in impressing upon us the necessity of extreme circumspection in thought, word, and deed.  Not only can we from that plane see thus fully the result of every action, but we can also see where and in what way the results of other actions apparently quite unconnected with it will interfere with and modify it.  In fact, it may be said that the results of all causes at present in action are clearly visible—­that the future, as it would be if no entirely new causes should arise, lies open before our gaze.

“New causes of course do arise, because man’s will is free; but in the case of all ordinary people the use which they make of their freedom may be calculated beforehand with considerable accuracy.  The average man has so little real will that he is very much the creature of circumstances; his action in previous lives places him amid certain surroundings, and their influence upon him is so very much the most important factor in his life-story that his future course may be predicted with almost mathematical certainty.  With the developed man the case is different; for him also the main events of life are arranged by his past actions, but the way in which he will allow them to affect him, the methods by which he will deal with them and perhaps triumph over them—­these are all his own, and they cannot be foreseen even on the mental plane except as probabilities.

“Looking down on man’s life in this way from above, it seems as though his free will could be exercised only in certain crises in his career.  He arrives at a point in his life where there are obviously two or three alternative courses open before him; he is absolutely free to choose which of them he pleases, and although someone who knew his nature thoroughly well might feel almost certain what his choice would be, such knowledge on his friend’s part is in no sense a compelling force.  But when he has chosen, he has to go through with it and take the consequences; having entered upon a particular path he may, in many cases, be forced to go on for a very long time before he has any opportunity to turn aside.  His position is somewhat like that of a driver of a train; when he comes to a junction he may have the points set either this way or that, and so can pass on to whichever line he pleases, but when he has passed on to one of them he is compelled to run on along the line which he has selected until he reaches another set of points, where again an opportunity of choice is offered to him.”

But, interesting and wonderful as this phase of future-time clairvoyance undoubtedly is, it pales before the fuller and more complete phases.  And, in the latter, we must look elsewhere for the explanation—­or approach to an explanation.  The explanation of this higher form of future-time clairvoyance must be looked for in a new conception of the nature and meaning of time.  It is difficult to approach this question without becoming at once involved in technical metaphysical discussion.  As an example of this difficulty, I invite you to consider the following from Sir Oliver Lodge, in his address to the British Association, at Cardiff, several years ago.  While what he says is very clear to the mind of a person trained along these lines of subtle thought, it will be almost like Greek to the average person.  Sir Oliver Lodge said: