceptible blessedness of those that had been while in the world in love to god and in love to the neighbor are then turned into the delight of heaven, and become in every way perceived and felt, for the blessedness that lay hidden and unrecognized in their interiors while they lived in the world is then revealed and brought forth into evident sensation, because such had been the delight of their spirit, and they are then in the spirit. 402. in uses all the delights of heaven are brought together and are present, because uses are the goods of love and charity in which angels are; therefore everyone has delights that are in accord with his uses, and in the degree of his affection for use. that all the delights of heaven are delights of use can be seen by a comparison with the five bodily senses of man. there is given to each sense a delight in accordance with its use; to the sight, the hearing, the smell, the taste, and the touch, each its own delight; to the sight a delight from beauty and from forms, to the hearing from harmonious sounds, to the smell from pleasing odors, to taste from fine flavors. these uses which the senses severally perform are known to those who study them, and more fully to those who are acquainted with correspondences. sight has such a delight because of the use it performs to the understanding, which is the inner sight; the hearing has such a delight because of the use it performs both to the understanding and to the will through giving attention; the smell has such a delight because of the use it performs to the brain, and also to the lungs; the taste has such a delight because of the use it performs to the stomach, and thus to the whole body by nourishing it. the delight of marriage, which is a purer and more exquisite delight of touch, transcends all the rest because of its use, which is the procreation of the human race and thereby of angels of heaven. these delights are in these sensories by an influx of heaven, where every delight pertains to use and is in accordance with use. 403. there were some spirits who believed from an opinion adopted in the world that heavenly happiness consists in an idle life in which they would be served by others; but they were told that happiness never consists in abstaining from work and getting satisfaction therefrom. this would mean everyone's desiring the happiness of others for himself, and what everyone wished for no one would have. such a life would be an idle not an active life, and would stupefy all the powers of life; and everyone ought to know that without activity of life there can be no happiness of life, and that rest from this activity should be only for the sake of recreation, that one may return with more vigor to the activity of his life. they were then shown by many evidences that angelic life consists in performing the good works of charity, which are uses, and that the angels find all their happiness in use, from use, and in accordance with use. to those that held the opinion that heavenly joy consists in living an idle life and drawing breaths of eternal joy in idleness, a perception was given of what such a life is, that they might become ashamed of the idea; and they saw that such a life is extremely sad, and that all joy thus perishing they would in a little while feel only loathing and disgust for it. 404. there were some spirits who thought themselves better instructed than others, and who said that they had believed in the world that heavenly joy would consist solely in praising and giving glory to god, and that this would be an active life. but these were told that praising and giving glory to god is not a proper active life, also that god has no need of praises and glorification, but it is his will that they should perform uses, and thus the good works that are called goods of charity. but they were unable to associate with goods of charity any idea of heavenly joy, but only of servitude, although the angels testified that this joy is most free because it comes from an interior affection and is conjoined with ineffable delight. 405. almost all who enter the other life think that hell is the same to everyone, and heaven the same; and yet in both there are infinite varieties and diversities, and in no case is hell or heaven wholly the same to one as to another; as it is impossible that any one man, spirit or angel should ever be wholly like another even as to the face. at my mere thought of two being just alike or equal the angels expressed horror, saying that everyone thing is formed out of the harmonious concurrence of many things, and that the one thing is such as that concurrence is; and that it is thus that a whole society in heaven becomes a one, and that all the societies of heaven together become a one, and this from the lord alone by means of love.{1} uses in the heavens are likewise in all variety and diversity, and in no case is the use of one wholly the same as and identical with the use of another; so neither is the happiness of one the same as and identical with the happiness of another. furthermore, the delights of each use are innumerable, and these innumerable delights are likewise various, and yet conjoined in such order that they mutually regard each other, like the uses of each member, organ, and viscus, in the body, and still more like the uses of each vessel and fiber in each member, organ and viscus; each and all of which are so affiliated as to have regard to another's good in their own good, and thus each in all, and all in each. from this universal and individual aspect they act as one. {footnote 1} one thing consists of various things, and receives thereby its form and quality and perfection in accordance with the quality of the harmony and concurrence (n. 457, 3241, 8003). there is an infinite variety and never any one thing the same as another (n. 7236, 9002). it is the same in the heavens (n. 3744, 4005, 7236, 7833, 7836, 9002). in consequence all the societies in the heavens and all the angels in a society are distinct from each other because they are in different goods and uses (n. 690, 3241, 3519, 3804, 3986, 4067, 4149, 4263, 7236, 7833). the lord's divine love arranges all into a heavenly form, and so conjoins them that they are as a single man (n. 457, 3986, 5598). 406. i have talked at times with spirits that had recently come from the world about the state of eternal life, saying that it is important to know who the lord of the kingdom is, and what kind and what form of government it has. as nothing is more important for those entering another kingdom in the world than to know who and what the king is, and what the government is, and other particulars in regard to the kingdom, so is it of still greater consequence in regard to this kingdom in which they are to live to eternity. therefore they should know that it is the lord who governs both heaven and the universe, for he who governs the one governs the other; thus that the kingdom in which they now are is the lord's; and that the laws of this kingdom are eternal truths, all of which rest upon the law that the lord must be loved above all things and the neighbor as themselves; and even more than this, if they would be like the angels they must love the neighbor more than themselves. on hearing this they could make no reply, for the reason that although they had heard in the life of the body something like this they had not believed it, wondering how there could be such love in heaven, and how it could be possible for any one to love his neighbor more than himself. but they were told that every good increases immeasurably in the other life, and that while they cannot go further in the life of the body than to love the neighbor as themselves, because they are immersed in what concerns the body, yet when this is set aside their love becomes more pure, and finally becomes angelic, which is to love the neighbor more than themselves. for in the heavens there is joy in doing good to another, but no joy in doing good to self unless with a view to its becoming another's, and thus for another's sake. this is loving the neighbor more than oneself. they were told that the possibility of such a love is shown in the world in the marriage love of some who have suffered death to protect a consort from injury, in the love of parents for their children, as in a mother's preferring to go hungry rather than see her child go hungry; in sincere friendship, in which one friend will expose himself to danger for another; and even in polite and pretended friendship that wishes to emulate sincere friendship, in offering the better things to those to whom it professes to wish well, and bearing such good will on the lips though not in the heart; finally, in the nature of love, which is such that its joy is to serve others, not for its own sake but for theirs. but all this was incomprehensible to those who loved themselves more than others, and in the life of the body had been greedy of gain; most of all to the avaricious. 407. there was one who in the life of the body had exercised power over others, and who had retained in the other life the desire to rule; but he was told that he was now in another kingdom, which is eternal, and that his rule on earth had perished, and that he was now where no one is esteemed except in accordance with his goodness and truth, and that measure of the lord's mercy which he enjoyed by virtue of his life in the world; also that the same is true in this kingdom as on the earth, where men are esteemed for their wealth and for their favor with the prince, wealth here being good and truth, and favor with the prince the mercy bestowed on man by the lord in accordance with his life in the world. any wish to rule otherwise would make him a rebel, since he is in another's kingdom. on hearing these things he was ashamed. 408. i have talked with spirits who believed heaven and heavenly joy to consist in their being great; but such were told that in heaven he that is least is greatest, since he is called least who has, and wishes to have, no power or wisdom from himself, but only from the lord, he that is least in that sense having the greatest happiness, and as he has the greatest happiness, it follows that he is greatest; for he has thereby from the lord all power and excels all in wisdom. what is it to be the greatest unless to be the most happy? for to be the most happy is what the powerful seek through power and the rich through riches. it was further said that heaven does not consist in a desire to be least for the purpose of being greatest, for that would be aspiring and longing to be the greatest; but it consists in desiring from the heart the good of others more than one's own, and in serving others with a view to their happiness, not with recompense as an end, but from love. 409. heavenly joy itself, such as it is in its essence, cannot be described, because it is in the inmost of the life of angels and therefrom in everything of their thought and affection, and from this in every particular of their speech and action. it is as if the interiors were fully opened and unloosed to receive delight and blessedness, which are distributed to every least fiber and thus through the whole. thus the perception and sensation of this joy is so great as to be beyond description, for that which starts from the inmosts flows into every particular derived from the inmosts, propagating itself away with increase towards the exteriors. good spirits who are not yet in that joy, because not yet raised up into heaven, when they perceive a sense of that joy from an angel from the sphere of his love, are filled with such delight that they come as it were into a delicious trance. this sometimes happens with those who desire to know what heavenly joy is. 410. when certain spirits wished to know what heavenly joy is they were allowed to feel it to such a degree that they could no longer bear it; and yet it was not angelic joy; it was scarcely in the least degree angelic, as i was permitted to perceive by sharing it, but was so slight as to be almost frigid; nevertheless they called it most heavenly, because to them it was an inmost joy. from this it was evident, not only that there are degrees of the joys of heaven, but also that the inmost joy of one scarcely reaches to the outmost or middle joy of another; also that when any one receives his own inmost joy he is in his heavenly joy, and cannot endure what is still more interior, for such a joy becomes painful to him. 411. certain spirits, not evil, sinking into a quiescence like sleep, were taken up into heaven in respect to the interiors of their minds; for before their interiors are opened spirits can be taken up into heaven and be taught about the happiness of those there. i saw them in the quiescent state for about half an hour, and afterwards they relapsed into their exteriors in which they were before, and also into a recollection of what they had seen. they said that they had been among the angels in heaven, and had there seen and perceived amazing things, all of which were resplendent as if made of gold, silver, and precious stones, in exquisite forms and in wonderful variety; also that angels are not delighted with the outward things themselves, but with the things they represented, which were divine, ineffable, and of infinite wisdom, and that these were their joy; with innumerable other things that could not be described in human language even as to a ten-thousandth part, or fall into ideas which partake of any thing material. 412. scarcely any who enter the other life know what heavenly blessedness and happiness are, because they do not know what internal joy is, deriving their perception of it solely from bodily and worldly gladness and joy; and in consequence what they are ignorant of they suppose to be nothing, when in fact bodily and worldly joys are of no account in comparison. in order, therefore, that the well disposed, who do not know what heavenly joy is, may know and realize what it is, they are taken first to paradisal scenes that transcend every conception of the imagination. they then think that they have come into the heavenly paradise; but they are taught that this is not true heavenly happiness; and they are permitted to realize such interior states of joy as are perceptible to their inmost. they are then brought into a state of peace even to their inmost, when they confess that nothing of it is in the least expressible or conceivable. finally they are brought into a state of innocence even to their inmost sense. thus they are permitted to learn what true spiritual and heavenly good is. 413. but that i might learn the nature of heaven and heavenly joy i have frequently and for a long time been permitted by the lord to perceive the delights of heavenly joys; but while i have been enabled to know by living experience what they are i am not at all able to describe them. nevertheless, that some idea of them may be formed, something shall be said about them. heavenly joy is an affection of innumerable delights and joys, which together present something general, and in this general, that is, this general affection, are harmonies of innumerable affections that come to perception obscurely, and not distinctly, because the perception is most general. nevertheless i was permitted to perceive that there are innumerable things in it, in such order as cannot be at all described, those innumerable things being such as flow from the order of heaven. the order in the particulars of the affection even to the least, is such that these particulars are presented and perceived only as a most general whole, in accordance with the capacity of him who is the subject. in a word, each general affection contains infinite affections arranged in a most orderly form, with nothing therein that is not alive, and that does not affect all of them from the inmosts; for heavenly joys go forth from inmosts. i perceived also that the joy and ecstasy came as from the heart, diffusing most softly through all the inmost fibers, and from these into the bundles of fibers, with such an inmost sense of delight that the fiber seemed to be nothing but joy and ecstasy, and everything perceptive and sensitive therefrom seemed in like manner to be alive with happiness. compared with these joys the joy of bodily pleasures is like a gross and pungent dust compared with a pure and most gentle aura. i have noticed that when i wished to transfer all my delight to another, a more interior and fuller delight continually flowed in in its place, and the more i wished this, the more flowed in; and this was perceived to be from the lord. 414. those that are in heaven are continually advancing towards the spring of life, with a greater advance towards a more joyful and happy spring the more thousands of years they live; and this to eternity, with increase according to the growth and degree of their love, charity, and faith. women who have died old and worn out with age, if they have lived in faith in the lord, in charity to the neighbor, and in happy marriage love with a husband, advance with the succession of years more and more into the flower of youth and early womanhood, and into a beauty that transcends every conception of any such beauty as is seen on the earth. goodness and charity are what give this form and thus manifest their own likeness, causing the joy and beauty of charity to shine forth from every least particular of the face, and causing them to be the very forms of charity. some who beheld this were struck with amazement. the form of charity that is seen in a living way in heaven, is such that it is charity itself that both forms and is formed; and this in such a manner that the whole angel is a charity, as it were, especially the face; and this is both clearly seen and felt. when this form is beheld it is beauty unspeakable, affecting with charity the very inmost life of the mind. in a word, to grow old in heaven is to grow young. such forms or such beauties do those become in the other life who have lived in love to the lord and in charity towards the neighbor. all angels are such forms in endless variety; and of these heaven is constituted. 415. xliii. the immensity of heaven. the immensity of the heaven of the lord is evident from many things that have been said and shown in the foregoing chapters, especially from this, that heaven is from the human race (n. 311-317), both from those born within the church and from those born out of it (n. 318-328); thus it consists of all from the beginning of this earth that have lived a good life. how great a multitude of men there is in this entire world any one who knows anything about the divisions, the regions, and kingdoms of the earth may conclude. whoever goes into a calculation will find that several thousands of men die every day, that is, some myriads of millions every year; and this from the earliest times, since which several thousands of years have elapsed. all of these after death have gone into the other world, which is called the spiritual world, and they are constantly going into it. but how many of these have become or are becoming angels of heaven cannot be told. this i have been told, that in ancient times the number was very great, because men then thought more interiorly and spiritually, and from such thought were in heavenly affection; but in the following ages not so many, because in the process of time man became more external and began to think more naturally, and from such thought to be in earthly affection. all of this shows how great heaven is even from the inhabitants of this earth alone. 416. the immensity of the heaven of the lord is shown also by this, that all children, whether born within the church or out of it, are adopted by the lord and become angels; and the number of these amounts to a fourth or fifth part of the whole human race on the earth. that every child, wherever born, whether within the church or out of it, whether of pious or impious parents, is received by the lord when it dies, and is brought up in heaven, and is taught and imbued with affections for good, and through these with knowledges of truth, in accordance with divine order, and as he becomes perfected in intelligence and wisdom is brought into heaven and becomes an angel, can be seen above (n. 329-345). from all this a conclusion may be formed of the multitude of angels of heaven, derived from this source alone, from the first creation to the present time. 417. again, how immense the heaven of the lord is can be seen from this, that all the planets visible to the eye in our solar system are earths, and moreover, that in the whole universe there are innumerable earths, all of them full of inhabitants. these have been treated of particularly in a small work on those earths from which i will quote the following passage: it is fully known in the other life that there are many earths inhabited by men from which spirits and angels come; for everyone there who desires from a love of truth and of use to do so is permitted to talk with spirits of other earths, and thus be assured that there is a plurality of worlds, and learn that the human race is not from one earth alone, but from innumerable earths. i have frequently talked about this with spirits of our earth, and was told that any intelligent person ought to know from many things that he does know that there are many earths inhabited by men; for it may be reasonably inferred that immense bodies like the planets, some of which exceed this earth in magnitude, are not empty masses created merely to be borne through space and to be carried around the sun, and to shine with their scanty light for the benefit of a single earth, but must have a more important use. he that believes, as everyone must believe, that the divine created the universe for no other end than that the human race might exist, and heaven therefrom, for the human race is a seminary of heaven, must needs believe that wherever there is an earth there are men. that the planets visible to us because they are within the limits of our solar system are earths is evident from their being bodies of earthy matters, which is known from their reflecting the sun's light, and from their not appearing, when viewed through telescopes, like stars, sparkling with flame, but like earths varied with darker portions; also from their passing like our earth around the sun and following in the path of the zodiac, thus making years and seasons of the year, spring, summer, autumn, and winter, also revolving on their axes like our earth, making days and times of the day, morning, mid-day, evening, and night; also from some of them having moons, called satellites, that revolve around their earth at stated times, as the moon does around ours; while the planet saturn, being at a greater distance from the sun, has also a large luminous belt which gives much light, though reflected, to that earth. who that knows all this and thinks rationally can ever say that the planets are empty bodies? moreover, i have said to spirits that man might believe that there are more earths in the universe than one, from the fact that the starry heaven is so immense, and the stars there so innumerable, and each of them in its place or in its system a sun, resembling our sun, although of a varying magnitude. any one who duly weighs the subject must conclude that such an immense whole must needs be a means to an end that is the final end of creation; and this end is a heavenly kingdom in which the divine may dwell with angels and men. for the visible universe or the heaven illumined by stars so numberless, which are so many suns, is simply a means for the existence of earths with men upon them from whom the heavenly kingdom is derived. from all this a rational man must needs conclude that so immense a means to so great an end could not have been provided merely for the human race on a single earth. what would this be for a divine that is infinite, to which thousands and even myriads of earths, all of them full of inhabitants, would be little and scarcely anything? there are spirits whose sole pursuit is the acquisition of knowledges, because their delight is in this alone; and for this reason they are permitted to wander about, and even to pass out of our solar system into others, in acquiring knowledge. these spirits, who are from the planet mercury, have told me that there are earths with men upon them not only in this solar system but also beyond it in the starry heaven in immense numbers. it was calculated that with a million earths in the universe, and on each earth three hundred millions of men, and two hundred generations in six thousand years, and a space of three cubic ells allowed to each man or spirit, the total number of so many men or spirits would not fill the space of this earth, and scarcely more than the space of one of the satellites about one of the planets--a space in the universe so small as to be almost invisible, since a satellite can scarcely be seen by the naked eye. what is this for the creator of the universe, to whom it would not be sufficient if the whole universe were filled, since he is infinite? i have talked with angels about this, and they said that they had a similar idea of the fewness of the human race compared with the infinity of the creator, although their thought is from states, not from spaces, and that in their thought earths amounting to as many myriads as could possibly be conceived of would still be nothing at all to the lord. the earths in the universe, with their inhabitants, and the spirits and angels from them, are treated of in the above mentioned work. what is there related has been revealed and shown to me to the intent that it may be known that the heaven of the lord is immense, and that it is all from the human race; also that our lord is every where acknowledged as the god of heaven and earth. 418. again, the immensity of the heaven of the lord is shown in this, that heaven in its entire complex reflects a single man, and corresponds to all things and each thing in man, and that this correspondence can never be filled out, since it is a correspondence not only with each of the members, organs, and viscera of the body in general, but also with all and each of the little viscera and little organs contained in these in every minutest particular, and even with each vessel and fiber; and not only with these but also with the organic substances that receive interiorly the influx of heaven, from which come man's interior activities that are serviceable to the operations of his mind; since everything that exists interiorly in man exists in forms which are substances, for anything that does not exist in a substance as its subject is nothing. there is a correspondence of all these things with heaven, as can be seen from the chapter treating of the correspondence of all things of heaven with all things of man (n. 87-102). this correspondence can never be filled out because the more numerous the angelic affiliations are that correspond to each member the more perfect heaven becomes; for every perfection in the heavens increases with increase of number; and this for the reason that all there have the same end, and look with one accord to that end. that end is the common good; and when that reigns there is, from the common good, good to each individual, and from the good of each individual there is good to the whole community. this is so for the reason that the lord turns all in heaven to himself (see above, n. 123), and thereby makes them to be one in himself. that the unanimity and concord of many, especially from such an origin and held together by such a bond, produces perfection, everyone with a reason at all enlightened can see clearly. 419. i have also been permitted to see the extent of the inhabited and also of the uninhabited heaven; and the extent of the uninhabited heaven was seen to be so great that it could not be filled to eternity even if there were many myriads of earths, and as great a multitude of men on each earth as on ours. (on this also see the treatise on the earths in the universe, n. 168.) 420. that heaven is not immense, but it is of limited extent, is a conclusion that some have derived from certain passages in the word understood according to the sense of its letter; for example, where it is said that only the poor are received into heaven, or only the elect, or only those within the church, and not those outside of it, or only those for whom the lord intercedes; that heaven is closed when it is filled, and that this time is predetermined. but such are unaware that heaven is never closed, and that there is no time predetermined, or any limit of number; and that those are called the "elect" who are in a life of good and truth;{1} and those are called "poor" who are lacking in knowledges of good and truth and yet desire them; and such from that desire are also called hungry.{2} those that have conceived an idea of the small extent of heaven from the word not understood believe it to be in one place, where all are gathered together; when, in fact, heaven consists of innumerable societies (see above, n. 41-50). such also have no other idea than that heaven is granted to everyone from mercy apart from means, and thus that there is admission and reception from mere favor; and they fail to understand that the lord from mercy leads everyone who accepts him, and that he accepts him who lives in accordance with the laws of divine order, which are the precepts of love and of faith, and that the mercy that is meant is to be thus led by the lord from infancy to the last period of life in the world and afterwards to eternity. let them know, therefore, that every man is born for heaven, and that he is received that receives heaven in himself in the world, and he that does not receive it is shut out. {footnote 1} those are the elect who are in a life of good and truth (n. 3755, 3900). election and reception into heaven are not from mercy, as that term is understood, but are in accordance with the life (n. 5057, 5058). there is no mercy of the lord apart from means, but only through means, that is, to those that live in accordance with his precepts; such the lord from his mercy leads continually in the world, and afterwards to eternity (n. 8700, 10659). {footnote 2} by the "poor," in the word, those are meant who are spiritually poor, that is, who are ignorant of truth and yet wish to be taught (n. 9209, 9253, 10227). such are said to hunger and thirst, which is to desire knowledges of good and of truth, by which there is introduction into the church and into heaven (n. 4958, 10227). 421. xliv. what the world of spirits is. the world of spirits is not heaven, nor is it hell, but it is the intermediate place or state between the two; for it is the place that man first enters after death; and from which after a suitable time he is either raised up into heaven or cast down into hell in accord with his life in the world. 422. the world of spirits is an intermediate place between heaven and hell and also an intermediate state of the man after death. it has been shown to me not only that it is an intermediate place, having the hells below it and the heavens above it, but also that it is in an intermediate state, since so long as man is in it he is not yet either in heaven or in hell. the state of heaven in man is the conjunction of good and truth in him; and the state of hell is the conjunction of evil and falsity in him. whenever good in a man-spirit is conjoined to truth he comes into heaven, because that conjunction, as just said, is heaven in him; but whenever evil in a man-spirit is conjoined with falsity he comes into hell, because that conjunction is hell in him. that conjunction is effected in the world of spirits, man then being in an intermediate state. it is the same thing whether you say the conjunction of the understanding and the will, or the conjunction of good and truth. 423. let something first be said about the conjunction of the understanding and the will, and its being the same thing as the conjunction of good and truth, that being the conjunction that is effected in the world of spirits. man has an understanding and a will. the understanding receives truths and is formed out of them, and the will receives goods and is formed out of them; therefore whatever a man understands and thinks from his understanding he calls true, and whatever a man wills and thinks from his will he calls good. from his understanding man can think and thus perceive both what is true and what is good; and yet he thinks what is true and good from the will only when he wills it and does it. when he wills it and from willing does it, it is both in his understanding and in his will, consequently in the man. for neither the understanding alone nor the will alone makes the man, but the understanding and will together; therefore whatever is in both is in the man, and is appropriated to him. that which is in the understanding alone is in man, and yet not really in him; it is only a thing of his memory, or a matter of knowledge in his memory about which he can think when in company with others and outside of himself, but not in himself; that is, about which he can speak and reason, and can simulate affections and gestures that are in accord with it. 424. this ability to think from the understanding and not at the same time from the will is provided that man may be capable of being reformed; for reformation is effected by means of truths, and truths pertain to the understanding, as just said. for in respect to his will man is born into every evil, and therefore of himself wills good to no one but himself; and one who wills good to himself alone delights in the misfortunes that befall another, especially when they tend to his own advantage; for his wish is to divert to himself the goods of all others, whether honors or riches, and so far as he succeeds in this he inwardly rejoices. to the end that this will of man may be corrected and reformed, an ability to understand truths, and an ability to subdue by means of truths the affections of evil that spring from the will, are given to man. this is why man has this ability to think truths with his understanding, and to speak them and do them. but until man is such that he wills truths and does them from himself, that is, from the heart, he is not able to think truths from his will. when he becomes such, whatever he thinks from his understanding belongs to his faith, and whatever he thinks from his will belongs to his love; and in consequence his faith and his love, like his understanding and his will, are conjoined in him. 425. to the extent, therefore, that the truths of the understanding and the goods of the will are conjoined, that is, to the extent that a man wills truths and does them from his will, he has heaven in himself, since the conjunction of good and truth, as just said, is heaven. and on the other hand, just to the extent that the falsities of the understanding and the evils of the will are conjoined man has hell in himself, since the conjunction of falsity and evil is hell. but so long as the truths of the understanding and the goods of the will are not conjoined man is in an intermediate state. at the present time nearly everyone is in such a state that he has some knowledge of truths, and from his knowledge and understanding gives some thought to them, and conforms to them either much or little or not at all, or acts contrary to them from a love of evil and consequent false belief. in order, therefore, that man may have in him either heaven or hell, he is first brought after death into the world of spirits, and there with those who are to be raised up into heaven good and truth are conjoined, and with those who are to be cast down into hell evil and falsity are conjoined. for neither in heaven nor in hell is any one permitted to have a divided mind, that is, to understand one thing and to will another; but everyone must understand what he wills, and will what he understands. therefore in heaven he who wills good understands truth, while in hell he who wills evil understands falsity. so in the intermediate state the falsities that the good have are put away, and truths that agree and harmonize with their good are given them; while the truths that the evil have are put away, and falsities that agree and harmonize with their evil are given them. this shows what the world of spirits is. 426. in the world of spirits there are vast numbers, because the first meeting of all is there, and all are there explored and prepared. the time of their stay in that world is not fixed; some merely enter it, and are soon either taken into heaven or are cast down into hell; some remain only a few weeks, some several years, but not more than thirty. these differences in the time they remain depend on the correspondence or lack of correspondence of man's interiors with his exteriors. how man is led in that world from one state into another and prepared shall now be told. 427. as soon as men after death enter the world of spirits the lord clearly discriminates between them; and the evil are at once attached to the infernal society in which they were, as to their ruling love while in the world; and the good are at once attached to the heavenly society in which they were as to their love, charity and faith while in the world. but although they are thus divided, all that have been friends and acquaintances in the life of the body, especially wives and husbands, and also brothers and sisters, meet and converse together whenever they so desire. i have seen a father talking with six sons, whom he recognized, and have seen many others with their relatives and friends; but having from their life in the world diverse dispositions, after a short time they separate. but those who have passed from the world of spirits into heaven or into hell, unless they have a like disposition from a like love, no longer see or know each other. the reason that they see each other in the world of spirits, but not in heaven or in hell, is that those who are in the world of spirits are brought into one state after another, like those they experienced in the life of the body; but afterwards all are brought into a permanent state in accord with their ruling love, and in that state one recognizes another only by similarity of love; for then similarity joins and dissimilarity disjoins (see above, n. 41-50). 428. as the world of spirits is an intermediate state between heaven and hell with man, so it is an intermediate place with the hells below and the heavens above. all the hells are shut towards that world, being open only through holes and clefts like those in rocks and through wide openings that are so guarded that no one can come out except by permission, which is granted in cases of urgent necessity (of which hereafter). heaven, too, is enclosed on all sides; and there is no passage open to any heavenly society except by a narrow way, the entrance to which is also guarded. these outlets and entrances are what are called in the word the gates and doors of hell and of heaven. 429. the world of spirits appears like a valley between mountains and rocks, with windings and elevations here and there. the gates and doors of the heavenly societies are visible to those only who are prepared for heaven; others cannot find them. there is one entrance from the world of spirits to each heavenly society, opening through a single path which branches out in its ascent into several. the gates and doors of the hells also are visible only to those who are about to enter, to whom they are then opened. when these are opened gloomy and seemingly sooty caverns are seen tending obliquely downwards to the abyss, where again there are many doors. through these caverns nauseous and fetid stenches exhale, which good spirits flee from because they abominate them, but evil spirits seek for them because they delight in them. for as everyone in the world has been delighted with his own evil, so after death he is delighted with the stench to which his evil corresponds. in this respect the evil may be likened to rapacious birds and beasts, like ravens, wolves, and swine, which fly or run to carrion or dunghills when they scent their stench. i heard a certain spirit crying out loudly as if from inward torture when struck by a breath flowing forth from heaven; but he became tranquil and glad as soon as a breath flowing forth from hell reached him. 430. with every man there are two gates; one that leads to hell and that is open to evils and their falsities; while the other leads to heaven and is open to goods and their truths. those that are in evil and its falsity have the gate to hell opened in them, and only through chinks from above does something of light from heaven flow into them, and by that inflowing they are able to think, to reason, and to speak; but the gate to heaven is opened in those that are in good and its truth. for there are two ways that lead to the rational mind of man; a higher or internal way through which good and truth from the lord enter, and a lower or external way through which evil and falsity enter from hell. the rational mind itself is at the middle point to which the ways tend. consequently, so far as light from heaven is admitted man is rational; but so far as it is not admitted he is not rational, however rational he may seem to himself to be. this has been said to make known the nature of the correspondence of man with heaven and with hell. while man's rational mind is being formed it corresponds to the world of spirits, what is above it corresponding to heaven and what is below to hell. with those preparing for heaven the regions above the rational mind are opened, but those below are closed to the influx of evil and falsity; while with those preparing for hell the parts below it are opened, and the parts above it are closed to the influx of good and truth. thus the latter can look only to what is below themselves, that is, to hell; while the former can look only to what is above themselves, that is, to heaven. to look above themselves is to look to the lord, because he is the common center to which all things of heaven look; while to look below themselves is to look backwards from the lord to the opposite center, to which all things of hell look and tend (see above, n. 123, 124). 431. in the preceding pages whenever spirits are mentioned those that are in the world of spirits are meant; but when angels are mentioned those that are in heaven are meant. 432. xlv. in respect to his interiors every man is a spirit. whoever duly considers the subject can see that as the body is material it is not the body that thinks, but the soul, which is spiritual. the soul of man, upon the immortality of which many have written, is his spirit, for this as to everything belonging to it is immortal. this also is what thinks in the body, for it is spiritual, and what is spiritual receives what is spiritual and lives spiritually, which is to think and to will. therefore, all rational life that appears in the body belongs to the soul, and nothing of it to the body; for the body, as just said, is material, and the material, which is the property of the body, is added to and apparently almost joined to the spirit, in order that the spirit of man may be able to live and perform uses in the natural world, all things of which are material and in themselves devoid of life. and as it is the spiritual only that lives and not the material, it can be seen that whatever lives in man is his spirit, and that the body merely serves it, just as what is instrumental serves a moving living force. an instrument is said indeed to act, to move, or to strike; but to believe that these are acts of the instrument, and not of him who acts, moves, or strikes by means of the instrument, is a fallacy. 433. as everything in the body that lives, and that acts and feels from that life, belongs exclusively to the spirit, and nothing of it to the body, it follows that the spirit is the man himself; or what is the same thing, that a man viewed in himself is a spirit possessing a like form; for whatever lives and feels in man belongs to his spirit and everything in man, from his head to the sole of his foot, lives and feels; and in consequence when the body is separated from its spirit, which is what is called dying, man continues to be a man and to live. i have heard from heaven that some who die, while they are lying upon the bier, before they are resuscitated, continue to think even in their cold body, and do not know that they are not still alive, except that they are unable to move a particle of matter belonging to the body. 434. unless man were a subject which is a substance that can serve a source and containant he would be unable to think and will. any thing that is supposed to exist apart from a substantial subject is nothing. this can be seen from the fact that a man is unable to see without an organ which is the subject of his sight, or to hear without an organ which is the subject of his hearing. apart from these organs, sight and hearing are nothing and have no existence. the same is true of thought, which is inner sight, and of perception, which is inner hearing; unless these were in substances and from substances which are organic forms and subjects, they would have no existence at all. all this shows that man's spirit as well as his body is in a form, and that it is in a human form, and enjoys sensories and senses when separated from the body the same as when it was in it, and that all the life of the eye and all the life of the ear, in a word, all the life of sense that man has, belongs not to his body but to his spirit, which dwells in these organs and in their minutest particulars. this is why spirits see, hear, and feel, as well as men. but when the spirit has been loosed from the body, these senses are exercised in the spiritual world, not in the natural world. the natural sensation that the spirit had when it was in the body it had by means of the material part that was added to it; but it then had also spiritual sensations in its thinking and willing. 435. all this has been said to convince the rational man that viewed in himself man is a spirit, and that the corporeal part that is added to the spirit to enable it to perform its functions in the natural and material world is not the man, but only an instrument of his spirit. but evidences from experience are preferable, because there are many that fail to comprehend rational deductions; and those that have established themselves in the opposite view turn such deductions into grounds of doubt by means of reasonings from the fallacies of the senses. those that have established themselves in the opposite view are accustomed to think that beasts likewise have life and sensations and thus have a spiritual part, the same as man has, and yet that part dies with the body. but the spiritual of beasts is not the same as the spiritual of man is; for man has what beasts have not, an inmost, into which the divine flows, raising man up to itself, and thereby conjoining man to itself. because of this, man, in contrast with beasts, has the ability to think about god and about the divine things of heaven and the church, and to love god from these and in these, and thus be conjoined to him; and whatever can be conjoined to the divine cannot be dissipated, but whatever cannot be conjoined is dissipated. the inmost that man has, in contrast with beasts, has been treated of above (n. 39), and what was there said will here be repeated, since it is important to have the fallacies dispelled that have been engendered in the minds of many who from lack of knowledge and trained intellect are unable to form rational conclusions on the subject. the words are these: i will mention a certain arcanum respecting the angels of the three heavens, which has not hitherto come into any one's mind, because degrees have not been understood. in every angel and in every man there is an inmost or highest degree, or an inmost or highest something, into which the divine of the lord first or most directly flows, and from which it disposes the other interiors in him that succeed in accordance with the degrees of order. this inmost or highest degree may be called the entrance of the lord to the angel or man, and his veriest dwelling-place in them. it is by virtue of this inmost or highest that a man is a man, and distinguished from the animals, which do not have it. from this it is that man, unlike the animals, is capable, in respect to all his interiors which pertain to his mind and disposition, of being raised up by the lord to himself, of believing in the lord, of being moved by love to the lord, and thereby beholding him, and of receiving intelligence and wisdom, and speaking from reason. also it is by virtue of this that he lives to eternity. but what is arranged and provided by the lord in this inmost does not distinctly fall into the perception of any angel, because it is above his thought and transcends his wisdom. 436. that in respect to his interiors man is a spirit i have been permitted to learn from much experience, which, to employ a common saying, would fill volumes if i were to describe it all. i have talked with spirits as a spirit, and i have talked with them as a man in the body; and when i talked with them as a spirit they knew no otherwise than that i myself was a spirit and in a human form as they were. thus did my interiors appear before them, for when talking with them as a spirit my material body was not seen. 437. that in respect to his interiors man is a spirit can be seen from the fact that after his separation from the body, which takes place when he dies, man goes on living as a man just as before. that i might be convinced of this i have been permitted to talk with nearly everyone i had ever known in their life in the body; with some for hours, with some for weeks and months, and with some for years, and this chiefly that i might be sure of it and might testify to it. 438. to this may be added that every man in respect to his spirit, even while he is living in the body, is in some society with spirits, although he does not know it; if a good man he is by means of spirits in some angelic society; if an evil man in some infernal society; and after death he comes into that same society. this has been often told and shown to those who after death have come among spirits. man, to be sure, does not appear in that society as a spirit while he is living in the world, for the reason that he then thinks naturally; but when one is thinking abstractly from the body, because he is then in the spirit, he sometimes appears in his society; and when seen he is easily distinguished from the spirits there, for he goes about meditating and in silence, not looking at others, and apparently not seeing them; and as soon as any spirit speaks to him he vanishes. 439. to make clear that man in respect to his interiors is a spirit i will relate from experience what happens when man is withdrawn from the body, and what it is to be carried away by the spirit to another place. 440. first, as to withdrawal from the body, it happens thus. man is brought into a certain state that is midway between sleeping and waking, and when in that state he seems to himself to be wide awake; all the senses are as perfectly awake as in the completest bodily wakefulness, not only the sight and the hearing, but what is wonderful, the sense of touch also, which is then more exquisite than is ever possible when the body is awake. in this state spirits and angels have been seen to the very life, and have been heard, and what is wonderful, have been touched, with almost nothing of the body intervening. this is the state that is called being withdrawn from the body, and not knowing whether one is in the body or out of it. i have been admitted into this state only three or four times, that i might learn what it is, and might know that spirits and angels enjoy every sense, and that man does also in respect to his spirit when he is withdrawn from the body. 441. as to being carried away by the spirit to another place, i have been shown by living experience what it is, and how it is done, but only two or three times. i will relate a single instance. walking through the streets of a city and through fields, talking at the same time with spirits, i knew no otherwise than that i was fully awake, and in possession of my usual sight. thus i walked on without going astray, and all the while with clear vision, seeing groves, rivers, palaces, houses, men, and other objects. but after walking thus for some hours, suddenly i saw with my bodily eyes, and noted that i was in another place. being greatly astonished i perceived that i had been in the same state as those who were said to have been led away by the spirit into another place. for in this state the distance, even though it be many miles, and the time, though it be many hours or days, are not thought of; neither is there any feeling of fatigue; and one is led unerringly through ways of which he himself is ignorant, even to the destined place. 442. but these two states of man, which are his states when he is in his interiors, or what is the same, when he is in the spirit, are extraordinary; but as they are states known about in the church, they were exhibited to me only that i might know what they are. but it has been granted to me now for many years to speak with spirits and to be with them as one of them, even in full wakefulness of the body. 443. that in respect to his interiors man is a spirit there are further evidences in what has been said and shown above (n. 311-317), where it is explained that heaven and hell are from the human race. 444. that man is a spirit in respect to his interiors means in respect to the things pertaining to his thought and will, for these are the interiors themselves that make man to be man, and such a man as he is in respect to these interiors. 445. xlvi. the resuscitation of man from the dead and his entrance into eternal life. when the body is no longer able to perform the bodily functions in the natural world that correspond to the spirit's thoughts and affections, which the spirit has from the spiritual world, man is said to die. this takes place when the respiration of the lungs and the beatings of the heart cease. but the man does not die; he is merely separated from the bodily part that was of use to him in the world, while the man himself continues to live. it is said that the man himself continues to live since man is not a man because of his body but because of his spirit, for it is the spirit that thinks in man, and thought with affection is what constitutes man. evidently, then, the death of man is merely his passing from one world into another. and this is why in the word in its internal sense "death" signifies resurrection and continuation of life.{1} {footnote 1} in the word "death" signifies resurrection, for when man dies his life still goes on (n. 3498, 3505, 4618, 4621, 6036, 6221). 446. there is an inmost communication of the spirit with the breathing and with the beating of the heart, the spirit's thought communicating with the breathing, and its affection, which is of love, with the heart;{1} consequently when these two motions cease in the body there is at once a separation. these two motions, the respiration of the lungs and the beating of heart, are the very bond on the sundering of which the spirit is left to itself; and the body being then deprived of the life of its spirit grows cold and begins to decay. this inmost communication of the spirit of man is with the respiration and with the heart, because on these all vital motions depend, not only in general but in every particular.{2} {footnote 1} the heart corresponds to the will, thus to the affection which belongs to the love, while the respiration of the lungs corresponds to the understanding, thus to the thought (n. 3888). from this the "heart" in the word signifies the will and love (n. 7542, 9050, 10336). the "soul" signifies understanding, faith, and truth; therefore "from the soul and from the heart" signifies what is from the understanding, faith, and truth, and what is from the will, love, and good (n. 2930, 9050). the correspondence of the heart and lungs with the greatest man, or heaven (n. 3883-3895). {footnote 2} the beating of the heart and the respiration of the lungs reign in the body throughout, and flow mutually into every part (n. 3887, 3889, 3890). 447. after the separation the spirit of man continues in the body for a short time, but only until the heart's action has wholly ceased, which happens variously in accord with the diseased condition that causes death, with some the motion of the heart continuing for some time, with others not so long. as soon as this motion ceases the man is resuscitated; but this is done by the lord alone. resuscitation means the drawing forth of the spirit from the body, and its introduction into the spiritual world; this is commonly called the resurrection. the spirit is not separated from the body until the motion of the heart has ceased, for the reason that the heart corresponds to the affection of love, which is the very life of man, for it is from love that everyone has vital heat;{1} consequently as long as this conjunction continues correspondence continues, and thereby the life of the spirit in the body. {footnote 1} love is the being [esse] of the life of man (n. 5002). love is spiritual heat, and therefore the very vital itself of man (n. 1589, 2146, 3338, 4906, 7081-7086, 9954, 10740). affection is a continuation of love (n. 3938). 448. how this resuscitation is effected has both been told to me and shown to me in living experience. the actual experience was granted to me that i might have a complete knowledge of the process. 449. as to the senses of the body i was brought into a state of insensibility, thus nearly into the state of the dying; but with the interior life and thought remaining unimpaired, in order that i might perceive and retain in the memory the things that happened to me, and that happen to those that are resuscitated from the dead. i perceived that the respiration of the body was almost wholly taken away; but the interior respiration of the spirit went on in connection with a slight and tacit respiration of the body. then at first a communication of the pulse of the heart with the celestial kingdom was established, because that kingdom corresponds to the heart in man.{1} angels from that kingdom were seen, some at a distance, and two sitting near my head. thus all my own affection was taken away although thought and perception continued. [2] i was in this state for some hours. then the spirits that were around me withdrew, thinking that i was dead; and an aromatic odor like that of an embalmed body was perceived, for when the celestial angels are present everything pertaining to the corpse is perceived as aromatic, and when spirits perceive this they cannot approach; and in this way evil spirits are kept away from man's spirit when he is being introduced into eternal life. the angels seated at my head were silent, merely sharing their thoughts with mine; and when their thoughts are received the angels know that the spirit of man is in a state in which it can be drawn forth from the body. this sharing of their thoughts was effected by looking into my face, for in this way in heaven thoughts are shared. [3] as my thought and perception continued, that i might know and remember how resuscitation is effected, i perceived the angels first tried to ascertain what my thought was, whether it was like the thought of those who are dying, which is usually about eternal life; also that they wished to keep my mind in that thought. afterwards i was told that the spirit of man is held in its last thought when the body expires, until it returns to the thoughts that are from its general or ruling affection in the world. especially was i permitted to see and feel that there was a pulling and drawing forth, as it were, of the interiors of my mind, thus of my spirit, from the body; and i was told that this is from the lord, and that the resurrection is thus effected. {footnote 1} the heart corresponds to the lord's celestial kingdom, the lungs to his spiritual kingdom (n. 3635, 3886, 3887). 450. the celestial angels who are with the one that is resuscitated do not withdraw from him, because they love everyone; but when the spirit comes into such a state that he can no longer be affiliated with celestial angels, he longs to get away from them. when this takes place angels from the lord's spiritual kingdom come, through whom is given the use of light; for before this he saw nothing, but merely thought. i was shown how this is done. the angels appeared to roll off, as it were, a coat from the left eye towards the bridge of the nose, that the eye might be opened and be enabled to see. this is only an appearance, but to the spirit it seemed to be really done. when the coat thus seems to have been rolled off there is a slight sense of light, but very dim, like what is seen through the eyelids on first awakening from sleep. to me this dim light took on a heavenly hue, but i was told afterwards that the color varies. then something is felt to be gently rolled off from the face, and when this is done spiritual thought is awakened. this rolling off from the face is also an appearance, which represents the spirit's passing from natural thought into spiritual thought. the angels are extremely careful that only such ideas as savor of love shall proceed from the one resuscitated. they now tell him that he is a spirit. when he has come into the enjoyment of light the spiritual angels render to the new spirit every service he can possibly desire in that state; and teach him about the things of the other life so far as he can comprehend them. but if he has no wish to be taught the spirit longs to get away from the company of the angels. nevertheless, the angels do not withdraw from him, but he separates himself from them; for the angels love everyone, and desire nothing so much as to render service, to teach, and to lead into heaven; this constitutes their highest delight. when the spirit has thus withdrawn he is received by good spirits, and as long as he continues in their company everything possible is done for him. but if he had lived such a life in the world as would prevent his enjoying the company of the good he longs to get away from the good, and this experience is repeated until he comes into association with such as are in entire harmony with his life in the world; and with such he finds his own life, and what is surprising, he then leads a life like that which he led in the world. 451. this opening state of man's life after death lasts only a few days. how he is afterwards led from one state to another, and finally either into heaven or into hell, will be told in what follows. this, too, i have been permitted to learn by much experience. 452. i have talked with some on the third day after their decease, when the process described above (n. 449, 450) had been completed, especially with three whom i had known in the world, to whom i mentioned that arrangements were now being made for burying their bodies; i said, for burying them; on hearing which they were smitten with a kind of surprise, saying that they were alive, and that the thing that had served them in the world was what was being buried. afterwards they wondered greatly that they had not believed in such a life after death while they lived in the body, and especially that scarcely any within the church so believed. those that have not believed in the world in any life of the soul after the life of the body are greatly ashamed when they find themselves to be alive. but those that have confirmed themselves in that disbelief seek affiliation with their like, and are separated from those that have had faith. such are for the most part attached to some infernal society, because they have also denied the divine and have despised the truths of the church; for so far as any one confirms himself against the eternal life of his soul he confirms himself also against whatever pertains to heaven and the church. 453. xlvii. man after death is in a complete human form it has already been shown in several previous chapters that the form of the spirit of man is the human form, that is, that the spirit is a man even in form, especially where it is shown that every angel has a complete human form (n. 73-77) that in respect to his interiors every man is a spirit (n. 432-444); and that the angels in heaven are from the human race (n. 311-317). [2] this can be seen still more clearly from the fact that it is by virtue of his spirit, and not by virtue of his body that man is a man, and that the bodily form is added to the spirit in accordance with the spirit's form, and not the reverse, for it is in accordance with its own form that the spirit is clothed with a body. consequently the spirit of man acts into every part of the body, even the minutest, insomuch that if any part is not actuated by the spirit, or the spirit is not active in it, it does not live. any one can see that this is true from this fact alone, that thought and will actuate all things and each thing of the body with such entire command that everything concurs, and any thing that does not concur is not a part of the body, but is cast out as something without life; and thought and will belong, not to the body, but to the spirit of man. [3] a spirit that has been loosed from the body or the spirit in another man, is not visible in the human form to man, because the body's organ of sight, or its eye, so far as it sees in the world, is a material organ, and what is material can see only what is material, while what is spiritual sees what is spiritual. when, therefore, the material part of the eye becomes darkened and is deprived of its cooperation with the spiritual, the eye sees spirits in their own form, which is the human form, not only the spirits that are in the spiritual world, but also the spirit of another man while it is yet in its body. 454. the form of the spirit is the human form because man is created in respect to his spirit in the form of heaven, for all things of heaven and of the order of heaven are brought together in the things that constitute the mind of man;{1} and from this comes his capacity to receive intelligence and wisdom. whether you say the capacity to receive intelligence and wisdom or the capacity to receive heaven it is the same thing, as can be seen from what has been shown about the light and heat of heaven (n. 126-140); the form of heaven (n. 200-212); the wisdom of angels (n. 265-275); and in the chapter that the form of heaven as a whole and in part reflects a single man (n. 59-77); and this by virtue of the divine human of the lord, which is the source of heaven and its form (n. 78-86). {footnote 1} man is the being into whom are brought together all things of divine order, and by creation he is divine order in form (n. 4219, 4222, 4223, 4523, 4524, 5114, 6013, 6057, 6605, 6626, 9706, 10156, 10472). so far as a man lives in accordance with divine order he is seen in the other life as a man, complete and beautiful (n. 4839, 6605, 6626). 455. that which has now been said can be understood by the rational man, for he can see it from the connection of causes and from truths in their order; but it is not understood by a man who is not rational, and for several reasons, the chief of which is that he has no desire to understand it because it is opposed to the falsities that he has made his truths; and he that is unwilling to understand for this reason has closed to his rational faculty the way to heaven, although that way can still be opened whenever the will's resistance ceases (see above, n. 424). that man is able to understand truths and be rational whenever he so wishes has been made clear to me by much experience. evil spirits that have become irrational in the world by rejecting the divine and the truths of the church, and confirming themselves against them, have frequently been turned by divine power towards those who were in the light of truth, and they then comprehended all things as the angels did, and acknowledged them to be true, and also that they comprehended them all. but the moment these spirits relapsed into themselves, and turned back to the love of their will, they had no comprehension of truths and affirmed the opposite. [2] i have also heard certain dwellers in hell saying that they knew and perceived that which they did to be evil and that which they thought to be false; but that they were unable to resist the delight of their love, that is, their will, and that it is their will that drives their thought to see evil as good and falsity as truth. evidently, then, those that are in falsity from evil have the ability to understand and be rational, but have no wish to; and they have no wish to for the reason that they have loved falsities more than truths, because these agree with the evils in which they are. to love and to will is the same thing, for what a man wills he loves, and what he loves he wills. [3] because the state of men is such that they are able to understand truths if they wish to, i have been permitted to confirm spiritual truths, which are truths of heaven and the church, even by reasonings, and this in order that the falsities by which the rational mind in many has been closed up may be dispersed by reasonings, and thus the eye may perhaps in some degree be opened; for to confirm spiritual goods by reasonings is permitted to all that are in truths. who could ever understand the word from the sense of its letter, unless he saw from an enlightened reason the truths it contains? is not this the source of so many heresies from the same word?{1} {footnote 1} the truths of doctrine of the church derived from the word must be the starting-point, and these must first be acknowledged, and afterwards it is permissible to consult knowledges (n. 6047). thus it is permissible for those that are in an affirmative state towards the truths of faith to confirm them rationally by knowledges, but it is not permissible for those who are in a negative state (n. 2568, 2588, 4760, 6047). it is in accordance with divine order to enter rationally from spiritual truths into knowledges, which are natural truths, but not to enter from the latter into the former, because spiritual influx into natural things is possible, but not natural or physical influx into spiritual things (n. 3219, 5119, 5259, 5427, 5428, 5478, 6322, 9109, 9110). 456. that the spirit of man, when it has been loosed from the body, is still a man and in a like form, has been proved to me by the daily experience of many years; for i have seen such and have listened to them a thousand times, and have talked with them about this fact, that men in the world do not believe them to be men, and that those that do believe this are regarded by the learned as simple. spirits are grieved at heart that such ignorance still continues in the world, and above all within the church. [2] but this belief they said had emanated chiefly from the learned, who had thought about the soul from ideas derived from bodily sense; and from such ideas the only conception they formed of the soul was as being mere thought; and when this is regarded apart from any subject as its containant and source it is merely a fleeting breath of pure ether that must needs be dissipated when the body dies. but as the church believes from the word in the immortality of the soul they are compelled to ascribe to it something vital, such as pertains to thought, but they deny to it any thing of sense, such as man possesses, until it has again been joined to the body. on this opinion the doctrine in regard to the resurrection is based, with the belief that the soul and body will be joined again at the time of the final judgment. for this reason when any one thinks about the soul in accordance with this doctrine and these conjectures, he has no conception that it is a spirit, and in a human form. and still further, scarcely any one at this day knows what the spiritual is, and still less that spiritual beings, as all spirits and angels are, have any human form. [3] consequently, nearly all that go from this world are greatly surprised to find that they are alive, and are as much men as before, that they see, hear, and speak, and that their body enjoys the sense of touch as before, with no difference whatever (see above, n. 74). and when they cease to be astonished at themselves they are astonished that the church should know nothing about this state of men after death, thus nothing about heaven or hell, when in fact all that have ever lived in the world are in the other life and live as men. and as they wondered also why this had not been disclosed to man by visions, being an essential of the faith of the church, they were told from heaven that although this might have been done, since nothing is easier when it is the lord's good pleasure, yet those that have confirmed themselves in the opposite falsities would not believe even if they themselves should behold it; also that there is danger in confirming any thing by visions when men are in falsities, for they would then first believe and afterwards deny, and thus would profane the truth itself, since to believe and afterwards deny is to profane; and those who profane truths are cast down into the lowest and most grievous of all the hells.{1} [4] this danger is what is meant by the lord's words: he hath blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts lest they should see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and should turn and i should heal them (john 12:40). and that those that are in falsities would not believe [even if visions were given] is meant by these words: abraham said to the rich man in hell, they have moses and the prophets, let them hear them. but he said, nay, father abraham, but if one came to them from the dead they would be converted. but abraham said to him, if they hear not moses and the prophets, neither will they believe though one should rise from the dead (luke 16:29-31). {footnote 1} profanation is the mixing of good and evil and of truth and falsity in man (n. 6348). only those can profane truth and good, or the holy things of the word and the church, who first acknowledge them, and still more who live according to them, and who afterwards recede from the belief and reject it, and live for themselves and the world (n. 593, 1008, 1010, 1059, 3398, 3399, 3898, 4289, 4601, 10284, 10287). if man after repentance of heart relapses to former evils he profanes, and his latter state is then worse than his former (n. 8394). those that have not acknowledged holy things, still less those that have no knowledge of them, cannot profane them (n. 1008, 1010, 1059, 9188, 10284). the heathen who are out of the church and do not have the word cannot profane it (n. 1327, 1328, 2051, 2284). on this account interior truths were not disclosed to the jews, for if they had been disclosed and acknowledged that people would have profaned them (n. 3398, 4289, 6963). the lot of profaners in the other life is the worst of all, because not only the good and truth they have acknowledged, but also their evil and falsity remain, and as these cling together, the life is rent asunder (n. 571, 582, 6348). consequently most careful provision is made by the lord to prevent profanation (n. 2426, 10287). 457. when the spirit of man first enters the world of spirits, which takes place shortly after his resuscitation, as described above, his face and his tone of voice resemble those he had in the world, because he is then in the state of his exteriors, and his interiors are not as yet uncovered. this is man's first state after death. but subsequently his face is changed, and becomes entirely different, resembling his ruling affection or ruling love, in conformity with which the interiors of his mind had been while he was in the world and his spirit while it was in the body. for the face of a man's spirit differs greatly from the face of his body. the face of his body is from his parents, but the face of his spirit is from his affection, and is an image of it. when the life of the spirit in the body is ended, and its exteriors are laid aside and its interiors disclosed, it comes into this affection. this is man's second state. i have seen some that have recently arrived from the world, and have recognized them from their face and speech; but seeing them afterwards i did not recognize them. those that had been in good affections appeared with beautiful faces; but those that had been in evil affections with misshapen faces; for man's spirit, viewed in itself, is nothing but his affection; and the face is its outward form. another reason why faces are changed is that in the other life no one is permitted to counterfeit affections that are not his own, and thus assume looks that are contrary to his love. all in the other life are brought into such a state as to speak as they think, and to manifest in their looks and gestures the inclinations of their will. and because of this the faces of all become forms and images of their affections; and in consequence all that have known each other in the world know each other in the world of spirits, but not in heaven nor in hell (as has been said above, n. 427).{1} {footnote 1} the face is so formed as to correspond with the interiors (n. 4791-4805, 5695). the correspondence of the face and its expressions with the affections of the mind (n. 1568, 2988, 2989, 3631, 4796, 4797, 4800, 5165, 5168, 5695, 9306). with the angels of heaven the face makes one with the interiors that belong to the mind (n. 4796-4799, 5695, 8250). therefore in the word the face signifies the interiors that belong to the mind, that is, to the affection and thought (n. 1999, 2434, 3527, 4066, 4796, 5102, 9306, 9546). in what manner the influx from the brain into the face has been changed in process of time and with it the face itself as regards its correspondence with the interiors (n. 4326, 8250). 458. the faces of hypocrites are changed more slowly than those of others, because by practice they had formed a habit of so managing their interiors as to imitate good affections; consequently for a long time they appear not unbeautiful. but as that which they had assumed is gradually put off, and the interiors of the mind are brought into accord with the form of their affections, they become after awhile more misshapen than others. hypocrites are such as have been accustomed to talk like angels, but interiorly have acknowledged nature alone and not the divine, and have therefore denied what pertains to heaven and the church. 459. it should be known that everyone's human form after death is the more beautiful in proportion as he has more interiorly loved divine truths and lived according to them; for everyone's interiors are opened and formed in accordance with his love and life; therefore the more interior the affection is the more like heaven it is, and in consequence the more beautiful the face is. this is why the angels in the inmost heaven are the most beautiful, for they are forms of celestial love. but those that have loved divine truths more exteriorly, and thus have lived in accordance with them in a more external way, are less beautiful; for exterior affections only shine forth from their faces; and through these no interior heavenly love shines, consequently nothing of the form of heaven as it is in itself. there is seen in the faces of such something comparatively obscure, not vivified by any thing of interior life shining through it. in a word, all perfection increases toward interiors and decreases toward exteriors, and as perfection increases and decreases so does beauty. i have seen angelic faces of the third heaven of such radiance that no painter with all his art could possibly give any such light to his colors as to equal a thousandth part of the brightness and life that shone forth from their countenances. but the faces of the angels of the lowest heaven may in some measure be equalled. 460. in conclusion i will mention a certain arcanum hitherto unknown to any one, namely, that every good and truth that goes forth from the lord and makes heaven is in the human form; and this not only as a whole and in what is greatest, but also in every part and what is least; also that this form affects everyone who receives good and truth from the lord, and causes everyone who is in heaven to be in the human form in accordance with his reception of good and truth. it is in consequence of this that heaven is like itself in general and in particular, and that the human form is the form of the whole, of every society, and of every angel (as has been shown in the four chapters from n. 59 to 86); to which let it be added that it is the form of the least things of thought derived from heavenly love with the angels. no man, however, can easily comprehend this arcanum; but it is clearly comprehended by the angels, because they are in the light of heaven. 461. xlviii. after death man is possessed of every sense, and of all the memory, thought, and affection, that he had in the world, leaving nothing behind except his earthly body. it has been proved to me by manifold experience that when man passes from the natural world into the spiritual, as he does when he dies, he carries with him all his possessions, that is, everything that belongs to him as a man, except his earthly body. for when man enters the spiritual world or the life after death, he is in a body as he was in the world, with no apparent difference, since he neither sees nor feels any difference. but his body is then spiritual, and thus separated or purified from all that is earthly; and when what is spiritual touches or sees what is spiritual, it is just the same as when what is natural touches or sees what is natural. so when a man has become a spirit he does not know otherwise than that he is in the same body that he had in the world and thus does not know that he has died. [2] moreover, a man's spirit enjoys every sense, both outer and inner, that he enjoyed in the world; he sees as before, he hears and speaks as before, smells and tastes, and when touched, he feels the touch as before; he also longs, desires, craves, thinks, reflects, is stirred, loves, wills, as before; and one who takes delight in studies, reads and writes as before. in a word, when a man passes from one life into the other, or from one world into the other, it is like passing from one place into another, carrying with him all things that he had possessed in himself as a man; so that by death, which is only the death of the earthly body, man cannot be said to have lost anything really his own. [3] furthermore, he carries with him his natural memory, retaining everything that he has heard, seen, read, learned, or thought, in the world from earliest infancy even to the end of life; although the natural objects that are contained in the memory, since they cannot be reproduced in the spiritual world, are quiescent, just as they are when one is not thinking of them. nevertheless, they are reproduced when the lord so wills. but more will be said presently about this memory and its state after death. a sensual man finds it impossible to believe that such is the state of man after death, because he cannot comprehend it; for a sensual man must needs think naturally even about spiritual things; therefore, any thing that does not appeal to his senses, that is, that he does not see with his bodily eyes and touch with his hands (as is said of thomas, john 20:25, 27, 29) he denies the existence of. (what the sensual man is may be seen above, n. 267 and notes.) 462. [a.] and yet there is a great difference between man's life in the spiritual world and his life in the natural world, in regard both to his outer senses and their affections and his inner senses and their affections. those that are in heaven have more exquisite senses, that is, a keener sight and hearing, and also think more wisely than when they were in the world; for they see in the light of heaven, which surpasses by many degrees the light of the world (see above, n. 126); and they hear by means of a spiritual atmosphere, which likewise surpasses by many degrees the earthly atmosphere (n. 235). this difference in respect to the outward senses is like the difference between clear sunshine and dark cloudiness in the world, or between noonday light and evening shade. for the light of heaven, since it is divine truth, enables the eyes of angels to perceive and distinguish most minute things. [2] moreover, their outer sight corresponds to their inner sight or understanding; for with angels one sight so flows into the other as to act as one with it; and this gives them their great keenness of vision. in like manner, their hearing corresponds to their perception, which pertains both to the understanding and to the will, and in consequence they perceive in the tone and words of one speaking the most minute things of his affection and thought; in the tone what pertains to his affection, and in the words what pertains to his thought (see above, n. 234-245). but the rest of the senses with the angels are less exquisite than the senses of seeing and hearing, for the reason that seeing and hearing serve their intelligence and wisdom, and the rest do not; and if the other senses were equally exquisite they would detract from the light and joy of their wisdom, and would let in the delight of pleasures pertaining to various appetites and to the body; and so far as these prevail they obscure and weaken the understanding. this takes place in the world, where men become gross and stupid in regard to spiritual truths so far as they indulge the sense of taste and yield to the allurements of the sense of touch. [3] from what has already been said and shown in the chapter on the wisdom of the angels of heaven (n. 265-275), it can be seen that the inner senses also of the angels of heaven, which pertain to their thought and affection, are more exquisite and perfect than the senses they had in the world. but as regards the state of those that are in hell as compared with the state of those in the world there is also a great difference, for as great as is the perfection and excellence of the outer and inner senses of the angels in heaven, with those who are in hell the imperfection is equally great. but the state of these will be treated of hereafter. 462. [b.] that when a man leaves the world he takes with him all his memory has been shown to me in many ways, and many of the things i have seen and heard are worthy of mention, some of which i will relate in order. there were some who denied their crimes and villainies which they had perpetrated in the world; and in consequence, that they might not be believed innocent, all their deeds were disclosed and reviewed from their memory in order, from their earliest to their latest years; these were chiefly adulteries and whoredoms. [2] there were some who had deceived others by wicked arts and had committed thefts. the deceits and thefts of these were also enumerated in detail, many of which were known to scarcely any in the world except themselves. these deeds they confessed, because they were plainly set forth, with every thought, intention, pleasure, and fear which occupied their minds at the time. [3] there were others who had accepted bribes, and had rendered venal judgments, who were similarly explored from their memory and from it everything they had done from the beginning to the end of their office was reviewed. every detail in regard to what and how much they had received, as well as the time, and their state of mind and intention, were brought to their recollection and made visibly clear to the number of many hundreds. this was done with several and what is wonderful, in some cases their memorandum-books, in which they had recorded these things, were opened and read before them page by page. [4] others who had enticed maidens to shame or had violated chastity were called to a like judgment; and the details of their crimes were drawn forth from their memory and reviewed. the very faces of the maidens and women were also exhibited as if present, with the places, words and intentions, and this as suddenly as when a scene is presented to the sight, the exhibitions continuing sometimes for hours. [5] there was one who had made light of slandering others; and i heard his slanders recounted in order, and his defamations, with the very words, and the persons about whom and before whom they were uttered; all of which were produced and presented to the very life, although while he lived in the world he had most carefully concealed everything. [6] there was one who had deprived a relative of his inheritance under a fraudulent pretext; and he was in like manner convicted and judged; and what is wonderful, the letters and papers that passed between them were read in my hearing, and it was said that not a word was lacking. [7] the same person shortly before his death had also secretly poisoned his neighbor. this was disclosed in this way. he appeared to be digging a trench under his feet, from which a man came forth as out of a grave, and cried out to him, "what have you done to me?" then everything was revealed, how the poisoner had talked with him in a friendly manner, and had held out the cup, also what he thought beforehand, and what happened afterwards. when all this had been disclosed he was sentenced to hell. [8] in a word, to each evil spirit all his evils, villainies, robberies, artifices, and deceits are made clear, and are brought forth from his very memory, and his guilt is fully established; nor is there any possible room for denial, because all the circumstances are exhibited together. moreover, i have learned from a man's memory, when it was seen and inspected by angels, what his thoughts had been for a month, one day after another, and this without mistake, the thoughts being recalled just as they arose from day to day. [9] from these examples it can be seen that man carries with him all of his memory, and that nothing can be so concealed in the world as not to be disclosed after death, which is done in the presence of many, according to the lord's words: there is nothing concealed that shall not be uncovered, and nothing secret that shall not be known; therefore what ye have spoken in the dark shall be heard in the light and what ye have spoken in the ear shall be proclaimed on the housetops (luke 12:2, 3). 463. in disclosing his acts to a man after death, the angels to whom the office of searching is assigned look into his face, and their search extends through the whole body, beginning with the fingers of each hand, and thus proceeding through the whole. as i wondered at this the reason was given, namely, that as all things of the thought and will are inscribed on the brain, for their beginnings are there, so are they likewise inscribed on the whole body, since all things of thought and will extend from their beginnings into all things of the body and there terminate as in their outmosts; and this is why the things that are inscribed on the memory from the will and consequent thought are inscribed not only on the brain, but also upon the whole man, and there exist in order in accordance with the order of the parts of the body. it was thus made clear that man as a whole is such as he is in his will and its thought, even to the extent that an evil man is his own evil, and a good man his own good.{1} this shows what is meant by the book of man's life spoken of in the word, namely, that all things that he has done and all things that he has thought are inscribed on the whole man, and when they are called forth from the memory they appear as if read in a book, and when the spirit is viewed in the light of heaven, they appear as in an image. to all this i would add something remarkable in regard to the continuance of the memory after death, by which i was assured that not only things in general but also the minutest particulars that have entered the memory remain and are never obliterated. i saw books there containing writings as in the world, and was told that they were from the memory of those who wrote, and that there was not a single word lacking in them that was in a book written by the same person in the world; and thus all the minutest particulars might be drawn from one's memory, even those that he had forgotten in the world. and the reason was given, namely, that man has an external and an internal memory, an external memory belonging to his natural man, and an internal memory belonging to his spiritual man; and that every least thing that a man has thought, willed, spoken, done or even heard and seen, is inscribed on his internal or spiritual memory;{2} and that what is there is never erased, since it is also inscribed on the spirit itself and on the members of its body, as has been said above; and that the spirit is thus formed in accordance with the thoughts and acts of its will. i know that this sounds like a paradox, and is therefore difficult to believe; but still it is true. let no one believe, then, that there is any thing that a man has ever thought in himself or done in secret that can be concealed after death; but let him believe that all things and each single thing are then laid open as clear as day. {footnote 1} a good man, spirit, or angel, is his own good and his own truth, that is, he is wholly such as his good and truth are (n. 10298, 10367). this is because good is what makes the will and truth the understanding; and the will and understanding make everything of life in man, spirit, or angel (n. 3332, 3623, 6065). it is the same thing to say that a man, spirit, or angel is his own love (n. 6872, 10177, 10284). {footnote 2} man has two memories an outer and an inner, or a natural and a spiritual memory (n. 2469-2494). man does not know that he has an inner memory (n. 2470, 2471). how far the inner memory surpasses the outer (n. 2473). the things contained in the outer memory are in the light of the world, but the things contained in the inner are in the light of heaven (n. 5212). it is from the inner memory that man is able to think and speak intellectually and rationally (n. 9394). all things and each thing that a man has thought, spoken, and done, and that he has seen and heard, are inscribed on the inner memory (n. 2474, 7398). that memory is the book of his life (n. 2474, 9386, 9841, 10505). in the inner memory are the truths that have been made truths of faith, and the goods that have been made goods of love (n. 5212, 8067). those things that have become matters of habit and have come to be things of the life, and have thus disappeared from the outer memory, are in the inner memory (n. 9394, 9723, 9841). spirits and angels speak from the inner memory and consequently have a universal language (n. 2472, 2476, 2490, 2493). the languages of the world belong to the outer memory (n. 2472, 2476). 464. although the external or natural memory remains in man after death, the merely natural things in it are not reproduced in the other life, but only the spiritual things adjoined to the natural by correspondences; but when these are present to the sight they appear in exactly the same form as they had in the natural world; for all things seen in the heavens have just the same appearance as in the world, although in their essence they are not natural but spiritual (as may be seen in the chapter on representatives and appearances in heaven, n. 170-176). [2] but the external or natural memory in respect to the things in it that are derived from the material, and from time and space, and from other properties of nature, is not serviceable to the spirit in the way that it was serviceable to it in the world, for whenever man thinks in the world from his external sensual, and not at the same time from his internal or intellectual sensual, he thinks naturally and not spiritually; but in the other life when he is a spirit in the spiritual world he does not think naturally but spiritually, and to think spiritually is to think intellectually or rationally. for this reason the external or natural memory in respect to its material contents is then quiescent, and only those things that man has imbibed in the world by means of material things, and has made rational, come into use. the external memory becomes quiescent in respect to material things because these cannot then be brought forth, since spirits and angels speak from those affections and thoughts that are proper to their minds; and are therefore unable to give expression to any thing that is not in accord with their affections and thoughts as can be seen in what is said about the speech of angels in heaven and their speech with man (n. 234-257). [3] because of this man after death is rational, not in the degree that he was skilled in languages and sciences in the world, but in the degree in which he became rational by means of these. i have talked with many who were believed in the world to be learned because they were acquainted with ancient languages, such as the hebrew, greek, and latin, but had not cultivated their rational faculty by what is written in those languages. some of them were seen to be just as simple as those who knew nothing of those languages, and some even stupid, and yet they retained the conceit of being wiser than others. [4] i have talked with some who had believed in the world that man is wise in the measure of the contents of his memory, and who had stored up many things in their memory, speaking almost solely from the memory, and therefore not from themselves but from others, and their rationality had not been at all perfected by means of the things in their memory. some of these were stupid and some sottish, not in the least comprehending whether a truth is true or not, and seizing upon all falsities that are passed off for truths by those who called themselves learned; for from themselves they are unable to see any thing, whether it be true or not, and consequently are unable to see any thing rationally when listening to others. [5] i have also talked with some who had written much in the world on scientific subjects of every kind, and had thereby acquired a worldwide reputation for learning. some of these, indeed, had the ability to reason about truths, whether they are true or not; and some, when they had turned to those who were in the light of truth, had some comprehension that truths are true, but still had no wish to comprehend them, and therefore when they were in their own falsities, and thus in themselves, denied them. some had no more wisdom than the unlearned common people. thus each differed from the other according as he had cultivated his rational faculty by means of the knowledges he had written about or collated. but those who were opposed to the truths of the church, and who thought from mere knowledges and confirmed themselves thereby in falsities, did not cultivate their rational faculty, but cultivated only an ability to reason, which in the world is believed to be rationality. but this ability is wholly different from rationality; it is an ability to prove any thing it pleases, and from preconceived principles and from fallacies to see falsities and not truths. such persons can never be brought to acknowledge truths, since truths cannot be seen from falsities; but falsities may be seen from truths. [6] the rational faculty of man is like a garden or shrubbery, or like fresh ground; the memory is the soil, truths known and knowledges are the seeds, the light and heat of heaven cause them to grow; without light and heat there is no germination; so is it with the mind when the light of heaven, which is divine truth, and the heat of heaven, which is divine love, are not admitted; rationality is solely from these. it is a great grief to the angels that learned men for the most part ascribe all things to nature, and have thereby so closed up the interiors of their minds as to be unable to see any thing of truth from the light of truth, which is the light of heaven. in consequence of this such in the other life are deprived of their ability to reason that they may not disseminate falsities among the simple good and lead them astray; and are sent away into desert places. 465. a certain spirit was indignant because he was unable to remember many things that he knew in the life of the body, grieving over the lost pleasure which he had so much enjoyed, but he was told that he had lost nothing at all, that he still knew each and everything that he had known, although in the world where he now was no one was permitted to call forth such things from the memory, and that he ought to be satisfied that he could now think and speak much better and more perfectly than before, and that his rational was not now immersed as before in gross, obscure, material and corporeal things, which are of no use in the kingdom into which he had now come; also that he now possessed everything conducive to the uses of eternal life, and that this is the only way of becoming blessed and happy; and therefore it is the part of ignorance to believe that in this kingdom intelligence perishes with the removal or quiescence of the material things in the memory; for the real fact is that so far as the mind can be withdrawn from things of sense pertaining to the external man or the body, so far it is elevated to things spiritual and heavenly. 466. what these two memories are is sometimes presented to view in the other life in forms not elsewhere seen; for many things which in man take the form of ideas are there presented as objects of sight. the external memory there presents the appearance of a callus, the internal the appearance of a medullary substance like that in the human brain; and from this what they are can be known. with those that have devoted themselves in the life of the body to the cultivation of the memory alone, and have not cultivated their rational faculty, the callosity appears hard and streaked within as with tendons. with those that have filled the memory with falsities it appears hairy and rough, because of the confused mass of things in it. with those that have cultivated the memory with the love of self and the world as an end it appears glued together and ossified. with those that have wished to penetrate into divine arcana by means of learning, especially of a philosophical kind, with an unwillingness to believe until convinced by such proofs, the memory appears like a dark substance, of such a nature as to absorb the rays of light and turn them into darkness. with those that have practiced deceit and hypocrisy it appears hard and bony like ebony, which reflects the rays of light. but with those that have been in the good of love and the truths of faith there is no such callous appearance, because their inner memory transmits the rays of light into the outer; and in its objects or ideas as in their basis or their ground, the rays terminate and find delightful receptacles; for the outer memory is the out most of order in which, when goods and truths are there, the spiritual and heavenly things are gently terminated and find their seat. 467. men living in the world who are in love to the lord and charity toward the neighbor have with them and in them angelic intelligence and wisdom, but it is then stored up in the inmosts of the inner memory; and they are not at all conscious of it until they put off corporeal things. then the natural memory is laid asleep and they awake into their inner memory, and then gradually into angelic memory itself. 468. how the rational faculty may be cultivated shall also be told in a few words. the genuine rational faculty consists of truths and not of falsities; whatever consists of falsities is not rational. there are three kinds of truths, civil, moral, and spiritual. civil truths relate to matters of judgment and of government in kingdoms, and in general to what is just and equitable in them. moral truths pertain to the matters of everyone's life which have regard to companionships and social relations, in general to what is honest and right, and in particular to virtues of every kind. but spiritual truths relate to matters of heaven and of the church, and in general to the good of love and the truth of faith. [2] in every man there are three degrees of life (see above, n. 267). the rational faculty is opened to the first degree by civil truths, to the second degree by moral truths, and to the third degree by spiritual truths. but it must be understood that the rational faculty that consists of these truths is not formed and opened by man's knowing them, but by his living according to them; and living according to them means loving them from spiritual affection; and to love truths from spiritual affection is to love what is just and equitable because it is just and equitable, what is honest and right because it is honest and right, and what is good and true because it is good and true; while living according to them and loving them from the bodily affection is loving them for the sake of self and for the sake of one's reputation, honor or gain. consequently, so far as man loves these truths from a bodily affection he fails to become rational, for he loves, not them, but himself; and the truths are made to serve him as servants serve their lord; and when truths become servants they do not enter the man and open any degree of life in him, not even the first, but merely rest in the memory as knowledges under a material form, and there conjoin themselves with the love of self, which is a bodily love. [3] all this shows how man becomes rational, namely, that he becomes rational to the third degree by a spiritual love of the good and truth which pertain to heaven and the church; he becomes rational to the second degree by a love of what is honest and right; and to the first degree by a love of what is just and equitable. these two latter loves also become spiritual from a spiritual love of good and truth, because that love flows into them and conjoins itself to them and forms in them as it were its own semblance. 469. spirits and angels, equally with men, have a memory, whatever they hear, see, think, will and do, remaining with them, and thereby their rational faculty is continually cultivated even to eternity. thus spirits and angels, equally with men, are perfected in intelligence and wisdom by means of knowledges of truth and good. that spirits and angels have a memory i have been permitted to learn by much experience, having seen everything that they have thought and done, both in public and in private, called forth from their memories when they were with other spirits; and i have seen those that were in some truth from simple good imbued with knowledges, and thereby with intelligence, and afterwards raised up into heaven. but it must be understood that such are not imbued with knowledges and thereby with intelligence beyond the degree of affection for good and for truth that they have attained to while in the world; for such and so much of affection as any spirit or angel had in the world remains with him; and this affection is afterwards perfected by being filled out, which goes on to eternity. for everything is capable of being filled out to eternity, since everything is capable of infinite variation, thus of enrichment by various things, and consequently of multiplication and fructification. to any thing good there is no limit because it is from the infinite. that spirits and angels are being perfected unceasingly in intelligence and wisdom by means of knowledges of truth and good may be seen above, in the chapters on the wisdom of the angels of heaven (n. 265-275); on the heathen or people outside the church in heaven (n. 318-328); and on little children in heaven (n. 329-345); and that this is done to that degree of affection for good and for truth in which they had been in the world, and not beyond it, may be seen in n. 349. 470. xlix. man after death is such as his life had been in the world. every christian knows from the word that one's own life awaits him after death; for it is there said in many passages that man will be judged and rewarded according to his deeds and works; and no one who thinks from good and from real truth can help seeing that he who lives well goes to heaven and that he who lives wickedly goes to hell. but the evil man is unwilling to believe that his state after death is according to his life in the world; he thinks, especially when he is sick, that heaven is granted to everyone out of pure mercy, whatever his life may have been, and that this is done in accordance with his faith, which he separates from life. 471. that man will be judged and rewarded according to his deeds and works is declared in many passages in the word, some of which i will here quote: the son of man shall come in the glory of his father with his angels and then he will render unto everyone according to his works (matt. 16:27). blessed are the dead that die in the lord; yea, saith the spirit, that they may rest from their labors, for their works follow them (apoc. 14:13). i will give to everyone according to his works (apoc. 2:23). i saw the dead, small and great, standing before god; and the books were opened and the dead were judged out of the things that were written in the books according to their works. the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and hell gave up those that were in them, and they were judged everyone according to their works (apoc. 20:12, 13). behold i come, and my reward is with me, to give to everyone according to his works (apoc. 22:12). everyone that heareth my words and doeth them i will liken to a prudent man; but everyone that heareth my words and doeth them not is likened to a foolish man (matt. 7:24, 26). not everyone that saith unto me, lord, lord, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens; but he that doeth the will of my father who is in the heavens. many will say unto me in that day, lord, lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and through thy name cast out demons, and in thy name done many mighty works? but then will i confess to them, i know you not: depart from me, ye workers of iniquity (matt. 7:21-23). then shall ye begin to say, we have eaten and drunk before thee; thou hast taught in our streets. but he will say, i tell you i know you not, ye workers of iniquity (luke 13:25-27). i will recompense them according to their work and according to the doing of their hands (jer. 25:14). jehovah, whose eyes are open upon all the ways of men, to give to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his works (jer. 32:19). i will visit upon his ways and recompense to him his works (hosea 4:9). jehovah doeth with us according to our ways and according to our works (zech. 1:6). in foretelling the last judgment the lord recounts nothing but works, teaching that those that have done good works will enter into eternal life, and those that have done evil works will enter into damnation, as in matthew (25:32-46), and in many other passages that treat of the salvation and condemnation of man. it is clear that works and deeds constitute the outward life of man, and that the quality of his inward life is made evident in them. 472. but by deeds and works, what they are inwardly is here meant, and not the way they outwardly appear; for everyone knows that every deed and work goes forth from the man's will and thought; otherwise it would be nothing but a movement like that of an automaton or image. consequently, a deed or work viewed in itself is merely an effect that derives its soul and life from will and thought, even to the extent that it is nothing but will and thought in effect, and thus is will and thought in outward form. from this it follows that a deed or work is in quality such as are the will and thought that produce it. if the thought and will are good the deeds and works are good; but if the thought and will are evil the deeds and works are evil, although in outward form they appear alike. a thousand men may act alike, that is, may do like deeds, so alike in outward form as to be almost undistinguishable, and yet each one regarded in itself be different, because from an unlike will. [2] for example, when one acts honestly and justly with a companion, one person may do it for the purpose of appearing to be honest and just out of regard to himself and his own honor; another out of regard to the world and gain; a third out of regard to reward and merit; a fourth out of regard to friendship; a fifth from fear of the law and the loss of reputation or employment; a sixth that he may draw some one to his own side, even when he is in the wrong; a seventh that he may deceive; and others from other motives. in all these instances although the deeds are good in appearance, since it is a good thing to act honestly and justly with a companion, they are nevertheless evil, because they are done, not out of regard to honesty and justice and for the love of these, but out of regard to love of self and the world which are loved; and honesty and justice are made to serve that love as servants serve a lord, whom the lord despises and dismisses when they fail to serve him. [3] in outward form those act in a like way who act honestly and justly with a companion because they love what is honest and just. some of these act from the truth of faith or from obedience, because the word so commands; some from the good of faith or from conscience, because from a religious motive; some from good of charity towards the neighbor because his good should be regarded; some from the good of love to the lord because good should be done for the sake of good, as also what is honest and just should be done for the sake of honesty and justice; and this they love because it is from the lord, and because the divine that goes forth from the lord is in it, and consequently regarded in its very essence it is divine. the deeds or works of such are inwardly good, and therefore are outwardly good also; for, as has been said above, deeds or works are precisely such in quality as the thought and will from which they proceed, and apart from thought and will they are not deeds and works, but only inanimate movements. all this explains what is meant in the word by works and deeds. 473. as deeds and works are from the will and thought, so are they from the love and faith, consequently they are such as the love and faith are; for it is the same thing whether you say one's love or his will, and it is the same thing whether you say one's faith or his established thought; for that which a man loves he wills, and that which a man believes he thinks; and when a man loves what he believes he also wills it and as far as possible does it. everyone may know that love and faith are within man's will and thought, and not outside of them, for love is what kindles the will, and the thought is what it enlightens in matters of faith; therefore only those that are able to think wisely are enlightened, and in the measure of their enlightenment they think what is true and will it, or what is the same, they believe what is true and love it.{1} {footnote 1} as all things that exist according to order in the universe have relation to good and truth, so in man all things have relation to will and understanding (n. 803, 10122). for the reason that the will is a recipient of good and the understanding a recipient of truth (n. 3332, 3623, 5232, 6065, 6125, 7503, 9300, 9995). it amounts to the same whether you say truth or faith, for faith belongs to truth and truth belongs to faith; and it amounts to the same whether you say good or love for love belongs to good and good belongs to love (n. 4353, 4997, 7179, 10122, 10367). from this it follows that the understanding is a recipient of faith, and the will a recipient of love (n. 7179, 10122, 10367). and since the understanding of man is capable of receiving faith in god and the will is capable of receiving love to god, man is capable of being conjoined with god in faith and love, and he that is capable of being conjoined with god in love and faith can never die (n. 4525, 6323, 9231). 474. but it must be understood that it is the will that makes the man, while thought makes the man only so far as it goes forth from the will; and deeds and works go forth from both; or what is the same, it is love that makes the man, and faith only so far as it goes forth from love; and deeds or works go forth from both. consequently, the will or love is the man himself, for whatever goes forth belongs to that from which it goes forth. to go forth is to be brought forth and presented in suitable form for being perceived and seen.{1} all this makes clear what faith is when separated from love, namely, that it is no faith, but mere knowledge, which has no spiritual life in it; likewise what a deed or work is apart from love, namely, that it is not a deed or work of life, but a deed or work of death, which possesses an appearance of life from an evil love and a belief in what is false. this appearance of life is what is called spiritual death. {footnote 1} the will of man is the very being [esse] of his life, because it is the receptacle of love or good, and the understanding is the outgo [existere] of life therefrom, because it is the receptacle of faith or truth (n. 3619, 5002, 9282). thus the life of the will is the chief life of man, and the life of the understanding proceeds therefrom (n. 585, 590, 3619, 7342, 8885, 9282, 10076, 10109, 10110). in the same way as light proceeds from fire or flame (n. 6032, 6314). from this it follows that man is man by virtue of his will and his understanding therefrom (n. 8911, 9069, 9071, 10076, 10109, 10110). every man is loved and esteemed by others in accordance with the good of his will and of his understanding therefrom, for he that wills well and understands well is loved and esteemed; and he that understands well and does not will well is set aside and despised (n. 8911, 10076). after death man continues to be such as his will is, and his understanding therefrom (n, 9069, 9071, 9386, 10153). consequently after death man continues to be such as his love is, and his faith therefrom; and whatever belongs to his faith and not also to his love then vanishes, because it is not in the man, thus not of the man (n. 553, 2364, 10153). 475. again, it must be understood that in deeds or works the whole man is exhibited, and that his will and thought or his love and faith, which are his interiors, are not complete until they exist in deeds or works, which are his exteriors, for these are the outmosts in which the will and thought terminate, and without such terminations they are interminate, and have as yet no existence, that is, are not yet in the man. to think and to will without doing, when there is opportunity, is like a flame enclosed in a vessel and goes out; also like seed cast upon the sand, which fails to grow, and so perishes with its power of germination. but to think and will and from that to do is like a flame that gives heat and light all around, or like a seed in the ground that grows up into a tree or flower and continues to live. everyone can know that willing and not doing, when there is opportunity, is not willing; also that loving and not doing good, when there is opportunity, is not loving, but mere thought that one wills and loves; and this is thought separate, which vanishes and is dissipated. love and will constitute the soul itself of a deed or work, and give form to its body in the honest and just things that the man does. this is the sole source of man's spiritual body, or the body of his spirit; that is, it is formed solely out of the things that the man does from his love or will (see above, n. 463). in a word, all things of man and his spirit are contained in his deeds or works.{1} {footnote 1} interior things flow in successively into exterior things even down to the extreme or outmost, and there they come forth and have permanent existence (n. 634, 6451, 6465, 9215, 9216). they not only flow in, but in the outmost they form the simultaneous, in what order (n. 5897, 6451, 8603, 10099). thereby all interior things are held together in connection, and have permanent existence (n. 9828). deeds or works are the outmosts which contain the interiors (n. 10331). therefore being recompensed and judged according to deeds and works is being recompensed and judged in accordance with all things of one's love and faith, or of his will and thought because these are the interiors contained in deeds and works (n. 3147, 3934, 6073, 8911, 10331, 10332). 476. all this makes clear what the life is that awaits man after death, namely, that it is his love and his faith therefrom, not only in potency, but also in act; thus that it is his deeds or works, because in these all things of man's love and faith are contained. 477. it is man's ruling love that awaits him after death, and this is in no way changed to eternity. everyone has many loves; but they are all related to his ruling love, and make one with it or together compose it. all things of the will that are in harmony with the ruling love are called loves, because they are loved. these loves are both inner and outer; some directly connected and some mediately; some nearer and some more remote; they are subservient in various ways. taken together they constitute a kingdom, as it were, such being the order in which they are arranged in man, although man knows nothing what ever about that arrangement. and yet something of it is made manifest to him in the other life, for the spread of his thought and affection there is in accordance with the arrangement of his loves, his thought and affection extending into heavenly societies when the ruling love is made up of the loves of heaven, but into infernal societies when it is made up of the loves of hell. that all the thought and affection of spirits and of angels has extension into societies may be seen above, in the chapters on the wisdom of the angels of heaven, and on the form of heaven which determines affiliations and communications there. 478. but what has been said thus far appeals only to the thought of the rational man. that it may also be presented to the perception derived from the senses, i will add some experiences by which it may be illustrated and confirmed. first, man after death is his own love or his own will. second, man continues to eternity such as his will or ruling love is. third, the man who has heavenly and spiritual love goes to heaven, while the man who has corporeal and worldly love, and no heavenly and spiritual love, goes to hell. fourth, unless faith is from heavenly love it does not endure in man. fifth, love in act, that is, the life of man, is what endures. 479. (i) man after death is his own love or his own will. this has been proved to me by manifold experience. the entire heaven is divided into societies according to differences of good of love; and every spirit who is taken up into heaven and becomes an angel is taken to the society where his love is; and when he arrives there he is, as it were, at home, and in the house where he was born; this the angel perceives, and is affiliated with those there that are like himself. when he goes away to another place he feels constantly a kind of resistance, and a longing to return to his like, thus to his ruling love. thus are affiliations brought about in heaven; and in a like manner in hell, where all are affiliated in accordance with loves that are the opposites of heavenly loves. it has been shown above (n. 41-50 and 200-212) that both heaven and hell are composed of societies, and that they are all distinguished according to differences of love. [2] that man after death is his own love might also be seen from the fact that whatever does not make one with his ruling love is then separated and as it were taken away from him. from one who is good everything discordant or inharmonious is separated and as it were taken away, and he is thus let into his own love. it is the same with an evil spirit, with the difference that from the evil truths are taken away, and from the good falsities are taken away, and this goes on until each becomes his own love. this is effected when the man-spirit is brought into the third state, which will be described hereafter. when this has been done he turns his face constantly to his own love, and this he has continually before his eyes, in whatever direction he turns (see above, n. 123, 124). [3] all spirits, provided they are kept in their ruling love, can be led wherever one pleases, and are incapable of resistance, however clearly they may see that this is being done, and however much they may think that they will resist. they have often been permitted to try whether they could do anything contrary to their ruling love, but in vain. their love is like a bond or a rope tied around them, by which they may be led and from which they cannot loose themselves. it is the same with men in the world who are also led by their love, or are led by others by means of their love; but this is more the case when they have become spirits, because they are not then permitted to make a display of any other love, or to counterfeit what is not their own. [4] all interaction in the other life proves that the spirit of man is his ruling love, for so far any one is acting or speaking in accord with the love of another, to the same extent is the other plainly present, with full, joyous, and lively countenance; but when one is speaking or acting contrary to another's love, to that extent the other's countenance begins to be changed, to be obscured and undiscernible, until at length he wholly disappears as if he had not been there. i have often wondered how this could be, for nothing of the kind can occur in the world; but i have been told that it is the same with the spirit in man, which when it turns itself away from another ceases to be within his view. [5] another proof that a spirit is his ruling love is that every spirit seizes and appropriates all things that are in harmony with his love, and rejects and repudiates all that are not. everyone's love is like a spongy or porous wood, which imbibes such fluids as promote its growth, and repels others. it is also like animals of every kind, which know their proper food and seek the things that agree with their nature, and avoid what disagrees; for every love wishes to be nourished on what belongs to it, evil love by falsities and good love by truths. i have sometimes been permitted to see certain simple good spirits desiring to instruct the evil in truths and goods; but when the instruction was offered them they fled far away, and when they came to their own they seized with great pleasure upon the falsities that were in agreement with their love. i have also seen good spirits talking together about truths, and the good who were present listened eagerly to the conversation, but the evil who were present paid no attention to it, as if they did not hear it. in the world of spirits ways are seen, some leading to heaven, some to hell, and each to some particular society. good spirits go only in the ways that lead to heaven, and to the society there that is in the good of their love; and do not see the ways that lead elsewhere; while evil spirits go only in the ways that lead to hell, and to the society there that is in the evil of their love; and do not see the ways that lead elsewhere; or if they see them have no wish to enter them. in the spiritual world these ways are real appearances, which correspond to truths or falsities; and this is why ways have this signification in the word.{1} by this evidence from experience what has previously been affirmed on the ground of reason is made more certain, namely, that every man after death is his own love and his own will. it is said one's own will because everyone's will is his love. {footnote 1} a "way," a "path," a "road," a "street," and a "broad street," signify truths leading to good, or falsities leading to evil (n. 627, 2333, 10422). "to sweep [or prepare] a way" means to prepare for the reception of truths (n. 3142). "to make known the way" means, in respect to the lord, to instruct in truths that lead to good (n. 10565). 480. (ii) man after death continues to eternity such as his will or ruling love is. this, too, has been confirmed by abundant experience. i have been permitted to talk with some who lived two thousand years ago, and whose lives are described in history, and thus known; and i found that they continued to be just the same as they were described, that is, in respect to the love out of which and according to which their lives were formed. there were others known to history, that had lived seventeen centuries ago, others that had lived four centuries ago, and three, and so on, with whom i was permitted to talk; and i found that the same affection still ruled in them, with no other difference than that the delights of their love were turned into such things as correspond. the angels declare that the life of the ruling love is never changed in any one even to eternity, since everyone is his love; consequently to change that love in a spirit is to take away or extinguish his life; and for the reason that man after death is no longer capable of being reformed by instruction, as in the world, because the outmost plane, which consists of natural knowledges and affections, is then quiescent and not being spiritual cannot be opened (see above, n. 464); and upon that plane the interiors pertaining to the mind and disposition rest as a house rests on its foundation; and on this account such as the life of one's love had been in the world such he continues to be to eternity. the angels are greatly surprised that man does not know that everyone is such as his ruling love is, and that many believe that they may be saved by mercy apart from means, or by faith alone, whatever their life may be; also that they do not know that divine mercy works by means, and that it consists in man's being led by the lord, both in the world and afterwards to eternity, and that those who do not live in evils are led by the divine mercy; and finally that faith is affection for truth going forth from heavenly love, which is from the lord. 481. (iii) the man who has heavenly and spiritual love goes to heaven; while the man who has corporeal and worldly love and no heavenly and spiritual love goes to hell. this has been made evident to me from all whom i have seen taken up into heaven or cast into hell. the life of those taken up into heaven had been derived from a heavenly and spiritual love, while the life of those cast into hell had been derived from a corporeal and worldly love. heavenly love consists in loving what is good, honest, and just, because it is good, honest and just, and in doing this from love; and those that have this love have a life of goodness, honesty, and justice, which is the heavenly life. those that love what is good, honest, and just, for its own sake, and who do this or live it, love the lord above all things, because this is from him; they also love the neighbor, because this is the neighbor who is to be loved.{1} but corporeal love is loving what is good, honest, and just, not for its own sake but for the sake of self, because reputation, honor, and gain can thus be acquired. such, in what is good, honest, and just, do not look to the lord and to the neighbor, but to self and the world, and find delight in fraud; and the goodness, honesty and justice that spring forth from fraud are evil, dishonesty, and injustice, and these are what are loved by such in their practice of goodness, honesty, and justice. [2] as the life of everyone is determined by these different kinds of love, as soon as men after death enter the world of spirits they are examined to discover their quality, and are joined to those that are in a like love; those that are in heavenly love to those that are in heaven, and those that are in corporeal love to those that are in hell; and after they have passed through the first and second state they are so separated as to no longer see or know each other; for each one becomes his own love, both in respect to his interiors pertaining to his mind, and in respect to his exteriors pertaining to his face, body, and speech; for everyone becomes an image of his own love, even in externals. those that are corporeal loves appear gross, dusky, black and misshapen; while those that are heavenly loves appear fresh, bright, fair and beautiful. also in their minds and thoughts they are wholly unlike, those that are heavenly loves being intelligent and wise, while those that are corporeal loves are stupid and as it were silly. [3] when it is granted to behold the interiors and exteriors of thought and affection of those that are in heavenly love, their interiors appear like light, and some like a flamy light, while their exteriors appear in various beautiful colors like rainbows. but the interiors of those that are in corporeal love appear as if black, because they are closed up; and the interiors of some who were interiorly in malignant deceit appear like a dusky fire. but their exteriors appear of a dirty color, and disagreeable to the sight. (the interiors and exteriors of the mind and disposition are made visible in the spiritual world whenever the lord pleases.) [4] those that are in corporeal love see nothing in the light of heaven; to them the light of heaven is thick darkness; but the light of hell, which is like light from burning coals, is to them as clear light. moreover, in the light of heaven their inward sight is so darkened that they become insane; consequently they shun that light and hide themselves in dens and caverns, more or less deeply in accordance with the falsities in them derived from their evils. on the other hand those who are in heavenly love, the more interiorly and deeply they enter into the light of heaven, see all things more clearly and all things appear more beautiful to them, and they perceive truths more intelligently and wisely. [5] again, it is impossible for those who are in corporeal love to live at all in the heat of heaven, for the heat of heaven is heavenly love; but they can live in the heat of hell, which is the love of raging against others that do not favor them. the delights of that love are contempt of others, enmity, hatred and revenge; and when they are in these delights they are in their life, and have no idea what it is to do good to others from good itself and for the sake of good itself, knowing only what it is to do good from evil and for the sake of evil. [6] those who are in corporeal love are unable to breathe in heaven. when any evil spirit is brought into heaven he draws his breath like one struggling in a contest; while those that are in heavenly love have a freer respiration and a fuller life the more interiorly they are in heaven. all this shows that heaven with man is heavenly and spiritual love, because on that love all things of heaven are inscribed; also that hell in man is corporeal and worldly love apart from heavenly and spiritual love, because on such loves all things of hell are inscribed. evidently, then, he whose love is heavenly and spiritual enters heaven, and he whose love is corporeal and worldly apart from heavenly and spiritual love enters hell. {footnote 1} in the highest sense, the lord is the neighbor, because he is to be loved above all things; but loving the lord is loving what is from him, because he himself is in everything that is from him, thus it is loving what is good and true (n. 2425, 3419, 6706, 6711, 6819, 6823, 8123). loving what is good and true which is from the lord is living in accordance with good and truth, and this is loving the lord (n. 10143, 10153, 10310, 10336, 10578, 10645). every man and every society, also one's country and the church, and in a universal sense the lord's kingdom, are the neighbor, and doing good to these from a love of good in accord with their state is loving the neighbor; that is, their good that should be consulted is the neighbor (n. 6818-6824, 8123). moral good also, which is honesty, and civil good, which is justice, are the neighbor; and to act honestly and justly from the love of honesty and justice is loving the neighbor (n. 2915, 4730, 8120-8123). thus charity towards the neighbor extends to all things of the life of man, and loving the neighbor is doing what is good and just, and acting honestly from the heart, in every function and in every work (n. 2417, 8121, 8124). the doctrine in the ancient church was the doctrine of charity, and from that they had wisdom (n. 2385, 2417, 3419, 3420, 4844, 6628). 482. (iv) unless faith is from heavenly love it does not endure in man. this has been made clear to me by so much experience that if everything i have seen and heard respecting it were collected, it would fill a volume. this i can testify, that those who are in corporeal and worldly love apart from heavenly and spiritual love have no faith whatever, and are incapable of having any; they have nothing but knowledge or a persuasion that a thing is true because it serves their love. some of those who claimed that they had faith were brought to those who had faith, and when they communicated with them they perceived that they had no faith at all; and afterwards they confessed that merely believing what is true and believing the word is not faith, but that faith is loving truth from heavenly love, and willing and doing it from interior affection. moreover, they were shown that their persuasion which they called faith was merely like the light of winter, in which light, because it has no heat in it, all things on the earth are bound up in frost, become torpid, and lie buried under the snow. as soon, therefore, as the light of persuasive faith in them is touched by the rays of the light of heaven it is not only extinguished but is turned into a dense darkness, in which no one can see himself; and at the same time their interiors are so obscured that they can understand nothing at all, and at length become insane from falsities. consequently with such, all the truths that they have known from the word and from the doctrine of the church, and have called the truths of their faith, are taken away; and they imbibe in their place every falsity that is in accord with the evil of their life. for they are all let down into their loves and into the falsities agreeing with them; and they then hate and abhor and therefore reject truths, because they are repugnant to the falsities of evil in which they are. from all my experience in what pertains to heaven and hell i can bear witness that all those who from their doctrine have professed faith alone, and whose life has been evil, are in hell. i have seen many thousands of them cast down to hell. (respecting these see the treatise on the last judgment and the destruction of babylon.) 483. (v) love in act, that is, the life of man, is what endures. this follows as a conclusion from what has just been shown from experience, and from what has been said about deeds and works. love in act is work and deed. 484. it must be understood that all works and deeds pertain to moral and civil life, and therefore have regard to what is honest and right, and what is just and equitable, what is honest and right pertaining to moral life, and what is just and equitable to civil life. the love from which deeds are done is either heavenly or infernal. works and deeds of moral and civil life, when they are done from heavenly love, are heavenly; for what is done from heavenly love is done from the lord, and everything done from the lord is good. but the deeds and works of moral and civil life when done from infernal love are infernal; for what is done from this love, which is the love of self and of the world, is done from man himself, and everything that is done from man himself is in itself evil; for man regarded in himself, that is, in regard to what is his own, is nothing but evil.{1} {footnote 1} man's own consists in loving himself more than god, and the world more than heaven, and in making nothing of his neighbor in comparison with himself, thus it consists in the love of self and of the world (n. 694, 731, 4317). man is born into this own, and it is dense evil (n. 210, 215, 731, 874-876, 987, 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518, 3701, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10283, 10284, 10286, 10732). from what is man's own not only every evil but also every falsity is derived (n. 1047, 10283, 10284, 10286). the evils that are from what is man's own are contempt for others, enmity, hatred, revenge, cruelty, deceit (n. 6667, 7370, 7373, 7374, 9348, 10038, 10742). so far as what is man's own rules, the good of love and the truth of faith are either rejected or suffocated or perverted (n. 2041, 7491, 7492, 7643, 8487, 10455, 10742). what is man's own is hell in him (n. 694, 8480). the good that man does from what is his own is not good, but in itself is evil (n. 8480). 485. l. the delights of every one's life are changed after death into things that correspond. it has been shown in the preceding chapter that the ruling affection or dominant love in everyone continues to eternity. it shall now be explained how the delights of that affection or love are changed into things that correspond. being changed into corresponding things means into things spiritual that correspond to the natural. that they are changed into things spiritual can be seen from this, that so long as man is in his earthly body he is in the natural world, but when he leaves that body he enters the spiritual world and is clothed with a spiritual body. it has already been shown that angels, and men after death, are in a complete human form, and that the bodies with which they are clothed are spiritual bodies (n. 73-77 and 453-460); also what the correspondence is of spiritual things with natural (n. 87-115). 486. all the delights that a man has are the delights of his ruling love, for he feels nothing to be delightful except what he loves, thus especially that which he loves above all things. it means the same whether you say the ruling love or that which is loved above all things. these delights are various. in general, there are as many as there are ruling loves; consequently as many as there are men, spirits, and angels; for no one's ruling love is in every respect like that of another. for this reason no one has a face exactly like that of any other; for each one's face is an image of his mind; and in the spiritual world it is an image of his ruling love. in particular, everyone's delights are of infinite variety. it is impossible for any one delight to be exactly like another, or the same as another, either those that follow one after another or those that exist together at the same time, no one ever being the same as another. nevertheless, the particular delights in everyone have reference to his one love, which is his ruling love, for they compose it and thus make one with it. likewise all delights in general have reference to one universally ruling love, which in heaven is love to the lord, and in hell is the love of self. 487. only from a knowledge of correspondences can it be known what spiritual delights everyone's natural delights are changed into after death, and what kind of delights they are. in general, this knowledge teaches that nothing natural can exist without something spiritual corresponding to it. in particular it teaches what it is that corresponds, and what kind of a thing it is. therefore, any one that has this knowledge can ascertain and know what his own state after death will be, if he only knows what his love is, and what its relation is to the universally ruling loves spoken of above, to which all loves have relation. but it is impossible for those who are in the love of self to know what their ruling love is, because they love what is their own, and call their evils goods; and the falsities that they incline to and by which they confirm their evils they call truths. and yet if they were willing they might know it from others who are wise, and who see what they themselves do not see. this however, is impossible with those who are so enticed by the love of self that they spurn all teaching of the wise. [2] on the other hand, those who are in heavenly love accept instruction, and as soon as they are brought into the evils into which they were born, they see them from truths, for truths make evils manifest. from truth which is from good any one can see evil and its falsity; but from evil none can see what is good and true; and for the reason that falsities of evil are darkness and correspond to darkness; consequently those that are in falsities from evil are like the blind, not seeing the things that are in light, but shunning them instead like birds of night.{1} but as truths from good are light, and correspond to light (see above, n. 126-134), so those that are in truths from good have sight and open eyes, and discern the things that pertain to light and shade. [3] this, too, has been proved to me by experience. the angels in heaven both see and perceive the evils and falsities that sometimes arise in themselves, also the evils and falsities in spirits in the world of spirits that are connected with the hells, although the spirits themselves are unable to see their own evils and falsities. such spirits have no comprehension of the good of heavenly love, of conscience, of honesty and justice, except such as is done for the sake of self; neither what it is to be led by the lord. they say that such things do not exist, and thus are of no account. all this has been said to the intent that man may examine himself and may recognize his love by his delights; and thus so far as he can make it out from a knowledge of correspondences may know the state of his life after death. {footnote 1} from correspondence "darkness" in the word signifies falsities, and "thick darkness" the falsities of evil (n. 1839, 1860, 7688, 7711). to the evil the light of heaven is thick darkness (n. 1861, 6832, 8197). those that are in the hells are said to be in darkness because they are in falsities of evil; of such (n. 3340, 4418, 4531). in the word "the blind" signify those that are in falsities and are not willing to be taught (n. 2383, 6990). 488. how the delights of everyone's life are changed after death into things that correspond can be known from a knowledge of correspondences; but as that knowledge is not as yet generally known i will try to throw some light on the subject by certain examples from experience. all who are in evil and who have established themselves in falsities in opposition to the truths of the church, especially those that have rejected the word, flee from the light of heaven and take refuge in caves that appear at their openings to be densely dark, also in clefts of rocks, and there they hide themselves; and this because they have loved falsities and hated truths; for such caves and clefts of rocks,{1} well as darkness, correspond to falsities, as light corresponds to truths. it is their delight to dwell in such places, and undelightful to dwell in the open country. [2] those that have taken delight in insidious and secret plots and in treacherous machinations do the same thing. they are also in such caves; and they frequent rooms so dark that they are even unable to see one another; and they whisper together in the ears in corners. into this is the delight of their love changed. those that have devoted themselves to the sciences with no other end than to acquire a reputation for learning, and have not cultivated their rational faculty by their learning, but have taken delight in the things of memory from a pride in such things, love sandy places, which they choose in preference to fields and gardens, because sandy places correspond to such studies. [3] those that are skilled in the doctrines of their own and other churches, but have not applied their knowledge to life, choose for themselves rocky places, and dwell among heaps of stones, shunning cultivated places because they dislike them. those that have ascribed all things to nature, as well as those that have ascribed all things to their own prudence, and by various arts have raised themselves to honors and have acquired wealth, in the other life devote themselves to the study of magic arts, which are abuses of divine order, and find in these the chief delight of life. [4] those that have adapted divine truths to their own loves, and thereby have falsified them, love urinous things because these correspond to the delights of such loves.{2} those that have been sordidly avaricious dwell in cells, and love swinish filth and such stenches as are exhaled from undigested food in the stomach. [5] those that have spent their life in mere pleasures and have lived delicately and indulged their palate and stomach, loving such things as the highest good that life affords, love in the other life excrementitious things and privies, in which they find their delight, for the reason that such pleasures are spiritual filth. places that are clean and free from filth they shun, finding them undelightful. [6] those that have taken delight in adulteries pass their time in brothels, where all things are vile and filthy; these they love, and chaste homes they shun, falling into a swoon as soon as they enter them. nothing is more delightful to them than to break up marriages. those that have cherished a spirit of revenge, and have thereby contracted a savage and cruel nature, love cadaverous substances, and are in hells of that nature; and so on. {footnote 1} in the word a "hole" or "the cleft of a rock" signifies obscurity and falsity of faith (n. 10582). because a "rock" signifies faith from the lord (n. 8581, 10580); and a "stone" the truth of faith (n. 114, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, 10376). {footnote 2} the defilements of truth correspond to urine (n. 5390). 489. but the delights of life of those that have lived in the world in heavenly love are changed into such corresponding things as exist in the heavens, which spring from the sun of heaven and its light, that light presenting to view such things as have what is divine inwardly concealed in them. the things that appear in that light affect the interiors of the minds of the angels, and at the same time the exteriors pertaining to their bodies; and as the divine light, which is divine truth going forth from the lord, flows into their minds opened by heavenly love, it presents outwardly such things as correspond to the delights of their love. it has already been shown, in the chapter on representatives and appearances in heaven (n. 170-176), and in the chapter on the wisdom of the angels (n. 265-275), that the things that appear to the sight in the heavens correspond to the interiors of angels, or to the things pertaining to their faith and love and thus to their intelligence and wisdom. [2] having already begun to establish this point by examples from experience, to make clearer what has been previously said on the ground of causes of things i will state briefly some particulars respecting the heavenly delightful things into which the natural delights of those that have lived in heavenly love in the world are changed. those that have loved divine truths and the word from an interior affection, or from an affection for truth itself, dwell in the other life in light, in elevated places that appear like mountains, where they are continually in the light of heaven. they do not know what darkness is, like that of night in the world; they live also in a vernal temperature; there are presented to their view fields filled with grain and vine-yards; in their houses everything glows as if from precious stones; and looking through the windows is like looking through pure crystal. such are the delights of their vision; but these same things are interiorly delightful because of their being correspondences of divine heavenly things, for the truths from the word which they have loved correspond to fields of grain, vineyards, precious stones, windows, and crystals.{1} [3] those that have applied the doctrinals of the church which are from the word immediately to life, are in the inmost heaven, and surpass all others in their delights of wisdom. in every object they see what is divine; the objects they see indeed with their eyes; but the corresponding divine things flow in immediately into their minds and fill them with a blessedness that affects all their sensations. thus before their eyes all things seem to laugh, to play, and to live (see above, n. 270). [4] those that have loved knowledges and have thereby cultivated their rational faculty and acquired intelligence, and at the same time have acknowledged the divine-these in the other life have their pleasure in knowledges, and their rational delight changed into spiritual delight, which is delight in knowing good and truth. they dwell in gardens where flower beds and grass plots are seen beautifully arranged, with rows of trees round about, and arbors and walks, the trees and flowers changing from day to day. the entire view imparts delight to their minds in a general way, and the variations in detail continually renew the delight; and as everything there corresponds to something divine, and they are skilled in the knowledge of correspondences, they are constantly filled with new knowledges, and by these their spiritual rational faculty is perfected. their delights are such because gardens, flower beds, grass plots, and trees correspond to sciences, knowledges, and the resulting intelligence.{2} [5] those that have ascribed all things to the divine, regarding nature as relatively dead and merely subservient to things spiritual, and have confirmed themselves in this view, are in heavenly light; and all things that appear before their eyes are made by that light transparent, and in their transparency exhibit innumerable variegations of light, which their internal sight takes in as it were directly, and from this they perceive interior delights. the things seen within their houses are as if made of diamonds, with similar variegations of light. the walls of their houses, as already said, are like crystal, and thus also transparent; and in them seemingly flowing forms representative of heavenly things are seen also with unceasing variety, and this because such transparency corresponds to the understanding when it has been enlightened by the lord and when the shadows that arise from a belief in and love for natural things have been removed. with reference to such things and infinite others, it is said by those that have been in heaven that they have seen what eye has never seen; and from a perception of divine things communicated to them by those who are there, that they have heard what ear has never heard. [6] those that have not acted in secret ways, but have been willing to have all that they have thought made known so far as civil life would permit, because their thoughts have all been in accord with what is honest and just from the divine-these in heaven have faces full of light; and in that light every least affection and thought is seen in the face as in its form, and in their speech and actions they are like images of their affections. such, therefore, are more loved than others. while they are speaking the face becomes a little obscured; but as soon as they have spoken, the things they have said become plainly manifest all at once in the face. and as all the objects that exist round about them correspond to their interiors, these assume such an appearance that others can clearly perceive what they represent and signify. spirits that have found delight in clandestine acts, when they see such at a distance flee from them, and appear to themselves to creep away from them like serpents. [7] those that have regarded adulteries as abominable, and have lived in a chaste love of marriage, are more than all others in the order and form of heaven, and therefore in all beauty, and continue unceasingly in the flower of youth. the delights of their love are ineffable, and increase to eternity; for all the delights and joys of heaven flow into that love, because that love descends from the conjunction of the lord with heaven and with the church, and in general from the conjunction of good and truth, which conjunction is heaven itself in general, and with each angel in particular (see above, n. 366-386). what their outward delights are it is impossible to describe in human words. these are only a few of the things that have been told me about the correspondences of the delights of those that are in heavenly love. {footnote 1} in the word a "field of corn" signifies a state of the reception and growth of truth from good (n. 9294). "standing corn" signifies truth in conception (n. 9146), "vineyards" signify the spiritual church and the truths of that church (n. 1069, 9139). "precious stones" signify the truths of heaven and of the church transparent from good (n. 114, 9863, 9865, 9868, 9873, 9905). a "window" signifies the intellectual faculty which pertains to the internal sight (n. 655, 658, 3391). {footnote 2} a "garden," a "grove," and a "park," signify intelligence (n. 100, 108, 3220). this is why the ancients celebrated holy worship in groves (n. 2722, 4552). "flowers" and "flower beds" signify truths learned and knowledges (n. 9553). "herbs," "grasses," and "grass plots" signify truths learned (n. 7571). "trees" signify perception and knowledges (n. 103, 2163, 2682, 2722, 2972, 7692). 490. all this makes evident that everyone's delights are changed after death into their correspondences, while the love itself continues to eternity. this is true of marriage love, of the love of justice, honesty, goodness and truth, the love of sciences and of knowledges, the love of intelligence and wisdom, and the rest. from these loves delights flow like streams from their fountain; and these continue; but when raised from natural to spiritual delights they are exalted to a higher degree. 491. li. the first state of man after death. there are three states that man passes through after death before he enters either heaven or hell. the first state is the state of his exteriors, the second state the state of his interiors, and the third his state of preparation. these states man passes through in the world of spirits. there are some, however, that do not pass through them; but immediately after death are either taken up into heaven or cast into hell. those that are immediately taken up into heaven are those that have been regenerated in the world and thereby prepared for heaven. those that have been so regenerated and prepared that they need simply to cast off natural impurities with the body are at once taken up by the angels into heaven. i have seen them so taken up soon after the hour of death. on the other hand, those that have been inwardly wicked while maintaining an outward appearance of goodness, and have thus filled up the measure of their wickedness by artifices, using goodness as a means of deceiving-these are at once cast into hell. i have seen some such cast into hell immediately after death, one of the most deceitful with his head downward and feet upward, and others in other ways. there are some that immediately after death are cast into caverns and are thus separated from those that are in the world of spirits, and are taken out from these and put back again by turns. they are such as have dealt wickedly with the neighbor under civil pretences. but all these are few in comparison with those that are retained in the world of spirits, and are there prepared in accordance with divine order for heaven or for hell. 492. in regard to the first state, which is the state of the exteriors, it is that which man comes into immediately after death. every man, as regards his spirit, has exteriors and interiors. the exteriors of the spirit are the means by which it adapts the man's body in the world, especially the face, speech, and movements, to fellowship with others; while the interiors of the spirit are what belong to its own will and consequent thought; and these are rarely manifested in face, speech, and movement. for man is accustomed from childhood to maintain a semblance of friendship, benevolence, and sincerity, and to conceal the thoughts of his own will, thereby living from habit a moral and civil life in externals, whatever he may be internally. as a result of this habit man scarcely knows what his interiors are, and gives little thought to them. 493. the first state of man after death resembles his state in the world, for he is then likewise in externals, having a like face, like speech, and a like disposition, thus a like moral and civil life; and in consequence he is made aware that he is not still in the world only by giving attention to what he encounters, and from his having been told by the angels when he was resuscitated that he had become a spirit(n. 450). thus is one life continued into the other, and death is merely transition. 494. the state of man's spirit that immediately follows his life in the world being such, he is then recognized by his friends and by those he had known in the world; for this is something that spirits perceive not only from one's face and speech but also from the sphere of his life when they draw near. whenever any one in the other life thinks about another he brings his face before him in thought, and at the same time many things of his life; and when he does this the other becomes present, as if he had been sent for or called. this is so in the spiritual world because thoughts there are shared, and there is no such space there as in the natural world (see above, n. 191-199). so all, as soon as they enter the other life, are recognized by their friends, their relatives, and those in any way known to them; and they talk with one another, and afterward associate in accordance with their friendships in the world. i have often heard that those that have come from the world were rejoiced at seeing their friends again, and that their friends in turn were rejoiced that they had come. very commonly husband and wife come together and congratulate each other, and continue together, and this for a longer or shorter time according to their delight in living together in the world. but if they had not been united by a true marriage love, which is a conjunction of minds by heavenly love, after remaining together for a while they separate. or if their minds had been discordant and were inwardly adverse, they break forth into open enmity, and sometimes into combat; nevertheless they are not separated until they enter the second state, which will be treated of presently. 495. as the life of spirits recently from the world is not unlike their life in the natural world and as they know nothing about their state of life after death and nothing about heaven and hell except what they have learned from the sense of the letter of the word and preaching from it, they are at first surprised to find themselves in a body and in every sense that they had in the world, and seeing like things; and they become eager to know what heaven is, what hell is, and where they are. therefore their friends tell them about the conditions of eternal life, and take them about to various places and into various companies, and sometimes into cities, and into gardens and parks, showing them chiefly such magnificent things as delight the externals in which they are. they are then brought in turn into those notions about the state of their soul after death, and about heaven and hell, that they had entertained in the life of the body, even until they feel indignant at their total ignorance of such things, and at the ignorance of the church also. nearly all are anxious to know whether they will get to heaven. most of them believe that they will, because of their having lived in the world a moral and civil life, never considering that the bad and the good live a like life outwardly, alike doing good to others, attending public worship, hearing sermons, and praying; and wholly ignorant that external deeds and external acts of worship are of no avail, but only the internals from which the externals proceed. there is hardly one out of thousands who knows what internals are, and that it is in them that man must find heaven and the church. still less is it known that outward acts are such as the intentions and thoughts are, and the love and faith in these from which they spring. and even when taught they fail to comprehend that thinking and willing are of any avail, but only speaking and acting. such for the most part are those that go at this day from the christian world into the other life. 496. such, however, are explored by good spirits to discover what they are, and this in various ways; since in this the first state the evil equally with the good utter truths and do good acts, and for the reason mentioned above, that like the good they have lived morally in outward respects, since they have lived under governments, and subject to laws, and have thereby acquired a reputation for justice and honesty, and have gained favor, and thus been raised to honors, and have acquired wealth. but evil spirits are distinguished from good spirits chiefly by this, that the evil give eager attention to whatever is said about external things, and but little attention to what is said about internal things, which are the truths and goods of the church and of heaven. these they listen to, but not with attention and joy. the two classes are also distinguished by their turning repeatedly in specific directions, and following, when left to themselves, the paths that lead in those directions. from such turning to certain quarters and going in certain ways it is known by what love they are led. 497. all spirits that arrive from the world are connected with some society in heaven or some society in hell, and yet only as regards their interiors; and so long as they are in exteriors their interiors are manifested to no one, for externals cover and conceal internals, especially in the case of those who are in interior evil. but afterwards, when they come into the second state, their evils become manifest, because their interiors are then opened and their exteriors laid asleep. 498. this first state of man after death continues with some for days, with some for months, and with some for a year; but seldom with any one beyond a year; for a shorter or longer time with each one according to the agreement or disagreement of his interiors with his exteriors. for with everyone the exteriors and interior must make one and correspond. in the spiritual world no one is permitted to think and will in one way and speak and act in another. everyone there must be an image of his own affection or his own love, and therefore such as he is inwardly such he must be outwardly; and for this reason a spirit's exteriors are first disclosed and reduced to order that they may serve the interiors as a corresponding plane. 499. lii. the second state of man after death. the second state of man after death is called the state of his interiors, because he is then let into the interiors of his mind, that is, of his will and thought; while his exteriors, which he has been in during his first state, are laid asleep. whoever gives any thought to man's life and speech and action can see that everyone has exteriors and interiors, that is, exterior and interior thoughts and intentions. this is shown by the fact that in civil life one thinks about others in accordance with what he has heard and learned of them by report or conversation; but he does not talk with them in accordance with his thought; and if they are evil he nevertheless treats them with civility. that this is so is seen especially in the case of pretenders and flatterers, who speak and act in one way and think and will in a wholly different way; also in the case of hypocrites, who talk about god and heaven and the salvation of souls and the truths of the church and their country's good and their neighbor as if from faith and love, although in heart they believe otherwise and love themselves alone. [2] all this makes clear that there are two kinds of thought, one exterior and the other interior; and that there are those who speak from exterior thought, while from their interior thought they have other sentiments, and that these two kinds of thought are kept separate, since the interior is carefully prevented from flowing into the exterior and becoming manifest in any way. by creation man is so formed as to have his interior and exterior thought make one by correspondence; and these do make one in those that are in good, for such both think and speak what is good only. but in those that are in evil interior and exterior thought do not make one, for such think what is evil and say what is good. with such there is an inversion of order, for good with them is on the outside and evil within; and in consequence evil has dominion over good, and subjects it to itself as a servant, that it may serve it as a means for gaining its ends, which are of the same nature as their love. with such an end contained in the good that they seek and do, their good is evidently not good, but is infected with evil, however good it may appear in outward form to those not acquainted with their interiors. [3] it is not so with those that are in good. with such order is not inverted; but good from interior thought flows into exterior thought, and thus into word and act. into this order man was created; and in heaven, and in the light of heaven, his interiors are in this order. and as the light of heaven is the divine truth that goes forth from the lord, and consequently is the lord in heaven (n. 126-140), therefore such are led by the lord. all this has been said to make known that every man has interior thought and exterior thought, and that these are distinct from each other. the term thought includes also the will, for thought is from the will, and thought apart from willing is impossible. all this makes clear what is meant by the state of man's exteriors and the state of his interiors. 500. when will and thought are mentioned will includes affection and love, and all the delight and pleasure that spring from affection and love, since all these relate to the will as to their subject; for what a man wills he loves and feels to be delightful or pleasurable; and on the other hand, what a man loves and feels to be delightful or pleasurable, that he wills. but by thought is then meant everything by which affection or love is confirmed, for thought is simply the will's form, or that whereby what is willed may appear in light. this form is made apparent through various rational analyses, which have their origin in the spiritual world and belong properly to the spirit of man. 501. let it be understood that man is wholly such as his interiors are, and not such as his exteriors are separate from his interiors. this is because his interiors belong to his spirit, and the life of his spirit is the life of man, for from it his body lives; and because of this such as a man's interiors are such he continues to be to eternity. but as the exteriors pertain to the body they are separated after death, and those of them that adhere to the spirit are laid asleep, and serve purely as a plane for the interiors, as has been shown above in treating of the memory of man which continues after death. this makes evident what is man's own and what is not his own, namely, that with the evil man nothing that belongs to his exterior thought from which he speaks, or to the exterior will from which he acts, is his own, but only that which belongs to his interior thought and will. 502. when the first state, which is the state of the exteriors treated of in the preceding chapter, has been passed through, the man-spirit is let into the state of his interiors, or into the state of his interior will and its thought, in which he had been in the world when left to himself to think freely and without restraint. into this state he unconsciously glides, just as when in the world he withdraws the thought nearest to his speech, that is, from which he speaks, towards his interior thought and abides in the latter. therefore in this state of his interiors the man-spirit is in himself and in his very life; for to think freely from his own affection is the very life of man, and is himself. 503. in this state the spirit thinks from his very will, thus from his very affection, or from his very love; and thought and will then make one, and one in such a manner that he seems scarcely to think but only to will. it is nearly the same when he speaks, yet with the difference that he speaks with a kind of fear that the thoughts of the will may go forth naked, since by his social life in the world this has come to be a part of his will. 504. all men without exception are let into this state after death, because it is their spirit's own state. the former state is such as the man was in regard to his spirit when in company; and that is not his own state. that this state, namely, the state of the exteriors into which man first comes after death (as shown in the preceding chapter) is not his own state, many things show, for example, that spirits not only think but also speak from their affection, since their speech is from their affection (as has been said and shown in the chapter on the speech of angels, n. 234-245). it was in this way that man had thought while in the world when he was thinking within himself, for at such times his thought was not from his bodily words, but he [mentally] saw the things, and in a minute of time saw more than he could afterwards utter in half an hour. again that the state of the exteriors is not man's own state or the state of his spirit is evident from the fact that when he is in company in the world he speaks in accord with the laws of moral and civil life, and at such times interior thought rules the exterior thought, as one person rules another, to keep him from transgressing the limits of decorum and good manners. it is evident also from the fact that when a man thinks within himself, he thinks how he must speak and act in order to please and to secure friendship, good will, and favor, and this in extraneous ways, that is, otherwise than he would do if he acted in accordance with his own will. all this shows that the state of the interiors that the spirit is let into is his own state, and was his own state when he was living in the world as a man. 505. when the spirit is in the state of his interiors it becomes clearly evident what the man was in himself when he was in the world, for at such times he acts from what is his own. he that had been in the world interiorly in good then acts rationally and wisely, and even more wisely than in the world, because he is released from connection with the body, and thus from those earthly things that caused obscurity and interposed as it were a cloud. but he that was in evil in the world then acts foolishly and insanely, and even more insanely than in the world, because he is free and under no restraint. for while he lived in the world he was sane in outward appearance, since by means of externals he made himself appear to be a rational man; but when he has been stripped of his externals his insanities are revealed. an evil man who in externals takes on the semblance of a good man may be likened to a vessel shining and polished on the outside and covered with a lid, within which filth of all kinds is hidden, in accordance with the lord's saying: ye are like whited sepulchers, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness (matt. 23:27). 506. all that have lived a good life in the world and have acted from conscience, who are such as have acknowledged the divine and have loved divine truths, especially such as have applied those truths to life, seem to themselves, when let into the state of their interiors, like one aroused from sleep into full wakefulness, or like one passing from darkness into light. they then think from the light of heaven, thus from an interior wisdom, and they act from good, thus from an interior affection. heaven flows into their thoughts and affections with an interior blessedness and delight that they had previously had no knowledge of; for they have communication with the angels of heaven. they then acknowledge the lord and worship him from their very life, for being in the state of their interiors they are in their proper life (as has been said just above, n. 505); and as freedom pertains to interior affection they then acknowledge and worship the lord from freedom. thus, too, they withdraw from external sanctity and come into that internal sanctity in which worship itself truly consists. such is the state of those that have lived a christian life in accordance with the commandments in the word. [2] but the state of those that have lived an evil life in the world and who have had no conscience, and have in consequence denied the divine, is the direct opposite of this. for everyone who lives an evil life, inwardly in himself denies the divine, however much he may suppose when in external thought that he acknowledges the lord and does not deny him; for acknowledging the divine and living an evil life are opposites. when such in the other life enter into the state of their interiors, and are heard speaking and seen acting, they appear foolish; for from their evil lusts they burst forth into all sorts of abominations, into contempt of others, ridicule and blasphemy, hatred and revenge; they plot intrigues, some with a cunning and malice that can scarcely be believed to be possible in any man. for they are then in a state of freedom to act in harmony with the thoughts of their will, since they are separated from the outward conditions that restrained and checked them in the world. in a word, they are deprived of their rationality, because their reason while they were in the world did not have its seat in their interiors, but in their exteriors; and yet they seemed to themselves to be wiser than others. [3] this being their character, while in the second state they are let down by short intervals into the state of their exteriors, and into a recollection of their actions when they were in the state of their interiors; and some of them then feel ashamed, and confess that they have been insane; some do not feel ashamed; and some are angry because they are not permitted to remain permanently in the state of their exteriors. but these are shown what they would be if they were to continue in that state, namely, that they would attempt to accomplish in secret ways the same evil ends, and by semblances of goodness, honesty, and justice, would mislead the simple in heart and faith, and would utterly destroy themselves; for their exteriors would at length burn with the same fire as their interiors, and their whole life would be consumed. 507. when in this second state spirits become visibly just what they had been in themselves while in the world, what they then did and said secretly being now made manifest; for they are now restrained by no outward considerations, and therefore what they have said and done secretly they now say and endeavor to do openly, having no longer any fear of loss of reputation, such as they had in the world. they are also brought into many states of their evils, that what they are may be evident to angels and good spirits. thus are hidden things laid open and secret things uncovered, in accordance with the lord's words: there is nothing covered up that shall not be revealed, and hid that shall not be known. whatsoever ye have said in the darkness shall be heard in the light, and what ye have spoken in the ear in the inner chambers shall be proclaimed on the housetops (luke 12:2, 3). and elsewhere: i say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment (matt. 12:36). 508. the nature of the wicked in this state cannot be described in a few words, for each one is insane in accord with his own lusts, and these are various; therefore i will merely mention some special instances from which conclusions may be formed respecting the rest. those that have loved themselves above everything, and in their occupations and employments have looked to their own honor, and have performed uses and found delight in them not for the use's sake but for the sake of reputation, that they might because of them be esteemed more worthy than others, and have thus been fascinated by their reputation for honor, are more stupid in this second state than others; for so far as one loves himself he is separated from heaven, and so far as he is separated from heaven he is separated from wisdom. [2] but those that have not only been in self-love but have been crafty also, and have raised themselves to honors by means of crafty practices, affiliate themselves with the worst of spirits, and learn magic arts, which are abuses of divine order, and by means of these they assail and infest all who do not honor them, laying snares, fomenting hatred, burning with revenge, and are eager to vent their rage on all who do not yield to them; and they rush into all these enormities so far as their fiendish companions favor them; and at length they meditate upon how they can climb up into heaven to destroy it, or be worshiped there as gods. to such length does their madness carry them. [3] papists of this character are more insane than the rest, for they cherish the notion that heaven and hell are subject to their power, and that they can remit sins at pleasure, claiming to themselves all that is divine, and calling themselves christ. this persuasion is such with them that wherever it flows in it disturbs the mind and induces darkness even to pain. such are nearly the same in both the first and the second state; but in the second they are without rationality. of their insanities and their lot after this state some particulars will be given in the treatise on the last judgement and the destruction of babylon. [4] those that have attributed creation to nature, and have therefore in heart if not with the lips denied the divine, and thus all things of the church and of heaven, affiliate with their like in this second state, and call everyone a god who excels in craftiness, worshiping him even with divine honors. i have seen such in an assembly adoring a magician, debating about nature, and behaving like fools, as if they were beasts under a human form, while among them there were some who in the world had been in stations of dignity, and some who had been esteemed learned and wise. so with others in other states. [5] from these few instances it may be inferred what those are who have the interiors of their minds closed heaven-wards, as is the case with all who have received no influx out of heaven through acknowledgment of the divine and a life of faith. everyone can judge from himself how he would act if, being such, he were left free to act with no fear of the law and no fear in regard to his life, and with no outward restraints, such as fear of injury to one's reputation or of loss of honor and gain and consequent pleasures. [6] nevertheless, the insanity of such is restrained by the lord that it may not rush beyond the limits of use; for even such spirits perform some use. in them good spirits see what evil is and its nature, and what man is when he is not led by the lord. another of their uses is their collecting together evil spirits like themselves and separating them from the good; and another, that the truths and goods that the evil had outwardly professed and feigned are taken away from them, and they are brought into the evils of their life and the falsities of their evil, and are thus prepared for hell. [7] for no one enters hell until he is in his own evil and the falsities of evil, since no one is permitted there to have a divided mind, that is, to think and speak one thing and to will another. every evil spirit there must think what is false from evil, and speak from the falsity of evil, in both respects from the will, thus from his own essential love and its delight and pleasure, in the same way that he thought while in the world when he was in his spirit, that is, in the same way as he thought in himself when he thought from interior affection. the reason is that the will is the man himself, and not the thought except so far as it partakes of the will, the will being the very nature itself or disposition of the man. therefore man's being let into his will is being let into his nature or disposition, and likewise into his life; for by his life man puts on a nature; and after death he continues to be such as the nature is that he has acquired by his life in the world; and with the evil this nature can no longer be amended and changed by means of the thought or by the understanding of truth. 509. when evil spirits are in this second state, as they rush into evils of every kind they are subjected to frequent and grievous punishments. in the world of spirits there are many kinds of punishment; and there is no regard for person, whether one had been in the world a king or a servant. every evil carries its punishment with it, the two making one; therefore whoever is in evil is also in the punishment of evil. and yet no one in the other world suffers punishment on account of the evils that he had done in this world, but only on account of the evils that he then does; although it amounts to the same and is the same thing whether it be said that men suffer punishment on account of their evils in the world or that they suffer punishment on account of the evils they do in the other life, since everyone after death returns into his own life and thus into like evils; and the man continues the same as he had been in the life of the body (n. 470-484). men are punished for the reason that the fear of punishment is the sole means of subduing evils in this state. exhortation is no longer of any avail, neither is instruction or fear of the law and of the loss of reputation, since everyone then acts from his nature; and that nature can be restrained and broken only by punishments. but good spirits, although they had done evils in the world, are never punished, because their evils do not return. moreover, i have learned that the evils they did were of a different kind or nature, not being done purposely in opposition to the truth, or from any other badness of heart than that which they received by inheritance from their parents, and that they were borne into this by a blind delight when they were in externals separate from internals. 510. everyone goes to his own society in which his spirit had been in the world; for every man, as regards his spirit, is conjoined to some society, either infernal or heavenly, the evil man to an infernal society and the good man to a heavenly society, and to that society he is brought after death (see n. 438). the spirit is led to his society gradually, and at length enters it. when an evil spirit is in the state of his interiors he is turned by degrees toward his own society, and at length, before that state is ended, directly to it; and when that state is ended he himself casts himself into the hell where those are who are like himself. this act of casting down appears to the sight like one falling headlong with the head downwards and the feet upwards. the cause of this appearance is that the spirit himself is in an inverted order, having loved infernal things and rejected heavenly things. in this second state some evil spirits enter the hells and come out again by turns; but these do not appear to fall headlong as those do that are fully vastated. moreover, the society itself in which they had been as regards their spirit while in the world is shown to them when they are in the state of their exteriors, that they may thus learn that even while in the life of the body they were in hell, although not in the same state as those that are in hell itself, but in the same state as those who are in the world of spirits. of this state, as compared with those that are in hell, more will be said hereafter. 511. in this second state the separation of evil spirits from good spirits takes place. for in the first state they are together, since while a spirit is in his exteriors he is as he was in the world, thus the evil with the good and the good with the evil; but it is otherwise when he has been brought into his interiors and left to his own nature or will. the separation of evil spirits from good spirits is effected by various means; in general by their being taken about to those societies with which in their first state they had communication by means of their good thoughts and affections, thus to those societies that they had induced to believe by outward appearances that they were not evil. usually they are led about through a wide circle, and everywhere what they really are is made manifest to good spirits. at the sight of them the good spirits turn away; and at the same time the evil spirits who are being led about turn their faces away from the good towards that quarter where their infernal society is, into which they are about to come. other methods of separation, which are many, will not now be mentioned. 512. liii. third state of man after death, which is a state of instruction for those who enter heaven. the third state of man after death, that is, of his spirit, is a state of instruction. this state is for those who enter heaven and become angels. it is not for those who enter hell, because such are incapable of being taught, and therefore their second state is also their third, ending in this, that they are wholly turned to their own love, thus to that infernal society which is in a like love. when this has been done they will and think from that love and as that love is infernal they will nothing but what is evil and think nothing but what is false; and in such thinking and willing they find their delights, because these belong to their love; and in consequence of this they reject everything good and true which they had previously adopted as serviceable to their love as means. [2] good spirits, on the other hand, are led from the second state into the third, which is the state of their preparation for heaven by means of instruction. for one can be prepared for heaven only by means of knowledges of good and truth, that is, only by means of instruction, since one can know what spiritual good and truth are, and what evil and falsity are, which are their opposites, only by being taught. one can learn in the world what civil and moral good and truth are, which are called justice and honesty, because there are civil laws in the world that teach what is just, and there is interaction with others whereby man learns to live in accordance with moral laws, all of which have relation to what is honest and right. but spiritual good and truth are learned from heaven, not from the world. they can be learned from the word and from the doctrine of the church that is drawn from the word and yet unless man in respect to his interiors which belong to his mind is in heaven spiritual good and truth cannot flow into his life; and man is in heaven when he both acknowledges the divine and acts justly and honestly for the reason that he ought so to act because it is commanded in the word. this is living justly and honestly for the sake of the divine, and not for the sake of self and the world, as ends. [3] but no one can so act until he has been taught, for example, that there is a god, that there is a heaven and a hell, that there is a life after death, that god ought to be loved supremely, and the neighbor as oneself, and that what is taught in the word, ought to be believed because the word is divine. without a knowledge and acknowledgment of these things man is unable to think spiritually; and if he has no thought about them he does not will them; for what a man does not know he cannot think, and what he does not think he cannot will. so it is when man wills these things that heaven flows into his life, that is, the lord through heaven, for the lord flows into the will and through the will into the thought, and through both into the life, and the whole life of man is from these. all this makes clear that spiritual good and truth are learned not from the world but from heaven, and that one can be prepared for heaven only by means of instruction. [4] moreover, so far as the lord flows into the life of any one he instructs him, for so far he kindles the will with the love of knowing truths and enlightens the thought to know them; and so far as this is done the interiors of man are opened and heaven is implanted in them; and furthermore, what is divine and heavenly flows into the honest things pertaining to moral life and into the just things pertaining to civil life in man, and makes them spiritual, since man then does these things from the divine, which is doing them for the sake of the divine. for the things honest and just pertaining to moral and civil life which a man does from that source are the essential effects of spiritual life; and the effect derives its all from the effecting cause, since such as the cause is such is the effect. 513. instruction is given by the angels of many societies, especially those in the northern and southern quarters, because those angelic societies are in intelligence and wisdom from a knowledge of good and truth. the places of instruction are towards the north and are various, arranged and distinguished according to the kinds and varieties of heavenly goods, that all and each may be instructed there according to their disposition and ability to receive; the places extending round about to a great distance. the good spirits who are to be instructed are brought by the lord to these places when they have completed their second state in the world of spirits, and yet not all; for there are some that have been instructed in the world, and have been prepared there by the lord for heaven, and these are taken up into heaven by another way-some immediately after death, some after a short stay with good spirits, where the grosser things of their thoughts and affections which they had contracted from honors and riches in the world are removed, and in that way they are purified. some first endure vastations, which is effected in places under the soles of the feet, called the lower earth, where some suffer severely. these are such as had confirmed themselves in falsities and yet had led good lives, for when falsities have been confirmed they inhere with much force, and until they have been dispersed truths cannot be seen, and thus cannot be accepted. but vastations and how they are effected have been treated of in the arcana coelestia, from which the notes below have been collected.{1} {footnote 1} vastations are effected in the other life, that is, those that pass into the other life from the world are vastated (n. 698, 7122, 7474, 9763). the well disposed are vastated in respect to falsities, while the evil are vastated in respect to truths (n, 7474, 7541, 7542). the well disposed undergo vastations that they also may be divested of what pertains to the earth and the world, which they had contracted while living in the world (n. 7186, 9763). also that evils and falsities may be removed, and thus there may be room for the influx of goods and truths out of heaven from the lord, and ability to accept these (n. 7122, 9330). elevation into heaven is impossible until such things have been removed, because they obstruct heavenly things and are not in harmony with them (n. 6928, 7122, 7186, 7541, 7542, 9763). those who are to be raised up into heaven are thus prepared for it (n. 4728, 7090). it is dangerous to come into heaven before being prepared (n. 537, 538). the state of enlightenment and the joy of those who come out of vastation and are raised up into heaven, and their reception there (n. 2699, 2701, 2704). the region where those vastations are effected is called the lower earth (n. 4728, 7090). that region is under the soles of the feet surrounded by the hells; its nature described (n. 4940-4951, 7090); from experience (n. 699). what the hells are which more than others infest and vastate (n. 7317, 7502, 7545). those that have infested and vastated the well disposed are afterwards afraid of them, shun them, and turn away from them (n. 7768). these infestations and vastations are effected in different ways in accordance with the adhesion of evils and falsities, and they continue in accordance with their quality and quantity (n. 1106-1113). some are quite willing to be vastated (n. 1107). some are vastated by fears (n. 4942). some by being infested with the evils they have done in the world, and with the falsities they have thought in the world, from which they have anxieties and pangs of conscience (n. 1106). some by spiritual captivity, which is ignorance of truth and interception of truth, combined with a longing to know truths (n. 1109, 2694). some by sleep; some by a middle state between wakefulness and sleep (n. 1108). those that have placed merit in works seem to themselves to be cutting wood (n. 1110). others in other ways, with great variety (n. 699). 514. all who are in places of instruction dwell apart; for each one is connected in regard to his interiors with that society of heaven which he is about to enter; thus as the societies of heaven are arranged in accord with the heavenly form (see above, n. 200-212), so are the places there where instruction is given; and for this reason when those places are viewed from heaven something like a heaven in a smaller form is seen. they are spread out in length from east to west, and in breadth from south to north; but the breadth appears to be less than the length. the arrangement in general is as follows. in front are those who died in childhood and have been brought up in heaven to the age of early youth; these after passing the state of their infancy with those having charge of them, are brought hither by the lord and instructed. behind these are the places where those are taught who died in adult age, and who in the world had an affection for truth derived from good of life. again, behind these are those who in the world were connected with the mohammedan religion, and lived a moral life and acknowledged one divine, and the lord as the very prophet. when these withdraw from mohammed, because he can give them no help, they approach the lord and worship him and acknowledge his divinity, and they are then instructed in the christian religion. behind these more to the north are the places of instruction of various heathen nations who in the world have lived a good life in conformity with their religion, and have thereby acquired a kind of conscience, and have done what is just and right not so much from a regard to the laws of their government, as from a regard to the laws of religion, which they believed ought to be sacredly observed, and in no way violated by their doings. when these have been taught they are all easily led to acknowledge the lord, because it is impressed on their hearts that god is not invisible, but is visible under a human form. these in number exceed all the rest, and the best of them are from africa. 515. but all are not taught in the same way, nor by the same societies of heaven. those that have been brought up from childhood in heaven, not having imbibed falsities from the falsities of religion or defiled their spiritual life with the dregs pertaining to honors and riches in the world, receive instruction from the angels of the interior heavens; while those that have died in adult age receive instruction mainly from angels of the lowest heaven, because these angels are better suited to them than the angels of the interior heavens, who are in interior wisdom which is not yet acceptable to them. but the mohammedans receive instruction from angels who had been previously in the same religion and had been converted to christianity. the heathen, too, are taught by their angels. 516. all teaching there is from doctrine drawn from the word, and not from the word apart from doctrine. christians are taught from heavenly doctrine, which is in entire agreement with the internal sense of the word. all others, as the mohammedans and heathen, are taught from doctrines suited to their apprehension, which differ from heavenly doctrine only in this, that spiritual life is taught by means of moral life in harmony with the good tenets of their religion from which they had derived their life in the world. 517. instruction in the heavens differs from instruction on earth in that knowledges are not committed to memory, but to life; for the memory of spirits is in their life, for they receive and imbibe everything that is in harmony with their life, and do not receive, still less imbibe, what is not in harmony with it; for spirits are affections, and are therefore in a human form that is similar to their affections. [2] being such they are constantly animated by an affection for truth that looks to the uses of life; for the lord provides for everyone's loving the uses suited to his genius; and that love is exalted by the hope of becoming an angel. and as all the uses of heaven have relation to the general use, which is the good of the lord's kingdom, which in heaven is the fatherland, and as all special and particular uses are to be valued in proportion as they more closely and fully have regard to that general use, so all of these special and particular uses, which are innumerable, are good and heavenly; therefore in everyone an affection for truth is so conjoined with an affection for use that the two make one; and thereby truth is so implanted in use that the truths they acquire are truths of use. in this way are angelic spirits taught and prepared for heaven. [3] an affection for truth that is suited to the use is insinuated by various means, most of which are unknown in the world; chiefly by representatives of uses which in the spiritual world are exhibited in a thousand ways, and with such delights and pleasures that they permeate the spirit from the interiors of its mind to the exteriors of its body, and thus affect the whole; and in consequence the spirit becomes as it were his use; and therefore when he comes into his society, into which he is initiated by instruction, he is in his life by being in his use.{1} from all this it is clear that knowledges, which are external truths, do not bring any one into heaven; but the life itself, which is a life of uses implanted by means of knowledges. {footnote 1} every good has both its delight and its quality from uses and in accordance with uses; therefore such as the good is such the use is (n. 3049, 4984, 7038). angelic life consists in the goods of love and charity, thus in performing uses (n. 454). the lord and therefore the angels, have regard to nothing in man but ends which are uses (n. 1317, 1645, 5854). the kingdom of the lord is a kingdom of uses (n. 454, 696, 1103, 3645, 4054, 7038). serving the lord is performing uses (n. 7038). what man is, such are his uses (n. 1568, 3570, 4054, 6571, 6935, 6938, 10284). 518. there were some spirits who had convinced themselves, by thinking about it in the world, that they would go to heaven and be received before others because of their learning and their great knowledge of the word and of the doctrines of their churches, believing that they were wise in consequence, and were such as are meant by those of whom it is said that they shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars (daniel 12:3). but these were examined to see whether their knowledges resided in the memory or in the life. such of them as had a genuine affection of truth, that is, who had uses separated from what pertains to the body and the world as their end, which are essentially spiritual uses--these, when they had been instructed, were received into heaven; and it was then given them to know what it is that shines in heaven, namely, divine truth (which is the light of heaven) in use, which is a plane that receives the rays of that light and turns them into various splendors. but those in whom knowledges resided merely in the memory, and who had acquired therefrom an ability to reason about truths and to prove what they had already accepted as principles, seeing such principles, after they had confirmed them, as truths, although they were falsities, these, as they were in no heavenly light, and yet were in a belief derived from the conceit that usually adheres to such intelligence that they were more learned than others, and would for that reason enter heaven and be served by the angels, in order that they might be withdrawn from their delusive faith, were taken up to the first or outmost heaven to be introduced into an angelic society. but at the very threshold their eyes began to be darkened by the inflowing of the light of heaven, and their understanding to be disturbed, and at length they began to gasp as if at the point of death; and as soon as they felt the heat of heaven, which is heavenly love, they began to be inwardly tormented. they were therefore cast down, and afterwards were taught that knowledges do not make an angel, but the life itself, which is gained by means of knowledges, for knowledges regarded in themselves are outside of heaven; but life acquired by means of knowledges is within heaven. 519. when spirits have been prepared for heaven by instruction in the places above described, which is effected in a short time on account of their being in spiritual ideas that comprehend many particulars together, they are clothed with angelic garments, which are mostly glowing white as if made of fine linen; and they are thus brought to the way that leads upwards towards heaven, and are delivered there to angel guards, and afterwards are received by other angels and introduced into societies and into many blessednesses there. after this each one is led by the lord into his own society, which is also effected by various ways, sometimes by winding paths. the ways by which they are led are not known to any angel, but are known to the lord alone. when they come to their own society their interiors are opened; and as these are in conformity with the interiors of the angels who are in that society they are immediately recognized and received with joy. 520. to this i will add a memorable fact respecting the ways that lead from these places to heaven, by which the newly arrived angels are introduced. there are eight ways, two from each place of instruction, one going up in an eastern direction the other towards the west. those that enter the lord's celestial kingdom are introduced by the eastern way, while those that enter the spiritual kingdom are introduced by the western way. the four ways that lead to the lord's celestial kingdom appear adorned with olive trees and fruit trees of various kinds; but those that lead to the lord's spiritual kingdom appear adorned with vines and laurels. this is from correspondence, because vines and laurels correspond to affection for truth and its uses, while olives and fruits correspond to affection for good and its uses. 521. liv. no one enters heaven by mercy apart from means. those that have not been instructed about heaven and the way to heaven, and about the life of heaven in man, suppose that being received into heaven is a mere matter of mercy, and is granted to those that have faith, and for whom the lord intercedes; thus that it is an admission from mere favor; consequently that all men without exception might be saved if the lord so pleased, and some even believe that all in hell might be so saved. but those who so think know nothing about man, that he is just such as his life is, and that his life is such as his love is, both in respect to the interiors pertaining to his will and understanding and in respect to the exteriors pertaining to his body; also that his bodily form is merely the external form in which the interiors exhibit themselves in effect; consequently that one's love is the whole man (see above, n. 363). nor do they know that the body lives not from itself, but from its spirit, and that a man's spirit is his essential affection, and his spiritual body is nothing else than his affection in human form, and in such a form it appears after death (see above, n. 453-460). so long as man remains ignorant of all this he may be induced to believe that salvation involves nothing but the divine good pleasure, which is called mercy and grace. 522. but first let us consider what the divine mercy is. the divine mercy is pure mercy towards the whole human race, to save it; and it is also unceasing towards every man, and is never withdrawn from any one; so that everyone is saved who can be saved. and yet no one can be saved except by divine means, which means the lord reveals in the word. the divine means are what are called divine truths, which teach how man must live in order to be saved. by these truths the lord leads man to heaven, and by them he implants in man the life of heaven. this the lord does for all. but the life of heaven can be implanted in no one unless he abstains from evil, for evil obstructs. so far, therefore, as man abstains from evil he is led by the lord out of pure mercy by his divine means, and this from infancy to the end of his life in the world and afterwards to eternity. this is what is meant by the divine mercy. and from this it is evident that the mercy of the lord is pure mercy, but not apart from means, that is, it does not look to saving all out of mere good pleasure, however they may have lived. 523. the lord never does anything contrary to order, because he himself is order. the divine truth that goes forth from the lord is what constitutes order; and divine truths are the laws of order. it is in accord with these laws that the lord leads man. consequently to save man by mercy apart from means would be contrary to divine order, and what is contrary to divine order is contrary to the divine. divine order is heaven in man, and man has perverted this in himself by a life contrary to the laws of order, which are divine truths. into this order man is brought back by the lord out of pure mercy by means of the laws of order; and so far as he is brought back into this order he receives heaven in himself; and he that receives heaven in himself enters heaven. this again makes evident that the lord's divine mercy is pure mercy, and not mercy apart from means.{1} {footnote 1} divine truth going forth from the lord is the source of order, and divine good is the essential of order (n. 1728, 2258, 8700, 8988). thus the lord is order (n. 1919, 2011, 5110, 5703, 10336, 10619). divine truths are the laws of order (n. 2447, 7995). the whole heaven is arranged by the lord in accordance with his divine order (n. 3038, 7211, 9128, 9338, 10125, 10151, 10157). therefore the form of heaven is a form in accord with the divine order (n. 4040-4043, 6607, 9877). so far as a man is living in accordance with order, that is, so far as he is living in good in accordance with divine truths, he is receiving heaven in himself (n. 4839). man is the being in whom are brought together all things of divine order, and by creation he is divine order in form, because he is a recipient of divine order (n. 3628, 4219, 4220, 4223, 4523, 4524, 5214, 6013, 6057, 6605, 6626, 9706, 10156, 10472). man is not born into good and truth but into evil and falsity, thus not into divine order but into the opposite of order, and for this reason he is born into pure ignorance; consequently it is necessary for him to be born anew, that is, to be regenerated, which is effected by the lord by means of divine truths, that he may be brought back into order (n. 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518, 8480, 8550, 10283, 10284, 10286, 10731). when the lord forms man anew, that is, regenerates him, he arranges all things in him in harmony with order, that is, in the form of heaven (n. 5700, 6690, 9931, 10303). evils and falsities are contrary to order; nevertheless those who are in them are ruled by the lord not in accordance with order but from order (n. 4839, 7877, 10777). it is impossible for a man who lives in evil to be saved by mercy alone, for that would be contrary to divine order (n. 8700). 524. if men could be saved by mercy apart from means all would be saved, even those in hell; in fact, there would be no hell, because the lord is mercy itself, love itself, and goodness itself. therefore it is inconsistent with his divine to say that he is able to save all apart from means and does not save them. it is known from the word that the lord wills the salvation of all, and the damnation of no one. 525. most of those who enter the other life from the christian world bring with them this belief that they can be saved by mercy apart from means, and pray for that mercy; but when examined they are found to believe that entering heaven is merely gaining admission, and that those who are let in are in heavenly joy. they are wholly ignorant of what heaven is and what heavenly joy is, and consequently are told that the lord denies heaven to no one, and that they can be admitted and can stay there if they desire it. those who so desired were admitted; but as soon as they reached the first threshold they were seized with such anguish of heart from a draught of heavenly heat, which is the love in which angels are, and from an inflow of heavenly light, which is divine truth, that they felt in themselves infernal torment instead of heavenly joy, and struck with dismay they cast themselves down headlong. thus they were taught by living experience that it is impossible to grant heaven to any one from mercy apart from means. 526. i have occasionally talked with angels about this, and have told them that most of those in the world who live in evil, when they talk with others about heaven and eternal life, express no other idea than that entering heaven is merely being admitted from mercy alone. and this is believed by those especially who make faith the only medium of salvation. for such from the principles of their religion have no regard to the life and the deeds of love that make life, and thus to none of the other means by which the lord implants heaven in man and renders him receptive of heavenly joy; and as they thus reject every actual mediation they conclude, as a necessary consequence of the principle, that man enters heaven from mercy alone, to which mercy god the father is believed to be moved by the intercession of the son. [2] to all this the angels said that they knew such a tenet follows of necessity from the assumption that man is saved by faith alone, and since that tenet is the head of all the rest, and since into it, because it is not true, no light from heaven can flow, this is the source of the ignorance that prevails in the church at this day in regard to the lord, heaven, the life after death, heavenly joy, the essence of love and charity, and in general, in regard to good and its conjunction with truth, consequently in regard to the life of man, whence it is and what it is; when it should be known that thought never constitutes any one's life, but the will and the consequent deeds; and that the life is from the thought only to the extent that the thought is derived from the will; neither is life from the faith except so far as the faith is derived from love. angels are grieved that these persons do not know that faith alone is impossible in any one, since faith apart from its origin, which is love, is nothing but knowledge, and in some is merely a sort of persuasion that has the semblance of faith (see above, n. 482). such a persuasion is not in the life of man, but outside of it, since it is separated from man unless it coheres with his love. [3] the angels said further that those who hold to this principle concerning the essential means of salvation in man must needs believe in mercy apart from means, for they perceive both from natural light and from the experience of sight that faith separate does not constitute the life of man, since those who lead an evil life are able to think and to be persuaded the same as others; and from this comes the belief that the evil as well as the good can be saved, provided that at the hour of death they talk with confidence about intercession, and about the mercy that is granted through that intercession. the angels declared that they had never yet seen any one who had lived an evil life received into heaven from mercy apart from means, whatever trust or confidence (which is preeminently meant by faith) he had exhibited in his talk in the world. [4] when asked about abraham, isaac, jacob, david, and the apostles, whether they were not received into heaven from mercy apart from means, the angels replied that not one of them was so received, but everyone in accordance with his life in the world; that they knew where these were, and that they were no more esteemed there than others. they said that these persons are mentioned with honor in the word for the reason that in the internal sense the lord is meant by them--by abraham, isaac, and jacob, the lord in respect to the divine and the divine human; by david the lord in respect to the divine royalty; and by the apostles the lord in respect to divine truths; also that when the word is read by man the angels have no perception whatever of these men, for their names do not enter heaven; but they have instead a perception of the lord as he has just been described; consequently in the word that is in heaven (see above, n. 259) there are no such names mentioned, since that word is the internal sense of the word that is in the world.{1} {footnote 1} in the internal sense of the word by abraham, isaac, and jacob, the lord in respect to the divine itself and the divine human is meant (n. 1893, 4615, 6098, 6185, 6276, 6804, 6847). in heaven abraham is unknown (n. 1834, 1876, 3229). by david the lord in respect to the divine royalty is meant (n. 1888, 9954). the twelve apostles represented the lord in respect to all things of the church, that is, all things pertaining to faith and love (n. 2129, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397). peter represented the lord in respect to faith, james in respect to charity, and john in respect to the works of charity (n. 3750, 10087). the twelve apostles sitting on twelve thrones and judging the twelve tribes of israel, signified that the lord will judge in accord with the truths and goods of faith and love (n. 2129, 6397). the names of persons and of places in the word do not enter heaven, but are changed into things and states; and in heaven these names cannot even be uttered (n. 1876, 5225, 6516, 10216, 10282, 10432). moreover, the angels think abstractedly from persons (n. 8343, 8985, 9007). 527. i can testify from much experience that it is impossible to implant the life of heaven in those who in the world have lived a life opposite to the life of heaven. there were some who had believed that when after death they should hear divine truths from the angels they would readily accept them and believe them, and consequently live a different life, and could thus be received into heaven. but this was tried with very many, although it was confined to those who held this belief, and was permitted in their case to teach them that repentance is not possible after death. some of those with whom the experiment was made understood truths and seemed to accept them; but as soon as they turned to the life of their love they rejected them, and even spoke against them. others were unwilling to hear them, and at once rejected them. others wished to have the life of love that they had contracted from the world taken away from them, and to have the angelic life, or the life of heaven, infused in its place. this, too, was permitted to be done; but as soon as the life of their love was taken away they lay as if dead, with their powers gone. by these and other experiments the simple good were taught that no one's life can by any means be changed after death; and that an evil life can in no way be converted into a good life, or an infernal life into an angelic life, for every spirit from head to heel is such as his love is, and therefore such as his life is; and to convert his life into its opposite is to destroy the spirit completely. the angels declare that it would be easier to change a night-owl into a dove, or a horned-owl into a bird of paradise, than to change an infernal spirit into an angel of heaven. that man after death continues to be such as his life had been in the world can be seen above in its own chapter (n. 470-484). from all this it is evident that no one can be received into heaven from mercy apart from means. 528. lv. it is not so difficult to live the life that leads to heaven as is believed. there are some who believe that to live the life that leads to heaven, which is called the spiritual life, is difficult, because they have been told that man must renounce the world, must divest himself of the lusts called the lusts of the body and the flesh, and must live spiritually; and they understand this to mean that they must discard worldly things, which consist chiefly in riches and honors; that they must walk continually in pious meditation on god, salvation, and eternal life; and must spend their life in prayers and in reading the word and pious books. such is their idea of renouncing the world, and living in the spirit and not in the flesh. but that this is not at all true it has been given me to know by much experience and from conversation with the angels. i have learned, in fact, that those who renounce the world and live in the spirit in this manner acquire a sorrowful life that is not receptive of heavenly joy, since everyone's life continues the same after death. on the contrary, to receive the life of heaven a man must needs live in the world and engage in its business and employments, and by means of a moral and civil life there receive the spiritual life. in no other way can the spiritual life be formed in man, or his spirit prepared for heaven; for to live an internal life and not at the same time an external life is like dwelling in a house that has no foundation, that gradually sinks or becomes cracked and rent asunder, or totters till it falls. 529. when the life of man is scanned and explored by rational insight it is found to be threefold, namely, spiritual, moral, and civil, with these three lives distinct from each other. for there are men who live a civil life and not as yet a moral and spiritual life; and there are men who live a moral life and not as yet a spiritual life; and there are those who live a civil life, a moral life, and a spiritual life at the same time. these live the life of heaven; but the former live the life of the world separated from the life of heaven. this shows, in the first place, that the spiritual life is not a life separated from natural life or the life of the world, but is joined with it as the soul is joined with its body, and if it were separated it would be, as was said, like living in a house that has no foundation. for moral and civil life is the active plane of the spiritual life, since to will well is the province of the spiritual life, and to act well of the moral and civil life, and if the latter is separated from the former the spiritual life consists solely of thought and speech, and the will, left with no support, recedes; and yet the will is the very spiritual part of man. 530. that it is not so difficult as some believe to live the life that leads to heaven will now be shown. who cannot live a civil and moral life? for everyone from his childhood is initiated into that life, and learns what it is by living in the world. moreover, everyone, whether evil or good, lives that life; for who does not wish to be called honest, and who does not wish to be called just? almost everyone practices honesty and justice outwardly, so far as to seem to be honest and just at heart, or to seem to act from real honesty and justice. the spiritual man ought to live in like manner, and can do so as easily as the natural man can, with this difference only, that the spiritual man believes in the divine, and acts honestly and justly, not solely because to so act is in accord with civil and moral laws, but also because it is in accord with divine laws. as the spiritual man, in whatever he is doing, thinks about divine things, he has communication with the angels of heaven; and so far as this takes place he is conjoined with them; and thereby his internal man, which regarded in itself is the spiritual man, is opened. when man comes into this state he is adopted and led by the lord, although himself unconscious of it, and then whatever he does that is honest and just pertaining to moral and civil life, is done from a spiritual motive; and doing what is honest and just from a spiritual motive is doing it from honesty and justice itself, or doing it from the heart. [2] his justice and honesty appear outwardly precisely the same as the justice and honesty of natural men and even of evil and infernal men; but in inward form they are wholly unlike. for evil men act justly and honestly solely for the sake of themselves and the world; and therefore if they had no fear of laws and penalties, or the loss of reputation, of honor, of gain, and of life, they would act in every respect dishonestly and unjustly, since they neither fear god nor any divine law, and therefore are not restrained by any internal bond; consequently they would use every opportunity to defraud, plunder, and spoil others, and this from delight. that inwardly they are such can be clearly seen from those of the same character in the other life, while everyone's externals are taken away, and his internals in which he at last lives to eternity are opened (see above, n. 499-511). as such then act without external restraints, which are, as just said, fear of the law, of the loss of reputation, of honor, of gain, and of life, they act insanely, and laugh at honesty and justice. [3] but those who have acted honestly and justly from regard to divine laws, when their externals are taken away and they are left to their internals, act wisely, because they are conjoined to the angels of heaven, from whom wisdom is communicated to them. from all this it can now be seen, in the first place, that when the internal man, that is, the will and thought, are conjoined to the divine, the civil and moral life of the spiritual man may be wholly like the civil and moral life of the natural man (see above, n. 358-360). 531. furthermore, the laws of spiritual life, the laws of civil life, and the laws of moral life are set forth in the ten commandments of the decalogue; in the first three the laws of spiritual life, in the four that follow the laws of civil life, and in the last three the laws of moral life. outwardly the merely natural man lives in accordance with the same commandments in the same way as the spiritual man does, for in like manner he worships the divine, goes to church, listens to preachings, and assumes a devout countenance, refrains from committing murder, adultery, and theft, from bearing false witness, and from defrauding his companions of their goods. but all this he does merely for the sake of himself and the world, to keep up appearances; while inwardly such a person is the direct opposite of what he appears outwardly, since in heart he denies the divine, in worship acts the hypocrite, and when left to himself and his own thoughts laughs at the holy things of the church, believing that they merely serve as a restraint for the simple multitude. [2] consequently he is wholly disjoined from heaven, and not being a spiritual man he is neither a moral man nor a civil man. for although he refrains from committing murder he hates everyone who opposes him, and from his hatred burns with revenge, and would therefore commit murder if he were not restrained by civil laws and external bonds, which he fears; and as he longs to do so it follows that he is continually committing murder. although he does not commit adultery, yet as he believes it to be allowable he is all the while an adulterer, since he commits adultery to the extent that he has the ability and as often as he has opportunity. although he does not steal, yet as he covets the goods of others and does not regard fraud and wicked devices as opposed to what is lawful, in intent he is continually acting the thief. the same is true of the commandments relating to moral life, which forbid false witness and coveting the goods of others. such is every man who denies the divine, and who has no conscience derived from religion. that he is such is clearly evident from those of like character in the other life when their externals have been removed and they are let into their internals. as they are then separated from heaven they act in unity with hell, and in consequence are affiliated with those who are in hell. [3] it is not so with those who in heart have acknowledged the divine, and in the actions of their lives have had respect to divine laws, and have lived as fully in accord with the first three commandments of the decalogue as they have in accordance with the others. when the externals of such are removed and they are let into their internals they are wiser than they were in the world; for entering into their internals is like entering from darkness into light, from ignorance into wisdom, and from a sorrowful life into a happy life, because they are in the divine, thus in heaven. this has been said to make known what the one kind of man is and what the other is, although they have both lived the same external life. 532. everyone may know that thoughts are led or tend in accord with the intentions, that is, in the directions that one intends; for thought is man's internal sight, and resembles the external sight in this, that to whatever point it is directed or aimed, thither it turns and there it rests. therefore when the internal sight or the thought is turned towards the world and rests there, the thought in consequence becomes worldly; when it turns to self and self-honor it becomes corporeal; but when it is turned heavenwards it becomes heavenly. so, too, when turned heavenwards it is elevated; but when turned selfward it is drawn down from heaven and immersed in what is corporeal; and when turned towards the world it is also turned down-wards from heaven, and is spent upon those objects that are presented to the natural sight. [2] man's love is what constitutes his intention and determines his internal sight or thought to its objects; thus the love of self fixes it upon self and its objects, the love of the world upon worldly objects, and the love of heaven upon heavenly objects; and when the love is known the state of the interiors which constitute the mind can be known, that is, the interiors of one who loves heaven are raised towards heaven and are opened above; while the interiors of one who loves the world or who loves himself are closed above and are opened outwardly. from this the conclusion follows that when the higher regions of the mind are closed above, man can no longer see the objects pertaining to heaven and the church, but those objects are in thick darkness to him; and what is in thick darkness is either denied or not understood. and this is why those that love themselves and the world above all things since the higher regions of their minds are closed, in heart deny divine truths; and if from their memory they say anything about them they nevertheless do not understand them. moreover, they regard them in the same way as they regard worldly and corporeal things. and being such they are able to direct the mind to those things only that enter through the senses of the body, and in these alone do they find delight. among these are also many things that are filthy, obscene, profane and wicked; and these cannot be removed, because into the minds of such no influx from heaven is possible, since their minds, as just now said, are closed above. [3] man's intention, by which his internal sight or thought is determined, is his will; for what a man wills he intends, and what he intends he thinks. therefore when his intention is heavenward his thought is determined heavenward, and with it his whole mind, which is thus in heaven; and from heaven he beholds the things of the world beneath him like one looking down from the roof of a house. so the man that has the interiors of his mind open can see the evils and falsities that are in him, for these are beneath the spiritual mind. on the other hand, the man whose interiors are not open is unable to see his evils and falsities, because he is not above them but in them. from all this one may conclude whence man has wisdom and whence insanity, also what a man will be after death when he is left to will and think and to act and speak in accordance with his interiors. all this also has been said in order to make clear what constitutes a man's interior character, however he may seem outwardly to resemble others. 533. that it is not so difficult to live the life of heaven as some believe can now be seen from this, that when any thing presents itself to a man that he knows to be dishonest and unjust, but to which his mind is borne, it is simply necessary for him to think that it ought not to be done because it is opposed to the divine precepts. if a man accustoms himself so to think, and from so doing establishes a habit of so thinking, he is gradually conjoined to heaven; and so far as he is conjoined to heaven the higher regions of his mind are opened; and so far as these are opened he sees whatever is dishonest and unjust, and so far as he sees these evils they can be dispersed, for no evil can be dispersed until it is seen. into this state man is able to enter because of his freedom, for is not any one able from his freedom to so think? and when man has made a beginning the lord quickens all that is good in him, and causes him not only to see evils to be evils, but also to refrain from willing them, and finally to turn away from them. this is meant by the lord's words, my yoke is easy and my burden is light (matt. 11:30). but it must be understood that the difficulty of so thinking and of resisting evils increases so far as man from his will does evils, for in the same measure he becomes accustomed to them until he no longer sees them, and at length loves them and from the delight of his love excuses them, and confirms them by every kind of fallacy, and declares them to be allowable and good. this is the fate of those who in early youth plunge into evils without restraint, and also reject divine things from the heart. 534. the way that leads to heaven, and the way that leads to hell were once represented to me. there was a broad way tending towards the left or the north, and many spirits were seen going in it; but at a distance a large stone was seen where the broad way came to an end. from that stone two ways branched off, one to the left and one in the opposite direction to the right. the way that went to the left was narrow or straitened, leading through the west to the south, and thus into the light of heaven; the way that went to the right was broad and spacious, leading obliquely downwards towards hell. all at first seemed to be going the same way until they came to the large stone at the head of the two ways. when they reached that point they divided; the good turned to the left and entered the straitened way that led to heaven; while the evil, not seeing the stone at the fork of the ways fell upon it and were hurt; and when they rose up they ran on in the broad way to the right which went towards hell. [2] what all this meant was afterwards explained to me. the first way that was broad, wherein many both good and evil went together and talked with each other as friends, because there was no visible difference between them, represented those who externally live alike honestly and justly, and between whom seemingly there is no difference. the stone at the head of the two ways or at the corner, upon which the evil fell and from which they ran into the way leading to hell, represented the divine truth, which is rejected by those who look towards hell; and in the highest sense this stone signified the lord's divine human. but those who acknowledged the divine truth and also the divine of the lord went by the way that led to heaven. by this again it was shown that in externals the evil lead the same kind of life as the good, or go the same way, that is, one as readily as the other; and yet those who from the heart acknowledge the divine, especially those within the church who acknowledge the divine of the lord, are led to heaven; while those who do not are led to hell. [3] the thoughts of man that proceed from his intention or will are represented in the other life by ways; and ways are visibly presented there in exact accord with those thoughts of intention; and in accord with his thoughts that proceed from intention everyone walks. for this reason the character of spirits and their thoughts are known from their ways. this also makes clear what is meant by the lord's words: enter ye in through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many be they that enter in thereby; for straitened is the way and narrow the gate that leadeth to life, and few be they who find it (matt. 7:13, 14). the way that leads to life is straitened not because it is difficult but because there are few who find it, as is said here. the stone seen at the corner where the broad and common way ended, and from which two ways were seen to lead in opposite directions, illustrated what is signified by these words of the lord: have ye not read what is written? the stone which the builders rejected was made the head of the corner. whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken (luke. 20:17, 18). "stone" signifies divine truth, and "the stone of israel" the lord in respect to his divine human; the "builders" mean those who are of the church; "the head of the corner" is where the two ways are; "to fall" and "to be broken" is to deny and perish.{1} {footnote 1} "stone" signifies truth (n. 114, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, 10376). for this reason the law was inscribed on tables of stone (n. 10376). "the stone of israel" means the lord in respect to the divine truth and his divine human (n. 6426). 535. i have been permitted to talk with some in the other life who had withdrawn from worldly affairs that they might live in a pious and holy manner, also with some who had afflicted themselves in various ways, believing that they were thereby renouncing the world and subduing the lusts of the flesh. but as most of these have thus acquired a sorrowful life and had withdrawn from the life of charity, which life can be lived only in the midst of the world, they are incapable of being affiliated with angels, because the life of angels is a life of joy resulting from a state of blessedness, and consists in performing good deeds, which are works of charity. moreover, those who have lived a life withdrawn from worldly employments are inflamed with the idea of their own merit, and are continually desiring heaven on that account, and thinking of heavenly joy as a reward, utterly ignorant of what heavenly joy is. when such are admitted into the company of angels and into their joy, which discards merit and consists in active labors and practical services, and in a blessedness resulting from the good thereby accomplished, they are astonished like one who has found out something quite foreign to his belief; and since they are not receptive of that joy they go away and ally themselves with spirits of their own kind that have lived in the world a life like their own. [2] but those who have lived an outwardly holy life, constantly attending church and praying and afflicting their souls, and at the same time have thought constantly of themselves that they would be esteemed and honored for all this above others, and finally after death would be accounted saints-such in the other life are not in heaven because they have done all this for the sake of themselves. and as they have defiled divine truths by the self-love in which they have immersed them, some of them are so insane as to think themselves gods; and are consequently in hell among those like themselves. some are cunning and deceitful, and are in the hells of the deceitful. these are such as by means of cunning arts and devices have maintained such pious conduct as induced the common people to believe that they possessed a divine sanctity. [3] of this character are many of the roman catholic saints. i have been permitted to talk with some of them, and their life was then plainly disclosed, such as it had been in the world and as it was afterwards. all this has been said to make known that the life that leads to heaven is not a life withdrawn from the world, but a life in the world; and that a life of piety separated from a life of charity, which is possible only in the world, does not lead to heaven; but a life of charity does; and a life of charity consists in acting honestly and justly in every employment, in every business, and in every work, from an interior, that is, from a heavenly, motive; and this motive is in that life whenever man acts honestly and justly because doing so is in accord with the divine laws. such a life is not difficult. but a life of piety separate from a life of charity is difficult; and as much as such a life is believed to lead towards heaven so much it leads away from heaven.{1} {footnote 1} a life of piety separated from a life of charity is of no avail, but united with charity it is profitable for all things (n. 8252, 8253). charity to the neighbor consists in doing what is good, just, and right in every work and in every employment (n. 8120-8122). charity to the neighbor takes in all things and each thing that a man thinks, wills, and does (n. 8124). a life of charity is a life in accordance with the lord's commandments (n. 3249). living in accordance with the lord's commandments is loving the lord (n. 10143, 10153, 10310, 10578, 10645). genuine charity claims no merit, because it is from interior affection and consequent delight (n. 2371, 2380, 2400, 3816, 3887, 6388-6393). man continues to be after death such as was his life of charity in the world (n. 8256). heavenly blessedness flows in from the lord into a life of charity (n. 2363). mere thinking admits no one into heaven; it must be accompanied by willing and doing good (n. 2401, 3459). unless doing good is joined with willing good and thinking good there is no salvation nor any conjunction of the internal man with the external (n. 3987). 536. lvi. the lord rules the hells. above, in treating of heaven it has been everywhere shown (especially in n. 2-6) that the god of heaven is the lord, thus that the whole government of the heavens is the lord's government. and as the relation of heaven to hell and of hell to heaven is like the relation between two opposites which mutually act contrary to each other, and from the action and re-action of which an equilibrium results, which gives permanence to all things of their action and reaction, so in order that all things and each thing may be kept in equilibrium it is necessary that he who rules the one should rule the other; for unless the same lord restrained the uprisings from the hells and checked insanities there the equilibrium would perish and everything with it. 537. but something about that equilibrium shall first be told. it is acknowledged that when two things mutually act against each other, and as much as one reacts and resists the other acts and impels, since there is equal power on either side, neither has any effect, and both can then be acted upon freely by a third. for when the force of the two is neutralized by equal opposition the force of a third has full effect, and acts as easily as if there were no opposition. [2] such is the equilibrium between heaven and hell. yet it is not an equilibrium like that between two bodily combatants whose strength is equal; but it is a spiritual equilibrium, that is, an equilibrium of falsity against truth and of evil against good. from hell falsity from evil continually exhales, and from heaven truth from good. it is this spiritual equilibrium that causes man to think and will in freedom; for whatever a man thinks and wills has reference either to evil and falsity therefrom or to good and truth therefrom. [3] therefore when he is in that equilibrium he is in freedom either to admit or accept evil and its falsity from hell or to admit or accept good and its truth from heaven. every man is held in this equilibrium by the lord, because the lord rules both heaven and hell. but why man is held in this freedom by such an equilibrium, and why evil and falsity are not taken away from him and good and truth implanted in him by divine power will be told hereafter in its own chapter. 538. a perception of the sphere of falsity from evil that flows forth from hell has often been granted me. it was like a perpetual effort to destroy all that is good and true, combined with anger and a kind of fury at not being able to do so, especially an effort to annihilate and destroy the divine of the lord, and this because all good and truth are from him. but out of heaven a sphere of truth from good was perceived, whereby the fury of the effort ascending from hell was restrained. the result of this was an equilibrium. this sphere from heaven was perceived to come from the lord alone, although it appeared to come from the angels in heaven. it is from the lord alone, and not from the angels, because every angel in heaven acknowledges that nothing of good and of truth is from himself, but all is from the lord. 539. in the spiritual world truth from good is the source of all power, and falsity from evil has no power whatever. this is because the divine itself in heaven is divine good and divine truth, and all power belongs to the divine. falsity from evil is powerless because truth from good is the source of all power, and in falsity from evil there is nothing of truth from good. consequently in heaven there is all power, and none in hell; for everyone in heaven is in truths from good, and everyone in hell is in falsities from evil. for no one is admitted into heaven until he is in truths from good, neither is any one cast down into hell until he is in falsities from evil, (that this is so can be seen in the chapters treating of the first, second, and third states of man after death, n. 491-520; and that all power belongs to truth from good can be seen in the chapter on the power of angels in heaven, n. 228-233.) 540. such, then, is the equilibrium between heaven and hell. those who are in the world of spirits are in that equilibrium, for the world of spirits is midway between heaven and hell. from the same source all men in the world are kept in a like equilibrium, since men in the world are ruled by the lord by means of spirits in the world of spirits, as will be shown hereafter in its own chapter. no such equilibrium would be possible unless the lord ruled both heaven and hell and regulated both sides. otherwise falsities from evil would preponderate, and would affect the simple good who are in the outmosts regions of heaven, and who can be more easily perverted than the angels themselves; and thereby equilibrium would perish, and with it freedom in men. 541. hell, like heaven, is divided into societies, and into as many societies as there are in heaven; for every society in heaven has a society opposite to it in hell, and this for the sake of equilibrium. but evils and falsities therefrom are what distinguish the societies in hell, as goods and truths therefrom are what distinguish the societies in heaven. that for every good there is an opposite evil, and for every truth an opposite falsity may be known from this, that nothing can exist without relation to its opposite, and what anything is in kind and degree can be known from its opposite, and from this all perception and sensation is derived. for this reason the lord continually provides that every society in heaven shall have an opposite in some society of hell, and that there shall be an equilibrium between the two. 542. as hell is divided into the same number of societies as heaven, there are as many hells as there are societies of heaven; for as each society of heaven is a heaven in smaller form (see above, n. 51-58), so each society in hell is a hell in smaller form. as in general there are three heavens, so in general there are three hells, a lowest, which is opposite to the inmost or third heaven, a middle, which is opposite to the middle or second heaven, and a higher, which is opposite to the outmost or first heaven. 543. how the hells are ruled by the lord shall be briefly explained. in general the hells are ruled by a general outflow from the heavens of divine good and divine truth whereby the general endeavor flowing forth from the hells is checked and restrained; also by a particular outflow from each heaven and from each society of heaven. the hells are ruled in particular by means of the angels, to whom it is granted to look into the hells and to restrain insanities and disturbances there; and sometimes angels are sent to them who moderate these insanities and disturbances by their presence. but in general all in the hells are ruled by means of their fears. some are ruled by fears implanted in the world and still inherent in them; but as these fears are not sufficient, and gradually subside, they are ruled by fears of punishments; and it is especially by these that they are deterred from doing evil. the punishments in hell are manifold, lighter or more severe in accordance with the evils. for the most part the more wicked, who excel in cunning and in artifices, and who are able to hold the rest in subjection and servitude by means of punishments and consequent terror, are set over them; but these governors dare not pass beyond the limits prescribed to them. it must be understood that the sole means of restraining the violence and fury of those who are in the hells is the fear of punishment. there is no other way. 544. it has been believed heretofore in the world that there is one devil that presides over the hells; that he was created an angel of light; but having become rebellious he was cast down with his crew into hell. this belief has prevailed because the devil and satan, and also lucifer, are mentioned by name in the word, and the word in those places has been understood according to the sense of the letter. but by "the devil" and "satan" there hell is meant, "devil" meaning the hell that is behind, where the worst dwell, who are called evil genii; and "satan" the hell that is in front, where the less wicked dwell, who are called evil spirits; and "lucifer" those that belong to babel, or babylon, who would extend their dominion even into heaven. that there is no one devil to whom the hells are subject is evident also from this, that all who are in the hells, like all who are in the heavens, are from the human race (see n. 311-317); and that those who have gone there from the beginning of creation to this time amount to myriads of myriads, and everyone of them is a devil in accord with his opposition to the divine while he lived in the world (see above, n. 311, 312). 545. lvii. the lord casts no one into hell; the spirit casts himself down. an opinion has prevailed with some that god turns away his face from man, casts man away from himself, and casts him into hell, and is angry with him on account of his evil; and some believe also that god punishes man and does evil to him. in this opinion they establish themselves by the sense of the letter of the word, where such things are declared, not knowing that the spiritual sense of the word, by which the sense of the letter is made clear, is wholly different; and consequently that the genuine doctrine of the church, which is from the spiritual sense of the word, teaches otherwise, namely, that god never turns away his face from man, and never casts man away from himself, that he casts no one into hell and is angry with no one.{1} everyone, moreover, whose mind is enlightened perceives this to be true when he reads the word, from the simple truth that god is good itself, love itself, and mercy itself; and that good itself cannot do evil to any one, and love itself and mercy itself can not cast man away from itself, because this is contrary to the very essence of mercy and love, thus contrary to the divine itself. therefore those who think from an enlightened mind clearly perceive, when they read the word, that god never turns himself away from man; and as he never turns himself away from him he deals with him from goodness, love, and mercy, that is, wills good to him, loves him, and is merciful to him. and from this they see that the sense of the letter of the word, in which such things are declared, has stored up within itself a spiritual sense, and that these expressions that are used in the sense of the letter in accommodation to man's apprehension and according to his first and general ideas are to be explained in accordance with the spiritual sense. {footnote 1} in the word anger and wrath are attributed to the lord, but they are in man, and it is so expressed because such is the appearance to man when he is punished and damned (n. 798, 5798, 6997, 8284, 8483, 8875, 9306, 10431). evil also is attributed to the lord, although nothing but good is from him (n. 2447, 6071, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7632, 7679, 7926, 8227, 8228, 8632, 9306). why it is so expressed in the word (n. 6071, 6991, 6997, 7632, 7643, 7679, 7710, 7926, 8282, 9010, 9128). the lord is pure mercy and clemency (n. 6997, 8875). 546. those who are enlightened see further that good and evil are two opposites, and are therefore opposed as heaven and hell are, and that all good is from heaven and all evil from hell; and as it is the divine of the lord that makes heaven (n. 7-12), nothing but good flows into man from the lord, and nothing but evil from hell; thus the lord is continually withdrawing man from evil and leading him to good, while hell is continually leading man into evil. unless man were between these two, he could have no thought nor any will, still less any freedom or any choice; for all these man has by virtue of the equilibrium between good and evil; consequently if the lord should turn himself away, leaving man to evil alone, man would cease to be man. all this shows that the lord flows into every man with good, into the evil man as well as the good; but with the difference that the lord is continually withdrawing the evil man from evil and is continually leading the good man to good; and this difference lies in the man himself, because he is the recipient. 547. from this it is clear that it is from hell that man does evil, and from the lord that he does good. but man believes that whatever he does he does from himself, and in consequence of this the evil that he does sticks to him as his own; and for this reason man is the cause of his own evil, and in no way the lord. evil in man is hell in him, for it is the same thing whether you say evil or hell. and since man is the cause of his own evil he is led into hell, not by the lord but by himself. for so far is the lord from leading man into hell that it is he who delivers man from hell, and this he does so far as man does not will and love to be in his own evil. all of man's will and love continues with him after death (n. 470-484). he who wills and loves evil in the world wills and loves the same evil in the other life, but he no longer suffers himself to be withdrawn from it. if, therefore, a man is in evil he is tied to hell, and in respect to his spirit is actually there, and after death desires nothing so much as to be where his evil is; consequently it is man who casts himself into hell after death, and not the lord. 548. how this comes about shall also be explained. when man enters the other life he is received first by angels, who perform for him all good offices, and talk with him about the lord, heaven, and the angelic life, and instruct him in things that are true and good. but if the man, now a spirit, be one who knew about these things in the world, but in heart denied or despised them, after some conversation he desires and seeks to get away from these angels. as soon as the angels perceive this they leave him. after some interaction with others he at length unites himself with those who are in evil like his own (see above, n. 445-452). when this takes place he turns himself away from the lord and turns his face towards the hell to which he had been joined in the world, in which those abide who are in a like love of evil. all this makes clear that the lord draws every spirit to himself by means of angels and by means of influx from heaven; but those spirits that are in evil completely resist, and as it were tear themselves away from the lord, and are drawn by their own evil, thus by hell, as if by a rope. and as they are so drawn, and by reason of their love of evil are eager to follow, it is evident that they themselves cast themselves into hell by their own free choice. men in the world because of their idea of hell are unable to believe that this is so. in fact, in the other life before the eyes of those who are outside of hell it does not so appear; but only so to those who cast themselves into hell, for such enter of their own accord. those who enter from a burning love of evil appear to be cast headlong, with the head downwards and the feet upwards. it is because of this appearance that they seem to be cast into hell by divine power. (but about this more will be said below, n. 574.) from all this it can be seen that the lord casts no one into hell, but everyone casts himself into hell, both while he is living in the world and also after death when he comes among spirits. 549. the lord from his divine essence, which is goodness, love, and mercy, is unable to deal in the same way with every man, because evils and their falsities prevent, and not only quench his divine influx but even reject it. evils and their falsities are like black clouds which interpose between the sun and the eye, and take away the sunshine and the serenity of its light; although the unceasing endeavor of the sun to dissipate the opposing clouds continues, for it is operating behind them; and in the meantime transmits something of obscure light into the eye of man by various roundabout ways. it is the same in the spiritual world. the sun there is the lord and the divine love (n. 116-140); and the light there is the divine truth (n. 126-140); black clouds there are falsities from evil; the eye there is the understanding. so far as any one in that world is in falsities from evil he is encompassed by such a cloud, which is black and dense according to the degree of his evil. from this comparison it can be seen that the lord is unceasingly present with everyone, but that he is received variously. 550. evil spirits are severely punished in the world of spirits in order that by means of punishments they may be deterred from doing evil. this also appears to be from the lord; and yet nothing of punishment there is from the lord, but is from the evil itself; since evil is so joined with its own punishment that the two cannot be separated. for the infernal crew desire and love nothing so much as doing evil, especially inflicting punishments and torment upon others; and they maltreat and inflict punishments upon everyone who is not protected by the lord. when, therefore, evil is done from an evil heart, because it thereby discards all protection from the lord, infernal spirits rush upon the one who does the evil, and inflict punishment. this may be partly illustrated by evils and their punishments in the world, where the two are also joined. for laws in the world prescribe a penalty for every evil; therefore he that rushes into evil rushes also into the penalty of evil. the only difference is that in the world the evil may be concealed; but in the other life it cannot be concealed. all this makes clear that the lord does evil to no one; and that it is the same as it is in the world, where it is not the king nor the judge nor the law that is the cause of punishment to the guilty, because these are not the cause of the evil in the evil doer. 551. lviii. all who are in the hells are in evils and in falsities therefrom derived from the loves of self and of the world. all who are in the hells are in evils and in falsities therefrom, and no one there is in evils and at the same time in truths. in the world evil men for the most part have some knowledge of spiritual truths, which are the truths of the church, having been taught them from childhood and later by preaching and by reading the word; and afterwards they have talked about them. some have even led others to believe that they are christians at heart because of their knowing how to talk with pretended affection in harmony with the truth, also how to act uprightly as if from spiritual faith. but those of this class whose interior thoughts have been hostile to these truths, and who have refrained from doing the evils that were in harmony with their thoughts only because of the civil laws, or with a view to reputation, honors, and gain, are all of them evil in heart, and are in truths and goods not in respect to their spirit but only in respect to their body; and consequently, when their externals are taken away from them in the other life, and their internals which pertain to their spirit are revealed, they are wholly in evils and falsities, and not at all in truths and goods; and it is thus made clear that truths and goods resided only in their memory merely as things known about, and that they brought them forth therefrom when talking, putting on a semblance of good seemingly from spiritual love and faith. when such are let into their internals and thus into their evils they are no longer able to speak what is true, but only what is false; since they speak from evils; for to speak what is true from evils is then impossible, since the spirit is nothing but his own evil, and from evil what is false goes forth. every evil spirit is reduced to this state before he is cast into hell (see above, n. 499-512). this is called being vastated in respect to truths and goods.{1} vastation is simply being let into one's internals, that is, into what is the spirit's own, or into the spirit itself (see above, n. 425). {footnote 1} before the evil are cast down into hell they are devastated of truths and goods, and when these have been taken away they are of themselves carried into hell (n. 6977, 7039, 7795, 8210, 8232, 9330). the lord does not devastate them, but they devastate themselves (n. 7643, 7926). every evil has in it what is false; therefore those who are in evil are also in falsity, although some do not know it (n. 7577, 8094). those who are in evil must needs think what is false when they think from themselves (n. 7437). all who are in hell speak falsities from hell (n. 1695, 7351, 7352, 7357, 7392, 7689). 552. when man after death comes into this state he is no longer a man-spirit, as he was in his first state (of which above, n. 491-498), but is truly a spirit; for he is truly a spirit who has a face and body that correspond to his internals which pertain to his mind, that is, has an external form that is a type or effigy of his internals. a spirit is such after he has passed through the first and second states spoken of above; consequently when he is looked upon his character is at once known, not only from his face and from his body, but also from his speech and movements; and as he is then in himself he can be nowhere else than where his like are. [2] for in the spiritual world there is a complete sharing of affections and their thoughts, and in consequence a spirit is conveyed to his like as if of himself, since it is done from his affection and its delight. in fact, he turns himself in that direction; for thus he inhales his own life or draws his breath freely, which he cannot do when he turns another way. it must be understood that this sharing with others in the spiritual world is effected in accordance with the turning of the face, and that each one has constantly before his face those who are in a love like his own, and this in every turning of the body (see above, n. 151) [3] in consequence of this all infernal spirits turn themselves away from the lord toward the densely dark body and the dark body that are there in place of the sun and moon of this world, while all the angels of heaven turn themselves to the lord as the sun of heaven and as the moon of heaven (see above, n. 123, 143, 144, 151). from all this it is clear that all who are in the hells are in evils and in falsities therefrom; also that they are turned to their own loves. 553. all spirits in the hells, when seen in any light of heaven, appear in the form of their evil; for everyone there is an image of his evil, since his interiors and his exteriors act as a one, the interiors making themselves visible in the exteriors, which are the face, body, speech and movements; thus the character of the spirit is known as soon as he is seen. in general evil spirits are forms of contempt of others and of menaces against those who do not pay them respect; they are forms of hatreds of various kinds, also of various kinds of revenge. fierceness and cruelty from their interiors show through these forms. but when they are commended, venerated, and worshiped by others their faces are restrained and take on an expression of gladness from delight. [2] it is impossible to describe in a few words how all these forms appear, for no one is like another, although there is a general likeness among those who are in the same evil, and thus in the same infernal society, from which, as from a plane of derivation, the faces of all are seen to have a certain resemblance. in general their faces are hideous, and void of life like those of corpses; the faces of some are black, others fiery like torches, others disfigured with pimples, warts, and ulcers; some seem to have no face, but in its stead something hairy or bony; and with some only the teeth are seen; their bodies also are monstrous; and their speech is like the speech of anger or of hatred or of revenge; for what everyone speaks is from his falsity, while his tone is from his evil. in a word, they are all images of their own hell. [3] i have not been permitted to see what the form of hell itself in general is; i have only been told that as the entire heaven in one complex reflects a single man (n. 59-67), so the entire hell in one complex reflects a single devil, and might be exhibited in an image of a single devil (see above, n. 544). but the forms of particular hells or infernal societies i have often been permitted to see; for at their entrances, which are called the gates of hell, a monster commonly appears that represents in a general way the form of those within. the fierce passions of those who dwell there are represented at the same time in horrible and hideous ways that i forbear to describe. [4] but it must be understood that this is the way infernal spirits appear in the light of heaven, while among themselves they appear as men. this is of the lord's mercy, that they may not appear as loathsome to one another as they appear before the angels. but this appearance is a fallacy, for as soon as any ray of light from heaven is let in, their human forms appear changed into monstrous forms, such as they are in themselves (as has been described above). for in the light of heaven everything appears as it is in itself. for this reason they shun the light of heaven and cast themselves down into their own light, which is like that from lighted coals, and in some cases like that from burning sulphur; but this light also is turned into mere thick darkness when any light from heaven flows in upon it. this is why the hells are said to be in thick darkness and in darkness; and why "thick darkness" and "darkness" signify falsities derived from evil, such as are in hell. 554. from an inspection of these monstrous forms of spirits in the hells (which, as i have said, are all forms of contempt of others and of menaces against those who do not pay them honor and respect, also forms of hatred and revenge against those who do not favor them), it became evident that in general they were all forms of the love of self and the love of the world; and that the evils of which these are the specific forms have their origin in these two loves. moreover, i have been told from heaven, and it has been proved to me by much experience, that these two loves, the love of self and the love of the world, rule in the hells and constitute the hells as love to the lord and love towards the neighbor rule in the heavens and constitute the heavens; also that the two loves that are the loves of hell and the two loves that are the loves of heaven are diametrically opposite to each other. 555. at first i wondered how it is that love of self and love of the world could be so diabolical, and how those who are in these loves could be such monsters in appearance; for in the world not much thought is given to love of self, but only to that elated state of mind in external matters which is called haughtiness, and that alone, being so apparent to the sight, is regarded as love of self. furthermore, love of self, when it is not so displayed, is believed in the world to be the very fire of life by which man is stimulated to seek employment and to perform uses, and if he found no honor or glory in these his mind would grow torpid. it is asked, who has ever done any worthy, useful, and distinguished deed except for the sake of being praised and honored by others, or regarded with esteem and honor by others? and can this be from any other source than the fire of love for glory and honor, consequently for self. for this reason, it is unknown in the world that love of self, regarded in itself, is the love that rules in hell and constitutes hell in man. this being so i will first describe what the love of self is, and then will show that all evils and their falsities spring from that love as their fountain. 556. the love of self is wishing well to oneself alone, and to others only for the sake of self, even to the church, one's country, or any human society. it consists also in doing good to all these solely for the sake of one's own reputation, honor, and glory; and unless these are seen in the uses he performs in behalf of others he says in his heart, how does it concern me? why should i do this? what shall i get from it? and therefore he does not do it. evidently, then, he who is in the love of self does not love the church or his country or society, nor any use, but himself alone. his delight is solely the delight of the love of self; and as the delight that comes forth from his love is what constitutes the life of man, his life is a life of self; and a life of self is a life from what is man's own, and what is man's own, regarded in itself, is nothing but evil. he who loves himself loves also those who belong to him, that is, in particular, his children and grandchildren, and in general, all who are at one with him, whom he calls his. to love these is to love himself, for he regards them as it were in himself, and himself in them. among those whom he calls his are also all who commend, honor, and pay their court to him. 557. what love of self is can be seen by comparing it with heavenly love. heavenly love consists in loving uses for the sake of uses, or goods for the sake of goods, which are done by man in behalf of the church, his country, human society, and a fellow-citizen; for this is loving god and loving the neighbor, since all uses and all goods are from god, and are the neighbor who is to be loved. but he who loves these for the sake of himself loves them merely as servants, because they are serviceable to him; consequently it is the will of one who is in self-love that the church, his country, human societies, and his fellow citizens, should serve him, and not he them, for he places himself above them and places them beneath himself. therefore so far as any one is in love of self he separates himself from heaven, because he separates himself from heavenly love. 558. [a.] furthermore, so far as any one is in heavenly love, which consists in loving uses and goods and being moved by delight of heart when doing them for the sake of the church, country, human society, and ones fellow-citizens, he is so far led by the lord, because that love is the love in which the lord is, and which is from him. but so far as any one is in the love of self, which consists in performing uses and goods for the sake of himself, so far he is led by himself; and so far as any one is led by himself he is not led by the lord. and from this it also follows that so far as any one loves himself he separates himself from the divine, thus also from heaven. to be led by one's self is to be led by what is one's own; and what is man's own is nothing but evil; for man's inherited evil consists in loving self more than god, and the world more than heaven.{1} whenever man looks to himself in the good that he does he is let into what is his own, that is, into his inherited evils for he then looks from good to himself and from himself to good, and therefore he presents an image of himself in his good, and not an image of the divine. that this is so has also been proved to me by experience. there are evil spirits whose dwelling places are in the middle quarter between the north and the west, beneath the heavens, who are skilled in the art of leading well-disposed spirits into their nature [proprium] and thus into evils of various kinds. this they do by leading them into thoughts about themselves, either openly by praises and honors, or secretly by directing their affections to themselves; and so far as this is done they turn the faces of the well-disposed spirits away from heaven, and to the same extent they obscure their understanding and call forth evils from what is their own. {footnote 1} man's own, which he derives by inheritance from his parents, is nothing but dense evil (n. 210, 215, 731, 876, 987, 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518, 3701, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10283, 10284, 10286, 10731). man's own is loving self more than god, and the world more than heaven, and making nothing of one's neighbor in comparison with oneself, except for the sake of self, that is one's own self; thus it consists in love of self and of the world (n. 694, 731, 4317, 5660). all evils flow from the love of self and the love of the world when these predominate (n. 1307, 1308, 1321, 1594, 1691, 3413, 7255, 7376, 7488, 7489, 8318, 9335, 9348, 10038, 10742). these evils are contempt of others, enmity, hatred, revenge, cruelty, deceit (n. 6667, 7370, 7374, 9348, 10038, 10742). from these evils all falsity flows (n. 1047, 10283, 10284, 10286). 558. [b.] that the love of self is the opposite of love to the neighbor can be seen from the origin and essence of both. the love of the neighbor of one who is in the love of self begins with oneself, for he claims that everyone is neighbor to himself; and it goes forth from him as its center to all who make one with him, diminishing in accordance with the degree of their conjunction with him by love. all outside of this circle are regarded as of no account; and those who are opposed to those in the circle and to their evils are accounted as enemies, whatever their character may be, however wise, upright, honest, or just. but spiritual love to the neighbor begins with the lord, and goes forth from him as its center to all who are conjoined to him by love and faith, going forth in accordance with the quality of their love and faith.{1} evidently, then, the love of the neighbor that has its beginning in man is the opposite of the love to the neighbor that has its beginning in the lord; and the former proceeds from evil because it proceeds from what is man's own, while the latter proceeds from good because it proceeds from the lord, who is good itself. evidently, also, the love of the neighbor that proceeds from man and from what is his own is corporeal, while the love to the neighbor that proceeds from the lord is heavenly. in a word, in the man in whom love of self prevails that love constitutes the head, and heavenly love constitutes the feet. on that love he stands; and if it does not serve him he tramples it under foot. this is the cause of the appearance that those who are cast down into hell fall with the head downward towards hell, and with the feet upwards towards heaven (see above, n. 548). {footnote 1} those who do not know what it is to love the neighbor imagine every man to be a neighbor, and that good is to be done to everyone who is in need of help (n. 6704). they also believe that everyone is neighbor to himself, and thus that love to the neighbor begins with self (n. 6933). those who love themselves above all things, that is, with whom self-love prevails, also make love to the neighbor to begin with themselves (n. 6710). in what manner everyone is neighbor to himself, explained (n. 6933-6938). but those who are christians and who love god above all things make love to the neighbor to begin with the lord, because he is to be loved above all things (n. 6706, 6711, 6819, 6824). the distinctions of neighbor are as many as the distinctions of good from the lord, and there should be distinction in doing good to everyone in accordance with the quality of his state, and this is a matter of christian prudence (n. 6707, 6709, 6711, 6818). these distinctions are innumerable, and for this reason the ancients, who knew what is meant by the neighbor, reduced the exercises of charity into classes, which they denoted by suitable names, and from this knew in what respect everyone was a neighbor, and in what manner good was to be done to everyone with prudence (n. 2417, 6628, 6705, 7259-7262). the doctrine in the ancient churches was the doctrine of charity towards the neighbor, and from this they had wisdom (n. 2417, 2385, 3419, 3420, 4844, 6628). 559. again, love of self is such that so far as the reins are given it, that is, so far as external bonds are removed, which are fears of the law and its penalties, and of the loss of reputation, honor, gain, employment, and life, so far it rushes on until it finally longs to rule not only over the entire world but also over the entire heaven, and over the divine himself, knowing no limit or end. this propensity lurks hidden in everyone who is in love of self, although it is not manifest to the world, where it is held in check by such bonds as have been mentioned. everyone can see examples of this in potentates and kings who are subject to no such restraints and bonds, but rush on and subjugate provinces and kingdoms so far as they are successful, and aspire to power and glory without limit; and still more strikingly in the babylon of this day, which has extended its dominion into heaven, and has transferred to itself all the divine power of the lord, and continually lusts for more. that such men, when they have entered after death the other life, are directly opposed to the divine and to heaven, and are on the side of hell, can be seen in the little work on the last judgment and the destruction of babylon. 560. picture to yourself a society of such persons, all of whom love themselves alone and love others only so far as they make one with themselves, and you will see that their love is precisely like the love of thieves for each other, who embrace and call one another friends so long as they are acting together; but when they cease to act together and discard their subordination to one another, they rise up against and murder one another. when the interiors or the minds of such are explored they will be seen to be full of bitter hatred one against another, and at heart will laugh at all justice and honesty, and likewise at the divine, which they reject as of no account. this is still more evident in the societies of such in the hells treated of below. 561. the interiors pertaining to the thoughts and affections of those who love themselves above all things are turned towards themselves and the world, and thus are turned away from the lord and from heaven; and consequently they are obsessed with evils of every kind, and the divine cannot flow in; for if it does flow in it is instantly submerged in thoughts of self, and is defiled, and is also mingled with the evils that flow from what is their own. this is why all such in the other life look backwards away from the lord, and towards the densely dark body that is there in the place of the sun of the world, and is diametrically opposite to the sun of heaven, which is the lord (see above, n. 123). "thick darkness" signifies evil, and the "sun of the world" the love of self.{1} {footnote 1} "the sun of the world" signifies the love of self (n. 2441). in this sense "to worship the sun" signifies to worship those things that are antagonistic to heavenly love and to the lord (n. 2441, 10584). "the sun's growing hot" means an increasing lust of evil (n. 8487). 562. the evils of those who are in the love of self are, in general, contempt of others, envy, enmity against all who do not favor them, and consequent hostility, hatred of various kinds, revenge, cunning, deceit, unmercifulness, and cruelty; and in respect to religious matters there is not merely a contempt for the divine and for divine things, which are the truths and goods of the church, but also hostility to them. when man becomes a spirit this hostility is turned into hatred; and then he not only cannot endure to hear these truths and goods mentioned, he even burns with hatred against all who acknowledge and worship the divine. i once talked with a certain spirit who in the world had been a man in authority, and had loved self to an unusual degree; and when he simply heard some one mention the divine, and especially when he heard him mention the lord, he was so excited by hatred arising from anger as to burn with the desire to kill; and when the reins of his love were loosened he wished to be the devil himself, that from his love of self he might continually infest heaven. this is the desire also of some of the papist religion when they perceive in the other life that the lord has all power and they have none. 563. certain spirits were seen by me in the western quarter towards the south, who said that they had been in positions of great dignity in the world, and that they deserved to be more highly esteemed than others and to rule over others. their interior character was explored by angels, and it was found that in their offices in the world they had not looked to uses but to themselves, and thus that they had set themselves before uses. but as they were very eager and importunate to be set over others they were allowed to associate with those who were consulting about matters of great importance; but it was perceived that they were unable to give any thought to the business under discussion, or to see matters as they are in themselves, or to speak with reference to the use of the thing, but were able to speak only with reference to self, and that they wished to act from what is pleasing on the ground of favor. they were therefore dismissed from that duty, and left to seek employment for themselves elsewhere. therefore they went further into the western quarter, where they were received here and there, but everywhere were told that they thought only of themselves, and of no business except with reference to self, and for this reason were stupid and like merely sensual corporeal spirits. on this account wheresoever they went they were sent away. some time afterwards they were seen reduced to a destitute state and asking alms. thus it was made clear that those who are in the love of self, however from the fire of that love they may seem to speak in the world wisely, speak merely from the memory, and not from any rational light. therefore in the other life, when they are no longer permitted to bring forth the things of the natural memory, they are more stupid than others, and for the reason that they are separated from the divine. 564. there are two kinds of dominion, one of love towards the neighbor and the other of love of self. these two dominions in their essence are direct opposites. one who rules from love towards the neighbor wills good to all, and loves nothing so much as uses, that is, serving others; which is willing good to others and performing uses, either to the church, or to the country, or to society, or to a fellow citizen. this is his love and the delight of his heart. moreover, so far as he is exalted to dignities above others he rejoices, not for the sake of the dignities but for the sake of the uses he is then able to perform in greater abundance and of a higher order. such dominion exists in the heavens. [2] but one who rules from the love of self wills good to no one except himself; the uses he performs are for the sake of his own honor and glory, which to him are the only uses; his end in serving others is that he may himself be served, honored, and permitted to rule; he seeks dignities not for the sake of the good offices he may render to his country and the church, but that he may gain eminence and glory and thereby the delight of his heart. [3] moreover this love of dominion continues with everyone after his life in the world. those that have ruled from love towards the neighbor are entrusted with authority in the heavens; but then it is not they who rule, but the uses which they love; and when uses rule the lord rules. but those who have ruled while in the world are in hell, and are there vile slaves. i have seen those who had power in the world, but who exercised dominion from love of self, cast out among the most vile, and some among those who are in excrementitious places. 565. but in respect to the love of the world: it is a love opposed to heavenly love in a less degree than love of self, because the evils hidden within it are lesser evils. the love of the world consists in one's desiring to secure to himself, by any kind of artifice, the wealth of others, and in setting his heart upon riches, and permitting the world to draw him and lead him away from spiritual love, which is love towards the neighbor, and thus from heaven and from the divine. but this love is manifold. there is a love of wealth for the sake of being exalted to honors, when these alone are loved. there is a love of honors and dignities with a view to the increase of wealth. there is a love of wealth for the sake of various uses that give delight in the world. there is a love of wealth merely for the sake of wealth, which is a miserly love; and so on. the end for the sake of which wealth is sought is called its use; and it is the end or use that gives to love its quality; for the love is such as is the end in view, and all other things merely serve it as means. 566. lviv. what hell fire is and what the gnashing of teeth is. what eternal fire is, and what the gnashing of teeth is, which are mentioned in the word in reference to those who are in hell, scarcely any one as yet has known, because the contents of the word have been thought about only in a material way, and nothing has been known about its spiritual sense. so fire has been understood by some to mean material fire, by others to mean torment in general, by others remorse of conscience, and others have held that it is mentioned merely to excite terror in the wicked. likewise some have supposed the gnashing of teeth to mean actual gnashing, and some only a horror, such as is excited when such a collision of teeth is heard. but any one who is acquainted with the spiritual meaning of the word may know what eternal fire is, and what the gnashing of teeth is; for every expression and every meaning of the expressions in the word contains a spiritual meaning, since the word in its bosom is spiritual; and what is spiritual can be set before man only in natural forms of expression, because man is in the natural world and thinks from the things of that world. therefore it shall now be told what is meant by "eternal fire" and "the gnashing of teeth" into which the spirits of evil men enter after death, or which their spirits, then in the spiritual world, endure. 567. there are two origins of heat, one the sun of heaven which is the lord, and the other the sun of the world. the heat that is from the sun of heaven, that is, the lord, is spiritual heat; and this in its essence is love (see above, n. 126-140); but the heat from the sun of the world is natural heat, and this in its essence is not love, but serves spiritual heat or love as a receptacle. evidently love in its essence is heat, since it is love, in accord with its degree and quality, that gives heat to the mind, and thence to the body; and this man experiences as well in the winter as in the summer. the heating of the blood is from the same source. that the natural heat that springs from the sun of the world serves spiritual heat as a receptacle is evident from the heat of the body, which is excited by the heat of its spirit, and is a kind of substitute for that heat in the body. it is especially evident from the spring and summer heat in animals of every kind which then annually renew their loves. [2] it is not the natural heat that produces this effect, but it disposes their bodies to receive the heat that flows into them from the spiritual world; for the spiritual world flows into the natural as cause into effect. whoever believes that natural heat produces these loves is much deceived, for influx is from the spiritual world into the natural world, and not from the natural world into the spiritual; and as all love belongs to the life itself it is spiritual. [3] again, he who believes that any thing comes forth in the natural world without influx from the spiritual world is deceived, for what is natural comes forth and continues to exist only from what is spiritual. furthermore, the subjects of the vegetable kingdom derive their germinations from influx out of the spiritual world. the natural heat of spring time and summer merely disposes the seeds into their natural forms by expanding and opening them so that influx from the spiritual world can there act as a cause. these things are mentioned to make clear that there are two kinds of heat, spiritual heat and natural heat; and that spiritual heat is from the sun of heaven and natural heat from the sun of the world, and that influx and consequent cooperation produce the effects that appear before the eyes in the world.{1} {footnote 1} there is an influx from the spiritual world into the natural world (n. 6053-6058, 6189-6215, 6307-6327, 6466-6495, 6598-6626). there is also an influx into the lives of animals (n. 5850). and into the subjects of the vegetable kingdom (n. 3648). this influx is a continual endeavor to act in accordance with the divine order (n. 6211 at the end). 568. spiritual heat in man is the heat of his life, because, as was said above, it is in its essence love. this heat is what is meant in the word by "fire," love to the lord and love towards the neighbor by "heavenly fire," and love of self and love of the world by "infernal fire." 569. infernal fire or love springs from a like origin as heavenly fire or love, namely, the sun of heaven, or the lord; but it is made infernal by those who receive it. for all influx from the spiritual world varies in accordance with reception, that is, in accordance with the forms into which it flows, just as it is with the heat and light from the sun of the world. the heat from that sun flowing into shrubberies and beds of flowers produces vegetation, and draws forth grateful and sweet odors; but the same heat flowing into excrementitious and decaying substances produces putrefactions, and draws forth rank and disgusting stenches. in like manner the light from the same sun produces in one subject beautiful and pleasing colors, in another unbeautiful and disagreeable colors. the same is true of the heat and light from the sun of heaven, which is love. when the heat, or love, from that sun flows into good, as it does in good men and angels, it makes their good fruitful; but when it flows into the evil it produces a contrary effect, for their evils either suffocate it or pervert it. in like manner when the light of heaven flows into the truths of good it imparts intelligence and wisdom; but when it flows into the falsities of evil it is turned into insanities and phantasies of various kinds. thus in every instance the result is in accordance with reception. 570. as infernal fire is the love of self and of the world it is also every lust of these loves, since lust is love in its continuity, for what a man loves he continually lusts after. infernal fire is also delight, since what a man loves and lusts after he perceives, when he obtains it, to be delightful. man's delight of heart is from no other source. infernal fire, therefore, is the lust and delight that spring from these two loves as their origins. the evils flowing from these loves are contempt of others, enmity, and hostility against those who do not favor them, envy, hatred, and revenge, and from these fierceness and cruelty; and in respect to the divine they are denial and consequent contempt, derision, and detraction of the holy things of the church; and after death, when man becomes a spirit, these evils are changed to anger and hatred against these holy things (see above, n. 562). and as these evils breathe forth continually the destruction and murder of those whom they account as enemies, and against whom they burn with hatred and revenge, so it is the delight of their life to will to destroy and kill, and so far as they are unable to do this, to will to do mischief, to injure, and to exercise cruelty. [2] such is the meaning of "fire" in the word, where the evil and the hells are treated of, some passages from which i will here quote in the way of proof: everyone is a hypocrite and an evil doer, and every mouth speaketh folly. for wickedness burneth as the fire; it devoureth the briers and thorns, and kindleth in the thickets of the forests, and they roll upward in the rising of smoke; and the people is become like food for fire; no man spareth his brother (isa. 9:17-19). i will show wonders in the heavens, and in the earth blood and fire, and pillars of smoke; the sun shall be turned into darkness (joel 2:30, 31). the land shall become burning pitch; it shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up forever (isa. 34:9, 10). behold the day cometh burning as a furnace, and all the proud and every worker of wickedness shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall set them on fire (mal. 4:1). babylon is become a habitation of demons. they cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning. her smoke goeth up unto the ages of the ages (apoc. 18:2, 18; 19:3). he opened the pit of the abyss, and there went up a smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun was darkened, and the air, by the smoke of the pit (apoc. 9:2). out of the mouth of the horses went forth fire and smoke and brimstone; by these was the third part of men killed, by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone (apoc. 4:17, 18). if any one adores the beast he shall drink of the wine of the wrath of god mixed with unmixed wine in the cup of his anger, and shall be tormented with fire and brimstone (apoc. 16:9, 10). the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it was given unto it to scorch men with fire; therefore men were scorched with great heat (apoc. 16:8, 9). they were cast into a lake burning with fire and brimstone (apoc. 19:20; 20:14, 15; 21:8). every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire (matt. 3:10; luke 3:9). the son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire (matt. 13:41, 42, 50). the king shall say to them that are on the left hand, depart from me, ye cursed, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (matt. 25:41). they shall be sent into everlasting fire, into the hell of fire, where their worm shall not die, and the fire shall not be quenched (matt. 18:8, 9; mark 9:43-49). the rich man in hell said to abraham that he was tormented in flame (luke 16:24). in these and in many other passages "fire" means the lust pertaining to love of self and love of the world, and the "smoke" therefrom means falsity from evil. 571. as the lust of doing the evils that are from the love of self and of the world is meant by "infernal fire," and as such is the lust of all in the hells (as shown in the foregoing chapter) so when the hells are opened there is an appearance of fire with smoke, such as is seen in conflagrations, a dense fire from the hells where the love of self prevails, and a flaming fire from the hells where love of the world prevails. but when the hells are closed this fiery appearance is not seen, but in its place there is a kind of obscurity like a condensation of smoke; although the fire still rages within, as can be seen by the heat exhaling therefrom, which is like the heat from the burnt ruins after a fire, and in some places like the heat from a heated furnace, in others like the heat from a hot bath. when this heat flows into man it excites lusts in him, and in evil men hatred and revenge, and in the sick insanities. such is the fire or such the heat that affects those who are in the above-mentioned loves, because in respect to their spirit they are attached to those hells, even while living in the body. but it must be understood that those who are in the hells are not in fire; the fire is an appearance; those there are conscious of no burning, but only of a warmth like that which they had felt when in the world. this appearance of fire is from correspondence, since love corresponds to fire, and all things seen in the spiritual world are seen in accordance with correspondences. 572. it must be noted that this infernal fire or heat is changed into intense cold when heat from heaven flows in; and those who are in it then shiver like those seized with chills and fever, and are inwardly distressed; and for the reason that they are in direct opposition to the divine; and the heat of heaven (which is divine love) extinguishes the heat of hell (which is the love of self), and with it the fire of their life; and this is the cause of such cold and consequent shivering and distress. this is accompanied by thick darkness and by infatuation and mutual blindness therefrom. but this rarely happens, and only when outbreaks that have increased beyond measure need to be repressed. 573. since infernal fire means every lust for doing evil that flows forth from the love of self, this fire means also such torment as exists in the hells. for the lust from that love is a lust for injuring others who do not honor, venerate and worship oneself; and in proportion to the anger thereby excited, and the hatred and revenge from that anger, is there a lust for venting one's rage upon them. when such lust is active in everyone in a society, and is restrained by no external bond, such as the fear of the law, and of the loss of reputation, honor, gain, and life, everyone from the impulse of his own evil rushes upon another; and so far as he prevails subjugates the rest and subjects them to his dominion, and vents his rage with delight upon those who do not submit themselves. this delight is so intimately united with the delight of bearing rule that they exist in the same measure, since the delight of doing harm is contained in all enmity, envy, hatred, and revenge, which as said above, are the evils of that love. all the hells are such societies, and in consequence everyone there bears hatred in his heart against others, and from hatred bursts forth into cruelty so far as he has power. these cruelties and their torments are also meant by infernal fire, since they are the effects of lusts. 574. it has been shown above (n. 548) that an evil spirit casts himself into hell of his own accord. it shall now be told in a few words how this comes about, when yet there are in hell such torments. from every hell there exhales a sphere of the lusts of those who are in it. whenever this sphere is perceived by one who is in a like lust he is affected at heart and filled with delight, for lust and its delight make one, since whatever one lusts after is delightful to him; and because of this a spirit turns himself hellwards, and from delight of heart lusts to go thither, since he does not yet know that such torments exist there, although he who knows it still lusts to go there. for no one in the spiritual world can resist his lust, because his lust belongs to his love, and his love belongs to his will, and his will belongs to his nature, and everyone there acts from his nature. [2] when, therefore, a spirit of his own accord and from his freedom drifts towards his hell and enters it, he is received at first in a friendly manner, which makes him believe that he has come among friends. but this continues for a few hours only. in the meanwhile he is explored in respect to his astuteness and consequent ability; and when this has been done they begin to infest him, and this by various methods, and with gradually greater severity and vehemence. this is accomplished by introducing him more interiorly and deeply into hell; for the more interior and deeper the hell the more malignant are the spirits. after these infestations they begin to treat him cruelly by punishments, and this goes on until he is reduced to the condition of a slave. [3] but rebellious movements are continually springing up there, since everyone wishes to be greatest, and burns with hatred against the others; and in consequence new uprisings occur, and thus one scene is changed into another, and those who are made slaves are delivered that they may assist some new devil to subjugate others; and again those who refuse to submit and render implicit obedience are tormented in various ways; and so on continually. such torments are the torments of hell, which are called hell fire. 575. gnashing of teeth is the continual contention and combat of falsities with each other, consequently of those who are in falsities, joined with contempt of others, with enmity, mockery, ridicule, blaspheming; and these evils burst forth into lacerations of various kinds; since everyone fights for his own falsity and calls it truth. these contentions and combats are heard outside of these hells like the gnashings of teeth; and are also turned into gnashings of teeth when truths from heaven flow in among them. in these hells are all who have acknowledged nature and have denied the divine. in the deeper of these hells are those that have confirmed themselves in such denials. as such are unable to receive any thing of light from heaven, and are thus unable to see any thing inwardly in themselves, they are for the most part corporeal sensual spirits, who believe nothing except what they see with their eyes and touch with their hands. therefore all the fallacies of the senses are truths to them; and it is from these that they dispute. this is why their contentions are heard as gnashings of teeth; for in the spiritual world all falsities give a grating sound, and the teeth correspond to the outmost things in nature and to the outmost things in man, which are corporeal sensual.{1} (that there is gnashing of teeth in the hells may be seen in matthew 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; luke 13:28.) {footnote 1} the correspondence of the teeth (n. 5565-5568). those who are purely sensual and have scarcely anything of spiritual light correspond to the teeth (n. 5565). in the word a tooth signifies the sensual, which is the outmost of the life of man (n. 9052, 9062). gnashing of teeth in the other life comes from those who believe that nature is everything and the divine nothing (n. 5568). 576. lx. the malice and heinous artifices of infernal spirits in what way spirits are superior to men everyone can see and comprehend who thinks interiorly and knows any thing of the operation of his own mind; for in his mind he can consider, evolve, and form conclusions upon more subjects in a single moment than he can utter or express in writing in half an hour. this shows the superiority of man when he is in his spirit, and therefore when he becomes a spirit. for it is the spirit that thinks, and it is the body by which the spirit expresses its thoughts in speech or writing. in consequence of this, when man after death becomes an angel he is in intelligence and wisdom ineffable in comparison with his intelligence and wisdom while he lived in the world; for while he lived in the world his spirit was bound to his body, and was thereby in the natural world; and therefore whatever he thought spiritually flowed into natural ideas, which are comparatively general, gross, and obscure, and which are incapable of receiving innumerable things that pertain to spiritual thought; and which infold spiritual thought in the obscurities that arise from worldly cares. it is otherwise when the spirit is released from the body and comes into its spiritual state, which takes place when it passes out of the natural world into the spiritual world to which it belongs. from what has already been said it is evident that the state of its thoughts and affections is then immeasurably superior to its former state. because of this the thoughts of angels are ineffable and inexpressible, and are therefore incapable of entering into the natural thoughts of man; and yet every angel was born a man, and has lived as a man, and he then seemed to himself to be no wiser than any other like man. 577. in the same degree in which angels have wisdom and intelligence infernal spirits have malice and cunning; for the case is the same, since the spirit of man when released from the body is in his good or in his evil--if an angelic spirit in his good, and if an infernal spirit in his evil. every spirit is his own good or his own evil because he is his own love, as has been often said and shown above. therefore as an angelic spirit thinks, wills, speaks, and acts, from his good, an infernal spirit does this from his evil; and to think, will, speak, and act from evil itself, is to think, will, speak, and act from all things included in the evil. [2] so long as man lived in the body it was different, since the evil of the spirit was then under the restraints that every man feels from the law, from hope of gain, from honor, from reputation, and from the fear of losing these; and therefore the evil of his spirit could not then burst forth and show what it was in itself. moreover, the evil of the spirit of man then lay wrapped up and veiled in outward probity, honesty, justice, and affection for truth and good, which such a man professes and counterfeits for the sake of the world; and under these semblances the evil has lain so concealed and obscured that he himself scarcely knew that his spirit contained so much malice and craftiness, that is, that in himself he was such a devil as he becomes after death, when his spirit comes into itself and into its own nature. [3] such malice then manifests itself as exceeds all belief. there are thousands of evils that then burst forth from evil itself, among which are such as cannot be described in the words of any language. what they are has been granted me to know and also to perceive by much experience, since it has been granted me by the lord to be in the spiritual world in respect to my spirit and at the same time in the natural world in respect to my body. this i can testify, that their malice is so great that it is hardly possible to describe even a thousandth part of it; and so great that if man were not protected by the lord he could never be rescued from hell; for with every man there are spirits from hell as well as angels from heaven (see above, n. 292, 293); and yet the lord cannot protect man unless he acknowledges the divine and lives a life of faith and charity; for otherwise man turns himself away from the lord and turns himself to infernal spirits, and thus his spirit becomes imbued with a malice like theirs. [4] nevertheless, man is continually withdrawn by the lord from the evils that he attaches and as it were attracts to himself by his affiliation with infernal spirits. if he is not withdrawn by the internal bonds of conscience, which he fails to receive if he denies a divine, he is nevertheless withdrawn by external bonds, which are, as said above, fears in respect to the law and its penalties, and fears of the loss of gain and the deprivation of honor and reputation. in fact, such a man may be withdrawn from evils by means of the delights of his love and through fear of the loss or deprivation of those delights; but he cannot be led thereby into spiritual goods. for as soon as such a man is led into these he begins to give his thought to pretenses and devices by simulating or counterfeiting what is good, honest, and just, for the purpose of persuading and thus deceiving. such cunning adjoins itself to the evil of his spirit and gives form to it, causing his evil to be of the same nature as itself. 578. those are the worst of all who have been in evils from love of self and at the same time inwardly in themselves have acted from deceit; for deceit penetrates more deeply into the thoughts and intentions than other evils, and infects them with poison and thus wholly destroys the spiritual life of man. most of these spirits are in the hells behind the back, and are called genii; and there they delight to make themselves invisible, and to flutter about others like phantoms secretly infusing evil into them, which they spread around like the poison of a viper. these are more direfully tormented than others. but those who are not deceitful, and who have not been so filled with malignant craftiness, and yet are in the evils derived from the love of self, are also in the hells behind, but in those less deep. on the other hand, those that have been in evils from the love of the world are in the hells in front, and are called spirits. these spirits are not such forms of evil, that is, of hatred and revenge, as those are who are in evils from the love of self; and therefore do not have such malice and cunning; and in consequence their hells are milder. 579. i have been permitted to learn by experience what kind of malice those possess who are called genii. genii act upon and flow into the affections, and not the thoughts. they perceive and smell out the affections as dogs do wild beasts in the forest. good affections, when they perceive them in another, they turn instantly into evil affections, leading and bending them in a wonderful manner by means of the other's delights; and this so secretly and with such malignant skill that the other knows nothing of it, for they most carefully guard against anything entering into the thought, as thereby they would be manifested. the seat of these in man is beneath the back part of the head. in the world they were such as deceitfully captivated the minds of others, leading and persuading them by the delights of their affections or lusts. but such spirits are not permitted by the lord to come near to any man of whose reformation there is any hope; for they have the ability not only to destroy the conscience, but also to stir up in man his inherited evils, which otherwise lie hidden. therefore to prevent man's being led into these evils, these hells, by the lord's provision, are entirely closed up; and when any man of such a character comes after death into the other life, he is at once cast into their hell. when the deceit and craftiness of these spirits are clearly seen they appear as vipers. 580. the kind of malice infernal spirits possess is evident from their nefarious arts, which are so many that to enumerate them would fill a volume, and to describe them would fill many volumes. these arts are mostly unknown in the world. one kind relates to abuses of correspondences; a second to abuses of the outmosts of divine order; a third to the communication and influx of thoughts and affections by means of turning towards another, fixing the sight upon another, and by the instrumentality of other spirits apart from themselves, and spirits sent out by themselves; a fourth to operations by phantasies; a fifth to a kind of casting themselves out beyond themselves and consequent presence elsewhere than where they are in the body; a sixth to pretenses, persuasion, and lies. the spirit of an evil man enters of itself into these arts when he is released from his body, for they are inherent in the nature of the evil in which he then is. by these arts they torment each other in the hells. but as all of these arts, except those that are effected by pretenses, persuasions, and lies, are unknown in the world, i will not here describe them in detail, both because they would not be comprehended, and because they are too abominable to be told. 581. the lord permits torments in the hells because in no other way can evils be restrained and subdued. the only means of restraining and subduing evils and of keeping the infernal crew in bonds is the fear of punishment. it can be done in no other way; for without the fear of punishment and torment evil would burst forth into madness, and everything would go to pieces, like a kingdom on earth where there is no law and there are no penalties. 582. lxi. the appearance, situation, and number of the hells. in the spiritual world, that is, in the world where spirits and angels are, the same objects appear as in the natural world, that is, where men are. in external appearance there is no difference. in that world plains and mountains, hills and rocks, and valleys between them are seen; also waters, and many other things that are seen on earth. and yet all these things are from a spiritual origin, and all are therefore seen by the eyes of spirits and angels, and not by the eyes of men, because men are in the natural world. spiritual beings see such things as are from a spiritual origin, and natural beings such things as are from a natural origin. consequently man with his eyes can in no way see the objects that are in the spiritual world unless he is permitted to be in the spirit, or after death when he becomes a spirit. on the other hand, an angel or a spirit is unable to see any thing at all in the natural world unless he is with a man who is permitted to speak with him. for the eyes of man are fitted to receive the light of the natural world, and the eyes of angels and spirits are fitted to receive the light of the spiritual world; although the eyes of the two are exactly alike in appearance. that the spiritual world is such the natural man cannot comprehend, and least of all the sensual man, who believes nothing except what he sees with his bodily eyes and touches with his hands, and therefore takes in by sight and touch. as his thought is from such things it is material and not spiritual. such being the likeness between the spiritual world and the natural world, man can hardly believe after death that he is not in the world where he was born, and from which he has departed. for this reason death is called simply a translation from one world into another like it. (that the two worlds are thus alike can be seen above, where representatives and appearances in heaven have been treated of, n. 170-176.) 583. the heavens are in the higher parts of the spiritual world, the world of spirits in the lower parts, and under both are the hells. the heavens are visible to spirits in the world of spirits only when their interior sight is opened; although they sometimes see them as mists or as bright clouds. this is because the angels of heaven are in an interior state in respect to intelligence and wisdom; and for this reason they are above the sight of those who are in the world of spirits. but spirits who dwell in the plains and valleys see one another; and yet when they are separated there, which takes place when they are let into their interiors, the evil spirits do not see the good spirits; but the good spirits can see the evil spirits. nevertheless, the good spirits turn themselves away from the evil spirits; and when spirits turn themselves away they become invisible. but the hells are not seen because they are closed up. only the entrances, which are called gates, are seen when they are opened to let in other like spirits. all the gates to the hells open from the world of spirits, and none of them from heaven. 584. the hells are everywhere, both under the mountains, hills, and rocks, and under the plains and valleys. the openings or gates to the hells that are under the mountains, hills, and rocks, appear to the sight like holes and clefts in the rocks, some extended and wide, and some straitened and narrow, and many of them rugged. they all, when looked into, appear dark and dusky; but the infernal spirits that are in them are in such a luminosity as arises from burning coals. their eyes are adapted to the reception of that light, and for the reason that while they lived in the world they were in thick darkness in respect to divine truths, because of their denying them, and were in a sort of light in respect to falsities because of their affirming them. in this way did the sight of their eyes become so formed. and for the same reason the light of heaven is thick darkness to them, and therefore when they go out of their dens they see nothing. all this makes it abundantly clear that man comes into the light of heaven just to the extent that he acknowledges the divine, and establishes in himself the things of heaven and the church; and that he comes into the thick darkness of hell just to the extent that he denies the divine, and establishes in himself what is contrary to the truths of heaven and the church. 585. the openings or gates to the hells that are beneath the plains and valleys present to the sight different appearances. some resemble those that are beneath the mountains, hills and rocks; some resemble dens and caverns, some great chasms and whirlpools; some resemble bogs, and some standing water. they are all covered, and are opened only when evil spirits from the world of spirits are cast in; and when they are opened there bursts forth from them either something like the fire and smoke that is seen in the air from burning buildings, or like a flame without smoke, or like soot such as comes from a burning chimney, or like a mist and thick cloud. i have heard that the infernal spirits neither see nor feel these things, because when they are in them they are as in their own atmosphere, and thus in the delight of their life; and this for the reason that these things correspond to the evils and falsities in which they are, fire corresponding to hatred and revenge, smoke and soot to the falsities therefrom, flame to the evils of the love of self, and a mist or thick cloud to falsities from that love. 586. i have also been permitted to look into the hells and to see what they are within; for when the lord wills, the sight of a spirit or angel from above may penetrate into the lowest depths beneath and explore their character, notwithstanding the coverings. in this way i have been permitted to look into them. some of the hells appeared to the view like caverns and dens in rocks extending inward and then downward into an abyss, either obliquely or vertically. some of the hells appeared to the view like the dens and caves of wild beasts in forests; some like the hollow caverns and passages that are seen in mines, with caverns extending towards the lower regions. most of the hells are threefold, the upper one appearing within to be in dense darkness, because inhabited by those who are in the falsities of evil; while the lower ones appear fiery, because inhabited by those who are in evils themselves, dense darkness corresponding to the falsities of evil, and fire to evils themselves. those that have acted interiorly from evil are in the deeper hells, and those that have acted exteriorly from evil, that is, from the falsities of evil, are in the hells that are less deep. some hells present an appearance like the ruins of houses and cities after conflagrations, in which infernal spirits dwell and hide themselves. in the milder hells there is an appearance of rude huts, in some cases contiguous in the form of a city with lanes and streets, and within the houses are infernal spirits engaged in unceasing quarrels, enmities, fightings, and brutalities; while in the streets and lanes robberies and depredations are committed. in some of the hells there are nothing but brothels, disgusting to the sight and filled with every kind of filth and excrement. again, there are dark forests, in which infernal spirits roam like wild beasts and where, too, there are underground dens into which those flee who are pursued by others. there are also deserts, where all is barren and sandy, and where in some places there are ragged rocks in which there are caverns, and in some places huts. into these desert places those are cast out from the hells who have suffered every extremity of punishment, especially those who in the world have been more cunning than others in undertaking and contriving intrigues and deceits. such a life is their final lot. 587. as to the positions of the hells in detail, it is something wholly unknown even to the angels in heaven; it is known to the lord alone. but their position in general is known from the quarters in which they are. for the hells, like the heavens, are distinguished by their quarters; and in the spiritual world quarters are determined in accordance with loves; for in heaven all the quarters begin from the lord as the sun, who is the east; and as the hells are opposite to the heavens their quarters begin from the opposite point, that is, from the west. (on this see the chapter on the four quarters in heaven, n. 141-153.) [2] for this reason the hells in the western quarter are the worst of all, and the most horrible, becoming gradually worse and more horrible by degrees the more remote they are from the east. in the western hells are those who in the world were in the love of self, and in consequent contempt of others, and in enmity against those who did not favor them, also in hatred and revenge against those who did not render them respect and homage. in the most remote hells in that quarter are those that had belonged to the catholic religion, so called, and that had wished to be worshiped as gods, and consequently had burned with hatred and revenge against all who did not acknowledge their power over the souls of men and over heaven. these continue to have the same disposition, that is, the same hatred and revenge against those who oppose them, that they had in the world. their greatest delight is to practice cruelties; but in the other life this delight is turned against themselves; for in their hells, with which the western quarter is filled, one rages against everyone who detracts from his divine power. (but more will be said about this in the treatise on the last judgment and the destruction of babylon.) [3] nevertheless, no one can know how the hells in that quarter are arranged, except that the most dreadful hells of that kind are at the sides towards the northern quarter, and the less dreadful towards the southern quarter; thus the dreadfulness of the hells decreases from the northern quarter to the southern, and likewise by degrees towards the east. towards the east are the dwelling places of the haughty, who have not believed in the divine, and yet have not been in such hatred and revenge, or in such deceit, as those have who are in a greater depth in the western quarter. [4] in the eastern quarter there are at present no hells, those that were there having been transferred to the western quarter in front. in the northern and southern quarters there are many hells; and in them are those who while in the world were in love of the world, and in various kinds of evil therefrom, such as enmity, hostility, theft, robbery, cunning, avarice, and unmercifulness. the worst hells of this kind are in the northern quarter, the milder in the southern. their dreadfulness increases as they are nearer to the western quarter, and also as they are farther away from the southern quarter, and decreases towards the eastern quarter and towards the southern quarter. behind the hells that are in the western quarter there are dark forests, in which malignant spirits roam like wild beasts; and it is the same behind the hells in the northern quarter. but behind the hells in the southern quarter there are deserts, which have been described just above. this much respecting the situation of the hells. 588. in regard to the number of the hells, there are as many of them as there are angelic societies in the heavens, since there is for every heavenly society a corresponding infernal society as its opposite. that the heavenly societies are numberless, and are all distinguished in accordance with the goods of love, charity, and faith, may be seen in the chapter that treats of the societies of which the heavens consist (n. 41-50), and in the chapter on the immensity of heaven (n. 415-420). the like is true, therefore, of the infernal societies, which are distinguished in accordance with the evils that are the opposites of those goods. [2] every evil, as well as every good, is of infinite variety. that this is true is beyond the comprehension of those who have only a simple idea regarding every evil, such as contempt, enmity, hatred, revenge, deceit, and other like evils. but let them know that each one of these evils contains so many specific differences, and each of these again so many specific or particular differences, that a volume would not suffice to enumerate them. the hells are so distinctly arranged in order in accordance with the differences of every evil that nothing could be more perfectly ordered or more distinct. evidently, then, the hells are innumerable, near to and remote from one another in accordance with the differences of evils generically, specifically, and particularly. [3] there are likewise hells beneath hells. some communicate with others by passages, and more by exhalations, and this in exact accordance with the affinities of one kind or one species of evil with others. how great the number is of the hells i have been permitted to realize from knowing that there are hells under every mountain, hill, and rock, and likewise under every plain and valley, and that they stretch out beneath these in length and in breadth and in depth. in a word, the entire heaven and the entire world of spirits are, as it were, excavated beneath, and under them is a continuous hell. thus much regarding the number of the hells. 589. lxii. the equilibrium between heaven and hell. for any thing to have existence there must be an equilibrium of all things. without equilibrium is no action and reaction; for equilibrium is between two forces, one acting and the other reacting, and the state of rest resulting from like action and reaction is called equilibrium. in the natural world there is an equilibrium in all things and in each thing. it exists in a general way even in the atmosphere, wherein the lower parts react and resist in proportion as the higher parts act and press down. again, in the natural world there is an equilibrium between heat and cold, between light and shade, and between dryness and moisture, the middle condition being the equilibrium. there is also an equilibrium in all the subjects of the three kingdoms of nature, the mineral, the vegetable, and the animal; for without equilibrium in them nothing can come forth and have permanent existence. everywhere there is a sort of effort acting on the one side and reacting on the other. [2] all existence or all effect is produced in equilibrium, that is, by one force acting and another suffering itself to be acted upon, or when one force by acting flows in, the other receives and harmoniously submits. in the natural world that which acts and reacts is called force, and also endeavor [or effort]; but in the spiritual world that which acts and reacts is called life and will. life in that world is living force, and will is living effort; and the equilibrium itself is called freedom. thus spiritual equilibrium or freedom has its outcome and permanence in the balance between good acting on the one side and evil reacting on the other side; or between evil acting on the one side and good reacting on the other side. [3] with the good the equilibrium is between good acting and evil reacting; but with the evil the equilibrium is between evil acting and good reacting. spiritual equilibrium is between good and evil, because the whole life of man has reference to good and to evil, and the will is the receptacle. there is also an equilibrium between truth and falsity, but this depends on the equilibrium between good and evil. the equilibrium between truth and falsity is like that between light and shade, in that light and shade affect the objects of the vegetable kingdom only so far as heat and cold are in them. that light and shade themselves have no effect, but only the heat that acts through them, is evident from the fact that light and shade are the same in winter time and in spring time. this comparison of truth and falsity with light and shade is from correspondence, for truth corresponds to light, falsity to shade, and heat to the good of love; in fact, spiritual light is truth, spiritual shade is falsity, and spiritual heat is good of love (see the chapter where light and heat in heaven are treated of, n. 126-140). 590. there is a perpetual equilibrium between heaven and hell. from hell there continually breathes forth and ascends an endeavor to do evil, and from heaven there continually breathes forth and descends an endeavor to do good. in this equilibrium is the world of spirits; which world is intermediate between heaven and hell (see above, n. 421-431). the world of spirits is in this equilibrium because every man after death enters first the world of spirits, and is kept there in a state like that which he was in while in the world, and this would be impossible if there were not a perfect equilibrium there; for by means of this the character of everyone is explored, since they then remain in the same freedom as they had in the world. spiritual equilibrium is freedom in man and spirit (as has been said just above, n. 589). what each one's freedom is the angels recognize by a communication of affections and thoughts therefrom; and it becomes visible to the sight of angelic spirits by the ways in which the spirits go. good spirits there travel in the ways that go towards heaven, but evil spirits in the ways that go towards hell. ways actually appear in that world; and that is the reason why ways in the word signify the truths that lead to good, or in the opposite sense the falsities that lead to evil; and for the same reason going, walking, and journeying in the word signify progressions of life.{1} such ways i have often been permitted to see, also spirits going and walking in them freely, in accord with their affections and thoughts. {footnote 1} in the word "to journey," as well as "to go," signifies progression of life (n. 3335, 4375, 4554, 4585, 4882, 5493, 5605, 5996, 8181, 8345, 8397, 8417, 8420, 8557). "to go (and to walk) with the lord" means to receive spiritual life, and to live with him (n. 10567). "to walk" means to live (n. 519, 1794, 8417, 8420). 591. evil continually breathes forth and ascends out of hell, and good continually breathes forth and descends out of heaven, because everyone is encompassed by a spiritual sphere; and that sphere flows forth and pours out from the life of the affections and the thoughts therefrom.{1} and as such a sphere flows forth from every individual, it flows forth also from every heavenly society and from every infernal society, consequently from all together, that is, from the entire heaven and from the entire hell. good flows forth from heaven because all there are in good; and evil flows forth from hell because all there are in evil. the good that is from heaven is all from the lord; for the angels in the heavens are all withheld from what is their own, and are kept in what is the lord's own, which is good itself. but the spirits in the hells are all in what is their own, and everyone's own is nothing but evil; and because it is nothing but evil it is hell.{2} evidently, then, the equilibrium in which angels are kept in the heavens and spirits in the hells is not like the equilibrium in the world of spirits. the equilibrium of angels in the heavens exists in the degree in which they have been willing to be in good, or in the degree in which they have lived in good in the world, and thus also in the degree in which they have held evil in aversion; but the equilibrium of spirits in hell exists in the degree in which they have been willing to be in evil, or have lived in evil in the world, and thus in heart and spirit have been opposed to good. {footnote 1} a spiritual sphere, which is a sphere of life, flows forth and pours forth from every man, spirit, and angel, and encompasses him (n. 4464, 5179, 7454, 8630). it flows forth from the life of their affections and thoughts (n. 2489, 4464, 6206). the quality of spirits is recognized at a distance from their spheres (n. 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504). spheres from the evil are the opposites of spheres from the good (n. 1695, 10187, 10312). such spheres extend far into angelic societies in accordance with the quality and quantity of good (n. 6598-6613, 8063, 8794, 8797). and into infernal societies in accordance with the quality and quantity of evil (n. 8794). {footnote 2} man's self is nothing but evil (n. 210, 215, 731, 874-876, 987, 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518, 3701, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10283, 10284, 10286, 10732). man's self is hell in him (n. 684, 8480). 592. unless the lord ruled both the heavens and the hells there would be no equilibrium; and if there were no equilibrium there would be no heaven or hell; for all things and each thing in the universe, that is, both in the natural world and in the spiritual world, endure by means of equilibrium. every rational man can see that this is true. if there were a preponderance on one part and no resistance on the other would not both perish? so would it be in the spiritual world if good did not react against evil and continually restrain its uprising; and unless this were done by the divine itself both heaven and hell would perish, and with them the whole human race. it is said unless the divine itself did this, because the self of everyone, whether angel, spirit, or man, is nothing but evil (see above, n. 591); consequently neither angels nor spirits are able in the least to resist the evils continually exhaling from the hells, since from self they all tend towards hell. it is evident, then, that unless the lord alone ruled both the heavens and the hells no one could ever be saved. moreover, all the hells act as one; for evils in the hells are connected as goods are in the heavens; and the divine alone, which goes forth solely from the lord, is able to resist all the hells, which are innumerable, and which act together against heaven and against all who are in heaven. 593. the equilibrium between the heavens and the hells is diminished or increased in accordance with the number of those who enter heaven and who enter hell; and this amounts to several thousands daily. the lord alone, and no angel, can know and perceive this, and regulate and equalize it with precision; for the divine that goes forth from the lord is omnipresent, and sees everywhere whether there is any wavering, while an angel sees only what is near himself, and has no perception in himself of what is taking place even in his own society. 594. how all things are so arranged in the heavens and in the hells that each and all of those who are there may be in their equilibrium, can in some measure be seen from what has been said and shown above respecting the heavens and the hells, namely, that all the societies of heaven are distinctly arranged in accordance with goods and their kinds and varieties, and all the societies of hell in accordance with evils, and their kinds and varieties; and that beneath each society of heaven there is a society of hell corresponding to it from opposition, and from this opposing correspondence equilibrium results; and in consequence of this the lord unceasingly provides that no infernal society beneath a heavenly society shall gain any preponderance, and as soon as it begins to do so it is restrained by various means, and is reduced to an exact measure of equilibrium. these means are many, only a few of which i will mention. some of these means have reference to the stronger presence of the lord; some to the closer communication and conjunction of one or more societies with others; some to the casting out of superabundant infernal spirits into deserts; some to the transference of certain spirits from one hell to another; some to the reducing of those in the hells to order, and this also is effected in various ways; some to the screening of certain hells under denser and thicker coverings, also letting them down to greater depths; besides other means; and still others that are employed in the heavens above the hells. all this has been said that it may in some measure be perceived that the lord alone provides that there shall be an equilibrium everywhere between good and evil, thus between heaven and hell; for on such equilibrium the safety of all in the heavens and of all on the earth rests. 595. it should be known that the hells are continually assaulting heaven and endeavoring to destroy it, and that the lord continually protects the heavens by withholding those who are in it from the evils derived from their self, and by holding them in the good that is from himself. i have often been permitted to perceive the sphere that flows forth from the hells, which was wholly a sphere of effort to destroy the divine of the lord, and thus heaven. the ebullitions of some hells have also at times been perceived, which were efforts to break forth and to destroy. but on the other hand the heavens never assault the hells, for the divine sphere that goes forth from the lord is a perpetual effort to save all; and as those who are in the hells cannot be saved, (since all who are there are in evil and are antagonistic to the divine of the lord,) so as far as possible outrages in the hells are subdued and cruelties are restrained to prevent their breaking out beyond measure one against another. this also is effected by innumerable ways in which the divine power is exercised. 596. there are two kingdoms into which the heavens are divided, the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom (of which see above, n. 20-28). in like manner the hells are divided into two kingdoms, one of which is opposite to the celestial kingdom and the other opposite to the spiritual kingdom. that which is opposite to the celestial kingdom is in the western quarter, and those who are in it are called genii; and that which is opposite to the spiritual kingdom is in the northern and southern quarters, and those which are in it are called spirits. all who are in the celestial kingdom are in love to the lord, and all who are in the hells opposite to that kingdom are in the love of self; while all who are in the spiritual kingdom are in love towards the neighbor, and all who are in the hells opposite to that kingdom are in love of the world. evidently, then, love to the lord and the love of self are opposites; and in like manner love towards the neighbor and love of the world are opposites. the lord continually provides that there shall be no outflowing from the hells that are opposite the lord's celestial kingdom towards those who are in the spiritual kingdom; for if this were done the spiritual kingdom would perish (for the reason given above, n. 678, 579). these are the two general equilibriums that are unceasingly maintained by the lord. 597. lxiii. by means of the equilibrium between heaven and hell man is in freedom. the equilibrium between heaven and hell has now been described, and it has been shown that it is an equilibrium between the good that is from heaven and the evil that is from hell, thus that it is a spiritual equilibrium, which in its essence is freedom. a spiritual equilibrium in its essence is freedom because it is an equilibrium between good and evil, and between truth and falsity, and these are spiritual. therefore to be able to will either what is good or what is evil and to think either what is true or what is false, and to choose one in preference to the other, is the freedom which is here treated of. this freedom is given to every man by the lord, and is never taken away; in fact, by virtue of its origin it is not man's but the lord's, since it is from the lord. nevertheless, it is given to man with his life as if it were his; and this is done that man may have the ability to be reformed and saved; for without freedom there can be no reformation or salvation. with any rational intuition any one can see that it is a part of man's freedom to be able to think wrongly or rightly, sincerely or insincerely, justly or unjustly; also that he is free to speak and act rightly, honestly, and justly; but not to speak and act wrongly, insincerely, and unjustly, because of the spiritual, moral, and civil laws whereby his external is held in restraint. evidently, then, it is man's spirit, which thinks and wills, that is in freedom, and not his external which speaks and acts, except in agreement with the above mentioned laws. 598. man cannot be reformed unless he has freedom, for the reason that he is born into evils of every kind; and these must be removed in order that he may be saved; and they cannot be removed unless he sees them in himself and acknowledges them, and afterwards ceases to will them, and finally holds them in aversion. not until then are they removed. and this cannot be done unless man is in good as well as in evil, since it is from good that he is able to see evils, while from evil he cannot see good. the spiritual goods that man is capable of thinking he learns from childhood by reading the word and from preaching; and he learns moral and civil good from his life in the world. this is the first reason why man ought to be in freedom. [2] another reason is that nothing is appropriated to man except what is done from an affection of his love. other things may gain entrance, but no farther than the thought, not reaching the will; and whatever does not gain entrance into the will of man does not become his, for thought derives what pertains to it from memory, while the will derives what pertains to it from the life itself. only what is from the will, or what is the same, from the affection of love, can be called free, for whatever a man wills or loves that he does freely; consequently man's freedom and the affection of his love or of his will are a one. it is for this reason that man has freedom, in order that he may be affected by truth and good or may love them, and that they may thus become as if they were his own [3] in a word, whatever does not enter into man's freedom has no permanence, because it does not belong to his love or will, and what does not belong to man's love or will does not belong to his spirit; for the very being [esse] of the spirit of man is love or will. it is said love or will, since a man wills what he loves. this, then, is why man can be reformed only in freedom. but more on the subject of man's freedom may be seen in the arcana coelestia in the passages referred to below. 599. in order that man may be in freedom, to the end that he may be reformed, he is conjoined in respect to his spirit both with heaven and with hell. for with every man there are spirits from hell and angels from heaven. it is by means of hell that man is in his own evil, while it is by means of angels from heaven that man is in good from the lord; thus is he in spiritual equilibrium, that is, in freedom. that angels from heaven and spirits from hell are joined to every man may be seen in the chapter on the conjunction of heaven with the human race (n. 291-302). 600. it must be understood that the conjunction of man with heaven and with hell is not a direct conjunction with them, but a mediate conjunction by means of spirits who are in the world of spirits. these spirits, and none from hell itself or from heaven itself, are with man. by means of evil spirits in the world of spirits man is conjoined with hell, and by means of good spirits there he is conjoined with heaven. because of this the world of spirits is intermediate between heaven and hell, and in that world is equilibrium itself. (that the world of spirits is intermediate between heaven and hell may be seen in the chapter on the world of spirits, n. 421-431; and that the essential equilibrium between heaven and hell is there may be seen in the preceding chapter, n. 589-596.) from all this the source of man's freedom is evident. 601. something more must be said about the spirits that are joined with man. an entire society can have communication with another society, or with an individual wherever he is; by means of a spirit sent forth from the society; this spirit is called the subject of the many. the same is true of man's conjunction with societies in heaven, and with societies in hell, by means of spirits from the world of spirits that are joined with man. (on this subject see also the arcana coelestia in the passages referred to below.) 602. finally something must be said respecting man's intuition in regard to his life after death which is derived from the influx of heaven into man. there were some of the simple common people who had lived in the world in the good of faith who were brought back into a state like that in which they had been in the world, which can be done with any one when the lord grants it; and it was then shown what opinion they had held about the state of man after death. they said that some intelligent persons had asked them in the world what they thought about their soul after the life on earth; and they replied that they did not know what the soul is. they were then asked what they believed about their state after death; and they said that they believed that they would live as spirits. again they were asked what belief they had respecting a spirit; and they said that he is a man. they were asked how they knew this; and they said that they knew it because it is so. those intelligent men were surprised that the simple had such a faith, which they themselves did not have. this is a proof that in every man who is in conjunction with heaven there is an intuition respecting his life after death. this intuition is from no other source than an influx out of heaven, that is, through heaven from the lord by means of spirits from the world of spirits who are joined with man. this intuition those have who have not extinguished their freedom of thinking by notions previously adopted and confirmed by various arguments respecting the soul of man, which is held to be either pure thought, or some vital principle the seat of which is sought for in the body; and yet the soul is nothing but the life of man, while the spirit is the man himself; and the earthly body which he carries about with him in the world is merely an agent whereby the spirit, which is the man himself, is enabled to act fitly in the natural world. 603. what has been said in this work about heaven, the world of spirits, and hell, will be obscure to those who have no interest in learning about spiritual truths, but will be clear to those who have such an interest, and especially to those who have an affection for truth for the sake of truth, that is, who love truth because it is truth; for whatever is then loved enters with light into the mind's thought, especially truth that is loved, because all truth is in light. extracts from the arcana coelestia respecting the freedom of man, influx, and the spirits through whom communications are effected. freedom. all freedom pertains to love or affection, since whatever a man loves he does freely (n. 2870, 3158, 8987, 8990, 9585, 9591). since freedom pertains to love it is the life of everyone (n. 2873). nothing appears to be man's own except what is from freedom (n. 2880). there is heavenly freedom and infernal freedom (n. 2870, 2873, 2874, 9589, 9590). [2] heavenly freedom pertains to heavenly love, or the love of good and truth (n. 1947, 2870, 2872). and as the love of good and truth is from the lord freedom itself consists in being led by the lord (n. 892, 905, 2872, 2886, 2890-2892, 9096, 9586, 9587, 9589-9591). man is led into heavenly freedom by the lord through regeneration (n. 2874, 2875, 2882, 2892). man must have freedom in order to be regenerated (n. 1937, 1947, 2876, 2881, 3145, 3146, 3158, 4031, 8700). in no other way can the love of good and truth be implanted in man, and appropriated by him seemingly as his own (n. 2877, 2879, 2880, 2888). nothing is conjoined to man in a state of compulsion (n. 2875, 8700). if man could be reformed by compulsion all would be saved (n. 2881). in reformation compulsion is harmful (n. 4031). all worship from freedom is worship, but worship from compulsion is not worship (n. 1947, 2880, 7349, 10097). repentance must be effected in a free state, and repentance effected in a state of compulsion is of no avail (n. 8392). states of compulsion, what they are (n. 8392). [3] it is granted to man to act from the freedom of reason, to the end that good may be provided for him, and this is why man has the freedom to think and will even what is evil, and to do it so far as the laws do not forbid (n. 10777). man is kept by the lord between heaven and hell, and thus in equilibrium, that he may be in freedom for the sake of reformation (n. 5982, 6477, 8209, 8987). what is implanted in freedom endures, but not what is implanted under compulsion (n. 9588). for this reason no one is ever deprived of his freedom (n. 2876, 2881). the lord compels no one (n. 1937, 1947). compelling one's self is from freedom, but not being compelled (n. 1937, 1947). a man ought to compel himself to resist evil (n. 1937, 1947, 7914). also to do good as if from himself, and yet to acknowledge that it is from the lord (n. 2883, 2891, 2892, 7914). man has a stronger freedom in the temptation combats in which he conquers, since he then compels himself more interiorly to resist, although it appears otherwise (n. 1937, 1947, 2881). [4] infernal freedom consists in being led by the loves of self and of the world and their lusts (n. 2870, 2873). those who are in hell know no other freedom (n. 2871). heavenly freedom is as far removed from infernal freedom as heaven is from hell (n. 2873, 2874). infernal freedom, which consists in being led by the loves of self and of the world, is not freedom but servitude (n. 2884, 2890). for servitude is in being led by hell (n. 9586, 9589-9591). influx. [5] all things that man thinks and wills flow into him from experience (n. 904, 2886-2888, 4151, 4319, 4320, 5846, 5848, 6189, 6191, 6194, 6197-6199, 6213, 7147, 10219). man's capacity to give attention to subjects, to think, and to draw conclusions analytically, is from influx (n. 4319, 4320, 5288). man could not live a single moment if influx from the spiritual world were taken away from him; from experience (n. 2887, 5849, 5854, 6321). the life that flows in from the lord varies in accordance with the state of man and in accordance with reception (n. 2069, 5986, 6472, 7343). with those who are evil the good that flows in from the lord is changed into evil, and the truth into falsity; from experience (n. 3642, 4632). the good and truth that continually flow in from the lord are received just to the extent that they are not hindered by evil and falsity (n. 2411, 3142, 3147, 5828). [6] all good flows in from the lord, and all evil from hell (n. 904, 4151). at the present day man believes that all things are in himself and are from himself, when in fact they flow in; and this he might know from the doctrine of the church, which teaches that all good is from god, and all evil from the devil (n. 4249, 6193, 6206). but if man's belief were in accord with this doctrine he would not appropriate evil to himself nor would he make good to be his own (n. 6206, 6324, 6325). how happy man's state would be if he believed that all good flows in from the lord and all evil from hell. (n. 6325). those who deny heaven or who know nothing about it do not know that there is any influx from heaven (n. 4322, 5649, 6193, 6479). what influx is, illustrated by comparisons (n. 6128, 6190, 9407). [7] everything of life flows in from the first fountain of life, because that is the source of it; and it continually flows in thus everything of life is from the lord (n. 3001, 3318, 3337, 3338, 3344, 3484, 3619, 3741-3743, 4318-4320, 4417, 4524, 4882, 5847, 5986, 6325, 6468-6470, 6479, 9276, 10196). influx is spiritual and not physical, that is, influx is from the spiritual world into the natural, and not from the natural into the spiritual (n. 3219, 5119, 5259, 5427, 5428, 5477, 6322, 9110). influx is through the internal man into the external, or through the spirit into the body, and not the reverse, because the spirit of man is in the spiritual world, and his body in the natural (n. 1702, 1707, 1940, 1954, 5119, 5259, 5779, 6322, 9380). the internal man is in the spiritual world and the external in the natural world (n. 978, 1015, 3628, 4459, 4523, 4524, 6057, 6309, 9701-9709, 10156, 10472). there is an appearance that there is an influx from the externals of man into internals, but this is a fallacy (n. 3721). with man there is influx into things rational, and through these into knowledges, and not the reverse (n. 1495, 1707, 1940). what the order of influx is (n. 775, 880, 1096, 1495, 7270). there is direct influx from the lord, and likewise mediate influx through the spiritual world or heaven (n. 6063, 6307, 6472, 9682, 9683). the lord's influx is into the good in man, and through good into truth, and not the reverse (n. 5482, 5649, 6027, 8685, 8701, 10153). good gives the capacity to receive influx from the lord, but truth without good does not (n. 8321). nothing that flows into the thought is harmful, but only what flows into the will, since this is what is appropriated to man (n. 6308). [8] there is a general influx (n. 5850). this is a continual effort to act in accordance with order (n. 6211). this influx is into the lives of animals (n. 5850). also into the subjects of the vegetable kingdom (n. 3648). it is in accord with this general influx that thought falls into speech with man, and will into acts and movements (n. 5862, 5990, 6192, 6211). subject spirits. [9] spirits sent forth from societies of spirits to other societies and to other spirits, are called "subjects" (n. 4403, 5856). communications in the other life are effected by means of such emissary spirits (n. 4403, 5856, 5983). a spirit sent forth to serve as a subject does not think from himself, but thinks from those by whom he is sent forth (n. 5985-5987). many particulars relating to such spirits (n. 5988, 5989).