The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1877-08-02

way of progress. For him the lil1 |
and the rose unfold their beauties TO |
the eye and emit their fragrance on |
the surrounding air. For him the cat |
tie roam the hills and the valleys wave |
with grain. For him the peach, the |
plum ana all the various fruits |
OF earth collect their substance and |
flavor. At this point there enters
suggestive thought to-wit: II man,
for whom all else appears to have been
made, is TO ultimate in failure and
have his consciousness suspended and
DESTROYED and all that once made him
the godlike master and subduer of
earth-consigned to the night of eternal
oblivion, then, | ask, is not the whole
life delusivc humbug
But this is position against which
everything great aud noble in man re-
volts. IL oveIturns the self-esident
axiom with which we set out, that
Nature cannot fail and superinduces
disiutegrstion, CHAOS and eternal night
as a standing picture before the eye of
man--the ruler ana beAutiiier of earth,
and for whom the earth was created
Il makes the gossamer and the insect
which floats and sings in the sunshine,
without foreseelng evil or the end OF
their lives, occupy far more enviable
relation in the scale of creation than !
man, whose angelic mind revels in the
world of causation and effects. Bot
enough. We take it for granted that
in N h,,, ,g Il
question the uninterrupted existence
and consciousness Of man. Now we APP
proach the point as to the theatre of
his existence. l here lay down the
the premise that the outer world of
effects is but the visible and material
expression Of the inner world of causa-
ton. Further, that they both directly
intcrblend with each other, and are
linked together 10y sympathetic chords
| of love.
Again, that when we lay aside the
outer envelope OF the spirit We do not
necessarily change our locality of ex-
Istence, bul our condition Of existence
only. When the went in question oc-
ours the illimitable realms of the starry
universe at once become the future
field Of his eXs,eHce. Does he wish
to linger, for time. with those still
privilege To do it. Does he wish to
lcvisit the scenes of his early joys and
| contljc,s when boy or when bursting
into early manhood Very well, the
way Is open. Does he wish to visit
the starry worlds upon which he has
so often gazed with wonder and admi-
ration during his boyhood and man
hood in edrth-!ife? Very well, the law
of gravitation controls HIM no more
he is free to move with the speed of
thought. Here l boldly assert that the
converse of this doctrine rests upon q
false tradition and has no foundation
in reason nor in fact. Here let us APP
ply the tOuchstone of reason to it and
zee how quickly it dissolves and van
ishes into nothing. My dear reader,
| ask you this qrestiol have you not
always, thus far in your earth life, felt
yourself possessed of Il law of freedom,
either real or APPARENT Has anything
stood in the path of your volition to
prevent you from going wherever you
have pleased and returning whenever
you please9 Methir ks4 hear you an
swer that lit has always been so when
ever | have had the means and health
and never interfered with the guaran-
teed rights of Others" Very we'll,
then, you perceive we discover law of
freedom pervading our earth-life.
Again [ ask you, are not the laws of
Nature, or of Go if you prefer the
term, immutaole? Ii SO, the law of
servitudc, after leaving the earth
form, cannot be set up and the law of
freedom abolished. Can you give any
sensible reason why the administration
of Nature or of God over you should
so suddenly change? What? Permit
you to emily the law of freedom in
| your grosser condition of existence
while in the outer form and then sud
denly take 1t away when you enter
upon a higher plane of existence dis
robed of the crude materials of gross
----stS--! ffow~uase- ess the logic How
contrary to reason.
Again, revelation, SO called, sustains
us in the belief that those out of the
body hover around those In the body
and hence have not lost free access to
those in earth-life. The whole list of
ancient prophets claimed to interchange
ieas with spirits. The TRANSPORTATION
scene Of Christ, just before his final
disappeararC showed Moses aud Elias
IN conversation with Christ.
Again, John on the isle Of Patmos,
when about to fall down and worship
a spirit. was told: See. thou do it
not, for / am one of thy fellow ser
wants, and of thy brethren, the proph-
ets;" thus declaring plainly that he had
once existed in body and been
prophet like John and his predecessors.
Now VII any careful thinker please
! tell me where there is any reasop given
In revelation, so-called, or 10 reason or
common sense, if the outer and inner
world interblended once, why they do
not interblend now.
With a declaration of this natural
| doctrine, | close. AS we all in the
outer body behold the outer world
alike, and are governed ia our associa-
tions 10y he law OF fffinity aud moral
purity, so We shall by the same immu-
table law, when la the inner form, be-
hold the inner world alike and be gov.
erned by the same immutable law,
OF affinity and moral purity, and our
happiness here, as there, will be in ex.
act proportion 10 our iRnard purity of
heort. Whoever stands tn this natural
platform holds within his hands the
Archimidean l,Yer and has the fulcrum
wherein to place it and move the
world. BnAScn