any visible means of communication, he would probably have been put
to torture and death as a sorcerer and deliberate misleader of the
public. In the same way those who write of spiritual truths and the
psychic control of our life-forces are as foolishly criticised as
Galileo, and as wrongfully condemned.

For hundreds of years man's vain presumption and belief in his own
infallibility caused him to remain in error concerning the simplest
elements of astronomy, which would have taught him the true position
of the sphere upon which he dwells. With precisely equal obstinacy
man lives to-day in ignorance of his own highest powers because he
will not take the trouble to study the elements of that supreme and
all-commanding mental science which would enable him to understand
his own essential life and being, and the intention of his Creator
with regard to his progress and betterment. Therefore, in the face
of his persistent egotism and effrontery, and his continuous denial
of the 'superhuman' (which denial is absurdly incongruous seeing
that all his religions are built up on a 'superhuman' basis), it is
generally necessary for students of psychic mysteries to guard the
treasures of their wisdom from profane and vulgar scorn,--a scorn
which amounts in their eyes to blasphemy. For centuries it has been
their custom to conceal the tenets of their creed from the common
knowledge for the sake of conventions; because they would, or might,
be shut out from such consolations as human social intercourse can
give if their spiritual attainments were found to be, as they often
are, beyond the ordinary. Thus they move through the world with the
utmost caution, and instead of making a display of their powers
they, if they are true to their faith, studiously deny the idea that
they have any extraordinary or separate knowledge. They live as
spectators of the progress or decay of nations, and they have no