The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-03-13

Los Angeles, Cal March 6.-In this ser mon the preacher discusses the psycholo- gical phenomena of mind influencing mind and shows how the soul may be elevated and energized by divine influence. The text Is Acts X, Il, And he saw heaven opened and a certain vessel descending.
 Theory is often little more than the fine art of guessing. It is sometimes the way of concealing the fact that you do not know thing, by using scientific language. It is the verbal means we have of dress ing up speculation to make it look plaus- ible. But there are certain causations impossible to analyze, and learned an- swers only make the phenomena the more mysterious.
 What is specific gravity? That is the physical law you answer, (which Isaac Newton discovered. Sitting one day un- der the overarching tree branch in his orchard, he felt puff of wind upon his cheek The overhanging branch swayed and fall pippin, like lump of gold, dropped into his lap. Then the English sage began to wonder why that apple came down to earth instead of flying away as though it had the wings of a bird, toward the stars. As result of these ppnderings Newton generaized all the causes of cohesion and gravitation which bind this earth into a compact mass and called them specific gravity" But. my friend, with your learned answer you have not explained to me anything In reference to the laws of physical cohe- sion you have only given to me two big words to express what I did not know be-
 
 What is life?" I once asked a school professor. What is the definition of life? Here is a body weighing 160 pounds. A bullet is fired out of an assassin's gun. One moment that body is alive the next it is dead. It weighed 160 pounds before the heart ceased to to beat it weighed 160 pounds after the breadth had left the nostrl. Give me a definition of life" Why, llfe," answered the professor lis nothing more or less than the juxtaposi- ton of the protopasmatic molecules" His learned answer left the subject as great mystery as ever.
 Spiritual Phenomena.
 As in the material world, so in the mem tai and spiritual world there are facts and phenomena which we know to be cer- tainly true. though we cannot explain them. We must recognize rational re- suits as such, although we cannot tell the why's and the "wherefores" nor the causes which produced these results. For instance we are nearly all ready to grant the power of human telepathy, or the in- fluence of one human mind upon another human mind even at a distance. Sitting in public meeting some night you exercise the power of will upon a person. and soon he will turn round and look at you, all though that person could give no rational reason why he turned and looked. Indeed. so powerful sometimes is this influence of one human mind over another that many students of crminology have come to the belief that some murderers who wield the dagger or aim the pistol may be merely the helpless and plant instruments of un- known criminals who have impelled them to commit their murderous deeds Mes erism hypnotism, bewitchery, enehant ment, are merely long names defining this mysterious power, which almost ev- anywhere in the intellectual world is be- ginning to be recognized, and men are asking whether 1t may not sometimes de- throne the supremacy of the individual -Yill George Du Maurier. in his famous