Chapter II - Imposition and Demonstration
102:1
because of it; a link formed between the error of
because of it; a link formed between the error of
another plane of existence and this, would be another
error for Truth finally to destroy.
102:4
We say of matter, it is opaque or luminous, but this
We say of matter, it is opaque or luminous, but this
should be said of mind that is transparent, its images
readily perceived, or that absorbs, and reflects but little.
A mind transparent, reflects the thoughts of other
minds, and reproduces them, and this is supposed to be
the work of the departed. Legerdemain, or slight of
hand, has produced more remarkable manifestations
than mediumship, and what is done understandingly is
better than mysteriously; skill is more rational at this
age than superstition. Matter is moved, history re-
peated, and pictures drawn by mind on this plane; and
that which we understand not, we know nothing of;
we say matter moves matter here, but that Spirit moves
it there; let us have the interpretations of science on
these points, and link not error to error throughout
time and eternity. Lacking the basis of science, we say,
Intelligence is in matter, that mind alone cannot pro-
duce phenomena; also, that body is diseased indepen-
dent of mind; that matter is self-acting, etc.
102:23
A circumstance was related to us by an old gentle-
A circumstance was related to us by an old gentle-
man, a distinguished mesmerist. He said to a mesmer-
ized subject under control of his will, "You have a burn
on your hand," and he immediately appeared to suffer;
the flesh rose up in a blister that was opened and dis-
charged a watery fluid. Then, continued the narrator,
I destroyed the belief that he was burned, and the cu-
ticle became smooth and natural as before. We did not
witness this test of belief, but having seen the mesmer-
izer's performances on other occasions, and knowing
103:1
the man's veracity, and the power of belief, we could
the man's veracity, and the power of belief, we could
not doubt it.
103:3
The evidence of one of the personal senses is not
The evidence of one of the personal senses is not
more improbable than that of another; mentally to see
another's mind is not more impossible than to feel it;
then wherefore doubt that we see what mind contains,
as well as feel it? We can feel the pain of the sick,
and the sorrow that is not ours causes us to weep; the
fact is we both see and feel, hear, taste and smell, be-
cause of mind and not matter, and from sympathy with
mind; all is mind, and matter one of its beliefs. But
for the interpretations of ignorance, the basis of all
physical manifestations would have been discovered
long ago, and given a scientific explanation; thought
awake to this subject would have discerned the signs of
science in phenomenon, had not a belief, as usual, mis-
interpreted it.
103:18
An absence of eloquence is caused by the belief that
An absence of eloquence is caused by the belief that
schools and colleges possess alone the key to it, or that
some especial endowment is wanting; destroy this be-
lief, and you break the shackles of mind that imprison
its faculties, and set the captive free to utter the beau-
ties of being. Flowers, birds, waves, mountains and
storms are eloquent, and so is man; even the sons of
the forest are sometimes orators beyond their learned
neighbors, for the reason the nearer we approach our
native being, the more we give utterance to Soul; and
it is this universal Intelligence outside of language, that
supplies all that is sublime, or beautiful in words. It
was inquired concerning Jesus, "how this man knew
letters, having never learned?" Eloquence is the
voice of Soul, the God-utterance untrammelled by