HE

ALING P OWEROF MIND .

2} g re a tis z nu m in d e c mr z ,

W I T H O RI IN A L V IE W S
G T H E S J ECT AN D C M E E I N ST R CT I N S
ON UB O P L T U O

FO R P R AC T I C E A N D S E L TRE AT M EN T F- .

J U L I A A ND ER S O N
EO O T .

! Va n is t /ze g r ea l m t ja c l in Na t u r e ,

! Wind i s t /ze g r e a tes t

fa c t in Al a n .
”

S EC O N D ED I T I O N

P EO RI A IL L

I I I I I
,

H . S H LL P R NT NG A ND P UB L SH NG C O M P A NY ,

1 886 .
 t
b
En e re d ac c o rdm g to A c t of C o ng re ss , in t h e y e ar 1 886 ,

BY M RS J . . A . RO OT,

In th e of
fi c e of the L i ra ria n o f C o ng re ss at W as hing t
on .
 P RE
FACETO SE
CONDE
DITI ON .

S
C al 884
.
,
Ithe publication f
NC E

1 w
fi rst edition S an F rancisc
have had constant and wide experience both in
,
e

teaching and healing and feel that we have grown in the ,

o our , o,

science which enables us t correct any former errors and

,
o

extend pages as well as their usefulness and conse q uent

our

value t the reader o .

W e hold some views different from any we have seen

e ffi cacy and
,

wish also t place before

, w
printed and experience con fi rms us in their correctness and
o ur

e readers certain
facts and principles that will enable them t successfully treat
o our

themselves W e give several chapters subjects that have a

. on

bearing upon and are intimately related t mental healing

w
,
o, .

T hese chapters are intended in some instances be more sug to

ges t i than
ve exhaustive but we are nevertheless led t believe
,
o

that they ill in all cases prove instructive .

“ M ental healing mind cure metaphysical science ” “ ” “

w
,
-
, ,
or

by whatever name it may be known is t a new sys tem I n ,

no .

all ages f h world there have been persons h have cured

o t e o

diseases that learned medical practitioners have pronounced

 HEALIN G P OW E R OF MIND .

incurable T hese cases have been e ffected by t h p we O f

,
.

mind and we are con fi dent from exp rience that h

more this invisible agent is brought t bear upon the human
, our o

o
w
n e
e

,
o r

t e

system the less sickness and suffering we sh ll have in t h

, a e

world W e expect the aid and Operation O f churches ir

. CO- ,
re

i O f sect and in fact O f good and intelligent people

t

w
s ec ve
p , , ,

everywhere in efforts t lessen the sum f human misery

our

w
, o o

and I t is d t see the lives f many f G od s children

oe. sa o o so o
’

embittered by disease when the remedy lies in their hands o n .

Each and all can d something towards remedying this state f

o o

things O ur efforts we feel will be crown d with at lea t as

. e s

much success in th future as they have been in the past e .

J U LIA ANDER S O N R OOT .

P EO R I A , I L L .
,

A u g u st I , 1 886 .
 C O N T EN TS .

I N T R OD U C T OR Y ,

t c o u rag e— M oral c o u rag e This book is p ublish ed in

s ic a l

t h e in tere s t h eal t h an d humani ty — A d vanced s te p s ha r

w
”
of C

ac as inn o vati o ns— Tru e kn o wl ed g e c o m e s fro m G

t e r iz e d od

D -
your
O think i ng — M ed ical p rac ti ti o n er s— M eta
o n

p hysical sci enc e— I n te ll ec tual d aring— W hat is p rog ress ?

ish o p H eber— W hat tru e p rog re s m eans— T h e p o s ibl e

B s s

facul t e s man — Man an unfo l d ing be ing— H e p l er s

i of
’
dis c o v
ery — G ilbert s p er c ep tio n — C hang e p rog re ss— I m p ro v e
’
no t

m e n t in ter nal man — righ ter d ay umani ty—

,

of B fo r h Im
p ortanc e work of .

G OD A N D CR E A T I O N ,

W ha t is C re ati o n — S e a r ch e s in t h e w ro ng d i re c ti o n — T h e mate
P
rial w or l d cann ot answer Th e invisibl e so lv e s t h e p robl e m
-

— C re a t i o n eter nal an d fi — T h e p er s o nali ty

in n it e G of od

T e maje s ty f t h e s o ul — Na t u re an e ffe c t f G
h o —My t h o l o od

gy a tte mp t s
o so lv e t h e q u e sti o n
to .

T H E OR IGI N O F E V IL ,

A cc o un t i n G e n e sis acce p ted — P o p e s a rgum e n t

no t
’
no t s at is fac

tory— T h e d ualistic t h eory—Mil to n s a rgum en t a failu re ’

E vil a n ec e si ty c re ati o n C h ri s t s saying— Man mus t

s of -
’

tr a n s
g
w re ss P f w ro ng d oing a n e c e ssi ty
u n is h m e n t or -
.
 H EALIN G P OW ER OF M NDI .

M I N D A ND M A TT E R ,

Ber k e l ey s ’
v i e ws—What
ma tter i s—W hat —S n —
p ain i s o u d Th e

ey e d oe s s ee t h e ear h ea r— N er v e s hav e fee l ing

no t no r no

Matter has in te llige nc e s e nsati o n fee l ing— rain

,

-
no or B DOt

t h e organ min d—T h e invisib l e go v er ns matter— Min d a

,

of

p ic tu re gall ery— Th e sil e n t p o w er min d—T h e i mm ort al of

min d an d t h e m ortal min d—I m p re ssi o ns las t b ey o n d d e at h

— N life in te llig e nc e
o s e nsati o n in matter—Te s t s t h e
or fo r
origin l ife—Man d is tinc t fro m th e p hysica l b od y an d t h e
,

of

materia l univ er s e .

T H I N G S S EE N A N D U N S EE N
Th e egotis t —T h e forc e s Nat u re are uns ee n —T h e ger m of

acor n te l eg raph an d magn et—U ns ee n liv i ng things— igh t

,

S
b e corre c te d by th o ugh t— V isi o n a l o n e b e tr us te d
,

to no t to .

M A N S R E LA T I O N T O G OD A ND C R E A T I O N
’
,

Th e in fl ue nc e O f man C reatio n — C reati o n mad e so l e ly

on no t

fo r man Noth i ng c reate d in vain Man s arroganc e—T h e

— — ’

po wer min d — Th e in u e nce O f fai t h — W ha t C h ris t m ean t

of fl
by fai t h—C an w e d as C h ris t d i d Man is wi t h G d
o o ne o
”

S c ri p t u r al q u ot a t i o ns p ro v e i t .

LA WS O F N A T U R E ,

O b je c t i o ns min d cu re— W or k in acc ord anc e wi t h laws O f

to -

nat u re D fi — e laws na t u re —W hat is uniformi ty ?

n it io n o f of

— aws O f min d can o v err i d e laws

L matter— N ot hing of im
p o ssibl e
‘

T H E M I SS I O N A ND D U T Y O F M A N ,

U s e l e ss to co nsul t t h e material —T h e in tui ti o n —Man s innate ’

be li e f— T h e c re ating po w er malignan t—Man c o mp e ll e d no t

to be li e v e in good n e ss—Man p laced in t h e w or l d p er for m to

a task — G d t h e G rea t A rchi te c t D u ty p re s er ving
o
of

h eal th— A h eal t hy things a re sweet te m p ered

ll -
.
 CONTEN TS . ix
P AG E

P O W E R O F M I N D O V E R B OD Y , .

C aus e an d e fe c t—M i n d a r s t caus e — M i d h as p ro p ert i e s

f fi n pe c u l
ia r i ts e l f —P o wer O f min d—A l ea r n e d p hys i c i an s O pini o n
to
’

— H o m eo pa t h an d all o pa t h — P ro f e ss or C ha r c ot magn et s on

— A man supp o s e d h e was bl ee d ing d eath —A Eng l ish to n

physic i an s o p i n i on—M ore il l e d by fe ar tha by di se as e

’
k n

Nap o l eon s p roo f’

.

D I S E A S E A ND IT S R E M E D I E S ,

D i s e as e de fi n e d Ma tter ignored as a cu rati v e age n t— things

-
A ll
re s o lv e d i n to a fe w p ri nci pl e s— C hange i n t h e t h eory of

co l or—Te chn i ca l ter ms s er v e mys ti fy— Path o l ogy an d to

t h er ap e u tics— D R ush — D Maso n G oo d —D W ater
r r r

h o us e—D Jo hnso n —T h e w or h ip d r ugs

. . .

r . s of .

DE ATH ,

W ha t i s d e a t h —W h a t is l ife — e a r d e a t h —W h a t is eter ni ty
P P F of ?
I n teri or insigh t— D e at h nally d e s troy e d by tr u t h fi .

S C RI P T URAL AR G U M E N T S ,

ish o p C umb er l an d s li berali ty — C h ri s t s teaching fai th

B
’ ’
of

! u ot a t i o ns f ro m c r i p t u re c oSnc er ning cu re s —C h ris t s cu re s ’

not m i racl e s— C h ris t s fo l l o wer s cu re di s eas e s—U d rugs

’
se o f

con d e mn e d by t h e i bl e B .

H E R E D I T Y A ND L O N G E V I T Y ,

T h e p re v l e nc e O f di s e a e— M ot h er s i n u e nc e
a s chi ld re n ’
fl on

M o n taign e s op i ni o n —P e cu li ar cas e s h ere di ty— D H o w e

’
of r

d ri nking habi t s— Ro bert Co lly er s serm o n— D u rat io n

.

of
’
on

l ife i n anima l s in m e n— O age wh en d e s i rab l e

a nd ld ,
.

S P IRI T UALI S M ,

Wha t i s s pi r i t ua l ism —N spi r i t ua l is t s —W a re al l sp i r i t s

? ot e

c re ate d by — pi ri t s d e ad un re liab l e— D avis an d

,

so God S of

S we d e n borg—T h e g re at I n i te pi ri t th e G fin h eal th S od o f .
! HEALIN G P OW ER OF M IND .

EFF ICACY P RAY E R

OF ,

W hat is p
— G oo d an d ba d p r ay er s —
ra
y er P b l as b C o n v e n t io n a l

— W ha t p r ay er s will b e answ ere d —A m e n p ray ll

phe m y
Man mad e better by p raying— I s p ray er a for ce —P ray er ? ~

an d l abor both n eed ed —T th ree g rac e s unchang e he -

God
abl e—P ray er h o ul d be wor ks word s — A sking amiss
S no t

A pp licati o n t h e min d cu re sys te m —Mus t l et t h e Old

,

of of
go
-

be fore can tak e h o l d t h e n e w

yo u of .

I N S T RU C T I O N T O MO T H E R S ,

I mp ortanc e m a terni ty — H erbert S p e nc er s re mar ks —D e c reas e

of
’

O f materni ty an d i nc rease abortio n —H ors e s d d ogs of an

t ho ugh t m ore O f t h a m e n —T h e chi ld n th e e clus i v e no t x

p roperty O f i t s pare n t s— Fath er s res p o nsibl e f d is po si ti o n or

ofchil d re n— nfan til e d is e ase s p re v e n ted cu re d—A rac e

I or

f su p er i or b ein gs
o .

D E CLARA T I O N O F P RI N CI P L E S
S tric t u re s O f
T he
Francisc o
San —O l etter B u lle t in

ed i tor s reply—Man mys terio usly c o nn e c ted i t h his

’

fe ll o ws — O p ini o n Py t hagoras —D ise as e t h e re su l t O f

of
ur to B

w
u lle t in

error mistak e d iscord m orta l m i d —N li mi t t h e

or of n O to
po wer this sci ence —Fai th a d e si rab l e co n d i tio n and e l e
,

of

m e n t succe ss
to .

PE R SO N AL E ! PE RI E N C E
I nv e s tigati o ns—Fi rs t cu re— Fe mal e d is e as e s— cas e O f saliva A
ti o n —C u r vatu re s p in e — C as e p oi s o ning T
of of e s t im o

nials — p inal d is e as e torp i d l iv er dys p epsia et c to mach

.

S S
an d h ead —N e u ralgia— I ncu rab l e malad y— D is e as e sp i n e
-
, , , .

of
— I n ter nal b ro i d t um or— wall o w e d c o nc e n tr a te d ly e ter
fi S
rib l e co nse uence s—E tre m e an d p ro l onge d n er v o us p ro s
q x
,

— pi nal d is e as e b a r ba ro us p r ac t ic e— C o ng e s t i o n
t ra tio n S of
t h e brai n —Thi rty y ear s suffering
,
’
.
 CO N T EN TS xi

I N S T RU C T I O N S F OR H E A L I N G ,

P r in c i p l e s mu t b e mas tere d—I n n ate on s i o u ne ss—Phys i al

w
s c c s c

b ody a corre sp o n d en c e—M in d d is tin t fro m bo dy—Formu l a c

f or treat m e n t—H t l k pati e n ts—H ea l er mus t h v e

o to a to s a

no d o ub t—A v o id di s uss i o n w it h so m e p ti e n t s—Muc h

c a no t

un d er s too d—B li n d n e s u re d—Free d o m f w ill —H u l ey s

s c o x
’

o p i n ion —Pati e t s h o u ld be t ugh t th e ie nc e—Th e book

n s a sc

o f t h e h e a rt—M R e v e i ll e Pa r i s e m ora l t h erap e u ti-

on cs

T h e a r asm O f d r ug m en—N er v e req u i re d min d he a l er s

.

s c -
in -

— M i ss i o na ry sp i r i t nee d e d — P hy ica l a n d m or a l p er fe c t i on s

no t fo u n d .

A N T I ! UI T Y O F M I N D CUR E
w
-
,

T h e m i n d cu re as ld t h e h uman r ac e—O pp o s i t i o n m e d i l
-
o as of ca

p ra ti ti o n er s—T h e p e d an try O f o m e m e di a l T h e us e

b
c s c me -

f te chni a l ter ms—S impl i i ty n ee d e d—D

o c P rk ! u i m by c r a

A o s to jo u r na l s d e sc r i p t i o —A ane d ote f D ! u i m
.

’
B n n n c o r

M i n d u re m o ngs t n i ent n ati on s

.

y
— — c a a c .

IN S AN I T Y ,

T h e l in e b et wee n i ty an d i n san i ty cannot be d rawn—A d vance d

n sa

sani ty ll e d i san i ty—A rkw ri gh t an d Fu l to n d ee m ed i ane

ca n ns
—M e d i l ca can giv e m en r u l e s—I nsa i ty h many us no n as

caus e s—I s O fte i nh eri ted—A y l ums d on u re i n a i ty s no t c s n

T ry t h e m i n d u re -
c .

N E C E SS I T Y OF C O N D I T I O N S ,

C on di t i o ns mus t b e c o mp l i e d w i t h —O i mp er fect n o w l e d g e ur k
ne e ss i t te s c on di tio s—M i n d ma e ondi tion s unn ece ssa ry
c a n k s c

—A rgum ent f ro m t h e i e b ri te—D r a i n ag e foo d an d n a a ir

mus t re ce i v e ttent i o n—T h e h o l er i n ran e— i ll e d by

,

a c a F c !
f e ar— M i n d t h e g re at p re v enti v e .
 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

M O RAL EFFE C T S ,

E ffe t
c m i n d u re s o c i ety— D is ease i s e v erywh ere —W
of -
c on e

claim po w er s i n o u r s e lve s—I nv i sib l e m i n d m ore p otent

no

t han visibl e ma tter— M oral co d uc t imp ro v ed—T h e tern n s

fo e ath e i sm an d materi a li sm—C ause s t u d e n t s

of erh s to s a c

th e sc rip t u re s wi t h n e w ligh t
”

b
.

TH E MO R T AL A ND I M M O R T AL
TH E ,

M a t h ree fo ld be i ng—W h t i s t h e
an -
a — S ickn e i s t h e
so u I P ss e

li e f i m ortal m i d S pi ri t (min d u re! t h e p o wer to b n i sh

o n - -
c a

fa l se be li e fs—J u d ge t h e sc i e c e by i t s fr u i t
n s .

! U E S T I O N S A ND A N S W E R S
W H AT GO D Is ?

W H AT TR T H ?
IS U
W H AT C RE A I N ?
IS T O

WH AT M IN D ?IS

WH A M ATT ER ?
T IS

WH AT E I ? IS V L

W H A TI M E ?
T 15

WH A R E I I O N ?
T IS L G

WH AT S A C E ?
Is P

WH AT S C IEN C E
IS ?
 I NT R O DUCTO RY

P HY S I C AL courage is common enough the worl d

over . M an whether savage s emi civilized or int e lli
, ,
-

gent shows himself to b e poss essed o f powers that

,

defy physi cal pain and despis e death The histories .

Of all wars ,
whether amongst the barbarians or the
enlightened nati ons are full Of deeds Of heroism
, .

But the man who will b eard the li on in his den face ,

the tiger in the j ungles o r march t o the cannon s

,
’

mouth without fl inc hing may trembl e at the breath

,

Of publi c opinion or blanch at the attack Of a scurril

,

ous newspaper and be turned from the path Of duty

,

by a littl e Opposition and ri dicule P hysical courage

.

is common b oth to man and beast but moral courage ,

is a plant Of rarer growth A nd while we hear a

.

great deal ab out the wants Of the age we sa y that ,

the great want Of the age is that very moral courage

which i n spite of all bitterness and opposition c o n
, ,

tempt and contumely will dare to adhere to the true

,
9 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIN D .

and the good The great desire o f most men is t o b e

.

thought or seem to b e good and true without much

, , ,

caring whether or not they poss ess thes e qualiti es .

P ublic approbation and appl ause may b e good things

in their way but the time comes in the lives Of all
,

men when they are called upon to think in certain

directions and to perform certain acts that run coun
ter to popular knowledge and prejudi ce and whi ch ,

are sure for a time to bring them an amount Of publi c

condemnation and ridicule This b ook i s publ ished
.

in the interests Of the health Of humanity and w e ,

cannot but expect that amongst a certain class o u r

e fforts will b e received with disfav or and oppos ition .

We refer of cours e to the medi cal practitioners But .

the fault we fi nd with medi cal men as a class is that ,

w
they speak and act as though they had a monopo ly Of
diseases and their cures They think and act in cer
.

tain grooves and o e b e t o the m an who dares t o

,

depart from their established methods This fact is .

written all down the history Of the practice Of m edi

cine E ver y advanced thinker in their own ranks has
.

w
has been pers ecuted in every conceivable manner .

H arvey Jenner S impson Ellio t so n and a host Of

, , , ,

others ho have made advanced steps have b een

pounced upon b y the entire fraternit y and character
iz e d as innovators and madmen Who does not r e
.

member the fi erce and bitter opposition that awaited

 IN T R O D UCTO RY . 3

the man who discov ered chloroform ? E ven preachers

denounced from the pulpit the employment of that
an aestheti c as flying in the face of the A lmighty h o
according to their notions ha d ordained that man
,
,
w ,

should feel the pain attending upon the amputation o f

a li mb W e coul d multiply these cases (7d
.

as the schoolmen woul d sa y But o u r Obj ect is to call

.

attenti on to the fact that no man and no class Of men

,

-
dignify thems elv es by what titl es they may can
sa
y t o the a dvanci ng waves O f knowledge “
thus far ,
”
flufl t HRNc nn e and no fi n t h e r fTr u e k no u de dg e
‘

cometh from G o d and it is no man s and no s e t Of

,
’

men s exclus ive property A nd when m en can be

’
.

brought to recognize this great fact and act upon it , ,

then will the worl d come t o rej oice in true pro g r e s

sion A s the matter at pres ent stands m ost peopl e
.
,

allow c ertai n privileged classes to do thei r thinki ng

fo r them and as a consequence we are surrounded by
,

an atmosphere Of m ental and moral Slavery M ore .

parti cularly is this true Of di seases and their remedies .

N ow we want the moral courage that will dare t o

w
,

cut aloof from these Ol d medi cal tra ditions and take ,

this matter Of health and disease into o u r o n hands .

I s it not time that something shoul d be done in

this directi on ? The flood gates of diseas e are open
-

and the whole army Of medical practitioners are

powerl ess t o stem the ti de A rchimedes is reported
.
4 H E ALIN G P OW E R OF MIN D .

to have said Give m e a lever long e n ough and a

,
“

fulcrum strong enough and I will move the worl d

,
”
.

We sa y give us the truth Of metaphysi cal s ci ence

,

w
and the courage t o apply it and we will l ift from O ff
,

humanity the mountains o f diseas e that have so long

oppressed them H o Simpl e is truth and its appli ca
.

ti on when it s principles are understood The Ol d

,
.

R omans at immens e expense and labor built huge

, ,

aqueducts over hill and vall ey But the necessity Of .

these costly labors was entirely done away with by a

knowledge that water would rise to the l evel Of its
source .

But to return to the subj ect Of intellectual daring

, ,

G o d says L uther
”
,
“
does not have h is work ma de
,

manifest by cowards ”
A ll the bl essings that we
.

enjoy under the names Of civil and re ligi ous lib erty ,

w
all the improvements that have taken place in s ci ence ,

have sprung from the small minority Of daring and

advanced thinkers I t is sad to think ho large a
.

number Of men do their thinking by proxy whi ch is ,

the same a s saying they do no t think at all A nd yet .

G o d requires Of every man that he Shall exercis e the

powers of his own mind and unless he does this he ,

lives in mental Slavery which is after all a more

, , ,

degrading position than physi cal b ondage L et a .

man stand proudly and gra ndly b efore the mat eri a l
things Of this univers e and not regard hims elf as a n
,
 IN T R O D UCTO RY . 5

i nterlop er in a worl d where he deems matter every

thing and hims elf nothing I t is mind that is every
.

thi ng and b efore its powers matter is as nothing I t

, .

is this great truth that we shall endeavor to set forth

in the following pages .

W hat is progress ? Thi s question will b e answered

a ccording t o a man s V i ew Of life and his b elief in the
’

meaning and mission Of exi stence P rogress with o ne

.

man may m ean an i ncreas e Of m oney ! with another a

multipl i city Of b ooks ! while a thi rd may claim that it
m eans the entire freedo m Of the individual There is .

no exact de fi nition to b e given to the word progress .

Whether in the indivi dual o r i n the n a ti on we can ,

come t o the conclusi on that true progress does not

consi st i n the accumulation of materi al wealth The .

goo d Bishop H eb er sang

W hat though the spicy bree es z

Blow soft O er C eylon s isle

’ ’
,

T hough every prospect pleases ,

A nd only man is vile ! ”

L et us apply this truth to o u r state and nati on .

What though o u r mines give forth their endless

stores ! What though the gol den grain waves in the
b reez e ! What though o u r harbors are crowded with
ships b earing the flags Of every nation ! if the pale
image Of woe gaunt poverty and loathsome diseas e
,
6 HEAL IN G P OW ER OF MIND .

stalk abroad in o u r streets ! P rogress cannot simply '

mean the building Of large ships whether fo r c o m

,

merce or fo r war ! it cannot m ean the constructi on Of

forts and the mobilizati on o f a rmi es ! it ca n not m ean
even the increase Of learning and s ci ence i f thes e are ,

to b e con fi ned to a few NO ! no ! True huma n

.

progress can only be s een and exhibited in the growth

w
Of better men and women ! m en and wom en who shall
n o t be discriminated against b ecaus e o f s ex o r mat eri al

possessions ! men and women ho Shall stand equally

before the law written and unwritten especially the
, ,

latter ! for while in some localities the written law is

as free for woman as for man yet there is a cruel
,

unwritten law in society that condemns woman to

eter nal infamy for the same act fo r whi ch there i s
little or no condemnation for man W e need not .

enlarge o n this subj ect as the facts a re pl ain t o b e

,

seen and read o f all men P rogress t o b e tru e must

.
, ,

not be partial and o ne si ded — it must reach and infl u

-

ence all The whole tree must grow and no t o ne

.

branch cultivated at the expens e Of all the rest .

P rogress also consists i n the unfol d ing o f th e

faculti es Of the human soul We sa y unfolding fo r
.

the reason that the most ignorant savage is b orn with

the possibl e faculties o f the hi ghest and grandest phi
lo so ph e r that ever appeared o n earth W e say po s.

sible faculti es because they are not yet i n ex i st en ce

”
8 HEALIN G P OW E R OF MIND .

TO y that
sa it was an ignorant g u ess woul d simply

be a display Of the grossest ignorance in thos e who

would make the remark Gilbert perceived that th e
.

earth was a great magnet W hos e pol es were north ,

and south The truth Of this perception has b een

.

veri fi ed by numerous accurate Obs ervati ons and

reasonabl e experi ments V ery many dis coveries i n
.

all the walks of life have been made by peopl e who

di d no t possess in any marked degree thes e SO call ed -

reasoning faculties but they poss ess ed a power Of

,

seizing hol d Of the truth There are other m ethods

.

w
of arriving at the secrets Of nature than by those o f
the inductive and deductive process es A s the soul is .

unfolded it seizes it s o n Upon the unfol dm ent Of

.

these other and higher faculti es o f man dep ends our

progress A nd in prOpo rt io n as we live i n accordance
.

’
with God s laws S O will the powers o f o u r soul
,

become unfolded ! or in other words we shall receive

, ,

the influx Of the wisdom and power Of the divine

spirit
.

L et us no t mistake m ere change for progress o r ,

we shall be like the good woman whos e only claim t o

the title Of a progressionist was founded o n the fa ct
that every week she changed the positi on Of the fu r ni
ture in her house Change Of gov ernment o f s chool
.

books o f social relations o r a thousand other things

, , ,

do not necessarily imply progressi on This must b e .

 IN T R O D UCTO RY . 9

look ed for only i n the growth and expansion Of the

soul Then i t is important t o know that while we
.

p rogress i n o n e directi on that we do not retrogress in

another I t i s a lamentable fact that whil e we are
.

compell ed to a dmit an improvement in m any dir e c

ti ons we have als o to confess that the diseas es o f man
,

hav e increas ed to an alarm ing extent A nd we .

shoul d recoll ect that dis ease produces not only weak
n ess and su ffering but also poverty and crime I t i s
, .

one Of the great est drag chains upon human advance

-

m ent A ny plan or system Of things that will destroy

.

o r prevent diseas e is S O far an engine Of progress .

Thes e p owers we clai m fo r metaphysi cal sci ence .

That it poss esses thes e powers has been demonstrated

i n thousa nds Of instances ! S O that the heal er and
teacher in this s ci ence is adding in no small degree t o
the progress o f mankind A nd the m ethod by whi ch
.

this i s done i s the only true and lasting o ne We .

b egin i n the i nt erior NO amount Of paint o r powder

.

will put the hue and color Of health upon the cheek .

T O do this we must improve internal man by unfold

ing his spirits and powers P ut good thoughts into a .

m an s mi nd and y o u will alter the app earance Of his

’
,

countenance and he becaus e Of the new thoughts an d

, ,

aspirati ons within him will s eek to i mprove his mat e

,

rial surroundings I n proportion a s we improve the

.

mi nd Of man in proporti on as we mak e the real man

,
10 HEALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

healthy so will a correspondi ng

,
improvement take
place in all the departm ents Of human existence I t .

is thus we can ascend the mountain peaks of hope ,

from W hose lofty tops we b ehol d the daw n Of a b ett er

day We can truly exclaim in the words Of another :
. ,

A brighter morn awaits the human day ,

W hen every transfer O f earth s natural gifts ’

S hall be a commerc f good words and works !

w
e o

W hen poverty and wealth the thirst f fame ,

or ,

T he fear O f infamy disease and ! ,

oe

W hen war with its million horrors and fi erce hate

, ,

S hall live but in the memory f T ime ! o

Wh like a penitent libertine shall start look back

o, , , ,

A nd shudder at his younger years .

But whil e we talk Of progress l et us not supp os e ,

that it is a thing that will come Of its own a ccord .

We may pray for it aspire t o it but w e must also

, ,

labor fo r it — labor for it with head heart and hand ! ,

and then we can not only hope fo r it but can c o m ,

mand it Great reformers have always b een great

.

workers “
. I dleness says the good book is the rust
”
,
“
,

of the soul ”
L et all men and women se e that th ey
.

keep their own souls bright and they will reflect hap ,

in e ss all down the paths Of progress

p .

W ork while yet the dayligh t shines

,

W ith a loving heart and tru e,

FOI golden years are fl eet ng by i ,

A nd we are passing t , oo .
 IN T R O D UCTO RY . 11

W ait tomorrow s sun

w
’
no t fo r
T beam upon thy way
o ,

For all that thou can st call thine ’

o n

I s in this t d yon e o a .

T hen learn make the most f life

to o

M ake glad each passing day !

For time will never bring thee back
T he chances swept away .

L eave tender word unsaid

no

D O good while life shall last !

Y ou

w
know the mill can never grind
W ith the t 7 1 i p i a er 1 c s as .
”
 G OD A N D C R EA T I O N .

C REA TION ! What a stupendous word ! What

does it mean ? Who can interpret it to u s S O that our
int ell ect shall b e fed and satis fi ed with the explana
tion ? M any learned and philosophi cal treatises have
b een written o n this subj ect but we venture to ass ert
,

that but few authors either anci ent or modern have

, ,

advanced the human mind one step i n this direction .

Why is this ? W e answer that it is because they

,

have started o n a wrong basis ! thei r questi ons have

b een asked in the wrong direction They have ran
.

sacked the rocks they have sounded the depths Of o ld

,

ocean d elved to the very bowels Of the earth laid

, ,

bare the fossil remains Of bygone ages and showed

,

u s the footprints O f all the early forms Of life from

,

the inconceivably small insect to the huge monster

that dwelt in the primeval forest ! and yet after all
,

thes e researches the human mind still asks What i s

,
“

creation ? H a d it a beginning ? Can it have an end

14 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

ing ? A ll things from a clam ! exclaime d the el der

w
” “ ”

D arwin But how di d he know that a d a m o r a ny

.

thing else a s the beginning Of life even o n this earth , ,

t o s a y nothing o f other planets and worl ds and suns

that everywhere r O ll on i n the b oundl ess fi el ds Of
ether ? S ays the divine H ers chel Who shall t ell
“
,
’
what countless forms Of life sleep b eneath earth s
granite pavements ? ”
A nd yet most geologi sts ,

assume to trace all forms Of life a s coming i nto exist

ence after the laying down and formation Of granit e .

But suppose that instead Of aiming t o wring the

,

secrets Of God and creation from V i sible and external

nature we turn to the i nvisible and i nternal ! suppose
,

we try the realm Of mind and turn away from the

w
realm Of matter .

The i dea Of creation i mpli es a creator ! and a ccord

w
ing t o the popular notion there a s a ti me wh en this,

creator began to create whi ch would m ean that there

,

was a time when the A lmighty worl d builder a s -

i dle The Bible reason intuition all forb i d such a

.
, , ,

conclusion W e are tol d that G o d is t he sam e today

.

yesterday and forever and H e accordingly wa s , , ,

always a creator and has from all eternity b een creat

,

ing This we affi rm is the only conclusi on w e ca n

.
, ,

arrive at ! it is the only satisfactory stand that w e can

take in dealing with this subj ect That this w orl d .

ha d a beg i nning is undoubtedly true ! but what is true

16 HEALIN G P OW ER OF M I ND
i
beginning ? The i dea is absurd and prep osterous .

A mong the early H indoos everything was suppos e d

t o b e hatched from an egg .But where di d the egg
come from ? I t will b e seen that thes e people reas oned
from the known phenomena Of nature to a ccount fo r
the origin Of nature itself A s the egg from a chi ck en
.

produces a chicken S O in their minds creation a n d

,

even God H imself were hatched into b ei n g No t .

only have thes e attempts b een made t o account fo r

God s existence by a materi al p rocess but millions Of
’
,

persons even in Christian lands want to know Of G o d

, ,

through their material s enses They want t o hear

.
,

touch and see G o d the sam e a s they can the mortal

frame o f a man G o d is spirit and as such must b e
.
,

thought Of and approa ched M en b elieving only i n

.

the evi dences Of their sens es will deny even a G Od '

because they cannot see Spirit with thei r natural ey es

nor touch it with their natural fi ngers they will not ,

bel ieve in a life after death Thos e are the purely

.

sensual people — dea d to every ray Of sp iritual light ,

and they laugh at the i dea Of G o d Sp irit a nd here ,

after E ven thos e who do not deny thes e existences

.

will a ffi rm that they see no evi dence to b el i ev e them .

Thes e belong t o the modern school Of agnosti cs .

M any Of thes e doubters are men Of excell ent moral

character and great intellectual and sci enti fi c attai n
ments A mongst these may b e instanced Tyndall a n
.

,
 GO D AND C REA T I O N . 17

emi ne n t sci entist Of this age H e asserts in sub

.

stanc e : I do not d eny God for I know nothi ng about

“
,

H im ! y et I do no t b eli eve in G o d fo r thes e senses Of ,

m ine have never s een H im felt H im n or touched,

H im .

The i dea that G o d is a p erson and ha s parts like a

man b elongs to a pagan age When we sa y God is
,
.

n o t a p erson l ik e a man we do n o t thereby deny that

,

H e has any personality whatever W e have no des ire .

i n this connection to fly to a dictionary for a d e fi nition

Of the word p erson fo r that would limit o u r meaning
,
.

L ock e somewhere says that a p erson is a thinking

“

”
i ntelligent b eing We mean that God is a person in
.

that H e is distinct from nature and is the eternal , ,

intelligent and active pri nciple Of all creation — and

that a s H e is eternal s o is creati on C O eternal with -

H im N ewton the great Christian philosopher says

.
, ,

that G o d is all mind all eye all arm all ear O f

, , ,
.

w
course these expressi ons are simply intended to c o n
vey t o us that God i s everywhere and that H e is all ,

powerful to execute H is o n will A poet writes .

W hen by the wind the tree is shaken ,

T here s t a bough leaf can fall

w
’
no or

But f its falling heed is taken

o

By O ne h sees and governs all

o .

T he tree may fall and be forgotten ,

A nd buried in the earth remain ,

18 H E ALIN G P OW ER OF MIN D .

Y et from its juices rank and rotten

, ,

S prings vegetating life again .

T he world is with creation teeming ,

A d nothing wholly dies

n ,

A nd things that are destroyed in seeming ,

I n other shapes and forms arise .

“ A nd nature still unfolds the tissue

O f unseen work by S pirit wrought ,

A nd a work but hath its issue

not

W ith blessing with ev i l fraught

or .

With regard t o the creation Of man we are told in

w
Genesis i : 2 6 and 2 7
A nd G d said L et us make man in
“ o ,
image after o ur o n ,

o ur likeness and let them have dominion ver the fi sh O f the

: o

sea and over the fowl O f the air and over the cattle and over
, , ,

all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon
w
,

the earth .
’

S O G d created man in his

o image in the image O f G d
o n , o

created he him ! male and female created he them .

”

We must put a rea sonable and intelli gent c o n

struction upon thes e sente n ces M an cannot b e ma de .

i n the image and l ikeness Of God in power and int e lli

gence The fi nite cannot b e like the in fi nite G o d is
.
.

not limited in knowledge and goodness but m an i s , .

But man may b e lik e unto God i n the ess ence Of hi s

b eing b ecause he is a spark Of the celestial fi r e A
, .
 GO D A N D C REA T I O N . 19

drop Of water is chem i cally speaking in the image

, ,

and likeness Of the whole ocean but it ha s not the ,

powers Of the whole ocean fo r the latter ca n roll ,

mighty waves rais e storms and b ear Ships on it s

,

b osom I n a broa d and grand sense the drop is not

.
,

I ik e the ocean A nd though man is in o ne sense the

.

i mage and l ikeness Of God yet he is not like G o d in ,

all things fo r H e ha s in fi nite and eternal powers no t

,

p oss ess ed by man N everthel ess this divine l ikeness

.
, ,

or ,
if w e may S O call it this divine kinship should, ,

awaken in the breast Of every man a conscious gran

deur Of h is divine origin an d miss ion I t was in a .

moment Of inspiration that a poet transported himself

to the starry worl ds ab ove and exclaimed
here I feel
“ Even ,

A mong these mighty things that as I am ,

I am akin G d ! that I am part

to o

O f the use universal and can grasp,

S ome portion O f the reason in the which

T he whole is ruled and founded and that I have ,

A spirit nobler in its cause and end ]

L li
ov in order greater in power
er , ,

T han all these bright and swift immensities .

S till
w
though man Shoul d grandly feel the maj esty
,

Of his o n existence yet when he contemplates God

,

and creation he will feel his own l ittleness H e will .

20 H EALIN G P OW E R OF MIND .

feel his vast ignorance in the presence Of this vast

intelligence
.

T he L ord O f all H imself through all diffused

, ,

S ustains and is the life f all that lives !

,
o

N ature is but a name f an effect or ,

W hose cause i G d
s o .
”
 TH E O R I GI N OF E VI L .

TH E account Of the origin Of evil as recorded in

the b ook Of Genesis is not accepted l iterally by int e lli
gent C hristians Of the pres ent day P hilosophers .

hav e exercised their thought an d ingenuity in e nde a v

oring to s olv e this great problem and yet today it ,

remains as great a mystery as ever P ope says .

A ll nature is but art unknown t thee ! o

A ll chance direction which thou canst

,
no t see !
A ll discord harmony t understood !
,
no

A ll partial evil universal good

, .
”

A ft er all this is an unsatisfactory explanation I t

,
.

is S imply an admission of evil and then an assertion

that it is good F rom whatever standpoint we vi ew
.

nature we fi nd that a system Of dualism prevails

,

through all her works There are light and darkness

.
,

heat and col d attracti on and repulsion upper and

, ,

under inner an d outer and good and evil Whatever

, ,
.
22 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

name we call evil by whether ignorance o r as som e

, ,
”
doubtful philosophers t erm it undevelop ed good it
“
, ,

is still o u r enemy i n whatever shap e it app ears TO .

destroy it is o u r duty and that o f every on e o n earth

,
.

M ake heat and the col d is banished ! kin dl e a light

, ,

and the darkness dispers es o f its elf ! let i n the rays Of

truth and sci ence upon dis eas e and it will flee away
,
.

M ost theologians start with the asserti on that there

—
are two great powers in the univers e a G o d who is
powerful for all good an d a D evil who is p owerful
,

fo r all evil — and that thes e powers are C O existent -

and c o eternal and hav e b een warring against each

-

other through all eternity for suprema cy W e have .

admitted the personality Of G o d but we deny the p er ,

s o n a lit
y Of a D evil D iscord error sin si ckness
.
, , , ,

i gnorance and i rreverence are the devils that m isl ead

and torment us W e let in upon thes e the light o f
.

’
God s truth . We fi ght diseas e with the weapons
whi ch H e has placed in the minds Of all H is C hildren ,

and we b ecom e conquerors .

Who has not rea d M ilton s P aradis e L ost ? This

’

grand Ol d m a n in his blindness conceived the i dea

, ,
“
that he coul d in the height Of h is great argum ent
j ustify the wa y s Of G o d to man ”
A ccording t o hi s .

i dea evil commenced when some archangels in heav en

,

b egan a war against their maker They and thei r .

adherents were overthrown in that wa r an d cast o u t

24 H E AL IN G P OW ER OF MI ND .

N owl et us turn to the other si de Of the p i cture

,
.

M an is made after the image Of God ! he is a spark o f

the divine essence ! he poss ess es within hims elf th e
power to conquer error t o sub due dis eas e and turn
,

discord to harmony Thus far we hav e Shown the

.

reasonableness the justice and goo d ness Of the crea

,

ti on But when we say that man is ma d e after the

.

i mage Of God we do not mean physi cally Wh e n we

,
.

affi rm that man is made aft er the likeness o f G o d we ,

do not mean alike in power i n intelligence and good

,

ness but in likeness in having a part Of H is nature in

, ,

having a soul that is divine in its ess ence But as this .

soul i n him must as we have b efore seen from the

, ,

necessiti es Of creation b e limited in its p owers it can

, ,

not grasp all knowledge ! it must commit errors an d ,

thus originates s in and si ckness The Obj ection here .

that can b e ma de is thi s : I f God has created man SO

that he must transgress is it just that he shoul d b e
,

punished for hi s transgression ? W e answer p erfectly ,

s o b ecause it is a necessity
,
.

A nd we speak reverently There are necessiti es .

that surround G o d H imself ! i n other words there are ,

impossibiliti es even t o the Great Creator W e n eed .

here only again refer t o the imposs ib il ity Of G o d

creating a b eing equal to H imself H e a lo n e is p er .

fe c t ly good and H e cannot creat e the p erfectly good !

,

but whil e he cannot do this H e can and has creat ed

,
 T H E O RI G IN O F E V IL . 25

b eings capabl e Of continu a lly striving after goo d ness

and int el ligence This necessitates a man having a
.

will an d a power Of s el ecti on for his nee d s wants and ,

progres s When he does not so sel ect h e does not

.

ful fi ll th e needs of his soul i n the path Of its pr o gr e s

si on and the result i s pain This pain is necessary
, .

and j ust fo r without this reminder man would no t

,

striv e t o unfol d his b eing and ful fi ll his part in the

great plan Of h is Creator .

N ow if there are necessiti es that surround even

,

G o d H ims elf in creati on much more s o are there meces

,

siti es that surround man in his life The laws Of God .

are no resp ect ers o f persons They are like H imself.

et ernal a n d unchangeable I t is a necessity that they

.

must punish all vi olati ons whether they are made

,

knowingly o r unknowingly A law t o be a law must

.

b e constant and undeviating under all ci rcumstances .

I t is not possible to conceive it otherwise Who .

can imagine a law Of gravitation determining in itself

when it Shall punish and when it shall not punish ?
Who can imagine a power in the se a to sa y when
man shall o r s hall not drown i n it ?
Whoev er a man may b e sai nt o r savage pop e o r
, ,

p easant or whether he falls into the water acci dent

,

ally Or plunges into it with sui cidal intent if he ,

remains under water a su ffi ci ent length Of time the

result will b e death That is a necessity Of law and
.

creation .
 MIND A N D M ATT ER .

MUC H has been written o n these subj ects and we ,

Shall touch upon them only so far as they have a

strict relation to the purposes Of this work Byron .

vvr o t e

W hen Berkeley said there was no matter and proved it

N O matter what he said .
”

Thi s might have b een intended as a witti cism but ,

it i s certainly no reply to the position taken by the

great phi losopher Berkeley is not alone in his vi ews
.

upon this subj ect for philosophers in all ages have

,

endeavored to show to those who claimed that this

univers e was nothing but a workshop wherein all the
,

changes we witness are but the results Of the chemi

cal pl ay Of atoms that after all they knew nothing
,

about it o r at least made claims for it that neither

fa ct n o r reason woul d warrant them in doing What .

matter real ly is has never been de fi ned We only .

know Of it by certain properti es such as form size

, ,
28 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

weight color and so forth Thes e prop erti es whether

, ,
.
,

taken indivi dually o r collectively are not m att er ,

b
itself but only certain properti es o f a s omething that
,

we call matter Color is but the color Of s om ething

.

Size is onl y the siz e o f something — an d S O it can b e

sai d Of all the other prop erti es ! u t thes e are no t th e
thing itself I s there anything underlying all these
.

properti es ? I f S O we do n o t know what that s om ething

,

is H ow d o we b ecom e conscious Of thos e prop ert i es ?

.

I t i s only through o u r sens e Of sight an d touch and the

Obstruction we meet with i n matt er that we b ecome
conscious Of any existence I n other words as we
.
,

know Of matter by properti es the recogniti on Of thos e

,

properti es entirely depends upon s ens es o r the qual ity

Of mind .

L et us illustrate this sti ll further There is a .

something that we call pain L et a p erson b e pri cked

.

with a needle the result will b e pain What makes

, .

that result C e t a inly no t the needl e The st eel Of

. .

w
which it is composed could feel no pain W hat felt .

the pain ? E very phys icist will at once say that it

a s the nerve that felt the pain — and without the

existence of a nerve there coul d b e no such thing as

pain ? We Speak Of a burn from the fi r e pro duci ng
pain ! but if there were no nerves t o feel there coul d ,

b e no sensation Of pain from the burn A gain there .

is another thing that we call sound H ow is thi s .

 MI ND A N D MA TT ER . 29

made up ? Take a small b ell an d ring i t ! the tongue

strikes against the side Of the bell causing it t o Vibrate .

Thes e Vibrati ons set the air in action prod u cing in it ,

a wave like motion and when these waves fall upon

-

the ear they produce a result we call sound But if

,
.

there was no ear to catch those waves there could

b e no such result as sou n d What we have sai d Of
.

feeling and hearing can b e applied with equal force

Of reasoning t o all the other s enses .

But we must go o ne step further back When we .

sp eak Of the nerves o f sight o f hearing Of smell and

, , ,

s o forth ,
we by no means wish to imply that it is
thes e material nerves that in thems elves perform the
functions attributed to them O n the other hand we .
,

contend that it is no t the eye that s ees nor the ear

that hears The eye is but the instrument which con
.

veys impressions to the invisible mind I n itself it .

has n o more the power t o see than has the telescope

o r m i cros cope L ook at a human body when the life
.

has departed from it A ll the organs are there the

.
—

nerves a re still in existence but there is no s ensation

, ,

w
and the b ody whether y o u dissect it or burn it can
, ,

su ffer no pain A nd why Because the invisibl e

.
?

power that felt that sa heard and performed all the

, ,

other powers ha s d eparted SO that we are driv en

,
.

t o the conclusion that matter in itself has no int e lli , ,

gence nor feel ing and does no t possess even the

,
30 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

power o f motion Thus if we rais e an arm an d a sk

.
,

the physicist o r materialist by what power we p erform

the act he readily answers that it is merely m u s c u la :
,

motion I f we ask further what m ov ed the mus cl es ?

.
,

H e replies the nerves What then moved the nerves

,
.
?

H e answers the brain We further desi re to know

,
.

what moved the brai n ? H ere we answer fo r him an d ,

sa it is the spirit Brain i s not the organ o f m ind i n

y .

the same sens e that the liver is the organ Of hepati c

secretion Brain is the organ o f fi re mi nd I t does
. .

not produce mi nd but is a cted upon by it The b ody

,
.

does not produce life but is a cted up on an d v iv ifi e d

,

by it.

Take a seed Of any d escription analys e it subj ect , ,

it t o any chemical t est you pl eas e can you tell or ,

point o u t its principle Of life ? NO ! this is i nvisible ,

and yet it is that invi sibl e pow er in it that is the all

important thing Turn which way we will it is the
.
,

i nvisibl e that acts upon that governs animates and , ,

moves dead visible matter A nd we know Of no .

limit that the invisible mind when us ed under the ,

powers Of sci ence has over matter I n o ne s ens e we

,
.

b
may call it all powerful -
.

But if we know little ab out the nature Of matt er ,

S O also do we know ut l ittle about t he nature Of

mind W e know nothing Of it s essence we only
.

,
32 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND

bb
.

has Often happened t o m e that when I hav e b een

walking with an acquaintance and have ha d a l iving
,

w
image o f something in my mind he a g a t on c e eg u n
,
‘

f
l o sp ea k o M o i v er
y Min
g I have als o known a

b
.

man ho without saying a word coul d sud d enly

, ,

silence a party engaged in cheerful conversat i on by

the mere power of his m ind N ay he coul d als o .
,

introduce a tone whi ch woul d make e v e ry o dy fe e l .

uncomfortable W e have all som ething o f electri c

.

and magnetic force within u s .

When the t eacher o f metaphysi cal sci ence m akes

the statement that there is no life intelligenc e or se n ,

w
sation in matter he i s at once m et by the obj ector
,

with the assertions that all nature contra di cts that

positi on — that facts are against u s and that o u r o n .

sensations contradict the theory W e answer that .

—
nature is on our Side that facts susta in us and that ,

sensation con fi rms the pos ition taken L et us l ook .

for a moment at nature I t is divi ded chem i cally

.
,

and physiologi cally speaking into two grand divisi ons

,

the organic and inorganic T o the form er b elongs

.

all things that live whether i n the vegetab l e o r

,

w
animal kingdom The latter i ncludes all the rocks
.

minerals and matter i n all its forms w i thout life .

No can the mineral by any process o f digestion

, ,

assimilation o r growth become endowed with the

,

life intelligence or sensati on whi ch it i s admitted w e

,
 M IND A ND MA TT E R . 33

fi nd i n th e org a ni c king d om ? We answer e m pha t

ic a lly no !
, L ife i ntelligence an d sensati ons in d i ffer
, ,

ent an d d istinct con d iti ons are peculiarly and solely

,

the qual iti es o f mind manifested i n what is termed by

s ci entists organic nature A few years ago it was
.

b eli ev ed that dull dead l eaden matter possessed

, ,

within its elf spo n taneous life The a d vocates o f this

.

theory cont ended that l ife woul d make its app earance .

without the influence of any prior life There were .

many thin g s that appeared to sust ain this Vi ew O ne .

sci enti fi c gentleman took a portion o f hay an d sub

j e c t e d it for a long tim e t o a boiling process This .

decocti on he seale d hermeti cally in a b ottle A fter a .

ti me this mass was examined and countless forms of ,

l ife were found therein Then the a dvocates o f spon

.

t a n e o u s l i fe exclaimed S ee how nature sustains o u r

“
,

”
vi ews ! But there were some s ci entists who were
n o t satis fi ed by thes e experiments and they sai d , ,

“
P erhaps the germs o f life may b e in the air L et us .

subj ect this ai r to chemical conditions as well as the

hay and wat er and then we shall se e if life makes
,
”
its appearance . They performed experiments in
a ccordanc e with this suggestion and the results were ,

that in no i n stance coul d life b e found thus proving ,

that the germs of life found after the fi rst experiment

exist ed i n the air with which the mass came in
conta ct after boiling A nd today it is concede d that
.
34 HEALIN G P OW E R OF MIND .

there is a deep impassabl e gulf b etwee n i nor g ani c

,

matter and organi c l ife S O that from this and n u m

.
,

e ro u s other ki nds o f experiments the m etaphys i cal

,

healer is j usti fi ed in denying t o matt er either l ife

intelligence or sensation H e further says that matt er
.

cannot derive life and sensation from mind They .

are a s distinct from each other as night an d d ay .

When man possesses spiritual u n d erstanding he w i ll

i nstantly perceive that he is d isti nct from his physi cal
body and the materi a l univers e M an does not d erive
.

his strength and glory from his bo d y or b rain “

As a .

plant upon the earth so a man rests upon the bos om

,

of Go d H e is nouri shed by unfailing fountains and

.
,

is fed a ccordi ng to his need by i nexhaust ibl e powers .

 TH I N GS S E E N A N D U N S E E N .

IT is commonly sai d o f the egotist he thinks he

,
“

knows it all an d what he does no t know is not worth

,

k n owing ”
. I t may b e a ffi rmed more forcibly that
men generally thi nk they see it all and that what
,

they do not se e is no t worth s eeing There is no

.

se n s e no power of the mind that m en are tyrannized

, ,

ov er so much by as their eyesight They are in fact

.
, ,

t o a large extent ,
the slaves o f their vision S t . .

P a ul says : The things whi ch are s een are tem p oral

“
,
”
but the things whi ch are unseen are eternal The
.

s criptural saying has been adopte d by the b est

think ers of the a g e that The invisible things o f God
,
“

from the creation o f the worl d are cl early seen b eing ,

un d erstoo d by the things whi ch are made ”

S we d en
.

b org in his d octrine of correspondences an d r e pr e se n

,

t a t io n s s ays
,
“
,
O f the astonishing things that occur ,

I will n ot say in l iving bodies only but throughout

,

nature and which correspon d so entirely to supreme

,
36 HEALIN G P OW ER OF M IND .

and spiritual things o ne woul d b eli ev e that t h e

,

phys ical worl d was purely symbol ical of the Spiritual

That astut e thinker Carlyl e says A ll vi s

w
” “
world .
, , ,

ibl e things are embl ems What thou s eest is no t

.

there on its o n account ! stri ctly speaking i t i s not ,

there at all M atter exists only spiritually a n d to

.
,

represent some i de a and b o d y it forth ”

.

But we desire for a moment t o call attenti on to

w
the things whi ch physi cists class a s natural phenom
ena . A ll the mighty forces of nature are uns ee n .

A nd yet ho rarely m en think o f thes e things W e .

gaz e upon the locomotive as it speeds with its trai n of

cars over hill and valley without for a m oment th i n k
,

ing that this power is derived from an unseen age n t .

The steam in the st eam chest is a s invis ibl e as the a t

-

m o sph e r e we breathe I t i s only when this steam

.

comes in contact with the atmosphere a n d b ecomes

condensed that it i s visibl e M en speak o f th e laws

w
, .

o f nature as if they were things that they coul d se e

and handle Who ever s a the l aw o f grav itat i on o r

.

any other law ? A nd yet it is thes e i nvisibl e laws

that govern all the mighty and vari ed op erati o n s
which are ever taking pla ce around us T he fall i ng .

apple the crumbling mountain the m oving aval anch e

, , ,

the roaring cataract the rushing river the rain drop

, , ,

the snowflake all move and fall in ob edi enc e t o this

,

i nvis i ble force of gravitation W e gaz e up on a forest

.
 T H IN G S S EEN A N D U N S EEN . 37

of oaks an d a d mi re their towering strength as they

sway their strong arms in the blast A fi r e will in a .

few hours sweep that forest forever from o u r sight .

What survives ? I t is the invisibl e that survives and

again builds up the Visibl e The forest is gone but
.
,

we hav e an acorn and that acorn is capabl e o f pro

,

du c ing an o a k and a forest o r a million Of forests

, .

The a corn is V isibl e it is true but it is not it s visibl e

, ,

parts that p erpetuat e the o a k The germ the life .

,

that s ends o u t roots and fi bres and trunks and ,

branches is an i nvis ible something whi ch we call

,

life ! and unless this i nvisibl e s omething survived we

coul d hav e no visible oaks W e can s e e a wire of the
.

electri c t el egraph and the batteri es and the operators

, ,

at their instruments but the power that enables us to

,

send words and messages over continents and through

seas is invisible E lectricity is invisible but it exists
.
,

i n and around every parti cl e o f matter animate and ,

inanimat e Tak e a common magnet and hold it in

.

clos e proximity to a needle the needle is drawn to it

,

by a force ! but b ecause we cannot see that force shall

we s a y that it is o f any l ess importance than the
nee d le and the magnet whi ch we can s e e ?

H ow few pers ons realiz e that even regarding the

forms o f life i n the animal and vegetable kingdom ,

that by far the great er number of varieti es are not

dis cernibl e by the naked eye There are living thi ngs
.
 H E ALIN G P OW E R OF MIND .

“
to whom the fragile blade o f grass that spri ngeth i n ,

the morn and perisheth ere noon is an unb oun d ed ,

worl d .
”
I t has been calculated that there are milli ons

w
and millions o f i ns ects in a cub i c inch o f water ! they
are so small when compared with the fi nest grain of
,

sand that it is impossible for us to conceive h o they

,

can possess organs which enabl e them t o pass and r e

pass and avoi d each other ! and yet they do thes e
things and they Show us that they have their likes
,

and a n tipathi es the sam e a s the animals whi ch are

o u r everyday compani ons .

A gain our thought i s Often required t o correct the

,

conclusion of our sight I t is not by our eyes alone

.

that we know the earth mov es W e as certain this .

fact by the exercis e of thought M ere Visi on woul d.

l ead us to come t o exactly the opposit e conclusion .

S o that View this univers e in what aspect we pl ease

, ,

we conclude fi rst that with regard to the so C alled

, ,
-

material things that it is the i nvis ibl e m ind that cor

,

r e c t s and properly informs o u r sens e

! next that of all ,

things in the universe it is the unseen whi ch has

power that moul ds and fashions the things whi ch are
,

seen and that it alone endures forever A nd when

, .

men shall fully understand and b eli eve thes e things

that beli ef shall be to them a s a new M essi ah purify ,

ing and regenerating their nature ! and then i n the ,

n
full ess of joy man will exclaim ,
“
I am o n e w i th
,
”
Go d !
40 H EALIN G P OW E R O F MIND .

W h f thy table feeds the wanton fawn

o or ,

F or him has kindly spread the flowery lawn ?

I s it f thee the lark ascends and ings

or S ?

tunes his voice elevates his wings

w
J y
o j y ,
o .

I s it f thee the linnet pours his throat

or ?

L oves f hiso and raptures swell the note

o n, .

T he bounding steed y pompously bestride ou

S hares with his lord the pleasure and the pride .

I s thine alone the seed that strews h plain t e ?

T he birds f heaven shall vindicate their grain

o ,

T hine the full harvest f the golden year o .

P art pays and justly the deserving steer !

, ,

T he h g that ploughs
o ,
obeys thy call no t, no r ,

L ives the labors f this lord f all

on o o .

! now N ature s children all divide h e care

’
, r ,

T he fur that warms a monarch warms a bear , .

W hile man exclaims S ee all things f my use ! or

’

S ee man f mine ! replies a pampered goose

or
’
.

A nd just as short f reason he must fall

o
,

W h thinks all made f

o f all o r o ne , no t o n e or .

The poet Gray in his immortal elegy written in

, ,

a country churchyard too anxious t o point a moral

,

or adorn a tale uses a false illustrati on when he

,

writes :
F ull many a gem f purest ray serene o

T he dark unfathomed caves f ocean bear o !

F ull many a fl ower is born t blush unseen o

A nd waste its sweetness the deser t air

,
”
on .

Thes e lines which have so often done duty

,

pulpit o n the platform and in fact i n all the

, , ,
 MAN ’
S RELA T I O N To G O D A N D C REA T I O N . 41

of literature and oratory are a striking example o f

,

that intellectual pri de and human conceit to which we

have called attention A t the moment we write there
.

are countless myria ds of the most gorgeous flowers

o f the most d el icate hue and the choicest perfum e ,

growing and blossoming in a thousand nooks an d

dells and where they grow blossom and display a
, ,

b eauty b eyond the power o f man to imitate there ,

they di e and fi n d no record in the mind of man and ,

thei r history is recorded in no book But Shall we s a y

.

that b ecause they thus live and die that their perfume ,

their b eauty and us e are wasted ? This would indeed

b e telling G o d that he had made things in vain ,

b ecaus e they were no t intimately and immediately

related to man and his convenience and comfort .

b
Becaus e all the rays of sunlight do not fall upon man
and the l ittl e patch of ground that he cultivates shall ,

we s ay that therefore those rays are wasted ? U nqu e s

t io n a ly every ray of light that falls from yonder su n
, ,

whether falling upon the barren rock the sterile desert ,

.

”
o r the
“
dark unfathomed caves o f ocean has it s u se
, ,

and mission A re there no t countless forms o f v e g e t

.

able and animal l ife i n the depths of the ocean aye in , ,

every drop of water that require the nourishing rays

,

?
o f light to pres erve and perpetuate their existence

A ll things that o n the earth do dwell unto the earth ,

”
s om e speci al good do give The grain o f sand the
.
,
42 H EALIN G P OW E R OF MIND .

blade o f grass the tiny insect the towering mounta in

, , ,

the rolling river and the sounding s e a a r e as much a ,

necessary part o f creation as man “

A ll are but parts.

of one stupendous whole ”

A nd when man com es to
.

recogniz e this great fact then will he come t o l ook at

,

things with an eye o f faith and not as now through

, ,

the lens o f a proud and utilitarian reason We shoul d .

w
not stand with arrogance before this mighty creation
that everywhere encircles us but with hum ility and
,

f aith and then things that are no dark t o us will

,

appear bright as the noonday We shoul d gaz e upon

.

this kingdom o f God with the single mindedness o f a -

“
child Christ says Whosoever shall n o t receive the
.
,

kingdom of God a s a little child shall in nowis e enter

,

therein ”
. I f we approach God s works as if we knew
’

all their mysteri es then we shall know b ut little ! but

,

if we will sit down before them in humil ity and rever

ence then we shall learn more and more o f H is ways
,

and shall be enabled to enter into the kingdom of H is

mysteries and power .

H ow far can man control and have power over

and use the works o f G o d ? There are s ome things
that are inexorable that exist in spite o f and cannot b e
,

controlled by the mind of man There are the m ove

.

ments o f the heavenly bodies ! these are exa ct and are

founded upon the principle of divine mathemati cs .

There are also other things over which man cannot ,

 MAN ’
S RELA T I O N T O G OD AND C REA T I O N . 43

from their very nature exercis e the slightest influence

,

or control H e cannot destroy God s laws but he can

.
’
,

ob ey them and u se them for his own happiness and

progress I t is in this s ense that G o d has given him
.

dom inion over all things around him By the exercise .

of what power ? By the power o f mind This power .

i s the divinity in man When it is told u s that G o d

.

ma d e man after his own image we take it t o mean

that he made the Spirit o f man after his own ess ence .

J esus taught this doctrine H e proclaimed that God

.

act ed through H im that G o d spake through H im and

,

that if we want ed to see God that we co u ld do so in

H im and i n ours elves when we thought and believed
,

a s H e d i d Thus we have presented t o us the

.
“

golden k ey whi ch opens the P alace of E ternity ”

.

Christ walked the wave made the loaves and fi shes

,

healed the sick and raised the dead O n what princi .

pl es di d H e do these things ? H e himself tells us ,

that H is power was from God H e never spake o f .

dis eas e a s di ffi cult or dangerous H e never employed

w
.

drugs of any description I n fact H e in all cases

.
,

impl ied that the cure fo r thes e diseases a s not to b e

found in visible matter but in invisible mind When
,
.

his followers b rough t t o H im cases they could not

heal H e sai d unto them
,
“
O h ye o f littl e faith
,
”
,
.

This age s eems t o have lost the meaning of the

g ran dest a n d sublimest word in the E nglish o r any ,
44 H E ALIN G P OW E R OF MIND .

other language namely F AI T H When S t P aul sai d

, ,
. .

“
f —
faith is the substance o things hoped for the evi
”
dence o f things not seen he di d not i ntend to giv e a
,

compl ete de fi nition o f that word Whenever Christ .

b
used the word faith H e evi dently gave to it a m ean
,

i ng and power that were more potent for good than

that possess e d by all the other human powers com
ine d
. H e spoke o f faith a s a law o f God a s real in ,

it s operation as the law o f gravitation o r any other

l aw by whi ch this uni v erse is gui ded and governed .

The questi on will arise in the minds of som e p ers ons

as to the possibility o f people i n modern days poss ess
ing the power of a ffecting cures by the sam e m ethod
a s recorded in s cripture W e answer this questi on
.

from two standpoints F irst we take the words o f

.
,

Christ himself who promis ed his followers The works

,
“
,

that I do ye shall do ”
. N ext we answer the question
,

from the standpoint of fact from which there can b e

,

n o escape for the caviler or the skepti c W e tak e .

our stand upon the doctrine by their fruits shall ye

“
,
”
know them so that from whatever point we con
,

si der the relation o f man to G o d and creation — how

ever we may View man a s a b eing o f p ower and
duti es in this sphere of existence — e are warrante d
in coming to the conclusion that it is through m ind
w ,

and faith in its unlimited powers that he can conquer ,

all diseas e and su ffering and error that e ffect him i n

, ,

his j ourney through life .

 MAN S RELA T I O N T O G O D A N D C REA T I O N
’
. 45

Th ere i s no statement that has caus ed the t eacher

o f m in d cure to be so misunderstood as that wherein
-

he ass erts that M an is o ne with G o d

“ ”
S om e peopl e .

hav e gone so far as t o call this blasphemy and hav e ,

hel d up their hands in peal or a ffected horror A .

littl e pati ence — a little christian spirit and a litt le ,

generous desire not to do us an injusti ce will soon ,

prov e to these p eopl e that o u r position is true and

“ ”
impregnabl e The words o ne with God do not o f
.
,

cours e m ean that man is on an equality with G o d in

—
power in the strength o f holiness and mercy and
l ov e S uch clai ms as thes e would indeed subj ect us
.

t o the charge of insanity O ur claim that man is o ne

.
“

with God is founde d o n s cripture and o n our spirit

”
,

ual understanding A nd just here is the place t o

.

ass ert that m ere words in themselves are nothing ! all

that shoul d concern us is what a word o r phras e is
,

intended t o conv ey The word itself is nothing ! but

.

w
what its m eaning is in the place where it is used
i s everything N ow we are told in the fi rst chapter
.
,

w
o f Genesis that God made man in h is o n image and

likeness so that then at least he must have possessed

,

som ething like unto G o d H e a s born of Go d

.
,

b earing his l ikeness of eternal life and love truth and ,

goodness justi ce an d wis dom We are told in Gen

,
. .

v 2 2 :
,
“
A n d E noch walked w ith God I n so far as
”
.

h e di d this he coul d b e sai d to b e one with God

“ ”
.
46 HEALIN G P OW E R OF MIND .

In Gen Vi 9 it reads N oah was a just m a n an d p er

.
, ,
“

fe c t in his generation and N oah walke d with Go d

”
.

We all walk with God and are o ne with God whe n we

allow his loving and unerring laws to flow throu g h u s .

Below we quote a number o f s criptural passa g es

showing in what sense Christ uses the word o ne i n
“ ”

claiming relation with God I n John x 3 0 : I a nd .

“
,

my F ather are o ne ”
John xvi i 1 1 : H oly F ather
.
“
, ,

keep through thine own name thos e whom thou hast

”
given me that they may b e one as we are
,
J ohn
,
.

xvii 2 1 : That they may all b e one ! as thou F ather

,
“
, ,

art in me and I in thee that they also may b e o ne in

, ,

us : that the world may b eli eve that thou hast sent
me .
”
M any other passages might b e quoted showing
that we u se the phras e O ne with God i n a p erfectly
“ ”
,

scriptural sense .
48 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIN D .

reason after the most approve d scholasti c m etho d o f

logic — but though they turn thei r lo g ic m ills very
artistically yet they do no t grind us o u t o ne k er n el
,

of nourishing corn They are like som e o f the equa

.

tions in algebrai c school b ooks — there are plus an d

minus a great deal o f study and di fferenti ati ng but
, ,

when the problem is fi nished we fi nd that i t ends in

z ero A fter all the learned treatis es that hav e b een
.

written about the laws o f nature what do we know ,

o f them what can we say of them ? The only com

,

p le t e de fi niti on that we can g i ve o f the laws o f nature

is that they are the laws whi ch produce the phenom

,

ena o f nature We cannot go b ehind them an d we

.
,

cannot explai n the why o r the wherefore o f either the

laws or the phenomena Who can explai n why o ne
.

seed put into the ground shoul d produce a blue flower ,

and another a red — a thir d an o ak a n d another a pine

tree I f we say thes e thin g s produce after their ki n d
.

we make no explanati on of the fa ct — e m erely

a ffi rm that things are as they are .
w ,

There i s in the H indoo S criptures a de fi niti on of

law that is very comprehensive “
L aw t is whi ch
.
’
,

is without name o r color o r hands o r feet ! w hi ch is

, , ,

smallest Of the l east and largest o f the la rge ! all and

, ,

knowing all things ! whi ch hears without ears s ees ,

without eyes m oves without feet and s eiz es without

, ,

ha n ds fi ’
 LA W S OF NA TU RE . 49

W e are accustome d to sa y that the laws o f nature

act w i th unerring uniformity But what do we know.

o f their uniformity ? That uniformity may b e cut o ff

o r ab rogate d by the int ervention of some other law .

L et a man stand in the mi ddle o f a room holding in ,

his hand a small piece of steel — he opens his hand

with the palm d ownwards and the steel falls to the
floor Why does i t fall ? I n obedience to the law o f
.

gravitati on o ne o f the widest and b est k n own o f the

,

laws o f nature S uppose instead of falli ng t o the

.
,

floor it ha d ascended to the ceiling and there adhered ?

” “
But this is no t possible says some one for that
, ,
”
woul d b e contrary to a well known law of nature -
.

By no means P la ce a magnet of su ffi c e nt force in

.

the ceiling and your steel flies upward in obedience

,

to the law o f the magnet and this law is just as

,

much a law o f nature and no more nor no less as

, ,

the l aw o f gravitation I t is a law of nature that if

.

water i s subj ected to a certain cold temperature that

it will b ecom e sol id i ce but that law will b e rendered
,

inoperative and overcome by the warm rays of the

su n
. They a r e both equally the laws o f nature ,

though acting apparently in opposite di rections .

Thes e examples will serve a s illustrations o f the fact

that there is no such thing as constant uniformity i n
the operation o f any law O ther laws are brought
.

i nto play that ren d er thes e laws inoperative S o that .

50 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

we can lay down no laws fo r nature and s a y that

they are never contravened A ll we can do is to
.

observe the op erati ons record the m an d learn wis

, ,

w
dom and humility .

No what do we know o f the laws mind of ?

W e answer almost nothing I t is only here and

,
.

there that we have obs erved a few facts and from ,

thes e we have as yet b een enable d to formulate

only a few principles But what we do know is su ffi
.

ci ent to convince us that the laws of min d can over

ride the laws of matter and hol d them as nothing .

S o that when we sa y a thing cannot b e done b ecause

i t is in opp osition to the laws of nature let us consi der ,

that until we know all the laws o f nature an d all the

laws o f mind we are not in a position t o pronounce
,

anything impossible F ortunately we have facts b oth

.
,

in sacred and s ecular history that convinc e u s o f the

almost omnipotent power o f mind over ma tt er and it s
laws Christ d i d not walk the water by d estroying a
.

law o f nature but by calling to his ai d the l aw o f

,

w
mind and by the ai d o f this law he p erform ed h is so
,

called miracl es and e ffected marvelous cures A nd .

a s in essence e are sure that our min ds are o n e with

God so in proportion to o u r understanding Of the
,

laws o f mind and faith in their power we shall b e

, ,

enabl ed to overcome all other laws a n d e ffect cures .

 LA W S OF NA TU RE . 51

And howev er le a rnde dly peopl e may talk about the

,

laws of n ature and what is imposs ible we have facts

,

that se t their opinions and prophecies at de fi ance for

,

we hol d that in the d i rection o f our work all things

are poss i bl e with God.
M I SS I O N A N D D U T Y OF M A N .

S UC H our readers as have perused P op e s

of
’

Essay on M an will agree with us that while that

,

producti on stands unrivall ed as a work o f its kind

yet that it fails to satisfy either the head or heart .

The work i s entirely o f a materialistic kind Though .

here and there are t o b e found passages that appear

to have thei r birth in the spiritual powers o f our
nature yet the author seems to think that he could
,

solve the probl em o f life by reference to the visibl e

,

worl d a s judged o f by the reasoning faculties o f man .

V i ewed i n this light the work is a splendid failure .

What help does it give us to b e told to

L au g h where we must be candid where we can
, ,

But vindicate the ways f G d man o o to .

S ay fi rst f G d above
o o man below or ,

W hat can we reason but from what we know

,
.

O f man what see we but his station here

, ,

F rom which reason t which refer

w
to or o

T hrough worlds unnumbered though the G d be known o ,

T is ours t trace him only in

’
o o ur o n .
54 H EALIN G P OW ER O F M IND .

We have elsewhere in this work aim ed t o Show

that man ca n not solve thos e mighty probl e m s that
relate to existence by an app eal to reaso n no r by ,

consulting material nature H ere again we m ust

.
, ,

refer to the intuitions and to faith M an questi ons .

himself What is the meaning o f existence ? Why

.

am I here ? What us e am I t o this universe ? We

-

a ffi rm that there dwells deep down in the bosom o f

, ,

w
every man a beli ef that he com es into the worl d to
,

do some work which n o other man can d o — a work

i mposed upon him by the v ery laws o f his o n b eing .

This to him is an intuiti on H e cannot fi nd the c o r

, ,
.

roborati on o f this in the material univers e fo r his ,

modicum of work s eems t o b e swall owed up a n d the ,

only bene fi t he can wit n ess is that his labor e nabl es

,

him to clothe himself and procure food I f per .

,

chance he is enabled t o lay asi de a few pi eces o f

,

yellow m etal yet the refl ecti on will sometimes come

, ,

O f what use can this be t o m e I must s oon pass ,

away from earth and as I cannot carry thes e things

,

with me o f what u s e are they to m e ?

,
”
A nd st i ll the
question comes — to what en d hav e I lived ? L et us
here try to explain and to illustrate M an we have .
,

seen is but a part of o ne stupen d ous whol e

,
“ ”
In .

other words he is but o ne of the pro d ucts o f the

,

great intelligent force that li es b ehind an d pro d uces

a n d moves the whole universe A grain o f san d a
.

,
56 H EAL IN G P OW ER O F M IND .

F rom what we have here a dvanced we conclude

that the univers e is founded o n immutabl e j usti ce ,

and no man can successfully fi ght against that just i ce .

S ooner o r later that whi ch is untrue and unjust must

pass away .

A nd thus the world goes round and round ,

A nd the genial seasons run ,

A nd ever the truth comes uppermost ,

w
A nd ever is justice done .
”

No ,
this power b ehind nature being just and ,

poss essing an intelligence so far b eyon d that o f the

wisest of mortals that we cannot even conceive Of its

b
immensity has not made anything in vain
,
O ur .

intelligence glori fi ed by faith assures us that we are

, ,

i n this life for a purpose — that we are in fa ct work , ,

m en placed here to carry o u t the wise and e ne fi c e nt

plan of God A n architect plans a t empl e an d his
.
,

speci fi cations are only so many directions to workmen

what they are to do for its erection H e says to o ne .

man make this fo undation ! t o another buil d thes e

, ,

walls ! to a third carve that image ! to a fourth c o n

, ,

struct that roof A nd thus he pla ces his workm en in

.

the vari ous positions where they can b e useful But .

any o f these workmen might sa y “

O f what us e is
,

my work I can s e e no good no us e i n it I t is in

.
, .

”
complete in its elf and must end in nothing
, But the .
 MI SS I O N A ND D UT Y OF MAN . 57

w
architect who place d thes e men at their di fferent
task s knew that if every m a n faithfully performed his

w
o n work all thei r labors woul d harmoniz e in the

end and the result would b e a templ e o f b eauty

, .

No God is o u r Great A rchitect ! H e has placed us

,

in this life to p erform our special and di fferent tasks ,

and though we can see in them only incompleteness ,

yet G o d can s ee that if we will faithfully p erform

thos e tasks they will harmonize in the end and the ,

results will b e of b ene fi t to ourselves o f use to others ,

and glory t o H im .

A mongst the chi ef duti es o f man i s that o f obtain

ing and pres erving health A man may possess the .

wealth of a continent but if he is the constant vi ctim

,

o f diseas e and su ffering he is a poor man compared

,

with the day lab orer whos e pulse b eats with health
,

by day and whos e nights are blessed with refreshing

sleep E m erson has the following fi ne remarks o n
.

the subj ect of health :

“
Get health N o lab or pains temperance pov
.
, , ,

e rt n o r exercis e that can gain it must be grudged

y ,
.

Fo r si ckness is a cannibal whi ch eats up all the life

a n d youth it can lay h old of and absorbs its own sons,

an d daughters I fi gure it as a pal e wailing dis

.
, ,

tract ed phantom absolutely sel fi sh heedless o f what

, ,

i s good an d great attentive to its sensations losing

, ,

i ts s oul and a ffl icting other souls with meanness and

,
58 HEALIN G P OW ER OF M IND .

m o ping s , and with m inistrati on t o its voracity o f

t r ifl e s
. The best part of health is fi n e disposition .

I t is more essential th an talent even in the works o f

,

talent N othing will supply the want o f sunshine t o

.

peaches ! and t o mak e knowledge valuable y o u must

, ,

have the cheerfulness o f wisdom Whenever y o u are

.

sincerely pleased you are nourished The j oy o f the

.

sp ir it in dic a t e s its strength

‘

. A ll healthy things are

”
sweet tempered
-
.
P O WE R OF M I N D O VE R B O D Y

A W E previ ously d evoted a chapter to M ind

S
“

and M atter our reflect ions in this connection will

,
”

principally b e con fi ned to the e ffect o f mind upon that

parti cular form o f matter called the human body .

H ere it will b e necessary to stat e o u r entire disb eli ef

in what is usually styled an axiom in philosophy ,

namely that every effect must have its cause and

“
, ,
”
every caus e must hav e its e ffect Both as a matter
.

of reason and consci ousness we deny th i s What for

,
.
,

instance is voliti on ? I t is force in energy directed to

,

s om e parti cular end Whence comes this force ? We

.

answer it originates in the invisibl e mind M ind is

,
.

in itself a fi rst cause so far a s volition is concerned

,
.

A nd the sam e thing cannot b e Observed of matter .

The mat erialist assumes that mind is n o t distinct from

m att er o r that mind is no t an entity s eparate an d
,

apart from matter I f this assumption was true then

.
,

it woul d mak e man a m ere machine t o be acted upon

60 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

and moved by physi cal caus es I f matter has proper .

ti es peculiar to itself so ha s mind and o ne Of thes e

, ,

prop erties is that i t can origi nate causes Thi s i s its .

nature ! it is one of its attribut es of which all the

reasoning o f man cannot deprive it S tarting then .
, ,

from this standpoint the explanation will b ecome

,

easy as t o how mind can gain such mastery over the

material body I t can animate and move it I t can
. .

fi ll it with health when wrongly directed with d isease

and su ffering When rightly directed by faith and
.

w
knowl edge it can purge the body from all pain and
,

impurities .

No whil e this power has been s een and recog

,

n iz e d in all ages and countri es even by the so called -

learned physi ci ans yet they have always sought to

,

limit this p ower o r to share it with vis ibl e chemi cals

and drugs A prominent L ondon physi cian recently
.

sent a communi cation to the S t 5 1 772 65 Ga z el l e from

. 2
‘‘
,

whi ch we condens e the following statement : Y o u “

say y o u do not quite grasp the s ci enti fi c reaso n s

‘ ’

whi ch I have tried t o adduce for the ass erti on that if

a su fferer from even incurabl e dis ease will Only
‘ ’ ‘

fi rmly make up his mind that he is going to get well ,

i n man y cas es his cons cience will b e ju st ifi e d Thes e .

’

words were no t precisely the words I us ed but I will ,

adopt them The Scienti fi c reasons are th es e

.
‘ ’

There is in ninety nine cases out of a hundred a possi

-
b ilit y of

though it b e organi c and incurabl e

fin
P OW ER

d ing a
OF
with disease even
m odu s
The v ery fi rst
cond ition o f life is hop e : While there is life there is
MIND

‘
‘
’
OV E R O DY
v zo en a z
’
’

.
B

’
.

,
61

’
hop e and when hop e di es l ife is no longer worth liv
,
‘

ing N ature i s n ot an artisan but an artist and with

.
’
, ,

the ai d o f the ghost (o r spirit ! she has contrived to

‘ ’

put a g ood deal of artisti c fi nish into her chi ef work

‘ ’

man This spirit i s the life o f the creation and it

.
,

is a life with more than one s ource if I may so s a y ,

.

M a ny l ive by m ental and nervous energy The mul .

t it u de of this class o f livers is very great ! their bodi es

are wondrously weak and crippled but their go and ,
‘ ’

‘
spirit are remarkable and they live when those
’
,

aroun d them think they ought t o die E ach cas e .

must b e d ealt with indivi dually ! but the task of fi nd

’
ing a m odus v zo endz with incurable diseas e is not
’ '
‘

di ffi cult a n d if o ne b e found the very fact o f r e lie v

, ,

ing the dis eas ed organ from the task of playing fi rst
rol e in the drama of life will in a majority o f ,

instances help to check the malady by whi ch it is

,

a ffecte d When a man hopes his b rain is stimulated

.
, ,

h is nervous system is healthily excited h is vital ,

w
energy is i ncreased I s it no t obvious that if the .

vital energy b e increased disease may be conquered , ,

or at l east outlived and d o n liv e d ? F orgive me fo r

b ei ng s o proli x i n trying to b e plain .

N ow although the writer abov e quoted calls this

,
62 H E ALIN G P OW E R OF MIND .

exercise o f mind power by the simpl e name o f hop e

-
,

w
( we Shall not wait here to dispute ab out terms ! we ,

take it to b e an admission on his part that there is an

invisible something that has an incalculab le and o n
dro u s power in curing diseas e when the vis ibl e drug
,

proves ine ffectual The hom oe opath says that the

.

allopath is a poisoner ! the allopath calls the h o m ce o

path a quack ! while the ecl ecti c C laims t o b e wiser
than both But whil e they all admit the great power
.

w
of mind a s a curative agent they also claim that with
,

out the administration Of drugs a ccording t o their ,

o n l earned method that dis eases coul d n o t b e cure d

,
.

But j ust at this point the m agnetic he al er steps in ‘

and he says A way with your drugs ! Throw phy s io

“
,

to the dogs ! I can cure by the i nvisibl e agent o f ,

magnetism while you signally and wofully fail by the

,
”
appli cation o f your Visible nostrums But p erma .

w
nent cures even by magnetism are by n o m eans so
certain as it s votari es are wont to claim fo r it A t .

o n e time there a s a great rage for magnets but not

,

withstanding the numerous experiments in t his dir e c

tion no satisfactory conclusions hav e b een arrived at
,

o n the subj ect I t is now ab out a century Since

.

experiments o f this nature were fi rst made and yet ,

today it is by no means established that the magnet is

o f any remedial value what ever P rofess or Charcot
.

o f P a ris
, made many exp eriments o n pati ents with
64 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

subj ect The best authoriti es are almos t unanim ous

.

in their b elief that there is no sure cure for con fi rme d

habits of i nebriety unless the e fforts in that direction
are ai ded by a strong exercis e of the will I n thos e .

localities that are subj ect t o attacks o f chol era o r

deadly fevers all Observers are agreed that m ore per
,

sons di e through fear than from any other caus e .

A nother leading E nglish physi ci an i n writing t o ,

the L ondon Tim es in 1 88 4 ha s som e p ertinent

, ,

remarks upon the e ffect that the mind ha s over the

body We make the following extracts from his
.

communication :
“
N ow the fi rst obs ervation I am anxious t o make
,

is that in the maj ority — y e s without hesitation I

, ,

a fli r m the maj ority — o f thes e cas es i t is not true that

,

the lives o f the condemned will b e one year or even ,

o n e day shorter than the average longevity o f per

,

sons Of their age and class who are presume d to be

perfectly healthy I will go further and sa y this
.
,

the dread they endure a nd the precaut ions they are

compelled to tak e no t onl y do no t t end t o lengthe n
their lives but are calculated t o abri dge them L ong
, .

and careful observation o f what are called dis eased ‘

’
lives ha s led me to the conclusi on that eliminating ,

the depressi ng and morbi d influence of that s elf con -

sc io u s n e ss which is bred of a condemned o r susp ected

life a man is just a s well as he feels taki ng the aver

, ,
 P OW ER OF MIND OV ER O DY
B . 65

age of a suffi ci ent period to cover the cycle o f an

average mode of existence M ost lives however
.
,

monotonous they may be are marked by a certain ,

r t h m ic a l succession o f ups and downs Take the

‘ ’
y .

mean of thes e and that will b e the standard and base

of probab iliti es as regards the reasonabl e expectancy ‘ ’

of life l et what will b e the matter with the indi

,

v i dual D is eas e kills more victims thr ough the mind

.

than by the b ody I f medicine were so precis e a

.

sci ence that a prognosis could b e worked o u t o n

‘ ’

trustworthy data something like authority might b e

,

hel d t o attach t o the dzezu m of the family doctor o r

'
‘

consulting phys i c ian ! but this is n ot the fact and ,

obs ervation a n d experi ence combine t o Show that the

durati on o f any particular life is b eyond ken and o u t
o f reach of even shrewd guessing unti l the approach

of death is in d i cated by signs intelligible to all .

“
W hat is the moral to b e drawn from these gen
eral conclusions ? S imply this — let no one young or ,

o ld b e s o foolish as to b e depressed by the dic t u m o f

,

the phys ician or surgeon who with portentious shake ,

o f the hea d gives a d espairing opinion

,
I repeat that .
,

I b el i eve that more persons are killed by the fear of ‘

death than by diseas e

’
.

“ I know thes e assertions will b e stigmatized as

rash and I will b e condemned for making them ! but
,

I do s o a dvisedly I beli eve me d ic i ne a s a science

.
66 H E ALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

discredits medi cine as an art I am quite sure it does

.

as far as prognosis is concerned O n the other hand

.
,

medicine as an art owes a s much o r more t o the ,

mi nistry o f hope as t o the influence o f drugs .

S urely thes e opini ons co m ing from a ma n who

,

was taught from his youth t o b eli eve that any disease
woul d succumb t o drugs if only the r i ght ones could
,

b e a dministered are entitle d to o u r ser i ous co n s i d era

,

tion Who can b e blamed after such opinions as

.
,

these for d oubting the power o f drugs to cure

,

dise a se P ,~

As a further proof o f the influe n ce that mind has

over the body we subj oin some remarks from G oethe
,
“
N apoleon visited those s ick o f the pla g ue in order ,

to prove that the man who coul d vanquish fear could

vanquish the plague also ! and he was right T is .
’

incredible what force the will has i n such cases ! i t

penetrates the body and puts it in a state o f activity ,

which repels all hurtful influences whilst fear i n vites

,
”
them .
D I S E A S E A N D I TS R E M E D I E S .

W H A T is dis ease ? I t is the result a departure of

from the spiritual l aws of God I t s true cause is not

.

t o be attributed t o the pres ence absence o r decay o f

, ,

any p art o r parts of the human system These disar .

rangem ents are the e ffects and no t the causes of the

d is ease To rem edy thi s stat e Of things we have no t
.

to s eek to buil d up materiality but to aim at once to

,

call to o u r ai d the power of spirit O ur duty in this

.

direction we apprehend is so pla in that it needs no

, ,

further words to make it clear This being conceded

.
,

the questi on aris es with what agents should we

,

approach thes e m ental caus es ? M atter we have ,

already s een does not control or m ove mi nd I t is

,
.

mind that controls and moves matter M atter being .

non intelligent what e ffect can it have upon intelligent

-
,

min d s ? A s this matter in itself has neither sense ,

feeling no r will it can have no dynamic power over

,

m ind and can make no departure from God s spiritual

,
’
68 H E ALIN G P OW E R OF MIND .

laws so that we entirely put aside and ignore i t as a

,

curative agent The very simplicity o f this method

.

should b e su ffi cient to recomend it t o the reflective

mind I n mechanics other things b eing equal the

w
.
, ,

simplest machines are the most effi ci ent “

I t is su r .

” “
prising says a philosopher h o all things in the
, ,

univers e resolve themselves into results o f a few prin

c iple s at last
”
I n chemistry many things that were
.
,

once considered t o b e primary elements have b een

found to b e compounds so that at last the chemist ,

may fi n d that his metals and minera ls are but the

results o f a very few primary elem ents I n the s ci ence

w
.

of color for instance — a few years ago a man would

,

have been styled a fanati c o r a madman h o woul d ,

have deni ed t h e existence o f seven p rimary colors .

Those who were supposed to know most o n the

subj ect proved b eyond a doubt that it required s even
primary colors from whi ch to make all other colors
and shades o f color namely : violet indigo blue , , , ,

green yellow orange and red But how stands the

, ,
.

fact today ? They now recogniz e only three prima

ries namely : blue yellow and red S ome German
, ,
.

philosopher asserts that the time will com e when all

colors will b e Shown to b e compos ed o f two original
colors This cannot b e sco ffed at a s a mere freak o f
.

the i magination fo r it must b e recollected that most

,

o f the di fferent chemical substances are not di fferent

 D I S EA S E A ND I T S REMEDIE S . 69

b ecaus e they are compose d o f di fferent ingre d ients ,

but b ecaus e o f thei r di fferent proportions o f the same

el em ents S tarch sugar vinegar an d alcohol are
.
, , ,

very dissimilar in their nature and e ffects but they ,

are all alike compos ed o f the same el ements I t is .

only the di fferent proportions in which these elements

are m ixed together that give them their distinctive
d i fferences N ow the names of disease is legion but
.
, ,

we trace them to o ne cause and fo r them we have ,

but o n e cure .

The worl d has for ages b een p erpl exed mysti fi ed ,

and imposed upon by the so called sci ence of m edi -

cine A list Of techni cal and high sounding words

.
-

and phrases have b een wrapped around diseases and

th eir remedi es until the multitude stands in awe of
the l ong array I t is too Often the case that peopl e
.

b
reverence what they do not understand Call whisky .

by its m edi cal name ,

and it at
once inspires respect I nstead of saying that a child
.

“
has measl es stat e that it is a ffl i cted with r u zolo
'

, ,

and the sam e diseas e with di fferent names is thought

to b e two distinct diseases N ow we desire t o tear
.
,

asi d e this word fringe and l et in the light o f D ivine

-

w
truth upon the whol e mass o f jargon and quackery .

E ven amongst physi cians we fi nd Skepti cs regard

ing th e util ity o f their o n practi ce M any openl y .

a dmit that they have n o very con fi dent faith in the

70 H E ALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

certainty o f their art and som e deny th e possib ility o f

,

their ever constructi ng a scienti fi c system o f rem edial

methods “
M edicine says P apillon may b e sum
.
”
,
“
,

med u p as the applicati on of certain s ci ences When .

ever thes e sci ences may advance that a rt shoul d do ,

S o also
”
. But whatever may b e sai d o f the other
sci ences we deny that the sci ence o f medi cine as a
, ,

curative o r preventive system has a dvanced one step

,

—and this is b ecause the agents it employs are false .

M edical men have given their tim e tal ents and learn
ing to the subj ect ! but i n spite of them diseases
, ,

have increased and multiplied Their studies with .

regard to the human system — its construction func ,

tions o f the organs their diseases and t reatment

,

— are divi ded a s follows : A natomy t ea ches how the

organs are made ! physiology how they p e rfo m their
functions in a healthy state ! pathology ho they dis
charge them in a diseased stat e ! and therapeutics
w
w
how they discharge them in regard to m edia that is ,

to sa y the medial agencies o f every kind with which

,

they may b e brought in contact No

w
the modern .
,

physi cian reli es upon all thes e fo r his knowl edge how
to ward o ff or cure dis ease With the fi rst t o .
,

anatomy and physiology we have no quarrel but , ,

against pathology an d therapeuti cs we proclaim a

bol d and open war The practice Of medical m en
.
,

i n these d i rections has b een fraught with incal culabl e

,
72 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

certain drugs administered accor d ing to the quant i ty

and method lai d d own will e ffect cures H i s d i ag
,
.

nosis is often o f the shallowest ki nd but even whe n

,

correct his remedies are still of the conventi onal

description and if through the Vitality o f the pati e n t
, ,

o r by the power o f mind a cure is e ffecte d he tri es to

, ,

convince his pati ent that his recovery i s enti rely d ue

t o his careful administratio n o f the prescribe d d rugs .

Thus a fals e over arching faith has grown in the

-

effi cacy o f thes e poisons The I srael it es o f o ld are no

.

more to b e condem n ed for their worship o f the gol d en

calf set up in the wilderness than are the mass es fo r
,

their idolatry o f the m edical drugs se t up am i d st

humanity in thes e days o f enlightenment We are .

endeavoring to wean them from their fals e faith and ,

point them t o the only true G o d The magi cians

.

have thrown dow n their ro d s an d now we throw

,

d own o u r ro d of m ind cure and it will swallow up

-

all the rest.

 D EATH

TH OUG H to millions of living men and women the

“ ”
word death is o n e Of gloomy import yet we hop e ,

not t o mak e this chapter either gloomy or in any way

disagreeabl e What is death ? S helley says
w
.

H o wonderful is death !
D eath and his brother sleep
!
O ne pale as yonder waning moon ,

W ith lips f lurid blue !

o

T he other rosy as the morn ,

W hen throned ocean s wave

on
’

I t blushes the world

o er
’

Y t bothe passing wonderful

so .

D eath has been called the king o f terrors H e .

has b een s et forth in pi cture books a s a grim skeleton

s ent into the worl d t o st eal away the fai r ones from
earth W e hav e b een taught t o think that death is
.

the natural and insati abl e foe o f creation D eath is .

a s natural as l ife W e go o n e step further and sa y

.
,
74 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

it is more so There i s at all mom ents going o n

.

through organized matter a fi erce struggl e against

life and it i s dead dull matter that e ffects th e mas
, ,

t e ry We are not now speaking o f m ind but Of

.
,

physi cal organization Watch the life o f a plant : i t

.

is endowed with a passing power over the elem ents ,

by whi ch it makes use o f the earth the a ir the rain , ,

and the su n Tak e away the power o f the plan t t o

.

use thes e el ements and they at once turn upon it and

,

it is withered and rotted by the v ery things whi ch

b efore nourished it .

What then i s the m eaning o f death as appli ed to

, ,

man ? What also is the meaning o f l ife ? T o the

, ,

physi ologist and philosopher the l eading qualiti es ,

whi ch disting u ish living things are reproduction

growth and waste While man stands in vital rela
.

tion with the elements and things around him we sa y ,

the man is alive When he h a s no longer any rela

.

tion t o them we say the man i s dea d P robably o n e

, .

of the most complet e de fi nitions of life is the s u m

“
,
”
total o f those functions which resist death When .

man ceas es t o have connecti on with his surroundin g s ,

we at once pronounce him dea d SO that death i n a .

general sens e means a dissolu t i on of phys ical organ

,

is m an d a destructi on o f form But the word death .

is Often used in another s ens e I t is used t o express .

a state of torpor or indi fference o r a want o f certa i n ,

 D EA T H . 75

qualiti es a n d things Thus we speak o f m en as b eing

.

”
fi nanci ally dea d “
dea d t o a ll intellectual pleas
,

ures ,
” “
dea d t o all moral feeling and principl e ”
.

By these expressi ons it is n o t meant t o convey disso

lu t io n much l ess t otal destructi on
,
Then we have .

such expressions as S he that liveth in pleasure is

“

” “
d ea d whil e Sh e liveth t o b e carnally minded is
,
-

” “ ” “
death the wages o f Sin is death and dead in ,
”
trespass es and sins .

I t is safe t o a flflr m that if we live in constant d rea d

w
o f death there is something sa dly wrong in o u r con

diti on A n I ndian prince T esso o ne day ri ding in

.
, ,

the forest s a a her d of elk sporting

,
“
S ee how .

”
happy h e sai d ,
“
thes e browsing elks are ! Why
,

shoul d no t pri ests lodged and fed comfortably in the

,

t emples also amus e themselves

,
? ”
R eturning home ,

he imparted this r e fl e c t iOn to the king The king o n .

the next day conferred the sovereignty on him sa y ,

ing P rince a dminister this empire for s even days !

,
“
,

at the termination o f that period I Shall put thee to

death ”
. A t the end o f the seventh day the king
inquire d “
F rom what caus e hast thou b ecome so
,

ema ciated ? ”
H e answered F rom the horror o f
“
,

d eath ”
. The monarch replied L ive my child and
“
, , ,

b e w i s e Thou hast ceased to take recreati on saying

.
,

t o thyself i n s even d ays I shall b e put to d eath

‘
.
’

Thes e pri ests in the templ e incessantly meditate o n

76 HEAL IN G P OW ER OF MIND .

d eath ! how can they e n t er into healthful d ivers i ons ?”

This probl em o f death is what every m an has t o

solve for hims elf H is neighbor cannot do i t fo r him
.
.

P robably this is what the anci ents intended to embody

in the S phinx The S phinx sa t by the roa ds i d e pro
.

pounding a ri d dl e to the travel er I f the travel er

.

solved the ri ddle he killed the S ph i nx ! i f not it

, ,

killed him .

N ot long since we were in a small town in o ne o f

the S outhern S tates and engage d a man t o dr i ve us
,

round to Vi ew the obj ects o f int erest i n the neighbor

hood The fi rst pla ce t o whi ch he took us was the
.

cemetery and he di d no t seem t o b e aware o f any

,

thing that could interest u s but that S o there a re .

people in life whos e sole pla ce o f interest is the grave

yard These people su ffer from troubl e o f o ne kind
.

o r another and they woul d gla dly b e dismi ss ed from

,

the duti es of life But how will death help them ?

.

M ust not man do his stint of work b efore he di es ?

Will the duties whi ch he shoul d perform b e dism iss e d
when a man di es if he shoul d no t hav e p erform e d
,

them ?
I t is a wrong id ea that som e p eopl e hav e that ,

w
when they pass away they go from tim e into eternity .

w
They are as much in eternity now a s they ev er will
b e We do not enter eternity at death — e enter it
.

at birth A nd happy are they ho when the change

.

,
 D EA T H . 77

call e d death comes ,

can exclaim w i th the pious
A dr i an ,

Th e world recedes ! it disappears !

H eaven opens my eyes ! M y ears
on

W ith sounds seraphic ring !

L ord lend your wings ! I mount ! I
,

O h grave ! where is thy victory

,
?

O h death ! where is thy sting

,
? ”

If we woul d b e well and happy — if we would se e

and learn the fl eeting the mortal and perishable from
, ,

the i mmortal then we must shut our eyes o n the out

,

ward and dying univers e and open them to the ,

inward and living univers e This is what may b e .

called the int erior insight and t o this there can be no

,

death S o that we may say that the true mind cure

.
-

sci ent ist b eli eves in living and not in dying There is .

no death o n ly to that which emanates from the carna l

min d — in its own b eli efs it creates it s own images ,

an d t o itself these are real W e are told that the

.

carnal m in d is at e n m ity with God ! co n sequently

this con d ition o f things can only b e destroyed by an
understanding a n d appli cation o f truth .
80 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

follow in Christ s footsteps for they felt th e truth Of

’
,

the saying E xcept ye have the spirit o f Christ ye

“
,
”
are none Of his We feel that it is one of the m ost
.

damaging omissions i n the lives o f modern Christians

that su ffi ci ent prominence has not b een g i ven to the
healing o f disease A nd further though they sp eak
.
,

o f faith a s a necessary thing to spiritual salvati on yet ,

they have lost sight of it as a word full Of meaning ,

and having direct reference to the curi ng o f all b odily

dis ease Christ constantly spoke o f faith a s the great
.

and requisite in everything especially t o the curi ng ,

o f disease H e never advis ed his followers to hav e

.

recourse to the u se o f drugs for he di d not u se them ,

himself evi dently no t recognizing them as useful or

,

necessary agents L et u s follow him through s ome

.

o f h is j ourneys and aim t o learn l essons therefrom

, .

We subjoin several passages from the s criptu res with ,

their places o f reference When he ha d ended his .

sermon on the mount wherein he spake as man never

,

spake the fi rst act he performed was to cure a case o f

,

bodily in fi rmity :
When he was come down from the m ountain
great multitudes followed him A nd b ehold there .
,

came a leper an d worshipped him say i ng L ord if , , ,

thou wilt thou canst mak e m e clean A nd J esus put

, .

forth his hand and touched him saying I will ! b e

, , ,
 S C RIP TU RAL AR GU M E N T S . 81

thou cl ean . A nd immediately his leprosy was

cl eansed ”
. M att . viii , 3 .

H ere we tak e occasion t o remark that this was an

exhibiti on of the omnipotence o f mind over matter .

W e des ire to record no t only cases of cure but also ,

to stat e events wherein he showed the power o f min d

over inanimate things .

An dwhen he was ent ered i nto a ship his disci ,

pl es followed hi m A nd behold there arose a great

.
,

t emp est i n the s e a insomuch that the ship was covered

,

with the waves ! but he was asleep A nd his disci .

pl es cam e to hi m and awok e him saying L ord save , , ,

us ! w e p erish A nd he saith unto them Why are

.
,

ye fearful O ye of littl e faith ! Then he aros e and

, ,

rebuk ed the wi nds and the sea ! and there was a

great cal m ”
M att viii 2 3 t o 2 6
. .
,
.

“
A n d behol d they brought to him a man Si ck o f
,

th e pals y lying o n a b ed ! and J esus s eeing thei r

, ,

faith sai d unto the si ck o f the palsy So n b e o f good

, , ,

cheer ! thy sins are forgiven thee ”

M att x 2 . .
,
.

In the ab ove quotati on it will b e observed that

si ckness is sp oken o f as a s in I t will b e necessary to .

b ear this i n mi nd fo r it is by sin that diseases are in

,

the worl d and in proportion as we overcom e s in we

,

destroy dis eas e ! but we can never overcome sin by

the us e o f drugs .

6
82 H EALIN G P OW E R OF MIND .

A gain ,
in M att . ix ,
I to 2
9 ,
it is recor d ed
Whil e he spake thes e things unto them b ehol d
‘
, ,

there came a certain ruler and worshipped him say , ,

ing M y d aughter is even now dea d : but com e and

,

lay thy hand upon her and she shall live A nd J esus .

arose and followed him and s o did his discipl es ,

.

( A nd behol d a woman which,

was diseas ed with an
issue o f blood twelve years came b ehind him a nd , ,

touched the hem o f his garment F o r she sai d with .

in herself if I may touch his garment I shall b e

, ,

whole But J esus turned him about and when he

.
,

saw her he said D aughter b e o f good comfort : thy

, ,

w
faith hath made thee whole A n d the woman was .

made whole from that hour ! A nd whe n J esus cam e .

into the ruler s house and sa the minstrels and the

’
,

people making a nois e he sai d unto them Give place : , ,

for the mai d is not dead but sleepeth A n d th ey ,

.

laughed him to scorn But when the peopl e were put .

forth he went in and took her by the hand and th e

, ,

mai d arose A nd the fame hereof went abroad into

.

all the land A nd when J esus departed thence two

.
,

blind men followed him crying and saying Thou so n , , ,

o f D avi d have mercy o n us

, A nd when h e was .

come into the hous e the blind me n cam e to him : and

,

J esus saith unto them Beli eve ye that I am abl e t o do

,

this ? They sai d unto him Y ea L ord Then , ,

.
 S C RIP TU RAL AR GU MEN T S . 83

touched he their eyes s a y i ng , ,

A ccording to your
faith b e it unto you
, .

The great l esson in the ab o v e to b e learned is that ,

the power of faith in thos e possessing diseas e is some

times a necessary element .

As the parabl e of the sower has a b earing upon

the thorough success i n som e cases o f the faith or
m ind cure we here quote it : A nd he spak e many
-

,
“

things unto them in parables saying Behold a sower , , ,

b
went forth t o sow ! and when he sowed some seeds ,

fell by the waysi de and the fowls came and devoured

,

them up ! som e fell upon stony places where they had ,

n o t much earth : and forthwith they sprung up e ,

caus e they had no deepness o f earth : and when the

sun was up they were scorched ! and because they
,

ha d not root they withered away A nd some fell

,
.

am ong thorns ! an d the thorns sprung up and choked ,

them : but other fell into good ground and brought ,

forth fruit some an hundred fold som e Sixty fold

,
-

,
-
,

som e thirty fol d Who hath ears t o hear let him

-
,

hea r.
”
M att x m 3 t o 9 .
,
.

I ndeed necessary does faith seem t o be in the

,
so

cas e o f som e pers ons that it appears to b e almost

impossibl e t o cure them without their own indivi dual
faith i n the power o f G o d to restore them t o health .

H ence it is recorded of Christ s sojourn in a certain

,
’
 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

place : A n d he d i d no t many mighty works there

“

”
b ecause of their unbel ief .

Below will be found s ev eral scriptural a ccounts Of

cases o f cure : “
A nd when they were come t o the
multitude there cam e t o him a certain man kneeling
,

down to him and saying L or d have m ercy o n my

, , ,

so n ! for he is lunati c and s ore v exed for o ft times

, ,
-

he falleth into the fi r e and aft into the water A nd I

,
.

brought hi m to thy disciples an d they coul d not cure ,

him Then J esus answered and said O faithl ess and

.
,

perver se generation how long shall I be with you ?

,

H ow long shall I su ffer you ? Bring hi m hither to

me A nd J esus rebuked the devil and he departed
.
,

o u t o f him : and the child was cured from that very

hour Then cam e the dis cipl es to J esus apart and

.
,

sai d Why coul d not we cast him o u t ? A nd J esus

,

sai d unto them Because of your unb el ief : for verily

,

I say unto you I f ye have faith as a grain o f mustard

,

s eed ye shall sa y unto this mountain R emove hence

, ,

to yonder place and it shall remov e ! and nothing

,

shall b e impossible unto you ” —M att xvii 1 to 2 0

4 . .
,
.

A nd behold two blind men sitting by the way

,

si de when they heard that J esus passed by cri ed o u t

, , ,

saying H ave mercy on us O L ord thou so n o f

, , ,

D avid A nd the multitude r ebuk ed them b ecaus e

.
,

they shoul d hold their peace ! but they cri ed the more ,

saying H ave mercy o n us O L ord thou son o f

, , ,
 S C R IP T U R AL AR GU MEN T S . 85

D avi d . And
J esus st oo d still an d called them and , ,

sa i d What will ye that I shall do unto you ? They

,

say unto him L ord that o u r eyes may b e opened

, ,
.

S O J esus had compassion o n them and touche d their ,

eyes : and imme d iately thei r eyes received Sight and ,

they followed him — M att xx 30 to 34 .

,
.

A n d b ehol d there was a woman which ha d a

,

w
spirit o f in fi rmity eighteen years and was bowed ,

together an d coul d in no wise lift up herself A nd

,
.

w
when J esus sa her he called her to him and sai d, ,

unto her W oman thou art loos ed from thine infi r m

, ,

ity ! and i mmedi ately she as ma de straight and ,

glori fi ed G o d ”—
L uke xiv I I to 1 3
.
,
.

“
A nd as he entered into a certai n village there ,

w
met him t en m en that were l epers which stood afar ,

of f and they lifted up their voi ces and said Jesus

, , , ,

M aster have mercy on u s A nd when he sa them

,
.
,

he sai d unto them Go shew yours elves unto the ,

pri ests A n d i t came to pass that as they went they

.
, , ,
” —
L uke xvi i 1 2 to 1 4
w
were cl eansed .
,
.

“
Then when M ary was com e where J esus was ,

w
and sa him she fell down at his feet saying unto
, ,

him L ord if thou hadst been here my brother had

, , ,

not di ed When J esus therefore sa her weeping

.
,

and the J ews als o weeping whi ch came with her he ,

groaned i n the spirit and was troubled and said , , ,

Where have ye lai d him ? They sa y unto him L ord , ,

 w
86 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

com e and se e J esus wept Then sai d the Je s B e

. .
,

hold how he loved him ! A nd some o f them sai d

Could not this man which opened the eyes o f the
,

w
blind have caused that even this man should not hav e
,

died ? Jesus therefore again groaning in himself ,

cometh to the grave I t a s a cave and a stone lay

.
,

upon it J esus sai d take ye away the stone M artha

.
, .
,

the sister o f him that was dead saith unto him L ord , , ,

by this time he stinketh fo r he hath b een dea d four ,

days J esus sa ith unto her S ai d I no t unto thee t hat

.
, ,

w
if thou wouldst b elieve thou shoul dst se e the glory o f
,

God ? Then they took away the stone from the place
where the dead a s laid A nd Jesus lifte d up his .

eyes and said F ather I thank thee that thou hast

, , ,

heard me : A nd I knew that thou hearest me always !

but becaus e o f the peopl e whi ch stand by I sai d it , ,

that they may beli eve that thou hast s ent me A nd

w
.

'

when he ha d thus spoken he cri ed with a loud voice , ,

L azarus come forth A nd he that a s dea d cam e

,
.

forth bound hand and foot with grav e clothes ! and

,
-

his face was bound about with a napkin J esus saith .

unto them L oose him and let him go

,
”
S t J ohn xi
, . .

3 2 t o 44 .

The ab ove are some o f the instances o f cure by

Christ I t might b e here obj ected that though Christ
.

e ffecte d these cures yet that they were done by a

,
88 H E AL IN G P OW E R OF MIND .

o ne sense this is right and from a n other Vi ew it is

,

entirely wrong S i ckness is an a fflicti on from God

.

’
b ecause it is the result o f a v iolation of God s laws .

I n L amentations i ii 33 : Fo r he doth no t a ffi ic t will

“
,

In l
g y n
,
o r gri eve the children o f m en
”
D avi d s ays .

“
N o good thing will he withhol d from them who
walketh uprightly ”
H e is abl e and wi lling to cure
.

all si ckness and sorrow in those who wi ll s eek him

aright .I n E x xxiii 2 5: H e promis es that if the
.
,
-

peopl e will hearken unto his voice he will tak e si ck ,

ness away from the mi dst of them I n II Chronicles

w
.

it is written : A nd A sa in the thi rty and

w
“
x vi 1 2
, ,

ninth year Of his reign a s diseased i n his feet until ,

his diseas e a s exceeding g r ea t ! yet i n h is diseas e he

sought not to the L O RD but t o the physi cians A nd

w
,
.

A s a slept with his fathers ”

.

S ince the days o f A sa just ho many have slept ,

“
with their fathers b ecause they sought not to the
L ord but to the physi cians it is impossible to tell
, , .

D oubtless many millions A s many more have lived .

lives of su ffering becaus e thei r whole system h a s b een

poiso n ed with drugs .
 H ER ED I TY A N D L O N G E VI T Y

W E need no statisti cs to prove to us the fearful

preval ence of disease and su ffering I n o ne shape or
.

another they are t o b e found in every locality and in

almost every house W e may justly assume that a
.

vast deal o f su ffering might b e prevented by the

j udi ci ous u s e o f means within the reach o f every indi
vi dual I t is certain that the diseas es and appetites o f
.

p arents are transmitted t o thei r o ffspring We con

.

s t a nt ly fi n d the children of thos e who are addi cted t o

the u se o f alcohol and tobacco manifesting the same

desire for these things as thei r progenitors Though.

the hab its mi n d and dispositi on o f the father have

,

consi derable influence in determining the ph y si cal ,

m ental an d moral condition of his O ffspring yet they ,

cannot b e co m pared to the influe n ces o f the mother

fo r good o r for evil upon her children These remarks
.

are forcibly true o f the period preceding the time

when sh e b ecomes a mother A t these times som e
.
90 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

mothers are in the habit of using Vile drugs and when ,

this is not the case they often permit themselves to

become violent in temp er o r they indulge in despond
ing moods A ll thes e can b e obvi at ed by a knowl
.

edge and application of metaphysi cal sci ence W he n .

mothers under stand and act upon this great truth a ,

Speedy improvement will tak e place i n the human

race M an is an animal and more than an animal
.
,

and it is a shame to our civilization that the hors e

the o x the sheep and the ho g have m ore care
,

bestowed upon them in improving and p erp etuati ng

their speci es than man .

M ontaigne in his essay on the R esemb lance o f

,
“

Children to their F athers says there is a certain

“
,

sort o f crafty humility that springs from presumption ,

as this for example : that we confess our ignoranc e in

,

many things and are so courteous as to acknowledge

,

that there are in works o f nature some qual iti es an d

conditions that are imperceptibl e t o us and o f whi ch ,

our understanding cannot discern the m eans and

causes ! by which honest declarati on we hop e t o
obtain that peopl e Shall also b eli eve us of thos e that
we say we do understand We need no t troubl e o u r
.

selves to seek o u t miracles and strange diffi c u lt ie s ‘

methinks there are such incomprehensibl e wonders

amongst the things that we ordinarily se e as surpass
all diffi culti es o f miracles ”
I n his essay he goes o n
.
92 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

family app eare d fi rst in the person o f E dward L am

b ert whose whol e b ody except the fa ce the palms Of
, , ,

the hands and the sol es o f the feet was covered with
,

a sort o f Shell consisting of horny excrescenc es H e

,
.

was the father o f six children all o f whom a s s oon as

, ,

they had reached the age of six weeks presented the ,

same peculiarity O nly one of them lived ! he mar

.

ri ed and transm itted the p ecul iarity to all his s ons

,
.

Fo r fi v e generations all the male m emb ers of the

family were distinguished by the horny excres cences
whi ch had adorned the body o f E dward L amb ert .

There are many other cas es o f inherited physi cal

peculiariti es which coul d b e given but the ab ove ,

i nstances will b e found su ffi cient fo r the purp os es of

this work .

The hereditary transmission of qualities will b e

generally admitted whether they are physi cal mental
, ,

or moral ! and although wis e and learned fathers do

not always possess wise and learned chil dren still ,

there can b e no doubt o f the transmiss ion of intell ect

ual forces and tendenci es I f the ancestry o f o u r
.

poets historians scientists and warriors coul d b e

, ,

traced we shoul d fi nd enough to convince u s that they

,

possessed special powers suffi ci ent t o account for the

transcendant powers in thei r o ffspring .

I n this connection it will b e well fo r o u r temper

ance fri ends t o learn a lesson which t o some extent, ,
 H ERED I T Y A N D L O N G E V I T Y . 93

will a fford them a rgument against the us e o f st im u

-

lati ng drinks by parents D r H owe says : The

. .
“

children o f drunkards are de fi ci ent in bodily and vital

energy and a re predispos ed by their very organiza
,

ti on t o have a cravi ng for alcoholi c sti mulants I f .

they pursue the cours e o f their fathers which they ,

hav e more temptation to foll ow and l ess power t o

avoi d than the children of the temperate they add to ,

th ei r hereditary weakness an d increase the tendency

t o i diocy or insanity in their constitution and this they ,
”
l eave to thei r children after them .

A s ermon was preached by R obert Collyer of ,

Chi cago entitl ed The Thorn i n the F lesh from

,
“ ”
,

whi ch we mak e the foll owing extract : “

I n the far
rea ching influences that go to every life and awa y ,

backward as certai nly as forward children are some ,

times born with appetites fatally strong in their

nature A s they grow up the appetite grows with
.

them and speedily becomes a master the master o r

, ,

tyrant and by the tim e he arrives at manhood the

,

m an is a slave I heard a man say that fo r eight and

.
-

twenty years the soul within him had to stand like an

unsl eeping sentinel guarding his appetite for strong
,

drink T o be a man at last under such a disa dv a n

.
,

tage not to m enti on a saint is as fi ne a piece of grace

, ,

as ca n well b e s een There is no doctrine that

.

d emands a larger vision tha n this o f the depravity o f

94 HEAL IN G P OW ER OF MIND .

human nature L et the reader just think o f th i s

.
”
.

A man fo r twenty eight years b eset by a demon and

-

yet not fall ! H as the prea cher overdrawn h l S pi c

ture ? We do not want to discuss the total depravity
doctrine but we affi rm that there was no necessity
,

for that long beset m ent o f temptatio n M etaphysi cal .

sci ence says R esist the devil and he will fl ee from

“
,

y ou .
”
Y ea the devil
,
of appetit e fo r strong drink .

We have known of cases cured and we further a fli r m ,

that no outward circumstances without int ernal cure

will prove e ffective S o that i n the t emperance
.

reform metaphysical sci ence is bound to play an

,

important part .

The question has often been discussed as to the

l ength o f the term if any that D iv i ne P rovi denc e
, ,

ha s affi xed to the duration o f human life The ex .

pression (Gen v i,
“
H is days shall b e an hundred
.
,
”
and twenty years has b een estimated by som e to
,

mean that this should b e the extreme duration o f life !

others have thought that it meant the average I t is .

certai n that the durati on of life vari es in di fferent

ages A braham lived one hundred and fi v e years
.
.

J oshua di ed at o ne hundred and ten When D av i d .

wrote his P salms eighty years was consi dered an

,

extraordinary age I n the 9 o t h P salm v ers e 1 0 it is

.

, ,
“
recorded ! The days of o u r years are three score -
96 H E ALIN G P OW ER OF M IND .

is consi d ere d to b e about twenty years in

M an
growing I f from the above tabl e we conclude that
.

animals live fi v e times a s long as their peri od o f

growth then may we not conclude that man will liv e
,

fi v e times his period o f growth whi ch would mak e ,

the duration of human life o ne hundred years But .

whether this is so or not is not s o much a matter of

,

importance as the manner in whi ch human b eings

lead their lives A long life is not so much t o b e
.

desired as a life of usefulness Burke says :.

“
Old
age when it has been attained in the path o f wisdom
,

and virtue claims universal honor and resp ect

,
”
An .

o ld age of that kind is to b e desired but there are ,

cases where persons have l ived long whos e career has

been one continued cours e o f s el fi shness O thers .

have had thei r declining years marred and mad e

miserable by diseas es and pains whi ch might have
been prevented Give us health us efulness and l ong
.
,

life The metaphysical heal er will b estow his tim e

.

and tal ent not alone in curing diseases but i n prev ent ,

ing them he will prevent the impairment o f health

and the disturbing o f the a ffections and the int ellect .

H e will also as opportunity may occur i nstil i nto the

, , ,

minds of those with whom he comes in contact such ,

i deas a s will improve them sp iritually and thus lead ,

them nearer to God W ealth is a good thing t o

.

have but too many sacri fi ce their lives and every

,
 H E REDI T Y A N D L O N G E V I T Y . 97

feeling o f manhoo d to obtain it . Their cry

gol d ! gol d !
Bright and yellow hard and cold ! ,

M olten graven hammered and rolled !

, ,

H eavy get and light t hold !

to o

H oarded bartered bought and sold !

, ,

S tolen borrowed s q uandered doled !

, ,

S purned by the young but hugged by the ld , o

T the very verge f the churchyard mould

o o .

We must not los e sight o f the fact that when we

speak o f longevity and its diseases that mental and ,

moral dis eas es are often as d angerous and sometimes ,

more so than the SO called physi cal diseases I n no

,
-
.

way i s this more strikingly exhib ited than i n the

insane craving for money which some aged persons
displ ay up to the edge of the grave The habit o f .

grasping and hoarding has become so strong upon

them that they appear powerless to resist it O f such .

souls we shoul d say that they have wandered far from

their M aker and have miss ed the true obj ect and
,

aims o f life They neither love their fellow men nor

.

their God They are blind torpi d and are neither

.
, ,

fri ends lovers nor citizens o f the worl d and can have
, ,

no sympathy with mankind They know nothing of .

human nor divine love H ow admonishing in this .

con n ection are the wor d s o f H enry M ore

 H EALIN G P OW ER OF
w
98 MIND .

B ut souls that f his

H e loves as hi
o
o

s o w good life partake

o n

self ! dear as his eye

n

T hey are t H im ! H e ll never them forsake

’
,

W hen they shall die then G d himself hall di

,
o S e

T hey live they live in blest eterni ty

, .
”

M etaphysi cal s ci ence

says des ire t o l ive long but
, ,

also d esi re to live wellGoo d a ctions are o f m ore

.

importance than longevity but if we live i n accord

,

ance with God s laws b oth are attainabl e

’
,
.
100 H E ALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

the veil A n d S piritualists tell us that the dise m

.

bodi ed spirits carry with them the imperfections and

w
errors acqui red in this life and that there as here are
, ,

many unhappy i nharmonious spirits O f what u se

,
.
,

then is it to call for ai d upon thos e ho are lik e our

,

selves ? I n this life if we will we can acquire the

, ,

knowledge whi ch by the help o f H im from whom

,
“

”
cometh every good and perfect gift is equal to the

b
,

cure of all sickness sin and d is eas e L et u s then

,
.
,

seek this knowledge — s eek it earnestly i n prayer in , ,

faith i n singleness o f heart Christ sai d

,
“
I f thine
.
,

”
eye b e singl e thy whole ody Shall b e full o f light
,
.

We must neither seek nor work doubtingly but s eek ,

with unclouded vis ion and an eye Singl e to the disc o v

ery of truth a s it is and s eeking we shall fi nd and
, ,

lik e the poor woman mention e d in S cripture we shall ,

be made whol e .

w
We recogniz e no b ene fi t from the mere contact of
the hand for this woul d b e an a dmissi on that there
,

a s a curative prop erty in matter What magnetism .

is we know not By some it is termed a flui d and

,
.
,

by others an essence o f mind C ertain it is that it is .

not mind its elf N either do we pretend to know what

.

mind is and it may b e we shall never know There

,
.

app ears to b e a reason why we shoul d no t have it in

our power to de fi ne mind N othing poss ess es the
.

power o f self analyzation A tree a drop o f water a

-
.
, ,
 S PIRI TU ALI S M . 1 01

grain of san d cannot comprehend no r analyz e them

,

s elv es . Thes e are all forms o f matter an d matter ,

cannot investigate nor comprehen d itself M ind

w
.

investigates matter b ecaus e it is outsi de an d inde

pendent Of it But mind cannot investigate its o n
.

ess ence ! all it can do is to analyz e point o u t and ,

nam e its powers and e ffects .

A gain many S piritualists claim to have communi

,

w
cati ons from doctors i n the spirit world in which they ,

recommend the use of drugs for e ffecting cures .

No a s we entirely ignore the use of d rugs o f what

, ,

us e woul d it b e to us to call upon these Spiritual doc

tors ? W e have quite a suffi ci ent number o f M D s . .
’

o f that strip e in this sphere o f existence without s eek

ing to call b ack thos e who have left their nostrums o n

earth.

I t ha s b ecom e common to talk o f the mind cure as -

something akin to psychology o r mediumship I f that .

eminent s eer S wedenborg can b e reli ed o n we have

, , ,

littl e t o hop e from the spirits in the other life either ,

in the way o f healing spiritual enlightenment or

,

moral progress I n his D iary he says that spirits

.
“

narrat e things wholly fals e and lie When spirits ,

.

b egin to speak with men care shoul d b e taken not to

,

b eli eve them ! fo r almost everything they say is made

up by them and they li e They love to feign What
,
. .

ever m ay b e the topi c spoken o f they think they ,

102 HEALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

know it an d form di fferent opini ons ab out it alto

, ,

gether as if t hey knew ! and if man then l istens and

beli eves they insist and i n vari ous ways deceive and
, ,

seduce .
”
W e give this m erely as S wedenborg s tes ’

t im o ny as to the source of his informatio n .

M any S piritualists are i n the hab it o f calling

A ndrew Jackson D avis a me d ium H e deni es this . .

F or proof of this the rea der is referred to N ature s

,
“ ’

D ivine R evelations p 4 4 an d t o M agi c S ta ff pp

”
,
“
.
,
”
,
.

3 0 8— 1 2
3 . H e claims that he can put hims elf in c om

m u n ic a t io n with the intelligence and wisdom o f the

ages ! that he is nourished by unfailing fountains o f
knowledge and draws from thence wisdom at his will
,
.

While i n the case o f S we d enborg his claim i s that he ,

receives his information and instructi on directly from

the L ord H ere are the testimoni es o f two o f the
.

w
m ost remarkable men of modern days each towering ,

above the mass o f m en as the H imalayas tower above

the earth each claiming his o n peculiar source o f
,

inspirati on We shall l eave it to the a d herents o f the

.

respective parti es t o deci de upon the genuineness of

thes e claims But if S wedenborg receive d informa
.

ti on from the L ord why shoul d not other m en and

, ,

all m en a ccording to thei r spi ritual condition ? H as

G o d selected only a few m en i n thousands of years t o
make his desires and ways known to his children ?
H e is unchangeabl e and no respecter o f p ers ons I f .
 E FFI C A C Y OF P R AY E R .

What is prayer ? “
I t i s the heart s sincere desi re
’

utt ered o r unexp ressed ”

. I n View o f all that we have
previ ously advanced how much can we reasonably
,

hop e from the employm ent o f prayer ? O n this sub

b
e c t ma n kind can b e rea d ily d ivi d ed into two classes

w
j
nam ely thos e who expect too much from praying
, ,

and thos e h o flatly deny its utility The monks o f

.

”
o ld sang L a o r a r e es t or a r e
,
To lab or is t o pray
.

This is worthy to b e rememb ered by those who

woul d trust everything to prayer There are good
.

prayers an d there are vain fool ish and even mali

, , ,

c io u s prayers The time has com e when it behooves

.

o u r chu rches to look a littl e more closely tha n they

hav e hitherto done at the us es and power o f prayer .

I f there is any o ne time more tha n another that it is

wrong to tak e God s nam e in va i n it is when men
’
,

w
pray t o H i m simply to have their o n s el fi sh en d s
answere d o r that they m ay receive some b ene fi t or
,
1 06 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

blessing whi ch they are too indolent t o lab or fo r .

M any very many prayers are simply utt erances of

,

conventi onal blasphemy Two monarchs go t o war

.
,

b oth b eli eving in the sam e God and they caus e

,

prayers t o b e sai d in all of thei r respectiv e churches

for the success o f their respective arms A re thes e .

people in a true sense praying to God at all ? A re

they not s el fi shly and savagely eja culating o ne against
the other ? Two adj oining farm ers pray to G o d ! one
wants dry weather and the other rai n E ach wants .

h is sel fi sh ends answered without regard t o the

other s welfare A re no t all such prayers better l eft
’
.

unsai d ? N ay are they not wicked prayers ? What

w
,

thes e people really need is a tru er knowledge o f their

o n relations and duti es — and higher nobl er and
,

grander conceptions o f A lmighty God The M ast er .

tol d us t o pray t o the F ather in thes e wor d s : Thy

“

”
will b e done on earth as it is in heaven .

R ight here th os e who do not b elieve in prayer

,

will say : But will not G o d do H is will without o u r

“

praying to him ? ”
We answer that Go d an d the
Univers e will do that which is right an d proper fo r
us when we supplicate aright P ray er alone is a us e
.

w
less thing but prayer with work in the right di recti on
,

is a combina tion o f power that nothi ng can resist .

There is not a man o n earth ho does not at s om e ,

time o r other pray A n inspirati on is a pray er ! an d

,
.
1 08 HEALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

enough to ri dicul e S o far as prayer has i nflue n ce

.
”

in the min d cure it may for aught we know s erve to

-

, , ,

w
concentrate and direct the needed curative force .

But we cannot hop e for success until we acquire a

knowledge o f Go d s laws and ho t o apply them ’
.

L et u s never forget that all g oo d work is a good

prayer There are cases where mere wor d s are but
.

a mockery a n d in these cases good d ee d s are the only

,

e ffective prayers A prayer o ffered fo r a hungry

.
,

famishing man would not supply his wants What .

he would need would b e the prayer of the Good

S amaritan .

G ive him a lift don t kneel in prayer ,

’
,

N morali e with his despair !

or z

T he man is down and his great need , ,

I s ready help t prayer creed ,

no or .

T is time when the wounds are washed and healed

w
’
,

T hat the inward motive be revealed !

But whate er the spirit be
no
’

w
, ,

M ere w rds are but a mockery

o .

O grain f aid just

ne is more
o no

T him than tomes f saintly lore !

o o

P ray if y ,must within your heart

ou ,

But give him a lift give him a start , .

T he world is full f good advice

w
o
,

O f prayers and praise and preaching nice !

,

But the generous souls h aid mankind o

,

A re scarce as gold and hard t fi nd o .

 EFFI C A C Y OF PRAYER . 1 09

G ive like a C hristian speak in deeds , ,

A noble life s the best f creeds

’
o ,

A nd he shall wear a royal crown

W h gives them a lift when they are down
o .

L ov e prayer acti on are the three graces that

, , ,

must go hand in ha n d o n the road o f humanity .

E a ch l eft alone will e ffect little o r nothing When .

each is genuine it will link itself t o the others

, .

Thes e constitute the hope the happiness and the , ,

progress of the human rac e

P rayin g without ceasing is Christianity or a con ,

t inu e d working in union with God The unchange .

abl e unerr i ng principle God who is the sam e yester

, , ,

d ay today and forever cannot b e changed or infl u

, ,

e nc e d i n the l east by a mortal sens e of man s needs

’
.

N o amount of eloquence could change that which is

unchangeable mak e right more than right or I n fi nite
, ,

W i sdom wis er .

Christianity makes o ne b etter by purifying the

erring mind ! it i s the right thought whi ch brings
forth the right act N ot prayer o f words but of
.
,

works ! in other words the understanding of God is ,

the pure fountain wherewith to purify the streams and

d estroy error sin Si ckness and death P raying God
, ,
.

t o forgive o u r sins would b e like asking the principl e

o f m athe m at ics to work o u t a problem for us o r to ,

forgive o u r mistakes P rinciple neither forgives nor

.
1 10 H E ALIN G P OW E R OF MIND .

punishes ! it is stationary and unchangeabl e W e .

must reach it with thoughts no t words ! and through ,

the understanding of it destroy error o r c eas e t o d o

“
,

evil and l earn t o do well ”

We pray t o God t o fo r .

give what shoul d b e destroy ed ! we a sk H im to

rememb er us and H e forgets nothing
,
W e a sk .

I n fi nite Wisdom to care for fi nit e se nse s and to spi rit '

u a liz e mortality A dmitting God O mnipotent U n

.
,

changeable I ntelligence and praying t o H im t o do ,

this or t o do that woul d b e limiting H is power and

, , ,
“
a contradiction ! it would b e a hous e divi ded a gainst
itself ”
. God is O mnipotent and cannot b e ov ercome ,

by food baths or change o f temperature A sking

, ,
.

G o d to do our work is asking am iss an d we receive ,

not. Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap ,

also .

G o d is ever present and the blessings of truth are

,

free t o all I f we desire them and put in pra cti ce our

.

desire we Shall receive them Jam es understood this

,
.

when he sai d “
I will show thee my faith by my
,
”
works The only acceptable prayer is t o do right
.

s o far as we understand the right and to walk in the ,

light so far a s we receive it A goo d motive guide d .

,

by the thought in the understanding o f God brings ,

forth good works and is faith with works ! it destroys

,

s in and sickness .

A ll sm is thought before i t is an act therefore ,

112 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

In thes e two com man d ments all others are b ri efly

comprehended ! and acknowledge but one God a n d ,

the spiritual creation and the universe .

I n the mind cure system we do no t g o to the o ne

-

su ffering from his a ffected t errible conditi on with a

drug o r theological fear W e depe n d upon that
.

which is greater than either a s we regard both as ,

only the results o f mortal o r undevelop ed reas oning .

We depend upon mind in its entirety and not upon ,

any de d uctions or b eli efs We neither hol d our

.

pati ent s hope in drugs o r in any more religi ous assur

’

w
ance whi ch only a few b eli eve in but we hol d it in
, ,

the clear understanding the knowl edge o f true b eing :

,

which knowle d ge o r attainment is o u r o n health o r

salvation and then b ecomes theirs als o by the int er
,

blending o f mind .

The people are no t correctly taught by the cl ergy

o r by the doctors Thes e teachers a s well as the
.
,

peopl e are all i n the material They are n o t spiritual

, . .

They beli eve very generally in matter and but l ittl e

in mind Y ou cannot get into the new unless y o u can
.

get o u t o f the old To take hol d nearly always

.

means fi rst t o let go P eter woul d never hav e walked

.

o n the water if he had not let o the b oat Whi le

g .

he held to it he sunk in the water ! when he let go ,

then he walked on the water E verything that i s is .

the r esult and property o f mind Y o u cannot nam e .

 EFFI C A C Y OF PRAY ER . 1 13

anything outsi de o f mind o r separate from it ! it is

m in d always that feels and su ffers M ere matter is
.

voi d o f life hence voi d of feeling ! the n it is not mat

,

ter that su ffers o r is si ck F eeli n g is in life only !

.

therefore all feeling is in mind Then as s ickness is

.
,

always m ental o r in mind the remedy surely must b e

, ,

m ental or mind Thus you medicine d octors and

,
.

medi ci ne takers ought to se e the fallacy o f giving

d rugs to mind .
1 16 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

of unreasoning custom impuls e o r fancy j oined with

, ,

the suggestions o f ignorant nurses and the prejudi ced

counsel o f grandmothers ? I f a m erchant commenced
business without any knowl edge o f arithmeti c and
book kee ping we Should exclaim at his folly a n d l ook
-

for disastrous consequences O r if b efore studying

.

anatomy a man se t up as a surgical op erator we

, ,

Shoul d wond e r at his audacity and pity his patients .

But that parents shoul d b egin the di ffi cult task o f

rearing children without ever having giv en a thought
to the principles — physical moral o r intellectual
,

which ought to guide them excites neither surpris e at

,

the actors nor pity for the i r Victims H ere .

are the indisputabl e facts : that the development o f

children in mind and body rigorously ob eys certain
laws that unless conform ed to by parents death is
, ,

inevitable ! that unless they are in a great degree con

formed t o there must result s erious physi cal and
,

mental defects ! and that only when they are com

letel conformed to can a perfect maturity b e
p y
reached Judge then wh e ther all who may o n e day
.
, ,

be parents shoul d no t str i ve with som e anxi ety to

”
l earn what thos e laws are .

I t is a lamentable fact that there is a decreas e o f

healthy maternity among A meri can women and i n ,

some quarters there is an increas e o f the horrible

practice o f abort i on Thes e evils must not b e lai d
.
 IN S T R UCT I O N To M OT HER S . 1 17

entirely at the d oor o f woman for m an is in part their ,

instigator W e w ant t o sprea d knowle d ge an d create

.

a healthy s entim ent on this subj ect E ven at the .

expens e o f not having such fi n e horses expert dogs , ,

and fat pigs we want a stronger healthi er b etter

, , ,

class o f children I f o ne o r the other must b e

.

negl ected w e say let the pigs go

,
Children are .

brought into the world inheriting the defects physical ,

and m ental o f their parents I f thes e evils can b e

,
.

prevented is it not our imperative duty to do it ? We

,

Shall thereby sav e the worl d an immens e amount o f

mis ery and als o a dd t o the future greatn e ss o f man
,

kind There i s not a position in the worl d so sacr ed

.

as that of b eing a mother I t involves duties of the .

v er y highest order and it shoul d b e remembered that

,

the chil d i s not the exclusive property o f it s parents ,

for as well as b elonging to them it belongs to its ,

country and t o it s Go d I t is in the power of the

.

mother t o a very large ext ent t o mol d and make the

, ,

character o f her o ffspring E specially is this true o f

w
.

pr e natal condition A t these times by a wise dirce

.
,

ti on o f her o n thoughts and will gui ded by a thor ,

ough knowledge o f metaphys ical science she can in a ,

great degree determine the disposition of her child .

F athers t o o should aim at thes e periods t o keep the

, ,

mother i n the happiest an d calmest frame o f mind .

V i olent fi t s o f anger and indeed excitement of every

,
118 HEALIN G P OW ER OF M IND .

kind shoul d b e avoi d ed Then in after years as soon

,
.
,

as reason has suffi ci ently dawned upon the mind the ,

child shoul d b e taught to conquer and treat its elf .

We have known quite young children to acqui re su fli

ci ent control over themselves as to b e abl e t o con
quer pain There is no stu d y that i s more imp ortant
.

to children than the mind cure A numb er o f those

-
.

infantile diseas es such as croup m easles and the like

, , , ,

when not prevented can b e very much l essened in

their e ffects and pains by the parent and chil d bring
,

ing into exercis e the power whi ch the mind h a s

over the body There are many cas es where the
.

dangerous dis ease o f diphtheri a has b een rendered

comparatively harmless by this mental appli cati on .

M others Shoul d b e taught to know the influenc e that

mind has over matter and then for the sak e o f thei r
, ,

children they Should use that knowl edge

,
.

What a race o f superior b eings might b e produced

if mothers woul d use the power whi ch G o d has put
i n t h eir hands I nstea d o f having wives and mothers
.

in a true sense society is fi lled with wom en who

,

apparently care fo r nothing more than t o mak e them

selves milliners bl ocks and obj ects of fashi on and
’

admirati on for the gaping crowd Thes e remarks are.

not i nten d ed to disparage taste in dress nor care for ,

the same ! but we desire t o l ead women esp ecially ,

mothers to higher aims in life and point them t o

, ,

duti es that are o f lastin g and eternal importanc e .

12 0 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

n ew s ci ence A s I have had consi derabl e pra cti ce

.

b oth as a heal er and t eacher in m etaphysi cal s ci ence ,

or as it is popularly called “
the mind cure ”
I , ,

v enture to a sk for space in your j ournal to se t forth

what we b eli eve and also what we claim to b e abl e to
,

perform .

Fi t — W contend that dis eas e what ever form

rs e ,

it ma y assume is m ental an d n o t physi cal ! i n other

,

wor d s that all

,
diseases are but e ffects having thei r ,

origin in the regions o f m in d and n o t of matt er .

This will seem to p ersons o f the o ld school a radi cal

position to tak e and yet a careful ob s ervati on o f the
,

writings of all practitioners reveals the fa ct that they

have always recogniz ed whil e a dministering their
drugs that after all the cheerfulness the hop e the
, , , ,

faith o r to put it tersely the mind o f the pati ents is

, , ,

the great factor in restoring them t o health What is .

this but admitting that despon d ency dread a ppr e he n , ,

sion and fear are the great products of disease ?

S econd — Wignore d rugs in what ever form
e

administered as perfectly worthless curativ e agents .

A ll outward agents o f whatever nature although ,

they may for a time app ear t o cure dise as e yet in the ,

end prove worthless The y are delusi ons and snares

.
.

They fo r a time cover up dis eases whi ch reappear i n ,

their fi rst o r some other form Whil e many persons .

 DE C L A R A T I O N OF PRIN C IPLE S . 12 1

a re compell ed by facts to a dmit that cures have b een

e ffecte d by o u r method they say that the diseases so
,

cure d are always what medi cal men call o f a nervous

ki nd This is not true W e recogniz e no limit and
. .
,

a cknowl edge no classi fi cation .

Third — W e beli eve in one eternal and unchange

abl e God who is the sam e t oday yest erday and for
, ,

ev er F rom H im cometh every good and p erfect

.

—
gift even the gift o f healing o f dis eas e The early .

Christi ans always pra cti ced the gifts of healing — an d

declared that those gifts cam e from God Christians .

o f today o f whatever sect will not dare to deny that

,
.

Christ and his followers possessed and practi ced the

power o f healing but they s eem disposed t o doubt
,

whether thes e powers hav e des cended to modern

times We answer thes e doubts by an appeal to facts
.

t o b e found in S an F rancisco and elsewhere We .

recogniz e no permanent curative agent except the

univ ersal m ind o f God The b etter we live the closer
.
,

b ecom es o u r relation to G o d and we can draw from ,

this univ ersal fountain the power whi ch if appli ed by ,

“
knowledge is equal to the curing o f all the ills
,
”
whi ch flesh is heir to We hear much in thes e days
.

of the p ower o f magnetism and the influence which

departe d spirits have upon the human organism .

Whatever powers thes e may have we know that they ,

12 2 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

are of a limited and even d oubtful chara ct er A ll .

human b eings are spirits and as such can hol d com

,

muni on with the I n fi nite S pi rit and need n ot depen d ,

upon departed fri ends to do the work in this mun d ane

sphere which they can do themselves .

F ourth —A s all p ersons can work o u t probl ems in

mathematics when they un d erstand the principles so ,

any o n e can produce harmony in music by rul ing o u t

the discord S o also can any o ne bring health and
.

harmony into their lives when they understand God s ’

laws and how t o apply them D iseas e is a discord

,
.
,

an error and we recogniz e no power b eneath the

,

D ivine to remove it When this is recogniz ed and

.

acted upon the probl em of dis eas e or dis cord in God s

,
’

children will b e solved and harmony health and hap

, ,

in e ss will reign upon the earth

p .

I n penningthis I am consci ous that I may expos e

myself t o the ri dicul e o f some and to th e sk epti cism
o f others Thes e things have always b een th e herit
.

age o f thos e who have dared t o step asi de from th e

b eaten track but D ivine power and the worl d o f fact
,

will in the end win them ov er We feel with the o ld .

“
thinkers that o ne with God is a maj ority
,
”
God
, .

layeth H is hand o n Slowly but H is power is ir r e sist i

,

ble I regret that I cannot more fully express mys elf

.

,
12 4 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

physi cal system both from poli cy and b ecause they

a ctually know nothing about it and who prefer for , ,

their own consci ence t o locate all dis eas es o f the

‘

mind and t o call fo r D ivine assistance in removing

,

them counting human ski ll as nothing

,
.

“
N ow there is a class o f diseases which possibly
,

can b e treat e d in this way with som e b e n e fi t to the

patient I n some cas es the diseas e is nothing more
.

than a delusion There is a theory that the maj ority

.

o f the peopl e are not sane on all subj ects There is .

som e degree o f abnormalism That however i s a .

, ,

fanciful theory founded on nothing more than a class

,

of mental phenom ena which have a clos e connecti on

with bodily infi r m it ie s T o sa y that the vi ctim o f
.

neuralgia or dyspepsia o r o f a c onsuming fever o r of

, ,

the small pox has no physi cal dis ease that his ail
-

, ,

ments are simply the result of a di seas e i n his mind ,

o r a disease whi ch is to b e locat ed there is simply ,

absurd The skepti c has a good right to call at

.

once fo r a demonstration The individual whos e .

mind is in a perfectly healthy condition is prostrated

with a fever o r some actual dis eas e of cours e his ,

mind as a cons equence is a ffected by his b odily ,

condition But that is a s econ d ary consi d erati on

.
.

The mind cure i n all this class o f cases is perfectly

-

hopeless The disease is not there

. I t is not a .

discord i n the mind o f the pati ent but it is a p ois on ,

 D E C LARA T I O N OF PRIN C IPLE S . 12 5

i n hi s phys i cal system That cannot b e removed

.

by lay ing o n o f hands nor by any degree o f faith

,

in an unseen p ower There never has been a well

.

authenti cat ed cas e in modern times where a pati ent

was cured i n the last st ages o f consumption by any
medi cation o f his mind such as is involved in the
,

—
faith cur e theory no t a single instance where a
-

malignant cancer has b een cured by fa ia t h o r crushed ,

limb restore d .

N ow there is a class of dis eases partly fi ctitious

, ,

and partly real which are limited t o the nervous

,

system and the mind o f the vi ctim I f the indivi dual .

is under a delus ion that s omething ails him that is ,

the dis eas e N o doubt there are thousands in this

.

condition The worl d is full o f delusions What is

. .

needful i n such cases is t o remove the delusion and if ,

it can b e removed by another delusion perhaps the ,

end j usti fi es the means I t might better accord with

.

the truth to tell the pati ent that nothing ails him .

But in a morbi d condition o f mind that will not

always do O ld D r A b ernethy and other God
. .

w
fearing physi ci ans woul d have told such patients that
nothin g under the heavens ailed them and that their ,

chi ef need a s t o get out in the bracing at mosphere ,

an d take m ore cheerful vi ews of life .

“
Just here is room for the play o f all sorts o f
qua ckery H ow many cures have been e ffected by
.
12 6 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

administering brea d pills ? That was an o ld applica

ti on o f the faith cure The pati ent b eli eved that
.

there was great v irtue in the medi cine and so got

well — that is es cap ed from his delusion I n every
,
.

insane asylum the skillful physician knows that a

w
maj ority of his pati ents are su ffering from delus ions
whi ch are brought o n by a bad condition o f the phys
ical system H e knows just ho far he can go with
.

h is mind cure ! but he knows well enough that he

cannot reach that ultimatum without fi rst s earching

b
for diseas e in the phys i cal system and applying his
remedies there .

“
O n the theory whi ch o u r correspondent pr o m u l
gates what a e ne fi c e nt work might b e wrought in
,

thes e asylums by the faith cure practi ce ! There a re-

a thousand people in a singl e instituti on all under ,

some sort o f a delusion O nce remove this and the .

patient is well I t is only a discord in the mind ! N o

.

doubt any form o f mental delusi on is i n the directi on

,

o f insanity I t is a symptom of unsound mentality

. .

I f the symptoms progress far enough a cas e o f

i nsanity is recorded But i n a maj ority o f s uch cases
.

some well chosen remedial agent such as a ch ange of

-

climate travel medicine wisely a dministered i s all

, , ,

that is needful for the complaining party A nd s om e .

times to b e told bluntly that there is no s erious thing

the matter is a potent remedy
,
.
12 8 H EALIN G P OW E R OF MIN D .

tions and pow wow o f medicine men among uncivil

-

iz e d and half civiliz ed peopl e But among enlight

-
.

ened peopl e it is supposed that such remedi es are

dis carded ! o r they only furnish fresh illustrations o f
the delusions which hav e not y e t b een banished from
”
the world .

We give the above reply by the editor of t he

Ev en ing B u lletin becaus e it so well illustrat es the
fallacies and errors into which so ma n y fall an d the ,

“ ” “
misunderstanding of the words mind cure There -
.

is nothing the matter with my min d

”
s a y many ,

pati ents who evi dently have no more comprehension

,
“ ”
o f the science or the real meaning o f mind cure -

than the editor ab ove quoted ! and yet he assum es t o

know it all an d without s eri ous thought o r consi dera
,

tion jumps at conclusions (which are wholly e rro n e x

,

ous
! and,
from that false standpoi nt undertak es to lay
down the law and constitutes hims elf the judge of
what can and cannot b e done by the application of a
sci ence o f which he is entirely ignorant O f cours e .

the absurdity and falsity o f his premises and conclu

sions need not to b e pointed o u t t o thos e in the “

” “ ”
understanding but to those still in darkness some
,

o f h is assertions m a s eem fairly plausibl e

y .

But when we sa y that diseas e originat es i n the

,

min d we do not mean that it in all cases or i g

,
 D E CL A RA T I O N OF PRIN C IPLE S . 12 9

in a t e s i n the m i nd of the pati entparti cular p erson

or

s u ffe rI n
g from dis ease but that it had its origin some
,

w
ti me o r other i n the error m istake o r discord o f,

m ortal mind M an is mysteri ously connected men

.

tally w i th his fellows I t a s P ythagoras who sai d

.

that if there is one poor su ffering soul in this

univers e all other souls will b e a ffected until that
,

su ffering s oul is restored to health The error the .

,

d iscord o f one is the error and discord o f the whole ,

li abl e t o b e acted upon by fear and other agents and ,

made manifest as circumstances may di ctate The .

editor is further in error when he says that neuralgia ,

dyspepsia o r consuming fever cannot b e cured by

,

this method W e re c o g niz e m o limit to this power

.

when properly appli ed O f cours e we do not i gnore

.

the necessity of conditions Christ himself recogniz ed

.

the necessity o f co n ditions i n e ffecting cures What .

does it m ean when it is stated : A n d he could do no

w
“

mighty works there b ecaus e o f their unbelief ”?

H ere
a s an a dmission that b elief o r faith was a necessary

elem ent to success in those parti cular cases I f a man .

shoul d com e to us with a disease and obstinately

refus e t o b elieve that we coul d cure him or strongly ,

d oubte d that we ha d any power whatever to do him

any good thes e fears and doubts would go a long
,

way i n k eeping him in his diseased conditi on But .

with the p erfect knowle d ge in the mind o f the opera

9
130 H EAL IN G P OW ER O F M IND .

fo r and a perfect faith in the mind of the pat i ent we ,

recogniz e no limit to the cure o f any dis eas e Fo r .

the truth o f this we appeal t o facts som e o f w hich

,

will b e found elsewhere in this work W e do n o t

.

desire to follow the learned editor through all his

obj ections and quas i obj ections
-
. What he urges
mainly against the mind cure can be urged against
-

cures by any method o r process whatever .

132 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

s ometimes fo r s even o r e i ght days together When .

we calle d upon her she ha d b een su ffering fo r about

three d ays an d during all that time had b ee n depriv e d
,

of sleep O n her chest and si d es were numerous m u s

.

tard plasters wh i ch ha d a ffor d e d her no rel i ef W e

,
.

told her that if she woul d follow direct i ons a n d woul d ,

remove her plasters we woul d treat her fo r her c o m

,

plaint This she di d saying she woul d do anything

.
,

to get ri d o f her pain We then gav e her a treat .

ment o f ab out fi fteen minute s at the end of whi ch ,

time she felt almost free from pain and express e d ,

astonishment at the result That evening she retired .

early slept till nine o clock the n ext mornin g and

,
’
,

rose refreshed and perfectly free from pain Whe n .

we called upon her she express ed great surpr i s e at the

cure We then gave her instructions how t o treat
.

w
herself The pain was entirely removed and sh e ha s
.
,

repeatedly sai d to fr i ends that she woul d no t part with

her knowledge for a million o f dollars This a s .

about the fi rst cure we e ffecte d and thi s act ga v e u s ,

more con fi dence in the mind cure than all the reason -

i ng in the worl d could have done This cas e we may .

,

sa
y was our starting po i nt as a practitioner
, F rom .

that time t o this we have met with almost u n varying

w
success .

A nother extraordinary case that we will ment i on

i s that of a la d y ho ha d b een su ffering fo r ab out
 P ER S O NAL E ! PERIEN C E . 133

three years from a complicati on o f diseas es pecul i a r

t o the femal e syst em S he had the a d v i ce an d e x per i
.

enc e o f several emi n ent physicians o f S an F rancisco ,

ha d also placed herself un d er the charge o f mag

neti c healers but in every case without receiving any
,
-

p ermanent be n e fi t S he had given up all hope o f ever

.

g ett i ng well O n paying her a Visit we foun d her in

.
,

bed in a d espondi n g mood By treatment argum ent

,
.
,

and entreaty we induced her t o get up a n d walk

,

to o u r rooms where we gave her further treatment

,
.

These treatments were continued every day for a

week D uring this week she admitted that she had
.

walk ed more than for years past F rom the tim e .

we gav e her the fi rst treatment sh e never had

occasi on through sickness to return to her bed I n
, ,
.

w
about three weeks after this she ha d perfectly r e c o v
,

ered W e taught her the sci ence and she at onc e

.
,

comm enced treating and t eaching others S he i s no .

a happy and useful woman

w
.

A nother cas e was that o f a lady about fi fty ye a rs

o f age h o ha d b een salivated when young from the
, ,

e ffects o f whi ch she had never recovered P hysicia n s .

to whom she ha d appli ed ha d informed her that her

i n ternal orga n s ha d b ecome so much impaire d that
there were n o hop es of her recovery and that all she ,

coul d d o woul d b e t o make herself as comfortabl e as

1 34 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

possibl e A fter two weeks treatment we restored

.

h e r t o health and happiness .

A daughter o f this lady came t o us to b e treate d

for curvature o f spine and some nervous troubl e .

This was another case that physicians had abandoned .

A fter about fourteen treatments she was completely

w
restored to health This young la dy l earned the
.

sci ence an d is no practi cing the sam e S he for

,

warded to u s a few words concerning her o n cas e

.

w ,

with full lib erty t o publish the sam e H ere is the .

communi cation
No 8 BO N D S T REE T
an Francisco J un e
.
,

S 884 ,
I st , 1 .

I had been suffering from spinal disease caused from a fall ,

when a child ! also from torpid liver indigestion and general

w
,

nervous debility I had been treated by di fferent physicians

.
,

h would patch me up f a short time but then I would get

w
o or ,

back in my ld plan again when I heard f M rs J A R oot

o , o . . .
,

ho practiced by metaphysical science the art f healing I o .

was treated by her and gradually all my pains and disagreeable

,

feelings left me I pronounce myself cured and have learned

.
,

w
the sc ence
i .
M I SS M E SH E H A R D . . P .

A nother
case a s that of a la dy who called upon ,

us with her husband S he had b een su ffering for se v

.

eral years with pains in her stomach S he ha d .

applie d to several physi cians who ha d given her no,

relief S he had also tri ed vari ous rem edi es prescribe d

.
136 HEALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

W e will further add that si nce treating Mr s ,

.

F rances we were called upon to pay a visit t o her

hous e and found her so n a youth o f fi fteen years o f
, ,

age su ffering severely from an attack of pneumonia

,
.

We at once gave him a treatm ent whi ch threw him ,

into a profus e p erspiration H e went to bed and .

sl ept soundly and after awakening he wa s restored

, ,

to health This is another fact whi ch is worth a

.
,

whol e volume o f reasoning .

We add a further testimonial of the e ffi ca cy of

mind cure :
-

No P S T S T REE T
70 7 O

an Fr ancisc o A p r il 6t h
,
.

884 S
M R S J A N D ER S N R T
,
2 ,
1 .

. . O OO

I desire t say f the bene fi t f the public and the advance

o ,
or o

ment f the mind cure that I was suffering from what was
o -
,

supposed t be an incurable malady I was treated by several

o .

popular physicians and also by magnetic healers but with little

, ,

bene fi t I n a fortunate moment y came t me and after a

. ou o ,

few treatments I was restored t health M y cure seemed t

w
o . o

me miraculous ! I had given up all hopes f recovery o .

S ince that time I have learned the science and am , no

practicing successfully and G d helping me I shall labor faith

, o

fully i the fi eld f love and truth

h o MRS E s HI L .
. . , L .

We have given the above testi mo n ials no t fo r the

purpos e of parading o u r o n skill but a s so many
facts proving beyond a doubt that the m in d cure
,
w ,
,

proved e ffective where the skill of the b est m edi cal

 P ER S O N AL E ! PERIEN C E . 13 7

m en ai d e d by the power of all the drugs in thei r

,

p h a r m a c o oe a
p ,
ha d fail ed.

S ince the fi rst editi on o f this work was printed

w e have taught the s cience to many hundre d s of
p ersons in di fferent S tates of the Uni on M any of .

thes e students hav e b ecom e e ffi ci ent heal ers and have

p erformed som e remarkabl e cures These facts have
.
,

o f cours e been very satisfactory to us A s well as

,
.

t eaching this s ci ence we have also treated large num

,

b ers for vari ous diseases Whil e som e have not

.

responded t o our treatment we can gladly sa y that i n

,

the vast maj ority o f cases we have either e ffected

cures o r alleviated su ffering I t was not t o b e
.

expecte d that we shoul d m eet with uninterrupted suc

cess or receive the uni versal plaudits of the unin
formed publ ic H e who t eaches a new sci ence must
.

necessarily m eet with the opposition m isr e pr e se nt a ,

t i on an d ofttim es with the persecution o f the world

,
.

H owever taking all things into consi deration we

, ,

hav e caus e to rej oi ce at the success we have m et with

and the treatment we have received Whil e we have .

frequently b een misrepres ented through the press we ,

hav e also through the sam e channel receive d many

, ,

wor d s o f encouragement and pra ise .

We have a i me d to meet honest skepti cism with

argum ents an d facts The former they might dispute
.
,
13 8 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

but the latt er remained unanswerabl e The ine x o r a .

bl e logi c o f fact is at all times more than a m atch for

the p edantic logi c o f the schools There has b een a
.

disposition o n the part o f a few medi cal pra ctiti oners

to deny power o f any ki nd t o the mind cure s ci enc e -
.

O thers have admitted its partial success in c ertai n

cas es but denying its power in all others Thus they
,
.

v ery graci ously concede that somethi ng lik e mind

cure may be e ffective in a certain class of nervous
diseases si ck headaches hysteria and the l ik e but
, , , ,

that in certai n other ailm ents and dis eas es the mind
cure can have no e ffect whatever Thes e obj ectors.

v ery gravely and con fi dently sa y : Y our mind cure

“ -

may b e e ffective i n cases whi ch we C lass under the

name of functi onal disturbances but you cannot show
,

u s a cas e o f organi c diseas e that has b een cured by

”
this s o called sci ence
-
. We shall here meet them o n
their own ground ! but we shall insist upon b eing
treated fairl y .

While in California in the month o f F ebruary ,

1 88
5 we were called upon t o visit a M rs L A Gal e
, . . .
,

resi ding in the town o f S an L eandro in Cal ifornia ,

.

The lady had b een su ffering fo r m ore than four y ears

with disease in the spine and for over three years ha d
,

been con fi ned to her bed D uring this p eriod she ha d

.

been treated by many eminent physicians o f th e

bw
14 0 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

I tried various kinds f patent medicines including t h cele

o ,
e

t d clover extract without the least bene fi t and had f

ra e ,
three ,
or

years been under treatment f a very superior homeopathic phy o

i i
s c an , h kindly made my case a study and whose medicines
o ,

somewhat mitigated my sufferings but t h growth increased ,

e

steadily and with it m isery untold I could neith r walk

,
. e or

ride with comfort and was obliged t keep a reclining p sition

,
o o

most f the time I n this hopeless condition I applied t M rs

o . o .

Root without the slightest faith that her treatment could a ffect
,

a tumor I had heard f her wonderful success in other diseases

. o ,

and though incurable had been stamped upon my mind I

“ ”
,

felt willing t give mind cure a trial t please my friends and

o -

,
o ,

that nothing should be left undone .

I thank G d I am able t say (and with great est pl asure !

o o e

after the third treatment I had reason t be convinced beyond a o ,

doubt that there was something in mind cure f tum rs T he

,
-
or o .

relief was indescribable I longer was compelled t lie

w
. no o

down and could walk ride as I had t b n able t d f

, or no ee o o or

years T he improvement has been constant t / g t / I

.
, ie ro i za s

d d
ec r e a s et ni d and at this date the transition from a state
one- r ,

o f hopeless invalidism t perfect health is alike surprising t

o o

myself and friends I have studied the science with M rs R oot

.
.
,

and thanks t her valuable instructions can successfully treat

o
,

myself and others .

A ny desirous f further information in regard t my

o ne o o

case may address

, M E DE FR A N S RS . .
,

P or t la nd, Or eg o n .
 PE R S O NAL E ! PERIEN C E . 14 1

The following is an equally important cas e of cure

b
o f organi c disease by the sci ence of mind cure -

Ma r ch h 886 L os A N ELOS CA L
G , .
, 1 1t ,
1 .

T / P
o t zeli u c

F ive years g my daughter then seventeen years f age

a o , o ,

by an almost fatal mistake swallowed a few drops f , o c o nc e n

t t d lye made into a very strong solution f

ra e , cleaning pur or

poses A s soon as possible I administered cream which h

.
, S e

held in her mouth f a moment before she knew I intended or

her t swallow it conse q uently the throat and mouth though

o , ,

badly burned were sore but a few days but the Esophagus
, , ,
or

tube that leads t the stomach was excoriated that she was
o , so

unable t swallow anything but li q uid food porridge f sev

o or or

eral months W e kept her alive f the fi rst few days by f

. or o rc

ing her t swallow a few drops f warm milk every few min
o o

utes the ori fi ce would have closed up entirely and death have
,
or

been the inevitable result I had constant fear f months f . or o

her strangling as even the softest food would often fi nd l dg

, o

ment at the sore could t pass down and would with great
,
no ,

lty be ejected at the mouth W hen the sore healed a few

w
difli cu .
,

months later a skillful physician — D r G W Barnes f S an

,
. . .
,
o

D iego formerly f C leveland O hio — was employed h

,
o , , ,
o,

being in close correspondence with eminent surgeons f the o

latter city with instruments f the purpose stretched the

,
or ,

ae so
p h g daily
a f several
us months — fi i I think
or A ve or S x, .

cicatrice had been formed which fi lled nearly the whole f the o

tube and as that would t give way the stain f the stretching
,
no ,
o

all came the healthy portion which fi nally became thin

on ,
so as

to break and bleed a little which warned the doctor t desist ,

o .

By masticating the food very thoroughly h has been able t s e o

eat most anything that was t fi brous but could t eat meat no ,
no
14 2 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIN D .

without removing it from the mouth after chewing and could ,

no t swallow anything without external pressure the muscles on

of h throat
t e produce an arti fi cial force send it down ! and
to to

that was always successful as she would often have leave

w
not ,
to

the table and with severe and painful effort bring up the food
,

that would pass the contraction I tno t known as stricture . as “

f the E sophagus was considered a very dangerous and rare

”
o ,

but very few cases having been known and I think a

b
affi i ic t o n, , , ,

complete recovery unknown .

M rs R oot gave her treatment f

. week when she was o r o ne ,

able swallow without external pressure and without the dis

to

a
g f l attendant
re e a i lik
e croaking that was annoying
n o se e so ,

and h has eaten and swallowed beefsteak this week f the

s e or

fi rst time in fi ve years and I feel that very shortly there will be
,

a complete cure .
MRS E A SH . . . BU .

E very
community has numerous cases o f organi c
disease which fo r months and years have refus ed to
,

yi el d to the treatment o f the prevailing schools o f

medicines O ther cases have b een given up and a
.

cure has been pronounced impossible by the whole

medical fraternity These cases in some i nstances .
,

have been sent to u s and our obj ectors hav e ex ,

“
claimed let her cure this cas e and then we shall
,

”
beli eve in mind cure We a sk the candi d rea der
-
.

whether in the event o f o u r failure to cure such a

cas e that it would b e a fair test o f the e fli c a c y o f
mind cure ? -
I f so i t ought t o be a fair test o f the
,

e ffi cacy of homeopathy allopathy and all the other , ,

1 44 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

ever and at the end f the second week I could walk ! and
,
o

within four weeks from the time h gave me the fi rst treat ment
s e

I took a journey f nearly three thousand miles by rail and felt

o ,

better at the end f the journey than at the beginning and have
o ,

been gaining steadily in strength ever since .

M R S J E S W S C TT . UP . O .

A nother cas e furnishi ng further and i n disputable

,

evidence of the effi cacy o f this science i n the cure o f

organi c as well as functional diseas es is that o f M iss ,

! itty S isson of P eoria I ll : S ome s even years ago

, ,
.
,

M iss S isson su ffered serious i njury o f the spine by a

fall from which she had been con fi ne d in bed most o f
,

the tim e and nearly all that time a helpl ess i nvalid
,

under the constant charge of the b est regular physi

c ia ns No t responding satisfactorily to their treat
.

ment but rather stea dily failing it was deci ded after
, , ,

a consultation by s even members o f the M edical

S ociety to remove the lower extremity o f the spine
,

by a surgical operati on This was done b ut the

.
,

result was no t satisfactory and the patient continued

,

—
to grow worse being only occasionally t emporarily
improved and at best able to walk but a few steps at
,

a time with ample support — from whi ch conditi o n She

would again relapse into utter helplessness E very

w
regular practi ce and treatment availabl e a s tried
an d She a s taken to distant citi es for treatment by
w .

special i sts in such diseases without satisfactory relief

, .
 P ER S O N AL E ! PERIEN C E . 14 5

L ong
w
con fi nement and su ffering from this diseased
orga n pro d uced a compl ication o f functi onal troubles ,

from whi ch she a s su ffering nearly as much as from

the organi c dis eas e when I fi rst met her and her
, ,

fri ends were nearly d is couraged but the following ,

Short testimoni al t ells the result of my visits

30 3 A RMST RON A E G V

P E O RI A I LL J un e
.
,

1 886
DEAR MRS R T
,
.
, 1 9, .

MY . OO

M iss S isson was a member family f a year and a

of our or

half S he suffered from a complication f diseases ! was

. o

intensely nervous ! had walked more than a few steps f

no t or

seven years H er physicians failed bene fi t her permanently

w
. to .

A fter your fi fth treatment she walked down stairs and took tea
with the family and enjoys perfect health M ay the good
,
no .

work g and other hearts be gladdened as ours have been

o o n, .

o u r s wi t h l o v e
Y
MA R A A R S T R N
,

Y . M O G .

A fter
recovery M iss S isson attended my lectures

w
,

and soon after went with her family to D allas Texas , ,

and is n o successfully healing and teaching i n that

city where I spent some three weeks with her in M ay
,

last very pleasantly and pro fi tably t o myself and I ,

hop e to my numerous pupils and patients there A ny .

rea d er desiring further information regarding this

int eresting cas e may ad d ress the lady as ab ov e o r ,

M r W P S isson P eoria I ll
. . .
, ,
.

10
14 6 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

With the following testimonial from Mr s H ill .

who is now a c o worker in the science we close this -

chapter .

These we think o u ght t o b e suffi ci ent to satisfy

, ,
'

the most Skepti cal o f the effi cacy o f this sci ence to
entir el c u r e organic a s well a s functional dis eases :
y

1 52 4 N RT H M A D I S N A VE
O -
O

P E RI A I LL J u l y
.
,

O ,
.
, ,
1 886 .

about thirty years I su ffered almost constantly more

Fo r ,
or

less severely from congestion f the lower brain caused by a

,
o ,

fall L ong suffering and excessive pain from this diseased

.

organ often produced spasms severe that life was fre q uently so

despaired f resulting in complete nervous prostration D uring

o ,
.

the entire time I was in charge and acting under the advice f o

the best physicians and upon their suggestion traveled exten,

i ly east and west — three times t

s ve C alifornia But my case o .

steadily grew worse until I and my friends had about given up

all hope I t was at this time being then at my mother s in
.
,
’
,

O akland C al that I was providentially led — yes truly by the

,
.
, ,

S pirit f G d —
o M rs R O O through whom I was trans
o to . T,

formed from a hopeless despairing invalid into a strong

w
, ,

healthy happy woman I fe l that I am truly born again

, . e “
,
”

and am able with this science and the ever sustaining help
w
no ,

ofG d t o , g and d likewise F all which I hall ever

o “
o o .
”
or S

feel thankful t M rs R O O f raising me up and h m g me

o . T or s o

the way and I esteem it a privilege as well as duty labor

, ,
to
constantly and faithfully in the T RU T H
M R S A A H I LL
.

. DA . .
14 8 H EALIN G P OW ER OF M IND .

stomach that speaks I t is something outs i de and

.

i n d ependent o f thes e organs fo r it sp eaks o f them as,

b eing distinct from itself A gain this I says “ ”

.
, ,

M y hea d aches ” “
M y stomach pains me
,
” “
My ,

hands are cold ” “

,
M y feet are warm ”
H ere the I“ ”
.

speaks o f m y things that is that the I is no t

“ ” — “ ”
,

thes e organs but that it owns them They are n o t

, .
.

me but mine — that is I am something i n d ep e n d e n t

, ,

o f them. This something is the s oul .

The position we tak e is that the body a nd its ,

organs are but the correspondences of a spiritual

body and orga n s Thes e spiritual organs are the real
.

an d last ing while the material are but manifestati ons

,

an d are not lasti n g These material manifestati ons

.

cannot control the spiritual but the sp iritual can and ,

d oes control the material Upon a true under .

standing and convi cti on o f th i s great truth li es o u r

success in healing Without this is understood the
.
,

student must tur n back to the co n tents o f this b ook ,

and b ecome thoroughly i mbued with the d octri n es

a n d truths herein taught .
 IN S T R UCT I O N S F OR H EALIN G . 149

F ORM UL A F OR TREA TM EN T o do ie d
(t va r a c c o r din
g t o t/ze

y m pt o m s o r oe li efs of t /ze
s
p i
a t ent, t a k ing u
p l /ze or
g a ns
a
j e c t e d m o r e pa r t ic u la r ly an d t /ze ir s u r r o u n din
g or
g a ns,

an d disp u t ing t ne ev ide n c e o

f Me pe r s o n a l s e n s e s ! .

Y ou are spi rit made in the likeness an d image o f

,

G o d ! uns een t o mortal ey e ! p erfect in H is perfecti on !

one with H im a part of his divine ess ence — and as
—

such y o u could no t su ffer from any physi cal disease

o r dis cor d fo r you are born of God b earing his like
, ,

ness of et ernal life a n d love truth and goodness ,

justi ce and harmony and governed b y H is laws only

, ,

whi ch are p erfect and harmonious : therefore you ,

are not si ck A ll the organs of your body are in a

.

p erfectly healthy condition There could b e no .

inflammation irritation or congesti on of the brain or

,

organs of the hea d and throat o r o f the liver lungs , , ,

heart stoma ch spl een ki dneys o r bladder ! no infl a m

, , ,

mation o r I rr i tation of the gastri c nerve There is no .

indigestion o r constipation existing The Spinal cord .

,

spinal nerve and all the nerve centers are in a per

fe c t ly healthy state No obstruction to the circula
.

tion nor imp overishment of the blood ! no inherited

,

taint catarrhal poison o r aci d in the blood The

,
.

mucous m embrane and all the linings and tissues

throughout the body are in a healthy state Y o u .

hav e nothing to fear from any o f them for there is no ,

life s ensati on nor i ntelligence in matter ! no power in

,
1 50 HEALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

flesh bloo d o r bones to mak e you su ffer except

, ,

through the mortal (o r carnal ! mind which is enmity ,

t o God and is fi ll ed with fals e b eliefs an d discor d s

, ,

whi ch express themselves o n the body i n the form o f

d iseas e ! but your immortal mind i s your G o d given -

heritage which can control the mortal when y o u

,

choose to exercise it Y o u must awak e aris e know.

, ,

who y o u are take up your heritage and control your

,

body harmoniously N ow in the name of Go d the

.
,

F ather S on and H oly S pirit I command all false

, ,

beli efs evil influences and d ark images to depart from

,

you r mind and l eave you i n peace now an d forever

,
.

w
V ery often patients have a great desire t o discuss
and will want the heal er to make it plain to them
ho cures can b e e ffected I n thes e instances it i s
.

well to cit e them cures that have been e ffected .

F acts wil l often prove e ffective when reasoning will

fail
.

M any persons will say that such a thing is im po s

b
sible A rago sai d O utsi de o f pure mathematics let
.
“
, ,

no man pronounce anything impossibl e ”

E verything .

is possibl e that is not morally impossible The im po s .

s i ilit ie s of one age b ecome the poss ibilities o f the

n ext The ol d pra ctitioners in drugs have pronounced
.

it impossible to cure cert a in cases but the metaphys ,

i cal healer has cured many o f them .

1 52 H E ALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

inspire us with unbounded con fi dence and in fi nite

hop e .

E ven persons who have well studi e d this system ,

and practi ced it with great success still confess that

,

there is i n it much that they d o not un d erstand But .

this sci ence is truth D is eas e is a falsehood and truth

.
,

will cast it o u t I t is not light cases nor trans itory

.

pains alone that are cured but contagious and heredi

,

tary diseases also have b een successfully treated I n .

s ome instances thes e have yi el ded t o a few treatments ,

but someti mes a long cours e of treatment ha s b een

found necessary I n Charl estown resi des a gentleman
.

whos e eyes were covered with catara cts and who had ,

been told by o ne o f the most eminent doctors o f that

city that he woul d b e blind — that nothi ng coul d help
him The pati ent went to a metaphysi cal heal er at
.
,

that tim e b eing so blind that h e coul d not read the

Signs o n the street A fter a few weeks of treatm ent
.

both cataracts had disapp eared A nother la dy in

w
.
,

M edford M ass after o ne hundred and twenty fi v e

,
.
,
-

treatments a s reli eved o f even a worse blindness

, .

Today there is scarcely a local ity in whi ch cas es o f

cure are not found E lsewhere in t h is book will b e
'

found an account o f a few of the many cures whi ch

we ourselves have successfully treated .

To o much importa n ce cannot b e attached t o the

i nfluence o f the will in e ffecting cures No t that the .
 IN S T R UCT I O N S F O R H EALIN G . 1 53

w i ll itself i s a curative agent but it directs an d con

,

c e nt r a t e s forces which are healing agents I t also .

k eeps o ff evils A p erson to b e a successful healer

.
, ,

eith er o f hims elf o r others must b eli eve no t only i n

,

the power but also in the freedom o f the will A

b
.

b eli ev er i n the necessitarian o r fatalist doctrine need

never hope t o meet with success These people .

b eli ev e that every phenomenon is a caus e o f its inva

r ia le cons equent and also an e ffect o f its invariabl e
,

ant ecedent and this antecedent again is an e ffect o f

,

its ant ecedent and s o backwards forever This is

,
.

the doctrine o f necessity N ecessity is a true do c

w
.

trine with regard t o some things and so also is free ,

do m o f the wi ll T o opposites expla i n and limit

.

each other Y ou could know nothing of necessity

.

without there was freedom no more than y o u Co u ld,

know anything o f pleasure except by recognizing it ,

as the opposite o f pain Will is a fi rst cause — it is

.

self originating hence it s power This is one of the

-
,
.

great weapons o f the m etaphysical healer H uxley .

truly says :
That man I think has ha d a lib eral education
, ,

who has been so trained in youth that his body is the

r e a dy s ervant o f his will whose mind is stored
,

with a k nowledge o f the great and fundamental

truths o f nature and the laws o f her operations ! one
who no stunted asceti c is full o f life and fi r e but
, , ,
1 54 H EALIN G P OW ER O F M IND .

whose p assions are trained to come to heal by a v i g

o r o u s will the servant o f a tender consci ence !
,

has learned to love all b eauty whether of nature o r

ho

,
w
o f art to hate all vil eness and to resp ect others as
, ,
”
himself .

E xperi ence has taught us that alt hough a pati ent

may b e fully cured o f c erta in diseases yet that thes e ,

diseases will return if the pati ent i s exposed t o the

ol d conditions and influences H ence it is o f the

w
.

highest importance that every person who is cured by

this system should receive instructi ons ho to treat
himself Contest with dis eas e is a perpetual battle
.
,

fo r it is ever on the watch rea dy to attack the human

,

system and any fear any a dmission o f its pres ence

, , ,

increas es its power The pitying expressions o f

.

friends such as ,
“
O h how si ck you look
, ,
” “
Y o u are ,
” “ ” “
quite poorly Y o u need rest
,
Y o u ought t o c o n
,
”
sult a physi cian have influences that tight en the
,

chain o f d isease aroun d pati ents S i ck p ersons want .

cheerful expressions and encouragement o f every

w
kind .

I t will frequently b e found that a pati ent after ,

o ne or t o treatments will exhibit symptoms that

,

might lead him to b el ieve that he was i n a worse

condition than when the treatment began But thes e .

a re good omens showi ng that the treatm ent has tak en

,

e ffect I t should be explained t o hi m that thi s i s but

.
1 56 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

in this b ook that are i nscrib ed day by d ay and hour ,

by hour all the gri efs and all the mi seri es an d all the
, , ,

j oys an d all the hop es o f man and in whi ch will b e

, ,

foun d the most a ctive and incessant principl e of that

frightful seri es of organic changes whi ch constitute
pathology This is quite true : whenever the equi
.

lib rium o f o u r mental nature is lo n g or very s eri ously

disturb e d we may rest assured that o u r animal func
,
”
tions will su ffer .

I t must always b e rememb ere d that we are not

treating matt er but mind W e must try t o lift up
,
.

w
and cherish the spirit so that it wi ll ris e ab ove all
,

discord and inharmony .

I n his work on M ental H ygi ene D r S e e t z e r ,

.

says : The influence o f the int ellect and the passions

“

upon the health and end urance of the human organi

z a t io n has b een but imperfectly understood and a re
pp
c ia t e d in its character and importance by manki nd at

large F ew we b eli eve have formed any a dequate

.
, ,

estimate o f the sum o f bodily ills whi ch have the i r

source in the mind Thos e o f the m edi cal p rofess ion
.

even concentrating thei r attention upon the phys ical

, ,

are too prone to negl ec t the m ental causes of diseas e :

and thus may pati ents b e subj ect ed to the harshest

me d icines of the pharmacop oeia the true or i gin of ,

whos e malady is some inward sorrow whi ch a moral ,

”
bal m alone can reach .
 w
IN S T R UCT I O N S F OR H EALIN G . 1 57

No although many quotations o f a like chara c

,

t er from m edi cal works coul d b e given the heal er in ,

this sci ence must no t suppos e that medical men will

endors e m etaphysi cal healing O n the other hand .

they are rea dy with their cri es of “

quackery ,
’

“ ” “ ”
charlatanism humbuggery
,
and choice terms ,

o f a l ike import I f we can b e s col ded ridi culed

.
,

and fright ened from o u r path there are numb ers ,

ready to p erform that task gratuitously H aving .

put o u r hands to the plow we must not look back ,

.

I f in all cases the healer does no t meet with instant

success l et him not los e heart I n the path of duty
,
.

we require patience kindness knowledge and hearts

, ,

o f st eel to fi ght down dis ease and also the opposition

, ,

o f thos e who d es ire t o make a monopoly o f treating

dis eas es W e must look upward and onward

. .

G ive us the nerve f steel o ,

A nd the arm f fearless might

o ,

A nd the strength f will that is ready still

o

T battle f
o the right
or .

G ive us the clear cool brain

, ,

T hat is never asleep do ing or z ,

But sparkling ever with bold endeavor

T wake the world from its prosing
o .

G ive us the heart t feel o

T he sufferings f another o ,
1 58 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

A nd fearless power in a dying hour

T aid a suffering brother
o .

G ive us the nerve f steel o ,

A nd the arm f fearless might

o ,

A nd the heart that can love and feel

A nd the head that is always right
w
.

Fo r the foeman is abroadno ,

A nd the land is fi lled with crimes

L et it be prayer G d
o ur to o ,

O h give us the men f the times or .

The true healer must have something of the mis

s io n a r y spirit i n him if he woul d b e successful A nd .

in View of the fact that disease breeds su ffering ,

poverty and crime he can go forth int o the worl d

,

like a true missionary scattering bless ings amongst

,

mankind Fo r thes e labors the worl d expects to

.

reward him so that at least he m ay b e abl e t o live

,

and labor A nd like a true missionary the healer

.
, ,

must not fail to take i nto account the power of kind

words and acts The worst way to reform the worl d
.

is to condemn it and the worst way t o heal dis eas es

and cure persons of their errors is to condemn the ,

indivi dual The old fable wherein the su n and wind

.
,

disputed as to who woul d make the traveler tak e o ff

his cloak ha s still a good moral for us
,
The wind .
1 60 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

amongst the highest o n earth H e is a creator of

.

happiness in others and when he is cons ci ous o f

doing this he himself will b e reap ing the h i ghest
,

blessings whi ch it is possible for man to reap o n

earth .
 A NTI oUI TY OF M I N D C U R E -
.

T H E mind cure i s frequently spoken of as that

-

” “ ”
new m ethod the new fangled theory and the
,
-
“
,
”
modern craz e as if it was an invention o f thes e latter
,

days The truth is that the mind cure is as ol d as

.
,
-

the ra ce R ead the history o f any nati on p eruse the

.
,

narratives of all travel ers and y o u will fi nd that in

,

som e form or other a beli ef in the power of mind over

matter an d a pra cti ce o f m ental healing have always
, ,

obtained W e are aware that its antiquity does no t

.

prove it s truthfulness but it relieves it o f the charge

,

of modern i nvention o r discovery A t various times .

and amongst all nati ons it has app eared under di ffer
,

ent nam es O ne man has claimed to b e a prophet

.

s ent by the L ord ! another that he was sent by the

,

angels o r was hims elf an angel in disguis e ! while a

,

thi rd woul d assert that he possess ed a k ey that would

unl ock all the mysteri es of nature A still larger
.

numb er asserted that while they could perform cures

,

I I
1 62 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

without study o r th e us e of drugs they knew not ,

whence they derived their power N ow it i s the very

w
,
.

simplicity of the method that brings it into disfavor

with many persons esp ecially with thos e h o have
,

pored over books pass ed through coll eges and spent

, ,

much tim e and money i n pla cing them just where

they stand “
.H ow can i gnorant p eopl e e ffect cures ,

when they with all their medical skill and knowl

,

w
—
edge fail ? The thing is absurd impossible ! they ”
,

cry But have not thes e medi cal pra cti ti oners a dis
.

eased notion o f thei r o n importance ? D o they no t

place an exaggerated estimate upon the value o f thei r
learning and facts ? D o they not m istake a littl e
information and knowl edge for true educati on in the
line of their profession ? Watch one o f thes e young
students fresh from his medi cal college after obtain
, ,

ing a diploma I f he Should have something o f the

.

pedant i n him whi ch not unfrequently happens he

, ,

will take every opportunity t o use his m edi cal terms

in the description of diseas e Thus he will stand at.
,

the bedsi de of a Sick child and in answer to the ques

,

tion of the anxious parent regarding the nature of the

disease he will learnedly strok e his incip i e n t b eard
,

a nd solemnly exclaim
“
I Obs erve a few ina c u ld ab out
,

the face a nd arms but the ep ider m is s eems to b e ex

,

c lu s iv e l
y involved There is some febril e m ovement
.

an d we may rati onally expect a r os eola within a few

1 64 HEAL IN G P OW ER OF MIND .

world has erred in assigning so high a rank to the

mere medi cal practitioner The system is a gigantic .

phantom L et the hand o f truth and s impli city tear

.

the mask from its face M en hav e invent ed rul es and

.

plans ! have publ ished volumes o n the philosophy o f

life and death ! and their works are replet e with q u o
t a t io ns and adorned and dressed i n grandiloquent

words and phrases ! but just here op en your S axon

bible and s ee the purity o f di cti on and the plainness
o f the language of a P aul a John and a Jam es We,
.

want this sam e S i mpli city in deal ing with dis eas e .

L et us not ask whether a thi ng ha s the ai r o f antiquity

about it o r is altogether of modern ori g in L et the
, .

inquiry b e I s it true is it e ffective ? That after all

, , , ,

must b e the touchstone O f cours e we have nothing

.

t o say against l earning its elf but we obj ect to its us e ,

when wrapped around errors “

The maj esty of .

nature is the curtain of deity ! and the light o f deity

”
is grace and truth There is a great deal o f stu ff
.

and nons ense that fo r ages have done duty as ph ilo so

phy M en need t o b e taught to trust more and more
.

to their intuiti ons I t is b y thes e more than by learn

.
,

ing and phi losophy that the worl d ha s b een ca rri ed

,

forward .

A few plain instincts and a few plain rules

A mong the herdsmen f the A lps have wrought o

M ore f mankind at this unhappy day

or
, ,

T han all the pride f intellect and thought

o
”
 A N T I QU I T Y OF MIND -
CU RE . 165

O bservation and exp eri ence have taught us to

b eli eve that a few plain rules and a few plain instincts
relating to the mind cure will do more for mankind
-

than the learned rules of drug administering medical -

pra ctitioners .

In modern times consi derable attention has been

given t o the mind cure in the United S tates I ts pro
-
.

gress here o f late years received it s greatest impulse

from D r P P Quimby a native o f Belfast M aine
. . .
, ,
.

O f this remarkable man D r D resser o f Ma ssa c hu

w
.
,

s etts says : H e p racti ced his system for the cure of

,
“

the Si ck for many years in M aine and a s locat ed in ,

P ortland from 1 8 59 t o 1 86 5 D r Quimby was a man . .

som ewhat p eculiar in hi s make u p With a mind of -

.

la rge comprehensi on he had a wonderful power o f

,

w
concentrati on of thought and he was so extremely ,

w
practi cal and mathemati cal in his mode o f reasoning
that it a s with diffi culty that he coul d entertain an
opinion or any proposition that a s no t fully demon
,

s t r a t e d by truth S uch a mind b eing o f an inqui ring

.
,

nature woul d certainly fi nd out the truth o f things if

,

it were possibl e b efore entertaining a mere b eli ef I

,
.

witness ed m any of D r Quimby s cures of such cases.

’
,

as paralysis cancers tumors consumpti on rheuma

, , , ,

t is m
,
n ervous disorders and other minor complaints .

Upon opening a clos et door in the doctor s rooms at ’

,
 w
1 66 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIN D .

o n e time I sa an arm ful o f crut ches and canes that

,

w
had been left there by people who had come t o the
doctor in various crippled conditions and had g one ,

away w i thout the need o f these supports I t a s .

Vi ewe d as a most speaking sight ”

.

ABoston j ournal gives an accou n t o f the position

and a dv a nc e m e nt o f the sci ence in that c i ty :
I n Bosto n there are four s chools o f this system ,

and all of these hol d as thei r fundamental i dea that

diseas e does no t com e from G o d a n d that H e h a s
,

nothing to do with it s perpetuati on but that it is o n e

,

o f the errors of man whi ch can be cured by truth !

,

the appl ication of this truth is not by faith but by an ,

intelligent understanding The s chools how ever dis

.
, ,

w
agree in regard t o later developm ents s om e claiming ,

to be farther advanced than the others O f the few .

heads of thes e schools o n e — D r E vans no resi ding

w
.
, ,

in E ast S alisbury — is a venerable gentleman o f 6 0

o dd years of age who ,
a s formerly a clergyman for

twenty fi v e years before he V isited D r Quimby a s a

-
.

patient twenty o n e years ago following whi ch he

,
-

left preaching and practiced heali ng the S ick empl oy ,

w
ing rubbing and manipulating as a part o f his syst em .

A nother leader and head o f a school is Mrs E ddy .

ho res ides o n Columbus avenue and who was a ,

patient with Quimby twenty two years ago H er

-
.
1 68 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

was a stranger H e found a mi ddle aged man s eated

.
-

o n the verandah and asked if he could obtain a drink

,

o f water The man repli ed that he could but as his

.
,

people were away and he was lam e from rheumatism

, ,

that he woul d have to help himself Quimby replied .

that he did not think he was lame and b eli eved he ,

could walk The man sai d I t is a long tim e since I

.
“
,

have b een abl e to walk o r even t o move ab out , ,

except by the ai d o f crutches ”

Quimby repli ed I “
.
,

realiz e that you can walk ! give m e your hand ”

He .

took the man by the hand and caus ed him to walk

back and forth on the verandah ! and b efore he l eft ,

the lame man ha d no use for his c rutches an d coul d ,

walk a s well as he ever could When his p eople .

returned greatly t o thei r astonishment they foun d

, ,

him walking in the garden H e asked Quimby fo r .

his name but this he refus ed t o giv e for the reason

, ,

that he hated notoriety H e would do good by“

.

stealth and blush to fi nd it fame

,
”
O f such stamp .

was this modern apostle o f the mind cure -

.

There can b e no doubt that thos e cases that have

come down to us from o ld times wherein it is claimed ,

that the L ord sent down h is s ervants from H eaven t o

make cures have been ma de through the i nfluence o f
,

m ind acting upon mind I ndia Chi n a J apan E gypt

.
, , , ,

S yria even o u r ol d S candi navi an mythology are ric h

, ,

with accounts o f cases that have yi elded t o this s il ent ,

 AN T I QU I T Y OF MIND -
CU RE . 1 69

uns een i nfluence when al l other means have failed

,
.

F ortunately we have b oth a nti quity and modern

,

times o n our si de But what has b een done i s only

.

t o b e taken as an earnest of what we can do .

I doubt t through the ages

no increasing purpose runs
o ne ,

A nd the thoughts f men are widening with the process

o

f the suns
”
o .
w
172

as b
H EALIN G P OW ER

beli eved y his neighbors and by his o n wife ,

OF MIND .

w ,

w
to be an insane man simply becaus e he contended
,

that he could invent a machine that would do the

work of many men O ur own F ulton h o ran the
.
,

fi rst steam vessel was b eli eved by very many int e lli
,

w
gent persons t o b e insane — and for no other reason
than that he had noti ons that were contrary to and in
a dv a nce of their o n A ll up and down history we
.

fi nd that nearly every man who had i deas whether ,

in poetry art sci ence mechani cs o r rel igi on that

, , , , ,

were i n advance o f the ideas o f those around him

was adjudged by the community as b eing insane .

H ow then can advocates o f the mind cure b e su r

, ,
-

prised if now and then they are dubbed “

crazy
? ”
people That which is the i nsanity o f o n e age
often becomes the admired sanity o f another A fter .

all we only make approximations as to what is and

, ,

what constitutes insanity S ome perso ns are deemed

.

insane on one point and some on another while

, ,

others are insane at one period of time and at other

moments are deemed perfectl y rati onal and int e lli
gent M edical men can give u s no rules for gui dance
.

that are accepted as fi nal in any court o f justi c e as ,

t o what constitutes insanity I t is purely a matter o f

.

op i n i on .

I nsanity ha s many causes O ne man becomes in .

sane through the loss of money ! the l oss o f fri ends

 INSANITY . 1 73

of chil dren ! the u se o f opi ates and narcoti cs ! fright ,

starvat ion an d many other things and cond itions

,

hav e reduced thousands upon thousands to that con

d iti on which we al l agree to call i nsane That it is .

i n som e cases inherited is placed beyond a doubt

,
.

E s qui rol found among lunatics 3 3 7 unquesti on

abl e cas es of hereditary transmission Guis lain and.

others regard that at l east o n e o u t of every four

i nsane p ersons inherit the disease D r M orel gives
. .

an a ccount of a family in which he attended four

brothers Thei r grandfather had di ed insane whil e
.
,

their father ha d no powers of concentration but ,

woul d b e constantly changing his mind from o n e

thing t o a nother O f these four chil dren o ne was a
.

maniac ! another was a ffl i cted with melancholy mad

w
ness ! the third had sui ci dal intenti ons ! the fourth
wa s extremely nervous and tim orous .

No ,
there must be s omething rotten about our
boast ed civilizati on o r els e about o u r physi cal and
,

m ental d octors when this s courge is a thousand times

,

more distinguishable among civilized than among u n

civiliz ed nati ons A nd there must b e som ething still
.

more rotten about the system whi ch permits the hud

dling together i n localiti es o f hundreds and thousands
o f thes e unfortunates and then learnedly calling it
,

treatment for the insane O ur asylums are but insti

.

t u t io ns for th e pres ervation o f insanity Th e words

.
1 74 H EALIN G P OW E R OF MIN D .

w
written over the entrance to D a nte s I nferno L eave
’

Shoul d b e in
,
“

w
”
all hope b ehin d ye h o enter here
, ,

scribed over the gates of every asylum i n th e land .

H o few of these unfortunates are restored t o health

and their fri ends A sylums are medi cal instituti ons
.

fo r the inoculation o f insanity We have as yet had

.

n o oppor tunity of fairly trying t o cure a case o f in

sanity but when conditions can b e made favorable

, ,

we shall certainly try the exp erim ent without fear o f

the result We hope t o s ee the ti m e whe n the mind
.

cure will be given as fair a trial for treating th e

insane as is now given t o a system of clos e c o nfi n e
ment and drugs That the spi rit itself can become
.

insane i s from o u r standpoint an utter impossibility

, , , .

That it can have its origin i n matt er is t o us simply , , ,

an absurdity ! and the m en o f the lance and prob e

have never yet pretended that they have discovered
it s caus e i n the disarrangement o f the physi cal st r u c
ture I n what di recti on then shall we look for it ?
.
, ,

We answer in the uncons cious mind o r in the dis

, ,

arrangement o f t hat condition o f vitality and s ensa

ti on that is brought about by the influence o f mind
upon matt er .
176 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

printed on his unseen mind — he fi nds a s ens eless

ill Shapen block of marble and upon this he carves
-

the image of h is mind Behol d the statut e ! What

.

ma de it ? M ind ! Turn in what directi on y o u pleas e

— put your question in any form you desire an d the
,

answer will come back to you — it is mind ! mind !

that produces thes e mighty results What is it that .

animates moves and controls thes e muscles o f the

,

body — that makes the eye to s ee the ear to hear , ,

and the tongue t o speak ? I t is mind mi nd every , ,

where Watch the sil ent stars at night ! hea r the

.

rushing of the cataract ! the booming of the ocean !

s ee the mighty forests the gladsome flowers and the
, ,

countl ess forms of life that everywhere prevail and ,

ask what produces all thes e ? The answer again

comes — it is the mind !
I t warms in the sun refreshes in the bree e
, z

G lows in the stars and blossoms in the trees !

,

L ives through all life extends through all extent

, ,

S preads undivided operates unspent .

”

N owalthough we thus attribute everything to

,

mind and give to it a creative a remedial an d cura

, ,

tive power let it not b e supposed that we enti rely

,

ignore the necessity o f complying with conditions in

order to obtain an d preserve o u r bodi es and m inds in
a healthy state To tak e such a stand as that woul d
.
 NE C ESS I T Y O F CO ND I T I O N S . 177

bb
w
very justly expose us t o the charge of fanati cism o r
insanity .
Undoubtedly there are conditi ons which
we no , in o u r imperfect state have t o comply with ,

that y and y we shall entirely ignore A s knowl

- -
.

edge increas es and as mind is brought into play we

, ,

can disp ens e with conditi ons whi ch we are now com
p e lle d t o comply with W e ha d at o n e time to
.

comply with the conditions sails winds and currents , ,

in order to cross the ocean Today we have rendered .

thes e conditions unnecessary A t o ne time we had .

to comply with conditi ons ink and pap er to send a , ,

m essage t o a friend ! but uns een mind calls to our aid

an invi sibl e agent and 10 ! our ol d conditi ons are put
,

asid e A nd Utopian as it may seem t o many we

.
,

believe that the age will come when even the tele
graph will b e superseded as a condition o f forward
ing messages Who will dare to limit the power of
.

mind ! We shall o n e day exclaim O ld things are

“
,
”
pass ed away ! b ehol d all things are become new .

There was a tim e when men could not exist at the

b ottom of the ocean but now with a simpl e diving
, ,

apparatus they can spend hours under water without

,

the slight est injury t o themselves Thus one by o n e .

, ,

man is overcoming conditions and putting them asi de ,

as us eless o r harmless .

Thes e vi ews will apply to man and his conditions

o f h ealth . There are things and conditi ons relati ng
I 2
 bb
178 HEALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

to man and his organism that it is now absolutely

necessary for us to comply with whi ch y and y ,
- -

when we come t o know more and more of mind and

its powers that we can compl etely ignore Until that
,
.

time arrives it woul d b e wors e than folly for us not t o

inculcate the necessity o f observing con diti ons and o f ,

complying with their requirements .

S uppos e by the power o f this s ci ence we Should

win a man from his inordinat e craving for strong

w
drink we do not contend that if he return again t o
,

his cups that the drink will have no e ffect upon him
— e do n o t even say that he will never thereafter

feel a return of his appetite for li quor But we do .

say and there are many cases to prove the truth o f

,

o u r sayi ng that we can remov e that appetite and give

,

him the knowledge which if he will apply he can

, ,

b ecome the master o f his appetite and he shall never,

again become its slave H e can by the power o f his

.
,

own mind prevent himself from falling into his slavish

,

condition and this is a grander and more e ffective

,

weapon to put into his hands than the strongest chem

ical argument that can be adduced The hab its of .

the inebriate and som e kindred cas es are p eculiar fo r

thi s reason that thes e persons know b ett er than they
,

act — they s in agai n st knowl edge Thes e cas es for.

,

this very reason require a di fferent ki nd o f treatment

, .

There are cas es a s everybody knows o f si ckness an d

, ,
1 80 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

have been shortened by the remarks o f thes e m edi cal

men They thus create a condition wors e than that
.

in whi ch they fi n d the su fferer E xp eri ence will b ear

.

us o u t when we s a y that the most successful m edi cal

practitioners have b een thos e who have had the most
cheerful dispositi ons and have a dministered the fewest
drugs This is only another way o f saying that the
.

less poison and the more mind treatm ent the pati ent -

receives the more sure i s his recovery .

S o far from o u r ignoring conditi ons w e tea ch p er ,

sons to get out of bad conditi ons a s sp eedily as p ossi

—
ble to expose themselves to thos e conditions as littl e
as possibl e ! but when through exposure neglect o r
, ,

ignorance disease is contracted let th em n o t a dd dis

, ,

ease to diseas e by the us e o f poi sonous drugs .

A t the moment o f writing this the chol era s u p , ,

posed to b e o f the A siati c typ e has made its app ear

,

ance i n M ars eilles Toulon A rles and s ev eral other

, , ,

citi es and towns in F rance What ever may b e the

.

immediate cause of this dis ease it is certain that the ,

most skillful physi cians cannot agree upon the point .

I t s eems however to b e conceded that fright kills

, ,

b
more persons than the diseas e its elf M any hav e .

become insane through fear whil e others have com

,

m itt e d sui cide This is another proof o f the e ffect o f

.

the mind upon the body A pu jic j ournal in c o m

.
,

m e nt ing o n this subj ect sa y s :

,
“
There i s littl e if any
 N E C E SS I T Y OF CO ND I T I O N S . 1 81

danger o f a healthy man with a strong mind be ing

a ffected with the epidemi c I t is fear that causes
.

s om e p ers ons to contract the disease and it is fear

,

that kills others.

”
S o that in concluding this chapter
,

on conditi ons we remark that by far the greatest o f

,

all conditi ons in w arding o ff disease of any kind and ,

in curing the same is the condition o f the mind itself

,
.

This is b oth a bulwark and a weapon L et all per .

sons seek t o use it A n even mind and a knowledge

.

o f the principl es of mind cure are worth all the drugs

-

in the univers e for the prevention and cure of disease

of any and all descriptions .
1 84 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

graves I f this state o f things was i nterminabl e we

.
,

might almost despair o f the human race N ow any .

,

system that will only parti ally remedy this state of

a ffairs i s worthy the attentio n o f the reform er and
,

philanthropist The min d cure sci entist says there is

.
-

w
’
no necessity for anyone to b e Si ck if God s laws are
obeyed .

I n many a home there are aili ng people ho have

no organic disease nor i ndeed any functi o n al derange
,

m ent yet thes e people are a source of m isery to them

,

selves and annoyance t o others They are peevish .

,

stingy and fretful and they seem t o think it the fi rst

,

duty o f life t o put others in a l ike conditi on with

themselves Thes e peopl e are often disagreeabl e
.

against their better nature M any cases of this nature .

have been cured by this sci ence when all other reme

w
di es have failed By this means we hav e b rought
.

peace t o many a home We s a y this not through any

.

spi rit o f boasting but in a spirit o f rej oi cing that e

,

have been th e creators o f happiness No well .

inform ed practiti oner o f mind cure wi ll ever ment i on -

his cures in a spirit o f boasting but rather will he ,

exclaim with the psalmist D avi d “

No t unto us O , ,

L ord but unto Thy name g i ve glory fo r Thy mercy

,
”
and for Thy truth s sake W e claim no powers in
’
.

ourselves to e ffect cures and consequently arrogate

,

t o ourselves no praise S wedenb org very b eautifully

. .
 M O RAL E FFE CT S . 1 85

s ays, I f any angel b eli ev es that he ha s power o f

“

hi ms elf he instantly b ecomes so weak that he cannot

,

resist o n e ev il spirit ! therefore the angels attribute no

merit to thems elv es and are avers e to all praise and
,

gl ory o n a ccount of anythi ng they do ascribing it t o ,

the L ord ”
.

The very power which the mi nd curer brings to -

b
bear s erves to wean his mind from natural things I t .

makes hi m think that there is something more potent

than visible matter and that is invisible mind This
,
.

l eads him and those who have been e n e fi t t e d by hi s

treatm ent t o enquire and meditate upon the nature o f
that i nvisibl e something — and thus a man if he is a ,

s ensualist o r materialist to meditate upon immortality

,

and the great hereafter We know o f man y instances.

where the hab its and moral conduct of persons have

been improved Since they commenced the study o f
mind cure and they have been made more charitable
-
,

in their vi ews o f the moral de fi cienci es of other

people S urely there is great need in soci ety o f
.

i mprovement i n this direction M any a member of a

w
.

Christian church can needfull y appeal t o his God

L et this weak unkno ing hand
no t ,

P resume thy bolts throw to ,

A nd deal damnation round the l d an

O n each I deem thy f oe .

 H E ALIN G P OW E R
w
1 86 OF MIND .

T each me t feel another s

o
’
oe

T hide the fault I

o ! se e

W hat mercy I t others how o S ,

T hat mercy how t me S o .

”

We call the attention o f our Christian brethren to

another b ene fi t that h a s alrea dy b een produced by the
study of the mind cure system apart from it s curative
-

powers : that is that it h a s caus ed many persons to

,

s earch the script u res with bene fi t to thems elves who

, ,

ha d never read them b efore or having read them ha d

,

ceased thei r studi es We know that this s ci ence is

.

the stern foe of atheism and materialism There are .

instances where men and wom en have b een led t o a

better and higher appreciation o f the character and
life o f Christ from having seen the cures heard the ,

lectures and read the works of m i nd cure s ci entists -

.
 88 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

It i s this i ntermediate part of man that ha s caused

the sorrow sin and su ffering of the worl d Thus i t
,
.
,

is apparent if we would improve man s condition and ’

put him in harmony with God s laws that o u r only

’

b
,

method is to destroy the errors and fals e b eliefs o f the

soul S ometimes we call the soul i n its darkened
.

condition the mortal o r carnal mind in c o nt r a dist inc ,

tion to the spi rit o r immortal mind A s has been O .

w
served the spirit cannot be subj ected t o si ckness
,

w
and the body being composed o f dead dull inert , ,

matter cannot know o r su ffer dis eas e o r pain H o

,
.

then shall we banish disease o r ho shall pain b e

, ,

overcome ? A s pai n and diseas e cannot b e i n the

spirit nor in the body it must b e i n the beli ef o f the
mortal m ind ! then if we can brin g the power o f the
,

spirit to overcome those b eli efs we Shall at once,

banish disease This is the true theory and practi ce

.

of the mind cure I t ha s been proved true i n a

-
.

thousand instances We do not appeal to dead

.

poisonous drugs to overcome or destroy ap parent dis

ease in a senseless and unintellige nt body but we ,

seek to bring the power of spirit and A lmighty God

t o banish the fals e b eli efs o f the mortal o r erring

mind S pirit is power ! it is in the image and l i keness

.

of God ! it can know no diseas e suffer i ng o r pa in

, .

O n the other hand it s presence and power are p ot ent

,

to drive away thes e darkened images and bring light

 THE M O R T AL A ND THE IMM O R T AL . 1 89

an d p ea ce The b ody in its elf can feel no pai n ! it is

.

but the reflecti on o f the fals e beli efs o f the mortal

mi nd H ence inst ea d of treating the body and its
.
,

apparent pains and di seas es we s eek t o bani sh the

,

b
i mages from the mortal mind ! and having done this,

discord and diseas e disappear I f this is theory then

.
,

i ts correctness has been prov ed by milli ons o f ind is

u t a le fa cts By the fruits of the mind cure judge
‘

p
-
.
,

o f its truthfulness and its power t o do good and bless

mankind .
192 H E ALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

world as a mechani c makes a machine and sits apart

t o watch its Operati ons i s a crude i dea and worthy
,

only o f barbarous ages God is i n H is works H e

. .

is never idle but is ever breathi ng the breath o f life

,

into and through all animate things A s a singl e .

lamp will light a milli on tapers without b eing i n the

l east diminished s o countl ess b illions of souls emanate
,

from G o d without diminishing H i s power .

W H AT I S T RUT H ?
Inone aspect truth i s as L ock e remarks an a ffai r
,

o f language Two p ersons witness an event ! one

.

uses language and relates the event just as it occur

red but another uses words that convey things that
,

are not like the occurrence The one we say speaks

.
, ,

the Truth the other speaks fals ely The word fact
, .

is often used erroneously for the word truth I t is .

time to insist upon the prop er u s e of thes e words A .

fact is a thing done and a thi ng that exists o r has

,

existed Thus it is a fa ct that such a ma n as Wash

.

ingt o n existed ! it is a fact that grass is green ! it is a

fact that thousands were killed at the battl e of
Waterloo ! but we cannot prop erly call thes e facts
truths I n brief we may say that facts a re thi ngs as
.

they exist and occurrences ! Truth is the exa ct

 QU E S T I O N S A N D AN S W ER S . 1 93

relating o f thes e things as they ex i st and occur But .

a truth may als o b e a principl e an inherent quality a

, ,

—
tendency a something that ha s never taken place o r
been acted o u t F riar Bacon is said to have invented
.

gunp owder ! let u s rather say that he was not an

i nventor but a discoverer o f qualiti es o r principles
,

i nherent i n certain chemical substances H e found .

that if nitre charcoal and sulphur were mixed in cer

,

t ain p roporti ons that the mixture would form a cer

,

tai n compound called gunpowder N ow if F riar .

,

Bacon had no t dis covered the making o f gunpowder ,

woul d i t not have been true that thes e mixtures

woul d still have formed that compound ? I f their
relati ons ha d not b een discovered fo r fi v e hundred
years hence would it not still have been true that
,

they woul d have mad e gunpowder ? The same

can b e sai d of dynamite o r any other chemi cal com
pound P rincipl es are truths whether they are car
.
,

ri ed out into fact o r no t This is also true o f moral

.

and mental principles They are all equally truths

.
,

whether man applies them or not The Bible says .

”
that a soft answer turneth away wrath ! but if all
“

men up t o this date had given harsh answers to

wrath woul d not that saying still hav e been true ?
,

R ead the b eatitudes in the fi fth chapter o f M atthew !

they a re eternally true whether man acts upon them
,
1 94 H EALIN G P OW E R OF M IND .

or not Their truth does no t depend upo n the p oint

.

o f their bein g exhibited i n an act .

H ere the n we se e that truth i s a di fferent thing

, ,

from a fact I t exists b efo re the fact and is i nde

.
,

pendent o f it Truth i s an ema n ation from God an d

.
,

whether man d iscovers thes e truths o r no t o r whether ,

he acts upon the truth when d is covered o r d eclines ,

to do so it is still eternal truth I t is safe t o s ay that

,
.

pr i nciples o r the rays o f t ru t h are stream i ng i n

,
‘

every direction around us an d i n proportion as we ,

discover an d act upon them s o d o we b ecom e truth ,

f u l a n d Go d l i ke .

W H AT I S CREAT I ON?

It the outward and v i sible manifestation o f an

is
inward creating intelligent power I t i s the pr e c ipi .

ta fio n o f the d i vine mind I t is the unfolding and

.

blossoming o f the thoughts o f God S o far as the .

creation o f th i s eart h is concerne d it ha d a b egin ,

ning ! but so far a s the b oun d l ess un i vers e is con

cerned it ha d no begi n ni n g Creation is a r i ver that
, .

ha s flowed eternally it i s flowing now an d will ,

forever cont i nue so to do .

Th e work of Creation is never fi nished fo r God ,

196 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

W H AT I S MI ND ?
M ind is the exact opposite of matt er I t has a .

dynami c power over matter A S clay i s i n the hands

.

o f the potter s o is matter i n the control o f mind

,
It .

is not matter that fashions and controls mind but it i s ,

w
mind that Shapes and governs matter Undoubtedly .

there are laws governing mind but a s yet we know ,

nothing of them We se e and feel it s power

.
— e

know o f it s many and vari ed op erations ! but we do

not know all that it can do nor yet what it cannot
,

do. I t is immortal in its essence I t is an emanation

.

from God I t is that whi ch receives and retains im

.

pressions both consciously and unconsciously so that ,

we may be said t o have a conscious and uncons cious

b
mind When harmonious impressions are made upon
.

the mind the results are health and happ iness ! when
those impressions are discordant they produce pai n
and disease H ow careful sho u l d we b e the n in su
.

je c t in
g ourselves to i mpress i ons .

W H AT I S MATT ER ?
It that which poss esses ne i ther feeli ng int e lli
is ,

g ence force no r power o f mot i on S ee si d e by s i de

, ,
.
, ,
 ! UESTIONS AND AN S W E R S . 197

the l iving warm act i ve man and the motio n less

, , ,

corps e The o ne lifts an arm it gestures it speaks

.
, , ,

it feels its numerous sens es are keenly alive to ex

,

ternal things But the other ! S peak to it move it

.
, ,

dissect it but it hears not feels not it manifests no

, , ,

thought Why not ? There are all the organs — it

.

has a brain nerves mus cles the same as the other

, , , ,

but it is only matter That which alone can feel .

,

think and a ct is n o t there What language can

,
.

mak e it plainer that matter even when organized , ,

has i n its elf no feeling motion o r intelligence A ll ,

.

that we know o f matter is by certain properti es such ,

as form siz e color weight and so forth S o far as

, , ,
.

the ey e is concerned we have only a surface knowl

.

edge of it Take a cub e of wood into the hands and

.
,

you see its various si des Cut it in two and in each .

,

piec e y o u still see only the surface o f the parts A nd .

however often you may divide it it is still surface , ,

and surfac e only that y o u b ehold H owever large o r .

small the pi ece may b e this fact still holds true o f it .

N ow though matter is considered by some to b e the

,

only substantial and lasti n g thing i n the universe yet , ,

in truth it is restl ess fleeting and unsubstantial I t

, , ,
.

is for ever and for ev e r undergoing change The .

globul es o f water i n ocean lake and river ! the parti ,

cl es o f the impalpabl e ether ! the atoms o f the granite

mountain are never at rest but are silently changing
, ,
1 98 HEALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

imperceptibly to the eye it may b e but still they ,

a re never at o ne mill ionth part o f a s econd the same

w
-

as they are at the imme d iately preceding part That .

whi ch we call d ecay is only chemi cal change and this ,

decay overtakes all things E verything o f whi ch we.

have knowl edge o r can conceive is eternally gro ,

ing decaying changing The eye sees the chains o f

, ,
.

mountains the fi rm rock that fo r thousands o f years

,

hath withstood the lashings o f mighty waves but ,

thes e are ever changing .

“
L ike the baseless fabric a vision of ,

T he cloud capped towers the gorgeous palaces

-
‘

, ,

T he solemn temples the great globe itself

, ,

Y all which it in herits shall dissolve

e a,
,

A nd as unsubstantial pageant fades

, an
,

L eave a rack behind

no t .

As the clay i s in the hands o f the potter s o is ,

V i sible matter in the power o f invisibl e mind A nd .

while this matter passes away mind endureth forever , .

What has been sai d respecting matter has no t b een

to de n y its existence ! to do this a s an author ,

remarks would be an act of lunacy W e a re only

, .

desirous o f showing that the common n oti o n ab out

m atter is a n erroneous o ne .
2 00 H EAL IN G P OW ER OF MIND .

the body i s i n health The same m ay b e sai d o f lab or

.

and rest .

When we act in accordance with law we are in

harmony with it ! we are one with it The patriarch .

“ ”
Jacob was sai d to b e o ne with God that is he ,

acted in harmony with the laws of G o d an d so a re ,

”
we o ne with God when we act i n harmony with
H is laws When we do not act in harmony with
.

these then so far our acts are evi l The aim o f the
,
.

mind cure i s to d estroy evil by producing harmony

-

b
and to bring every sinful man back t o the laws o f
G od .

F urther the woul d e de fi niti on that evil i s unde

-
“

v e lo pe d good
”
is apt to l ead peopl e astray O thers .

ha ve de fi ned evi l as b eing nothing in itself — a m ere

“

negative o f positiv e good the same as col d is in itself

,
”
nothing but a mere absence o f heat This analogi cal .

reasoning is often fals e and shoul d always b e int e lli

,

gently used I f by saying that col d is only the

.

absence o f heat it is meant t o i mply that it is no t a

positive force then the assertion is plainly fals e I n
, .

itself it may b e a nothing o r a m ere negati on but it , ,

is such a negati on when i n a state with something

,

els e as to have all the force o f that whi ch is a posi

,

tive. I f col d is nothing col d ai r col d wat er col d

, , ,

earth are positive things Cold air sweeping over a.

,
 QU E S T I O N S A N D AN S W ER S . 2 01

lak e will cover its surfa ce with i ce Cold air will if

,
.
,

i nt ens e enough d estroy life The ai r warmed by the

,
.

rays of the sun sweeping over the lake will m elt that
, ,

i ce A gain the air becomes cold and again the i ce is

.
,

formed A re not both agents positive i n producing

.

results ? S o with good and evil Call evil if you .

,

will a mere negation or only the absence o f good

, , ,

but when that evil i s combined with force it has all

the power fo r the time being o f positive good The .

arm when outstretched by the force of goodness will

, ,

w
minister p eace and comfort to the su ffering and
needy ! but the same arm when uplifted by the force ,

o f evil ill bring su ffering and even death

,
.

W H AT I S T I ME?
P erhaps
there is no word in more constant us e
than the word time
“ ”
H o few who ask themselves
.

what it m eans M ention the word time and the eyes

.
w ,

are instantly turned t o th e clock But if all the .

cl ocks and watches were put o u t o f existence if all ,

b
the hour glass es and sun dials were destroyed if the
- -
,

earth Shoul d b e consum ed by fi r e the sun cease to ,

shine an d every arti cle o f matter resolve i nto im pa l

,

ether time woul d still exist — would still follow

a le
p ,
2 02 H EAL IN G P OW E R O F M IND .

on as it ever has d one and must ever continue to do .

Time is not a force — it is only a conditi on in which

forces exist and op erate I t is a common saying that
.

“
time teaches him who has no teacher ! but it is not
time that t eaches u s but the events the facts the
, , ,

experi ences and troubl es that occur i n tim e that mak e

an impressi on upon us an d t ea ch us Ti m e as we .
,

have b efore sai d is not a forc e in its elf and can pr o

, ,

d uce nothing and can exert no influence S chopen .

hauer very fi nely says : Tim e flies over things but

“
,
”
l eaves no tra ce upon them Caus es op erat e in t ime
.
,

and produce the changes which are erroneously

attributed to t ime as if the latter was a force in itself
,
.

Cities have b ecome deserts luxurious soils and dwell

,

ing houses an d temples have b een burie d deeply

-

b eneath burning sands Where now the i cy regi ons

.

hold fast in their embrace eternal solitude and silence

geology proves to us that the most gorgeous plants
once thrived and blossomed i n thermal regions of
light life and b eauty S ee the aged man w hose hea d
, .

i s silvered with straggling hairs ! mark the furrows i n

his cheek ! l ook upon the crumbling P arthenon ! the
R oman monuments falling to dust ! the mass iv e and
lofty P yramids sil ently but surely shrinking away ,

and ask if it is time that is the operator No ! it i s .

the su n the rain the wind the laws o f nature whi ch

, , , ,

are n ever i d le that are w orking thes e changes Ti m e

, .
2 04 HEALIN G P OW ER OF M IND .

W H AT I S REL I G I ON
M any answers have b een given to this question .

A ccording to Quatrefages religion i s a b eli ef in

,
“

beings superior t o man and capable o f exercising

,

good or evil influences upon his desti ny ! and the con

v ic t io n that the existence of man i s not limited t o the

present life but that there remains for him a future

,
”
b eyond the grave Whatever de fi niti on we may try
.

to give it will b e found more o r less i ncomplete .

The m etaphysi cal healer in dealing with the Bibl e

, ,

gives t o it a spiritual Signi fi cance whi l e many look at

,

it entirely from a material isti c standpoint I t matt ers .

not so much to us what is religion as what are

religious acts Christ went ab out heali ng the sick
.
,

and if we do the sam e we know that we are thus far

on the road of religion We hav e unb ounded faith in
.

God and know whil e we implicitly trust in H im we

,

can never go religiously wrong .

W H AT I S SP A CE
S pace
is boundl ess and et ernal I t is a s ea with
.

o u t limit without shores I n it all things swi m and

, .

float \Vit h o u t sp a ce no real existence is poss ibl e

.

,
 QU ES T I O N S A N D A NS W ER S . 2 05

and it is only as things occupy di fferent positions of

spa ce that we can distinguish o ne from another .

S pace is and must of necessity be in fi nite We

, ,
.

may cast our minds thousands o f miles and billions

o f l eagues away but imagination is compelled t o
,

stop tired with its flight

, L et it again tak e flight
.

billi ons o f billi ons of leagues and we fi nd some

,

impediment to its flight What is that impediment ?

.

I s i t a s oli d substance ? H ow far does that stretch

onward ? D oes i t end What then is beyond that
? ?

The mind is wearied — it returns t o itself and asserts

that there can b e no b oundary t o space above b elow , , ,

t o the right t o the left ! in any and i n every directi on

,

i t stretches o n forev er and forever Comprehend this .

we cannot b elieve it we must Wherever we go

,
.
,

whether in body or mind eternal space and its twin

,

brother t i me are our companions The o ne is the .

i llimitable ocean the other is the illimitable atmos

,

p h e re
,
that are below above ,
and everywhere su r

rou n d in g us .
2 06 H EALIN G P OW ER OF MIND .

W H AT I S S C I ENC E?

It is a common thing for people to use the word

S cience without having a n y de fi nit e knowledge o f
what i t means I n br i ef it is only another word for
.

knowledge When this knowledge is classi fi ed and

.

directed to some particular end then we give that ,

science a name Thus we have the sci e n ce of

.

Botany o f A stronomy o f Conchol ogy and so forth

, , ,
.

John S tuart M ill says : “

The language o f sc i ence is ,

thi s is so and this is not so S ci ence observes

,
.

”
phenomena and endeavors to dis cover their law .

P rofessor H uxley says : True s ci ence and true

“
'

religion are twin sisters and the separation o f either

,

from the other is sure to prove the d eath o f b oth .

S cience prospers exactly in proportion a s it is

religious and religion flourishes in exact proportion
,

to the scienti fi c depth and fi rmness o f its basis The .

great deeds of philosophers have b een less the fruit o f

their intellect than o f the direct ion of that intellect by
an eminently religious state o f mind Truth has .

yielded herself rather to their pati enc e their love , ,

,

thei r single heartedness and thei r self denial than to

,
-

their logic al acumen ”

I n corrob orati on o f this Vi ew
.

we instance the sci enc e o f metaphysi cal healing a s

also a religi o n o r to speak more de fi nitely it i s a
, , ,