thee," is as true now in the
twentieth century as it was in the first. The one central truth that is
the very foundation of all religious philosophy is the continuity of
life and the persistence of intercourse and communion, spirit to spirit,
across the gulf we call death. The evidences of this truth have been
always in the world. The earliest records of the Bible are replete with
them. The gospels of the New Testament record an unbroken succession
of occurrences and of testimony to this interpenetration of life in the
Unseen with that in the Seen. Secular history is full of its narrations
of instances of clairvoyance, clairaudience, and of communications in a
variety of ways; and the sacred and legendary art of Rome, largely
founded on story and myth and legend, when seen in the light of
latter-day science is judged anew, and the literal truth of much that
has before been considered purely legendary is revealed and realized.
One reads new meanings into Rome when testing it by this consciousness.
It is a city of spiritual symbolism. It is a great object lesson
extending over all the centuries. Making due allowance for the
distortion and exaggeration of ages of testimony, there yet remains a
residuum indisputable. The Past and the Present both teem with record
and incident and experience proving that life is twofold, even now and
here; that all the motives and acts of the life which we see are
variously incited, modified, strengthened, or annulled by those in the
realm of the Unseen.

[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO VILLA PAMPHILIA-DORIA, ROME
_Page 159_]

The intelligent recognition of this truth changes the entire conduct of
life. It entirely alters the point of view. It extends the horizon line
infinitely. Instead of conceiving of life as a whole, as comprised
between the cradle and the grave, it will be regarded in its larger and
truer scope as a series of experiences and achievements, infinite in
length and in their possibilities and unbroken by the change we call
death. This will impart to humanity a new motor spring in that greater
hope which puts man in a working mood, which makes him believe in the
value of that which he undertakes, which encourages him to press on amid
all difficulties and against all obstacles. Increasing hope, all
activity is proportionately increased. It was an event of incalculable
importance to the progress of humanity when the swift communication by
cable was established