At death, the violinist must leave behind his violin; the pianist, his piano; the painter, his brush; the weaver, his loom; the printer, his press. If, then, he has devoted his whole energy, his whole life, to this, must his life not be also left behind? But if his life have consisted in that which makes character, in strength and clearness of mind, this he will retain to all eternity. Happy he who knows how to discern the things that are seen and transitory, from the things that are not seen and eternal.

The problem must be left, in a certain measure, to each individual. But it may be stated distinctly, and driven home; a man may be implored, for his own sake, to consider it; to be pleaded with in the causes of his own soul, to be beseeched, if he have any pity or compassion, to pity and have compassion upon himself; to listen to the voice of God that speaks in the heart of each; to regard the promptings of the Divine Spirit, to listen to the Wind of Destiny calling our souls into the Great Deep of the Will of God.

6. Pleasure versus Utility.-Utility, the mental element, the Secret of Divine Guidance! Ah, to be true utilitarians! To cut off every useless physical impulse and passion! Ah, to judge of everything according to its divinest uses, in spite of custom, society, prejudice, and lust! Ah, to shake off the fetters that chain our souls! Ah, to seek the purer air of light and strength! Ah, to awake to the infinite dignity of being Gods. Ah, to let each action contribute to eternal accomplishment.....

Foiled by our fellowmen, oppressed, outworn,
We leave the cruel world to take its way,
And, Patience, in another life, we say,

The world shall be thrust down and we upborne.
And will not then the immortal armies scorn
The world's poor routed leavings, and will they
Who failed under the heat of this life's day
Support the fervour of the heavenly morn?
Nay: the energy of life may be

Kept on beyond the grave, but not begun;
And he who flags not in the earthly strife,
From strength to strength advancing, only he,
His soul well-knit, and all his battles done,
Mounts, and that hardly, to eternity.

MEDITATION SECOND.

MENTAL DEVELOPMENT.

The subject of mental development may be best discussed under seven heads. First, Psychology. Second, Inter-relation of Mental Freedom and Control over the Body. Third, Freedom of Thought. Fourth, Control of Body. Fifth, Control of Intellect. Sixth, Independence of Soul. Seventh, Present Immortality.

I. Psychology.—It is plain that, before using terms, we must define them; and a definition of psychological terms implies a provisional psychology. The sevenfold division of the Nature of Man may be simplified into a threefold division: (1) The Body, or that which is assumed at birth and dropped at death. (2) The Intellect, a growth of the former, around (3) The Spirit, the Eternal Part. In short, we may oppose the Passions, Senses and Affections on one part, and the Mind or Reason on the other.

In all persons, more or less, both of these elements are present. Yet the Body is generally predominant, and especially in early childhood, the mind is almost wholly quiescent. The body grows of itself. The Mind needs conscious development. In short, the mind grows by struggle; the body, by drifting. The

problem of life is to evolve the mind so that it will first be distinct from it, and second, will control it, finally becoming wholly independent and self-depending.

This distinction between the Passions and Reason may be made more plain by contrasting the two poets, Walt Whitman, the poet of the Flesh, and Matthew Arnold, the poet of the Spirit. Walt Whitman preaches the doctrine of Bestiality, not negatively, but positively, consciously, ferociously. Remove it, and you bereave him of his whole message, so he distinctly says. The passions are beautiful, but blindly drifting down circumstance to certain death of the personality. Arnold,'the poet of the Spirit, exhorting man to rally the good in himself, warning him that eternal life can only be deserved by conscious struggle, self-control, and dogged persistence. Verily, this life of his father at Rugby showed this forth, developing a character which cannot end at death, as described in "Rugby Chapel."

If this distinction between Flesh and Spirit, Passion and Reason be fully grasped by the mind, we are ready for our second topic, the Inter-relation of Mental Freedom and Control of the Body. We now understand the difference between the carnal, and the spiritual life.

The carnal life is any life, howsoever refined or beautiful, in which in eating, in sleeping, in loving persons and animals, in dealing with persons, in dressing, in working, in amusement, the promptings of the passions are followed, reason being only the helper of the passions, but never daring to guide them, or question them. He eats according to the flavor and delicacy of the food, not his physical requirements. He will commit a crime or tell a lie for the sake of his friends or relations. He sleeps unconsciously, already half-dead, as long as he is sleepy, whether eight hours or ten. He receives the sacraments of the Church because either he was brought up as a child among them, or because when he was in trouble the minister was humane to him, or because he likes aesthetic ritual. believes firmly what he cannot understand nor investigate; and that which remits his sins, either by magic or upon payment of money. He studies and reads when he is in the mood; he laughs and jokes away his most precious hours and years.

He

The spiritual life is any life, howsoever hard or lonely, in

which, in eating, sleeping, dealing with persons and animals, the reason, and reason alone, guides, controls, and transfigures each affection, each passion, each instinct. He eats food according to the exact need of his body. He rests his body exactly as much as necessary, no more. He loves Morality, God, and Truth more than all men, all institutions, and all ideals. He mounts to eternity by paying his moral debts, and attaining as much physical, mental, and spiritual cultivation as he can possibly lay hold of. He loves no Church more than truth, morality, and God.

In short, the carnal life, or, Passions ruling Reason, is, by this very fact, immoral, unreasonable, irrational, dogmatic, and insane. In short, the spiritual life is alone moral, rational, reasonably passionate, since all passions are controlled by reason, agnostic, yet eternally searching after further truth. Thus, the spiritual life is both Control of the Body, and Freedom of Mind; either implies the other.

From this insight follow five consequences.

3. Freedom of Thought.-From the explanation of what the spiritual life is, it follows that spiritual life can only be fully and successfully led by him who is willing to waive all doctrines, and follow no guidance but his own inner light, or, in other words, the Guidance of the Spirit. Most people say, Dear God, lead me, guide, and teach me; but remember, if you lead or guide me to anything else than what my prejudice or passion holds, or if you teach me any opinion which conflicts with my prejudice, I will have nothing to do with thee. We only want God's guidance to confirm, not alter our opinions. And when I said that a spiritual man must waive all doctrines, I meant not only the doctrines of others, but, primarily, his own.

4. Control of Body.-Every portion of the body, every affection, every passion, is good, since God made it. But it is only good in its place; only reasonable, when controlled by reason. The method for controlling the body is the only natural one. 'Sit still, send the thought into that part of the body, until it obeys. And we want to have the obedience, not only of the nose, until we squint one way, or the centre of the stomach, till we squint another, but the obedience of every portion, not by turning the eyes on it, but by going to it with the mind, which has an interior eye. Persistent practice will accomplish all results, drive away all diseases, and transfigure with light divine.

5. Control of the Intellect.-If we are monists, and many see reason to be monists, we understand that thought is motion, and motion thought. You cannot quiet the body, without first quieting the mind. You must so discipline your intellect until you can pick up and lay down any thought you please, as your hand would pick up or lay down a book. Memorize facts and sentiments, and drill your mind to follow long series of thoughts. Let your mind be your tool; be not the sport of your thoughts. Be not a bundle of random ideas, as so many men are. You are an eternal spirit, judging of the issues of life and death, and if you are faithful, you shall sit down as one of the Assistant Judges at the Great Day; you shall be your own Judge.

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6. Independence of Consciousness.-By thus drilling the intellect, and controlling the body, reason will gradually assert itself over the body or passions. The spirit's consciousness will begin to be assimilated to the consciousness of the intellect. new consciousness will be experienced, which will persist while the body is sleeping, while the body is eating or exercising. Bodily sleep, while the mind is active, sleeplessly meditating on God, day and night, will rest a hundred times more than the old mental death during sleep. And it is not until this eternity of consciousness is attained that sleep will be reasonable, and the body controlled. What, do you expect the body to remain controlled, while the controller is absent, or to all intents and purposes, dead? Need you be surprised if the enemy spoils the tower when the strong man is drunk with physical sleep at his post? Absolute bodily control can never be gained until immortal consciousness is attained, for since we will not permit the body or any passion to go wrong while we are awake or conscious, there is only one way to insure its absolute rightness; eternal consciousness. Liberty is to be bought only at the price of eternal vigilance.

7. Present Immortality.—This eternal consciousness is immortality; as much immortality as we will ever get, or can get, or want to get. What is immortality, if not consciousness independent of and surviving the body? Unless immortality or continued consciousness be attained before death, our souls will relapse into unconsciousness after death, just as during sleep. Whether we shall have beyond another chance of developing immortality by association with another body,-I cannot tell,