The differences between religious sects are mainly of faith, not of works, and the wise of all denominations are gradually coming to the conviction that they will all do God more service by toleration and co-operation than by animosity and disunion. And so I hold that, until the spiritualist feels himself able to demonstrate to the unbeliever the existence of spirit and of God, as convincingly as a mathematical proposition, there should be no hard words or feelings upon these points. For the present they are immaterial in every sense of the word; and so long as he bows to the facts and the laws of Nature, and deals with his fellow men as he would be done by, so long will I work with him, side by side, knowing, even though I cannot tell him so, that whether or not he joins me in this world, we shall meet in the other world to come, where his eyes will be opened, and where his lips will at least acquit me of bigotry and intolerance."
CHAPTER XV.
THE HUMAN TEMPERAMENTS.
Organization implies vital energy, since there can be no organization without it. The sperm cell, as we have previously seen, exists before the initiation of the life of every individual organism. The early history of this fertilizing cell, which is composed of infinitesimal molecules which contain the embryo powers of life, is only partially written. It is a fact, authenticated by Faraday, that one drop of water contains, and may be made to evolve, as much electricity as, under a different mode of display, would suffice to produce a lightning-flash. Chemical force is of a higher order than physical, and vital force is of a still higher order. Within the microscopic compass of the sperm cell are a great number of forces acting simultaneously, which require the answering conditions of a germ cell, and are so blended as to occupy a minimum of space. The union of these subtle elements through the agency of their physical, chemical, and vital forces, constitutes the initiation of life. Elementary matter is transformed into chemical and organic compounds, by natural forces, upon the cessation of which, it is liberated by nature's great destroyer, and re-appears in the world of elements. Thus, man is formed out of the very dust by means of energies which reconstruct the crude, inert matter, and to dust he returns when those energies cease.
When we enter upon the consideration of the temperaments, we should bear in mind one peculiarity of life: that it combines, in a small space, many complex powers. In the process of reproduction, there is a complex combination of organic elements. Structures differ as greatly as their functions. So likewise do animals vary in their nature and organization, and individuals of the same species are, in some respects, dissimilar. Yet the characteristics which have distinguished the races of mankind, are fundamental and faithfully maintained. Time does not obliterate them. Within race-limits are found enduring peculiarities, and, although each individual is weaving out some definite pattern of organization, it follows the type of the race, as well as the more immediate, antecedent condition.
What then is a Temperament but a mixing together of these determining forces, a certain blending manifested in the constitution by signs, or traits, which we denominate character. The different races of mankind must have their several standards of temperament, for the peculiarities of one are not fully descriptive of, and applicable to the other.
The term temperament is defined by Dunglison, as being "a name given to the remarkable differences that exist between individuals, in consequence of the variety of relations and proportions between the constituent parts of the body.
For its simplicity and scope, we prefer the following definition, suggested by our friend, Orin Davis, M.D.: A TEMPERAMENT IS A COMBINATION OF ORGANIC ELEMENTS SO ARRANGED AS TO CHARACTERIZE THE CONSTITUTION.