CHAPTER I. The subject of psychical research is one upon which I have thought more and about which I have been slower to form my opinion, than upon any other subject whatever. Every now and then as one jogs along through life some small incident happens which very forcibly brings home the fact that time passes and that first youth and then middle age are slipping away. Such a one occurred the other... more...

CHAPTER I. Years ago, as you measure time, I was an inhabitant of Mars, your sister planet. My name is Eros Urides (the latter signifying "of Urid"). But a physical name is only an incidental in one's life. In the Spirit world we are given a name in accordance with our spiritual qualities and gifts and the kind of work we do. I came into material being as the fruit of the sacred union of... more...

At the present day no clear and consistent opinion seems to be held regarding Classical Philology. We are conscious of this in the circles of the learned just as much as among the followers of that science itself. The cause of this lies in its many-sided character, in the lack of an abstract unity, and in the inorganic aggregation of heterogeneous scientific activities which are connected with one... more...

Would it be an unlicensed trespass of the imagination to conceive that on the night preceding the day of which you now commemorate the fiftieth anniversary—on the night preceding that thirtieth of April, 1789, when from the balcony of your city hall the chancellor of the State of New York administered to George Washington the solemn oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United... more...

In accepting your invitation to address you on the general history of the Confederate Powder Works, I do so with some hesitation, on account of my close personal connection with a subject which absorbed my thought, time and energies. In the history of a war we find, generally, but little reference to the manufactories engaged in the preparation of material; they had been previously established, and... more...

Part First—THE SPIRITUAL LIFE I. How Spiritual Life is Acquired Spiritual life is acquired solely by a life according to the commandments in the Word. These commandments are given in summary in the Decalogue, namely, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet the goods of others. These commandments are the... more...

PREFACE. This work, as its title indicates, is intended for the use of Advanced Classes,—for scholars who are, to some extent, familiar with the principles of pronunciation and syllabication. It is not intended to supersede the ordinary Spelling-Book, but rather to follow it, as a practical application of the pupil's knowledge, not only in spelling, but in dividing and pronouncing the more... more...

The Essentials of Spirituality The first essential is an awakening, a sense of the absence of spirituality, the realized need of giving to our lives a new and higher quality; first there must be the hunger before there can be the satisfaction. Similar effects are often produced by widely differing processes. In the psychical world that quality which we call spirituality may be associated with and... more...

I know that to some of my audience a satisfactory address at a summer convention would be like that which many people regard as a satisfactory sermon—something soothing and convincing, to the effect that you are not as other men are, but better. While I appreciate very fully, however, the honor of being able to address you, I am going to look trouble in the face in an effort to convince you that, in... more...

PREFACE. The interesting events narrated in this book which occurred at Hydesville, in the house of the Fox Family, are those by which Modern Spiritualism made its advent into this world as a new revelation in spiritual matters. History is not without its reliable records of similar phenomena, but, just as many scientific men have experimented and stopped short of the gateway of the actual discovery of... more...