38 PEOCEEBIKGS Or THE 



speaks of being "iibout to address you this evening at the literal 

 invitation of L)r. Stone . , . ." He continues, alter a brief intro- 

 duction, "In 1847- — only three years ago in this very city — some 

 of you will doubtleiss remember I delivered several Lectures, one 

 on the Origin of Life and tlie i\d\ance of Civilization, . . . ." 

 He then goes on to speak of their hostile reception, concluding 

 this parr, of his lecture in the following words : — " These good 



Christians, were also zealous to show their pious faith, by 



publicly burning my ' blasphemous pamphlet,' that is, the lew 

 that they could lay hands upon .... All this tempest rose 

 because a man who had thought and experimented and reasoned 

 and reflected tried to place before his fellow-men the results he 

 had theoretically and expHrimentally arrived at" ... . "It is 

 this theme (with your kind permission) which I intend to review 

 to-night, and in doing so I hope to reveal my thoughts in a some- 

 what clearer manner — ." The lecture proper then opens with a 

 paragraph beginning — "As I then was at pains to try to prove" 

 and continuing with the substance — often word for word the 

 same — of the second and third paragraphs on p. 3 (p. 3 of 

 the present Appendix) of the 1849 pamphlet. The last three 

 lines " may be greatly modified .... its kind." on p. 3 appear 

 word for word on a later page of the lecture. The passage re- 

 ferring to the triad of Lemur, Monkey, and Man (Appendix 

 p. 5) also appears in nearly the same words. The two sequences 

 of stages (Appendix p. 8) are also given — fused together and 

 almost complete. The lecture concludes, as does the 1849 pam- 

 phlet, in argument directed against the existence of a Personal 



Deity. As evidence there is brought forward the "fact 



that the air, &c., is filled with myriads of deadly genus." Apart 

 from the abo\e, the lecture is ahnost entirely devoted to the 

 contention that the germ of every animal and plant has always 

 existed and will continue to exist for all time, that it may lie 

 dormant for long periods until called into activity by favourable 

 circumstances which determine the particular form its reincarna- 

 tion will assume. All germs are apparently to be traced back to 

 an electrical primal germ containing " within it all the essentials 

 of all Life that it is possible to create — Cosmosite .... or ' germ- 

 world-iuhabitant.' " 



It will be realized from the above account that the lecture 

 itself is of no great interest or importance, except as supplying 

 evidence that the booklet dated 1849 is genuine. The validity of 

 this evidence again rests upon the authenticity of Dr. Stone's 

 invitation. Accompanying the latter were three other documents 

 signed by J. W. Stone. One of these dated Aug. 11, 1866, 

 introduced " my friend George W. Sleeper, Esq." to the Hon. E. 

 G. Hazard. A second of the same date, written to G. W. 

 Sleeper, suggested that the same introduction might be shown to 

 others, who are named. The object in view was probably poli- 

 tical, viz., " doing something for the good cause of Fremont and 

 Da\to:)." 



