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INGERSOLL'S LAST DISCOURSE,

What Must I Do

To be Saved?

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The Destroyer of Weeds, Thistles, and Thorns is a Benefactor

Whether he Soweth Grain or Not.

"I am an ordained clergyman and believe in revealed religion. I am therefore bound to regard all persons who do not believe in revealed religion as in error. But on the broad platform of human liberty and progress I was bound to give him the right hand of fellowship: I would do it a thousand times over. I do not know Colonel Ingersoll's religious views precisely, but I have a general knowledge of them. He has the same right to free thought and free speech that I have, I ad

and I am only sorry that he does not think as I do."-Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.

"We should all rejoice in the recognition of this principle of freedom of thought, speech and publication. This glorious 'holdness of speech' brings to light the thoughts of many hearts. And even if they contain what we deem errors-and mischievous errors, too-their undisguised expression gives others the opportunity of meeting them fairly, and endeavouring to remove the misconceptions they involve; and in combatng or illustrating our several positions we become more clearly conscious what it is we really know, and what it is we really mean. To defend the truth can never and in no respect be an unprofitable task, 'For we have no power at all against the truth, but for the truth.'"-Dr. Hooy. kuas, "Modern Review," July, 1881.

A PAPER READ BEFORE THE CHICAGO PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

BY F. F. COOK

J. BURNS, 15, SOUTHAMPTON ROW, W.C.

This admirable Essay completely meets the requirements of the Movement at this time. It views from a spiritual standpoint the power at work in Spiritualism, and explains why its tendencies are so diverse and to some so contradictory and perplexing. Every intellectual reader will enjoy it.

LEFT EARTH-LIFE: MRS. S. C. HALL By S. C. HALL.

(Reprinted from the MEDIUM AND DAYBREAK.) This affecting Letter has been so highly valued that a demand has been made for an Edition in the cheapest and most convenient form for wide circulation. It has therefore been printed as a neat Broadside, which may be given from house to house, circulated at meetings, enclosed in letters, or pasted up where it may be conveniently read. To circulate this Publication extensively will very much promote Spiritualism.

This Article is a valuable testimony to Spiritualism. The eminent Author of it declares the good which Spiritualism has been to him his knowledge of the continued existence of the One who has gone to the Spiritual State; how they became Spiritualists and studied the subject with William Howitt and other persons of eminence; his disregard for mourning at funerals, together with words of great comfort and consolation to the bereaved.

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SPIRITUALISM IN
IN RUSSIA.

ALEXANDER AKSAKOF,

The Pioneer

SPIRITUALIST of RUSSIA. A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

BY HUDSON TUTTLE.

[From the "Religio-Philosophical Journal, Chicago, U.S.A., July 2, 1881.]

To American Spiritualists, [and we may add, English as well.-Ed. M.] the name which stands at the head of this article is familiar, and all know something of the unwearied efforts of this eminent man to bring to Europe the knowledge of Spiritualism. Knowing that the sketch of his life would be of deep interest to the readers of the JOURNAL, I have sought to embody some of the most conspicuous of his efforts. Really, I have only presented one side of his double life: that relating to Spiritualism, leaving his official career, which is not less interesting, wholly unmentioned.

We have noble, self-sacrificing, Spiritualists in America, but none who exceed him in devotedness. He has counted rank and position as nothing, and without a thought has sacrificed his wealth, feeling more than repaid, if the cause he loved prospered, and bestowed on others the happiness he had found.

Alexander Aksakof was born in the year 1832, at Repiofka, an estate and village the property of his father, in the government of Penza, Russia. After completing his course of studies at the Imperial Lyceum of St. Petersburg-an institution privileged to the ancient nobility of Russia-he entered the service of the government, in which, with but little interruption, he has remained to the present. He is a descendant of an eminent literary family; his uncle, S. Aksakof, is the author of many works which are regarded as classical productions; his two sons, cousins of Alexander Aksakof, are also able writers: the first, Constantine, has published works on History and Philosophy, which constitute a distinguished feature in Russian history; the second, Ivan (John), is one of the most distinguished litterateurs and writers on public law in

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the country. Notwithstanding these predisposing circumstances, and his love of the classics, Alexander Aksakof remained another year at the Lyceum, engaged in the studies he most delighted in, which were not those relating to literature and politics. In his early youth, by the exceptional circumstances of his family, his attention was attracted to religious and philosophical questions. The Science of Man he regarded as the science, par excellence, and as fundamental in this science he placed the grand problems of the reason of human existence, and the wherefore of life.

In the Lyceum he became familiar with the many volumes of Swedenborg. Whatever makes an extraordinary impression in Russia, has its opposers as well as defenders, and Mr. Aksakof found enjoyment with the latter. He had a companion, the Prince A. Sh., of a family unique as partizans of Swedenborg's doctrines. The first book of Swedenborg read by Mr. Aksakof was "Heaven and Hell" in the French translation of Moet. Opposed to mysticism, he was then surprised and captivated by the practical sense of these revelations of the world of spiritual forms, movement and activities: the mind as the only foundation of happiness; the conduct of life being graded by the knowledge of the truth. The rational solution of the grand problem of spiritual existence claimed his attention, and he entered on its investigation. He devoted himself with the same ardour with which in youth he gave to his studies, to the new world which opened itself before his enraptured senses.

Endowed by nature with an harmonious character, philosophical and intuitive, pre-eminently positive and systematic,-whatever he studies, he is never content until he thoroughly masters his subject in all its unfoldings and details; hence, when he entered this current of thought, he became determined to know all that concerned Swedenborg, and procured with great difficulty, not only all the works of that author, but also the best German, French, and English books treating on the subject. The revelations of Swedenborg in relation to the Spirit-world, form the soul of his theological doctrines. The naturalness of these, and the extraordinary psychological faculties by which the author penetrated the mysteries of creation, engaged the entire attention of Mr. Aksakof. Although brought up in the faith of the orthodox Greco-Catholic Church, the doctrine of the "New Jerusalem" ap

peared to him to be a true interpretation of the rational Christian religion. He was delighted with the clearness of understanding which extended over the whole domain of religion and philosophy. Penetrated by this new truth, he made a special study of the "Science of Correspondences," on which is based the spiritual sense of the Bible: a sense Swedenborg only gives, as in perfect accord with the word of the Lord.

Mr. Aksakof studied this "science" and this "sense in the master work of Swedenborg, "The Arcana Coelestia," which contains an explanation of the spiri tual sense of Genesis and Exodus. Swedenborg had applied this method only to certain parts of the Bible, and Mr. Aksakof extended his research, applying the science to the interpretation of the Evangelists, word by word. He explained the first five chapters of St. John's Gospel, which was a most difficult work.

To prepare himself to extend his researches in all directions, and the better to test the Old Testament, he studied the Hebrew language. He found in the work of Fabre d'Olivet, "La Langue flebraique Restituće," the elements of a philosophy of the Hebrew grammar, which he appropriated to his service. An acquaintance with the language of Virgil and Cicero was also of great advantage to him in the study of the Sacred Book, as the material for that purpose is chiefly in Latin. Swedenborg himself wrote in Latin, and Mr. Aksakof, when rendering the ideas of his author into Russian, found the knowledge of the original absolutely necessary; and here a new difficulty presented itself. The style of Swedenborg is peculiar, abounding in unique forms, and is often obscure. To make a perfect translation into simple Russian, Mr. Aksakof pursued for many years a thorough course of special philological studies, including his native tongue. He began with a profound study of the Russian language to assist him in this research; besides the living language of the people, he had the assistance of an eminent literary man of his country, Mr. Dahl, the lexicographer of Russia. Little by little this eminent scholar exchanged his received ideas for the doctrines of Swedenborg, and become an adept in their profound meaning. It was on his account that Mr. Aksakof wrote his first work, in 1852, on Swedenborg: "A Consistent Exposition of the Spiritual Sense of the Apocalypse, after 'L'Apocalypse Révélée' of that Author," a work written in French, but immediately translated into Russian by Mr. Dahl.

An intimate friendship was the natural result of this union of science and conviction.

The grand design to which all his studies converged, philological and theological, was the translation of Swedenborg's works into Russian. In this task he was assisted by the interior sense of the works-which solved the supreme problem of our existence-,and rewarded and sustained by the great ideas with which he was inspired. In 1863 his translation of "Heaven and Hell" was published at Leipsic, but it was compelled to wait for more propitious times for its appearance in

Russia.

Swedenborg being the first of seers, it was natural that Mr. Aksakof should take up the study of animal magnetism, and enjoy all works on spiritual revelations obtained in this manuer, agreeing, as they all did, in essential points with Swedenborg. In 1854, while searching the libraries, he came unexpectedly on "Nature's Divine Revelations," by A. J. Davis. The title did not attract his attention, but the qualitication of the author-"The Seer and Clairvoyant "at once impressed him. He was rejoiced to find most remarkable proofs of the principal points in the revelation of Swedenborg concerning the Spirit-world. These authors differed in dogmas concerning Christianity, it was true, but all-important, that only in dogmas, while they agreed in the great facts of Spirit

existence,

In order to form a correct judgment of both physiological and psychological ological and psychological phenomena, Mr. Aksakof at once saw the necessity of a thorough understanding of the exact sciences; the perfect comprehension of the spiritual man, necessitated the understanding of man physically. With this object in view, in 1855, he inscribed himself as free student of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Moscow, and for two years pursued the studies of anatomy and physiology, and as supplimentary, chemistry and physice. He soon departed from the restraints imposed by scientific authority, the result of his experiments in human magnetism being a translation into Russian, and publication in St. Petersburg, in 1860, of Count Szapary's work entitled, "Magnetic Healing."

He readily understood and comprehended in all their remote bearings, the accounts he received of "Spiritual Manifestations" in America. The first book on that subject, which reached him, was Beecher's "Review of Spiritual Manifestations," in 1855. He there received palpable evidence of the truth of the grand doctrine he had accepted by intuition. This, with the French works on magnetism, gave him the first, and incomplete information on the Spiritual Movement in America, and, with his accustomed habit, he at once sought all works treating on the subject; but found, in Russia, an absence of all such books, and great difficulty in procuring them. Not until the end of 1857, did he procure the works of Edmonds, Hare, and the "Gt. Harmonia" of Davis. The tendency of his emancipated intellect had been progressive. Begun by Swedenborg, this tendancy received new impulse from the "Revelations" of Davis, and all the corresponding revelations from the ecstatic realm of the human soul.

He studied with particular and coutinuous attention the works on magnetism, philosophy, and Spiritualism, of Cahagnet, whom, in 1861, he met in Paris. The perusal of the consecutive volumes of Davis, and the grand works on Spiritualism, completed the emancipa

tion of his mind.

In his preface to the Translation of Swedenborg, he gave the status of Modern Spiritualism, in its relation to the revelations of the great seer, whereby he justified its publication.

The following is an extract from this preface:

"The theological works of Swedenborg have engendered a sect-a common occurrence, and unfortunate for the transmission of great ideas-so much does man love the jurare in verba magistri.' Notwithstanding all the spirituality and all the broadness of his philosophy, his disciples rest with the letter; astounded by the immensity of his revelations they will not go farther; for them it is not a step advancing to higher altitudes, but, a finality. In the present work the theologico-dogmatic side is not presented, but the more important information given by Swedenborg in regard to his personal experience in the Spirit-world; for us he is not a theologian, but a seer aud medium."

This preface drew on Mr. Aksakef from the little circle of devotees to the doctrines of Swedenborg-of whom he had been a member-the most violent recriminations. He was thus compelled most explicitly to give the reasons for his apostacy. The result of this discussion was the publication of " the Rationalism of Swedenborg: a criticism of his doctrines on the Bible, Leipsic, 1870." To this work was attached as an appendix, "The Gospel according to Swedenborg, five chapters of the Gospel of St. John, and an exposition of their Spiritual Sense according to the Doctrine of Correspondences." Mr. Aksakof devoted himself during the years of 1853 to 1857 to this exegetical labour, which became a powerful lever of criticism for the perfect understanding of Swedenborg's theology. The object of his final work on Swedenborg, was to prove that his rationalism was imaginary; that the principal argument of Swedenborg to prove the divinity of the Bible, was not rational, for this same method of

exposition which proved the exclusively divine character of the Testament, was alike capable of application to many other books of poetry and prose. In illustration, Mr. Aksakof, presented Dante, and the history of Nestor, of which he gave the "spiritual sense"; and furthermore, not only on this cardinal point, but in other capital positions, he showed, on the ground of his own propositions, Swedenborg to be irrational, and by himself refuted, and consequently logically inconsistent. We quote the last lines of this work:

"My only object has been to excite research after truth; to cast into the minds of the disciples a first spark of doubt as to the infallibility of their Master, and to deliver them from the magic circle, in which they are bound by their faith in the divinity of his revelations, which is the principal cause for their melancholy immobility, and engenders intolerance and fanaticism in all.” (P. 227.)

With all his profound studies of Swedenborg, Mr. Aksakof did not cease to investigate the fundamental principles of religion in general, and of psychology in particular; one thing he regarded as incontestable, that if the mystery which enshrouded the human soul was ever penetrated, and the fact of individual immortality admitted into the ranks of science, it must be by the assiduous study of the phenomena of Spiritualism.

The works of Kardec began to penetrate Russia, and although in a foreign language, they had a wide circulation. Mr. Aksakof wished to give his countrymen something more positive. The materialistic tendency of the times led him to give a higher value to facts. With this object in view he translated the work of Prof. Hare, and published it in Leipsic in 1866. Through this means he discoverd the translator of Davis's works, (Mr. Wittig) who at the prompting of the eminent naturalist and philosopher, Nees von Esenbeck, had translated many of Davis's works, but had not yet found a publisher. The intended translation of Davis by Mr. Aksakof not receiving the sanction of the Censor, his attention while in Paris in 1860, was called to the strange fact that not a single volume of Davis's works was either in Paris or London, and the impossibility of providing anything for the Spiritualists of his own country, induced him to offer Mr. Wittig to publish some volumes of his translation, and thus began his efforts to propagate Spiritualism in Germany.

The first

The first volume published was the "Reformer" of Davis, in 1867. The preface of this volume contained the history of the introduction of the "Harmonial Philosophy" into Germany. An abridgment of this preface was given in "Memoranda." letters of Mr. Aksakof to Davis are there reproduced. In 1868 the "Magic Staff" was published, followed in 1869 by the "Revelations." In 1873 the "Physician appeared with a lengthy preface by Mr. Wittig, and another by Mr. Aksakof. Impelled by his unconquerable zeal to propagate the doctrines of Spiritualism he secured the services of Mr. Wittig to translate the principal works on that subject: of Hare, Crookes, Edmonds, Owen, and the "Report on Spiritualism of the London Dialectical Society."

Finally, in order to inform the German public of the progress of the Movement, he, in 1874, began the publication of the "Psychische Studien," a Monthly Magazine published at Leipsic, devoted to the presentation of the facts and theories of Spiritualism. This Journal has been favourably received by his scientific associates, and it is one of the most able, philosophical and scientific exponents of the Cause it advocates.

But how were the New Doctrines and Aksakof received in Russia? The status of Spiritualism in that country may be learned from an article written by him in 1869, under the title of "Spiritualism in Russia," and published in "Human Nature," (London: J. Burns) and which was, after a time, reproduced by M. Pierart in his "Council of Free-Thought," (Paris) in 1870. Mr. Aksakof experienced no obstruction from the

Russian Censor, either in regard to his many German publications, or his Journal. Most fortunately, the scientific class, to whom he appealed, were much better acquainted with German than English. Thanks to this circumstance, his German publications produced a great effect, in propagating in their minds a true understanding of Spiritualism. In this manner he became acquainted with Mr. Yourkevitch, Professor of Philosophy in the University of Moscow, who was not only an admirer of Davis, but also a zealous defender and ardent propagator of Spiritualism. He never concealed his convictions, nor lost an opportunity of speaking of them in public, and in the midst of his colleagues in the University urged the importance of this question. He took a deep and vital interest in the publications of Mr. Aksakof, and brought them all before the notice of the Censor of the University. Unfortunately for the Cause, this eminent man is no longer of this world. Mr. Aksakof paid tribute to his memory in an article which he published, in 1876, in the "Revue Russe," under the title of "Mediumship and Science."

In 1870, he proposed to Mr. Boutlerof, Professor of Chemistry in the University of St. Petersburg-whose sister-in-law, the cousin of Mr, Aksakof, manifested some degree of mediumship,-to form a circle for the investigation of Spiritualism in an experimental manner. This noble Scientist and lover of truth, did not hesitate for a moment. The circle was formed usually of four persons the Professor, his sister-in-law, Mrs. Aksakof

who was endowed with remarkable mediumistic powers, and Mr. Aksakof. This was their first experience in Spiritualism, and they took no personal part in the excitement of table turning. The result admission, by him, of the reality of the phenomena. of twenty seances, attended by Mr. Boutlerof, was the

In 1871, Mr. D. D. Home arrived in St. Petersburg. For the first time in his life did Mr. Aksak of obtain evidence of the grand and beautiful spiritual manifestations given through that distinguished medium, and of the truth of which he had no doubt, having faith in the reliability of human testimony; but the facts of spirit presence were then placed before him in such a manner as to leave no room for doubt. He was not tardy in furnishing Mr. Boutlerof with an opportunity to assist at similar seances; and, as the result, he was also convinced of the truth of Spirit communion, and a seance was given by Mr. Home to the Professors of the University of St. Petersburg. The details of this seance, and of the conversion of Professor Boutlerof, have been related by Mr. Aksakof, in the "Spiritualist," (London) No. 21, 1871.

When the experiences of Mr. Crookes were published in the "Quarterly Journal of Science," Mr. Aksakof immediately translated them; and at last, after pleasure of presenting the Russian public with the all his long years of weary waiting, he had the extreme first book on Spiritualism. Its title was

"THE SPIRITUALISM OF SCIENCE: Experimental

Investigations on the Psychic Force, by W. Crookes, F.R.S.; Corroborative Testimony, by the Chemist, R. Hare-the Mathematician, A. De Morgan-the Naturalist, A. R. Wallace -the Physicist, C. F. Varley, and other Investigators; with 16 Designs. Translated and Published by A. AKSAKOF."

In 1874, a zealous Russian Spiritualist, Mr. Lvof, engaged a French medium, C. Bredif, to visit St. Petersburg. Mr. Aksakof profited by this occasion to arrange weekly seances for himself, to which Mr. Boutlerof invited his friend and colleague, Mr. Wagner, Professor of Zoology, to participate.

After six months, and many seances with Bredif, and without him, Mr. Wagner, impelled by the force of evidence, opened the campaign by his celebrated letter, pulished in the April No. (1875) of the "Revue de l'Europe," one of the better class of Russian mon