cause, instead of each one pulling
in a different direction for his own selfish purposes. He explained that
all living things were composed of the same material, which was
constantly undergoing a change from life to death and from death to life
by being molded and remolded into different forms, which are constructed
according to the intelligence absorbed by the whole. That it is within
the power of the human race, if working together as a unit, to
reconstruct all living matter on earth into more perfect organisms, just
as it is within the power of man to re-mould a pile of dead scrap iron
into new and useful machinery. That these results could only be
accomplished by the eradication of selfishness from the human race, and
that it was impossible to extinguish selfishness as long as the money
system was kept in force, and individuals were recompensed according to
their craftiness to help themselves. He told of the soul being
everlasting, and how a wise law of nature breaks the monotony of its
existence through the process of re-incarnation, and that the soul of
the rich aristocrat of today may be the soul of the suckling pig
tomorrow. He said that it was within the power of every living thing to
do good, if only following the advice of the soul, and that the oftener
this advice was taken the easier it became to do right, but that the
less the soul's warning was heeded, the more hardened and vile became
the nature of the individual. He told of how children inherit the
weaknesses of their parents, and mentioned how much grander it is for
parents to give their children character without gold, than to give them
gold without character.

"So earnestly and pathetically did he present the whole subject, that at
the conclusion of his discourse there was not a dry eye in the room, and
as he calmly took his seat in the electric chair, the whole assemblage,
including the guards, stood motionless for several moments as if in a
hypnotic trance. And then, as the guards reluctantly began to adjust the
straps about his body, three men burst into loud sobs and rushed from
the room, bitterly denouncing the electrocution as savagery, and
refusing to witness the proceedings any further. With the exception of
the condemned man, everybody was completely unstrung. But John Convert,
in the shadow of death, did not lose his wonderful self-control for a
moment, but sat with perfect equipoise in that murderous chair, calmly
watching with apparent in