Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-05-06

be eternity in front unless there had been
eternity behind.
Again the objection came that it was done
in time, and that it must end in time. There
would then be no proportion between cause
and effect. Weknew cause and effect TO be
the law of nature, and we could not conceive
that person-though that person lived to
be ]. 1000 wears old-could crowd into that
1000 years enough deeds to imply either an
eternity of reward or an eternity of punish
ment Compared with eternity. !, 900 years
were not even as day; they were not so
much as a wink OF an eye.
ACTION AND REACTION.
The ancients postulated this: That the
whole universe was one whole, and that
there was such thing as manifestation and
concealment of certain principles composing
that whole And they, for convenience of
logic and to bring the thing within the
grasp of the human mind, postulated certain
PERIODS of activity in the cosmos, and
certain alternating periods of rest; in other
words, the doctrine of action and reaction be-
ing equal, so they said the period of activity
was followed by a period of repose of exactly
the same duration. The FIRST one they called
the out-breathing, and the other they called
the iu-breathing. Our scientific men taught
us that there was a tendency in all objective
nature to return to the state of original
matter: that our bodies were masses of matter
differentiated from space. held together by
a principle which they called the attraction
of cohesion between particles, governed by
the superior principle which they called lie;
that when lie departed the attraction of
cohesion was broken up, the particles dis
solved and were resolved into their elements,
and physical man disappeared. So in re-
gard to our world. The ancients said there
were seven principles of nature. One they
called spirit. and another matter, being the
two extremes, but with no break OF con-
tinuity between them. In man there was
svnthesis of these seven principles; in the
lower creatures there was development of
certain principles, differing in each case ac-
cording to the degree of development, the
others being present in latency.
ORIGIN OF LIFE A MYSTERY.
The first manifestation of this divine
whole was energy. consciousness was added
to the cosmic principles. Between the first
manifestations of consciousness there was
an impassable chasm, and philosophers tried
against all logic 10 make the Consciousness
begin in time to be the fruit of the relation
ship between force and matter. But the
ancient philosophy was that consciousness,
being cosmic principle, was waiting Tor
point where it could develop itself. manifest
itself, Just as, for instance, electricity in the
atmosphere manifested itself under certain
conditions in the form of a lightning bolt,
and afterward remained latent. So with re-
gard to consciousness; given the nucleus of
manifestation, and it would manifest itself.
That nucleus was brain tissue. So they
found glimmering of consciousness in the
lowest animals, manifested gradually in
greater degrees, and in certain traits, like
the cunning of the fox. the sagacity of the
elephant, and so on; and when we came to
man we found that it was wholly mani |
tested, but in proportion to the develop
ment of the brain, which served as an organ
for its manifestation.
What was our theory in regard to the
origin of life? Nothing; we could not tell
what it was 1t was an inscrutable mystery.
The ancients said that life was cosmic prin-
ciple-one of the atoms of the whole-and
that it manifested itself when the proper
conditions were present. Lille was some
thing which was not dependent for its ex-
istence upon organism; organism was simply
the vehicle for its manifestation, and when
the organization disappeared, another one
might take its place. So they had philos-
ophy which did not call in the aid of a
miracle. The ancients believed that this
of
HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS
was eternal. How could we explain the
phenomena that we saw around us? Good
men were suffering, and bad men enjoying.
The ancients settled the matter for them
selves. The law OF cause and effect applied
in all things; in moral existence it was as
imperative and irrefragable as in physical
things. If a man was suffering, it was be-
cause he antecedently prepared the con-
ditlons for his suffering. If man enjoyed,
he antecedently prepared the conditions
for his enjoyment. As the soul |
was immortal, and as it was impossible to
adjust all these things in one life, and as
there must have been time before this life |
when the conditions which we now saw
working out was prepared, SO they postu-
lated the idea that this immortal soul, or
entity, followed the general orbit of human
itv, according to the scheme of development, |
and alternately passed into physical exist |
ence and out into subjective or spiritual ex- |
istence. The practical doctrine OF Theos- |
ophy was this: 1t was the most moral doc |
trine thew could perceive. 1t taught men |
that, according to their present behavior. so
thev were to be rewarded in the future. We |
had it in our power to make ourselves mis-
erable or happy. Their doctrine said: Do
SO and so, and such will be the result If |
they believed that there was such thing as
a ruture that consciousness apart from the
brain was possible-and they could satisfy
themselves of this by mesmerism and hyno-
-Theosophy would teach them to be
warned in time, and not to do things which
would lead to unhappy results.