“Ah, my friend, see what prejudice will do. She is as innocent as one, in my opinion. She was merely self-deceived as to the source of her power, and not understanding it, supposed it supernatural. It is a wonder it had not either killed her or made her insane, for even self-imposed hypnotism, as I said before, seems to weaken and wear both the mental and physical beings, and where one escapes injury, many suffer from it. But we all hug our delusions. The more monstrous, the dearer they are to us.” “And yet, as you have already stated, what may appear false to us in one generation may prove to be truth in the next.” “Yes; but remember the hunter after Truth took from his breast the shuttle of Imagination and wound on it the thread of his wishes, and so wove his net to entrap Truth. What we must do is to hunt for Truth with a different net, one in which credulity and desire have no place.” “But, Doctor, who shall determine when we have complied with the requirements? May each generation pass away, holding but a feather from Truth’s wing in his hand? Shall we believe in nothing of which a shadow of doubt remains in our minds? What creed—what _ism_ can bear the test?” “We read, ‘By their fruits ye shall know them.’ We are also told that Truth is the work of God, falsehood the work of man. If any belief bear evil fruit, shall we not reject it? According to Froude, ‘The practical _effect_ of a belief is the real test of its soundness.’ Let us apply that test to modern beliefs. Wherever we find misery, wretchedness, or demoralization concomitant or subsequent, let us reject the creed or belief as false and dangerous.” We have been told to learn of the philosophers always to look for natural causes in all extraordinary events; and when such natural causes are wanting, recur to God. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES 1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in spelling. 2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. 3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.