,occultists  ,mystics of ,all ,ages     
,,occultists  ,,mystics ,,of ,,all      
,,ages                                  
,,by                                    
,,ralph ,,shirley      ,,author ,,of    
8,,the ,,new ,,god1 ,,and ,,other       
,,essays10 8,a ,,short ,,life ,,of      
,,abraham                               
,,lincoln10 ,,etc4                      
,,with ,,four ,,illustrations           
,,london                                
,,william ,,rider  ,,son1 ,,limited     
#h ,,paternoster ,,row1 ,e4,c4 #d       
#aibj      ,first ,published ,autumn    
#aibj4                                  
,,contents      #a4 ,,apollonius ,,of   
,,tyana 444 #a    #b4 ,,plotinus 444 #ca
    #c4 ,,michael ,,scott 444 #ed    #d4
 ,,paracelsus 444 #gf    #e4 ,,emanuel  
,,swedenborg 444 #ia    #f4 ,,count     
,,cagliostro 444 #abj    #g4 ,,anna     
,,kingsford 444 #ade                    
,,illustrations      ,,paracelsus 444   
#gh    ,,emanuel ,,swedenborg 444 #ib   
,,count ,,cagliostro 444 #abb    ,,anna 

,,kingsford 444 #adf                    
,i                                      
,,apollonius ,,of ,,tyana      ,the     
difficulty of treating of such a subject
 as the life and activities  of the     
,philosopher of ,tyana lies in the fact 
that the story of  ,apollonius's career 
has been overlaid with legends of the   
miraculous on  the one hand1 and        
distorted by religious prejudices on the
 other2 while  the only authoritative   
account of this great religious reformer
 is  marred by the glaring deficiencies 
of the writer for the task which he  had
 in hand1 and his inability to          
appreciate the life-work of the  subject
 of his biography4 ,indeed he fills many
 pages with literary  padding of the    
worst kind1 while he fails to give us   
over and over again  the very facts     
which it is of value and importance for 
us to know4  ,philostratus1 the author  
of this life1 was one of the literary   
coterie  that gathered round the        
presiding genius of the ,empress ,julia 

,domna1 the  wife of ,septimus ,severus 
and mother of ,caracalla4 ,julia ,domna 
was a  generous patroness of art and    
literature1 and her husband ,severus was
  devoted to the study of occult        
science4 ,gibbon1 in his usual sceptical
  vein1 observes that 8he was           
passionately addicted to the vain       
studies of  magic and divination1 deeply
 versed in the interpretation of dreams 
and  omens1 and perfectly acquainted    
with the science of judicial astrology40
  ,the ,empress1 who was a daughter of  
the ,priest of the ,sun at ,emesa in    
,syria1 was an enthusiastic bibliophile 
and had collected1 among her  other     
literary treasures1 the note-books of   
,damis1 the companion and  fellow       
traveller of ,apollonius4 ,these        
note-books or tablets contained  the    
records of his journeys and other       
details concerning the life of          
,apollonius1 who was as great a hero to 
,damis as ever ,johnson was to          
,boswell4 ,if these notes were as full  

of detail as ,philostratus asserts1  one
 can only regret that the biographer did
 not turn them to more useful  account4 
,damis was a native of ,ninus or        
,nineveh1 and ,philostratus speaks      
somewhat contemptuously of his defective
 ,greek style4 ,but it is probable  that
 with all their grammatical errors the  
note-books of ,damis would  have given  
us a truer portrait of the great        
philosopher than the more  finished     
phrases and elaborate oratorical devices
 of ,philostratus4 ,the  biographer had 
also access to a book written by        
,maximus of g1  containing a record of  
,apollonius's doings at that place4 ,it 
requires an  acute critic to gauge how  
much of ,philostratus's narrative is    
literary  embellishment and interpolated
 matter1 and how much is actually       
derived  from the original records4     
,even the ,gospels of the ,evangelists  
hardly  present a more difficult task to
 the critic anxious to discriminate     
between the original and the glosses    

with which it is overlaid4    ,the other
 difficulty from which the record of    
,apollonius's life and  teachings has   
suffered is due to the religious        
disputes which arose  through the rapid 
growth of ,christianity and its conflict
 with the  previously existing religions
 of the ,roman world4 ,we may argue     
legitimately enough that the power of   
working miracles is no proof of  the    
truth of the doctrines expounded by any 
religious teacher4 ,but the  fact       
remains that in proselytising for       
,christianity the fullest use was  made 
of the miracles recorded as accomplished
 by ,jesus in the ,gospels1  in support 
of the contention in favour of the      
,divine origin of their  worker1 and of 
his work4 ,illogical though this        
argument may appear to  the philosophic 
mind1 it is not surprising that it      
should have carried  great weight1 and  
indeed it must be admitted that it does 
so even at the  present day4 ,what more 
natural1 then1 than that one of the     

disputants on  the other side should    
have produced a polemical pamphlet in   
which he  attempted to show that such an
 argument was a two-edged weapon1 and   
that  in fact it was possible to produce
 better evidence in favour of the       
miracles attributed to the pagan        
philosopher ,apollonius than for those  
of ,jesus of ,nazareth1 and to argue    
that1 this being the case1 even         
assuming the authenticity of the ,gospel
 narrative1 there was no more           
justification for regarding the ,jewish 
prophet as a ,god than the ,tyanian     
philosopher8 ,such a criticism of the   
claims of the ,christians was in  fact  
written by ,hierocles1 a philosopher of 
some note and successively  governor of 
,palmyra1 ,bithynia1 and ,alexandria1   
about the first decade of  the fourth   
century ,a4,d41 under the title of      
,philalethes1 or ,the  ,truth-lover4    
,this pamphlet was not long in provoking
 a rejoinder from a leading light  of   
the ,christian community4 ,the reply1   

the author of which was ,eusebius1      
,bishop of ,csarea1 is still extant1    
though ,hierocles's contribution to  the
 controversy was destroyed1 like much   
other evidence hostile to               
,christianity1 by the ecclesiastical    
authorities1 when the new religion      
finally became triumphant4 ,eusebius was
 able to show that ,philostratus  was   
not a reliable authority1 and that his  
judgment1 where the  credibility of a   
narrative was in question1 was clearly  
at fault4 ,though  the criticisms of    
,eusebius might have been applied with  
equal force to  much of the ,gospel     
record1 it is plain that his retort to  
,hierocles did  not lack point1 the     
veracity of ,philostratus being         
obviously not above  suspicion1 and some
 of his narratives urgently calling for 
evidential  corroboration1 indeed1 in   
certain cases1 being mere legend or     
romance4  ,this applies in especial to  
the account given of ,apollonius's      
journey to  ,india1 which is            

interspersed with numerous fantastic    
stories which  appear to be derived by  
,philostratus from other sources and    
interpolated  in an unscrupulous manner1
 with the idea1 presumably1 of giving   
local  colour4 ,there are1 however1     
numerous records given which are clearly
  taken direct from the narrative of    
,damis1 and the general accuracy of     
which there appears to be no adequate   
reason to call in question4 ,one of     
these offers a parallel to the various  
accounts of the raising of the  dead to 
life given in the ,gospel story1 as1 for
 instance1 the recalling  to life of the
 son of the widow of ,nain2 the raising 
from the dead of  ,jairus's daughter1   
and last but not least1 the case of     
,martha and ,mary's  brother ,lazarus1  
which1 owing to the circumstances       
surrounding it1 has  caught hold of the 
popular imagination to a greater extent 
than either  of the others4 ,the record 
of the incident referred to is given in 
,philostratus's life#a as follows3--    

,here1 too1 is a miracle which          
,apollonius worked3 ,a girl had died    
just in the hour of her marriage1 and   
the bridegroom was following      her   
bier lamenting1 as was natural1 his     
marriage left unfulfilled1      and the 
whole of ,rome was mourning with him1   
for the maiden belonged      to a       
consular family4 ,apollonius then       
witnessing their grief1 said3      8,put
 down the bier1 for ,i will stay the    
tears that you are shedding      for    
this maiden40 ,and withal he asked what 
was her name4 ,the crowd                
accordingly thought that he was about to
 deliver such an oration as      is     
commonly delivered as much to grace the 
funeral as to stir up      lamentation2 
but he did nothing of the kind1 but     
merely touching her      and whispering 
in secret some spell over her1 at once  
woke up the      maiden from her seeming
 death2 and the girl spoke out loud1 and
      returned to her father's house1   
just as ,alcestis did when she was      

brought back to life by ,hercules4 ,and 
the relations of the maiden      wanted 
to present him with the sum of #aej1jjj 
sesterces1 but he said      that he     
would freely present the money to the   
young lady by way of      dowry4 ,now1  
whether he detected some spark of life  
in her1 which      those who were       
nursing her had not noticed--for it is  
said that      although it was raining  
at the time1 a vapour went up from her  
face--or whether life was really        
extinct1 and he restored it by the      
warmth of his touch1 is a mysterious    
problem which neither ,i myself      nor
 those who were present could decide4   
,the record of this incident is         
presumably taken direct from the notes  
of  ,damis1 and is not1 ,i think1 to be 
too lightly set aside4 ,apollonius does 
not appear to have made any claim to    
supernatural power in the matter1  nor  
need he be necessarily credited with    
anything beyond an intuitive  capacity  
for divining the fact that life had not 

finally departed4 ,nor  indeed are we   
bound to assume anything more than this 
intuitive capacity  as regards the two  
first-mentioned miracles in the ,gospel 
records--those  of the son of the widow 
of ,nain and ,jairus's daughter4 ,the   
raising of  ,lazarus may be held to     
stand in a different category1 but it is
  noteworthy as regards this1 that only 
one ,evangelist records the  incident   
and that his ,gospel is the latest in   
date of the four4 ,this has  naturally  
not escaped the attention of the        
critics1 as it is almost  incredible    
that neither ,matthew1 ,mark1 nor ,luke 
should have alluded to  so sensational  
an incident if they had any knowledge of
 its occurrence4  ,on the other hand1 so
 dramatic an event could hardly have    
failed to  excite the greatest commotion
 at the time1 and must1 one would       
naturally  have supposed1 inevitably    
have reached the ears of those who were 
writing biographies of the performer of 
the miracle4 ,the incident1 in  short1  

is hardly one that could be placed even 
on the same evidential  plane as the    
raising of the consul's daughter at     
,rome by ,apollonius4    ,the problem as
 to whether life is1 or is not1 extinct 
in any specific  instance has over and  
over again proved too difficult of      
solution for  even the ablest of modern 
doctors1 and in cases of trance1        
opinions of  the medical profession can 
be freely cited that there is no        
apparent  difference to be detected     
between the living and the dead4        
,numerous  tests have been applied and  
failed in cases where the patient has   
eventually regained consciousness1 and  
it is legitimate to suppose that  a     
certain clairvoyant power is in some    
cases alone capable of  determining the 
possibility of the spirit returning to  
reoccupy its  mortal tenement4          
,according to occult theory1 if the     
chord or magnetic  link that unites the 
astral with the physical body has not   
been  definitely severed1 it is still   

possible for life to be restored4 ,what 
more probable than that one gifted with 
abnormal psychical powers1 such  as     
either ,jesus or ,apollonius1 might     
diagnose the presence of this           
connecting link1 which was invisible to 
all around8    ,eusebius argues that the
 stories told of ,apollonius's psychic  
powers  detract from his credit as a    
philosopher4 ,such powers1 he argues1   
only  appertain to a divine being1 and  
therefore while they may be justly      
credited in the case of ,jesus they must
 be dismissed in that of  ,apollonius4  
,such arguments will hardly appeal to   
the unbiased critic of  the present day4
 ,we must recognise1 however1 that it   
was ,philostratus's  methods of         
embellishing his narrative with         
fantastic oriental and other  legends   
which gave a loophole for the attack of 
,eusebius4 ,there was1  indeed1 a       
sufficiently serious sequel to this     
early passage of arms4 ,the  discussion 
as to whether or not ,apollonius's      

miracles were entitled to  be set in    
juxtaposition to those of the ,prophet  
of ,nazareth1 proved in  the end to be a
 veritable red-herring drawn across the 
track of the  whole story of            
,apollonius's life and labours4 ,though 
there is no  recorded reference of      
,apollonius to ,jesus or his teachings1 
he is made  to appear in the light of   
subsequent controversies as the false   
prophet  par excellence1 and worker of  
pseudo-miracles1 sent by the devil1     
according to one ingenious commentator1 
to destroy the work of the  ,saviour by 
an attempt to imitate his miracles1 and 
thus to disprove  their unique          
character4 ,when the printing press came
 into vogue and  classical literature   
was widely disseminated by this means1  
,aldus  hesitated to print the text of  
,philostratus's ,life of ,apollonius1   
and  only did so finally with the text  
of ,eusebius's treatise added as an     
appendix1 so that1 as he phrased it1    
8the antidote might accompany the       

poison40 ,later on1 ingenious           
,continental commentators advanced the  
theory that the life of ,apollonius was 
a myth1 and that it had for its  object 
the defence of classical philosophy as  
opposed to ,christianity4  ,this theory 
is as ingenious as it is unconvincing1  
and even the  authority of its          
defenders1 ,baur and ,zeller1 has failed
 to secure it a  serious hearing at the 
present day4 ,it is obvious that the    
supposed  antagonism between ,jesus and 
,apollonius never really existed at all1
 and  though probably they were born    
within twenty years of each other1 there
  is no evidence to show that there was 
any connection of any kind between      
their respective lives and activities4  
,the tradition which credits ,apollonius
 with being a worker of miracles  and   
magician is widespread1 but there is    
comparatively little that is  narrated  
of him by ,philostratus which is        
incredible1 if assumed to have  been    
performed by a man who had led a life   

such as that of the ,sage of  ,tyana1   
and who was gifted with such psychic    
powers as we are familiar  with at the  
present day4 ,we shall probably be right
 in regarding most of  these narratives 
of psychic incidents as taken direct    
from the tablets  of ,damis1 and        
therefore in the main authentic1 even if
 the details are  not in every case     
exact4 ,a few instances will serve to   
illustrate the  point of what ,i have   
said4    ,after ,apollonius's visit to  
,athens1 in which he was initiated into 
the  ,eleusinian ,mysteries1 he took    
ship for ,egypt1 stopping at ,rhodes on 
the  way4 ,arriving at ,alexandria he   
found that his reputation had preceded  
him1 and was met everywhere with        
reverence and respect4 ,he took         
advantage of the friendly popular       
feeling towards him to intervene in a   
case of miscarriage of justice4 ,a      
robbery had recently taken place in  the
 town1 and twelve men had been condemned
 in connection with it4 ,an  innocent   

victim of the general sentence was      
revealed psychically to  ,apollonius4   
,he thereupon called the procession to a
 halt as they were  being led to        
execution1 and instructed the guard to  
place the innocent  man last of the     
twelve4 ,the delay thus secured gave    
time for a horseman  to ride up with a  
reprieve for the man in question1 whose 
innocence had  been established         
subsequently to the trial4 ,it is not   
difficult to  attribute such a case as  
this to psychic powers1 but1 on the     
other hand1  it is quite open to us to  
assume that ,apollonius had learned     
something  by normal means as to the    
doubt hanging over the condemned man's  
implication in the crime4    ,never1    
perhaps1 has any possessor of noted     
psychic powers enjoyed the  friendship  
or the hostility of so many great       
,emperors as did ,apollonius4           
,vespasian and ,titus were both intimate
 in their friendship1 and sought  the   
advice of the sage of ,tyana on various 

notable occasions4 ,it was1 it  appears1
 during this same visit to ,alexandria  
that ,vespasian arrived at  the great   
,egyptian seaport and requested an      
interview with the sage4  ,vespasian    
explained to him his schemes1 for he was
 already then aiming  at the supreme    
power4 ,apollonius encouraged him1 and  
to his great  surprise informed him that
 it was his destiny to rebuild the      
temple of  ,jupiter ,capitolinus at     
,rome4 ,as a matter of fact the temple  
had just  been burned down1 but the news
 did not reach ,egypt till some time    
later4  ,what we call nowadays a        
telepathic wave had conveyed the        
incident to the  knowledge of the seer4 
,a similar instance of ,apollonius's    
telepathic  powers is narrated in       
connection with the death of ,domitian4 
,apollonius  had previously been        
arrested by this ,emperor on the        
ridiculous charge of  sacrificing an    
,arcadian boy1 in order1 apparently1 to 
discover the  prospects of the          

succession of ,nerva to the ,empire4 ,he
 was acquitted by  the monster who was  
,nero's rival in cruelty without ,nero's
 artistic  talents1 to the great        
surprise of all his friends4 ,the story 
is that he  vanished mysteriously from  
the court4 ,we may1 however1 ,i think1  
without  hesitation attribute this      
incident to ,philostratus's love of the 
dramatic1 especially as it seems clear  
that he had already been  acquitted and 
that there was no apparent reason why he
 should not walk  out as a free man like
 any ordinary mortal in similar         
circumstances4  ,what strikes the       
dispassionate reader as really          
remarkable is the fact  that though     
,apollonius was twice arrested1 once by 
,nero and again by  ,domitian1 and      
though the philosophers of the day1     
being supposed to be  hostile to the    
tyrants1 met almost invariably with     
short shrift1 the  sage of ,tyana was in
 each case acquitted and left the court1
 as we say  to-day1 8without a stain on 

his character40 ,why1 if the ,emperors  
had him  arrested1 knowing doubtless the
 value of the charges against him1 did  
they not take steps to ensure his       
condemnation8 ,the fact seems to be1    
without doubt1 that they regarded him   
with fear4 ,whether this fear was  due  
merely to his reputation as a worker of 
wonders1 or to his actual  psychic power
 exercised at their expense in the      
courts of justice1 is an  open question1
 and clearly admits of two opinions4    
,his own observations on this subject1  
as quoted by ,philostratus1 seem1       
however1 to justify our accepting by    
preference the latter of the two  views4
 ,speaking to his friends about his     
intention to take ship for ,rome  in    
order to meet openly any charge that    
might be made against him rather  than  
to lie low in some distant corner of the
 ,empire as his disciples  were anxious 
that he should do1 he observed that he  
would not consider a  man a coward      
because he had disappeared out of dread 

of ,nero1 but would  hail as a          
philosopher any one who rose superior to
 such a fear4 ,and he  added1 8,let not 
any one think it foolish so to venture  
along a path  which many philosophers   
are fleeing from1 for in the first place
 ,i do  not esteem any human agency so  
formidable that a wise man can ever be  
terrified by it1 and in the second place
 ,i would not urge upon you the  pursuit
 of bravery unless it were attended with
 danger40 ,after dwelling  upon the     
ferocity and brutality of ,nero1        
contrasting him with savage  animals who
 could sometimes be tamed1 and mollified
 by coaxing and  flattery1 whereas ,nero
 was only roused to greater cruelty than
 before by  those who stroked him1 he   
continued in the following remarkable   
strain3        ,if1 however1 any one is 
disposed to dread ,nero for these       
reasons1      and is led abruptly to    
forsake philosophy1 conceiving that it  
is not      safe for him to thwart his  
evil temper1 let him know that the      

quality of inspiring fear really belongs
 to those who are devoted to            
temperance and wisdom1 because they are 
sure of ,divine succour4 ,but      let  
him snap his fingers at the threats of  
the proud and insolent1      as he would
 at those of drunken men1 for we regard 
these surely as      daft and senseless1
 but not as formidable4    ,we are      
accustomed to refer to ,apollonius as a 
philosopher4 ,while we are  perfectly   
correct in so doing1 it is well to      
observe what the term  philosophy       
connotes when employed by the ,tyanian  
sage4 ,it is not  obviously a question  
merely of adopting a creed or view of   
life or a  certain set of philosophical 
opinions1 but implies in the fullest    
measure the life led in accordance with 
these opinions and inspired by  the     
courage with which the knowledge of     
their truth endows the man who          
professes them4 ,the keynote1 indeed1 to
 the whole of ,apollonius's life  lies  
in the fact that his so-called          

philosophy was an active and  inspiring 
force which dominated his whole conduct4
    ,i have alluded to the evidence of  
,apollonius's telepathic powers in      
connection with the death of ,domitian4 
,his passage of arms with this  tyrant  
may have afforded the requisite psychic 
link4 ,in any case the  ,tyanian was    
made aware of ,domitian's assassination 
under sufficiently  dramatic            
circumstances4 ,he had returned to      
,ionia after a stay of two  years in    
,greece1 and was at the moment speaking 
at ,ephesus4 ,in the midst  of his      
discourse he seemed to lose the current 
of his words1 and the  audience noticed 
a troubled expression passing over his  
features4  ,suddenly breaking off any   
further attempt to continue his speech1 
he  stepped forward three or four paces 
on the platform from which he was       
addressing the assembly1 and cried out  
in loud tones1 8,strike the  tyrant6    
,strike60 ,the audience were naturally  
amazed at this sudden  outburst1 but    

soon coming to himself1 ,apollonius     
explained to them that  ,domitian had   
been slain at that hour1 and that a     
vision from the gods  had been granted  
to him at the moment of what actually   
took place4 ,news  arrived in due course
 confirming his statement4 ,this story  
is narrated  by ,dion ,cassius as well  
as by ,philostratus4    ,beyond these   
records there are several others of a   
sufficiently  startling character1 which
 it is not easy to take too literally4  
,there  is1 for instance1 the narrative 
of the rescue of a young ,athenian from 
the clutches of a vampire4 ,the youth1  
according to the story1 mistook  the    
vampire for a normal living woman1 and  
being infatuated with her1  was on the  
point of marrying her until ,apollonius 
dispelled the  illusion4 ,probably this 
was one of the many romances that had   
collected  round the name of ,apollonius
 between his death and the time of      
,philostratus1 though there may possibly
 have been some small grain of  truth at

 the bottom of it4 ,another story which 
may have had some basis  in fact1 has   
been so embroidered upon as to render it
 quite incredible  in the form in which 
it is presented by the biographer4 ,this
 relates to  the supposed interview of  
,apollonius with the ghost of ,achilles1
 which  was held to haunt the tomb of   
the ,grecian hero4 ,the reputation of   
,apollonius was so great and his        
supposed power as a worker of miracles  
had obtained so widespread a currency by
 the second century of our era  that all
 sorts of miraculous happenings were    
readily credited by the  ignorant public
 when ascribed to the ,tyanian sage4    
,philostratus appears  to have made use 
of certain of these floating stories4   
,that the name of ,apollonius was       
regarded with the greatest veneration   
during the centuries following his death
 is abundantly evident4  ,caracalla     
7,roman ,emperor #baa-baf ,a4,d47       
honoured his memory with a chapel  or   
monument 7heroum74 ,alexander ,severus  

7,emperor #bbe-bce ,a4,d47 placed  his  
statue in his lararium along with those 
of ,christ1 ,abraham1 and  ,orpheus4    
,aurelius is stated to have vowed a     
temple to the sage of ,tyana1  of whom  
he had seen a vision4 ,vopiscus at the  
end of the third century  speaks of him 
as 8a sage of the most widespread renown
 and authority1 an  ancient philosopher 
and a true friend of the gods40 8,he it 
was10 says  ,vopiscus1 8who gave life to
 the dead4 ,he it was who did and said  
so many  things beyond the power of     
men40 ,in the work entitled ,quaestiones
 et  ,responsiones ad ,orthodoxos1      
attributed 7though apparently in error7 
to  ,justin ,martyr1 occurs among other 
of these 8questions0 the following3     
8,if ,god is the maker and master of    
creation how do the telesmata of        
,apollonius have power in the orders of 
that creation8 ,for as we see1  they    
check the fury of the waves and the     
power of the winds1 and the  inroads of 
vermin and attacks of wild beasts40     

,these telesmata or  talismans were     
articles that had been1 or were supposed
 to have been1  consecrated or          
magnetised1 with some religious         
ceremony1 by  ,apollonius4#b    ,we see1
 then1 that around the name of this     
philosopher gathered1 as time  went on1 
a mass of more or less incredible       
miraculous tradition4 ,and1 as  happens 
too often in such cases1 the real work  
of this great religious  reformer was   
lost sight of amid this accumulation of 
legend that  impressed the popular eye1 
which was too dull to appreciate or     
understand the deeper significance of   
the life-work and esoteric  teaching of 
the sage4 ,orthodox religion in the     
,roman ,empire had indeed  at this time 
fallen into very much the same sort of  
discredit as  orthodox ,christianity has
 among ourselves to-day4 ,two definite  
attempts  were made to resuscitate these
 old religions of ,greece and ,rome by  
reviving the understanding of the       
essential spiritual truths which they   

enshrined2 the first by ,apollonius of  
,tyana1 who was above all else a        
reformer of the ancient ,greek religion 
from within1 and the other1 an  abortive
 one three hundred years later1 by      
,julian the so-called  ,apostate4 ,these
 classical faiths were1 however1 too    
much overlaid with  mythological stories
 of an unedifying character ever again  
to recover  their ascendancy over the   
popular imagination1 and the ascetic    
life and  esoteric interpretation which 
appealed to the isolated religious      
communities which ,apollonius visited in
 his extensive travels throughout  the  
countries bordering the ,mediterranean1 
and as far east as ,persia and  ,india1 
could not in their very nature make a   
popular appeal to the  average man4 ,we 
see now that the triumph of             
,christianity was due to the            
universality of its appeal1 and that    
however uncertain the issue of the      
struggle of the contending faiths       
appeared at the time1 that issue was    

never really in doubt4 ,the ascetic     
philosopher worked for the little       
public to whom the life of self-denial  
and esoteric truth are all in  all1 and 
to whom the world and the pursuits of   
the ordinary citizen take  a place of   
minor importance4 ,the 8friend of       
publicans and sinners10 8who  was in all
 things tempted like as we are10 was    
able to 8draw all men  unto him0 by a   
compelling force such as the austere    
discipline and  profound philosophy of  
,apollonius could never command4 ,jesus 
of  ,nazareth1 in short1 triumphed--and 
there is a profound significance in     
this fact--because mankind in the       
realisation of his true humanity forgot 
that he was accounted a ,god4 ,the life 
of ,apollonius was so far removed  from 
anything the average man could          
comprehend that the world lost sight  of
 the wisdom and deep spirituality of his
 teaching1 in amazement at a  worker of 
miracles so far beyond human ken that he
 came to be reckoned  even a            

manifestation of ,deity4    ,we are not1
 however1 justified in supposing that it
 was primarily to his  miracle-working  
powers that ,apollonius owed his        
reputation among his  contemporaries4   
,it was rather as the wise man who had  
more knowledge and  experience of the   
world than those around him1 whose      
judgment was  sounder and more unbiased 
by personal considerations than other   
men's1  and whose high spirituality kept
 him aloof from all considerations of   
private gain or private interest1 that  
,apollonius was regarded by the  men of 
his own day4 ,later tradition which     
invested him with all kinds of          
miraculous achievements served to dim   
the halo round a great name4 ,the       
foremost men of his time in thought and 
action1 the ,emperors ,vespasian1       
,titus1 and many others1 did not come to
 consult ,apollonius because he  was    
some master magician4 ,we do not in     
effect ask advice of a man in our  hour 
of need because he can do the vanishing 

trick in a court of law1 or  pull       
rabbits out of his hat when there are no
 rabbits to pull1 or do any  of the     
marvellous performances which strike the
 vulgar with amazement4  ,we seek rather
 the advice of one whose judgment is    
saner and whose  knowledge of the world 
is greater than that of his fellows4 ,it
 was for  this reason that the wisest of
 the ,roman ,emperors came to consult   
,apollonius by preference with regard to
 the great task with which they  were   
entrusted1 when they had all the highest
 intellects in the ,roman  ,empire from 
which to choose4    ,the account of     
,titus's first meeting with the ,tyanian
 sage is of some  interest1 and not     
without its humorous side4 ,apollonius1 
who was already  acquainted with his    
father1 sent greetings to ,titus1 after 
the  suppression of the ,jewish         
insurrection1 saying in characteristic  
manner1  8,whereas you have refused to  
be proclaimed for success in war and for
  shedding the blood of your enemies1 ,i

 myself assign to you the crown of      
temperance and moderation because you   
thoroughly understand what deeds  really
 merit a crown40 ,titus thoroughly      
appreciated the compliment1 and  was not
 to be outdone by the other's courtesy4 
8,on my own behalf10 he  replied1 8,i   
thank you no less than on behalf of my  
father1 and ,i will  not forget your    
kindness4 ,for although ,i have captured
 ,jerusalem1 you  have captured me40    
,after ,titus had been appointed to     
share his father's responsibilities in  
the government of the ,empire he did not
 forget ,apollonius1 and when he  was in
 ,tarsus wrote to the sage begging him  
to come and see him4        ,when he had
 arrived says the narrative1 ,titus     
embraced him1      saying1 8,my father  
has told me by letter everything in     
respect of      which he consulted you2 
and lo6 here is his letter1 in which you
 are      described as his benefactor   
and the being to whom we owe all that we
      are4 ,now though ,i am only just  

thirty years of age1 ,i am held worthy  
of the same privileges to which my      
father only attained at the age      of 
sixty4 ,i am called to the throne to    
rule1 perhaps before ,i have      learnt
 myself to obey1 and ,i therefore dread 
lest ,i am undertaking a      task      
beyond my powers40 ,thereupon           
,apollonius1 after stroking his         
neck1 said 7for he had as stout a neck  
as any athlete in training71      8,and 
who will force so sturdy a bull-neck as 
yours under the yoke80      8,he that   
from my youth up reared me as a calf10  
answered ,titus1      meaning his own   
father1 and implying that he could only 
be      controlled by the latter1 who   
had accustomed him from childhood to    
obey himself4 8,i am delighted then10   
said ,apollonius1 8in the first         
place1 to see you prepared to           
subordinate yourself to your father1    
whom without being his natural children 
so many are delighted to      obey1 and 
next to see you rendering to his court  

homage in which      others will        
associate yourself4 ,when youth and age 
are paired in      authority1 is there  
any lyre or any flute that will produce 
so sweet      a harmony and so nicely   
blended8 ,for the qualities of old age  
will      be associated with those of   
youth1 with the result that old age will
      gain in strength and youth in     
discipline40    ,the records of         
,apollonius's pithy sayings are very    
numerous and give a  better insight into
 the man's character than the startling 
achievements  with which he is so       
commonly credited4 ,once1 when staying  
at ,smyrna1 he  complimented the        
inhabitants on their zeal for letters   
and philosophy  and their numerous      
activities1 urging them to take pride   
rather in  themselves than in the beauty
 of their city1 for 8although they had  
the  most beautiful of cities under the 
sun1 and although they had a friendly   
sea at their doors1 nevertheless it was 
more pleasing for the city to be        

crowned with men than with porticoes and
 pictures1 or even with gold in  excess 
of what they needed40 8,for10 he said1  
8public edifices remain  where they are 
and are nowhere seen except in that     
particular part of  the earth where they
 exist1 but good men are conspicuous    
everywhere and  everywhere talked about1
 and so they can magnify the city the   
more to  which they belong in proportion
 to the numbers in which they are able  
to  visit any part of the earth40 ,and  
again1 when visiting the monument to    
,leonidas1 the hero of ,thermopyl1 he   
was enthusiastic in admiration for  the 
,greek leader1 and on coming to the     
mound where the ,lacedemonians  were    
said to have been overwhelmed by the    
arrows which the enemy rained  upon     
them1 he heard his companions discussing
 with one another which was  the        
loftiest peak in ,hellas1 the topic     
being suggested1 apparently1 by  the    
sight of ,mount ,oeta which rose before 
their eyes4 ,accordingly  ascending the 

mound1 he said1 8,i consider this the   
loftiest of all1 for  those who fell    
here in defence of freedom raised it to 
a level with ,oeta  and carried it to a 
height surpassing many mountains like   
,olympus40 ,on  another occasion when1  
on arriving at ,athens1 and meeting with
 an  enthusiastic reception at the hands
 of the people1 he proposed to be       
initiated into the ,eleusinian          
,mysteries1 the hierophant showed       
jealousy  of ,apollonius's great        
reputation1 which he felt put his own   
into the  shade1 and was reluctant1     
accordingly1 to admit so formidable a   
rival4  ,he therefore made the excuse   
that ,apollonius was a wizard and had   
dabbled in impure rites1 and that he    
could not in consequence consent to     
initiate him4 ,apollonius1 however1 was 
fully equal to the occasion1 and        
retorted1 8,you have not yet mentioned  
the chief head of my offending1  which  
is that knowing as ,i do more about the 
initiatory rite than you do  yourself1  

,i have nevertheless come for initiation
 to you as if you were  wiser than ,i   
am40 ,the attitude of the crowd was so  
hostile to the  hierophant1 on          
discovering his rejection of their      
honoured guest1 that  he found it       
advisable to change his tone4 ,but      
,apollonius preferred to  postpone his  
initiation till a later occasion1 and1  
it is said1 foretold  the name of the   
successor who was destined to initiate  
him four years  after4    ,of many men  
who have led a deeply spiritual life and
 sacrificed  everything for the sake of 
the pursuit of a spiritual ideal1 it is 
recorded that they were wild and        
profligate in youth4 ,such was the case 
with ,st ,francis of ,assisi1 and       
,apollonius's contemporary1 the zealous 
,saul of ,tarsus1 led a changed life    
from the moment of his conversion4      
,indeed it has been said1 referring     
doubtless to such instances1 that  8the 
greater the sinner the greater the      
saint40 ,this saying1 however1 is  by no

 means applicable to ,apollonius4 ,from 
his earliest days his choice  was made  
clear4 ,he came of a family which was at
 once wealthy and  well-connected1 and  
in addition to this he was endowed by   
nature with  exceptional abilities and a
 remarkable memory1 while the beauty of 
his  person excited universal           
admiration4 ,every temptation1          
therefore1 which  fortune could offer1  
might1 one would have thought1 have led 
him to  choose the path of worldly      
success4 ,from the age of fourteen1     
however1  he abandoned all idea of the  
pursuit of pleasure and devoted himself 
to  discovering among the numerous      
,greek philosophies of the day some     
school  of thought which would enable   
him to live up to his own ideals4       
,finally  he adopted the system of      
,pythagoras1 but was not content to     
receive it  in the sense of accepting   
its doctrines and not living the life1  
after  the manner of his teacher1       
,euxenus4 ,accordingly when ,euxenus    

asked him  how he would begin his new   
mode of life1 he replied1 8,as doctors  
purge  their patients40 8,hence0 7says  
,g4 ,r4 ,s4 ,mead1 in his ,biography71  
8he  refused to touch anything that had 
animal life in it1 on the ground that   
it densified the mind and rendered it   
impure4 ,he considered that the  only   
pure form of food was what the earth    
produced1 fruits and  vegetables4 ,he   
also abstained from wine1 for1 though it
 was made from  fruit1 it rendered      
turbid the ether in the soul1 and       
destroyed the  composure of the mind40  
,in addition to this1 he went barefoot1 
let his  hair grow long1 and wore       
nothing but linen4    ,on the death of  
his father1 when he was twenty years of 
age1 he  inherited a considerable       
fortune1 which was left to him to share 
with  his elder brother1 a dissolute    
young man of three-and-twenty4 ,when his
  brother had run through his share of  
the patrimony1 he endeavoured           
7successfully as it appears7 to rescue  

him from his vicious life1 and  made    
over to him half his own share of the   
inheritance4 ,having  distributed the   
major part of the remainder among his   
relatives1 he  merely retained for      
himself a bare pittance4    ,before     
starting on his missionary              
activities--he was probably by far the  
greatest traveller of his time--he took 
the vow of silence for five  years4     
,after this1 he travelled from place to 
place making the  acquaintance of temple
 priests and heads of the religious     
communities1  endeavouring always to    
bring back the public cults to the      
purity of  their ancient traditions and 
to suggest improvements in the practices
 of  the private brotherhoods1 the most 
important part of his work being        
devoted to those who were followers of  
the inner life4 ,public  instruction in 
ethics and practical life he never gave 
until after the  middle of the day1     
8for10 he said1 8those who live the     
inner life should  on day's dawning     

enter the presence of the gods1 spending
 the time till  midday in giving and    
receiving instructions in holy things40 
,his ,indian  expedition1 from which his
 friends and disciples endeavoured to   
dissuade  him1 he undertook1 as he      
stated1 on the advice of his inner      
monitor1  starting his perilous         
undertaking entirely alone1 and so      
continuing  until he made the           
acquaintance of ,damis at ,nineveh4     
,there is some doubt as to the date of  
,apollonius's birth1 but an  allusion by
 ,philostratus makes it appear that he  
was quite a young man  at the time of   
his ,indian expedition1 and as he       
apparently did not  commence his five   
years' vow of silence till after he came
 of age1 we  must assume that he was    
somewhere between twenty-six and thirty 
at the  commencement of this            
undertaking4 ,treadwell dates the       
,indian travels as  from #da to #ed     
,a4,d4 ,if this is approximately        
accurate we may assign his  birth-date  

to the second decade of the first       
century of the ,christian  era4         
,assuming this to be the case1 he was   
presumably over eighty years  old at the
 time of his death1 which occurred about
 #ih ,a4,d4 ,damis had  been his almost 
inseparable companion from the time when
 he first met  him at ,nineveh4 ,it     
seems to have been a case of something  
akin to 8love  at first sight10 for the 
,assyrian was seized at once with an    
enthusiasm  for the nobility of         
,apollonius's character1 which was blent
 with a  natural and even dog-like      
affection4 ,at the last1 however1 his   
companion  was not with him1 and there  
is some mystery as to the exact place   
and  occasion of his death4 ,he sent    
,damis away when the expected time      
approached1 on the pretext of entrusting
 him with a confidential letter  to the 
,emperor ,nerva1 so that it may be said 
of him1 as it was of ,moses1  8,no man  
knoweth his burial place unto this day40
    ,apollonius had never reason to     

regret his ,indian travels4 ,he became  
deeply imbued with the metaphysical     
ideas of the ,brahmins1 and was in  the 
habit ever after of extolling their     
spiritual philosophy as the             
fountain-head of all the profounder     
truths of ,western religion4 ,as to     
,damis's record of ,apollonius's sojourn
 with the ,indian ,philosophers1 we     
have only ,philostratus's garbled       
account to guide us1 and the quotation  
of ,apollonius's cryptic observation1   
8,i saw men dwelling on the earth  and  
yet not on it2 defended on all sides1   
without any defence2 and yet  possessed 
of nothing but what all possessed40 ,it 
may be well to quote  the interpretation
 of this saying given by ,mr ,mead4     
8,they were on the  earth but not of the
 earth1 for their minds were set on     
things above4  ,they were protected by  
their innate spiritual power1 of which  
we have so  many instances in ,indian   
literature4 ,and yet they possessed     
nothing but  what all men possess if    

they would but develop the spiritual    
part of  their being40 ,there are a good
 many references in the conversations   
with  ,apollonius to the belief in      
,reincarnation1 which was of course an  
essential tenet of ,pythagorean         
philosophy1 and he himself averred that 
in his previous life he was a man of no 
consequence1 to wit1 a ship's  pilot4 ,a
 letter ascribed to him1 whether rightly
 or wrongly1 has some  interesting      
observations on this subject4           
8,why has this false notion10 he asks1  
8of birth and death0 7i4e41      that   
they are real and not illusory in       
character7--8why has this      false    
notion remained so long without being   
refuted8 ,some think that      what has 
happened through them they have         
themselves brought about4      ,they are
 ignorant that the individual is brought
 to birth through      parents1 not by  
parents4 ,just as a thing produced      
through the      earth is not produced  
from it4 ,the change which comes to the 

individual is nothing that is caused by 
his visible surroundings1      but      
rather a change in the one thing which  
is in every man40    ,the portrait of   
,apollonius which has been handed down  
through many  generations has become    
blurred and disfigured beyond           
recognition1 and it  seemed therefore   
well to give1 even if in but a brief    
outline1 such a  sketch as might convey 
a juster idea of the philosopher whose  
friendship  the greatest men of his day 
considered it their highest honour to   
enjoy1  the man who chose the path of   
sanctity at a time of life when others  
choose 8the primrose path of dalliance10
 who chose ,wisdom for her own  sake and
 ,truth for the sake of ,truth4    ,the 
world holds no record of a long life    
lived more nobly1 of a more  undaunted  
courage in confronting the tyrant1 of a 
more unflinching  tenacity of purpose1  
of a more single-minded devotion to a   
high ideal4  ,his boyhood's choice1 the 
inspiration of his manhood1 the         

beacon-light  of his latest years--to   
follow in the footsteps of that ,form1  
so austere  in the simplicity of her    
loveliness1 8whose ways are ways of     
pleasantness and all whose paths are    
peace40#c    ,footnote #a3              
,philostratus1 ,book ,,iv1 chapter xlv4 
,i am indebted to ,dr ,conybeare's      
translation1 published by ,messrs       
,heinemann1 for this and some other     
quotations4 ,the book is a very useful  
one1 the ,greek and ,english being      
given side by side4    ,footnote #b3    
,i am indebted to ,g4 ,r4 ,s4 ,mead's   
work1 ,apollonius of ,tyana1 ,the       
,philosopher-,reformer of the ,first    
,century ,a4,d4 7,london3 ,t4 ,p4 ,s471 
for these particulars4    ,footnote #c3 
8,happy is the man that findeth wisdom4 
,length of days is in her right    hand 
and in her left hand riches and honour4 
,her ways are ways of    pleasantness   
and all her paths are peace0 7,prov4    
iii4 #ac1 #af1 #ag74                    
,,ii                                    

,,plotinus      ,the problem of the     
origin of the universe is one with which
 every  religion in a certain sense     
claims to deal2 but it is a problem only
 of  the most recondite sphere of       
metaphysics1 while religions generally1 
in  order to ensure their success1 make 
appeal to popular sympathy and          
endeavour to bring down the truths which
 they enshrine to the  intellectual     
level of the masses of mankind4 ,to put 
abstruse truths into  simple language is
 an impossibility4 ,they can1 however1  
be conveyed by a  species of symbolism1 
or presented in an allegorical form     
which will be  interpreted in one sense 
by the vulgar and in another by the     
philosopher  or the religious initiate4 
,the communication of these hidden      
truths has  been represented in the case
 of most religions as a definite        
revelation  from a higher plane2 but    
whatever claim is made as to their      
origin1 they  are at least put before   
the rank and file of the faithful as    

dogmas to  be accepted unhesitatingly as
 a vital element of the orthodox        
religion  of the time or country4 ,such 
dogmas in their crude form1 it is       
needless  to say1 have never made appeal
 to the high philosophical intelligence 
of  the day4 ,under the autocratic      
regime of persecuting ,christianity     
during  the ,middle ,ages of ,europe1   
,christian dogma was indeed accepted    
nominally  by great intellects1 but it  
was accepted under duress and with a    
reservation1 and subject to such        
interpretations of its inner meaning as 
might commend themselves to the mental  
standpoint of their professor4  ,the men
 of highest intellect were compelled to 
express the faith that  was in them in  
the most guarded language1 and if they  
failed to do so  they were only too     
liable to share the fate of ,galileo1   
or--worse  still--of ,giordano ,bruno4  
,the sole exception to this rule is to  
be found  in ,oriental countries1 such  
as ,india1 where religion1 whether      

,brahmin or  ,buddhist1 has assumed a   
less dogmatic form1 and has found it    
possible  accordingly to assimilate and 
identify itself with philosophical      
speculations of the profoundest and most
 abstruse character1 without any  sense 
of incongruity or doing violence to its 
own specific tenets4 ,it is  true that  
,mohammedanism appears to contradict    
this1 but it must be  remembered that   
the religion of ,mohammed was in the    
nature of a foreign  importation and not
 indigenous to ,indian soil4    ,thus it
 came about that the philosophers of    
early ,greece and ,rome were  almost    
invariably avowed sceptics as regards   
the popular religious  beliefs of their 
time1 though in spite of this1 with the 
sole exception  of ,socrates1 they were 
allowed to preach their doctrines openly
 in the  market place without let or    
hindrance4 ,thus1 too1 the triumph of   
,christianity brought it eventually into
 open antagonism with philosophic       
thought4 ,in this case1 however1 the    

dogmatic and intolerant character of    
the creed suffered no rival schools of  
opinion1 and accordingly1 within  #bjj  
years of the date at which it was       
established by ,constantine as the      
recognised religion of the ,roman       
,empire1 the ,athenian schools of       
philosophy were forcibly suppressed by  
,justinian4#d ,for some two and a  half 
centuries before this latter date       
,neoplatonism in one form or  another   
had dominated the intellectual world of 
philosophy4 ,it had  superseded the     
materialistic philosophies of earlier   
,rome and ,greece1  and even before the 
time of ,constantine1 the ,stoic and    
,epicurean schools  of thought had      
already ceased to appeal to the         
inquiring spirit of the  time4 ,when1   
after a thousand years of intervening   
barbarism1 under the  influence of the  
,renaissance movement1 men began to turn
 their attention  once more to classic  
scholarship and classic philosophy1 it  
was to  ,plato1 mainly as interpreted by

 his successor and follower1 ,plotinus1 
that the leading spirits of the day     
turned in search of a solution of  those
 problems of life which were once more  
pressing for interpretation1  after the 
intellectual death in life of the ,dark 
,ages1 following the  break-up of the   
,roman ,empire4 ,christianity1 indeed1  
had its  metaphysics--for every religion
 is bound1 in a sense1 to explain its   
,divinity to its devotees--but they were
 the bastard metaphysics of the         
,athanasian ,creed1 the expression of a 
political compromise drawn up to        
satisfy the warring sects of            
,christendom4 ,far different was the    
effort  of ,plotinus1 who sought not    
only to solve the riddle of the sphinx1 
but  to express in language intelligible
 to his hearers the solution of the     
profoundest mysteries of the universe4  
,how far he succeeded in doing so  is   
yet in dispute to the present day4 ,at  
least the basis of his  philosophy still
 remains as an attempted approximation  

to the truth  which forms the groundwork
 for the efforts of every new seeker    
after  spiritual enlightenment4    ,at  
the date of the birth of ,plotinus1     
,alexandria was the intellectual        
capital of the world4 ,there met ,east  
and ,west1 in spite of ,mr ,rudyard     
,kipling's dictum to the contrary4      
,there the philosophical and            
intellectual speculations of the entire 
civilised world enjoyed a common  forum 
where the most diverse views found a    
ready audience4 ,there ,philo           
interpreted ,judaism in terms of current
 ,greek thought4 ,there ,gnostics  and  
,christians contended for the supremacy 
of their various religious  doctrines4  
,there1 among others1 ,ammonius ,saccas 
lectured on his  philosophical          
interpretation of the universal life1   
first from a  standpoint akin to that of
 the new ,christian religion1 which was 
already  obtaining so many converts1 and
 later from an independent platform of  
his own4 ,to him1 after listening to    

many different philosophers1 in  whose  
views he found neither satisfaction nor 
illumination1 came the  most illustrious
 of his pupils1 ,plotinus4 ,plotinus was
 at this time  about twenty-eight 7he   
was born probably at ,lycopolis in      
,egypt1 in the  year #bje or #bjf       
,a4,d471 and he continued to remain at  
,alexandria and to  elaborate his       
theories under the auspices of his      
master1 ,ammonius1 for  some eleven     
years4 ,at the expiration of this period
 the similarity of  the philosophy of   
,ammonius to that taught by the         
,brahmins of ,india1 and  doubtless also
 the interest in these ,oriental        
conceptions which had been  stimulated  
by the travels of ,apollonius of ,tyana1
 led to a decision on  the part of      
,plotinus to emulate the ,tyanian sage  
and himself embark on a  similar        
mission4 ,the expedition of the ,emperor
 ,gordian against the  ,persians        
appeared to supply a favourable         
opportunity for carrying out  this      

project4 ,this expedition was1 however1 
destined to disaster1 and  ,gordian met 
with an untimely end4 ,plotinus himself 
barely escaped with  his life1 but      
eventually reached ,antioch in safety4  
,our philosopher did  not remain long in
 the ,syrian capital1 but at the        
earliest opportunity  sailed for ,rome1 
where the remainder of his life was     
spent in lecturing  and in philosophic  
study and discussion4    ,it was not    
until he had lived in ,rome for ten     
years that1 at the urgent  request of   
his followers1 he commenced writing what
 subsequently became  known as ,the     
,enneads of ,plotinus4 ,twenty-one of   
these books were  completed when1 at the
 age of fifty-nine1 he first met        
,porphyry1 who is  our principal source 
of information with regard to his manner
 of life  and the main facts of his     
career4 ,to ,porphyry was eventually    
allotted  the task of editing his       
writings1 which he divided into six     
volumes of  nine books each1 the number 

of books in each volume being thus used 
to  give a name to his whole system of  
philosophy 7,enneads1 ,greek 1  nine74  
,that his treatises were in urgent need 
of a competent editor is apparent  from 
the observations which ,porphyry makes  
with regard to his methods of           
composition4 ,he was in the habit of    
writing down his thoughts just as  they 
occurred to him1 and 8could not 7says   
his biographer7 by any means  endure to 
review twice what he had written1 nor   
even to read his own  composition10     
mainly on account of his defective      
eyesight4 ,nor1 indeed1  was he by any  
means a perfect master of the ,greek    
language1 in which his  lectures were   
delivered and his books written4        
,porphyry in fact  observes1 let us hope
 with some exaggeration1 that he        
8neither formed  the letters with       
accuracy1 nor exactly distinguished the 
syllables1 nor  bestowed any diligent   
attention on the orthography1 but       
neglecting all  these as trifles1 he was

 alone attentive to the intellection of 
his  wonderful mind1 and1 to the        
admiration of all his disciples1        
persevered  in this custom to the end of
 his life40    ,one is1 indeed1 not a   
little impressed how entirely1 in the   
later days  of the ,roman ,empire1      
8captive ,greece led captive her        
conquerors40 ,greek  philosophy and     
,greek ideas had1 in truth1 permeated   
the whole civilised  world4 ,not only   
was this the case1 but when the ,western
 or ,roman ,empire  fell eventually into
 decrepitude and ruin1 its ,eastern     
partner1 though  threatened and harassed
 by barbarian foes on all its borders1  
continued  to survive the extinction of 
the erstwhile mistress of the world by  
something like a thousand years4        
,alexandria was1 however1 destined to   
destruction by an ,arab invasion long   
ere this1 and never recovered from  its 
sack by the ,mohammedan ,amru in ,a4,d4 
#fdj4 ,the survival of the ,eastern     
,empire was doubtless due in great part 

to the superior vitality of the  ,greek 
race2 but it does not admit of doubt    
that it would have fallen a  victim to  
the ,moslem invader at least #ejj years 
before the date of its  final doom1 had 
it not been for ,constantine's choice of
 an ,eastern  capital and the almost    
impregnable position enjoyed by the     
imperial  city4 ,it is open to          
conjecture that had the ,british        
,government of the  present day been    
better acquainted with the history of   
,constantinople  and the many sieges    
which it had successfully sustained1    
they would have  thought twice1 and     
indeed thrice1 before launching without 
adequate  preparation1 the ill-fated    
expedition to the ,dardanelles4    ,the 
dialectical disquisitions of ,plotinus  
were delivered in ,greek1 and  his whole
 trend of thought was essentially ,greek
 in character4 ,one is  inclined to ask 
oneself indeed whether the ,latin       
language would have  been capable of    
expressing the subtleties of his        

philosophical  speculation4 ,in this    
connection the similarity of his ideas  
to those  enunciated in the great       
,vedantic system of ,indian philosophy  
must not  blind us to the fact that his 
method of treating his subject1 and the 
closely reasoned arguments which he     
adduces in the defence of his scheme  of
 the universe1 are purely and entirely  
,greek4 ,this appears to me to be  the  
real truth in relation to a much        
disputed point1 as to what ,plotinus    
owed to ,indian thought on the one hand1
 and to ,greek culture and ,greek       
philosophy on the other4    ,when       
,milton appealed to the ,divine ,muse to
 enable him to 8soar above the  ,aonian 
,mount0 and achieve 8things unattempted 
yet in prose or rhyme10 he  was in truth
 taking on a small order compared with  
the tremendous task  which ,plotinus set
 himself in his attempted solution of   
the riddle of  the universe4 ,to say    
that his exposition of his system lends 
itself to  criticism in more than one   

vital point is merely to state that he  
was  human4 ,whoever attempts to go     
behind phenomena and postulate a ,first 
,cause1 whether we denominate that      
,cause ,the ,one1 like ,plotinus1 or    
,the  ,good1 like ,plato1 or ,the       
,absolute1 like ,herbert ,spencer1 is   
manifestly  passing into realms of      
thought with which the human mind is    
incompetent  to deal4 ,it stands to     
reason1 indeed1 that the finite mind    
cannot  comprehend the infinite1 and    
logic1 therefore1 inevitably fails us4  
,but  there is in truth another side to 
this most recondite problem4 ,though    
logic cannot fathom it1 and though the  
finite cannot comprehend the  infinite1 
yet the infinite spirit may contact     
infinity4 ,in other words1  the infinite
 in man1 that is1 the divine spark1     
which is part and parcel  of infinity1  
may realise the infinite within itself1 
not1 indeed1 by any  logical process1   
but by the immediate experience implicit
 in spiritual  union4 ,hence the        

possibility of that form of mystical    
ecstasy which has  been denominated     
,cosmic ,consciousness1 and which it is 
narrated that  ,plotinus experienced no 
less than four times during the six     
years1  #bfb-bfh1 when ,porphyry was his
 companion in ,rome4 ,the effect of     
these  experiences on ,plotinus is very 
evident in his philosophy4 ,they led to 
his emphasising the unity of all        
creation1 and its oneness with the      
,divine1 and the natural corollary of   
this1 the illusory nature of  separate  
individuality4 ,hence that which causes 
individuality1 the  principle of        
limitation inherent in matter1 appears  
to him itself also  of an illusory      
nature1 that is1 essentially incapable  
of acquiring or  participating in real  
existence4 ,from this negative character
 of matter  arise1 according to         
,plotinus1 the imperfections of the     
material  universe1 and its inability to
 conform to the ideal or intelligible   
order4    ,at the basis of the system of

 ,plotinus there is postulated then an  
ideal  universe which constitutes an    
archetype or pattern of the phenomenal  
order which our senses apprehend4       
,plotinus assumes three root principles 
which he denominates the ,three ,divine 
,hypostases1 and which have been  since 
designated the ,alexandrian ,trinity1   
though it would be a mistake  to confuse
 this triad with the ,trinity of the    
,christian ,creed4 ,the ,first  ,divine 
,hypostasis is the ,prime ,source of    
,being1 denominated1 as already  stated1
 the ,one or the ,good4 ,this           
corresponds to the ,absolute of the     
,spencerian philosophy1 and ,plotinus   
tells us that it transcends all  known  
attributes--so much so1 in fact1 that   
even existence itself cannot  be        
predicated of it4 ,every being1         
according to the ,plotinian system1     
tends to produce an image of itself4    
,hence we have the ,second and ,third   
of these ,divine ,principles1 emanating 
in their turn from the ,first4 ,the     

,second ,divine ,hypostasis our         
philosopher designates the ,intelligible
  ,universe or ,universal ,intelligence4
 ,this is the sphere of ,absolute       
,reality or ,essence1 and constitutes a 
manifestation of the creative  power of 
the ,one4 ,the ,third ,divine           
,hypostasis is the ,universal ,soul1 and
  this again is the image of the        
,second2 but it differs from its        
principal  in the fact that life in its 
sphere is no longer inert or motionless1
  but revolves about and within the     
,universal ,intelligence4 ,by way of    
explanation1 ,plotinus offers the       
parallel of one circle enclosed within  
another and larger but concentric circle
 which revolves about it1 the  common   
centre of both being represented by the 
,one or ,first ,hypostasis1  the        
motionless inner circle by the          
,universal ,intelligence1 and the       
revolving outer circle by the ,universal
 ,soul2 though it is recognised  that   
this form of symbolism can be pressed   

too far1 as the expressions  8external0 
and 8internal0 in this connection have  
no real validity4    ,matter1 as already
 stated1 is regarded as possessing no   
definite  attributes of its own2 but it 
is capable of receiving a semblance of  
life by reflecting the forms derived by 
the ,universal ,soul from the  ,second  
,divine ,principle or ,intelligible     
,universe4 ,matter1 then1 serves  as a  
mirror upon which the ,universal ,soul  
projects the images or  reflections of  
its creations1 and thus gives rise to   
the phenomena of  the sensible universe4
 ,this universe1 which we are accustomed
 to term  the ,phenomenal ,world1 holds 
an intermediate position between        
,reality and  ,negation owing to its    
participation in matter1 which ,plotinus
 identifies  with ,evil as being the    
negation of the ,spiritual or ,real4    
,the existence  of the ,universal ,soul 
is an eternal contemplation of the ,one 
as revealed  in the sphere of           
,intelligence or ,beauty 7the ,second   

,divine ,hypostasis7  and is itself an  
indivisible noncorporeal essence1       
possessing  omnipresent consciousness4  
,while1 then1 one part of the ,universal
 ,soul  inhabits the sphere of          
,intelligence1 its inferior part has    
relation with  the ,sensible ,world1 or 
,material ,universe4 ,the ,universal    
,soul by this  relation with the        
,material ,universe gives birth to the  
phenomena of  ,nature in all their      
varied manifestation4 ,but whereas the  
object of  contemplation of the         
,universal ,soul is the ,one as revealed
 in terms of  ,beauty or the            
,intelligible ,order1 the object of the 
contemplation of  ,nature is ,nature    
itself4 ,nature1 in short1 contemplates 
the forms of its  own creation1 and     
hence arise the imperfections of its    
manifestation4    8,the character of the
 material universe following ,dr        
,whitby1#e in his  summary of the       
doctrine of ,plotinus is thus due to the
 irradiation of  matter or chaos by the 

complex unity of forms or reasons       
7logoi7  derived by the ,universal ,soul
 from its contemplation of the sphere of
  essential reality and ,absolute       
,perfection4 ,by reason of the inability
 of  matter to participate fully in the 
real qualities of existence1 it  follows
 that the perfection of the material    
universe is inferior to that  of the    
,universal ,soul1 and still more so to  
that of the ,intelligible  ,universe40  
,in writing 8on the nature and origin of
 evil10 our  philosopher observes1      
8,whatever is deficient of good in a    
small degree  is not yet evil1 since it 
is capable from its nature of becoming  
perfect4 ,but whatever is perfectly     
destitute of good1 and such is  matter1 
is evil in reality1 possessing no       
portion of good4 ,for1 indeed1  matter  
does not1 properly speaking1 possess    
being1 by means of which it  might be   
invested with good4 ,but the attribute  
of being is only  equivocally affirmed  
of matter40    ,the association of      

matter with the soul arises from the    
voluntary  determination of the         
individual consciousness towards the    
material  plane4 ,but it must not be    
supposed that this commingling of the   
soul and  matter results in any actual  
union between the two in the same sense 
as  in the chemical world hydrogen and  
oxygen combine to form water4 ,for      
matter1 as explained above1 is in the   
nature of a mirror which the  divine    
light of the soul illuminates but which 
is incapable of receiving  into itself  
that light by which it is illuminated4  
8,but observes  ,plotinus#f matter      
obscures by its sordid mixture and      
renders feeble  the light which emanates
 from the soul and1 by opposing the     
waters of  generation1 it occasions the 
soul's entrance into the rapid stream1  
and  by this means renders her light1   
which is in itself vigorous and pure1   
polluted and feeble1 like the faint     
glimmerings from a watch tower  beheld  
in a storm4 ,for if matter were never   

present1 the soul would  never approach 
to generation2 and this is the lapse of 
the soul1 thus to  descend into matter  
and become debilitated and impure1      
inasmuch as  matter prohibits many of   
the soul's powers from their natural    
activities1 comprehending and as it were
 contracting the place which the  soul  
contains1 in her dark embrace40 ,matter 
thus is the cause of the  evil inherent 
in the material world1 as without this  
the soul would have  for ever remained  
8permanent and pure40    ,matter1 in    
itself1 possesses no form1 being unable 
to sustain order or  measure4 ,the soul1
 however1 by its union with matter1     
imposes form upon  it1 this form being  
the result of the combination of the    
limitation  inherent in matter1 in union
 with the archetypal idea of which the  
soul  is the expression4 ,we have1 then1
 a conception of the universe1 of which 
the ,one represents ,infinity1 and      
matter1 the opposite pole1 or zero4     
,owing1 however1 to the fact that no    

attributes or qualities can be          
predicated of the ,one1 and that this   
is1 in a negative sense1 also the  case 
with matter1 which is the privation of  
being1 we arrive at a  certain          
confusion1 the attempts of our          
philosopher to explain matter  leading  
to phrases which are equally applicable 
to ,infinity or the ,one4  ,the two     
extremes of ,absolute ,being and        
,non-,being appear1 in short1 to  meet1 
and a resulting bewilderment arises in  
the mind1 which one is  rather inclined 
to gather1 was not entirely absent from 
the thought of  ,plotinus himself4 ,it  
may be suggested1 tentatively1 that this
 impasse  arises rather from the failure
 of ,plotinus to describe the ,one in   
more  positive terms1 than in his       
defective description of the negative   
qualities of matter4 ,the fact that the 
,one of ,plotinus is conceived of  as   
such that no language is able to express
 it1 does not1 in reality1  justify the 
philosopher in describing it in terms of

 negation1 however  much positive       
statements may fall short of portraying 
the ,absolute  ,reality4 ,of matter     
itself1 however1 we ought perhaps to    
predicate a  relative though inferior   
reality2 even while we admit that the   
presence  of spirit is in inverse       
proportion to the density of matter4    
,in the view of ,plotinus the universe  
is a single vast conscious organism  of 
which all the parts are similarly       
endowed with consciousness4 ,he         
attributes a species of divinity to the 
,sun and the stars1 and appears  to     
accept the theory of planetary spirits4 
,thus also ,origen observes3  8,as our  
body while consisting of human members  
is yet held together by  one soul1 so   
the universe is to be thought of as an  
immense living being  which is held     
together by one soul1 the power of the  
logos1 ,god40    ,according to ,plotinus
 it is truer to state that the body is  
in the soul  than that the soul is in   
the body1 inasmuch as the soul is       

transcendent  as well as immanent in the
 corporeal form4 ,thus1 when a          
particular body  acquires life the soul 
which is destined to animate it does not
 in  reality descend into it and become 
identified with it1 but rather the  body
 comes within the sphere of its         
influence1 thus attaining to the  world 
of life4 ,this explanation is1 it seems 
to me1 helpful in enabling  us to       
understand the gradual process by which 
the individual  consciousness becomes en
 rapport with the immature bodies of    
childhood4 ,following out the same      
theory we can understand the doctrine   
of early ,gnostic sects1 that ,jesus of 
,nazareth was overshadowed by the       
,christ1 and also we may believe1 if we 
will1 that the guardian angels of  the  
little children who1 as ,jesus asserted1
 8do always behold the face  of ,my     
,father which is in ,heaven0 are indeed 
their own higher spiritual  selves1     
attracted on the one hand to those      
physical bodies of which they  are the  

prospective tenants1 and on the other   
looking regretfully back  to their      
pre-natal home in the spiritual world4  
,like the ,deity1 the soul is in the    
nature of a trinity1 the occult  axiom1 
8,as above1 so below0 being implicit in 
,plotinus's philosophy4  ,thus man      
consists1 firstly1 of the animal1 or    
sensual soul1 which is  closely united  
with the body2 secondly1 of the logical1
 or reasoning  soul2 and thirdly1 of    
that individualised portion of the      
divine essence  whose proper habitation 
is the ,intelligible ,universe1 of which
 it in its  origin forms a part4 ,the   
return of the soul to the ,one is       
accomplished  by means of a gradual     
process of purification1 which          
eventually1 after  an immeasurable      
period of time1 releases the soul from  
its inclination  towards the plane of   
sensibility2 i4e4 its attraction to the 
material  world4 ,the philosophy of     
,plotinus thus included the doctrine of 
metempsychosis1 as regards the          

affirmation of the truth of which he is 
very emphatic4 ,for he declares that    
8,the gods bestow on each the destiny   
which appertains to him1 and which      
harmonises with his antecedents in  his 
successive existences4 ,every one who is
 not aware of this is grossly  ignorant 
of divine matters40 ,he would even      
appear to admit that at times  fallen   
human souls are imprisoned in the bodies
 of animals1 but speaks  less           
confidently on this head4    ,the       
conceptions of ,plotinus explain many of
 those psychical phenomena  which have  
so much puzzled our modern scientists1  
and offer a solution  for the           
much-debated problems involved in the   
phenomena of telepathy1  magic1 and     
planetary influence4 8,the sensitivity  
of nature writes ,dr  ,whitby1          
summarising this side of ,plotinus's    
philosophy is manifested as  a vital    
nexus in virtue of which every minutest 
and remotest particle of  the universe  
is intimately correlated and            

symbolically united to the  rest4 ,the  
universe as a whole1 although thus      
endowed with a potential  sensitivity1  
may nevertheless be considered as       
impassive1 because the  soul which      
animates and pervades it has no need of 
sensations for its  own enlightenment   
and does not1 in fact1 regard them4     
,nevertheless1 and  for the simple      
reason that nature is a living organism1
 sympathetic  throughout1 individual    
parts of the universe have a            
quasi-sensitivity1  and respond to      
impressions from without4 ,when1 for    
example1 the stars1  in answer to human 
invocations1 confer benefits upon men1  
they do so1  not by a voluntary action1 
but because their natural or unreasoning
  psychical faculties are unconsciously 
affected4 ,similarly demons may be      
charmed by spells or prayers acting upon
 the unreasoning part of their  nature40
 ,for1 according to ,plotinus1 the      
universe is a vast chain1 of  which     
every being is a link4    ,plotinus1    

like every one else who has attempted to
 solve the ,riddle of  the ,sphinx1 is  
up against the basic facts of existence4
 ,boldly and  perseveringly as we may   
attempt to face the problem1 the ,sphinx
 sits and  smiles with the smile that   
will not come off1 well knowing that    
however  near we may seem to be to the  
solution of the mystery1 the problem    
will  still baffle us1 and remain       
unsolved to the end4 ,we may postulate a
  ,deity who is all ,perfection1 but1 if
 we do so1 it rests with us to  explain 
how it is that evil is present in the   
universe1 if this ,deity is  in reality1
 as ,plotinus and other philosophers    
have taught us1 the ,all4  ,we may      
postulate matter as inherently evil in  
nature1 in opposition to  the ,good1 but
 if so1 whence comes that which is not  
included in the ,all8  ,if matter is the
 mere privation of good1 whence come its
 apparently very  positive qualities8   
,if the ,all is complete and perfect in 
itself1 what  need for the manifested   

universe8 ,what need for the striving   
after a  higher perfection1 which gives 
the lie to the ,absolute ,perfection    
predicated of the ,one8 ,matthew ,arnold
 has adopted the hypothesis of a        
8,power1 not ourselves1 which makes for 
righteousness02 but in this  hypothesis 
he first abandons the conception of the 
unity of the ,all and  subsequently     
throws over the idea of divine          
perfection4 ,for his ,deity  is1 after  
all1 only striving after a perfection   
which he has not yet  reached4    ,the  
dualistic conception offers in truth    
fewer difficulties to the  ordinary     
mind4 ,it is more in accordance with the
 obvious facts of  existence1 which are 
brought under our notice every day of   
our lives4  ,deceptive and illusory     
though the conception may be1 we still  
appear to  be confronted by the         
existence of a gigantic struggle between
 good and  evil in which the two        
combatants are more nearly matched than 
we care to  admit4 ,we like to shut our 

eyes to this and postulate a ,deity of  
infinite power and infinite beneficence1
 but1 while we do so1 we are for  ever  
admitting into our intellectual sphere  
certain conceptions that run  counter to
 this theory1 and in order to acquit our
 ,deity of  responsibility for the evil 
which we see ever around us1 we make of 
the  ,devil a scapegoat who1 in         
practice1 bears on his shoulders the    
sins of  the whole world2 or            
alternatively we accept a conception of 
,god and the  ,devil which runs on      
parallel lines with that of ,dickens'   
,spenlow and  ,jawkins4 ,if behind ,good
 and ,evil1 the two forces which are    
everlastingly  struggling for the       
mastery1 we have1 as ,plotinus and other
 of the wisest  philosophers assure us1 
some principle of ,unity from which both
 alike  flow1 are we justified in       
postulating of that ,unity ,absolute    
,perfection  and ,absolute ,power8 ,or  
are we not nearer the mark in describing
 it in  the ,nietzschean phrase as      

8beyond good and evil10 as possessed of 
attributes and qualities which finite   
brains are incapable of  apprehending8  
,are we not indeed darkening counsel by 
attributing to this  ,unknown a         
perfection which1 after all1 the entire 
gamut of existence  suggests to us has  
never yet been reached through all the  
ons even  though we may be approaching  
nearer to it every day and every hour8  
,the creation of the universe1 if we are
 to accept the system of  ,plotinus1 did
 not actually take place in time4 ,he   
argues this point out  with much        
subtlety and ingenuity in his essay 8on 
,providence10 rejecting  the hypothesis 
of 8a certain foresight and discursive  
consideration on  the part of ,deity1   
deliberating in what condition the world
 should be  especially formed1 and by   
what means it may be constituted as far 
as  possible for the best02 and         
accepting in place of it the assumption 
that  the universe always had a being1  
and that it was 8formed according to    

intellect1 and intellect not preceding  
in time but prior#g2 because  the world 
is its offspring1 and because intellect 
is the cause and the  world its image1  
perpetually subsisting in the same      
manner and flowing  from this as its    
source40 ,in other words1 being faced   
with the  alternative of assuming a     
definite date at which life began1 or   
postulating existence from all eternity1
 he accepts the latter as  presenting   
the lesser difficulty of the two2 but in
 order to do so1 he  finds himself      
involved in the necessity of admitting a
 sequence of cause  and effect which the
 finite mind is quite unable to         
dissociate from the  conception of time4
 ,failing this1 his whole theory of the 
three ,divine  ,hypostases falls to the 
ground4 ,if we adopt the alternative    
which  ,plotinus rejected1 we are       
plunged into still greater              
embarrassment2 for  if creation began in
 time1 why did the ,all or the ,one wait
 through all  the ons of eternity#h for 

its commencement8 ,and how1 indeed1 did 
time  itself evolve from eternity1 in   
view of the fact that the two ideas have
  no apparent relation to each other8   
,the philosopher may                    
plunge into eternity where recorded time
                ,seems but a point1 and 
the reluctant mind                ,flags
 wearily in its unending flight         
,till it sink dizzy1 blind1 lost1       
shelterless4#i    ,he may do this1      
indeed1 but after all he will not have  
solved the ,riddle  of the ,sphinx4     
,footnote #d3      ,constantine became  
sole ,emperor in #cbc ,a4,d4 ,the       
,athenian schools of    philosophy were 
suppressed by ,justinian in #ebi ,a4,d4 
,footnote #e3      ,to whose book1 ,the 
,wisdom of ,plotinus 7,rider1 #cs4 #f;d4
 net7 ,i must    acknowledge my         
indebtedness4    ,footnote #f3          
,plotinus on ,the ,nature and ,origin of
 ,evil 7,taylor's ,translation74        
,footnote #g3      ,i4e41 prior in the  
sense that cause precedes effect4       

,footnote #h3      ,the ,indian         
conception of the inbreathing and       
outbreathing of ,brahma    may help us  
here1 but it does not entirely get over 
the difficulty4    ,footnote #i3        
,shelley1 8,prometheus ,unbound40       
,,iii                                   
,,michael ,,scot      ,the name of      
,michael ,scot is principally familiar  
to ,english readers  through ,sir       
,walter ,scott's ,lay of the ,last      
,minstrel4 ,shakespeare's  ,tempest and 
,scott's ,lay of the ,last ,minstrel are
 probably the two1  best-known works    
among ,english classics which breathe   
throughout the  weird and fascinating   
atmosphere of medival magic4 ,prospero  
is a  magician1 and the whole plot of   
the ,tempest is based upon his magical  
practices and their consequences4 ,the  
,lady of ,branksome in the ,lay of  the 
,last ,minstrel has also learned from   
her father the 8forbidden art40         
,her father was a clerk of fame         
,of ,bethune's line of ,picardie3       

,he learned the art that none may name1 
,in ,padua1 far beyond the sea4         
,men said1 he changed his mortal frame  
,by feat of magic mystery2              
,for when1 in studious mood1 he paced   
,st ,andrew's cloistered hall1          
,his form no darkening shadow traced    
,upon the sunny wall6                   
,and of his skill1 as bards avow1       
,he taught that ,ladye fair1            
,till to her bidding she could bow      
,the viewless forms of air4    ,in order
 the more effectually to accomplish her 
purposes1 she dispatches  her staunch   
henchman1 ,william of ,deloraine1 to    
,melrose ,abbey1 where lies  buried the 
wizard1 ,michael ,scot1 and buried with 
him1 the ,book of ,might1  which        
contains those potent spells whereby the
 great wizard had achieved  his         
world-wide celebrity4 8,the ,monk of ,st
 ,mary's ,aisle10 now an  ecclesiastical
 veteran of some hundred summers1 had in
 earlier days  fought the ,moslem on the
 fields of ,spain1 and had there met and

 become  an intimate friend of the much 
dreaded wizard4 ,he had attended him at 
his death-bed1 and had himself buried   
him in ,melrose ,abbey1 receiving       
injunctions from him in his last hours  
never to allow the ,book of ,might  to  
be disinterred 8save at his chief of    
,branksome's need40 ,for ,michael  ,scot
 himself was a native of ,teviot ,dale1 
though his life had been spent  in      
,italy1 in ,spain1 and at ,palermo in   
,sicily in attendance at the court  of  
the ,emperor ,frederick ,,ii41 whose    
fame became in a curious way linked     
with his own4 ,the date of ,michael     
,scot's departure from ,sicily for      
,spain  was approximately #abaj ,a4,d41 
and coincided with the turning-point of 
that long war of centuries which ended  
in the ejection of the ,moorish         
conquerors from the ,spanish peninsula4 
#abab ,a4,d4 was the date of the        
decisive battle of ,las ,navas1 which   
resulted in a crushing defeat for  the  
,moorish forces1 and led within fifty   

years to their retirement from  all     
parts of ,spain with the exception of   
the province of ,granada4 ,scot  was at 
this time in ,spain pursuing his studies
 in ,alchemy1 ,astrology1  and the      
forbidden arts generally1 and           
translating the works of the  learned   
,arabians1 ,avicenna1 ,averroes1 and    
,geber1 and rewriting their  paraphrases
 of ,aristotle in the ,latin tongue1    
which was then the  universal medium for
 the dissemination of all scientific and
 philosophic  knowledge throughout      
,europe4    ,we may imagine the monk of 
,st ,mary's ,aisle in his early days    
fighting  the ,moorish hosts in ,spain  
and engaged1 perhaps1 in the great      
battle of  ,las ,navas1 which sealed    
their doom4 ,here he is represented by  
the poet  as striking up a firm         
friendship with the student and         
philosopher1  ,michael ,scot1 and       
learning from him the secret of his     
magical practices4  ,the monk is        
represented as telling ,william of      

,deloraine3                  8,in those 
far climes it was my lot                
,to meet the wondrous ,michael ,scot1   
,a wizard1 of such dreaded fame1        
,that when1 in ,salamanca's cave1       
,him listed his magic wand to wave1     
,the bells would ring in ,notre ,dame6  
,some of his skill he taught to me2     
,and1 ,warrior1 ,i could say to thee    
,the words that cleft ,eildon hills in  
three1                  ,and bridled the
 ,tweed with a curb of stone3           
,but to speak them were a deadly sin2   
,and for having but thought them my     
heart within1                  ,a treble
 penance must be done40    ,these       
achievements1 according to the legend1  
were attributed to ,michael  ,scot's    
8familiar10 to whom he entrusted first  
one task and then another1  but finding 
his energies too tireless1 and fearing  
he might engage in  some mischief which 
would react detrimentally on himself1   
finally sent  him to spin ropes of sand 
at the mouth of the ,tweed4 ,this       

operation  being an unending one1 is    
said to be still in progress1 and as his
  biographer relates1 the successive    
attempts and failures of the spirit  are
 pointed out as every tide casts up or1 
receding1 uncovers the  ever-shifting   
sands of ,berwick bar4 ,the reference to
 bridling the ,tweed  with a curb of    
stone1 is an allusion to the basaltic   
dyke which crosses  the bed of the river
 near ,ednam4 ,michael1 according to the
 tale1 enjoyed  that complete mastery of
 words of power which in the traditions 
of  ancient magic is so potent a force  
in the working of wonders4 ,as the  monk
 records in his conversation with the   
knight of ,branksome3                   
8,the words may not again be said       
,that he spoke to me1 on death-bed laid2
                    ,they would rend    
this ,abbaye's massy nave               
,and pile it in heaps above his grave40 
,the monk was not unnaturally alarmed at
 the power that this archworker  of     
spells might have given to the fiends of

 darkness1 and took  precaution to bury 
him                      444 ,on ,st    
,michael's night1               ,when   
the bell tolled one1 and the moon was   
bright1    so that the cross of his     
patron saint reflected by the light of  
the moon  from the emblazoned window    
pane might fall on the spot which was   
chosen  for his grave4 ,once again on   
this fateful night the ,red ,cross was  
reflected on the sepulchral stone1 and  
the opportunity which this  offered to  
take possession of the ,book of ,might  
undisturbed by the hosts  of darkness1  
must be taken without delay4 ,within the
 grave was one of  those ever-burning   
lamps1 for the existence of which there 
seems to be  some historical evidence1  
and which was to serve in the present   
instance  as a further protection for   
the wizard against the fiends of night4 
,deloraine's task achieved 8by dint of  
passing strength0 with the aid of  a bar
 of iron handed him by the monk1 the    
light                     ,streamed     

upward to the chancel roof              
,and through the galleries far aloof4   
,no earthly flame blazed e'er so bright2
                   ,it shone like       
,heaven's own blessed light4            
,before their eyes the ,wizard lay      
,as if he had not been dead a day1      
,his hoary beard in silver roll'd1      
,he seem'd some seventy winters old2    
,a palmer's amice wrapp'd him round1    
,with a wrought ,spanish baldric bound1 
,like a pilgrim from beyond the sea3    
,his left hand held his ,book of ,might2
                   ,a silver cross was  
in his right2                     ,the  
lamp was placed beside his knee4        
,high and majestic was his look1        
,at which the fellest fiends had shook1 
,and all unruffled was his face2        
,they trusted his soul had gotten grace4
    ,william of ,deloraine hesitated to 
perform what seemed very like an act  of
 sacrilege4 ,he was used to             
battlefields1 but panic seized him in   
this  strange scene1 and the monk was   

eventually compelled to warn him that   
delay in such circumstances was         
dangerous4                  8,now speed 
thee what thou hast to do1              
,or1 warrior1 we may dearly rue2        
,for those thou may'st not look upon    
,are gathering fast round the yawning   
stone60                ,then ,deloraine1
 in terror1 took                ,from   
the cold hand the ,mighty ,book1        
,with iron clasped and with iron bound3 
,he thought1 as he took it1 the dead man
 frowned2                ,but the glare 
of the sepulchral light1                
,perchance1 had dazzled the warrior's   
sight4    ,how the knight and priest    
withdrew from the chapel after the      
tombstone  had been replaced1 in the    
redoubled gloom of the night1 8with     
wavering  steps and with dizzy brain10  
imagining the walls of the chapel       
echoing  with fiendish laughter as they 
retreated1 is recounted dramatically    
enough by the bard of the ,scottish     
border4 ,we are1 perhaps1 more          

interested to know what manner of man   
this ,michael ,scot was1 and how far    
these records of his magical powers are 
based on anything more than             
unauthenticated tradition4 ,the facts we
 possess with regard to ,michael        
,scot's career convince us indeed that  
he was a man of the greatest  erudition 
and learning1 and far in advance of his 
contemporaries in  these respects4 ,he  
was a noted mathematician1 and not      
content with  gaining the highest       
honours in the schools of ,paris of that
 day1 he  subsequently pursued his      
studies at the fountain-head of         
mathematical  and alchemical research at
 ,toledo in ,spain4 ,for it must be     
remembered  that we owe the basis of our
 mathematical knowledge primarily to the
  ,arabs who introduced to ,europe not  
only the ,arabic numerals in place of   
the cumbrous ,roman figures1 but also   
the study of ,algebra1 itself an        
,arabic word4 ,to the ,arabs1 too1 we   
owe the basis of our ,chemistry--a word 

that is1 of course1 synonymous with     
,alchemy1 which again bears the stamp   
of its ,arabian origin4 ,it is curious  
indeed to note how far the  civilisation
 of the ,arab was in advance of that of 
the greater part of  ,europe in those   
days4 ,five hundred years before        
,michael ,scot took ship  from ,sicily  
for ,spain1 the ,arabs had advanced     
across the whole of  ,northern ,africa1 
conquering ,egypt1 ,tripoli1 ,algeria1  
and ,morocco in  turn1 and finally      
crossing to ,spain and there            
establishing a separate  kaliphate in   
the eighth century of the ,christian    
era4 ,the invasion of  ,spain by the    
,arabs introduced into the ,iberian     
peninsula a literary  culture of a kind 
till then quite unknown4 ,under the sway
 of the ,moorish  sovereigns the arts   
and architecture flourished1 and science
 found a  welcome which it met with     
nowhere else in ,christianised ,europe4 
,it was to the ,moorish capital that    
students of the medical art repaired    

who desired to master the latest        
discoveries and most modern methods in  
the treatment of the human body4        
,irrigation with the ,moors had become  
an  applied science1 and was employed   
extensively throughout the ,iberian     
peninsula with the most advantageous    
results in enhancing the fertility  of  
the soil4 ,nowhere else in ,europe did  
the land yield such rich  harvests1 and 
nowhere else was the science of         
agriculture so fully  understood4 ,the  
fertile fields of those days are in many
 cases replaced  by barren deserts and  
the towns with teeming populations by   
ruins and  uninhabited wastes4 ,the     
ignorant peasantry that has taken the   
place of  the cultivated sons of ,arabia
 are still in the matter of civilisation
  and commercial activity hundreds of   
years behind the busy and  intelligent  
population whom in the latter part of   
the fifteenth century  they finally     
drove over the seas after subjecting    
them to the most cruel  persecution for 

adhering to the faith of their fathers4 
,three million  ,moors are said to have 
been ejected from ,spanish soil at the  
bidding of  the civil power1 instigated 
by ecclesiastical tyranny4 ,civilisation
 has  not yet rallied from the so-called
 8triumph of the ,cross0 in ,spain4     
,this  ejection of the ,moors from the  
west of ,europe coincided1 as it        
happened1  with the advent of the ,turk 
at ,constantinople2 but here1 by a      
curious  contradiction1 the ,turk as the
 champion of ,mohammedanism represented 
not  progress but the triumph of the    
sword4 ,the case was inverted1 but in   
each instance it represented the victory
 of barbarism over civilisation1        
whether the ,mohammedan made headway in 
the east or the ,christian in the  west4
 ,in the east the effete remnant of the 
,eastern ,empire was swept  away before 
the advancing hosts of ,islam4 ,in the  
west a far more highly  developed and   
industrial population was wiped out at  
the bidding of the  myrmidons of the    

,papal ,see4    ,for five hundred years 
the ,moors had ruled all but the        
northernmost  portion of ,spain1 and for
 another #bej they retained the province
 of  ,granada4 ,countless examples of   
their ornate and characteristic         
semi-oriental architecture remain behind
 as a record of their artistic  culture1
 and much also of their language        
intermingled with that of the  race     
which they at first conquered and which 
in the days of their luxury  and        
decadence reconquered them in turn4 ,but
 the intellectual life of  ,moorish     
,spain1 which was for so long like a    
beacon light in the darkness  of        
,medival ,europe1 has passed1 never to  
return4 ,the ,inquisition marked  the   
high-water mark of the reaction of      
,christian bigotry against the  tolerant
 and broad-minded intellectuality which 
had flourished under the  fostering     
dominion of a race whose glories to-day 
are but a memory of  the far-distant    
past4    ,scot as a mathematician1      

alchemist1 and astrologer1 had this been
 his  sole life's work1 would have      
merited no insignificant niche in the   
temple of ,science2 but in addition to  
this1 he exercised1 though in an        
entirely indirect manner1 a marked      
influence on the history of ,europe4    
,his talents and learning commended him 
for the position of tutor to  ,frederick
 ,,ii41 at that time king only of       
,sicily1 but afterwards 8,emperor  of   
the ,romans40 ,frederick was an orphan1 
having lost both his parents in  early  
childhood1 and the receptive mind of the
 ardent boy responded  sympathetically  
to the instructions of his broad-minded 
and accomplished  tutor1 who was        
destined subsequently to become his     
confidant and friend4    ,michael       
,scot's first efforts as an author had  
for their aim the  education of his     
royal pupil4 ,for this purpose he first 
wrote the ,liber  ,introductorius1 and  
afterwards the ,liber ,particularis and 
the  ,physionomia4 ,the first two of    

these books dealt with astronomy and    
astrology1 and the latter with          
physiognomy and the reading of character
  from the physical appearance4         
,marriages were arranged early in those 
days1 and ,frederick1 when a boy  of but
 fourteen1 was united in wedlock1 at the
 ,pope's desire1 with  ,constance1      
daughter of the ,king of ,aragon1 and   
widow of the ,king of  ,hungary1 who was
 some ten years his senior4 ,this       
brought the attendance  of ,michael     
,scot at the court at ,palermo1         
temporarily at least1 to an  end1 and   
led to his setting sail1 as already     
narrated1 for the coasts of  ,spain4 ,it
 appears that the ,physionomia was his  
parting gift on his  marriage to his    
illustrious pupil4 ,on his arrival in   
,spain1 ,scot betook  himself to the    
headquarters of the scientific          
activities of those days1  the renowned 
city of ,toledo4 ,here1 towards the     
middle of the twelfth  century1 a       
regular school for translations from the

 ,arabic had been  established1 and it  
was work of this kind on which ,scot    
himself  embarked4 ,here he translated  
the ,abbreviatio ,avicenn with a        
dedication to the ,emperor ,frederick in
 the following terms3 8,o6  ,frederick1 
,lord of the ,world1 and ,emperor1      
receive with devotion this  book of     
,michael ,scot1 that it may be a grace  
unto thy head and a chain  about thy    
neck0--no empty compliment as such      
phrases generally are1 nor  one         
unappreciated by its distinguished      
recipient4 ,here1 too1 he pursued  his  
studies in alchemy1 chemistry1 medicine1
 and astrology4 ,alchemy in  those days 
was a special bone of contention1 one   
school maintaining its  feasibility1 and
 the other denouncing it1 after the     
manner of nineteenth  century           
scientists1 as a mere will-o'-the-wisp4 
,the belief in it which  later on took  
hold of ,medival ,europe had not yet met
 with any general  sort of acceptance1  
though the ,arabian school in the main  

adopted it1  and there seems little     
doubt that it was held by ,michael ,scot
 himself4  ,one book indeed on this     
particular subject1 ,de ,alchimia1 is   
attributed  to his pen4 ,the book is    
contained in a manuscript in possession 
of  ,corpus ,christi ,college1 ,oxford4 
,if1 however1 the main part of the work 
is genuine1 which is somewhat uncertain1
 the dedication to ,theophilus1  ,king  
of the ,scots1 is certainly not so4 ,we 
have in this book a curious  formula for
 turning lead into gold1 which runs as  
follows3        ,medibibaz1 the ,saracen
 of ,africa1 used it to change lead into
 gold      in the following             
manner3--,take lead and melt it thrice  
with caustic      7comburenti71 red     
arsenic1 sublimate of vitriol1 sugar of 
alum1 and      with that red tuchia of  
,india which is found on the shore of   
the ,red      ,sea1 and let the whole be
 again and again quenched in the juice  
of      the ,portulaca marina1 the wild 
cucumber1 a solution of sal ammoniac1   

and the urine of a young badger4 ,let   
all these ingredients then1      when   
well mixed1 be set on the fire1 with the
 addition of some      common salt1 and 
well boiled until they be reduced to    
one-third of      their original bulk1  
when you must proceed to distil them    
with care4      ,then take the          
marchasite of gold1 prepared talc1 roots
 of coral1      some carcharoot1 which  
is an herb very like the ,portulaca     
marina2      alum of ,cum1 something red
 and saltish1 ,roman alum and vitriol1  
and      let the latter be made red2    
sugar of alum1 ,cyprus earth1 some of   
the      red ,barbary earth1 for that   
gives a good colour2 ,cuman earth of the
      red sort1 ,african tuchia1 which  
is a stone of variegated colours and    
being melted with copper changeth it    
into gold2 ,cuman salt which is         
pure red arsenic1 the blood of a ruddy  
man1 red tartar1 gumma of      ,barbary1
 which is red and worketh wonders in    
this art2 salt of      ,sardinia which  

is like4444 ,let all these be beaten    
together in a      brazen mortar1 then  
sifted finely and made into a paste with
 the      above water4 ,dry this paste1 
and again rub it fine on the marble     
slab4 ,then take the lead you have      
prepared as directed above1 and         
melt it together with the powder1 adding
 some red alum1 and some      more of   
the various salts4 ,this alum is found  
about ,aleppo 7,alapia71      and in    
,armenia1 and will give your metal a    
good colour4 ,when you      have so done
 you shall see the lead changed into the
 finest gold1 as      good as what comes
 from ,arabia4 ,this have ,i1 ,michael  
,scot1 often put      to the proof and  
ever found it to be true4    ,whether   
the statement appearing in the          
manuscript under his name1 that         
,michael ,scot worked on this recipe1 be
 true or not1 one would not envy  the   
task of the modern chemist who was      
called upon to compound the             
prescription4 ,the basic idea of alchemy

 which1 since the discovery of  radium1 
is looked upon with some favour by      
certain advanced scientists1  that all  
metals are reducible to a single        
substance1 and therefore  theoretically 
interchangeable1 does not seem to find  
much place in this  curious             
prescription1 which suggests the idea of
 what we should call  to-day a          
gold-substitute1 rather than the genuine
 metal itself1 in spite  of the fact    
that we are told that the gold in       
question would prove 8as  good as what  
comes from ,arabia40    ,the greatest   
work of ,scot as translator was his     
reproduction in ,latin of  the          
commentary of ,averroes on the ,de      
,anima of ,aristotle4 ,this book1  which
 expounded views on theological problems
 which were the reverse of  orthodox1   
was long held back from publication by  
,scot's patron1 the  ,emperor           
,frederick1 who hesitated to incur      
obloquy1 and in especial the  hostility 
of the ,pope by reason of its           

publication4 ,friction1 however1        
between the ,papal ,see and the ,emperor
 became so acute in the end that it     
appeared useless to attempt to placate  
papal bigotry further1 and the          
publication in question was thus finally
 given to the world4    ,the study of   
the writings of ,averroes had indeed    
taken very strong hold  on ,scot's      
imagination1 and if the story may be    
accepted as authentic1 he  even went so 
far as to attempt to evoke the spirit of
 the great ,arabian1  presumably with a 
view to securing his assistance in the  
work which he  had in hand4 ,there is   
nothing intrinsically improbable in the 
supposition that ,scott practised or    
experimented in such methods of         
evocation4 ,averroes had only been dead 
some twenty years when ,scot was  in    
,spain1 and holding the views he did1 he
 may well have thought that  the        
philosopher's spirit had not passed so  
far from the physical plane  that some  
form of necromantic conjuration of his  

conscious personality  would be         
ineffectual4 ,here1 as elsewhere1 it    
seems impossible to draw  the line      
between record of fact and that fabric  
of legend and tradition  which has been 
woven round the story of his life4    ,a
 number of the tales told of ,scot's    
magical achievements reduce  themselves 
in the light of modern knowledge to the 
results of highly  developed hypnotic   
powers4 ,it is familiar knowledge that  
such  achievements are not unknown in   
,india at the present day4 ,a           
,florentine  authority gives us one of  
these anecdotes4 ,scot's guests at      
dinner1 we  are told1 once asked him to 
show them a new marvel4 ,the month was  
,january4 ,yet in spite of the season he
 caused vines with fresh shoots  and    
ripe grapes to appear on the table4 ,the
 company were bidden each of  them to   
choose a bunch1 but their host warned   
them not to put forth  their hands till 
he should give the sign4 ,at the word   
8,cut60 lo1 the  grapes disappeared1 and

 the guests found themselves each with a
 knife in  the one hand and in the other
 his neighbour's sleeve4 ,another story 
of a  more or less similar character is 
told of a feast given by the ,emperor   
to celebrate his coronation at ,rome1   
which took place on ,november #bb1      
#abbj4        ,the pages were still on  
foot with ewers and basins of perfumed  
water      and embroidered towels1 when 
suddenly ,michael ,scot appeared with a 
companion1 both of them dressed in      
,eastern robes1 and offered to      show
 the guests a marvel4 ,the weather was  
oppressively warm1 so      ,frederick   
asked him to procure them a shower of   
rain which might      bring coolness4   
,this the magician did accordingly1     
raising a great      storm1 which as    
suddenly vanished again at their        
pleasure4 ,being      required by the   
,emperor to name his reward1 ,scot asked
 leave to      choose one of the company
 to be the champion of himself and his  
friend against certain enemies of       

theirs4 ,this being freely granted1     
their choice fell on ,ulfo1 a ,german   
baron4 ,as it seemed to ,ulfo1      they
 set off at once on their expedition1   
leaving the coasts of      ,sicily in   
two great galleys1 and with a mighty    
following of armed      men4 ,they      
sailed through the ,gulf of ,lyons1 and 
passed by the      ,pillars of          
,hercules1 into the unknown and western 
sea4 ,here they      found smiling      
coasts1 received a welcome from the     
strange people1      and joined         
themselves to the army of the place2    
,ulfo taking the      supreme command4  
,two pitched battles and a successful   
siege formed      the incidents of the  
campaign4 ,ulfo killed the hostile king1
 married      his lovely daughter1 and  
reigned in his stead2 ,michael and his  
companion having left to seek other     
adventures4 ,of this marriage      sons 
and daughters were begotten1 and twenty 
years passed like a      dream ere the  
magicians returned1 and invited their   

champion to      revisit the ,sicilian  
court4 ,ulfo went back with them1 but   
what was      his amazement1 on entering
 the palace of ,palermo1 to find        
everything      just as it had been at  
the moment of their departure so long   
before2      even the pages were still  
holding rounds with water for the hands 
of      the ,emperor's guests4 ,this    
prodigy performed1 ,michael and the     
other      withdrew and were seen no    
more2 but ,ulfo1 it is said1 remained   
ever      inconsolable for the lost land
 of loveliness1 and the joys of wedded  
life he had left behind for ever1 in a  
dream not to be repeated4    ,on ,scot's
 return to the court of ,frederick      
,,ii41 after his sojourn in  ,sicily1 he
 added the study and practice of the    
medical art to his other  activities4   
,lesley states that he 8gained much     
praise as a philosopher1  astronomer1   
and physician10 and ,dempster speaks of 
him as 8one of the  first physicians for
 learning40 ,he appears to have treated 

cases which  would not yield to the     
ordinary medical pharmacopia1 and in    
particular  he specialised in leprosy1  
gout1 and dropsy4 ,acting apparently    
under his  advice1 ,frederick ,,ii4     
instituted various reforms in the       
practice of  medicine4 ,it was          
stipulated that the course preliminary  
to qualification  should consist of     
three years in arts1 and five in        
medicine and surgery4  ,laws were passed
 forbidding the adulteration of drugs1  
while physicians  were prohibited from  
demanding a greater fee than half a     
taren of gold  per day1 and this gave   
the patient the right to be visited     
three times  in the course of the       
twenty-four hours4 ,it was stipulated   
that the poor  should be attended free  
of charge4 ,certain recipes of ,michael 
,scot's are  still extant1 and can be   
studied in ,latin in the ,british       
,museum4 ,one of  these bears the name  
of the ,pillul ,magistri ,michaelis     
,scoti4 ,they  seem to be something in  

the nature of a universal panacea1 and  
perhaps  if the prescription were taken 
up by some enterprising modern chemist1 
they might rival the fame of the        
celebrated ,beecham's ,pills6    ,it    
appears that ,scot had ambitions in the 
way of ecclesiastical  preferment2 but  
though the ,emperor put himself out to  
secure his  favourite the position which
 he coveted1 and in fact appealed to the
  ,pope on his behalf1 nothing practical
 came of these representations4         
,probably ,scot's fame was of too       
dubious a kind to recommend him to the  
heads of the orthodox ,church1 and the  
,archbishop of ,canterbury1 to whom  the
 ,pope applied in his interest1 does not
 seem to have responded in any  friendly
 fashion4 ,finally1 an offer was made to
 ,michael ,scot of the  ,archbishopric  
of ,cashel in ,ireland1 but in those    
days the ,irish were  little better than
 a barbarous race1 and they spoke the   
language of  ,erse1 which was a sealed  
book to their prospective bishop4 ,in   

any case1  though the ,chapter had      
actually elected him to the post1 he    
decided to  decline4 ,he apparently had 
too much principle to accept the        
position of  an absentee bishop1 and a  
home among a wild and uncultured race   
would  hardly have been to the liking of
 a man who had associated with the most 
intellectual minds of ,europe4 ,these   
hopes of ecclesiastical preferment      
having fallen through1 ,frederick1 after
 long delay1 decided to take  steps for 
the publication of the translation of   
the works of ,averroes1  and certain    
books of ,aristotle1 with the           
commentaries thereon of the  ,arabian   
philosophers4 ,he issued an imperial    
circular announcing the  appearance of  
these1 and sent ,michael ,scot as his   
emissary to arrange  for their          
publication in the principal ,european  
centres of learning4  ,finally1 after   
visiting ,bologna and ,paris1 ,scot made
 his way to ,england1  where he appears 
to have visited ,oxford about the year  

#abcj4 ,tradition  says that he         
journeyed thence to his native land of  
,scotland4 ,but  shortly after this we  
lose sight of him altogether1 and though
 there is  no authoritative evidence    
with regard to his death1 he seems to   
have  passed away by or before the year 
#abcb4 ,in this year the ,abbreviatio   
,avicenn was published at ,melfi1 in the
 ,latin version which ,scot had         
translated4 ,henry of ,colonia was      
selected by ,frederick to transcribe the
  work from the imperial copy1 and      
,scot's biographer is probably right in 
regarding this work as a wreath laid by 
his imperial friend on his  grave4 ,the 
matter would assuredly have been placed 
in ,scot's own hands  if he were still  
alive4    ,scot is related to have      
foretold that his death would take place
 by the  blow of a stone falling on his 
head1 and tradition says that being in  
church one day with head uncovered at   
the sacring of the mass1 a stone1       
shaken from the tower by the motion of  

the bell rope1 fell upon his  head1     
mortally wounding him4 ,presumably this 
incident occurred in  ,scotland2 if1    
that is1 there is any truth at all in   
the story4    ,another prediction is    
also attributed to ,michael ,scot by the
 same  chronicler--,pipini4 ,he states  
that he foretold the manner also of the 
,emperor's death1 which he declared     
would take place 8ad portas ferreas02   
that is1 8at the iron gates10 and in a  
town named after ,flora4  ,frederick1 it
 is said1 interpreted this as referring 
to ,florence1 which  city he accordingly
 made a point of avoiding4 ,during his  
last campaign1  however1 in the year    
#abej1 he fell ill at ,florentino1 in   
,apulia1 where  he slept in a chamber of
 the castle4 ,his bed1 says the story1  
stood  against a wall recently built to 
fill up the ancient gateway of the      
tower1 the iron staples on which the    
gate had been hung still forming  part  
of the wall4 ,it is stated that the     
,emperor1 learning these  particulars1  

and calling to mind ,michael ,scot's    
prediction1 exclaimed1  8,this is the   
place where ,i shall make an end1 as it 
was told me4 ,the  will of ,god be done1
 for here ,i shall die40 ,a few days    
later the great  ,emperor passed to his 
rest4    ,of ,michael ,scot's learning  
and erudition there can be no question1 
in  spite of the unfavourable criticisms
 of ,roger ,bacon with regard to his    
knowledge of languages1 which are the   
less worthy of notice in view of  the   
fact that ,bacon's own accomplishments  
in this direction were far  inferior to 
those of ,scot4 ,a fairer criticism of  
his work would be based  on its lack of 
originality1 and the fact that the      
greater part of his  literary output was
 borrowed either from the ,arabians or  
the ,greeks4 ,his  talents as a past    
master of mathematics were never in     
dispute1 and his  researches into the   
problems presented by astronomy enjoyed 
a great  vogue in his own day4    ,while
 there is no evidence but that of       

highly-coloured tradition to  suggest   
that ,michael ,scot was the adept he is 
represented as being in  magical spells 
and incantations1 there is nothing in   
our historical  knowledge of his career 
which renders the practice of such arts 
by him  at all incredible1 or indeed    
unlikely4 ,legend has magnified this    
portion  of his many-sided activities to
 the exclusion of that branch of his    
labours which might well1 one would have
 thought1 have earned for him  more     
enduring fame4 ,the lovers of the       
marvellous have thus surrounded  with a 
mysterious and semi-sinister halo the   
name of a man whose chief  work in life 
lay in the paths of philosophy1         
astronomy1 and medical  research4 ,it   
seems not improbable that the last of   
these pursuits led  this daring thinker 
into the investigation and practice of  
what to-day  we term hypnotism1 and its 
employment to the bewilderment of his   
acquaintances in the creation of        
illusions1 the source of which we now   

recognise in the power of a master mind 
to mould by sheer force of will  the    
plastic imagination and subjective      
consciousness of his audience4          
,,iv                                    
,,paracelsus      ,the embattled forces 
of conservative orthodoxy are so strong 
that one is  sometimes tempted to wonder
 how it is that the world ever goes     
round at  all2 how it is that the       
forward movement of progress succeeds1  
as it  apparently does1 in getting the  
better of so many retrograde tendencies1
  so much prejudice1 so strong a        
clinging to the stereotyped conditions  
of  the day4 ,after all1 the more one   
thinks about it1 the more one becomes   
convinced that the whole progress of the
 world is the work of the very1  very   
few2 that the positive and progressive  
intellect is the rare  exception1 and   
that if democratic conditions really    
prevailed 7as of  course they never do7 
all civilisation would go backwards and 
gradually  revert once more to chaos4   

,what a mockery1 after all1 ,democracy  
is6 ,and  how hopelessly the modern     
world is deluded in thinking that       
anywhere or  at any time ,democracy has 
in reality held sway6 ,as a matter of   
fact1 the  many have never ruled1 have  
never wished to rule2 they have merely  
asked  for some strong man to lead them4
 ,where was ever the flock of sheep that
  did not follow the bell-wether8 ,here 
and there we meet with a master  mind   
that--for good or evil--leads the       
multitude--or1 if he does not lead1  at 
least points the way where others will  
eventually follow4 ,side by  side with  
him we see the multitude either drifting
 or being led4 8,work60  said ,voltaire1
 that most popular of writers1 8work for
 the little  public60 ,voltaire knew1 as
 all great leaders have known1 before   
and  after1 that it is the 8little      
public0 that ever dominates the         
situation4  ,it is the 8little leaven   
that leaveneth the whole lump40 8,it is 
a sight  beloved of the gods10 says the 

old saying1 8to see a good man          
struggling  against adversity40 ,but is 
it not a finer sight still1 to see a    
strong  man battling with the forces of 
orthodoxy1 and refusing to yield his    
ground8 ,a man of such a mould was      
,philip ,bombast of ,hohenheim1 better  
known by his assumed name of            
,paracelsus4 ,never was there any one to
 whom  ,shelley's celebrated line       
,the sun comes out and many reptiles    
spawn1    was more absolutely           
appropriate4 ,the hostility and venomous
 antagonism  of his own profession1 with
 a few notable exceptions1 followed and 
persecuted him throughout his entire    
medical career4 ,the boldness and       
independence of his medical attitude    
galled the leaders as well as the  rank 
and file of the profession4 ,but what   
was still more galling to them  than his
 lack of orthodoxy1 was the fact that   
his novel methods1 as they  must have   
appeared to the doctors of that day1    
were so immeasurably more  successful   

than their own4 ,paracelsus1 indeed1    
never gave nor asked for  quarter4 ,john
 the ,baptist denouncing the ,pharisees 
who came to him as 8a  generation of    
vipers0 was no bad parallel to          
,paracelsus's stinging  invective on the
 ignorance and tradition-loving         
proclivities of his own  profession4    
,illustration3 ,paracelsus 7aged #bd74  
,many to whom the name of ,paracelsus is
 familiar are accustomed to look  upon  
him as little more than a singularly    
successful quack who revived  the       
traditions of an earlier school of      
,occultism in defiance of the more      
scientific methods of his own time4 ,as 
a matter of fact1 the doctors of  his   
day were1 in the vast majority of cases1
 merely theorists with  little real     
practical experience1 but with a fair   
store of book-learning  of a very       
indifferent kind4 ,it was ,paracelsus   
whose medical knowledge  was derived    
from experiment and experience1 and who 
had acquired the  greater part of his   

medical and surgical skill from wide and
 varied  travelling and visiting more   
countries and more different            
nationalities  than any other medical   
expert of his day1 and who had learnt by
 actual  association with all sorts and 
conditions of men in different climes1  
far more than any book-learning had ever
 taught him4    ,the period of          
,paracelsus's career coincided with the 
,reformation of  ,luther1 and with the  
wider and more general ,renaissance     
movement4 ,this  latter development had 
brought back in its train the study of  
classical  learning and classical ideals
 which had fallen into discredit about  
the  period of the first triumph of     
,christianity and its establishment as a
  world-religion4 ,the attitude of the  
earlier ,christians1 who looked upon    
the ,pagan deities as devils1 and ,greek
 and ,roman classical writers as        
apologists for devil-worship1 had passed
 away2 and the highest  dignitaries of  
the ,church were now often noted for    

their classical  erudition and ripe     
scholarship4 ,with the return of        
classical ideals came  back also into   
favour in a number of unexpected        
quarters the doctrines  of              
,neoplatonism4 ,when ,hypatia perished  
at ,alexandria1 orthodox  ,christianity 
set its foot on ,plotinus and all his   
works4 ,the struggle at  the end had    
been one rather between ,christianity   
and the later ,greek  philosophers with 
their ,neoplatonic conceptions than     
between  ,christianity and ,pagan ,rome4
 ,the gods of ,rome were dead already4  
,pan was  dead past resurrecting4 ,the  
danger that threatened ,christianity was
 the  triumph of such ,emperors as      
,julian the ,apostate--,julian1 whose   
master was  ,plotinus1 and whose        
religion was ,neoplatonism merely       
dressed in an old  ,roman garb4 ,to the 
thinkers and philosophers of that time  
the triumph of  ,christianity seemed    
like the victory of exoteric religion   
over the inner  esoteric truths4 ,back1 

now1 with all that was best of the      
scholarship  and art of ,greece and     
,rome1 came the mystic doctrines of the 
,alexandrian  philosophers--back1 not in
 triumph1 but daring once more to       
reassert  themselves in the face of a   
hostile world that had long even        
forgotten  their existence4 ,a thousand 
years separated ,hypatia from ,cornelius
  ,agrippa--a thousand years which1 in  
the realm of thought1 might well be     
characterised as the ,dark ,ages4       
,cornelius ,agrippa von ,nettesheim was 
born at ,cologne in #adhf4 ,seven years 
later1 on #ajth ,november #adic1 at     
,einsiedeln1 near ,zurich1 a son was    
born to ,dr ,wilhelm ,bombast von       
,hohenheim1 and was christened          
,theophrastus1 in honour of             
,theophrastus  ,tyrtamos1 a ,greek      
physician1 philosopher1 and follower of 
,aristotle4  ,this child was            
subsequently to be known to fame and    
held up to obloquy  under the title of  
,paracelsus4    ,it was a period in     

which the world was in labour with great
 events4 ,only  a year before ,columbus 
had landed on ,american soil4 ,in the   
same year1 or  the previous one1 passed 
away a man whose life was destined to   
create as  great a revolution in the    
history of the human race as that of    
,columbus  himself--,william ,caxton4   
,returning from a long sojourn in the   
,netherlands  in or about #adgd1 ,caxton
 established his printing press in the  
precincts  of ,westminster ,abbey1 and  
before his death at least sixty-four    
books are  known to have been issued    
from this first ,english ,printing      
,house4 ,ten  years exactly before      
,paracelsus's birth1 a third of these   
great makers  of revolutions had seen   
the light4 ,on #ajth ,november #adhc1   
,martin ,luther  was born at ,eisleben  
in ,lower ,saxony1 and when the subject 
of these  notes was twenty-four years   
old1 ,luther nailed his ninety-five     
theses  against the ,doctrine of        
,indulgences on the church door at      

,wittenberg4  ,paracelsus1 when occasion
 offered1 did not attempt to disguise   
his  sympathy with this bold reformer1  
though he took no actual part in the    
movement1 and he was accused by his     
enemies of being a medical ,luther1 a   
charge which he took pains to show that 
he did not in any way resent4  ,another 
noteworthy character in the realm of    
,history and ,literature1  ,lorenzo de  
,medici1 had passed away a year before  
our hero's birth4 ,in  ,england the     
,wars of the ,roses were over1 and      
,henry ,,vii4 was busy  establishing    
monarchy on a firm basis1 the people1   
worn out by incessant  struggles1 being 
glad to accept the ,tudor rule1         
sympathetic as it always  was to the    
middle and commercial classes4 ,in      
,europe there was no  ,austrian         
,emperor1 and ,italy was still fated1   
for centuries to come1 to  remain a     
geographical expression4 ,the ,holy     
,roman ,empire extended from  the       
,german ,ocean and the ,baltic ,sea on  

the ,north to the ,adriatic on the      
,south4 ,poland and ,lithuania extended 
far along its ,eastern border1 and  the 
outmost limit of the realm of the       
,muscovite was still #ejj miles east  of
 the site where a century later ,peter  
the ,great was to found and give  his   
name to the capital of the ,russian     
,empire4 ,the conquering ,turk was      
thundering at the gates of ,christendom4
 ,ferdinand and ,isabella1 patrons  of  
,columbus1 reigned at ,madrid4          
,everywhere throughout the civilised    
world vast changes were impending1      
everywhere the horizon was widening1    
and men's minds were being directed into
 new channels and to fresh  fields of   
enterprise and of opinion4    ,there has
 been much discussion as to what exactly
 is connoted by the  name 8,paracelsus10
 and how it came to be first adopted4   
,what seems clear  is that von          
,hohenheim adopted the name himself1 and
 was not1 as some  have held1 given it  
by his admirers4 ,it was a usual        

practice in those  days to write books  
under some ,latin nom de plume1         
frequently some  adaptation into ,latin 
of the name of the writer4 ,in all      
probability the  last two syllables of  
the name1 8celsus10 were suggested by   
8,hohen0 7or  8high071 8,hohenheim0     
being literally translated as 8high     
home40 ,with  regard to the first two   
syllables it is noticeable that these   
were  occasionally employed by          
,paracelsus in giving name to his       
medical  treatises4 ,there is thus one  
treatise called 8,paramirum10 and       
another  8,paragranum40 ,this word      
8para0 seems to have been used in the   
sense of  giving the word to which it   
was prefixed a superlative value4 ,thus 
8,paramirum0 would mean 8extremely      
wonderful40 ,the whole word is          
doubtless a polyglot hotchpotch1 the    
first part being ,greek and the  second 
,latin2 but medival writers had little  
scruple in adapting the  classical      
tongues to their own requirements4      

,to follow the writings of ,paracelsus  
it is necessary to understand his       
phraseology1 his jargon1 as we should   
call it in the slang of to-day4         
,without this he is as incomprehensible 
as is the dog ,latin of a  scientific   
textbook to one who is not a scientific 
specialist--or1 to  give another        
example1 as the language of ,astrology  
is to one who is not  an ,astrologer4   
,paracelsus held that there were three  
basic substances  necessary to the      
existence of all bodies4 ,these he      
called ,sulphur1  ,mercury1 and ,salt4  
,sulphur corresponds to fire1 or rather 
to the  principle of inflammability2    
,mercury to water1 or fluidity2 and     
,salt to  earth1 or solidity4 ,for a    
full glossary of the terms which he     
employed1  readers are referred to the  
volume on ,the ,life and ,philosophy of 
,paracelsus1 by the late ,dr ,franz     
,hartmann4 ,in this terminology ,azoth  
stands for the creative principle in    
,nature1 or the spiritual vitalising    

force2 the ,ilech ,primum is the        
causative force2 ,cherio1 the essence   
of the thing1 the 8fifth principle10    
which constitutes what we call its      
essential qualities2 the ,evestrum is   
man's astral body1 his ethereal         
counterpart1 that may act to him as     
guardian angel and warn him of  dangers2
 the ,elementaries are the astral       
corpses of the dead1 and must  not be   
confused with the ,elementals1 or       
,nature ,spirits--,sylphs1              
,salamanders1 ,undines1 and ,gnomes2    
,magic is the conscious employment of   
spiritual powers to act on external     
,nature4 ,many of these expressions     
have been adopted by the ,theosophists  
of the present day and by students  of  
,occultism4    ,it is clear1 though     
,paracelsus long antedated ,hahnemann1  
the founder of  ,homopathy1 that much of
 his medical teaching is what we should 
now call  ,homopathic4 ,hahnemann1 in   
fact1 borrowed extensively from         
,paracelsus4  ,take1 for instance1      

,paracelsus's teaching with regard to   
the  quintessence or virtue of each     
substance4 ,this1 he taught1 though     
infinitesimal in quantity1 even in large
 bodies1 had none the less the  power to
 affect the mass through and through1 as
 a single drop of gall  embitters1 or a 
few grains of saffron colour a large    
quantity of water4  ,the application of 
homopathic cures by those ignorant of   
homopathic  principles has frequently   
led to mistakes in this connection2 as1 
for  instance1 the administration of    
doses many times in excess of what the  
complaint requires1 the result being the
 entire failure of the medicine  to     
produce the intended effect4            
8,there are wide differences10 says     
,paracelsus1 striking again a very      
homopathic note1 8between what the      
ancient doctors taught and what      we 
here teach1 and therefore our healing   
art differs widely from      theirs4    
,for we teach that what heals a man also
 wounds him1 and what      wounded will 

also heal him4 ,for the nettle can be so
 changed that it      cannot burn1 the  
flame so that it does not scorch1 and   
the chelidony      so that it does not  
cicatrize4 ,thus similars are good in   
healing1      such and such a salt to   
such and such a sore4 ,and the things   
which      heal a wound in ,nature heal 
the same sort of wound in man40         
8,many kinds of rust10 says ,paracelsus 
again1 8occur in the minerals2 for  each
 mineral has its own peculiar nature40  
,this rust is in the form of a  disease1
 and iron has one disease1 while copper 
has another4 ,in a  similar way a man   
has a sore and it is healed by          
treatment4 ,the metal1  too1 has a sore1
 and can be healed by treatment4        
8,metallic bodies10 says  ,paracelsus1  
long antedating the discoveries of the  
present day1 8are as  liable to death as
 the others1 for their salt is arsenic40
 ,the whole  earth is linked together1  
and the life that passes through the    
bodies of  men passes also through the  

bodies of minerals4 ,paracelsus had no  
patience with those who taught of a     
panacea that would heal all  diseases4  
,he described them as people who 8rode  
all horses with one  saddle10 through   
whom more harm than good was effected4  
,he maintained  that a doctor must know 
the sick and all matters appertaining to
 their  state 8just as a carpenter knows
 his wood40 ,he mentions six essential  
qualifications for the practical        
physician4        7#a7 ,a doctor 7he    
says7 must know how many kinds of tissue
 there are      in the body1 and how    
each kind stands in relation to the man4
        7#b7 ,he must know all the      
bones1 such as the ribs and their       
coverings1 the difference between one   
and another1 their relations      to    
each other and their articulations4     
7#c7 ,he must know all the              
blood-vessels1 the nerves1 the          
cartilages      and how they are held   
together4        7#d7 ,he must know the 
length1 number1 form1 condition1 and    

purpose of      each member of the body1
 its particular flesh1 marrow1 and all  
other      details4        7#e7 ,he must
 know where all emunctoria lie and how  
they are to be      averted2 also what  
is in every cavity of the body1 and     
everything      about the intestines4   
7#f7 ,he must with all his might and    
being seek to understand about      life
 and death1 what the chief organs in man
 mean1 and what each      member can and
 may suffer4    ,if we look to          
,paracelsus as the real founder of      
,homopathy1 so also must  we regard him 
as the pioneer of magnetism and magnetic
 healing4 ,man1 he  maintained1 is      
nourished through the magnetic power    
which resides in all  ,nature and by    
which each individual being draws its   
specific nourishment  to itself4 ,he    
called this magnetic force ,mumia in his
 special  phraseology1 and he laid great
 stress on the healing power which      
resided  in this ,mumia4 8,just as the  
power of the lily breaks forth in       

perfume  which is invisible1 so10 he    
writes1 8the invisible body sends forth 
its  healing influence4 ,just as in the 
visible body are wonderful activities   
which the senses can perceive1 so1 too1 
lie powers in the invisible body  which 
can work great wonders40 ,to him the    
whole universe was one1 and  knit       
together by indissoluble bonds4         
8,the astral currents created by the    
imagination of the ,macrocosmos10       
he writes1 8act upon the ,microcosmos1  
and produce certain states in      the  
latter1 and likewise the astral currents
 produced by the      imagination and   
will of man produce certain states in   
external      ,nature2 and these        
currents may reach far1 because the     
power of the      imagination reaches as
 far as thought can go4 ,the            
physiological      processes taking     
place in the body of living beings are  
caused by      their astral currents1   
and the physiological and meteorological
      processes taking place in the     

great organism of ,nature are caused by 
the astral currents of ,nature as a     
whole4 ,the astral currents of          
either act upon the other1 either       
consciously or unconsciously2 and       
if this fact is properly understood it  
will cease to appear      incredible    
that the mind of man may produce changes
 in the universal      mind1 which may  
cause changes in the atmosphere--winds  
and rains1      storm1 hail and         
lightning--or that evil may be changed  
into good by      the power of ,faith4  
,heaven is a field into which the       
imagination of      man throws the      
seeds40    ,here1 in a single paragraph1
 is the philosophy of ,astrology1 and   
the  justification for the efficacy of  
prayer4    ,i have said that ,paracelsus
 was the father of ,homopathy1 and the  
father  also of that later school of    
animal magnetism which was founded in   
,france in the latter part of the       
eighteenth century1 and the inception   
of which is always associated with the  

name of ,mesmer4 ,unfortunately1        
,mesmer had neither the knowledge nor   
the experience1 nor yet the  intuitive  
faculties of his master1 ,paracelsus4   
,but1 resurrected as it  was under      
somewhat unfavourable conditions1 there 
is reason to believe  that magnetic     
healing is destined to play a far       
greater part in the  future of medical  
art than it has ever done in the past4  
,not only was  ,paracelsus a pioneer in 
,homopathy and animal magnetism1 he was 
also one  of the first1 as well as one  
of the greatest1 of all ,faith-healers4 
8,faith10 he says1 8has a great deal    
more power than the physical body40     
8,all magical processes are based upon  
,faith40 8,the power of ,faith          
overcomes all spirits of ,nature1       
because it is a spiritual power1 and    
,spirit is higher than ,nature40        
8,whatever is grown in the realm of     
,nature  may be changed by the power of 
,faith40 8,anything we may accomplish   
which  surpasses ,nature is accomplished

 by ,faith1 and by ,faith diseases may  
be  cured40 8,imagination10 he says     
again1 8is the cause of many diseases4  
,faith is the cure for all40 8,if we    
cannot cure a disease by ,faith1 it is  
because our ,faith is too weak4 ,but our
 ,faith is weak on account of our  want 
of knowledge4 ,if we were conscious of  
the power of ,god within  ourselves1 we 
should never fail40 8,the power of      
amulets does not rest so  much in the   
material of which they are made as in   
the ,faith with which  they are worn40  
,paracelsus's chosen motto was3         
,alterius non sit qui suus esse potest--
    8,let him not belong to another who 
has the power to be his own0--who can1  
in short1 be master of his own soul4    
,paracelsus declined to follow any      
leader1 but formed his own conclusions  
from his own experience4 ,for him  the  
,codex ,natur was a system which led    
straight to exact knowledge1  and he    
rejected whatever could not be verified 
by research4 ,he laid the  foundations  

of a new system1 built on evidence      
rather than on the  outworn traditions  
of the medicine of his day4 ,this system
 comprised  within itself at once a     
practical guide to the medical art and a
  spiritual philosophy of life4 ,the    
fatal error of divorcing the physical   
from the spiritual1 and treating the    
physical as a thing apart1 which  has   
rendered abortive so much of the medical
 research of recent  generations1 would 
undoubtedly have been obviated1 had the 
modern  exponent of the medical art     
realised that in ,paracelsus was to be  
found  a pioneer who brought the        
life-giving genius of his intellect to  
bear on  old truths in their relation to
 modern problems1 rather than a quack   
and  mountebank who deluded his         
contemporaries--none so easy a          
task--into the  idea that he had        
accomplished marvellous cures where the 
medical faculty  of his day could show  
nothing but a record of failures4       
,v                             ,,emanuel

 ,,swedenborg      ,of all the men and  
women whom the world has classed under  
the general  title of 8mystic10 not one 
certainly occupies so singular a        
position as  ,emanuel ,swedenborg4 ,if  
we decide to accept the world's         
verdict--and it  seems difficult to do  
otherwise--and agree to call ,swedenborg
 a mystic1  we are confronted by the    
fact that we can find no parallel either
 to his  personality or to his career1  
though we search the roll of the mystics
  of all the ages4 ,pascal indeed was1  
like ,swedenborg1 a master              
mathematician1 and a man of wide general
 learning1 but he was a mystic  first   
and foremost1 and his life from an early
 date was given up to his  calling as a 
leading light of the ,catholic ,church4 
,swedenborg1 on the  other hand1 was1   
until the age of fifty1 a man of science
 and a man of  affairs2 that is1 he was 
a scientist of the most eminently       
practical  kind1 one whose encyclopdic  
knowledge was turned always into        

utilitarian channels1 and for whom      
knowledge of any kind appeared to  have 
no meaning outside its practical        
application4 ,it would be difficult  to 
instance a single one of the world's    
great men whose interests were  so wide1
 or whose mental activity was so        
all-absorbing4 ,outside art  there      
seemed literally nothing that did not   
appeal to him as a field for  his       
indefatigable investigation1 and1 as    
regards art1 it was presumably  its lack
 of utilitarian value which led to its  
neglect by his  essentially practical   
mentality4    ,illustration3 ,emanuel   
,swedenborg4    ,swedenborg started his 
travels in the first years of early     
manhood1 and  wherever they took him    
there was nothing which escaped his     
observant  eye4 ,to whatever part of    
,europe he went it would seem that he   
could not  be satisfied without learning
 all that was to be learnt1 without     
seeing  all that was to be seen4 ,when  
he establishes himself in ,london he    

does  not merely take lodgings because  
the price is reasonable or because the  
cooking is good1 or because he thinks he
 will be comfortable4 ,he writes  from  
,london in #agaa3 8,i turn my lodgings  
to some use1 and change them  often4 ,at
 first ,i was at a watchmaker's1 and now
 ,i am at a mathematical  instrument    
maker's4 ,from them ,i steal their      
trades1 which some day will  be of use  
to me40 ,at ,leyden he learnt to grind  
glass for lenses1 so that  he might     
furnish himself with appliances which he
 could not afford to  buy4 ,his brother 
wishes for globes for the university at 
,upsala4 ,these  proved too expensive1  
and he was asked to purchase printed    
maps which  might be mounted in ,sweden4
 ,the makers would not supply these1 so 
,swedenborg applied himself to learning 
engraving1 and prepared them  himself4  
,when chafing at enforced inactivity at 
home he turns his  attention to music1  
and writes to his brother-in-law that he
 has been  able several times to take   

the place of the organist4 ,in          
travelling on  the ,continent he studies
 the fortifications of the towns1 the   
methods of  constructing fences4 ,he    
visits and investigates all the         
manufactories4  ,he passes critical     
remarks with regard to the blast        
furnaces1 the  vitriol1 arsenic1 and    
sulphur works1 the copper and tin       
manufactories1  the paper mills1 and    
studies also the methods of mining4 ,not
 content  with this1 he investigates the
 social conditions of the people1       
criticises the situation of affairs in  
,france1 the wealth of the ,church  and 
the poverty of the people4              
8,everywhere10 he says1 8the convents1  
churches1 and monks are the wealthiest  
and possess most land4 ,the monks  are  
fat1 puffed up1 and prosperous4 ,a whole
 proud army might be formed  of them    
without their being missed40 ,again3    
8,the houses are miserable1  the        
convents magnificent1 the people poor   
and wretched40 ,he investigates  the    

problem of the revenue of the ,french   
,government1 obtained by the  system of 
taxation called tithing4 8,it amounts10 
he says1 8to some  thirty-two million   
livres1 and ,paris1 on account of its   
rents1  contributes nearly two-thirds of
 the sum40 8,i am told10 he says1 8that 
the ecclesiastical order possesses      
one-fifth of all the property in the    
,state1 and that the country will be    
ruined if this goes on much  longer40#aj
 ,he gives the number of convents in    
,france1 actually at that  date between 
fourteen and fifteen thousand2 the      
number of the members of  the religious 
orders2 the number of the abbesses1     
prioresses1 chapters1  etc4 ,he goes to 
hear the celebrated preachers1 among    
them the ,king's  chaplain1 who         
8gesticulates like an actor40 ,he       
discusses the adoration  of saints with 
an abb4 ,he visits the hospitals and    
attends the opening  of ,parliament4    
,not content with this1 he frequents the
 opera and the  theatres1 and passes    

opinions upon the most popular pieces   
and the most  distinguished actors and  
actresses4 ,in the midst of all this we 
find him  speculating on the form of the
 particles of the atmosphere1 and       
writing  an introductory essay to a book
 which he is planning to prove that 8the
  soul of wisdom is the knowledge and   
acknowledgment of the ,supreme  ,being40
 ,as if this were not enough1 he        
occupies his spare moments in the  study
 of anatomy1 astronomy1 magnetism1 and  
hydrostatics4    ,surely1 since the     
world began1 there was never a more     
versatile brain6  ,he has even          
observations to make on military        
matters4 ,he goes to see the            
,brandenburg soldiers1 ,frederick the   
,great's famous regiment4 8,the men10   
he says1 8are tall and slender and they 
march erectly4 ,they go through  their  
drills with the greatest promptness and 
regularity1 but their  manner is a      
little theatrical4 ,the whole squadron  
is like a machine  placed there1 moving 

instantaneously at the pleasure of the  
machinist40  8,if10 he says1 8they      
displayed the same uniformity in battle 
as in  drill1 they would conquer        
,alexander's army1 and subject a great  
part of  ,europe to ,prussia1 but----0  
,he leaves it to the reader to fill in  
the  reason of his doubt4    ,others    
besides ,swedenborg have possessed that 
encyclopdic type of brain  which amasses
 vast stores of miscellaneous knowledge1
 but few1 if any1  have possessed at the
 same time ,swedenborg's extraordinary  
capacity for  utilising the knowledge   
gained and turning it to practical      
account4 ,the  idea of learning as an   
object in itself was indeed entirely    
alien to  ,swedenborg's type of         
mentality4 ,all information acquired was
 merely  regarded as a means towards    
some practical end4 ,we thus find him   
founding universal principles upon the  
knowledge he has accumulated in         
explanation of the laws which govern    
phenomena4 ,we see him1 for example1    

deducing his conclusions in the field of
 geology from a number of  observed     
facts4 ,he reports on the geological    
conformation of ,sweden1 and  concludes 
from it that the country was at one time
 swept over by a sea  in a state of     
great commotion4 ,he notices the fact   
that the stones on  the mountain sides  
are worn off and rounded1 in support of 
this4 ,he also  describes the remnants  
of a wrecked ship excavated far inland1 
and the  skeleton of a whale which was  
discovered in ,west ,gothland4          
8,swedenborg's  contributions in the    
field of geology10 says ,professor ,a4  
,g4 ,nathorst1  8are of such            
significance and value that they alone  
would have been  sufficient to have     
secured him an honoured scientific      
name40 ,as a mining  expert he was      
unequalled4 8,we should never be able to
 finish10 says  ,professor ,schleiden1  
8if we attempted to enumerate all the   
improvements  which ,swedenborg         
introduced in the working of the mines  

in his own  country40 8,the             
metallurgical works of this remarkable  
man10 says ,dr  ,percy1 8seem to be very
 imperfectly known1 and yet none are in 
my  judgment more worthy of the         
attention of those interested in the    
history  of metallurgy40 ,the air-tight 
stove which he describes in his work on 
,new ,observations and ,discoveries     
,respecting ,iron and ,fire1 published  
in #agba1 is stated to be identical in  
principle with one recently  patented in
 ,washington4#aa ,sir ,isaac ,newton had
 propounded the  corpuscular theory of  
light1 which was for long universally   
held4  ,swedenborg dissented1 stating1  
in his ,principia1 that 8motion diffused
  from a given centre through a         
contiguous medium or volume of particles
  of ether produced light40 ,this theory
 is the one now adopted4 ,swedenborg    
also notices that light and electricity 
are produced by the same  efficient     
cause1 thereby supplying the clue to the
 utilisation of  electricity as a means 

of lighting4 ,even where in the field of
 science  he was looked upon as a       
dreamer in his own days1 his dreams have
 since  taken practical shape4 ,among   
the inventions which he projected was   
8the  plan of a certain ship which with 
its men was to go under the surface of  
the sea wherever it chooses1 and do     
great damage to the fleet of the        
enemy40 ,he also designed a flying      
machine1 a project which he was very    
reluctant to drop4 ,christopher ,polhem1
 however1 threw cold water on  this1    
saying1 with respect to flying by       
artificial means1 8there is  perhaps the
 same difficulty as in making a         
perpetuum mobile1 or gold  by artificial
 means40    ,his philosophy recognises  
the synthetical as well as the          
analytical  method as requisite to      
arrive at true conclusions4 8,both10 he 
says1 8are  necessary in reflecting upon
 and tracing out one and the same thing2
 for  in order to do so there is        
required both light1 a priori1 and      

experience1 a posteriori40 8,he who is  
possessed of scientific  knowledge10 he 
says elsewhere1 8and is merely skilled  
in experiment1 had  taken only the first
 steps in wisdom4 ,for such a person is 
only  acquainted with what is posterior1
 and is ignorant of what is prior4      
,thus his wisdom does not extend beyond 
the working of the senses and is        
unconnected with reason2 whereas1       
nevertheless1 true wisdom embraces      
both40    ,unquestionably ,swedenborg1  
as he is known to us from the record of 
the  first fifty years of his life 7if  
we except the earliest years of his     
childhood71 was about the last person   
one would expect to have his name       
associated with that ,swedenborgian     
gospel by which eventually it came to   
be known to the world at large4 ,he had1
 as we have seen1 earned many  titles to
 recognition1 but assuredly that of a   
medium of communication  between this   
world and the world of spirits was not  
one of them4    ,swedenborg's father was

 a ,swedish ,lutheran ,bishop with      
leanings towards  pietism1 and a rather 
broader and more sympathetic outlook    
than the  majority of his fellow clergy4
 ,his name1 ,swedborg1 was subsequently 
changed to ,swedenborg when the family  
was ennobled by the ,swedish king4      
,emanuel was the second son and third   
child of ,bishop ,swedborg and his      
wife1 ,anna1 of whom we know but little1
 and who died when ,emanuel was  only   
eight years old4 ,the child was thus    
surrounded by religious  influences in  
his early days1 and it is said that his 
father had a  guardian angel with whom  
he claimed to be able to hold converse  
on  occasion4 ,reared under these       
conditions1 he naturally enough evinced 
strongly religious tendencies in his    
childhood4 8,from my fourth to my  tenth
 year10 he says1 8,i was constantly     
engaged in thought upon ,god1           
salvation1 and the spiritual experiences
 of men4 ,i revealed things at  which my
 father and mother wondered1 saying that

 angels must be speaking  through me40  
,here at least we obtain some suggestion
 of what he  eventually became1 and of  
which the intervening years between     
childhood  and middle age seem to afford
 us little or no hint4 ,the believer in 
heredity will point to the psychic      
temperament of the father as  inherited 
by the son2 but there appears to be no  
foreshadowing in his  ancestry of that  
encyclopdic mind with which he was      
destined to  astonish his               
contemporaries4 ,his father evidently   
failed to understand  his precocious    
son1 and the relations between the two  
were far from  cordial1 the son         
considering that his father was         
inappreciative and  failed to encourage 
his intellectual activities1 and also   
blaming him  for meanness in matters of 
finance4 ,bishop ,swedborg had1 however1
 eight  other children besides ,emanuel1
 and very probably he did not find it   
easy to make two ends meet1 especially  
as he was something of an author        

himself1 and published books at his own 
expense1 which proved far from          
remunerative4 ,probably the father      
considered that the son ought to  settle
 down to some regular trade or          
profession instead of commencing  life  
by travelling in search of knowledge    
first to one country and then  to       
another4 ,presumably he regarded his    
precocious offspring as likely to       
become a jack-of-all-trades and master  
of none1 and there are doubtless  many  
other parents who1 under similar        
circumstances1 would have thought  the  
same4 ,in any case the son was able to  
start off on his travels in  spite of   
financial embarrassments and many       
dangers on the way4 ,he was  nearly     
wrecked when approaching ,england4 ,then
 the ship was boarded by  pirates1 and  
on the top of this was fired into by a  
,british guardship1  being mistaken for 
the pirate craft4 ,finally1 our youthful
 hero narrowly  escaped hanging for     
breaking the quarantine regulations1 the

 plague at  this time being prevalent in
 ,sweden4 ,under somewhat similar       
circumstances the great ,julius told the
 captain of his vessel not to be        
afraid1 as he was carrying ,csar4       
,whether ,swedenborg had any such faith 
in a ,providence watching over his      
future destiny1 we are not told4 ,he    
certainly realised his unique powers1   
but can hardly have suspected the       
channel into which they were eventually 
to be diverted4    ,the one link between
 ,emanuel and his family was his        
brother-in-law1 ,eric  ,benzelius1      
afterwards bishop1 and the sister to    
whom he was married4 ,in  his financial 
and other troubles he repeatedly appeals
 to him for  sympathy and practical     
help1 evidently not without response4   
,he also  asks for intercession with his
 father1 to whom he obviously did not   
care  to appeal direct1 having met with 
too many rebuffs4 ,it is interesting to 
note that one of the first objects that 
met his eyes in ,london was 8the        

magnificent ,st ,paul's ,cathedral1     
finished a few days ago1 in all its     
parts40 ,he makes the acquaintance of   
,flamsteed1 the most notable  astronomer
 in ,england1 who was concerned in the  
founding of ,greenwich  ,observatory and
 seems to have been something of an     
astrologer as well4  ,apparently as the 
result of this visit1 he takes up with  
enthusiasm the  study of astronomy4     
,i have made such progress in it he     
says1 as to have discovered      much   
which ,i think will be useful in its    
study4 ,although in the      beginning  
it made my brain ache1 yet long         
speculations are no longer              
difficult for me4 ,i examined closely   
all proportions for finding the         
terrestrial longitude1 but could not    
find a single one4 ,i have1             
therefore1 originated a method by means 
of the ,moon1 which is      unerring1   
and ,i am certain that it is the best   
which has yet been      advanced4 ,in a 
short time ,i will inform the ,royal    

,society that ,i      have a proposition
 to make on this subject1 stating my    
points4444 ,i      have also discovered 
many new methods for observing the      
planets1 the      ,moon1 and the stars4 
,that which concerns the ,moon and its  
parallax1      diameter1 and inequality 
,i will publish whenever an opportunity 
arises4    ,he longs to go to ,oxford1  
and investigate the ,bodleian ,library1 
but  cannot1 for want of money4 8,i     
wonder10 he says1 8my father does not   
show  greater care for me than to let me
 live now for more than sixteen months  
upon #bej rixdalers 7something under    
#ej740 ,finally1 he returns home and    
obtains an appointment as               
,assessor-extraordinary at the ,state   
,department  of the ,board of ,mines1   
which was responsible for the           
supervision of the  great mining        
industries of ,sweden4 ,in this         
connection he is fortunate in  making   
the acquaintance of ,christopher        
,polhem1 the celebrated engineer1  who  

recommends him for his talents and      
readiness of resource4 ,by degrees  he  
becomes an intimate guest with ,polhem's
 family1 a circumstance which  leads in 
the end to a tragic love affair4 ,he    
falls desperately in love  with         
,polhem's younger daughter4 ,the father 
gives his consent2 but the  girl1 a mere
 child of thirteen or fourteen1 cannot  
reconcile herself to  the idea4         
,swedenborg1 with great sorrow1         
relinquishes his claim1  resolving never
 again to let his thoughts settle upon  
any woman4 ,polhem  himself seems to    
have been almost equally distressed with
 ,swedenborg  over the incident1        
especially as it led to a breach between
 himself and  the young man1 whom he had
 come to regard in the light of his own 
son4 ,a  period of depression follows1  
which is accentuated by the death of    
,charles ,,xii4 of ,sweden1 about the   
same period1 from whose encouragement   
and support ,emanuel had considerable   
expectations4 ,the relations between    

himself and the ,king were1 indeed1     
singularly intimate1 ,charles readily   
appreciating the young man's remarkable 
talents and mathematical  knowledge4    
8,every day10 says ,swedenborg1 in      
writing on #adth ,september  #agah1 8,i 
had some mathematical matters for his   
,majesty1 who deigned to  be pleased    
with all of them4 ,when the eclipse took
 place1 ,i took his  ,majesty out to see
 it1 and talked much to him about it4   
,this1 however1  is a mere beginning40  
,in the summer of #agba1 ,swedenborg    
started again on his travels1 his       
object this time being to study the     
mines and manufactories of other        
countries1 so that he might be in a     
position to render greater services  to 
his own in the office to which he had   
been appointed4 ,on this  occasion he   
visited all the mines in ,saxony and the
 ,hartz mountains1 and  was royally     
entertained by ,duke ,ludvic ,rudolf of 
,brunswick-,lneburg1 who  showed him a  
generosity which he doubtless           

appreciated after his  father's         
parsimony4 ,meanwhile his pen was by no 
means idle4 ,he published  a treatise at
 ,amsterdam on ,chemistry and ,physics2 
some observations on  ,iron and ,fire2  
and a work on the construction of ,docks
 and ,dykes2 and  later on1 at ,leipzig1
 some miscellaneous observations on     
,geology and  ,mineralogy4 ,on his      
return home he settled down again for a 
period to his  work at the ,board of    
,mines1 in the meantime gathering matter
 for further  publications which        
followed in due course4 ,the most       
important of these  were his ,opera     
,philosophia ,mineralia1 and a treatise 
on ,the  ,infinite4 ,the former work met
 with a very favourable reception1 and  
between one publication and another     
,swedenborg soon won for himself a      
,european reputation4 ,the ,academy of  
,sciences at ,st ,petersburg nominated  
him a corresponding member1 while he was
 one of the first to be elected  for the
 newly established ,royal ,academy of   

,sciences in his own country4           
,everything thus seemed to open out for 
,swedenborg a career of great           
scientific and practical utility4 ,he   
became1 however1 gradually led by  his  
philosophical speculations to an        
investigation of the nature of the  soul
 and its operation in the body1 and the 
mutual relations of the two4  ,this     
study was the subject of two important  
works1 entitled respectively  ,the      
,economy of the ,animal ,kingdom        
considered ,anatomically and            
,philosophically1 and ,the ,animal      
,kingdom considered ,anatomically1      
,physically1 and ,philosophically4 ,by  
the 8animal kingdom0 must be  understood
 the kingdom presided over by the soul4 
,in the first of these  books           
,swedenborg deals with the composition  
of the blood and its  circulation1 with 
the heart1 arteries1 and veins1 and with
 the brain and  its cortices4 ,in this  
book ,swedenborg attaches 8great        
importance to the  blood1 for1 as he    

says1 nothing exists in the body that   
has not  previously existed in the      
blood40 ,he describes it again as 8a    
vital and  most spirituous fluid1 which 
has an immediate connection with the    
soul40  ,in the ,animal ,kingdom        
,swedenborg describes in full detail all
 the  organs of the body and their uses1
 the object being in the end to track   
the soul home and to describe its       
activities4 8,for as yet10 he tells us1 
8her modes of being and her nature are  
absolutely unknown40 ,naturally he      
recognises that this will be regarded by
 the philosophers of his day as  a vain 
and useless quest4 ,but he is prepared  
to meet their objections  with the      
following pertinent remarks1 which1 now 
that the materialistic  hypothesis has  
been finally discarded by the advance   
guard of modern  ,science1 are likely to
 find a sympathetic echo in scientific  
as well as  philosophic circles4        
,inasmuch he says as the soul is the    
model1 the idea1 the first      form1   

the substance1 the force1 and the       
principle of her organic      body1 and 
of all its forces and powers1 or what   
amounts to the same      thing1 as the  
organic body is the image and type of   
its soul      conformed and principled  
to the whole nature of the soul's       
efficiency1 it follows that the one is  
represented in the other4444      ,thus 
by the body we are instructed respecting
 the soul1 by the soul      respecting  
the body1 and by both respecting the    
truth of the whole4    ,emerson         
describes the ,animal ,kingdom as 8an   
anatomist's account of the  human body  
in the highest style of poetry10 and its
 object as to 8put  science and the     
soul1 long estranged from each other1 at
 one again40 ,it  was while continuing  
his pursuit of this apparently visionary
 aim that  ,swedenborg quite            
unexpectedly found himself1 as he       
believed1 in touch  with another than   
the physical world4 ,in writing of this 
extraordinary  development in his life  

history in the ,introduction to the     
,arcana  ,clestia1 the first volume of  
which appeared in #agdi1 he gives his   
own  account of his relationship with   
the spiritual realm in justification of 
the remarkably dogmatic statements      
contained in the book in question4      
8,it is10 he says1 8expedient here to   
premise that of the ,lord's  divine     
mercy it has been granted me now for    
several years to be  constantly and     
uninterruptedly in company with spirits 
and angels1  hearing them converse with 
each other and conversing with them4    
,hence it has been permitted me to hear 
and see things in another  life which   
are astonishing1 and which have never   
before come to the  knowledge of any man
 nor entered into his imagination4 ,i   
have thus  been instructed concerning   
different kinds of spirits and the state
  of souls after death--concerning      
,hell1 or the lamentable state of the   
unfaithful--concerning ,heaven1 or the  
most happy state of the  faithful--and  

particularly concerning the doctrine of 
,faith1 which is  acknowledged          
throughout all ,heaven1 on which        
subjects1 by the divine  mercy of the   
,lord1 more will be said in the         
following pages40 ,with  regard to the  
extraordinary transformation which these
 experiences  brought about in his      
life's work1 he explains to a friend    
that the  ,lord has elected him for this
 work1 and 8for revealing the spiritual 
meaning of the ,sacred ,scriptures which
 he had promised to the  ,prophets and  
in the ,book of ,revelation40 8,my      
purpose previously10 he  adds1 8had been
 to explore ,nature1 chemistry1 and the 
sciences of  mining and anatomy40       
,the basis of ,swedenborg's teaching    
which1 of course1 under the             
circumstances he did not claim in any   
way as original1 was that the  ,bible   
must be accepted absolutely as a        
divinely inspired book1 but must  be    
taken in an allegorical sense4 ,thus    
where historical events are  recorded   

they are not recorded for the sake of   
history1 for the object  of the         
,scriptures is to treat not of the      
kingdoms of the earth1 but of  the      
,kingdom of ,god4 ,in other parts of the
 ,bible1 as in ,genesis1 there is  no   
truth in the story from the historical  
point of view4 ,the record is  merely an
 allegory of the soul4    ,his doctrine 
of ,correspondences was merely the      
recognition of this  allegorical        
relationship of the spiritual and       
material4 ,the universe1  according to  
,swedenborg1 is symbolical throughout1  
,all material things  are derived from  
their spiritual archetypes1 and are     
representations of  these4 ,the bodily  
form represents the spiritual character1
 for the  spirit forms the body in its  
own likeness4 ,a man's acts are thus the
  outcome of his inward nature1 and     
there is consequently a similar         
correspondence between them and the     
inward man4 ,the basis of these ideas   
is1 of course1 the ancient occult       

teaching that the universe is the       
macrocosm1 and man the microcosm4 ,thus 
,swedenborg tells us that as there  is a
 material sun1 moon1 and stars1 so each 
of these heavenly bodies has  its mental
 and spiritual counterpart4             
,swedenborg's doctrine of ,degrees      
appears to follow from his doctrine of  
,correspondences4 ,the three degrees of 
the human mind correspond to the  three 
kingdoms of ,nature3 animal1 vegetable1 
and mineral1 corresponding  to spirit1  
soul1 and body4 8,degrees10 ,swedenborg 
tells us1 8are of two  kinds1 discrete  
and continuous40 8,all things1 from     
least to greatest1 in  both the         
spiritual and natural worlds1 co-exist  
at once from discrete  and continuous   
degrees4 ,in respect of discrete degrees
 there can be no  intercourse between   
either by continuity40 ,it follows1     
therefore1 with  regard to the degrees  
of the human mind1 the celestial1       
spiritual1 and  the natural1 that they  
cannot communicate under normal         

conditions one  with another4 ,thus1    
too1 men on earth can have no sensible  
communication  with the spiritual world 
or see things of that world without a   
special  opening of the spiritual sight4
 ,elsewhere ,swedenborg tells us 8to the
  intent that anything may be perfect it
 must be distinguished into three       
degrees4 ,the ground and reason of this 
is because there must be end1  cause1   
and effect40 ,another doctrine of       
,swedenborg's was that of  regeneration4
 ,in order to be partaker of the higher 
life1 man1 he held1  must be born again1
 but this regeneration was not a special
 occurrence  of any particular date1 but
 a continuous process4 ,one of the      
orthodox  doctrines which ,swedenborg   
attacked was that of the ,trinity4 ,he  
denied  that ,jesus ,christ was merely  
the ,second ,person of a ,divine        
,trinity4 ,he  cites ,st ,paul's        
statement that 8in ,him dwelleth all the
 fullness of the  ,godhead bodily10 and 
maintains that the whole ,trinity is    

centred in his  ,person4 8,in           
consequence10 he says1 8of separating   
the ,divine ,trinity  into ,three       
,persons each of which is declared to be
 ,god and ,lord1 a sort  of frenzy has  
infected the whole system of theology as
 well as the  ,christian ,church so     
called from its ,divine ,founder4444    
,that a trinity of  gods occupies the   
minds of ,christians1 although they deny
 it from shame1  is very evident from   
the ingenuity of many who contrive      
methods to prove  that three are one1   
and one three1 by geometry1 arithmetic1 
and  physics4444 ,others have trifled   
with the ,divine ,trinity as jugglers   
play  one with another4 ,their juggling 
on this subject may be compared to      
those sick of a fever who see a single  
object1 such as a man1 a table1  or a   
candle1 as three2 or three as one40     
,the basis of this orthodox ,christian  
teaching with regard to the ,trinity    
is1 of course1 the ,athanasian ,creed1  
which attempts to explain the  matter by

 the absurd method of a juxtaposition of
 contradictions4 ,it is  well to bear in
 mind1 in view of the enormous amount of
 theological  twaddle that has been     
talked on this subject1 that the        
,athanasian ,creed  was in the nature of
 a political concordat to meet the      
exigencies of a  time of acute religious
 difficulty1 and in no sense an         
exposition of  spiritual truth4    ,as  
the orthodox doctrine of the ,trinity   
was false1 argued ,swedenborg1  and     
there were no three ,persons1 as        
supposed1 it was1 of course1  impossible
 for one of them1 the ,son1 to offer    
,himself as sacrifice to  appease the   
wrath of another1 the ,father4 ,the     
doctrine of the atonement1  therefore1  
as taught by the ,church1 had no basis  
in fact4 ,god needed no  reconciliation 
to ,his creatures4 ,it was they who     
needed to be reconciled  to ,him before 
they could be fitted to appear in ,his  
presence4 ,christ  took upon ,himself   
human nature that ,he might conquer     

mankind's spiritual  enemies which were 
keeping him in bondage and estranged    
from his ,divine  ,source4    ,one of   
,swedenborg's most astounding statements
 had reference to the ,last  ,judgment4 
,this was not1 maintained ,swedenborg1  
as the orthodox generally  hold1 the    
final consummation of all things4 ,the  
event was an occurrence  in the         
spiritual sphere which actually took    
place in the year #ageg6 ,it  appears   
from this amazing account that in the   
,intermediate ,state so many            
undesirable and evil spiritual entities 
had accumulated that they were          
threatening the whole world with        
imminent catastrophe4 ,it may be        
remembered1 in this connection1 that in 
,swedenborg's time scepticism was       
everywhere rampant1 and that religious  
life had reached its lowest ebb4  ,this 
was the case not only on the ,continent1
 but pre-eminently in  ,england1 where  
the movement headed by ,john ,wesley led
 to such remarkable  scenes in          

connection with the great spiritual     
revival which followed  this period of  
religious apathy4 ,to avert the         
catastrophe threatened to  the world    
according to ,swedenborg's theory1 a    
general judgment was  executed upon the 
spirits who were in revolt and were     
imperilling the  divine order4 ,these   
powers of evil were at that date placed 
under  restraint1 so that an influx of  
new spiritual forces among men might be 
made possible4 ,swedenborg actually goes
 so far as to affirm that he  himself   
was permitted to witness this judgment  
in fulfilment of the  prophecies made in
 the ,gospels and in the ,book of       
,revelation4    ,the ,swedenborgian     
teaching which has come in probably for 
most criticism  is that with regard to  
,marriage4 ,swedenborg 7thus far as it  
appears to  me quite rightly7 insisted  
that sex is a spiritual as well as a    
physical  distinction4 ,he denied the   
virtues of celibacy and declared that   
true  chastity resides in the perfect   

marriage relation4 ,marriage1 according 
to ,swedenborg1 is not a physical       
relationship till death part the united 
pair1 but is eternal in its character4  
8,conjugial love0 being the  central and
 fundamental love of man's life is also 
the source of his  fullest joy4 ,the    
delights of the true conjugial love     
exceed the delights  of all other loves4
 ,all delights that are felt by man     
proceed from love1  and it follows1     
therefore1 that the principal happiness 
in the celestial  life must have a      
similar source1 and the highest joy of  
heaven must  therefore be the spiritual 
counterpart of the conjugial life of    
earth4  ,it does not1 of course1        
necessarily follow from this that       
earthly  marriages are perpetuated in   
heaven4 ,if the feelings of the marriage
  partners towards one another are      
concordant and sympathetic1 they        
continue indeed their married life2 but 
if they are discordant and              
antipathetic1 they dissolve it4 ,for    

true conjugial love is the only         
possible form of marriage in heaven1 and
 8as their love lasts to  eternity1 it  
follows that the wife becomes more and  
more a wife and the  husband more and   
more a husband4 ,the true reason of this
 is that in a  marriage of truly        
conjugial love each married partner     
becomes  continually a more interior    
man4 ,for that love opens the interiors 
of  their minds and in the proportion in
 which these are opened the man  becomes
 more and more a man40    ,swedenborg   
has some very beautiful observations    
with regard to the  rejuvenescence of   
those who have passed into the higher   
life4 8,all who  come into heaven10 he  
says1 8return into their vernal youth1  
and remain  so to eternity4 ,the more   
thousands of years they live the more   
beautiful  and happy is the spring to   
which they attain4444 ,in a word1 to    
grow old  in heaven is to grow young4444
 ,they who live in the chaste life of   
marriage are above all others in the    

order and form of ,heaven after  death4 
,their beauty1 therefore1 is surpassing1
 and the flower of their  youth endures 
for ever40    ,what are we to say of    
this man who propounded this amazing    
gospel as a  direct message from the    
highest spheres8 ,what are we to say of 
his  communications and conversations   
with the unseen world8 ,of his bona     
fides it is impossible to entertain a   
doubt4 ,the ordinary hypothesis is  that
 he suffered from hallucinations4 ,it   
has been argued on the other  hand1 that
 for a man so sane and so shrewd in the 
ordinary affairs of  the world1         
hallucinations of the kind were an      
impossibility4 ,this1  however1 seems   
going rather too far4 ,some of the      
sanest men in the world  have had       
special points on which they were not   
mentally sound4 ,monomania  is a        
recognised form of mental aberration1   
and the man who suffers from  it is as  
sane as his fellows on all matters      
except one4    ,this spiritual          

communion1 however1 was continuous in   
the case of  ,swedenborg for many years1
 and during those years occupied either 
in  itself or in the activities that    
arose from it the larger portion of his 
life4 ,in spite of this absorption1 his 
relations with his fellow men  continued
 as sane and responsible as those of any
 of his neighbours4  ,would this have   
been possible1 one may ask1 in the face 
of so absorbing  an interest1 had this  
interest merely been founded on a       
monomania8 ,it  would1 ,i think1 be     
difficult to parallel such a case4 ,if1 
however1 we  decide to take             
,swedenborg's relations with the other  
world at his own  valuation1 are we     
called upon to accept his gospel at his 
own valuation  on that account8         
,certainly ,i think not4 ,swedenborg's  
estimate of the  status of the spiritual
 beings with whom he communicated1 even 
if we  accept their reality1 need not be
 ours4 ,recent investigations and       
records of innumerable psychic          

experiences have tended to show what a  
miscellaneous crowd of spirits hover    
around the confines of this  material   
world4 ,swedenborg's mistake has been   
made by many spiritualists  of the      
present day1 and sometimes with         
disastrous results4 ,swedenborg  had not
 before him the evidence which we now   
hold to warn him of the  necessity of   
testing the quality of his spiritual    
communicants4 ,the  experiences         
encountered overwhelmed him by their    
unexpected and  apparently miraculous   
character1 and his naturally sane       
judgment was at  fault for want of a    
criterion by which to estimate them4#ab 
,few of  those who now accept the       
genuineness of psychical phenomena are  
prepared  to question ,swedenborg's     
exceptional mediumistic powers4 ,to     
allow them  to their fullest extent is  
by no means to accept the doctrine which
 was  preached through his mediumship4  
,of ,swedenborg's psychic gifts there is
 indeed plenty of evidence quite        

outside the teachings of his celestial  
visitors4 ,on one occasion he  disclosed
 to the ,queen of ,sweden a secret that 
had existed between her  and her        
deceased brother1 the ,crown ,prince    
,augustus ,william of ,prussia1  which  
was unknown to any living person4 ,on   
another he described to a  whole company
 of people at ,gothenburg a destructive 
fire which had  broken out at that very 
moment in ,stockholm4 ,again on another 
occasion  he revealed to the widow of   
,monsieur de ,marteville the hiding     
place of a  missing receipt for money   
which had been paid by her husband1 the 
,dutch  ,ambassador at ,stockholm4      
,these incidents are among the best     
authenticated of any extant historical  
records of a psychic character4  ,the   
philosopher ,kant1 among others1 made a 
searching investigation into  the       
evidence on which they rested1 and came 
away absolutely convinced of  their     
truth4 ,it is curious to note that ,john
 ,wesley was not a little  interested in

 the ,swedenborgian propagandism4 ,the  
great ,methodist  preacher was impressed
 with a strong desire to meet the       
,swedish seer--a  desire to which1      
however1 he had never given open        
expression4 ,the ,rev4  ,samuel ,smith1 
one of ,wesley's preachers1 records how1
 about the end of  ,february #aggb he   
was in attendance upon ,john ,wesley1   
when the latter  received a             
communication as follows from           
,swedenborg1 who was then in  ,london1  
which he read aloud4                    
,,great ,,bath ,,street1                
,,great ,,bath ,,fields4                
,,sir1--,i have been informed in the    
world of spirits that you have a        
strong desire to converse with me4 ,i   
shall be happy to see you if      you   
will favour me with a visit4 ,i am1 sir1
 your humble servant1        ,,emanuel  
,,swedenborg4    ,mr ,wesley wrote in   
reply that he was then on the point of  
starting for a  six months' journey1 but
 would be pleased to wait on ,swedenborg

 after  his return to ,london4          
,swedenborg replied to this1 that the   
visit  proposed by ,wesley would be too 
late1 as he1 ,swedenborg1 would enter   
the  world of spirits on the #bith day  
of the next month1 never more to        
return1 a prediction which proved       
perfectly correct4    ,other men have   
written many books4 ,it is ,swedenborg's
 unique  distinction1 if distinction it 
is1 to be the one man in history who has
  written a library on his own account4 
,the encyclopdic brain does not1  as a  
rule1 tend to perspicuity in style1 and 
,swedenborg has suffered  from neglect  
owing to the fact that the fertility of 
his genius was not  sufficiently        
associated with the powers of selection 
and condensation4  ,to search for the   
treasures of his knowledge among his    
published works  is like looking1 in the
 words of the hackneyed proverb1 8for   
needles in  a haystack40 ,had he given  
us far less in volume the world would   
doubtless have profited more by the very

 valuable information contained  in his 
writings4    ,there are times when one  
is inclined to regret 7if also to feel  
thankfulness7 that ,swedenborg was      
side-tracked by his ,celestials and     
that he did not complete his phenomenal 
career on the lines which he had  marked
 out for himself4 ,it is a vain1 though 
a most alluring  speculation1 to        
consider how the destinies of nations   
might have evolved  if certain incidents
 in a single life history had eventuated
 otherwise  than they did4 ,we may      
conceive of ,swedenborg bringing to     
completion his  schemes for the         
construction of flying machines and     
submarines1 nearly  two centuries       
earlier than was decreed by destiny1 and
 ask ourselves1 if  we will1 what use   
the great ,napoleon might not have made 
of these  formidable implements of      
destructive warfare1 and how far the map
 of  ,europe1 and indeed of the world1  
might have been changed through their   
employment by his formidable genius2 or1

 again1 to what extent the  linking up  
of the ,new and ,old ,worlds might have 
been accelerated by such  developments4 
,here at least we must admit was a      
phenomenon--a man who  realised1 in a   
measure undreamed of by his             
contemporaries1 not only in  the        
physical but also in the spiritual      
sphere1 the stupendous  possibilities of
 the ,coming ,time4    ,footnote #aj3   
,church property being free from        
taxation4    ,footnote #aa3      ,see   
,life of ,emanuel ,swedenborg4 ,by      
,george ,trobridge4 ,london3            
,frederick ,warne  ,co4 ,to which book  
,i must acknowledge my great            
indebtedness4    ,footnote #ab3         
,there are not a few of the             
communications recorded1 notably in the 
8,spiritual ,diary10 which might be     
advanced to support the hypothesis    of
 a disordered brain2 and we must not    
lose sight of the fact that             
,swedenborg's tireless activities taxed 
his intellectual faculties    beyond the

 powers of any but the most exceptional 
human organism4                         
,,vi                                    
,,count ,,cagliostro      ,who has not  
heard of ,cagliostro8 ,and yet who but a
 few students have any  real knowledge  
of that mysterious character1 of whom it
 may be said1 as  it was of             
,melchizedek1 that he had 8neither      
beginning of life nor end of  days40    
,both1 at least1 like the king of       
,salem's1 are wrapped in  uncertainty1  
and though popular tradition1 repeated  
again and again by  the uncritical      
historian1 has identified ,cagliostro's 
early life with  that of the ,italian   
scoundrel ,joseph ,balsamo1 the evidence
 is as near  conclusive as presumptive  
evidence can well be1 that the two had  
no  connection whatever with one        
another1 beyond having married ,italian 
wives with the same surname#ac--;and    
that by no means an uncommon one--and   
the fact that ,balsamo is said to have  
had an uncle of the name of             

,cagliostro4 ,from what we know of      
,balsamo it may fairly be said that two 
people more opposite in character than  
himself and ,count ,cagliostro  would be
 difficult to discover1 and the         
identification of the two would  seem to
 involve the assumption that ,cagliostro
 had discarded his first  wife and taken
 a second1 a supposition which would    
render worthless the  argument based on 
the identity of their surnames4         
,cagliostro's whole career1 as far as we
 know it1 shows a character in  which   
generosity is perpetually being carried 
to the verge of folly4 ,his  credulity  
was constantly making him the dupe of   
designing knaves1 in  whose honesty he  
placed a pathetic faith1 and had he ever
 had the  misfortune to encounter his   
alter ego1 a common rogue of the most   
ordinary type1 it is safe to predict    
that he would not have escaped from  his
 clutches till he had been fleeced of   
the bulk of his possessions4 ,as  late  
as the date of his trial in the affair  

of the ,diamond ,necklace1 no           
suggestion of the identity of the two   
characters was even mooted4 ,the  story 
owes its origin to the fertile brain of 
one of the greatest  scoundrels of whom 
,european history holds record1 the     
notorious  blackmailer1 ,theveneau de   
,morande4    ,a short rsum of this      
arch-villain's history will probably be 
sufficient to dissipate any credence    
which has ever been placed in a         
narrative for which his assertions are  
our only authority4 ,theveneau de       
,morande was born in #agda1 the son of a
 lawyer1 at ,arnay-le-,duc1 in          
,burgundy4 ,as a boy he was arrested for
 theft in a house of ill-fame4          
,subsequently he enlisted1 obtained his 
discharge through his father's          
intervention1 found himself once more in
 prison at ,for-l',evque1 and was  then 
confined in a convent at ,armentires1   
from which he was released  two years   
after at the age of four-and-twenty4    
,having shortly after  lampooned one of 

the members of the government1 he was   
compelled to fly  the country and took  
refuge in ,england1 where he arrived in 
a state of  destitution4                
,illustration3 ,count ,cagliostro4 ,from
 an engraving by ,bartolozzi1 in the    
,british ,museum4    ,needs must when   
the devil drives1 and1 the pinch of     
poverty sharpening  his wits1 he now    
turned his attention to the             
black-mailing business1 in  the pursuit 
of which he was soon to evince a quite  
uncommon aptitude and  adroitness4 ,his 
talents in this direction were ably     
seconded by a facile  pen and a command 
of vituperative language and personal   
abuse which the  author of the ,letters 
of ,junius could scarcely have outdone4 
,his first  effort of importance in this
 direction was ,le ,gazetier ,cuirass1  
ou  ,anecdotes ,scandaleuses sur la     
,cour de ,france4 ,those who would not  
purchase immunity by a lump sum down had
 their characters and private  lives    
mercilessly torn to pieces in its pages4

 ,the book is said to have  brought him 
#ajjj4 ,an attempt to blackmail         
,voltaire was less successful4  ,the    
veteran philosophe published the        
blackmailer's letter with  comments by  
his own satiric pen4 ,the blackmailer's 
path has indeed its  ups and downs1 and 
once he was fain to accept a            
horsewhipping and  publish an abject    
apology1 the price extorted by an       
offended ,french  nobleman4 ,madame du  
,barry1 however1 ,louis ,,xv4's         
notorious favourite1 was  made of other 
stuff1 and in consequence the ,memoires 
d'une ,femme  ,publique1 compared with  
which ,le ,gazetier ,cuirass was said to
 have  been 8rosewater10 were never     
published4 ,morande accepted the sum of 
#cb1jjj livres in solatium for his      
wounded literary amour propre4  ,before1
 however1 paying him his price the      
,french ,government had  attempted to   
kidnap the audacious libeller4 ,this was
 the ancient  substitute for the more   
prosaic extradition methods of modern   

times4 ,the  plot1 however1 failed4     
,with a dexterity worthy of a better    
cause1  ,morande1 warned in time1 was   
able to pose in the ,english press as a 
political exile and avenger of public   
morality4 ,the sympathy of the          
susceptible public responded warmly to  
the unscrupulous appeal1 and the        
representatives of ,french authority    
escaped with difficulty from the        
clutches of an infuriated ,london mob4  
,it not unfrequently happens with       
countries that have been at war1 that   
the signature of the treaty of peace is 
followed after no long lapse of  time by
 a formal alliance between the erstwhile
 foes1 there being  obviously two       
methods of gaining one's ends1 the      
method of grab and the  method of give  
and take1 and the failure of one        
suggesting the  advisability of adopting
 the other4 ,so at least reasoned the   
,french  ,government1 and the payment of
 ,morande's price was followed in due   
course by his employment on behalf of   

the said ,government in the  capacity of
 subsidised journalist1 and spy4        
,morande was nothing loth to  come to   
terms1 and eventually blossomed out into
 the ,editor of the  ,courier de        
l',europe4 ,this journal1 originally    
started by ,latour under  the gis of the
 ,french ,government1 was soon read in  
every corner of the  ,continent4 ,this  
was the weapon which of all others the  
blackmailer  desired for his purposes4  
8,in it10 says ,brisset1 8he tore to    
pieces the  most estimable people1 and  
manufactured1 or caused to be           
manufactured1  articles to ruin any one 
whom he feared40    ,cagliostro had--all
 unwittingly--made dire enemies of the  
,french ,court  through his acquittal in
 the trial over the ,diamond ,necklace  
affair4 ,to  acquit ,cagliostro1 who had
 no more to do with the matter in       
question  than the man in the moon1     
appeared from the royal standpoint to be
  tantamount to incriminating the       
,queen1 on whom1 in fact1 suspicion long

  and not unnaturally rested4 ,morande1 
therefore1 received his  instructions   
from ,paris to ruin ,cagliostro's       
reputation4 ,the means ready  to his    
hand was the ,courier de l',europe4     
,hence the story of ,joseph  ,balsamo   
and his identification with the         
soi-disant ,count ,cagliostro4  ,to say 
that the authority hardly seems adequate
 is surely to put it  mildly4 ,and yet  
,carlyle1 and others before and after   
him1 have quietly  accepted the         
statement of the paid blackmailer as    
sufficient evidence of  the character   
and history of his victim6    ,who1     
then1 was ,cagliostro8 ,the answer to   
this question must ever remain  among   
the unsolved problems of history4 ,there
 is1 however1 no reason to  dismiss as  
incredible--even if there is reason to  
doubt--the account which  he gave of    
himself on the occasion of the 8,diamond
 ,necklace0 trial4 ,from  what we know  
of ,cagliostro we may1 ,i think1 say    
that his character was  far too         

ingenuous for him to have been likely to
 invent so remarkable a  tale4          
,everything1 however1 in his history    
points to the fact that he was  just the
 person to take a record of the kind and
 colour it with the hues  of his own    
fertile imagination4 ,in any case1 the  
impartial historian1  while dismissing  
as preposterous the ,balsamo fiction is 
bound to give  some weight--however     
slight--to the only evidence on the     
subject we  possess which is not        
manifestly untrue4 ,cagliostro1 however1
 himself did  not pretend to have       
knowledge of his parentage4 8,i cannot10
 he states1  8speak positively as to the
 place of my nativity1 nor as to the    
parents  who gave me birth4 ,all my     
inquiries have ended only in giving me  
some  great notions1 it is true1 but    
altogether vague and uncertain1         
concerning my family40 ,the gist1       
however1 of his story was that he spent 
his childhood in ,arabia1 where he was  
brought up under the name of  ,acherat4 

,he had then1 he states1 four persons   
attached to his  service--the chief of  
whom was a certain ,althotas1 a man     
between  fifty-five and sixty years of  
age4 ,this man 7whom it has been        
attempted  to identify with a certain   
,klmer1 a ,jutland merchant1 who had    
travelled  extensively and had the      
reputation of being a master-magician7  
informed  ,cagliostro that he had been  
left an orphan when three months old1   
and  that his parents were ,christian   
and nobly born4 ,all his attempts1      
however1 to discover the secret of his  
birth were doomed to  disappointment4   
,the matter was one which was treated as
 taboo4 ,in his  twelfth year 7to follow
 his own story7 he left ,medina for     
,mecca1 where  he remained three years1 
until1 wearying of the monotonous round 
of the  ,cherif's ,court1 he obtained   
leave to travel4        ,one day 7he    
narrates71 when ,i was alone1 the prince
 entered my      apartment2 he strained 
me to his bosom with more than usual    

tenderness1 bid me never cease to adore 
the ,almighty1 and added1      bedewing 
my cheeks with his tears3 8,nature's    
unfortunate child1      adieu60    ,from
 this date commenced1 according to his  
own account1 ,cagliostro's  travels1    
first in company with ,althotas1 for    
whom he ever expressed the  warmest     
affection1 afterwards with the wife whom
 he chose for himself in  ,italy4 ,for  
upwards of three years he claims to have
 travelled through  ,egypt1 ,africa1 and
 ,asia1 finally reaching the island of  
,rhodes in the  year #agff1 and thence  
embarking on a ,french ship bound for   
,malta4 ,here  he and his guardian were 
received with all honour1 ,pinto1 the   
,grand  ,master of the ,knights of      
,malta1 giving them apartments in his   
palace4        ,it was here 7he notes7  
that ,i first assumed ,european dress   
and with      it the name of ,count     
,cagliostro2 nor was it a small matter  
of      surprise to me to see ,althotas 
appear in a clerical dress with the     

insignia of the ,order of ,malta4       
,the ,grand ,master ,pinto was          
apparently acquainted with ,cagliostro's
  history4 ,he often spoke to him1 he   
says1 of the ,cherif1 but always        
refused to be 8drawn0 on the subject of 
his real origin and birth4 ,he  treated 
him1 however1 with every consideration  
and endeavoured to induce  him to 8take 
the cross10 promising him a great career
 and rapid  preferment if he would      
consent to do so4 ,cagliostro's love of 
travelling  and of the study of medicine
 drew him in another direction1 and on  
the  death of his guardian1 ,althotas1  
which occurred shortly after1 he left   
,malta for ever4 ,after visiting ,sicily
 and the ,greek ,archipelago in  company
 with the ,chevalier d',aquino he       
proceeded thence to ,naples1 where  he  
took leave of his companion4 ,provided  
with a letter of credit on the  banking 
house of ,signor ,bellone he left       
,naples for ,rome1 where his  destiny   
awaited him in the shape of ,seraphina  

,feliciani1 who shortly  after became   
his wife1 and to whom he showed         
throughout his married life  a most     
unfailing devotion4#ad ,cagliostro      
states that he was then 7anno  #aggj7 in
 his twenty-second year1 and he appears 
to have continued to  pursue that       
nomadic life which was so dear to him1  
travelling from town  to town on the    
,continent of ,europe till he at length 
emerges into the  light of day in the   
city of ,london1 in the month of ,july  
#aggf1 in  furnished apartments in      
,whitcombe ,street1 ,leicester ,fields4 
,london seems  always to have been an   
unfortunate place for ,cagliostro1 and  
here he was  destined1 on the first of  
many occasions1 to become the victim of 
his  own too trustful and generous      
disposition and to be fleeced of the    
greater part of his possessions by a    
nest of rogues1 who took advantage  of a
 foreigner entirely ignorant of ,london4
 ,eventually he was rescued  from this  
gang of knaves by a good ,samaritan in  

the shape of a certain  ,o',reilly4 ,now
 ,o',reilly was a prominent member of   
the ,esperance ,lodge of  ,freemasons1  
and here we first find ,cagliostro      
brought into contact with  that         
celebrated secret society1 his          
connection with which was destined  to  
play so all-important a part in the     
subsequent years of his life4           
,o',reilly1 it appears1 was the         
proprietor of the ,king's ,head1 in     
,gerard  ,street1 where the ,esperance  
,lodge assembled1 and it was only       
natural  that one so fascinated with the
 occult as ,cagliostro should be readily
  persuaded by his benefactor and       
rescuer to become initiated into the    
order of ,freemasons4 ,it is not        
necessary here to follow in detail the  
sordid intrigues of which1 during his   
sojourn in ,england1 he was made  the   
victim4 ,he was1 however1 glad          
eventually to escape from the country1  
with 8no more than #ej and some jewels0 
in his possession1 having lost  in all1 

through fraud and consequent legal      
proceedings1 some #cjjj  guineas during 
his sojourn4 ,cagliostro's star1        
however1 had not yet set1  and his all  
too brief spell of fame and triumph was 
still in front of  him4 ,providence1 in 
the shape probably of the emissaries of 
,freemasonry1  was waiting at ,brussels 
to replenish his purse1 and the same    
,providence1  probably in the same      
guise1 replenished it many times        
afterwards with no  niggardly hand4     
,from ,brussels to ,the ,hague1 from    
,the ,hague to ,nuremberg1 from         
,nuremberg  to ,berlin1 from ,berlin to 
,leipzig1 we trace the ,count's         
peregrinations1  gathering fame and     
founding ,egyptian ,masonic ,lodges as  
he went4 ,it is  true he met with       
setbacks and reverses1 and the capital  
of ,frederick the  ,great would have    
none of him1 but it is clear that1 in   
spite of these1  his credit and         
reputation as a healer and clairvoyant  
grew steadily in  volume4 ,it was1 in   

fact1 on these two gifts that his fame  
rested4 ,though  he claimed to have been
 taught the secrets of occultism by     
,althotas1 or  to have learned them from
 the ,egyptian priests1 there is no     
evidence#ae  throughout the records of  
his career of his possessing anything   
but a  smattering of such abstruse      
knowledge1 and on several occasions1    
notably  at ,st ,petersburg1 there is   
something more than a suspicion that his
  attempt to make good his claim to the 
name of occultist involved him in       
serious humiliation and rebuffs4 ,the   
tales1 however1 of his predictions  and 
their fulfilments were handed on from   
mouth to mouth1 doubtless  losing       
nothing on the way1 while his reputation
 as a healer and the  stories of the    
cures which he effected assured a       
perfect furore of  enthusiasm in every  
fresh town to which he paid a visit4 ,he
 took  advantage of this enthusiasm to  
found fresh ,masonic ,lodges in all     
directions1 and1 while he consistently  

refused to receive payment of any  kind 
for his cures1 the shekels of an endless
 file of initiate converts  poured into 
the coffers at the headquarters of      
,egyptian ,masonry4 ,never  was man at  
once more lavish with money and more    
indifferent to the  comforts which money
 brings4 8,he slept in an armchair10    
said ,madame  d',oberkirch              
contemptuously1 8and lived on cheese40  
,whatever he spent1  however1 he        
appeared to draw from an inexhaustible  
widow's cruise4 ,as in  spite of his    
refusal to accept fees1 he paid his own 
bills with the  greatest promptitude2   
the problem whence this continuous      
stream of gold  flowed excited unbounded
 curiosity1 and many were the fantastic 
stories  invented to account for it4    
,meanwhile1 after visiting ,mittau1     
where he was enthusiastically taken up  
by ,marshal von ,medem1 the head of the 
,masonic ,lodge at that place1 he       
passed on to ,petersburg1 ,warsaw1 and  
thence to ,strassburg4 ,here he was     

destined to enjoy a great triumph and to
 win a powerful friend1 who was         
eventually1 through a pure accident1 to 
prove the cause of his undoing4  ,this  
was none other than the notorious       
,cardinal de ,rohan4 ,it is hardly      
necessary to state that the             
ecclesiastical dignitary of the         
eighteenth  century in ,france was not  
selected for his high office by reason  
of his  exemplary life or his ,christian
 virtues4 ,to neither of these did      
,cardinal de ,rohan make any claim4 ,yet
 honours had fallen thick and fast  upon
 him4 ,he was ,bishop of ,strassburg1   
,grand ,almoner of ,france1  ,cardinal1 
,prince of the ,empire1 ,landgrave of   
,alsace1 in addition to  being ,abbot of
 the richest abbey in ,france1 the      
,abbey of ,st ,waast  ,handsune4 ,of    
fascinating manner1 an aristocrat of the
 aristocrats1 there  was no position in 
the kingdom to which he did not feel    
justified in  aspiring4 ,the fact that  
he enjoyed a reputation for dissipation 

and  extravagance did not appear        
calculated to tell against him in such  
an  age4    ,surprising as it may seem1 
the ,cardinal combined with a           
pleasure-loving  disposition a passion  
for alchemy and the pursuit of the      
occult  sciences1 and the arrival of    
,cagliostro at ,strassburg naturally    
enough  excited his interest to no small
 degree4 ,the ,cardinal determined to   
lose  no time in making the acquaintance
 of the man about whom and whose        
marvellous cures the whole town was     
already talking almost before he set    
foot in its streets4 ,but ,cagliostro   
was inclined to ride the high horse4    
8,if the ,cardinal is ill10 he replied  
to the great man's messenger1 8let  him 
come to me and ,i will cure him4 ,if    
not1 he has no need of me nor ,i  of    
him40 ,in spite of the ,count's         
stand-offishness1 the ,cardinal was not 
to be denied1 and the acquaintance once 
made soon ripened into the  closest     
intimacy4 ,cagliostro was told to       

consider the palace his own1  and he and
 his wife resided there on the footing  
of the most honoured  guests4           
,marvellous tales are told of the       
results of his experiments in  the      
,cardinal's laboratory1 how he          
manufactured gold and jewels1 and       
finally showed ,de ,rohan in the crystal
 the form of the woman whom he had      
loved4 ,it is on these stories alone    
that the reputation of ,cagliostro as   
an alchemist really rests1 and in the   
absence of further confirmatory         
evidence one is inclined to take them   
with a grain of salt4 ,however this  may
 be1 it is certain that the ,cardinal   
was completely won over1 and            
,cagliostro took care not to lose caste 
by assuming airs of humility or         
deference4 ,never1 certainly1 was there 
less of a snob than this  marvellous    
adventurer4 8,cagliostro10 says ,madame 
d',oberkirch1 8treated  him and his     
other distinguished admirers as if they 
were under the  deepest obligation to   

him2 but he under none whatever to      
them40 ,as  usual1 our hero was besieged
 at ,strassburg by those who would      
profit by  his medical knowledge and    
skill as a healer1 for he really appears
 to  have possessed both1 and as usual  
by obliging his clients he incurred  the
 inveterate hostility of the medical    
profession4 ,in all ages of the  world's
 history the natural healer has had the 
doctor as his enemy1 and  the prophet1  
the priest4 ,orthodoxy has ever closed  
its ranks against  those who poach on   
its preserves4 ,doubtless it is the     
natural instinct  of self-defence4 ,for 
,cagliostro1 however1 it was extremely  
inconvenient4  ,the people would throng 
his doorsteps to be cured and make him  
heal them  willy-nilly1 and the medical 
profession were equally determined to   
make  each place in which he practised  
his medical skill too hot for him4      
,others might have been willing to let  
the dogs bark1 but a fatal              
sensitiveness to criticism made the     

,count an all too easy target for  their
 venom4 ,they drove him from ,strassburg
 as they had driven him from  other     
places1 in spite of the entreaties of   
,de ,rohan1 who pressed him to  stay and
 disregard their clamour4    ,we need   
not follow ,cagliostro from ,strassburg 
to ,bordeaux and from  ,bordeaux to     
,lyons1 where he added further laurels  
to his reputation and  founded further  
,lodges of ,egyptian ,masonry4 ,he might
 have remained  indefinitely to all     
appearance at the latter place if it had
 not been  for the solicitations of     
,cardinal de ,rohan1 who urged him to   
respond to  the appeals of ,parisian    
,society and visit the gay capital1     
where he  guaranteed him an enthusiastic
 reception4 ,he even sent a special     
messenger to back his request1 and      
perhaps ,cagliostro himself had heard   
the capital of cultured ,europe         
a-calling4 ,anyhow he came1 his evil    
fate--if not ,paris--summoning him4     
,cagliostro declared that he took the   

greatest precaution on arriving there to
 avoid causing ill-will4 ,however  this 
may be1 he immediately became 8the rage0
 in fashionable circles2  people flocked
 to him by hundreds to be cured1 and the
 stories of the  miracles which he was  
supposed to have effected were the talk 
of every  dinner-party in the capital4  
,mesmer had already left ,paris with a  
fortune of #cdj1jjj livres1 made by his 
lucrative practice1 in his  pocket4     
,paris1 craving for a new excitement1   
was ready to receive with  open arms the
 wonder-worker of whom it was said that 
no one of all his  patients ever        
succeeded in making him accept the least
 mark of  gratitude4#af    ,cagliostro  
was here surfeited with flattery4       
,houdin executed his bust4  ,his        
statuettes were in every shop window4   
,his portrait was in every  house4      
,those who claimed to have been cured by
 him were met with on all  sides4       
,angels1 it is said1 and heroes of      
,biblical story appeared at his  sances4

 ,no story was too absurd for ,paris to 
believe about him4    ,but a train of   
events in which he had no hand1 and a   
catastrophe for  which he had no        
responsibility1 were destined1 while    
wrecking other  reputations and         
undermining the throne itself1 to bring 
his career of  triumph to a sudden and  
tragic close1 and eventually to drive   
him1 a  forsaken and persecuted outcast1
 to his final doom4 ,cagliostro1 as     
already stated1 had nothing whatever to 
do with the affair of the  ,diamond     
,necklace4 ,but for all that1 he was    
caught in the web of deceit  that an    
unscrupulous woman had woven to suit her
 own purposes4    ,the ,countess de     
,lamotte-,valois1 a descendant of a     
natural son of ,henri  ,,ii41 and an    
adventuress of the most reckless type1  
had found a protector  in the person of 
the susceptible ,cardinal de ,rohan4    
,now the ,cardinal was  by no means a   
persona grata at the ,court of          
,versailles4 ,as a matter of  fact1 he  

was never seen there except at the feast
 of the ,assumption1  when it was his   
duty as ,grand ,almoner to celebrate    
,mass in the ,royal  ,chapel4 ,the cause
 of this was the enmity of ,queen ,marie
 ,antoinette4 ,the  ,cardinal had been  
recalled from the embassy at ,vienna at 
the instance of  her mother1 ,maria     
,theresa1 and doubtless the mother had  
communicated to  the daughter a distrust
 for the brilliant but pleasure-loving  
,cardinal4  ,this was a fatal obstacle  
to ,de ,rohan1 whose ambition it was to 
become  ,first ,minister to the ,king4  
,the ,countess de ,lamotte saw her      
chance in  the thwarted ambitions of her
 protector1 and took care to pose as an 
intimate friend of the ,queen1 a story  
to which her frequent visits to         
,versailles in connection with a        
petition for the recovery of some family
  property which had passed into the    
possession of the ,state1 lent a        
certain appearance of truth4 ,she       
represented to the ,cardinal the        

interest the ,queen took in him but     
which matters of policy compelled her   
to dissemble4 ,in the sequel1 a series  
of letters--of course forged--passed    
between ,de ,rohan and the supposed     
,queen4 ,the ,queen1 through the        
intermediary of the ,countess1 borrowed 
large sums of money of the  ,cardinal1  
which the ,cardinal1 on his part1 being 
head over ears in debt  in spite of his 
enormous income1 was compelled to borrow
 of the ,jews4  ,then1 when the         
,cardinal was becoming suspicious1 the  
,countess arranged a  bogus interview1  
at which another lady--admittedly       
remarkably like  her--posed as the      
,queen1 and permitted ,de ,rohan to kiss
 her hand4  ,finally1 ,madame de        
,lamotte got in touch with ,bhmer1 the  
owner of the  famous necklace4 ,this she
 represented to the ,cardinal that the  
,queen had  set her heart on obtaining1 
but could not1 at a moment's notice1    
find  the ready cash4 ,would he become  
security8 ,needless to say1 ,de ,rohan  

fell  into the trap4 ,the first         
instalment of the bill fell due1 and the
  ,cardinal1 who had not expected to be 
called on to pay1 was unable  offhand to
 find the money4 ,at this point ,bhmer1 
feeling nervous1  consulted one of the  
,queen's ladies-in-waiting1 who informed
 him that  the story of the ,queen      
having bought the necklace was all      
moonshine4 ,he  then went to the        
,countess de ,lamotte1 who had the      
effrontery to say she  believed he was  
being victimised1 and advised him to go 
to the ,cardinal1  thinking1 doubtless1 
that ,de ,rohan would take the entire   
responsibility  when the alternative was
 his ruin4 ,the jeweller1 however1      
instead of  taking her advice1 went     
straight to the ,king4 ,the ,king       
immediately  communicated with the      
,queen1 who was furious1 and insisted on
 having the  ,cardinal arrested         
forthwith4 ,the fat was now in the fire 
with a  vengeance4 ,the arrest of the   
,cardinal was followed by that of the   

,countess de ,lamotte1 of ,cagliostro   
and his wife 7whom the ,countess in     
utter recklessness accused of the theft 
of the necklace71 of the  ,baroness     
d',oliva1 who had 8played0 the ,queen1  
of de ,vilette1 the forger  of the      
letters1 and various minor actors in    
this astounding drama4    ,in the       
celebrated trial that followed          
,cagliostro was acquitted1 but not      
until he had spent nine months in the   
,bastille4 ,there was1 in fact1 not  a  
shadow of evidence against him4 ,his    
wife was released before the trial  took
 place4 ,cagliostro received an ovation 
from the people of ,paris on  the       
occasion of his release1 as well as ,de 
,rohan1 who was also  acquitted1 the    
popularity of the verdict being due to  
the hatred with  which the ,royal       
,family were now everywhere regarded4   
,but on the day  after1 by a ,royal     
edict1 ,de ,rohan was stripped of all   
his dignities and  exiled to ,auvergne1 
while ,cagliostro was ordered to leave  

,france within  three weeks4 ,the ,count
 retired to ,england1 fearful lest worse
 might  befall him2 but even here the   
relentless malignity of the discredited 
,queen1 who regarded his acquittal as   
equivalent to her own condemnation1     
followed his footsteps4 ,the            
unscrupulous ,de ,morande1 as we have   
already  seen1 was paid by the ,court to
 ruin his reputation and to identify him
  with the thief and gaolbird ,joseph   
,balsamo4 ,london was soon made so hot  
for him that he returned once more to   
the ,continent1 and made his home  for a
 short time in ,switzerland4 ,later on  
he went to ,trent1 where the            
,prince-,bishop1 who had a passion for  
alchemy1 made him a welcome guest4  ,but
 the ,count's day was over1 and         
misfortune continued to dog his         
footsteps4 ,the ,emperor ,joseph ,,ii4  
would not permit his vassal to harbour  
the man who had been mixed up in the    
,diamond ,necklace affair1 and the      
,bishop was reluctantly obliged to bid  

him begone4 ,cagliostro now found       
himself driven from pillar to post1 his 
resources were at an end1 and  his      
friends were dead or had deserted him4  
,he turned his steps towards  ,italy1   
and eventually arrived at ,rome4 ,here  
his presence becoming known  to the     
papal authorities1 he and his wife were 
arrested as members of  the ,masonic    
,fraternity4 ,in those days1 within the 
,papal ,states  ,freemasonry was a crime
 punishable by death4 ,after a mock     
trial the  death-sentence was commuted  
to imprisonment for life1 while his wife
 was  confined in a penitentiary4       
,rumour which wove a web of romance     
round all his doings1 did not leave  him
 even here1 and stories were circulated 
that he had escaped from his  dungeon   
and was living in ,russia4 ,there       
appears1 however1 to be no doubt  that  
neither ,count nor ,countess long       
survived their incarceration1 and  when 
the ,french soldiers invaded the ,papal 
,states in #agig and the ,polish        

,legion under ,general ,daubrowski      
captured the fortress of ,san ,leo1 in  
which the ,count had been confined1 the 
officers who inquired after the  once   
famous magician1 hoping to set him free1
 were informed that it was  too late1   
and that he was already dead4 ,the      
,queen1 whose vindictive  spite had     
ruined these two lives1 went to her doom
 first2 but her  instrument1 the        
blackmailer ,morande1 retired to a quiet
 corner of ,france  on his ill-gotten   
fortune1 escaped the furies of the      
,french ,revolution1  and ended his life
 surrounded by an atmosphere of the most
 unquestioned  respectability4    ,and  
what of the man with whom not only his  
own fate1 but the  misrepresentations of
 history have dealt so hardly8 ,what    
manner of man  was he for whom even     
those who denounce him as mountebank    
might not  unreasonably1 one would      
think1 feel a passing sympathy8 ,on two 
points we  have ample testimony4 ,all   
those who knew him bore witness to the  

marvellous magnetism of his personality 
and to the fascination and  beauty of   
his extraordinary eyes4 8,no two eyes   
like his were ever seen10  says the     
,marquise de ,crgny1 8and his teeth were
 superb40 8,he was not1  strictly       
speaking1 handsome10 says ,madame       
d',oberkirch1 8but ,i have never  seen a
 more remarkable face4 ,his glance was  
so penetrating that one  might almost be
 tempted to call it supernatural4 ,i    
could not describe  the expression of   
his eyes2 it was1 so to speak1 a mixture
 of flame and  ice4 ,it attracted and   
repelled at the same time1 and1 whilst  
it inspired  terror1 it aroused along   
with it an irresistible curiosity4 ,i   
cannot  deny10 she adds1 8that          
,cagliostro possessed an almost         
demoniacal power40  ,not less noteworthy
 is the opinion of so hostile a witness 
as ,beugnot1  who confesses1 while      
ridiculing him1 that his face1 his      
attire1 the  whole man1 in fact1        
impressed him in spite of himself4 8,if 

gibberish can  be sublime10 he          
continues1 8,cagliostro was sublime4    
,when he began  speaking on a subject he
 seemed carried away with it1 and spoke 
impressively in a ringing1 sonorous     
voice40    ,this was the man whose      
appearance ,carlyle caricatured in the  
following  elegant phraseology3         
,a most portentous face of scoundrelism2
 a fat snub abominable face2            
dew-lapped1 flat-nosed1 greasy1 full of 
greediness1 sensuality1      ox-like    
obstinacy2 the most perfect quack face  
produced by the      eighteenth century4
    ,carlyle1 however1 who would say    
anything or write anything in his moods 
of irritability1 also alluded to the    
late ,cardinal ,newman as 8not          
possessing the intellect of a           
moderate-sized rabbit02 and the two     
statements may fairly be juxtaposed4    
,mr ,w4 ,r4 ,h4 ,trowbridge1 to whose   
recent book ,i am greatly indebted for  
material for this brief sketch of       
,cagliostro's life1 well observes that  

8there is perhaps no other equally      
celebrated personality in modern        
history whose character is so baffling  
to the biographer40 ,history has        
condemned him purely on the evidence of 
his most unscrupulous enemies4  ,but    
while dismissing such one-sided         
portraits1 it is no easy matter to      
arrive at an unprejudiced valuation of  
the real man4 ,of his latest            
biographer's impartiality and candour1  
as well as his careful research  of     
authorities1 it is impossible to speak  
too highly4 ,his conclusions  will be   
all the more widely accepted in view of 
the fact that he is  himself in no sense
 an occultist4 ,in spite of a rather    
long chapter  dealing with 8,eighteenth 
,century ,occultism10 we feel           
instinctively and  at every turn that   
the subject is one in which he is       
obviously out of  his depth4 ,indeed1   
only on the second page of his biography
 we come  across the following          
surprising statement4 ,speaking of      

8theosophists1  spiritualists1          
occultists10 all of whom are            
unceremoniously lumped  together1 he    
observes3        ,by these amiable      
visionaries ,cagliostro is regarded as  
one of the      princes of occultism    
whose mystical touch has revealed the   
arcana of      the spiritual world to   
the initiated1 and illumined the path   
along      which the speculative        
scientist proceeds on entering the      
labyrinth      of the supernatural4     
,every occultist knows this to be sheer 
rubbish4 ,cagliostro has never  been    
regarded as an authority in any school  
of occultism4 ,many1 if not  most       
occultists1 have been inclined to       
believe that he was more than  half a   
quack4 ,mr ,trowbridge--it is to be said
 to his credit--has judged  him in the  
light of the evidence more fairly than  
they4 ,the truth is  that1 ,cagliostro  
with all his good qualities1 with all   
his generosity of  heart1 his human     
sympathy1 his nobility--yes1 it really  

was nobility--of  character1 was beyond 
and above all things a poser and a      
mystery-monger4  ,he had a magnetic     
personality1 a mediumistic temperament1 
and almost  certainly some clairvoyant  
power1 though it is noticeable that he  
invariably employed a little boy or girl
 whose assistance was essential  to his 
predictions4 ,beyond this1 and1 ,i think
 we must say1 more  important than all  
this1 he had an incontestable natural   
healing gift1  which he aided by no     
small knowledge of practical medicine4  
,in these  qualifications we have the   
secret of his success1 and also the clue
 to  his failure4 ,he was excessively   
vain1 and loved to impress the          
multitude4 ,he loved1 moreover1 to      
impress them by surrounding himself     
with an atmosphere of mystery and posing
 as an occultist1 which  7probably7 he  
never was4 ,he has left no body of      
teaching behind him4 ,he  has left no   
followers1 no disciples4 ,he was merely 
the comet of a  season1 though an       

exceptionally brilliant one4 ,it would  
be absurd to  class him in the same     
category as such master occultists as   
,cornelius  ,agrippa and ,paracelsus1 or
 indeed even as ,eliphas ,levi4 ,he was 
not cast  in the same mould4 ,he        
belonged to another and a lower type4   
,but his was  withal a striking as well 
as a sympathetic personality1 a         
personality  that makes appeal1 by a    
certain glamour heightened by the       
tragedy of his  inglorious end1 to all  
that is warm1 and chivalrous1 and       
romantic in the  human heart4           
,footnote #ac3      ,the ,christian name
 of ,balsamo's wife was ,lorenza1 of    
,cagliostro's    ,seraphina4 ,but the   
story is itself of doubtful             
authenticity4    ,footnote #ad3      ,it
 is perhaps almost superfluous to state 
that ,joseph ,balsamo got his    wife   
locked up in jail1 beside compelling her
 to lead a life of    immorality4       
,footnote #ae3      ,unless indeed we   
accept the 7doubtful7 story of his      

transmuting metals    for ,de ,rohan4   
,footnote #af3      ,grimm4             
,,vii                     ,,anna        
,,kingsford ,,and ,,edward ,,maitland   
,we are all of us familiar with the old 
proverb that marriages are made  in     
,heaven1 though there are few of us who 
believe it4 ,it may1 however1  well be  
true that there are certain spiritual   
marriages or associations  which are    
made in ,heaven in the sense that they  
have a certain cosmic  foundation in the
 nature of things and in the            
relationship of one life  to another4   
,it may also be true that two lives are 
brought together for  special and       
important purposes by influences working
 from another and a  far higher plane4  
,collaboration is a very commonplace    
word1 but there  was certainly no       
element of the commonplace in the       
collaboration of ,anna  ,kingsford and  
,edward ,maitland4 ,history perhaps     
contains nothing more  remarkable1 and  
romance nothing more romantic1 than this

 singular  association of two strikingly
 diverse and original characters of     
opposite sexes for a single and supreme 
purpose4 ,to the two individuals        
concerned1 the sacrifice of two lives to
 the ideal which inspired them  seemed  
but little in view of the momentous     
character of the objects to  be         
achieved4 ,the world may not set the    
same store on the high mission of  ,anna
 ,kingsford and ,edward ,maitland1 may  
not perhaps value it at the same  price 
as the two co-workers who gave up their 
all in pursuit of their  aims4 ,many may
 say1 as many have said already1 that1  
like ,arthur's  ,knights of the ,round  
,table1 they were pursuing a            
will-o'-the-wisp and  not the ,holy     
,grail of their hearts' desire4 ,but    
assuming that they  partially           
misinterpreted the end to be achieved1  
or1 alternatively1  over-estimated their
 own powers of achieving that end with  
anything like  the success that so high 
an ideal demanded1 it should still be   

borne in  mind that those who           
under-estimate the greatness of their   
own mission  must inevitably fail to    
impress others with its value in the    
scheme of  things1 and it is therefore  
far better to over-estimate your own    
powers  and the importance of the object
 aimed at than to underrate either the  
one or the other4    ,illustration3     
,anna ,kingsford4    ,people are apt to 
look scoffingly at the man with a       
mission1 but it is  the men and the     
women with missions who have in fact    
made the world what  it is to-day4 8,a  
crank10 said some wit1 8is a little     
thing that makes  revolutions40 ,the    
saying is as true as it was in the times
 of ,jesus  ,christ1 that ,god has      
8chosen the foolish things of the world 
to confound  the wise1 and the weak     
things of the world to confound the     
things which  are mighty40 ,if there is 
one word in our language more           
misunderstood  than any other1 it is the
 little word 8,faith40 ,we have been    

told by the  cynical that faith is the  
capacity for believing that which we    
know to  be untrue1 and the             
misinterpretation of this term by the   
orthodox clergy  is responsible for the 
derision which has been cast upon it4   
,worst of  all sinners within the fold  
of the ,church has been the evangelical 
contingent4 8,believe10 they tell us1   
8all the dry-as-dust dogmas of  orthodox
 theology1 and you will win eternal     
salvation40 ,this is not1 we  may be    
sure1 the sense in which ,jesus used the
 word4 ,neither is it the  sense in     
which1 in a magnificently eloquent      
passage1 the word was  employed by the  
author of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews1 
when he spoke of  those who 8through    
faith subdued kingdoms1 wrought         
righteousness1  obtained promises1      
stopped the mouths of lions2 quenched   
the violence of  fire1 escaped the edge 
of the sword1 out of weakness were made 
strong1  waxed valiant in fight1 and    
turned to flight the armies of the      

aliens40    ,the faith of ,jesus and the
 faith of his apostles and followers is 
the  faith that implies and includes the
 power to achieve4 ,it is what we call  
in the ordinary language of the day     
8self-confidence10 but it is not the    
confidence in the lower but in the      
higher self2 it is the confidence  which
 comes of the conscious placing of      
ourselves en rapport with what          
,prentice ,mulford called 8the ,infinite
 ,life0 and the 8,divine ,source40      
,this power is the secret of all great  
achievement4 ,the faith of the          
orthodox1 on the other hand1 corresponds
 to the credulity of the man  in the    
street4 ,it is the will-o'-the-wisp that
 leads fools to sacrifice  the reality  
for a chimera4 ,it was in condemnation  
and in ridicule of  such folly as this  
that ,omar ,khayym bade his friends     
8take the cash and  let the credit go40 
,it was in the spirit of this true      
self-confidence  and self-reliance that 
,anna ,kingsford and ,edward ,maitland  

entered upon  the daring project of     
their life's work4 ,it was this spirit  
of faith  that enabled them to carry it 
at length to a triumphant               
conclusion--successful in spite of those
 imperfections inevitably  incidental to
 a work of the kind1 achieved under the 
defective  conditions of present-day    
humanity4    ,a great work was certainly
 seldom1 if ever1 accomplished under    
such  curious and such                  
self-contradictory conditions4 ,a man   
and a woman have  frequently worked     
together before1 and worked effectively 
and  harmoniously1 but they have either 
been in the relationship of husband  and
 wife1 of avowed lovers1 independent of 
or having deliberately cast  aside other
 ties1 or they have been free to work   
together as friends  owing to the fact  
that circumstances have left them       
unhampered by family  conditions4 ,the  
peculiarity of the present case is that 
the relations of  ,anna ,kingsford and  
,edward ,maitland subsisted in spite of 

the existence  of a husband for whom his
 wife had a very genuine and warm       
affection1  and who most undoubtedly    
reciprocated it to the full--in spite   
also of  the fact that the husband was  
fully aware of1 and approved of1 all    
that  took place1 without seeing        
anything in it to lessen his esteem for 
his  wife or compromise their           
relationship--in spite also of the fact 
that the  society of the day held up its
 hands in horror at the scandal and more
  than suspected immorality where there 
was none to suspect--in spite1  finally1
 of the fact that1 joined to the respect
 and friendly feeling  which ,edward    
,maitland felt for the husband1 there   
was something in his  whole attitude and
 demeanour towards ,anna ,kingsford     
which was more in  the nature of the    
devotion of a lover to his mistress than
 anything else  which the ordinary terms
 of language can express4 ,when ,anna   
,kingsford  passed away to another      
sphere early indeed in life 7she was but

  forty-two71 but with her life's work  
accomplished1 the two who joined  hands 
over her grave and who mourned her most 
deeply and most sincerely  were the     
devoted husband who loved her without   
understanding the most  remarkable side 
of her character1 and the friend who    
loved and  understood1 but1 better even 
than the woman whom he loved1 loved the 
work of which her presence and being    
were to him the divine symbol and  seal4
    ,people of the type of ,anna ,bonus 
,kingsford are too sensitive and        
impressionable ever to be really happy  
for long4 ,the acuteness of their       
feelings exaggerates their own          
sufferings1 and at the same time makes  
the consciousness of the sufferings of  
others an ever present torture  and     
martyrdom4 ,mrs ,kingsford's life1      
indeed1 at times when her health1       
always far from robust1 was below the   
usual level1 became absolutely          
unbearable4 ,the thought of bringing a  
child into the world to share her  own  

anguish and despair seemed in itself a  
crime4        ,i long 7she writes1 in   
one of these moods of depression71 ,i   
long for      a little rest and peace4  
,the world has grown very bitter to me4 
,i      feel as if every one were dead6 
,ah1 what a life is before me6--a life  
of incessant struggle1      reproach1   
and loneliness4 ,i shall never be as    
other women1 happy in      their        
wifehood and motherhood4 ,never to my   
dying day shall ,i know      the meaning
 of a home4        ,and behind me1 as ,i
 look back on the road by which ,i have 
come1 all      is storm and darkness4 ,i
 fought my way through my lonely1       
sad-hearted childhood2 ,i fought my way 
through my girlhood1      misunderstood1
 and mistrusted always2 and now1 in my  
womanhood1 ,i am      fighting still4   
,on every side of me are rebuke and     
suspicion1 and      bitter1 abiding     
sorrow4 ,pain and suffering of body and 
of spirit      have hung on my steps all
 the years of my life4 ,i have had no   

respite4        ,is there never to be   
peace8 ,never to be a time of sunlight  
that      shall make me glad of my      
being8    ,her spirit was indeed naked  
and without defence against the arrows  
of  the world4 ,endowed with courage far
 greater than falls to the lot of  most 
women1 with great independence and an   
utter fearlessness of  conventionality1 
she had no hesitation in avowing her own
 profound  belief in her divine mission4
 ,to one who1 meeting her for the first 
time1 observed with ill-timed           
jocularity1 8,i understand1 ,mrs        
,kingsford1  that you are a prophetess10
 she retorted with the utmost solemnity1
 8,i  am indeed a prophetess10 and on   
her interrogator continuing his banter  
by inquiring3 8,but not1 ,i suppose1 as 
great as ,isaiah80 8,yes10 she          
returned1 8greater than ,isaiah40 ,such 
mockery1 however boldly she faced  it1  
caused her the most acute pain4 ,there  
was1 indeed1 nothing  undignified about 
her avowal of her claims1 nothing that  

jarred1 nothing  of the charlatan in her
 composition4 ,if she was deceived      
herself1 at  least she never dreamed of 
deceiving others4 ,she never posed or   
attempted to gain a hearing by acting a 
part which was not natural to  her4 ,she
 was too genuine1 too intense in her    
convictions1 and withal too  natural and
 too unaffected to be otherwise than    
always and everywhere  true to herself4 
,she was essentially a child of nature1 
and in some of  the traits of her       
character she retained to the end the   
simplicity and  wayward playfulness     
which most people say good-bye to when  
they reach  years of discretion4        
,animals1 of course1 always appealed to 
her  strongest sympathies1 and for nine 
long years she could not bear to be     
parted except for occasional very brief 
periods from her favourite  guinea-pig1 
,rufus4 ,nature in its varying moods    
made the strong appeal  which it always 
does to people of so emotional a        
temperament4 ,once after  recovering    

from a serious bout of illness she was  
taken to convalesce at  ,dieppe4 ,an    
incident occurred here very illustrative
 of her susceptible  nature4 ,having    
stayed for some time and being greatly  
benefited by the  change1 she was       
proceeding in company with ,mr ,edward  
,maitland to see her  husband off by the
 steamer4 ,says her biographer3         
,it was a day of days for beauty4 ,while
 waiting1 we sat watching the           
gambols of a flock of sea-gulls1 whose  
gleaming white wings1 as they           
circled round and round against a sky of
 clearest and tenderest      blue1      
approaching each other to give loving   
salute with their bills1      and then  
darting off only to return and repeat   
the act1 uttering the      while shrill 
notes of joy and delight1 made a        
spectacle of exquisite      beauty1 and 
one that went to the invalid's inmost   
heart1 inducing an      estatic sense of
 the possibilities of happiness in the  
mere fact of      a natural and healthy 

existence4 ,though entranced by the     
scene no      less than my companion1 ,i
 did not fail to note the effect upon   
her1      and the thought arose in my   
mind1 8,this is the best remedy of all  
she has yet had40        ,as we were    
thus gazing and feeling1 a shot was     
fired from a boat      containing some  
men and women1 which1 unperceived by us1
 had glided      out from behind the    
opposite pier2 and immediately one of   
the birds      fell into the sea1 where 
it lay fluttering in agony with a broken
      wing1 while its companions fled   
away with harsh1 discordant cries2      
and in one instant the whole bright     
scene was changed for us from      one  
of innocence and joy into one of the    
darkest gloom and misery4      ,it was a
 murder done in ,eden1 followed by the  
instant eclipse of all      that made it
 ,paradise4 ,mary was frantic4 ,her so  
lately injured      organism gave way   
under the shock of such a revulsion of  
feeling4      ,her impulse was to throw 

herself into the sea to succour the     
wounded      bird1 and it was with      
difficulty that ,i restrained her2 and  
only      after giving vent to an agony 
of tears1 and pouring on the shooting   
party a storm of reproaches1 at the     
imminent risk of being given      into  
custody as they landed bearing the bird1
 now dead1 as a trophy1      did ,i     
succeed in getting her back to the      
hotel4 ,for the next      twenty-four   
hours her state was one of raving mania4
    ,no incident could be more          
characteristic of her temperament or of 
her  outlook upon life4 ,the charm and  
beauty and joy of life were all on the  
surface and only served to conceal the  
horror and anguish which lurked         
beneath4 ,she felt1 with the apostle1   
that all creation groaneth and          
travaileth together1 and to her         
hyper-sensitive spirit life itself was  
all too frequently a very hell4 ,one can
 well understand the ardour with  which 
a spirit like hers pursued the campaign 

against vivisection4 ,but  it is rare   
indeed to find this temperament joined  
with a courage which  faced the presence
 of the horrors she so dreaded to go    
through the  entire medical course and  
qualify as a doctor at a time when      
obstacles  innumerable were placed in   
the way of women candidates for the     
profession4 ,it is in connection with   
this phase of her career that a  story  
is narrated which has attained for her a
 somewhat unenviable  notoriety4 ,this  
is the record of the boast she is stated
 herself to have  made that she had     
brought about by her magical powers the 
death of one  of the most prominent     
supporters of vivisection in its worst  
form in the  medical world4 ,the doctor 
in question was the well-known          
,professor  ,claude ,bernard1 and the   
claim that she made will probably be    
regarded by  the occultist as not       
wanting foundation in fact4 ,the        
narrative had  better be given in her   
biographer's own words3        ,it was  

in mid-,february1 when1 having occasion 
to visit the ,ecole de      ,mdecine1 ,i
 accompanied her thither4 ,it was       
afternoon4 ,on reaching      the place  
we found it shut up1 and a notice on the
 gate apprised us      that the school  
was closed for the day on account of the
 obsequies      of ,professor ,claude   
,bernard4 ,we had not heard even of his 
illness4 ,a      cry1 or rather a gasp1 
of astonishment escaped her1 and she    
exclaimed1 8,claude ,bernard dead6      
,claude ,bernard dead6 ,take hold of    
me6 ,help me to a seat or ,i shall fall4
 ,claude ,bernard dead6 ,claude         
,bernard dead60 ,the only seat available
 near was on the stony steps      by    
which we were standing1 and ,i          
accordingly placed her on these1        
seeing that emotion had deprived her of 
all her powers4 ,once seated      she   
buried her face in her hands1 and ,i    
stood before her awaiting      the      
result in silence4 ,i knew that such an 
event could not fail      greatly to    

move her1 but no special reason occurred
 to me4 ,presently      she looked up1  
her face strangely altered by the       
intensity of her      emotion1 and asked
 me if ,i remembered what she had told  
me some      weeks ago about ,claude    
,bernard1 and her having been provoked  
to      launch her maledictions at him4 
,i remembered perfectly4 ,it was in     
the latter part of the previous         
,december4 ,her professor had forced    
her into a controversy about            
vivisection1 the immediate occasion     
being some experiments by ,claude       
,bernard on animal heat1 made by        
means of a stove invented by himself1 so
 constructed as to allow of             
observations being made on animals while
 being slowly baked to      death4 ,her 
professor had agreed with her as to the 
unscientific      character and utter   
uselessness for any medical purpose of  
such a      method of research4 ,but he 
was altogether insensible to its moral  
aspects1 and in answer to her strong    

expressions of reprobation1 had         
taken occasion to deliver himself of a  
tirade against the sentiments           
generally of morality and religion1 and 
the folly of allowing      anything so  
chimerical to stand in the way1 not     
merely of science1      but of any      
object whatever to which one might be   
inclined1 and      setting up a         
transcendental standard of right and    
wrong1 or      recognising any limits to
 self-gratification saving the physical 
risks to oneself4 ,even the feeling     
which makes a mother weep over      her 
child's suffering he sneered at as      
hysterical1 and gloried in      the     
prospects of the time when science and  
intellect should be      utterly        
unrestrained by what people call heart  
and moral conscience1      and the only 
recognised rule should be that of the   
bodily self4        ,thus speaking1 he  
had worked his pupil into a frenzy of   
righteous      indignation1 and the     
vision rose before her of a future when1

      through the teaching of a         
materialistic science1 society at large 
had become wholly demonised1 even as    
already were this man and his      kind4
 ,and seeing in ,claude ,bernard the    
foremost living      representative and 
instrument of the fell conspiracy1 at   
once      against the human and the     
divine1 to destroy whom would be to rid 
the earth of one of its worst monsters1 
she no sooner found herself      alone  
than she rose to her feet1 and with     
passionate energy invoked      the wrath
 of ,god upon him1 at the same moment   
hurling her whole      spiritual being  
at him with all her might1 as if with   
intent1 then      and there1 to smite   
him with destruction4 ,and so           
completely1 it      seemed to her1 had  
she gone out of herself in the effort   
that her      physical system instantly 
collapsed1 and she fell back powerless  
on      her sofa1 where she lay awhile  
utterly exhausted and unable to move4   
,it was thus that1 on rejoining her1 ,i 

found her1 with just      sufficient    
power to recount the experience1 and to 
ask me my opinion      as to the        
possibility of injuring a person at a   
distance by making1      as it were1 a  
spiritual thunderbolt of oneself2 for1  
if such a thing      were possible1 and 
had ever happened1 it must1 she was     
convinced1      have happened then4     
,at the moment the discussion on this   
subject was dropped1 but further        
evidence was subsequently sought which  
it was hoped would confirm or  disprove 
the idea that ,anna ,kingsford had been 
responsible for the great  ,french      
doctor's death4 ,eventually1 our heroine
 came across an  acquaintance of the    
deceased ,professor in the person of a  
practical  student of occult science4   
,it appeared from his narrative that    
,claude  ,bernard was one of the few    
members of the profession who also took 
an  interest in this subject1 which had 
served as a link between them4 ,he      
informed ,mrs ,kingsford that the doctor

 had described his earliest  symptoms to
 himself1 and had regarded them as      
somewhat mysterious4 ,he  was engaged1  
it appears1 in his laboratory in the    
,collge de ,france1  being at the time  
in his usual health1 when he felt       
himself suddenly  struck as if by some  
poisonous effluvium which he believed to
 emanate  from the subject of his       
experiment4 ,the effect1 instead of     
passing off1  became intensified1 and   
manifested itself in severe internal    
inflammation1 from which he eventually  
died4 ,the doctors pronounced the       
complaint to be ,bright's disease4 ,this
 was the disease which ,claude  ,bernard
 had chiefly endeavoured to investigate 
by inducing it in  animals4 ,the        
possibility of such an incident is of   
course familiar to  students of         
occultism1 and ,paracelsus1 with others 
before and since1  have maintained its  
feasibility4 ,the great ,german         
occultist writes that  it is possible   
that the spirit without the help of the 

body may1  8through a fiery will alone1 
and without a sword1 stab and wound     
others40 ,this is purely in accordance  
with the general trend of his  doctrine1
 a large part of which is based on the  
belief that the will is  a most potent  
operator in medicine4    ,anna          
,kingsford was1 it is well known1 one of
 the earliest and foremost  champions of
 the movement for women's rights1 but   
the line she took in  this movement was 
supremely sane and wise1 and was devoid 
of all the  extravagances which have    
since brought certain sides of one of   
the  greatest and most important        
movements of the day into well-deserved 
contempt4 ,edward ,maitland was in      
entire sympathy with her in this        
matter1 and in endorsing one of her     
communications to him observes3 8,i     
send you to-day's ,times1 with a report 
of the debate on the ,women's  ,suffrage
 ,bill1 which will show you how much you
 are needed in that  movement4 ,for the 
debate shows why it does not advance4   

,they are all on  the wrong tack1       
supporters and opponents alike4 ,the    
franchise is claimed  in hostility1 not 
sought in love4 ,the women are demanding
 it as a means  of defence and offence  
against man1 instead of as a means of   
aiding and  perfecting man's work4 ,they
 want a level platform with man         
expressly in  order to fight him on     
equal terms4 ,and of course the instinct
 of the  majority of men and women      
resents such a view40 8,justice1 in     
fact1 as  between men and women1 human  
and animal10 was among ,anna            
,kingsford's  foremost aims2 for1 as her
 biographer well says3 8,all injustice  
was  cruelty1 and cruelty was for her   
the one unpardonable sin40 8,her love10 
he adds in a curiously revealing        
passage1 8was all for principles1 not   
for persons4 ,the last thing            
contemplated by ,anna ,kingsford was an 
aggravation of the existing divisions   
and antagonisms between the  sexes40    
8,and10 continues ,mr ,maitland1 8so far

 from accepting the  doctrine of the    
superiority of spinsterhood over        
wifehood1 she regarded  it as an        
assertion of the superiority of         
non-experience over experience  as a    
means of education40 ,but that which    
most of all she reprobated was  the     
disposition which led women to despise  
womanhood itself as an  inferior        
condition1 and accordingly to cultivate 
the masculine at the  expense of the    
feminine side of their nature4 8,it was 
by magnifying  their womanhood and not  
by exchanging it for a factitious       
masculinity  that she would have her sex
 obtain its proper recognition40 ,this  
recognition no one more ardently desired
 than herself4 ,she compares the  modern
 woman to ,andromeda bound to the rock  
on the seashore1 shackled by  the chains
 of ignorance and a helpless prey to    
that terrible monster  whose name is    
ennui4 8,when10 she asks1 8will ,perseus
 come to deliver the  fair ,andromeda1  
to loosen her fetters and to set her    

free80 ,much has  happened to better the
 position of women since this was       
written1 but  much yet remains to be    
done4    ,all who knew ,anna ,kingsford 
unite in testifying to the impression   
conveyed to them by her striking        
personality with its originality1       
freshness1 and force1 no less than by   
her many-sidedness and the strange      
contradictions of her character4 ,her   
biographer gives the following          
description of her appearance at the    
date when he first met her3             
,tall1 slender1 and graceful in form4   
,fair and exquisite in      complexion4 
,bright and sunny in expression4 ,the   
hair long and      golden1 but the brows
 and lashes dark and the eyes deep set  
and      hazel1 and by turns dreamy and 
penetrating4 ,the mouth rich1 full1     
and exquisitely formed4 ,the broad brow 
prominent and sharply cut4      ,the    
nose delicate1 slightly curved1 and just
 sufficiently prominent      to give    
character to the face4 ,and the dress   

somewhat fantastic as      became her   
looks4 ,anna ,kingsford seemed at first 
more fairy than      human and more     
child than woman4 ,for though really    
twenty-seven she      appeared scarcely 
seventeen1 and made expressly to be     
caressed1      petted and indulged1 and 
by no means to be taken seriously4      
,these impressions as regards her       
character were appreciably modified on  
subsequent acquaintance1 and ,mr        
,maitland observes that 8when she warmed
  to her favourite themes1 her whole    
being radiant with a spiritual light1   
her utterances were those in turn of a  
savant1 a sage1 and a child1 each  part 
suiting her as well as if it were her   
one and only character40    ,the        
relationship between the authors of ,the
 ,perfect ,way and the  founders of the 
,theosophical ,society in the days of   
its infancy affords  matter of no little
 interest4 ,the basic idea of the       
,theosophical  ,society1 viz4 the       
harmonising of the esoteric side of all 

religions1  naturally suggested to the  
promoters of the movement that in the   
authors  of so remarkable a work1 they  
would find a tower of strength1 and     
,madame  ,blavatsky1 in particular1 was 
most anxious to obtain their support and
  co-operation for the ,british section 
of the ,society4 ,eventually1 after     
considerable hesitation1 ,anna          
,kingsford responded to the advances    
made  to her1 and accepted the          
presidency of the ,british section4 ,but
 the  arrangement was not one which was 
destined to last long4 ,that it was not 
likely to be a success might1 ,i think1 
have been readily enough  foreseen4     
,anna ,kingsford and ,edward ,maitland  
were too uncompromising in  their point 
of view--too positive that the source of
 their own  information could not be    
impugned1 to accept readily the bona    
fides of  other and1 as they considered1
 lower oracles4 ,this1 however1 was by  
no  means all4 ,the attitude of         
,theosophy in its early days towards    

,christianity was in the main hostile4  
,to make the esoteric  interpretation of
 this creed the pivot of their teaching 
was the last  idea they contemplated4   
,madame ,blavatsky had attacked         
,christianity in  ,isis ,unveiled4 ,mr  
,sinnett was equally unsympathetic4 ,the
 basis of  their actual teaching was an 
interpretation of ,eastern religions1   
whereas the basis of ,the ,perfect ,way 
was an interpretation of ,western4      
,anna ,kingsford was just as            
unhesitating in giving her preference to
  ,christianity as the leaders of       
,theosophy were in according theirs to  
,buddhism1 ,hinduism1 and kindred       
,oriental philosophies4 ,mrs ,besant's  
attitude when she joined the ,society   
showed similar preferences4 ,her  early 
experiences of orthodox ,christianity   
were not such as to bias her  in its    
favour1 and it was not until later days 
that she assumed the  mantle of the     
prophet of ,the ,perfect ,way1 and      
openly recognised the  importance of the

 esoteric side of ,christianity to      
complete the circle  of theosophical    
teachings4 ,the views with which        
,theosophy commenced have  in the course
 of time been materially modified1 and a
 curious sidelight  is thrown1 by a     
letter of ,anna ,kingsford's1 on the    
question whether the  leaders of this   
,society had originally adopted the     
reincarnation  hypothesis1 or whether   
this was in the nature of a subsequent  
development4 ,mrs ,kingsford writes     
under date #crd ,july #ahhb1 to her     
friend ,lady ,caithness1 alluding to the
 reception of ,the ,perfect ,way by  the
 ,press3        ,after all this         
reviewing and fault-finding on the part 
of critics      having but a third of   
the knowledge which has been given to   
us1      there is not a line in ,the    
,perfect ,way which ,i would alter were 
the book to be reprinted4 ,the very     
reviewer--,mr ,sinnett--who writes      
with so much pseudo-authority in the    
,theosophist1 has1 within a      year's 

time1 completely altered his views on at
 least one important      subject--,i   
mean ,reincarnation4 ,when he came to   
see us a year ago in      ,london1 he   
vehemently denied that doctrine1 and    
asserted1 with      immense conviction1 
that ,i had been altogether deceived in 
my      teaching concerning it4 ,he read
 a message from ,isis ,unveiled to      
confute me1 and argued long on the      
subject4 ,he had not then received      
any instruction from his ,hindu guru    
about it4 ,now1 he has been so          
instructed1 and wrote ,mr ,maitland a   
long letter acknowledging the      truth
 of the doctrine which1 since seeing us1
 he has been taught4      ,but he does  
not yet know all the truth concerning   
it1 and so finds      fault with our    
presentation of that side of it which1  
as yet1 he has      not been taught4    
,presumably in this matter ,mr ,sinnett 
reflected ,madame ,blavatsky's views1   
and the fact that he cites ,isis        
,unveiled seems to me to leave little   

doubt in the matter4 ,surely if he had  
misunderstood her1 ,h4 ,p4 ,b4 would    
have taken pains to put him right6 ,i   
think that the date given will fix      
approximately the period at which       
official ,theosophy was openly          
converted to the doctrine of            
,reincarnation4 ,until that time1 if it 
was  not uniformly denied1 at least     
there were wide diversities of opinion1 
and apparently its opponents mustered   
more strongly than its supporters4      
,eventually ,anna ,kingsford and ,edward
 ,maitland founded between them the     
,hermetic ,society4 ,this was not       
destined to a long lease of life1       
mainly owing to the breakdown of ,anna  
,kingsford's health4 ,but while         
,theosophy showed the greater vitality1 
in spite of scandals and discords  which
 might well have shattered it to its    
base1 the teachings of the  authors of  
,the ,perfect ,way exercised a profound 
influence in leavening  the mass of     
,theosophical teaching4 ,though         

possessing no little dogmatism  in her  
own intellectual organisation1 ,anna    
,kingsford had no great liking  for any 
form of society that taught             
dogmatically1 her idea being that  every
 one must necessarily find out the truth
 for himself and realise it  spiritually
 from his own individual standpoint4    
,theosophy was altogether  too dogmatic 
for her1 without being dogmatic on her  
own lines4 ,she was  readier to admit   
the existence of the ,mahatmas than to  
grant the  inspired source of their     
communications4 ,in any case she looked 
upon  their teaching as of a radically  
lower order than her own1 and           
reflecting those vices and defects which
 she and ,maitland were wont to         
associate with the denizens of the      
astral plane4 ,on the subject of        
communications with such entities1 or   
with those whom she suspected of        
belonging by nature to this region1 she 
was never tired of inveighing4          
,the secret 7she says7 of the opposition

 made in certain circles to      the    
doctrine set forth in ,the ,perfect ,way
 is not far to seek4 ,it      is to be  
found in the fact that the book is1     
throughout1 strenuously      opposed to 
idolatry in all its forms1 including    
that of the popular      8spiritualism0 
of the day1 which is1 in effect1 a      
revival1 under a      new guise and with
 new sanctions1 of the ancient cultus   
known as      ,ancestor-worship4 ,the   
,perfect ,way1 on the contrary1 insists 
that      truth is accessible only      
through the illumination1 by the ,divine
      ,spirit1 of man's own soul2 and   
that precisely in proportion as the     
individual declines such interior       
illumination1 and seeks to              
extraneous influences1 does he          
impoverish his own soul and diminish    
his possibilities of knowledge4 ,it     
teaches that 8,spirits0 or              
8,angels10 as their devotees are fond of
 styling them1 are      untrustworthy   
guides1 possessed of no positive divine 

element1 and      reflecting1 therefore1
 rather than instructing1 their         
interrogators2      and that the        
condition of mind1 namely1 passivity1   
insisted on by      these 8angels0 is   
one to be strenuously avoided1 the true 
attitude      for obtaining divine      
illumination being that of ardent active
      aspiration1 impelled by a resolute
 determination to know nothing but      
the ,highest4 ,precisely such a state of
 passivity1 voluntarily      induced1   
and such veneration of and reliance upon
 8guides0 or      8controls10 are       
referred to by the ,apostle when he     
says3 8,but let no      man beguile you 
by a voluntary humility and worshipping 
of angels40      ,and precisely such    
exaltation of the personal ,jesus1 as   
,the ,perfect      ,way repudiates and  
its opponents demand1 is by the same    
,apostle      condemned in the words3   
8,henceforth know we no man after the   
flesh3      yea1 though we have known   
,christ after the flesh1 yet now        

henceforth      know we him no more40   
,accordingly1 as ,maitland and          
,kingsford fell foul of the             
,theosophical  ,society on the one hand1
 they fell foul of the ,spiritualists on
 the  other4 ,but the cleavage between  
,spiritualism and the teaching of ,the  
,perfect ,way was far deeper than that  
between this teaching and  ,theosophy4  
,with ,theosophy indeed1 in its broadest
 sense1 there was  nothing in ,kingsford
 and ,maitland's teaching that was      
radically  antagonistic4 ,the ,perfect  
,way might in fact be accepted to-day1  
with  some reservations on minor points1
 as a theosophical text-book1 and1      
looked at from this point of view1 it is
 the fullest1 the most complete1  and   
the most coherent exposition of         
,christianity as seen through           
theosophical spectacles4 ,anna          
,kingsford had indeed herself been      
received  into the fold of the ,roman   
,catholic ,church1 though certainly     
,roman  ,catholicism never had a more   

rebellious or more independent subject4 
,on  the doctrine of authority she would
 never have made concessions1 and1      
without this admission1 one fails to see
 what status the ,roman ,church  can be 
held to occupy4 ,it is indeed a case of 
,hamlet without the ,prince  of         
,denmark4 ,her leanings1 however1       
towards the ancient mother of           
,christian churches was1 even in its    
modified form1 gall and wormwood to  her
 partner and collaborator1 and in the   
end it brought about some very  unhappy 
and regrettable scenes in connection    
with her last hours1 and a  dispute as  
to the faith in which she died1 which   
must have been  exceedingly painful to  
all concerned4    ,perhaps in no single 
point does ,roman ,catholicism present a
 worse and  more undesirable aspect than
 in the manner in which its missionaries
  besiege the last hours of the passing 
soul in the effort to induce its        
victims1 when too weak for resistance1  
to say 8ditto0 to the formul  which     

their priests pretend to regard as      
constituting a password to the          
celestial realms4 ,certainly1 in ,anna  
,kingsford's case1 the admission of  a  
,roman ,catholic ,sister of ,mercy to   
tend her in her last illness was        
productive of the worst results1        
troubling her last hours with an        
unseemly wrangle that did not cease even
 after her body was consigned to  its   
final resting-place4    ,a sidelight is 
thrown on ,mrs ,kingsford's attitude    
towards ,roman  ,catholicism by the     
record of a conversation which her      
biographer cites  her as having had on  
one occasion with a ,roman ,catholic    
priest4 ,she was  calling on a ,catholic
 friend on the occasion1 and speaking as
 usual in  her very free and            
self-confident manner with regard to the
 religious  views which she held4 ,some 
remark which she made elicited from the 
priest the rebuke1 8,why1 my daughter1  
you have been thinking4 ,you  should    
never do that4 ,the ,church saves us the

 trouble and danger of  thinking1 by    
telling us what to believe4 ,we are only
 called on to  believe4 ,i never think3 
,i dare not4 ,i should go mad if ,i were
 to let  myself think40 ,anna ,kingsford
 replied that what she wanted was to    
understand1 and that it was impossible  
to do this without thinking4  ,believing
 without understanding was for her not  
faith but credulity4  8,how1 except by  
thinking10 she asked1 8does one learn   
whether the ,church  has the truth80    
,when the ,hermetic ,society was        
founded1 ,w4 ,t4 ,stead was editor of   
the  ,pall ,mall ,gazette1 and ,mrs     
,kingsford wrote for him an account of  
the  new ,society4 ,stead1 with his     
usual taste for dramatic headlines1     
entitled it 8,the ,newest ,thing in     
,religions40 ,this was the very last    
description that its founders were      
likely to tolerate4 ,anna ,kingsford    
wrote back an indignant letter of       
repudiation4 8,so far10 she says1 8from 
being the newest thing in religions1 or 

even claiming to be a religion  at all1 
that at which the ,society aims is the  
recovery of what is really  the oldest  
thing in religion1 so old as to have    
become forgotten and  lost--namely1 its 
esoteric and spiritual1 and therefore   
its true  signification40 ,elsewhere she
 writes of ,the ,perfect ,way as not    
purporting to be a new gospel4 8,its    
mission10 she says1 8is that simply  of 
rehabilitation and re-interpretation    
undertaken with the view1 not of        
superseding ,christianity1 but of saving
 it40 ,she continues3        ,for1 as   
the deepest and most earnest thinkers of
 our day are      painfully aware1 the  
,gospel of ,christendom1 as it stands in
 the ,four      ,evangels1 does ,,not   
suffice1 uninterpreted1 to satisfy the  
needs of      the age1 and to furnish a 
perfect system of thought and rule of   
life4 ,christianity--historically       
preached and understood--has for        
eighteen centuries filled the world with
 wars1 persecutions1 and      miseries  

of all kinds2 and in these days it is   
rapidly filling it      with            
agnosticism1 atheism1 and revolt against
 the very idea of ,god4      ,the       
,perfect ,way seeks to consolidate truth
 in one complete whole1      and1 by    
systematising religion1 to demonstrate  
its ,catholicity4 ,it      seeks to make
 peace between ,science and ,faith2 to  
marry the      ,intellect with the      
,intuition2 to bring together ,east and 
,west1 and      to unite ,buddhist      
philosophy with ,christian love1 by     
demonstrating      that the basis of    
religion is not historical1 but         
spiritual--not      physical1 but       
psychic--not local and temporal1 but    
universal and      eternal4 ,it avers   
that the true 8,lord ,jesus ,christ0 is 
no mere      historical character1 no   
mere demi-god1 by whose material blood  
the      souls of men are washed white1 
but 8the hidden man of the heart10      
continually born1 crucified1 ascending  
and glorified in the interior           

,kingdom of the ,christian's own        
,spirit4 ,a scientific age rightly      
refuses to be any longer put off with   
data which are more than      dubious1  
and logic which morality and philosophy 
alike reject4 ,a      deeper1 truer1    
more real religion is needed for an     
epoch of thought1      and for a world  
familiar with ,biblical criticism and   
revision--a      religion whose         
foundations no destructive agnosticism  
can undermine1      and in whose        
structure no examination1 however       
searching1 shall be      able to find   
flaw or blemish4 ,it is only by rescuing
 the ,gospel of      ,christ from the   
externals of history1 persons1 and      
events1 and by      vindicating its     
essential significance1 that            
,christianity can be      saved from the
 destruction which inevitably overtakes 
all idolatrous      creeds4 ,there is   
not a word in ,the ,perfect ,way at     
variance with      the spirit of the    
,gospel of the 8,lord ,jesus ,christ40  

,nothing shows the method adopted in    
their ,gospel of ,interpretation by  the
 two authors more clearly than their    
teaching with regard to the  story of   
the ,garden of ,eden and the ,fall of   
,man4 ,it is curious how  literally this
 story has been taken through many ages 
of the ,church's  history1 in view of   
the fact that such a writer as ,origen  
in the early  days of the infant ,church
 observed that3 8,no one in his time    
would be so  foolish as to take this    
allegory as a description of actual     
fact40  ,kingsford and ,maitland refer  
the interpretation firstly to the       
,church1  and secondly to individual    
man4 8,the conscience10 they say1 8set  
over  the human reason as its guide1    
overseer1 and ruler1 whether1 in the    
general1 as the ,church1 or in the      
particular1 as the individual1 falls1   
when1 listening to the suggestions of   
the lower nature1 she desires1  seeks1  
and at length defiles herself with1 the 
ambitions and falsehoods  of this       

present world40 8,ceasing to be a       
trustworthy guide she becomes  herself  
serpent and seducer to the human reason1
 leading him into false  paths until1 if
 she have her way1 she will end by      
plunging him into the  lowest depths of 
abject ignorance1 there to be devoured  
by the brood of  unreason and to be     
annihilated for ever4 ,for she is now no
 longer the  true wife1 ,faith1 she has 
become the wanton1 ,superstition40 ,on  
the other  hand1 8the ,church at her    
best1 unfallen1 is the glass to the lamp
 of  ,truth1 guarding the sacred flame  
within and transmitting unimpaired to   
her children the light received upon its
 inner surface40 ,hitherto this  fall   
has been the common fate of all         
,churches4 8,thus fallen and  degraded1 
the ,church becomes a church of this    
world1 greedy of worldly  dignities1    
emoluments1 and dominion1 intent on     
foisting on the belief of  her votaries 
in the name of authority fables and     
worse than fables--a  ,church jealous of

 the letter which killeth1 ignorant of1 
or bitterly at  enmity with1 the spirit 
which giveth life40    ,we now come to  
the interpretation of the ,fall as      
applied to individual  ,man4 ,this is   
allegorically described as 8the lapse of
 heavenly beings  from their first happy
 estate and their final redemption by   
means of  penance done through          
incarnation in the flesh40 ,the authors 
tell us that  this imagined lapse is a  
parable designed to veil and preserve a 
truth4  ,this truth is the ,creative    
,secret1 the projection of ,spirit into 
matter1  the descent of substance into  
,maya1 or illusion4 ,from a cosmic      
standpoint 8the ,tree of ,divination or 
,knowledge becomes ,motion or the       
,kalpa--the period of ,existence as     
distinguished from ,being2 the ,tree of 
,life is ,rest or the ,sabbath1 the     
,nirvna4 ,adam is ,manifestation2 the   
,serpent--no longer of the lower1 but of
 the higher sphere--is the  celestial   
,serpent or ,seraph of ,heavenly        

,counsel40 ,by the ,tree of  ,divination
 of ,good and ,evil in this             
interpretation must be understood  that 
condition by means of which ,spirit     
projected into appearance  becomes      
manifested under the veil of ,maya1 a   
necessary condition for the  evolution  
of the individual1 but carrying with it 
its own inevitable  perils4 ,it is not1 
say our authors1 because matter is in   
itself evil  that the soul's descent    
into it constitutes a fall4 ,it is      
because to the  soul matter is a        
forbidden thing4 ,by quitting her own   
proper condition  and descending into   
matter she takes upon herself matter's  
limitations4  ,it is no particular act  
that constitutes sin4 ,sin does not     
consist in  fulfilling any of the       
functions of nature4 ,sin consists in   
acting  without or against the ,spirit1 
and in not seeking the divine sanction  
for everything that is done4 ,sin1 in   
fact1 is of the soul1 and it is due  to 
the soul's inclination to the things of 

sense4 ,to regard an act as  per se     
sinful is materialism and idolatry4 ,for
 in doing so we invest  that which is   
physical with a spiritual attribute1 and
 this is of the  essence of idolatry4   
,adam signifies the manifested          
personality1 or man1 and is only        
complete  when ,eve1 his soul1 is added 
to him as helpmeet4 ,when ,eve takes of 
the  fruit and enjoys it1 she turns away
 from her higher spiritual self to  seek
 for pleasure in the things of her lower
 self1 and in doing so she  draws ,adam 
down with her till they both become     
sensual and debased4 ,the  sin which    
commences in the thought of the soul1   
,eve1 thus becomes  subsequently        
developed into action through the energy
 of the body or  masculine part1 ,adam4 
,one of the inevitable results of the   
soul's  enslavement to matter is its    
liability to extinction4 ,in eating of  
the  fruit ,adam and ,eve absorb the    
seeds of mortality4 ,as ,milton says3   
,they engorged without restraint1       

,and knew not1 eating ,death4    ,the   
soul in her own nature is immortal1 but 
the lower she sinks into  matter the    
weaker becomes her vitality4 ,a         
continuous downward course  must        
therefore end in the extinction of the  
individual--not of course of  the       
,divine ,ray1 which returns to the      
,source whence it came4 ,it is well  to 
bear in mind that man is a dual being1  
not masculine or feminine  only1 but    
both4 ,this1 of course1 applies equally 
to man whether  manifested in a male or 
female body4 ,one side is more          
predominant in man  and the other in    
woman1 but this does not imply absence  
of the other  side1 but merely its      
subordination4 ,the man who has nothing1
 or next to  nothing1 of the woman in   
him1 is no true man1 and the woman who  
has  nothing of the man in her1 is no   
true woman4 ,man1 whether man or woman1 
consists of male and female1 ,reason and
 ,intuition1 and is therefore           
essentially twofold4 ,owing to the      

duality of his constitution1 every      
doctrine relating to man has a dual     
significance and application4 ,thus  the
 sacred books not only present an       
historical narrative of events          
occurring in time1 but have a spiritual 
significance of a permanent  character  
in regard to which the element of time  
has no meaning4 ,in this  sense         
,scripture is a record of that which is 
always taking place4        ,thus1 the  
,spirit of ,god1 which is original      
,life1 is always moving      upon the   
face of the waters1 or heavenly deep1   
which is original      ,substance4 ,and 
the ,one1 which consists of these two1  
is always      putting forth alike the  
,macrocosm of the universe and the      
,microcosm      of the individual1 and  
is always making man in the image of    
,god1 and      placing him in a garden  
of innocence and perfection1 the garden 
of      his own unsophisticated nature4 
,and man is always falling away from    
that image and quitting that garden for 

the wilderness of sin1 being            
tempted by the serpent of sense1 his own
 lower element4 ,and from      this     
condition and its consequences he is    
always being born of a      pure        
virgin--dying1 rising and ascending into
 heaven4    ,this1 in brief1 is one of  
the most essential portions of the new  
,gospel  of ,interpretation4 ,it        
exemplifies the method adopted          
throughout which is  that to which we   
are accustomed to apply the word        
8,hermetic40 ,it is both  ,christian and
 pre-,christian1 for it is the          
interpretation of the meaning  of life1 
which was the ,key to the ancient       
,gnostic faiths which1  subsisting      
before ,christianity1 became            
incorporated in the ,christian          
teaching4 ,new generations and races of 
men require the old truths to be  put   
before them in a new guise4 ,this was so
 when ,christianity first came  to      
birth1 but in the days of ,jesus ,christ
 there were many things which  the      

,prophet of ,nazareth had to say to his 
disciples1 but which1 as he  told them1 
they were then too weak to understand4  
,the mystical  interpretation of        
,christian truth fell on deaf ears then4
 ,re-stated and  re-interpreted1 after a
 lapse of #aijj years1 is it too much to
 hope that  it may no longer prove 8to  
the ,gentiles foolishness1 and to the   
,jews a  rock of offence08    ,,printed 
,,in ,,great ,,britain ,,by ,,neill     
,,and ,,co41 ,,ltd41 ,,edinburgh        
,transcriber's ,notes3       ,text that 
was in italics is enclosed by           
underscores 7italics74       ,footnotes 
have been moved to follow the chapters  
in which they are        referenced4