Morat, 29th Nov. 1794.
I RECEIVED your letter of 5th Brumaire yesterday evening, and that of 6th in due course. I seize a moment I have at my disposal to answer them, being in the midst of the confusion of my departure for Berne. . . . I shall be delighted to receive your work on the present times. . . . I am also glad you have accepted the call of your district. You will surely have opportunities for doing good in that line. My poor prayers shall go with you. The part of your letter which speaks of our General Gichtel has pleased me greatly. So you have known his bride personally? The letters of this rare man have afforded me the liveliest enjoyment. There are many things that I did not insert in my letter of 25th October — amongst others, that he and his brother Ueberfeld gained great successes in the War of Succession at the beginning of this century. Louis XIV. was far from imagining that his numerous armies at Hochsted, Ramillies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet were beaten by generals who did not go out of their chambers.
As to your brotherly proposal of the translation scheme, I accept it with all my heart, so far as I can contribute to it, trusting in the help of Providence and yours. What I shall be able to do will not be much, for there are times when I am deluged with business, and I have much more to attend to than my feeble powers could manage, and if I did not trust in Providence I should lose courage. To begin: as soon as I arrive at my native town, different committees will absorb me, together with the Grand Council meetings, all at the same time. One of my principles is that we should attend to our calling, even when the duties it imposes should appear very minute. But, for all that, at some seasons of the year, public business is not so engrossing. Then, count upon me; I shall consider my time admirably employed in doing my best to help you in your praiseworthy object.
Keep me ever in your prayers. . . .
Paris (15 Nivose), 4th Jan. 1795.
HERE I am, Sir, arrived at my destination, but not yet at my work, for our studious undertakings begin only in a fortnight. It is not even yet known what turn they may take, for the matured project has already departed from the simple aim of its institution which attracted me. Thus I cannot at all answer for its results, I must wait. Meanwhile I am freezing here for want of firewood, whilst, in my little country home, I wanted nothing; but we must not think of these things. Let us make ourselves spirits, and we shall want nothing, for there is no spirit without speech, and no word without power; a reflection which came to me, this morning, in my oratoire, and I send it you quite fresh.
I believe, in fact, that I have known General Gichtel's bride, of whom you speak in your letter of 29th Nov.; but not so particularly as he did. This is what happened to me, at the marriage I hinted at in my last. I prayed rather perseveringly for this object, and it was said to me intellectually, but very clearly: "Since the Word was made flesh, no flesh ought to dispose of itself without His permission." I was deeply penetrated with these words, and although they did not amount to a formal prohibition, I refused all matrimonial projects after that.
Your occupations will delay your projects of translation; it will be the case with me also. Moreover, I repeat, this sort of work is absolutely the opposite of what I require, and I never apply myself to it without a struggle. I am now reading over my French translation of the 'Threefold Life'; it is quite a new country to me, compared with the German, even compared with what I experienced in translating it. I there find a passage, sufficient, by itself alone, to nourish the spirit of the whole world; such is chap. i. No. 15.
The little work I named to you will be delayed, owing to my removal. When it is ready, I will send you the copy I promised. . . . I always read with pleasure what you tell me about Gichtel; but, be very reserved in your letters.
Berne, 27th Jan. 1795.
I SHOULD not have delayed answering your interesting letter of 15th Nivose, had I had, on my arrival at this capital, a single moment to myself. Three days a week we have meetings of the Grand Council; I assist, besides, at our Committees of Public Safety, which we call Stands-Commission; likewise at the direction of our mint, that of our salt-works in the Aigle; at the direction of the post-office, and that of our mines in general, and in a committee of finance. These different departments often require preparatory labours which can be effected only in perfect quiet and retirement. Add to this, that our coinage often requires my presence at the mint itself. Besides all this, I am president of our Societe Economique et Physique, which meets every week at my house; so that, with my private affairs, little time is left at my disposal.
I thank you for that beautiful thought: "There is no spirit without speech (parole), and no word without power." Any further explanations on the power of speech, I shall greatly value, and details of the way you apply it in your own case will be especially welcome. In reference to the remarkable passage, No. 15, chap. i. of the 'Threefold Life,' I understand simply that Sophia is its basis; if we can get her, and unite ourselves to her, we have done everything. She is the focus, the abode, the temple, the pure element in which all that we can imagine most sublime, resides in all its fulness.
Since my last, I have enriched my stock with the 26th vol. of 'Lettres Edifiantes' and a new extract of the works of our friend B. printed in 1700. I have received a note from our friend Divonne. He is tutor to some young folk; his travels have taken him to London; he requests me to bring him to your remembrance, as does also Baron Silverhielm, a Swede, who loves you well, and who is with him.
You will remember that I spoke to you, last winter, of an interesting young lady of Zurich. As she had a good earth, I sent the seed through her friend in Bale. Her father, who pretends to be a gardener himself, has no faith in this seed; but, to my great satisfaction, I received, on the 8th inst., a letter from Bale, from young S. . . . This is what she writes:
"Share my joy. Who can share it so well as you, who sowed it, and to which God has given the increase and accomplishment? Well then! know that N. . . . is now assured, of herself, of the goodness of the inward way, and that she enjoys its reality. I will not attempt to describe the pleasure this gives me; I could not do it by word of mouth, still less by writing.
"She immediately told me of her happiness, in the warmest terms; and if I could have doubted before, it was now impossible. This dear friend still continues to enjoy; her happiness ceases only at intervals. We write to each other very often, and now, more than ever, having so much to say to each other."
You see by this, how true it is that Providence can work by the weakest instruments in the execution of His designs, since, without my having ever seen this young lady, it has turned out so well; and the father's sophistications, and all the wonders of the Northern School, could not prevent the grain from germinating, and even bearing flowers.
The following is an extract from my answer to Miss S. . . . "I beg you will tell your friend the lively satisfaction I feel at her happiness; but tell her, from me, that she must still watch over her soul, for some time yet, till she is far away from the confines of the land of Edom; because the enemy, when any one escapes from his dominion, doubles his efforts, and his cunning, to bring him back. The caution of our friend will frighten him; and if she keep her place till the tempter goes away, her life will then be in safety."
Je vous embrasse de tout mon coeur. Do not forget me in your prayers. Let me know how you succeed in forming your normal schools. . . . Timor Domini est initium Sapientiae.
Paris, 5 Ventose (25th Feb.).
I CANNOT imagine, Sir, how you can suffice for all those employments you name to me. I will, however, distract your attention from them for a moment, to congratulate you, with all my heart, on the success of your Zurichoise. She is very happy in having advanced so far, while so young! What a career is opened to her! I consider the advice you give her is wise, and I hope, with God's help, that this dear plant may bring forth good fruits only. It is everything, as you say, to pass the boundary.
I am very glad to hear of the Swede, Silverhielm, and his companion; if you write to them, say all that is kind from me. . . .
As for our normal schools, all is hitherto Spiritus mundi, and nothing else, and I well know who is hidden under this cloak. I shall do all that opportunity allows to carry out the only object I had in accepting. But these opportunities are scarce, and circumstances unfavourable; it is much if I can speak, for five or six minutes, once in a month, and that, before some two thousand people, whose ears ought first to be made over again. But I leave to Providence the care of disposing of the seed, and its cultivation; I shall simply do what I can, and that will be nothing, if He see fit to have it so. I, thus, no longer expect from all this, what my wishes led me to hope for. Something, however, may still come of it, little though it be, and I must not refuse to give myself to it. There are some Strasbourgers amongst my comrades, whose assistance I make useful for the explanation of some words of B. which I do not understand. . . . On! let us advance inwardly: I feel more and more, every day, that it is the only country fit to live in. . . . Adieu.
Berne, 3rd March, 1795.
YOUR letter, Sir, of 5 Ventose, afforded me, not relaxation only, but, as all your letters do, a real pleasure. The news I received from our young Zurichoise indeed gave me a sweet satisfaction, seeing the manifest and rapid progress she had made. It was Gichtel who first encouraged me, and gave me hopes of acting at a distance. But, when Providence wills a thing, it is easy to succeed.
I am waiting for an answer from our mutual friend (Divonne — Tr.), to write to him; I will not then fail to send your message to the Swede Silverhielm. D. . . . writes that nothing is so rare, in the country where he is, as to meet with men of weight and measure, with whom to converse. Swedenborg has the most partisans. His disciples are numerous; they have a public service, a rite and worship of their own. D. . . had once the curiosity to attend their worship. Our friend B. is, in general, rather too deep, and, at the same time, too simple, for them. There have, however, been some men in that country, who could appreciate him; amongst others, one called Law. Our friend D. . . is highly satisfied with his works; he considers them to be the milk of Boehme, expressed, and made potable for everybody. It was this same Law who composed most of the figures at the end of the 4to. edit. of Boehme in your possession.
What you tell me about your normal schools is a beginning, and I well understand what is concealed under the cloak. . . .
You will remember the extract from Joachim Greulich, which you once pointed out to me, in Arnold's 'Ecclesiastical History.' I have since found, in a far older author, a passage worth quite as much as that of Joachim G. It is in the works of an elect whom you mentioned in one of your letters which I received at B. . . . This man, whose endowments of mind and heart were of the rarest, was first minister at the court of a king of old, whose name I have forgotten. His merit, as was to be expected, created envy, and, through an intrigue at court, he fell into disgrace. But his virtues brought him back again. This lord not only saw the present, clearly; but, what many ministers cannot do, he also foresaw the future. He has left interesting memoirs, which you will probably find amongst the old books in your national library. His work is divided into chapters, and it is the 23rd and following paragraphs of chapter vii. which I beg you to compare with the passage of Arnold; and tell me what you think of it.
You are surprised how I find time to attend the Grand Council Meetings and Committees; but the habit of working, and familiarity with one's employment, give facilities: I have assisted at our Grand Council for twenty years; I have been fifteen in the superintendence of the mint, and eighteen in that of the salt-works at l'Aigle; then, some of the committees are not so loaded with work; the post-office, for instance, being given on contract, the government is saved matters of detail, and has only to hear and judge complaints against the contractors, if there are any. As for the Economical Society, which meets weekly at my house, it serves me for relaxation, and is not without doing some good to the country. What gives me most to do is the mint direction, because most of the work, and the calculations, fall upon me. It is clear that, at length, my health would not stand a life like this; but, in the month of May, I go to my country house, five leagues from the capital, and remain there till St. Andrew's Day; it is then I take rest, and enjoy the country air, as well as town comforts, for my house is just outside the little town of Morat. During this interval, I go to Berne only for important matters, and to give directions where needful.
But in the turmoil in which I now live, and have lived all winter, I have never let a day pass without reading a passage from our friend Boehme, or some of Gichtel's letters. I have even made extracts from both, alphabetically, so that I am insensibly collecting a rather thick vol. in 4to., which may be called a sort of theosophical dictionary; for, to enjoy reading our friend B. and General G., we must make ourselves familiar with their language, and especially their synonymes: they have veiled their terminology, perhaps to keep off the profane. And who knows whether the work I have undertaken, only for myself, may not be of some use to others!
I am more and more pleased with the acquaintance I have formed with our general. There are some particulars about him which I have not yet told you; amongst others, that Sophia came herself, after her spouse's death, to order and superintend the arrangement of his posthumous letters: she renovated several passages which were very indistinct in the drafts which Gichtel had given to his friend Ueberfeld; and as this latter worked, Sophia directed in person. She came for this purpose, at different times, to see Ueberfeld. On one occasion she remained six weeks. It was a continual feast, during which she communicated to the editor, and some friends of the deceased, such openings of the holy order as far surpass all that the world has ever conceived. In 1722 a third edition of his posthumous letters, all written in German, was already published. You cannot think what pleasure they gave me; with their tone so simple and so familiar a style, they form an excellent commentary on the writings of our friend B. Besides the essential truths, they contain some things of which I have found no trace in B., as, for instance, the effect of a spiritual tincture, which Gichtel esteemed, in medicine, as a degree higher than the great physical problem. He says this tincture produces the same effect on the part disordered as passing the hand over it. This remedy appears to me to be our modern magnetism, under a different name, and very superior in quality to that of Mesmer. But I have found no trace of somnambulism in it. If this conjecture is right, our magnetism has been known for more than a century: I have some suspicion even that Jane Lead found means to magnetize herself, and thereby enjoyed those astral manifestations which our general thought so little of. He says somewhere in his letters that "Jane Lead's works can be suitable only for women who follow the same road." All this, however, does not mean that the higher magnetism, which emanates from the will alone, may not belong to something great.
What makes me think somnambulism may have some connection with astral manifestations is the following fact: some years ago a doctor of my acquaintance, Mr. Langhaus, told me that he employed magnetism in his treatment of a lady whom I also knew, of about forty years of age, who had been long troubled with a tumour, and that under this treatment she became somnambulent. As I, at once, saw that there could be no charlatanry on the patient's part, I expressed a desire to see her in this state. He promised to satisfy me; and, as he magnetized her at regular hours, he told me when I might go to his house. She had this singularity, that, every time she fell into the magnetic sleep, she thought she was at the foot of a mountain, and it was only her magnetizer's efforts that enabled her to climb this mountain. And, when she reached the top, she had the manifestation of some Virtue of whom she asked questions relating to anybody's sickness. She there received the answers. When she asked questions of mere curiosity, the object of which had no relation to the treatment of a patient, she obtained no answer. I did not fail to be at the rendezvous. The patient arrived shortly after me, accompanied by a Madame de Crequi, a French lady, who suffered from some chronic attack, and was being magnetized. As there were still some members of the doctor's family in the room, which was a large one, and the day began to decline, I observed that the somnambulist did not notice me, and therefore that she had not seen me. The doctor began to magnetize her; and, after some minutes she fell, as usual, into a deep sleep. As soon as she was asleep I came near her, and requested the doctor to put me in rapport with her. He did so. I took his place, and began to magnetize her. I at once saw that my magnetic fluid distressed her, probably because it was stronger than that of her usual magnetizer, who was older than I. However, she gradually became tranquil. I asked her how she felt, and where she was. She told me she was a little better, and that she was at the foot of a mountain; that she was trying to get up it, but met with obstacles. I continued to magnetize her, and at the end of some time she said she hoped to get to the top: at length she reached it; and immediately she saw her "Virtue" at her side, whom she described very well to me. I begged her to ask him what must be done to relieve a person in whom I was interested, and who occurred to my mind at the moment. The answer was that a decoction should be used, made from the root of an herb, the name of which I cannot now recollect, but which I can find again at Morat, if it interest you. As she gave the technical name, I saw, at once, that this answer was beyond her reach: on going home again, I turned over an old botanico-medicinal work by Zwinguer, which is in repute with us; and I found my herb perfectly well described, with the properties indicated by the somnambulist. I administered the medicine, which gave relief, but did not cure. Here we have a somnambulist, who, with the help of her magnetizer, obtained a manifestation. May not Jane Lead have fallen of herself into a similar state?
But, above all, it is in treating of the great and sublime truths of our regeneration that Gichtel is most powerful and luminous. He dwells particularly on the principle that all works must be tried by fire, either now or hereafter, and that it is infinitely better this should be done in this world, rather than in the next. He calls this trial of fire, in this world, the eighth form. See hereupon our friend B.'s figure in his 'Threefold Life': he discovers, in plain terms, that this eighth form is our natural soul on fire: Unsere eigne naturliche feuer Seele, and that through it the light emanates and is manifested. He lays particular stress on the necessity that our spirits must clothe themselves, during this life, with a new spiritual body, which alone will be able to stand the trial by fire, through which we are obliged to pass after leaving our earthly covering. Without this clothing of the holy humanity, and glorious body, our souls remain quite naked, and deprived of their most necessary defence.
This is a very long letter, written at different times. . . . Adieu my worthy and respected friend. . . .
P. S. — I have just found in our friend B. a theory of vegetation. What, indeed, may we not find there? I formerly busied myself much with this subject. See Abbe Rozier, 1774. . . . But in spite of every effort I never could arrive at a tolerable idea of what vegetation is. Now, I see that our souls will perfectly explain this mystery. More than this, this solution of Boehme's extends, by analogy, even to the inward vegetation. V. 'Clavis,' No. 110 et seq. . . .
Paris (29 Ventose), 19th March, 1795.
SINCE you are sufficient for so many things, my dear brother in God, I will extend this letter somewhat more than the last. . . . .
I observe what our friend Divonne writes you on the subject of Swedenborg's doctrine. I witnessed it also in the same place, all but the public worship, which I did not see; and my judgment was, that this way would not take them very far. At that time, however, I knew only my first school. Since I have known Boehme I most certainly have not altered my opinion. The Law you speak of I always thought was the translator of Boehme; but I see he was only the author of the figures.
I have thrown a stone into the forehead of one of the Goliaths of our normal school, in full assembly; and the laugh was not on his side, Professor as he is. It was a duty I fulfilled to defend the reign of truth: I expect no other reward for it but that of my conscience. But I see that our normal schools will not be supported as I hoped. Every human invention must first be visited and then destroyed.
I have not the slightest recollection of the man you wish me to compare with Joachim Greulich, who, you say, was minister to some king of old, so I cannot make the comparison. . . .
The tincture spoken of by Gichtel appears to me to be a corollary to what Boehme says in his 'Threefold Life,' chap. iv. No. 18. There is but one law; when this is known in its root, it may be traced through all its branches, taking into account the diminutions it must undergo in its course. This is what makes all the charm of the spiritual and divine sciences; for, with the thread they put into our hands, it is impossible to go wrong, however complicated the labyrinth may be. The tincture which Gichtel speaks of is assuredly above the great physical problem; but it is below the great divine theorem, since its action is in time. I thank you for the new details you give me of the posthumous history of our general, and his friend Ueberfeld, who had the happiness to be executor of his will. I congratulate you on your being able to read in the wonders they have left us; but I learn daily to read in the wonders which are common to myself and all men; and I have been sufficiently convinced by the succours I have received, that I should be very guilty if I did not enter boldly into the race. Second me, my dear brother, with your prayers, seeing I cannot be strengthened by your presence and example. Do not ask God to grant me new favours; ask Him only that I may have grace to make a profitable use of all He has been pleased to do for me hitherto.
I am delighted with what Gichtel says, that every work must be tried by fire, either now or hereafter. He therein gives me the formula of the trials I have sometimes passed through, and which seem lately to be returning upon me with increased force. I therein learn to make a great distinction between the different fires used in this process. When we suffer for our own false or infected deeds, the fire is corrosive and burning, yet it must be less so than the fire which is their source; as I said (rather from sentiment than from knowledge), in 'L'Homme de Desir,' that repentance was sweeter than sin. When we suffer for other men, the fire is still closer to the oil and the light; so that, although it rends our souls, and inundates us with tears, we do not pass through these trials without deriving sweet consolations from them, and most nourishing food.
I will confess to you, my dear brother in God, and respected friend in the truth, that this is the kind of service in which, after much experience, I hope to be employed in the army. I can tell you that the priests make me undergo in this matter some very rough campaigns; but we are at the end of the page, and I cannot complain. All the science and prodigies of intelligence which are so lavished upon us in our readings, or in my personal favours, are not to be compared with this; and I pray God to make this pivot a centre for me from which every ray of my spiritual life may emanate, and to it return. My words shall be: "I see our warriors ambitious of the honour of going to have their arms and legs mutilated for their human masters, and that to participate in such fantastic rewards and glory as they can give: why should not I aspire to the honour of serving in thy army, and devote every member of my soul to the chances of battle, that I may participate in the life which is with thee, the First and the Prince of the warriors of the Spirit?" This sweet thought made me pass an excellent night. In short, I know no better state than to be employed, like the Father of Mercy, in the deliverance of captives.
But, to return to our fires: I believe, according to the picture I have just sketched, that they follow in inverse order to that of the tinctures, because these help to build, and the fires must demolish. You will understand, I speak only of the true tinctures; for the others follow the same order as the fires; and the last term of this progression downwards is when the tincture and the fire are entirely separated, which is the state of the devil; whereas, in the pure and sublime order, they are always in harmony and most intimate union; which our beloved B. so wonderfully teaches us in several parts of his writings, in the immortal alliance between fire and light.
B.'s law of vegetation, in 110 'De Clavi,' which you point out, is also one of the most magnificent that the human mind can contemplate. These are the evident signs of his divine intelligence and his glorious election. Such passages as this are enough to carry a man not only to the end of the world, but to the end of all worlds. Amen.
I have not the Abbe Rozier's letters to show me what you formerly thought on the subject of vegetation; but I can tell you about this Abbe Rozier, that he was killed in the last siege of Lyons. One night he offered himself in sacrifice to God, resigning himself to live on the earth if needful, but asking to be taken away if he might not be profitable for something, and he went to bed. During the night, when he was asleep, a bomb fell upon his bed, and cut him in two.
As to all the magnetic and sonmambulic: details you give me, I say little about them, because these things are so frequent and common amongst us, that I doubt, whether, in any part of the world, they have been seen so singular or in greater variety; and as the astral has so much to do with it, I should not be surprised if a spark had fallen into our revolution, which may account for the complication and rapidity of its movements.
. . . . I congratulate you on your retreat into the country for relaxation during this beautiful season. I know not whether I shall be allowed to do the same. Everything will depend on the turn our schools may take, which I look upon as lost time for all who have been called to them, and as loss of money for the state. But I overlook all that in my persuasion that it is all part of the destruction of Babylon. . . . Adieu, Sir, and my dear brother . . . Ora pro nobis. When you fall in with such beautiful passages as that on vegetation, do me the favour to point them out to me.
Berne, 12th April, 1795.
I HAVE delayed a long time, my most respected brother, an answer to your interesting letter of 29th Ventose, because my ordinary occupations have been further increased by the renovation of our government, which takes place every ten years, when all who have died are replaced en masse.
Our friend Boehme knew the writings of the minister I mentioned to you very well. See his 'Erstes Register,' where he is quoted by name, at the foot of the 8th page, and tell me if the passage I referred to in my last, in the Memoirs, does not apply to the manifestation of Joachim Greulich.
The stone flung into Goliath's forehead has given me much pleasure; no performances of this kind are allowed to fall to the ground; they become seed sown in the hearts of the witnesses, and are always well pleasing to Him who prompted them.
Many thanks for details on the tinctures and different fires; I will try to profit by them. . . . I have mentioned a friend of mine at Munich, who is quite a phenomenon in these times. He is a courtier; to a noble soul he adds rare acquirements, which have surprised me for their extent. He commands his mother-tongue in a remarkable manner. But, more than all this, he walks in the narrow way of the inner life. All he has done and suffered for the good cause has attached me to him. You will judge of his whereabouts by a letter he has just written to me, a copy of which I send you. If it contains any passages that strike you, please let me know. I should be greatly pleased if Providence made use of me to bring you together. He deserves it. I have told him that I enjoyed the benefit of your correspondence and friendship; and, in a previous letter, he had told me that, after much labour and suffering, he had reached the term, and been gratified with a very remarkable manifestation. It appears to me to be worthy of all our attention. I asked him how he attained to it; the enclosed letter is the answer. I shall be impatient to know what you think of it. . . .
P. S. Peace between France and Prussia has been signed at Bale, the 5th instant, at 5 P.M., by Citizen Barthelemy and Count Hardenberg.
(Translation).
"DEAR FRIEND,
"Munich, 19th March, 1795.
"I rejoice heartily that you stand in connection with the author of the 'Tableau Naturel,' because I greatly respect this man (whose writings I have read certainly about fifty times) as a truly wise man, as an agent of the Cause active et intelligente. It is only through the love of this very Cause active that I attained to that very manifestation of which I wrote to you; for He alone possesses the key to all secrets. During some months past I have received several instructions from Above; and, since the 13th of March, these have become daily more remarkable. I possess no words in our language to explain how this happens; for the secrets of the world of spirits cannot be conceived by the understanding unless they be seen also. Man thinks commonly by a comparison of ideas; but in the world of spirits there are now ideas and languages, new objects, new labours; but inasmuch as all is founded on the purest reason, you may convince another by means of facts, for here all is full of power and truth. All that I can do is to impart to you the instruction which I myself have received.
". . . . I feel a higher presence. I am permitted to ask, and I receive answers and visions. The following are the steps by which, through the Lord's grace, I have advanced: —
"I learnt to know —
1. The Unity.
2. The three powers therein.
3. The outspoken Word.
4. The name of God in four letters.
5. The three-fold power in the four-fold, or 3 + 4 = 7.
6. The active and intelligent Cause.
7. The holy name of this Cause.
8. How to pronounce this name.
9. The two tables of the law.
10. The law in full.
And thus I proceeded further and further. With you, my friend, who have thought upon these things, and are walking in the ways of the Lord, I may speak of these matters; the world, however, would laugh at them.
"O, my friend, God is so near to us, and we look for Him out of us when He is and will be in us; it is only in our hearts that we become His property, and when we receive Him, He gives us power to become His children.
"I could send some explanations which I know would be interesting to you; but before I do this, let me know how much you yourself have experienced. One act of candour demands another. We are approaching a remarkable period, and if you are to me quite open, so will I be to you.
(Signed) "VON ECKARTSHAUSEN."
A Prayer by the above.
Eternal Light! which shineth in the darkness, but which the darkness hath not comprehended! Who came to his own, and was not received by his own! To Thee, most Holy Light, I open my heart for a temple! Cleanse my heart and make it a temple for Thyself: from this day be my own will denied, and may Thy will become my holy rule; this Thy will be done on earth as in heaven; Light of Spirits, be my lamp; through Thee, Holy Word, may the Deity speak in me! Take me again into Thyself, who have lived separated from Thee. By Thy spirit quicken the dead letter in me, and, according to Thy promise, give to me power to become a child of God, born to Thee. Let Thy word become flesh in me, and dwell in me, that I may see Thy glory, the glory as of the only begotten Son, full of grace and truth. Amen.