to ascertain
if the spiritual and immortal principle within us is going to live again
after death, in ourselves or somebody else. The question is, Will the
immortal soul be born again in the same individual, physically
transformed--into the same person?" As to the other objection, that the
Reincarnationists have not proven the nature of the soul, to which many
of the advocates of the doctrine feel it necessary to reply at great
length and with much subtle reasoning, we feel that the objection is not
well taken. So far as Reincarnation is concerned, if it be taken as an
axiom that the soul really exists, that is sufficient as a beginning for
the argument in favor of the doctrine, and the proof or disproof of any
special theory regarding the nature of the soul is outside of the main
question, so we shall not consider it here. It is possible to think of
the soul as a reincarnating entity, whether it be a monad, duad, triad,
or septenary being.

The second objection usually made is that Reincarnation cannot be true,
else we would remember the incidents of our past lives, clearly and
distinctly, the fact that the majority of persons have no such
recollection, being held to be a disproof of the doctrine. The reply to
this objection is (1) that it is not true that people do not remember
the events of their past lives, the instances quoted by us, and similar
ones happening to others, together with the fact that nearly every one
remembers something of the past, showing that the objection is not
correctly stated. And (2) that the fact that we have but a very cloudy
and imperfect recollection is not an objection at all, for have we a
clear recollection of the events of our infancy and childhood in this
life? Have we a clear recollection of the events of twenty years ago,
outside of a few scattered instances, of which the majority are only
recalled when some associated fact is mentioned? Are not the great
majority of the events of our present life completely forgotten? How
many can recall the events of the youthful life? Old companions and
friends are completely forgotten or only recalled after much thought and
assistance in the way of suggested associations. Then again, do we not
witness a complete forgetfulness in cases of very old people who relapse
into a state of "second childhood," and who then live entirely in the
present, the past having vanished for them. There are cases of people
having grown old, and while retaining thei