THE THEOSOPHICAI, SOCIETY.

Otago Witness, Volume 25, Issue 2321, 25 August 1898, Page 24

THE THEOSOPHICAI, SOCIETY.

A public meeting waa held by the above society in the board loom of the Agricultural Ilall on Monday, when Mr A. W. Maurais delivered an address on " Evolution and Immortality." Evolution, the lecturer said, was not a groping in the dark for the most suitable form, but an orderly development in whicn the evolving soul used vehicle after vehicle for the gaining of experience, building these bodies or vehicles from hosts of less evolved lives. This went on up to the human kingdom, in which the souls were individualised, and had 2 0-ichecl that aspect of the divine life which was unchanging; and a conscious participation ..n this eternal aspect of life wag immortality. It waa spoken of in tho Eastern scriptures a3 being ' witness of tho three divisions of time — the past, the present, and the future. 1 ' Immortality, therefore, so far as man waa concerned, might bo said to be the outcome of evolution. Only the highly-evolved man could share the consciousness of his nou3, or rational soul, which was eioTnal, and answered to the "spirit" mentioned by Paul in his tripartite division ; the uuevolved remained among tho ilhmons and errors produced by tho irrational soul. Continuing, the lecturer gp/ve the Theosophical diri&ion of man into r-even principles, which were, he said, but a detailed division of the three given by Paul; and concluded by urging upon his hearers the necessity for helping in the work of evolution by gradually mastering the lower mind and bringing the higher into activity. It remainoc! true, said the speaker, notwithstanding tho sneer 3of a materialistic age, that deroufe thought— dwelling, for instance, on the uatxue and virtues of an ideally pure character such as Jesus — wan a potent aid to the progress and development of man. Mr G-. Richardson occupied the chair, and there was a fair attendance.

Tho Tapanui Courier suggests that the Southern express should bo timed to arrive at 4 o'clock instead of 5. Our contemporary says, in speaking of the great convenience of the express as at present run over the former time table: —"Arriving at Dunedin at 5 o'clock enables visitors to make appointments for the evening without the hour being too. lato ; and, the 9 o'clock departure from Duneclia avoids an early rush to the station, a, consideration on winter mornings. It does not appear to bo any difficulty for tho officials to observe the present time table, and, in fact, it would almost seem that another hour could bo cut oft" the end of the journey, and tha arriyal made for 4- o'clock, which would enable country people to run into Dunedin, transact small business matters before the ordinary closing tim«, and away next morning again.