,psychical ,miscellanea   ,being ,papers
 on   ,psychical ,research1 ,telepathy1 
,hypnotism1 ,christian ,science1 etc4   
,,by    ,j4 ,,arthur ,,hill   ,author of
 ,psychical ,investigations1 ,man is a  
,spirit1   ,spiritualism2 ,its ,history1
 ,phenomena and ,doctrine1 etc4         
,,new ,,york3   ,,harcourt1 ,,brace     
,,howe1   #aibj       ,printed in       
,england     ,,preface   ,many friends  
and correspondents have suggested that  
,i should republish a number of articles
 which have appeared from time to time  
in various quarters4 ,the present volume
 brings these articles together1 with   
some which have not appeared before4    
,each chapter is complete in itself1 but
 there is more or less connexion1 for   
each deals with some aspect of the      
subject to which ,i have given most     
attention during the last twelve        
years--namely1 psychical research4  ,i  
thank the editors of the ,holborn       
,review1 ,national ,review1 ,world's    
,work1 and ,occult ,review for          

permission to republish articles which  
have appeared in their pages4           
,j4 ,a4 ,h4   ,,thornton1               
,,bradford4     ,,contents              
,,page   ,,death                        
#a   ,,if ,a ,,man ,,die1 ,,shall ,,he  
,,live ,,again8                      #aa
   ,,psychical ,,research2 ,,its        
,,method1 ,,evidence1 ,,and ,,tendency  
#ah   ,,the ,,evolution ,,of ,a         
,,psychical ,,researcher                
#dc   ,,do ,,miracles ,,happen8         
#eb   ,,the ,,truth ,,about ,,telepathy 
#eh   ,,the ,,truth ,,about ,,hypnotism 
#fc   ,,christian ,,science             
#ge   ,,joan ,,of ,,arc                 
#hh   ,,is ,,the ,,earth ,,alive8       
#id   ,,religious ,,belief ,,after ,,the
 ,,war                         #aaa     
,psychical ,miscellanea     ,,death     
,our feelings with regard to the        
termination of our earthly existence are
 remarkably varied4 ,in some people1    
there is an absolutely genuine and      
strong desire for cessation of          

individual consciousness1 as in the case
 of ,john ,addington ,symonds4          
,probably1 however1 this is met with    
only in keenly sensitive natures which  
have suffered greatly in this life4     
,such unfortunate people are sometimes  
constitutionally unable to believe in   
anything better than cessation of their 
pain4 ,anything better than that is too 
good to be true1 so much too good that  
they hardly dare wish for it4 ,others1  
who have had a happy life1 naturally    
desire a continuance of it1 and are     
therefore eager1 like ,f4 ,w4 ,h4       
,myers1 for that which ,symonds dreaded4
 ,others1 again1 and these are probably 
the majority1 have no very marked       
feeling in the matter2 like the good    
,churchman in the story1 they hope to   
enter into everlasting bliss1 but they  
wish you would not talk about such      
depressing subjects4 ,this seems to     
suggest that they have secret qualms    
about the reality of the bliss4 ,perhaps
 they have read ,mark ,twain's ,captain 

,stormfield's ,visit to ,heaven1 and1   
though inexpressibly shocked by that    
exuberant work1 are nevertheless tinged 
with a sneaking sympathy for its hero1  
who found the orthodox abode of the     
blest an unbearably dull place4 ,the    
harp-playing in particular was trying1  
and he had difficulty in managing his   
wings4  ,anyhow1 these people avoid the 
subject4 ,as ,emerson says somewhere1   
religion has dealings with them three   
times in their lives3 when they are     
christened1 when they are married1 and  
when they are buried4 ,and undoubtedly  
its main appeal is in the period prior  
to this third formality1 if they happen 
to have a longish illness4 ,the rich    
,miss ,crawley1 in ,vanity ,fair1 is    
typical of many4 ,in days of health and 
good spirits1 this venerable lady had as
 free notions of religion and morals as 
,monsieur de ,voltaire himself could    
desire2 but when she was in the clutches
 of disease1 and even though in the     
odour of sanctity1 so to speak--for she 

was nursed by ,mrs ,reverend ,bute      
,crawley1 who hoped for the seventy     
thousand pounds if she could keep       
,rawdon and ,becky off the              
doorstep--even with this spiritual      
advantage she was in much fear1 and an  
utter cowardice took possession of the  
prostrate old sinner4  ,well1 let those 
laugh who will4 ,as for me1 ,i have     
great sympathy with ,miss ,crawley4     
,probably those who laugh1 or are       
contemptuous of such cowardice1 are     
people who have not yet come to close   
quarters with death--have not looked    
him1 as the ,french say1 in the white of
 the eyes4 ,let them wait until that    
happens4 ,if they come back after that  
rencontre1 they will be a little more   
tolerant of the cowardice of those whom 
they called weaker brethren4  ,fear of  
death may be divided into classes1      
according to its cause1 i4e41 the       
intellectual state out of which it seems
 to arise4 ,it may be due to the        
expectation of physical suffering2 or1  

as in such cases as ,cowper's and ,dr   
,johnson's1 to expectation of what may  
happen after death1 in that undiscovered
 country from which ,hamlet said no     
traveller returned1 though he had just  
been talking with his father's ghost1   
piping hot--as ,goldsmith has it in his 
,essay on ,metaphor--from ,purgatory4   
,in my own case1 ,i think the fear is a 
little of both4 ,and ,i admit that in   
both directions the fear is irrational4 
,as to the physical part1 it is probable
 that when my time comes ,i shall depart
 without much of what is usually called 
pain1 for the heart seems to be my weak 
place1 and ,i may reasonably hope that  
even though if attacked by other        
ailments1 it will be the heart that will
 give way4 ,there will probably be      
suffering through difficulty of         
breathing1 and ,i dread this somewhat1  
for ,i know how unpleasant it has been  
in the attacks which ,i have survived4  
,still1 it can hardly be compared with  
the agonising pain of many diseases4    

,rationally1 then1 ,i ought not to have 
much fear on the physical side4  ,on the
 spiritual side ,i confess with ,oliver 
,wendell ,holmes that ,i have never     
quite got from under the shadow of the  
orthodox hell4 ,i had a ,puritan        
upbringing1 not severe in its home      
theology ,i am thankful to say1 but     
involving attendance at an ,independent 
,chapel where the minister--a good man  
and no hypocrite--was wont to preach    
very terrible sermons4 ,i shall never   
quite get over the baneful effect of    
those damnatory fulminations4 ,they     
branded my soul4 ,they caused me more   
pain than anything else has ever done   
throughout my life--and this is saying a
 great deal4 ,they made me hate ,god4   
,remember1 ,i was a defenceless child4  
,i knew of no other ,god4 ,i thought all
 decent people believed like those about
 me4 ,i was the only heretic--a rebel1  
an outlaw1 an ,ishmael4 ,conceive1 if   
you can1 the agony of a sensitive child 
struggling with that thought6 ,condemned

 to eternal torment1 with those who1 in 
,dante's terrible line1 have no hope of 
death4 7,inferno1 iii1 #df47  ,then ,i  
fell in with ,o4 ,w4 ,holmes's ,autocrat
 and ,professor1 and found a friendly   
hand in the darkness4 ,it led me to     
,emerson and ,carlyle2 then ,i found    
,darwin1 ,spencer1 and the rest of them4
 ,my loneliness was mitigated1 but the  
seared place in my soul was not healed1 
and never will be healed4 ,i cannot read
 the ,inferno and ,purgatorio of ,dante 
without horror1 and thus the poetic     
beauty of those great cantos is darkened
 for me4 ,i cannot worship ,god1 for    
,god is the fiend whose image was       
stamped into my mind in its most        
plastic1 most defenceless period4 ,truly
 that early teaching has much to answer 
for4 ,it has poisoned a great part of my
 life4 ,i suppose if ,i could have      
accepted that ,being as my ,god1        
accepting also the sacrifice--the       
,blood--by which that ,being's anger was
 supposed to be assuaged--,i suppose ,i 

should have been happy1 feeling myself  
saved4 7,but ,i have lately been        
surprised to find how ineffective this  
belief can be4 ,an acquaintance of mine1
 an orthodox churchwoman who has no     
religious doubts1 and who talks much of 
the ,bible1 confesses to a fear of death
 which clouds even her brightest        
moments--an ever-present1 unconquerable 
dread47 ,however1 ,i could not accept   
the dogma4 ,why1 ,i don't know4 ,somehow
 my whole mind and heart revolted       
against the entire plan of salvation4 ,i
 never believed any of it4 ,i felt it   
could not be true4 ,and yet it tortured 
me4 ,illogical8 ,yes3 human beings are  
illogical4 ,i am no exception4 ,the     
,christian who believes he will go to   
heaven is equally illogical in his      
unwillingness to die4  ,when or if we   
succeed in getting rid of hell1 the     
spiritual fear of death becomes less    
torturing1 remaining only as a vague    
dread1 as in ,hamlet's soliloquy4 ,bacon
 says that we fear death as children    

fear to go in the dark4 ,in my own case1
 it is somewhat thus that the fear now  
presents itself4 ,the old hell-fear1    
though not utterly obliterated1 is      
becoming less all-swallowing4 ,this very
 desirable state of affairs is partly   
the result of the conclusions to which  
,i have been led by psychical research4 
,after many years of experiment and     
close study1 ,i can say that ,i know    
something about after-death conditions4 
,not that ,i pretend to be able to      
coerce other people into a similar      
belief1 even if ,i wanted to4 ,each must
 travel his own path4 ,moreover1        
psychical research being a science1 its 
results are not more certain than those 
of other sciences4 ,alternative theories
 in explanation of any phenomenon are   
always possible4 ,there is no such thing
 as knock-down proof4 ,but for my part  
,i can say that ,i know--in the same way
 that ,i know the truth of ,mendeleef's 
law1 or ,avogadro's law1 or ,dalton's   
atomic theory--that human beings do not 

become extinct when they die1 that they 
are often able to communicate with us   
after that event1 and that they are not 
in any orthodox heaven or hell4 ,my     
knowledge is based partly on a lengthy  
and carefully-conducted series of       
sittings which some intimate friends of 
mine have had with a medium known to me2
 partly on my own results over a period 
of several years of systematic          
investigation2 and partly on various    
curious experiences of psychic friends  
of mine who are in no sense professional
 mediums4 7,details to some extent in my
 ,new ,evidences in ,psychical ,research
 7,rider1 #aiaa7 and ,psychical         
,investigations 7,cassell1 #aiag47 ,i   
now believe1 with the ,bishop of        
,london1 that a man is essentially the  
same five minutes after death as he was 
five minutes before4 ,as the old woman  
says in ,david ,copperfield1 death      
doesn't change us more than life--no1   
nor as much6  ,the upshot is1 of course1
 that my spiritual fear of death has1 ,i

 am thankful to say1 almost vanished4   
,the lurid future has taken on a milder 
radiance4  ,it is not that ,i want      
assuring of happiness in a future state 
as compensation for misery in this4 ,i  
should be quite contented if ,i could be
 assured that death is annihilation4 ,it
 would at least be a cessation of       
suffering2 and that is much4 ,i could   
agree with ,keats3      ,darkling ,i    
listen2 and1 for many a time     ,i have
 been half in love with easeful ,death1 
,called him soft names in many a mused  
rhyme1     ,to take into the air my     
quiet breath4     ,now more than ever   
seems it rich to die1     ,to cease upon
 the midnight with no pain     ,while   
thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad  
,in such an ecstasy4     ,still wouldst 
thou sing1 and ,i have ears in vain--   
,to thy high requiem become a sod6      
--7,to the ,nightingale7  ,easeful      
death--it is a good word4 ,keats knew   
disease1 and was content with prospect  
of ease2 though at the end there is a   

note of depression or despair at the    
thought of becoming a sod1 deaf and     
blind to beauty4  ,this reminds us of   
the attitude of other poets towards the 
great problem4 ,tennyson is mildly      
optimistic and placid2 stretches1       
indeed1 somewhat lame hands of faith in 
his sorrowful moments when his friend   
has died1 but on the whole is healthily 
disposed2 friendly to the most cheerful 
way of looking at it2 inclined1 with    
true ,british burliness1 to make the    
best of a bad job--a job which1 after   
all1 may not be so very bad when we come
 to closer quarters with it4 ,afar1     
death is the spectre feared of man2 seen
 nearer1 he may metamorphose into a     
beautiful ,iris1 sent by heavenly mercy4
 ,and1 afterwards1 the new spiritual    
state will probably be an               
improvement--,aeonian evolution through 
all the spheres4 ,therefore1 away with  
all selfish mourning either about our   
own prospective fate or that of those   
who have left us4 ,let us hate the black

 negation of the bier3      ,and wish   
the dead1 as happier than ourselves     
,and higher1 having climb'd one step    
beyond     ,our village miseries1 might 
be borne in white     ,to burial or to  
burning1 hymned from hence     ,with    
songs in praise of death1 and crowned   
with flowers4  ,no doubt ,tennyson was  
to a very great extent able to stay     
himself on the personal mystic          
experiences described in his poem ,the  
,ancient ,sage--experiences which gave  
him a subjective assurance that death   
was a ludicrous impossibility4          
,browning1 characteristically buoyant1  
was ready to face death with a laugh2   
the fog in the throat will pass1 the    
black minute's at end1 then thy breast4 
,in ,prospice we feel the eager sureness
 with which he looked forward to        
rejoining her whose bodily presence had 
left him a few months before4 ,but even 
,browning's cheery salutation is outdone
 by ,whitman4 ,the ,american1 though    
acquainted with suffering as ,browning  

was not1 and though apparently without  
much belief or interest in personal     
survival1 was almost uncannily friendly 
to his own taking off4 ,and it was not  
because he suffered so greatly that he  
hailed release4 ,it was more the natural
 outcome of his joyous temperament1     
subdued at the last to a kind of solemn 
exaltation4 ,the following stanzas were 
written with ,george ,inness' picture   
,the ,valley of the ,shadow of ,death in
 mind3      ,nay1 do not dream1 designer
 dark1     ,thou hast portray'd or hit  
thy theme entire2     ,i1 hoverer of    
late by this dark valley1 by its        
confines1 having           glimpses of  
it1     ,here enter lists with thee1    
claiming my right to make a symbol too4 
,for ,i have seen many wounded soldiers 
die1     ,after dread suffering--have   
seen their lives pass off with smiles1  
,and ,i have watch'd the death-hours of 
the old2 and seen the           infant  
die2     ,the rich1 with all his nurses 
and his doctors2     ,and then the poor1

 in meagreness and poverty2     ,and ,i 
myself for long1 ,o ,death1 have        
breath'd my every breath     ,amid the  
nearness and the silent thought of thee4
                    ,and out of these   
and thee1     ,i make a scene1 a song   
7not fear of thee1     ,nor gloom's     
ravines1 nor bleak1 nor dark--for ,i do 
not fear thee1     ,nor celebrate the   
struggle1 or contortion1 or hard-tied   
knot71     ,of the broad blessed light1 
and perfect air1 with meadows1 rippling 
tides1 and trees and flowers and grass1 
,and the low hum of living breeze--and  
in the midst ,god's beautiful           
eternal right hand1     ,thee1 holiest  
minister of ,heaven--thee1 envoy1       
usherer1 guide           at last of all1
     ,rich1 florid1 loosener of the     
stricture-knot called life1             
,sweet1 peaceful1 welcome ,death4  ,this
 is indeed a change from the idea of    
,death as ,king of ,terrors1 as spectre 
feared of man4 7,in ,memoriam7  ,the    
,greek idea1 at its best1 seems to have 

been half-way between the two extremes4 
,it regarded death with more or less    
equanimity1 as being certainly not the  
greatest evil--no king of terrors--but  
merely an emissary of greater ,powers1  
to whose will we must bow1 though with  
dignity3    ,he that is a man in good   
earnest must not be so mean as to whine 
for life1 and grasp intemperately at old
 age2 let him leave this   point to     
,providence4--7,plato3 ,gorgias7        
,sophocles has the same thought1 with an
 added touch of ,hamlet-like irritation 
about the slings and arrows of          
outrageous fortune3      ,it is a shame 
to crave long life1 when troubles       
,allow a man no respite4 ,what delight  
,bring days1 one with another1 setting  
us     ,forward or backward on our path 
to death8     ,i would not take the     
fellow at a gift     ,who warms himself 
with unsubstantial hopes2     ,but      
bravely to live on1 or bravely end1     
,is due to gentle breeding4 ,i have     
said4--7,ajax7  ,cicero voices the same 

pagan feeling1 in the contented language
 of a rather tired1 wise old man3    ,i 
look forward to my dissolution as to a  
secure haven1 where ,i   shall at length
 find a happy repose from the fatigues  
of a long   voyage4--7,de ,senectute7   
,and was it not ,cato--fine old         
,stoic--who1 finding his natural force  
abating1 and accepting the hint         
furnished by a stumble in the street1   
stooped and kissed the ground3          
,proserpine1 ,i come6 and went home1    
making a speedy end1 unwilling to suffer
 the indignity of disease and the shame 
of being served in weakness8 ,modern    
opinion wisely reprobates suicide1 but  
there is something noble in the ,roman  
attitude1 condemn it as we will4 ,as a  
modern and almost comic example of a    
modern ,stoic's attitude to this same   
question of death we may cite the famous
 lines of ,walter ,savage ,landor3      
,i strove with none1 for none was worth 
my strife1     ,nature ,i loved1 and1   
next to ,nature1 ,art1     ,i warmed    

both hands before the fire of life1     
,it sinks1 and ,i am ready to depart4   
,strove with none1 indeed6 ,as a matter 
of fact1 ,landor strove with everybody4 
,he was one of the most quarrelsome men 
that ever lived4 ,the only man who could
 tolerate him was ,browning4 ,but in his
 mellower moments1 at least1 he was     
ready to depart1 quietly acquiescing in 
the scheme of things4 ,to depart1 note2 
not to be extinguished4 ,and this view  
is1 all things considered1 the most sane
 and wholesome view of the great problem
 of ,death4 ,we did not begin to live   
when we were born in this present       
tenement of flesh2 we shall not cease to
 live when we quit it4 ',tis but a tent 
for a night1 an interlude1 a descent    
into matter1 a temporary incarnation for
 educative purposes1 of the soul or a   
part of it1 as it pursues its lone way  
towards the ineffable goal4 ,this life  
is but a sleep and a forgetting2        
,the soul that rises with us1 our life's
 star1     ,has had elsewhere its       

setting1 and cometh from afar4  ,death1 
then1 is to be welcomed when it comes4  
,we must not run to meet it1 or run from
 it2 but we should welcome it when ,god 
thinks fit to send it1 ,his messenger4  
,the beautiful eternal right hand       
beckons1 and the soul gladly arises and 
departs1 to that imperial palace whence 
it came1 or to fare forth on some       
adventure brave and new4     ,,if ,a    
,,man ,,die1 ,,shall ,,he ,,live        
,,again8   ,a friend of mine tells me   
that psychical articles are always      
interesting1 because so many people die 
and go somewhere4 ,presumably1 those who
 remain here feel a natural curiosity as
 to where the departed have gone1 partly
 for the latter's sake1 and partly      
because they themselves would like to   
know1 so that they will know what to    
expect when their own time comes4  ,the 
teaching of religion on this point is   
admittedly either rather vague1 or1 if  
definite--as with the ,augustinian      
theology--no longer credible4 ,we have  

progressed in sensitiveness and         
humanity1 and can no longer believe that
 a good ,god will inflict everlasting   
torment in a lake which burneth with    
fire and brimstone1 even on the most    
wicked of ,his creatures4 ,still less   
can we believe in such punishment being 
inflicted for the sin of unbelief1 for  
we now know well enough that belief1    
being the net outcome of our total      
experience and character1 is not under  
the control of the will4 ,consequently1 
a ,god who punished creatures for not   
believing1 when ,he knew all the time   
that ,he had so constructed most of them
 that they could not believe1 would be  
either wicked or insane4 ,this inability
 to believe to order is plainly         
perceived if we reflect on what our     
feelings would be if a ,mohammedan      
implored us to believe in ,allah and in 
,allah's ,prophet1 as the only way of   
salvation4 ,we should decline1 saying   
perhaps that we knew better2 but the    
real reason of our disbelief would not  

lie in our knowledge but in our general 
makeup4 ,we could not believe in        
,mohammedanism if we tried4 ,we have    
grown up in a different climate1 and    
have taken a different form4  ,but1     
putting aside the vindictive hell-god of
 ,augustine1 ,tertullian1 ,calvin1 and  
the rest--for not even an earthly father
 would punish a child for ever--and     
taking ,christianity at its best1 we do 
not find any very specific              
eschatological teaching4 ,and this very 
absence is a good feature4 ,if a man    
tries to be good merely in order to     
avoid hell and gain heaven--in other    
words1 because it will pay--his goodness
 is not much of a credit to him4 ,it is 
only selfishness of a far-sighted kind4 
,religion1 on the other hand1 when at   
its best1 seeks to influence character1 
not by threats and promises1 but by     
encouraging moods and attitudes and     
habits of thought from which good       
actions will flow spontaneously1 without
 any profit-and-loss calculations4      

,modern ,christianity is therefore      
perhaps right in touching much more     
lightly on the future state than was    
customary in earlier centuries4         
,nevertheless1 we cannot repress a      
little curiosity4 ,people die and go    
somewhere1 as my friend says4 ,where do 
they go8 ,modern ,religion having       
avoided definite answer1 we turn to     
,science4 ,and ,science1 much as it     
would surprise such fine old gladiators 
as ,huxley and ,tyndall to hear it--has 
an answer1 and an affirmative one4      
,psychical research has1 in my opinion1 
brought together a mass of evidence     
strong enough to justify the following  
conclusions4 ,i do not say they are     
proved4 ,you cannot prove that the earth
 is round1 unless your hearer will at   
least study the evidence4 ,you cannot   
even prove to him that #b plus #b makes 
#d1 if he refuses to add4 ,therefore ,i 
do not say anything about proof4 ,i say 
only that after many years of careful   
study and investigation ,i am of opinion

 that the evidence justifies the        
conclusions4  7#a7 ,telepathy is a fact4
 ,a mind may become aware of something  
that is passing in another mind at a    
distance1 by means other than the normal
 sensory channels4 ,the how of the      
communication is entirely unknown4 ,the 
analogy of wireless telegraphy of course
 suggests itself1 but is misleading4    
,the ether-waves employed in wireless   
telegraphy are physical pulses which    
obey the law of inverse squares2        
telepathy shows no conformity with that 
law1 and has not been shown to be an    
affair of physical waves at all4 ,i     
believe that it is not a physical       
process2 that it occurs in the spiritual
 world1 between mind and mind1 not      
primarily between brain and brain4 ,and1
 if so--if mind can communicate with    
mind independently of brain--the theory 
of materialism at least is exploded4 ,if
 mind can act independently of brain1   
mind may go on existing after brain     
dies4  7#b7 ,communications1 purporting 

to emanate from departed spirits1 are   
sometimes so strikingly evidential that 
it is scientifically justifiable to     
assume the agency of a discarnate mind4 
,for example1 in a case known to me1 a  
spirit communicating through a          
non-professional medium--a lady of means
 and position--referred to a recipe for 
pomatum which the communicator said she 
had written in her recipe book4 ,no one 
knew anything about it2 but1 on hunting 
up the book1 the deceased lady's        
daughters found a recipe for ,dr        
,somebody's pomade1 which their mother  
had evidently written shortly before her
 death4 ,they confirmed that pomatum was
 the word which their mother used4 ,the 
points to be noted are3 ,that the medium
 was not a professional2 that no one who
 knows her has doubted her integrity2   
that she was not acquainted with either 
the deceased lady or her daughters2 that
 the knowledge shown was not possessed  
by any living 7incarnate7 mind1 and is  
therefore not explainable by telepathy2 

and1 finally1 that the case was watched 
and reported on by one of our ablest    
investigators--a lecturer at ,newnham   
,college--who found no flaw in the      
evidence4#a ,i repeat that ,i do not    
claim this to be proof4 ,i give it      
merely as an illustration1 and will give
 a few more detailed cases in a later   
chapter4 ,for the present ,i must be    
content to say that the mass of evidence
 known to me justifies the belief that  
minds survive what we call death4    #a 
,proceedings of the ,society for        
,psychical ,research1 vol4 xvii1   pp4  
#aha-c4  ,the question then arises3     
,what is the nature of the after life8  
,and here we are faced with great       
difficulties4 ,we can ask the returning 
spirits1 but we cannot verify their     
statements4 ,if my uncle ,john ,smith   
purports to communicate1 ,i can test his
 identity by asking him to tell me      
intimate family details which ,i can    
verify by asking his widow1 who still   
lives2 but ,i cannot thus check his     

statements about his spiritual          
surroundings4 ,still1 if he has proved  
his identity--particularly if telepathy 
seems excluded--we may perhaps feel     
fairly safe in accepting his other      
statements as true1 or at least in      
admitting their possible truth4 ,and of 
course we can obtain the statements of  
many different spirits1 and can compare 
them4 ,this has been done4 ,the result  
is a striking amount of uniformity4 ,the
 various spirits agree1 on the main     
points4  ,first of all1 they are        
surprisingly unorthodox6 ,they tell of  
no heaven or hell of the traditional    
kind4 ,there is no sudden ascent into   
unalloyed and eternal bliss for the     
good--who1 as ,jesus pointed out1 are   
not wholly good--and no sudden plunge   
into eternal fires for the bad--who1    
similarly1 are not unqualifiedly bad4   
,there is much of bad in the best of us1
 and much of good in the worst of us4   
,accordingly1 the released soul finds   
itself not very different from what it  

was while in the flesh4 ,it has passed  
into a higher class of the universal    
school--that is all4 ,tennyson has the  
idea exactly3      ,no sudden heaven1   
nor sudden hell1 for man1     ,but      
through the ,will of ,one who knows and 
rules--     ,and utter knowledge is but 
utter love--     ,aeonian ,evolution1   
swift or slow1     ,thro' all the       
,spheres--an ever opening height1       
,an ever lessening earth4  ,i have said 
that this view is unorthodox1 and so it 
is1 if compared with the orthodoxy of   
,calvin or ,edwards or ,tertullian4 ,but
 it is pleasant to find that orthodoxy  
to-day is a different thing1 and that   
the ,tennysonian notion is backed up in 
high quarters4 ,the ,bishopric of       
,london is the highest ecclesiastical   
office in ,england1 after the           
,archbishoprics of ,canterbury and      
,york1 and we find the present ,bishop  
of ,london 7,dr ,winnington-,ingram7    
speaking as follows3  ,is there anything
 definite about death in the ,bible8 ,i 

believe there is4 ,i think if you follow
 me1 you will find there are six things 
revealed to us about life after death4  
,the first is that the man is the same  
man4 ,instead of death being the end of 
him1 he is exactly the same five minutes
 after death as five minutes before     
death1 except having gone through one   
more experience in life4 ,in the second 
place the character grows after death2  
there is progress4 ,as it grows in life 
so it grows after death4 ,a third thing 
is1 we have memory4 ',son1 remember'1   
that is what was said to ,dives in the  
other world4 ,memory for places and     
people4 ,we shall remember everything   
after death4 ,and with memory there will
 be recognition2 we shall know one      
another4 ,husband and wife1 parents and 
children4 ,sixthly1 we still take great 
interest in the world we have left4     
,the good ,bishop gets all this out of  
the ,bible1 and quite rightly4 ,we hope 
no heresy-hunter will accuse him of     
selecting his texts and ignoring the    

hell-fire ones4  ,so far as             
earth-language can go1 the foregoing    
represents the probable truth regarding 
the after life4 ,if we inquire for      
details1 we shall get nothing very      
satisfactory4 ,if we ask a spirit       
concerning what he does--how he occupies
 himself--he will either say he cannot  
explain so that you will understand or  
will tell about living in houses1 going 
to lectures1 teaching children1 and the 
like4 ,all this is obviously symbolical4
 ,any communications that a discarnate  
entity can send must1 to be intelligible
 to us1 be in human earth-language2 and 
this language is based on               
sense-experience4 ,after death1         
experience is different1 for we no      
longer have the same bodily             
senses--eyes1 ears1 etc43 consequently  
no explanation of the nature of         
spiritual existence can be more than    
approximately true2 yet such expressions
 as living in houses1 going to lectures1
 and the like1 may be as near the truth 

as earth-language can get4 ,if a bird   
tried to describe air-life to a fish1   
the best it could do would be to say it 
is something like water-life1 but there 
is more light1 more ease of movement1   
more detail1 more things of interest and
 beauty4 ,of the wonders of             
sound--skylark's song1 human choruses1  
instrumental symphonies--no idea could  
be conveyed to the fish4 ,probably our  
friends in the next stage of existence  
have1 in addition to the experiences    
which they can partly describe1 other   
experiences of which they can give us   
absolutely no idea4 ,they have been     
promoted4 ,their interests and          
activities have become wider1 their joys
 greater4 ,yet they are the same souls1 
as the butterfly is the same as the     
chrysalis from which it has arisen4 ,but
 to know exactly what it feels like to  
be a butterfly1 the caterpillar and     
chrysalis have to wait ,nature's time4  
,so must we4     ,,psychical ,,research3
 ,,its ,,method1 ,,evidence1 ,,and      

,,tendency4   ,spiritualism and         
,psychical ,research are to the fore    
just now1 and there is much newspaper   
and vocal discussion1 based for the most
 part on ignorance1 particularly as     
regards the violent attackers of these  
things4 ,it is desirable that exact     
knowledge of the subject should become  
more general1 and in a recent volume ,i 
have tried to review the whole subject  
impartially4#b    #b ,spiritualism3 ,its
 ,history1 ,phenomena1 and ,doctrine    
7,cassell    ,co41 ,ltd474  ,but there  
are many who in these stressful days    
have no time for even one volume on this
 kind of thing1 and for them1 or such of
 them as may read this1 ,i have tried in
 the present article to give an idea of 
what psychical research is1 on the      
spiritualistic side1 omitting the       
medical side which concerns itself with 
suggestive therapeutics4 ,the article   
was first written as a paper which was  
read before a society of clergy in      
,bradford1 whose request for it was a   

significant and pleasing indication that
 ministers are aware of the importance  
of the subject4 ,they are realising that
 psychical research is a powerful       
support to religious faith1 and that its
 results provide comfort for the        
bereaved4 ,we live in a scientific age1 
and the sorrowing heart asks for more   
than a text and an assurance that it is 
,god's will and all for the best2 it    
asks whether it is a fact that the      
departed one still lives and knows and  
loves1 whether it is well with him1 and 
whether there will be reunion over      
there4 ,psychical research enables us to
 answer these questions in the          
affirmative4 ,science is now backing up 
religion1 and is providing ministers    
with by far the best weapon against     
materialism and so-called rationalism4  
,it meets these negative 'isms on their 
own ground1 and does not need to take   
cover under intuition or personal       
religious experience1 which are         
convincing only to the experient4 ,i am 

not belittling these2 ,i am only saying 
that the phenomenal evidence is more    
potent for the scientific type of mind1 
and that a knowledge of this evidence is
 useful to those who are defending      
religion4   ,,telepathy  ,it is found by
 experiment that ideas can be           
communicated from mind to mind through  
channels other than the known sensory   
ones4 ,professor ,gilbert ,murray of    
,oxford1 probably the most famous ,greek
 scholar in this country1 recently      
carried out some interesting experiments
 of this kind in his own family4 ,he    
would go into another room1 leaving his 
wife and daughter to decide on something
 which they would try to communicate to 
him on his return4 ,they chose the most 
absurd and unlikely things1 but in a    
large number of cases ,professor        
,murray1 by making his mind as passive  
as possible and saying the first thing  
that came into his head1 was able to    
reproduce with startling accuracy the   
idea they had in mind4 ,for instance1   

they thought of ,savonarola at ,florence
 and the people burning their clothes   
and pictures and valuables4 ,says       
,professor ,murray3 ,i first felt ',this
 is ,italy'1 then1 'this is not modern'2
 and then hesitated1 when accidentally a
 small tarry bit of coal tumbled out of 
the fire4 ,i smelt oil or paint burning 
and so got the whole scene4 ,it seems as
 though here some subconscious          
impression1 struggling up towards       
consciousness1 caught hold of the       
burning coal as a means of getting      
through4#c ,on another occasion they    
thought of ,grandfather at the ,harrow  
and ,winchester cricket match1 dropping 
hot cigar-ash on ,miss ,thompson's      
parasol4 ,professor ,murray's guess1    
reported verbatim1 was3 ,why1 this is   
grandfather6 ,he's at a cricket         
match--why it's absurd3 he seems to be  
dropping ashes on a lady's parasol4     
,another time they thought of a scene in
 a book of ,strindberg's which          
,professor ,murray had not read3 a poor1

 old1 cross1 disappointed schoolmaster  
eating crabs for lunch at a restaurant1 
and insisting on having female crabs4   
,professor ,murray says3 ,i got the     
atmosphere1 the man1 the lunch in the   
restaurant on crabs1 and thought ,i had 
finished1 when my daughter asked3 ',what
 kind of crabs8' ,i felt rather         
impatient and said3 ',oh1 ,lord1 ,i     
don't know3 female crabs4' ,that is1 the
 response to the question came          
automatically1 with no preparation1     
while ,i thought ,i could not give it4  
,i may add that ,i had never before     
heard of there being any inequality     
between the sexes among crabs1 regarded 
as food4    #c ,proceedings of the      
,society for ,psychical ,research1 vol4 
#bi1   p4 #ei4 7,for brevity's sake ,i  
shall hereinafter use the recognised    
initials ,s4,p4,r4 for the ,society47   
,this kind of evidence is not the best1 
because the thoughts of members of one  
family run more or less in similar      
grooves2 though the experimenters       

recognised this and chose unlikely      
things purposely4 ,other investigators  
have sometimes used cards1 drawing one  
at random from a shuffled pack1 looking 
at it1 and the percipient then trying to
 say what it is4 ,the chance of success 
is of course one in fifty-two1 and the  
amount of success which we might expect 
by chance in any series can be          
mathematically determined4 ,in one      
series of successful experiments        
conducted by ,sir ,oliver ,lodge the    
odds against an explanation by chance   
alone were about ten millions to one4   
,in ordinary matters this would be      
regarded as proof4  ,other experiments  
of the same general character have been 
carried out by ,sir ,william ,barrett1  
,professor ,sidgwick1 and others1 and   
details may be found in the ,s4,p4,r4   
,proceedings4 ,in most cases the idea   
comes into the mind as an impression1   
but if the percipient is a good         
visualiser it is sometimes seen almost  
externalised as a hallucination4 ,this  

leads us to the next step4  ,if it is   
possible to convey to another           
mind--sometimes so vividly that the     
thing is almost seen as if out there in 
space--an image of scenes thought about1
 may it not be possible to convey an    
image of oneself8 ,this idea occurred to
 a gentleman referred to by ,myers as   
,mr ,s4 ,h4 ,b4 in his book ,human      
,personality and ,its ,survival of      
,bodily ,death4 ,mr ,s4 ,h4 ,b41 whom ,i
 know by correspondence and whose       
brother ,i have known personally for    
many years1 decided that he would try to
 make himself visible to two young      
ladies whom he knew1 and he concentrated
 his mind on the effort just before     
going to bed4 ,he willed to show himself
 in their room at one o'clock in the    
morning4 ,the distance from his house to
 theirs was three miles4 ,next time he  
saw them1 a few days later1 they told   
him they had had a great fright3 the    
elder sister had seen ,mr ,b4's         
apparition1 had screamed and awakened   

her little sister1 who also saw him4    
,the time was one o'clock in the        
morning4 ,they told him this before he  
said anything about his experiment1 and 
they had no reason to expect that he    
would try anything of the kind4 ,both   
,mr ,b4 and his brother are keen and    
successful business men2 ,mr ,s4 ,h4 ,b4
 is now retired1 his brother is still   
the head of a large firm4 ,i mention    
this because some critics seem to have a
 notion that psychical researchers are a
 crowd of long-haired poets or          
semi-lunatic cranks4   ,,phantasms ,,of 
,,the ,,dead  ,now if a living man can  
by force of will project a telepathic   
phantasm of himself1 it is reasonable to
 suppose that a dead man can do the     
same1 if the so-called dead man still   
exists2 for telepathy does not seem to  
be a physical process of ether-waves1   
does not conform to the law of inverse  
squares or propagate itself in all      
directions as physical forces do4 ,it   
seems to occur in the mental world1     

between mind and mind rather than       
between brain and brain4 ,consequently1 
telepathy from the dead is likely to be 
easier than from the living1 for they   
over there are not clogged with the     
fleshly body4 ,certainly1 however they  
may be explained1 there are many cases  
of the apparition of a deceased person4 
,the difficulty about accepting the     
evidentiality of some of them is that if
 the percipient knew that the person    
appearing was dead1 the apparition may  
be merely a subjective hallucination4   
,and even if the death was not known1 it
 might be surmised1 and the apparition  
might be the result of expectancy if the
 person appearing was known to be ill or
 in danger4 ,but there are some cases in
 which a certain amount of detail is    
conveyed1 rendering a subjective        
explanation not very probable4 ,for     
instance1 ,captain ,colt had a vision of
 his brother1 in a kneeling position1   
with a bullet wound in his right temple4
 ,he described the vision to several    

people in the house before any news     
came1 so the case does not rest on his  
word alone4 ,in due time information    
arrived that his brother had been       
killed4 ,he had been shot through the   
right temple1 had fallen among a heap of
 others1 and was found in a kneeling    
position4 ,in his pocket was a letter   
from ,capt4 ,colt asking him1 if        
anything happened to him1 to make his   
presence known in the room in which as a
 matter of fact the apparition was seen4
 ,the vision1 it was found1 occurred a  
few hours after the death4 ,mr ,myers   
gives full details in ,human            
,personality4 ,in this case the         
bullet-wound and the kneeling position  
are points of correct detail which are  
hardly explicable on a subjective       
theory4 ,the best sceptical theory is   
that the incident was telepathic1 the   
wounded brother sending out his         
telepathic message after being shot4    
,this is possible1 but hardly probable2 
for death in the case of a bullet-wound 

through the temple must be almost       
instantaneous4  ,spontaneous cases of   
this kind and of this degree of         
evidentiality are rare1 but there is a  
large mass of evidence of the same      
general character4 ,the ,s4,p4,r4 once  
carried out an extensive inquiry1       
receiving answers from #ag1jjj people1  
and tabulating the results in a volume  
of the ,proceedings4 ,the final         
conclusion1 expressed in weighed and    
guarded words1 was that ,between deaths 
and apparitions of the dying person a   
connexion exists which is not due to    
chance alone4 ,this was signed1 among   
other members of the ,committee1 by     
,professor ,sidgwick1 whom ,professor   
,james once called the most             
exasperatingly critical mind in         
,england4 ,some of the apparitions occur
 before the person's actual death1 but  
usually in such cases he is already     
unconscious and the spirit practically  
free4 ,as to those occurring after1 the 
main difficulty about admitting them as 

proof of survival is1 as just said1 the 
possibility that although they may      
appear after the death of the person1   
the telepathic impulse may have been    
sent out before1 and may have remained  
latent for some time in the mind of the 
percipient4 ,this has been carefully    
considered by investigators1 and in many
 cases there are reasons for regarding  
it as an insufficient theory4 ,on the   
whole1 the evidence tends more and more 
to suggest that in at least some        
instances these happenings are due to   
the agency of a discarnate mind4 ,the   
proof is cumulative1 and no single case 
can be crucial4 ,there is no            
coerciveness about it1 and each can     
invent his own hypothesis4 ,but those   
who have considered the subject most    
carefully have come to the provisional  
conclusion that the agency of the       
so-called dead is in some cases a       
reasonable1 and indeed the most         
reasonable1 supposition4 ,there are of  
course many narratives of this kind in  

the ,bible1#d the ,lives of the ,saints1
 and other literature1 but these        
records1 being of pre-scientific date1  
and lacking the corroborative testimony 
which we now require1 are of a lower    
order of evidentiality4 ,the new        
evidence1 however1 is throwing a        
backward light on many of these ancient 
stories1 and making them credible once  
more4 ,to me personally1 the ,bible is a
 much more living book than it used to  
be4 ,i believe that many things in it   
which ,i used to regard as myths may    
have been facts4    #d ,e4g41 ,moses and
 ,elias on the ,mount4   ,,normal       
,,clairvoyance  ,there are instances1   
then1 of people occasionally having     
visions which seem to be in some way    
caused by departed persons4 ,sometimes  
the percipient has only one experience  
of the kind in his life2 more often he  
has several1 for this seeing power is   
somehow temperamental--a sort of gift1  
like the alleged second sight of the    
,highlander4 ,it was well known to ,st  

,paul1 as his reference to discerning of
 spirits shows 7#a ,cor41 xii74 ,with   
some people the experience is fairly    
common4 ,and in a very few persons the  
gift is so strong that it is to some    
extent under control4 ,i say to some    
extent1 and ,i wish to use words very   
carefully and to have them understood   
very clearly at this point4 ,i know     
several people1 who by putting          
themselves into a passive and receptive 
condition1 but without any trance state1
 can generally get evidential messages  
from somewhere2 that is1 messages       
embodying facts which the sensitive did 
not normally know4 ,and some of this    
matter seems to be due to telepathy from
 the dead4 ,but it cannot be done at    
will4 ,i believe that professional      
mediums who sit for all comers for a fee
 are often1 and indeed generally1 quite 
honest people1 but that they cannot     
distinguish between their own           
imaginations and what really comes      
through4 ,professor ,murray1 when saying

 what came into his head1 did not know  
whether it was right or not2 that is1 he
 did not know1 until he was told1       
whether he had really got the thing     
telepathically or whether it was an idea
 thrown up by his own imagination4 ,so  
with professional mediums4 ,they give   
out the ideas that come to them1 but as 
a rule they cannot distinguish2 and1 the
 power not being entirely under control1
 there is often a large mixture of their
 own imagination4  ,i have1 however1 the
 good fortune to be acquainted with a   
sensitive who has the unusual power of  
being able to distinguish2 and this is a
 great advantage1 rendering verbatim    
note-taking much easier1 and eliminating
 any necessity for balancing hits       
against misses4 ,if nothing comes1 he   
sits silent or talks ordinarily4 ,if he 
gets anything1 it is practically always 
correct4 ,the amount of his success     
varies1 and he will not sit for people  
in general4 ,i know many people who have
 asked him to visit them1 offering      

handsome payment1 but he usually        
declines4 ,he says he cannot do it to   
order1 and would be upset if he failed  
and caused disappointment4 ,he comes to 
me1 however1 because ,i understand and  
always tell him that he need not worry  
if he gets nothing4 ,in fact the meeting
 is regarded as a social call and not as
 a seance4 ,we talk for a while about   
ordinary things1 and in half-an-hour or 
so1 if the medium can get his mind      
placid enough and is in good trim       
generally1 he will begin to see and     
describe spirits present1 often getting 
their names and all sorts of details4   
,these come for the most part in        
flashes1 and ,i take down every word he 
says1 in shorthand1 without giving any  
help or indication as to whether he is  
right or wrong4 ,sometimes in a whole   
afternoon he will have only one or two  
of these gleams1 and on one occasion he 
got nothing4 ,with conditions at their  
best he will talk almost continuously   
for an hour1 the flashes following each 

other closely2 and sometimes a spirit   
will remain visible for several minutes1
 moving about the room4 ,about a dozen  
of these interviews are described in    
detail in my book ,psychical            
,investigations1 and other              
investigations of the same sensitive by 
two very able friends of mine in another
 town are described in ,new ,evidences  
in ,psychical ,research4  ,perhaps one  
or two illustrative incidents may make  
things clearer4  ,the first time        
,wilkinson came to see me he said1 in   
the middle of ordinary talk1 that he saw
 with me the form of a woman who looked 
about fifty-four1 and whom he described1
 saying further that her name was ,mary4
 ,taking up a piece of paper and a      
pencil1 he wrote in an abstracted manner
 the words ,roundfield ,place4 ,he      
looked at it1 without reading it aloud1 
then said3 ,that will be a house1 and   
proceeded to write something else4 ,i   
got up to look1 and found ,roundfield   
,place4 ,yes 7the ,yes written in answer

 to his remark ,that will be a house7   
and a signature ,mary4 ,now it happens  
that my mother's name was ,mary1 that   
the description applied to her1 and that
 she died1 in #ahhf1 at ,roundfield     
,place1 not the house to which          
,wilkinson came1 whither we removed in  
#ahig4 ,other similar things were said1 
about other deceased relatives1 all     
true4  ,in this kind of thing it is our 
duty to stick to known causes before    
admitting unknown1 and my first         
supposition was that ,wilkinson had     
primed himself with information4 ,he    
could have ascertained most of the      
things by local inquiry1 though it would
 not be very easy1 for my mother had    
been dead twenty-two years1 and only    
middle-aged or elderly people would     
remember her4 ,further interviews with  
him1 however1 soon carried me beyond the
 fraud theory--for holding which ,i now 
apologise to him1 feeling considerably  
ashamed--for he gave me messages from   
many people whose association with me ,i

 feel sure he did not know1 and also    
some family matter of a very private    
kind1 characteristic of the spirit who  
purported to be communicating1 but known
 to only four living people4 ,i then    
fell back on telepathy1 assuming that   
the medium was reading my mind4 ,but1   
pursuing my investigations1 ,i received 
information which ,i did not know but   
which turned out true4 ,for example1    
,wilkinson on one occasion described a  
,ruth and ,jacob ,robertshaw1 giving    
details about them and saying that ,ruth
 had a very spiritual appearance1 with a
 sort of radiance about her1 indicating 
that she had been a very good woman1 and
 giving other particulars4 ,all this    
meant nothing to me1 for the names were 
unknown4 ,but1 as ,i had on some other  
occasions found that spirits were       
described who were relatives of my last 
visitor1 ,i asked the person who had    
last entered the room--except           
inhabitants of the house--whether she   
had known people of these names4 ,it    

turned out that they were connexions of 
hers with whom she had been in close    
touch during life1 and everything said  
by the medium was correct4 ,now in the  
first place this incident ruled out     
fraud1 for ,miss ,north's visit had     
occurred three days before1 and         
,wilkinson would have had to have       
detectives watching both doors of my    
house1 from first thing in the morning  
to the last thing at night1 to find out 
who my last visitor had been2 or he     
would have had to be in league with a   
servant or a neighbour1 and even thus   
could hardly have succeeded1 for        
servants are sometimes out--moreover1   
similar things have happened during the 
regime of different servants--and       
neighbours could not easily watch both  
doors during dark winter evenings4      
,further1 our neighbours are friends of 
ours1 non-spiritualists1 and not        
acquainted with ,wilkinson4 ,and1 after 
getting to know who my last visitor was1
 information about her deceased         

relatives would have had to be hunted   
up4 ,i could give further reasons for   
believing that fraud was an untenable   
hypothesis1 but ,i must be brief4 ,what1
 next1 about telepathy8 ,well1 ,i had no
 conscious knowledge of these people1 so
 the medium could not have got his      
information from my conscious mind4 ,it 
is possible to assume that ,i knew it   
subliminally1 and that the medium       
abstracted it from those hidden levels  
of my mind4 ,this is a guess1 but a     
legitimate guess4 ,it is the guess that 
,miss ,dougall 7author of ,pro ,christo 
et ,ecclesia7 makes in criticising this 
very incident in the book of essays     
called ,immortality1 by ,canon ,streeter
 and others4 ,she suggests that on the  
occasion of ,miss ,north's visit my mind
 had photographed the contents of hers1 
without my knowing it1 and that the     
medium developed the photograph and read
 off the required information4 ,it may  
be so1 but it seems to me far-fetched4  
,miss ,dougall1 ,i may add1 is a member 

of the ,s4,p4,r41 and her criticism is  
instructed criticism1 worthy of careful 
attention4 ,but ,i cannot accept her    
theory1 which seems to me more wonderful
 and to require more credulity than the 
spirit theory4 ,for it is to be observed
 that the assumed mind-reading is of a  
character quite different from anything 
that has been experimentally            
established4 ,in telepathic experiments1
 like those of ,professor ,murray1 some 
incarnate person is trying to           
communicate the thought4 ,this is not   
the case in my sittings with ,wilkinson4
 ,i am not trying to communicate        
anything to him2 very much the contrary4
 ,and ,i do not find1 after long and    
careful observation1 any parallelism    
between what he says and what ,i happen 
to be thinking about4 ,there is1 in     
short1 no evidence for the supposition  
that my mind is read4 ,the evidence     
points unmistakably to discarnate       
agency--telepathy from the dead4        
,,trance  ,the sort of thing ,i have    

described is usually known as normal    
clairvoyance1 because the sensitive is  
in a normal state1 not in trance4 ,but  
there is a further stage1 into which1   
indeed1 ,mr ,wilkinson sometimes passes1
 in which there is a change of          
personality1 and a spirit purports to   
speak or write with the medium's organs4
 ,there is nothing weird or uncanny in  
the procedure1 nothing deathly or       
coma-like2 the medium usually sits up   
and even walks about1 though some trance
 mediums have to sit still and keep     
their eyes closed4 ,i have had visits   
from many trance mediums2 and most of   
them have failed to get anything        
evidential--which at least suggests     
their honesty1 for they could easily    
have obtained some information about my 
deceased relatives4 ,but the whole      
matter of trance control is a thorny    
problem4 ,indubitably1 evidence of      
supernormal faculty is sometimes given  
in this state1 but we of the ,s4,p4,r4  
are divided as to what the control      

really is4 ,some think it is a spirit1  
as claimed2 others think it is a        
secondary personality of the medium1 as 
in the remarkable case of split         
personality described in ,dr ,morton    
,prince's book ,the ,dissociation of a  
,personality4 ,mrs ,sidgwick1 widow of  
the ,professor and sister of ,mr ,a4 ,j4
 ,balfour1 has made a careful           
psychological study of the case of ,mrs 
,piper1 given in #feg pages of          
,proceedings1 vol4 #bh1 and her         
conclusion is that though telepathy from
 the dead is probably shown1 and        
certainly some kind of supernormality1  
the controls themselves are             
dream-fragments of the medium's mind4 ,i
 am not qualified to pronounce an       
opinion on ,mrs ,piper1 not having met  
her2 but as to the trance mediums ,i    
have experimented with1 ,i incline to   
agree with ,mrs ,sidgwick4 ,i think it  
may be a dodge of the subliminal to get 
the over-anxious normal consciousness   
temporarily out of the way4 ,but this is

 a psychological detail1 and a difficult
 one1 requiring much further study4     
,from the psychical research point of   
view ,mrs ,piper's case may be studied  
in ,proceedings1 vols4 #f1 #h1 #ac1 #af1
 and a few of the later ones1 or some   
idea of it can be got from ,sir ,oliver 
,lodge's ,survival of ,man4 ,all the    
investigators were convinced of either  
telepathy or something more4 ,fraud was 
excluded by introducing sitters         
anonymously1 ,dr ,hodgson himself       
introducing over #aej different people  
in this way1 and taking careful notes4  
,i have experimented similarly with     
,wilkinson1 introducing people from     
distant places such as ,middlesex and   
,northumberland as well as from towns   
nearer home1 either under false names or
 with no names at all1 and being present
 myself to take notes4 ,friends of mine 
have done the same thing4 ,we were      
unanimously sceptical to start with1    
probably more sceptical than most of    
those who will read this paper1 for we  

disbelieved in survival itself4 ,we are 
now convinced that the fraud theory is  
out of the question1 that at the very   
least a complicated theory of           
mind-reading--including the reading of  
the minds of distant and unknown        
persons--must be assumed if the theory  
of survival and communication is to be  
avoided4  ,of late years there has been 
a great development in automatic writing
 among quite non-professional           
mediums--private people who are members 
of the ,s4,p4,r41 as for instance the   
late ,mrs ,verrall1 ,classical ,lecturer
 at ,newnham--and some noteworthy       
evidence has been obtained4 ,but it is  
too complex even to summarise here4 ,it 
seems to be the work of ,gurney1        
,hodgson1 ,myers1 and ,sidgwick1 on the 
other side1 for different messages have 
come through different sensitives1      
making sense when put together1 and     
sense characteristic of these departed  
leaders4 ,this had not been thought of1 
so far as we know1 by any living person1

 and it seems to eliminate telepathy    
from the living1 for the messages are   
not understood until the bits are pieced
 together4 ,the evidence fills several  
volumes of our ,proceedings1 and        
students should read them carefully4    
,there are many other kinds of          
mediumship or psychic faculty1 and many 
volumes are in existence on each phase2 
the library of the ,london ,spiritualist
 ,alliance contains about #c1jjj4 ,i    
have read about #ejj of them1 and would 
not recommend anyone else to do the     
same4 ,there is a great deal of rubbish 
among them1 though they are not all     
rubbish4 ,the reading ,i recommend is   
the ,proceedings of the ,s4,p4,r41 the  
writings of ,sir ,william ,barrett1 ,sir
 ,oliver ,lodge1 ,dr ,w4 ,j4 ,crawford1 
and1 above all1 the great work of ,f4   
,w4 ,h4 ,myers1 ,human ,personality and 
,its ,survival of ,bodily ,death1 in the
 original two-volume edition4 ,the      
abridged one-volume edition omits many  
of the illustrative cases4 ,i do not    

think that conviction is to be achieved 
by mere reading2 books would never have 
convinced me4 ,but careful reading is   
perhaps sufficient to lead a fairly     
tolerant mind to realise that there is  
something here which must not be        
dismissed off-hand2 something which is  
worthy of investigation4 ,that is as    
much as we expect4 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge  
often says that we shall do well if we  
succeed1 in this generation1 in         
modifying the psychological climate1    
creating an atmosphere more favourable  
to unprejudiced examination of the      
facts4 ,we have no desire for           
revolutions2 we want knowledge to grow  
slowly and surely4 ,the ,s4,p4,r4 has   
been in existence only thirty-seven     
years1 and the subject is in its        
scientific infancy4 ,take the beginnings
 of any one science--say1 ,chemistry1   
dating it somewhat arbitrarily from     
,priestley or ,dalton--and note what a  
little way discovery had gone in a like 
period4 ,with increased numbers of      

workers the pace increases2 but in every
 science the progress at first must be  
slow4 ,in psychical research a good     
start has been made1 and the            
investigators seem to be certainly on   
the track of something1 whether their   
inferences are right in every detail or 
not4 ,and every advance in science has  
extended our conceptions of this        
wonderful universe4 ,the heavens declare
 the glory of ,god in a tremendously    
larger way than they did in the days of 
the old ,ptolemaic astronomy1 though man
 foolishly fought the ,copernican idea  
because it seemed to lessen our dignity 
by making our earth a speck on the scale
 of creation instead of the central body
 thereof4 ,so with all other phenomena1 
physical and psychical4 ,we may be sure 
that all discovery will be real         
revelation4 ,with this faith--a         
well-grounded faith--we need not fear   
advance4   ,,recent ,,criticism  ,i add 
a few words1 rather against my          
inclination1 about recent criticism of a

 kind which is hardly worthy that name4 
,two books1 one by ,dr ,mercier and one 
by ,mr ,edward ,clodd1 have had a       
certain popularity1 mainly because they 
attacked1 with a certain smartness of   
phrase1 the book of a greater man4      
,raymond was being widely read and      
talked about1 and its popularity secured
 some success for these hostile books4  
,curiously enough1 even some of the     
clergy have quoted approvingly some of  
the arguments of these rationalists1 no 
doubt much to the glee of ,mr ,clodd in 
particular4 ,now ,i have said before    
that instructed criticism is always     
welcome1 for we may hope to learn       
something from it4 ,but ,dr ,mercier1 on
 his own statement1 came new to the     
subject at the age of sixty-four1 read  
,raymond and ,the ,survival of ,man1 and
 immediately sat down to write a        
flippant book the publication of which  
we hope he now regrets4 ,not only had he
 never investigated for himself1 but he 
was also ignorant of the work of the    

,s4,p4,r4  ,as to ,mr ,clodd1 his book  
is better-informed1 though frequently   
unfair4 ,for instance1 in his references
 to me he is very careful to avoid any  
consideration of the strong parts of my 
case4 ,like the famous theological      
professor1 he looks the difficulties    
boldly in the face--not very boldly--and
 passes on1 without speaking to them4   
,he has obviously read fairly widely1   
but where he does criticise in detail1  
he always seizes on weak points and     
quietly ignores the strong ones4 ,as to 
personal investigation he is almost     
entirely without experience4 ,he says he
 attended a seance about fifty years    
ago1 but has forgotten most of what     
happened6 ,he says this1 with a         
momentary lapse from his usual          
cleverness--for it gives away his       
case--in a letter to the ,april 7#aiah7 
,international ,psychic ,gazette4 ,in   
other words1 he poses as an authority on
 a branch of science of which he has no 
first-hand knowledge4 ,he criticises and

 dismisses airily the opinions and      
investigations of those who have worked 
at the subject for ten1 twenty1 thirty1 
or forty years2 for it is over forty    
years since ,sir ,william ,barrett      
brought his experiments in telepathy    
before the ,british ,association4 ,mr   
,clodd is a ,rationalist1 and knows     
without investigation that these things 
cannot be4 ,he is as a prioristic as a  
medieval ,schoolman1 in spite of his    
scientific pose4 ,and his prejudices    
unfortunately prevent him from seeking  
and studying the facts which might lead 
him to other conclusions4  ,i have not  
said anything about the ,s4,p4,r4       
itself1 but may here add a few remarks4 
,says its official leaflet3 ,the aim of 
the ,society is to approach these       
various problems without prejudice or   
prepossession of any kind1 and in the   
same spirit of exact and unimpassioned  
inquiry which has enabled ,science to   
solve so many problems1 once not less   
obscure nor less hotly debated4444      

,membership of the ,society does not    
imply the acceptance of any particular  
explanation of the phenomena            
investigated1 nor any belief as to the  
operation1 in the physical world1 of    
forces other than those recognised by   
,physical ,science4 ,in other words1 the
 ,society has no creed1 except that the 
subject is worth investigating4  ,the   
,society has well over #a1jjj members1  
and is growing steadily4 ,it includes   
many famous men in all walks of life1   
and indeed its membership list has been 
said to contain more well-known names   
than any other scientific society except
 the ,royal ,society itself4 ,among the 
,vice-presidents are the ,right         
,honourables ,a4 ,j4 and ,g4 ,w4        
,balfour1 ,sir ,william ,barrett1 ,sir  
,oliver ,lodge1 the late ,bishop        
,boyd-,carpenter and the late ,sir      
,william ,crookes4 ,the ,president for  
the current year is ,lord ,rayleigh1    
probably the greatest mathematical      
physicist now living4#e ,the ,president 

of the ,royal ,society 7,sir ,j4 ,j4    
,thomson7 is a member1 also ,professor  
,henri ,bergson of ,paris1 ,dr ,l4 ,p4  
,jacks 7editor of ,the ,hibbert         
,journal7 and innumerable other         
scientists and scholars whose names are 
known to everyone4    #e ,lord          
,rayleigh's lamented death has since    
occurred1 ,july1 #aiai4  ,finally let me
 assure you that the ,s4,p4,r4 is so    
conservative and suspicious that        
admission is almost as difficult to     
obtain as membership of a high-class    
,london club4 ,it is extremely anxious  
to keep out cranks and emotional people 
of all sorts1 and it requires any       
applicant to be vouched for as suitable 
by two existing members2 and each       
application is separately considered by 
the ,council4 ,the result is a          
level-headed lot of members1 and the    
maintenance of a sane and scientific    
attitude and management4  ,from the     
philosophic side it is sometimes urged  
that we cannot reason from the          

phenomenal to the noumenal1 from the    
world of appearance to the world of     
reality2 that consequently nothing      
happening in the material world can     
prove the existence of a spiritual one4 
,but this is easily answered4 ,we       
cheerfully agree1 with ,kant1 that a    
spiritual world cannot be proved        
coercively and in such knock-down       
fashion that belief cannot be avoided4  
,but it can be proved in the same way   
and to the same extent as many other    
things which we believe and find        
ourselves justified in believing4 ,for  
instance1 atoms and electrons and the   
,ether of ,space are not phenomenal2 no 
one has ever seen or heard or felt or   
smelt them2 but we infer their real     
existence from the behaviour of the     
matter which does affect our senses4    
,again3 we cannot prove to ourselves    
that other human beings exist1 or even  
that an external world exists2 my       
experience may be a huge subjective     
hallucination4 ,if ,i were reading this 

paper ,i should not be able to prove to 
myself that any other mind was present4 
,looking around1 ,i should receive      
certain impressions--sensations of      
sight--and ,i should call certain       
aggregations of these the physical      
bodies of beings like myself4 ,from the 
similarity of their structure and       
behaviour to the structure and behaviour
 of my own body1 ,i should infer that   
they have got minds somehow associated  
with them1 as my mind is associated with
 my body4 ,but you could not prove it to
 me4 ,if you got angry with my          
obstinacy1 and knocked me down1 ,i      
should experience painful sensations1   
but the existence of a mind external to 
me--and an angry one--would still be a  
matter of inference only4 ,but we find  
that the inference is justified4 ,we    
find that it works1 and social life is  
possible4 ,for the purposes1 then1 both 
of science and of ordinary life1 we do  
reason from phenomenon to noumenon1 from
 appearance to reality1 from attribute  

to substance2 and our reasoning         
justifies itself4 ,i affirm1 therefore1 
that the kind of proof which we as      
psychical researchers put forward for   
the existence of and communication from 
discarnate minds1 is philosophically the
 same kind as the proof we have of the  
existence of incarnate minds4 ,if a     
short and clear exposition of the point 
is required1 free from any              
psychical-research bias1 ,i may refer   
inquirers to the chapter on the         
,psychological ,theory of an ,external  
,world in ,j4 ,s4 ,mill's ,examination  
of ,sir ,william ,hamilton's            
,philosophy4 ,our evidence may be       
insufficient to justify belief--in the  
opinion of many1 it is--and ,i blame no 
one for disbelieving2 but it is         
evidence4 ,and if it sufficiently       
accumulates and improves in quality1 it 
may amount to a degree of proof at least
 comparable with that concerning        
electrons1 which are now accepted as    
real by all physicists4  ,one or two    

difficulties may here be briefly        
referred to3  #a4 ,the appearance in    
,mrs ,piper's script of such obvious    
dream-stuff as messages from ,homer1    
,ulysses1 and ,telemachus6 ,these are of
 course absurdities1 and no psychical   
researcher regards them as anything     
else4 ,but they are no more absurd than 
many of our own dreams1 and we must     
remember that automatic writing comes   
from the dream-strata of the medium's   
mind1 these strata seeming to lie       
between our normal consciousness and the
 spiritual world4 ,consequently messages
 which really seem to come from beyond3 
i4e41 which are evidential--are often   
mixed with subliminal matter from the   
medium's mind4 ,as a communicator once  
said3 ,the medium's dreams get in my    
way4 ,all this has to be allowed for1   
but in good mediums there is not much of
 it4 ,in my friend ,wilkinson's case    
there is none1 for he can distinguish4  
,in ,mrs ,piper's case there is a       
little1 but it does not invalidate the  

huge mass of real evidence that has     
come4 ,and it at least testifies to her 
honesty1 for no medium would pretend to 
get messages from people whom everyone  
knows to be mythical--messages which are
 indeed comic and therefore enable      
opponents to score points with the      
general public by obvious witticisms4   
,huxley is often referred to1 as having 
wisely declined to investigate1 knowing 
beforehand that it was all nonsense4    
,huxley was busy with his own work1 and1
 believing a priori that alleged        
psychical phenomena were either fraud or
 self-delusion1 naturally declined to   
give any time to them4 ,we need not     
regret his decision1 for he was doing   
work that was more important than       
psychical investigation would have been1
 just then4 ,but he was wrong in his a  
priori belief1 or rather unbelief4 ,he  
had never seen any of these phenomena1  
but that did not prove that they did not
 happen4 ,a native of mid-,africa may   
never have seen snow1 but that does not 

prove that no snow exists4  ,and it     
happens that the ,dialectical ,society  
went on with its task1 appointing       
committees which investigated without   
any paid medium4 ,the majority of the   
investigators were utterly sceptical at 
first2 they were practically all        
convinced at the finish4 ,i state this  
merely as a fact1 not as a specially    
important fact2 for ,i find that        
beginners1 when suddenly faced with     
striking phenomena1 are liable to go    
from the extreme of unbelief to an      
extreme of belief4 ,when one's          
materialistic scheme is exploded1 there 
seems no criterion left1 and anything   
may happen4 ,it usually takes an        
investigator a year or two to adjust    
himself and to learn to follow the      
evidence and not overshoot it4  ,some   
people say3 ,but if communication is    
possible1 why cannot ,i communicate     
direct with my own departed loved ones8 
,the question is seen on reflection1    
however1 to be easily answered4 ,in the 

first place1 we cannot communicate      
direct even with our friends in the next
 town2 we have to get the help of       
postmen or telegraph clerks and the     
like4 ,it is therefore not at all       
surprising that an intermediary is      
needed when they are removed further    
from our conditions4 ,probably all of us
 have germs of psychic faculty--though  
,i have not yet discovered any in       
myself--somewhat as we can all play or  
sing a little2 but the ,paderewskis and 
,carusos are few4 ,similarly with       
psychic faculty4 ,few have enough of it 
to communicate for themselves4 ,on the  
other hand1 it is much commoner than    
,carusos are2 but of course1 when it    
occurs in a private person1 that person 
does not advertise the fact4 ,outsiders 
would either scoff1 or say lunacy1 or   
crowd round asking for sittings1 out of 
curiosity4 ,consequently only           
sympathetic intimates are told1 or      
people who1 like myself1 are known to be
 sympathetic investigators4 ,some of the

 most remarkable sensitives in ,england 
at the present day are of this private  
kind--people of education and           
position--and they are not even         
spiritualists in the sense of belonging 
to the spiritualist sect4 ,they are of  
various religious persuasions1 and      
belong mostly to rather orthodox bodies4
 ,there is nothing of the crank about   
them2 they are not ,theosophists or     
,christian ,scientists or adherents of  
any other of what the sergeant called   
fancy religions4 ,i may say that the    
most extraordinary experiences ,i have  
ever had have been with a psychic of    
this kind4 ,i have not alluded to these 
experiences in my paper1 because the    
matter is private4 ,but ,i just mention 
these things because ,i find that       
psychic faculties are more common than  
,i once thought1 and a sympathetic      
minister could probably hear of private 
cases if he let his sympathy and        
interest be known4 ,but of course1 if he
 is known to have condemned the whole   

thing as ,satanic--as ,father ,bernard  
,vaughan does--or as lunacy1 people with
 psychic experiences will take very good
 care not to tell him about them4  ,as  
to details about the nature of the      
after-life1 ,i have no dogmatic opinions
 to offer4 ,probably it is impossible   
for those over there to describe their  
experience adequately1 in our earthly   
terms4 ,such information as we get must 
be largely symbolical1 as when mediums  
describe a specially good deceased      
person as surrounded with radiance4 ,i  
have several times noticed that the     
relative brightness or radiance of a    
spirit1 as described by the medium1 has 
correctly indicated that spirit's       
character1 though the medium had no     
normal knowledge whatever of either the 
person's character or even existence4   
,but though our information must        
probably be mainly symbolical1 ,i think 
we are justified in believing that we   
begin the next stage pretty nearly where
 we leave off here4 ,there is no sudden 

jump to unalloyed bliss for even such   
good people as you1 no sudden plunge to 
everlasting woe even for sinners like   
me4 ,this1 ,i admit1 is not in          
accordance with what ,i used to hear    
from the pulpit twenty years ago4 ,but  
it agrees with what ,i read now of the  
opinions of such men as the ,bishop of  
,london and ,dr ,j4 ,d4 ,jones2 and     
other clerical writers1 such as ,canon  
,storr in his ,christianity and         
,immortality and ,dr ,paterson ,smyth in
 his excellent ,gospel of the ,hereafter
 take the same view4 ,our modern moral  
sense refuses to believe that a good    
,god will sentence any creature to      
everlasting pain2 and although it may be
 contended that man has free-will and is
 therefore the arbiter of his own fate1 
it still remains that ,god gave him that
 freedom1 and therefore still bears the 
ultimate responsibility4 ,to retain     
belief in a ,god who can be loved and   
worshipped1 ,i at least must disbelieve 
in everlasting pain for anyone4  ,and1  

added to this moral revolt1 there has   
come a war in which millions of young   
men have died before their natural time4
 ,these young fellows1 we feel1 are at  
least in most cases neither good enough 
for heaven nor bad enough for hell4 ,the
 sensible supposition seems to be--and  
it is borne out by psychical facts--that
 they have gone on to the next stage of 
life1 which to most or all of them is an
 improvement2 that they are busy and    
happy there2 that they are still more or
 less interested in and cognisant of our
 affairs2 that they will come to meet   
their loved ones when they cross        
over--of this ,i have had much          
evidence--and that they and humanity as 
a whole are travelling on an upward path
 toward some goal at present            
inconceivable to our small and          
flesh-bound souls4  ,some people have   
objected that psychical research will   
substitute knowledge for faith4 ,this is
 surely a curious objection1 and few    
will advance it4 ,the earth is the      

,lord's and the fulness thereof1 and my 
belief is that ,he wants us to learn all
 we can about ,his handiwork4 ,nature is
 a book given to us by our ,father1 for 
our good2 study of it is a duty1 neglect
 of it is unfilial and wrong4 ,psychical
 research studies its own particular    
facts in nature1 and is thus trying to  
learn a little more of ,god's mind4 ,it 
is not we1 but those who oppose us1 who 
are irreligious4  ,and as to this matter
 of faith2 well1 after we have learnt   
all we can1 there will still be plenty  
of scope left for the exercise of faith 
in general1 for our knowledge will      
always be surrounded by regions of the  
unknown4 ,if anyone says that psychical 
research antagonises ,christian faith1  
,i say most emphatically that on the    
contrary it supports it4 ,christianity  
was based on a ,fact3 the ,resurrection 
and ,appearances of ,jesus4             
,psychical-research facts are rendering 
that event credible to many who have    
disbelieved it4 ,myers says that in     

consequence of our evidence1 everyone   
will believe1 a century hence1 in that  
,resurrection2 whereas1 in default of   
our evidence1 a century hence no one    
would have believed it4 ,and to him1    
personally1 psychical research brought  
back the ,christian faith which he had  
lost4  ,i hope that the facts and       
inferences which ,i have very sketchily 
put before you will have made it clear  
that there is some reality in the       
subject-matter of our investigations1   
and that these latter powerfully support
 a religious view of the universe4 ,i   
believe that we are giving materialism  
its death-blow2 hence the wild          
antagonism of such well-meaning but     
belated writers as ,mr ,clodd4 ,but we  
are not ourselves religious teachers4   
,that is your domain4 ,you will use our 
work and its results1 as you use the    
work and results of other labourers in  
the scientific vineyard4 ,and ,i think  
you will find ours specially helpful4   
,,the ,,evolution ,,of ,a ,,psychical   

,,researcher   ,probably few of us keep 
a diary nowadays4 ,i don't4 ,but ,i     
somehow got into the habit1 soon after  
,i became interested in psychical       
things1 of jotting down in a notebook   
the conclusions at which ,i had         
arrived--or the almost complete         
puzzlement in which ,i found myself1 as 
the case might be4 ,glancing recently   
through these records of my pilgrimage1 
it seemed to me that a sketch of it     
might be of some interest or amusement  
to others4  ,professor ,william ,james  
says in his ,talks to ,teachers that it 
is very difficult for most people to    
accept any new truth after the age of   
thirty2 and that indeed old-fogeyism may
 be said to begin at twenty-five4 ,it is
 perhaps therefore not surprising that1 
coming fresh to the subject at          
thirty-two--in #aije--;,i found the     
struggle to psychical truth a very long 
and arduous affair4 ,having been brought
 up on the ministrations of a           
hell-fire-preaching ,nonconformist      

pastor whose theology made me into a    
very vigorous ,huxleyan agnostic1 ,i was
 biased against anything that savoured  
of religion1 and moreover spiritualism  
was unscientific and absurd4 ,so ,i     
thought1 in my ignorance2 for ,i knew   
nothing whatever of the evidence on     
which spiritualistic beliefs are based4 
,however1 ,i fortunately ran up against 
hard facts which soon cured me of       
negative dogmatism4 ,i became acquainted
 with a medium who satisfied me that she
 could diagnose disease1 or rather her  
medical control could1 from a lock of   
the patient's hair2 and this without any
 information whatever being given4 ,also
 that the diagnosis often went beyond   
the knowledge of the sitter1 thus       
excluding telepathy from anyone present 
or near4 ,but this did not prove that   
the control was a spirit1 so ,i turned  
to other investigations4  ,first1 ,i set
 myself to read up4 ,i feel sure that   
this is the best course for beginners to
 adopt1 after once achieving real       

open-mindedness4 ,it enables one to     
investigate with proper scientific care 
when opportunity arises1 and with much  
better chance of securing good evidence4
 ,without this preparation1 an          
investigator has little idea how to     
handle that delicate machine called a   
medium1 and indeed no amount of reading 
will entirely equip the experimenter1   
for there are many things which only    
experience can teach4 ,also1 without    
this preparation1 the investigator will 
be liable either to give things away by 
talking too much1 or will create an     
atmosphere of suspicion and discomfort  
by being too secretive4 ,it takes some  
practice to achieve an open and friendly
 manner while never losing sight of the 
importance of imparting no information  
that would spoil possible evidence4     
,this of course is desirable from the   
medium's point of view as well as that  
of the sitter4 ,it is hard on a medium  
if1 for example1 a really               
supernormally-got name does not count   

because the sitter himself had let it   
slip4  ,i think my reading began with   
,light and some of ,mr ,e4 ,w4 ,wallis's
 books1 but ,i soon found my way to the 
,proceedings of the ,society for        
,psychical ,research1 and recognised    
that here was what ,i was seeking4 ,i   
cannot sufficiently express my          
admiration1 which is as great as ever1  
for such masterly pieces of evidence as1
 for instance1 ,dr ,hodgson's account of
 sittings with ,mrs ,piper1 in volume   
#ac4 ,if we were perfectly logical      
beings1 without prejudice1 that account 
ought to convince anybody2 certainly it 
ought to convince the reader of the     
operation of something supernormal1 and 
it ought to go a long way towards       
excluding telepathic theories and       
rendering the spirit explanation the    
most reasonable one4 ,but we are not    
logical beings4 ,we require to be       
battered for a long time by fact after  
fact before we will admit a new         
conclusion4 ,i remember saying1 as      

indeed ,i noted down in the diary       
mentioned1 that a few of these volumes1 
with ,myers's ,human ,personality1 left 
me in the curious position of being able
 to say that1 though ,i was not         
convinced1 ,i felt that logically ,i    
ought to be1 for the evidence seemed    
irrefragable4 ,then ,i read ,crookes'   
,researches in the ,phenomena of        
,spiritualism1 and my logical agreement 
was accentuated1 for ,sir ,william      
,crookes was my scientific ,pope1 in    
consequence of my having worked from his
 chemical writings1 and having an       
immense admiration for his mind and     
method4 ,but my actual inner conviction 
was not much changed4 ,kant says        
somewhere that we may test the strength 
of our beliefs by asking ourselves what 
we would bet on them4 ,at this point ,i 
had not got to the stage of being       
prepared to bet much on the truth of the
 survival of human beings or the        
possibility of communicating with them  
if they did survive4 ,i thought the case

 was logically proved1 but ,i didn't    
feel it in my bones1 as the phrase goes4
 ,for this1 personal experience is      
necessary2 at least it is for an old    
fogey of over thirty1 with my particular
 build of mind4  ,and ,i was fortunately
 able to get this experience4 ,one of   
the two best-known mediums in the ,north
 of ,england1 ,mr ,a4 ,wilkinson1       
happened to live only a few miles away1 
though he was and is generally away from
 home1 speaking for spiritualist        
societies from ,aberdeen to ,exeter1 and
 being booked over a year ahead4        
,however1 ,i was able to get an         
introduction to him through friends who 
also carried out investigations with him
 7described in my ,new ,evidences in    
,psychical ,research71 and since then1  
with intermissions due mainly to        
ill-health1 ,i have had friendly        
sittings with him continuously4 ,to him 
,i owe my real convictions1 and for this
 ,i cannot adequately thank him4        
,without his kindness ,i could never    

have achieved certainty2 for owing to a 
damaged heart ,i could not get about to 
interview mediums1 and there was no     
other medium within reasonable distance4
 ,besides1 ,mr ,wilkinson has stretched 
a point in my case1 for he does not give
 private sittings1 preferring to confine
 himself to platform work2 and ,i       
suppose he makes an exception in my case
 in view of my inability4 ,i here once  
more thank him for all he has done for  
me4  ,at my first sitting with him he   
described and named my mother and other 
relatives1 whom he saw apparently with  
me4 ,i had no reason to believe that he 
had any normal knowledge of these       
people2 certainly ,i had never mentioned
 them to him1 and it was in the last    
degree unlikely that anyone else had4   
,my mother had been dead twenty-two     
years1 and was not at all a prominent   
person4 ,moreover1 he got by automatic  
writing a signed message from her1      
giving the name of the house in which we
 lived at the time of her death1 but    

which we had left eleven years later4   
,this seemed to be given by way of a    
test4 ,at later sittings my father and  
other relatives manifested1 with names  
and identifying detail1 and the proof   
began to be almost coercive4 ,the       
evidence went beyond any possibility of 
the medium's normal knowledge1 and was  
characteristic of the different         
communicators in all sorts of subtle    
ways4 ,telepathy alone remained as a    
possible alternative to the spirit      
explanation4 ,then came a peculiar      
phase1 as if there were a definite plan 
on the part of some of my friends on the
 other side for the purpose of utterly  
convincing me by bringing evidence which
 could not possibly be accounted for by 
any supposition of a reading of my own  
mind4 ,a spirit friend of mine would    
turn up1 bringing with him a spirit whom
 ,i had never heard of1 and saying that 
he was a friend of his2 and on inquiry  
,i would find that it was so--and       
sometimes it needed a great deal of     

inquiry1 which made it all the better   
evidence1 for it showed how difficult it
 would have been for the medium to      
obtain the information2 though indeed at
 this stage the evidence had forced me  
past crude suspicions of that sort4 ,on 
other occasions unknown spirits would   
appear1 and ,i would find that they     
belonged to the last visitor ,i had had4
 ,several incidents of this kind are    
described in my book ,psychical         
,investigations4 ,after some years of   
this kind of experience ,i became fully 
satisfied that the spirit explanation   
was the only reasonable one4 ,some      
writers1 like ,miss ,dougall in a recent
 volume of essays called ,immortality1  
invent a complicated hypothesis         
according to which my mind photographs  
the mind of a visitor and the medium on 
his next visit develops and reads off   
the photograph2 but ,i confess that my  
credulity does not stand the strain put 
upon it by such a hypothesis4 ,besides1 
,i have lately had--as if to get round  

even such tortured theories as          
this--evidence giving details which have
 not been known to any person ,i have   
ever met4 ,i was told to write to a     
certain friend of mine1 father of the   
ostensible communicator4 ,the facts were
 unknown even to him1 but he was able to
 verify them completely2 and they were  
characteristic and evidential of the    
identity of the ostensible communicator4
  ,if all my results were of the kind ,i
 have had through ,mr ,wilkinson the    
case would1 for me1 be so utterly and   
overwhelmingly proved that doubt would  
be absurd4 ,but this is too much to     
expect4 ,i have had many other mediums  
here1 with varying success1 but nothing 
approaching ,mr ,wilkinson's4 ,in many  
cases it is fairly obvious that the     
medium's subliminal--or the control's   
imagination--has been doing part of the 
business1 no doubt unknown to the       
medium's normal consciousness4 ,but in  
no case have ,i had any indication of   
fraud4 ,this seems sufficient answer to 

,mr ,edward ,clodd's credulous          
acceptance of the theory of a           
,blue-,book and inquiry system which    
enables mediums to post themselves up   
about likely sitters4 ,it would be the  
easiest thing in the world for an       
imitation medium to learn enough about  
me to give what would seem on the face  
of it a fairly good sitting4 ,but this  
is never the case4 ,either the medium   
fails or he is so successful that normal
 knowledge is ruled out4 ,on ,mr        
,clodd's theory1 ,i ought to have       
neither of these extremes2 ,i ought to  
have no failures1 and no results going  
beyond what inquiry could produce4 ,but 
,i need not labour this point1 for ,mr  
,clodd has recently confessed his almost
 absurd innocence of any first-hand     
experience4 ,in a letter to the         
,international ,psychic ,gazette for    
,april1 #aiah1 he said he had been to a 
sitting about fifty years ago1 but he   
does not remember much about what       
happened6 ,yet he sets up as an         

authority on this branch of experimental
 science6 ,it is like someone writing on
 chemistry after being in a laboratory  
once1 fifty years ago4  ,some of my most
 curious experiences1 concerning which  
,i have not yet published anything in   
detail1 have been in connexion with     
crystal vision4 ,i happen to know a     
sensitive--not a professional medium or 
even a spiritualist--who has            
physical-phenomena powers of very       
unusual and indeed probably unique type4
 ,not only can she see in the crystal   
and get evidential messages by writing  
seen therein1 but the writing or        
pictures are visible to anyone present4 
,i have seen them myself4 ,as many as   
six people at a time1 myself among them1
 have seen the same thing1 and not one  
of the six was of suggestible type or   
had had any hallucinations4 ,all were   
middle-aged1 except one young           
lieutenant1 and we were indeed a rather 
exceptionally un-neurotic and stodgy    
lot4 ,but though the things seem        

objective--,i am going to try to        
photograph them1 also the sensitive1 in 
the hope of confirming the ,crewe       
phenomena--they are somehow more or less
 influenced by the sensitive's own mind1
 without her conscious knowledge2 for1  
e4g41 in one message1 purporting to come
 from my father1 ,i was addressed as    
,arthur1 a name which would be natural  
to the medium who knows me mostly from  
printed matter and a few letters1 but   
which is entirely inappropriate in      
relation to my father4 ,yet a good deal 
of evidence of identity has come through
 this sensitive1 and this mixture does  
not invalidate the case4 ,again1 a queer
 feature of this sensitive's powers is  
that lost objects are frequently found  
as a result of instructions given in the
 crystal2 and in many of these cases it 
seems certain that the position of the  
lost object could not have been known to
 any incarnate mind1 or of course it    
would not have been left there4 ,in one 
case it was a valuable ruby2 in several 

others it was ,treasury notes4 ,this    
sensitive also is a medium for very good
 raps1 which all present can hear quite 
distinctly and which show intelligence1 
answering questions and so forth4  ,i   
have therefore reached the conviction   
that human survival is a fact1 that the 
life over there is something like an    
improved version of the present one1    
and--a comforting thought1 supported by 
much of my evidence--that we are met at 
death by those who have gone before4    
,some of my more mystical friends1 who  
have not needed such prolonged jolting  
to get them out of materialistic        
grooves1 are rather bored with me for   
dwelling so much on the evidence and on 
the nature of the next state4 ,they call
 it merely astral2 as for them1 their   
minds soar in higher flights4 ,one      
friend1 a sort of radical ,high         
,churchman1 said to me some time ago    
that he was not interested in the       
intermediate state4 ,but ,i rather think
 that he will have to be4 ,i may be     

wrong1 but ,i suspect that1 whether they
 like it or not1 these good people will 
have to go through the intermediate     
state before they get anywhere else4    
,good though they are1 ,i do not believe
 they are good enough for unalloyed     
bliss or union with the ,godhead4 ,such 
sudden jumps do not happen4 ,progress is
 gradual4 ,indeed1 ,i have noticed      
lately that my ,high ,churchman friend  
has shown much more interest in these   
merely psychical things4 ,perhaps he    
thinks he had better turn back and make 
sure of the next state and its nature1  
perceiving that it is a necessary bridge
 or tarrying-place 7which is the        
alternative reading for the mansions of 
our ,father's house7 on the way to the  
heaven which he quite rightly aims at4  
,as to the future of psychical science  
and opinion1 ,i feel sure that great    
things are now ahead4 ,the war1 with the
 terrible amount of mourning it entails1
 has quickened interest in the subject1 
and for millions of people the question 

of survival and the next state has      
become an urgent and abiding one4 ,their
 interest1 instead of being almost      
wholly on this side1 is very largely    
over there1 whither their loved ones    
have gone4 ,similarly with the soldiers 
who have come safely through the war4   
,all have lost friends1 all have faced  
the possibility of sudden or slow and   
painful death4 ,and probably all young  
people at present1 and most adults1 have
 out-grown the crude beliefs of last    
century's orthodoxy with its everlasting
 hell1 and are ready for a more rational
 system4 ,this is being supplied1 backed
 by scientific proof1 by psychical      
research and scientific spiritualism4   
,it seems likely that the religion of   
the best minds for the next half-century
 or so1 and perhaps onward1 will be     
something like that which ,myers came to
 hold in his later years4 ,it does not  
much matter whether the spiritualist    
sect grows as an institution or not4    
,many people will accept its main belief

 without feeling it necessary to leave  
the communion to which they already     
belong4 ,it seems certain that the idea 
itself will be the ruling idea in many  
minds for a long time1 and no doubt     
psychic faculty will become much more   
common1 for thousands are now trying to 
develop it who never cared to try       
before4 ,quite possibly the effort on   
both sides of the veil1 in consequence  
of so many premature deaths1 may bring  
about a closer communion between the two
 sides than has ever been known         
hitherto4 ,a great lift-up of earthly   
thought would be the result1 a perhaps  
final emergence from the chrysalis stage
 of materialism2 and we shall then be   
near the time when1 as the inspired     
,milton makes his ,raphael say3         
,your bodies may at last turn all to    
spirit1     ,improved by tract of time1 
and winged ascend     ,ethereal1 as we1 
or may1 at choice1     ,here or in      
heavenly ,paradises dwell4     ,,do     
,,miracles ,,happen8   ,mr ,g4 ,k4      

,chesterton1 with true journalistic     
instinct1 recently stimulated public    
interest in himself and other worthy    
things by engineering a discussion on   
,do ,miracles ,happen8 ,the debate      
furnished an opportunity of harmlessly  
letting off steam1 but apparently each  
disputant was of his own opinion still  
at the finish2 though some of the       
newspapers thought that the affirmative 
was proved1 not by argument1 but by the 
actual occurrence of a miracle at the   
meeting--for ,mr ,bernard ,shaw was     
present1 but remained silent6 ,joking   
apart1 however1 these discussions are   
usually rendered nugatory by each       
debater attaching a different meaning to
 the word4 ,to one of them1 a miracle   
involves the action of some non-human   
mind2 to others it is only a wonderful  
occurrence1 which is the strictly       
etymological meaning4 ,it is only in the
 latter sense that orthodox science has 
anything to say on the subject4  ,david 
,hume1 in the most famous of his essays1

 says that a miracle is a violation of  
the laws of nature1 which laws a firm   
and unalterable experience has          
established4 ,a century later1 ,matthew 
,arnold disposed of the question in an  
even shorter manner4 ,miracles do not   
happen1 said he1 in the preface to      
,literature and ,dogma4 ,modern science 
has1 speaking generally1 concurred4     
,but the two statements are not very    
satisfactory4 ,it is true1 no doubt1    
that miracles did not enter into the    
experience of ,david ,hume and ,matthew 
,arnold2 but this does not prove that   
they have never entered into the        
experience of anybody else4 ,if ,i must 
disbelieve all assertions concerning    
phenomena which ,i have not personally  
observed1 ,i must deny that the sun can 
ever be north at mid-day1 as indeed the 
,greeks did 7according to ,herodotus71  
when the circumnavigators of ,africa    
came back with their story4 ,but if ,i  
do1 ,i shall be wrong4 7,histories1 book
 ,,iv1 ,i for my part do not believe    

them1 says even this romantic           
historian47  ,it is as unsafe to reject 
all human testimony to the marvellous as
 it is to accept it all without         
question4 ,the modern mind has gone to  
the negative extreme1 as the medieval   
mind went to the other4 ,take for       
instance the twenty-five thousand ,lives
 of the ,saints in the great ,bollandist
 collection4 ,they are full of miracles1
 of most incredible kinds2 yet in those 
days the accounts caused no             
astonishment4 ,there was no organised   
knowledge of nature1 outside the narrow 
orbit of daily life--and how narrow that
 was1 we with our facile means of       
communication and travel can hardly     
realise4 ,consequently there was little 
or no conception of law or orderliness  
in nature1 and therefore no criterion by
 which to test stories of unusual       
occurrences4 ,anything might happen2    
there was no apparent reason why it     
shouldn't4 ,one saint having retired    
into the desert to lead a life of       

mortification1 the birds daily brought  
him food sufficient for his wants2 and  
when a brother joined him they doubled  
the supply4 ,when the saint died1 two   
lions came and dug his grave1 uttered a 
howl of mourning over his body1 and     
knelt to beg a blessing from the        
survivor4 7,cf4 the curious story of ,st
 ,francis taming ,brother ,wolf1 of     
,gubbio1 in chapter #ba of the          
,fioretti47 ,the innumerable miracles in
 the ,little ,flowers and ,life of ,st  
,francis are repeated in countless other
 lives2 saints are lifted across rivers 
by angels1 they preach to the fishes1   
who swarm to the shore to listen1 they  
are visited by the ,virgin1 are lifted  
up in the air and suspended there for   
twelve hours while in ecstasy they      
perceive the inner mystery of the ,most 
,blessed ,trinity4 ,almost every town in
 ,europe could produce its relic which  
has produced its miraculous cures1 or   
its image that had opened or shut its   
eyes1 or bowed its head to a worshipper4

 ,the ,virgin of the ,pillar1 at        
,saragossa1 restored a worshipper's leg 
that had been amputated4 ,this is       
regarded by ,spanish theologians as     
specially well attested4 ,there is a    
picture of it in the ,cathedral at      
,saragossa4 7,lecky1 ,rise and          
,influence of ,rationalism in ,europe1  
vol4 #a1 page #ada47 ,the saints were   
seen fighting for the ,christian army1  
when the latter battled with the        
infidel4 ,in medieval times this kind of
 thing was accepted without question and
 without surprise4  ,about the end of   
the twelfth century there came a change4
 ,the human mind began to awake from its
 long lethargy2 began to writhe and     
struggle against the dead hand of       
authority which held it down4 ,the      
,crusades1 as ,guizot shows1 had much to
 do with the rise of the new spirit1 by 
causing educative contact with a high   
,saracenic civilization4 ,men began to  
wonder and to think4 ,heresy inevitably 
appeared1 and became rife4 ,in #abjh    

,innocent ,,iii established the         
,inquisition1 but failed to strangle the
 infant ,hercules4 ,in #abji began the  
massacre of the ,albigenses1 which      
continued more or less for about fifty  
years1 the deaths being at least scores 
of thousands2 but the blood of the      
martyrs was the seed of further freedom 
and enlightenment4 ,nature began to be  
studied1 in however rudimentary a way1  
by ,roger ,bacon and his brother        
alchemists4 ,the ,reformation came1     
weakening ecclesiastical authority still
 further by dividing the dogmatic forces
 into two hostile camps1 and thus giving
 science its chance4 ,galileo appeared1 
and did his work1 though with many      
waverings1 for ,paul ,v and ,urban      
,,viii kept successively a heavy hand on
 him2 he was imprisoned at seventy1 when
 in failing health1 and1 some think1    
tortured--though this is uncertain1 and 
his famous e pur si muove is probably   
mythical4 ,more important still1        
,francis ,bacon1 teaching with          

enthusiasm the method of observation and
 experiment4 ,the conception of law1 of 
rationality and regularity in nature1   
emerged2 ,kepler and ,newton laid down  
the ground plan of the universe1        
evolving the formulae which express the 
facts of molar motion4 ,uniformity in   
geology was shown by ,lyell1 while      
,darwin and his followers carried law   
into biological evolution4 ,then man    
became swelled-headed2 became           
intoxicated with his successes4 ,it had 
already been so with ,hume1 and it      
became more so with his disciples4 ,man 
treated his own limited experience as a 
criterion1 and denied what was not      
represented by something similar        
therein4 ,especially was this the case  
when alleged facts had any connection   
with religion4 ,religion had tried to   
exterminate science1 and it was natural 
enough that1 in revenge1 science should 
be hostile to anything associated with  
religion4 ,consequently1 the scientific 
man flatly denied miracles1 not only    

such stories as the rib of ,adam and the
 talking serpent 7concerning which even 
a church father like ,origen had made   
merry in ,gnostic days fifteen hundred  
years before71 but also the healing     
miracles of ,jesus1 which to us are now 
beginning to look possible enough4      
,this negative dogmatism is as          
regrettable as the positive variety4 ,it
 is not scientific4 ,science stands for 
a method1 not for a dogma4 ,it observes1
 experiments1 and infers2 but it makes  
no claim to the possession of absolute  
truth4 ,a genuine science1 confronted   
with allegations of unusual facts1      
neither believes nor disbelieves4 ,it   
investigates4 ,the solution of the      
problem is simply a question of         
evidence4 ,huxley in his little book    
,hume1 and ,j4 ,s4 ,mill in his ,essays 
on ,religion1 made short work of the    
impossibility attitude4 ,says the former
 in ,science and ,christian ,tradition1 
page #aig3  ,strictly speaking1 ,i am   
unaware of anything that has a right to 

the title of an impossibility1 except a 
contradiction in terms4 ,there are      
impossibilities logical1 but none       
natural4 ,a 'round square'1 a 'present  
past'1 'two parallel lines that         
intersect'1 are impossibilities1 because
 the ideas denoted by the predicates    
round1 present1 intersect1 are          
contradictory of the ideas denoted by   
the subjects square1 past1 parallel4    
,but walking on water1 or turning water 
into wine1 are plainly not              
impossibilities in this sense4  ,no     
alleged occurrence can be ruled out as  
impossible1 then1 unless the statement  
is self-contradictory4 ,difficulty of   
belief is no reason4 ,it was found      
difficult to believe in ,antipodes2 if  
there were people on the under side of  
the earth1 they would fall off4 ,but the
 advance of knowledge made it not only  
credible but quite comprehensible4      
,people stick on1 all over the earth1   
because the earth attracts them more    
powerfully than anything else does4     

,similarly with some miracles4 ,they may
 seem much more credible and            
comprehensible when we have learned     
more4 ,indeed1 the wonders of wireless  
telegraphy1 radio-activity1 and aviation
 are intrinsically as miraculous as many
 of the stories in the world's sacred   
writings4  ,this is not saying1 however1
 that we are to believe the latter en   
bloc4 ,they must be taken individually1 
and believed or disbelieved according to
 the evidence and according to the      
antecedent probability or improbability4
 ,the standing still of the sun         
7,joshua1 x7 does not seem credible to  
the scientific mind which knows that the
 earth is spinning at the equator at the
 rate of one thousand miles an hour and 
that any sudden interference with that  
rotation would send it to smithereens1  
with all the creatures on its surface4  
,of course1 a ,being who could stop its 
rotation could perhaps also prevent it  
from flying to smithereens2 but we have 
to extend the miracle in so many        

entirely hypothetical ways that the     
whole thing becomes too dubious for     
acceptance4 ,it is simpler to look on   
the story as a myth4  ,but such things  
as the clairvoyance of ,samuel 7,i      
,samuel1 x71 and even the ,woman of     
,endor story1 are quite in line with    
what psychical research is now          
establishing4 ,and the healing miracles 
of ,jesus are paralleled1 in kind if not
 in degree1 by innumerable suggestive   
therapeutic doctors4 ,shell-shock       
blindness and paralysis are cured at    
,seale ,hayne ,hospital and elsewhere in
 very miraculous fashion4 ,and turning  
water into wine is not more wonderful   
than turning radium into helium1 and    
helium into lead1 which nature is now   
doing before our eyes4 ,these things1   
therefore1 have become credible1 if the 
evidence is good enough4 ,whether       
evidence nineteen hundred years old can 
be good enough to take as the basis of  
serious belief is another matter4       
,scientific method insists on a high    

standard of evidence4 ,we must be honest
 with ourselves1 and not believe unless 
the evidence satisfies our intellectual 
requirements4 ,but the modern and wise  
tendency is to regard religion as an    
attitude rather than as a belief or     
system of beliefs4 ,it does not stand or
 fall with the miracle-stories4         
,,the ,,truth ,,about ,,telepathy   ,the
 amount of nonsense that is talked1 and 
apparently widely believed1 about       
telepathy1 is almost enough to make one 
wish that the phenomenon had not been   
discovered1 or the word invented4       
,without any adequate basis of real     
knowledge1 the man in the street seems  
to be accepting the idea of             
thought-transference as an              
incontrovertible fact1 like wireless    
telegraphy--which latter is responsible 
for a good deal of easy credence        
accorded to the former1 both seeming    
equally wonderful4 ,but the analogy is a
 false one4 ,there is a great deal of   
difference between the two4 ,in wireless

 telegraphy we understand the process3  
it is a shaking of the ether into pulses
 or waves1 which act on the coherer in a
 perfectly definite way and are         
measurable4 ,but in spite of much loose 
talk about brain-waves1 the fact is that
 we know of no such thing4 ,indeed1     
there is reason to believe that         
telepathy1 if it is a fact at all--and  
,i believe it is--may turn out to be a  
process of a different kind1 the nature 
of which is at present unknown4 ,for one
 thing1 it does not seem to conform to  
physical laws4 ,if it were an affair of 
ripples in the ether--like wireless     
telegraphy--the strength of impact would
 vary in inverse ratio with the square  
of the distance4 ,the influence would   
weaken at a known rate1 as more and more
 distance intervened between sender and 
recipient4 ,and this1 in many cases at  
least1 is not found to be so1           
consequently ,mr ,gerald ,balfour and   
other leading members of the ,society   
for ,psychical ,research incline to the 

opinion that the transmission is not a  
physical process1 but takes place in the
 spiritual world4  ,i have said that ,i 
believe in telepathy1 yet ,i have       
deprecated too-ready credence4 ,what1   
then1 are the facts8  ,the first attempt
 at serious investigation of alleged    
supernormal phenomena by an organised   
body of qualified observers was made by 
the ,london ,society for ,psychical     
,research1 which was founded in #ahhb by
 ,henry ,sidgwick 7,professor of ,moral 
,philosophy at ,cambridge71 ,f4 ,w4 ,h4 
,myers and ,edmund ,gurney 7,fellows of 
,trinity71 ,w4 ,f4 ,barrett 7,professor 
of ,experimental ,physics at ,dublin1   
and now ,sir ,william71 and a few       
friends4 ,the membership grew1 and the  
list now includes the most famous       
scientific names throughout the         
civilised world4 ,in point of prestige1 
the society is one of the strongest in  
existence4  ,the first important work   
undertaken was the collection of a large
 number of cases of apparition1 etc41 in

 which there seemed to be some          
supernormal agency at work1 conveying   
knowledge2 as in the case of ,lord      
,brougham1 who saw an apparition of his 
friend at the moment of the latter's    
death4 ,the results of this             
investigation were embodied in the two  
stout volumes called ,phantasms of the  
,living 7now out of print1 but an       
abridged one-volume edition has recently
 been edited by ,mrs ,sidgwick 7,kegan  
,paul1 ,trench1 ,trubner  ,co41 ,ltd41  
#aiai71 and in ,vol4 x4 of the          
,proceedings of the ,society4 ,as the   
outcome of this arduous investigation1  
involving the collection and            
consideration of about #ag1jjj cases and
 extending over several years of time1  
the committee made the cautious but     
memorable statement that ,between deaths
 and apparitions of the dying person a  
connexion exists which is not due to    
chance alone4 ,this guarded statement   
was carefully worded in order to avoid  
committing the society to any definite  

7e4g4 spiritualistic7 interpretation4   
,some of the apparitions occurred within
 twelve hours before the death1 some at 
the time of death1 and some a few hours 
afterwards4 ,but these latter of course 
do not prove spirit-agency--though      
indeed sometimes they seem to render it 
probable--for the telepathic impulse or 
thought may have been sent out by the   
dying person1 remaining latent--so to   
speak--until the percipient happened to 
be in a sufficiently passive and        
receptive state to take it in4          
,definite experimentation was also made1
 of various kinds1 e4g41 one person     
would be shown a card or diagram1 and   
another 7blindfolded7 would maintain a  
passive mind1 saying aloud what ideas   
came into his head4 ,some of these      
experiments--which are still required   
and should be tried by those interested 
in the subject--indicated that the      
concentration of ,a's mind did indeed   
sometimes produce a reverberation in the
 mind of ,b4 ,in a series conducted by  

,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 the odds against   
the successes being due to chance can be
 mathematically shown to be ten millions
 to one4  ,for this new fact or agency1 
,mr ,myers invented the word telepathy  
7,greek tele1 at a distance1 and        
pathein1 to feel71 and defined it as    
communication of impressions of any kind
 from one mind to another1 independently
 of the recognised channels of sense4   
,but ,i wish to say1 and to emphasise   
the statement1 that this transmission1  
though regarded as highly probable by   
many acute minds1 cannot yet be regarded
 as unquestionably proved1 still less as
 occurring in a common or frequent way4 
,we have all of us known somebody who   
claimed to be able to make people turn  
round in church or in the street by     
willing them1 but usually these claims  
cannot be substantiated4 ,it is         
difficult to eliminate chance           
coincidence4 ,and the folks who lay     
claim to these powers are usually of a  
mystery-loving1 inaccurate build of     

mind1 and therefore very unsafe guides4 
,moreover1 how many times have they     
willed without result8  ,one reason why 
,i deprecate easy credence1 leaning to  
the sceptical side though believing that
 the thing sometimes happens1 is1 that  
there is danger of a return to          
superstition1 if belief outruns the     
evidence4 ,if the popular mind gets the 
notion that telepathy is more or less a 
constant occurrence--that mind can      
influence mind whenever it likes--there 
is a possibility of a return to the     
witchcraft belief which resulted in so  
many poor old women being burnt at the  
stake in the seventeenth century4 ,i    
prefer excessive disbelief to excessive 
credulity in these things2 it at least  
does not burn old women because they    
have a squint and a black cat and a     
grievance against someone who happens to
 have fallen ill4 ,unbalanced minds are 
very ready to believe that someone is   
influencing them4 ,i have received quite
 a number of letters from people 7not   

spiritualists7 who1 knowing of my       
interest in these matters1 got it into  
their foolish heads that ,i was trying  
some sort of telepathic black magic on  
them4 ,i had not even been thinking     
about them4 ,it was entirely their own  
imagination4 ,one of these people is now
 in an asylum4 ,i think she would       
probably have become insane in any      
case--if not on this1 then on some other
 subject--but these incidents almost    
make me wish that we could confine the  
investigation and discussion of the     
subject to our own circle or society    
until education has developed more      
balanced judgment in the masses4 ,but of
 course such a restriction is           
impossible4 ,the daily press and the    
sensational novelists have got hold of  
the idea4 ,we must counteract the       
sensational exaggerations1 which have   
such a bad effect on unbalanced minds1  
by stating the bare1 hard facts4 ,here1 
as elsewhere1 a little knowledge is a   
dangerous thing4 ,it is the             

half-informed people who are endangered4
 ,the remedy is more knowledge4 ,let    
them learn that1 though there is reason 
to believe that under certain conditions
 telepathy is possible and real1 there  
is nevertheless no scientific evidence  
for anything in the nature of           
bewitching1 or telepathy of maleficent  
kind4 ,this cannot be too strongly      
insisted on4 ,let us follow the facts   
with an open mind1 but let us be careful
 not to rush beyond them into           
superstition4     ,,the ,,truth ,,about 
,,hypnotism   ,various popular          
novelists1 such as ,george ,du ,maurier 
in ,trilby1 and ,e4 ,f4 ,benson in ,the 
,image in the ,sand1 have taken         
advantage of the possibilities which    
hypnotic marvels offer to the           
sensational writer1 and have put into   
circulation a variety of exaggerated    
ideas4 ,this is regrettable4 ,of course 
the novelist can choose his subject1 and
 can treat it as he likes2 it is the    
public's fault if it takes fiction for  

fact1 or allows its notions of fact to  
be coloured or in any way influenced by 
what is avowedly no more than fiction4  
,but it is certain that it is thus      
influenced4 ,it is therefore desirable  
that the public should be told from time
 to time exactly what the scientific    
position is--what the conclusions are1  
of those who are studying the subject in
 a proper scientific spirit1 with no aim
 save the finding of truth4 ,this will  
at least enable the public to           
discriminate between fact and fiction1  
if it wants to4  ,no doubt the phenomena
 in question have been often discovered1
 forgotten1 and rediscovered2 but in    
modern times the movement dates from    
,mesmer4 ,friedrich ,anton ,mesmer was  
born about #agcc or #agcd4 ,in #agff he 
took his doctor's degree at ,vienna1 but
 did not come into public notice until  
#aggc4 ,in that year he employed in the 
treatment of patients certain magnetic  
plates1 the invention of ,father ,hell1 
a ,jesuit1 professor of astronomy at    

,vienna4  ,further experiments led him  
to believe that the human body is a kind
 of magnet2 and that its effluent forces
 could be employed1 like those of the   
metal plates1 in the cure of disease4   
,between #aggc and #aggh he travelled   
extensively in ,europe1 with a view to  
making his discoveries better known4    
,also he sent an account of his system  
to the principal learned bodies of      
,europe1 including the ,royal ,society  
of ,london1 the ,academy of ,sciences at
 ,paris1 and the ,academy at ,berlin4   
,the last alone deigned to reply2 they  
told him his discovery was an illusion4 
,apparently they knew all about it1     
without investigating4 ,there is no     
dogmatism so unqualified1 no certainty  
so cocksure1 as that of complete        
ignorance4  ,the method at first was    
probably a system of magnetic passes or 
strokings of the diseased part by the   
hand of the doctor4 ,but1 as the        
patients increased in number1 a more    
wholesale method had to be devised4     

,consequently ,mesmer invented the      
famous baquet4 ,this was a large tub1   
filled with bottles of water previously 
magnetised by ,mesmer4  ,the bottles    
were arranged to radiate from the       
centre1 some of them with necks pointing
 away from it and some pointing towards 
it4 ,they rested on powdered glass and  
iron filings1 and the tub itself was    
filled with water4 ,in short1 it was a  
sort of glorified travesty of a galvanic
 battery4 ,from it1 long iron rods1     
jointed and movable1 protruded through  
holes in the lid4 ,these the patients   
held1 or applied to the region of their 
disease1 as they sat in a circle round  
the baquet4 ,mesmer and his assistants  
walked about1 supplementing the         
treatment by pointing with the fingers1 
or with iron rods1 at the diseased      
parts4  ,all this may seem1 at first    
sight1 very absurd4 ,but the fact       
remains that ,mesmer certainly wrought  
cures4 ,and apparently he frequently    
succeeded in curing or greatly          

alleviating1 where other doctors had    
completely failed4 ,it is no longer     
possible for any instructed person to   
regard ,mesmer as a charlatan who       
knowingly deluded the public for his own
 profit4 ,his theories may have been    
partly mistaken1 but his practical      
results were indubitable4  ,it is also  
worth noting that he treated rich and   
poor alike1 charging the latter no fee4 
,he was a man of great tenderness and   
kindness of heart1 devoted to the cause 
of the sick and suffering2 and the      
accounts of his patients show the       
unbounded gratitude which they felt     
towards him1 and the respect in which he
 was held4  ,the orthodox doctors1 of   
course1 felt otherwise4 ,they were      
envious and jealous of the foreign      
innovator and his success4 ,and his fame
 was too great to allow of his being    
ignored4 ,consequently the ,royal       
,society of ,medicine 7,paris7 appointed
 a commission to inquire into the new   
treatment4 ,the finding1 of course1 was 

adverse4 ,the investigators could not   
deny the cures1 but they fell back on   
the recuperative force of nature 7vis   
medicatrix naturae7 and denied that     
,mesmer's treatment caused the cure4    
,obviously1 ,mesmer1 having treated his 
patients1 could not prove that they     
would not have recovered if he had not  
treated them2 so his critics had a      
strong position4 ,but1 on the other     
hand1 neither can an orthodox doctor    
prove that his cures are due to his     
treatment4 ,if it is vis medicatrix     
naturae in one case1 it may be the same 
in the other4  ,modern medicine is more 
and more coming to this conclusion--is  
abandoning drugging as it abandoned     
bleeding and cautery1 and is leaving the
 patient to nature4 ,this is a          
significant fact4  ,but there is good   
reason to believe that ,mesmer's        
treatment was a real factor in his      
cures1 for in many cases the patient had
 been treated by orthodox methods for   
years without effect4 ,perhaps1 as the  

doctors said1 it was only the           
recuperative force of ,nature1 but if   
the doctors could not set that force to 
work1 and ,mesmer somehow could1 he is  
just as much entitled to the credit of  
the cure as if he had done it by        
bleeding or drugging4 ,however1 by one  
sort of persecution or another1 he was  
driven out of ,paris1 and more or less  
discredited4 ,after a visit to ,england1
 he retired to ,switzerland1 where he   
lived in obscurity until his death in   
#ahae4  ,the method was kept alive by   
various disciples1 such as the ,marquis 
de ,puysegur1 ,dupotet1 ,deleuze1 and   
many more1 but in an amateurish sort of 
way4 ,the first-named found that in one 
of his patients he could induce a trance
 state which showed peculiar features4  
,in trance1 the man knew all that he    
knew when awake1 but when awake he knew 
nothing of what had happened in trance4 
,this second condition thus seemed to be
 equivalent to an enlargement of        
personality4  ,both in ,england and     

,france the medical side came to the    
front again1 in the hands of ,braid 7a  
,manchester surgeon who first used the  
term hypnotism1 from ,greek hypnos1     
sleep1 and whose book ,neurypnology1 or 
the ,rationale of ,nervous ,sleep was   
published in #ahdc71 ,liebeault1        
,bernheim1 ,elliotson1 and ,esdaile4    
,elliotson and ,esdaile still believed  
in a magnetic effluence1 but the idea   
was given up by ,braid and the ,nancy   
school 7the investigators who followed  
the lines of ,liebeault of ,nancy71 for 
it was found that patients could be     
hypnotised without passes or strokings  
or any manipulation4 ,braid told his    
patients to gaze fixedly at a bright    
object1 e4g41 his lancet4 ,liebeault    
produced sleep by talking soothingly or 
commandingly filling the patient's mind 
with the idea of sleep4 ,in some cases  
it was found that patients could        
hypnotise themselves by an effort of    
will 7this was confirmed more recently  
by ,dr ,wingfield's experiments with    

athletic undergraduates at ,cambridge71 
and this disposed of the hitherto       
supposedly necessary magnetic effluence 
from the operator4  ,the most modern    
opinion is pretty much the same4 ,dr    
,tuckey1 who learnt his method from     
,liebeault himself1 and who practised   
for twenty years in the ,west ,end of   
,london1 is convinced that the whole    
thing is suggestion4 ,so is ,dr         
,bramwell1 who shares with ,dr ,tuckey  
the leading position among hypnotic     
practitioners in ,england4 ,the latter1 
it may be remarked1 was the first       
qualified medical man to write an       
important book on the subject in        
,english1 after ,braid4  ,the tendency  
now is to give suggestions without      
attempting to induce actual trance4 ,it 
is found with many patients that if they
 will make their minds passive and      
receptive1 listening to the doctor's    
suggestions in an absent-minded sort of 
way1 those suggestions--that the health 
shall improve and the specified symptoms

 disappear--are carried out4 ,the       
explanation of this is wrapped in       
mystery4 ,no one knows exactly how it   
comes about4 ,but it seems to be        
somewhat thus3  ,the complicated        
happenings within our bodies1 such as   
the chemical phenomena known as         
digestion and the physical phenomena    
such as blood circulation and           
contraction of involuntary muscles1 seem
 to imply intelligence1 though that     
intelligence is not part of the         
conscious mind1 for we do not           
consciously direct the processes4 ,they 
go on all the same--for example--when we
 are asleep4 ,presumably1 then1 there is
 a mental ,something in us1 which never 
sleeps1 and which runs the organic      
machinery4 ,if we could get at this     
,something1 and give it instructions1 a 
part of the machinery which is working  
wrongly might get attended to and put   
right4 ,unfortunately1 the ordinary     
consciousness is in the way4 ,we cannot 
get at the mechanic in the mill1 because

 we have to go through the office1 and  
the managing director keeps us talking4 
,well1 in hypnotic trance1 or even in   
the preoccupied absent-minded state1 we 
get past the managing director--who is  
asleep or attending to something        
else--into the mill4 ,we get at the man 
who really attends to the machinery4 ,we
 get past the normal consciousness1 and 
can give our orders to the subconscious 
or subliminal--which means below the    
threshold4 ,in ,myers' phrase1          
suggestion is a successful appeal to the
 subliminal self1 but exactly how it    
comes about1 and why the patient usually
 cannot do it for himself but has to    
have the suggestion administered by a   
doctor1 we do not know4  ,of course the 
word suggestion does not really explain 
anything4 ,it is a word employed to     
cover our ignorance4 ,suggestive methods
 are as empirical as ,mesmer's4 ,in each
 case a successful appeal is made to the
 recuperative forces of nature1 vis     
medicatrix naturae2 but exactly how or  

why suggestion does it1 we know no      
more--or hardly any more--than we know  
how and why ,mesmer's baquet did it4    
,the fact remains1 however1 that the    
thing is done4 ,what we lack is only a  
satisfactory theory4  ,at one time it   
was thought that only functional        
disorders could be relieved4 ,but it is 
now recognised that the line between    
functional and organic is an arbitrary  
one4 ,if we cannot find definite organic
 change in tissue1 we call the ailment  
functional2 but nevertheless some change
 there must be1 though microscopic or   
unreachable4 ,consequently even         
functional disorders are at bottom      
organic2 and1 though of course grave    
lesions produce the gravest disorders1  
there is no a priori impossibility in a 
hypnotic cure of even the most radical  
tissue-degeneration4  ,however1 as a    
matter of practical fact1 the mechanic  
has his limitations1 like the normal    
consciousness4 ,he is not omnipotent4   
,consequently we cannot be sure of being

 able to stimulate him to the extent of 
a cure4 ,it depends on his knowledge and
 power4 ,but he can always do something1
 if we can get at him4 ,the chief       
difficulty is that in many people he is 
inaccessible4  ,for instance1 ,i have   
many times submitted myself to the      
treatment of ,dr ,tuckey and another    
medical friend1 without effect4 ,i have 
each time tried my best to help1 making 
my mind as passive as ,i could2 for ,i  
was sure that if a suggestible stage    
could be reached1 some troublesome heart
 symptoms and insomnia could be         
alleviated4 ,but ,i was never able to   
reach a state even approaching hypnosis4
 ,i suppose my normal consciousness     
could not put itself sufficiently to    
sleep4 ,being interested in the         
scientific aspect of the subject1 my    
consciousness watched the process and   
analysed its own sensations1 instead of 
letting go and subsiding out of the way4
  ,as to the proportion of susceptible  
persons1 observers differ4 ,wetterstrand

 and ,vogt hold that all sane and       
healthy people are hypnotisable1 and ,dr
 ,bramwell's results among strong farm  
labourers at ,goole support that view4  
,patients with nervous ailments are     
difficult to hypnotise2 out of one      
hundred such cases in his ,london       
practice1 ,dr ,bramwell only influenced 
eighty4 ,this is the percentage of      
susceptibles found by ,drs ,tuckey and  
,bernheim also4  ,the insane are usually
 unhypnotisable1 probably because of    
their inability to concentrate their    
attention4 ,out of the #hj per cent4 of 
sane susceptibles1 only a small         
proportion go off into hypnotic sleep2  
ten according to ,tuckey1 rather more   
according to the experience of          
,bramwell1 ,forel1 and ,vogt4 ,most of  
the susceptible1 however1 though        
retaining consciousness1 may be deprived
 of muscular control4 ,for example1 if  
told that they cannot open their eyes1  
they find that it is so4  ,the various  
stages of hypnosis shade gradually into 

each other1 and classifications are not 
much good4 ,charcot's three stages of   
lethargy1 catalepsy1 and somnambulism   
are now discredited as true stages4 ,in 
good subjects they are producible at    
will1 and as observed at the            
,salpetriere they were almost certainly 
due to training4  ,i have no space for  
the quoting of detailed medical cases1  
but it is desirable to emphasise the    
practical facts and to make the subject 
as concrete as possible to the reader1  
so ,i will quote just one1 as           
illustration1 from ,dr ,bramwell's      
contribution to ,proceedings of the     
,society for ,psychical ,research1 vol4 
xiv1 page #ii4  ,neurasthenia2 suicidal 
tendencies4 ,mr ,d----1 aged #cd1 #ahij2
 barrister4 ,formerly strong and        
athletic4 ,health began to fail in      
#ahgg1 after typhoid fever4 ,abandoned  
work in #ahhb1 and for eight years was a
 chronic invalid4 ,anaemic1 dyspeptic1  
sleepless1 depressed4 ,unable to walk a 
hundred yards without severe suffering4 

,constant medical treatment1 including  
six months' rest in bed1 without        
benefit4 ,he was hypnotised from ,june  
#b to ,september #bj1 #ahij4 ,by the end
 of ,july all morbid symptoms           
disappeared1 and he amused himself by   
working on a farm4 ,he can now walk     
forty miles a day without undue fatigue4
 ,similar cases are now being recorded  
in the military hospitals4 ,soldiers    
make excellent subjects4  ,it has been  
much debated whether a hypnotised person
 could be made to commit a crime4       
,probably not2 it is difficult to be    
quite sure1 but the evidence is on the  
negative side4 ,true1 a hypnotised      
subject will put sugar which he has been
 told is arsenic into his mother's tea1 
but his inner self probably knows well  
enough that it is only sugar4 ,on the   
other hand1 it is certain that a        
hypnotiser may obtain a remarkable      
amount of control over specially        
sensitive subjects1 particularly by     
repeated hypnotisations4  ,i have seen  

hypnotised subjects who seemed almost   
perfect automata1 obeying orders as     
mechanically as if they had no will of  
their own left4 ,certainly no one1      
either man or woman1 but particularly   
the latter1 should submit himself or    
herself to hypnotic treatment except by 
a qualified person in whom full trust   
can be reposed4 ,and1 even then1 in the 
case of a woman patient1 it is well for 
a third person to be present4  ,but the 
stories of the novelists1 about         
subjugated wills1 hypnotising from a    
distance1 and all the rest of it1 are   
quite without adequate foundation in    
fact4 ,there is very little evidence in 
support of hypnosis produced at a       
distance1 and in the one case where it  
did seem to occur there had been        
repeated hypnotisations of the ordinary 
kind1 by which a sort of telepathic     
rapport was perhaps established 7,myers'
 ,human ,personality1 vol4 i1 page      
#ebd74  ,hypnotism against the will is a
 myth2 except perhaps in here and there 

a backboneless person who could be      
influenced any way1 without hypnosis or 
anything of the kind4 ,the ,chicago     
pamphleteer who wants to teach us how to
 get on in business by developing a     
hypnotic eye is merely after dollars4   
,it is all bunkum4  ,there is a sense1  
however1 in which hypnotic treatment can
 be a help in education and in          
strengthening the character4 ,backward  
and lazy children could probably be     
improved1 and ,i know cases in which    
sleep-walking and other bad habits have 
been cured by suggestion4 ,from this it 
is but a step to dipsomania1 which can  
often be cured4 ,dr ,tuckey reports     
seventy cures out of two hundred cases4 
,f4 ,w4 ,h4 ,myers1 to whose genius     
doctors as well as psychologists owe    
their first scientific conceptions in   
this domain1 was extremely optimistic   
here4 ,he held that though we cannot    
expect to manufacture saints1 any more  
than we can manufacture geniuses1 there 
is nevertheless enough evidence to show 

that great things could be done4  ,if   
the subject is hypnotisable1 and if     
hypnotic suggestion be applied with     
sufficient persistency and skill1 no    
depth of previous baseness and foulness 
need prevent the man or woman whom we   
charge with 'moral insanity'1 or stamp  
as a 'criminal-born'1 from rising into a
 state where he or she can work steadily
 and render services useful to the      
community 7,human ,personality1 vol4 i1 
page #aii74 ,experiments on hypnotic    
lines ought certainly to be carried out 
in our prisons and reformatories4 ,as to
 the formerly alleged dangers of such   
experimentation--dangers of hysteria1   
etc41 alleged by the ,charcot school    
which is now seen to have been quite on 
a wrong tack--they do not exist1 if the 
operator knows his business4  ,says     
,professor ,forel3 ,liebeault1          
,bernheim1 ,wetterstrand1 ,van ,eeden1  
,de ,jong1 ,moll1 ,i myself1 and the    
other followers of the ,nancy school1   
declare categorically that1 although we 

have seen many thousands of hypnotised  
persons1 we have never observed a single
 case of mental or bodily harm caused by
 hypnosis1 but1 on the contrary1 have   
seen many cases of illness relieved or  
cured by it4 ,dr ,bramwell fully        
endorses this1 saying emphatically that 
he has never seen an unpleasant symptom1
 even of the most trivial nature1 follow
 the skilled induction of hypnosis      
7,proceedings of the ,society for       
,psychical ,research1 vol4 xii1 page    
#bji74  ,a proof that intellectual      
powers outside the normal consciousness 
may be tapped by appropriate methods is 
afforded by the remarkable experiments  
of ,dr ,bramwell1 on the appreciation of
 time by somnambules4 ,he ordered a     
hypnotised subject to carry out1 after  
arousal1 some trivial action1 such as   
making a cross on a piece of paper1 at  
the end of a specified period of time1  
reckoning from the moment of waking4 ,in
 the waking state1 the patient knew     
nothing of the order2 but a subliminal  

mental stratum knew1 and watched the    
time1 making the subject carry out the  
order when it fell due4  ,the period    
varied from a few minutes to several    
months1 and it was stated in various    
ways1 e4g4 on one occasion ,dr ,bramwell
 ordered the action to be carried out in
 #bd hours and #bhhj minutes4 ,the order
 was given at #c4de ,p4,m4 on ,december 
#ah1 and it was carried out correctly at
 #c4de ,p4,m4 on ,december #ba4 ,in     
other experiments1 the periods given    
were #d1dag1 #h1fej1 #h1fhj1 #h1gjj1    
#aj1jgj1 #aa1dgj minutes4  ,all were    
correctly timed by the subliminal       
stratum1 the action being promptly      
carried out at the due moment4 ,in the  
waking state the patient was quite      
incapable--as most of us would be--of   
calculating mentally when the periods   
would elapse4 ,but the hypnotic stratum 
could do it1 and this shows that there  
are intellectual powers which lie       
outside the field of the normal         
consciousness4 ,the argument could be   

further supported by the feats of       
calculating boys1 who can sometimes     
solve the most complicated arithmetical 
problems1 without knowing how they do   
it4 ,they let the problem sink in1 and  
the answer is shot up presently1 like   
the cooked pudding in the geyser4  ,but 
these things are still in their infancy4
 ,psychology is working at the subject1 
but we do not yet know enough to enable 
us to venture far in the direction of   
practical application of hypnotic       
methods in education4 ,it seems likely1 
however1 that further investigation will
 yield knowledge which may be of        
inestimable practical value in the      
training of minds1 as well as in the    
curing of mental and bodily disease4    
,,christian ,,science   ,it has been    
said1 as a kind of jocular epigram1 that
 the ,holy ,roman ,empire was neither   
holy nor ,roman nor an empire4 ,with    
similar truth it may be said that       
,christian ,science is neither          
,christian nor science1 in any ordinary 

sense of those words4 ,still1 perhaps we
 ought to allow an inventor to christen 
his own creation1 even if the name seems
 inappropriate or likely to cause       
misunderstanding2 and1 ,mrs ,eddy having
 invented ,christian ,science as an     
organised religion--though1 as we shall 
see1 borrowing its main features from an
 earlier prophet--we may admit her right
 to give a name to her astonishing      
production4 ,in order that the personal 
equation may be allowed for1 the present
 writer begs to affirm that he writes as
 a sympathetic student though not an    
adherent4  ,mary ,a4 ,morse ,baker was  
born on ,july #afth1 #ahba1 of pious    
parents1 at ,bow1 ,new ,hampshire4 ,her 
father was almost illiterate1 rather    
passionate1 a keen hand at a bargain1   
and a ,puritan in religion4 ,all the    
,bakers were a trifle cranky and        
eccentric1 but some of them possessed   
ability of sorts1 though ,mary's father 
made no great success in life4 ,his     
daughter made up for him afterwards4    

,the first fifteen years of ,mary       
,baker's life were passed at the old    
farm at ,bow4 ,the place was lonely1 the
 manner of life primitive1 and education
 not a strong point in the community4   
,mrs ,eddy afterwards claimed to have   
studied in her girlhood days ,hebrew1   
,greek1 ,latin1 natural philosophy1     
logic1 and moral science6 ,it was1      
however1 maintained by her              
contemporaries that she was backward and
 indolent1 and that ,smith's ,grammar1  
and as far as long division in          
arithmetic1 might be taken as indicating
 the extent of her scholarship4 ,there  
is certainly some little discrepancy    
here1 and perhaps ,mrs ,eddy's memory   
was a trifle at fault4 ,she made no     
claim to any acquaintance with this     
formidable array of subjects in the     
later part of her life1 and it seems    
probable that her contemporaries were   
right4 ,her physical beauty1 coupled    
with delicate health1 seem to have      
resulted in spoiling1 for even as a     

child she dominated her surroundings to 
a surprising extent4  ,in #ahdc she     
married ,george ,glover1 who died in    
,june1 #ahdd1 leaving her penniless4    
,her only child was born in the         
,september following4 ,after ten years  
of widowhood she married ,daniel        
,paterson1 a travelling dentist4 ,in    
#ahff they separated1 he making some    
provision for her4 ,in #ahgc she        
obtained a divorce on the ground of     
desertion4 ,in #ahgg she married ,asa   
,gilbert ,eddy1 who died in #ahhb4  ,so 
much for her matrimonial experiences1   
which may now be dismissed1 as they had 
no particular influence on her character
 and career4 ,to prevent confusion1 we  
will call her throughout by the name    
which is most familiar to us and to the 
world4  ,the chief event of ,mrs ,eddy's
 remarkable life1 the event which put   
her on the road to fame and fortune1    
occurred in #ahfb4 ,this was her meeting
 with the famous healer1 ,phineas       
,parkhurst ,quimby4 ,this latter was an 

unschooled but earnest and benevolent   
man1 who had made experiments in        
mesmerism1 etc41 and who had found--or  
thought he had found--that people could 
be cured of their ailments by faith4 ,he
 therefore began to work out a system of
 mind-cure1 which he embodied in        
voluminous ,,mss4 ,patients came to him 
from far and near1 and he treated all1  
whether they could pay or not4 ,quimby  
was much above the level of the common  
quack1 and his character commands our   
respect4 ,he was a man of great natural 
intelligence1 and was admirable in all  
his dealings with family1 friends1 and  
patients4  ,mrs ,eddy visited him at    
,portland in #ahfb1 her aim being       
treatment for her continued ill-health4 
,she claims to have been cured--in three
 weeks--though it is clear from her     
later letters that the cure was not     
complete4 ,still1 great improvement was 
apparently effected1 for she had been   
almost bedridden1 with some kind of     
spinal or hysterical complaint1 for     

eight years previously4 ,but ,quimby's  
effect on her was greater mentally even 
than physically4 ,she became interested 
in his system1 watched his treatment of 
patients1 borrowed his ,,mss41 and      
mastered his teachings4 ,in #ahfd she   
visited him again1 staying two or three 
months1 and prosecuting her studies4    
,she now seemed to have formed a        
definite desire to assist in teaching   
his system4 ,no doubt she dimly saw a   
possible career opening out in front of 
her2 though we need not attribute her   
desire entirely to mere ambition or     
greed1 for it is probable that ,quimby  
did a great amount of genuine good1 and 
his pupil would naturally imbibe some of
 his zeal for the relief of suffering   
humanity4  ,in #ahff ,quimby died1 aged 
sixty-four4 ,his pupil decided to put on
 the mantle of her teacher1 but more as 
propagandist and religious prophet than 
as healer4 ,in this latter capacity     
perhaps her sex was against her4 7,even 
now the average individual seems to have

 a sad lack of confidence in the lady   
doctor67 ,but she was poor1 and         
prospects did not seem promising4 ,for  
some time she drifted about among       
friends--chiefly                        
spiritualists--preparing ,,mss4 and     
teaching ,quimbyism to anyone who would 
listen4 7,she afterwards denied her     
indebtedness to ,quimby1 claiming direct
 revelation4 ,no human pen nor tongue   
taught me the science contained in this 
book1 ,science and ,health1 and neither 
tongue nor pen can overthrow            
it4--,science and ,health1 p4 #aaj1     
#aijg edition47  ,though unsuccessful as
 healer 7in spite of her later claim to 
have healed ,whittier of incipient      
pulmonary consumption in one visit71 she
 certainly had the knack of             
teaching--had the power of inspiring    
enthusiasm and of inoculating others    
with her ideas4 ,in #ahgj she turned up 
at ,lynn1 ,mass41 with a pupil named    
,richard ,kennedy1 a lad of twenty-one4 
,her aim being to found a religious     

organisation based on practical results 
7the prayer of faith shall heal the     
sick1 etc471 it was necessary to work   
with a pupil-practitioner4 ,accordingly 
she and ,kennedy took offices at ,lynn1 
and ,dr ,kennedy appeared on a signboard
 affixed to a tree4  ,immediate success 
followed4 ,patients crowded the         
waiting-rooms4 ,kennedy did the healing 
and ,mrs ,eddy organised classes1 which 
were recruited from the ranks of        
patients and friends2 fees1 a hundred   
dollars for twelve lessons1 afterwards  
raised to three hundred dollars for     
seven lessons4 ,before long1 however1   
she quarrelled with ,kennedy1 and in    
#ahgb they separated1 but not before she
 had reaped about six thousand dollars  
as her share of the harvest4 ,it was her
 first taste of success1 after weary    
years of toil and stress and hysteria   
and eccentricity4 ,naturally1 like      
,alexander1 she sighed for further      
conquest4 ,l'appetit vient en mangeant4 
,and1 though in her fiftieth year1 she  

was now more energetic than ever4  ,her 
next move was the purchase of a house at
 #h1 ,broad ,street1 ,lynn1 which became
 the first official headquarters of     
,christian ,science4 ,in #ahge appeared 
her famous book1 ,science and ,health1  
,with ,key to the ,scriptures1 which was
 financed by two of its author's        
friends4 ,the first edition was of a    
thousand copies4 ,as it sold but slowly1
 she persuaded her chief practitioner1  
,daniel ,spofford1 to give up his       
practice and to devote himself to       
advertising the book and pushing its    
sale4 ,since then it has been revised   
many times1 and the editions are legion4
 ,loyal disciples of the better-educated
 sort have assisted in its rewriting1   
and it is now a very presentable kind of
 affair as to its literary form4 ,most1 
if not all1 of the editions have been   
sold at a minimum of #c4ah per copy1    
with editions de luxe at #e or more1 and
 the author's other works are published 
at similarly high prices4 ,all          

,christian ,scientists were commanded to
 buy the works of the ,reverend ,mother1
 and all successive editions of those   
works4 ,it is not surprising that ,mrs  
,eddy should leave a fortune of a       
million and a half dollars4 ,it may be  
mentioned here that she moved from ,lynn
 to ,boston in #ahhb1 thence to ,concord
 7,new ,hampshire7 in #ahhi1 and finally
 to a large mansion in a ,boston suburb 
which she bought for #ajj1jjj1 spending 
a similar sum in remodelling and        
enlarging4 ,the modern prophet does not 
dwell in the wilderness1 subsisting on  
locusts and wild honey4 ,he--or she--has
 moved with the times1 and has a proper 
respect for the almighty dollar and the 
comforts of civilisation4  ,in #ahha was
 founded the ,massachusetts             
,metaphysical ,college4 ,this           
imposingly-named institution never had  
any special buildings1 and its          
instructions were mostly given in ,mrs  
,eddy's parlour1 ,mrs ,eddy herself     
constituting all the faculty4 ,four     

thousand students passed through the    
,college in seven years1 at the end of  
which period it ceased to exist4 ,the   
fees were usually #cjj for seven        
lessons1 as before4 ,few gold-mines pay 
as well as did the ,metaphysical        
,college4 ,the fact does not at first   
sight increase our respect for the      
alleged cuteness of the inhabitants of  
the ,states4 ,but1 on further           
investigation1 the murder is out4 ,most 
of these students probably earned back  
by healing much more than they paid ,mrs
 ,eddy4 ,our respect for ,uncle ,sam's  
business shrewdness returns in full     
force4  ,the experiment of conducting   
religious services had been made by ,mrs
 ,eddy at ,lynn in #ahge1 but the first 
,christian ,science ,church was not     
chartered until #ahgi4 ,the ,scientists 
met1 however1 in various public halls of
 ,boston1 until #ahid1 when a church was
 built4 ,this was soon outgrown1 and    
#aj1jjj of the faithful pledged         
themselves to raise two million dollars 

for its enlargement4 ,the new building  
was finished in #aijf4 ,its auditorium  
holds five thousand people4 ,the walls  
are decorated with texts signed ,jesus1 
the ,christ1 and ,mary ,baker ,g4       
,eddy--these names standing side by     
side4  ,the following examples1 culled  
almost at random1 will further show how 
great is her conviction that she has the
 ,truth1 how vigorously she bulls her   
own stocks 7somehow1 financial metaphors
 seem inevitable when writing of ,mrs   
,eddy73  ,god has been graciously       
fitting me during many years for the    
reception of this final revelation of   
the absolute divine ,principle of       
scientific mental healing4 7,science and
 ,health1 p4 #ajg47  ,i won my way to   
absolute conclusion through divine      
revelation1 reason and demonstration4   
7,ibid41 p4 #aji47  ,to those natural   
,christian ,scientists1 the ancient     
worthies1 and to ,christ ,jesus1 ,god   
certainly revealed the ,spirit of       
,christian ,science1 if not the absolute

 letter4 7,ibid41 p4 #dhc47  ,the       
theology of ,christian ,science is      
truth2 opposed to which is the error of 
sickness1 sin1 and death1 that truth    
destroys4 7,miscellaneous ,writings1 p4 
#fb47  ,christian ,science is the       
unfolding of true ,metaphysics1 that is1
 of ,mind1 or ,god1 and ,his attributes4
 ,science rests on principle and        
demonstration4 ,the ,principle of       
,christian ,science is divine4 7,ibid41 
p4 #fi47  ,the following maybe quoted as
 an example of mixed good and evil1 with
 a certain flavour of unconscious       
humour3  ,hate no one2 for hatred is a  
plague-spot that spreads its virus and  
kills at last4 ,if indulged1 it masters 
us2 brings suffering to its possessor   
throughout time1 and beyond the grave4  
,if you have been badly wronged1 forgive
 and forget3 ,god will recompense this  
wrong1 and punish1 more severely than   
you could1 him who has striven to injure
 you4 7,miscellaneous ,writings1 p4     
#ab47  ,the advice is good1 but it is   

not new4 ,and ,mrs ,eddy seemed to      
experience a special joy in the thought 
that by leaving our enemies alone they  
will receive from ,god a more effective 
trouncing than we with our poor         
appliances could administer4 ,the ideal 
,christian would not want his enemies   
handed over to the inquisitor--he would 
beg for them to be let off4 ,father1    
forgive them1 for they know not what    
they do6 ,that is the ,christian        
attitude4 ,it is perhaps too high for   
ordinary mortals to attain to1 but ,mrs 
,eddy made such high claims that we are 
entitled to judge her by correspondingly
 high standards4  ,the form of service  
in the various ,christian ,science      
churches at first included a sermon4    
,but ,mrs ,eddy soon saw that this might
 introduce discord3 for the preachers   
might differ in their interpretations of
 ,science and ,health4 ,and ,mrs ,eddy  
above all things aimed at unity in order
 to keep the control in her own hands4  
,therefore1 in #ahie1 she forbade       

preaching altogether4 ,the ,bible and   
,science and ,health1 ,with ,key to the 
,scriptures1 were to be read from1 but  
no explanatory comments were to be made4
 ,the services comprise ,sunday morning 
and evening readings from these two     
books1 with music2 the ,wednesday       
evening experience meeting2 and the     
communion service1 once or twice a year 
only4 ,there is no baptismal1 marriage1 
or burial service1 and weddings and     
funerals are never conducted in         
,christian ,science churches4  ,as to   
church government1 there was a nominal  
board of directors1 but ,mrs ,eddy had  
supreme power4 ,she could appoint or    
dismiss at will4 ,the ,church was hers1 
body and soul4 ,probably no other       
religious leader ever had such an       
unqualified sway4 ,the ,holy ,father at 
,rome is a mere figurehead in comparison
 with the late ,reverend ,mother4  ,in  
,june1 #aijg1 there were in all #gaj    
branch churches4 ,of these1 twenty-five 
were in ,canada1 fourteen in ,britain1  

two in ,ireland1 four in ,australia1 one
 in ,south ,africa1 eight in ,mexico1   
two in ,germany1 one in ,holland1 one in
 ,france1 and the remainder in the      
,states4 ,there were also #bie societies
 not yet incorporated into churches4    
,the total membership of the #gaj       
churches was probably about #ej1jjj4    
7,in ,pulpit and ,press1 p4 #hb1 ,mrs   
,eddy puts the number at #ajj1jjj to    
#bjj1jjj2 and this was in #ahie4 ,some  
claim that the total number of adherents
 is as high as a million4 ,but these are
 probably exaggerated estimates47 ,about
 one-tenth of these make their living by
 their faith4 ,here we come to the      
secret of ,christian ,science success4  
,there are about #djj authorised        
,christian ,science healers1 and many   
who practise without diploma but not    
without pay4 ,these people treat sick   
folks1 receiving fees4 ,their method is 
to assure the patient that he is under a
 delusion in thinking himself ill1 that 
matter is an illusion1 that ,god is     

,all1 etc4 ,it sounds very absurd4 ,but 
the curious thing is that many people   
have been cured by this treatment1      
and--naturally--these people become     
ardent ,christian ,scientists4 ,it is by
 the practical application that         
,christian ,science as a religion lives 
and thrives4 ,as to the kind of diseases
 cured1 the most extravagant claims are 
made4 ,in ,miscellaneous ,writings1 p4  
#da1 ,mrs ,eddy definitely states that  
all classes of disease can be healed by 
her method4 ,after careful sifting of   
much evidence1 however1 ,dr ,myers and  
his brother 7,f4 ,w4 ,h4 ,myers7 found  
that no proof was forthcoming for the   
cure of definite organic disease by     
,christian ,science methods4            
7,proceedings of the ,society for       
,psychical ,research1 vol4 ,,ix1 p4     
#afj2 also ,journal1 vol4 ,,viii1 p4    
#bdg47 ,undoubtedly they have been1 and 
are continually1 efficient in relieving1
 and even curing1 many functional       
disorders which have resisted ordinary  

medical treatment--and it must be       
remembered that many functional         
derangements are as serious1            
subjectively1 as grave organic          
disease--and consequently it is         
undeniable that ,christian ,science     
often does good4 ,but it is probable    
that the same amount of good1 and       
perhaps more1 could be done by the      
hypnotic or suggestive treatment of a   
qualified medical man1 or perhaps by    
other forms of faith-healing4 ,the      
,christian ,scientist is using          
suggestion2 but he couples it up with   
religion1 and thus1 perhaps--with some  
people--succeeds in driving the         
suggestion home with greater force4 ,it 
is noteworthy that similar attempts are 
now being made in other                 
directions--witness the ,emmanuel       
movement in ,new ,york1 the ,faithists  
and various psycho-therapeutic societies
 in ,england1 and the tendency in some  
quarters 7,bishop of ,london7 to return 
to anointing and laying on of hands by  

clergymen4  ,psychologically1 ,mrs ,eddy
 is at least classified1 if not entirely
 explained1 by one word--monoideism4    
,she was a person of one idea4 ,these   
people1 for whom we usually have the    
simpler term of crank1 are common       
enough4 ,i have no personal acquaintance
 with the circle-squaring and           
perpetual-motion cranks mentioned by ,de
 ,morgan 7,the ,budget of ,paradoxes71  
but ,i know a flat-earth crank1 and am  
well acquainted with a                  
,british-,israelite crank1 who seems to 
derive unspeakable joy--tempered only by
 his failure to convert me--from the    
thought that we ,britishers are         
veritably the descendants of one or more
 of the ,lost ,tribes4 ,all these people
 are conscious of a mission4 ,they have 
had a revelation1 and are anxious to    
impart it4 ,their efforts may not be due
 to the last infirmity of noble mind1   
still less to a lower motive4 ,they may 
just be built that way4 ,the majority of
 them1 like my ,lost-,tribes friend1 get

 no hearing because of the inflexible   
pragmatism of a stiffnecked and         
utilitarian generation4 ,what difference
 does it make whether we are the ,tribes
 or not8 asks the man in the street4    
,and he passes on with a shrug or a     
grin1 according to temperament4 ,this   
terrible pragmatic test makes short work
 of many amiable cranks4 ,and it is just
 here that ,christian ,science scores   
its point2 for it cures physical        
disease1 thereby becoming intensely     
practical4 ,health is the chief good of 
life4 ,anything that will restore it to 
an ailing body commands immediate and   
universal respect4 ,christian ,science  
therefore appeals1 on its practical     
side1 to the deepest thing in us--to the
 primal instinct of self-preservation4  
,hence its success4  ,it is possible to 
blame ,mrs ,eddy unjustly for her love  
of power as such4 ,she was not unique in
 this respect4 ,the difference is that  
,mrs ,eddy succeeded while the others   
have not1 and are consequently not heard

 of4 ,my ,lost-,tribes friend would be  
as autocratic as anybody if he had the  
chance2 but his motive would not be     
greed of power1 but rather the          
overmastering desire to push his cause1 
to proselytise1 to promulgate his one   
idea1 almost by force1 if such a thing  
were possible4 ,most of us know a few   
fanatics of this kind4 ,the objects of  
their devotion are varied--one is mad   
north-north-west1 another               
south-south-east--but all suffer from a 
lack of balance1 a lack of proper       
distribution of interest4 ,of course1 we
 may cheerfully admit that we are all   
more or less specialists in our several 
departments1 and that the line between  
sanity and insanity is rather arbitrary4
 ,we all seem more or less mad to those 
who do not agree with us4  ,the good and
 true part of ,christian ,science is its
 demonstration of the influence of mind 
on body1 and of the usefulness of       
inducing mental states of an optimistic 
character4 ,it may1 of course1 be said  

that we need no ,mrs ,eddy to tell us   
this4 ,true1 we don't4 ,the great seers 
and poets have always taught optimism1  
and the influence of mind on body was   
medically recognised--more or less--long
 before even ,quimby's time4 ,but we    
must remember that different minds need 
different treatment--need their         
nutriment and stimulant in different    
forms1 to suit the various mental       
digestions and receptive powers4        
,consequently1 though we may prefer     
,browning for optimism and the doctors  
for hypnotic therapeutics1 we need not  
complain if others prefer ,mrs ,eddy and
 her disciples4 ,if they get good from  
their way of putting things1 and if that
 good manifests itself in their         
character and life--in their total      
reaction on the world--by all means let 
them continue to walk in their chosen   
way4 ,it would be wrong to try to turn  
them4 ,the system works2 therefore it is
 true for them4 ,the tree is known by   
its fruits4 ,and the fruits of          

,christian ,science are undoubtedly     
often good4 ,in this complex world      
nothing is unmixedly good1 and harm is  
no doubt done occasionally4 ,but1 on the
 whole1 it seems probable that ,mrs     
,eddy1 with all her hysteria and        
morbidities and rancours and queerness1 
has been a power for good in the world4 
,her writings meet a want which some    
people feel1 or1 rather1 provide them   
with a useful impulse in the direction  
of physical and spiritual regeneration4 
,if you can make a sick person stop     
brooding over his ailments and worrying 
over things in general1 you have        
achieved something which enormously     
increases his chance of recovery2 and if
 you can make him turn all his thoughts 
and energies in the direction of        
recovery1 and all his emotional powers  
in the direction of love and goodwill to
 his fellow-men and towards ,god1 there 
is no limit to the powers which may be  
put in operation4 ,in spite of all our  
achievements in science--and they have  

been great--we are only1 as ,newton     
said1 picking up pebbles on the         
sea-shore4 ,nature is boundless2 we can 
fix no limits to her powers4 ,and we    
know so little1 really1 about disease1  
that ,i am not at all prepared to deny  
the ,christian ,science claims1 even    
with regard to organic disease4 ,the    
distinction between organic and         
functional is in our own inabilities1   
not in the nature of the case2 we call a
 disease organic when we find definite  
tissue-change1 and functional when we do
 not2 but in the latter case there must 
be some organic basis1 though too small 
perhaps to be discoverable--say a lesion
 in a tiny nerve4 ,consequently ,i      
regard the question of ,christian       
,science cures as entirely one of       
evidence4 ,i keep an open mind4 ,if ,i  
come across enough evidence1 ,i will    
believe that it can cure tuberculosis of
 the lungs and other diseases1 as       
claimed1 whether ,i can understand how  
it does it or not4 ,at present1 like ,dr

 ,myers1 ,i am not convinced2 but ,i    
have seen enough of ,christian ,science 
results among my own friends to prevent 
me from denying anything4 ,i merely     
suspend judgment4 ,but ,i do believe    
that the power of the mind over the body
 is so great that almost anything is    
possible2 and ,i think that the medical 
advance of the next half-century will be
 chiefly in this hitherto neglected     
direction4 ,i happen to know that this1 
or something very near this1 was the    
strongly-held opinion of the late       
,professor ,william ,james of ,harvard1 
who1 in addition to being the most      
brilliant psychologist of his           
generation1 was also a qualified doctor 
of medicine4     ,,joan ,,of ,,arc      
,great results often flow from small    
causes4 ,pascal said that if            
,cleopatra's nose had been shorter the  
history of the world would have been    
different4 ,similarly it may be truly   
said that if a peasant girl of ,domremy 
had not had hallucinations1 ,france     

would now have been a ,british province4
 ,and it is curious to reflect that the 
,church which burnt her as a heretic and
 sorcerer has her1 and her only1 to     
thank for such hold as it still         
maintains on ,france1 for the latter    
would have become ,protestant if        
,england had won4 ,the ,roman church now
 recognises this1 and has beatified the 
,maid4 ,the next step will be her       
canonisation as a saint4 ,thus does the 
whirligig of ,time bring its revenges4  
,jeanne d',arc was born in the village  
of ,domremy near ,vaucouleurs1 on the   
border of ,champagne and ,lorraine1 on  
,january #fth1 #adab4 ,she was taught to
 spin and to sew1 but not to read or    
write1 these accomplishments being      
beyond what was necessary for people in 
her station of life4 ,her parents were  
devout1 and she was brought up piously4 
,her nature was gentle1 modest1 and     
religious1 but with no physical weakness
 or morbid abnormality--on the contrary1
 she was exceptionally strong1 as her   

later history proves4  ,at or about the 
age of thirteen1 ,jeanne began to       
experience what psychology now calls    
auditory hallucinations4 ,that is1 she  
heard voices--usually accompanied by a  
bright light--when no visible person was
 present4 ,this1 of course1 is a common 
symptom of impending mental disorder2   
but no insanity developed in ,jeanne    
d',arc4 ,startled she naturally was at  
first1 but continuation led to          
familiarity and trust4 ,the voices gave 
good counsel of a commonplace kind1 as1 
for instance1 that she must be a good   
girl and go regularly to church4 ,soon1 
however1 she began to have visions3 saw 
,st ,michael1 ,st ,catherine1 and ,st   
,margaret2 was given instructions as to 
her mission2 eventually made her way to 
the ,dauphin2 put herself at the head of
 #f1jjj men1 and advanced to the relief 
of ,orleans1 which was besieged by the  
conquering ,english4 ,after a fortnight 
of hard fighting the siege was raised1  
and the enemy driven off4 ,the tide of  

war had turned1 and in three months the 
,dauphin was crowned ,king at ,rheims1  
as ,charles the ,seventh4  ,at this     
point ,jeanne felt that her mission was 
accomplished4 ,but her wish to return to
 her family was over-ruled by king and  
archbishop1 and she took part in the    
further fighting against the allied     
,english and ,burgundian forces1 showing
 great bravery and tactical skill4 ,but 
in ,november1 #adcj1 in a desperate     
sally from ,compiegne--which was        
besieged by the ,duke of ,burgundy--she 
fell into the enemy's hands1 was sold to
 the ,english1 and thrown into a dungeon
 at their headquarters in ,rouen4       
,after a year's imprisonment she was    
brought to trial--a mock trial before   
the ,bishop of ,beauvais1 in an         
ecclesiastical court4 ,learned doctors  
of the church did their best to entangle
 the simple girl in their dialectical   
toils2 but she showed a remarkable power
 of keeping to her simple affirmations  
and of avoiding heretical statements4   

,god has always been my ,lord in all    
that ,i have done4 ,but the trial was   
only pretence1 for her fate was already 
decided4 ,she was burnt to death1 amid  
the jeers and execration of a rabble of 
brutal soldiery1 in a ,rouen            
market-place on ,may #cjth1 #adca4  ,the
 life of the ,maid supplies a problem   
which orthodox science cannot solve4    
,she was a simple peasant girl1 with no 
ambitions hankering after a career4 ,she
 rebelled pathetically against her      
mission4 ,i had far rather rest and spin
 by my mother's side1 for this is no    
work of my choosing1 but ,i must go and 
do it1 for my ,lord wills it4 ,she      
cannot be dismissed on the simple idiot 
theory of ,voltaire1 for her genius in  
war and her aptitude in repartee        
undoubtedly prove exceptional mental    
powers1 unschooled though she was in    
what we call education4 ,we cannot call 
her a mere hysteric1 for her health and 
strength were superb4 ,a man of science 
once said to an ,abbe3 ,come to the     

,salpetriere ,hospital1 and ,i will show
 you twenty ,jeannes d',arc4 ,to which  
the ,abbe responded3 ,has one of them   
given us back ,alsace and ,lorraine8    
,there is the crux1 as ,andrew ,lang    
quietly remarked4  ,the retort was      
certainly neat4 ,still1 though the      
,salpetriere hysterics have not won back
 ,alsace and ,lorraine1 it is           
nevertheless true that a great movement 
may be started1 or kept going when      
started1 by fraud1 hallucination1 and   
credulity4 ,the ,mormons1 for example1  
are a strong body1 but the origins of   
their faith will not bear much          
criticism4 ,the ,book of ,mormon1 handed
 down from heaven by an angel1 is more  
than we can swallow4 ,no one saw its    
metal leaves--from which ,joseph ,smith 
translated--except ,joseph himself4 ,we 
have our own opinion about ,joseph's    
truthfulness4 ,somewhat similarly with  
spiritualism4 ,the great movement is    
there1 based partly on fact as ,i       
believe1 but supported by some fraud and

 much ignorance and credulity4 ,may it  
not have been somewhat thus with        
,jeanne8 ,she delivered ,france1 and her
 importance in history is great2 but may
 not her mission and her doings have    
been the outcome of merely subjective   
hallucinations1 induced by the brooding 
of her specially religious and patriotic
 mind on the woes of her country8 ,the  
army1 being ignorant and superstitious1 
would readily believe in the            
supernatural character of her mission1  
and great energy and valour would follow
 as a matter of course--for a man fights
 well when he believes that ,providence 
is on his side4  ,that is the usual kind
 of theory in explanation of the facts4 
,but it is not fully satisfactory4 ,how 
came it--one may ask--that this         
untutored peasant girl could persuade   
not only the rude soldiery1 but also the
 ,dauphin and the court1 of her ,divine 
appointment8 ,how came she to be given  
the command of an army8 ,surely a post  
of such responsibility and power would  

not be given to a peasant girl of       
eighteen1 on the mere strength of her   
own claim to inspiration4 ,it seems1 at 
least1 very improbable4  ,now it seems  
7though the materialistic school of     
historians conveniently ignore or       
belittle it7 that there is strong       
evidence in support of the idea that    
,jeanne gave the ,dauphin some proof of 
the possession of supernormal faculties4
 ,in fact1 the evidence is so strong    
that ,mr ,lang called it                
unimpeachable--and ,mr ,lang did not    
usually err on the side of credulity in 
these matters4 ,among other curious     
things1 ,jeanne seems to have repeated  
to ,charles the words of a prayer which 
he had made mentally1 and she also made 
some kind of clairvoyant discovery of a 
sword hidden behind the altar of        
,fierbois church4 ,schiller's           
magnificent dramatic poem ,die ,jungfrau
 von ,orleans1 though unhistorical in   
some details1 is substantially accurate 
on these points concerning clairvoyance 

and mind-reading4  ,as to the voices and
 visions1 a ,protestant will have a     
certain prejudice with regard to the ,st
 ,michael1 ,st ,catherine1 and ,st      
,margaret stories1 though he may very   
possibly be wrong in his disbelief4     
,but1 waiving that1 it may be true that 
some genuine inspiration was truly given
 to the ,maid from the deeper strata of 
her own soul1 and that these monitions  
externalised themselves in the forms in 
which her thought habitually ran4 ,if   
she had been a ,greek of two thousand   
years earlier1 her visions would        
probably have taken the form of ,apollo 
and ,pallas ,athene2 yet they might     
equally well have contained truth and   
good counsel1 as did the utterances of  
the ,oracles4  ,and1 speaking of the    
,greeks1 we may remember that the wisest
 of that race had similar experiences4  
,socrates--the pre-eminent type of      
sanity and mental burliness--was        
counselled by his daimon2 by a warning  
,voice which1 truly1 did not give       

positive advice like ,jeanne's1 but     
which intervened to stop him when about 
to make some wrong decision4 ,again--to 
jump suddenly down to modern            
times--,charles ,dickens says in his    
letters that the characters of his      
novels took on a kind of independent    
existence1 and that ,mrs ,gamp1 his     
greatest creation1 spoke to him         
7generally in church7 as with an actual 
voice4 ,in fact1 all cases of creative  
genius1 whether in literature1 art1 or  
invention1 are examples of an uprush    
from unknown mental depths3 the process 
is not the same as the intellectual     
process of reasoning4 ,in these cases1  
as for instance with ,socrates1 ,jeanne 
d',arc1 ,dickens1 the deeper strata of  
the mind may be supposed to send up     
thoughts so vigorously that they become 
externalised as hallucinations2 not     
necessarily morbid or injurious1 though 
of course many hallucinations are       
undoubtedly both4 ,the inspiration rises
 from below the conscious threshold4 ,it

 is as if given2 and the normal         
conscious mind looks on in passive      
astonishment4 ,alles ist als wie        
geschenkt1 says ,goethe--and he knew1 if
 anybody did4 ,a similar thing happens1 
on a more ordinary plane1 when a problem
 that has baffled the working mind is   
solved in sleep4 ,in short1 the normal  
consciousness is not all there is of us2
 there are levels and powers below the  
threshold4 ,and it seems likely that the
 new psychology is on the track of a    
better explanation of ,socrates and     
,jeanne d',arc1 as well as of the nature
 of genius in general1 than has yet been
 excogitated by the philosophers4       
,certainly these things supply          
interesting material for study1 and many
 curious discoveries are now being made 
in this field of research4     ,,is     
,,the ,,earth ,,alive8   ,some of the   
ancients thought the earth was an       
animal4 ,it has its hard and soft parts1
 its bone and flesh--rock and soil--as  
the ,norse cosmology pictured it2 also  

its blood1 of seas1 rivers1 and the     
like4 ,to a coast-dwelling people1 the  
rhythmic inflow and outflow of the tides
 would suggest a huge slow              
blood-pulsation1 or a breathing4 ,and   
heat increases with depth1 in mine or   
cave2 fire spouts from ,etna and        
,vesuvius2 evidently the earth is hotter
 inside than at the surface1 as animals 
are hotter inside than on their skins4  
,some such animal-notion was held by    
,plato1 and by some of the later        
,stoics2 though it does not seem to have
 been worked out in detail4 ,and the    
,greek1 ,indian1 or ,egyptian theology  
which made the earth a goddess and the  
bride of ,heaven or the sun1 is still   
more indefinite1 or is crudely          
anthropomorphic and primitive4  ,modern 
approximations have been chiefly in     
poetry1 and are pan-psychic rather than 
animistic2 as in ,pope's ,essay on ,man3
      ,all are but parts of one         
stupendous whole1     ,whose body       
,nature is1 and ,god the soul1  and in  

,wordsworth's ,tintern ,abbey where the 
presence which disturbs him with the joy
 of elevated thoughts is felt to be the 
,spirit which has its dwelling in the   
light of setting suns and the round     
ocean and the living air3      ,a motion
 and a spirit that impels     ,all      
thinking things1 all objects of all     
thought1     ,and rolls through all     
things4 ,therefore am ,i still     ,a   
lover of the meadows and the woods1     
,and mountains2 and all that we behold  
,from this green earth2 of all the      
mighty world     ,of eye1 and ear4      
,emerson expresses the same thought in  
,pan and in much of his prose--,nature1 
,the ,over ,soul1 ,self-,reliance4      
,william ,james1 in early days before   
his pluralistic development1 thought    
that an anima mundi thinking in all of  
us was a more likely hypothesis than    
that of a lot of individual souls2 and  
,leibnitz1 among other metaphysical     
great ones1 ,spinozistically speaks of  
un seul esprit qui est universel et qui 

anime tout l'univers4 ,finally1 to quote
 a modern of the moderns1 we find ,mr   
,h4 ,g4 ,wells finely saying that       
between you and me as we set our minds  
together1 and between us and the rest of
 mankind1 there is something1 something 
real1 something that rises through us   
and is neither you nor me1 that         
comprehends us1 that is thinking here   
and using me and you to play against    
each other in that thinking just as my  
finger and thumb play against each other
 as ,i hold this pen with which ,i      
write4 7,first and ,last ,things1 p4    
#fg47  ,but these various poets and     
thinkers1 while suggesting a soul-side  
of the material universe1 have not      
ventured to attribute spirits to        
specific lumps of matter such as the    
planets4 ,science has banished those    
celestial genii4 ,kepler and ,newton    
substituted for them the bald and barren
 doctrine of gravitation1 to the disgust
 of the theologically orthodox4 ,it is  
possible1 however1 that science did not 

banish these planetary spirits1 but only
 prevented us from seeing them1 by      
turning our eyes in another direction1  
towards the laws according to which the 
material universe works2 as if we should
 become so absorbed in the chemistry and
 physics of blood oxidation1 digestion1 
cerebral change1 and the like1 as to    
forget that the human body has a        
consciousness associated with it4 ,it   
may be that we are too materialistic in 
our astronomy4 ,perhaps ,lorenzo was    
right1 even about the music of the      
spheres2 and that our deafness1 not     
their silence1 is the reason why we do  
not hear it4  ,the nineteenth century   
produced a thinker who revived the      
animistic idea in an improved form4 ,he 
elaborated it into a system of          
philosophy1 welding into it the         
discoveries of science1 and leaving room
 for any further advance in that        
direction4 ,at the same time he showed  
that his system was essentially         
religious1 and indeed quite consistent  

with ,christianity in its best          
interpretations4 ,but his writings fell 
almost dead from the press1 for he was  
before his time4 ,the scientific men    
were materialists1 and sneered at a     
system which recognised a spiritual     
world2 while the orthodox ,christians   
were scared by its evolutionary method  
and its acceptance of ,darwinism when   
the latter arrived--for the philosophy  
preceded it--and also by the novelty of 
some of its ideas4  ,gustav ,theodor    
,fechner was born on ,april #ai1 #ahja1 
at ,gross-,saerchen in what is now      
,silesia1 then under the ,elector of    
,saxony4 ,he studied at ,leipzig1 and   
was appointed professor of ,physics at  
the ,university there1 in #ahcd4 ,he    
conducted several scientific journals1  
wrote text-books1 translated ,biot's    
,physics 7#d vols47 ,thenard's          
,chemistry 7#f vols47 and a work on     
cerebral pathology2 also edited an      
eight-volume ,encyclopaedia of which he 
wrote about a third himself1 lectured1  

and made researches in electro-magnetism
 which injured his eyesight4 ,his chief 
scientific work1 ,elements of           
,psycho-,physics1 was published in      
#ahei1 additions being made in #ahgg and
 #ahhb4 ,fechner's ,law1 the fundamental
 law of psychophysics 7that sensation   
varies in the ratio of the logarithm of 
impression7 is now an internationally   
current term4 ,men like ,paulsen and    
,wundt do not hesitate to call ,fechner 
master4 ,his chief philosophical work is
 ,zend-,avesta 7#c vols47 published in  
#ahea1 and rearranged and condensed in  
,die ,tagesansicht gegenueber der       
,nachtansicht 7#ahgi72 but he published 
also many subsidiary volumes4 ,only one 
of his works has appeared in            
,english--the small volume on ,life     
,after ,death--and even this had to be  
brought out by an ,american publisher6  
,yet ,fechner is1 as ,professor ,william
 ,james said1 a philosopher in the great
 sense 444 little known as yet to       
,english readers1 but destined1 ,i am   

persuaded1 to wield more and more       
influence as time goes on4 7,a          
,pluralistic ,universe1 pp4 #ace1 #adi47
 ,the prophecy is already beginning to  
come true4  ,fechner always begins with 
the known and indisputable1 arguing     
thence to the unknown4 ,his method is   
thus analogical and scientific4 ,it is  
the only method that a scientific       
generation will tolerate4 ,its results  
may be disputed1 but so can the results 
of science4 ,even mathematics gives us  
no certainties1 for something must      
always be taken for granted4 ,in        
philosophising by analogy1 we do at     
least keep in close touch with          
experience2 we do not evaporate the     
world into an unearthly ballet of       
bloodless categories4 ,and if the       
analogies point mostly one way1 with    
only weak ones pointing the other1 the  
result may be at least acceptable as a  
working hypothesis1 even if not         
demonstrable4  ,man is a living1        
thinking1 feeling being4 ,he is on the  

surface of a nearly spherical body1     
which he calls the earth1 out of which  
his material part has arisen4 ,the      
elements of his body are the same as    
those in the earth4 ,his carbon1        
nitrogen1 oxygen1 and hydrogen are the  
carbon1 nitrogen1 oxygen1 and hydrogen  
of the coal measures1 soils1 atmosphere1
 oceans1 of the earth4 ,the calcium     
carbonate of his bones is the calcium   
carbonate of her rocks as seen in cliffs
 at ,flamborough and ,dover4 ,he is bone
 of her bone1 flesh of her flesh4       
,sometimes he calls her ,mother ,earth1 
and involuntarily speaks the truth in   
jest4 ,in ,siberia the ,tartar word for 
the earth is ,mamma--a curious fact4    
,indeed1 the bond between the earth and 
her children is much closer than in the 
case of a human mother and her child2   
for we remain1 all our lives1 actually  
part of the planet's mass4 ,if our      
bodies were suddenly annihilated1 the   
earth's gravitative attraction would be 
altered1 and the whole solar system     

would have to readjust itself to the    
slight diminution4 ,we belong to the    
earth4 ,we are a film of cells on her   
skin4 ,in ,piccadilly and the ,bowery   
7and ,throgmorton and ,wall ,streets87  
we are--alas6--an eczematous patch4     
,but here it may be objected that man is
 more than a mere body4 ,quite true4    
,man has experiences of an order        
different from the material one4 ,you   
cannot express joy and sorrow by        
chemical equations or number of         
foot-pounds4 ,even if there is a        
material equivalent or necessary        
concomitant1 of electrical or chemical  
change in cerebral tissue or what not1  
the fact of the non-material experience 
remains a reality4 ,to indicate this    
side of human life1 we call it the      
spiritual side4 ,we say that man is     
matter and spirit1 body and soul4 ,this 
is quite justifiable and right1 whether 
we can define the terms or not4         
,definition means explaining a word by  
means of others that are better known4  

,and as we cannot get any closer to     
reality than our own experience1 which  
is reality to us1 and as the two words  
conveniently classify two great         
departments of experience1 we           
justifiably say that we are soul and    
body4 ,very well2 the body1 then1 when  
we die1 returns to the earth1 from which
 indeed it has not been severed1 except 
as being a point at which a special kind
 of activity was manifested4 ,what then 
of the soul8 ,shall it not return to the
 earth-soul1 as the body returns to the 
earth-body8  ,man has arisen out of the 
earth4 ,and can the dead give birth to  
the living8 ,such an idea is            
self-contradictory4 ,if the ,earth has  
produced us1 it cannot be really a mere 
dead lump1 as nineteenth-century        
materialistic science regarded it4 ,it  
must be alive4 ,the fifteen hundred     
millions or so of human beings who live 
on its surface like microscopic insects 
on the body of an elephant1 or like     
epidermis-cells on our own bodies1      

constitute in their total weight and    
size only an almost infinitesimal       
proportion of the earth's mass4 ,the    
earth is #h1jjj miles in diameter2 if   
human beings were so numerous that they 
could only stand up1 wedged together all
 over its surface1 tropics and poles1   
land and water--the latter covers       
seven-tenths of it--they would only be  
like a skin #a_/bjj1jjjth part of an    
inch thick1 on a globe a yard in        
diameter4 ,the total mass of all the    
living creatures on the earth's surface1
 including all animals and all          
vegetation1 is almost inconceivably     
small1 as compared with the mass of the 
earth4 ,is it not a trifle ludicrous to 
find some of these little creatures     
looking down so condescendingly on the  
remainder of the planet8 ,emerson was   
among the few who have seen the joke1   
for in ,hamatreya he satirises those who
 boast of possessing pieces of the      
earth3      ,where are these men8       
,asleep beneath their grounds3     ,and 

strangers1 fond as they1 their furrows  
plough4     ,earth laughs in flowers1 to
 see her boastful boys     ,earth-proud1
 proud of the earth which is not theirs2
     ,who steer the plough1 but cannot  
steer their feet     ,clear of the      
grave4  ,and the earth sings3      ,they
 called me theirs1     ,who so          
controlled me2     ,yet every one       
,wished to stay1 and is gone1     ,how  
am ,i theirs1     ,if they cannot hold  
me1     ,but ,i hold them8  ,a very     
natural objection to the idea of the    
earth being full of life and mind--as my
 body is full of my life and my mind--is
 that the inorganic part of the planet  
presents no evidence of such4 ,it does  
not act as if it were alive and         
conscious4 ,but this begs the whole     
question4 ,if you decide beforehand that
 all evidence for the existence of mind 
must be the sort of phenomena exhibited 
by the things we call living1 the       
business is settled1 and it is clear    
that the inorganic kingdom is without   

consciousness4 ,there is then no sign of
 mind anywhere except in that           
infinitesimally thin and indeed         
discontinuous skin which is made up of  
living individuals on the earth's       
surface4 ,but is it not somewhat        
presumptuous to dogmatise thus8 ,why    
should mind always manifest itself in   
the same way8 ,non-living matter does   
not show vital activities1 but it does  
show other activities1 quite systematic 
and non-chaotic and comprehensible ones4
 ,how could dead matter have any        
activity at all8 ,even ,haeckel         
postulates a sort of mind in the atom1  
and we have heard of mind-stuff before1 
from an equally determined materialist4 
,indeed1 how can we rationalise the     
behaviour of phosphorus in oxygen but by
 saying that the two elements like each 
other so well that they rush to combine 
whenever possible8 ,if carbon has great 
affinity1 showing a tendency to combine 
with many atoms of other elements in    
various complicated ways--at least as   

regards its favourite types--it is      
reasonable to regard it as a much-loving
 element--the polygamous ,solomon of the
 elements4 ,if fluorine will have       
nothing to do with other                
substances--except under protest1 when  
persuaded by ,miss ,hydrogen1 whose     
gaiety and levity sometimes overcome its
 sulkiness1 bringing it also into the   
society of calcium and one or two other 
metals--we must say that fluorine is    
unsociable1 morbidly self-centred1 or   
perhaps mystically disposed1 like       
,thoreau1 happy by his pond1 alone4     
,chemical affinity is the loves of the  
elements4  ,rising to the next grade of 
complexity above atoms1 we find that    
molecular movements1 visible in the     
apparently representative ,brownian     
movements of particles1 recall the      
fidget of a bunch of midges1 and thereby
 suggest a sort of life4 ,they disobey  
the second law of thermodynamics1 rising
 in a lighter liquid1 as midges rise in 
the tenuous air4 ,of course no one can  

deny that in the things we call living  
there are phenomena not seen elsewhere1 
and some of these are quite probably not
 understandable at all1 in terms of     
measurement or imagery1 as we can       
understand the ,brownian movements by   
irregular bombardment of molecules4 ,we 
cannot understand the relation between a
 supposed brain-change and the          
corresponding mental fact4 ,the two     
orders of being seem disjunctive4       
,perhaps these things are too close to  
us to be understood2 perhaps we cannot  
understand life and consciousness       
because we are ourselves alive and      
conscious--as we cannot lift ourselves  
by pulling at our boot tops1 and cannot 
see our own faces because the eyes that 
see are in the face that is to be seen4 
,still the distinction between life at  
its lowest and non-life at its highest  
7crystals87 is so small that we may yet 
effect a smooth transition--may somehow 
see a continuity which now eludes us4   
,and it seems likely that this will be  

effected by an extension of the         
mind-idea down into the inorganic1      
rather than by any explanation of life  
by physical and chemical concepts4      
,again1 on the larger scale1 may not    
cohesion1 as well as chemical affinity1 
be a sort of affection2 in this case a  
kind of wide social friendship--the     
adhesive love of ,whitman1 which is to  
supersede amative love--as against the  
fierce and narrow loves of the elements8
 ,a4 ,c4 ,benson in ,joyous ,gard 7p4   
#abh7 quotes a geologist who says3      
,it is not by any means certain that    
stones do not have a certain   obscure  
life of their own2 ,i have sometimes    
thought that their   marvellous cohesion
 may be a sign of life1 and that if life
 were   withdrawn1 a mountain might in a
 moment become a heap of sliding   sand4
  ,yes1 and even in sand-grains there is
 cohesion of particles1 and in the      
smallest particles huge numbers of      
molecules1 and again--still             
smaller--atoms and electrons4 ,something

 elusive yet tremendously potent is     
still there1 in the sand4 ,it would be  
rash to call it dead and mindless4      
,there seems more sense in admitting    
that there is something akin to what we 
know as life and mind in ourselves1     
permeating the material universe4  ,and 
if--to come back to our own planet--if  
the earth is a living organism1 there   
will naturally be distribution of       
function1 as there is in our own bodies4
 ,it would be absurd for the eye to deny
 life and perception to ear or skin just
 because their mode of activity is      
different4 ,it is wiser to concede life 
and mind where-ever there is action4 ,in
 the present state of affairs1 not only 
do we get into difficulties by our rash 
assumption that there is no mind without
 protoplasm 7ohne ,phosphor kein        
,gedanke1 as the old materialist too    
boldly said71 but we find it impossible 
to draw the line between living and     
non-living4 ,drops of oil exhibit       
amoeboid movements1 and at the lower end

 of life the slime-mass becomes so      
undifferentiated as to be very much in a
 borderland between the two states4     
,probably non-living substances gradate 
into living ones by imperceptible       
differentiae1 as man would be found to  
gradate back into an anthropoid ape or  
something of the kind if we could see   
all the stages4 ,nature does not make   
jumps4 ,where she seems to do so1 it is 
only because we cannot see how she gets 
from one place to another distant one4  
,but when we scrutinise the interspace1 
we see that there is a path4 ,nature    
does not jump4 ,she glides4  ,it is on  
this line of thought that the           
disagreement between the schools        
represented by ,sir ,edward ,schaefer   
and ,dr ,hans ,driesch respectively may1
 perhaps1 be happily resolved4 ,no doubt
 each may have to make concessions4 ,the
 mechanist must not claim that mind is  
only an affair of nitrogenous colloids1 
for this would be a large assumption    
built on a very small foundation2 no    

biologist1 however much he knows about  
nitrogenous colloids1 can in any        
conceivable sense explain his joy in a  
sunset or a symphony by reference to    
those substances4 ,physical causes have 
physical effects2 to say that they cause
 anything non-physical 7i4e4 mental7 is 
really talking nonsense4 ,and1 on the   
other hand1 the vitalist must not deny  
consciousness to non-protoplasmic       
,nature4 ,negations are dangerous4 ,it  
is extremely risky to say that a        
,matterhorn has less spiritual          
significance--in itself and for the     
whole1 and not only for us--than a      
cretin who wanders useless and          
unbeautiful about its lower slopes4 ,the
 activities of the two are different1   
that is all we are justified in saying4 
,true1 the ,matterhorn's are more       
calculable and predictable1 but that    
does not prove unconsciousness4 ,human  
action also is predictable to some      
extent4 ,and the more wise and unified a
 man is--the nearer he approximates to  

ideal perfection--the more accurately we
 can predict his response to a given    
stimulus4 ,we might almost argue1 on    
these lines1 that inorganic matter has a
 certain superiority2 for it is not     
capricious4 ,it knows what it wants to  
do1 and does it2 or at least--if this is
 going too far--it does things1 and does
 them as if it knew very well what it   
wanted to do4 ,to the same conditions   
and stimuli it always responds in the   
same way1 like reflex action in living  
beings1 and like association in ordinary
 consciousness4 ,water always boils     
punctually at #ajj deg4,c41 and freezes 
at #j deg4,c41 if the pressure is       
#gfjmm4 of mercury4 ,canal always makes 
me think of ,panama and ,mars--though to
 other people it might suggest ,suez1   
their different experience having given 
them other association-couplings4 ,but  
any one knowing me well1 or knowing any 
one well1 could say almost certainly    
what associations canal would have--what
 thought it will evoke4 ,and the same   

thing is true1 to a less extent1 of our 
actions4 ,if a man hits ,jack ,johnson1 
the latter will probably hit back4      
,still more certain is it that no one   
will hit him unless drunk or insane or  
in some sort of very exceptional        
circumstances4 ,if1 on the other hand1  
somebody hits me1 the outcome is less   
certain4 ,it will depend to a greater   
extent on the result of reflection and  
judgment--perhaps partly on my estimate 
of the other fellow's weight1 age1      
training and science6 ,yet anyone       
knowing me well1 and perceiving the main
 conditions1 could predict with fair    
approach to accuracy what ,i should do4 
,yet ,i am undoubtedly a conscious      
being4 ,some actions of conscious       
beings1 then1 are predictable1 if we    
know the conditions4 ,indeed1 in the    
mass1 human action is calculable with   
precision--witness the various kinds of 
insurance4 ,why then deny consciousness 
to the ,matterhorn1 because all its     
actions are calculable and predictable8 

,the difference is one of degree1 not   
kind4 ,and indeed are all its actions   
predictable8 ,the fact is1 they are only
 hypothetically so4 ,we say that they   
would be if we knew enough4 ,but we     
might say the same of the actions of a  
man4 ,the truth is1 that if we say it of
 either we are arguing dangerously1 from
 our ignorance and not from our         
knowledge4 ,it is indeed as risky to say
 that we could predict the ,matterhorn's
 actions in toto1 as to say that we     
cannot predict the man's2 for we are    
continually finding that matter does    
things which we did not formerly        
suspect--e4g4 radio-activity4 ,clearly1 
we cannot predict all the activities of 
the ,matterhorn3 many may depend on     
undiscovered properties4 ,so it seems   
that even if some human actions1 such as
 ,newton's discovery of the law of      
gravitation and ,milton's ,paradise     
,lost and ,spencer's ,synthetic         
,philosophy and ,raphael's ,sistine     
,madonna1 are strictly unpredictable1 it

 still does not sufficiently            
differentiate us from the ,matterhorn1  
which on its part also has its          
unpredictabilities4  ,as to what parts  
of matter have separate spirits--where  
the ,snowdon-spirit ends and the ,moel  
,siabod spirit begins1 and so on--we    
need not trouble much about that4 ,this 
individualising of parts is a reasonable
 supposition1 but it is not necessary to
 press it4 ,mr ,maurice ,hewlett has    
seen the genius loci of a sunny woodland
 landscape translated into human idiom  
as an opulent ,titianesque beauty 7,lore
 of ,proserpine71 and ,manfred sees or  
feels a spirit of the ,alps2 but these  
are details4 ,the only thing that       
matters is the ensoulment of the earth  
as a whole4 ,no doubt its spirit-part is
 divided up somehow1 correspondent to   
its material conformation1 as our       
spirits are divided from each other4    
,the division1 however1 is not a        
hermetic sealing off4 ,the universe is  
continuous4 ,indeed its parts are       

inter-penetrative1 for every particle   
influences every other particle--and a  
thing cannot act where it is not4       
,similarly1 human beings are found to   
have modes of communication other than  
those hitherto recognised by orthodox   
science1 and are somehow able to        
influence others without regard to      
distance4 ,we seem to be connected with 
each other in the unseen1 subliminal1   
spiritual region4 ,our separateness is  
illusory4 ,so with individualisations of
 earth-features4 ,they have individual  
aspects1 both on the physical and       
spiritual side2 but they are part of the
 one earth and its one spirit1 as we    
ourselves are4 ,and that earth-spirit is
 part of the universe-spirit or ,god1 as
 the human spirit is part of the        
earth-spirit4  ,it is perhaps difficult1
 at first1 to think of the earth as     
having a life and consciousness of its  
own1 for we are located at little       
points1 and do not see it whole1 nor do 
we see from the inside4 ,we are like an 

eye which looks at the body of which it 
forms a part1 and finds it difficult to 
believe in auditory1 tactile1 olfactory 
experience2 more difficult still to     
conceive of pure thought1 emotion1 will4
 ,if the earth seems a dead lump1       
however1 think of the human brain4 ,it  
is a mere lump of whitish filaments1    
seen from outside4 ,but its inner       
experience is the rich and infinitely   
detailed life of a human being4 ,so also
 may the inner experience of the earth  
be incomparably richer than its outer   
appearance indicates to our external    
senses4 ,objectively1 our brains are    
part of the earth3 subjectively1 we see 
in ourselves a part of what the earth   
sees in itself4  ,in thinking of the    
earth as an organised being1 we must    
guard against the error of the ancients 
who called it an animal4 ,it is not an  
animal4 ,it is a ,being of a higher     
character than any animal1 for it       
includes all animals and all human      
beings1 comprising in its spirit all    

their spiritual activities1 and having  
its own activities as well4 ,we are to  
it1 as our blood-corpuscles are to us2  
and to think of the earth-spirit as     
being like our spirits would be         
equivalent to a blood-corpuscle thinking
 of its containing body as another      
corpuscle1 only bigger4 ,whereas the    
truth is that a man has feelings and    
cognitions and purposes1 and performs   
acts1 which the corpuscles cannot in the
 least comprehend4 7,somewhat similarly1
 a drop cannot have waves1 or a small   
celestial body an atmosphere2 the lower 
cannot have what the higher has1 nor can
 it understand it47 ,the corpuscle may  
know or believe that its conscience or  
intuition is a sort of leakage down to  
it1 of the mind or will of its greater  
self 7the voice of its ,god71 and that  
in so far as it does its duty according 
to its lights it is assisting the       
purposes of that higher ,being of which 
it forms a part2 and this faith is its  
highest wisdom4 ,so with us4 ,human     

duty1 done sincerely according to our   
lights1 is furthering the purposes of   
the higher ,being in whom we live and   
move4 ,this faith is our highest wisdom 
concerning our relation to the          
earth-spirit4 ,we see1 then1 that there 
is a good deal of sense in faith and    
intuition4 ,they are rationally         
justified4 ,by them we are dimly in     
touch with the over-soul on our inner   
side3 not really dimly1 for the         
connection is close and real1 but dimly 
to our normal consciousness4 ,the       
connection via intellect is an external1
 round-about affair1 necessary and      
useful1 but different4 ,we need to      
cultivate both4 ,this is the essence of 
the philosophy of ,bergson4 ,there is   
more than one way of receiving truth4   
,science is apt to overlook the         
intuitional way4  ,on this              
conscience-side or moral aspect1 the    
,fechnerian idea is particularly        
fruitful and illuminating4 ,the analogy 
of our own mind is once more the        

key--the mirror wherewith to view the   
greater landscape1 the village wherefrom
 to draw inferences about nations4 ,in  
childhood1 the world is1 as ,james said1
 a big1 blooming1 buzzing confusion3    
sensations pour in quite unconnected2   
the baby sees the moon1 and stretches   
out an arm to grab it1 thus learning    
that it is not grabable4 ,it is only    
gradually that the child learns to      
associate sounds with sights2 to know   
what sounds indicate its mother's       
presence or proximity1 and what sounds  
its father's4 ,gradually1 individual    
experiences get linked up and           
harmonised4 ,then other disjointednesses
 arise4 ,foolish impulses war against   
better judgment and parents' advice1 and
 the youth's mind is torn1 as we say1   
very aptly describing the feeling4      
,growing older and wiser1 his mind      
becomes more unified and consequently   
more calm4 ,his powers are marshalled   
and directed consciously at a goal or   
goals4 ,wayward impulses are reined in4 

,we feel that poise and strength and    
wisdom are attained3 never perfectly and
 ideally1 but at least to a considerable
 degree1 as compared with the earlier   
state4  ,so with the earth-spirit4      
,being far greater than the human       
subsidiary spirits1 it is longer in     
coming to maturity4 ,its elements are   
still largely at loggerheads with each  
other4 ,the nations war against each    
other1 and universal peace seems a long 
time in coming4 ,but steadily1 steadily 
works the earth-spirit1 and the nations 
almost unconsciously--like              
somnambulists--carry out its will4 ,they
 are working1 consciously or            
unconsciously1 towards universal        
at-one-ment4 ,a ,league of ,nations has 
arisen1 and the ,federation of the      
,world is in sight4 ,union is the       
political watch-word4 ,labour is        
combining throughout the world4 ,east is
 learning from ,west1 and ,west from    
,east4 ,china sends her students to     
,oxford1 ,cambridge1 ,paris1 ,harvard1  

and welcomes ,western methods4 ,india   
repays our civilising with the poems of 
,tagore4 ,in trade1 thousands of small  
businesses are unified in a few great   
combines1 preparing for some sort of    
,socialism4 ,finance spreads its        
world-wide network4 ,science is becoming
 international4 ,the frontiers are      
melting2 coalescence1 unity1 harmony are
 being achieved4 ,the earth-spirit is   
reconciling its warring elements4 ,when 
it succeeds in the complete             
reconciliation2 when the era of         
universal peace and brotherhood shall   
dawn2 when it reaches its huge          
equivalent of the ripe1 calm1 contented 
wisdom of human age--ah1 then will come 
a state of things which we can but dimly
 prefigure4 ,but it will come4 ,the age 
of gold is in the future1 not the past4 
,it is our duty and our privilege to    
hasten the coming of this millennium4   
,and even this is not the end4 ,we      
cannot conceive the things that shall   
be4 ,eye hath not seen1 or ear heard4   

,enough for us to know the tendency1 and
 to trust ourselves to it1 actively     
co-operating4      ,before beginning1   
and without an end1     ,as space       
eternal1 and as surety sure1     ,is    
fixed a ,power divine which moves to    
good1     ,only its laws endure4        
,this is its touch upon the blossomed   
rose1     ,the fashion of its hand      
shaped lotus-leaves2     ,in dark soil  
and the silence of the seeds     ,the   
robe of ,spring it weaves4      ,it     
maketh and unmaketh1 mending all2       
,what it hath wrought is better than had
 been2     ,slow grows the splendid     
pattern that it plans1     ,its wistful 
hands between4      ,this is its work   
upon the things ye see3     ,the unseen 
things are more2 men's hearts and minds1
     ,the thoughts of peoples and their 
ways and wills1     ,those1 too1 the    
great ,law binds4                       
--,sir ,edwin ,arnold1 ,light of ,asia4 
,is it asked3 ,who is the ,law-giver1   
and to what end is the ,law8 ,the       

question is foolish4 ,parts cannot know 
wholes1 and the whole does not want     
parts to be anything but what they      
obviously are4 ,each fits into its      
place1 and can do useful work there4    
,let it keep to tasks of a size with its
 capacity--as a ,kempis says--and leave 
the rest4 ,what doth the ,lord require  
of thee but to do justly and to love    
mercy and to walk humbly with thy ,god8 
,,religious ,,belief ,,after ,,the ,,war
   ,there is naturally and rightly a    
great deal of anxiety in the minds of   
most thoughtful people as to the state  
of religion after the war4 ,the old     
order seems to have come down in chaos  
about our ears1 and we are wondering    
what shape the new building will take4  
,even our clergy1 or some of them1 are  
honestly confessing that beliefs can    
never be just the same again2 to name   
only two things1 they feel that the     
literal acceptance of the non-resistance
 doctrine is no longer unqualifiedly    
possible1 as many were formerly inclined

 to maintain2 for the aggression of     
,germany has made clear the necessity of
 resisting evil2 second1 that the old   
,protestant doctrine of immediate heaven
 or hell cannot satisfactorily be       
applied to many of the millions of young
 fellows who have gone over2 some idea  
of more gradual progress through an     
intermediate state seems more           
reasonable4 ,but will this be           
sufficient8 ,shall we jog on again1     
after this world-shaking cataclysm1 with
 such a very microscopical              
trimming--such an almost imperceptible  
sail-reefing--as this8 ,will not rather 
the whole theological scheme have to be 
remodelled8 ,can nations which have     
suffered as the belligerents have       
suffered--even those at home1 still more
 the brave lads who have gone through   
experiences such as they never dreamed  
of in their worst nightmares--can these 
people1 even if they wish1 accept the   
old scheme1 or anything like it8  ,i am 
not going to try to answer such a large 

question directly4 ,mr ,wells has       
attempted something of the sort in his  
book1 ,god the ,invisible ,king1 and he 
prophesies a religious revolution4 ,it  
may come as he thinks1 but it is perhaps
 more probable that1 in spite of the    
most earth-shaking events1 a certain    
continuity of thought will be           
maintained4 ,new religions are not      
manufactured complete while you wait1   
like ,pallas emerging full-armed from   
the head of ,zeus2 or1 if they are1 by  
such brilliant ,olympians as ,mr ,wells1
 they do not get themselves accepted4   
,but there probably will be enough of a 
change to be called a very considerable 
thought-revolution1 even allowing for   
some inevitable continuity2 and inasmuch
 as each expression of opinion counts as
 a datum and as a directive agency1 ,i  
venture to make my prophecy4 ,and ,i    
avoid the negative side1 also any       
argument as to whether or why this or   
that particular doctrine will become    
obsolete2 ,i think it better to let     

obsolescent beliefs drop quietly into   
their limbo1 and to concern ourselves   
with the living ones that will replace  
them4  ,first and most important1 the   
idea of ,god4 ,we have heard1 over and  
over again1 the pathetic cry3 ,why does 
,god permit such things8 ,surely ,he    
must be either not ,all-good or not     
,almighty8 ,and one hears of men1 even  
among the clergy1 whose minds have been 
clouded by this difficulty4 ,mr ,wells  
solves the problem in the fashion of ,j4
 ,s4 ,mill and the late ,william ,james1
 by postulating a finite god1 a good    
being who is doing his best but who is  
struggling with a refractory material4  
,to many people this seems a helpful    
notion1 for it saves ,god's goodness and
 gives a pleasurable sense of being     
co-workers with ,him in ,his effort to  
improve things4 ,but to many of us it is
 unsatisfactory4 ,indeed1 if one could  
say such a thing of the author of       
,bealby and of the most genial of modern
 philosophers1 we might say that the    

finite-god idea seems impossible to     
anyone with a sense of humour4 ,is it   
not really rather ridiculous of us to   
decide so solemnly that ,god is no doubt
 a good fellow but that ,he is having a 
tough time of it in fighting ,satan1 and
 that there does not seem to be any     
certainty of ,his winning8 ,perhaps the 
idea appeals to adventurous spirits like
 ,wells and ,james because it has an air
 of being a sporting event1 and promises
 excitement2 but1 ,i repeat1 is it not a
 rather ridiculous proposition for us   
small creatures to make8 ,finite and    
,infinite are words2 ,i am not sure that
 they have any very clear meaning4 ,as  
to infinite in particular1 the idea is  
only a negative one2 we think of        
something finite1 and then say it is not
 that4 ,but even of finite1 can we say  
that it has any useful clear meaning8   
,the pen with which ,i write this may be
 said to be finite1 for ,i can give its 
dimensions1 and in many ways can define 
the limits of its powers4 ,but inasmuch 

as every particle in it attracts every  
other particle of matter in the         
universe1 the little pen's finiteness or
 infinity depends on whether the        
universe itself is finite or infinite2  
and that is a bigger question than our  
small wits can settle4 ,and if it is so 
with a pen1 will it not be more so with 
greater things8  ,we measure things     
against the foot-rule of our own selves4
 ,we can imagine something much greater 
than those selves1 both physical and    
spiritual4 ,but when it comes to        
conceiving the whole physical universe  
of which we form an insignificant part1 
,i do not feel that we can know whether 
it is finite or not4 ,it is too big for 
our foot-rule4 ,even when dealing with  
the distances of the stars1 we realise  
that the billions of miles which we can 
talk about so glibly do not convey much 
to our minds4 ,we can think of a        
distance of a few miles fairly clearly1 
recalling how long it takes us to walk  
so far2 but greater distances soon      

become mere figures1 not representing   
anything that we can picture4 ,and when 
we reach the conception of the whole    
physical universe1 we get quite out of  
our depth4 ,we do not know whether it is
 finite or infinite2 we know only that  
it is inconceivably greater than we are4
  ,so with the spirit which energises   
through it4 ,beginning with what we know
 best1 we find ourselves acquainted with
 a world of mental phenomena bound      
together in and by what we call our     
self4 ,whatever we think of ,hume's     
argument that a mass of experiences do  
not involve a soul that has them1 it is 
reasonable and useful to have a name for
 the active thing which perceives and   
thinks and acts and feels1 whether we   
call it soul or spirit or mind or self  
or x4 ,it is something which maintains a
 sort of identity1 in spite of growth   
and change2 and it is marked off from   
other selves4 ,john ,smith has ,john    
,smith's experiences1 not ,william      
,jones's4 ,this individual spirit       

energises through each of our bodies4   
,of our own spirit we have a very close 
knowledge1 of other spirits we have a   
rather more remote knowledge from       
inference2 we infer their states of mind
 from the states of body which we       
observe1 or from the material effects   
which they cause in speaking or writing4
 ,passing from the inferred human       
spirits 7inferred because certain lumps 
of matter act in a way similar to that  
of the lumps which we call our own      
bodies71 we come to other and larger and
 very different pieces of matter such as
 planets4 ,it may seem at the first     
glance an absurd idea1 but ,i for one   
cannot think of matter as dead1 or of a 
whole planet without any soul except    
what is in the human bodies which make  
up an infinitesimal portion of its mass4
 ,it seems to me that there must be some
 sort of mind energising through the    
planet-mass as my own mind energises    
through my body-mass4 ,and1 carrying the
 idea further1 we arrive at a conception

 of the whole universe as ensouled by a 
,being who in the material immanent     
manifestation is the ,logos of the      
,christian doctrine1 but who also       
transcends the material part as indeed  
the ,christian doctrine teaches4 ,this  
spirit1 transcending the physical       
universe as well as energising through  
it1 is greater in comparison with our   
spirits than the physical universe is in
 comparison with our bodies4 ,therefore1
 once more1 and to a greater degree1 we 
are out of our depth4 ,to throw words   
like finite and infinite at such a      
,being is to make ourselves ridiculous4 
,it is like a microbe sticking its own  
adjective-labels--if it has any--on a   
man1 whom the microbe's vocabulary as a 
matter of fact will not apply to4 ,god  
is too great for our measure4 ,he is    
high as heaven2 what canst thou do8     
deeper than ,sheol2 what canst thou     
know8 ,the measure thereof is longer    
than the earth1 and broader than the    
sea--yea1 than the whole universe       

itself4  ,this conclusion of ,zophar the
 ,naamathite1 acquiesced in by ,job at  
the end of the argument1 seems to some  
minds an evaporation of ,god into an    
,absolute without any human attributes4 
,we feel the necessity or at least the  
desirability of regarding ,him as good1 
loving1 etc41 and we shrink from any    
de-personalisation4 ,but there is a way 
out of the difficulty4 ,god is          
incomprehensible1 as the ,creed says2   
parts cannot comprehend wholes4 ,but    
there is something deep in us1 call it  
what you will1 which tells us that our  
ideals of ,good1 ,truth1 and ,beauty are
 divine2 are ,god in so far as we are   
able to cognise ,him4 ,good1 true1      
beautiful actions and thoughts are ,god 
manifested through our personal         
limitations2 they are rainbow colours   
broken out of the pure white light of   
,god4 ,we do right to worship them4     
,they are the highest we can comprehend1
 though we may reach lame hands of faith
 to the apprehension of the             

,unconditioned4 ,but this is a very     
great mystery1 revealed only to the     
mystic4 ,and it is a dangerous path1 for
 by reaching beyond good and evil we    
lose touch with humanity and with the   
virtues we can exercise1 risking the    
insanity to which ,nietzsche so         
logically succumbed4 ,we may dimly      
apprehend the ,incomprehensible1 but we 
must live and work among                
comprehensibilities4 ,that is what we   
are here for4 ,god is conceived by      
us--and rightly so conceived--as ,good1 
,truth1 ,beauty1 though we can see that 
as ,he really is ,he must transcend     
them4 ,mr ,wells's distinction between  
the ,finite ,god and the ,veiled ,being 
is not an ultimate4 ,the two are one1   
seen as two because of our limitations4 
,they are the rainbow and its source4   
,the sun cannot be looked upon directly1
 but only when dimmed or reflected4     
,then as to immortality4 ,the deaths of 
so many of our best1 and the sorrow thus
 brought into almost every home1 force  

this question into prominence4 ,if blank
 pessimism is to be avoided1 many people
 feel that they must have some assurance
 of the continued existence of those who
 have made the supreme sacrifice--a     
sacrifice at the call of duty1 greater  
probably than any sacrifice ever made by
 us of the older generation who have    
lived in the smooth times of peace4 ,we 
feel that if these magnificent young    
lives have come to nought1 have been    
wasted1 there is no rational religious  
belief possible to us4 ,accordingly we  
inquire about immortality4 ,and1        
curiously enough1 ,science1 which in the
 last generation tended to deny or      
discredit individual survival of bodily 
death1 now gives a quite opposite       
verdict4 ,psychical research brings     
forward scientific evidence for that    
welcome belief4 ,it seems too good to be
 true2 but it is true4 ,public opinion  
has not yet fully accepted it--nor is it
 well that opinion should change too    
rapidly--for it was well drenched in    

materialism during the heyday of        
physical science and its astonishing    
applications in the latter part of the  
nineteenth century1 but the leaders of  
thought in almost all                   
branches--scientific1 legal1 literary1  
and what not--are now admitting that the
 evidence is at least surprising1 and   
those who have studied it most are one  
by one announcing that it is convincing4
 ,there are many questions yet to solve1
 such as the nature and occupations of  
the future life1 concerning which there 
are different views1 and the problems   
may turn out to be insoluble2 but the   
main problem seems on the way to be     
settled4 ,the survival of human         
personality is a fact4 ,and the         
indications1 so far as we have got1     
suggest that the next stage is a life of
 opportunity1 work1 progress1 even more 
than the present one4 ,there is much to 
be thankful for in even this only       
incipient revelation4 ,it is salvation  
great and joyous1 to those reared amid  

unacceptable theories of a blank        
materialism or the much more dreadful   
hell-doctrines of the theologians4  ,the
 religion of the coming time1 then1     
seems likely to be mainly based on these
 two articles1 belief in ,god in the way
 indicated1 and belief in survival and  
progress on the other side4 ,both       
beliefs are empirical1 and are thus in  
harmony with the temper of our time4    
,they begin with the things which are   
most real to us1 first the fact of      
conscious experience1 then the external 
world1 and reason upward therefrom1     
instead of beginning with metaphysical  
entities and attributes1 and reasoning  
down--and failing to establish contact  
with the material world4 ,religious     
experience there still may be1 and this 
may give rise to quite new and          
unexpected forms of belief or worship2  
but on the whole the tendency of thought
 for the last three hundred years has   
been increasingly empirical1 and the    
success of the method is likely to      

ensure its continuance4 ,it may be true 
that the ideal world is the more        
real--probably it is--that out of       
thought's interior sphere these         
phenomenal wonders of the world rose to 
upper air1 as ,emerson says2 but for us 
in the present circumstances the way    
back to universe-spiritualisation is via
 experience 7and mainly                 
sense-presentations7 carefully observed 
and studied4 ,if these scientific       
methods1 which are open to everybody1   
can lead to belief in ,god and a        
spiritual world to which we pass at     
death1 it seems unnecessary to return to
 the bad old days when sporadic         
experiences of this or that ecstatic1 or
 logic-chopping by this or that         
theologian1 led to beliefs and cults of 
widely differing character according to 
the idiosyncracy of the writer4 ,a      
method which is open to all and the     
rules of which are agreed on will be    
likely to yield something like          
unanimity4 ,the churches may yet form   

one fold1 if they will2 in which1 with  
variations to satisfy different         
aesthetic or symbolistic needs1 all     
souls may find the answer to their      
queries1 healing for their sorrow1 and  
scope for their reverence and love2 in a
 word1 salvation4   ,,printed ,,by ,,the
 ,,anchor ,,press ,,ltd41 ,,tiptree1    
,,essex1 ,,england4       ,transcriber's
 ,notes     ,punctuation has been       
corrected without note4    ,the         
following printer's errors have been    
corrected1 on page   #a   neaking       
changed to sneaking 7tinged with a      
sneaking sympathy       for its hero7   
#di  odject changed to object 7that the 
position of the lost       object could7
   #ff  comandingly changed to          
commandingly 7soothingly or             
commandingly filling the patient's mind7
   #ha  handing changed to handed 7would
 not want his enemies handed       over 
to7   #ij  a added 7brutal soldiery1 in 
a ,rouen market-place7   #ij            
,salpetriere changed to ,salpetriere    

7,come to the ,salpetriere              
,hospital1 and ,i will show you7   #ig  
gegenbueer changed to gegenueber 7,die  
,tagesansicht gegenueber       der      
,nachtansicht7   #ih  cerebal changed to
 cerebral 7chemical change in cerebral  
tissue or what not7   #ajj discontinous 
changed to discontinuous 7thin and      
indeed       discontinuous skin which74 
,otherwise oddities and inconsistencies 
of the original text have been          
preserved1 including the spelling of    
foreign names4    ,the first name of    
,mesmer was ,franz1 not ,friedrich4     
,on page #cg a paragraph starts with    
point #a4 ,there is no point #b4