viii PREFACE 



to the realm of the invisible, and dare not enter the 

 temple where the mysterious workshop of Nature exists, 

 we will sink still more into the mire of illusion, and lose 

 still more of the faculties necessary to perceive the things 

 of the soul. A member which is not used atrophies ; a 

 faculty that is not actively employed is lost. If our whole 

 time and attention is taken up by the illusions of sense, 

 we will lose the power to perceive that which is super- 

 sensual; the more we look at the surface, the less will 

 we know of the kernel ; the more we sink into matter, 

 the more will we become unconscious of the spirit which 

 is the life of all things. 



But, fortunately for humanity, each evil carries its own 

 remedy in its bosom, each action is followed by a reaction, 

 and the progression of the world resembles the move- 

 ments of a pendulum that swings from one side to the 

 other, while it at the same time moves forward. Ages of 

 bigotry are followed by periods of thought that may end 

 in ages of scepticism ; centuries of scientific or religious 

 ignorance, intolerance, and superstition lead to revolutions 

 of thought that may, again, end in atheism and crime ; but 

 each swing of the pendulum raises humanity a step higher 

 on the ladder of progression. When it reaches the point 

 of gravity, it would stop unless pushed on by the impulse 

 coming from one or the other extreme. 



It seems that our age is nearing that neutral point 

 again. Blind " Materialism " has expended its powers ; it 

 may still have many pretended followers, but very few 

 that believe in it in their hearts. If there were any 

 persons who sincerely believed in it, and followed its 

 teachings to its last logical consequences, they would 

 necessarily end their days in jail or be driven to suicide ; 

 but the great majority of the advocates of Materialism 



