PROLEGOMENON. 19 



that in evil hour" still stretches forth to pluck forbidden 

 fruits and " unbar the gates of hell." Thou mayest avoid the 

 calamities that come from heaven by publishing a sound 

 and healthy existence, with temperance and virtue, through 

 the laws of thy normal organization; but thou canst never 

 escape those calamities which thou drawest upon thyself 

 and thine offspring by the introduction of demons of disease 

 and destruction into thine own body ; for the human form is 

 either a Paradise for angels and temple of the Holy Ghost, 

 a nest of unclean birds, or a den of venomous reptiles. 

 And this brings the recognition of the wise significance of 

 the uses and ends of all suffering ', that it is a schoolmaster's 

 rod and an instrument of goodness and love, the end pro- 

 posed being the regeneration and salvation of the culprit 

 or criminal, the reformation of the offender against the law, 

 and thus the creature of good, at the same time flouting the 

 profane doctrine of disinterested malignity on the part of 

 the Eternal, and clearly discerning that in the divine 

 economy for each hurt there must be a heal, for each smart 

 a salve, for every woe a balm. Profoundly impressed and 

 overshadowed by the immense reality of this conviction, 

 and held firmly bound by an abiding faith in the healing 

 influences of the simplest and constantly present powers of 

 the world, this dominant idea has been pursued, hunted, 

 enthusiastically explored, and wrestled with, until the gos- 

 pel of "Airs, Waters, and Places," and their power over 

 the human body, has become the universe. Thus one ele- 

 ment of success shines conspicuously forth : Faith, Faith ! 

 the soul of every real conquest of the world. 



"The lover may 



Distrust the look that steals his soul away ; 

 The babe may cease to think that it can play 

 With heaven's rainbow ; alchymists may doubt 

 The shining gold their crucible gives out ; 

 But Faith, fanatic Faith, once wedded fast 

 To some dear phantom, hugs it to the last." 



The Temple, or Place for the administration and dispen- 



