title: Physical religion of the immunes; a warfare against the penalties of existence, based upon the laws of universal life,
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V / * ft ^*0’ o ^ ^ # ^ Oft 4 y v % «1 ^ 4 aV ^ 4 ♦ c. v * a 4' / ft : 4 ft aVA 9 / ^ ^ 4 ft* 4 * .v^V ’’bv 4 ‘ )p VP * *. . _ ft .^ V ^ ft A <ft, ft©» ft * «Cr <5 4 ft^*** » < ft • \ <■»* .^iUr % /.- •^o* •^Bl‘. n»* : A q Js° ^ ' PHYSICAL RELIGION OF THE IMMUNES A WARFARE AGAINST THE PENALTIES OF EXISTENCE Based Upon the Laws of Universal Life INTERPRETED BY EDMUND SHAFTESBURY VSdrJZn. ISSUED BY RALSTON COMPANY WASHINGTON, D. C. 1907 0 LIBRARY Of CONGRESS Two Cooies Received APK 23 1907 «oojtrisrht Entry /K -*wv / /? °7. CLASS A XXc„ No. / 70 ijA o COPY B. ■K/mt Copyright, 1907. BY RALSTON COMPANY. All rights reserved. • • • • « jjdicatton. * To those who love life, to those who appreciate the blessings of health, to those who want to believe that this world is a good place in which to live,, to those who love little children, to those who strew the pathway of age with the flowers of sweetest affection, to those who hallow the memories of home above the richest treasures of earth, and to all who have a mellow heart in place of a sordid mind, this interpretation of the laws of nature is reverently dedicated, in the hope that it may find a place in the daily thoughts of every one of its readers. EDMUND SHAFTESBURY. Clan Number of Ralstonite -- (NAME). (NUMBER).. RALSTON CLAN a EXPLANATION. Almost every owner of the Book of Physical Religion desires to enter the Clan because it is full of advantages to all who join it. In obedience to the oft repeated requests of members of Ralston Clan, a page in the Book of Physical Religion is re¬ served for the purpose of recording and saving the Clan Num¬ ber of the member who owns the book. This record prevents loss of the Clan Number which would mean loss of membership. It is therefore of the highest im¬ portance that you write in ink your Clan Number as soon as you shall receive the same in accordance with the form at the end of the last chapter of this book. 4 Facts are everything. The interpreter is nothing. Physical Religion is a system of life on earth based upon facts so well known that they lead out of the realm of dispute and show conclusively the existence of fixed laws and principles that are as old as Mother Nature herself. A correct knowledge of these facts is not pos¬ sible without the aid of many men and many works. So voluminous are the sources of inform¬ ation, and so helpful have been the investigations and contributions of others during a period of more than a third-of-a-century that no credit now rests with the interpreter, either as originator, author or editor. All praise belongs elsewhere. No attempt has been made to advance theories. On the other hand the entire structure is based on facts, and on the laws and principles of life that govern those facts. Not one theory will be found in the scores of chapters printed herein. Nor is a single claim or belief of any kind intruded. Nothing is left to the imagination or credulity of the reader; nor is any creed of state or church referred to or hinted at in the whole course of the work. All matters not pertinent to the subject are omitted. Facts, laws and principles make up the entire system. Its success and its future rest in the hands of sensible men and women; not those who can be allured by glitter and specious argument; but that sturdier class that seeks the truth and cannot be induced to accept anything less. SPECIAL DESIGN Nature is the Mother of the human race. In the government of the world, she sets up laws, forces and principles that never vary until humanity is in dan¬ ger; and she then makes every exception necessary to pro¬ vide safety for the race. More than this, she shows, hy countless evidences of special design, that she has a pur¬ pose in bringing people upon the earth. An intelligent thoughtfulness is present in all her operations; and that humanity is the object of her special design is shown con¬ clusively in this booh of PHYSICAL RELIGION. The Study of Physical Religion is in FIVE PARTS Part One—“Social Division.” Part Two—“The Realm of Mysteries.” Part Three—“Physical Hell.” Part Four—“Physical Bondage.” Part Five—“Physical Heaven.’ $art ©ne Social Division OF PHYSICAL RELIGION THE PURPOSE OF WHICH IS TO ESTABLISH INTRODUCTORY RELATIONS WITH THE READER CHAPTER ONE. (social division.) PHYSICAL. 1 if I I \T /\T / \T/~ \IS\1/'^/ \T/ M /1 \T/ ^T/^\T /\ f/ \ T/ ;\t/ GLANCE at the title page of this book will discover the prominente of three words. The first is the word physical ; the second, religion; and the third, immunes. A clear understand¬ ing of what is meant by these words should be had at the very outset. There is no term in the language that is so generally misapplied as the word physical. It had its origin in the Greek tongue of more than two thousand years ago; the noun physis meaning nature; and the verb physein meaning to exist, or produce, but having the weight of the modern verb to be. The following are definitions of the word physical as given in present day dictionaries: “ Of or pertaining to nature, or including all created existence; in accordance with the laws of nature; relating to material things, as op¬ posed to the spiritual or imaginary; natural philosophy; treating of the causes and connections of natural phenom¬ ena; cognizable by the senses; etc.” The sum and sub¬ stance of these definitions will be found in four words: That which is know able. Anything that cannot be known cannot be physical; and it must be knowable to the senses that are given to hu¬ manity. Whatever is physical exists in FACTS. Nature is the maker of facts. 9 CHAPTER TWO. (social division.) EFORE facts were known all humanity was religious. As facts began to be acquired, the superstitious element of religion began to les¬ sen its hold upon the human mind, and truth got a hearing. The more facts there are at the foundation of any belief, the purer is the religion that teaches that belief. The word religion was in use long before there were churches, and it did not originally refer to spiritual or church matters. Its true meaning is “ a dutiful and binding obligation,” and was so defined by Servius, Lactantius, Augustine and others. Modern dictionaries define religion in a general way as a “ sense of duty ”—“ sense of obligation ”—“ conscientious devotion to principle ”— and “ sincere devotion to duty.” The grandest of English preachers, Rev. Charles Spurgeon, gave the following definition: “ Whatever a man sincerely believes in and lives by, is his religion.” The meaning which is adopted in the present system is a summing up of all the foregoing definitions, as follows: Religion is conscientious devotion to duty. Physical Religion is the duty humanity owes to itself. President Eliot of Harvard University, in a recent ad¬ dress to a large body of clergymen said that the time had come when all intelligent people seek facts. Physical Re¬ ligion, however, does not in any way touch upon the creeds of church or state. io CHAPTER THREE. (social division.) THE RALSTONITES OMING now to the third word in the series, the origin and meaning of the term " The Ralstonites " will be briefly stated. A system that has secured so strong a hold on the intel¬ ligence of men and women during the past thirty or more years, should be understood by all who are now interested in it. In the year 1876 seven men formed a branch association of what was then publicly known as the Everett Society. These men were highly educated and eager to investigate the laws of Nature and existence. They believed in facts and in facts alone, as relating to the material things of life. They all stood high in their respective churches, no less than five leading denominations being represented; and they never swerved from their loyalty. These seven men, however, took up a line of work that was not in any way related to church or state. They sought FACTS, and declared themselves to be Seekers after Facts. They set up a kind of worship of Facts. All theories and beliefs were thrown aside. After spending some time in the pursuit of Facts they were brought to a focus in seven great laws that pertain to human life on earth. The seven laws were regarded as the most important of the practical influences by which men and women are 11 0 12 PHYSICAL RELIGION. guided. Each law, for convenience of reference, was re¬ duced to a single word. The initial letters of these seven words spelled R-A-L-S-T-O-N. All this has been published in a full history of the events in many works that have appeared in the last twenty years. The only purpose in referring to the matter now is to refute the belief that the name Ralston is derived from some individual. The group become known as the Ralston Company, or Ralston branch of the Everett Society. There were two hundred “ Everetts ” as the members were called; but there were only seven “ Ralstons.” As the latter did not like to discard the name of the larger organization, they retained both names, and for very many years were known as “ Everett Ralstons.” In contributing reports or litera¬ ture to the subsequent large following, each one of the members called himself, “ Everett Ralston,” referring to the societies to which he belonged, rather than with the purpose of assuming a nom de plume. The early books were written by and in behalf of these members, all taking some part in them. The larger original society melted away long years ago; but the Ralstons went on. The seven laws referred to became the basis of the much greater system, known as the Ralston Club; they will not be found in this work. But the Golden Laws that make the Creed of Physical Religion are the outgrowth of the mightier development of their investigations, and have a ’much more potent bearing on human life. Since then the name Ralston has spread until it is known all over the world. Attracted by its popularity, more than two hundred concerns have, at various times, attempted to appropriate it by applying the word Ralston to goods which they offer for sale. The deception has been quickly ex¬ posed. Ralston Company has no goods for sale. CHAPTER FOUR. (social division.) <MX\TX>vT/^T / <\y : /\.T/\T/ I BECOMING A RALSTONITE. | ECLARATIONS have been made by indi¬ viduals as well as by nations in every important epoch. They may become the dividing line between the past and the future. The search for facts has hardly begun, when one realizes the enormous field yet to be explored. The world is still wrapped in mystery. Disap¬ pointment, suffering and countless wrongs are the natural progeny of ignorance. Every new fact makes one error less; and every man or woman who is added to the ranks of the Seekers after Facts will make the search the more effective, for we work together. For these reasons no time should be lost in declaring oneself. All brave men and women have the courage of their con¬ victions. The time has arrived in human history when the penal¬ ties of existence are piled mountain high, even to the very last limit of endurance, and the whole race must turn about and face in a new direction. People who are afraid to declare themselves, or who are indifferent to the matter, have not yet been awakened to the trend of the times. With immense advantage to one and all, and without cost, you may enter the ranks of those who wish to know the facts that influence life. Nature demands followers of facts, believers in facts, teachers of facts, and disciples of facts. The mariner who 13 H PHYSICAL RELIGION. enters the harbor in a heavy fog should make his soundings and seek his knowledge as he proceeds; he has no right to worship the mystery in the fog and then trust to blind guidance. It has been found that when men and women resolve to avoid every influence except that of facts, they come into a wonderfully clear light. The Declaration is the greatest known help in taking this step. It is not a pledge or promise; it cannot be broken, as there is nothing to break; it is the living expression of a thirst for knowledge. ** Every Ralstonite is necessarily a Seeker after Facts. ** Every Seeker after Facts is necessarily a Ralstonite. The following statement may at once be made:— DECLARATION. I am a Seeker after Facts, and therefore a Ralstonite. I want FACTS; facts that I can understand and know to he facts. I am not content with somebody's theory, or some¬ body's reason, or somebody's belief. I want to know all the facts that influence my life. In the problems of exist¬ ence, in the warfare against its penalties, in the struggle for success and happiness, in the maintenance of health and the cure of disease, I want the truth, the whole truth, and NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH. You should sign the foregoing Declaration on the dotted line, and send the following notice: “ To Ralston Company, Washington, D. C.— Please take notice that I have this. day of., 190. ., signed in ink the Declaration in my Book of Phys¬ ical Religion, and I have therefore become a Ralstonite.” The name should be signed in the book. The page should not be removed. part £wo IN THE REALM of MYSTERIES OR THOSE INFLUENCES THAT ENSHROUD HUMANITY AND DIM THE LIGHT OF LIFE CHAPTER FIVE. (the borderland.) THE CREED. | TOLD BY THE TEN GOLDEN LAWS OF PHYSICAL RELIGION. 1. RELIGION is conscientious devotion to duty. 2. PHYSICAL RELIGION is the duty that hu¬ manity owes to itself. 3. WHATEVER is knowable is physical ; and what¬ ever is physical exists in facts. 4. NATURE is the maker of facts; humanity is the maker of mysteries. 5. FACTS beget facts; and mysteries beget mys¬ teries. 6 . FACTS illumine life. 7. MYSTERIES enshroud life. 8 . THERE is a purpose in everything; nothing is in vain; nothing is useless; nothing is wasted; noth¬ ing happens by chance. 9. PROGRESS is the highest purpose of Nature. 10. HUMANITY is the willing or unwilling instru¬ ment of progress. 16 CHAPTER SIX. (realm of mysteries.) DUCATION is not knowledge and does not produce wisdom because it does not establish facts. The mind is developed by the under¬ standing of words, and is strengthened by the processes of mathematics. Arts are the activi¬ ties of the faculties. Here is the trinity of true education; and it is vastly different from that which is found in institutions of learning. That man or woman is best developed along the educational side of life who is most thorough in: 1. The understanding of words for development. 2. The processes of mathematics for strength. 3. The activities of the arts for employment. Make any test you please, you will not find another sys¬ tem or plan of education that will bring out the powers of the individual so effectively as this. It is a common saying that the great geniuses of the world would have been suffo¬ cated under the weight of training at the universities. Here we have a fact of the utmost importance; and it explains the opinion that is so freely held regarding the influence of artificial education. Humanity is hemmed in by the Unknown, and it will not break down its prison walls until it has adopted other methods of acquiring knowledge. In order to be able to seek facts successfully, it must have a keen, well developed and strong mind, with active faculties. 2 17 CHAPTER SEVEN. (realm of mysteries.) If <t> THE SHROUD. $ ROM the beginning to the end of life the shroud is hardly lifted. Where so much actu¬ ally exists it seems amazing that so little should be known. No human being has the slightest idea whence life comes, or where it goes. Results are not facts; they are the ends of facts; the terminals of the real. Seeds con¬ tain the germs of other life; but no one knows what the fact is that dwells within the germ. No one knows what the process of growth is. Yet growth is the most common of all things in the world. There is probably an indivisible atom at the basis of all matter; but just as the microscope is about to catch a glimpse of it, the whole view is shrouded. Could this one secret be secured, it would solve the nature of light, heat, lire, electricity, gravity, adhesion, cohesion, color and many other things. The satellite worlds that float in space in countless mil¬ lions, are probably inhabited; while the sun-centers prob¬ ably hold the presence of the Creator; but the telescope does not show a single fact in relation to these problems. Just as it is widening its power a shroud falls over it. Compared in numbers with the mysteries that surround life, the known facts are remarkably few. For every fact that is secured there are scores of mysteries. No one knows why weeds are allowed to grow, why poisons exist, why 18 REALM OF MYSTERIES. 19 venomous tilings await their victims, why disease prevails, why its germs produce horrible tortures, or why happiness is choked by evil. No one knows what thought is, what mind is, what electricity is, what gravity is, what light is, or why life has been placed on the earth. No one knows how human¬ ity entered on this planet, or for what purpose it has been made to suffer and endure, to wither and die. Not a sin¬ gle tangible fact has yet been ascertained as to the age of the race, or its origin, its ascent or descent. Theories and beliefs are abundant, but they are the creation of the hu¬ man mind, not the facts of Nature. It has been asserted that protoplasm is the first step in life; and it has also been asserted that it contains the four first elements of life, which are carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen; but no one has been able to produce life by bringing these elements together. The very essence of life lies hidden so deeply within the cell that it seems to be be- )mnd reach, although close at hand. Here is one type only of the mysteries that enshroud humanity. The nature of the earth is not known. The thin sur¬ face is so small a part of the globe that it is thinner rela¬ tively than gold leaf on an orange. What is within the earth or under the crust is not known. It may be empty space, or a liquid, or a burning fluid, or vapor, or gas, or solid gold. What sunshine is, no one knows. Nor how it brings life to all existence on the earth. Nor why its absence means death. Nor what there is in its rays that can revive the cinders of lava and cause it to bear animal life. Results are interesting, but they are not facts. If the earth were to die to-morrow, and all its life be hopelessly cremated, the sun’s rays would most probably bring a new humanity out of the ruins; but the result is not so great as the process by which such a thing can be done. CHAPTER EIGHT. (realm of mysteries.) ^?4\?*\/4\/i\/i\/4\/*\/f\/i\/4\/^\/f\/fs/i\/i^\/*\/*\^4\/i\/i\^^^ :■, FIVE SENSES i\/*\/»\/i\^rvi\/M^\/M^^^^^^^iVi^\^C ? fviC ? ^\/*\/^7JvifvfvT^'fv 7 *\/»V'fv'iv'»virs?i^ ENERAL humanity possesses five senses. These are sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. The last is the greatest, for it alone accomplishes the work of the world. It in¬ cludes the physical body and the active facul¬ ties employed in the arts, whether the arts of war or of peace. It is the achievement in poetry, in literature, in the drama, in music, and in every pursuit of life, whether professional, commercial or social. The sense of sight, of the ear, of the nose, or of the tongue, may see, may hear, may smell or may taste; but they oper¬ ate only upon the products of the sense of touch, the ex¬ ecutive sense of the world. Smell and taste are mere guides to the stomach or fuel to the enjoyment of the mind. Hearing interprets merely the vibrations of the atmosphere. Sight conveys the vibra¬ tions of light. But the sense of touch builds for all eter¬ nity; it is the only executive power in the universe. All other senses may be dead, but as long as this lives, the body may live. But let the sense of touch die, and all else will perish at once. Old people lose their power to hear, to see, to smell and to taste; yet let the sense of touch fail and paralysis follows. And to the blind it opens up the whole world. Actual knowledge therefore is attained through this one sense acting directly or through the other senses. 20 CHAPTER NINE. (realm of mysteries.) <J\^VJ\/»V i V tN/*~*\^K^»^~J\/*\/t\/<^i^f\/i\/4^»\/4\/i\/i'^7fvTs/l\/J\^^^^^J\/^K7^\?Ts/rvTiv'*\7j\/i'v / i\ REASONING. i § <1 <♦> OWEVER important the habit of reasoning may seem, it is not the key to facts. Logic has for centuries been regarded as a system of trickery. That it can be made to serve oppo¬ site purposes is well known. Wherever there is a logical process, there is always a fallacy ^ waiting to play the part of iconoclast. A man purchased an engine; after the lapse of several years the question arose why he did not again deal with the party who sold him the engine. On the one side it was argued that the engine was not satisfactory; for, if it had been, he would have dealt further with the party. On the other hand it was argued that the engine gave such excellent sat¬ isfaction that he had no further need of dealing with the party. The fact was that the man had died and the engine had never been put in operation. Here is an instance of the use of reason in exactly opposite directions, with the fact a long distance away from both deductions. You cannot prove a fact by the process of reasoning. You may suggest it, or name the probability, and some¬ times predict the possible and impossible. A man who is going to reason himself into or out of heaven, should first perfect himself in predicting the weather; for “ Old Prob¬ abilities ” is more accurate than he can ever be. If the fact shall ever be established beyond all doubt that there is a sixth sense, then the solution may be found. 21 CHAPTER TEN. (realm of mystery.) T has already been stated that there is but one of the five senses that has value in the creation of facts. Most people will believe only what they can see, hear, smell, taste or touch. They wish to come in contact with facts through the ordinary senses. They are called practical people. Rut the ordinary senses will deceive as often as they will assist; and the day’s experience is full of errors that are due to the inac¬ curacy of these avenues of information. Of late years there has been a strong tendency to believe in the existence of a sixth sense; and it has been described as the power to reach facts without making use of any of the five senses. It is called the sub-conscious faculty. Dictionaries define it as a faculty that exists without con¬ sciousness; and some regard it as the state of the soul. One of two things is true; either that there is, or there is not, a sixth sense. If it exists and is knowable, it is part of the undeveloped power of humanity. Whatever is know- able is physical; and whatever is physical exists in facts. The sixth sense, therefore, must be a physical fact, or else it is not knowable. If it is not knowable, no human being has a right to parade it under the banner of an occult mys¬ tery. The so-called occult powers are either not knowable or else they are physical facts. Whatever is knowable can be discovered and proved; 22 REALM OF MYSTERY. 23 but never by occult methods. The world is just beginning to seek after facts in earnest. The battle has hardly yet begun. All the mysteries are doomed. “ The struggle for facts is the greatest battle in human history" If there is such a faculty as the sixth sense it is know- able; and no effort should be spared to make it a known fact. The data on which to proceed are so numerous that the final result will not be in doubt. To-day the whole matter is shrouded in the blackest mystery, and certain so- called occult powers are mere claims of charlatans. On the other hand if, as claimed by many learned in¬ vestigators, there is a sixth sense which has remained dor¬ mant all this time and which, when awakened, will make clear every knowable fact in the universe, both on the earth and in the heavens, such sixth sense is capable of being de¬ veloped and brought into full use on every hand. It would revolutionize humanity and in the instant re-make the world. But what is ahead should be premised on facts. Facts are wanted. All intelligent men and women call for facts. They cry out for facts. They have too long been fed on theories, beliefs, opinions and sophistries. There is a way to secure the facts. It is for the purpose of obtaining the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth that the RALSTONITES are now banded together. Much has already been learned. Much more is being learned every day. Still more will be learned in the future; and all Seekers after Facts are in¬ vited to go on in the work under the direction of the Ralston Clan for the purpose of securing the truth and dispelling the fog of mystery; for mysteries enslave the mind and hold the body in bondage. Facts uplift humanity and bring an end to all suffering. If there is a sixth sense, it is a physical faculty. CHAPTER ELEVEN. (realm of mystery.) FACTS WANTED. IL NOWLEDGE was never so much needed as at the present day. Mysteries everywhere en¬ slave the mind, the body, the health, and all that man inherits from the great Giver of life. Few persons realize the extent to which this power of darkness envelops the transac¬ tions of the age. Nothing is free from mys¬ tery. As light is the only opposite of night, so facts are the only opposing force of mystery. One of the most costly systems of government is that of trial by jury. To try one case alone has cost a city a quarter of a million dollars; and a single fact was all that was sought. Every day there are thousands, and possibly hundreds of thousands of cases on trial, the only object of which is to ascertain facts that are held in abeyance by one or both parties. Every dispute involves the concealment of some fact. The remedy is in developing the mind to know what is and what is not. Keen-minded men are slow to go into court. A clear head can see a fact as it is; while ignorance or stupidity is all the time forming opin¬ ions and drawing conclusions that are unwarranted. Fair- minded folks never fail to agree. The most successful law¬ yers, instead of combating all through a trial, agree on almost every point, and permit only the vital difference to be tried. 24 REALM OF MYSTERY. 25 Politics is a disputation of facts; and the more dust that can be thrown in the eyes of the voters, the greater the chance of winning a bad cause. Politics ruins every man who enters it, unless he comes out a statesman, and lightning is more apt to strike him than statesmanship. The greatest patriotism a man can show his country is to get at the facts at issue, avoid being influenced by dema¬ gogues and trouble-makers, and then go to the polls and vote. No true citizen will evade this duty. Nor should a grossly ignorant man be allowed to vote; for he is swayed by his passions or his cupidity. True women can influence men to perform their duty at the polls, even if suffrage is denied them. Study facts, acquire them, and act upon them. People have long suffered the wrongs done by great combinations in this country. When the facts are made public, as is being rapidly done, the conservative element in the nation will rectify the wrongs in order that the mob may not be given the task. The law-makers in the state as well as in the national legislative bodies, are under strong suspicion of being re¬ tained by the interests that prey upon the rights of the general public. The suspicion may be groundless. What is wanted is the truth. Facts are sorely needed. There is a way of getting at the truth. Every voter is the con¬ stituent of some Congressman, and of some Senator. One potent question is this: How does it happen that so many law-makers go in office comparatively poor, and are opulent in the course of a few years? Another in¬ quiry is this: What law-makers are attorneys or agents for corporations, or receive support or money-value from them? The legislatures of such states as Rhode Island, Con¬ necticut and New Hampshire, and some others, are known to be the instruments of the railroads that are sapping the 26 PHYSICAL RELIGION. best business interests of those states. And this is but a beginning of the danger. No nation can long be prosperous unless there is a large proportion of citizens who are at least moderately success¬ ful, and every poor man of ability has the opportunity of carving his own fortune. But the great combinations of to-day have throttled competition in large degree already, and the hope of rising is being denied the great middle classes. Facts are wanted, and honest statesmanship, be¬ ginning at home and carried by sincere men to the polls should correct this evil. The Ralstonites have for over twenty years been quietly at work in the struggle to secure pure food laws. They have had to fight the dishonest business interests that profit by adulterations, and the corrupted legislators that are lob¬ bied into the support of such interests. When Ralstonism began this battle, there was not a pure food law on any statute book of this land; now such a law is found every¬ where. The next step is to snatch the prosecuting officers from the grasp of the adulterators whose money flows like water. The Ralstonites never as a body go into politics. Their work is done as individuals, and not under the name Ralston. This is necessary to success. To illustrate this fact, let the following experiment be made by every person who reads this page, aided by as many others as each reader can secure:— One of the greatest wrongs for which the people have to pay, either directly or indirectly, is the excessive rates charged by express companies in America. The gross fees are enormous. The dividends exceed twenty times those of the Pullman monopoly, which is the greatest on record relatively speaking. It is a wrong that is becoming more and more arrogant every year. The express companies have unlimited millions to spend in influencing legislation. More REALM OF MYSTERY. 27 than this they can organize a business association and thus pretend to voice the sentiment of the public. Under a PARCELS POST law, the people can safely trade with the leading wholesalers of America at a cost of living that will be reduced fully one-third. No greater blessing of a practical kind can be given to the public than the passing of a PARCELS POST law. It will scatter the good things of the land among all classes, and bring both saving and health to the doors of those who now de¬ pend on shoddy and stale goods at high prices. Even local stores, large and small, can get better and fresher goods and build up a wider trade. If the Express companies can pay millions yearly in dividends, and hoard up other millions, the general government can afford to give all such profits to the people by lowering the rates of carriage. Now comes the inquiry for facts. Why has not such a law been passed? It has been introduced time and time again in Con¬ gress, only to be defeated by the money of the Express companies. Who gets their money that thus balks legisla¬ tion? The people have a right to know the facts. In the United States Senate for very, very many years, the presi¬ dent of a powerful Express company, has sat as a law¬ maker. All the Express companies have their “ friends ” there and in the lower House; and so every attempt to pass a bill for a PARCELS POST has failed. You and those who may be called to act with you are the constituents of those who go to Congress to make laws for you. You have a perfect right to ask for facts. Act at once. Get the names of your Senator and Representa¬ tive. Write to them briefly but to the point. Ask them to fight for a PARCELS POST law. If they try to ex¬ plain why it is not advisable to have such a law, you are on the right scent. Keep hunting. Write again, and de- 28 PHYSICAL RELIGION. mand such a law. See how many others you can induce to write to them, and keep on writing. Now this is the way in which we fought for and finally secured legislation for pure food. If it is a fact that you cannot have honest legislation, or that men in public office are bribed, you want to know that fact. It is only by getting at the facts that the peo¬ ple can win their fights. The law-makers have posed as the friends of the people. If they are such friends, the facts should be known. If they are the “ friends ” of in¬ terests that are enemies of the people, let those facts be shown. Do not say to yourself that there will be others who will write to your Senator and Representative. Act for yourself and without delay. If you know of any wrongs that should be righted, send us the information you have, and all suggestions, and we will take up any good fight in your behalf, freely and with¬ out hesitation. But you must do your part. There are millions of Ralstonites and they win every battle sooner or later. Let us work together. We are not in politics. We have carried on this work for more than twenty years without affiliating with any political party. The name of Ralstonism is never used. In our books we create sentiment for one subject after an¬ other. We present the truth, and our followers do the rest. Therefore you should make a campaign all by yourself. Write letters to your Congressman, and Senator; and see that you induce others to do the same. It is very likely that the next great step to be taken will be one that you wish above all others; and you should be in a position to say that you have done your full duty in this matter now. CHAPTER TWELVE. (realm of mystery.) 1 IF WE KNEW. 1 i I /W"K/^N74\/4V^4\/i^\/iV^^*V'f\/i\/*^4\/*N/i\/4\/ivK/i\/^\/^K/i\/i\/^N^^^^V4^\/1^i^^\7i i \/l\/*\7A'v ESS attention is paid to-day to facts than to mystery. The people, through habit, and through inheritance, have become worshippers of beliefs, theories, opinions, chance and false claims; and they are always the lossers by ignoring facts. On the other hand the habit of studying facts, if once encouraged, quickly grows on itself, and the fog clears away. You cannot serve two masters. The worship of mystery has logically but one conclusion, and that is gambling. This is certainly on the mere'::?. It unfits a man to do his work or transact business. It makes a woman useless in her domain. If we knew the C.ici of every error we would avoid it at the start. Taking chances is the worship of mystery. In entering upon a career of vice, one takes the chances of avoiding the natural end. If we knew in youth the long story of failure step by step through life, we would avoid ninety per cent, of the suffering that followed. If we knew how the race would end we would reap a harvest. If we knew the future of the stock market, even for a week, we could win a million dollars in that time, with only five dollars at the start. If we knew just what would be the end of alcoholism, we would never begin it. 29 30 PHYSICAL RELIGION. If we knew all the facts about the wife or husband of our choice, we might or might not enter into the bonds of matrimony with that one. If we knew how much truth and how much falsehood there was in the claims of advertisements, we would not contribute so much money to the support of fraud. If we knew what was in the drinks that are sold as sum¬ mer beverages, we would avoid them. If we knew how much of the meat sold to the public as fresh, is doctored with dangerous chemicals, we would eat less meat. If we knew the composition of modern whiskey, beer, wine, champagne and other stimulants, we would drink water. If we knew the part that the chemist takes in almost all package goods, canned goods, tinned goods, and glassed goods, we would go back to plain eating, save money, get health and be happy. If we knew how disease originates we would spend more effort in avoiding it than in curing it. If we knew the outcome of each transaction, or the mo¬ tives that dwell in the minds of others, we would cease to become the tools of the crafty. Chance-taking is the curse of humanity. It leads to most of the accidents, to nearly all sickness, to nearly all suffer¬ ing, to much poverty, to divorce-suits, to loss of self-mas¬ tery, to failure and to many a premature death. The human mind is a collective mass of intelligence taken from the earth and concentrated in one organ. It is the most pliable and the most flexible instrument in the whole universe. It is endowed with wonderful powers to grasp, to know and to adopt the facts that exist, and the necessary outcome of all events; and this power does not involve either occult habits or the gift of prediction. CHAPTER THIRTEEN. (realm of mystery.) THE OCCULT. ORE than twenty thousand books have been published on occult subjects. Not one of them contains a single tangible fact. All is left to speculation. In a long and varied experience sustained by the testimony of thousands of men and women, the habit of dealing with speculative matters, or in other words in mys¬ teries, unfits people for the right kind of living on earth. A hunt for evidence of past lives, or of departed spirits, or incoherent powers, has never yet been profitable. It has one certain result in all cases, and that is the gradual break¬ ing away from loyalty to the duties and demands of this life. Until you can live here at your best, you have no right to throw away your energies on the unknown. If you make a failure here, you will make a cataclysm in the mysterious beyond. Your right to claim another citizen¬ ship is founded upon your assumption of the duties and obligations of your existence on earth. Facts and facts alone should be your guide. It is a well established rule of human conduct that, in proportion as a person neglects the facts of earth, he delves into the occult. A healthy man or woman either falls in love with life here or else sickens under the effect of the mysteries that are fed to a morbid imagination. Success¬ ful men and women have gone into conditions of dismal 3i 32 PHYSICAL RELIGION. failure from the moment they deserted the duties of earth for the dreams of the occult. They cease to deal with facts and lose all hold on the true meaning of existence. 