"THE WORLD BEYOND THE GRAVE."

Southland Times, Issue 1662, 15 November 1872, Page 3

"THE WORLD BEYOND THE GRAVE."

A lecture delivered in Melbourne on 28th October last, on the " World Beyond the Grave," by Mr James Smith, is thus summarised by the Argus : — The lecture might more appropriately be termed the prolongation of Mr Smith's theory of the life of the mind or soul. The mind had an earthly existence prior to its appearance in the human body. There were many re-incarnations. Moses had reappeared aa Elijah and John the Bapfcisfc ; iShakspeare used to be Dante. (Small minds lost their identity, and were absorbed into great ones in the spirit world. The earth had been peopled and repeopled four times already. Each time that a magnetic fire sweeps its surface bare there is an ingathering of the spirits — called an ingathering of the church. There are to be seven ingatherings altogether Great men. who have not learned what the love of God is by the time they pass through the last stage of existence on earth, this time, have to wait over until the earth is created anew, when they may have the opportunity of* reentering the body, and receiving and accepting the luve of God. The great thing taught was the necessity of crucifying self and living for othera, looking on the earth as a mere halticg-place in a journey which goes on for ever The audience was considerable. The lecture, which lasted an hour, was delivered rather as a sermon than an ordinary lecture. There was no chairman, and the lecturer quitted the hall as soon as his discourse was finished, thus preventing anything in the form of a vote of thanks. There was occasional applause.