"For y^e past dyeth not but slepeth, nay ffor perchaunce hit wakyth and hit ys they of y^e present who doe slepe and dreme. Hit ys euen as a ffar countrie ffrom y^e which they heare tydynges: Yet men will fare vnto londes ffarr distant and y^e weelth hath bene theyr guerdon euen soe wayteth euer ffor man y^e treasure of y^e wisdom of past tymes and yeeldeth her vnto y^e loue whych seekyth and ys ne wearyed; soe schal y^e memorie of oldetyme thinges be reuealyd and of Glaston hit ys sayd y^t when y^e tymes ben ripe y^e glorye schal return: May hit bee euen soe Gracious Prince and Princess yn youre tyme." Then y^e grasse schal bee as glasse And y^e schal see y^e mysterie Deepe downe hit lyes ffrom pryinge eies And safelie slepes, while vigil kepes Y^e company. (Howe doe) y^e dry bonys stir and shake And eche to eche hys fellowe seekes Soone comes agayne what once hath bene And Glastonys glory shal be seene. These verses were evolved one day in automatic writing. What their origin neither F.B.B. nor J.A. know--neither can recall having read them. Owing to their beauty and suggestiveness, they were incorporated in the Address in a form slightly modified from the original. ON AUTOMATISM The essential objection to the methods and practices of the spiritualists, and the ground of that instinctive repugnance which is normally felt towards these methods, is undoubtedly that they imply a surrender of the will and powers of self-control to activities which, for good or evil, are outside the personal sphere of the medium. The higher spiritual gifts are those in which the recipient acts as a conscious participator in the act of transmission. Between these two extremes is a class intermediate in nature, which is apparently recognised by St. Paul in the first Epistle to the Corinthians,[6] the typical instance quoted being that of the "gift of tongues" whose exercise, whilst not discouraged by him, was nevertheless noted as of inferior value, since it did not tend always to the edification of the Church. But it was one phase of a form of inspiration then known, probably as a common phenomenon, and there can be little or no doubt that it was accompanied by others of a similar sort, and that inspirational writing was possibly one of the most ordinary of these. The one necessarily follows from the other. There is even a possible element of the kind to be weighed in any satisfying theory of Biblical inspiration, and the prophetic utterances connected therewith, and it will have to be considered fairly and apart from theological preconceptions. [6] See flyleaf.