Discourses on religion, morals, philosophy, and metaphysics

Preface

This work is presented to the public, in obedience to the request of a large multitude who have listened to Mrs. Hatch from time to time, and who were not satisfied with merely hearing her discourses once, but desired their publication, that they might have the privilege of taking them into the quiet of their own homes and perusing them at their leisure. It was also deemed expedient to put them in such form as would render them accessible by the public, and preserve them for coming generations.

The reader will bear in mind that no phonographic report, however perfect, can do more than to record the ideas advanced, clothed in the language of their author ; while the impressions of the speaker, conveyed through the attitude, the gesture, the intonation, and the peculiar expression of the countenance, are all lost. But let the reader imagine before him a young, fair, and

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delicate form, whose every expression is beaming with intelligence and animation, whose attitude is the most graceful, whose voice is not loud but full and distinct, whose enunciations are not hurried, but calm and deliberate, and whose every gesture is in perfect keeping with the harmony and purity which characterize both her soul and body, and then he may have some idea of the eagerness with which the listener catches every word as it falls from the lips of the speaker.

Each one of these discourses was delivered without a moment's reflection on the part of Mrs. Hatch ; and the subjects of most of them were given her by a committee chosen by the audience subsequently to her having taken the stand, thereby precluding all possibility of collusion or of previous preparation ; and they are published with only such alterations as have been made necessary by the very imperfect manner in which they had been reported. Much of that beauty of diction, and appropriateness of each word to convey the idea intended, is lost.

Thus, comparatively speaking, the reader has only the doctrines and philosophy inculcated, while he has but little of its embellishments. It is like the forest stripped of its foliage.

No attempt has been made to arrange these discourses into any particular classification ; but they are published in nearly the order in which they were delivered.

PREFACE. 5

An intimate acquaintance with the principles of Nature in its every department greatly assists us in forming a correct idea of the character and attributes of its Author ; and it is for this reason that Natural Philosophy is becoming daily more and more a part of common education, for no true principles of religious ethics can ever be divorced from the manifestations of God in the material universe. In all of her discourses there is a blending of Religion and Science, the one the material form of which the other is the spirit. In this respect, especially, it is believed that her teachings will have a most salutary influence upon the public welfare; for every enlightened Christian earnestly recommends the study of Nature, and in it he beholds the inspiring Revelations of God. But as long as Religion is conjectural, and founded upon the experiences of those whose religious powers are in extreme action, while their moral and intellectual are but feebly exercised, rather than upon the inherent nature of man harmoniously developed, we shall have on the one hand, bigotry and self-righteousness wedded to ignorance, and on the other, a repudiation of all religious forms.

As man becomes enlightened, he becomes more truly religious, not in the sectarian sense of that term, but in the philosophical and spiritual ; and it is for this reason that he should be educated, and thus be enabled to understandingly commune with God through every de-

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partment of Nature. Then, not in the sanctuary alone will his soul be drawn forth in prayer and aspiration, but, wherever he may be, his heart wells up in thankfulness, and he is in constant communion with the Author of the beauties and blessings by which he is surrounded. It is believed that no work more perfectly blends the religious, moral, and intellectual principles of man than the one we now present to the public, and if it shall assist in any way to elevate him from ignorance and superstition to a higher condition of spiritual life, we shall be made glad by the accomplishment of our longdesired object.

New York, March, i«R«

Contents

Introduction page 9

DISCOURSE I.

Why is Man ashamed to acknowledge his Alliance to the Angel-World ? 19