The distinct predictions in history that have tended to serve the purpose of man's spiritual growth, have either occurred in marked instances of individual life, where the revelation and design of the prophecy was to work wonders in that life, or they have been concerning the nations which, in their corruption and blindness, refuse to perceive the law of justice and of human liberty; and the prophets have stood high upon the mountains of observation, and given to the nations the destiny that was to come to them. But there, as in individual life, it was seldom heeded; and because of their blindness these predictions were given as a beacon light and guidance to other nations. Yet how rarely it is that a nation follows the guidance of its prophets - those seers and teachers who live far beyond their days, and express the wonders of the new light and the new love.

See where in your own country slavery fastened its fangs upon the constitution, notwithstanding the prophetic warnings of Jefferson and Thomas Paine; see where in your own land the heralders of freedom gave forth the warning cry, and William Lloyd Garrison and his coadjutors prophesied the end that must come because the nation was blind. See where Israel, a thousand times scourged, still would not heed her prophets, but would bend to the idols of Moloch and worship at the shrine of Mammon. And later, see where Jerusalem, under the mild yet searching scrutiny of the Man of Sorrow, refuses to turn from her external idolatry of power; and Christ said, " O Jerusalem I would have gathered thee as a hen gatherest her chickens under her wing, but thou wouldst not." Thus saith the prophet forever; " I would have guided thee, but thou wouldst not. "

This rebellious, self-asserting, aggressive human life must have its warfare and contention before it can heed the prophets; and only in the day of affliction, humiliation and sorrow does the outward man learn to heed the lessons of the spirit.

Had you each heeded the monitions from within - some voice that has prompted, some light that would have guided - how many sorrows might have been averted. But that very " might have been " is what each one must conquer in his life by learning obedience to the highest obedience; to the best that is in you; not the lowest.

You counsel of your senses, they may lead you in one direction; you counsel of pride, of worldly wisdom, of human judgment, they may lead you in another direction. You counsel of intellect and, though exalted and refined compared to the senses, it still leads you into sophistical ways, and you find yourself brought blankly against the wall of materialism and annihilation. Yon counsel of your intuitions to-day that which you wish you had heeded yesterday; that which this year you listen to, last year was trying to guide you.

This is the light that stands forever as a beacon-fire above the shores of time, and lo ! it never fails you. Shining on forever, this radiance is still the same; it knows the pathways that the soul must tread; it knows the destiny that crowns your line of life; it knows the powers that are concealed within you, the joys and the sorrows that shall come to you as benedictions and blessings to lead and unfold you aright.

This veil of the future,, Napoleon sought to turn aside when through the wonderful seer, Madame LeNormand, he saw the destiny of France; he saw his own glory and his own downfall; he saw the life of the noble woman he loved wrecked at the shrine of ambition, and the Nemesis of justice and destiny bear him away to his fate.

Such lives are chosen as examples to point the world that even kings and kingdoms are not exempt; and meteors that flash with power for a moment across the horizon of earth still cannot shape the destiny of nations against the law of justice and of right, not even against the law of woman's love; for whosoever spurns a nobler for a baser feeling must inevitably reap the result of the harvest that he has sown.

Therefore, when prophecy is given to such as these, it is to show the world that somewhere in the universe all is law, order, harmony; that the seeming discords and discrepancies of earth are held somewhere in divine accord; and though an infant hand may make an instrument to sound out of tune, the master's touch can restore the harmony, and all be in accord again.

Prophecy is the divinest gift the world can know; therefore the most veiled, the most kept out of sight. Only those supremely wise are endowed with this gift; only those who know how to use carefully and considerately can possess it accurately. Bunglers and imitators, those who may conscientiously think they prophesy, still are not allowed to do so, may not ruthlessly roll the curtain away that divides you from the future, nor rob any life of the necessary steps that it must take. It is the experience born of your own heart-struggles that becomes wisdom and knowledge; and though the prophets may know your future, they will never by so much as a single whisper render you weaker or less powerful to cope with that destiny.

Men cannot be infants always; you cannot always be in the swaddling clothes of childhood. You must turn to such sources of knowledge as you have. If you seek those of earth, they will guide you; if you seek those of intellect, they also will guide, with feeble and uncertain step it is true. But if you seek the diviner knowledge; if you are born into its possession; if it comes to you after years of struggle, then you range the mountain tops; you are above the immoral; you are beyond the vicissitudes; you are in the midst of the actualities of existence.

That which is revealed upon the surface of time is but the expression, the most external form of evidence in the universe. That which the senses can perceive is of course the least valuable unto the spirit, and is the tardy indication of what the spirit has already foreseen as demonstration; is the tardy acknowledgment of prophecy, whether it be in science or in spirit.