He has been interviewed by competent men, men of enlarged scientific vision; and in the protection of their esteem, and by the liberal pecuniary aid of one who has made scientific interests an object of sacred solicitude, Mr. Keely is likely to succeed in opening to the world another of the stores which the Almighty Creator and Preserver, ever provident of His children’s needs, has prepared in reserve against the time of their necessity. We may theorize, but God alone knows the means by which the regeneration of mankind, and the establishment of the kingdom of righteousness and peace shall come about. The All-merciful has a purpose and plan of His own. The power which Mr. Keely is dealing with belongs to the ways and means of the evolution of civilization and material providence; and it will depend on how men make use of it how far it may clear or block the way of this planet’s highest weal. The power, however, which Mr. Keely is dealing with lies so close to the spiritual realm of things, and brings us so near to the point at which the Almighty is in immediate touch of His Creation in His unceasing upholding of it, that all Christian men might be expected to take a deep interest in researches which promise so much. It may reasonably be hoped that this volume may promote this interest, and turn the attention to coming events which are casting more than shadows before. With this hope we commend it to the reading of the wise. Those who delight in yellow-covered literature may pass it by; it contains no plot for the excitement of such.
INTRODUCTION.
Ex Vivo Omnia.
We stand before the dawning of a new day in science and humanity,—a new discovery, surpassing any that has been hitherto made; which promises to afford us a key to some of the most recondite secrets of nature, and to open up to our view a new world.—Dr. Hufeland.
The error of our century in questions of research seems to have been in the persistent investigation of the phenomena of matter (or material organization) as the sole province of physics, regarding psychical research as lying outside. The term physics is derived from a Greek word signifying “nature.” Nature does not limit herself to matter and mechanism. The phenomena of spirit are as much a part of Nature as are those of matter. The psychological theories of our physicists display a decided leaning towards materialism, disregarding the manifestations of the vital principle,—the vis motrix,—and refusing to investigate beyond the limits which they have imposed upon themselves, and which, if accepted by all, would take us back to the belief of the pagans, as echoed by Voltaire:
Est-ce-là ce rayon de l’Essence Suprême
Que l’on nous peint si lumineux?
Est-ce-là cet Esprit survivant à nous-même?
Il nait avec nos sens, croît, s’affaiblit comme eux: