286 The Spiritual Life.
evena strong minority,theremustbeanentire
changeinthenationaldealingwithevilandevil-
doers. If men now possessed astral sight it
wouldnot be possibleforthem to domanyof
the things that are done by nations and by
society at the present time. It would notbe
possible that nation should fling itself againstnationinwar,forthentheywouldperceivethe
miseryand disturbancebrought into the astral
world by the souls hurled thereinto in terror
and inwrath. And there could be no such
thing as capital punishment among men who
couldtracetheafter-lifeofmanandwhoknew
that every murderer set freeby execution can
injure societymoreeffectually thanwhen he is
bound within the body. Then,too, man will
take uphisdutytowards the animal kingdom
aroundhimaswellastowardshisownbrethren
of the human race. Men with astral vision
couldnotacttowardsanimalsasblindmennow
act, and ina civilised world there will be no
slaughter-houses,no butchers'shops,with their
terriblesurroundingsofloathsomeelementalcrea-