of that remarkable passage twice repeated in the Bible, "With, the
pure thou wilt show thyself pure, and with the froward thou wilt show
thyself froward." (Ps. xviii., 26, and II. Sam. xxii., 27), for the context
makes it clear that these words are addressed to the Divine Being. The
spiritual kingdom is _within_ us, and as we realize it _there_ so it
becomes to us a reality. It is the unvarying law of the subjective life
that "as a man thinketh in his heart so is he," that is to say, his inward
subjective states are the only true reality, and what we call external
realities are only their objective correspondences. If we thoroughly
realize the truth that the Universal Mind must be to us exactly according
to our conception of it, and that this relation is not merely imaginary but
by the law of subjective mind must be to us an actual fact and the
foundation of all other facts, then it is impossible to over-estimate the
importance of the conception of the Universal Mind which we adopt. To the
uninstructed there is little or no choice: they form a conception in
accordance with the tradition they have received from others, and until
they have learnt to think for themselves, they have to abide by the results
of that tradition: for natural laws admit of no exceptions, and however
faulty the traditional idea may be, its acceptance will involve a
corresponding reaction upon the Universal Mind, which will in turn be
reflected into the conscious mind and external life of the individual. But
those who understand the law of the subject will have no one but themselves
to blame if they do not derive all possible benefits from it. The greatest
Teacher of Mental Science the world has ever seen has laid down
sufficiently plain rules for our guidance. With a knowledge of the subject
whose depth can be appreciated only by those who have themselves some
practical acquaintance with it, He bids His unlearned audiences, those
common people who heard Him gladly, picture to themselves the Universal
Mind as a benign Father, tenderly compassionate of all and sending the
common bounties of Nature alike on the evil and the good; but He also
pictured It as exercising a special and peculiar care over those who
recognize Its willingness to do so:--"the very hairs of your head are all
numbered," and "ye are of more value than many sparrows." Prayer was to be
made to the unseen Being, not with doubt or fear, but with the absolute
assurance of a certain answ