New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-08-02
THOMAS LAKE HARRIS.
AN ENGLISH SKETCH OF HIS CAREER.
Walter Levin in The London Academy.

| AN ENGLlSH SKETCH OF HIS CAhbhn
Walter Levin in The London Academy.
| Briefly stated, the main facts of Mr.. liarriS's
career are as follows lie was born in England
mot America on May 49, 1928. His parents re,
moved with him to America when he was tIi III
years old His father appears to have been man
of irregular habits and his mother q fo ro'
woman strict in the Calvinistic faith. lie re,
ceived little formal education, set attalncd 10 so
knowledge and considerable degree Of cultuie' ~
circumstance in which his disciples are lncnn'eu III
see a special manifestation OF the divine lhuWell-
ing. III his revolt against the doctrine OF pleoIIo
tination which he had learned from his motheTI ny
not unnaturally reached the opposite poe vi IL
| versal Salvation, and about lS4o he Decany ctL0
minister Of Univcrsalist church III New iVi IN
His discourses were brilliant and e'ieclve, md
somewhat too outspoken TO please hls hearers rT
his connection with this church did not last !olS
About 1851 he joined the Rev. James u SCo. ti ~
founding the Mountain Cove CoT on This
community was broken up about TWO Sea as an,
the cause of collapse in its case as In many an an
members mem, BY this time Mr. Harris had become
deeply imbucd with the teachings of the mystlcs'
especially Of Jacob Bochme and Emmanuel c"eute nt
fbm s%d 9sse W ansht and tried to apply
to life. and continues TO teach ana 10 Apply W. ="
| the present day. ,.n,,o Chrrcb
of the Good Shepherd" and presided over ~ , hor
some time. In 1859 he was in England prenGni1g
and eStrn e. tba Stste ne of S Whence It
was removed in 1867 1.-THE year Ohphaht JoiIeu . io
10 Salem Erie, on the southerly shore Oh sne
lake. For some years between isoi ,u am and
agriculture; and about one-half OF the estate at
Saem-on-Erie provided by him. ms eS t
| lishment was continued under Mr.. HaIrlse gQy-
ernorship until the division occurred pet"ecn MN
and Oliphant, when 1t fell practlcaHy nheo ine
hands OF the latter. Meantime MI IaIllS nt mn
self had removed to Santa Rosa, Cal, WeIe nc SUN
dwells at tie head of a small community winch
holds his principles and accepts his leadership
| Mr. Harris has been voluminous writer some
| l..al.l ,n
but as of spiritual origin and gwen 10 1ne Worlu
through him-and few volumes OF dlScourSes
have been published, but most Of his works are
for circulation among persons Dwelling IN N9rl-
Gus lands who regard themselves as his dlSclpieS
| In the opinion of these persons. he is prophet
and of supreme rank and the specli rec1piehs
of divine gifts. In his novel called Mas0llam'
| Oliphant hdd Mr.. Harris in his mlnd when ne
drew the character which gives the book us
name Certain pcculiarltles Of voice. gesture anu
expression attributed TO MaSOllam are true OF MI
Harris. But Masolam is represented as great
prophet who, in his declining years, became the
victim OF evil councillors and erred grleVously,
| but aftefward awakened from his deiuson under
the influence of one of his friends, VINO Is meant
more or less. TO stand for OHphant himself. mat
| Mr. Harris was not converted 70 OlIpnaht VlcWS
but thought. 10 the last, that Ophant was vltaly
| wrong is we'll known; and the fact that per
sons of repute who knew him earlier than On
phant and know him still continue IT, hold MN
suppoSition that Oliphaat mi understood INN, an
| impost0r may indeed deceive the very eject,
but only for time, and ii the charges MADE
public when Olphant parted from Mr. Harms had
been well founded it IS hardly cOnceJNaDle that
,evcn - the elect" would have continued unen-
| lightencd until now. The fact is, Ohphant came
| 10 think he was himself an appointed prophet
and seer. and it was as such that he established
himself at Haifa "a,
it is to be hoped no reader of Mrs Oliphant's
book will adopt her version of the doctrines OF
| the brotherhood of the New Life She freely
admits she docs not understand them. A Sweden
borg9n Would hardly assent to her Prop4StEoa ta d
| Mother Cod two-fold instead OF tnree-iold
unity tvo il. p for In fact SwedGn929rs ian
ism does nothing of the kind 1t SIMPLY hoidS 'hsC
| Jesus Christ was the one and only God. as
Swedenborg says Jehovah God himself de-
sccnGcd and was made man" But SwedenboTg
| did hold that God in essence was not exclusively
| male or exclusively female, but combined both;
| He Furthermore held that this condition existed
| in humanity prior TO the Fall, and that In colse-
aucnce Of the Fall the male and female eieneAlS
| became distinct, and would continue so to remain
until man entered the spirit-world. This doctrine
Of the "twOn-one" was not peculiar TO sweden
| borg. Other myStiCs and particularly JACOB
| Bochmc, had expOunded ii long before. Nh Harris
| differed from SWedenborg in this, that ne believed
III the possibility in the present life OF that su-
plemc regeneration which shall restorehumanlty 10
its original bi-s"xual condition. lie even goes SO
far as 10 that already there are living persons
whose counterpartS, having died, are now already
united 10 them.
| This much it is necessary to say, not only to
! give slight explanation of the doctrine, but III
| order to understand the position Mr.. H2IrlS took
/ with reference to OilpnaQt UldT.l1ge II
| strange at first sight that one who claimed 70 be
| seer should throw obstacles in the way of a
| union apparently so admirable. But, on the
principle held alike by Mr. Harris and Ollphant,
| while the marriage Of counterpartS' in the pres
cnt life was regarded as helpful, the marriage OF
| persons who were not counterpartS was grave
| hndrance: and Mr.. IIarrls'S sole objection was
that, in this instance the desirable relation did
| not exist, so that not only was final spiritual
union impossible between Laurence and Alice OH
plant, but their union with their "counterpar'S'
was barred
AS TO the other main doctrine Of the Brother
hood which troubles Mrs. Oliphant-the open
breathing internal respiration'-it Is suf-
| fcicnt here 10 say that the terms used are to a
| considerable degree ilgurative, and stand for the
| transcendcnta idea Of direct communion between
| God and the human soul. But over and above
| this. it is maintained that at certain higher
stage an actual physical change is experienced.
Swedenborg, in what would be termed his frances,
is said to have lived for long periods without per-
! forming the function commonly called breathing !;
! and it those occasions that he claimed
| to have visited the spiritual world and converSed
with angels
However mystical the doctrines of the Brother
hood may have been, the Way toward the
sisted simply in living the Christian lifc-not the
| Christian life as taught in the churches but that
which was taught by Jesus himsef according. 70
the SsT dSnSac as ,ur Asn0
life" the brotherhood would insist that conduct
should constitute the whole life. AS Oiiphant in
a getter quoted in the Memoir, said Before we
are in a condition to begin the work of reform
without, we have to establish it within; and lie
| further explained
Our fundamental principle is absolute and en-
tire sclfsacriiice: our motive is not the salvation
Of our sos, but the regeneration of humanity :;
| orr absorbing study is the practical embodiment
| IF that new commandment which those who heard
| it only partially understood, that ye love one
| another bat which is rs new in the sense of
| never having been up to this time c0mprehended
or practised, as it was them (vCl. H., p 36).
| S-
" crNOV nv IuOpEvCc rvo,rrv
| From The London Daily News
NJ julio, Simon. PariS sDOndent telegrdDlla,