Research source

We were just beginning to believe in universal brotherhood--when universal war broke out

Date of account: Published 1919
Source: Last letters from the living dead man
Reference: Last letters from the living dead man · selected passage 9
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

We were just beginning to believe in universal brotherhood--when universal war broke out. Our steersman seemed to have been washed overboard. Everybody wants to take the helm, distrusting his neighbor’s judgment. Is it any wonder that bewildered souls by thousands turned to automatic writing, seeking for guidance, for something _authoritative_? In childhood our parents guided us. Later the Church guided us--or tried to. Then science guided us--a little too far. And in the reaction we turned inward, to find (sometimes) the unconscious more troubled than the conscious. But in the Letters which follow there is no despair, only light and courage and hope.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This is a historical account assembled under the reporting and publishing conventions of its period. It may preserve testimony, hearsay, retelling and editorial interpretation together.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

A modern comparison can identify recurring descriptions and possible explanations, but the account is not treated as independently verified evidence merely because it appeared in print.

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