patients of the physician of souls soon forgot the material or spiritual aid which they had received. Thus Jesus avoided the subject of "miracles," and only spoke of them in a veiled manner, when among surroundings where he knew that his acts and preaching could bear no fruit as long as the ground was barren, and could only produce ephemeral flowers.

It is just the same spiritually. The incarnate spirit who neglects the light and does not seek to approach it, will be punished by his own indifference; but he who is attracted by its blessed rays, and begins to enlighten himself, and then shuts his eyes and recoils from it, will have to expiate his wavering and his treason towards himself; not because the Lord lets his vengeance fall specially on him, but on account of his own remorse, caused by the incessant sight of the good which he might have done, and the progress which he might have made. This floats continually before his eyes like a prize which escapes him at the moment that he expected to grasp it.

You cannot draw back. If you once enter on this path you must advance unceasingly, holding out both your hands right and left to aid those who cannot advance alone. Act with prudence and reflection, and always say to those who would follow you, "We march forward without stopping; for he who stops, draws back, and he who draws back, falls."

(Matthew xiii. 18, 19; Mark iv. 16; Luke x. 23, 24.)— Jesus here alludes to incarnate spirits. The prophets and just men of whom he spoke foresaw the coming of the Messiah, and would have been happy if it had taken place during their incarnation.

(Matthew xiii. 18, 19; Mark iv. 15; Luke x. 12.)Here, "the word of the kingdom" denotes the instructions given by Jesus to teach men how to fit themselves for the kingdom of the heavens; for although he was not God himself, he could nevertheless speak personally the word of the heavens, being the delegate of God, made flesh to the eyes of men, who believed him to be incarnate like them

selves in a bodily human envelope; but in reality made flesh in the sense of being visibly incarnated in a tangible perisprit, or incorruptible body.

The expressions, "the wicked one; Satan; the devil," used to express the same idea, are synonymous, and under a figurative name and as an emblem, they express the evil spirits of error and lying; the inferior, impure, thoughtless, or perverse spirits. When Jesus spoke of the wicked one snatching away the word of the kingdom from the hearts of men, lest they should believe and be saved, he alluded to the evil spirits who gather round those who do not resist them, and who strive to prevent their rising above the unsatisfactory condition in which they find themselves.

The human belief in the personification called Satan, with his eternal hell, was originally due to the necessity of materializing such emblems, to render them tangible to matter, and was a curb, and a means of salutary terror during the previous ages through which mankind has passed.

Would you prevent the human spirit from modifying truths according to its necessities? Would you prevent man from making use of man? the intelligent from domineering over the credulous? the strong from crushing the weak, and making use of every means in his power for this end? And what means could be more suitable for this purpose than terror, in the age of ignorance and barbarism when the reign of Lucifer began; a means which could appeal as powerfully to the prejudices of the strong as to the weak? a yoke which rested on all shoulders alike, and a curb which overmastered all natures?

Do not find fault; that which has been in antiquity among the Hebrews, and then among yourselves, was to be. The law of love, gentleness, and charity, and the law of Reincarnation which we now reveal to you openly, both in its principle and in its consequences, shows you the path which you must traverse to enter, pure and holy, into the kingdom of the heavens, or in other words, arrive at perfection through reparation, expiation and progress. It likewise shows you the God of love, the good Father of

all, leading you thus to himself, through his omnipotence, and under the influence of his infinite justice, goodness, and mercy. But such teachings would have had no restraining power in former ages.

It was needful to oppose the fire of human passions by a fire yet more consuming, which might inspire terror in those iron men who would otherwise have devoured each other without mercy. That which has been, was to be; the source was good, but man has troubled it, and the gloom of human passions has continued to darken it. We now reestablish the brightness of the pure stream by the New Revelation; and the source of life, instead of rushing over the rocks which it has carried away, will now flow clear and peacefully over the golden sand which will form its bed.

Away with these vain terrors of barbarous ages, though useful then! Away with the oppression of man by man; the ignorant must no longer be the prey of the instructed, for knowledge must become universal; the strong must no longer crush the weak, for he should only make use of his strength to aid him; the powerful shall no longer trample down the lowly, but shall anxiously stoop to lift him in his arms, and aid him to raise his head towards heaven.

Every age has had its own developments, all designed to contribute to the progress of humanity. Compare, judge and profit by them, but do not find fault.

(Matthew xiii. 20, 21; Mark iv. 16, 17; and Luke viii. 13.) Those who fall away in time of temptation are those who yield to the opportunities which present themselves of falling back into their old practices, and thus again become deaf and rebellious to the word of God; and a fresh prey to their faults and errors, under the influence of evil spirits who stimulate the evil desires which they are unable to resist. Those who are immediately offended when trouble or persecution come on account of the word are those who are wanting in energy, and are terrified at trouble or persecution, and draw back. In thus speaking to the Apostles and disciples, Jesus alluded to both physical and moral

tribulations and persecutions. From a spiritual point of view all tribulations and persecutions are moral. It is ridicule which is poured upon the doctrine and its sectaries. We say sectaries in allusion to the false, though currently received opinion, that you who simply seek for light and truth in the way marked out by Jesus, are trying to found a new sect. There are a thousand snares with which they oppose you, and they will continue to do so for a time; for hitherto, friends, you have walked on roses,* and scarcely a thorn has shown itself; but the period when you will be met by serious opposition is approaching; the Church and its adherents will rise like a barrier to arrest your efforts, and the barrier will be so much the more formidable, because it will always appear to vanish at your approach, to rise up still more formidably immediately; but its efforts will be in vain. The ridicule which it endeavours to use against you will recoil upon itself; the anathema which it will launch against you will recoil upon itself; and you will one day behold it, humbled by its fruitless efforts, open its gates to receive you, and turn to you yourselves to ask for the light which it has sought to turn into darkness.

It is these little oppositions which rise up, and frighten those who are without energy, and who dare not brave public opinion when they find it opposed to themselves; and who shrink before the family warfare which has arisen, and will rise up more and more; for we tell you to-day, like Jesus, that we do not come to bring peace but division. Let not those who are exposed to this domestic opposition be offended, and abandon the cause which they have taken up; for their prospects would be imperilled; and your prospects, Spiritists, are peace and progress, and an eternal farewell to the miseries of your earth. Do not therefore abandon your cause.

Reply gently to private attacks, and answer public attacks with reason, firmness, and dignity, and adopt as your motto,

* These words were medianimically dictated on Dec. 18, 1862. (Ed.) Compare vol. i. p. 328, and note.-TRANSL.

Patience and resignation. If you are sustained by faith, you will overcome all the obstacles which oppose you, and which will crumble under your feet like a heap of sand. Take courage, and do not be offended, for you have no right to draw back.

(Matthew xiii. 22; Mark iv. 18; Luke viii. 14.)-Those in whom the word is stifled by the cares of the world, and who yield no fruit, are those who sacrifice everything to the material instincts and appetites which cause matter to predominate over spirit, or even make spirit subservient to

matter.

(Matthew xiii. 23; Mark iv. 20; Luke viii. 15.)—Those sown upon good ground are those who strive, each according to his intellectual and moral development, to practise the word of God sown in their hearts, first by his Christ, and then by the Spirit of Truth. These are they who cultivate his word with patience; that is, those who having evil tendencies to contend with, use all their perseverance to repress them, and to replace them by the good seed.

There is nothing selfish in the law of love. Jesus preached before the multitude, that his words might be heard, and fall upon good ground. You also, new disciples of the Master, should raise your voice to-day, whenever you can hope to make it heard. The seed which the good soil has yielded should be sown again in its turn, that every seed which has been gathered may give birth to another abundant harvest. This is the thought of Jesus; and he who represents the good ground, and has received the good seed, ought, when he collects it for himself, to make use of the seed which he has gathered by sowing it among his brethren, that it may lead to the same intellectual and moral development among them that he himself has acquired. This he must do first by example, and then by precept and teaching.