PROLEGOMENON. 35 



the dagger which slays the body, but having no retribution 

 for the murder of the soul." The wise Dracon went 

 behind the act, and saw in the fountain of the spirit the 

 true causal force of all acts, the true origin of all crimes, 

 the perverted elements of fallen humanity ; and, as the man 

 who was capable of ingratitude was capable of any crime, he 

 punished it with death. Sound ! 



The human family have suifered ever since the repeal of 

 this code of Dracon. If virtue is really its own reward in 

 the regular decrees of the Eternal, it would seem diabo- 

 lical bribery and treachery to permit a crime so atrocious 

 as ingratitude to escape condemnation and wrath ; and for 

 the law-maker of this time to pass it over without some 

 fearful penalty is to endorse the iniquity of Satan, the ene- 

 mies of man, and the powers that struggle to destroy the 

 world. 



From all of which conflicting chaoses and diabolical ex- 

 periences came there no fruits, came there no achieve- 

 ments, no results, and was it all suffering? Were there 

 no sequestered spots by the dusty wayside in this struggle, 

 no fresh and dewy meads of hope and consolation, no 

 " fair Rosetta vales," with sparkling waters, where the soul 

 could rest for a weary hour, "the world forgetting, by 

 the world forgot" ? Have there been no progressive friends 

 to encourage, no souls of " faith, hope, and charity" to 

 inspire confidence, no lovers of the light and beauty of Na- 

 ture to whisper the peace of sympathy? Have there been 

 no BELIEVERS in the rationality and good sense of this heal- 

 ing project, of this healing world ? Has the Mountain not 

 told its story of fate already ? Have not the pale faces of 

 suffering infants been made radiant ? have not the counte- 

 nances of jaded and overworked men become bright and 

 hopeful, whilst bleached and bloodless women have been 

 made to bloom with life and strength from its health- 

 founts, and the ends of the great u primary antagonism of 

 the world," or that of "spirit and matter," of " centre and 

 periphery," of that lofty and "heavenly irradiation" in 



