The Principles of Nature (Digitally Remastered): Her divine revelations, and a voice to mankind

SCRIBE’S INTRODUCTION

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR, AND HISTORY OF THE PRODUCTION OF THIS VOLUME

A work of unprecedented character is here presented to the world. It consists of the consecutive reasoning’s and revelations of a spirit freed, by a certain physical process, the philosophy of which is explained, from the obstructing influence of the material organization, and exalted to a position which gave access to a knowledge of the structure and laws of the whole material and spiritual Universe. It treats upon subjects of the profoundest interest and of the most unspeakable importance to the human race; and as its claims are confessedly of the most startling character, and its professed disclosures, with the phenomena attending them, are in some respects unparalleled in the history of psychology, it is certainly no more than just that the world should be furnished with a plain, concise, yet circumstantial account of the author of the book, with a history of its origin and production, and with the means of either verifying or refuting what is said concerning the source from which it sprang, and the means employed in its production. A few preliminary remarks, however, are deemed proper as introductory to the statements herein to be submitted.

It is obvious to every intelligent mind that the condition of the human race, socially, nationally, mentally, and spiritually, is continually changing. There is at present no civilized nation upon the globe which does not present a totally different aspect as to manners, customs, social structure, science, art, religion, and all the conventionalisms of life, from any nation existing upon the earth four thousand years ago. Every period of human history shows, upon the whole, a distinct progress in the condition of mankind beyond that of previous periods. Instances of apparent retrogression, as in the cases of the various catastrophes that have occurred at different periods during the geological history of the earth, only exhibit the apparent disorder incident to a transition from a lower to a higher state of development.

In passing through the uncouth semi-barbarism of the early ages to the refinements and intellectual and artistic attainments of the nineteenth century, the race has of course passed through every intermediate stage of cultivation; and a close observation and analysis will prove that every decided stage of human progress has been accompanied by new and distinct mental and social wants; and in order that these might be duly supplied, new resources have been invariably opened, and new instrumentalities have been instituted.

It would require but little argument, therefore, aside from the fact that change is perpetual, to prove that the mental and social wants of the present differ essentially from those of any previous generation.

Perhaps at no period in the world’s history, so little characterized by revolutionary violence, has the general mental and social condition of mankind undergone changes so marked and conspicuous as during the last century. In respect to all matters of science, particularly, there has been an immense unfolding; and the mechanical and economic arts have been correspondingly improved. The seven seals of the great geological book have been broken, and its, rocky leaves have disclosed the physical history of the earth for millions of years. Powerful telescopes have penetrated the abysses of space, and the grandeur and harmony of the Universe have been unfolded to an extent far transcending all previous conception: and the researches in the departments of chemistry, physiology, and comparative anatomy, are constantly proving more and more conspicuously that all things are but parts inseparably connected in one grand System. All these sublime results of science tend to expand the mind beyond the narrow circle of which self is the centre, and to unite the soul with those things which it beholds, contemplates, and admires.

Man is thus made deeply sensible that he is a mere atom in infinite space, surrounded by beings and creations unspeakably more important than himself; and as he contemplates the wide-spread fields of creation, teeming with tokens of impartial favor, a flame of philanthropy is enkindled in his soul that consumes all narrow prejudices and selfish inclinations, and he sympathizes with universal Man as the great Body of which he is a mere organ.

Such are the moral and social tendencies of the science of the age, even considering the same in the more abstract point of view. But from the same source more important influences indirectly arise. From the materials of science the busy hand of mechanism is forming filaments to bind together the extremities of each nation, and is developing the resources, exchanging the commodities, and harmonizing the interests, of every clime. Iron steeds, nerved by the stimulus of the expanding vapor, are plunging through the ocean, measuring the distance between the two hemispheres by the lapse of a few days, or prancing to and fro in the earth, facilitating exchanges and promoting friendly intercourse between all communities and people. The imponderable elements have been laid under contribution, and, by the subtle agency of the electric fluid, man converses with his neighbor at the distance of a thousand miles with the same facility with which two would converse a few rods apart. The veins, and arteries, and nerves, of the great Body of humanity, are thus being developed, in the form of steamships, and railroads, and magnetic telegraphs, and its muscles and sinews are being unfolded in the form of labor-saving and productive machinery. And all science and art tend powerfully to extend the fibers and channels of communication thus being unfolded, throughout the whole earth, and thus to form of the whole race one harmonious Body, possessing one common spring of action, one common social and theological system, and bound together with one chain of sympathy running through all its diversified parts.

Such, we say, are the conspicuous and powerful tendencies of all the scientific and artistic attainments of the age. But to these tendencies there exist the most powerful obstructions, which have thus far defied all attempts of philanthropists and reformers to remove. These obstructions consist in the local prejudices, and the social, national, commercial, and theological antagonisms, that prevail throughout the whole earth. All men and communities are anxious for the establishment of a more intimate unity in the race, but each desires that this unity should be founded on the basis of his own peculiar system.

The Calvinist would have the whole world form one harmonious brotherhood, possessing one faith, one hope, and one baptism, but then he would have them all Calvinists; the Armenian desires the same union, but only on the basis of his own theological system. The Catholic desires that all should become Catholics, and only on this ground will he consent to a union with others. The Jews desire a unity of the race, but they desire first to be restored to the land of Palestine, and then that all Gentile nations should unite as their subordinates under the reign of their expected Messiah. The intelligent Mohammedan desires the establishment and perfection of the universal brotherhood, but he demands that every man should first devoutly exclaim, Allah is God, and Mohammed is his prophet. And the same remarks might with equal propriety be extended to all parties, sects, denominations, and religionists, throughout the whole earth. All are equally sincere in their opinions, and equally zealous in their proclamation, each believing that his own system is sanctioned by the Deity; though as the devotees of all social, national, and especially theological systems, derive their opinions from the fortuitous circumstances of birth and early education, it is impossible that more than one out of the thousand can be right, and the extreme probability is that all are wrong. And while the followers of each system pray fervently and labor diligently for the conversion of the whole world, all are mutually and purposely obstructing the efforts of each other; and the obstruction creates impatience, jealousy, bigotry, fanaticism, and every species of hostility and persecution that now so unhappily distract the human race, and array brother against brother, and community against community, causing the truly philanthropic soul to weep in hopeless despondency.

It is clear to every mind that so long as these diversified antagonisms in society exist throughout the world, so long that universal peace, brotherly love, and social and national unity, so devoutly to be desired, cannot possibly take place. The all-absorbing desire of the enlightened philanthropist, therefore, is that these antagonisms may be removed by the institution of some grand and universal system of thought and action, based upon the nature of things and the true relations of men to each other. This, therefore, should be considered as the true and great leading want of the human mind at the present more than at any previous age of the world; and who shall judge a priori that in the unvarying laws of the All-Wise Being, provisions may not have been made to supply this as well as all real wants of the human race at all previous ages? And when to the foregoing remarks is superadded the consideration that neither reason nor any previous revelation authorizes the belief that the channels of spiritual communication with this lower world have been permanently closed, may we not expect a respectful attention to the following statement and remarks, and also such a candid perusal of the volume herewith submitted, as may enable the reader properly to judge what relation (if any) the same bears to those very demands of the age which are of all others the most pressing?

ANDREW JACKSON DAVIS, the youthful author of this book, is, while in his normal state, distinguished by no mental or physical peculiarities that would be likely to excite the particular attention of any merely superficial observer. He is of the ordinary stature, with a well-proportioned physical frame, possessing a bilious-sanguine-nervous temperament. His features are prominent, and his head is of the medium size, and very smoothly developed, especially in the frontal and coronal regions. The base of the brain is small, except in the region of the perceptives, which are prominent. The head is covered with a profusion of jet-black hair. The expression of his countenance is mild, placid, and indicative of a peculiar degree of frankness and benevolence; and from his eyes beams forth a peculiar radiance which we have never witnessed in any other person. This is especially the case in his moments of interior meditation and mental expansion. His inferior passions are only moderately developed, and are completely under the control of reason and the moral sentiments. During daily intercourse with him for eighteen months, we have never known him to manifest the least degree of anger or impatience, though we have known him to be severely tried. He is very fond of congenial society, though he is peculiarly sensitive to what are in his book called the spheres of certain individuals, or the influence or atmosphere emanating from them. Thus he is instinctively either attracted to or repelled from a man on first coming into his presence, and from the same cause he generally forms a judgment of human character at first sight, which, as to accuracy, we have seldom if ever known to fail. This sensitiveness to spheres forms a striking trait in his character. He has a most ardent and devoted attachment to his friends. He recognizes no enemies, though the presence of some persons, especially of those who are conceited, bigoted, or dogmatical, seems to give him pain; and such he accordingly avoids. To congenial spirits he is inclined to be communicative; and his address is natural and easy, though devoid of all artificiality. His disposition is characterized by an equanimity and cheerfulness which apparently no circumstance, however depressing, can disturb. His mind acts with vivacity, and he is rather strongly inclined to mirthfulness, though he informs us that this latter characteristic is often assumed in order to counteract a natural tendency of the mind to abstraction, which forms another marked trait in his character. His imaginative faculties are well developed, though not so as to form a prominent trait in his character. A supreme love of truth is the central point around which all his moral faculties revolve. Hence he holds himself entirely open to conviction from all sources of information, and is ever ready to abandon preconceived opinions, however ardently cherished, the moment he finds they are erroneous. It is from this cause that he manifests the utmost unconcern when his pretensions are attacked. His benevolence is very active and steadfast, and is not confined to friends, associates, party, or sect, but extends to all classes of mankind. He thus takes the utmost pleasure in relieving distress and in bestowing favors whenever opportunity affords, though his bestowments are always graduated by an acute discrimination of the capacities of the individuals to appreciate and profitably employ them. His perceptive and reflective faculties are well and evenly developed; and the most prominent point in his intellectual character is an easy and instinctive comprehension of great general principles and laws that govern Nature and Mankind.

His intellectual harmoniously blend with his moral faculties to form a perfectly-balanced character; and as all his, faculties are in a nearly equal state of development, he is remarkably free from exaggeration or angular forms of thought, and is disposed to give to each subject which he comprehends, all the importance which really and naturally belongs to it, but no more. Hence his judgment is matured to a degree seldom witnessed in those of a more mature age; and what, perhaps, is still more remarkable than all is, that all his leading mental operations and outward actions appear to be governed by a species of interior prompting. Upon the whole, therefore, he may be considered as a most amiable, simple-hearted, truth-loving, and unsophisticated young man, being disconnected from all sects, parties, creeds, and denominations, and governed solely by his own intuitions.

Such is a description of his character while in his normal state, as it has appeared to us during daily intercourse with him for the last eighteen months. And it is owing to his peculiar physical and mental constitution that he has been enabled, by the assistance of magnetism, to abstract himself from the gross tangibility's of the outer world, and enter that state of exceeding spiritual exaltation and mental expansion that has enabled him to dictate the book now submitted to the world.

But the mind given mainly to sensuous processes of reasoning, in order to feel justified in reposing full confidence in the authenticity of this book, will require some account (such as he may either verify or refute) of Mr. Davis’s past history, of his acquirements by ordinary processes of education and mental discipline, and of the origin and production of this book. This reasonable demand shall be gratified to the extent of our present ability; and the main facts shall be substantiated by the testimony of disinterested persons.

A singular instance, showing Mr. Davis’s indifference to things of no practical importance, consists in the fact that he did not until recently know where he was born. At the earliest period to which his recollection extends, he resided with his parents in the township of Hyde Park, Duchess County, New York; and during two summers of his residence in that township, he was also employed by Mr. W. W. Woodworth in the capacity of a keeper of cattle. But his father recently informed us that he was born in Blooming Grove, Orange County, New York, and that on the 11th of August, 1847, he will be twenty-one years of age, according to which he must have been born on the 11th of August, 1826.

From Hyde Park he removed, with his father, to Poughkeepsie, on the first of September, 1838, after which, for some eighteen months, he worked with his father at his trade. Immediately after this he was engaged in the grocery of Mr. Nicholas Lawrence, which store his father subsequently purchased, and in which he continued until the spring of 1841, when he bound himself as an apprentice to Mr. Ira Armstrong.

His father is a simple-hearted unsophisticated man, who follows the respectable occupation of a shoemaker; and so far as this world’s goods are concerned, he has always been very poor. His mother (long since deceased), we are informed, was one of those gentle beings whose supreme delight it is to mingle in scenes of sickness and sorrow, and to administer to the relief of suffering humanity. Neither father nor mother was particularly inclined to intellectual pursuits, and hence they felt no anxiety to bestow an education upon their son extending beyond the simplest rudiments that may be acquired in a common school. Owing to this fact, in connection with the straitened financial circumstances of the parents, the boy’s school tuition was confined to about five months, during which time he learned to read imperfectly, to write a fair hand, and to do simple sums in arithmetic. From early youth, therefore, until he entered on his clairvoyance career, he was mostly kept at such manual employments as were adapted to his age, during which time his little earnings and affectionate attentions contributed greatly to the support of his immediate family connections. With these duties and responsibilities constantly pressing upon his mind, he had neither desire nor opportunity to study and inform himself even upon the simplest branches of science, history, or general literature. During the intervals between his hours of employment he was never known to frequent public libraries, and was seldom known to take up a book; and his very limited reading was confined to a few juvenile productions, fugitive essays, and light romances, not, perhaps, comprising over four hundred or five hundred pages at most; and even this little reading was pursued in the most desultory manner. The frankness, openness, and sincerity, which have characterized the boy from infancy to the present moment, and the probabilities arising from his youth and inexperience in the arts of the world, forbid entirely the suspicion that he could have been pursuing in secret any sinister designs upon the credulity of the world; and the restrictions which poverty imposed upon his mental exertions, and the ten thousand incidentals connected with a daily and hourly intercourse of some one or more persons with him, absolutely’ forbid the possibility of his having in secret carried on a design of this kind, even had he been morally capable of a fraud so palpable.

We will now present a brief history of Mr. Davis’s career in clairvoyance, including an account of the origin and production of this book.

In the autumn of 1843, a Mr. Grimes delivered in Poughkeepsie a number of lectures on Animal Magnetism, performing during his course a number of illustrative experiments. Among the persons on whom Mr. Grimes essayed to operate was young Davis; but in this instance his most powerful efforts failed to produce any apparent effect. By his lectures and the successful experiments accompanying them, however, considerable excitement was created in the village concerning this important branch of psychological science; and among others who were induced to test their own powers in producing the magnetic phenomenon, was Mr. WILLIAM LEVINGSTON. Young Davis happening into the tailor-shop of Mr. Levingston during the general excitement, the latter gentleman proposed a trial to magnetize him. The experiment which followed succeeded; and the boy exhibited powers of clairvoyance which were truly surprising. A great variety of tests were submitted, such as requiring him to visit and describe places which he had never seen, to read from a closed volume with his eyes bandaged, &c.; and the result was to establish his power of interior sight beyond dispute. This experiment took place about the first of December, 1843.

From that time forward the boy was frequently thrown into the abnormal state, and Mr. Levingston’s house was for months the common resort of the curious who were indiscriminately invited to come and witness the experiments. But after submitting for two or three months to all species of tests for no other purpose than that of gratifying curiosity and establishing the reality of the clairvoyant state, the boy, while in the latter state, protested against being longer subjected to any tests, except such as might involve matters of practical utility, informing Mr. Levingston that the great object of his powers in the stage of development to which they had then attained, was to enable him to examine, and prescribe for, the diseased. Shortly after this, he left Mr. Armstrong, to whom he was an apprentice, and entered, with his magnetizer Mr. L., into the exclusive employment of treating the diseased, in which employment, as it appears from all the testimonies we have received, he was surprisingly successful. Not long after this, and by progressive stages, his scientific powers became immensely unfolded; and there was no science the general principles and much of minutiae of which he did not seem to comprehend while in his abnormal state. He also from time to time presented many novel and highly-interesting ideas concerning the nature and powers of the human soul, seeming to demonstrate an intimate connection between the present and the spirit world.

On the 7th of March, 1844, he fell, without the assistance of the magnetic process, into a strange abnormal state, during which phenomena occurred of the most surprising character. For the greater part of the time during two days, he seemed to be entirely insensible to all external things, and to live wholly in the interior world. Possessing, however, an increased power over his physical system, he traveled a long distance during this time, without any apparent fatigue. It was during this extraordinary state of his mental and physical system that he received information of a very general character, of his future and peculiar mission to the world. The process, by which this information was received, with many other things of intense interest, shall be made public after questions by which the phenomena may be rationalized shall have been more thoroughly discussed on independent grounds.

By minds duly prepared, it may now be conceived on reading the portion of this volume which treats on the Spiritual Spheres.

The reader is now requested to observe that, according to the foregoing statements (which are open to refutation if false), the first magnetic experiment performed on Mr. Davis by Mr. Levingston was manifestly suggested by the prevailing excitement growing out of Mr. Grimes’s lectures and experiments it was apparently the casual prompting of a momentary thought, and not the result of a long-premeditated and ingeniously-arranged plot. Let it also be observed that on the performance of this first experiment, the boy Davis suddenly became a general object of interest such as he had not been before, and was freely visited and tested by numerous persons while he was (professedly at least) under the influence of magnetism. Now unless the reality of some strange: abnormal condition is admitted, some more rational explanation should certainly be given of this uneducated, unsophisticated young, boy thus suddenly, and to all appearance accidentally, being brought out from obscurity, and becoming a public wonder on account of his strange and; inexplicable powers. But if an actual abnormal and inexplicable condition is admitted, the reader should reflect before deciding against the possibility of anything that is claimed as growing out of that condition in a due state of development.

If, from the time the boy was first magnetized until the time he left Mr. Armstrong (which was some three months or more subsequently), the former had made any considerable effort by reading to inform himself upon anatomical, physiological, astronomical, geological, or psychological subjects, the latter would certainly have discovered the fact and mentioned it in his letter which we have inserted above.

Besides, the proficiency in these subjects which could have been made under those circumstances by such a boy, could have been but little even with the most diligent efforts. Up to this time, therefore, his education, according to Mr. Armstrong, barely amounted to a knowledge of reading, writing, and the rudiments of arithmetic, and his reading was exceedingly limited and confined to that of a light and juvenile description. At this period (which was in March, 1844) we find him entering on a career of medical practice, in which he sustained himself to the utmost satisfaction of all patients who gave him a fair trial, until April 10, 1847, after which time he ceased to be magnetized for an indefinite period. During Mr. Davis’s exclusive connection with Mr. Levingston (which was from March, 1844, to August, 1845), his opportunities for acquiring information by external processes were but little if any more extensive than they had been before. Mr. L. having for the previous part of his life been absorbed in the respectable occupation of a tailor, had not been able to store his mind with that scientific and philosophic knowledge which could have qualified him to impart any important instruction to the young man. Nor did he even understand many of the anatomical and medical technicalities which the clairvoyant would frequently use in his examinations and prescriptions. Nor did Mr. L. possess a library from which the young man could have derived any important aid in developing his mind to the immense extent necessary to the composition of this book. Thus the Rev. Mr. Bartlett, in his letter above inserted, whose intimate acquaintance with Mr. Davis, according to his own statement, extended from early in 1842 to 1845, says of the latter, in speaking of the first few months of his clairvoyance-career, "In his natural appearance, deportment, or opportunities, no change was observable at this or any other period of my acquaintance with him."

Mr. Davis’s connection with Mr. Levingston continued for some eighteen months, during the fore part of which period their associate labors were confined, mostly to Poughkeepsie, but toward the latter part they made frequent excursions to Danbury and Bridgeport, Connecticut, in all of which places they hail more or less patients. And wherever Davis went he was an object of intense curiosity, and his movements were as a consequence closely observed, not only while in his abnormal but while in his ordinary state. In each of those places, therefore, he was well known by numerous persons; and no one among them has ever observed any reliable indication on his part of a studious habit: or it they have, they will give forth, not their vague surmises, but the tangible facts susceptible of proof, and so far our statement will be considered as refuted. Indeed, the desultory life which he led during this period was very unfavorable to study, especially to that kind of study which could have afforded any assistance in the production of the book now before the reader. When not travelling, he was on an average thrown into the abnormal state twice a day for the purpose of attending to the diseased; and most of the time while in the ordinary state, he spent in some light manual exercise, in walking, or in visiting his friends; and he spent little or no time in solitude.

The writer of this first became acquainted with Mr. Davis in July, 1844, being at that time on a professional visit to Poughkeepsie. He was then nearly eighteen years of age, appeared to be of rather slender constitution, and exhibited some of the marks of delicate health. We then had a long conversation with him, during which he appeared very communicative, and unbosomed himself with great simplicity; and from the thousand little indications incidentally connected with his manner, pronunciation, use of language, the form and character of his thoughts, &c., we were irresistibly impressed that he was a young man of very little school education, having almost no acquaintance with books, and totally uninstructed in the arts and conventionalities of the world. His mind, however, indicated a delicate susceptibility to impressions, and a capacity to comprehend natural principles which we had witnessed in but few of his age. Still his unique style of expression irresistibly proved that his own heart within, and the invariable indications of Nature without, were almost the only books which he had perused.

We also at the same time heard him examine a number of patients while in the clairvoyant state. While in the latter state he appeared as if metamorphosed into a totally different being. The human system seemed entirely transparent to him, and to our utter astonishment he employed the technical terms of anatomy, physiology, and materia medica, as familiarly as household words! Our surprise was equally excited by the exceeding clearness with which he described and reasoned upon the nature, origin, and progress of a disease, and concerning the appropriate means to employ for its removal. From infallible indications presented, we saw that there could be no collusion or deception, and no such thing as receiving his impressions sympathetically from the mind of the magnetizer. From that time we neither saw nor heard any more of young Davis until the next May.

In February, 1845, Mr. Davis being (with his magnetizer) in Bridgeport, Connecticut, attending to such patients as required his services, formed an acquaintance with Dr. S. S. LYON, the magnetizer connected with him during the delivery of this book, and who was at that time a successful medical practitioner in Bridgeport. Dr. Lyon had previously been an unbeliever in clairvoyance, but the evidence of its truth, as presented in the case of young Davis, proved too powerful for him to resist; and under a deep conviction of its importance, he did not hesitate to render it his open encouragement, and to avail himself of the clairvoyant’s advice in the treatment of some difficult cases of disease then under his charge.

In the following May, the writer of this happening to be at Bridgeport, accidentally fell in with Mr. Davis and Mr. Levingston, who were then at that place on business connected with their occupation. During a most interesting consultation which we then, in company with Rev. S. B. Brittan and several other gentlemen, enjoyed with the clairvoyant, in respect to various scientific and spiritual subjects, we learned for the first time that he was soon to commence a series of lectures and revelations upon subjects such as are embraced in this book. But not until about thirty hours previous to the commencement of these lectures, as will hereafter be shown, had we the least anticipation of being connected with him as his reporter.

About the first of the following August, Mr. Davis, while in the clairvoyant state, voluntarily chose Dr. Lyon to be his magnetizer during the delivery of this book, this choice neither having been solicited nor in the least degree anticipated by Dr. L., until it was announced. In obedience to the direction of the clairvoyant, Dr. Lyon immediately relinquished a remunerative and increasing practice in Bridgeport, and removed to New York, in which city the clairvoyant decided that the revelations should be delivered. The object of so early a removal to that city was, to establish, before the lectures commenced, a medical practice that might in some measure assist in sustaining them while said lectures were in progress.

During the three months which Mr. Davis spent in New York previously to the commencement of this book, he was thrown into the abnormal state at an average of twice a day, at least four hours of each day being thus consumed by the duties of his occupation. Being, as usual, an object of great curiosity, he received the calls of many persons who sought his acquaintance, both while in the normal and abnormal state; and the intervals between his sittings for the treatment of disease were known to be occupied chiefly in conversation, in writing to his friends, in playing on his accordion, or in walking; and all evidences conspired against the idea that he was habitually inclined to books. He remained, then, up to the commencement of his lectures, the uneducated, unsophisticated child of Nature, entirely free from the creeds, theories, and philosophies of the world: and up to this day, he has never been inclined to seek the society of scientific men, but has rather avoided them.

If the foregoing somewhat circumstantial history of his life is untrue in any particular essentially involving the object for which it is here presented, it will, considering the immense interests that are at stake, certainly be refuted; for we have thus unreservedly laid open the subject to the investigation of the whole world.

On the 27th of November, 1845, residing at the time in New Haven, Connecticut, we received per mail a note from Dr. Lyon, stating that we had been appointed by Mr. Davis, while in the clairvoyant state, as the scribe to report and prepare for the press his lectures which were to commence immediately. This appointment was entirely unsolicited (we will not say undesired) by ourselves; and so far from anticipating such an honor, we were then busily engaged in making arrangements to remove to Massachusetts. The next day, however, we embarked for New York, and in the evening wrote Mr. Davis’s first lecture at his dictation - subsequently agreeing to write and prepare the whole for the press.

Before Mr. Davis commenced his lectures, he voluntarily, while in the abnormal state, chose the three witnesses mentioned in his address to the world, to be present as their circumstances would allow, at the delivery of the lectures, in order to be able to testify of the medium through which they were given. Rev. J. N. Parker has since removed to Boston; Theron R. Laphamn resides at present at Poughkeepsie, New York; and T. Lea Smith, M. D., is in Bermuda. The twenty-three incidental witnesses mentioned in the note on page 2 of the address to the world, are all still living, except James Victor Wilson, and he has left his testimony behind. Either of the living witnesses is open to consultation; and each will testify to portions of the book being delivered in his presence by Mr. Davis while under the influence of magnetism - to the original manuscripts of which portions (which are carefully preserved) they may find their signatures attached.

The number of witnesses whose names are mentioned were deemed sufficient: if their testimony is not received, especially when it is ascertained that they (or at least as many of them as we are familiarly acquainted with) are men of irreproachable character, it is not probable that that of a thousand others would share a fate essentially different. During the delivery of each lecture the clairvoyant required that the utmost tranquility, both mental and physical, should be preserved in the room. While in the sphere of the body (a phrase hereafter to be explained), excitement of any kind always disturbed him, as did also the presence of persons whose spheres were uncongenial. Hence an indiscriminate admittance of persons to the lectures would have been as impracticable as it was unnecessary. Yet such applicants as were actuated by a supreme desire to know the truth irrespective of their previous opinions, were generally admitted to a number ranging from one to six, whether they were believers or unbelievers in Clairvoyance, and such persons were always instantly distinguished by the lecturer while in his superior state.

Shortly after the lectures commenced, and several times during their progress, accounts were, in various journals, published of the same, and of the nature of some of the developments, and investigation was invited from al] persons who might feel disposed to inquire into the facts stated. Our rooms when the clairvoyant was not lecturing, were freely accessible to all person; from seven o’clock in the morning until ten o’clock in the evening, including the hours of medical examinations. All questions were promptly and candidly answered, and the clairvoyant’s manuscripts were always open to the inspection of the curious; and if any responsible person, among the thousands who called on us from all parts of the United States, during the fifteen months while the book was in progress, discovered at any time the extensive tomes and paraphernalia of a profound student into the mysteries of the whole material and spiritual Universe; or if Mr. Davis was ever discovered in the act of receiving scientific or philosophical instruction from those capable of one half the range of thought, and of consistent and consecutive argument displayed in this book, he will of course make the same known to the world by proof on which the public may rely, always being careful to distinguish properly between vague imaginings and tangible fact. And if it is even admitted that a youth of twenty years, with five months’ school tuition, and having been subjected throughout his life to the most unfavourable circumstances, could, unknown to his most intimate associates, have familiarized his mind, by any external process, with all important writings extant in all languages, upon the subject of cosmogony, astronomy, geology, ethnology, archaeology, mythology, theology, psychology, history, metaphysics, &c., &c., &c. - the wisdom with which gleanings have been made from all these, the ability displayed in their classification, the bold and familiar criticism displayed in reference to them all, and especially the soaring flights of mind into regions not previously explored by any earthly being, will constitute a phenomenon still demanding explanation.

The fact is, however, it is known to an absolute moral certainty to Mr. Davis’s most intimate acquaintances, that he was, while in his normal state, totally uninformed on all the great leading subjects treated in his book, until he perused the manuscripts of his own lectures. The question whether Mr. Davis may not have received much of the contents of this book by sympathetic influx from the minds of those associated with him, we would prefer to have discussed by others, if, indeed, such a question can possibly occur. Suffice it say, that, for the best of reasons, we know that such a thing could not be. Many facts, principles, and theories, are presented in this volume which were before totally unconceived and unbelieved by either of Mr. Davis’s associates, especially on cosmological, theological, and spiritual subjects. One of Mr. Davis’s associates, at least, has been truly pronounced as in a merely rudimental state (see the author’s address to the world); and the other we presume would have as little difficulty in proving that’ his mind has not been overburdened with knowledge upon the subjects herein discussed. Should it be necessary, the evidence touching this point will be presented hereafter, though this may not be the most gratifying to the personal vanity of him upon whom may devolve the task of setting it forth to the world.

If this law of sympathetic influx, however, is admitted, it should be duly explained and defined before the conclusion is formed that it may not, under favorable circumstances, be a medium through which spirits of the higher world may transmit their knowledge to mankind on earth. Certainly the sympathetic transmission of a thought from one person to another, while both are in the body, is quite as inexplicable as would be the transmission of the thoughts of a disembodied spirit to a person rendered duly susceptible to sympathetic influx. As touching this subject, however, see the author’s remarks on Animal Magnetism, Clairvoyance, and the source of his impressions in the forepart of this volume, in which the nature and ground of his claims are duly set forth.

If the foregoing statements concerning Mr. Davis’s past life, opportunities, acquirements, &c., are correct, then it irresistibly follows that this book must have been dictated by some other and higher source of information than that accessible to the physical senses. That source of information we claim to be the SPIRITUAL WORLD. We will now proceed to describe the process of the production of this book, and the phenomena connected therewith:-

In the first place, the magnetizer [Hypnotizer] and magnetizee [Subject] are seated in easy positions facing each other. The ordinary manipulations are then performed, from three to five minutes being required for the completion of the process. A sudden convulsion of the muscles, such as is produced by an electric shock, indicates that the subject is duly magnetized, immediately after which his eyes are bandaged to protect them from the light. He then remains speechless for some four or five minutes, and motionless, with the exception of an occasional sudden convulsion of the muscles. One of these convulsions at length brings him to a state of external consciousness, and gives him perfect command over the muscles of the system and the organs of speech. He next assumes a position inclined either to the right or to the left, and becomes cold, rigid, motionless, and insensible to all external things. The pulsations become feeble, the breathing is apparently almost suspended, and all the senses are closed entirely to the external world. This condition, according to his own explanation, corresponds almost precisely to that of physical death. The faint vital forces still remaining in his system, are only sustained sympathetically by the presence of the magnetizer, whose system is by an ethereal medium blended and united with his own. If while he is in this condition the magnetizer should by any means lose connection with him, the vital movements of the body would cease, and the spirit would be incapable of re-entering it, as he himself has informed us. In this respect he is different from any person we have ever seen while under the magnetic influence. His mind is now entirely freed from the sphere of the body, and, consequently, from all preconceived ideas, from all theological isms, and from all influences of education and local circumstances, and all his impressions are received from the interior or spiritual world. His perceptions, conceptions, and reasoning powers, are now immeasurably expanded. His spiritual sight, freed from its material obstructions, now extends to worlds and systems innumerable, and he feels that he has almost ceased to be a member of the human family on earth, and is a member only of that great Family of intelligent beings which inhabit universal space. He is thus elevated above all the narrow, local, and sectarian prejudices that pervade the earth. His philosophy is only that which is involved in the laws and principles which control the Universe and mankind unerringly, and his theology is only that which is written on the wide-spread scroll of the heavens, in which every star is a word, and every constellation a sentence. He associates familiarly with the inhabitants of the spirit-world, and the diversified knowledge cultivated by them is rendered accessible to his mind. The associated spirits and angels of the Second Sphere, are, as one grand Man, in sympathetic communication with him to transmit knowledge to mankind on earth, which they perceive the latter are for the first time prepared to receive. Thus exalted, he gives forth his impressions of truth as it actually appears to him, without reference to any of the beliefs, philosophies, theories, or sectarian prejudices, that exist in the world. Having thus access to all the knowledge of the Second Sphere combined with that of the first, such truths as are appropriate to communicate flow spontaneously into his mind, these being at the same time arranged according to a natural order of sequence. As soon as a distinct impression is thus received, the spirit returns again to its material habitation, and employs the organs of speech to communicate it to those present. A few words only are uttered at a time, which the clairvoyant requires to be repeated by Dr. Lyon, in order that he may know that he is understood. A pause then ensues until what he has said has been written, when he again proceeds; and the passage into and out of the spiritual state occurs at an average of about once every sentence.

His diction is of the most direct and simple kind, and his ideas seem usually to be clothed in those words which first present themselves. His phraseology is not a subject of interior direction except when nice distinctions are to be drawn and great precision of expression is required. His style is much such as he would use in his normal state if a knowledge were imparted to him on the subjects on which he treats while in his elevated condition. His grammar is therefore defective; and although, when it is necessary in order to properly embody an idea, he employs technical terms, and even foreign words and phrases, with the greatest facility, he sometimes mispronounces, yet not in such a way as to obscure his meaning. Correctness might have been attained in. all these particulars, yet the labor on his part would in that case have been immensely increased, by making all those minutia matters of interior investigation. His great object was simply to present the idea, leaving the niceties of the verbal clothing to be adjusted by myself, with the restriction that the corrections should be such as not to destroy the peculiarities of the general style and mode of expression.

His enunciation was characterized by a peculiar breathing solemnity as though every word gushed from the depths of the soul; and his simple, pure, and unaffected manner, was impressive in the extreme. If we were to say it seemed that the very atmosphere of heaven surrounded him, and that angels were continually breathing their thoughts through his organs of speech, the expression would appear to be prompted by a heated enthusiasm; yet a phrase less expressive would fail to convey an adequate idea. This remark applies also to all his philosophical and spiritual conversations while in the abnormal state.

The time occupied in the delivery of a lecture varied from forty minutes to about four hours, and the quantity of matter delivered at a sitting varied from three to fifteen pages of foolscap closely written. There were one hundred and fifty-seven lectures in all, the first being delivered November 28, 1845, and the last (viz., the address to the world, which comes first in the book) was delivered on the 25th of January, 1847.

On closing the address to the world, the author immediately proceeded to give general directions as to the corrections of the manuscripts, and the preparation of the work for the press. These directions (preserved in writing and subscribed by a witness) I have scrupulously followed to the best of my ability. With the exception of striking out a few sentences and supplying others, according to direction, I have only found it necessary to correct the grammar, to prune out verbal redundancies, and to clarify such sentences as would to the general reader appear obscure. All ideas have been most scrupulously preserved, and great care has been taken to give them to the reader in the precise aspect in which they appeared when received from the speaker. We have, also, conscientiously abstained from adding any ideas of our own. Also all comparisons, and technical and foreign terms and phrases, and all peculiarities of expression, are exclusively the speaker’s. When we have found it necessary to reconstruct sentences, we have employed, as far as possible, only the verbal materials found in the sentence as it first stood, preserving the peculiarities of style and mode of expression. The arrangement of the work is the same as when delivered, except that in three instances contiguous paragraphs have been transposed for the sake of a closer connection. With these unimportant qualifications, the work may be considered as paragraph for paragraph, sentence for sentence, and word for word, as it was delivered by the author. The notes interspersed through the book were composed by our self.

Furthermore, the work was originally proposed by the clairvoyant himself; the time of its commencement was fixed upon by himself; and all the instrumentalities connected with its production have constantly been under his authoritative direction. He has spoken only as directed by his interior promptings, and no portions of his work have been elicited by the interrogatories or suggestions of another. When he has spoken he has spoken spontaneously; and at such times as his interior perceptions were not duly expanded, he has refused to proceed with his dictations. All persons around him connected in any way with the production of the book, were therefore moved by him; he was not in the least degree moved or influenced by any of them; and it is owing solely to influences from the interior world as operating on his mind, that the book now makes its appearance.

In connection with the above, one fact may now be stated which must appear to all reasoning minds as of powerful significance: Immediately after giving general directions as to the correction and publication of the work, he voluntarily, in the presence of a witness, and contrary to the expectation of every one, renounced all claim, direct and indirect, to any portion of the copyright, and the proceeds of the sales of the work, simply claiming a reasonable compensation for the time he had been employed in its delivery.

Concerning the character of the book we offer no remark further than what is involved in the foregoing. It speaks for itself, and is its own interpreter. We also abstain (for the present at least) from all defense of its contents, from a profound conviction that these need no defense. It will be observed, however, that as the work advances from the commencement toward the close, the style and diction gradually improve, which fact is to be explained by the law of habit applicable to the mind in every condition in which it is capable of being placed.

The question will perhaps occur to many minds, "’ Is this work, professing, as it does, to be a new revelation, to be considered as infallible?" The answer is involved in the teachings of the work itself: It recognizes infallibility, in the unrestricted sense of that term, as belonging to no being save the Deity himself. If this or any other work embodied in human language should claim for itself infallibility, the mind nevertheless would be unable to receive its teachings only as the reasoning powers could digest and assimilate them; and this the reason would do with more facility if no such claims were preferred.

But the moment any teachings, artificially expressed, are forced upon the mind under the plea of infallibility, that moment Reason and Nature are thrown aside, and the standard of belief becomes entirely arbitrary. Belief in this case is nothing more than superstition; and those who are sufficiently frank and dignified to avow a rejection of the infallible standard from the incoherence of its teachings with the dictates of enlightened reason, are subjected to the indignation of the faithful who demand unconditional credence in that which they suppose to be of more authority than all reason and natural consistency, and which, if the mind receives, it cannot either comprehend or practically apply. Thus have arisen all the superstition, bigotry, and sectarian hostility, that ever have cursed the human race; and it is impossible that the Deity could ever have designed the establishment of an infallible standard that could tend to such results.

Reader, do not consider this book as a standard so infallible as to relieve you from the exercise of your own reason. Remember that although it is the production of a mind immensely exalted, and having access to the knowledge of a higher world, it is still the production of a human mind; and if the work will not stand upon its own intrinsic merits, let it be rejected. If, however, its contents on due investigation commend themselves to the approbation of your interior being, let them be considered as true, even infallibly so, at least until they are proved otherwise. And in this connection we may remark that the work, as to all its essential principles, is the product of great care on the part of its author. At each entrance into the abnormal state for the purpose of lecturing, he was capable, by an effort of a few moments’ duration, of reviewing all the manuscripts of his previous lectures. Hence it is not probable that any serious error would have long escaped detection, had such, through inadvertence, been even liable to occur. And to this, again, it may be added that the clairvoyant never lectured when from physiological causes or surrounding circumstances he was rendered incapable of that perfect disconnection from the darkening influences of the material world, which was necessary to the full development of his mental susceptibilities. Inasmuch, however, as the author establishes the principle that "particulars and minutiae cannot be depended upon as connected with any great general principle," it can scarcely be expected that the many particulars and minutiae involved in this work of eight hundred pages are in every individual case nicely accurate. But whatever inaccuracies of this kind, apparent or real, may be discovered (and the real ones will be few if any), these cannot have any effect upon the great general principles and truths which it is the only aim of this work to establish, and on which alone it must stand or fall.

This book is not put forth to the world without a definite conception of the obstacles it will have to contend with, and the influences that will be favorable to the general dissemination of its principles. There are three general classes of minds to which it makes its appeal. The first of these consists of those who are strongly attached to hereditary customs and modes of thought, and who are averse to the unfolding of any truths in the departments of science and theology which conflict with that which they have been taught to believe and cherish as sacred. These will oppose this work, not by dignified and manly argumentation, giving a fair and candid representation of its contents, but by the most unqualified denunciation, and calling it all kinds of opprobrious names; by representing it as most revolting in its teachings and dangerous in its tendencies, and cautioning all minds to abstain from reading it, lest they be led astray; by seeking to throw contempt and distrust upon the source from which it came; and by raising the cry throughout the land, Great is Diana of the Ephesians! But the truthfulness of the author’s motto cannot but be apparent to every reflecting mind, that Any theory, hypothesis, philosophy, sect, creed, or institution, that fears investigation, openly manifests its own error. Twenty years ago, the obstructing influence of this class of minds would have been effectual, and hence this work was not at that time given. But now a different state of things has obtained. New truth is now beginning to be regarded as more sacred than old error; and hereditary impression, which has from the infancy of the race led almost all the world astray, is beginning to be abandoned as an unstable foundation. Everything betokens the approach of a mighty revolution in the affairs of the social and religious world; and the influence of old and venerated customs and forms of thought, in obstructing the progress of any truthful principles that may be embodied in this work, call last but for a day.

The second class of minds to which this work makes its appeal consists of those who have no decided affection either for any established customs, existing institutions, or prevailing modes of faith, but are willing to become the servants or opposers of any as their social or financial interests may dictate. Many among these, being moved by the popular current, will peruse this volume, not for the purpose of truly understanding its teachings, and adopting them so far as true, but for the purpose of criticizing, reviewing, and obstructing its influence. Such will distort passages from their proper connection, force upon them a meaning which the author did not intend, and thus hold up the work to the ridicule and execration of the world. But as minds of this class have no fixed principles, truth has nothing permanently to fear from their influence, though they may succeed in slightly obstructing its progress for a season.

The third class consists of those who are governed by the supreme love of truth and the practical results to which it leads. Such neither favor nor oppose any institution, creed, or philosophy, either because it is old or new. They consider everything according to its own intrinsic merits, irrespective of all collateral circumstances attending. They are open to conviction from all sources, but will neither receive nor reject a thing unexamined. They are upon the broad ocean of universal investigation, content to be moved only by the winds and tides of evidence, confiding in the efficacy of these to waft them to the haven of some grand system of truth and righteousness based upon the nature of things and universally applicable. Thousands of such minds are now already in the field of action, and their number is daily increasing; and there are tens of thousands naturally belonging to this class among all parties, sects, and denominations, throughout the land. Such are the minds which are ascending the throne of the world, and by these all inferior classes must be directed and elevated. To such this book more particularly addresses itself; and from such the utmost fairness may be expected in the investigation of its contents. From such, therefore, the work, if true, has nothing to fear, but everything to hope. With the foregoing statements and remarks this book is submitted to the world with the utmost confidence that it is all it professes to be, and with the most entire reliance upon its intrinsic power to accomplish its proposed work. For its pure and elevated morality, for its high and holy principles, for its unspeakably sublime and consoling truths, we are willing, if absolute necessity should require, to sacrifice all things earthly and even life itself. In this we rejoice to know that we are not alone. We would, then, simply ask that this volume may be perused with a candor and seriousness which the nature of its contents demands; that decision may be pronounced for or against it, according to the preponderance of evidence, and that corresponding action may be prompt, decided, and energetic. We await the result with the most cheering anticipations.

WILLIAM FISHBOUGH. WILLIAMSBURGH, N. Y., July, 1847

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART 1 - THE KEY

GENERAL REMARKS on the condition of society in past and present times - Causes of evils not visible on the external of things, but are hidden in the soul of existing institutions. The interior of all things is the only real Reality - the external is the mere transient expression. Rationale of Animal Magnetism, Clairvoyance, and the source of the author’s impressions. Proof of a spiritual existence. Generalizations and reasonings on various laws and principles of the Universe. Universal and eternal Motion. Eternal progression of all things through circular or spiral lines of development. Universal correspondence or analogy. The Great Positive Mind the Cause, Nature the Effect, and Spirit the Ultimate, &c., &c.

PART 2 - THE REVELATION

The original condition of all matter as liquid fire. The great Sun of the Univercoelum as the Throne or Vortex of Infinite Power and Intelligence. Evolution of an igneous atmosphere from the Great Centre, and formation of successive nebulous zones, encircling almost the immensity of space. Formation of countless millions of suns from these, with their respective planets. The immensity of creation. Laws of planetary motion. Origin and rationale of Universal Gravitation. Our own solar system. Origin of the sun and planets - inhabitants of the latter. Geological history of the earth minutely traced. Development of the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms, and Man.