,transcriber's ,note3 ,italic text is denoted by underscores and bold text by equal signs4 ,obvious punctuation and spelling errors have been corrected4 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,stirling1 ,melbourne4 ,,on ,,the ,,warpath ,,in ,,australia1 #aibj-ba4 ,,the ,,wanderings ,,of ,a ,,spiritualist ,,by ,,sir ,,arthur ,,conan ,,doyle ,,author ,,of ,,the ,,new ,,revelation1 ,,the ,,vital ,,message1 ,,etc4 ,aggressive fighting for the right is the noblest sport the world affords4 ,theodore ,roosevelt4 ,,hodder ,,and ,,stoughton ,,limited ,,london ,by ,,sir ,,arthur ,,conan ,,doyle ,,the ,,new ,,revelation ,ninth ,edition4 ,cloth1 #e_/4 net44 ,paper1 #b_/f net4 ,this book is ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle's confession of faith1 very frank1 very courageous and very resolute 444 the courage and large-mindedness of this book deserve cordial recognition4--,,daily ,,chronicle4 ,it is a book that demands our respect and commands our interest4444 ,much more likely to influence the opinion of the general public than ',raymond' or the long reports of the ,society for ,psychical ,research4--,,daily ,,news4 ,,the ,,vital ,,message ,tenth ,thousand4 ,cloth1 #e_/4 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle's ',the ,new ,revelation' was his confession of faith4 ',the ,vital ,message' seeks to show our future relations with the ,unseen ,world4--,,daily ,,chronicle4 444 it is a clear1 earnest presentation of the case1 and will serve as a useful introduction to the subject to anyone anxious to learn what the new ,spiritualists claim for their researches and their faith4444 ,sir ,arthur writes with evident sincerity1 and1 within the limits of his system1 with much broad-mindedness and toleration4--,,daily ,,telegraph4 ,a splendid propaganda book1 written in the author's telling and racy style1 and one that will add to his prestige and renown4--,,two ,,worlds4 ,,spiritualism ,,and ,,rationalism ,,with ,a ,,drastic ,,examination ,,of ,,mr4 ,,joseph ,m',,cabe ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle's trenchant reply to the criticisms of ,spiritualism as formulated by ,mr4 ,joseph ,m',cabe4 ,paper1 #a_/4 net4 ,,hodder ,,stoughton1 ,ltd41 ,london1 ,e4,c4#d ,,contents ,,page ,,chapter ,i #i ,the inception of the enterprise4--,the ,merthyr ,seance4--,experience of ,british lectures4--,call from ,australia4--,the ,holborn luncheon4--,remarkable testimony to communication4--,is individual proof necessary8--,excursion to ,exeter4--,can ,spiritualists continue to be ,christians8--,their views on ,atonement4--,the party on the ,naldera4 ,,chapter ,,ii #bd ,gibraltar4--,spanish right versus ,british might4--,relics of ,barbary ,rovers1 and of ,german militarists4--,ichabod6--,senegal ,infantry4--,no peace for the world4--,religion on a liner4--,differences of vibration4--,the ,bishop of ,kwang-,si4--,religion in ,china4--,whisky in excelsis4--,france's masterpiece4--,british errors4--,a procession of giants4--,the invasion of ,egypt4--,tropical weather4--,the ,russian ,horror4--,an ,indian experiment4--,aden4--,bombay4--,the ,lambeth encyclical4 ,a great novelist4--,the ,mango trick4--,snakes4--,the ,catamarans4--,the ,robber ,castles of ,ceylon4--,doctrine of ,reincarnation4--,whales and ,whalers4--,perth4--,the ,bight4 ,,chapter ,,iii #fj ,mr4 ,hughes' letter of welcome4--,challenges4--,mr4 ,carlyle ,smythe4--,the ,adelaide ,press4--,the great drought4--,the wine industry4--,clairvoyance4--,meeting with ,bellchambers4--,the first lecture4--,the effect4--,the ,religious lecture4--,the illustrated lecture4--,premonitions4--,the spot light4--,mr4 ,thomas' account of the incident4--,correspondence4--,adelaide doctors4--,a day in the ,bush1--,the ,mallee fowl4--,sussex in ,australia4--,farewell to ,adelaide4 ,,chapter ,,iv #hd ,speculations on ,paul and his ,master4--,arrival at ,melbourne4--,attack in the ,argus4--,partial press boycott4--,strength of the movement4--,the ,prince of ,wales4--,victorian football4 ,rescue ,circle in ,melbourne4--,burke and ,wills' statue4--,success of the lectures4--,reception at the ,auditorium4--,luncheon of the ,british ,empire ,league4--,mr4 ,ryan's experience4--,the ,federal ,government4--,mr4 ,hughes' personality4--,the mediumship of ,charles ,bailey4--,his alleged exposure4--,his remarkable record4--,a test sitting4--,the ,indian nest4--,a remarkable lecture4--,arrival of ,lord ,forster4--,the future of the ,empire4--,kindness of ,australians4--,prohibition4 --,horse-racing4--,roman ,catholic policy4 ,,chapter ,v #aad ,more ,english than the ,english4--,a day in the ,bush4--,immigration4--,a case of spirit return4--,a seance4--,geelong4--,the lava plain4--,good-nature of ,general ,ryrie4--,bendigo4--,down a gold mine4--,prohibition v4 ,continuance4--,mrs4 ,knight ,mac,lellan4 --,nerrin4--,a wild drive4--,electric shearing4--,rich sheep stations4 --,cockatoo farmers4--,spinnifex and ,mallee4--,rabbits4--,the great marsh4 ,,chapter ,,vi #acf ,the ,melbourne ,cup4--,psychic healing4--,m4 ,j4 ,bloomfield4--,my own experience4--,direct healing4--,chaos and ,ritual4--,government ,house ,ball4--,the ,rescue ,circle again4--,sitting with ,mrs4 ,harris4--,a good test case4--,australian botany4--,the land of myrtles4--,english cricket team4--,great final meeting in ,melbourne4 ,,chapter ,,vii #aea ,great reception at ,sydney4--,importance of ,sydney4--,journalistic luncheon4--,a psychic epidemic4--,gregory4--,barracking4--,tow n ,hall reception4--,regulation of ,spiritualism4--,an ether apport4--,surfing at ,manly4--,a challenge4--,bigoted opponents4--,a disgruntled photographer4--,outing in the harbour4--,dr4 ,mildred ,creed4--,leon ,gellert4--,norman ,lindsay4--,bishop ,leadbeater4--,our relations with ,theosophy4--,incongruities of ,h4,p4,b4--,of ,d4,d4 ,home4 ,,chapter ,,viii #agf ,dangerous fog4--,the six photographers4--,comic ,advertisements4--,beauties of ,auckland4--,a ,christian clergyman4--,shadows in our ,american relations4--,the ,gallipoli ,stone4--,stevenson and the ,germans4--,position of ,de ,rougemont4--,mr4 ,clement ,wragge4--,atlantean theories4--,a strange psychic4--,wellington the windy4--,a literary oasis4--,a ,maori seance4--,presentation4 ,,chapter ,,ix #aih ,the ,anglican ,colony4--,psychic dangers4--,the learned dog4--,absurd newspaper controversy4--,a backward community4--,the ,maori tongue4--,their origin4--,their treatment by the ,empire4--,a fiasco4--,the ,pa of ,kaiopoi4--,dr4 ,thacker4--,sir ,joseph ,kinsey4--,a generous collector4--,scott and ,amundsen4--,dunedin4--,a genuine medium4--,evidence4--,the ,shipping strike4--,sir ,oliver4--,farewell4 ,,chapter ,x #bbc ,christian origins4--,mithraism4--,astronomy4--,exe rcising boats4--,bad news from home4--,futile strikes4--,labour ,party4--,the blue wilderness4--,journey to ,brisbane4--,warm reception4--,friends and ,foes4--,psychic experience of ,dr4 ,doyle4--,birds4--,criticism on ,melbourne--,spiritualist ,church4--,ceremony4--,sir ,matthew ,nathan4--,alleged repudiation of ,queensland4--,billy tea4--,the bee farm4--,domestic service in ,australia4--,hon4 ,john ,fihilly4--,curious photograph by the ,state photographer4--,the ,orsova4 ,,chapter ,,xi #bee ,medlow ,bath4--,jenolan ,caves4--,giant skeleton4--,mrs4 ,foster ,turner's mediumship4--,a wonderful prophecy4--,final results4--,third sitting with ,bailey4--,failure of ,state ,control4--,retrospection4--,melbourne presentation4--,crooks4--,lecture at ,perth4--,west ,australia4--,rabbits1 sparrows and sharks4 ,,chapter ,,xii #bhj ,pleasing letters4--,visit to ,candy4--,snake and ,flying ,fox4--,buddha's shrine4--,the ,malaya4--,naval digression4--,indian trader4 --,elephanta4--,sea snakes4--,chained to a tombstone4--,berlin's escape4 --,lord ,chetwynd4--,lecture in the ,red ,sea4--,marseilles4 ,,chapter ,,xiii #cjc ,the ,institut ,metaphysique4--,lecture in ,french4--,wonderful musical improviser4--,camille ,flammarion4--,test of materialised hand4--,last ditch of materialism4--,sitting with ,mrs4 ,bisson's medium1 ,eva4--,round the ,aisne battlefields4--,a tragic intermezzo4 --,anglo-,french ,rugby match4--,madame ,blifaud's clairvoyance4 ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,on the ,war-,path in ,australia1 #aibj-aiba ,frontispiece ,facing page ,how ,this ,book was ,written #i ,the ,god-,speed ,luncheon in ,london4 ,on this occasion #bej out of #bij ,guests rose as testimony that they were in ,personal touch with their ,dead #af ,the ,wanderers1 #aibj-aiba #gb ,bellchambers and the ,mallee ,fowl4 ,get along with you1 do #hj ,melbourne1 ,november1 #aibj #if ,a ,typical ,australian ,back-,country ,scene by ,h4 ,j4 ,johnstone1 a ,great ,painter ,who ,died ,unknown4 ,painting in ,adelaide ,national ,gallery #abh ,at ,melbourne ,town ,hall1 ,november #abth1 #aibj #add ,the ,people of ,turi's ,canoe1 after a ,voyage of ,great ,hardship1 at last ,sight the ,shores of ,new ,zealand4 ,from a ,painting by ,c4 ,f4 ,goldie and ,l4 ,g4 ,a4 ,steele #bjh ,laying ,foundation ,stone of ,spiritualist ,church at ,brisbane #bdj ,curious ,photographic ,effect referred to in ,text4 ,taken by the ,official ,photographer1 ,brisbane4 ,absolutely mystifying is his ,description #beb ,our ,party en route to the ,jenolan ,caves1 ,january #bjth1 #aiba4 ,in ,front of ,old ,court ,house in which ,bushrangers were ,tried #bef ,denis with a ,black ,snake at ,medlow ,bath #bfd ,,to ,,my ,,wife4 ,,this ,,memorial ,,of ,a ,,journey ,,which ,,her ,,help ,,and ,,presence ,,changed ,,from ,a ,,duty ,,to ,a ,,pleasure4 ,a4 ,c4 ,d4 ,july #ah_/ba4 ,illustration3 ,,how ,,this ,,book ,,was ,,written4 ,,chapter ,i ,the inception of the enterprise4--,the ,merthyr ,seance4--,experience of ,british lectures4--,call from ,australia4--,the ,holborn luncheon4--,remarkable testimony to communication4--,is individual proof necessary8--,excursion to ,exeter4--,can spiritualists continue to be ,christians8--,their views on ,atonement4--,the party on the ,naldera4 ,this is an account of the wanderings of a spiritualist1 geographical and speculative4 ,should the reader have no interest in psychic things--if indeed any human being can be so foolish as not to be interested in his own nature and fate1--then this is the place to put the book down4 ,it were better also to end the matter now if you have no patience with a go-as-you-please style of narrative1 which founds itself upon the conviction that thought may be as interesting as action1 and which is bound by its very nature to be intensely personal4 ,i write a record of what absorbs my mind which may be very different from that which appeals to yours4 ,but if you are content to come with me upon these terms then let us start with my apologies in advance for the pages which may bore you1 and with my hopes that some may compensate you by pleasure or by profit4 ,i write these lines with a pad upon my knee1 heaving upon the long roll of the ,indian ,ocean1 running large and grey under a grey streaked sky1 with the rain-swept hills of ,ceylon1 just one shade greyer1 lining the ,eastern skyline4 ,so under many difficulties it will be carried on1 which may explain if it does not excuse any slurring of a style1 which is at its best but plain ,english4 ,there was one memorable night when ,i walked forth with my head throbbing and my whole frame quivering from the villa of ,mr4 ,southey at ,merthyr4 ,behind me the brazen glare of ,dowlais iron-works lit up the sky1 and in front twinkled the many lights of the ,welsh town4 ,for two hours my wife and ,i had sat within listening to the whispering voices of the dead1 voices which are so full of earnest life1 and of desperate endeavours to pierce the barrier of our dull senses4 ,they had quivered and wavered around us1 giving us pet names1 sweet sacred things1 the intimate talk of the olden time4 ,graceful lights1 signs of spirit power had hovered over us in the darkness4 ,it was a different and a wonderful world4 ,now with those voices still haunting our memories we had slipped out into the material world--a world of glaring iron works and of twinkling cottage windows4 ,as ,i looked down on it all ,i grasped my wife's hand in the darkness and ,i cried aloud1 ,my ,god1 if they only knew--if they could only know6 ,perhaps in that cry1 wrung from my very soul1 lay the inception of my voyage to the other side of the world4 ,the wish to serve was strong upon us both4 ,god had given us wonderful signs1 and they were surely not for ourselves alone4 ,i had already done the little ,i might4 ,from the moment that ,i had understood the overwhelming importance of this subject1 and realised how utterly it must change and chasten the whole thought of the world when it is whole-heartedly accepted1 ,i felt it good to work in the matter and understood that all other work which ,i had ever done1 or could ever do1 was as nothing compared to this4 ,therefore from the time that ,i had finished the history of the ,great ,war on which ,i was engaged1 ,i was ready to turn all my remaining energies of voice or hand to the one great end4 ,at first ,i had little of my own to narrate1 and my task was simply to expound the spiritual philosophy as worked out by the thoughts and experiences of others1 showing folk so far as ,i was able1 that the superficial and ignorant view taken of it in the ordinary newspapers did not touch the heart of the matter4 ,my own experiences were limited and inconclusive1 so that it was the evidence of others which ,i quoted4 ,but as ,i went forward signs were given in profusion to me also1 such signs as were far above all error or deception1 so that ,i was able to speak with that more vibrant note which comes not from belief or faith1 but from personal experience and knowledge4 ,i had found that the wonderful literature of ,spiritualism did not reach the people1 and that the press was so full of would-be jocosities and shallow difficulties that the public were utterly misled4 ,only one way was left1 which was to speak to the people face to face4 ,this was the task upon which ,i set forth1 and it had led me to nearly every considerable city of ,great ,britain from ,aberdeen to ,torquay4 ,everywhere ,i found interest1 though it varied from the heavier spirit of the sleepy cathedral towns to the brisk reality of centres of life and work like ,glasgow or ,wolverhampton4 ,many a time my halls were packed1 and there were as many outside as inside the building4 ,i have no eloquence and make profession of none1 but ,i am audible and ,i say no more than ,i mean and can prove1 so that my audiences felt that it was indeed truth so far as ,i could see it1 which ,i conveyed4 ,their earnestness and receptiveness were my great help and reward in my venture4 ,those who had no knowledge of what my views were assembled often outside my halls1 waving banners and distributing tracts1 but never once in the course of addressing #aej1jjj people1 did ,i have disturbance in my hall4 ,i tried1 while never flinching from truth1 to put my views in such a way as to hurt no one's feelings1 and although ,i have had clergymen of many denominations as my chairmen1 ,i have had thanks from them and no remonstrance4 ,my enemies used to follow and address meetings1 as they had every right to do1 in the same towns4 ,it is curious that the most persistent of these enemies were ,jesuits on the one side and ,evangelical sects of the ,plymouth ,brethren type upon the other4 ,i suppose the literal interpretation of the ,old ,testament was the common bond4 ,however this is digression1 and when the digressions are taken out of this book there will not be much left4 ,i get back to the fact that the overwhelming effect of the ,merthyr ,seance and of others like it1 made my wife and myself feel that when we had done what we could in ,britain we must go forth to further fields4 ,then came the direct invitation from spiritual bodies in ,australia4 ,i had spent some never-to-be-forgotten days with ,australian troops at the very crisis of the war4 ,my heart was much with them4 ,if my message could indeed bring consolation to bruised hearts and to bewildered minds--and ,i had boxes full of letters to show that it did--then to whom should ,i carry it rather than to those who had fought so splendidly and lost so heavily in the common cause8 ,i was a little weary also after three years of incessant controversy1 speaking often five times a week1 and continually endeavouring to uphold the cause in the press4 ,the long voyage presented attractions1 even if there was hard work at the end of it4 ,there were difficulties in the way4 ,three children1 boys of eleven and nine1 with a girl of seven1 all devotedly attached to their home and their parents1 could not easily be left behind4 ,if they came a maid was also necessary4 ,the pressure upon me of correspondence and interviews would be so great that my old friend and secretary1 ,major ,wood1 would be also needed4 ,seven of us in all therefore1 and a cheque of sixteen hundred pounds drawn for our return tickets1 apart from outfit1 before a penny could be entered on the credit side4 ,however1 ,mr4 ,carlyle ,smythe1 the best agent in ,australia1 had taken the matter up1 and ,i felt that we were in good hands4 ,the lectures would be numerous1 controversies severe1 the weather at its hottest1 and my own age over sixty4 ,but there are compensating forces1 and ,i was constantly aware of their presence4 ,i may count our adventures as actually beginning from the luncheon which was given us in farewell a week or so before our sailing by the spiritualists of ,england4 ,harry ,engholm1 most unselfish of men1 and a born organiser among our most unorganised crowd1 had the matter in hand1 so it was bound to be a success4 ,there was sitting room at the ,holborn ,restaurant for #bij people1 and it was all taken up three weeks before the event4 ,the secretary said that he could have filled the ,albert ,hall4 ,it was an impressive example of the solidity of the movement showing itself for the moment round us1 but really round the cause4 ,there were peers1 doctors1 clergymen1 officers of both services1 and1 above all1 those splendid lower middle class folk1 if one talks in our material earth terms1 who are the spiritual peers of the nation4 ,many professional mediums were there also1 and ,i was honoured by their presence1 for as ,i said in my remarks1 ,i consider that in these days of doubt and sorrow1 a genuine professional medium is the most useful member of the whole community4 ,alas6 how few they are6 ,four photographic mediums do ,i know in all ,britain1 with about twelve physical phenomena mediums and as many really reliable clairvoyants4 ,what are these among so many8 ,but there are many amateur mediums of various degrees1 and the number tends to increase4 ,perhaps there will at last be an angel to every church as in the days of ,john4 ,i see dimly the time when two congregations1 the living and those who have passed on1 shall move forward together with the medium angel as the bridge between them4 ,it was a wonderful gathering1 and ,i only wish ,i could think that my own remarks rose to the height of the occasion4 ,however1 ,i did my best and spoke from my heart4 ,i told how the ,australian visit had arisen1 and ,i claimed that the message that ,i would carry was the most important that the mind of man could conceive1 implying as it did the practical abolition of death1 and the reinforcement of our present religious views by the actual experience of those who have made the change from the natural to the spiritual bodies4 ,speaking of our own experiences1 ,i mentioned that my wife and ,i had actually spoken face to face beyond all question or doubt with eleven friends or relatives who had passed over1 their direct voices being in each case audible1 and their conversation characteristic and evidential--in some cases marvellously so4 ,then with a sudden impulse ,i called upon those in the audience who were prepared to swear that they had had a similar experience to stand up and testify4 ,it seemed for a moment as if the whole audience were on their feet4 ,the ,times next day said #bej out of #bij and ,i am prepared to accept that estimate4 ,men and women1 of all professions and social ranks--,i do not think that ,i exaggerated when ,i said that it was the most remarkable demonstration that ,i had ever seen and that nothing like it had ever occurred in the ,city of ,london4 ,it was vain for those journals who tried to minimise it to urge that in a ,baptist or a ,unitarian assembly all would have stood up to testify to their own faith4 ,no doubt they would1 but this was not a case of faith1 it was a case of bearing witness to fact4 ,there were people of all creeds1 ,church1 dissent1 ,unitarian and ex-materialists4 ,they were testifying to an actual objective experience as they might have testified to having seen the lions in ,trafalgar ,square4 ,if such a public agreement of evidence does not establish a fact then it is indeed impossible1 as ,professor ,challis remarked long ago1 to prove a thing by any human testimony whatever4 ,i confess that ,i was amazed4 ,when ,i remember how many years it was before ,i myself got any final personal proofs ,i should have thought that the vast majority of ,spiritualists were going rather upon the evidence of others than upon their own4 ,and yet #bej out of #bij had actually joined hands across the border4 ,i had no idea that the direct proof was so widely spread4 ,i have always held that people insist too much upon direct proof4 ,what direct proof have we of most of the great facts of ,science8 ,we simply take the word of those who have examined4 ,how many of us have1 for example1 seen the rings of ,saturn8 ,we are assured that they are there1 and we accept the assurance4 ,strong telescopes are rare1 and so we do not all expect to see the rings with our own eyes4 ,in the same way strong mediums are rare1 and we cannot all expect to experience the higher psychic results4 ,but if the assurance of those who have carefully experimented1 of the ,barretts1 the ,hares1 the ,crookes1 the ,wallaces1 the ,lodges and the ,lombrosos1 is not enough1 then it is manifest that we are dealing with this matter on different terms to those which we apply to all the other affairs of science4 ,it would of course be different if there were a school of patient investigators who had gone equally deeply into the matter and come to opposite conclusions4 ,then we should certainly have to find the path of truth by individual effort4 ,but such a school does not exist4 ,only the ignorant and inexperienced are in total opposition1 and the humblest witness who has really sought the evidence has more weight than they4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,god-,,speed ,,luncheon ,,in ,,london4 ,on this occasion #bej out of #bij guests rose as testimony that they were in personal touch with their dead4 ,after the luncheon my wife made the final preparations--and only ladies can tell what it means to fit out six people with tropical and semi-tropical outfits which will enable them for eight months to stand inspection in public4 ,i employed the time by running down to ,devonshire to give addresses at ,exeter and ,torquay1 with admirable audiences at both4 ,good ,evan ,powell had come down to give me a last seance1 and ,i had the joy of a few last words with my arisen son1 who blessed me on my mission and assured me that ,i would indeed bring solace to bruised hearts4 ,the words he uttered were a quotation from my ,london speech at which ,powell had not been present1 nor had the verbatim account of it appeared anywhere at that time4 ,it was one more sign of how closely our words and actions are noted from the other side4 ,powell was tired1 having given a sitting the night before1 so the proceedings were short1 a few floating lights1 my son and my sister's son to me1 one or two greetings to other sitters1 and it was over4 ,whilst in ,exeter ,i had a discussion with those who would break away from ,christianity4 ,they are a strong body within the movement1 and how can ,christians be surprised at it when they remember that for seventy years they have had nothing but contempt and abuse for the true light-bearers of the world8 ,is there at the present moment one single bishop1 or one head of a ,free ,church1 who has the first idea of psychic truth8 ,dr4 ,parker had1 in his day1 so too ,archdeacons ,wilberforce and ,colley1 ,mr4 ,haweis and a few others4 ,general ,booth has also testified to spiritual communion with the dead4 ,but what have ,spiritualists had in the main save misrepresentation and persecution8 ,hence the movement has admittedly1 so far as it is an organised religion--and it has already #cfj churches and #a1jjj building funds--taken a purely ,unitarian turn4 ,this involves no disrespect towards ,him ,whom they look upon as the greatest ,spirit who ever trod the earth1 but only a deep desire to communicate direct without intermediary with that tremendous centre of force from and to whom all things radiate or return4 ,they are very earnest and good men1 these organised religious ,spiritualists1 and for the most part1 so far as my experience goes1 are converts from materialism who1 having in their materialistic days said very properly that they would believe nothing which could not be proved to them1 are ready now with ,thomas to be absolutely wholehearted when the proof of survival and spirit communion has actually reached them4 ,there1 however1 the proof ends1 nor will they go further than the proof extends1 as otherwise their original principles would be gone4 ,therefore they are ,unitarians with a breadth of vision which includes ,christ1 ,krishna1 ,buddha and all the other great spirits whom ,god has sent to direct different lines of spiritual evolution which correspond to the different needs of the various races of mankind4 ,our information from the beyond is that this evolution is continued beyond the grave1 and very far on until all details being gradually merged1 they become one as children of ,god4 ,with a deep reverence for ,christ it is undeniable that the organised ,spiritualist does not accept vicarious atonement nor original sin1 and believes that a man reaps as he sows with no one but himself to pull out the weeds4 ,it seems to me the more virile and manly doctrine1 and as to the texts which seem to say otherwise1 we cannot deny that the ,new ,testament has been doctored again and again in order to square the record of the ,scriptures with the practice of the ,church4 ,professor ,nestle1 in the preface to a work on theology 7,i write far from books of reference71 remarks that there were actually officials named ,correctores1 who were appointed at the time of the ,council of ,nicaea for this purpose1 and ,st4 ,jerome1 when he constructed the ,vulgate1 complains to ,pope ,damasus that it is practically a new book that he is making1 putting any sin arising upon the ,pope's head4 ,in the face of such facts we can only accept the spirit of the ,new ,testament fortified with common sense1 and using such interpretation as brings most spiritual strength to each of us4 ,personally1 ,i accept the view of the organised ,spiritual religion1 for it removes difficulties which formerly stood between me and the whole ,christian system1 but ,i would not say or do anything which would abash those others who are getting real spiritual help from any sort of ,christian belief4 ,the gaining of spirituality and widening of the personality are the aims of life1 and how it is done is the business of the individual4 ,every creed has produced its saints and has to that extent justified its existence4 ,i like the ,unitarian position of the main ,spiritual body1 however1 because it links the movement up with the other great creeds of the world and makes it more accessible to the ,jew1 the ,mohammedan or the ,buddhist4 ,it is far too big to be confined within the palings of ,christianity4 ,here is a little bit of authentic teaching from the other side which bears upon the question4 ,i take it from the remarkable record of ,mr4 ,miller of ,belfast1 whose dialogues with his son after the death of the latter seem to me to be as certainly true as any case which has come to my notice4 ,on asking the young soldier some question about the exact position of ,christ in religion he modestly protested that such a subject was above his head1 and asked leave to bring his higher guide to answer the question4 ,using a fresh voice and in a new and more weighty manner the medium then said3-- ,i wish to answer your question4 ,jesus the ,christ is the proper designation4 ,jesus was perfect humanity4 ,christ was the ,god idea in ,him4 ,jesus1 on account of ,his purity1 manifested in the highest degree the psychic powers which resulted in ,his miracles4 ,jesus never preached the blood of the lamb4 ,the disciples after ,his ascension forgot the message in admiration of the man4 ,the ,christ is in every human being1 and so are the psychic forces which were used by ,jesus4 ,if the same attention were given to spiritual development which you give to the comfort and growth of your material bodies your progress in spiritual life would be rapid and would be characterised by the same works as were performed by ,jesus4 ,the one essential thing for all on earth to strive after is a fuller knowledge and growth in spiritual living4 ,i think that the phrase1 ,in their admiration of the man they forgot ,his message1 is as pregnant a one as ,i ever heard4 ,to come back then to the discussion at ,exeter1 what ,i said then and feel now is that every ,spiritualist is free to find his own path1 and that as a matter of fact his typical path is a ,unitarian one1 but that this in no way obscures the fact that our greatest leaders1 ,lodge1 ,barrett1 ,ellis ,powell1 ,tweedale1 are devoted sons of the ,church1 that our literature is full of ,christian aspiration1 and that our greatest prophet1 ,vale ,owen1 is a priest of a particularly sacerdotal turn of mind4 ,we are in a transition stage1 and have not yet found any common theological position1 or any common position at all1 save that the dead carry on1 that they do not change1 that they can under proper physical conditions communicate with us1 and that there are many physical signs by which they make their presence known to us4 ,that is our common ground1 and all beyond that is matter of individual observation and inference4 ,therefore1 we are not in a position to take on any anti-,christian agitation1 for it would be against the conscience of the greater part of our own people4 ,well1 it is clear that if ,i do not begin my book ,i shall finish it before ,i have begun1 so let me end this chapter by saying that in despite of all superstition we started for ,australia in the good ship ,naldera 7,capt4 ,lewellin1 ,r4,n4,r471 on ,friday1 ,august #acth1 #aibj4 ,as we carried two bishops in addition to our ominous dates we were foredoomed by every nautical tradition4 ,our party were my dear1 splendid wife1 who has shared both my evidence and my convictions4 ,she it is who1 by breaking up her household1 leaving her beloved home1 breaking the schooling of her children1 and venturing out upon a sea voyage1 which of all things she hates1 has made the real sacrifice for the cause4 ,as to me1 ,i am fond of change and adventure1 and heartily agree with ,president ,roosevelt when he said that the grandest sport upon earth is to champion an unpopular cause which you know to be true4 ,with us were ,denis1 ,malcolm and ,baby1 concerning whom ,i wrote the ,three of them sketches some years ago4 ,in their train was ,jakeman1 most faithful of maids1 and in mine ,major ,wood1 who has been mixed up in my life ever since as young men we played both cricket and football in the same team4 ,such was the little party who set forth to try and blow that smouldering glow of truth which already existed in ,australia1 into a more lively flame4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,gibraltar4--,spanish right versus ,british might4--,relics of ,barbary ,rovers1 and of ,german militarists4--,ichabod6 ,senegal ,infantry4--,no peace for the world4--,religion on a liner4--,differences of vibration4--,the ,bishop of ,kwang-,si4--,religion in ,china4--,whisky in excelsis4--,france's masterpiece4--,british errors4--,a procession of giants4--,the invasion of ,egypt4--,tropical weather4--,the ,russian ,horror4--,an ,indian experiment4--,aden4--,bombay4--,the ,lambeth encyclical4--,a great novelist4--,the ,mango trick4--,snakes4--,the ,catamarans4--,the ,robber ,castles of ,ceylon4--,doctrine of ,reincarnation4--,whales and ,whalers4--,perth4--,the ,bight4 ,we had a favourable journey across the ,bay and came without adventure to ,gibraltar1 that strange crag1 ,arabic by name1 ,african in type1 ,spanish by right1 and ,british by might4 ,i trust that my whole record has shown me to be a loyal son of the ,empire1 and ,i recognise that we must have a secure line of communications with the ,east1 but if any change could give us ,ceuta1 on the opposite ,african coast1 instead of this outlying corner of proud old ,spain1 it would be good policy as well as good morality to make the change4 ,i wonder how we should like it if the ,french held a garrison at ,mount ,st4 ,michael in ,cornwall1 which would be a very similar situation4 ,is it worth having a latent enemy who at any time might become an active one1 or is it wiser to hold them to us by the memory of a great voluntary act of justice8 ,they would pay1 of course1 for all quays1 breakwaters and improvements1 which would give us the money to turn ,ceuta into a worthy substitute1 which could be held without offending the pride of a great nation1 as old and proud as ourselves4 ,the whole lesson of this great war is that no nation can do what is unjust with impunity1 and that sooner or later one's sin will find one out4 ,how successful seemed all the scheming of ,frederick of ,prussia6 ,but what of ,silesia and of ,poland now8 ,only on justice can you build with a permanent foundation1 and there is no justice in our tenure of ,gibraltar4 ,we had only an hour ashore1 a great joy to the children1 and carried away a vague impression of grey-shirted ,tommies1 swarthy loungers1 one long1 cobblestoned street1 scarlet blossoms1 and a fine ,governor's house1 in which ,i picture that brave old warrior1 ,smith-,dorrien1 writing a book which will set all the critics talking1 and the military clubs buzzing a year or two from now4 ,i do not know if he was really forced to fight at ,le ,cateau1 though our sympathies must always go to the man who fights1 but ,i do feel that if he had had his way and straightened the salient of ,ypres1 there would have been a mighty saving of blood and tears4 ,there were sentimental reasons against it1 but ,i can think of no material ones--certainly none which were worth all the casualties of the ,salient4 ,i had only one look at the place1 and that by night1 but never shall ,i forget the murderous loop1 outlined by star shells1 nor the horrible noises which rose up from that place of wrath and misery4 ,on ,august #aith we were running up the eastern ,spanish coast1 a most desolate country of high bare cliffs and barren uplands1 studded with aged towers which told of pirate raids of old4 ,these ,mediterranean shore dwellers must have had a hellish life1 when the ,barbary ,rover was afloat1 and they might be wakened any night by the ,moslem yell4 ,truly1 if the object of human life was chastening by suffering1 then we have given it to each other in full measure4 ,if this were the only life ,i do not know how the hypothesis of the goodness of ,god could be sustained1 since our history has been one hardly broken record of recurring miseries1 war1 famine1 and disease1 from the ice to the equator4 ,i should still be a materialist1 as ,i was of yore1 if it were not for the comfort and teaching from beyond1 which tells me that this is the worst--far the worst--and that by its standard everything else becomes most gloriously better1 so long as we help to make it so4 ,if the boys knew what it was like over here1 said a dead soldier1 they would just jump for it4 ,he added however1 ,if they did that they would surely miss it4 ,we cannot bluff ,providence1 or short-circuit things to our liking4 ,we got ashore once more at ,marseilles4 ,i saw converted ,german merchant ships1 with names like ,burgomeister ,mueller1 in the harbour1 and railway trucks with ,mainz-,coeln still marked upon their flanks--part of the captured loot4 ,germany1 that name of terror1 how short is the time since we watched you well-nigh all-powerful1 mighty on land1 dangerous on the sea1 conquering the world with your commerce and threatening it with your arms6 ,you had everything1 numbers1 discipline1 knowledge1 industry1 bravery1 organisation1 all in the highest--such an engine as the world has never seen4 ,and now--,ichabod6 ,ichabod6 ,your warships lie under the waves1 your liners fly the flags of your enemies1 your mother ,rhine on either bank hears the bugles of your invaders4 ,what was wanting in you to bring you to such a pass8 ,was it not spirituality8 ,had not your churches become as much a department of ,state as the ,post ,office1 where every priest and pastor was in ,state pay1 and said that which the ,state ordained8 ,all other life was at its highest1 but spiritual life was dead1 and because it was dead all the rest had taken on evil activities which could only lead to dissolution and corruption4 ,had ,germany obeyed the moral law would she not now be great and flourishing1 instead of the ruin which we see8 ,was ever such an object lesson in sin and its consequence placed before the world8 ,but let us look to it1 for we also have our lesson to learn1 and our punishment is surely waiting if we do not learn it4 ,if now after such years we sink back into old ruts and do not make an earnest effort for real religion and real active morality1 then we cumber the ground1 and it is time that we were swept away1 for no greater chance of reform can ever come to us4 ,i saw some of the ,senegal troops in the streets of ,marseilles--a whole battalion of them marching down for re-embarkation4 ,they are fierce1 hard soldiers1 by the look of them1 for the negro is a natural fighter1 as the prize ring shows1 and these have long service training upon the top of this racial pugnacity4 ,they look pure savages1 with the tribal cuts still upon their faces1 and ,i do not wonder that the ,germans objected to them1 though we cannot doubt that the ,germans would themselves have used their ,askaris in ,europe as well as in ,africa if they could have done so4 ,the men who had as allies the murderers of the ,armenians would not stick at trifles4 ,i said during the war1 and ,i can clearly see now1 that the way in which the war was fought will prove hardly second to the war itself as a misfortune to the human race4 ,a clean war could end in a clean peace4 ,but how can we ever forget the poison gas1 the ,zeppelin bombardments of helpless cities1 the submarine murders1 the scattering of disease germs1 and all the other atrocities of ,germany8 ,no water of oblivion can ever wash her clean4 ,she had one chance1 and only one4 ,it was to at once admit it all herself and to set to work purging her national guilt by punishing guilty individuals4 ,perhaps she may even now save herself and clear the moral atmosphere of the world by doing this4 ,but time passes and the signs are against it4 ,there can be no real peace in the world until voluntary reparation has been made4 ,forced reparation can only make things worse1 for it cannot satisfy us1 and it must embitter them4 ,i long for real peace1 and should love to see our ,spiritualist bodies lead the van4 ,but the time is not yet and it is realities we need1 not phrases4 ,old travellers say that they never remember the ,mediterranean so hot4 ,we went down it with a following breeze which just neutralised our own head wind1 the result being a quivering tropical heat4 ,with the ,red ,sea before us it was no joke to start our trials so soon1 and already the children began to wilt4 ,however1 ,major ,wood kept them at work for the forenoons and discipline still flourished4 ,on the third day out we were south of ,crete1 and saw an island lying there which is surely the same in the lee of which ,paul's galley took refuge when ,euroclydon was behaving so badly4 ,i had been asked to address the first-class passengers upon psychic religion that evening1 and it was strange indeed to speak in those waters1 for ,i knew well that however ill my little pip-squeak might compare with that mighty voice1 yet it was still the same battle of the unseen against the material1 raging now as it did #b1jjj years ago4 ,some #bjj of the passengers1 with the ,bishop of ,kwang-,si1 turned up1 and a better audience one could not wish1 though the acoustic properties of the saloon were abominable4 ,however1 ,i got it across1 though ,i was as wet as if ,i had fallen overboard when ,i had finished4 ,i was pleased to learn afterwards that among the most keen of my audience were every colored man and woman on the ship1 ,parsees1 ,hindoos1 ,japanese and ,mohammedans4 ,do you believe it is true8 they were asked next day4 ,we know that it is true1 was the answer1 and it came from a lady with a red caste-mark like a wafer upon her forehead4 ,so far as ,i could learn she spoke for all the ,eastern folk4 ,and the others8 ,at least ,i set them talking and thinking4 ,i heard next morning of a queue of six waiting at the barber's all deep in theological discussion1 with the barber himself1 razor in hand1 joining warmly in4 ,there has never been so much religion talked on a ,p4 ,o4 ship since the line was started1 said one old traveller4 ,it was all good-humoured and could do no harm4 ,before we had reached ,port ,said all my books on the subject were lent out to eager readers1 and ,i was being led aside into remote corners and cross-questioned all day4 ,i have a number of good psychic photographs with me1 some of them of my own taking1 and all of them guaranteed1 and ,i find these valuable as making folk realise that my words do in truth represent realities4 ,i have the famous fairy photos also1 which will appear in ,england in the ,christmas number of the ,strand4 ,i feel as if it were a delay-action mine which ,i had left behind me4 ,i can imagine the cry of ,fake6 which will arise4 ,but they will stand investigation4 ,it has of course nothing to do with ,spiritualism proper1 but everything which can shake the mind out of narrow1 material grooves1 and make it realise that endless worlds surround us1 separated only by difference of vibration1 must work in the general direction of truth4 ,difference of ,vibration--,i have been trying lately to get behind mere words and to realise more clearly what this may mean4 ,it is a fascinating and fruitful line of thought4 ,it begins with my electric fan whizzing over my head4 ,as it starts with slow vibration ,i see the little propellers4 ,soon they become a dim mist1 and finally ,i can see them no more4 ,but they are there4 ,at any moment1 by slowing the movement1 ,i can bring them back to my vision4 ,why do ,i not see it all the time8 ,because the impression is so fast that my retina has not time to register it4 ,can we not imagine then that some objects may emit the usual light waves1 long enough and slow enough to leave a picture1 but that other objects may send waves which are short and steep1 and therefore make so swift an impression that it is not recorded8 ,that1 so far as ,i can follow it1 is what we mean by an object with a higher rate of vibration4 ,it is but a feeling out into the dark1 but it is a hypothesis which may serve us to carry on with1 though the clairvoyant seems to be not a person with a better developed physical retina1 but rather one who has the power to use that which corresponds with the retina in their own etheric bodies which are in harmony with etheric waves from outside4 ,when a man can walk round a room and examine the pictures with the back of his head1 as ,tom ,tyrrell has done1 it is clear that it is not his physical retina which is working4 ,in countless cases inquirers into magnetic phenomena have caused their subjects to read with various parts of their bodies4 ,it is the other body1 the etheric body1 the spiritual body of ,paul1 which lies behind all such phenomena--that body which is loose with all of us in sleep1 but only exceptionally in waking hours4 ,once we fully understand the existence of that deathless etheric body1 merged in our own but occasionally detachable1 we have mastered many a problem and solved many a ghost story4 ,however1 ,i must get back to my ,cretan lecture4 ,the bishop was interested1 and ,i lent him one of the ,rev4 ,charles ,tweedale's pamphlets next day1 which shows how sadly ,christianity has wandered away from its early faith of spiritual gifts and ,communion of ,saints4 ,both have now become words instead of things1 save among our ranks4 ,the bishop is a good fellow1 red and rough like a ,boer farmer1 but healthy1 breezy1 and ,apostolic4 ,do mention his kind grey eyes1 says my wife4 ,he may die a martyr yet in that inland diocese of ,china--and he would not shrink from it4 ,meanwhile1 apart from his dogma1 which must be desperately difficult to explain to an educated ,chinaman1 he must always be a centre of civilisation and social effort4 ,a splendid fellow--but he suffers from what all bishops and all cardinals and all ,popes suffer from1 and that is superannuation4 ,a physiologist has said that few men can ever entertain a new idea after fifty4 ,how then can any church progress when all its leaders are over that age8 ,this is why ,christianity has stagnated and degenerated4 ,if here and there one had a new idea1 how could it survive the pressure of the others8 ,it is hopeless4 ,in this particular question of psychic religion the whole order is an inversion1 for the people are ahead of the clergy and the clergy of the bishops4 ,but when the laymen lead strongly enough the others will follow unless they wish to see the whole ,church organisation dissolve4 ,he was very interesting upon the state of ,christianity in ,china4 ,protestantism1 thanks to the joint ,british and ,american ,missions1 is gaining upon ,roman ,catholicism1 and has now far outstripped it1 but the ,roman ,catholic organisations are very wealthy on account of ancient valuable concessions and well-invested funds4 ,in case of a ,bolshevist movement that may be a source of danger1 as it gives a reason for attack4 ,the ,bishop made the very striking remark that if the whites cleared right out of ,china all the ,christian ,churches of divers creeds would within a generation merge into one creed4 ,what have we to do1 they say1 with these old historical quarrels which are hardly intelligible to us8 ,we are all followers of ,christ1 and that is enough4 ,truly1 the converted seem far ahead of those who converted them4 ,it is the priesthoods1 the organisations1 the funds and the vested interests which prevent the ,churches from being united4 ,in the meanwhile ninety per cent4 of our population shows what it thinks by never entering into a church at all4 ,personally1 ,i can never remember since ,i reached manhood feeling myself the better for having gone into one4 ,and yet ,i have been an earnest seeker for truth4 ,verily1 there is something deep down which is rotten4 ,it is want of fact1 want of reality1 words instead of things4 ,only last ,sunday ,i shuddered as ,i listened to the hymns1 and it amazed me to look around and see the composed faces of those who were singing them4 ,do they think what they are saying1 or does ,faith atrophy some part of the brain8 ,we are born through water and blood into the true church4 ,we drink precious blood4 ,he hath broken the teeth in their jaw4 ,can such phrases really mean anything to any thoughtful man8 ,if not1 why continue them8 ,you will have your churches empty while you do4 ,people will not argue about it--they will1 and do1 simply stay away4 ,and the clergy go on stating and restating incredible unproved things1 while neglecting and railing at those which could be proved and believed4 ,on our lines those nine out of ten could be forced back to a reconsideration of their position1 even though that position would not square with all the doctrines of present-day ,christianity1 which would1 ,i think1 have offended the early ,christians as much as it does the earnest thinkers of to-day4 ,port ,said came at last1 and we entered the ,suez ,canal4 ,it is a shocking thing that the entrance to this1 one of the most magnificent of the works of man1 are flanked by great sky advertisements of various brands of whisky4 ,the sale of whisky may or may not be a tolerable thing1 but its flaunting advertisements1 ,dewar1 ,johnny ,walker1 and the rest1 have surely long been intolerable4 ,if anything would make me a total prohibitionist those would4 ,they are shameless4 ,i do not know if some middle way could be found by which light alcoholic drinks could remain--so light that drunkenness would be hardly possible--but if this cannot be done1 then let us follow the noble example of ,america4 ,it is indeed shameful to see at the very point of the world where some noble sentiment might best be expressed these huge reminders of that which has led to so much misery and crime4 ,to a ,frenchman it must seem even worse than to us1 while what the abstemious ,mohammedan can think is beyond my imagination4 ,in that direction at least the religion of ,mohammed has done better than that of ,christ4 ,if all those ,esquimaux1 ,south ,sea ,islanders and others who have been converted to ,christianity and then debauched by drink1 had followed the prophet instead1 it cannot be denied that their development would have been a happier and a higher one1 though the cast-iron doctrines and dogmas of the ,moslem have dangers of their own4 ,has ,france ever had the credit she deserves for the splendid faith with which she followed that great beneficent genius ,lesseps in his wonderful work8 ,it is beautiful from end to end1 ,french in its neatness1 its order1 its exquisite finish4 ,truly the opposition of our people1 both experts and public1 was a disgrace to us1 though it sinks into insignificance when compared with our colossal national stupidity over the ,channel tunnel4 ,when our descendants compute the sums spent in shipping and transhipping in the great war1 the waste of merchant ships and convoys1 the sufferings of the wounded1 the delay in reinforcements1 the dependence upon the weather1 they will agree that our sin had found us out and that we have paid a fitting price for our stupidity4 ,unhappily1 it was not our blind guides who paid it1 but it was the soldier and sailor and taxpayer1 for the nation always pays collectively for the individual blunder4 ,would a hundred million pounds cover the cost of that one8 ,well can ,i remember how a year before war was declared1 seeing clearly what was coming1 ,i sent three memoranda to the ,naval and ,military authorities and to the ,imperial ,council of ,defence pointing out exactly what the situation would be1 and especially the danger to our transports4 ,it is admitted now that it was only the strange inaction of the ,german light forces1 and especially their want of comprehension of the possibilities of the submarine1 which enabled our ,expeditionary ,force to get across at all1 so that we might have lost the war within the first month4 ,but as to my poor memoranda1 which proved so terribly correct1 ,i might as well have dropped them into my own wastepaper basket instead of theirs1 and so saved the postage4 ,my only convert was ,captain1 now ,general1 ,swinton1 part inventor of the tanks1 who acted as ,secretary to the ,imperial ,defence ,committee1 and who told me at the time that my paper had set him thinking furiously4 ,which leads my thoughts to the question of the torpedoing of merchant vessels by submarines4 ,so sure was ,i that the ,germans would do this1 that after knocking at official doors in vain1 ,i published a sketch called ,danger1 which was written a year before the war1 and depicted all that afterwards occurred1 even down to such small details as the ships zig-zagging up ,channel to escape1 and the submarines using their guns to save torpedoes4 ,i felt as if1 like ,solomon ,eagle1 ,i could have marched down ,fleet ,street with a brazier on my head if ,i could only call people's attention to the coming danger4 ,i saw naval officers on the point1 but they were strangely blind1 as is shown by the comments printed at the end of ,danger1 which give the opinions of several admirals pooh-poohing my fears4 ,among others ,i saw ,captain ,beatty1 as he then was1 and found him alive to the possible danger1 though he did not suggest a remedy4 ,his quiet1 brisk personality impressed me1 and ,i felt that our national brain-errors might perhaps be made good in the end by the grit that is in us4 ,but how hard were our tasks from our want of foresight4 ,admiral ,von ,capelle did me the honour to say during the war1 in the ,german ,reichstag1 that ,i was the only man who had prophesied the conditions of the great naval war4 ,as a matter of fact1 both ,fisher and ,scott had done so1 though they had not given it to the public in the same detail--but nothing had been done4 ,we know now that there was not a single harbour proof against submarines on our whole ,east ,coast4 ,truly the hand of the ,lord was over ,england4 ,nothing less could have saved her4 ,we tied up to the bank soon after entering the ,canal1 and lay there most of the night while a procession of great ships moving northwards swept silently past us in the ring of vivid light cast by their searchlights and our own4 ,i stayed on deck most of the night to watch them4 ,the silence was impressive--those huge structures sweeping past with only the slow beat of their propellers and the wash of their bow wave on either side4 ,no sooner had one of these great shapes slid past than1 looking down the ,canal1 one saw the brilliant head light of another in the distance4 ,they are only allowed to go at the slowest pace1 so that their wash may not wear away the banks4 ,finally1 the last had passed1 and we were ourselves able to cast off our warps and push southwards4 ,i remained on deck seeing the sun rise over the ,eastern desert1 and then a wonderful slow-moving panorama of ,egypt as the bank slid slowly past us4 ,first desert1 then green oases1 then the long line of rude fortifications from ,kantara downwards1 with the camp fires smoking1 groups of early busy ,tommies and endless dumps of stores4 ,here and to the south was the point where the ,turks with their ,german leaders attempted the invasion of ,egypt1 carrying flat-bottomed boats to ford the ,canal4 ,how they were ever allowed to get so far is barely comprehensible1 but how they were ever permitted to get back again across one hundred miles of desert in the face of our cavalry and camelry is altogether beyond me4 ,even their guns got back untaken4 ,they dropped a number of mines in the ,canal1 but with true ,turkish slovenliness they left on the banks at each point the long bamboos on which they had carried them across the desert1 which considerably lessened the work of those who had to sweep them up4 ,the sympathies of the ,egyptians seems to have been against us1 and yet they have no desire to pass again under the rule of the ,turk4 ,our dominion has had the effect of turning a very poor country into a very rich one1 and of securing some sort of justice for the fellah or peasant1 but since we get no gratitude and have no trade preference it is a little difficult to see how we are the better for all our labours4 ,so long as the ,canal is secure--and it is no one's interest to injure it--we should be better if the country governed itself4 ,we have too many commitments1 and if we have to take new ones1 such as ,mesopotamia1 it would be well to get rid of some of the others where our task is reasonably complete4 ,we never let the youngsters grow up1 said a friendly critic4 ,there is1 however1 ,i admit1 another side to the question1 and the idea of permitting a healthy moral place like ,port ,said to relapse into the hotbed of gambling and syphilis which it used to be1 is repugnant to the mind4 ,which is better--that a race be free1 immoral and incompetent1 or that it be forced into morality and prosperity8 ,that question meets us at every turn4 ,the children have been delighted by the fish on the surface of the ,canal4 ,their idea seems to be that the one aim and object of our excursion is to see sharks in the sea and snakes in ,australia4 ,we did actually see a shark half ashore upon a sandbank in one of the lower lakes near ,suez4 ,it was lashing about with a frantic tail1 and so got itself off into deep water4 ,to the west all day we see the very wild and barren country through which our ancestors used to drive upon the overland route when they travelled by land from ,cairo to ,suez4 ,the smoke of a tiny mail-train marks the general line of that most desolate road4 ,in the evening we were through the ,canal and marked the rugged shore upon our left down which the ,israelites pursued their way in the direction of ,sinai4 ,one wonders how much truth there is in the narrative4 ,on the one hand it is impossible to doubt that something of the sort did occur4 ,on the other1 the impossibility of so huge a crowd living on the rare wells of the desert is manifest4 ,but numbers are not the strong point of an ,oriental historian4 ,perhaps a thousand or two may have followed their great leader upon that perilous journey4 ,i have heard that ,moses either on his own or through his wife was in touch with ,babylonian habits4 ,this would explain those tablets of stone1 or of inscribed clay burned into brick1 which we receive as the ,ten ,commandments1 and which only differ from the moral precepts of other races in the strange limitations and omissions4 ,at least ten new ones have long been needed to include drunkenness1 gluttony1 pride1 envy1 bigotry1 lying and the rest4 ,the weather grows hotter and hotter1 so that one aged steward who has done #ajj voyages declares it to be unique4 ,one passenger has died4 ,several stewards have collapsed4 ,the wind still keeps behind us4 ,in the midst of all this ,i had an extensively signed petition from the second class passengers that ,i should address them4 ,i did so1 and spoke on deck for forty minutes to a very attentive audience which included many of the officers of the ship4 ,i hope ,i got my points across to them4 ,i was a sad example of sweated labour when ,i had finished4 ,my wife tells me that the people were impressed4 ,as ,i am never aware of the presence of any individual when ,i am speaking on this subject ,i rely upon my wife's very quick and accurate feminine impressions4 ,she sits always beside me1 notes everything1 gives me her sympathetic atmosphere which is of such psychic importance1 and finally reports the result4 ,if any point of mine seems to her to miss its mark ,i unhesitatingly take it out4 ,it interests me to hear her tell of the half-concealed sneer with which men listen to me1 and how it turns into interest1 bewilderment and finally something like reverence and awe as the brain gradually realises the proved truth of what ,i am saying1 which upsets the whole philosophy on which their lives are built4 ,there are several ,australian officers on board who are coming from the ,russian front full of dreadful stories of ,bolshevist atrocities1 seen with their own eyes4 ,the executioners were ,letts and ,chinese1 and the instigators renegade ,jews1 so that the ,russians proper seem to have been the more or less innocent dupes4 ,they had dreadful photographs of tortured and mutilated men as corroboration4 ,surely hell1 the place of punishment and purgatorial expiation1 is actually upon this earth in such cases4 ,one leader seems to have been a ,sadic madman1 for after torturing his victims till even the ,chinese executioners struck1 he would sit playing a violin very exquisitely while he gloated over their agonies4 ,all these ,australian boys agree that the matter will burn itself out1 and that it will end in an immense massacre of ,jews which may involve the whole seven millions now in ,russia4 ,god forbid1 but the outlook is ominous6 ,i remember a prophecy which ,i read early in the war that a great figure would arise in the north and have power for six years4 ,if ,lenin was the great figure then he has1 according to the prophet1 about two years more to run4 ,but prophecy is fitful1 dangerous work4 ,the way in which the founders of the ,christian faith all foretold the imminent end of the world is an example4 ,what they dimly saw was no doubt the destruction of ,jerusalem1 which seems to have been equally clear to ,ezekiel #fjj years before1 for his picture of cannibalism and dispersion is very exact4 ,it is wonderful what chances of gaining direct information one has aboard a ship of this sort1 with its mixed crowd of passengers1 many of them famous in their own lines4 ,i have already alluded to the officers returning from ,russia with their prophecies of evil4 ,but there are many other folk with tales of deep interest4 ,there is a ,mr4 ,covell1 a solid practical ,briton1 who may prove to be a great pioneer1 for he has made farming pay handsomely in the very heart of the ,indian plains4 ,within a hundred miles of ,lucknow he has founded the townlet of ,covellpore1 where he handles #c1jjj acres of wheat and cotton with the aid of about the same number of natives4 ,this is the most practical step ,i have ever heard of for forming a real indigenous white population in ,india4 ,his son was with him1 going out to carry on the work4 ,mr4 ,covell holds that the irrigation of the ,north ,west of ,india is one of the greatest wonders of the world1 and ,jacob the engineer responsible4 ,i had never heard of him1 nor1 ,i am ashamed to say1 had ,i heard of ,sir ,leonard ,rogers1 who is one of those great men like ,sir ,ronald ,ross1 whom the ,indian ,medical ,service throws up4 ,rogers has reduced the mortality of cholera by intravenous injections of hypertonic saline until it is only #ae per cent4 ,general ,maude1 ,i am informed1 would almost certainly have been saved1 had it not been that some false departmental economy had withheld the necessary apparatus4 ,leprosy also seems in a fair way to yielding to ,rogers' genius for investigation4 ,it is sad to hear that this same ,indian ,medical ,service which has produced such giants as ,fayrer1 ,ross1 and ,rogers is in a fair way to absolute ruin1 because the conditions are such that good white candidates will no longer enter it4 ,white doctors do not mind working with1 or even under1 natives who have passed the same ,british examinations as themselves1 but they bar the native doctor who has got through a native college in ,india1 and is on a far lower educational level than themselves4 ,to serve under such a man is an impossible inversion4 ,this is appreciated by the medical authorities at home1 the word is given to the students1 and the best men avoid the service4 ,so unless a change is made1 the end is in sight of the grand old service which has given so much to humanity4 ,aden is remarkable only for the huge water tanks cut to catch rain1 and carved out of solid rock4 ,a whole captive people must have been set to work on so colossal a task1 and one wonders where the poor wretches got water themselves the while4 ,their work is as fresh and efficient as when they left it4 ,no doubt it was for the watering1 not of the population1 but of the ,egyptian and other galleys on their way to ,punt and ,king ,solomon's mines4 ,it must be a weary life for our garrison in such a place4 ,there is strange fishing1 sea snakes1 parrot fish and the like4 ,it is their only relaxation1 for it is desert all round4 ,monsoon and swell and drifting rain in the ,indian ,ocean4 ,we heard that thresh of the deep sea rain1 of which ,kipling sings4 ,then at last in the early morning the long quay of ,bombay1 and the wonderful crowd of men of every race who await an incoming steamer4 ,here at least half our passengers were disgorged1 young subalterns1 grey colonels1 grave administrators1 yellow-faced planters1 all the fuel which is grown in ,britain and consumed in the roaring furnace of ,india4 ,so devoted to their work1 so unthanked and uncomprehended by those for whom they work6 ,they are indeed a splendid set of men1 and if they withdrew ,i wonder how long it would be before the wild men of the frontier would be in ,calcutta and ,bombay1 as the ,picts and ,scots flowed over ,britain when the ,roman legions were withdrawn4 ,what view will the coming ,labour governments of ,britain take of our ,imperial commitments8 ,upon that will depend the future history of great tracts of the globe which might very easily relapse into barbarism4 ,the ship seemed lonely when our ,indian friends were gone1 for indeed1 the pick of the company went with them4 ,several pleased me by assuring me as they left that their views of life had been changed since they came on board the ,naldera4 ,to many ,i gave reading lists that they might look further into the matter for themselves4 ,a little leaven in the great lump1 but how can we help leavening it all when we know that1 unlike other creeds1 no true ,spiritualist can ever revert1 so that while we continually gain1 we never lose4 ,one hears of the converts to various sects1 but one does not hear of those who are driven out by their narrow1 intolerant doctrines4 ,you can change your mind about faiths1 but not about facts1 and hence our certain conquest4 ,one cannot spend even a single long day in ,india without carrying away a wonderful impression of the gentle dignity of the ,indian people4 ,our motor drivers were extraordinarily intelligent and polite1 and all we met gave the same impression4 ,india may be held by the sword1 but it is certainly kept very carefully in the scabbard1 for we hardly saw a soldier in the streets of this1 its greatest city4 ,i observed some splendid types of manhood1 however1 among the native police4 ,we lunched at the ,taj ,mahal ,hotel1 and got back tired and full of mixed impressions4 ,verily the ingenuity of children is wonderful4 ,they have turned their active minds upon the problem of paper currency with fearsome results4 ,baby writes cheques in quaint ways upon odd bits of paper and brings them to me to be cashed4 ,malcolm1 once known as ,dimples1 has made a series of pound and five pound notes of his own4 ,the bank they call the money shop4 ,i can trace every sort of atavism1 the arboreal1 the cave dweller1 the adventurous raider1 and the tribal instinct in the child1 but this development seems a little premature4 ,sunday once more1 and the good ,bishop preaching4 ,i wonder more and more what an educated ,chinaman would make of such doctrines4 ,to take an example1 he has quoted to-day with great approval1 the action of ,peter in discarding the rite of circumcision as a proof of election4 ,that marked1 according to the ,bishop1 the broad comprehensive mind which could not confine the mercies of ,god to any limited class4 ,and yet when ,i take up the oecumenical pronouncement from the congress of ,anglican bishops which he has just attended1 ,i find that baptism is made the test1 even as the ,jews made circumcision4 ,have the bishops not learned that there are millions who revere the memory of ,christ1 whether they look upon him as ,god or man1 but who think that baptism is a senseless survival of heathendom1 like so many of our religious observances8 ,the idea that the ,being who made the milky way can be either placated or incensed by pouring a splash of water over child or adult is an offence to reason1 and a slur upon the ,divinity4 ,two weary days upon the sea with drifting rain showers and wonderful scarlet and green sunsets4 ,have beguiled the time with ,w4 ,b4 ,maxwell's ,lamp and the ,mirror4 ,i have long thought that ,maxwell was the greatest of ,british novelists1 and this book confirms me in my opinion4 ,who else could have drawn such fine detail and yet so broad and philosophic a picture8 ,there may have been single books which were better than ,maxwell's best--the ,garden of ,allah1 with its gorgeous oriental colour would1 for example1 make a bid for first place1 but which of us has so splendid a list of first class serious works as ,mrs4 ,thompson1 ,the ,rest ,cure1 ,vivian1 ,in ,cotton ,wool1 above all1 ,the ,guarded ,flame--classics1 every one4 ,our order of merit will come out very differently in a generation or so to what it stands now1 and ,i shall expect to find my nominee at the top4 ,but after all1 what's the odds8 ,you do your work as well as you can4 ,you pass4 ,you find other work to do4 ,how the old work compares with the other fellow's work can be a matter of small concern4 ,in ,colombo harbour lay ,h4,m4,s4 ,highflyer1 which we looked upon with the reverence which everybody and everything which did well in the war deserve from us--a saucy1 rakish1 speedy craft4 ,several other steamers were flying the yellow quarantine flag1 but our captain confided to me that it was a recognised way of saying no visitors1 and did not necessarily bear any pathological meaning4 ,as we had nearly two days before we resumed our voyage ,i was able to give all our party a long stretch on shore1 finally staying with my wife for the night at the ,galle ,face ,hotel1 a place where the preposterous charges are partly compensated for by the glorious rollers which break upon the beach outside4 ,i was interested in the afternoon by a native conjurer giving us what was practically a private performance of the mango-tree trick4 ,he did it so admirably that ,i can well understand those who think that it is an occult process4 ,i watched the man narrowly1 and believe that ,i solved the little mystery1 though even now ,i cannot be sure4 ,in doing it he began by laying several objects out in a casual way while hunting in his bag for his mango seed4 ,these were small odds and ends including a little rag doll1 very rudely fashioned1 about six or eight inches long4 ,one got accustomed to the presence of these things and ceased to remark them4 ,he showed the seed and passed it for examination1 a sort of large ,brazil nut4 ,he then laid it among some loose earth1 poured some water on it1 covered it with a handkerchief1 and crooned over it4 ,in about a minute he exhibited the same1 or another seed1 the capsule burst1 and a light green leaf protruding4 ,i took it in my hands1 and it was certainly a real bursting mango seed1 but clearly it had been palmed and substituted for the other4 ,he then buried it again and kept raising the handkerchief upon his own side1 and scrabbling about with his long brown fingers underneath its cover4 ,then he suddenly whisked off the handkerchief and there was the plant1 a foot or so high1 with thick foliage and blossoms1 its root well planted in the earth4 ,it was certainly very startling4 ,my explanation is that by a miracle of packing the whole of the plant had been compressed into the rag doll1 or little cloth cylinder already mentioned4 ,the scrabbling of the hands under the cloth was to smooth out the leaves after it was freed from this covering4 ,i observed that the leaves were still rather crumpled1 and that there were dark specks of fungi which would not be there if the plant were straight from nature's manufactory4 ,but it was wonderfully done when you consider that the man was squatting in our midst1 we standing in a semi-circle around him1 with no adventitious aid whatever4 ,i do not believe that the famous ,mr4 ,maskeleyne or any of those other wise conjurers who are good enough occasionally to put ,lodge1 ,crookes and ,lombroso in their places1 could have wrought a better illusion4 ,the fellow had a cobra with him which he challenged me to pick up4 ,i did so and gazed into its strange eyes1 which some devilry of man's had turned to a lapis lazuli blue4 ,the juggler said it was the result of its skin-sloughing1 but ,i have my doubts4 ,the poison bag had1 ,i suppose1 been extracted1 but the man seemed nervous and slipped his brown hand between my own and the swaying venomous head with its peculiar flattened hood4 ,it is a fearsome beast1 and ,i can realise what was told me by a lover of animals that the snake was the one creature from which he could get no return of affection4 ,i remember that ,i once had three in my employ when the ,speckled ,band was produced in ,london1 fine1 lively rock pythons1 and yet in spite of this profusion of realism ,i had the experience of reading a review which1 after duly slating the play1 wound up with the scathing sentence1 ,the performance ended with the production of a palpably artificial serpent4 ,such is the reward of virtue4 ,afterwards when the necessities of several travelling companies compelled us to use dummy snakes we produced a much more realistic effect4 ,the real article either hung down like a pudgy yellow bell rope1 or else when his tail was pinched1 endeavoured to squirm back and get level with the stage carpenter1 who pinched him1 which was not in the plot4 ,the latter individual had no doubts at all as to the dummy being an improvement upon the real4 ,never1 save on the west coast of ,africa1 have ,i seen the league-long roller thundering on the shore1 as here1 where the ,indian ,ocean with its thousand leagues of momentum hits the western coast of ,ceylon4 ,it looks smooth out at sea1 and then you are surprised to observe that a good-sized boat has suddenly vanished4 ,then it scoops upwards once more on the smooth arch of the billow1 disappearing on the further slope4 ,the native catamarans are almost invisible1 so that you see a row of standing figures from time to time on the crest of the waves4 ,i cannot think that any craft in the world would come through rough water as these catamarans with their long outriggers can do4 ,man has made few more simple and more effective inventions1 and if ,i were a younger man ,i would endeavour to introduce them to ,brighton beach1 as once ,i introduced ski to ,switzerland1 or auto-wheels to the ,british roads4 ,i have other work to do now1 but why does not some sportsman take the model1 have it made in ,england1 and then give an exhibition in a gale of wind on the south coast4 ,it would teach our fishermen some possibilities of which they are ignorant4 ,as ,i stood in a sandy cove one of them came flying in1 a group of natives rushing out and pulling it up on the beach4 ,the craft consists only of two planks edgewise and lengthwise4 ,in the nine-inch slit between them lay a number of great twelve-pound fish1 like cod1 and tied to the side of the boat was a ten-foot sword fish4 ,to catch that creature while standing on a couple of floating planks must have been sport indeed1 and yet the craft is so ingenious that to a man who can at a pinch swim for it1 there is very small element of danger4 ,the really great men of our race1 the inventor of the wheel1 the inventor of the lever1 the inventor of the catamaran are all lost in the mists of the past1 but ethnologists have found that the cubic capacity of the neolithic brain is as great as our own4 ,there are two robbers' castles1 as the unhappy visitor calls them1 facing the glorious sea1 the one the ,galle ,face1 the other the ,mount ,lavinia ,hotel4 ,they are connected by an eight-mile road1 which has all the colour and life and variety of the ,east for every inch of the way4 ,in that glorious sun1 under the blue arch of such a sky1 and with the tropical trees and flowers around1 the poverty of these people is very different from the poverty of a ,london slum4 ,is there in all ,god's world such a life as that1 and can it really be ,god's world while we suffer it to exist6 ,surely1 it is a palpable truth that no one has a right to luxuries until every one has been provided with necessities1 and among such necessities a decent environment is the first4 ,if we had spent money to fight slumland as we spent it to fight ,germany1 what a different ,england it would be4 ,the world moves all the same1 and we have eternity before us4 ,but some folk need it4 ,a doctor came up to me in the hotel and told me that he was practising there1 and had come recently from ,england4 ,he had lost his son in the war1 and had himself become unsettled4 ,being a ,spiritualist he went to ,mrs4 ,brittain1 the medium1 who told him that his boy had a message for him which was that he would do very well in ,colombo4 ,he had himself thought of ,ceylon1 but ,mrs4 ,b4 had no means of knowing that4 ,he had obeyed the advice thus given1 and was glad that he had done so4 ,how much people may miss by cutting themselves away from these ministers of grace6 ,in all this opposition to ,spiritualism the punishment continually fits the crime4 ,once again we shed passengers and proceeded in chastened mood with empty decks where once it was hard to move4 ,among others1 good ,bishop ,banister of ,kwang-si had gone4 ,i care little for his sacramental and vicarious doctrines1 but ,i am very sure that wherever his robust1 kindly1 sincere personality may dwell is bound to be a centre of the true missionary effort--the effort which makes for the real original teaching of his ,master1 submission to ,god and goodwill to our fellow men4 ,now we are on the last lap with nothing but a clear stretch of salt water between our prow and ,west ,australia4 ,our mission from being a sort of dream takes concrete form and involves definite plans4 ,meanwhile we plough our way through a deep blue sea with the wind continually against us4 ,i have not seen really calm water since we left the ,canal4 ,we carry on with the usual routine of ship sports1 which include an ,england and ,australia cricket match1 in which ,i have the honour of captaining ,england1 a proper ending for a long if mediocre career as a cricketer4 ,we lost by one run1 which was not bad considering our limited numbers4 ,posers of all sorts are brought to me by thoughtful inquirers1 which ,i answer when ,i can4 ,often ,i can't4 ,one which is a most reasonable objection has given me a day's thought4 ,if1 as is certain1 we can remember in our next life the more important incidents of this one1 why is it that in this one we can remember nothing of that previous spiritual career1 which must have existed since nothing can be born in time for eternity8 ,our friends on the other side cannot help us there1 nor can even such extended spiritual visions as those of ,vale ,owen clear it up4 ,on the whole we must admit that our ,theosophical friends1 with whom we quarrel for their absence of evidence1 have the best attempt at an explanation4 ,i imagine that man's soul has a cycle which is complete in itself1 and all of which is continuous and self conscious4 ,this begins with earth life4 ,then at last a point is reached1 it may be a reincarnation1 and a new cycle is commenced1 the old one being closed to our memory until we have reached some lofty height in our further journey4 ,pure speculation1 ,i admit1 but it would cover what we know and give us a working hypothesis4 ,i can never excite myself much about the reincarnation idea1 for if it be so1 it occurs seldom1 and at long intervals1 with ten years spent in the other spheres for one spent here1 so that even admitting all that is said by its supporters it is not of such great importance4 ,at the present rate of change this world will be as strange as another sphere by the time we are due to tread the old stage once more4 ,it is only fair to say that though many spiritualists oppose it1 there is a strong body1 including the whole ,french ,allan ,kardec school1 who support it4 ,those who have passed over may well be divided upon the subject since it concerns their far future and is a matter of speculation to them as to us4 ,thrasher whales and sperm whales were seen which aroused the old whaling thrill in my heart4 ,it was the more valuable ,greenland whale which ,i helped to catch1 while these creatures are those which dear old ,frank ,bullen1 a childlike sailor to the last1 described in his ,cruise of the ,cachelot4 ,how is it that sailors write such perfect ,english4 ,there are ,bullen and ,conrad1 both of whom served before the mast--the two purest stylists of their generation4 ,so was ,loti in ,france4 ,there are some essays of ,bullen's1 especially a description of a calm in the tropics1 and again of ,sunrise seen from the ,crow's ,nest1 which have not been matched in our time for perfection of imagery and diction4 ,they are both in his ,idyls of the ,sea4 ,if there is compensation in the beyond--and ,i know that there is--then ,frank ,bullen is in great peace1 for his whole earthly life was one succession of troubles4 ,when ,i think of his cruel stepmother1 his dreadful childhood1 his life on a ,yankee blood ship1 his struggles as a tradesman1 his bankruptcy1 his sordid worries1 and finally1 his prolonged ill-health1 ,i marvel at the unequal distribution of such burdens4 ,he was the best singer of a chanty that ,i have ever heard1 and ,i can hear him now with his rich baritone voice trolling out ,sally ,brown or ,stormalong4 ,may ,i hear him once again6 ,our dear ones tell us that there is no great gap between what pleases us here and that which will please us in the beyond4 ,our own brains1 had we ever used them in the matter1 should have instructed us that all evolution1 spiritual as well as material1 must be gradual4 ,indeed1 once one knows psychic truth1 one can1 reasoning backwards1 perceive that we should unaided have come to the same conclusions1 but since we have all been deliberately trained not to use our reason in religious matters1 it is no wonder that we have made rather a hash of it4 ,surely it is clear enough that in the case of an artist the artistic nature is part of the man himself4 ,therefore1 if he survives it must survive4 ,but if it survives it must have means of expression1 or it is a senseless thing4 ,but means of expression implies appreciation from others and a life on the general lines of this one4 ,so also of the drama1 music1 science and literature1 if we carry on they carry on1 and they cannot carry on without actual expression and a public to be served4 ,to the east of us and just beyond the horizon lie the ,cocos ,islands1 where ,ross established his strange little kingdom1 and where the ,emden met its end--a glorious one1 as every fair minded man must admit4 ,i have seen her stern post since then in the hall of the ,federal ,parliament at ,melbourne1 like some fossil monster1 once a terror and now for children to gaze at4 ,as to the ,cocos ,islands1 the highest point is1 ,i understand1 about twenty feet1 and tidal waves are not unknown upon the ,pacific1 so that the community holds its tenure at very short and sudden notice to quit4 ,on the morning of ,september #agth a low coast line appeared upon the port bow--,australia at last4 ,it was the edge of the ,west ,australian ,state4 ,the evening before a wireless had reached me from the spiritualists of ,perth saying that they welcomed us and our message4 ,it was a kind thought and a helpful one4 ,we were hardly moored in the port of ,fremantle1 which is about ten miles from the capital1 when a deputation of these good1 kind people was aboard1 bearing great bunches of wild flowers1 most of which were new to us4 ,their faces fell when they learned that ,i must go on in the ship and that there was very little chance of my being able to address them4 ,they are only connected with the other ,states by one long thin railway line1 #a1bjj miles long1 with scanty trains which were already engaged1 so that unless we stuck to the ship we should have to pass ten days or so before we could resume our journey4 ,this argument was unanswerable1 and so the idea of a meeting was given up4 ,these kind people had two motors in attendance1 which must1 ,i fear1 have been a strain upon their resources1 for as in the old days the true believers and practical workers are drawn from the poor and humble4 ,however1 they certainly treated us royally1 and even the children were packed into the motors4 ,we skirted the ,swan ,river1 passed through the very beautiful public park1 and1 finally1 lunched at the busy town1 where ,bone's store would cut a respectable figure in ,london1 with its many departments and its roof restaurant4 ,it was surprising after our memories of ,england to note how good and abundant was the food4 ,it is a charming little town1 and it was strange1 after viewing its settled order1 to see the mill where the early settlers not so very long ago had to fight for their lives with the black fellows4 ,those poor black fellows6 ,their fate is a dark stain upon ,australia4 ,and yet it must in justice to our settlers be admitted that the question was a very difficult one4 ,was colonisation to be abandoned1 or were these brave savages to be overcome8 ,that was really the issue4 ,when they speared the cattle of the settlers what were the settlers to do8 ,of course1 if a reservation could have been opened up1 as in the case of the ,maoris1 that would have been ideal4 ,but the noble ,maori is a man with whom one could treat on equal terms and he belonged to a solid race4 ,the ,aborigines of ,australia were broken wandering tribes1 each at war with its neighbours4 ,in a single reservation they would have exterminated each other4 ,it was a piteous tragedy1 and yet1 even now in retrospect1 how difficult it is to point out what could have been done4 ,the ,spiritualists of ,perth seem to be a small body1 but as earnest as their fellows elsewhere4 ,a masterful looking lady1 ,mrs4 ,mc,ilwraith1 rules them1 and seems fit for the part4 ,they have several mediums developing1 but ,i had no chance of testing their powers4 ,altogether our encounter with them cheered us on our way4 ,we had the first taste of ,australian labour conditions at ,fremantle1 for the men knocked off at the given hour1 refusing to work overtime1 with the result that we carried a consignment of tea1 meant for their own tea-pots1 another thousand miles to ,adelaide1 and so back by train which must have been paid for out of their own pockets and those of their fellow citizens4 ,verily1 you cannot get past the golden rule1 and any breach of it brings its own punishment somehow1 somewhere1 be the sinner a master or a man4 ,and now we had to cross the dreaded ,bight1 where the great waves from the southern ice come rolling up1 but our luck was still in1 and we went through it without a qualm4 ,up to ,albany one sees the barren irregular coast1 and then there were two days of blue water1 which brought us at last to ,adelaide1 our port of debarkation4 ,the hour and the place at last6 ,,chapter ,,iii ,mr4 ,hughes' letter of welcome4--,challenges4--,mr4 ,carlyle ,smythe4--,the ,adelaide ,press4--,the great drought4--,the wine industry4--,clairvoyance4--,meeting with ,bellchambers4--,the first lecture4--,the effect4--,the ,religious lecture4--,the illustrated lecture4--,premonitions4--,the spot light4--,mr4 ,thomas' account of the incident4--,correspondence4--,adelaide doctors4--,a day in the ,bush4--,the ,mallee fowl4--,sussex in ,australia4--,farewell to ,adelaide4 ,i was welcomed to ,australia by a hospitable letter from the ,premier1 ,mr4 ,hughes1 who assured me that he would do what he could to make our visit a pleasant one1 and added1 ,i hope you will see ,australia as it is1 for ,i want you to tell the world about us4 ,we are a very young country1 we have a very big and very rich heritage1 and the great war has made us realise that we are ,australians1 proud to belong to the ,empire1 but proud too of our own country4 ,apart from ,mr4 ,hughes's kind message1 my chief welcome to the new land came from ,sydney1 and took the queer form of two independant challenges to public debate1 one from the ,christian ,evidence ,society1 and the other from the local leader of the materialists4 ,as the two positions are mutually destructive1 one felt inclined to tell them to fight it out between themselves and that ,i would fight the winner4 ,the ,christian ,evidence ,society1 is1 of course1 out of the question1 since they regard a text as an argument1 which ,i can only accept with many qualifications1 so that there is no common basis4 ,the materialist is a more worthy antagonist1 for though he is often as bigotted and inaccessible to reason as the worst type of ,christian1 there is always a leaven of honest1 open-minded doubters on whom a debate might make an impression4 ,a debate with them1 as ,i experienced when ,i met ,mr4 ,mac,cabe1 can only follow one line1 they quoting all the real or alleged scandals which have ever been connected with the lowest forms of mediumship1 and claiming that the whole cult is comprised therein1 to which you counter with your own personal experiences1 and with the evidence of the cloud of witnesses who have found the deepest comfort and enlarged knowledge4 ,it is like two boxers each hitting the air1 and both returning to their respective corners amid the plaudits of their backers1 while the general public is none the better4 ,three correspondents headed me off on the ship1 and as ,i gave each of them a long separate interview1 ,i was a tired man before ,i got ashore4 ,mr4 ,carlyle ,smythe1 my impresario1 had also arrived1 a small alert competent gentleman1 with whom ,i at once got on pleasant terms1 which were never once clouded during our long travels together upon our tour4 ,i was fortunate indeed to have so useful and so entertaining a companion1 a musician1 a scholar1 and a man of many varied experiences4 ,with his help we soon got our stuff through the customs1 and made the short train journey which separates the ,port of ,adelaide from the charming city of that name4 ,by one o'clock we were safely housed in the ,grand ,central ,hotel1 with windows in place of port holes1 and the roar of the trams to take the place of the murmurs of the great ocean4 ,the good genius of ,adelaide was a figure1 already almost legendary1 one ,colonel ,light1 who played the part of ,romulus and ,remus to the infant city4 ,somewhere in the thirties of last century he chose the site1 against strong opposition1 and laid out the plan with such skill that in all ,british and ,american lands ,i have seen few such cities1 so pretty1 so orderly and so self-sufficing4 ,when one sees all the amenities of the place1 botanical gardens1 zoological gardens1 art gallery1 museum1 university1 public library and the rest1 it is hard to realise that the whole population is still under three hundred thousand4 ,i do not know whether the press sets the tone to the community or the community to the press1 but in any case ,adelaide is greatly blessed in this respect1 for its two chief papers the ,register and the ,advertiser1 under ,sir ,william ,sowden and ,sir ,langdon ,bonython respectively1 are really excellent1 with a worldwide ,metropolitan tone4 ,their articles upon the subject in which ,i am particularly interested1 though by no means one-sided1 were at least informed with knowledge and breadth of mind4 ,in ,adelaide ,i appreciated1 for the first time1 the crisis which ,australia has been passing through in the shape of a two-years drought1 only recently broken4 ,it seems to have involved all the ,states and to have caused great losses1 amounting to millions of sheep and cattle4 ,the result was that the price of those cattle which survived has risen enormously1 and at the time of our visit an absolute record had been established1 a bullock having been sold for ,l#da4 ,the normal price would be about ,l#ac4 ,sheep were about ,l#c each1 the normal being fifteen shillings4 ,this had1 of course1 sent the price of meat soaring with the usual popular unrest and agitation as a result4 ,it was clear1 however1 that with the heavy rains the prices would fall4 ,these ,australian droughts are really terrible things1 especially when they come upon newly-opened country and in the hotter regions of ,queensland and the ,north4 ,one lady told us that she had endured a drought in ,queensland which lasted so long that children of five had never seen a drop of rain4 ,you could travel a hundred miles and find the brown earth the whole way1 with no sign of green anywhere1 the sheep eating twigs or gnawing bark until they died4 ,her brother sold his surviving sheep for one shilling each1 and when the drought broke had to restock at #ejs4 a head4 ,this is a common experience1 and all but the man with savings have to take to some subordinate work1 ruined men4 ,no doubt1 with afforestation1 artesian wells1 irrigation and water storage things may be modified1 but all these things need capital1 and capital in these days is hard to seek1 nor can it be expected that capitalists will pour their money into ,states which have wild politicians who talk lightly of past obligations4 ,you cannot tell the investor that he is a bloated incubus one moment1 and go hat in hand for further incubation the next4 ,i fear that this grand country as a whole may suffer from the wild ideas of some of its representatives4 ,but under it all lies the solid self-respecting ,british stuff1 which will never repudiate a just debt1 however heavily it may press4 ,australians may groan under the burden1 but they should remember that for every pound of taxation they carry the home ,briton carries nearly three4 ,but to return for a moment to the droughts2 has any writer of fiction invented or described a more long-drawn agony than that of the man1 his nerves the more tired and sensitive from the constant unbroken heat1 waiting day after day for the cloud that never comes1 while under the glaring sun from the unchanging blue above him1 his sheep1 which represent all his life's work and his hopes1 perish before his eyes8 ,a revolver shot has often ended the long vigil and the pioneer has joined his vanished flocks4 ,i have just come in contact with a case where two young returned soldiers1 demobilised from the war and planted on the land had forty-two cattle given them by the ,state to stock their little farm4 ,not a drop of water fell for over a year1 the feed failed1 and these two warriors of ,palestine and ,flanders wept at their own helplessness while their little herd died before their eyes4 ,such are the trials which the ,australian farmer has to bear4 ,while waiting for my first lecture ,i do what ,i can to understand the country and its problems4 ,to this end ,i visited the vineyards and wine plant of a local firm which possesses every factor for success1 save the capacity to answer letters4 ,the originator started grape culture as a private hobby about #fj years ago1 and now such an industry has risen that this firm alone has ,l#gjj1jjj sunk in the business1 and yet it is only one of several4 ,the product can be most excellent1 but little or any ever reaches ,europe1 for it cannot overtake the local demand4 ,the quality was good and purer than the corresponding wines in ,europe--especially the champagnes1 which seem to be devoid of that poison1 whatever it may be1 which has for a symptom a dry tongue with internal acidity1 driving elderly gentlemen to whisky and soda4 ,the ,australian product1 taken in moderate doses1 seems to have no poisonous quality1 and is without that lime-like dryness which appears to be the cause of it4 ,if temperance reform takes the sane course of insisting upon a lowering of the alcohol in our drinks1 so that one may be surfeited before one could be drunken1 then this question of good mild wines will bulk very largely in the future1 and ,australia may supply one of the answers4 ,with all my sympathy for the reformers ,i feel that wine is so useful a social agent that we should not abolish it until we are certain that there is no via media4 ,the most pregnant argument upon the subject was the cartoon which showed the husband saying ,my dear1 it is the anniversary of our wedding4 ,let us have a second bottle of ginger beer4 ,we went over the vineyards1 ourselves mildly interested in the vines1 and the children wildly excited over the possibility of concealed snakes4 ,then we did the vats and the cellars with their countless bottles4 ,we were taught the secrets of fermentation1 how the wonderful ,pasteur had discovered that the best and quickest was produced not by the grape itself1 as of old1 but by the scraped bloom of the grape inserted in the bottle4 ,after viewing the number of times a bottle must be turned1 a hundred at least1 and the complex processes which lead up to the finished article1 ,i will pay my wine bills in future with a better grace4 ,the place was all polished wood and shining brass1 like the fittings of a man-of-war1 and a great impression of cleanliness and efficiency was left upon our minds4 ,we only know the ,australian wines at present by the rough article sold in flasks1 but when the supply has increased the world will learn that this country has some very different stuff in its cellars1 and will try to transport it to their tables4 ,we had a small meeting of spiritualists in our hotel sitting-room1 under the direction of ,mr4 ,victor ,cromer1 a local student of the occult1 who seems to have considerable psychic power4 ,he has a small circle for psychic development which is on new lines1 for the neophytes who are learning clairvoyance sit around in a circle in silence1 while ,mr4 ,cromer endeavours by mental effort to build up the thought form of some object1 say a tree1 in the centre of the room4 ,after a time he asks each of the circle what he or she can see1 and has many correct answers4 ,with colours in the same way he can convey impressions to his pupils4 ,it is clear that telepathy is not excluded as an explanation1 but the actual effect upon the participants is according to their own account1 visual rather than mental4 ,we had an interesting sitting with a number of these developing mediums present1 and much information was given1 but little of it could be said to be truly evidential4 ,after seeing such clairvoyance as that of ,mr4 ,tom ,tyrell or others at home1 when a dozen names and addresses will be given together with the descriptions of those who once owned them1 one is spoiled for any lesser display4 ,there was one man whom ,i had particularly determined to meet when ,i came to ,australia4 ,this was ,mr4 ,t4 ,p4 ,bellchambers1 about whom ,i had read an article in some magazine which showed that he was a sort of humble ,jeffries or ,thoreau1 more lonely than the former1 less learned than the latter1 who lived among the wild creatures in the back country1 and was on such terms with our humble brothers as few men are ever privileged to attain4 ,i had read how the eagle with the broken wing had come to him for succour1 and how little birds would sit on the edge of his pannikin while he drank4 ,him at all cost would we see4 ,like the proverbial prophet1 no one ,i met had ever heard of him1 but on the third day of our residence there came a journalist bearing with him a rudely dressed1 tangle-haired man1 collarless and unkempt1 with kind1 irregular features and clear blue eyes--the eyes of a child4 ,it was the man himself4 ,he brought me1 said he1 nodding towards the journalist4 ,he had to1 for ,i always get bushed in a town4 ,this rude figure fingering his frayed cap was clearly out of his true picture1 and we should have to visit him in his own little clearing to see him as he really was4 ,meanwhile ,i wondered whether one who was so near nature might know something of nature's more occult secrets4 ,the dialogue ran like this3 ,you who are so near nature must have psychic experiences4 ,what's psychic8 ,i live so much in the wild that ,i don't know much4 ,i expect you know plenty we don't know4 ,but ,i meant spiritual4 ,supernatural8 ,well1 we think it is natural1 but little understood4 ,you mean fairies and things8 ,yes1 and the dead4 ,well1 ,i guess our fairies would be black fairies4 ,why not8 ,well1 ,i never saw any4 ,i hoped you might4 ,no1 but ,i know one thing4 ,the night my mother died ,i woke to find her hand upon my brow4 ,oh1 there's no doubt4 ,her hand was heavy on my brow4 ,at the time8 ,yes1 at the very hour4 ,well1 that was good4 ,animals know more about such things4 ,yes4 ,they see something4 ,my dog gets terrified when ,i see nothing1 and there's a place in the bush where my horse shies and sweats1 he does1 but there's nothing to see4 ,something evil has been done there4 ,i've known many cases4 ,i expect that's it4 ,so ran our dialogue4 ,at the end of it he took a cigar1 lighted it at the wrong end1 and took himself with his strong simple backwoods atmosphere out of the room4 ,assuredly ,i must follow him to the wilds4 ,now came the night of my first lecture4 ,it was in the city hall1 and every seat was occupied4 ,it was a really magnificent audience of two thousand people1 the most representative of the town4 ,i am an embarrassed and an interested witness1 so let me for this occasion quote the sympathetic1 not to say flattering account of the ,register4 ,there could not have been a more impressive set of circumstances than those which attended the first ,australian lecture by ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle at the ,adelaide ,town ,hall on ,saturday night1 ,september #beth4 ,the audience1 large1 representative and thoughtful1 was in its calibre and proportions a fitting compliment to a world celebrity and his mission4 ,many of the intellectual leaders of the city were present--,university professors1 pulpit personalities1 men eminent in business1 legislators1 every section of the community contributed a quota4 ,it cannot be doubted1 of course1 that the brilliant literary fame of the lecturer was an attraction added to that strange subject which explored the 'unknown drama of the soul4' ,over all ,sir ,arthur dominated by his big arresting presence4 ,his face has a rugged1 kindly strength1 tense and earnest in its grave moments1 and full of winning animation when the sun of his rich humour plays on the powerful features4 ,it is not altogether a sombre journey he makes among the shadows1 but apparently one of happy1 as well as tender experiences1 so that laughter is not necessarily excluded from the exposition4 ,do not let that be misunderstood4 ,there was no intrusion of the slightest flippancy--,sir ,arthur1 the whole time1 exhibited that attitude of reverence and humility demanded of one traversing a domain on the borderland of the tremendous4 ,nothing approaching a theatrical presentation of the case for ,spiritualism marred the discourse4 ,it was for the most part a plain statement4 ,first things had to be said1 and the explanatory groundwork laid for future development4 ,it was a lucid1 illuminating introduction4 ,sir ,arthur had a budget of notes1 but after he had turned over a few pages he sallied forth with fluent independence under the inspiration of a vast mental store of material4 ,a finger jutted out now and again with a thrust of passionate emphasis1 or his big glasses twirled during moments of descriptive ease1 and occasionally both hands were held forward as though delivering settled points to the audience for its examination4 ,a clear1 well-disciplined voice1 excellent diction1 and conspicuous sincerity of manner marked the lecture1 and no one could have found fault with the way in which ,sir ,arthur presented his case4 ,the lecturer approached the audience in no spirit of impatient dogmatism1 but in the capacity of an understanding mind seeking to illumine the darkness of doubt in those who had not shared his great experiences4 ,he did not dictate1 but reasoned and pleaded1 taking the people into his confidence with strong conviction and a consoling faith4 ',i want to speak to you to-night on a subject which concerns the destiny of every man and woman in this room1' began ,sir ,arthur1 bringing everybody at once into an intimate personal circle4 ',no doubt the ,almighty1 by putting an angel in ,king ,william ,street1 could convert every one of you to ,spiritualism1 but the ,almighty law is that we must use our own brains1 and find out our own salvation1 and it is not made too easy for us4' ,it is awkward to include this kindly picture1 and yet ,i do not know how else to give an idea of how the matter seemed to a friendly observer4 ,i had chosen for my theme the scientific aspect of the matter1 and ,i marshalled my witnesses and showed how ,professor ,mayo corroborated ,professor ,hare1 and ,professor ,challis ,professor ,mayo1 and ,sir ,william ,crookes all his predecessors1 while ,russell ,wallace and ,lombroso and ,zollner and ,barrett1 and ,lodge1 and many more had all after long study assented1 and ,i read the very words of these great men1 and showed how bravely they had risked their reputations and careers for what they knew to be the truth4 ,i then showed how the opposition who dared to contradict them were men with no practical experience of it at all4 ,it was wonderful to hear the shout of assent when ,i said that what struck me most in such a position was its colossal impertinence4 ,that shout told me that my cause was won1 and from then onwards the deep silence was only broken by the occasional deep murmur of heart-felt agreement4 ,i told them the evidence that had been granted to me1 the coming of my son1 the coming of my brother1 and their message4 ,plough6 ,plough6 others will cast the seed4 ,it is hard to talk of such intimate matters1 but they were not given to me for my private comfort alone1 but for that of humanity4 ,nothing could have gone better than this first evening1 and though ,i had no chairman and spoke for ninety minutes without a pause1 ,i was so upheld--there is no other word for the sensation--that ,i was stronger at the end than when ,i began4 ,a leading materialist was among my audience4 ,i am profoundly impressed1 said he to ,mr4 ,smythe1 as he passed him in the corridor4 ,that stood out among many kind messages which reached me that night4 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,stirling1 ,melbourne4 ,,the ,,wanderers1 #aibj-ba4 ,my second lecture1 two nights later1 was on the ,religious aspect of the matter4 ,i had shown that the phenomena were nothing1 mere material signals to arrest the attention of a material world4 ,i had shown also that the personal benefit1 the conquest of death1 the ,communion of ,saints1 was a high1 but not the highest boon4 ,the real full flower of ,spiritualism was what the wisdom of the dead could tell us about their own conditions1 their present experiences1 their outlook upon the secret of the universe1 and the testing of religious truth from the viewpoint of two worlds instead of one4 ,the audience was more silent than before1 but the silence was that of suspense1 not of dissent1 as ,i showed them from message after message what it was exactly which awaited them in the beyond4 ,even ,i1 who am oblivious as a rule to my audience1 became aware that they were tense with feeling and throbbing with emotion4 ,i showed how there was no conflict with religion1 in spite of the misunderstanding of the churches1 and that the revelation had come to extend and explain the old1 even as the ,christ had said that he had much more to tell but could not do it now4 ,entirely new ground was traversed1 says my kindly chronicler1 and the audience listened throughout with rapt attention4 ,they were obviously impressed by the earnestness of the speaker and his masterly presentation of the theme4 ,i cannot answer for the latter but at least ,i can for the former1 since ,i speak not of what ,i think but of what ,i know4 ,how can a man fail to be earnest then8 ,a few days later ,i followed up the lectures by two exhibitions of psychic pictures and photographs upon a screen4 ,it was certainly an amazing experience for those who imagined that the whole subject was dreamland1 and they freely admitted that it staggered them4 ,they might well be surprised1 for such a series has never been seen1 ,i believe1 before1 including as it does choice samples from the very best collections4 ,i showed them the record of miracle after miracle1 some of them done under my very eyes1 one guaranteed by ,russell ,wallace1 three by ,sir ,william ,crookes1 one of the ,geley series from ,paris1 two of ,dr4 ,crawford's medium with the ecto-plasm pouring from her1 four illustrating the absolutely final ,lydia ,haig case on the island of ,rothesay1 several of ,mr4 ,jeffrey's collection and several also of our own ,society for the ,study of ,supernormal ,pictures1 with the fine photograph of the face within a crystal4 ,no wonder that the audience sat spellbound1 while the local press declared that no such exhibition had ever been seen before in ,australia4 ,it is almost too overwhelming for immediate propaganda purposes4 ,it has a stunning1 dazing effect upon the spectators4 ,only afterwards1 ,i think1 when they come to turn it all over in their minds1 do they see that the final proof has been laid before them1 which no one with the least sense for evidence could reject4 ,but the sense for evidence is not1 alas1 a universal human quality4 ,i am continually aware of direct spirit intervention in my own life4 ,i have put it on record in my ,new ,revelation that ,i was able to say that the turn of the great war would come upon the ,piave months before that river was on the ,italian war map4 ,this was recorded at the time1 before the fulfilment which occurred more than a year later--so it does not depend upon my assertion4 ,again1 ,i dreamed the name of the ship which was to take us to ,australia1 rising in the middle of the night and writing it down in pencil on my cheque-book4 ,i wrote ,nadera1 but it was actually ,naldera4 ,i had never heard that such a ship existed until ,i visited the ,p4 ,o4 office1 when they told me we should go by the ,osterley1 while ,i1 seeing the ,naldera upon the list1 thought ,no1 that will be our ship6 ,so it proved1 through no action of our own1 and thereby we were saved from quarantine and all manner of annoyance4 ,never before have ,i experienced such direct visible intervention as occurred during my first photographic lecture at ,adelaide4 ,i had shown a slide the effect of which depended upon a single spirit face appearing amid a crowd of others4 ,the slide was damp1 and as photos under these circumstances always clear from the edges when placed in the lantern1 the whole centre was so thickly fogged that ,i was compelled to admit that ,i could not myself see the spirit face4 ,suddenly1 as ,i turned away1 rather abashed by my failure1 ,i heard cries of ,there it is1 and looking up again ,i saw this single face shining out from the general darkness with so bright and vivid an effect that ,i never doubted for a moment that the operator was throwing a spot light upon it1 my wife sharing my impression4 ,i thought how extraordinarily clever it was that he should pick it out so accurately at the distance4 ,so the matter passed1 but next morning ,mr4 ,thomas1 the operator1 who is not a ,spiritualist1 came in great excitement to say that a palpable miracle had been wrought1 and that in his great experience of thirty years he had never known a photo dry from the centre1 nor1 as ,i understood him1 become illuminated in such a fashion4 ,both my wife and ,i were surprised to learn that he had thrown no ray upon it4 ,mr4 ,thomas told us that several experts among the audience had commented upon the strangeness of the incident4 ,i1 therefore1 asked ,mr4 ,thomas if he would give me a note as to his own impression1 so as to furnish an independant account4 ,this is what he wrote3-- ,hindmarsh ,square1 ,adelaide4 ,in ,adelaide1 on ,september #bhth1 ,i projected a lantern slide containing a group of ladies and gentlemen1 and in the centre of the picture1 when the slide was reversed1 appeared a human face4 ,on the appearance of the picture showing the group the fog incidental to a damp or new slide gradually appeared covering the whole slide1 and only after some minutes cleared1 and then quite contrary to usual practice did so from a central point just over the face that appeared in the centre1 and refused even after that to clear right off to the edge4 ,the general experience is for a slide to clear from the outside edges to a common centre4 ,your slide cleared only sufficiently in the centre to show the face1 and did not1 while the slide was on view1 clear any more than sufficient to show that face4 ,thinking that perhaps there might be a scientific explanation to this phenomenon1 ,i hesitated before writing you1 and in the meantime ,i have made several experiments but have not in any one particular experiment obtained the same result4 ,i am very much interested--as are hundreds of others who personally witnessed the phenomenon4 ,mr4 ,thomas1 in his account1 has missed the self-illuminated appearance of the face1 but otherwise he brings out the points4 ,i never gave occasion for the repetition of the phenomenon1 for in every case ,i was careful that the slides were carefully dried beforehand4 ,so much for the lectures at ,adelaide1 which were five in all1 and left1 as ,i heard from all sides1 a deep impression upon the town4 ,of course1 the usual abusive messages poured in1 including one which wound up with the hearty words3 ,may you be struck dead before you leave this ,commonwealth4 ,from ,melbourne ,i had news that before our arrival in ,australia at a public prayer meeting at the ,assembly ,hall1 ,collins ,street1 a ,presbyterian prayed that we might never reach ,australia's shores4 ,as we were on the high seas at the time this was clearly a murderous petition1 nor could ,i have believed it if a friend of mine had not actually been present and heard it4 ,on the other hand1 we received many letters of sympathy and thanks1 which amply atoned4 ,i feel sure that many mothers1 who have lost their sons in the war1 will1 wherever you go1 bless you1 as ,i do1 for the help you have given4 ,as this was the object of our journey it could not be denied that we had attained our end4 ,when ,i say we1 ,i mean that such letters with inquiries came continually to my wife as well as myself1 though she answered them with far greater fullness and clearness than ,i had time to do4 ,hotel life began to tell upon the children1 who are like horses with a profusion of oats and no exercise4 ,on the whole they were wonderfully good4 ,when some domestic crisis was passed the small voice of ,malcolm1 once ,dimples1 was heard from the darkness of his bed1 saying1 ,well1 if ,i am to be good ,i must have a proper start4 ,please mammie1 say one1 two1 three1 and away6 ,when this ceremony had been performed a still smaller voice of ,baby asked the same favour1 so once more there was a formal start4 ,the result was intermittent1 and it is as well4 ,i don't believe in angelic children4 ,the ,adelaide doctors entertained me to dinner1 and ,i was pleased to meet more than one who had been of my time at ,edinburgh4 ,they seemed to be a very prosperous body of men4 ,there was much interesting conversation1 especially from one elderly professor named ,watson1 who had known ,bully ,hayes and other ,south ,sea celebrities in the semi-piratical1 black-birding days4 ,he told me one pretty story4 ,they landed upon some outlying island in ,carpentaria1 peopled by real primitive blacks1 who were rounded up by the ships crew on one of the peninsulas which formed the end of the island4 ,these creatures1 the lowest of the human race1 huddled together in consternation while the white men trained a large camera upon them4 ,suddenly three males advanced and made a speech in their own tongue which1 when interpreted1 proved to be an offer that those three should die in exchange for the lives of the tribe4 ,what could the very highest do more than this1 and yet it came from the lowest savages4 ,truly1 we all have something of the divine1 and it is the very part which will grow and spread until it has burned out all the rest4 ,be a ,christ6 said brave old ,stead4 ,at the end of countless aeons we may all reach that point which not only ,stead but ,st4 ,paul also has foreshadowed4 ,i refreshed myself between lectures by going out to ,nature and to ,bellchambers4 ,as it was twenty-five miles out in the bush1 inaccessible by rail1 and only to be approached by motor roads which were in parts like the bed of a torrent1 ,i could not take my wife1 though the boys1 after the nature of boys1 enjoy a journey the more for its roughness4 ,it was a day to remember4 ,i saw lovely ,south ,australia in the full beauty of the spring1 the budding girlhood of the year1 with all her winsome growing graces upon her4 ,the brilliant yellow wattle was just fading upon the trees1 but the sward was covered with star-shaped purple flowers of the knot-grass1 and with familiar home flowers1 each subtly altered by their transportation4 ,it was wild bush for part of the way1 but mostly of the second growth on account of forest fires as much as the woodman's axe4 ,bellchambers came in to guide us1 for there is no one to ask upon these desolate tracks1 and it is easy to get bushed4 ,mr4 ,waite1 the very capable zoologist of the museum1 joined the party1 and with two such men the conversation soon got to that high nature talk which represents the really permanent things of material life--more lasting than thrones and dynasties4 ,i learned of the strange storks1 the native companions who meet1 #ejj at a time1 for their stately balls1 where in the hush of the bush they advance1 retreat1 and pirouette in their dignified minuets4 ,i heard of the bower birds1 who decorate their homes with devices of glass and pebbles4 ,there was talk1 too1 of the little red beetles who have such cunning ways that they can fertilise the insectivorous plants without being eaten1 and of the great ants who get through galvanised iron by the aid of some acid-squirting insect which they bring with them to the scene of their assault4 ,i heard also of the shark's egg which ,mr4 ,waite had raped from sixty feet deep in ,sydney ,harbour1 descending for the purpose in a diver's suit1 for which ,i raised my hat to him4 ,deep things came also from ,bellchambers' store of knowledge and little glimpses of beautiful humanity from this true gentleman4 ,yes1 he said1 ,i am mostly vegetarian4 ,you see1 ,i know the beasts too well to bring myself to pick their bones4 ,yes1 ,i'm friends with most of them4 ,birds have more sense than animals to my mind4 ,they understand you like4 ,they know what you mean4 ,snakes have least of any4 ,they don't get friendly-like in the same way4 ,but ,nature helps the snakes in queer ways4 ,some of them hatch their own eggs1 and when they do ,nature raises the temperature of their bodies4 ,that's queer4 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,w4 ,g4 ,smith1 ,adelaide4 ,,bellchambers ,,and ,,the ,,mallee ,,fowl4 ,,get ,,along ,,with ,,you1 ,,do6 ,i carried away a mixed memory of the things ,i had seen4 ,a blue-headed wren1 an eagle soaring in the distance2 a hideous lizard with a huge open mouth2 a laughing jackass which refused to laugh2 many more or less tame wallabies and kangaroos2 a dear little 'possum which got under the back of my coat1 and would not come out2 noisy mynah birds which fly ahead and warn the game against the hunter4 ,good little noisy mynah6 ,all my sympathies are with you6 ,i would do the same if ,i could4 ,this senseless lust for killing is a disgrace to the race4 ,we1 of ,england1 cannot preach1 for a pheasant battue is about the worst example of it4 ,but do let the creatures alone unless they are surely noxious6 ,when ,mr4 ,bellchambers told us how he had trained two ibises--the old religious variety--and how both had been picked off by some unknown local sportsman it made one sad4 ,we had a touch of comedy1 however1 when ,mr4 ,bellchambers attempted to expose the egg of the ,mallee fowl1 which is covered a foot deep in mould4 ,he scraped into the mound with his hands4 ,the cock watched him with an expression which clearly said3 ,confound the fellow6 ,what is he up to now8 ,he then got on the mound1 and as quickly as ,bellchambers shovelled the earth out he kicked it back again1 ,bellchambers in his good-humoured way crying ,get along with you1 do6 ,a good husband is the ,mallee cock1 and looks after the family interests4 ,but what we humans would think if we were born deep underground and had to begin our career by digging our way to the surface1 is beyond imagination4 ,there are quite a clan of ,bellchambers living in or near the little pioneer's hut built in a clearing of the bush4 ,mrs4 ,bellchambers is of ,sussex1 as is her husband1 and when they heard that we were fresh from ,sussex also it was wonderful to see the eager look that came upon their faces1 while the bush-born children could scarce understand what it was that shook the solid old folk to their marrow4 ,on the walls were old prints of the ,devil's ,dyke and ,firle ,beacon4 ,how strange that old ,sussex should be wearing out its very life in its care for the fauna of young ,australia4 ,this remarkable man is unpaid with only his scanty holding upon which to depend1 and many dumb mouths dependent upon him4 ,i shall rejoice if my efforts in the local press serve to put his affairs upon a more worthy foundation1 and to make ,south ,australia realise what a valuable instrument lies to her hand4 ,before ,i left ,adelaide ,i learned many pleasing things about the lectures1 which did away with any shadow cast by those numerous correspondents who seemed to think that we were still living under the ,mosaic dispensation1 and who were so absent-minded that they usually forgot to sign their names4 ,it is a curious difference between the ,christian letters of abuse and those of materialists1 that the former are usually anonymous and the latter signed4 ,i heard of one man1 a lame stockman1 who had come #cjj miles from the other side of ,streaky ,bay to attend the whole course1 and who declared that he could listen all night4 ,another seized my hand and cried1 ,you will never know the good you have done in this town4 ,well1 ,i hope it was so1 but ,i only regard myself as the plough4 ,others must follow with the seed4 ,knowledge1 perseverance1 sanity1 judgment1 courage--we ask some qualities from our disciples if they are to do real good4 ,talking of moral courage ,i would say that the ,governor of ,south ,australia1 ,sir ,archibald ,weigall with ,lady ,weigall1 had no hesitation in coming to support me with their presence4 ,by the end of ,september this most successful mission in ,adelaide was accomplished1 and early in ,october we were on our way to ,melbourne1 which meant a long night in the train and a few hours of the next morning during which we saw the surface diggings of ,ballarat on every side of the railway line1 the sandy soil pitted in every direction with the shallow claims of the miners4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,speculations on ,paul and his ,master4--,arrival at ,melbourne4--,attack in the ,argus4--,partial press boycott4--,strength of the movement4--,the ,prince of ,wales4--,victorian football4--,rescue ,circle in ,melbourne4--,burke and ,wills' statue4--,success of the lectures4--,reception at the ,auditorium4--,luncheon of the ,british ,empire ,league4--,mr4 ,ryan's experience4--,the ,federal ,government4--,mr4 ,hughes' personality4--,the mediumship of ,charles ,bailey4--,his alleged exposure4--,his remarkable record4--,a second sitting4--,the ,indian nest4--,a remarkable lecture4--,arrival of ,lord ,forster4--,the future of the ,empire4--,kindness of ,australians4--,prohibition4--,horse-rac ing4--,roman ,catholic policy4 ,one cannot help speculating about those great ones who first carried to the world the ,christian revelation4 ,what were their domestic ties6 ,there is little said about them1 but we should never have known that ,peter had a wife were it not for a chance allusion to his mother-in-law1 just as another chance allusion shows us that ,jesus was one of a numerous family4 ,one thing can safely be said of ,paul1 that he was either a bachelor or else was a domestic bully with a very submissive wife1 or he would never have dared to express his well known views about women4 ,as to his preaching1 he had a genius for making a clear thing obscure1 even as ,jesus had a genius for making an obscure thing clear4 ,read the ,sermon on the ,mount and then a chapter of ,paul as a contrast in styles4 ,apart from his style one can reconstruct him as a preacher to the extent that he had a powerful voice--no one without one could speak from the historic rocky pulpit on the hill of ,mars at ,athens1 as ,i ascertained for myself4 ,the slope is downwards1 sound ascends1 and the whole conditions are abominable4 ,he was certainly long-winded and probably monotonous in his diction1 or he could hardly have reduced one of his audience to such a deep sleep that he fell out of the window4 ,we may add that he was a man of brisk courage in an emergency1 that he was subject to such sudden trances that he was occasionally unaware himself whether he was normal or not1 and that he was probably short-sighted1 as he mistook the person who addressed him1 and had his letters usually written for him4 ,at least three languages were at his command1 he had an intimate and practical knowledge of the occult1 and was an authority upon ,jewish law--a good array of accomplishments for one man4 ,there are some points about ,paul's august ,master which also help in a reconstruction of ,himself and ,his surroundings4 ,that ,his mother was opposed to ,his mission is1 ,i think1 very probable4 ,women are dubious about spiritual novelties1 and one can well believe that her heart ached to see her noble elder son turn from the sure competence of ,his father's business at ,nazareth to the precarious existence of a wandering preacher4 ,this domestic opposition clouded ,him as one can see in the somewhat cold1 harsh words which ,he used to her1 and his mode of address which began simply as ,woman4 ,his assertion to the disciples that one who followed ,his path had to give up his family points to the same thing4 ,no doubt ,mary remained with the younger branches at ,nazareth while ,jesus pursued ,his ministry1 though she came1 as any mother would1 to be near ,him at the end4 ,of ,his own personality we know extraordinarily little1 considering the supreme part that ,he played in the world4 ,that ,he was a highly trained psychic1 or as we should say1 medium1 is obvious to anyone who studies the miracles1 and it is certainly not derogatory to say that they were done along the line of ,god's law rather than that they were inversions of it4 ,i cannot doubt also that he chose his apostles for their psychic powers--if not1 on what possible principle were they selected1 since they were neither staunch nor learned8 ,it is clear that ,peter and ,james and ,john were the inner circle of psychics1 since they were assembled both at the transfiguration and at the raising of ,jairus' daughter4 ,it is from unlearned open-air men who are near ,nature that the highest psychic powers are obtained4 ,it has been argued that the ,christ was an ,essene1 but this seems hard to believe1 as the ,essenes were not only secluded from the world1 but were certainly vegetarians and total abstainers1 while ,jesus was neither4 ,on the other hand baptism was not a ,jewish rite1 and his undergoing it--if ,he did1 indeed1 undergo it--marks ,him as belonging to some dissenting sect4 ,i say if ,he did because it is perfectly certain that there were forgeries and interpolations introduced into the ,gospels in order to square their teaching with the practice of the ,church some centuries later4 ,one would look for those forgeries not in the ordinary narrative1 which in the adult years bears every mark of truth1 but in the passages which support ceremonial or tributes to the ,church--such as the allusions to baptism1 ,unless a man be born again1 to the sacrament1 ,this is my body1 etc41 and the whole story of ,ananias and ,sapphira1 the moral of which is that it is dangerous to hold anything back from the ,church4 ,physically ,i picture the ,christ as an extremely powerful man4 ,i have known several famous healers and they were all men who looked as if they had redundant health and strength to give to others4 ,his words to the sick woman1 ,who has touched me8 ,much power 7dunamis is the word in the original ,greek7 has gone out of me1 show that ,his system depended upon ,his losing what ,he gave to others4 ,therefore ,he was a very strong man4 ,the mere feat of carrying a wooden cross strong enough to bear a man from ,jerusalem to ,calvary1 up a hill1 is no light one4 ,it is the details which convince me that the gospel narrative is correct and really represents an actual event4 ,take the incident during that sad journey of ,simon of ,cyrene having helped for a time with the cross4 ,why should anyone invent such a thing1 putting an actual name to the person8 ,it is touches of this kind which place the narrative beyond all suspicion of being a pure invention4 ,again and again in the ,new ,testament one is confronted with incidents which a writer of fiction recognises as being beyond the reach of invention1 because the inventor does not put in things which have no direct bearing upon the matter in hand4 ,take as an example how the maid1 seeing ,peter outside the door after his escape from prison1 ran back to the guests and said that it was his angel 7or etheric body7 which was outside4 ,such an episode could only have been recorded because it actually occurred4 ,but these be deep waters4 ,let me get back to my own humble experiences1 these interpolated thoughts being but things which have been found upon the wayside of our journey4 ,on reaching ,melbourne we were greeted at the station by a few devoted souls who had waited for two trains before they found us4 ,covered with the flowers which they had brought we drove to ,menzies ,hotel1 whence we moved a few days later to a flat in the ,grand1 where we were destined to spend five eventful weeks4 ,we found the atmosphere and general psychic conditions of ,melbourne by no means as pleasant or receptive as those of ,adelaide1 but this of course was very welcome as the greater the darkness the more need of the light4 ,if ,spiritualism had been a popular cult in ,australia there would have been no object in my visit4 ,i was welcome enough as an individual1 but by no means so as an emissary1 and both the ,churches and the ,materialists1 in most unnatural combination1 had done their best to make the soil stony for me4 ,their chief agent had been the ,argus1 a solid1 stodgy paper1 which amply fulfilled the material needs of the public1 but was not given to spiritual vision4 ,this paper before my arrival had a very violent and abusive leader which attracted much attention1 full of such terms as black magic1 ,shamanism1 witchcraft1 freak religion1 cranky faith1 cruelty1 black evil1 poison1 finishing up with the assertion that ,i represented a force which we believe to be purely evil4 ,this was from a paper which whole-heartedly supports the liquor interest1 and has endless columns of betting and racing news1 nor did its principles cause it to refuse substantial sums for the advertising of my lectures4 ,still1 however arrogant or illogical1 ,i hold that a paper has a perfect right to publish and uphold its own view1 nor would ,i say that the subsequent refusal of the ,argus to print any answer to its tirade was a real breach of the ethics of journalism4 ,where its conduct became outrageous1 however1 and where it put itself beyond the pale of all literary decency1 was when it reported my first lecture by describing my wife's dress1 my own voice1 the colour of my spectacles1 and not a word of what ,i said4 ,it capped this by publishing so-called answers to me by ,canon ,hughes1 and by ,bishop ,phelan--critics whose knowledge of the subject seemed to begin and end with the witch of ,endor--while omitting the statements to which these answers applied4 ,never in any ,british town have ,i found such reactionary intolerance as in this great city1 for though the ,argus was the chief offender1 the other papers were as timid as rabbits in the matter4 ,my psychic photographs which1 as ,i have said1 are the most wonderful collection ever shown in the world1 were received in absolute silence by the whole press1 though it is notorious that if ,i had come there with a comic opera or bedroom comedy instead of with the evidence of a series of miracles1 ,i should have had a column4 ,this seems to have been really due to moral cowardice1 and not to ignorance1 for ,i saw a private letter afterwards in which a sub-editor remarked that he and the chief leader-writer had both seen the photographs and that they could see no possible answer to them4 ,there was another and more pleasing side to the local conditions1 and that lay in the numbers who had already mastered the principles of ,spiritualism1 the richer classes as individuals1 the poorer as organised churches4 ,they were so numerous that when we received an address of welcome in the auditorium to which only ,spiritualists were invited by ticket1 the ,hall1 which holds two thousand1 was easily filled4 ,this would mean on the same scale that the ,spiritualists of ,london could fill the ,albert ,hall several times over--as no doubt they could4 ,their numbers were in a sense an embarrassment1 as ,i always had the fear that ,i was addressing the faithful instead of those whom ,i had come so far to instruct4 ,on the whole their quality and organisation were disappointing4 ,they had a splendid spiritual paper in their midst1 the ,harbinger of ,light1 which has run for fifty years1 and is most ably edited by ,mr4 ,britton ,harvey4 ,when ,i think of ,david ,gow1 ,ernest ,oaten1 ,john ,lewis and ,britton ,harvey ,i feel that our cause is indeed well represented by its press4 ,they have also some splendid local workers1 like ,bloomfield and ,tozer1 whole-hearted and apostolic4 ,but elsewhere there is the usual tendency to divide and to run into vulgarities and extravagances in which the ,spiritual has small share4 ,discipline is needed1 which involves central powers1 and that in turn means command of the purse4 ,it would be far better to have no ,spiritual churches than some ,i have seen4 ,however1 ,i seem to have got to some of my final conclusions at ,melbourne before ,i have begun our actual experience there4 ,we found the place still full of rumours and talk about the recent visit of the ,prince of ,wales1 who seems to have a perfect genius for making himself popular and beloved4 ,may he remain unspoiled and retain the fresh kindliness of his youth4 ,his success is due not to any ordered rule of conduct but to a perfectly natural courtesy which is his essential self and needs no effort4 ,our waiter at the hotel who had waited upon him remarked3 ,god never made anything nearer to ,nature than that boy4 ,he spoke to me as he might have spoken to the ,governor4 ,it was a fine tribute1 and characteristic of the humbler classes in this country1 who have a vigour of speech and an independence of view which is very refreshing4 ,once as ,i passed a public house1 a broken old fellow who had been leaning against the wall with a short pipe in his mouth1 stepped forward to me and said3 ,i am all for civil and religious liberty4 ,there is plenty of room for your cult here1 sir1 and ,i wish you well against the bigots4 ,i wonder from what heights that old fellow had fallen before he brought up against the public house wall8 ,one of my first afternoons in ,melbourne was spent in seeing the final tie of the ,victorian football cup4 ,i have played both ,rugby and ,soccer1 and ,i have seen the ,american game at its best1 but ,i consider that the ,victorian system has some points which make it the best of all--certainly from the spectacular point of view4 ,there is no off-side1 and you get a free kick if you catch the ball4 ,otherwise you can run as in ordinary ,rugby1 though there is a law about bouncing the ball as you run1 which might1 as it seemed to me1 be cut out without harming the game4 ,this bouncing rule was put in by ,mr4 ,harrison who drew up the original rules1 for the chivalrous reason that he was himself the fastest runner in the ,colony1 and he did not wish to give himself any advantage4 ,there is not so much man-handling in the ,victorian game1 and to that extent it is less dramatic1 but it is extraordinarily open and fast1 with none of the packed scrums which become so wearisome1 and with linesmen who throw in the ball the instant it goes out4 ,there were several points in which the players seemed better than our best--one was the accurate passing by low drop kicking1 very much quicker and faster than a pass by hand4 ,another was the great accuracy of the place kicking and of the screw kicking when a runner would kick at right angles to his course4 ,there were four long quarters1 and yet the men were in such condition that they were going hard at the end4 ,they are all1 ,i understand1 semi-professionals4 ,altogether it was a very fine display1 and the crowd was much excited4 ,it was suggestive that the instant the last whistle blew a troop of mounted police cantered over the ground and escorted the referees to the safety of the pavilion4 ,i began at once to endeavour to find out the conditions of local ,spiritualism1 and had a long conversation with ,mr4 ,tozer1 the chairman of the movement1 a slow-talking1 steady-eyed man1 of the type that gets a grip and does not easily let go4 ,after explaining the general situation1 which needs some explanation as it is full of currents and cross-currents caused by individual schisms and secessions1 he told me in his gentle1 earnest way some of his own experiences in his home circle which corroborate much which ,i have heard elsewhere4 ,he has run a rescue circle for the instruction of the lower spirits who are so material that they can be reached more easily by humanity than by the higher angels4 ,the details he gave me were almost the same as those given by ,mr4 ,mac,farlane of ,southsea who had a similar circle of which ,mr4 ,tozer had certainly never heard4 ,a wise spirit control dominates the proceedings4 ,the medium goes into trance4 ,the spirit control then explains what it is about to do1 and who the spirit is who is about to be reformed4 ,the next scene is often very violent1 the medium having to be held down and using rough language4 ,this comes from some low spirit who has suddenly found this means of expressing himself4 ,at other times the language is not violent but only melancholy1 the spirit declaring that he is abandoned and has not a friend in the universe4 ,some do not realise that they are dead1 but only that they wander all alone1 under conditions they could not understand1 in a cloud of darkness4 ,then comes the work of regeneration4 ,they are reasoned with and consoled4 ,gradually they become more gentle4 ,finally1 they accept the fact that they are spirits1 that their condition is their own making1 and that by aspiration and repentance they can win their way to the light4 ,when one has found the path and has returned thanks for it1 another case is treated4 ,as a rule these errant souls are unknown to fame4 ,often they are clergymen whose bigotry has hindered development4 ,occasionally some great sinner of the past may come into view4 ,i have before me a written lament professing to come from ,alva1 the bigoted governor of the ,lowlands4 ,it is gruesome enough4 ,picture to yourself the hell ,i was in4 ,blood1 blood everywhere1 corpses on all sides1 gashed1 maimed1 mutilated1 quivering with agony and bleeding at every pore6 ,at the same time thousands of voices were raised in bitter reproaches1 in curses and execrations6 ,imagine the appalling spectacle of this multitude of the dead and dying1 fresh from the flames1 from the sword1 the rack1 the torture chambers and the gibbet2 and the pandemonium of voices shrieking out the most terrible maledictions6 ,imagine never being able to get away from these sights and sounds1 and then tell me1 was ,i not in hell8--a hell of greater torment than that to which ,i believed all heretics were consigned4 ,such was the hell of the 'bloody ,alva1' from which ,i have been rescued by what seems to me a great merciful dispensation of ,almighty ,god4 ,sometimes in ,mr4 ,tozer's circle the souls of ancient clerics who have slumbered long show their first signs of resuscitation1 still bearing their old-world intolerance with them4 ,the spirit control purports to be a well-educated ,chinaman1 whose presence and air of authority annoy the ecclesiastics greatly4 ,the petrified mind leads to a long period of insensibility which means loss of ground and of time in the journey towards happiness4 ,i was present at the return of one alleged ,anglican ,bishop of the eighteenth century1 who spoke with great intolerance4 ,when asked if he had seen the ,christ he answered that he had not and that he could not understand it4 ,when asked if he still considered the ,christ to be ,god he threw up his hand and shouted violently1 ,stop6 ,that is blasphemy6 ,the ,chinese control said1 ,he stupid man4 ,let him wait4 ,he learn better--and removed him4 ,he was succeeded by a very noisy and bigoted ,puritan divine who declared that no one but devils would come to a seance4 ,on being asked whether that meant that he was himself a devil he became so abusive that the ,chinaman once more had to intervene4 ,i quote all this as a curious sidelight into some developments of the subject which are familiar enough to students1 but not to the general public4 ,it is easy at a distance to sneer at such things and to ask for their evidential value1 but they are very impressive to those who view them at closer quarters4 ,as to evidence1 ,i am informed that several of the unfortunates have been identified in this world through the information which they gave of their own careers4 ,melbourne is a remarkable city1 far more solid and old-established than the ,european visitor would expect4 ,we spent some days in exploring it4 ,there are few cities which have the same natural advantages1 for it is near the sea1 with many charming watering places close at hand1 while inland it has some beautiful hills for the week-end villas of the citizens4 ,edinburgh is the nearest analogy which ,i can recall4 ,parks and gardens are beautiful1 but1 as in most ,british cities1 the public statues are more solid than impressive4 ,the best of them1 that to ,burke and ,wills1 the heroic explorers1 has no name upon it to signify who the two figures are1 so that they mean nothing at all to the casual observer1 in spite of some excellent bas-reliefs1 round the base1 which show the triumphant start and the terrible end of that tragic but successful journey1 which first penetrated the ,continent from south to north4 ,before our departure ,i appealed in the press to have this omission rectified and it was1 ,i believe1 done4 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,stirling1 ,melbourne4 ,,melbourne1 ,,november1 #aibj4 ,mr4 ,smythe1 my agent1 had been unfortunate in being unable to secure one of the very few large halls in ,melbourne1 so we had to confine ourselves to the ,playhouse which has only seating for about #a1bjj4 ,here ,i opened on ,october #eth1 following my lectures up in the same order as in ,adelaide4 ,the press was very shy1 but nothing could have exceeded the warmth and receptivity of my hearers4 ,yet on account of the inadequate reports of the press1 with occasional total suppression1 no one who was not present could have imagined how packed was the house1 or how unanimous the audience4 ,on ,october #adth the ,spiritualists filled the ,auditorium and had a special service of welcome for ourselves4 ,when ,i went down to it in the tram1 the conductor1 unaware of my identity1 said1 when ,i asked to be put down at the ,auditorium1 ,it's no use1 sir2 it's jam full an hour ago4 ,the ,pilgrims1 as they called us1 were in special seats1 the seven of us all in a line upon the right of the chair4 ,many kind things were said1 and ,i replied as best ,i might4 ,the children will carry the remembrance of that warm-hearted reception through their lives1 and they are not likely to forget how they staggered home1 laden with the flowers which were literally heaped upon them4 ,the ,british ,empire ,league also entertained my wife and myself to lunch1 a very select company assembling who packed the room4 ,sir ,joseph ,cook1 ,federal ,chancellor of the ,exchequer1 made a pleasant speech1 recalling our adventures upon the ,somme1 when he had his baptism of fire4 ,in my reply ,i pulled the leg of my audience with some success1 for ,i wound up by saying1 very solemnly1 that ,i was something greater than ,governments and the master of ,cabinet ,ministers4 ,by the time ,i had finished my tremendous claims ,i am convinced that they expected some extravagant occult pretension1 whereas ,i actually wound up with the words1 for ,i am the man in the street4 ,there was a good deal of amusement caused4 ,mr4 ,thomas ,ryan1 a very genial and capable member of the ,state ,legislature1 took the chair at this function4 ,he had no particular psychic knowledge1 but he was deeply impressed by an experience in ,london in the presence of that remarkable little lady1 ,miss ,scatcherd4 ,mr4 ,ryan had said that he wanted some evidence before he could accept psychic philosophy1 upon which ,miss ,scatcherd said3 ,there is a spirit beside you now4 ,he conveys to me that his name is ,roberts4 ,he says he is worried in his mind because the home which you prepared for his widow has not been legally made over to her4 ,all this applied to a matter in ,adelaide4 ,in that city1 according to ,mr4 ,ryan1 a seance was held that night1 ,mr4 ,victor ,cromer being the medium1 at which a message came through from ,roberts saying that he was now easy in his mind as he had managed to convey his trouble to ,mr4 ,ryan who could set it right4 ,when these psychic laws are understood the dead as well as the living will be relieved from a load of unnecessary care2 but how can these laws be ignored or pooh-poohed in the face of such instances as this which ,i have quoted8 ,they are so numerous now that it is hardly an exaggeration to say that every circle of human beings which meets can supply one4 ,mr4 ,hughes was good enough to ask me to meet the members of the ,federal ,government at lunch1 and the experience was an interesting one1 for here round one small table were those who were shaping the course of this young giant among the nations4 ,they struck me as a practical hard-worked rough-and-ready lot of men4 ,mr4 ,hughes dominated the conversation1 which necessarily becomes one-sided as he is very deaf1 though his opponents say that he has an extraordinary knack of hearing what he is not meant to hear4 ,he told us a series of anecdotes of his stormy political youth with a great deal of vivacity1 the whole company listening in silence4 ,he is a hard1 wiry man1 with a high-nosed ,red ,indian face1 and a good deal of healthy devilry in his composition--a great force for good during the war4 ,after lunch he conducted me through the library1 and coming to a portrait of ,clemenceau he cried3 ,that's the man ,i learned to admire in ,europe4 ,then1 turning to one of ,wilson1 he added1 ,and that's the man ,i learned to dislike4 ,he added a number of instances of ,wilson's ignorance of actual conditions1 and of his ungenial coldness of heart4 ,if he had not been so wrapped in himself1 and if he had taken ,lodge or some other ,republican with him1 all could have easily been arranged4 ,i feel that ,i am not indiscreet in repeating this1 for ,hughes is not a man who conceals his opinions from the world4 ,i have been interested in the medium ,bailey1 who was said to have been exposed in ,france in #aiaj4 ,the curious will find the alleged exposure in ,annals of ,psychical ,science1 ,vol4 ,,ix4 ,bailey is an apport medium--that is to say1 that among his phenomena is the bringing of objects which are said to come from a distance1 passing through the walls and being precipitated down upon the table4 ,these objects are of the strangest description--,assyrian tablets 7real or forged71 tortoises1 live birds1 snakes1 precious stones1 c4 ,in this case1 after being searched by the committee1 he was able to produce two live birds in the seance room4 ,at the next sitting the committee proposed an obscene and absurd examination of the medium1 which he very rightly resented and refused4 ,they then confidently declared that on the first occasion the two live birds were in his intestines1 a theory so absurd that it shakes one's confidence in their judgment4 ,they had1 however1 some more solid grounds for a charge against him1 for they produced a married couple who swore that they had sold three such birds with a cage to ,bailey some days before4 ,this ,bailey denied1 pointing out that he could neither speak ,french1 nor had he ever had any ,french money1 which ,professor ,reichel1 who brought him from ,australia1 corroborated4 ,however1 the committee considered the evidence to be final1 and the seances came to an end1 though ,colonel de ,rochas1 the leading member1 wound up the incident by writing3 ,are we to conclude from the fraud that we have witnessed that all ,bailey's apports may have been fraudulent8 ,i do not think so1 and this is also the opinion of the members of the committee1 who have had much experience with mediums and are conversant with the literature of the subject4 ,reading the alleged exposure1 one is struck1 as so often in such cases1 with its unsatisfactory nature4 ,there is the difficulty of the language and the money4 ,there is the disappearance of the third bird and the cage4 ,above all1 how did the birds get into the carefully-guarded seance room1 especially as ,bailey was put in a bag during the proceedings8 ,the committee say the bag may not have been efficient1 but they also state that ,bailey desired the control to be made more effective4 ,altogether it is a puzzling case4 ,on my applying to ,bailey himself for information1 he declared roundly that he had been the victim of a theological plot with suborned evidence4 ,the only slight support which ,i can find for that view is that there was a ,rev4 ,doctor among his accusers4 ,i was told independently that ,professor ,reichel1 before his death in #aiah1 came also to the conclusion that there had been a plot4 ,but in any case most of us will agree with ,mr4 ,stanford1 ,bailey's ,australian patron1 that the committee would have been wise to say nothing1 continue the sittings1 and use their knowledge to get at some more complete conclusion4 ,with such a record one had to be on one's guard with ,mr4 ,bailey4 ,i had a sitting in my room at the hotel to which ,i invited ten guests1 but the results were not impressive4 ,we saw so-called spirit hands1 which were faintly luminous1 but ,i was not allowed to grasp them1 and they were never further from the medium than he could have reached4 ,all this was suspicious but not conclusive4 ,on the other hand1 there was an attempt at a materialisation of a head1 which took the form of a luminous patch1 and seemed to some of the sitters to be further from the cabinet than could be reached4 ,we had an address purporting to come from the control1 ,dr4 ,whitcombe1 and we also had a message written in bad ,italian4 ,on the whole it was one of those baffling sittings which leave a vague unpleasant impression1 and there was a disturbing suggestion of cuffs about those luminous hands4 ,i have been reading ,bailey's record1 however1 and ,i cannot doubt that he has been a great apport medium4 ,the results were far above all possible fraud1 both in the conditions and in the articles brought into the room by spirit power4 ,for example1 ,i have a detailed account published by ,dr4 ,c4 ,w4 ,mc,carthy1 of ,sydney1 under the title1 ,rigid ,tests of the ,occult4 ,during these tests ,bailey was sealed up in a bag1 and in one case was inside a cage of mosquito curtain4 ,the door and windows were secured and the fire-place blocked4 ,the sitters were all personal friends1 but they mutually searched each other4 ,the medium was stripped naked before the seance4 ,under these stringent conditions during a series of six sittings #ach articles were brought into the room1 which included eighty-seven ancient coins 7mostly of ,ptolemy71 eight live birds1 eighteen precious stones of modest value and varied character1 two live turtles1 seven inscribed ,babylonian tablets1 one ,egyptian ,scarabaeus1 an ,arabic newspaper1 a leopard skin1 four nests and many other things4 ,it seems to me perfect nonsense to talk about these things being the results of trickery4 ,i may add that at a previous test meeting they had a young live shark about #a-a_/b feet long1 which was tangled with wet seaweed and flopped about on the table4 ,dr4 ,mc,carthy gives a photograph of the creature4 ,my second sitting with ,bailey was more successful than the first4 ,on his arrival ,i and others searched him and satisfied ourselves he carried nothing upon him4 ,i then suddenly switched out all the lights1 for it seemed to me that the luminous hands of the first sitting might be the result of phosphorised oil put on before the meeting and only visible in complete darkness1 so that it could defy all search4 ,i was wrong1 however1 for there was no luminosity at all4 ,we then placed ,mr4 ,bailey in the corner of the room1 lowered the lights without turning them out1 and waited4 ,almost at once he breathed very heavily1 as one in trance1 and soon said something in a foreign tongue which was unintelligible to me4 ,one of our friends1 ,mr4 ,cochrane1 recognised it as ,indian1 and at once answered1 a few sentences being interchanged4 ,in ,english the voice then said that he was a ,hindoo control who was used to bring apports for the medium1 and that he would1 he hoped1 be able to bring one for us4 ,here it is1 he said a moment later1 and the medium's hand was extended with something in it4 ,the light was turned full on and we found it was a very perfect bird's nest1 beautifully constructed of some very fine fibre mixed with moss4 ,it stood about two inches high and had no sign of any flattening which would have come with concealment4 ,the size would be nearly three inches across4 ,in it lay a small egg1 white1 with tiny brown speckles4 ,the medium1 or rather the ,hindoo control acting through the medium1 placed the egg on his palm and broke it1 some fine albumen squirting out4 ,there was no trace of yolk4 ,we are not allowed to interfere with life1 said he4 ,if it had been fertilised we could not have taken it4 ,these words were said before he broke it1 so that he was aware of the condition of the egg1 which certainly seems remarkable4 ,where did it come from8 ,i asked4 ,from ,india4 ,what bird is it8 ,they call it the jungle sparrow4 ,the nest remained in my possession1 and ,i spent a morning with ,mr4 ,chubb1 of the local museum1 to ascertain if it was really the nest of such a bird4 ,it seemed too small for an ,indian sparrow1 and yet we could not match either nest or egg among the ,australian types4 ,some of ,mr4 ,bailey's other nests and eggs have been actually identified4 ,surely it is a fair argument that while it is conceivable that such birds might be imported and purchased here1 it is really an insult to one's reason to suppose that nests with fresh eggs in them could also be in the market4 ,therefore ,i can only support the far more extended experience and elaborate tests of ,dr4 ,mc,carthy of ,sydney1 and affirm that ,i believe ,mr4 ,charles ,bailey to be upon occasion a true medium1 with a very remarkable gift for apports4 ,it is only right to state that when ,i returned to ,london ,i took one of ,bailey's ,assyrian tablets to the ,british ,museum and that it was pronounced to be a forgery4 ,upon further inquiry it proved that these forgeries are made by certain ,jews in a suburb of ,bagdad--and1 so far as is known1 only there4 ,therefore the matter is not much further advanced4 ,to the transporting agency it is at least possible that the forgery1 steeped in recent human magnetism1 is more capable of being handled than the original taken from a mound4 ,bailey has produced at least a hundred of these things1 and no ,custom ,house officer has deposed how they could have entered the country4 ,on the other hand1 ,bailey told me clearly that the tablets had been passed by the ,british ,museum1 so that ,i fear that ,i cannot acquit him of tampering with truth--and just there lies the great difficulty of deciding upon his case4 ,but one has always to remember that physical mediumship has no connection one way or the other with personal character1 any more than the gift of poetry4 ,to return to this particular seance1 it was unequal4 ,we had luminous hands1 but they were again within reach of the cabinet in which the medium was seated4 ,we had also a long address from ,dr4 ,whitcombe1 the learned control1 in which he discoursed like an absolute master upon ,assyrian and ,roman antiquities and psychic science4 ,it was really an amazing address1 and if ,bailey were the author of it ,i should hail him as a master mind4 ,he chatted about the ,kings of ,babylon as if he had known them all1 remarked that the ,bible was wrong in calling ,belthazar ,king as he was only ,crown ,prince1 and put in all those easy side allusions which a man uses when he is absolutely full of his subject4 ,upon his asking for questions1 ,i said3 ,please give me some light as to the dematerialisation and subsequent reassembly of an object such as a bird's nest4 ,it involves1 he answered1 some factors which are beyond your human science and which could not be made clear to you4 ,at the same time you may take as a rough analogy the case of water which is turned into steam1 and then this steam which is invisible1 is conducted elsewhere to be reassembled as visible water4 ,i thought this explanation was exceedingly apt1 though of course ,i agree that it is only a rough analogy4 ,on my asking if there were libraries and facilities for special study in the next world1 he said that there certainly were1 but that instead of studying books they usually studied the actual objects themselves4 ,all he said was full of dignity and wisdom4 ,it was curious to notice that1 learned as he was1 ,dr4 ,whitcombe always referred back with reverence to ,dr4 ,robinson1 another control not present at the moment1 as being the real expert4 ,i am told that some of ,dr4 ,robinson's addresses have fairly amazed the specialists4 ,i notice that ,col4 de ,rochas in his report was equally impressed by ,bailey's controls4 ,i fear that my psychic experiences are pushing my travels into the background1 but ,i warned the reader that it might be so when first we joined hands4 ,to get back to the earth1 let me say that ,i saw the procession when the new ,governor-,general1 ,lord ,forster1 with his charming wife1 made their ceremonial entry into ,melbourne1 with many workman-like ,commonwealth troops before and behind their carriage4 ,i knew ,lord ,forster of old1 for we both served upon a committee over the ,olympic ,games1 so that he gave quite a start of surprised recognition when his quick eye fell upon my face in the line of spectators4 ,he is a man who cannot fail to be popular here1 for he has the physical as well as the mental qualities4 ,our stay in ,melbourne was afterwards made more pleasant by the gracious courtesy of ,government ,house for1 apart from attending several functions1 we were invited to a special dinner1 after which ,i exhibited upon a screen my fairy portraits and a few of my other very wonderful psychic photographs4 ,it was not an occasion when ,i could preach1 but no quick intelligence could be brought in contact with such phenomena without asking itself very seriously what lay behind them4 ,when that question is earnestly asked the battle is won4 ,one asks oneself what will be the end of this system of little viceroys in each ,state and a big viceroy in the ,capital--however capable and excellent in themselves such viceroys may be4 ,the smaller courts are1 ,i understand1 already doomed1 and rightly so1 since there is no need for them and nothing like them elsewhere4 ,there is no possible purpose that they serve save to impose a nominal check1 which is never used1 upon the legislation4 ,the ,governor-,generalship will last no doubt until ,australia cuts the painter1 or we let go our end of it1 whichever may come first4 ,personally1 ,i have no fear of ,britain's power being weakened by a separation of her dominions4 ,close allies which were independent might be a greater source of moral strength than actual dependencies4 ,when the sons leave the father's house and rule their own homes1 becoming fathers in turn1 the old man is not weakened thereby4 ,certainly ,i desire no such change1 but if it came ,i would bear it with philosophy4 ,i hope that the era of great military crises is for ever past1 but1 if it should recur1 ,i am sure that the point of view would be the same1 and that the starry ,union ,jack of the great ,australian nation would still fly beside the old flag which was its model4 ,if one took a ,machiavelian view of ,british interests one would say that to retain a colony the surest way is not to remove any danger which may threaten her4 ,we conquered ,canada from the ,french1 removing in successive campaigns the danger from the north and from the west which threatened our ,american colonies4 ,when we had expended our blood and money to that end1 so that the colonies had nothing to fear1 they took the first opportunity to force an unnecessary quarrel and to leave us4 ,so ,i have fears for ,south ,africa now that the ,german menace has been removed4 ,australia is1 ,i think1 loyal to the core1 and yet self-interest is with every nation the basis of all policy1 and so long as the ,british fleet can guard the shores of the great empty northern territories1 a region as big as ,britain1 ,germany1 ,france and ,austria put together1 they have need of us4 ,there can be no doubt that if they were alone in the world in the face of the teeming millions of the ,east1 they might1 like the ,siberian travellers1 have to throw a good deal to the wolves in order to save the remainder4 ,brave and capable as they are1 neither their numbers nor their resources could carry them through a long struggle if the enemy held the sea4 ,they are natural shots and soldiers1 so that they might be wiser to spend their money in a strategic railway right across their northern coast1 rather than in direct military preparations4 ,to concentrate rapidly before the enemy was firmly established might under some circumstances be a very vital need4 ,but so long as the ,british ,empire lasts ,australia is safe1 and in twenty years' time her own enlarged population will probably make her safe without help from anyone4 ,but her empty places are a danger4 ,history abhors a vacuum and finds some one to fill it up4 ,i have never yet understood why the ,commonwealth has not made a serious effort to attract to the northern territories those ,italians who are flooding the ,argentine4 ,it is great blood and no race is the poorer for it--the blood of ancient ,rome4 ,they are used to semitropical heat and to hard work in bad conditions if there be only hope ahead4 ,perhaps the policy of the future may turn in that direction4 ,if that one weak spot be guarded then it seems to me that in the whole world there is no community1 save only the ,united ,states1 which is so safe from outside attack as ,australia4 ,internal division is another matter1 but there ,australia is in some ways stronger than the ,states4 ,she has no negro question1 and the strife between ,capital and ,labour is not likely to be so formidable4 ,i wonder1 by the way1 how many people in the ,united ,states realise that this small community lost as many men as ,america did in the great war4 ,we were struck also by the dignified resignation with which this fact was faced1 and by the sense of proportion which was shown in estimating the sacrifices of various nations4 ,we like the people here very much more than we had expected to1 for one hears in ,england exaggerated stories of their democratic bearing4 ,when democracy takes the form of equality one can get along with it1 but when it becomes rude and aggressive one would avoid it4 ,here one finds a very pleasing good fellowship which no one would object to4 ,again and again we have met with little acts of kindness from people in shops or in the street1 which were not personal to ourselves1 but part of their normal good manners4 ,if you ask the way or any other information1 strangers will take trouble to put you right4 ,they are kindly1 domestic and straight in speech and in dealings4 ,materialism and want of vision in the broader affairs of life seem to be the national weakness1 but that may be only a passing phase1 for when a nation has such a gigantic material proposition as this continent to handle it is natural that their thoughts should run on the wool and the wheat and the gold by which it can be accomplished4 ,i am bound to say1 however1 that ,i think every patriotic ,australian should vote1 if not for prohibition1 at least for the solution which is most dear to myself1 and that is the lowering of the legal standard of alcohol in any drink4 ,we have been shocked and astonished by the number of young men of decent exterior whom we have seen staggering down the street1 often quite early in the day4 ,the ,biblical test for drunkenness1 that it was not yet the third hour1 would not apply to them4 ,i hear that bad as it is in the big towns it is worse in the small ones1 and worst of all in the northern territories and other waste places where work is particularly needed4 ,it must greatly decrease the national efficiency4 ,a recent vote upon the question in ,victoria only carried total abstinence in four districts out of about #bjj1 but a two-third majority was needed to do it4 ,on the other hand a trial of strength in ,queensland1 generally supposed to be rather a rowdy ,state1 has shown that the temperance men all combined can out-vote the others4 ,therefore it is certain that reform will not be long delayed4 ,the other curse of the country1 which is a real drag upon its progress1 is the eternal horse-racing4 ,it goes on all the year round1 though it has its more virulent bouts1 as for example during our visit to this town when the ,derby1 the ,melbourne ,cup1 and ,oaks succeeded each other4 ,they call it sport1 but ,i fear that in that case ,i am no sportsman4 ,i would as soon call the roulette-table a sport4 ,the whole population is unsettled and bent upon winning easy money1 which dissatisfies them with the money that has to be worked for4 ,every shop is closed when the ,cup is run1 and you have lift-boys1 waiters and maids all backing their fancies1 not with half-crowns but with substantial sums4 ,the danger to honesty is obvious1 and it came under our own notice that it is not imaginary4 ,of course we are by no means blameless in ,england1 but it only attacks a limited class1 while here it seems to the stranger to be almost universal4 ,in fact it is so bad that it is sure to get better1 for ,i cannot conceive that any sane nation will allow it to continue4 ,the book-makers1 however1 are a powerful guild1 and will fight tooth and nail4 ,the ,catholic ,church1 ,i am sorry to say1 uses its considerable influence to prevent drink reform by legislation1 and ,i fear that it will not support the anti-gamblers either4 ,i wonder from what hidden spring1 from what ignorant ,italian camarilla1 this venerable and in some ways admirable ,church gets its secular policy1 which must have central direction1 since it is so consistent6 ,when ,i remember the recent sequence of world events and the part played by that ,church1 the attack upon the innocent ,dreyfus1 the refusal to support reform in the ,congo1 and finally the obvious leaning towards the ,central ,powers who were clearly doomed to lose1 one would think that it was ruled by a ,council of lunatics4 ,these matters bear no relation to faith or dogma1 so that one wonders that the sane ,catholics have not risen in protest4 ,no doubt the better class laymen are ahead of the clergy in this as in other religious organisations4 ,i cannot forget how the ,duke of ,norfolk sent me a cheque for the ,congo ,reform ,movement at the very time when we could not get the ,catholic ,church to line up with the other sects at a ,reform ,demonstration at the ,albert ,hall4 ,in this country also there were many brave and loyal ,catholics who took their own line against ,cardinal ,mannix upon the question of conscription1 when that ,cardinal did all that one man could do to bring about the defeat of the free nations in the great war4 ,how he could face an ,american audience afterwards1 or how such an audience could tolerate him1 is hard to understand4 ,,chapter ,v ,more ,english than the ,english4--,a day in the ,bush4--,immigration4--,a case of spirit return4--,a ,seance4--,geelong4--,the lava plain4--,good-nature of ,general ,ryrie4--,bendigo4--,down a gold mine4--,prohibition v4 ,continuance4--,mrs4 ,knight ,mac,lellan4--,nerrin4--,a wild drive4--,electric shearing4--,rich sheep stations4--,cockatoo farmers4--,spinnifex and ,mallee4--,rabbits4--,the great marsh4 ,in some ways the ,australians are more ,english than the ,english4 ,we have been imperceptibly ,americanised1 while our brethren over the sea have kept the old type4 ,the ,australian is less ready to show emotion1 cooler in his bearing1 more restrained in applause1 more devoted to personal liberty1 keener on sport1 and quieter in expression 7as witness the absence of scare lines in the papers7 than our people are4 ,indeed1 they remind me more of the ,scotch than the ,english1 and ,melbourne on a ,sunday1 without posts1 or ,sunday papers1 or any amenity whatever1 is like the ,edinburgh of my boyhood4 ,sydney is more advanced4 ,there are curious anomalies in both towns4 ,their telephone systems are so bad that they can only be balanced against each other1 for they are in a class by themselves4 ,one smiles when one recollects that one used to grumble at the ,london lines4 ,on the other hand the tramway services in both towns are wonderful1 and so continuous that one never hastens one's step to catch a tram since another comes within a minute4 ,the ,melbourne trams have open bogey cars in front1 which make a drive a real pleasure4 ,one of our pleasant recollections in the early days of our ,melbourne visit was a day in the bush with ,mr4 ,henry ,stead and his wife4 ,my intense admiration for the moral courage and energy of the father made it easy for me to form a friendship with his son1 who has shown the family qualities by the able way in which he has founded and conducted an excellent journal1 ,stead's ,monthly4 ,australia was lucky ever to get such an immigrant as that1 for surely an honest1 fearless and clear-headed publicist is the most valuable man that a young country1 whose future is one long problem play1 could import4 ,we spent our day in the ,dandenong ,hills1 twenty miles from ,melbourne1 in a little hostel built in a bush clearing and run by one ,lucas1 of good ,english cricket stock1 his father having played for ,sussex4 ,on the way we passed ,madame ,melba's place at ,lilydale1 and the wonderful woods with their strange tree-ferns seemed fit cover for such a singing bird4 ,coming back in ,stead's light ,american car we tried a short cut down roads which proved to be almost impossible4 ,a rather heavier car ahead of us1 with two youths in it1 got embedded in the mud1 and we all dismounted to heave it out4 ,there suddenly appeared on the lonely road an enormous coloured man2 he looked like a cross between negro and black fellow4 ,he must have lived in some hut in the woods1 but the way his huge form suddenly rose beside us was quite surprising4 ,he stood in gloomy majesty surveying our efforts1 and repeating a series of sentences which reminded one of ,german exercises4 ,i have no jack4 ,i had a jack4 ,some one has taken my jack4 ,this is called a road4 ,it is not a road4 ,there is no road4 ,we finally levered out the ,australian car1 for which1 by the way1 neither occupant said a word of thanks1 and then gave the black giant a shilling1 which he received as a keeper takes his toll4 ,on looking back ,i am not sure that this slough of despond is not carefully prepared by this negro1 who makes a modest income by the tips which he gets from the unfortunates who get bogged in it4 ,no keeper ever darted out to a trap quicker than he did when the car got stuck4 ,stead agreed with me that the ,australians do not take a big enough view of their own destiny4 ,they--or the labour party1 to be more exact--are inclined to buy the ease of the moment at the cost of the greatness of their continental future4 ,they fear immigration lest it induce competition and pull down prices4 ,it is a natural attitude4 ,and yet that little fringe of people on the edge of that huge island can never adequately handle it4 ,it is like an enormous machine with a six horsepower engine to drive it4 ,i have a great sympathy with their desire to keep the ,british stock as pure as possible4 ,but the land needs the men1 and somewhere they must be found4 ,i cannot doubt that they would become loyal subjects of the ,empire which had adopted them4 ,i have wondered sometimes whether in ,lower ,california and the warmer ,states of the ,union there may not be human material for ,australia4 ,canada has received no more valuable stock than from the ,american ,states1 so it might be that another portion of the ,union would find the very stamp of man that ,queensland and the north require4 ,the ,american likes a big gamble and a broad life with plenty of elbow-room4 ,let him bring his cotton seeds over to semi-tropical ,australia and see what he can make of it there4 ,to pass suddenly to other-worldly things1 which are my mission4 ,people never seem to realise the plain fact that one positive result must always outweigh a hundred negative ones4 ,it only needs one single case of spirit return to be established1 and there is no more to be said4 ,incidentally1 how absurd is the position of those wiseacres who say nine-tenths of the phenomena are fraud4 ,can they not see that if they grant us one-tenth1 they grant us our whole contention8 ,these remarks are elicited by a case which occurred in #ahhc in ,melbourne1 and which should have converted the city as surely as if an angel had walked down ,collins ,street4 ,yet nearly forty years later ,i find it as stagnant and material as any city ,i have ever visited4 ,the facts are these1 well substantiated by documentary and official evidence4 ,mr4 ,junor ,browne1 a well-known citizen1 whose daughter afterwards married ,mr4 ,alfred ,deakin1 subsequently ,premier1 had two sons1 ,frank and ,hugh4 ,together with a seaman named ,murray they went out into the bay in their yacht the ,iolanthe1 and they never returned4 ,the father was fortunately a ,spiritualist and upon the second day of their absence1 after making all normal inquiries1 he asked a sensitive1 ,mr4 ,george ,spriggs1 formerly of ,cardiff1 if he would trace them4 ,mr4 ,spriggs collected some of the young men's belongings1 so as to get their atmosphere1 and then he was able by psychometry to give an account of their movements1 the last which he could see of them being that they were in trouble upon the yacht and that confusion seemed to reign aboard her4 ,two days later1 as no further news was brought in1 the ,browne family held a seance1 ,mr4 ,spriggs being the medium4 ,he fell into trance and the two lads1 who had been trained in spiritual knowledge and knew the possibilities1 at once came through4 ,they expressed their contrition to their mother1 who had desired them not to go1 and they then gave a clear account of the capsizing of the yacht1 and how they had met their death1 adding that they had found themselves after death in the exact physical conditions of happiness and brightness which their father's teaching had led them to expect4 ,they brought with them the seaman ,murray1 who also said a few words4 ,finally ,hugh1 speaking through the medium1 informed ,mr4 ,browne that ,frank's arm and part of his clothing had been torn off by a fish4 ,a shark8 asked ,mr4 ,browne4 ,well1 it was not like any shark ,i have seen4 ,mark the sequel4 ,some weeks later a large shark of a rare deep-sea species1 unknown to the fishermen1 and quite unlike the ordinary blue shark with which the ,brownes were familiar1 was taken at ,frankston1 about twenty-seven miles from ,melbourne4 ,inside it was found the bone of a human arm1 and also a watch1 some coins1 and other articles which had belonged to ,frank ,browne4 ,these facts were all brought out in the papers at the time1 and ,mr4 ,browne put much of it on record in print before the shark was taken1 or any word of the missing men had come by normal means4 ,the facts are all set forth in a little book by ,mr4 ,browne himself1 called ,a ,rational ,faith4 ,what have fraudulent mediums and all the other decoys to do with such a case as that1 and is it not perfectly convincing to any man who is not perverse8 ,personally1 ,i value it not so much for the evidence of survival1 since we have that so complete already1 but for the detailed account given by the young men of their new conditions1 so completely corroborating what so many young officers1 cut off suddenly in the war1 have said of their experience4 ,mother1 if you could see how happy we are1 and the beautiful home we are in1 you would not weep except for joy4 ,i feel so light in my spiritual body and have no pain1 ,i would not exchange this life for earth life even it were in my power4 ,poor spirits without number are waiting anxiously to communicate with their friends when an opportunity is offered4 ,the young ,brownes had the enormous advantage of the education they had received from their father1 so that they instantly understood and appreciated the new conditions4 ,on ,october #hth we had a seance with ,mrs4 ,hunter1 a pleasant middle-aged woman1 with a soft ,south of ,england accent4 ,like so many of our mediums she had little sign of education in her talk4 ,it does not matter in spiritual things1 though it is a stumbling block to some inquirers4 ,after all1 how much education had the apostles8 ,i have no doubt they were very vulgar provincial people from the average ,roman point of view4 ,but they shook the world none the less4 ,most of our educated people have got their heads so crammed with things that don't matter that they have no room for the things that do matter4 ,there was no particular success at our sitting1 but ,i have heard that the medium is capable of better things4 ,on ,october #acth ,i had my first experience of a small town1 for ,i went to ,geelong and lectured there4 ,it was an attentive and cultured audience1 but the hall was small and the receipts could hardly have covered the expenses4 ,however1 it is the press report and the local discussion which really matter4 ,i had little time to inspect ,geelong1 which is a prosperous port with #ce1jjj inhabitants4 ,what interested me more was the huge plain of lava which stretches around it and connects it with ,melbourne4 ,this plain is a good hundred miles across1 and as it is of great depth one can only imagine that there must be monstrous cavities inside the earth to correspond with the huge amount extruded4 ,here and there one sees stunted green cones which are the remains of the volcanoes which spewed up all this stuff4 ,the lava has disintegrated on the surface to the extent of making good arable soil1 but the harder bits remain unbroken1 so that the surface is covered with rocks1 which are used to build up walls for the fields after the ,irish fashion4 ,every here and there a peak of granite has remained as an island amid the lava1 to show what was there before the great outflow4 ,eruptions appear to be caused by water pouring in through some crack and reaching the heated inside of the earth where the water is turned to steam1 expands1 and so gains the force to spread destruction4 ,if this process went on it is clear that the whole sea might continue to pour down the crack until the heat had been all absorbed by the water4 ,i have wondered whether the lava may not be a clever healing process of nature1 by which this soft plastic material is sent oozing out in every direction with the idea that it may find the crack and then set hard and stop it up4 ,wild speculation no doubt1 but the guess must always precede the proof4 ,the ,australians are really a very good-natured people4 ,it runs through the whole race1 high and low4 ,a very exalted person1 the ,minister of ,war1 shares our flat in the hotel1 his bedroom being imbedded among our rooms4 ,this is ,general ,sir ,granville ,ryrie1 a famous hero of ,palestine1 covered with wounds and medals--a man1 too1 of great dignity of bearing4 ,as ,i was dressing one morning ,i heard some rather monotonous whistling and1 forgetting the very existence of the ,general1 and taking it for granted that it was my eldest boy ,denis1 ,i put my head out and said1 ,look here1 old chap1 consider other people's nerves and give up that rotten habit of whistling before breakfast4 ,imagine my feelings when the deep voice of the ,general answered1 ,all right1 ,sir ,arthur1 ,i will6 ,we laughed together over the incident afterwards1 and ,i told him that he had furnished me with one more example of ,australian good humour for my notes4 ,on ,october #acth ,i was at the prosperous #ej1jjj population town of ,bendigo1 which every one1 except the people on the spot1 believes to have been named after the famous boxer4 ,this must surely be a world record1 for so far as my memory serves1 neither a ,grecian ,olympic athletic1 nor a ,roman ,gladiator1 nor a ,byzantine ,charioteer1 has ever had a city for a monument4 ,borrow1 who looked upon a good honest pugilist as the pick of humanity1 must have rejoiced in it4 ,is not valour the basis of all character1 and where shall we find greater valour than theirs8 ,alas1 that most of them began and ended there6 ,it is when the sage and the saint build on the basis of the fighter that you have the highest to which humanity can attain4 ,i had a full hall at ,bendigo1 and it was packed1 ,i am told1 by real old-time miners1 for1 of course1 ,bendigo is still the centre of the gold mining industry4 ,mr4 ,smythe told me that it was quite a sight to see those rows of deeply-lined1 bearded faces listening so intently to what ,i said of that destiny which is theirs as well as mine4 ,i never had a better audience1 and it was their sympathy which helped me through1 for ,i was very weary that night4 ,but however weary you may be1 when you climb upon the platform to talk about this subject1 you may be certain that you will be less weary when you come off4 ,that is my settled conviction after a hundred trials4 ,on the morning after my lecture ,i found myself half a mile nearer to dear ,old ,england1 for ,i descended the ,unity mine1 and they say that the workings extend to that depth4 ,perhaps ,i was not at the lowest level1 but certainly it was a long journey in the cage1 and reminded me of my friend ,bang's description of the ,new ,york elevator1 when he said that the distance to his suburban villa and his town flat was the same1 but the one was horizontal and the other perpendicular4 ,it was a weird experience that peep into the profound depths of the great gold mine4 ,time was when the quartz veins were on the surface for the poor adventurer to handle4 ,now they have been followed underground1 and only great companies and costly machinery can win it4 ,always it is the same white quartz vein with the little yellow specks and threads running through it4 ,we were rattled down in pitch darkness until we came to a stop at the end of a long passage dimly lit by an occasional guttering candle4 ,carrying our own candles1 and clad in miner's costume we crept along with bent heads until we came suddenly out into a huge circular hall which might have sprung from ,dore's imagination4 ,the place was draped with heavy black shadows1 but every here and there was a dim light4 ,each light showed where a man was squatting toad-like1 a heap of broken debris in front of him1 turning it over1 and throwing aside the pieces with clear traces of gold4 ,these were kept for special treatment1 while the rest of the quartz was passed in ordinary course through the mill4 ,these scattered heaps represented the broken stuff after a charge of dynamite had been exploded in the quartz vein4 ,it was strange indeed to see these squatting figures deep in the bowels of the earth1 their candles shining upon their earnest faces and piercing eyes1 and to reflect that they were striving that the great exchanges of ,london and ,new ,york might be able to balance with bullion their output of paper4 ,this dim troglodyte industry was in truth the centre and mainspring of all industries1 without which trade would stop4 ,many of the men were from ,cornwall1 the troll among the nations1 where the tools of the miner are still1 as for two thousand years1 the natural heritage of the man4 ,dr4 ,stillwell1 the geologist of the company1 and ,i had a long discussion as to where the gold came from1 but the only possible conclusion was that nobody knew4 ,we know now that the old alchemists were perfectly right and that one metal may change into another4 ,is it possible that under some conditions a mineral may change into a metal8 ,why should quartz always be the matrix8 ,some geological ,darwin will come along some day and we shall get a great awakening1 for at present we are only disguising our own ignorance in this department of knowledge4 ,i had always understood that quartz was one of the old igneous primeval rocks1 and yet here ,i saw it in thin bands1 sandwiched in between clays and slates and other water-borne deposits4 ,the books and the strata don't agree4 ,these smaller towns1 like the ,metropolis itself1 are convulsed with the great controversy between ,prohibition and ,continuance1 no reasonable compromise between the two being suggested4 ,every wall displays posters1 on one side those very prosperous-looking children who demand that some restraint be placed upon their daddy1 and on the other hair-raising statements as to the financial results of restricting the publicans4 ,to the great disgust of every decent man they have run the ,prince into it1 and some remark of his after his return to ,england has been used by the liquor party4 ,it is dangerous for royalty to be jocose in these days1 but this was a particularly cruel example of the exploitation of a harmless little joke4 ,if others felt as ,i did ,i expect it cost the liquor interest many a vote4 ,we had another seance1 this time with ,mrs4 ,knight ,mac,lellan1 after my return from ,bendigo4 ,she is a lady who has grown grey in the service of the cult1 and who made a name in ,london when she was still a child by her mediumistic powers4 ,we had nothing of an evidential character that evening save that one lady who had recently lost her son had his description and an apposite message given4 ,it was the first of several tests which we were able to give this lady1 and before we left ,melbourne she assured us that she was a changed woman and her sorrow for ever gone4 ,on ,october #ahth began a very delightful experience1 for my wife and ,i1 leaving our party safe in ,melbourne1 travelled up country to be the guests of the ,hon4 ,agar ,wynne and his charming wife at their station of ,nerrin-,nerrin in ,western ,victoria4 ,it is about #adj miles from ,melbourne1 and as the trains are very slow1 the journey was not a pleasant one4 ,but that was soon compensated for in the warmth of the welcome which awaited us4 ,mr4 ,agar ,wynne was ,postmaster-,general of the ,federal ,government1 and author of several improvements1 one of which1 the power of sending long letter-telegrams at low rates during certain hours was a triumph of common sense4 ,for a shilling one could send quite a long communication to the other end of the ,continent1 but it must go through at the time when the telegraph clerk had nothing else to do4 ,it was interesting to us to find ourselves upon an old-established station1 typical of the real life of ,australia1 for cities are much the same the world over4 ,nerrin had been a sheep station for eighty years1 but the comfortable verandahed bungalow house1 with every convenience within it1 was comparatively modern4 ,what charmed us most1 apart from the kindness of our hosts1 was a huge marsh or lagoon which extended for many miles immediately behind the house1 and which was a bird sanctuary1 so that it was crowded with ibises1 wild black swans1 geese1 ducks1 herons and all sorts of fowl4 ,we crept out of our bedroom in the dead of the night and stood under the cloud-swept moon listening to the chorus of screams1 hoots1 croaks and whistles coming out of the vast expanse of reeds4 ,it would make a most wonderful hunting ground for a naturalist who was content to observe and not to slay4 ,the great morass of ,nerrin will ever stand out in our memories4 ,next day we were driven round the borders of this wonderful marsh1 ,mr4 ,wynne1 after the ,australian fashion1 taking no note of roads1 and going right across country with alarming results to anyone not used to it4 ,finally1 the swaying and rolling became so terrific that he was himself thrown off the box seat and fell down between the buggy and the front wheel1 narrowly escaping a very serious accident4 ,he was able to show us the nests and eggs which filled the reed-beds1 and even offered to drive us out into the morass to inspect them1 a proposal which was rejected by the unanimous vote of a full buggy4 ,i never knew an answer more decidedly in the negative4 ,as we drove home we passed a great gum tree1 and half-way up the trunk was a deep incision where the bark had been stripped in an oval shape some four foot by two4 ,it was where some savage in days of old had cut his shield4 ,such a mark outside a modern house with every amenity of cultured life is an object lesson of how two systems have over-lapped1 and how short a time it is since this great continent was washed by a receding wave1 ere the great ,anglo-,saxon tide came creeping forward4 ,apart from the constant charm of the wild life of the marsh there did not seem to be much for the naturalist around ,nerrin4 ,opossums bounded upon the roof at night and snakes were not uncommon4 ,a dangerous tiger-snake was killed on the day of our arrival4 ,i was amazed also at the size of the ,australian eels4 ,a returned soldier had taken up fishing as a trade1 renting a water for a certain time and putting the contents1 so far as he could realise them1 upon the market4 ,it struck me that after this wily digger had passed that way there would not be much for the sportsman who followed him4 ,but the eels were enormous4 ,he took a dozen at a time from his cunning eel-pots1 and not one under six pounds4 ,i should have said that they were certainly congers had ,i seen them in ,england4 ,i wonder whether all this part of the country has not been swept by a tidal wave at some not very remote period4 ,it is a low coastline with this great lava plain as a hinterland1 and ,i can see nothing to prevent a big wave even now from sweeping the civilisation of ,victoria off the planet1 should there be any really great disturbance under the ,pacific4 ,at any rate1 it is my impression that it has actually occurred once already1 for ,i cannot otherwise understand the existence of great shallow lakes of salt water in these inland parts4 ,are they not the pools left behind by that terrible tide8 ,there are great banks of sand1 too1 here and there on the top of the lava which ,i can in no way account for unless they were swept here in some tremendous world-shaking catastrophe which took the beach from ,st4 ,kilda and threw it up at ,nerrin4 ,god save ,australia from such a night as that must have been if my reading of the signs be correct4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,typical ,,australian ,,back-,,country ,,scene4 ,by ,h4 ,j4 ,johnstone1 a great painter who died unknown4 7,painting in ,adelaide ,national ,gallery47 ,one of the sights of ,nerrin is the shearing of the sheep by electric machinery4 ,these sheep are merinos1 which have been bred as wool-producers to such an extent that they can hardly see1 and the wool grows thick right down to their hoofs4 ,the large stately creature is a poor little shadow when his wonderful fleece has been taken from him4 ,the electric clips with which the operation is performed1 are1 ,i am told1 the invention of a brother of ,garnet ,wolseley1 who worked away at the idea1 earning the name of being a half-crazy crank1 until at last the invention materialised and did away with the whole slow and clumsy process of the hand-shearer4 ,it is not1 however1 a pleasant process to watch even for a man1 far less a sensitive woman1 for the poor creatures get cut about a good deal in the process4 ,the shearer seizes a sheep1 fixes him head up between his knees1 and then plunges the swiftly-moving clippers into the thick wool which covers the stomach4 ,with wonderful speed he runs it along and the creature is turned out of its covering1 and left as bare as a turkey in a poulterer's window1 but1 alas1 its white and tender skin is too often gashed and ripped with vivid lines of crimson by the haste and clumsiness of the shearer4 ,it was worse1 they say1 in the days of the hand-shearer4 ,i am bound to say1 however1 that the creature makes no fuss about it1 remains perfectly still1 and does not appear to suffer any pain4 ,nature is often kinder than we know1 even to her most humble children1 and some soothing and healing process seems to be at work4 ,the shearers appear to be a rough set of men1 and spend their whole time moving in gangs from station to station1 beginning up in the far north and winding up on the plains of ,south ,australia4 ,they are complete masters of the situation1 having a powerful union at their back4 ,they not only demand and receive some two pounds a day in wages1 but they work or not by vote1 the majority being able to grant a complete holiday4 ,it is impossible to clip a wet sheep1 so that after rain there is an interval of forced idleness1 which may be prolonged by the vote of the men4 ,they work very rapidly1 however1 when they are actually at it1 and the man who tallies most fleeces1 called the ringer1 receives a substantial bonus4 ,when the great shed is in full activity it is a splendid sight with the row of stooping figures1 each embracing his sheep1 the buzz of the shears1 the rush of the messengers who carry the clip to the table1 the swift movements of the sorters who separate the perfect from the imperfect wool1 and the levering and straining of the packers who compress it all into square bundles as hard as iron with #bdj pounds in each4 ,with fine wool at the present price of ninety-six pence a pound it is clear that each of these cubes stands for nearly a hundred pounds4 ,they are rich men these sheep owners--and ,i am speaking here of my general inquiry and not at all of ,nerrin4 ,on a rough average1 with many local exceptions1 one may say that an estate bears one sheep to an acre1 and that the sheep may show a clear profit of one pound in the year4 ,thus1 after the first initial expense is passed1 and when the flock has reached its full1 one may easily make an assessment of the owner's income4 ,estates of #aj1jjj acres are common1 and they run up to #ej1jjj and #fj1jjj acres4 ,they can be run so cheaply that the greater part of income is clear profit1 for when the land is barb-wired into great enclosures no shepherds are needed1 and only a boundary rider or two to see that all is in order4 ,these1 with a few hands at lambing time1 and two or three odd-job men at the central station1 make up the whole staff4 ,it is certainly the short cut to a fortune if one can only get the plant running4 ,can a man with a moderate capital get a share of these good things8 ,certainly he can if he have grit and a reasonable share of that luck which must always be a factor in ,nature's processes4 ,droughts1 floods1 cyclones1 etc41 are like the zero at ,monte ,carlo1 which always may turn up to defeat the struggling gamester4 ,i followed several cases where small men had managed to make good4 ,it is reckoned that the man who gets a holding of from #cjj to #ejj acres is able on an average in three years to pay off all his initial expenses and to have laid the foundations of a career which may lead to fortune4 ,one case was a ,london baker who knew nothing of the work4 ,he had #cjj acres and had laid it out in wheat1 cows1 sheep and mixed farming4 ,he worked from morning to night1 his wife was up at four1 and his child of ten was picking up stones behind the furrow4 ,but he was already making his ,l#ejj a year4 ,the personal equation was everything4 ,one demobilised soldier was doing well4 ,another had come to smash4 ,very often a deal is made between the small man and the large holder1 by which the latter lets the former a corner of his estate1 taking a share1 say one-third1 of his profits as rent4 ,that is a plan which suits everyone1 and the landlord can gradually be bought out by the cockatoo farmer1 as he is styled4 ,there is a great wool-clip this year1 and prices in ,london are at record figures1 so that ,australia1 which only retains #ag per cent4 of her own wool1 should have a very large sum to her credit4 ,but she needs it4 ,when one considers that the debt of this small community is heavier now than that of ,great ,britain before the war1 one wonders how she can ever win through4 ,but how can anyone win through8 ,i don't think we have fairly realised the financial problem yet1 and ,i believe that within a very few years there will be an ,international ,council which will be compelled to adopt some such scheme as the one put forward by my friend1 ,mr4 ,stilwell1 under the name of ,the ,great ,plan4 ,this excellent idea was that every nation should reduce its warlike expenditure to an absolute minimum1 that the difference between this minimum and the #aiad pre-war standard should be paid every year to a central fund1 and that international bonds be now drawn upon the security of that fund1 anticipating not its present amount but what it will represent in fifty years' time4 ,it is1 in fact1 making the future help the present1 exactly as an estate which has some sudden great call upon it might reasonably anticipate or mortgage its own development4 ,i believe that the salvation of the world may depend upon some such plan1 and that the ,council of the ,league of ,nations is the agency by which it could be made operative4 ,australia has had two plants which have been a perfect curse to her as covering the land and offering every impediment to agriculture4 ,they are the ,spinnifex in the ,west and the ,mallee scrub in the ,east4 ,the latter was considered a hopeless proposition1 and the only good which could be extracted from it was that the root made an ideal fire1 smouldering long and retaining heat4 ,suddenly1 however1 a genius named ,lascelles discovered that this hopeless ,mallee land was simply unrivalled for wheat1 and his schemes have now brought seven million acres under the plough4 ,this could hardly have been done if another genius1 unnamed1 had not invented a peculiar and ingenious plough1 the stump-jump plough1 which can get round obstacles without breaking itself4 ,it is not generally known that ,australia really heads the world for the ingenuity and efficiency of her agricultural machinery4 ,there is an inventor and manufacturer1 ,mac,kay1 of ,sunshine1 who represents the last word in automatic reapers1 etc4 ,he exports them1 a shipload at a time1 to the ,united ,states1 which1 if one considers the tariff which they have to surmount1 is proof in itself of the supremacy of the article4 ,with this wealth of machinery the real power of ,australia in the world is greater than her population would indicate1 for a five-million nation1 which1 by artificial aid1 does the work normally done by ten million people1 becomes a ten-million nation so far as economic and financial strength is concerned4 ,on the other hand1 ,australia has her hindrances as well as her helps4 ,certainly the rabbits have done her no good1 though the evil is for the moment under control4 ,an efficient rabbiter gets a pound a day1 and he is a wise insurance upon any estate1 for the creatures1 if they get the upper-hand1 can do thousands of pounds' worth of damage4 ,this damage takes two shapes4 ,first1 they eat on all the grass and leave nothing at all for the sheep4 ,secondly1 they burrow under walls1 etc41 and leave the whole place an untidy ruin4 ,little did the man who introduced the creature into ,australia dream how the imprecations of a continent would descend upon him4 ,alas6 that we could not linger at ,nerrin2 but duty was calling at ,melbourne4 ,besides1 the days of the ,melbourne ,cup were at hand1 and not only was ,mr4 ,wynne a great pillar of the turf1 but ,mr4 ,osborne1 owner of one of the most likely horses in the race1 was one of the house-party4 ,to ,melbourne therefore we went4 ,we shall always1 however1 be able in our dreams to revisit that broad verandah1 the low hospitable facade1 the lovely lawn with its profusion of scented shrubs1 the grove of towering gum trees1 where the opossums lurked1 and above all the great marsh where with dark clouds drifting across the moon we had stolen out at night to hear the crying of innumerable birds4 ,that to us will always be the real ,australia4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,the ,melbourne ,cup4--,psychic healing4--,m4 ,j4 ,bloomfield4--,my own experience4--,direct healing4--,chaos and ,ritual4--,government ,house ,ball4--,the ,rescue ,circle again4--,sitting with ,mrs4 ,harris4--,a good test case4--,australian botany4--,the land of myrtles4--,english cricket team4--,great final meeting in ,melbourne4 ,it was the week of weeks in ,melbourne when we returned from ,nerrin1 and everything connected with my mission was out of the question4 ,when the whole world is living vividly here and now there is no room for the hereafter4 ,personally1 ,i fear ,i was out of sympathy with it all1 though we went to the ,derby1 where the whole male and a good part of the female population of ,melbourne seemed to be assembled1 reinforced by contingents from every ,state in the ,federation4 ,a fine handsome body of people they are when you see them en masse1 strong1 solid and capable1 if perhaps a little lacking in those finer and more spiritual graces which come with a more matured society4 ,the great supply of animal food must have its effect upon the mind as well as the body of a nation4 ,lord ,forster appeared at the races1 and probably1 as an all round sportsman1 took a genuine interest1 but the fate of the ,governor who did not take an interest would be a rather weary one--like that kind-hearted ,roman ,emperor1 ,claudius1 if ,i remember right1 who had to attend the gladiatorial shows1 but did his business there so as to distract his attention from the arena4 ,we managed to get out of attending the famous ,melbourne ,cup1 and thereby found the ,st4 ,kilda ,beach deserted for once1 and ,i was able to spend a quiet day with my wife watching the children bathe and preparing for the more strenuous times ahead4 ,one psychic subject which has puzzled me more than any other1 is that of magnetic healing4 ,all my instincts as a doctor1 and all the traditional teaching of the profession1 cry out against unexplained effects1 and the opening which their acceptance must give to the quack4 ,the man who has paid a thousand pounds for his special knowledge has a natural distaste when he sees a man who does not know the subclavian artery from the pineal gland1 effecting or claiming to effect cures on some quite unconventional line4 ,and yet 444 and yet6 ,the ancients knew a great deal which we have forgotten1 especially about the relation of one body to another4 ,what did ,hippocrates mean when he said1 ,the affections suffered by the body the soul sees with shut eyes8 ,i will show you exactly what he means4 ,my friend1 ,m4 ,j4 ,bloomfield1 as unselfish a worker for truth as the world can show1 tried for nearly two years to develop the medical powers of a clairvoyant4 ,suddenly the result was attained1 without warning4 ,he was walking with a friend in ,collins ,street laughing over some joke4 ,in an instant the laugh was struck from his lips4 ,a man and woman were walking in front1 their backs towards ,bloomfield4 ,to his amazement he saw the woman's inner anatomy mapped out before him1 and especially marked a rounded mass near the liver which he felt intuitively should not be there4 ,his companion rallied him on his sudden gravity1 and still more upon the cause of it1 when it was explained4 ,bloomfield was so certain1 however1 that the vision was for a purpose1 that he accosted the couple1 and learned that the woman was actually about to be operated on for cancer4 ,he reassured them1 saying that the object seemed clearly defined and not to have widespread roots as a cancer might have4 ,he was asked to be present at the operation1 pointed out the exact place where he had seen the growth1 and saw it extracted4 ,it was1 as he had said1 innocuous4 ,with this example in one's mind the words of ,hippocrates begin to assume a very definite meaning4 ,i believe that the surgeon was so struck by the incident that he was most anxious that ,bloomfield should aid him permanently in his diagnoses4 ,i will now give my own experience with ,mr4 ,bloomfield4 ,denis had been suffering from certain pains1 so ,i took him round as a test case4 ,bloomfield1 without asking the boy any questions1 gazed at him for a couple of minutes4 ,he then said that the pains were in the stomach and head1 pointing out the exact places4 ,the cause1 he said1 was some slight stricture in the intestine and he proceeded to tell me several facts of ,denis's early history which were quite correct1 and entirely beyond his normal knowledge4 ,i have never in all my experience of medicine known so accurate a diagnosis4 ,another lady1 whom ,i knew1 consulted him for what she called a medical reading4 ,without examining her in any way he said3 ,what a peculiar throat you have6 ,it is all pouched inside4 ,she admitted that this was so1 and that doctors in ,london had commented upon it4 ,by his clairvoyant gift he could see as much as they with their laryngoscopes4 ,mr4 ,bloomfield has never accepted any fees for his remarkable gifts4 ,last year he gave #c1jjj consultations4 ,i have heard of mediums with similar powers in ,england1 but ,i had never before been in actual contact with one4 ,with all my professional prejudices ,i am bound to admit that they have powers1 just as ,braid and ,esdaile1 the pioneers of hypnotism1 had powers1 which must sooner or later be acknowledged4 ,there are1 as ,i understand it1 at least two quite different forms of psychic healing4 ,in such cases as those quoted the result may be due only to subtle powers of the human organism which some have developed and others have not4 ,the clairvoyance and the instinctive knowledge may both belong to the individual4 ,in the other cases1 however1 there are the direct action and advice of a wise spirit control1 a deceased physician usually1 who has added to his worldly stock of knowledge4 ,he can1 of course1 only act through a medium--and just there1 alas1 is the dangerous opening for fraud and quackery4 ,but if anyone wishes to study the operation at its best let him read a tiny book called ,one thing ,i know1 which records the cure of the writer1 the sister of an ,anglican canon1 when she had practically been given up by doctors of this world after fifteen years of bed1 but was rescued by the ministrations of ,dr4 ,beale1 a physician on the other side4 ,dr4 ,beale received promotion to a higher sphere in the course of the treatment1 which was completed by his assistant and successor4 ,it is a very interesting and convincing narrative4 ,we were invited to another spiritual meeting at the ,auditorium4 ,individuality runs riot sometimes in our movement4 ,on this occasion a concert had been mixed up with a religious service and the effect was not good1 though the musical part of the proceedings disclosed one young violinist1 ,master ,hames1 who should1 ,i think1 make a name in the world4 ,i have always been against ritual1 and yet now that ,i see the effect of being without it ,i begin to understand that some form of it1 however elastic1 is necessary4 ,the clairvoyance was good1 if genuine1 but it offends me to see it turned off and on like a turn at a music hall4 ,it is either nonsense or the holy of holies and mystery of mysteries4 ,perhaps it was just this conflict between the priest with his ritual and the medium without any1 which split the early ,christian ,church1 and ended in the complete victory of the ritual1 which meant the extinction not only of the medium but of the living1 visible1 spiritual forces which he represented4 ,flowers1 music1 incense1 architecture1 all tried to fill the gap1 but the soul of the thing had gone out of it4 ,it must1 ,i suppose1 have been about the end of the third century that the process was completed1 and the living thing had set into a petrifaction4 ,that would be the time no doubt when1 as already mentioned1 special correctors were appointed to make the gospel texts square with the elaborate machinery of the ,church4 ,only now does the central fire begin to glow once more through the ashes which have been heaped above it4 ,we attended the great annual ball at the ,government ,house1 where the ,governor-,general and his wife were supported by the ,governors of the various ,states1 the vice-regal party performing their own stately quadrille with a dense hedge of spectators around them4 ,there were few chaperons1 and nearly every one ended by dancing1 so that it was a cheerful and festive scene4 ,my friend ,major ,wood had played with the ,governor-,general in the same ,hampshire eleven1 and it was singular to think that after many years they should meet again like this4 ,social gaieties are somewhat out of key with my present train of thought1 and ,i was more in my element next evening at a meeting of the ,rescue ,circle under ,mr4 ,tozer4 ,mr4 ,love was the medium and it was certainly a very remarkable and consistent performance4 ,even those who might imagine that the different characters depicted were in fact various strands of ,mr4 ,love's subconscious self1 each dramatising its own peculiarities1 must admit that it was a very absorbing exhibition4 ,the circle sits round with prayer and hymns while ,mr4 ,love falls into a trance state4 ,he is then controlled by the ,chinaman ,quong1 who is a person of such standing and wisdom in the other world1 that other lower spirits have to obey him4 ,the light is dim1 but even so the characteristics of this ,chinaman get across very clearly1 the rolling head1 the sidelong1 humorous glance the sly smile1 the hands crossed and buried in what should be the voluminous folds of a mandarin's gown4 ,he greets the company in somewhat laboured ,english and says he has many who would be the better for our ministrations4 ,send them along1 please6 says ,mr4 ,tozer4 ,the medium suddenly sits straight and his whole face changes into an austere harshness4 ,what is this ribald nonsense8 he cries4 ,who are you1 friend8 says ,tozer4 ,my name is ,mathew ,barret4 ,i testified in my life to the ,lamb and to ,him crucified4 ,i ask again3 ,what is this ribald nonsense8 ,it is not nonsense1 friend4 ,we are here to help you and to teach you that you are held down and punished for your narrow ideas1 and that you cannot progress until they are more charitable4 ,what ,i preached in life ,i still believe4 ,tell us1 friend1 did you find it on the other side as you had preached8 ,what do you mean8 ,well1 did you1 for example1 see ,christ8 ,there was an embarrassed silence4 ,no1 ,i did not4 ,have you seen the devil8 ,no1 ,i have not4 ,then1 bethink you1 friend1 that there may be truth in what we teach4 ,it is against all that ,i have preached4 ,a moment later the ,chinaman was back with his rolling head and his wise smile4 ,he good man--stupid man4 ,he learn in time4 ,plenty time before him4 ,we had a wonderful succession of revenants4 ,one was a very dignified ,anglican1 who always referred to the ,control as this yellow person4 ,another was an ,australian soldier4 ,i never thought ,i'd take my orders from a ',chink1' said he1 but he says 'hist6' and by gum you've got to 'hist' and no bloomin' error4 ,yet another said he had gone down in the ,monmouth4 ,can you tell me anything of the action8 ,i asked4 ,we never had a chance4 ,it was just hell4 ,there was a world of feeling in his voice4 ,he was greatly amused at their sky-pilot1 as he called the chaplain1 and at his confusion when he found the other world quite different to what he had depicted4 ,a terrifying ,ghurkha came along1 who still thought he was in action and charged about the circle1 upsetting the medium's chair1 and only yielding to a mixture of force and persuasion4 ,there were many others1 most of whom returned thanks for the benefit derived from previous meetings4 ,you've helped us quite a lot1 they said4 ,between each the old ,chinese sage made comments upon the various cases1 a kindly1 wise old soul1 with just a touch of mischievous humour running through him4 ,we had an exhibition of the useless apostolic gift of tongues during the evening1 for two of the ladies present broke out into what ,i was informed was the ,maori language1 keeping up a long and loud conversation4 ,i was not able to check it1 but it was certainly a coherent language of some sort4 ,in all this there was nothing which one could take hold of and quote as absolutely and finally evidential1 and yet the total effect was most convincing4 ,i have been in touch with some ,rescue ,circles1 however1 where the identity of the patients1 as we may call them1 was absolutely traced4 ,as ,i am on the subject of psychic experiences ,i may as well carry on1 so that the reader who is out of sympathy may make a single skip of the lot4 ,mrs4 ,susanna ,harris1 the ,american voice-medium1 who is well known in ,london1 had arrived here shortly after ourselves1 and gave us a sitting4 ,mrs4 ,harris's powers have been much discussed1 for while on the one hand she passed a most difficult test in ,london1 where1 with her mouth full of coloured water1 she produced the same voice effects as on other occasions1 she had no success in ,norway when she was examined by their ,psychic ,research ,committee2 but ,i know how often these intellectuals ruin their own effects by their mental attitude1 which acts like those anti-ferments which prevent a chemical effervescence4 ,we must always get back to the principle1 however1 that one positive result is more important than a hundred negative ones--just as one successful demonstration in chemistry makes up for any number of failures4 ,we cannot command spirit action1 and we can only commiserate with1 not blame1 the medium who does not receive it when it is most desired4 ,personally ,i have sat four times with ,mrs4 ,harris and ,i have not the faintest doubt that on each of these occasions ,i got true psychic results1 though ,i cannot answer for what happens in ,norway or elsewhere4 ,illustration3 ,,at ,,melbourne ,,town ,,hall1 ,,november #ab,,th1 #aibj4 ,shortly after her arrival in ,melbourne she gave us a seance in our private room at the hotel1 no one being present save at my invitation4 ,there were about twelve guests1 some of whom had no psychic experience1 and ,i do not think there was one of them who did not depart convinced that they had been in touch with preternatural forces4 ,there were two controls1 ,harmony1 with a high girlish treble voice1 and a male control with a strong decisive bass4 ,i sat next to ,mrs4 ,harris1 holding her hand in mine1 and ,i can swear to it that again and again she spoke to me while the other voices were conversing with the audience4 ,harmony is a charming little creature1 witty1 friendly and innocent4 ,i am quite ready to consider the opinion expressed by the ,theosophists that such controls as ,harmony with ,mrs4 ,harris1 ,bella with ,mrs4 ,brittain1 ,feda with ,mrs4 ,leonard1 and others are in reality nature-spirits who have never lived in the flesh but take an intelligent interest in our affairs and are anxious to help us4 ,the male control1 however1 who always broke in with some final clinching remark in a deep voice1 seemed altogether human4 ,whilst these two controls formed1 and were the chorus of the play1 the real drama rested with the spirit voices1 the same here as ,i have heard them under ,mrs4 ,wriedt1 ,mrs4 ,johnson or ,mr4 ,powell in ,england1 intense1 low1 vibrating with emotion and with anxiety to get through4 ,nearly everyone in the circle had communications which satisfied them4 ,one lady who had mourned her husband very deeply had the inexpressible satisfaction of hearing his voice thanking her for putting flowers before his photograph1 a fact which no one else could know4 ,a voice claiming to be ,moore-,usborne ,moore1 came in front of me4 ,i said1 ,well1 ,admiral1 we never met1 but we corresponded in life4 ,he said1 ,yes1 and we disagreed1 which was true4 ,then there came a voice which claimed to be ,mr4 ,j4 ,morse1 the eminent pioneer of ,spiritualism4 ,i said1 ,mr4 ,morse1 if that is you1 you can tell me where we met last4 ,he answered1 ,was it not in ',light' office in ,london8 ,i said1 ,no1 surely it was when you took the chair for me at that great meeting at ,sheffield4 ,he answered1 ,well1 we lose some of our memory in passing4 ,as a matter of fact he was perfectly right1 for after the sitting both my wife and ,i remembered that ,i had exchanged a word or two with him as ,i was coming out of ,light office at least a year after the ,sheffield meeting4 ,this was a good test as telepathy was excluded4 ,general ,sir ,alfred ,turner also came and said that he remembered our conversations on earth4 ,when ,i asked him whether he had found the conditions beyond the grave as happy as he expected he answered1 infinitely more so4 ,altogether ,i should think that not less than twenty spirits manifested during this remarkable seance4 ,the result may have been the better because ,mrs4 ,harris had been laid up in bed for a week beforehand1 and so we had her full force4 ,i fancy that like most mediums1 she habitually overworks her wonderful powers4 ,such seances have been going on now for seventy years1 with innumerable witnesses of credit who will testify1 as ,i have done here1 that all fraud or mistake was out of the question4 ,and still the men of no experience shake their heads4 ,i wonder how long they will succeed in standing between the world and the consolation which ,god has sent us4 ,there is one thing very clear about mediumship and that is that it bears no relation to physical form4 ,mrs4 ,harris is a very large lady1 tall and ,junoesque1 a figure which would catch the eye in any assembly4 ,she has1 ,i believe1 a dash of the mystic ,red ,indian blood in her1 which may be connected with her powers4 ,bailey1 on the other hand1 is a little1 ginger-coloured man1 while ,campbell of ,sydney1 who is said to have apport powers which equal ,bailey1 is a stout man1 rather like the late ,corney ,grain4 ,every shape and every quality of vessel may hold the psychic essence4 ,i spend such spare time as ,i have in the ,melbourne ,botanical ,gardens1 which is1 ,i think1 absolutely the most beautiful place that ,i have ever seen4 ,i do not know what genius laid them out1 but the effect is a succession of the most lovely vistas1 where flowers1 shrubs1 large trees and stretches of water1 are combined in an extraordinary harmony4 ,green swards slope down to many tinted groves1 and they in turn droop over still ponds mottled with lovely water plants4 ,it is an instructive as well as a beautiful place1 for every tree has its visiting card attached and one soon comes to know them4 ,australia is preeminently the ,land of the ,myrtles1 for a large proportion of its vegetation comes under this one order1 which includes the gum trees1 of which there are #agj varieties4 ,they all shed their bark instead of their leaves1 and have a generally untidy1 not to say indecent appearance1 as they stand with their covering in tatters and their white underbark shining through the rents4 ,there is not the same variety of species in ,australia as in ,england1 and it greatly helps a superficial botanist like myself1 for when you have learned the ti-tree1 the wild fig tree and the gum trees1 you will be on terms with nature wherever you go4 ,new ,zealand however offers quite a fresh lot of problems4 ,the ,melbourne ,cricket ,club has made me an honorary member1 so ,denis and ,i went down there1 where we met the giant bowler1 ,hugh ,trumble1 who left so redoubtable a name in ,england4 ,as the ,chela may look at the ,yogi so did ,denis1 with adoring eyes1 gaze upon ,trumble1 which so touched his kind heart that he produced a cricket ball1 used in some famous match1 which he gave to the boy--a treasure which will be reverently brought back to ,england4 ,i fancy ,denis slept with it that night1 as he certainly did in his pads and gloves the first time that he owned them4 ,we saw the ,english team play ,victoria1 and it was pleasant to see the well-known faces once more4 ,the luck was all one way1 for ,armstrong was on the sick list1 and ,armstrong is the mainstay of ,victorian cricket4 ,rain came at a critical moment also1 and gave ,woolley and ,rhodes a wicket which was impossible for a batsman4 ,however1 it was all good practice for the more exacting games of the future4 ,it should be a fine eleven which contains a genius like ,hobbs1 backed by such men as the bustling bulldog1 ,hendren1 a great out-field as well as a grand bat1 or the wily1 dangerous ,hearne1 or ,douglas1 cricketer1 boxer1 above all warrior1 a worthy leader of ,englishmen4 ,hearne ,i remember as little more than a boy1 when he promised to carry on the glories of that remarkable family1 of which ,george and ,alec were my own playmates4 ,he has ended by proving himself the greatest of them all4 ,my long interval of enforced rest came at last to an end1 when the race fever had spent itself1 and ,i was able to have my last great meeting at the ,town ,hall4 ,it really was a great meeting1 as the photograph of it will show4 ,i spoke for over two hours1 ending up by showing a selection of the photographs4 ,i dealt faithfully with the treatment given to me by the ,argus4 ,i take the extract from the published account4 ,on this1 the last time in my life that ,i shall address a ,melbourne audience1 ,i wish to thank the people for the courtesy with which we have been received4 ,it would1 however1 be hypocritical upon my part if ,i were to thank the ,press4 ,a week before ,i entered ,melbourne the ,argus declared that ,i was an emissary of the devil 7laughter74 ,i care nothing for that4 ,i am out for a fight and can take any knocks that come4 ,but the ,argus refused to publish a word ,i said4 ,i came #ab1jjj miles to give you a message of hope and comfort1 and ,i appeal to you to say whether three or four gentlemen sitting in a board-room have a right to say to the people of ,melbourne1 ',you shall not listen to that man nor read one word of what he has to say4' 7,cries of ',shame6'7 ,you1 ,i am sure1 resent being spoon-fed in such a manner4 ,the audience showed in the most hearty fashion that they did resent it1 and they cheered loudly when ,i pointed out that my remarks did not arise1 as anyone could see by looking round1 from any feeling on my part that my mission had failed to gain popular support4 ,it was a great evening1 and ,i have never addressed a more sympathetic audience4 ,the difficulty always is for my wife and myself to escape from our kind well-wishers1 and it is touching and heartening to hear the sincere ,god bless you6 which they shower upon us as we pass4 ,this then was the climax of our mission in ,melbourne4 ,it was marred by the long but unavoidable delay in the middle1 but it began well and ended splendidly4 ,on ,november #acth we left the beautiful town behind us1 and embarked upon what we felt would be a much more adventurous period at ,sydney1 for all we had heard showed that both our friends and our enemies were more active in the great seaport of ,new ,south ,wales4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,great reception at ,sydney4--,importance of ,sydney4--,journalistic luncheon4--,a psychic epidemic4--,gregory4--,barracking4--,tow n ,hall reception4--,regulation of ,spiritualism4--,an ether apport4--,surfing at ,manly4--,a challenge4--,bigoted opponents4--,a disgruntled photographer4--,outing in the ,harbour4--,dr4 ,mildred ,creed4--,leon ,gellert4--,norman ,lindsay4--,bishop ,leadbeater4--,our relations with ,theosophy4--,incongruities of ,h4,p4,b4--,of ,d4,d4 ,home4 ,we had a wonderful reception at ,sydney4 ,i have a great shrinking from such deputations as they catch you at the moment when you are exhausted and unkempt after a long journey1 and when you need all your energies to collect your baggage and belongings so as to make your way to your hotel4 ,but on this occasion it was so hearty1 and the crowd of faces beamed such good wishes upon us that it was quite a pick-me-up to all of us4 ,god bless you6 and ,thank ,god you have come6 reached us from all sides4 ,my wife1 covered with flowers1 was hustled off in one direction1 while ,i was borne away in another1 and each of the children was the centre of a separate group4 ,major ,wood had gone off to see to the luggage1 and ,jakeman was herself embedded somewhere in the crowd1 so at last ,i had to shout1 ,where's that little girl8 ,where's that little boy8 until we reassembled and were able1 laden with bouquets1 to reach our carriage4 ,the evening paper spread itself over the scene4 ,when ,sir ,conan ,doyle1 his wife and their three children arrived from ,melbourne by the express this morning1 an assembly of ,spiritualists accorded them a splendid greeting4 ,men swung their hats high and cheered1 women danced in their excitement1 and many of their number rushed the party with rare bouquets4 ,the excitement was at its highest1 and ,sir ,conan being literally carried along the platform by the pressing crowds1 when a digger arrived on the outskirts4 ',who's that8' he asked of nobody in particular4 ,almost immediately an urchin replied1 ',the bloke that wrote ,sherlock ,holmes4' ,when asked if the latter gentleman was really and irretrievably dead the author of his being remarked1 ',well1 you can say that a coroner has never sat upon him4' ,it was a grand start1 and we felt at once in a larger and more vigorous world1 where1 if we had fiercer foes1 we at least had warm and well-organised friends4 ,better friends than those of ,melbourne do not exist1 but there was a method and cohesion about ,sydney which impressed us from the first day to the last4 ,there seemed1 also1 to be fewer of those schisms which are the bane of our movement4 ,if ,wells' dictum that organisation is death has truth in it1 then we are very much alive4 ,we had rooms in ,petty's ,hotel1 which is an old-world hostel with a very quiet1 soothing atmosphere4 ,there ,i was at once engaged with the usual succession of journalists with a long list of questions which ranged from the destiny of the human soul to the chances of the test match4 ,what with the constant visitors1 the unpacking of our trunks1 and the settling down of the children1 we were a very weary band before evening4 ,i had no idea that ,sydney was so great a place4 ,the population is now very nearly a million1 which represents more than one-sixth of the whole vast ,continent4 ,it seems a weak point of the ,australian system that #da per cent4 of the whole population dwell in the six capital cities4 ,the vital statistics of ,sydney are extraordinarily good1 for the death rate is now only twelve per thousand per annum4 ,our standard in such matters is continually rising1 for ,i can remember the days when twenty per thousand was reckoned to be a very good result4 ,in every civic amenity ,sydney stands very high4 ,her ,botanical ,gardens are not so supremely good as those of ,melbourne1 but her ,zoo is among the very best in the world4 ,the animals seem to be confined by trenches rather than by bars1 so that they have the appearance of being at large4 ,it was only after ,jakeman had done a level hundred with a child under each arm that she realised that a bear1 which she saw approaching1 was not really in a state of freedom4 ,as to the natural situation of ,sydney1 especially its harbour1 it is so world-renowned that it is hardly necessary to allude to it4 ,i can well imagine that a ,sydney man would grow homesick elsewhere1 for he could never find the same surroundings4 ,the splendid landlocked bay with its numerous side estuaries and its narrow entrance is a grand playground for a sea-loving race4 ,on a ,saturday it is covered with every kind of craft1 from canoe to hundred-tonner4 ,the fact that the water swarms with sharks seems to present no fears to these strong-nerved people1 and ,i have found myself horrified as ,i watched little craft1 manned by boys1 heeling over in a fresh breeze until the water was up to their gunwales4 ,at very long intervals some one gets eaten1 but the fun goes on all the same4 ,the people of ,sydney have their residences 7bungalows with verandahs7 all round this beautiful bay1 forming dozens of little townlets4 ,the system of ferry steamers becomes as important as the trams1 and is extraordinarily cheap and convenient4 ,to ,manly1 for example1 which lies some eight miles out1 and is a favourite watering place1 the fare is fivepence for adults and twopence for children4 ,so frequent are the boats that you never worry about catching them1 for if one is gone another will presently start4 ,thus1 the whole life of ,sydney seems to converge into the ,circular ,quay1 from which as many as half a dozen of these busy little steamers may be seen casting off simultaneously for one or another of the oversea suburbs4 ,now and then1 in a real cyclone1 the service gets suspended1 but it is a rare event1 and there is a supplementary1 but roundabout1 service of trams4 ,the journalists of ,new ,south ,wales gave a lunch to my wife and myself1 which was a very pleasant function4 ,one leading journalist announced1 amid laughter1 that he had actually consulted me professionally in my doctoring days1 and had lived to tell the tale1 which contradicts the base insinuation of some orator who remarked once that though ,i was known to have practised1 no living patient of mine had ever yet been seen4 ,nothing could have been more successful than my first lecture1 which filled the ,town ,hall4 ,there were evidently a few people who had come with intent to make a scene1 but ,i had my audience so entirely with me1 that it was impossible to cause real trouble4 ,one fanatic near the door cried out1 ,anti-,christ6 several times1 and was then bundled out4 ,another1 when ,i described how my son had come back to me1 cried out that it was the devil1 but on my saying with a laugh that such a remark showed the queer workings of some people's minds1 the people cheered loudly in assent4 ,altogether it was a great success1 which was repeated in the second1 and culminated in the third1 when1 with a hot summer day1 and the ,english cricketers making their debut1 ,i still broke the record for a ,town ,hall matinee4 ,the rush was more than the officials could cope with1 and ,i had to stand for ten long minutes looking at the audience before it was settled enough for me to begin4 ,some spiritualists in the audience struck up ,lead1 ,kindly ,light6 which gave the right note to the assemblage4 ,mr4 ,smythe1 with all his experience1 was amazed at our results4 ,this is no longer a mere success1 he cried4 ,it is a triumph4 ,it is an epidemic6 ,surely1 it will leave some permanent good behind it and turn the public mind from religious shadows to realities4 ,we spent one restful day seeing our cricketers play ,new ,south ,wales4 ,after a promising start they were beaten owing to a phenomenal first-wicket stand in the second innings by ,macartney and ,collins1 both batsmen topping the hundred4 ,gregory seemed a dangerous bowler1 making the ball rise shoulder high even on that ,bulli wicket1 where midstump is as much as an ordinary bowler can attain4 ,he is a tiger of a man1 putting every ounce of his strength and inch of his great height into every ball1 with none of the artistic finesse of a ,spofforth1 but very effective all the same4 ,we have no one of the same class2 and that will win ,australia the rubber unless ,i am--as ,i hope ,i am--a false prophet4 ,i was not much impressed either by the manners or by the knowledge of the game shown by the barrackers4 ,every now and then1 out of the mass of people who darken the grass slopes round the ground1 you hear a raucous voice giving advice to the captain1 or1 perhaps1 conjuring a fast bowler to bowl at the wicket when the man is keeping a perfect length outside the off stump and trying to serve his three slips4 ,when ,mailey went on1 because he was slow and seemed easy1 they began to jeer1 and1 yet1 you had only to watch the batsman to see that the ball was doing a lot and kept him guessing4 ,one wonders why the neighbours of these bawlers tolerate it4 ,in ,england such men would soon be made to feel that they were ill-mannered nuisances1 ,i am bound to testify1 however1 that they seem quite impartial1 and that the ,english team had no special cause for complaint4 ,i may also add that1 apart from this cricketing peculiarity1 which is common to all the ,states1 the ,sydney crowd is said to be one of the most good-humoured and orderly in the world4 ,my own observation confirms this1 and ,i should say that there was a good deal less drunkenness than in ,melbourne1 but1 perhaps the races gave me an exaggerated impression of the latter4 ,on ,sunday1 #bhth1 the spiritualists gave the pilgrims 7as they called us7 a reception at the ,town ,hall4 ,there was not a seat vacant1 and the sight of these #c1ejj well-dressed1 intelligent people must have taught the press that the movement is not to be despised4 ,there are at least #aj1jjj professed spiritualists in ,sydney1 and even as a political force they demand consideration4 ,the seven of us were placed in the front of the platform1 and the service was very dignified and impressive4 ,when the great audience sang1 ,god hold you safely till we meet once more1 it was almost overpowering1 for it is a beautiful tune1 and was sung with real feeling4 ,in my remarks ,i covered a good deal of ground1 but very particularly ,i warned them against all worldly use of this great knowledge1 whether it be fortune telling1 prophecies about races and stocks1 or any other prostitution of our subject4 ,i also exhorted them when they found fraud to expose it at once1 as their ,british brethren do1 and never to trifle with truth4 ,when ,i had finished1 the whole #c1ejj people stood up1 and everyone waved a handkerchief1 producing a really wonderful scene4 ,we can never forget it4 ,once more ,i must take refuge behind the local ,observer4 ,the scene as ,sir ,arthur rose will be long remembered by those who were privileged to witness it4 ,a sea of waving handkerchiefs confronted the speaker1 acclaiming silently and reverently the deep esteem in which he was held by all present4 ,never has ,sir ,arthur's earnestness in his mission been more apparent than on this occasion as he proceeded with a heart to heart talk with the spiritualists present1 offering friendly criticisms1 sound advice1 and encouragement to the adherents of the great movement4 ',he had got1' he said1 'so much into the habit of lecturing that he was going to lecture the spiritualists4' ,with a flash of humour ,sir ,arthur added3 ',it does none of us any harm to be lectured occasionally4 ,i am a married man myself' 7laughter74 ',i would say to the spiritualists'1 ,for ,heaven's sake keep this thing high and unspotted4 ,don't let it drop into the regions of fortune telling and other things which leave such an ugly impression on the public mind1 and which we find it so difficult to justify4 ,keep it in its most religious and purest aspect4 ,at the same time1 ,i expressed my view that there was no reason at all why a medium should not receive moderate payment for work done1 since it is impossible1 otherwise1 that he can live4 ,every solid spiritualist would1 ,i am sure1 agree with me that our whole subject needs regulating1 and is in an unsatisfactory condition4 ,we cannot approve of the sensation mongers who run from medium to medium 7or possibly pretended medium7 with no object but excitement or curiosity4 ,the trouble is that you have to recognise a thing before you can regulate it1 and the public has not properly recognised us4 ,let them frankly do so1 and take us into counsel1 and then we shall get things on a solid basis4 ,personally1 ,i would be ready to go so far as to agree that an inquirer should take out a formal permit to consult a medium1 showing that it was done for some definite object1 if in return we could get ,state recognition for those mediums who were recommended as genuine by valid spiritual authorities4 ,my friends will think this a reactionary proposition1 but none the less ,i feel the need of regulation almost as much as ,i do that of recognition4 ,one event which occurred to me at ,sydney ,i shall always regard as an instance of that fostering care of which ,i have been conscious ever since we set forth upon our journey4 ,i had been over-tired1 had slept badly and had a large meeting in the evening1 so that it was imperative that ,i should have a nap in the afternoon4 ,my brain was racing1 however1 and ,i could get no rest or prospect of any4 ,the second floor window was slightly open behind me1 and outside was a broad open space1 shimmering in the heat of a summer day4 ,suddenly1 as ,i lay there1 ,i was aware of a very distinct pungent smell of ether1 coming in waves from outside4 ,with each fresh wave ,i felt my over-excited nerves calming down as the sea does when oil is poured upon it4 ,within a few minutes ,i was in a deep sleep1 and woke all ready for my evening's work4 ,i looked out of the window and tried to picture where the ether could have come from2 then ,i returned thanks for one more benefit received4 ,i do not suppose that ,i am alone in such interpositions1 but ,i think that our minds are so centred on this tiny mud patch1 that we are deaf and blind to all that impinges on us from beyond4 ,having finished in ,sydney1 and my ,new ,zealand date having not yet arrived1 we shifted our quarters to ,manly1 upon the sea coast1 about eight miles from the town4 ,here we all devoted ourselves to surf-bathing1 spending a good deal of our day in the water1 as is the custom of the place4 ,it is a real romp with ,nature1 for the great ,pacific rollers come sweeping in and break over you1 rolling you over on the sand if they catch you unawares4 ,it was a golden patch in our restless lives4 ,there were surf boards1 and ,i am told that there were men competent to ride them1 but ,i saw none of ,jack ,london's ,sun ,gods riding in erect upon the crest of the great rollers4 ,alas1 poor ,jack ,london6 ,what right had such a man to die1 he who had more vim and passion1 and knowledge of varied life than the very best of us8 ,apart from all his splendid exuberance and exaggeration he had very real roots of grand literature within him4 ,i remember1 particularly1 the little episodes of bygone days in ,the ,jacket4 ,the man who wrote those could do anything4 ,those whom the ,american public love die young4 ,frank ,norris1 ,harold ,frederic1 ,stephen ,crane1 the author of ,david ,harum1 and now ,jack ,london--but the greatest of these was ,jack ,london4 ,there is a grand beach at ,manly1 and the thundering rollers carry in some flotsam from the great ocean4 ,one morning the place was covered with beautiful blue jelly-fish1 like little ,roman lamps with tendrils hanging down4 ,i picked up one of these pretty things1 and was just marvelling at its complete construction when ,i discovered that it was even more complete than ,i supposed1 for it gave me a violent sting4 ,for a day or two ,i had reason to remember my little blue castaway1 with his up-to-date fittings for keeping the stranger at a distance4 ,i was baited at ,sydney by a person of the name of ,simpson1 representing ,christianity1 though ,i was never clear what particular branch of religion he represented1 and he was disowned by some leaders of ,christian ,thought4 ,i believe he was president of the ,christian ,evidence ,society4 ,his opposition1 though vigorous1 and occasionally personal1 was perfectly legitimate1 but his well-advertised meeting at the ,town ,hall 7though no charge was made for admission7 was not a success4 ,his constant demand was that ,i should meet him in debate1 which was1 of course1 out of the question1 since no debate is possible between a man who considers a text to be final1 and one who cannot take this view4 ,my whole energies1 so much needed for my obvious work1 would have been frittered away in barren controversies had ,i allowed my hand to be forced4 ,i had learned my lesson1 however1 at the ,m',cabe debate in ,london1 when ,i saw clearly that nothing could come from such proceedings4 ,on the other hand1 ,i conceived the idea of what would be a real test1 and ,i issued it as a challenge in the public press4 ,it is clear1 ,i said1 that one single case of spirit return proves our whole contention4 ,therefore1 let the question be concentrated upon one1 or1 if necessary1 upon three cases4 ,these ,i would undertake to prove1 producing my witnesses in the usual way4 ,my opponent would act the part of hostile counsel1 cross-examining and criticising my facts4 ,the case would be decided by a majority vote of a jury of twelve1 chosen from men of standing1 who pledged themselves as open-minded on the question4 ,such a test could obviously only take place in a room of limited dimensions1 so that no money would be involved and truth only be at stake4 ,that is all that ,i seek4 ,if such a test can be arranged ,i am ready for it1 either before ,i leave1 or after ,i return from ,new ,zealand4 ,this challenge was not taken up by my opponents4 ,mr4 ,simpson had a long tirade in the ,sydney papers about the evil religious effects of my mission1 which caused me to write a reply in which ,i defined our position in a way which may be instructive to others4 ,i said3-- ,the tenets which we spiritualists preach and which ,i uphold upon the platform are that any man who is deriving spirituality from his creed1 be that creed what it may1 is learning the lesson of life4 ,for this reason we would not attack your creed1 however repulsive it might seem to us1 so long as you and your colleagues might be getting any benefit from it4 ,we desire to go our own way1 saying what we know to be true1 and claiming from others the same liberty of conscience and of expression which we freely grant to them4 ,you1 on the other hand1 go out of your way to attack us1 to call us evil names1 and to pretend that those loved ones who return to us are in truth devils1 and that our phenomena1 though they are obviously of the same sort as those which are associated with early ,christianity1 are diabolical in their nature4 ,this absurd view is put forward without a shadow of proof1 and entirely upon the supposed meaning of certain ancient texts which refer in reality to a very different matter1 but which are strained and twisted to suit your purpose4 ,it is men like you and your colleagues who1 by your parody of ,christianity and your constant exhibition of those very qualities which ,christ denounced in the ,pharisees1 have driven many reasonable people away from religion and left the churches half empty4 ,your predecessors1 who took the same narrow view of the literal interpretation of the ,bible1 were guilty of the murder of many thousands of defenceless old women who were burned in deference to the text1 ',suffer no witch to live4' ,undeterred by this terrible result of the literal reading1 you still advocate it1 although you must be well aware that polygamy1 slavery and murder can all be justified by such a course4 ,in conclusion1 let me give you the advice to reconsider your position1 to be more charitable to your neighbours1 and to devote your redundant energies to combating the utter materialism which is all round you1 instead of railing so bitterly at those who are proving immortality and the need for good living in a way which meets their spiritual wants1 even though it is foreign to yours4 ,a photographer1 named ,mark ,blow1 also caused me annoyance by announcing that my photographs were fakes1 and that he was prepared to give ,l#be to any charity if he could not reproduce them4 ,i at once offered the same sum if he could do so1 and ,i met him by appointment at the office of the evening paper1 the editor being present to see fair play4 ,i placed my money on the table1 but ,mr4 ,blow did not cover it4 ,i then produced a packet of plates from my pocket and suggested that we go straight across to ,mr4 ,blow's studio and produce the photographs4 ,he replied by asking me a long string of questions as to the conditions under which the ,crewe photographs were produced1 noting down all my answers4 ,i then renewed my proposition4 ,he answered that it was absurd to expect him to produce a spirit photograph since he did not believe in such foolish things4 ,i answered that ,i did not ask him to produce a spirit photograph1 but to fulfil his promise which was to produce a similar result upon the plate under similar conditions4 ,he held out that they should be his own conditions4 ,i pointed out that any school boy could make a half-exposed impression upon a plate1 and that the whole test lay in the conditions4 ,as he refused to submit to test conditions the matter fell through1 as all such foolish challenges fall through4 ,it was equally foolish on my part to have taken any notice of it4 ,i had a conversation with ,mr4 ,maskell1 the capable ,secretary of the ,sydney spiritualists1 in which he described how he came out originally from ,leicester to ,australia4 ,he had at that time developed some power of clairvoyance1 but it was very intermittent4 ,he had hesitated in his mind whether he should emigrate to ,australia1 and sat one night debating it within himself1 while his little son sat at the table cutting patterns out of paper4 ,maskell said to his spirit guides1 mentally1 ,if it is good that ,i go abroad give me the vision of a star4 ,if not1 let it be a circle4 ,he waited for half an hour or so1 but no vision came1 and he was rising in disappointment when the little boy turned round and said1 ,daddy1 here is a star for you1 handing over one which he had just cut4 ,he has had no reason to regret the subsequent decision4 ,we had a very quiet1 comfortable1 and healthy ten days at the ,pacific ,hotel at ,manly1 which was broken only by an excursion which the ,sydney spiritualists had organised for us in a special steamer1 with the intention of showing us the glories of the harbour4 ,our party assembled on ,manly ,pier1 and the steamer was still far away when we saw the fluttering handkerchiefs which announced that they had sighted us4 ,it was a long programme1 including a picnic lunch1 but it all went off with great success and good feeling4 ,it was fairly rough within the harbour1 and some of the party were sea sick1 but the general good spirits rose above such trifles1 and we spent the day in goodly fellowship4 ,on ,sunday ,i was asked to speak to his congregation by ,mr4 ,sanders1 a very intelligent young ,congregational ,minister of ,manly1 far above the level of ,australasian or1 indeed1 ,british clerics4 ,it was a novel experience for me to be in a ,nonconformist pulpit1 but ,i found an excellent audience1 and ,i hope that they in turn found something comforting and new4 ,one of the most interesting men whom ,i met in ,australia was ,dr4 ,creed1 of the ,new ,south ,wales ,parliament1 an elderly medical man who has held high posts in the ,government4 ,he is blessed with that supreme gift1 a mind which takes a keen interest in everything which he meets in life4 ,his researches vary from the cure of diabetes and of alcoholism 7both of which he thinks that he has attained7 down to the study of ,australian ,aborigines and of the palaeontology of his country4 ,i was interested to find the very high opinion which he has of the brains of the black fellows1 and he asserts that their results at the school which is devoted to their education are as high as with the white ,australians4 ,they train into excellent telegraphic operators and other employments needing quick intelligence4 ,the increasing brain power of the human race seems to be in the direction of originating rather than of merely accomplishing4 ,many can do the latter1 but only the very highest can do the former4 ,dr4 ,creed is clear upon the fact that no very ancient remains of any sort are to be found anywhere in ,australia1 which would seem to be against the view of a ,lemurian civilisation1 unless the main seat of it lay to the north where the scattered islands represent the mountain tops of the ancient continent4 ,dr4 ,creed was one of the very few public men who had the intelligence or the courage to admit the strength of the spiritual position1 and he assured me that he would help in any way4 ,another man whom ,i was fortunate to meet was ,leon ,gellert1 a very young poet1 who promises to be the rising man in ,australia in this1 the supreme branch of literature4 ,he served in the war1 and his verses from the front attain a very high level4 ,his volume of war poems represents the most notable literary achievement of recent years1 and its value is enhanced by being illustrated by ,norman ,lindsay1 whom ,i look upon as one of the greatest artists of our time4 ,i have seen three pictures of his1 ,the ,goths1 ,who ,comes8 and ,the ,crucifixion of ,venus1 each of which1 in widely different ways1 seemed very remarkable4 ,indeed1 it is the versatility of the man that is his charm1 and now that he is turning more and more from the material to the spiritual it is impossible to say how high a level he may attain4 ,another ,australian whose works ,i have greatly admired is ,henry ,lawson1 whose sketches of bush life in ,joe ,wilson and other of his studies1 remind one of a subdued ,bret ,harte4 ,he is a considerable poet also1 and his war poem1 ,england ,yet1 could hardly be matched4 ,yet another interesting figure whom ,i met in ,sydney was ,bishop ,leadbeater1 formerly a close colleague of ,mrs4 ,besant in the ,theosophical movement1 and now a prelate of the so-called ,liberal ,catholic ,church1 which aims at preserving the traditions and forms of the old ,roman ,church1 but supplementing them with all modern spiritual knowledge4 ,i fear ,i am utterly out of sympathy with elaborate forms1 which always in the end seem to me to take the place of facts1 and to become a husk without a kernel1 but none the less ,i can see a definite mission for such a church as appealing to a certain class of mind4 ,leadbeater1 who has suffered from unjust aspersion in the past1 is a venerable and striking figure4 ,his claims to clairvoyant and other occult powers are very definite1 and so far as ,i had the opportunity of observing him1 he certainly lives the ascetic life1 which the maintenance of such power demands4 ,his books1 especially the little one upon the ,astral ,plane1 seem to me among the best of the sort4 ,but the whole subject of ,theosophy is to me a perpetual puzzle4 ,i asked for proofs and spiritualism has given them to me4 ,but why should ,i abandon one faith in order to embrace another one8 ,i have done with faith4 ,it is a golden mist in which human beings wander in devious tracks with many a collision4 ,i need the white clear light of knowledge4 ,for that we build from below1 brick upon brick1 never getting beyond the provable fact4 ,there is the building which will last4 ,but these others seem to build from above downwards1 beginning by the assumption that there is supreme human wisdom at the apex4 ,it may be so4 ,but it is a dangerous habit of thought which has led the race astray before1 and may again4 ,yet1 ,i am struck by the fact that this ancient wisdom does describe the etheric body1 the astral world1 and the general scheme which we have proved for ourselves4 ,but when the high priestess of the cult wrote of this she said so much that was against all our own spiritual experience1 that we feel she was in touch with something very different from our angels of light4 ,her followers appreciate that now1 and are more charitable than she1 but what is the worth of her occult knowledge if she so completely misread that which lies nearest to us1 and how can we hope that she is more correct when she speaks of that which is at a distance8 ,i was deeply attracted by the subject once1 but ,madame ,blavatsky's personality and record repelled me4 ,i have read the defence1 and yet ,hodgson and the ,coulombs seem to me to hold the field4 ,could any conspiracy be so broad that it included numerous forged letters1 trap doors cut in floors1 and actually corroborative accounts in the books of a flower seller in the bazaar8 ,on the other hand1 there is ample evidence of real psychic powers1 and of the permanent esteem of men like ,sinnett and ,olcott1 whom none could fail to respect4 ,it is the attitude of these honourable men which commends and upholds her1 but sometimes it seems hard to justify it4 ,as an example1 in the latter years of her life she wrote a book1 ,the ,caves and ,jungles of ,hindustan1 in which she describes the fearsome adventures which she and ,olcott had in certain expeditions1 falling down precipices and other such escapes4 ,olcott1 like the honest gentleman he was1 writes in his diary that there is not a word of truth in this1 and that it is pure fiction4 ,and yet1 after this very damaging admission1 in the same page he winds up1 ,ah1 if the world ever comes to know who was the mighty entity1 who laboured sixty years under that quivering mask of flesh1 it will repent its cruel treatment of ,h4 ,p4 ,b41 and be amazed at the depth of its ignorance4 ,these are the things which make it so difficult to understand either her or the cult with which she was associated4 ,had she never lived these men and women would1 as it seems to me1 have been the natural leaders of the spiritualist movement1 and instead of living in the intellectual enjoyment of far-off systems they would have concentrated upon the all-important work of teaching poor suffering humanity what is the meaning of the dark shadow which looms upon their path4 ,even now ,i see no reason why they should not come back to those who need them1 and help them forward upon their rocky road4 ,of course1 we spiritualists are ourselves vulnerable upon the subject of the lives of some of our mediums1 but we carefully dissociate those lives from the powers which use the physical frame of the medium for their own purposes1 just as the religious and inspired poetry of a ,verlaine may be held separate from his dissipated life4 ,whilst upon this subject ,i may say that whilst in ,australia ,i had some interesting letters from a solicitor named ,rymer4 ,all students of spiritualism will remember that when ,daniel ,home first came to ,england in the early fifties he received great kindness from the ,rymer family1 who then lived at ,ealing4 ,old ,rymer treated him entirely as one of the family4 ,this ,bendigo ,rymer was the grandson of ,home's benefactor1 and he had no love for the great medium because he considered that he had acted with ingratitude towards his people4 ,the actual letters of his father1 which he permitted me to read1 bore out this statement1 and ,i put it on record because ,i have said much in praise of ,home1 and the balance should be held true4 ,these letters1 dating from about '#eg1 show that one of the sons of old ,rymer was sent to travel upon the ,continent to study art1 and that ,home was his companion4 ,they were as close as brothers1 but when they reached ,florence1 and ,home became a personage in society there1 he drifted away from ,rymer1 whose letters are those of a splendid young man4 ,home's health was already indifferent1 and while he was laid up in his hotel he seems to have been fairly kidnapped by a strong-minded society lady of title1 an ,englishwoman living apart from her husband4 ,for weeks he lived at her villa1 though the state of his health would suggest that it was rather as patient than lover4 ,what was more culpable was that he answered the letters of his comrade very rudely and showed no sense of gratitude for all that the family had done for him4 ,i have read the actual letters and confess that ,i was chilled and disappointed4 ,home was an artist as well as a medium1 the most unstable combination possible1 full of emotions1 flying quickly to extremes1 capable of heroisms and self-denials1 but also of vanities and ill-humour4 ,on this occasion the latter side of his character was too apparent4 ,to counteract the effect produced upon one's mind one should read in ,home's ,life the letter of the ,bavarian captain whom he rescued upon the field of battle1 or of the many unfortunates whom he aided with unobtrusive charity4 ,it cannot1 however1 be too often repeated--since it is never grasped by our critics--that the actual character of a man is as much separate from his mediumistic powers1 as it would be from his musical powers4 ,both are inborn gifts beyond the control of their possessor4 ,the medium is the telegraph instrument and the telegraph boy united in one1 but the real power is that which transmits the message1 which he only receives and delivers4 ,the remark applies to the ,fox sisters as much as it does to ,home4 ,talking about ,home1 it is astonishing how the adverse judgment of the ,vice-,chancellor ,gifford1 a materialist1 absolutely ignorant of psychic matters1 has influenced the minds of men4 ,the very materialists who quote it1 would not attach the slightest importance to the opinion of an orthodox judge upon the views of ,hume1 ,payne1 or any free-thinker4 ,it is like quoting a ,roman tribune against a ,christian4 ,the real facts of the case are perfectly clear to anyone who reads the documents with care4 ,the best proof of how blameless ,home was in the matter is that of all the men of honour with whom he was on intimate terms--men like ,robert ,chambers1 ,carter ,hall1 ,lord ,seaton1 ,lord ,adare and others--not one relaxed in their friendship after the trial4 ,this was in #ahff1 but in #ahfh we find these young noblemen on ,christian-name terms with the man who would have been outside the pale of society had the accusations of his enemies been true4 ,whilst we were in ,sydney1 a peculiar ship1 now called the ,marella1 was brought into the harbour as part of the ,german ship surrender4 ,it is commonly reported that this vessel1 of very grandiose construction1 was built to conduct the ,kaiser upon a triumphal progress round the world after he had won his war4 ,it is1 however1 only of #h1jjj tons1 and1 personally1 ,i cannot believe that this would have had room for his swollen head1 had he indeed been the victor4 ,all the fittings1 even to the carpet holders1 are of ,german silver4 ,the saloon is of pure marble1 eighty by fifty1 with beautiful hand-painted landscapes4 ,the smoke-room is the reproduction of one in ,potsdam ,palace4 ,there is a great swimming bath which can be warmed4 ,altogether a very notable ship1 and an index1 not only of the danger escaped1 but of the danger to come1 in the form of the super-excellence of ,german design and manufacture4 ,our post-bag is very full1 and it takes ,major ,wood and myself all our time to keep up with the letters4 ,many of them are so wonderful that ,i wish ,i had preserved them all1 but it would have meant adding another trunk to our baggage4 ,there are a few samples which have been rescued4 ,many people seemed to think that ,i was myself a wandering medium1 and ,i got this sort of missive3 ,,dear ,,sir1--,i am very anxious to ask you a question1 trusting you will answer me4 ,what ,i wish to know ,i have been corresponding with a gentleman for nearly three years4 ,from this letter can you tell me if ,i will marry him4 ,i want you to answer this as ,i am keeping it strictly private and would dearly love you to answer this message if possible1 and if ,i will do quite right if ,i marry him4 ,trusting to hear from you soon4 ,yours faithfully----4 ,p4,s4--,i thoroughly believe in ,spirit-ualism4 ,here is another4 ,,honored ,,sir1--,just a few lines in limited time to ask you if you tell the future4 ,if so1 what is your charges8 ,please excuse no stamped and ad4 envelope--out of stamps and in haste to catch mail4 ,please excuse4 ,on the other hand1 ,i had many which were splendidly instructive and helpful4 ,i was particularly struck by one series of spirit messages which were received in automatic writing by a man living in the ,bush in ,north ,queensland and thrown upon his own resources4 ,they were descriptive of life in the beyond1 and were in parts extremely corroborative of the ,vale ,owen messages1 though they had been taken long prior to that date4 ,some of the points of resemblance were so marked and so unusual that they seem clearly to come from a common inspiration4 ,as an example1 this script spoke of the creative power of thought in the beyond1 but added the detail that when the object to be created was large and important a band of thinkers was required1 just as a band of workers would be here4 ,this exactly corresponds to the teaching of ,vale ,owen's guide4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,dangerous fog4--,the six photographers4--,comic advertisements4--,beauties of ,auckland4--,a ,christian clergyman4--,shadows in our ,american relations4--,the ,gallipoli ,stone4--,stevenson and the ,germans4--,position of ,de ,rougemont4--,mr4 ,clement ,wragge4--,atlantean theories4--,a strange psychic4--,wellington the windy4--,a literary ,oasis4--,a ,maori ,seance4--,presentation4 ,my voyage to ,new ,zealand in the ,maheno was pleasant and uneventful1 giving me four days in which to arrange my papers and look over the many manuscripts which mediums1 or1 more often1 would-be mediums1 had discharged at me as ,i passed4 ,dr4 ,bean1 my ,theosophic friend1 who had been somewhat perturbed by my view that his people were really the officers of our movement who had deserted their army1 formed an officers' corps1 and so taken the money and brains and leadership away from the struggling masses1 was waiting on the ,sydney ,quay1 and gave me twelve books upon his subject to mend my wicked ways1 so that ,i was equipped for a voyage round the world4 ,i needed something1 since ,i had left my wife and family behind me in ,manly1 feeling that the rapid journey through ,new ,zealand would be too severe for them4 ,in ,mr4 ,carlyle ,smythe1 however1 ,i had an admirable cobber1 to use the pal phrase of the ,australian soldier4 ,mr4 ,smythe had only one defect as a comrade1 and that was his conversation in a fog4 ,it was of a distinctly depressing character1 as ,i had occasion to learn when we ran into very thick weather among the rocky islands which make navigation so difficult to the north of ,auckland4 ,between the screams of the siren ,i would hear a still small voice in the bunk above me4 ,we are now somewhere near the ,three ,kings4 ,it is an isolated group of rocks celebrated for the wreck of the ,elingamite1 which went ashore on just such a morning as this4 7,whoo-ee6 remarked the foghorn74 ,they were nearly starved1 but kept themselves alive by fish which were caught by improvised lines made from the ladies' stay-laces4 ,many of them died4 ,i lay digesting this and staring at the fog which crawled all round the port hole4 ,presently he was off again4 ,you can't anchor here1 and there is no use stopping her1 for the currents run hard and she would drift on to one of the ledges which would rip the side out of her4 7,whoo-ee6 repeated the foghorn74 ,the islands are perpendicular with deep water up to the rocks1 so you never know they are there until you hit them1 and then1 of course1 there is no reef to hold you up4 7,whoo-ee67 ,close by here is the place where the ,wairarapa went down with all hands a few years ago4 ,it was just such a day as this when she struck the ,great ,barrier---- ,it was about this time that ,i decided to go on deck4 ,captain ,brown had made me free of the bridge1 so ,i climbed up and joined him there1 peering out into the slow-drifting scud4 ,i spent the morning there1 and learned something of the anxieties of a sailor's life4 ,captain ,brown had in his keeping1 not only his own career and reputation1 but what was far more to him1 the lives of more than three hundred people4 ,we had lost all our bearings1 for we had drifted in the fog during those hours when it was too thick to move4 ,now the scud was coming in clouds1 the horizon lifting to a couple of miles1 and then sinking to a few hundred yards4 ,on each side of us and ahead were known to be rocky islands or promontories4 ,yet we must push on to our destination4 ,it was fine to see this typical ,british sailor working his ship as a huntsman might take his horse over difficult country1 now speeding ahead when he saw an opening1 now waiting for a fogbank to get ahead1 now pushing in between two clouds4 ,for hours we worked along with the circle of oily lead-coloured sea around us1 and then the grey veil1 rising and falling1 drifting and waving1 with danger lurking always in its shadow4 ,there are strange results when one stares intently over such a sea1 for after a time one feels that it all slopes upwards1 and that one is standing deep in a saucer with the rim far above one4 ,once in the rifts we saw a great ship feeling her way southwards1 in the same difficulties as ourselves4 ,she was the ,niagara1 from ,vancouver to ,auckland4 ,then1 as suddenly as the raising of a drop-curtain1 up came the fog1 and there ahead of us was the narrow path which led to safety4 ,the ,niagara was into it first1 which seemed to matter little1 but really mattered a good deal1 for her big business occupied the ,port ,authorities all the evening1 while our little business was not even allowed to come alongside until such an hour that we could not get ashore1 to the disappointment of all1 and very especially of me1 for ,i knew that some of our faithful had been waiting for twelve hours upon the quay to give me a welcoming hand4 ,it was breakfast time on the very morning that ,i was advertised to lecture before we at last reached our hotel4 ,here ,i received that counter-demonstration which always helped to keep my head within the limits of my hat4 ,this was a peremptory demand from six gentlemen1 who modestly described themselves as the leading photographers of the city1 to see the negatives of the photographs which ,i was to throw upon the screen4 ,i was assured at the same time by other photographers that they had no sympathy with such a demand1 and that the others were self-advertising busybodies who had no mandate at all for such a request4 ,my experience at ,sydney had shown me that such challenges came from people who had no knowledge of psychic conditions1 and who did not realise that it is the circumstances under which a photograph is taken1 and the witnesses who guarantee such circumstances1 which are the real factors that matter1 and not the negative which may be so easily misunderstood by those who have not studied the processes by which such things are produced4 ,i therefore refused to allow my photographs to pass into ignorant hands1 explaining at the same time that ,i had no negatives1 since the photographs in most cases were not mine at all1 so that the negatives would1 naturally1 be with ,dr4 ,crawford1 ,dr4 ,geley1 ,lady ,glenconnor1 the representatives of ,sir ,william ,crookes1 or whoever else had originally taken the photograph4 ,their challenge thereupon appeared in the ,press with a long tirade of abuse attached to it1 founded upon the absurd theory that all the photos had been taken by me1 and that there was no proof of their truth save in my word4 ,one gets used to being indirectly called a liar1 and ,i can answer arguments with self-restraint which once ,i would have met with the toe of my boot4 ,however1 a little breeze of this sort does no harm1 but rather puts ginger into one's work1 and my audience were very soon convinced of the absurdity of the position of the six dissenting photographers who had judged that which they had not seen4 ,auckland is the port of call of the ,american steamers1 and had some of that air of activity and progress which ,america brings with her4 ,the spirit of enterprise1 however1 took curious shapes1 as in the case of one man who was a local miller1 and pushed his trade by long advertisements at the head of the newspapers1 which began with abuse of me and my ways1 and ended by a recommendation to eat dessicated corn1 or whatever his particular commodity may have been4 ,the result was a comic jumble which was too funny to be offensive1 though ,auckland should discourage such pleasantries1 as they naturally mar the beautiful impression which her fair city and surroundings make upon the visitor4 ,i hope ,i was the only victim1 and that every stranger within her gates is not held up to ridicule for the purpose of calling attention to ,mr4 ,blank's dessicated corn4 ,i seemed destined to have strange people mixed up with my affairs in ,auckland1 for there was a conjuror in the town1 who1 after the fashion of that rather blatant fraternity1 was offering ,l#a1jjj that he could do anything ,i could do4 ,as ,i could do nothing1 it seemed easy money4 ,in any case1 the argument that because you can imitate a thing therefore the thing does not exist1 is one which it takes the ingenuity of ,mr4 ,maskelyne to explain4 ,there was also an ex-spiritualist medium 7so-called7 who covered the papers with his advertisements1 so that my little announcement was quite overshadowed4 ,he was to lecture the night after me in the ,town ,hall1 with most terrifying revelations4 ,i was fascinated by his paragraphs1 and should have liked greatly to be present1 but that was the date of my exodus4 ,among other remarkable advertisements was one ,what has become of ',pelorus ,jack'8 ,was he a lost soul8 ,now1 ,pelorus ,jack was a white dolphin1 who at one time used to pilot vessels into a ,new ,zealand harbour1 gambolling under the bows1 so that the question really did raise curiosity4 ,however1 ,i learned afterwards that my successor did not reap the harvest which his ingenuity deserved1 and that the audience was scanty and derisive4 ,what the real psychic meaning of ,pelorus ,jack may have been was not recorded by the press4 ,from the hour ,i landed upon the quay at ,auckland until ,i waved my last farewell my visit was made pleasant1 and every wish anticipated by the ,rev4 ,jasper ,calder1 a clergyman who has a future before him1 though whether it will be in the ,church of ,england or not1 time and the ,bishop will decide4 ,whatever he may do1 he will remain to me and to many more the nearest approach we are likely to see to the ideal ,christian--much as he will dislike my saying so4 ,after all1 if enemies are given full play1 why should not friends redress the balance8 ,i will always carry away the remembrance of him1 alert as a boy1 rushing about to serve anyone1 mixing on equal terms with scallywags on the pier1 reclaiming criminals whom he called his brothers1 winning a prize for breaking-in a buckjumper1 which he did in order that he might gain the respect of the stockmen2 a fiery man of ,god in the pulpit1 but with a mind too broad for special dispensations1 he was like one of those wonderfully virile creatures of ,charles ,reade4 ,the clergy of ,australasia are stagnant and narrow1 but on the other hand1 ,i have found men like the ,dean of ,sydney1 ,strong of ,melbourne1 ,sanders of ,manly1 ,calder of ,auckland1 and others whom it is worth crossing this world to meet4 ,of my psychic work at ,auckland there is little to be said1 save that ,i began my ,new ,zealand tour under the most splendid auspices4 ,even ,sydney had not furnished greater or more sympathetic audiences than those which crowded the great ,town ,hall upon two successive nights4 ,i could not possibly have had a better reception1 or got my message across more successfully4 ,all the newspaper ragging and offensive advertisements had produced 7as is natural among a generous people7 a more kindly feeling for the stranger1 and ,i had a reception ,i can never forget4 ,this town is very wonderfully situated1 and ,i have never seen a more magnificent view than that from ,mount ,eden1 an extinct volcano about #ijj feet high1 at the back of it4 ,the only one which ,i could class with it is that from ,arthur's ,seat1 also an extinct volcano about #ijj feet high1 as one looks on ,edinburgh and its environs4 ,edinburgh1 however1 is for ever shrouded in smoke1 while here the air is crystal clear1 and ,i could clearly see ,great ,barrier ,island1 which is a good eighty miles to the north4 ,below lay the most marvellous medley of light blue water and light green land mottled with darker foliage4 ,we could see not only the whole vista of the wonderful winding harbour1 and the seas upon the east of the island1 but we could look across and see the firths which connected with the seas of the west4 ,only a seven-mile canal is needed to link the two up1 and to save at least two hundred miles of dangerous navigation amid those rock-strewn waters from which we had so happily emerged4 ,of course it will be done1 and when it is done it should easily pay its way1 for what ship coming from ,australia--or going to it--but would gladly pay the fees8 ,the real difficulty lies not in cutting the canal1 but in dredging the western opening1 where shifting sandbanks and ocean currents combine to make a dangerous approach4 ,i see in my mind's eye two great breakwaters1 stretching like nippers into the ,pacific at that point1 while1 between the points of the nippers1 the dredgers will for ever be at work4 ,it will be difficult1 but it is needed and it will be done4 ,the ,australian ,davis ,cup quartette--,norman ,brooks1 ,patterson1 ,o',hara ,wood and another--had come across in the ,maheno with us and were now at the ,grand ,hotel4 ,there also was the ,american team1 including the formidable ,tilden1 now world's champion4 ,the general feeling of ,australasia is not as cordial as one would wish to the ,united ,states for the moment4 ,i have met several men back from that country who rather bitterly resent the anti-,british agitation which plays such a prominent part in the ,american press4 ,this continual nagging is1 ,i am sorry to say1 wearing down the stolid patience of the ,britisher more than ,i can ever remember1 and it is a subject on which ,i have always been sensitive as ,i have been a life-long advocate of ,anglo-,american friendship1 leading in the fullness of time to some loose form of ,anglo-,american ,union4 ,at present it almost looks as if these racial traitors who make the artificial dissensions were succeeding for a time in their work of driving a wedge between the two great sections of the ,english-speaking peoples4 ,my fear is that when some world crisis comes1 and everything depends upon us all pulling together1 the ,english-speakers may neutralise each other4 ,there lies the deadly danger4 ,it is for us on both sides to endeavour to avoid it4 ,everyone who is in touch with the sentiment of the ,british officers in ,flanders knows that they found men of their own heart in the brave1 unassuming ,american officers who were their comrades1 and often their pupils4 ,it is some of the stay-at-home ,americans who appear to have such a false perspective1 and who fail to realise that even ,british ,dominions1 such as ,canada and ,australia1 lost nearly as many men as the ,united ,states in the war1 while ,britain herself laid down ten lives for every one spent by ,america4 ,this is not ,america's fault1 but when we see apparent forgetfulness of it on the part of a section of the ,american people when our wounds are still fresh1 it cannot be wondered at that we feel sore4 ,we do not advertise1 and as a result there are few who know that we lost more men and made larger captures during the last two years of the war than our gallant ally of ,france4 ,when we hear that others won the war we smile--but it is a bitter smile4 ,strange1 indeed1 are some of the episodes of psychic experience4 ,there came to me at my hotel in ,auckland two middle-aged hard-working women1 who had come down a hundred miles from the back country to my lecture4 ,one had lost her boy at ,gallipoli4 ,she gave me a long post-mortem account from him as to the circumstances of his own death1 including the military operations which led up to it4 ,i read it afterwards1 and it was certainly a very coherent account of the events both before and after the shell struck him4 ,having handed me the pamphlet the country woman then1 with quivering fingers1 produced from her bosom a little silver box4 ,out of this she took an object1 wrapped in white silk4 ,it was a small cube of what looked to me like sandstone1 about an inch each way4 ,she told me it was an apport1 that it had been thrown down on her table while she and her family1 including1 as ,i understood1 the friend then present1 were holding a seance4 ,a message came with it to say that it was from the boy's grave at ,gallipoli4 ,what are we to say to that8 ,was it fraud8 ,then why were they playing tricks upon themselves8 ,if it was1 indeed1 an apport1 it is surely one of the most remarkable for distance and for purpose recorded of any private circle4 ,a gentleman named ,moors was staying at the same hotel in ,auckland1 and we formed an acquaintance4 ,i find that he was closely connected with ,stevenson1 and had actually written a very excellent book upon his comradeship with him at ,samoa4 ,stevenson dabbled in the politics of ,samoa1 and always with the best motives and on the right side1 but he was of so frank and impetuous a nature that he was not trusted with any inside knowledge4 ,of the ,german rule ,mr4 ,moors says that for the first twelve years ,dr4 ,solf was as good as he could be1 and did fair justice to all4 ,then he went on a visit to ,berlin1 and returned bitten by the military bug1 with his whole nature changed1 and began to imponieren in true ,prussian fashion4 ,it is surely extraordinary how all the scattered atoms of a race can share the diseases of the central organism from which they sprang4 ,i verily believe that if a ,german had been alone on a desert island in #aiad he would have begun to dance and brandish a club4 ,how many cases are on record of the strange changes and wild deeds of individuals8 ,mr4 ,moors told me that he dropped into a developing circle of spiritualists at ,sydney1 none of whom could have known him4 ,one of them said1 ,above your head ,i see a man1 an artist1 long hair1 brown eyes1 and ,i get the name of ,stephens4 ,if he was indeed unknown1 this would seem fairly evidential4 ,i was struck by one remark of ,mr4 ,moors1 which was that he had not only seen the natives ride turtles in the ,south ,sea lagoons1 but that he had actually done so himself1 and that it was by no means difficult4 ,this was the feat which was supposed to be so absurd when ,de ,rougemont claimed to have done it4 ,there are1 of course1 some gross errors which are probably pure misuse of words in that writer's narrative1 but he places the critic in a dilemma which has never been fairly faced4 ,either he is a liar1 in which case he is1 beyond all doubt1 the most realistic writer of adventure since ,defoe1 or else he speaks the truth1 in which case he is a great explorer4 ,i see no possible avoidance of this dilemma1 so that which ever way you look at it the man deserves credit which he has never received4 ,we set off1 four of us1 to visit ,mr4 ,clement ,wragge1 who is the most remarkable personality in ,auckland--dreamer1 mystic1 and yet very practical adviser on all matters of ocean and of air4 ,on arriving at the charming bungalow1 buried among all sorts of broad-leaved shrubs and trees1 ,i was confronted by a tall1 thin figure1 clad in black1 with a face like a sadder and thinner ,bernard ,shaw1 dim1 dreamy eyes1 heavily pouched1 with a blue turban surmounting all4 ,on repeating my desire he led me apart into his study4 ,i had been warned that with his active brain and copious knowledge ,i would never be able to hold him to the point1 so1 in the dialogue which followed1 ,i perpetually headed him off as he turned down bye paths1 until the conversation almost took the form of a game4 ,mr4 ,wragge1 you are1 ,i know1 one of the greatest authorities upon winds and currents4 ,well1 that is one of my pursuits4 ,when ,i was young ,i ran the ,ben ,nevis ,observatory in ,scotland and---- ,it was only a small matter ,i wished to ask you4 ,you'll excuse my directness as ,i have so little time4 ,certainly4 ,what is it8 ,if the ,maoris came1 originally1 from ,hawaii1 what prevailing winds would their canoes meet in the #b1jjj miles which they crossed to reach ,new ,zealand8 ,the dim eyes lit up with the joy of the problem1 and the nervous fingers unrolled a chart of the ,pacific4 ,he flourished a pair of compasses4 ,here is ,hawaii4 ,they would start with a north-westerly trade wind4 ,that would be a fair wind4 ,i may say that the whole affair took place far further back than is usually supposed4 ,we have to get back to astronomy for our fixed date4 ,don't imagine that the obliquity of the ecliptic was always #bc degrees4 ,the ,maoris had a fair wind then8 ,the compasses stabbed at the map4 ,only down to this point4 ,then they would come on the ,doldrums--the calm patch of the equator4 ,they could paddle their canoes across that4 ,of course1 the remains at ,easter ,island prove---- ,but they could not paddle all the way4 ,no2 they would run into the south-easterly trades4 ,then they made their way to ,rarotonga in ,tahiti4 ,it was from here that they made for ,new ,zealand4 ,but how could they know ,new ,zealand was there8 ,ah1 yes1 how did they know8 ,had they compasses8 ,they steered by the stars4 ,we have a poem of theirs which numbers the star-gazer as one of the crew4 ,we have a chart1 also1 cut in the rocks at ,hawaii1 which seems to be the plot of a voyage4 ,here is a slide of it4 ,he fished out a photo of lines and scratches upon a rock4 ,of course1 said he1 the root of the matter is that missionaries from ,atlantis permeated the ,pacific1 coming across ,central ,america1 and left their traces everywhere4 ,ah1 ,atlantis6 ,i am a bit of an ,atlantean myself1 so off we went at scratch and both enjoyed ourselves greatly until time had come to rejoin the party and meet ,mr4 ,wragge's wife1 a charming ,brahmin lady from ,india1 who was one of the most gracious personalities ,i have met in my wanderings4 ,the blue-turbaned1 eager man1 half western science1 half eastern mystic1 and his dark-eyed wife amid their profusion of flowers will linger in my memory4 ,mrs4 ,wragge was eager that ,i go and lecture in ,india4 ,well1 who knows8 ,i was so busy listening to ,mr4 ,wragge's ,atlantean theories that ,i had no chance of laying before him my own contribution to the subject1 which is1 ,i think1 both original and valid4 ,if the huge bulk of ,atlantis sank beneath the ocean1 then1 assuredly1 it raised such a tidal wave as has never been known in the world's history4 ,this tidal wave1 since all sea water connects1 would be felt equally all over the world1 as the wave of ,krakatoa was in #ahhc felt in ,europe4 ,the wave must have rushed over all flat coasts and drowned every living thing1 as narrated in the biblical narrative4 ,therefore1 since this catastrophe was1 according to ,plato's account1 not very much more than #aj1jjj years ago there should exist ample evidence of a wholesale destruction of life1 especially in the flatter lands of the globe4 ,is there such evidence8 ,think of ,darwin's account of how the pampas of ,south ,america are in places one huge grave-yard4 ,think1 also1 of the mammoth remains which strew the ,tundras of ,siberia1 and which are so numerous that some of the ,arctic islands are really covered with bones4 ,there is ample evidence of some great flood which would exactly correspond with the effect produced by the sinking of ,atlantis4 ,the tragedy broadens as one thinks of it4 ,everyone everywhere must have been drowned save only the hill-dwellers4 ,the object of the catastrophe was1 according to some occult information1 to remove the ,atlantean race and make room for the ,aryan1 even as the ,lemurian had been removed to make room for the ,atlantean4 ,how long has the ,aryan race to run8 ,the answer may depend upon themselves4 ,the great war is a warning bell perhaps4 ,i had a talk with a curious type of psychic while ,i was in ,auckland4 ,he claimed to be a psychologist who did not need to be put en rapport with his object by any material starting point4 ,a piece of clothing is1 as a rule1 to a psychometrist what it would be to a bloodhound1 the starting point of a chase which runs down the victim4 ,thus ,van ,bourg1 when he discovered by crystal gazing the body of ,mr4 ,foxhall 7,i quote the name from memory7 floating in the ,thames1 began by covering the table with the missing man's garments4 ,this is the usual procedure which will become more familiar as the public learn the full utility of a psychic4 ,this gentlemen1 ,mr4 ,pearman1 was a builder by trade1 a heavy1 rather uneducated man with the misty eye of a seer4 ,he told me that if he desired to turn his powers upon anything he had only to sit in a dim room and concentrate his thought upon the matter1 without any material nexus4 ,for example1 a murder had been done in ,western ,australia4 ,the police asked his help4 ,using his power1 he saw the man1 a stranger1 and yet he knew that it was the man1 descending the ,swan ,river in a boat4 ,he saw him mix with the dockmen of ,fremantle4 ,then he saw him return to ,perth4 ,finally1 he saw him take train on the ,transcontinental ,railway4 ,the police at once acted1 and intercepted the man1 who was duly convicted and hanged4 ,this was one of several cases which this man told me1 and his stories carried conviction with them4 ,all this1 although psychic1 has1 of course1 nothing to do with spiritualism1 but is an extension of the normal1 though undefined1 powers of the human mind and soul4 ,the reader will be relieved to hear that ,i did not visit ,rotorua4 ,an itinerant lecturer upon an unpopular cause has enough hot water without seeking out a geyser4 ,my travels would make but an indifferent guide book1 but ,i am bound to put it upon record that ,wellington is a very singular city plastered upon the side of a very steep hill4 ,it is said that the plan of the city was entirely drawn up in ,england under the impression that the site was a flat one1 and that it was duly carried out on the perpendicular instead of the horizontal4 ,it is a town of fine buildings1 however1 in a splendid winding estuary ringed with hills4 ,it is1 of course1 the capital1 and the centre of all officialdom in ,new ,zealand1 but ,auckland1 in the north1 is already the greater city4 ,i had the opportunity of spending the day after my arrival with ,dr4 ,morrice1 who married the daughter of the late ,premier1 ,sir ,r4 ,seddon1 whom ,i had known in years gone by4 ,their summer house was down the ,bay1 and so ,i had a long drive which gave me an admirable chance of seeing the wonderful panorama4 ,it was blowing a full gale1 and the road is so exposed that even motors are sometimes upset by the force of the wind4 ,on this occasion nothing more serious befell us than the loss of ,mr4 ,smythe's hat1 which disappeared with such velocity that no one was able to say what had become of it4 ,it simply was1 and then it was not4 ,the yellow of the foreshore1 the green of the shallows1 the blue mottled with purple of the deep1 all fretted with lines of foam1 made an exhilarating sight4 ,the whole excursion was a brief but very pleasant break in our round of work4 ,another pleasant experience was that ,i met ,dr4 ,purdey1 who had once played cricket with me1 when we were very young1 at ,edinburgh ,university4 ,eheu fugaces6 ,i had also the pleasure of meeting ,mr4 ,massey1 the ,premier1 a bluff1 strong1 downright man who impresses one with his force and sincerity4 ,i had the privilege when ,i was at ,wellington of seeing the first edition of ,robinson ,crusoe1 which came out originally in three volumes4 ,i had no idea that the three-decker dated back to #agai4 ,it had a delightful map of the island which would charm any boy1 and must have been drawn up under the personal guidance of ,defoe himself4 ,i wonder that map has not been taken as an integral part of the book1 and reproduced in every edition1 for it is a fascinating and a helpful document4 ,i saw this rare book in the ,turnbull ,library1 which1 under the loving care of ,mr4 ,anderson 7himself no mean poet71 is a fine little collection of books got together by a ,wellington man of business4 ,in a raw young land such a literary oasis is like a ,gothic ,cathedral in the midst of a suburb of modern villas4 ,anyone can come in to consult the books1 and if ,i were a ,wellingtonian ,i would certainly spend a good deal of time there4 ,i handled with fitting reverence a first edition of ,lyrical ,ballads1 where1 in #agih1 ,coleridge and ,wordsworth made their entry hand in hand into poetical literature4 ,i saw an original ,hakluyt1 the book which has sent so many brave hearts a-roving4 ,there1 too1 was a precious ,kelmscott ,chaucer1 a ,plutarch and ,montaigne1 out of which ,shakespeare might have done his cribbing2 ,capt4 ,cook's manuscript ,diary1 written in the stiff hand of a very methodical man2 a copy of ,swinburne's ,poems and ,ballads1 which is one of twenty from a recalled edition1 and many other very rare and worthy volumes carefully housed and clad4 ,i spent a mellow hour among them4 ,i have been looking up all the old books upon the ,maoris which ,i could find1 with the special intent of clearing up their history1 but while doing so ,i found in one rather rare volume ,old ,new ,zealand1 an account of a ,maori seance1 which seems to have been in the early forties1 and1 therefore1 older than the ,hydesville knockings4 ,i only wish every honest materialist could read it and compare it with the experiences which we have1 ourselves1 independently reported4 ,surely they cannot persist in holding that such identical results are obtained by coincidence1 or that fraud would work in exactly the same fashion in two different hemispheres4 ,a popular young chief had been killed in battle4 ,the white man was invited to join the solemn circle who hoped to regain touch with him4 ,the seance was in the dark of a large hut1 lit only by the ruddy glow of a low fire4 ,the white man1 a complete unbeliever1 gives his evidence in grudging fashion1 but cannot get past the facts4 ,the voice came1 a strange melancholy sound1 like the wind blowing into a hollow vessel4 ,salutation6 ,salutation to you all6 ,to you1 my tribe6 ,family1 ,i salute you6 ,friends1 ,i salute you6 ,when the power waned the voice cried1 ,speak to me1 the family6 ,speak to me6 ,in the published dialogue between ,dr4 ,hodgson after his death and ,professor ,hyslop1 ,hodgson cries1 ,speak1 ,hyslop6 when the power seemed to wane4 ,for some reason it would appear either by vibrations or by concentrating attention to help the communicator4 ,it is well with me1 said the chief4 ,this place is a good place4 ,he was with the dead of the tribe and described them1 and offered to take messages to them4 ,the incredulous white man asked where a book had been concealed which only the dead man knew about4 ,the place was named and the book found4 ,the white man himself did not know1 so there was no telepathy4 ,finally1 with a ,farewell6 which came from high in the air1 the spirit passed back to immaterial conditions4 ,this is1 ,i think1 a very remarkable narrative4 ,if you take it as literally true1 which ,i most certainly do1 since our experience corroborates it1 it gives us some points for reflection4 ,one is that the process is one known in all the ages1 as our ,biblical reading has already told us4 ,a second is that a young barbarian chief with no advantages of religion finds the next world a very pleasant place1 just as our dead do1 and that they love to come back and salute those whom they have left1 showing a keen memory of their earth life4 ,finally1 we must face the conclusion that the mere power of communication has no elevating effect in itself1 otherwise these tribes could not have continued to be ferocious savages4 ,it has to be united with the ,christ message from beyond before it will really help us upon the upward path4 ,before ,i left ,wellington the spiritualists made me a graceful presentation of a travelling rug1 and ,i was able to assure them that if they found the rug ,i would find the travelling4 ,it is made of the beautiful woollen material in which ,new ,zealand is supreme4 ,the presentation was made by ,mrs4 ,stables1 the ,president of the ,new ,zealand ,association1 an energetic lady to whom the cause owes much4 ,a greenstone penholder was given to me for my wife1 and a little charm for my small daughter1 the whole proceedings being marked with great cordiality and good feeling4 ,the faithful are strong in ,wellington1 but are much divided among themselves1 which1 ,i hope1 may be alleviated as a consequence of my visit4 ,nothing could have been more successful than my two meetings4 ,the ,press was splendidly sympathetic1 and ,i left by a night boat in high heart for my campaign in the ,south ,island4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,the ,anglican ,colony4--,psychic dangers4--,the learned dog4--,absurd newspaper controversy4--,a backward community4--,the ,maori tongue4--,their origin4--,their treatment by the ,empire4--,a fiasco4--,the ,pa of ,kaiopoi4--,dr4 ,thacker4--,sir ,joseph ,kinsey4--,a generous collector4--,scott and ,amundsen4--,dunedin4--,a genuine medium4--,evidence4--,the shipping strike4--,sir ,oliver4--,farewell4 ,i am afraid that the average ,britisher looks upon ,new ,zealand as one solid island4 ,if he had to cross ,cook's ,strait to get from the northern to the southern half1 he would never forget his lesson in geography1 for it can be as nasty a bit of water as is to be found in the world1 with ocean waves1 mountain winds and marine currents all combining into a horrible chaos4 ,twelve good hours separate ,wellington in the north from ,lyttelton1 which is the port of ,christchurch in the south4 ,a very short railway joins the two latter places4 ,my luck held good1 and ,i had an excellent passage1 dining in ,wellington and breakfasting in ,christchurch4 ,it is a fine city1 the centre of the famous ,canterbury grazing country4 ,four shiploads of people calling themselves the ,canterbury ,pilgrims arrived here in #aheb1 built a cathedral1 were practically ruled over by ,bishop ,selwyn1 and tried the successful experiment of establishing a community which should be as ,anglican as ,new ,england is ,nonconformist4 ,the distinctive character has now largely disappeared1 but a splendid and very ,english city remains as a memorial of their efforts4 ,when you are on the green1 sloping banks of the river ,avon1 with the low1 artistic bridges1 it would not be hard to imagine that you were in the ,backs at ,cambridge4 ,at ,christchurch ,i came across one of those little bits of psychic evidence which may be taken as certainly true1 and which can be regarded1 therefore1 as pieces which have to be fitted into the jig-saw puzzle in order to make the completed whole1 at that far off date when a completed whole is within the reach of man's brain4 ,it concerns ,mr4 ,michie1 a local ,spiritualist of wide experience4 ,on one occasion some years ago1 he practised a short cut to psychic power1 acquired through a certain method of breathing and of action1 which amounts1 in my opinion1 to something in the nature of self-hypnotisation4 ,i will not give details1 as ,i think all such exercises are dangerous save for very experienced students of these matters1 who know the risk and are prepared to take it4 ,the result upon ,mr4 ,michie1 through some disregard upon his part of the conditions which he was directed to observe1 was disastrous4 ,he fell into an insidious illness with certain psychic symptoms1 and within a few months was reduced to skin and bone4 ,mr4 ,michie's wife is mediumistic and liable to be controlled4 ,one day an entity came to her and spoke through her to her husband1 claiming to be the spirit of one1 ,gordon ,stanley4 ,he said3 ,i can sympathise with your case1 because my own death was brought about in exactly the same way4 ,i will help you1 however1 to fight against it and to recover4 ,the spirit then gave an account of his own life1 described himself as a clerk in ,cole's ,book ,arcade in ,melbourne1 and said that his widow was living at an address in ,melbourne1 which was duly given4 ,mr4 ,michie at once wrote to this address and received this reply1 the original of which ,i have seen3 ,park ,street1 ,melbourne4 ,,dear ,,sir1--,i have just received your strange--,i must say1 your very strange letter4 ,yes1 ,i am ,mrs4 ,stanley4 ,my husband did die two years ago from consumption4 ,he was a clerk in ,cole's ,arcade4 ,i must say your letter gave me a great shock4 ,but ,i cannot doubt after what you have said1 for ,i know you are a complete stranger to me4 ,shortly afterwards ,mr4 ,stanley returned again through the medium1 said that his widow was going to marry again1 and that it was with his full approbation4 ,the incident may be taken by our enemies as illustrating the danger of psychic research1 and we admit that there are forms of it which should be approached with caution1 but ,i do not think that mankind will ever be warned off by putting a danger label upon it1 so long as they think there is real knowledge to be gained4 ,how could the motor-car or the aeroplane have been developed if hundreds had not been ready to give their lives to pay the price8 ,here the price has been far less1 and the goal far higher1 but if in gaining it a man were assured that he would lose his health1 his reason1 or his life1 it is none the less his duty to go forward if he clearly sees that there is something to be won4 ,to meet death in conquering death is to die in victory--the ideal death4 ,whilst ,i was at ,auckland ,mr4 ,poynton1 a stipendiary magistrate there1 told me of a dog in ,christchurch which had a power of thought comparable1 not merely to a human being1 but even1 as ,i understood him1 to a clairvoyant1 as it would bark out the number of coins in your pocket and other such questions4 ,the alternative to clairvoyance was that he was a very quick and accurate thought-reader1 but in some cases the power seemed to go beyond this4 ,mr4 ,poynton1 who had studied the subject1 mentioned four learned beasts in history3 a marvellous horse in ,shakespeare's time1 which was burned with its master in ,florence2 the ,boston skipper's dog2 ,hans1 the ,russian horse1 and ,darkie of ,christchurch4 ,he investigated the latter himself1 as one of a committee of three4 ,on the first occasion they got no results4 ,on the second1 ninety per cent4 of the questions were right1 and they included sums of addition1 subtraction1 etc4 ,it was uncanny1 he wrote4 ,i called1 therefore1 upon ,mrs4 ,mc,gibbon1 the owner1 who allowed me to see the dog4 ,he was a dark1 vivacious fox terrier1 sixteen years old1 blind and deaf1 which obviously impaired his powers4 ,in spite of his blindness he dashed at me the moment he was allowed into the room1 pawing at me and trembling all over with excitement4 ,he was1 in fact so excited that he was of little use for demonstration1 as when once he began to bark he could not be induced to stop4 ,occasionally he steadied down1 and gave us a touch of his true quality4 ,when a half-crown was placed before him and he was asked how many sixpences were in it1 he gave five barks1 and four for a florin1 but when a shilling was substituted he gave twelve1 which looked as if he had pennies in his mind4 ,on the whole the performance was a failure1 but as he had raised by exhibiting his gifts1 ,l#ach for war charities1 ,i took my hat off to him all the same4 ,i will not imitate those psychic researchers who imagine that because they do not get a result1 therefore1 every one else who has reported it is a cheat or a fool4 ,on the contrary1 ,i have no doubt that the dog had these powers1 though age and excitement have now impaired them4 ,the creature's powers were first discovered when the son of the house remarked one day3 ,i will give you a biscuit if you bark three times4 ,he at once did it4 ,now1 six times4 ,he did so4 ,now1 take three off4 ,he barked three times once again4 ,since then they have hardly found any problem he could not tackle4 ,when asked how many males in the room he always included himself in the number1 but omitted himself when asked how many human beings4 ,one wonders how many other dogs have human brains without the humans being clever enough to detect it4 ,i had an amusing controversy in ,christchurch with one of the local papers1 ,the ,press1 which represents the clerical interest1 and1 also1 the clerical intolerance of a cathedral city4 ,it issued an article upon me and my beliefs1 severe1 but quite within the limits of legitimate criticism1 quoting against me ,professor ,hyslop1 who1 it said1 is ,professor of ,logic at ,columbia1 etc4 ,to this ,i made the mild and obvious retort in the course of my lecture that as ,professor ,hyslop was dead1 ,the ,press went even further than ,i in saying that he is ,professor at ,columbia4 ,instead of accepting this correction1 ,the ,press made the tactical error of standing by their assertion1 and aggravated it by head-lines which challenged me1 and quoted my statement as typical of the inaccuracy of a ,spiritualist4 ,as ,i rather pride myself on my accuracy1 which has seldom been challenged1 ,i answered shortly but politely1 as follows3 ,,sir1--,i am surprised that the news of the death of ,professor ,hyslop has not reached ,new ,zealand1 and even more surprised that it could be imagined that ,i would make such a statement on a matter so intimately connected with the subject upon which ,i lecture without being sure of my fact4 ,i am reported as saying 'some years1' but1 if so1 it was a slip of the tongue for 'some time4' ,the ,professor died either late last year or early in the present one4 ,i should have thought that my answer was conclusive1 and would have elicited some sort of apology2 but instead of this1 ,the ,press called loudly upon me in a leading article to apologise1 though for what ,i know not1 save that they asserted ,i had said some years1 whereas ,i claim that ,i actually said some time4 ,this drew the following rather more severe letter from me3 ,,sir1--,i am collecting ,new ,zealand curiosities1 so ,i will take your leading article home with me4 ,to get the full humour of it one has to remember the sequence of events4 ,in a leading article you remarked that ,professor ,hyslop is ,professor of ,logic4 ,i answered with mild irony that he certainly is not1 as he had been dead 'some years' or 'some time'--which of the two is perfectly immaterial1 since ,i presume that in either case you would agree that he has ceased to be ,professor of ,logic4 ,to this you were rash enough to reply with a challenging article with large head-lines1 declaring that ,i had blundered1 and that this was typical of the inaccuracy of ,spiritualists4 ,i wrote a gentle remonstrance to show that ,i had not blundered1 and that my assertion was essentially true1 since the man was dead4 ,this you now tacitly admit1 but instead of expressing regret you ask for an apology from me4 ,i have engaged in much newspaper controversy1 but ,i can truly say that ,i can recall no such instance of effrontery as this4 ,this led to another leader and considerable abuse4 ,the controversy was1 however1 by no means one-sided1 in spite of the shadow of the ,cathedral4 ,mr4 ,peter ,trolove is a man of wit as well as knowledge1 and wields a pretty pen4 ,a strong man1 also1 is ,dr4 ,john ,guthrie1 whose letter contains words so kindly that ,i must quote them3 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle stands above it all1 not only as a courteous gentleman1 but as a fair controversialist throughout4 ,he is1 anyhow1 a chivalrous and magnanimous personality1 whether or not his beliefs have any truth4 ,fancy quoting authorities against a man who has spent great part of his life studying the subject1 and who knows the authorities better than all his opponents put together--a man who has deliberately used his great gifts in an honest attempt to get at truth4 ,i do think that ,christchurch has some need to apologise for its controversialists--much more need than our distinguished visitor has to apologise for what we all know to be his honest convictions4 ,i have never met ,dr4 ,john ,guthrie in the flesh1 but ,i would thank him here1 should this ever meet his eye1 for this kindly protest4 ,it will be gathered that ,i succeeded at ,christchurch in performing the feat of waking up a ,cathedral ,city1 and all the ex-sleepers were protesting loudly against such a disturbing inrush from the outer world4 ,glancing at the head-lines ,i see that ,bishop ,brodie declared it to be ,a blasphemy nurtured in fraud1 the ,dean of ,christchurch writes it down as ,spiritism1 the abrogation of ,reason1 the ,rev4 ,john ,patterson calls it an ancient delusion1 the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,north says it is a foolish ,paganism1 and the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,ready opines that it is a gospel of uncertainty and conjecture4 ,such are the clerical leaders of thought in ,christchurch in the year #aibj4 ,i think of what the wise old ,chinese ,control said of similar types at the ,melbourne ,rescue ,circle4 ,he good man but foolish man4 ,he learn better4 ,never rise till he learn better4 ,plenty time yet4 ,who loses except themselves8 ,the enormous number of letters which ,i get upon psychic subjects--which ,i do my best to answer--give me some curious sidelights1 but they are often confidential1 and would not bear publication4 ,some of them are from devout1 but narrow ,christians1 who narrate psychic and prophetic gifts which they possess1 and at the same time almost resent them on the ground that they are condemned by the ,bible4 ,as if the whole ,bible was not psychic and prophetic6 ,one very long letter detailed a whole succession of previsions of the most exact character1 and wound up by the conviction that we were on the edge of some great discovery4 ,this was illustrated by a simile which seemed very happy4 ,have you noticed a tree covered in spider webs during a fog8 ,well1 it was only through the law of the fog that we saw them4 ,they were there all the time1 but only when the moisture came could we see them4 ,it was a good illustration4 ,many amazing experiences are detailed to me in every town ,i visit1 and though ,i have no time to verify them and go into details1 none the less they fit so accurately with the various types of psychic cases with which ,i am familiar that ,i cannot doubt that such occurrences are really very common4 ,it is the injudicious levity with which they are met which prevents their being published by those who experience them4 ,as an amateur philologist of a superficial type1 ,i am greatly interested in studying the ,maori language1 and trying to learn whence these wonderful savages came before their twenty-two terrible canoes came down upon the unhappy land which would have been safer had as many shiploads of tigers been discharged upon its beach4 ,the world is very old1 and these folk have wandered from afar1 and by many devious paths4 ,surely there are ,celtic traces both in their appearance1 their character and their language4 ,an old ,maori woman smoking her pipe is the very image of an old ,celtic woman occupied the same way4 ,their word for water is wei1 and ,england is full of ,wye and ,way river names1 dating from the days before the ,germans arrived4 ,strangest of all is their name for the supreme ,god4 ,a name never mentioned and taboo among them1 is ,io4 ,j is1 of course1 interchangeable with ,i1 so that we get the first two letters of ,jove and an approximation of ,jehovah4 ,papa is parent4 ,altogether there is good evidence that they are from the same root as some ,european races1 preferably the ,celts4 ,but on the top of this comes a whole series of ,japanese combinations of letters1 ,rangi1 ,muru1 ,tiki1 and so forth1 so that many of the place names seem pure ,japanese4 ,what are we to make of such a mixture8 ,is it possible that one ,celtic branch1 far away in the mists of time1 wandered east while their racial brethren wandered west1 so that part reached far ,corea while the others reached ,ireland8 ,then1 after getting a tincture of ,japanese terms and word endings1 they continued their migration1 taking to the seas1 and finally subduing the darker races who inhabited the ,polynesian ,islands1 so making their way to ,new ,zealand4 ,this wild imagining would at least cover the observed facts4 ,it is impossible to look at some of the ,maori faces without realising that they are of ,european stock4 ,i must interpolate a paragraph here to say that ,i was pleased1 after writing the above1 to find that in my blind gropings ,i had come upon the main conclusions which have been put forward with very full knowledge by the well-known authority1 ,dr4 ,mc,millan ,brown4 ,he has worked out the very fact which ,i surmised1 that the ,maoris are practically of the same stock as ,europeans1 that they had wandered ,japan-wards1 and had finally taken to the sea4 ,there are two points of interest which show the date of their exodus was a very ancient one4 ,the first is that they have not the use of the bow4 ,the second is that they have no knowledge of metals4 ,such knowledge once possessed would never have been lost1 so it is safe to say that they left ,asia a thousand years 7as a minimum7 before ,christ1 for at that date the use of bronze1 at any rate1 was widespread4 ,what adventures and vicissitudes this remarkable race1 so ignorant in some directions and so advanced in others1 must have endured during those long centuries4 ,if you look at the wonderful ornaments of their old war canoes1 which carry a hundred men1 and can traverse the whole ,pacific1 it seems almost incredible that human patience and ingenuity could construct the whole fabric with instruments of stone4 ,they valued them greatly when once they were made1 and the actual names of the twenty-two original invading canoes are still recorded4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,people ,,of ,,turi',s ,,canoe1 ,,after ,a ,,voyage ,,of ,,great ,,hardship1 ,,at ,,last ,,sight ,,the ,,shores ,,of ,,new ,,zealand4 ,from a painting in the ,auckland ,art ,gallery by ,c4 ,f4 ,goldie and ,l4 ,j4 ,steele4 ,in the public gallery of ,auckland they have a duplicate of one of these enormous canoes4 ,it is #hg feet in length and the thwarts are broad enough to hold three or four men4 ,when it was filled with its hundred warriors1 with the chief standing in the centre to give time to the rowers1 it must1 as it dashed through the waves1 have been a truly terrific object4 ,i should think that it represented the supreme achievement of neolithic man4 ,there are a series of wonderful pictures of ,maori life in the same gallery by ,goldie and ,steele4 ,of these ,i reproduce1 by permission1 one which represents the starving crew of one canoe sighting the distant shore4 ,the engraving only gives a faint indication of the effect of the vividly-coloured original4 ,reference has been made to the patient industry of the ,maori race4 ,a supreme example of this is that every man had his tikki1 or image of a little idol made of greenstone1 which was hung round his neck4 ,now1 this ,new ,zealand greenstone is one of the hardest objects in nature1 and yet it is worn down without metals into these quaint figures4 ,on an average it took ten years to make one1 and it was rubbed down from a chunk of stone into an image by the constant friction of a woman's foot4 ,it is said that the ,tahungas1 or priests1 have much hereditary knowledge of an occult sort4 ,their oracles were famous1 and ,i have already quoted an example of their seances4 ,a student of ,maori lore told me the following interesting story4 ,he was a student of ,maori words1 and on one occasion a ,maori chief let slip an unusual word1 let us say buru1 and then seemed confused and refused to answer when the ,englishman asked the meaning4 ,the latter took it to a friend1 a ,tohunga1 who seemed much surprised and disturbed1 and said it was a word of which a paheka or white man should know nothing4 ,not to be beaten1 my informant took it to an old and wise chief who owed him a return for some favours4 ,this chief was also much exercised in mind when he heard the word1 and walked up and down in agitation4 ,finally he said1 ,friend1 we are both ,christians4 ,you remember the chapter in the ,bible where ,jacob wrestled with an angel4 ,well1 this word 'buru' represents that for which they were wrestling4 ,he would say no more and there it had perforce to be left4 ,the ,british ,empire may be proud of their treatment of the ,maoris4 ,like the ,jews1 they object to a census1 but their number cannot be more than #ej1jjj in a population of over a million4 ,there is no question1 therefore1 of our being constrained to treat them well4 ,yet they own vast tracts of the best land in the country1 and so unquestioned are their rights that when they forbade a railway to pass down the centre of the ,north ,island1 the traffic had to go by sea from ,auckland until1 at last1 after many years1 it was shown to the chiefs that their financial interests would be greatly aided by letting the railway through4 ,these financial interests are very large1 and many ,maoris are wealthy men1 buying expensive motor cars and other luxuries4 ,some of the more educated take part in legislative work1 and are distinguished for their eloquence4 ,the half-castes make a particularly fine breed1 especially in their youth1 for they tend as they grow older to revert to the pure ,maori type4 ,new ,zealand has no national sin upon its conscience as regards the natives1 which is more1 ,i fear1 than can be said whole-heartedly for ,australia1 and even less for ,tasmania4 ,our people never descended to the level of the old ,congo1 but they have something on their conscience none the less4 ,on ,december #ahth there was some arrangement by which ,i should meet the ,maoris and see the historic ,pa of ,kaiopoi4 ,the affair1 however1 was1 ,i am sorry to say1 a fiasco4 ,as we approached the building1 which was the village school room1 there emerged an old lady--a very old lady--who uttered a series of shrill cries1 which ,i was told meant welcome1 though they sounded more like the other thing4 ,i can only trust that my informants were right4 ,inside was a very fine assemblage of atmospheric air1 and of nothing else4 ,the explanation was that there had been a wedding the night before1 and that the whole community had been--well1 tired4 ,presently a large man in tweeds of the reach-me-down variety appeared upon the scene1 and several furtive figures1 including a row of children1 materialised in corners of the big empty room4 ,the visitors1 who were more numerous than the visited1 sat on a long bench and waited developments which refused to develop4 ,my dreams of the dignified and befeathered savage were drifting away4 ,finally1 the large man1 with his hands in his pockets1 and looking hard at a corner of the rafters1 made a speech of welcome1 punctuated by long stops and gaps4 ,he then1 at our request1 repeated it in ,maori1 and the children were asked to give a ,maori shout1 which they sternly refused to do4 ,i then made a few feeble bleats1 uncertain whether to address my remarks to the level of the large man or to that of the row of children4 ,i ended by handing over some books for their library1 and we then escaped from this rather depressing scene4 ,but it was a very different matter with the ,pa4 ,i found it intensely interesting4 ,you could still trace quite clearly the main lines of the battle which destroyed it4 ,it lay on about five acres of ground1 with deep swamp all round save for one frontage of some hundreds of yards4 ,that was all which really needed defence4 ,the ,north ,island natives1 who were of a sterner breed than those of the ,south1 came down under the famous ,rauparaha 7these ,maori names are sad snags in a story7 and besieged the place4 ,one can see the saps and follow his tactics1 which ended by piling brushwood against the palings--please observe the root pa in palings--with the result that he carried the place4 ,massacre ,hill stands close by1 and so many of the defenders were eaten that their gnawed bones covered the ground within the memory of living men4 ,such things may have been done by the father of the elderly gentleman who passes you in his motor car with his race glasses slung across his chest4 ,the siege of ,kaiopoi was about #ahca4 ,even on a fine sunlit day ,i was conscious of that heavy atmosphere within the enclosure which impresses itself upon me when ,i am on the scene of ancient violence4 ,so frightful an episode within so limited a space1 where for months the garrison saw its horrible fate drawing nearer day by day1 must surely have left some etheric record even to our blunt senses4 ,i was indebted to ,dr4 ,thacker1 the mayor1 for much kind attention whilst in ,christchurch4 ,he is a giant man1 but a crippled giant1 alas1 for he still bears the traces of an injury received in a historic football match1 which left his and my old ,university of ,edinburgh at the top of the tree in ,scotland4 ,he showed me some curious1 if ghastly1 relics of his practice4 ,one of these was a tumour of the exact size and shape of a boxing glove1 thumb and all1 which he cut out of the back of a boxer who had lost a glove fight and taken it greatly to heart4 ,always on many converging lines we come back to the influence of mind over matter4 ,another most pleasant friendship which ,i made in ,christchurch was with ,sir ,joseph ,kinsey1 who has acted as father to several successive ,british ,arctic expeditions4 ,scott and ,shackleton have both owed much to him1 their constant agent1 adviser and friend4 ,scott's dying hand traced a letter to him1 so unselfish and so noble that it alone would put ,scott high in the gallery of ,british worthies4 ,of all modern men of action ,scott seems to me the most lofty4 ,to me he was only an acquaintance1 but ,kinsey1 who knew him well as a friend1 and ,lady ,kinsey1 who had all ,arctic exploration at her finger ends1 were of the same opinion4 ,sir ,joseph discussed the action of ,amundsen in making for the pole4 ,when it was known that ,amundsen was heading south instead of pursuing his advertised intentions1 ,kinsey smelled danger and warned ,scott1 who1 speaking from his own noble loyalty1 said1 ,he would never do so dishonourable a thing4 ,my plans are published and are known to all the world4 ,however1 when he reached the ice1 and when ,pennell located the ,fram1 he had to write and admit that ,kinsey was right4 ,it was a sad blow1 that forestalling1 though he took it like the man that he was4 ,none the less1 it must have preyed upon the spirits of all his party and weakened their resistance in that cruel return journey4 ,on the other hand ,amundsen's expedition1 which was conducted on rather less than a sixth of the cost of the ,british1 was a triumph of organisation1 and he had the good luck or deep wisdom to strike a route which was clear of those great blizzards which overwhelmed ,scott4 ,the scurvy was surely a slur upon our medical preparations4 ,according to ,stefansson1 who knows more of the matter than any living man1 lime juice is useless1 vegetables are of secondary importance1 but fresh animal food1 be it seal1 penguin1 or what you will1 is the final preventive4 ,sir ,joseph is a passionate and discriminating collector1 and has but one fault in collecting1 which is a wide generosity4 ,you have but to visit him often enough and express sufficient interest to absorb all his treasures4 ,perhaps my protests were half-hearted1 but ,i emerged from his house with a didrachm of ,alexander1 a tetradrachm of some ,armenian monarch1 a sheet of rare ,arctic stamps for ,denis1 a lump of native greenstone1 and a small nugget of gold4 ,no wonder when ,i signed some books for him ,i entered the date as that of ,the ,sacking of ,woomeroo1 that being the name of his dwelling4 ,the mayor1 in the same spirit of hospitality1 pressed upon me a huge bone of the extinct ,moa1 but as ,i had never failed to impress upon my wife the extreme importance of cutting down our luggage1 ,i could not face the scandal of appearing with this monstrous impedimentum4 ,leaving ,christchurch in the journalistic uproar to which allusion has been made1 our engagements took us on to ,dunedin1 which is reached by rail in a rather tiring day's journey4 ,a ,new ,zealand train is excellent while it is running1 but it has a way of starting with an epileptic leap1 and stopping with a bang1 which becomes wearisome after a while4 ,on the other hand this particular journey is beguiled by the fact that the line runs high for two hours round the curve of the hills with the ,pacific below1 so that a succession of marvellous views opens out before you as you round each spur4 ,there can be few more beautiful lines4 ,dunedin was founded in #ahdh by a group of ,scotsmen1 and it is modelled so closely upon ,edinburgh that the familiar street names all reappear1 and even ,portobello has its duplicate outside the town4 ,the climate1 also1 ,i should judge to be about the same4 ,the prevailing tone of the community is still ,scottish1 which should mean that they are sympathetic with my mission1 for nowhere is ,spiritualism more firmly established now than in ,scotland1 especially in ,glasgow1 where a succession of great mediums and of earnest workers have built up a considerable organisation4 ,i soon found that it was so1 for nowhere had ,i more private assurances of support1 nor a better public reception1 the theatre being filled at each lecture4 ,in the intervals kind friends put their motors at my disposal and ,i had some splendid drives over the hills1 which look down upon the winding estuary at the head of which the town is situated4 ,at the house of ,mr4 ,reynolds1 of ,dunedin1 ,i met one of the most powerful clairvoyants and trance mediums whom ,i have tested4 ,her name is ,mrs4 ,roberts1 and though her worldly circumstances are modest1 she has never accepted any money for her wonderful psychic gifts4 ,for this ,i honour her1 but1 as ,i told her1 we all sell the gifts which ,god has given us1 and ,i cannot see why1 and within reason1 psychic gifts should not also be placed within the reach of the public1 instead of being confined to a favoured few4 ,how can the bulk of the people ever get into touch with a good medium if they are debarred from doing so in the ordinary way of business8 ,mrs4 ,roberts is a stout1 kindly woman1 with a motherly manner1 and a sensitive1 expressive face4 ,when in touch with my conditions she at once gave the names of several relatives and friends who have passed over1 without any slurring or mistakes4 ,she then cried1 ,i see an elderly lady here--she is a beautifully high spirit--her name is ,selina4 ,this rather unusual name belonged to my wife's mother1 who died nearly two years ago4 ,then1 suddenly1 becoming slightly convulsed1 as a medium does when her mechanism is controlled by another1 she cried with an indescribable intensity of feeling1 ,thank ,god6 ,thank ,god to get in touch again6 ,jean6 ,jean6 ,give my dear love to ,jean6 ,both names1 therefore1 had been got correctly1 that of the mother and the daughter4 ,is it not an affront to reason to explain away such results by wild theories of telepathy1 or by anything save the perfectly plain and obvious fact that spirit communion is indeed true1 and that ,i was really in touch with that dead lady who was1 even upon earth1 a beautifully high and unselfish spirit4 ,i had a number of other communications through ,mrs4 ,roberts that night1 and at a second interview two days later1 not one of which erred so far as names were concerned4 ,among others was one who professed to be ,dr4 ,russell ,wallace4 ,i should be honoured1 indeed1 to think that it was so1 but ,i was unable to hit on anything which would be evidential4 ,i asked him if his further experience had taught him anything more about reincarnation1 which he disputed in his lifetime4 ,he answered that he now accepted it1 though ,i am not clear whether he meant for all cases4 ,i thanked him for any spiritual help ,i had from him4 ,his answer was ,me6 ,don't thank me6 ,you would be surprised if you knew who your real helpers are4 ,he added1 ,by your work ,i rise4 ,we are co-workers6 ,i pray that it be so1 for few men have lived for whom ,i have greater respect2 wise and brave1 and mellow and good4 ,his biography was a favourite book of mine long before ,i understood the full significance of ,spiritualism1 which was to him an evolution of the spirit on parallel lines to that evolution of the body which he did so much to establish4 ,now that my work in ,new ,zealand was drawing to a close a very grave problem presented itself to ,mr4 ,smythe and myself1 and that was how we were to get back to our families in ,australia4 ,a strike had broken out1 which at first seemed a small matter1 but it was accentuated by the approach of ,christmas and the fact that many of the men were rather looking for an excuse for a holiday4 ,every day things became blacker4 ,once before ,mr4 ,smythe had been held up for four months by a similar cause1 and1 indeed1 it has become a very serious consideration for all who visit ,new ,zealand4 ,we made a forced march for the north amid constant rumours that far from reaching ,australia we could not even get to the ,north ,island1 as the twelve-hour ferry boats were involved in the strike4 ,i had every trust in my luck1 or1 as ,i should prefer to say1 in my helpers1 and we got the ,maori on the last ferry trip which she was sure to take4 ,up to the last moment the firemen wavered1 and we had no stewards on board1 but none the less1 to our inexpressible relief we got off4 ,there was no food on the ship and no one to serve it1 so we went into a small hostel at ,lyttleton before we started1 to see what we could pick up4 ,there was a man seated opposite to me who assumed the air of laboured courtesy and extreme dignity1 which is one phase of alcoholism4 ',scuse me1 sir6 said he1 looking at me with a glassy stare1 but you bear most 'straordinary resemblance ,olver ,lodge4 ,i said something amiable4 ,yes1 sir--'straordinary6 ,have you ever seen ,olver ,lodge1 sir8 ,yes1 ,i have4 ,well1 did you perceive resemblance8 ,sir ,oliver1 as ,i remember him1 was a tall man with a grey beard4 ,he shook his head at me sadly4 ,no1 sir--,i heard him at ,wellington last week4 ,no beard4 ,a moustache1 sir1 same as your own4 ,you're sure it was ,sir ,oliver8 ,a slow smile came over his face4 ,blesh my soul--,conan ,doyle--that's the name4 ,yes1 sir1 you bear truly remarkable resemblance ,conan ,doyle4 ,i did not say anything further so ,i daresay he has not discovered yet the true cause of the resemblance4 ,all the nerve-wracking fears of being held up which we endured at ,lyttleton were repeated at ,wellington1 where we had taken our passages in the little steamer ,paloona4 ,in any case we had to wait for a day1 which ,i spent in clearing up my ,new ,zealand affairs while ,mr4 ,smythe interviewed the authorities and paid no less than ,l#ada war tax upon the receipts of our lectures--a heavy impost upon a fortnight's work4 ,next morning1 with our affairs and papers all in order1 we boarded our little craft4 ,up to the last moment we had no certainty of starting4 ,not only was the strike in the air1 but it was ,christmas ,eve1 and it was natural enough that the men should prefer their own homes to the stokehole of the ,paloona4 ,agents with offers of increased pay were scouring the docks4 ,finally our complement was completed1 and it was a glad moment when the hawsers were thrown off1 and after the usual uncomfortable preliminaries we found ourselves steaming in a sharp wind down the very turbulent waters of ,cook's ,strait4 ,the place is full of ,cook's memory4 ,everywhere the great man has left his traces4 ,we passed ,cook's ,island where the ,endeavour actually struck and had to be careened and patched4 ,what a nerve the fellow had6 ,so coolly and deliberately did he do his work that even now his charting holds good1 ,i understand1 in many long stretches of coast4 ,tacking and wearing1 he poked and pried into every estuary1 naming capes1 defining bays1 plotting out positions1 and yet all the while at the mercy of the winds1 with a possible lee shore always before him1 with no comrade within hail1 and with swarms of cannibals eyeing his little ship from the beach4 ,after ,i have seen his work ,i shall feel full of reverence every time ,i pass that fine statue which adorns the mall side of the great ,admiralty building4 ,and now we are out in the open sea1 with ,melbourne1 ,sydney and love in front of our prow4 ,behind the sun sets in a slur of scarlet above the olive green hills1 while the heavy night fog1 crawling up the valleys1 turns each of them into a glacier4 ,a bright star twinkles above4 ,below a light shines out from the gloom4 ,farewell1 ,new ,zealand6 ,i shall never see you again1 but perhaps some memory of my visit may remain--or not1 as ,god pleases4 ,anyhow1 my own memory will remain4 ,every man looks on his own country as ,god's own country if it be a free land1 but the ,new ,zealander has more reason than most4 ,it is a lovely place1 and contains within its moderate limits the agricultural plains of ,england1 the lakes and hills of ,scotland1 the glaciers of ,switzerland1 and the fiords of ,norway1 with a fine hearty people1 who do not treat the ,british newcomer with ignorant contempt or hostility4 ,there are so many interests and so many openings that it is hard to think that a man will not find a career in ,new ,zealand4 ,canada1 ,australia and ,south ,africa seem to me to be closely balanced so far as their attractions for the emigrant goes1 but when one considers that ,new ,zealand has neither the winter of ,canada1 the droughts of ,australia1 nor the racial problems of ,africa1 it does surely stand supreme1 though it demands1 as all of them do1 both labour and capital from the newcomer4 ,,chapter ,x ,christian origins4--,mithraism4--,astronomy4--,exe rcising boats4--,bad news from home4--,futile strikes4--,labour ,party4--,the blue wilderness4--,journey to ,brisbane4--,warm reception4--,friends and foes4--,psychic experience of ,dr4 ,doyle4--,birds4--,criticism on ,melbourne4--,spiritualist ,church4--,ceremony4--,sir ,matthew ,nathan4--,alleged repudiation of ,queensland4--,billy tea4--,the bee farm4--,domestic service in ,australia4--,hon4 ,john ,fihilly4--,curious photograph by the state photographer4--,the ,orsova4 ,the voyage back from ,new ,zealand to ,melbourne was pleasant and uneventful1 though the boat was small and there was a sea rough enough to upset many of the passengers4 ,we were fortunate in our ,captain1 ,doorby1 who1 ,i found1 was a literary confrere with two books to his credit1 one of them a record of the relief ship ,morning1 in which he had served at the time of ,scott's first expedition1 the other a little book1 ,the ,handmaiden of the ,navy1 which gave some of his adventures and experiences in the merchant service during the great war4 ,he had been torpedoed once1 and had lost1 on another occasion1 nearly all his crew with plague1 so that he had much that was interesting to talk about4 ,mr4 ,blake1 of the ,strand ,magazine1 was also on board4 ,a ,unitarian ,minister1 ,mr4 ,hale1 was also a valuable companion1 and we had much discussion over the origins of ,christianity1 which was the more interesting to me as ,i had taken advantage of the voyage to re-read the ,acts and ,paul's ,epistles4 ,there are no documents which can be read so often and yet reveal something new1 the more so when you have that occult clue which is needful before ,paul can be understood4 ,it is necessary also to know something of ,mythra worship and the other philosophies which ,paul had learned1 and woven into his ,christianity4 ,i have stated elsewhere my belief that all expressions about redemption by blood1 the blood of the lamb1 etc41 are founded upon the parallel of the blood of the bull which was shed by the ,mythra-worshippers1 and in which they were actually baptised4 ,enlarging upon this1 ,mr4 ,hale pointed out on the authority1 if ,i remember right1 of ,pfleiderer's ,christian ,origins1 that in the ,mythra service something is placed over the candidate1 a hide probably1 which is called putting on ,mythra1 and corresponds with ,paul's expression about putting on ,christ4 ,paul1 with his tremendous energy and earnestness1 fixed ,christianity upon the world1 but ,i wonder what ,peter and those who had actually heard ,christ's words thought about it all4 ,we have had ,paul's views about ,christ1 but we do not know ,christ's views about ,paul4 ,he had been1 as we are told by himself1 a ,jewish ,pharisee of the strictest type in his youth at ,jerusalem1 but was a ,roman citizen1 had lived long at ,tarsus1 which was a centre of ,mithraism1 and was clearly famous for his learning1 since ,festus twitted him with it4 ,the simple tenets of the carpenter and the fishermen would take strange involved forms in such a brain as that4 ,his epistles are presumably older than the gospels1 which may1 in their simplicity1 represent a protest against his confused theology4 ,it was an enjoyable voyage in the little ,paloona1 and rested me after the whirlwind campaign of ,new ,zealand4 ,in large liners one loses in romance what one gains in comfort4 ,on a small ship one feels nearer to ,nature1 to the water and even to the stars4 ,on clear nights we had magnificent displays of the ,southern heaven4 ,i profited by the astronomical knowledge of ,mr4 ,smythe4 ,here first ,i was introduced to ,alpha ,centauri1 which is the nearest fixed star1 and1 therefore1 the cobber to the sun4 ,it is true that it is distant #c-a_/b years of light travel1 and light travels at about #ahb1jjj miles a second1 but when one considers that it takes centuries for average starlight to reach us1 we may consider ,alpha as snuggling close up to us for companionship in the lonely wastes of space4 ,the diamond belt of ,orion looks homely enough with the bright solitaire ,sirius sparkling beside it1 but there are the ,magellanic clouds1 the scattered wisps torn from the ,milky ,way1 and there is the strange black space called the ,coalsack1 where one seems to look right past all created things into a bottomless void4 ,what would not ,galileo and all the old untravelled astronomers have given to have one glimpse of this wondrous ,southern display8 ,captain ,doorby1 finding that he had time in hand1 ran the ship into a small deserted bay upon the coast1 and1 after anchoring1 ordered out all the boats for the sake of practice4 ,it was very well done1 and yet what ,i saw convinced me that it should be a ,board of ,trade regulation1 if it is not one already1 that once1 at least1 near the beginning of every long voyage1 this should be compulsory4 ,it is only when you come to launch them that you really realise which of the davits is rusted up1 and which block is tangled1 or which boat is without a plug4 ,i was much impressed by this idea as ,i watched the difficulties which were encountered even in that secluded anchorage4 ,the end of my journey was uneventful1 but my joy at being reunited with my family was clouded by the news of the death of my mother4 ,she was eighty-three years of age1 and had for some years been almost totally blind1 so that her change was altogether a release1 but it was sad to think that we should never see the kind face and gracious presence again in its old material form4 ,denis summed up our feelings when he cried1 ,what a reception ,grannie must have had6 ,there was never any one who had so broad and sympathetic a heart1 a world-mother mourning over everything which was weak or oppressed1 and thinking nothing of her own time and comfort in her efforts to help the sufferers4 ,even when blind and infirm she would plot and plan for the benefit of others1 thinking out their needs1 and bringing about surprising results by her intervention4 ,for my own psychic work she had1 ,i fear1 neither sympathy nor understanding1 but she had an innate faith and spirituality which were so natural to her that she could not conceive the needs of others in that direction4 ,she understands now4 ,whilst in the ,blue ,mountains ,i was forced to reconsider my plans on account of the strike which has paralysed all coastal trade4 ,if ,i should be able to reach ,tasmania ,i might be unable to return1 and it would1 indeed1 be a tragic situation if my family were ready to start for ,england in the ,naldera1 and ,i was unable to join them4 ,i felt1 therefore1 that ,i was not justified in going to ,tasmania1 even if ,i were able1 which is very doubtful4 ,it was sad1 as it spoiled the absolute completeness of my tour1 but on the other hand ,i felt sure that ,i should find plenty of work to do on the mainland1 without taking so serious a risk4 ,it is a terrible thing to see this young country1 which needs every hour of time and every ounce of energy for its speedy development frittering itself away in these absurd conflicts1 which never give any result to compare with the loss4 ,one feels that in the stern contests of nations one will arise which has economic discipline1 and that none other could stand against it4 ,if the training of reorganised ,germany should take this shape she will conquer and she will deserve to conquer4 ,it is a monstrous abuse that ,compulsory ,arbitration ,courts should be established1 as is the case in ,australia1 and that ,unions should either strike against their decisions1 or should anticipate their decisions1 as in the case of these stewards1 by forcing a strike4 ,in such a case ,i hold that the secretary and every other official of the ,union should be prosecuted and heavily fined1 if not imprisoned4 ,it is the only way by which the community can be saved from a tyranny which is quite as real as that of any autocrat4 ,what would be said1 for example1 of a king who cut off the islands of ,tasmania and ,new ,zealand from communication with the outer world1 deranging the whole ,christmas arrangements of countless families who had hoped to reunite8 ,yet this is what has been done by a handful of stewards with some trivial grievance4 ,a fireman who objects to the cooking can hold up a great vessel4 ,there is nothing but chaos in front of a nation unless it insists upon being master in its own house1 and forbids either employed or employer to do that which is for the common scathe4 ,the time seems to be coming when ,britons1 the world over1 will have to fight for liberty against licence just as hard as ever they fought for her against tyranny4 ,this ,i say with full sympathy for the ,labour ,party1 which ,i have often been tempted to join1 but have always been repelled by their attempt to bully the rest of the ,state instead of using those means which would certainly ensure their legitimate success1 even if it took some years to accomplish4 ,there are many anomalies and injustices1 and it is only a people's party which can set them right4 ,hereditary honours are an injustice1 lands owned by feudal or royal gift are an injustice1 increased private wealth through the growth of towns is an injustice1 coal royalties are an injustice1 the expense of the law is a glaring injustice1 the support of any single religion by the ,state is an injustice1 our divorce laws are an injustice--with such a list a real honest ,labour ,party would be a sure winner if it could persuade us all that it would not commit injustices itself1 and bolster up labour artificially at the expense of every one else4 ,it is not organised labour which moves me1 for it can take care of itself1 but it is the indigent governesses with thirty pounds a year1 the broken people1 the people with tiny pensions1 the struggling widows with children--when ,i think of all these and then of the man who owns a county ,i feel that there is something deeply1 deeply wrong which nothing but some great strong new force can set right4 ,one finds in the ,blue ,mountains that opportunity of getting alone with real ,nature1 which is so healing and soothing a thing4 ,the wild scrub flows up the hillsides to the very grounds of the hotels1 and in a very few minutes one may find oneself in the wilderness of ferns and gum trees unchanged from immemorial ages4 ,it is a very real danger to the young or to those who have no sense of direction1 for many people have wandered off and never come back alive--in fact1 there is a specially enrolled body of searchers who hunt for the missing visitor4 ,i have never in all my travels seen anything more spacious and wonderful than the view from the different sandstone bluffs1 looking down into the huge gullies beneath1 a thousand feet deep1 where the great gum trees look like rows of cabbages4 ,i suppose that in water lies the force which1 in the course of ages1 has worn down the soft1 sandy rock and formed these colossal clefts1 but the effects are so enormous that one is inclined to think some great earth convulsion must also have been concerned in their production4 ,some of the cliffs have a sheer drop of over one thousand feet1 which is said to be unequalled in the world4 ,these mountains are so precipitous and tortuous1 presenting such a maze to the explorer1 that for many years they were a formidable barrier to the extension of the young ,colony4 ,there were only about forty miles of arable land from the coast to the great ,hawkesbury ,river1 which winds round the base of the mountains4 ,then came this rocky labyrinth4 ,at last1 in #ahab1 four brave and persevering men--,blaxland1 ,evans1 ,wentworth and ,lawson--took the matter in hand1 and after many adventures1 blazed a trail across1 by which all the splendid hinterland was opened up1 including the gold fields1 which found their centre in the new town of ,bathurst4 ,when one reflects that all the gold had to be brought across this wilderness1 with unexplored woodlands fringing the road1 it is no wonder that a race of bushrangers sprang into existence1 and the marvel is that the police should ever have been able to hunt them down4 ,so fresh is all this very vital history in the development of a nation1 that one can still see upon the trees the marks of the explorers' axes1 as they endeavoured to find a straight trail among the countless winding gullies4 ,at ,mount ,york1 the highest view-point1 a monument has been erected to them1 at the place from which they got the first glimpse of the promised land beyond4 ,we had been told that in the tropical weather now prevailing1 it was quite vain for us to go to ,queensland1 for no one would come to listen to lectures4 ,my own belief was1 however1 that this subject has stirred people very deeply1 and that they will suffer any inconvenience to learn about it4 ,mr4 ,smythe was of opinion1 at first1 that my audiences were drawn from those who came from curiosity because they had read my writings1 but when he found that the second and the third meetings were as full as the first1 he was forced to admit that the credit of success lay with the matter rather than with the man4 ,in any case ,i reflected that my presence in ,brisbane would certainly bring about the usual ,press controversy1 with a free ventilation of the subject1 so we determined to go4 ,mr4 ,smythe1 for once1 did not accompany us1 but the very capable lady who assists him1 ,miss ,sternberg1 looked after all arrangements4 ,it was a very wearisome train journey of twenty-eight hours2 tropically hot1 rather dusty1 with a change in the middle1 and the usual stuffiness of a sleeper1 which was superior to the ordinary ,american one1 but below the ,british standard4 ,how the ,americans1 with their nice sense of decency1 can stand the awful accommodation their railway companies give them1 or at any rate1 used to give them1 is incomprehensible1 but public opinion in all matters asserts itself far less directly in ,america than in ,britain4 ,australia is half-way between1 and1 certainly1 ,i have seen abuses there in the management of trains1 posts1 telegrams and telephones1 which would have evoked loud protests at home4 ,i think that there is more initiative at home4 ,for example1 when the railway strike threatened to throttle the country1 the public rose to the occasion and improvised methods which met the difficulty4 ,i have not heard of anything of the kind in the numerous strikes with which this community is harassed4 ,any individual action arouses attention4 ,i remember the amusement of the ,hon4 ,agar ,wynne when1 on arriving late at ,melbourne1 in the absence of porters1 ,i got a trolley1 placed my own luggage on it1 and wheeled it to a cab4 ,yet we thought nothing of that when labour was short in ,london4 ,the country north of ,sydney is exactly like the ,blue ,mountains1 on a lesser scale--riven ranges of sandstone covered with gum trees4 ,i cannot understand those who say there is nothing worth seeing in ,australia1 for ,i know no big city which has glorious scenery so near it as ,sydney4 ,after crossing the ,queensland border1 one comes to the ,darling ,downs1 unsurpassed for cattle and wheat4 ,our first impressions of the new ,state were that it was the most naturally rich of any ,australian ,colony1 and the longer we were in it1 the more did we realise that this was indeed so4 ,it is so enormous1 however1 that it is certain1 sooner or later1 to be divided into a ,south1 ,middle1 and ,north1 each of which will be a large and flourishing community4 ,we observed from the railway all sorts of new vegetable life1 and ,i was especially interested to notice that our ,english ,yellow ,mullein was lining the track1 making its way gradually up country4 ,even ,sydney did not provide a warmer and more personal welcome than that which we both received when we at last reached ,brisbane4 ,at ,toowoomba1 and other stations on the way1 small deputations of ,spiritualists had met the train1 but at ,brisbane the platform was crowded4 ,my wife was covered with flowers1 and we were soon made to realise that we had been misinformed in the south1 when we were told that the movement was confined to a small circle4 ,we were tired1 but my wife rose splendidly to the occasion4 ,the local paper says3 ,carefully concealing all feelings of fatigue and tiredness after the long and wearisome train journey from ,sydney1 ,lady ,doyle charmed the large gathering of ,spiritualists assembled at the ,central ,railway ,station on ,saturday night1 to meet her and her husband4 ,in vivacious fashion1 ,lady ,doyle responded to the many enthusiastic greetings1 and she was obviously delighted with the floral gifts presented to her on her arrival4 ,to a press representative1 ,lady ,doyle expressed her admiration of the ,australian scenery1 and she referred enthusiastically to the ,darling ,downs district and to the ,toowoomba ,range4 ,during her husband's absence in ,new ,zealand1 ,lady ,doyle and her children spent a holiday in the ,blue ,mountains 7,new ,south ,wales71 and were delighted with the innumerable gorgeous beauty spots there4 ,after a short experience1 when we were far from comfortable1 we found our way to the ,bellevue ,hotel1 where a kindly old ,irish proprietress1 ,mrs4 ,finegan1 gave us greater attention and luxury than we had found anywhere up to then on the ,australian continent4 ,the usual press discussion was in full swing4 ,the more bigoted clergy in ,brisbane1 as elsewhere1 were very vituperative1 but so unreasonable and behind their own congregations in knowledge and intelligence1 that they must have alienated many who heard them4 ,father ,lane1 for example1 preaching in the cathedral1 declared that the whole subject was an abomination to the ,lord4 ,he does not seem to have asked himself why the ,lord gave us these powers if they are an abomination4 ,he also declared that we denied our moral responsibility to ,god in this life1 a responsibility which must have weighed rather lightly upon ,father ,lane when he made so false a statement4 ,the ,rev4 ,l4 ,h4 ,jaggers1 not to be outdone in absurdity by ,father ,lane1 described all our fellow-mortals of ,india1 ,china and ,japan as demoniacal races4 ,dr4 ,cosh put forward the ,presbyterian sentiment that ,i was ,anti-,christ1 and a serious menace to the spiritual life of ,australia4 ,really1 when ,i see the want of all truth and charity shown by these gentlemen1 it does begin to convince me of the reality of diabolical interference in the affairs of mankind1 for ,i cannot understand why1 otherwise1 such efforts should be made to obscure1 by falsehood and abuse1 the great revelation and comfort which ,god has sent us4 ,the opposition culminated in an open letter from ,dr4 ,cosh in the ,mail1 demanding that ,i should define my exact views as to the ,trinity1 the ,atonement1 and other such mysteries4 ,i answered by pointing out that all the religious troubles of the past had come from the attempt to give exact definitions of things which were entirely beyond the human power of thought1 and that ,i refused to be led along so dangerous a path4 ,one ,baptist clergyman1 named ,rowe1 had the courage to say that he was on my side1 but with that exception ,i fear that ,i had a solid phalanx against me4 ,on the other hand1 the general public were amazingly friendly4 ,it was the more wonderful as it was tropical weather1 even for ,brisbane4 ,in that awful heat the great theatre could not hold the people1 and they stood in the upper galleries1 packed tightly1 for an hour and a half without a movement or a murmur4 ,it was a really wonderful sight4 ,twice the house was packed this way1 so 7as the ,tasmanian venture was now hopeless1 owing to the shipping strike7 ,i determined to remain in our very comfortable quarters at the ,bellevue ,hotel1 and give one more lecture1 covering fresh ground4 ,the subject opens up so that ,i am sure ,i could lecture for a week without repeating myself4 ,on this occasion the house was crowded once more4 ,the theatrical manager said1 ,well1 if it was comic opera in the season1 it could not have succeeded better6 ,i was rather exhausted at the end1 for ,i spoke1 as usual1 with no chairman1 and gave them a full ninety minutes1 but it was nearing the end of my work1 and the prospect of the quiet time ahead of us helped me on4 ,i met a kinsman1 ,dr4 ,a4 ,a4 ,doyle1 who is a distinguished skin specialist1 in ,brisbane4 ,he knew little of psychic matters1 but he had met with a remarkable experience4 ,his son1 a splendid young fellow1 died at the front4 ,at that moment his father woke to find the young soldier stooping over him1 his face quite close4 ,he at once woke his wife and told her that their son1 he feared1 was dead4 ,but here comes a fine point4 ,he said to the wife1 ,eric has had a return of the acne of the face1 for which ,i treated him years ago4 ,i saw the spots4 ,the next post brought a letter1 written before ,eric's death1 asking that some special ointment should be sent1 as his acne had returned4 ,this is a very instructive case1 as showing that even an abnormal thing is reproduced at first upon the etheric body4 ,but what has a materialist to say to the whole story8 ,he can only evade it1 or fall back upon his usual theory1 that every one who reports such occurrences is either a fool or a liar4 ,we had a pleasant ,sunday among the birds of ,queensland4 ,mr4 ,chisholm1 an enthusiastic bird-lover1 took us round to see two very large aviaries1 since the haunt of the wild birds was beyond our reach4 ,birds in captivity have always saddened me1 but here ,i found them housed in such great structures1 with every comfort included1 and every natural enemy excluded1 that really one could not pity them4 ,one golden pheasant amused us1 for he is a very conceited bird when all is well with him1 and likes to occupy the very centre of the stage1 with the spot light upon him1 and a chorus of drab hens admiring him from the rear4 ,we had caught him1 however1 when he was moulting1 and he was so conscious of his bedraggled glories that he dodged about behind a barrel1 and scuttled under cover every time we tried to put him out4 ,a fearful thing happened one day1 for a careless maid left the door ajar1 and in the morning seventy of the inmates were gone4 ,it must have been a cruel blow to ,mr4 ,baldwin1 who is devoted to his collection4 ,however1 he very wisely left the door open1 after securing the remaining birds1 and no less than thirty-four of the refugees returned4 ,the fate of the others was probably tragic1 for they were far from the mountains which are their home4 ,mr4 ,farmer ,whyte1 the very progressive editor of the ,daily ,mail1 who is miles ahead of most journalists in psychic knowledge1 took us for an interesting drive through the dense woods of ,one ,tree ,hill4 ,here we were courteously met by two of the original owners1 one of them an iguana1 a great1 heavy lizard1 which bolted up a tree1 and the other a kangaroo1 who stood among the brushwood1 his ears rotating with emotion1 while he gazed upon our halted car4 ,from the summit of the hill one has a wonderful view of the ranges stretching away to the horizon in all directions1 while at one's feet lies the very wide spread city4 ,as nearly every dwelling house is a bungalow1 with its own little ground1 the ,australian cities take up great space1 which is nullified by their very excellent tram services4 ,a beautiful river1 the ,brisbane1 rather wider than the ,thames1 winds through the town1 and has sufficient depth to allow ocean steamers to come within cab-drive of the hotels4 ,about this time ,i had the usual experience which every visitor to the ,states or to the ,dominions is liable to1 in that his own utterances in his letters home get into print1 and boomerang back upon him4 ,my own feelings1 both to the ,australian people and their country1 have been so uniformly whole-hearted that ,i should have thought no mischief could be made1 but at the same time1 ,i have always written freely that which ,i was prepared to stand by4 ,in this case1 the extract1 from a private letter1 removed from all modifying context1 came through as follows3 ,sir ,conan ,doyle1 quoted in the ,international ,psychic ,gazette1 in referring to his 'ups and downs' in ,australia1 says3 ',amid the downs is the ,press boycott1 caused partly by ignorance and want of proportion1 partly by moral cowardice and fear of finding out later that they had backed the wrong horse1 or had given the wrong horse fair play4 ,they are very backward1 and far behind countries like ,iceland and ,denmark in the knowledge of what has been done in ,spiritualism4 ,they are dear folk1 these ,australians1 but1 ,lord1 they want ,spirituality1 and dynamiting out of their grooves6 ,the ,presbyterians actually prayed that ,i might not reach the country4 ,this is rather near murder1 if they thought their rotten prayers would avail4 ,the result was an excellent voyage1 but it is the spiritual deadness of this place which gets on my nerves4' ,this was copied into every paper in ,australia1 but it was soon recognised that this place was not ,australia1 but ,melbourne1 from which the letter was dated4 ,i have already recorded how ,i was treated by the leading paper in that city1 and my general experience there was faithfully reflected in my remarks4 ,therefore1 ,i had nothing to withdraw4 ,my more extended experience taught me that the general level of intelligence and of spirituality in the ,australasian towns is as high as in the average towns of ,great ,britain1 though none are so far advanced as towns like ,manchester or ,glasgow1 nor are there the same number of professional and educated men who have come forward and given testimony4 ,the thirst for information was great1 however1 and that proved an open mind1 which must now lead to a considerable extension of knowledge within the churches as well as without4 ,my remarks had been caused by the action of the ,argus1 but the ,age1 the other leading ,melbourne paper1 seemed to think that its honour was also touched1 and had a very severe leading article upon my delinquencies1 and my alleged views1 which was1 as usual1 a wild travesty of my real ones4 ,it began this article by the assertion that1 apparently1 ,i still thought that ,australia was inhabited by the aborigines1 before ,i ventured to bring forward such theories4 ,such a remark1 applied to a subject which has won the assent in varying degrees of every one who has seriously examined it1 and which has its foundation resting upon the labours of some of the greatest minds in the world1 did not help me to recover my respect for the mentality and breadth of view of the journals of ,melbourne4 ,i answered1 pointing out that ,david ,syme1 the very distinguished founder of the paper1 by no means shared this contempt to ,spiritualism1 as is shown by two long letters included in his published ,life4 ,this attitude1 and that of so many other objectors1 is absolutely unintelligible to me4 ,they must know that this cult is spreading and that many capable minds have examined and endorsed it4 ,they must know1 also1 that the views we proclaim1 the continuance of happy life and the practical abolition of death are1 if true1 the grandest advance that the human race has ever made4 ,and yet1 so often1 instead of saying1 ,well1 here is some one who is supposed to know something about the matter4 ,let us see if this grand claim can possibly be established by evidence and argument1 they break into insults and revilings as if something offensive had been laid before them4 ,this attitude can only arise from the sluggish conservatism of the human brain1 which runs easily in certain well-worn grooves1 and is horrified by the idea that something may come to cause mental exertion and readjustment4 ,illustration3 ,,laying ,,foundation ,,stone ,,of ,,spiritualist ,,church ,,at ,,brisbane4 ,i am bound to add that the general public went out of their way to show that their ,press did not represent their views4 ,the following passage is typical of many3 ,the criticism which you have so justly resented is1 ,i am sure1 not in keeping with the views of the majority of the ,australian people4 ,in my own small sphere many of my friends have been stirred deeply by your theories1 and the inspiration in some cases has been so marked that the fact should afford you satisfaction4 ,we are not all spiritually defunct4 ,many are quite satisfied that you are giving your best for humanity1 and believe that there is a tremendous revelation coming to this weary old world4 ,the ,spiritualists of ,brisbane1 greatly daring1 have planned out a church which is to cost ,l#aj1jjj1 trusting to those who work with us on the other side to see the enterprise through4 ,the possible fallacy lies in the chance that those on the other side do not desire to see this immense movement become a separate sect1 but are in favour of the peaceful penetration of all creeds by our new knowledge4 ,it is on record that early in the movement ,senator ,talmadge asked two different spirit controls1 in different ,states of the ,union1 what the ultimate goal of this spiritual outburst might be1 and received exactly the same answer from each1 namely1 that it was to prove immortality and to unify the ,churches4 ,the first half has been done1 so far as survival implies immortality1 and the second may well come to pass1 by giving such a large common platform to each ,church that they will learn to disregard the smaller differences4 ,be this as it may1 one could not but admire the faith and energy of ,mr4 ,reinhold and the others who were determined to have a temple of their own4 ,i laid the foundation stone at three in the afternoon under so tropical a sun that ,i felt as if the ceremony was going to have its immemorial accompaniment of a human sacrifice and even of a whole-burned offering4 ,the crowd made matters worse1 but a friendly bystander with an umbrella saved me from heat apoplexy4 ,i felt the occasion was a solemn one1 for it was certainly the first ,spiritual ,church in the whole of ,queensland1 and ,i doubt if we have many anywhere in ,australia1 for among our apostolic gifts poverty is conspicuous4 ,it has always amazed me how ,theosophists and ,christian ,scientists get their fine halls and libraries1 while we1 with our zeal and our knowledge1 have some bare schoolroom or worse as our only meeting place4 ,it reflects little credit upon the rich people who accept the comforts we bring1 but share none of the burdens we bear4 ,there is a kink in their souls4 ,i spoke at some length1 and the people listened with patience in spite of the great heat4 ,it was an occasion when ,i could1 with propriety1 lay emphasis upon the restraint and charity with which such a church should be run4 ,the ,brisbane paper reports me as follows3 ,i would emphasise three things4 ,mind your own business2 go on quietly in your own way2 you know the truth1 and do not need to quarrel with other people4 ,there are many roads to salvation4 ,the second point ,i would urge is that you should live up to your knowledge4 ,we know for certain that we live on after death1 that everything we do in this world influences what comes after2 therefore1 we can afford to be unselfish and friendly to other religions4 ,some ,spiritualists run down the ,bible1 whereas it is from cover to cover a spiritual book4 ,i would like to see the ,bible read in every ,spiritualistic ,church with particular attention paid to the passages dealing with occultism4 ,the third point ,i would emphasise is that you should have nothing to do with fortune-telling or anything of that kind4 ,all fortune-telling is really a feeling out in the dark4 ,if good things are going to happen to you be content to wait for them1 and if evil is to come nothing is to be gained by attempting to anticipate it4 ,my sympathies are with the police in their attitude to fortune-tellers1 whose black magic is far removed from the services of our mediums in striving to bring comfort to those whose loved ones have gone before4 ,if these three things are lived up to1 this church will be a source of great brightness and happiness4 ,our work was pleasantly broken by an invitation to lunch with ,sir ,matthew ,nathan1 at ,government ,house4 ,sir ,matthew impresses one as a man of character1 and as he is a financial authority he is in a position to help by his advice in restoring the credit of ,queensland4 ,the matter in dispute1 which has been called repudiation1 does not1 as it seems to me1 deserve so harsh a term1 as it is one of those cases where there are two sides to the question1 so equally balanced that it is difficult for an outsider to pronounce a judgment4 ,on the one hand the great squatters who hold millions of acres in the ,state had received the land on considerable leases which charged them with a very low rent--almost a nominal one--on condition of their taking up and developing the country4 ,on the other hand1 the ,government say these leases were granted under very different circumstances1 the lessees have already done very well out of them1 the war has made it imperative that the ,state raise funds1 and the assets upon which the funds can be raised are all in the hands of these lessees1 who should consent to a revision of their agreements4 ,so stands the quarrel1 so far as ,i could understand it1 and the ,state has actually imposed the increased rates4 ,hence the cry that they have repudiated their own contract4 ,the result of the squatters' grievance was that ,mr4 ,theodore1 the ,premier1 was unable to raise money in the ,london market1 and returned home with the alternative of getting a voluntary loan in the ,colony1 or of raising a compulsory loan from those who had the money4 ,the latter has an ugly sound1 and yet the need is great1 and if some may be compelled to serve with their bodies ,i do not see why some may not also be compelled to serve with their purses4 ,the assets of the ,colony compare very favourably1 ,i believe1 with others1 for while these others have sold their lands1 the ,government of ,queensland has still the ownership of the main tracts of the gloriously fertile country4 ,therefore1 with an issue at #f-a_/b per cent41 without tax1 one would think that they should have no difficulty in getting any reasonable sum4 ,i was cinemaed in the act of applying for a small share in the issue1 but ,i think the advertisement would have been of more value to the loan1 had they captured some one of greater financial stability4 ,the more one examines this alleged repudiation the less reason appears in the charge1 and as it has assuredly injured ,queensland's credit1 it is well that an impartial traveller should touch upon it4 ,the squatters are the richer folk and in a position to influence the public opinion of the world1 and in their anxiety to exploit their own grievance they seem to have had little regard for the reputation of their country4 ,it is like a man burning down his house in the hope of roasting some other inmate of whom he disapproves4 ,a conservative paper 7the ,producer's ,review1 ,january #ajth1 #aiba71 says3 ,no living man can say how much ,queensland has been damaged by the foolish partisan statements that have been uttered and published4 ,the article proceeds to show in very convincing style1 with chapter and verse1 that the ,government has always been well within its rights1 and that a ,conservative ,government on a previous occasion did the same thing1 framing a ,bill on identical lines4 ,on ,january #abth my kinsman1 ,dr4 ,doyle1 with his charming wife1 took us out into the bush for a billy tea--that is1 to drink tea which is prepared as the bushmen prepare it in their tin cans4 ,it was certainly excellent1 and we enjoyed the drive and the whole experience1 though uninvited guests of the mosquito tribe made things rather lively for us4 ,i prayed that my face would be spared1 as ,i did not wish to turn up at my lecture as if ,i had been having a round with ,dr4 ,cosh1 and ,i react in a most whole-hearted way to any attentions from an insect4 ,the result was certainly remarkable1 be it coincidence or not1 for though my hands were like boxing-gloves1 and my neck all swollen1 there was not a mark upon my face4 ,i fancy that the hardened inhabitants hardly realise what new chums endure after they are bitten by these pests4 ,it means to me not only disfigurement1 but often a sleepless night4 ,my wife and the children seem to escape more lightly4 ,i found many objects of interest in the bush--among others a spider's web so strong that full-sized dragon flies were enmeshed in it4 ,i could not see the creature itself1 but it must have been as big as a tarantula4 ,our host was a large landowner as well as a specialist1 and he talked seriously of leaving the country1 so embittered was he by the land-policy of the ,government4 ,at the same time1 the fact that he could sell his estate at a fair price seemed to imply that others took a less grave view of the situation4 ,many of the richer classes think that ,labour is adopting a policy of deliberate petty irritation in order to drive them out of the country1 but perhaps they are over-sensitive4 ,so full was our life in ,brisbane that there was hardly a day that we had not some memorable experience1 even when ,i had to lecture in the evening4 ,often we were going fourteen and fifteen hours a day1 and a tropical day at that4 ,on ,january #adth we were taken to see the largest bee-farm in ,australia1 run by ,mr4 ,h4 ,l4 ,jones4 ,ever since ,i consigned ,mr4 ,sherlock ,holmes to a bee farm for his old age1 ,i have been supposed to know something of the subject1 but really ,i am so ignorant that when a woman wrote to me and said she would be a suitable housekeeper to the retired detective because she could segregate the queen1 ,i did not know what she meant4 ,on this occasion ,i saw the operation and many other wonderful things which make me appreciate ,maeterlinck's prose-poem upon the subject4 ,there is little poetry about ,mr4 ,jones however1 and he is severely practical4 ,he has numbers of little boxes with a store of bee-food compressed into one end of them4 ,into each he thrusts a queen with eight attendants to look after her4 ,the food is enough to last two months1 so he simply puts on a postage stamp and sends it off to any one in ,california or ,south ,africa who is starting an apiary4 ,several hives were opened for our inspection with the precaution of blowing in some smoke to pacify the bees4 ,we were told that this sudden inrush of smoke gives the bees the idea that some great cataclysm has occurred1 and their first action is to lay in a store of honey1 each of them1 as a man might seize provisions in an earthquake so as to be ready for whatever the future might bring4 ,he showed us that the queen1 fed with some special food by the workers1 can lay twice her own weight of eggs in a day1 and that if we could find something similar for hens we could hope for an unbroken stream of eggs4 ,clever as the bee is it is clearly an instinctive hereditary cleverness1 for man has been able to make many improvements in its methods1 making artificial comb which is better than the original1 in that it has cells for more workers and fewer drones4 ,altogether it was a wonderful demonstration1 which could be viewed with comfort under a veil with one's hands in one's pockets1 for though we were assured they would not sting if they knew we would not hurt them1 a misunderstanding was possible4 ,one lady spectator seemed to have a sudden ambition to break the standing jump record1 and we found that she had received two stings1 but ,mr4 ,jones and his assistants covered their hands with the creatures and were quite immune4 ,a half-wild wallaby appeared during our visit1 and after some coyness yielded to the fascination which my wife exercises over all animals1 and fed out of her hand4 ,we were assured that this had never before occurred in the case of any visitor4 ,we found in ,brisbane1 as in every other town1 that the question of domestic service1 the most important of all questions to a householder1 was very acute4 ,ladies who occupied leading positions in the town assured us that it was impossible to keep maids1 and that they were compelled now to give it up in despair1 and to do all their own house work with such casual daily assistance as they could get4 ,a pound a week is a common wage for very inefficient service4 ,it is a serious matter and no solution is in sight4 ,english maids are1 ,i am sorry to say1 looked upon as the worst of all1 for to all the other faults they add constant criticism of their employers1 whom they pronounce to be no ladies because they are forced to do many things which are not done at home4 ,inefficiency plus snobbishness is a dreadful mixture4 ,altogether the lot of the ,australian lady is not an easy one1 and we admired the brave spirit with which they rose above their troubles4 ,this servant question bears very directly upon the ,imperial puzzle of the northern territory4 ,a white man may live and even work there1 but a white woman cannot possibly run a household unless domestic labour is plentiful4 ,in that climate it simply means absolute breakdown in a year4 ,therefore it is a mad policy which at present excludes so rigorously the ,chinese1 ,indians or others who alone can make white households possible4 ,white labour assumes a dog in the manger policy1 for it will not1 or cannot1 do the work itself1 and yet it shuts out those who could do it4 ,it is an impossible position and must be changed4 ,how severe and unreasonable are the coloured immigrant laws is shown by the fact that the experienced and popular ,commander of the ,naldera1 ,captain ,lewellin1 was fined at ,sydney a large sum of money because three ,goa ,indians deserted from his ship4 ,there is a great demand for ,indian camel drivers in the north1 and this no doubt was the reason for the desertion1 but what a reductio ad absurdum of the law which comes between the demand and the supply1 besides punishing an innocent victim4 ,as usual a large number of psychic confidences reached us1 some of which were very interesting4 ,one lady is a clairaudient1 and on the occasion of her mother falling ill she heard the words ,wednesday--the fifteenth4 ,death seemed a matter of hours1 and the date far distant1 but the patient1 to the surprise of the doctors1 still lingered4 ,then came the audible message ,she will tell you where she is going4 ,the mother had lain for two days helpless and comatose4 ,suddenly she opened her eyes and said in a clear strong voice1 ,i have seen the mansions in my father's house4 ,my husband and children await me there4 ,i could not have imagined anything so exquisitely lovely4 ,then she breathed her last1 the date being the #aeth4 ,we were entertained to dinner on the last evening by the ,hon4 ,john ,fihilly1 acting ,premier of the ,colony1 and his wife4 ,he is an ,irish labour leader with a remarkable resemblance to ,dan ,o',connell in his younger days4 ,i was pleased to see that the toast of the ,king was given though it was not called for at a private dinner4 ,fihilly is a member of the ,government1 and ,i tackled him upon the question of ,british emigrants being enticed out by specious promises on the part of ,colonial ,agents in ,london1 only to find that no work awaited them4 ,some deplorable cases had come within my own observation1 one1 an old ,lancashire ,fusilier1 having walked the streets for six months4 ,he assured me that the arrangements were now in perfect order1 and that emigrants were held back in the old country until they could be sure that there was a place for them4 ,there are so many out of work in ,australia that one feels some sympathy with those labour men who are against fresh arrivals4 ,and there lies the great problem which we have not1 with all our experience1 managed to master4 ,on the one side illimitable land calling for work4 ,on the other innumerable workers calling for land4 ,and yet the two cannot be joined4 ,i remember how it jarred me when ,i saw ,edmonton1 in ,western ,canada1 filled with out-of-workers while the great land lay uninhabited4 ,the same strange paradox meets one here4 ,it is just the connecting link that is missing1 and that link lies in wise prevision4 ,the helpless newcomer can do nothing if he and his family are dumped down upon a hundred acres of gum trees4 ,put yourself in their position4 ,how can they hope with their feeble hands to clear the ground8 ,all this early work must be done for them by the ,state1 the owner repaying after he has made good4 ,let the emigrant move straight on to a cleared farm1 with a shack-house already prepared1 and clear instructions as to the best crops1 and how to get them4 ,then it seems to me that emigration would bring no want of employment in its train4 ,but the ,state must blaze the trail and the public follow after4 ,such arrangements may even now exist1 but if so they need expansion and improvement1 for they do not seem to work4 ,before leaving ,brisbane my attention was drawn to the fact that the ,state photographer1 when he took the scene of the opening of the loan1 had produced to all appearance a psychic effect4 ,the ,brisbane papers recorded it as follows3 -- ',it is a remarkable result1 and ,i cannot offer any opinion as to what caused it4 ,it is absolutely mystifying4' ,such was the declaration made yesterday by the ,government photographer1 ,mr4 ,w4 ,mobsby1 in regard to the unique effect associated with a photograph he took on ,thursday last of ,sir ,a4 ,conan ,doyle4 ,mr4 ,mobsby1 who has been connected with photography since boyhood1 explained that he was instructed to take an official photograph of the function at which ,sir ,a4 ,conan ,doyle handed over his subscription to the ,state ,loan organiser4 ,when he arrived1 the entrance to the building was thronged by a large crowd1 and he had to mount a stepladder1 which was being used by the ,daily ,mail photographer1 in order to get a good view of the proceedings4 ,mr4 ,mobsby took only one picture1 just at the moment ,sir ,a4 ,conan ,doyle was mounting the steps at the ,government ,tourist ,bureau to meet the ,acting ,premier1 ,mr4 ,j4 ,fihilly4 ,mr4 ,mobsby developed the film himself1 and was amazed to find that while all the other figures in the picture were distinct the form of ,sir ,a4 ,conan ,doyle appeared enveloped in mist and could only be dimly seen4 ,the photograph was taken on an ordinary film with a ,no4 #c;a ,kodak1 and careful examination does not in any way indicate the cause of the sensational result4 ,i have had so many personal proofs of the intervention of supernormal agencies during the time that ,i have been engaged upon this task that ,i am prepared to accept the appearance of this aura as being an assurance of the presence of those great forces for whom ,i act as a humble interpreter4 ,at the same time1 the sceptic is very welcome to explain it as a flawed film and a coincidence4 ,illustration3 ,,curious ,,photographic ,,effect ,,referred ,,to ,,in ,,the ,,text4 ,taken by the ,official ,photographer1 ,brisbane1 ,absolutely mystifying is his description4 ,we returned from ,brisbane to ,sydney in the ,orient ,liner ,orsova1 which is a delightful alternative to the stuffy train4 ,the sea has always been a nursing mother to me1 and ,i suppose ,i have spent a clear two years of my life upon the waves4 ,we had a restful ,sunday aboard the boat1 disturbed only by the ,sunday service1 which left its usual effect upon my mind4 ,the ,psalms were set to some unhappy tune1 very different from the grand ,gregorian rhythm1 so that with its sudden rise to a higher level it sounded more like the neighing of horses than the singing of mortals4 ,the words must surely offend anyone who considers what it is that he is saying--a mixture of most unmanly wailing and spiteful threats4 ,how such literature has been perpetuated three thousand years1 and how it can ever have been sacred1 is very strange4 ,altogether from first to last there was nothing1 save only the ,lord's ,prayer1 which could have any spiritual effect4 ,these old observances are like an iron ball tied to the leg of humanity1 for ever hampering spiritual progress4 ,if now1 after the warning of the great war1 we have not the mental energy and the moral courage to get back to realities1 we shall deserve what is coming to us4 ,on ,january #agth we were back1 tired but contented1 in the ,medlow ,bath ,hotel in the heart of the ,blue ,mountains--an establishment which ,i can heartily recommend to any who desire a change from the summer heats of ,sydney4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,medlow ,bath4--,jenolan ,caves4--,giant skeleton4--,mrs4 ,foster ,turner's mediumship4--,a wonderful prophecy4--,final results4--,third sitting with ,bailey4--,failure of ,state ,control4--,retrospection4--,melbourne presentation4--,crooks4--,lecture at ,perth4--,west ,australia4--,rabbits1 sparrows and sharks4 ,we recuperated after our ,brisbane tour by spending the next week at ,medlow ,bath1 that little earthly paradise1 which is the most restful spot we have found in our wanderings4 ,it was built originally by ,mr4 ,mark ,foy1 a successful draper of ,sydney1 and he is certainly a man of taste1 for he has adorned it with a collection of prints and of paintings--hundreds of each--which would attract attention in any city1 but which on a mountain top amid the wildest scenery give one the idea of an ,arabian ,nights palace4 ,there was a passage some hundreds of yards long1 which one has to traverse on the way to each meal1 and there was a certain series of ,french prints1 representing events of ,byzantine history1 which ,i found it difficult to pass1 so that ,i was often a late comer4 ,a very fair library is among the other attractions of this remarkable place4 ,before leaving we spent one long day at the famous ,jenolan ,caves1 which are distant about forty-five miles4 ,as the said miles are very up-and-down1 and as the cave exploration involves several hours of climbing1 it makes a fairly hard day's work4 ,we started all seven in a motor1 as depicted by the wayside photographers1 but ,baby got sick and had to be left with ,jakeman at the half-way house1 where we picked her up1 quite recovered1 on our return4 ,it was as well1 for the walk would have been quite beyond her1 and yet having once started there is no return1 so we should have ended by carrying her through all the subterranean labyrinths4 ,the road is a remarkably good one1 and represents a considerable engineering feat4 ,it passes at last through an enormous archway of rock which marks the entrance to the cave formations4 ,these caves are hollowed out of what was once a coral reef in a tropical sea1 but is now sixty miles inland with a mountain upon the top of it--such changes this old world has seen4 ,if the world were formed only that man might play his drama upon it1 then mankind must be in the very earliest days of his history1 for who would build so elaborate a stage if the play were to be so short and insignificant8 ,illustration3 ,,our ,,party ,,en ,,route ,,to ,,the ,,jenolan ,,caves1 ,,january #bj,,th1 #aiba1 ,,in ,,front ,,of ,,old ,,court ,,house ,,in ,,which ,,bushrangers ,,were ,,tried4 ,the caves are truly prodigious4 ,they were discovered first in the pursuit of some poor devil of a bushranger who must have been hard put to it before he took up his residence in this damp and dreary retreat4 ,a brave man1 ,wilson1 did most of the actual exploring1 lowering himself by a thin rope into noisome abysses of unknown depth and charting out the whole of this devil's warren4 ,it is so vast that many weeks would be needed to go through it1 and it is usual at one visit to take only a single sample4 ,on this occasion it was the ,river ,cave1 so named because after many wanderings you come on a river about twenty feet across and forty-five feet deep which has to be navigated for some distance in a punt4 ,the stalactite effects1 though very wonderful1 are not1 ,i think1 superior to those which ,i have seen in ,derbyshire1 and the caves have none of that historical glamour which is needed in order to link some large natural object to our own comprehension4 ,i can remember in ,derbyshire how my imagination and sympathy were stirred by a ,roman lady's brooch which had been found among the rubble4 ,either a wild beast or a bandit knew best how it got there4 ,jenolan has few visible links with the past1 but one of them is a tremendous one4 ,it is the complete1 though fractured1 skeleton of a very large man--seven foot four said the guide1 but he may have put it on a little--who was found partly imbedded in the lime4 ,many ages ago he seems to have fallen through the roof of the cavern1 and the bones of a wallaby hard by give some indication that he was hunting at the time1 and that his quarry shared his fate4 ,he was of the ,black fellow type1 with a low-class cranium4 ,it is remarkable the proportion of very tall men who are dug up in ancient tombs4 ,again and again the bogs of ,ireland have yielded skeletons of seven and eight feet4 ,some years ago a ,scythian chief was dug up on the ,southern ,steppes of ,russia who was eight feet six4 ,what a figure of a man with his winged helmet and his battle axe6 ,all over the world one comes upon these giants of old1 and one wonders whether they represented some race1 further back still1 who were all gigantic4 ,the ,babylonian tradition in our ,bible says3 ,and there were giants in those days4 ,the big primeval kangaroo has grown down to the smaller modern one1 the wombat1 which was an animal as big as a tapir1 is now as small as a badger1 the great saurians have become little lizards1 and so it would seem not unreasonable to suppose that man may have run to great size at some unexplored period in his evolution4 ,we all emerged rather exhausted from the bowels of the earth1 dazed with the endless succession of strange gypsum formations which we had seen1 minarets1 thrones1 shawls1 coronets1 some of them so made that one could imagine that the old kobolds had employed their leisure hours in fashioning their freakish outlines4 ,it was a memorable drive home in the evening4 ,once as a bird flew above my head1 the slanting ray of the declining sun struck it and turned it suddenly to a vivid scarlet and green4 ,it was the first of many parrots4 ,once also a couple of kangaroos bounded across the road1 amid wild cries of delight from the children4 ,once1 too1 a long snake writhed across and was caught by one of the wheels of the motor4 ,rabbits1 ,i am sorry to say1 abounded4 ,if they would confine themselves to these primeval woods1 ,australia would be content4 ,this was the last of our pleasant ,australian excursions1 and we left ,medlow ,bath refreshed not only by its charming atmosphere1 but by feeling that we had gained new friends4 ,we made our way on ,january #bfth to ,sydney1 where all business had to be settled up and preparations made for our homeward voyage4 ,whilst in ,sydney ,i had an opportunity of examining several phases of mediumship which will be of interest to the psychic reader4 ,i called upon ,mrs4 ,foster ,turner1 who is perhaps the greatest all-round medium with the highest general level of any sensitive in ,australia4 ,i found a middle-aged lady of commanding and pleasing appearance with a dignified manner and a beautifully modulated voice1 which must be invaluable to her in platform work4 ,her gifts are so many that it must have been difficult for her to know which to cultivate1 but she finally settled upon medical diagnosis1 in which she has1 ,i understand1 done good work4 ,her practice is considerable1 and her help is not despised by some of the leading practitioners4 ,this gift is1 as ,i have explained previously in the case of ,mr4 ,bloomfield1 a form of clairvoyance1 and ,mrs4 ,foster ,turner enjoys all the other phases of that wonderful power1 including psychometry1 with its application to detective work1 the discerning of spirits1 and to a very marked degree the gift of prophecy1 which she has carried upon certain occasions to a length which ,i have never known equalled in any reliable record of the past4 ,here is an example for which1 ,i am told1 a hundred witnesses could be cited4 ,at a meeting at the ,little ,theatre1 ,castlereagh ,street1 ,sydney1 on a ,sunday evening of ,february1 #aiad1 ,mrs4 ,turner addressed the audience under an inspiration which claimed to be ,w4 ,t4 ,stead4 ,he ended his address by saying that in order to prove that he spoke with a power beyond mortal1 he would1 on the next ,sunday1 give a prophecy as to the future of the world4 ,next ,sunday some #ijj people assembled1 when ,mrs4 ,turner1 once more under control1 spoke as follows4 ,i quote from notes taken at the time4 ,now1 although there is not at present a whisper of a great ,european war at hand1 yet ,i want to warn you that before this year1 #aiad1 has run its course1 ,europe will be deluged in blood4 ,great ,britain1 our beloved nation1 will be drawn into the most awful war the world has ever known4 ,germany will be the great antagonist1 and will draw other nations in her train4 ,austria will totter to its ruin4 ,kings and kingdoms will fall4 ,millions of precious lives will be slaughtered1 but ,britain will finally triumph and emerge victorious4 ,during the year1 also1 the ,pope of ,rome will pass away1 and a bomb will be placed in ,st4 ,paul's ,church1 but will be discovered in time and removed before damage is done4 ,can any prophecy be more accurate or better authenticated than that8 ,the only equally exact prophecy on public events which ,i can recall is when ,emma ,hardinge ,britten1 having been refused permission in #ahfj to deliver a lecture on ,spiritualism in the ,town ,hall of ,atlanta1 declared that1 before many years had passed1 that very ,town ,hall would be choked up with the dead and the dying1 drawn from the ,state which persecuted her4 ,this came literally true in the ,civil ,war a few years later1 when ,sherman's army passed that way4 ,mrs4 ,foster ,turner's gift of psychometry is one which will be freely used by the community when we become more civilised and less ignorant4 ,as an example of how it works1 some years ago a ,melbourne man named ,cutler disappeared1 and there was a considerable debate as to his fate4 ,his wife1 without giving a name1 brought ,cutler's boot to ,mrs4 ,turner4 ,she placed it near her forehead and at once got en rapport with the missing man4 ,she described how he left his home1 how he kissed his wife good-bye1 all the succession of his movements during that morning1 and finally how he had fallen or jumped over a bridge into the river1 where he had been caught under some snag4 ,a search at the place named revealed the dead body4 ,if this case be compared with that of ,mr4 ,foxhall1 already quoted1 one can clearly see that the same law underlies each4 ,but what an ally for our ,c4,i4,d46 ,there was one pleasant incident in connection with my visit to ,mrs4 ,foster ,turner4 ,upon my asking her whether she had any psychic impression when she saw me lecturing1 she said that ,i was accompanied on the platform by a man in spirit life1 about #gj years of age1 grey-bearded1 with rugged eyebrows4 ,she searched her mind for a name1 and then said1 ,alfred ,russell ,wallace4 ,doctor ,abbott1 who was present1 confirmed that she had given that name at the time4 ,it will be remembered that ,mrs4 ,roberts1 of ,dunedin1 had also given the name of the great ,spiritualistic ,scientist as being my coadjutor4 ,there was no possible connection between ,mrs4 ,turner and ,mrs4 ,roberts4 ,indeed1 the intervention of the strike had made it almost impossible for them to communicate1 even if they had known each other--which they did not4 ,it was very helpful to me to think that so great a soul was at my side in the endeavour to stimulate the attention of the world4 ,two days before our departure we attended the ordinary ,sunday service of the ,spiritualists at ,stanmore ,road1 which appeared to be most reverently and beautifully conducted4 ,it is indeed pleasant to be present at a religious service which in no way offends one's taste or one's reason--which cannot always be said1 even of ,spiritualistic ones4 ,at the end ,i was presented with a beautifully illuminated address from the faithful of ,sydney1 thanking me for what they were pleased to call the splendidly successful mission on behalf of ,spiritualism in ,sydney4 ,you are a specially chosen leader1 it went on1 endowed with power to command attention from obdurate minds4 ,we rejoice that you are ready to consecrate your life to the spread of our glorious gospel1 which contains more proof of the eternal love of ,god than any other truth yet revealed to man4 ,so ran this kindly document4 ,it was decorated with ,australian emblems1 and as there was a laughing jackass in the corner1 ,i was able to raise a smile by suggesting that they had adorned it with the picture of a type of opponent with whom we were very familiar1 the more so as some choice specimens had been observed in ,sydney4 ,there are some gentle souls in our ranks who refrain from all retort--and morally1 they are no doubt the higher--but personally1 when ,i am moved by the malevolence and ignorance of our opponents1 ,i cannot help hitting back at them4 ,it was ,mark ,twain1 ,i think1 who said that1 instead of turning the other cheek1 he returned the other's cheek4 ,that is my unregenerate instinct4 ,i was able1 for the first time1 to give a bird's-eye view of my tour and its final results4 ,i had1 in all1 addressed twenty-five meetings1 averaging #b1jjj people in each1 or #ej1jjj people in all4 ,i read aloud a letter from ,mr4 ,carlyle ,smythe1 who1 with his father1 had managed the tours of every lecturer of repute who had come to ,australia during the past thirty years4 ,mr4 ,smythe knew what success and failure were1 and he said3 ,for an equal number of lectures1 yours has proved the most prosperous tour in my experience4 ,no previous tour has won such consistent success4 ,from the push-off at ,adelaide to the great boom in ,new ,zealand and ,brisbane1 it has been a great dynamic progression of enthusiasm4 ,i have known in my career nothing parallel to it4 ,the enemies of our cause were longing for my failure1 and had1 indeed1 in some cases most unscrupulously announced it1 so it was necessary that ,i should give precise details as to this great success1 and to the proof which it afforded that the public mind was open to the new revelation4 ,but1 after all1 the money test was the acid one4 ,i had taken a party of seven people at a time when all expenses were doubled or trebled by the unnatural costs of travel and of living1 which could not be made up for by increasing the price of admission4 ,it would seem a miracle that ,i could clear this great bill of expenses in a country like ,australia1 where the large towns are few4 ,and yet ,i was able to show that ,i had not only done so1 after paying large sums in taxation1 but that ,i actually had seven hundred pounds over4 ,this ,i divided among ,spiritual funds in ,australia1 the bulk of it1 five hundred pounds1 being devoted to a guarantee of expenses for the next lecturer who should follow me4 ,it seemed to me that such a lecturer1 if well chosen1 and properly guaranteed against loss1 might devote a longer time than ,i1 and visit the smaller towns1 from which ,i had often the most touching appeals4 ,if he were successful1 he need not touch the guarantee fund1 and so it would remain as a perpetual source of active propaganda4 ,such was the scheme which ,i outlined that night1 and which was eventually adopted by the ,spiritualists of both ,australia and ,new ,zealand4 ,illustration3 ,,denis ,,with ,a ,,black ,,snake ,,at ,,medlow ,,bath4 ,on my last evening at ,sydney1 ,i attended a third seance with ,charles ,bailey1 the apport medium4 ,it was not under test conditions1 so that it can claim no strict scientific value1 and yet the results are worth recording4 ,it had struck me that a critic might claim that there was phosphorescent matter inside the spectacle case1 which seemed to be the only object which ,bailey took inside the cabinet1 so ,i insisted on examining it1 but found it quite innocent4 ,the usual inconclusive shadowy appearance of luminous vapour was evident almost at once1 but never1 so far as ,i could judge1 out of reach of the cabinet1 which was simply a blanket drawn across the corner of the room4 ,the ,hindoo control then announced that an apport would be brought1 and asked that water be placed in a tin basin4 ,he 7that is1 ,bailey himself1 under alleged control7 then emerged1 the lights being half up1 carrying the basin over his head4 ,on putting it down1 we all saw two strange little young tortoises swimming about in it4 ,i say strange1 because ,i have seen none like them4 ,they were about the size of a half-crown1 and the head1 instead of being close to the shell1 was at the end of a thin neck half as long as the body4 ,there were a dozen ,australians present1 and they all said they had never seen any similar ones4 ,the control claimed that he had just brought them from a tank in ,benares4 ,the basin was left on the table1 and while the lights were down1 the creatures disappeared4 ,it is only fair to say that they could have been removed by hand in the dark1 but on examining the table1 ,i was unable to see any of those sloppings of water which might be expected to follow such an operation4 ,shortly afterwards there was a great crash in the dark1 and a number of coins fell on to the table1 and were handed to me by the presiding control as a parting present4 ,they did not1 ,i fear1 help me much with my hotel bill1 for they were fifty-six ,turkish copper pennies1 taken from a well1 according to our informant4 ,these two apports were all the phenomena1 and the medium1 who has been working very hard of late1 showed every sign of physical collapse at the close4 ,apart from the actual production in the seance room1 which may be disputed1 ,i should like to confront the honest sceptic with the extraordinary nature of the objects which ,bailey produces on these occasions4 ,they cannot be disputed1 for hundreds have handled them1 collections of them have been photographed1 there are cases full at the ,stanford ,university at ,california1 and ,i am bringing a few samples back to ,england with me4 ,if the whole transaction is normal1 then where does he get them8 ,i had an ,indian nest4 ,does anyone import ,indian nests8 ,does anyone import queer little tortoises with long1 thin necks8 ,is there a depot for ,turkish copper coins in ,australia8 ,on the previous sitting1 he got #ajj ,chinese ones4 ,those might be explained1 since the ,chinaman is not uncommon in ,sydney1 but surely he exports coins1 rather than imports them4 ,then what about #ajj ,babylonian tablets1 with legible inscriptions in ,assyrian1 some of them cylindrical1 with long histories upon them8 ,granting that they are ,jewish forgeries1 how do they get into the country8 ,bailey's house was searched once by the police1 but nothing was found4 ,arabic papers1 ,chinese schoolbooks1 mandarins' buttons1 tropical birds--all sorts of odd things arrive4 ,if they are not genuine1 where do they come from8 ,the matter is ventilated in papers1 and no one comes forward to damn ,bailey for ever by proving that he supplied them4 ,it is no use passing the question by4 ,it calls for an answer4 ,if these articles can be got in any normal way1 then what is the way8 ,if not1 then ,bailey has been a most ill-used man1 and miracles are of daily occurrence in ,australia4 ,this man should be under the strict1 but patient and sympathetic1 control of the greatest scientific observers in the world1 instead of being allowed to wear himself out by promiscuous seances1 given in order to earn a living4 ,imagine our scientists expending themselves in the examination of shells1 or the classification of worms1 when such a subject as this awaits them4 ,and it cannot await them long4 ,the man dies1 and then where are these experiments8 ,but if such scientific investigation be made1 it must be thorough and prolonged1 directed by those who have real experience of occult matters1 otherwise it will wreck itself upon some theological or other snag1 as did ,colonel de ,rochas' attempt at ,grenoble4 ,the longer one remains in ,australia1 the more one is struck by the failure of ,state control4 ,whenever you test it1 in the telephones1 the telegraphs and the post1 it stands for inefficiency1 with no possibility that ,i can see of remedy4 ,the train service is better1 but still far from good4 ,as to the ,state ventures in steamboat lines and in banking1 ,i have not enough information to guide me4 ,on the face of it1 it is evident that in each case there is no direct responsible master1 and that there is no real means of enforcing discipline4 ,i have talked to the heads of large institutions1 who have assured me that the conduct of business is becoming almost impossible4 ,when they send an urgent telegram1 with a letter confirming it1 it is no unusual thing for the letter to arrive first4 ,no complaint produces any redress4 ,the maximum compensation for sums lost in the post is1 ,i am told1 two pounds1 so that the banks1 whose registered letters continually disappear1 suffer heavy losses4 ,on the other hand1 if they send a messenger with the money1 there is a law by which all bullion carried by train has to be declared1 and has to pay a commission4 ,yet the public generally1 having no standard of comparison1 are so satisfied with the wretched public services1 that there is a continued agitation to extend public control1 and so ruin the well conducted private concerns4 ,the particular instance which came under my notice was the ferry service of ,sydney harbour1 which is admirably and cheaply conducted1 and yet there is a clamour that it also should be dragged into this morass of slovenly inefficiency4 ,i hope1 however1 that the tide will soon set the other way4 ,i fear1 from what ,i have seen of the actual working1 that it is only under exceptional conditions1 and with very rigorous and high-principled direction1 that the ,state control of industries can be carried out4 ,i cannot see that it is a political question1 or that the democracy has any interest1 save to have the public work done as well and as economically as possible4 ,when the capitalist has a monopoly1 and is exacting an undue return1 it is another matter4 ,as ,i look back at ,australia my prayers--if deep good wishes form a prayer--go out to it4 ,save for that great vacuum upon the north1 which a wise ,government would strive hard to fill1 ,i see no other external danger which can threaten her people4 ,but internally ,i am shadowed by the feeling that trouble may be hanging over them1 though ,i am assured that the cool stability of their race will at last pull them through it4 ,there are some dangerous factors there which make their position more precarious than our own1 and behind a surface of civilisation there lie possible forces which might make for disruption4 ,as a people they are rather less disciplined than a ,european nation4 ,there is no large middle or leisured class who would represent moderation4 ,labour has tried a ,labour ,government1 and finding that politics will not really alter economic facts is now seeking some fresh solution4 ,the land is held in many cases by large proprietors who work great tracts with few hands1 so there is not the conservative element which makes the strength of the ,united ,states with its six million farmers1 each with his stake in the land4 ,above all1 there is no standing military force1 and nothing but a small1 though very efficient1 police force to stand between organised government and some wild attempt of the extremists4 ,there are plenty of soldiers1 it is true1 and they have been treated with extreme generosity by the ,state1 but they have been reabsorbed into the civil population4 ,if they stand for law and order then all is well4 ,on the other hand1 there are the ,irish1 who are fairly numerous1 well organised and disaffected4 ,there is no ,imperial question1 so far as ,i can see1 save with the ,irish1 but there is this disquieting internal situation which1 with the coming drop of wages1 may suddenly become acute4 ,an ,australian should be a sober-minded man for he has his difficulties before him4 ,we of the old country should never forget that these difficulties have been partly caused by his splendid participation in the great war1 and so strain every nerve to help1 both by an enlightened sympathy and by such material means as are possible4 ,personally1 ,i have every sympathy with all reasonable and practical efforts to uphold the standard of living in the working classes4 ,at present there is an almost universal opinion among thoughtful and patriotic ,australians that the progress of the country is woefully hampered by the constant strikes1 which are declared in defiance of all agreements and all arbitration courts4 ,the existence of ,labour ,governments1 or the ,state control of industries1 does not seem to alleviate these evil conditions1 but may rather increase them1 for in some cases such pressure has been put upon the ,government that they have been forced to subsidise the strikers--or at least those sufferers who have come out in sympathy with the original strikers4 ,such tactics must demoralise a country and encourage labour to make claims upon capital which the latter cannot possibly grant1 since in many cases the margin of profit is so small and precarious that it would be better for the capitalist to withdraw his money and invest it with no anxieties4 ,it is clear that the tendency is to destroy the very means by which the worker earns his bread1 and that the position will become intolerable unless the older1 more level-headed men gain control of the unions and keep the ignorant hot-heads in order4 ,it is the young unmarried men without responsibilities who create the situations1 and it is the married men with their women and children who suffer4 ,a table of strikes prepared recently by the ,manchester ,guardian shows that more hours were lost in ,australia with her five or six million inhabitants than in the ,united ,kingdom with nearly fifty million4 ,surely this must make the ,labour leaders reconsider their tactics4 ,as ,i write the stewards' strike1 which caused such extended misery1 has collapsed1 the sole result being a loss of nearly a million pounds in wages to the working classes1 and great inconvenience to the public4 ,the shipowners seem now in no hurry to resume the services1 and if their delay will make the strikers more thoughtful it is surely to be defended4 ,on ,february #ast we started from ,sydney in our good old ,naldera upon our homeward voyage1 but the work was not yet finished4 ,on reaching ,melbourne1 where the ship was delayed two days1 we found that a ,town ,hall demonstration had been arranged to give us an address from the ,victorian ,spiritualists1 and wish us farewell4 ,it was very short notice and there was a tram strike which prevented people from getting about1 so the hall was not more than half full4 ,none the less1 we had a fine chance of getting in touch with our friends1 and the proceedings were very hearty4 ,the inscription was encased in ,australian wood with a silver kangaroo outside and beautiful illuminations within4 ,it ran as follows3 ,we desire to place on permanent record our intense appreciation of your zealous and self-sacrificing efforts1 and our deep gratitude for the great help you have given to the cause to which you have consecrated your life4 ,the over-flowing meetings addressed by you bear evidence of the unqualified success of your mission1 and many thousands bless the day when you determined to enter this great crusade beneath the ,southern ,cross4444 ,in all these sentiments we desire to include your loyal and most devoted partner1 ,lady ,doyle1 whose self-sacrifice equals or exceeds your own4 ,personally1 ,i have never been conscious of any self-sacrifice1 but the words about my wife were in no way an over-statement4 ,i spoke in reply for about forty minutes1 and gave a synopsis of the state of the faith in other centres1 for each ,australian ,state is curiously self-centred and realises very little beyond its own borders4 ,it was good for ,melbourne to know that ,sydney1 ,brisbane1 ,adelaide and ,new ,zealand were quite as alive and zealous as themselves4 ,at the end of the function ,i gave an account of the financial results of my tour and handed over ,l#ejj as a guarantee fund for future ,british lecturers1 and ,l#ajj to ,mr4 ,britton ,harvey to assist his admirable paper1 ,the ,harbinger of ,light4 ,i had already expended about ,l#ajj upon spiritual causes1 so that my whole balance came to ,l#gjj1 which is all now invested in the ,cause and should bring some good spiritual interest in time to come4 ,we badly need money in order to be able to lay our case more fully before the world4 ,i have already given the written evidence of ,mr4 ,smythe that my tour was the most successful ever conducted in his time in ,australia4 ,to this ,i may add the financial result recorded above4 ,in view of this it is worth recording that ,life1 a paper entirely under clerical management1 said3 ,the one thing clear is that ,sir ,conan ,doyle's mission to ,australia was a mournful and complete failure1 and it has left him in a very exasperated state of mind4 ,this is typical of the perverse and unscrupulous opposition which we have continually to face1 which hesitates at no lie in order to try and discredit the movement4 ,one small incident broke the monotony of the voyage between ,adelaide and ,fremantle1 across the dreaded ,bight4 ,there have been considerable depredations in the coastal passenger trade of ,australia1 and since the ,state boats were all laid up by the strike it was to be expected that the crooks would appear upon the big liners4 ,a band of them came on board the ,naldera at ,adelaide1 but their methods were crude1 and they were up against a discipline and an organisation against which they were helpless4 ,one ruffian entered a number of cabins and got away with some booty1 but was very gallantly arrested by ,captain ,lewellin himself1 after a short hand-to-hand struggle4 ,this fellow was recognised by the detectives at ,fremantle and was pronounced to be an old hand4 ,in the general vigilance and search for accomplices which followed1 another passenger was judged to be suspicious and he was also carried away by the detectives on a charge of previous forgery4 ,altogether the crooks came out very badly in their encounter with the ,naldera1 whose officers deserve some special recognition from the ,company for the able way in which the matter was handled4 ,although my formal tour was now over1 ,i had quite determined to speak at ,perth if it were humanly possible1 for ,i could not consider my work as complete if the capital of one ,state had been untouched4 ,i therefore sent the message ahead that ,i would fit in with any arrangements which they might make1 be it by day or night1 but that the ship would only be in port for a few hours4 ,as matters turned out the ,naldera arrived in the early morning and was announced to sail again at #c p4m41 so that the hours were awkward4 ,they took the great theatre1 however1 for #a p4m41 which alarmed me as ,i reflected that my audience must either be starving or else in a state of repletion4 ,everything went splendidly1 however4 ,the house was full1 and ,i have never had a more delightfully keen set of people in front of me4 ,of all my experiences there was none which was more entirely and completely satisfactory1 and ,i hope that it brought a very substantial sum into the local spiritual treasury4 ,there was quite a scene in the street afterwards1 and the motor could not start for the crowds who surrounded it and stretched their kind hands and eager faces towards us4 ,it was a wonderful last impression to bear away from ,australia4 ,it is worth recording that upon a clairvoyante being asked upon this occasion whether she saw any one beside me on the platform she at once answered an elderly man with very tufted eyebrows4 ,this was the marked characteristic of the face of ,russell ,wallace4 ,i was told before ,i left ,england that ,wallace was my guide4 ,i have already shown that ,mrs4 ,roberts1 of ,dunedin1 gave me a message direct from him to the same effect4 ,mrs4 ,foster ,turner1 in ,sydney1 said she saw him1 described him and gave the name4 ,three others have described him4 ,each of these has been quite independent of the others4 ,i think that the most sceptical person must admit that the evidence is rather strong4 ,it is naturally more strong to me since ,i am personally conscious of his intervention and assistance4 ,apart from my spiritual mission1 ,i was very sorry that ,i could not devote some time to exploring ,west ,australia1 which is in some ways the most interesting1 as it is the least developed1 of the ,states in the ,federation4 ,one or two points which ,i gathered about it are worth recording1 especially its relation to the rabbits and to the sparrows1 the only hostile invaders which it has known4 ,long may they remain so6 ,the battle between the ,west ,australians and the rabbits was historical and wonderful4 ,after the creatures had become a perfect pest in the ,east it was hoped that the great central desert would prevent them from ever reaching the ,west4 ,there was no water for a thousand miles4 ,none the less1 the rabbits got across4 ,it was a notable day when the ,west ,australian outrider1 loping from west to east1 met the pioneer rabbit loping from east to west4 ,then ,west ,australia made a great effort4 ,she built a rabbit-proof wire screen from north to south for hundreds of miles from sea to sea1 with such thoroughness that the northern end projected over a rock which fringed deep water4 ,with such thoroughness1 too1 did the rabbits reconnoitre this obstacle that their droppings were seen upon the far side of that very rock4 ,there came another day of doom when two rabbits were seen on the wrong side of the wire4 ,two dragons of the slime would not have alarmed the farmer more4 ,a second line was built1 but this also was1 as ,i understand1 carried by the attack1 which is now consolidating1 upon the ground it has won4 ,however1 the whole situation has been changed by the discovery elsewhere that the rabbit can be made a paying proposition1 so all may end well in this curious story4 ,a similar fight1 with more success1 has been made by ,west ,australia against the sparrow1 which has proved an unmitigated nuisance elsewhere4 ,the birds are slowly advancing down the line of the ,continental ,railway and their forward scouts are continually cut off4 ,captain ,white1 the distinguished ornithologist1 has the matter in hand1 and received1 as ,i am told1 a wire a few weeks ago1 he being in ,melbourne1 to the effect that two sparrows had been observed a thousand miles west of where they had any rights4 ,he set off1 or sent off1 instantly to this way-side desert station in the hope of destroying them1 with what luck ,i know not4 ,i should be inclined to back the sparrows4 ,this ,captain ,white is a man of energy and brains1 whose name comes up always when one enquires into any question of bird or beast4 ,he has made a remarkable expedition lately to those lonely ,everard ,ranges1 which lie some distance to the north of the desolate ,nularbor ,plain1 through which the ,continental ,railway passes4 ,it must form one of the most dreadful wastes in the world1 for there are a thousand miles of coast line1 without one single stream emerging4 ,afforestation may alter all that4 ,in the ,everard ,ranges ,captain ,white found untouched savages of the stone age1 who had never seen a white man before1 and who treated him with absolute courtesy and hospitality4 ,they were a fine race physically1 though they lived under such conditions that there was little solid food save slugs1 lizards and the like4 ,one can but pray that the ,australian ,government will take steps to save these poor people from the sad fate which usually follows the contact between the higher and the lower4 ,from what ,i heard1 ,west ,australian immigrants are better looked after than in the other ,states4 ,i was told in ,perth that nine hundred ex-service men with their families had arrived1 and that all had been fitted into places1 permanent or temporary1 within a fortnight4 ,this is not due to ,government1 but to the exertions of a peculiar local ,society1 with the strange title of ,the ,ugly ,men4 ,handsome is as handsome does1 and they seem to be great citizens4 ,west ,australia calls itself the ,cinderella ,state1 for1 although it covers a third of the ,continent1 it is isolated from the great centres of population4 ,it has a very individual life of its own1 however1 with its gold fields1 its shark fisheries1 its pearlers1 and the great stock-raising plain in the north4 ,among other remarkable achievements is its great water pipe1 which extends for four hundred miles across the desert1 and supplies the pressure for the electric machinery at ,kalgurli4 ,by a coincidence1 the ,narkunda1 which is the sister ship of the ,naldera1 lay alongside the same quay at ,fremantle1 and it was an impressive sight to see these two great shuttles of ,empire lying for a few hours at rest4 ,in their vastness and majesty they made me think of a daring saying of my mother's1 when she exclaimed that if some works of man1 such as an ocean-going steamer1 were compared with some works of ,god1 such as a hill1 man could sustain the comparison4 ,it is the divine spark within us which gives us the creative power1 and what may we not be when that is fully developed6 ,the children were fishing for sharks1 with a line warranted to hold eighteen pounds1 with the result that ,malcolm's bait1 lead1 and everything else was carried away4 ,but they were amply repaid by actually seeing the shark1 which played about for some time in the turbid water1 a brown1 ugly1 varminty creature1 with fine lines of speed in its tapering body4 ,it was in ,adelaide1 daddy1 not ,fremantle1 they protest in chorus1 and no doubt they are right4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,pleasing letters4--,visit to ,candy4--,snake and ,flying ,fox4--,buddha's shrine4--,the ,malaya4--,naval digression4--,indian trader4--,elephanta4--,sea snakes4--,chained to a tombstone4--,berlin's escape4--,lord ,chetwynd4--,lecture in the ,red ,sea4--,marseilles4 ,it was on ,friday1 ,february #aath1 that we drew away from the ,fremantle wharf1 and started forth upon our long1 lonely trek for ,colombo--a huge stretch of sea1 in which it is unusual to see a single sail4 ,as night fell ,i saw the last twinkling lights of ,australia fade away upon our starboard quarter4 ,well1 my job is done4 ,i have nothing to add1 nor have ,i said anything which ,i would wish withdrawn4 ,my furrow gapes across two young ,continents4 ,i feel1 deep in my soul1 that the seed will fall in due season1 and that the reaping will follow the seed4 ,only the work concerns ourselves--the results lie with those whose instruments we are4 ,of the many kindly letters which bade us farewell1 and which assured us that our work was not in vain1 none was more eloquent and thoughtful than that of ,mr4 ,thomas ,ryan1 a member of the ,federal ,legislature4 ,long after you leave us your message will linger4 ,this great truth1 which we had long thought of as the plaything of the charlatan and crank1 into this you breathed the breath of life1 and1 as of old1 we were forced to say1 ',we shall think of this again4 ,we shall examine it more fully4' ,give us time--for the present only this1 we are sure that this thing was not done in a corner4 ,let me say in the few moments ,i am able to snatch from an over-crowded life1 that we realise throughout the land how deep and far-reaching were the things of which you spoke to us4 ,we want time1 and even more time1 to make them part of ourselves4 ,we are glad you have come and raised our thoughts from the market-place to the altar4 ,bishop ,leadbeater1 of ,sydney1 one of the most venerable and picturesque figures whom ,i met in my travels1 wrote1 ,now that you are leaving our shores1 let me express my conviction that your visit has done great good in stirring up the thought of the people1 and1 ,i hope1 in convincing many of them of the reality of the other life4 ,among very many other letters there was none ,i valued more than one from the ,rev4 ,jasper ,calder1 of ,auckland4 ,rest assured1 ,sir ,arthur1 the plough has gone deep1 and the daylight will now reach the soil that has so long been in the darkness of ignorance4 ,i somehow feel as if this is the beginning of new things for us all4 ,it is a long and weary stretch from ,australia to ,ceylon1 but it was saved from absolute monotony by the weather1 which was unusually boisterous for so genial a region4 ,two days before crossing the line we ran into a north-western monsoon1 a rather rare experience1 so that the doldrums became quite a lively place4 ,even our high decks were wet with spindrift and the edge of an occasional comber1 and some of the cabins were washed out4 ,a smaller ship would have been taking heavy seas4 ,in all that great stretch of ocean we never saw a sail or a fish1 and very few birds4 ,the loneliness of the surface of the sea is surely a very strange fact in nature4 ,one would imagine1 if the sea is really so populous as we imagine1 that the surface1 which is the only fixed point in very deep water1 would be the gathering ground and trysting place for all life4 ,save for the flying fish1 there was not a trace in all those thousands of miles4 ,i suppose that on such a voyage one should rest and do nothing1 but how difficult it is to do nothing1 and can it be restful to do what is difficult8 ,to me it is almost impossible4 ,i was helped through a weary time by many charming companions on board1 particularly the ,rev4 ,henry ,howard1 reputed to be the best preacher in ,australia4 ,some of his sermons which ,i read are1 indeed1 splendid1 depending for their effect upon real thought and knowledge1 without any theological emotion4 ,he is ignorant of psychic philosophy1 though1 like so many men who profess themselves hostile to ,spiritualism1 he is full of good stories which conclusively prove the very thing he denies4 ,however1 he has reached full spirituality1 which is more important than ,spiritualism1 and he must be a great influence for good wherever he goes4 ,the rest he will learn later1 either upon this side1 or the other4 ,at ,colombo ,i was interested to receive a ,westminster ,gazette1 which contained an article by their special commissioner upon the ,yorkshire fairies4 ,some correspondent has given the full name of the people concerned1 with their address1 which means that their little village will be crammed with chars-a-banc1 and the peace of their life ruined4 ,it was a rotten thing to do4 ,for the rest1 the ,westminster inquiries seem to have confirmed ,gardner and me in every particular1 and brought out the further fact that the girls had never before taken a photo in their life4 ,one of them had1 it seems1 been for a short time in the employ of a photographer1 but as she was only a child1 and her duties consisted in running on errands1 the fact would hardly qualify her1 as ,truth suggests1 for making faked negatives which could deceive the greatest experts in ,london4 ,there may be some loophole in the direction of thought forms1 but otherwise the case is as complete as possible4 ,we have just returned from a dream journey to ,candy4 ,the old capital is in the very centre of the island1 and seventy-two miles from ,colombo1 but1 finding that we had one clear night1 we all crammed ourselves 7my wife1 the children and self7 into a motor car1 and made for it1 while ,major ,wood and ,jakeman did the same by train4 ,it was a wonderful experience1 a hundred and forty miles of the most lovely coloured cinema reel that ,god ever released4 ,i carry away the confused but beautiful impression of a good broad red-tinted road1 winding amid all shades of green1 from the dark foliage of overhanging trees1 to the light stretches of the half-grown rice fields4 ,tea groves1 rubber plantations1 banana gardens1 and everywhere the coconut palms1 with their graceful1 drooping fronds4 ,along this great road streamed the people1 and their houses lined the way1 so that it was seldom that one was out of sight of human life4 ,they were of all types and colours1 from the light brown of the real ,singalese to the negroid black of the ,tamils1 but all shared the love of bright tints1 and we were delighted by the succession of mauves1 purples1 crimsons1 ambers and greens4 ,water buffaloes1 with the resigned and half-comic air of the ,london landlady who has seen better days1 looked up at us from their mudholes1 and jackal-like dogs lay thick on the path1 hardly moving to let our motor pass4 ,once1 my lord the elephant came round a corner1 with his soft1 easy-going stride1 and surveyed us with inscrutable little eyes4 ,it was the unchanged ,east1 even as it had always been1 save for the neat little police stations and their smart occupants1 who represented the gentle1 but very efficient1 ,british ,raj4 ,it may have been the merit of that ,raj1 or it may have been the inherent virtue of the people1 but in all that journey we were never conscious of an unhappy or of a wicked face4 ,they were very sensitive1 speaking faces1 too1 and it was not hard to read the thoughts within4 ,as we approached ,candy1 our road ran through the wonderful ,botanical ,gardens1 unmatched for beauty in the world1 though ,i still give ,melbourne pride of place for charm4 ,as we sped down one avenue an elderly keeper in front of us raised his gun and fired into the thick foliage of a high tree4 ,an instant later something fell heavily to the ground4 ,a swarm of crows had risen1 so that we had imagined it was one of these1 but when we stopped the car a boy came running up with the victim1 which was a great bat1 or flying fox1 with a two-foot span of leathery wing4 ,it had the appealing face of a mouse1 and two black1 round eyes1 as bright as polished shoe buttons4 ,it was wounded1 so the boy struck it hard upon the ground1 and held it up once more1 the dark eyes glazed1 and the graceful head bubbling blood from either nostril4 ,horrible6 horrible6 cried poor ,denis1 and we all echoed it in our hearts4 ,this intrusion of tragedy into that paradise of a garden reminded us of the shadows of life4 ,there is something very intimately moving in the evil fate of the animals4 ,i have seen a man's hand blown off in warfare1 and have not been conscious of the same haunting horror which the pains of animals have caused me4 ,and here ,i may give another incident from our ,candy excursion4 ,the boys are wild over snakes1 and ,i1 since ,i sat in the front of the motor1 was implored to keep a look-out4 ,we were passing through a village1 where a large lump of concrete1 or stone1 was lying by the road4 ,a stick1 about five feet long1 was resting against it4 ,as we flew past1 ,i saw1 to my amazement1 the top of the stick bend back a little4 ,i shouted to the driver1 and we first halted1 and then ran back to the spot4 ,sure enough1 it was a long1 yellow snake1 basking in this peculiar position4 ,the village was alarmed1 and peasants came running1 while the boys1 wildly excited1 tumbled out of the motor4 ,kill it6 they cried4 ,no1 no6 cried the chauffeur4 ,there is the voice of the ,buddhist1 ,i thought1 so ,i cried1 ,no6 no6 also4 ,the snake1 meanwhile1 squirmed over the stone1 and we saw it lashing about among the bushes4 ,perhaps we were wrong to spare it1 for ,i fear it was full of venom4 ,however1 the villagers remained round the spot1 and they had sticks1 so perhaps the story was not ended4 ,candy1 the old capital1 is indeed a dream city1 and we spent a long1 wonderful evening beside the lovely lake1 where the lazy tortoises paddled about1 and the fireflies gleamed upon the margin4 ,we visited also the old ,buddhist temple1 where1 as in all those places1 the atmosphere is ruined by the perpetual demand for small coins4 ,the few mosques which ,i have visited were not desecrated in this fashion1 and it seems to be an unenviable peculiarity of the ,buddhists1 whose yellow-robed shaven priests have a keen eye for money4 ,beside the temple1 but in ruins1 lay the old palace of the native kings4 ,i wish we could have seen the temple under better conditions1 for it is really the chief shrine of the most numerous religion upon earth1 serving the ,buddhist as the ,kaaba serves the ,moslem1 or ,st4 ,peter's the ,catholic4 ,it is strange how the mind of man drags high things down to its own wretched level1 the priests in each creed being the chief culprits4 ,buddha under his boh tree was a beautiful example of sweet1 unselfish benevolence and spirituality4 ,and the upshot1 after two thousand years1 is that his followers come to adore a horse's tooth 7proclaimed to be ,buddha's1 and three inches long71 at ,candy1 and to crawl up ,adam's ,peak1 in order to worship at a hole in the ground which is supposed to be his yard-long footstep4 ,it is not more senseless than some ,christian observances1 but that does not make it less deplorable4 ,i was very anxious to visit one of the buried cities further inland1 and especially to see the ancient ,boh tree1 which must surely be the doyen of the whole vegetable kingdom1 since it is undoubtedly a slip taken from ,buddha's original ,boh tree1 transplanted into ,ceylon about two hundred years before ,christ4 ,its history is certain and unbroken4 ,now1 ,i understand1 it is a very doddering old trunk1 with withered limbs which are supported by crutches1 but may yet hang on for some centuries to come4 ,on the whole1 we employed our time very well1 but ,ceylon will always remain to each of us as an earthly paradise1 and ,i could imagine no greater pleasure than to have a clear month to wander over its beauties4 ,monsieur ,clemenceau was clearly of the same opinion1 for he was doing it very thoroughly whilst we were there4 ,from ,colombo to ,bombay was a dream of blue skies and blue seas4 ,half way up the ,malabar coast1 we saw the old ,portuguese settlement of ,goa1 glimmering white on a distant hillside4 ,even more interesting to us was a squat battleship making its way up the coast4 ,as we came abreast of it we recognised the ,malaya1 one of that famous little squadron of ,evan ,thomas'1 which staved off the annihilation of ,beatty's cruisers upon that day of doom on the ,jutland coast4 ,we gazed upon it with the reverence that it deserved4 ,we had1 in my opinion1 a mighty close shave upon that occasion4 ,if ,jellicoe had gambled with the ,british fleet he might have won a shattering victory1 but surely he was wise to play safety with such tremendous interests at stake4 ,there is an account of the action1 given by a ,german officer1 at the end of ,freeman's book ,with the ,hercules to ,kiel1 which shows clearly that the enemy desired ,jellicoe to close with them1 as giving them their only chance for that torpedo barrage which they had thoroughly practised1 and on which they relied to cripple a number of our vessels4 ,in every form of foresight and preparation1 the brains seem to have been with them--but that was not the fault of the fighting seamen4 ,surely an amateur could have foreseen that1 in a night action1 a star shell is better than a searchlight1 that a dropping shell at a high trajectory is far more likely to hit the deck than the side1 and that the powder magazine should be cut off from the turret1 as1 otherwise1 a shell crushing the one will explode the other4 ,this last error in construction seems to have been the cause of half our losses1 and the ,lion herself would have been a victim1 but for the self-sacrifice of brave ,major ,harvey of the ,marines4 ,all's well that ends well1 but it was stout hearts1 and not clear heads1 which pulled us through4 ,it is all very well to say let bygones be bygones1 but we have no guarantee that the old faults are corrected1 and certainly no one has been censured4 ,it looks as if the younger officers had no means of bringing their views before those in authority1 while the seniors were so occupied with actual administration that they had no time for thinking outside their routine4 ,take the really monstrous fact that1 at the outset of a war of torpedoes and mines1 when ships might be expected to sink like kettles with a hole in them1 no least provision had been made for saving the crew6 ,boats were discarded before action1 nothing wooden or inflammable was permitted1 and the consideration that life-saving apparatus might be non-inflammable does not seem to have presented itself4 ,when ,i wrote to the ,press1 pointing this out with all the emphasis of which ,i was capable--,i was ready to face the charge of hysteria in such a cause--,i was gravely rebuked by a leading naval authority1 and cautioned not to meddle with mysteries of which ,i knew nothing4 ,none the less1 within a week there was a rush order for swimming collars of india rubber4 ,post hoc non propter1 perhaps1 but at least it verified the view of the layman4 ,that was in the days when not one harbour had been boomed and netted1 though surely a shark in a bathing pool would be innocuous compared to a submarine in an anchorage4 ,the swimmers could get out1 but the ships could not4 ,but all this comes of seeing the white ,malaya1 steaming slowly upon deep blue summer seas1 with the olive-green coast of ,malabar on the horizon behind her4 ,i had an interesting conversation on psychic matters with ,lady ,dyer1 whose husband was killed in the war4 ,it has been urged that it is singular and unnatural that our friends from the other side so seldom allude to the former occasions on which they have manifested4 ,there is1 ,i think1 force in the objection4 ,lady ,dyer had an excellent case to the contrary--and1 indeed1 they are not rare when one makes inquiry4 ,she was most anxious to clear up some point which was left open between her husband and herself1 and for this purpose consulted three mediums in ,london1 ,mr4 ,vout ,peters1 ,mrs4 ,brittain1 and another4 ,in each case she had some success4 ,finally1 she consulted ,mrs4 ,leonard1 and her husband1 speaking through ,feda1 under control1 began a long conversation by saying1 ,i have already spoken to you through three mediums1 two women and a man4 ,lady ,dyer had not given her name upon any occasion1 so there was no question of passing on information4 ,i may add that the intimate point at issue was entirely cleared up by the husband1 who rejoiced greatly that he had the chance to do so4 ,bombay is not an interesting place for the casual visitor1 and was in a state of uproar and decoration on account of the visit of the ,duke of ,connaught4 ,my wife and ,i did a little shopping1 which gave us a glimpse of the patient pertinacity of the ,oriental4 ,the sum being #aej rupees1 ,i asked the ,indian's leave to pay by cheque1 as money was running low4 ,he consented4 ,when we reached the ship by steam-launch1 we found that he1 in some strange way1 had got there already1 and was squatting with the goods outside our cabin door4 ,he looked askance at ,lloyd's ,bank1 of which he had never heard1 but none the less he took the cheque under protest4 ,next evening he was back at our cabin door1 squatting as before1 with a sweat-stained cheque in his hand which1 he declared1 that he was unable to cash4 ,this time ,i paid in ,english pound notes1 but he looked upon them with considerable suspicion4 ,as our ship was lying a good three miles from the shore1 the poor chap had certainly earned his money1 for his goods1 in the first instance1 were both good and cheap4 ,we have seen the ,island of ,elephanta1 and may the curse of ,ernulphus1 which comprises all other curses1 be upon that old ,portuguese ,governor who desecrated it1 and turned his guns upon the wonderful stone carvings4 ,it reminds me of ,abou ,simbel in ,nubia1 and the whole place has an ,egyptian flavour4 ,in a vast hollow in the hill1 a series of very elaborate bas reliefs have been carved1 showing ,brahma1 ,vishnu and ,siva1 the old ,hindoo trinity1 with all those strange satellites1 the bulls1 the kites1 the dwarfs1 the elephant-headed giants with which ,hindoo mythology has so grotesquely endowed them4 ,surely a visitor from some wiser planet1 examining our traces1 would judge that the human race1 though sane in all else1 was mad the moment that it touched religion1 whether he judged it by such examples as these1 or by the wearisome iteration of expressionless ,buddhas1 the sacred crocodiles and hawk-headed gods of ,egypt1 the monstrosities of ,central ,america1 or the lambs and doves which adorn our own churches4 ,it is only in the ,mohammedan faith that such an observer would find nothing which could offend1 since all mortal symbolism is there forbidden4 ,and yet if these strange conceptions did indeed help these poor people through their journey of life--and even now they come from far with their offerings--then we should morally be as the ,portuguese governor1 if we were to say or do that which might leave them prostrate and mutilated in their minds4 ,it was a pleasant break to our long voyage1 and we were grateful to our commander1 who made everything easy for us4 ,he takes the humane view that a passenger is not merely an article of cargo1 to be conveyed from port to port1 but that his recreation should1 in reason1 be considered as well4 ,elephanta was a little bit of the old ,india1 but the men who conveyed us there from the launch to the shore in their ancient dhows were of a far greater antiquity4 ,these were ,kolis1 small1 dark men1 who held the country before the original ,aryan invasion1 and may still be plying their boats when ,india has become ,turanian or ,slavonic1 or whatever its next avatar may be4 ,they seem to have the art of commerce well developed1 for they held us up cleverly until they had extracted a rupee each1 counting us over and over with great care and assiduity4 ,at ,bombay we took over #bjj more travellers4 ,we had expected that the new-comers1 who were mostly ,anglo-,indians whose leave had been long overdue1 would show signs of strain and climate1 but we were agreeably surprised to find that they were a remarkably healthy and alert set of people4 ,this may be due to the fact that it is now the end of the cold weather4 ,our new companions included many native gentlemen1 one of whom1 the ,rajah of ,kapurthala1 brought with him his ,spanish wife1 a regal-looking lady1 whose position must be a difficult one4 ,hearne and ,murrell1 the cricketers1 old playmates and friends1 were also among the new-comers4 ,all of them seemed perturbed as to the unrest in ,india1 though some were inclined to think that the worst was past1 and that the situation was well in hand4 ,when we think how splendidly ,india helped us in the war1 it would indeed be sad if a serious rift came between us now4 ,one thing ,i am very sure of1 that if ,great ,britain should ever be forced to separate from ,india1 it is ,india1 and not ,britain1 which will be the chief sufferer4 ,we passed over hundreds of miles of absolute calm in the ,indian ,ocean4 ,there is a wonderful passage in ,frank ,bullen's ,sea ,idylls1 in which he describes how1 after a long-continued tropical calm1 all manner of noxious scum and vague evil shapes come flickering to the surface4 ,coleridge has done the same idea1 for all time1 in ,the ,ancient ,mariner1 when the very sea did rot4 ,in our case we saw nothing so dramatic1 but the ship passed through one area where there was a great number of what appeared to be sea-snakes1 creatures of various hues1 from two to ten feet long1 festooned or slowly writhing some feet below the surface4 ,i cannot recollect seeing anything of the kind in any museum4 ,these1 and a couple of ,arab dhows1 furnished our only break in a thousand miles4 ,certainly1 as an entertainment the ocean needs cutting4 ,in the extreme south1 like a cloud upon the water1 we caught a glimpse of the ,island of ,socotra1 one of the least visited places upon earth1 though so near to the main line of commerce4 ,what a base for submarines1 should it fall into wrong hands6 ,it has a comic-opera ,sultan of its own1 with #ae1jjj subjects1 and a subsidy from the ,british ,government of #bjj dollars a year1 which has been increased lately to #cfj1 presumably on account of the higher cost of living4 ,it is a curious fact that1 though it is a great place of hill and plain1 seventy miles by eighteen1 there is only one wild animal known1 namely the civet cat4 ,a traveller1 ,mr4 ,jacob1 who examined the place1 put forward the theory that one of ,alexander the ,great's ships was wrecked there1 the crew remaining1 for he found certain ,greek vestiges1 but what they were ,i have been unable to find out4 ,as we approached ,aden1 we met the ,china on her way out4 ,her misadventure some years ago at the ,island of ,perim1 has become one of the legends of the sea4 ,in those days1 the discipline aboard ,p4 ,o4 ships was less firm than at present1 and on the occasion of the birthday of one of the leading passengers1 the officers of the ship had been invited to the festivity4 ,the result was that1 in the middle of dinner1 the ship crashed1 no great distance from the lighthouse1 and1 it is said1 though this is probably an exaggeration1 that the revellers were able to get ashore over the bows without wetting their dress shoes4 ,no harm was done1 save that one unlucky rock projected1 like a huge spike1 through the ship's bottom1 and it cost the company a good half-million before they were able to get her afloat and in service once more4 ,however1 there she was1 doing her fifteen knots1 and looking so saucy and new that no one would credit such an unsavoury incident in her past4 ,early in ,february ,i gave a lantern lecture upon psychic phenomena to passengers of both classes4 ,the ,red ,sea has become quite a favourite stamping ground of mine1 but it was much more tolerable now than on that terrible night in ,august when ,i discharged arguments and perspiration to a sweltering audience4 ,on this occasion it was a wonderful gathering1 a microcosm of the world1 with an ,english peer1 an ,indian ,maharajah1 many native gentlemen1 whites of every type from four great countries1 and a fringe of stewards1 stewardesses1 and nondescripts of all sorts1 including the ship's barber1 who is one of the most active men on the ship in an intellectual sense4 ,all went well1 and if they were not convinced they were deeply interested1 which is the first stage4 ,somewhere there are great forces which are going to carry on this work1 and ,i never address an audience without the feeling that among them there may be some latent ,paul or ,luther whom my words may call into activity4 ,i heard an anecdote yesterday which is worth recording4 ,we have a boatswain who is a fine1 burly specimen of a ,british seaman4 ,in one of his short holidays while in mufti1 in ,norfolk1 he had an argument with a ,norfolk farmer1 a stranger to him1 who wound up the discussion by saying3 ,my lad1 what you need is a little travel to broaden your mind4 ,the boatswain does his #gj1jjj miles a year4 ,it reminded me of the doctor who advised his patient to take a brisk walk every morning before breakfast1 and then found out that he was talking to the village postman4 ,a gentleman connected with the cinema trade told me a curious story within his own experience4 ,last year a psychic cinema story was shown in ,australia1 and to advertise it a man was hired who would consent to be chained to a tombstone all night4 ,this was done in ,melbourne and ,sydney without the person concerned suffering in any way4 ,it was very different in ,launceston4 ,the man was found to be nearly mad from terror in the morning1 though he was a stout fellow of the dock labourer type4 ,his story was that in the middle of the night he had heard to his horror the sound of dripping water approaching him4 ,on looking up he saw an evil-looking shape with water streaming from him1 who stood before him and abused him a long time1 frightening him almost to death4 ,the man was so shaken that the cinema company had to send him for a voyage4 ,of course1 it was an unfair test for any one's nerves1 and imagination may have played its part1 but it is noticeable that a neighbouring grave contained a man who had been drowned in the ,esk many years before4 ,in any case1 it makes a true and interesting story1 whatever the explanation4 ,i have said that there was an ,english peer on board4 ,this was ,lord ,chetwynd1 a man who did much towards winning the war4 ,now that the storm is over the public knows nothing1 and apparently cares little1 about the men who brought the ship of ,state through in safety4 ,some day we shall get a more exact sense of proportion1 but it is all out of focus at present4 ,lord ,chetwynd1 in the year #aiae1 discovered by his own personal experiments how to make an explosive far more effective than the one we were using1 which was very unreliable4 ,this he effected by a particular combination and treatment of ,t4,n4,t4 and ammonia nitrate4 ,having convinced the authorities by actual demonstration1 he was given a free hand1 which he used to such effect that within a year he was furnishing the main shell supply of the army4 ,his own installation was at ,chilwell1 near ,nottingham1 and it turned out #ai1jjj1jjj shells1 while six other establishments were erected elsewhere on the same system4 ,within his own works ,lord ,chetwynd was so complete an autocrat that it was generally believed that he shot three spies with his own hand4 ,thinking the rumour a useful one1 he encouraged it by creating three dummy graves1 which may1 perhaps1 be visited to this day by pious pro-,germans4 ,it should be added that ,lord ,chetwynd's explosive was not only stronger1 but cheaper1 than that in previous use1 so that his labours saved the country some millions of pounds4 ,it was at ,chilwell that the huge bombs were filled which were destined for ,berlin4 ,there were #ajj of them to be carried in twenty-five ,handley ,page machines4 ,each bomb was capable of excavating #cej tons at the spot where it fell1 and in a trial trip one which was dropped in the central courtyard of a large square building left not a stone standing around it4 ,berlin was saved by a miracle1 which she hardly deserved after the irresponsible glee with which she had hailed the devilish work of her own ,zeppelins4 ,the original hundred bombs sent to be charged had the tails removed before being sent1 and when they were returned it was found to be such a job finding the right tail for the right bomb1 the permutations being endless1 that it was quicker and easier to charge another hundred bombs with tails attached4 ,this and other fortuitous matters consumed several weeks4 ,finally1 the bombs were ready and were actually on the machines in ,england1 whence the start was to be made1 when the ,armistice was declared4 ,possibly a knowledge of this increased the extreme haste of the ,german delegates4 ,personally1 ,i am glad it was so1 for we have enough cause for hatred in the world without adding the death of #aj1jjj ,german civilians4 ,there is some weight1 however1 in the contention of those who complain that ,germans have devastated ,belgium and ,france1 but have never been allowed to experience in their own persons what the horrors of war really are4 ,still1 if ,christianity and religion are to be more than mere words1 we must be content that ,berlin was not laid in ruins at a time when the issue of the war was already decided4 ,here we are at ,suez once again4 ,it would take ,loti or ,robert ,hichens to describe the wonderful shades peculiar to the outskirts of ,egypt4 ,deep blue sea turns to dark green1 which in turn becomes the very purest1 clearest emerald as it shallows into a snow-white frill of foam4 ,thence extends the golden desert with deep honey-coloured shadows1 stretching away until it slopes upwards into melon-tinted hills1 dry and bare and wrinkled4 ,at one point a few white dwellings with a group of acacias mark the spot which they call ,moses ,well4 ,they say that a ,jew can pick up a living in any country1 but when one surveys these terrible wastes one can only imagine that the climate has greatly changed since a whole nomad people were able to cross them4 ,in the ,mediterranean we had a snap of real cold which laid many of us out1 myself included4 ,i recall the ,lancastrian who complained that he had swallowed a dog fight4 ,the level of our lives had been disturbed for an instant by a feud between the children and one of the passengers who had1 probably quite justly1 given one of them a box on the ear4 ,in return1 they had fixed an abusive document in his cabin which they had ended by the words1 ,with our warmest despisings1 all signing their names to it4 ,the passenger was sportsman enough to show this document around1 or we should not have known of its existence4 ,strange little souls with their vivid hopes and fears1 a parody of our own4 ,i gave baby a daily task and had ordered her to do a map of ,australia4 ,i found her weeping in the evening4 ,i did the map1 she cried1 between her sobs1 but they all said it was a pig6 ,she was shaken to the soul at the slight upon her handiwork4 ,it was indeed wonderful to find ourselves at ,marseilles once more1 and1 after the usual unpleasant douane formalities1 which are greatly ameliorated in ,france as compared to our own free trade country1 to be at temporary rest at the ,hotel du ,louvre4 ,a great funeral1 that of ,frederic ,chevillon and his brother1 was occupying the attention of the town4 ,both were public officials and both were killed in the war1 their bodies being now exhumed for local honour4 ,a great crowd filed past with many banners1 due decorum being observed save that some of the mourners were smoking cigarettes1 which was not handsome1 as ,mr4 ,pepys would observe4 ,there was no sign of any religious symbol anywhere4 ,it was a ,sunday and yet the people in the procession seemed very badly dressed and generally down-at-heel and slovenly4 ,i think we should have done the thing better in ,england4 ,the simplicity of the flag-wrapped coffins was however dignified and pleasing4 ,the inscriptions1 too1 were full of simple patriotism4 ,i never take a stroll through a ,french town without appreciating the gulf which lies between us and them4 ,they have the old ,roman civilisation1 with its ripe mellow traits1 which have never touched the ,anglo-,saxon1 who1 on the other hand1 has his raw ,northern virtues which make life angular but effective4 ,i watched a scene to-day inconceivable under our rule4 ,four very smart officers1 captains or majors1 were seated outside a cafe4 ,the place was crowded1 but there was room for four more at this table on the sidewalk1 so presently that number of negro privates came along and occupied the vacant seats4 ,the officers smiled most good humouredly1 and remarks were exchanged between the two parties1 which ended in the high falsetto laugh of a negro4 ,these black troops seemed perfectly self-respecting1 and ,i never saw a drunken man1 soldier or civilian1 during two days4 ,i have received ,english letters which announce that ,i am to repeat my ,australian lectures at the ,queen's ,hall1 from ,april #aath onwards4 ,i seem to be returning with shotted guns and going straight into action4 ,they say that the most dangerous course is to switch suddenly off when you have been working hard4 ,i am little likely to suffer from that4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,the ,institut ,metaphysique4--,lecture in ,french4--,wonderful musical improviser4--,camille ,flammarion4--,test of materialised hand4--,last ditch of materialism4--,sitting with ,mrs4 ,bisson's medium1 ,eva4--,round the ,aisne battlefields4--,a tragic intermezzo4--,anglo-,french ,rugby match4--,madame ,blifaud's clairvoyance4 ,one long stride took us to ,paris1 where1 under the friendly and comfortable roof of the ,hotel du ,louvre1 we were able at last to unpack our trunks and to steady down after this incessant movement4 ,the first visit which ,i paid in ,paris was to ,dr4 ,geley1 head of the ,institut ,metaphysique1 at #hi1 ,avenue ,niel4 ,now that poor ,crawford has gone1 leaving an imperishable name behind him1 ,geley promises to be the greatest male practical psychic researcher1 and he has advantages of which ,crawford could never boast1 since the liberality of ,monsieur ,jean ,meyer has placed him at the head of a splendid establishment with laboratory1 photographic room1 lecture room1 seance room and library1 all done in the most splendid style4 ,unless some ,british patron has the generosity and intelligence to do the same1 this installation1 with a man like ,geley to run it1 will take the supremacy in psychic advance from ,britain1 where it now lies1 and transfer it to ,france4 ,our nearest approach to something similar depends at present upon the splendid private efforts of ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,hewat ,mac,kenzie1 in the ,psychic ,college at #ei1 ,holland ,park1 which deserve the support of everyone who realises the importance of the subject4 ,i made a faux pas with the ,geleys1 for ,i volunteered to give an exhibition of my ,australian slides1 and they invited a distinguished audience of men of science to see them4 ,imagine my horror when ,i found that my box of slides was in the luggage which ,major ,wood had taken on with him in the ,naldera to ,england4 ,they were rushed over by aeroplane1 however1 in response to my telegram1 and so the situation was saved4 ,the lecture was a private one and was attended by ,mr4 ,charles ,richet1 ,mr4 ,gabrielle ,delanne1 and a number of other men of science4 ,nothing could have gone better1 though ,i fear that my ,french1 which is execrable1 must have been a sore trial to my audience4 ,i gave them warning at the beginning by quoting a remark which ,bernard ,shaw made to me once1 that when he spoke ,french he did not say what he wanted to say1 but what he could say4 ,richet told me afterwards that he was deeply interested by the photographs1 and when ,i noted the wonder and awe with which he treated them--he1 the best known physiologist in the world--and compared it with the attitude of the ordinary lay ,press1 it seemed a good example of the humility of wisdom and the arrogance of ignorance4 ,after my lecture1 which covered an hour and a quarter1 we were favoured by an extraordinary exhibition from a medium named ,aubert4 ,this gentleman has had no musical education whatever1 but he sits down in a state of semi-trance and he handles a piano as ,i1 for one1 have never heard one handled before4 ,it is a most amazing performance4 ,he sits with his eyes closed while some one calls the alphabet1 striking one note when the right letter sounds4 ,in this way he spells out the name of the particular composer whom he will represent4 ,he then dashes off1 with tremendous verve and execution1 upon a piece which is not a known composition of that author1 but is an improvisation after his manner4 ,we had ,grieg1 ,mendelssohn1 ,berlioz and others in quick succession1 each of them masterly and characteristic4 ,his technique seemed to my wife and me to be not inferior to that of ,paderewski4 ,needles can be driven through him as he plays1 and sums can be set before him which he will work out without ceasing the wonderful music which appears to flow through him1 but quite independently of his own powers or volition4 ,he would certainly cause a sensation in ,london4 ,i had the honour next day of meeting ,camille ,flammarion1 the famous astronomer1 who is deeply engaged in psychic study1 and was so interested in the photos which ,i snowed him that ,i was compelled to leave them in his hands that he might get copies done4 ,flammarion is a dear1 cordial1 homely old gentleman with a beautiful bearded head which would delight a sculptor4 ,he entertained us with psychic stories all lunch time4 ,madame ,bisson was there and amused me with her opinion upon psychic researchers1 their density1 their arrogance1 their preposterous theories to account for obvious effects4 ,if she had not been a great pioneer in ,science1 she might have been a remarkable actress1 for it was wonderful how her face took off the various types4 ,certainly1 as described by her1 their far-fetched precautions1 which irritate the medium and ruin the harmony of the conditions1 do appear very ridiculous1 and the parrot cry of ,fraud6 and ,fake6 has been sadly overdone4 ,all are agreed here that spiritualism has a far greater chance in ,england than in ,france1 because the ,french temperament is essentially a mocking one1 and also because the ,catholic ,church is in absolute opposition4 ,three of their bishops1 ,beauvais1 ,lisieux and ,coutances1 helped to burn a great medium1 ,joan of ,arc1 six hundred years ago1 asserting at the trial the very accusations of necromancy which are asserted to-day4 ,now they have had to canonise her4 ,one would have hoped that they had learned something from the incident4 ,dr4 ,geley has recently been experimenting with ,mr4 ,franek ,kluski1 a ,polish amateur of weak health1 but with great mediumistic powers4 ,these took the form of materialisations4 ,dr4 ,geley had prepared a bucket of warm paraffin1 and upon the appearance of the materialised figure1 which was that of a smallish man1 the request was made that the apparition should plunge its hand into the bucket and then withdraw it1 so that when it dematerialised a cast of the hand would be left1 like a glove of solidified paraffin1 so narrow at the wrist that the hands could not have been withdrawn by any possible normal means without breaking the moulds4 ,these hands ,i was able to inspect1 and also the plaster cast which had been taken from the inside of one of them4 ,the latter showed a small hand1 not larger than a boy's1 but presenting the characteristics of age1 for the skin was loose and formed transverse folds4 ,the materialised figure had also1 unasked1 left an impression of its own mouth and chin1 which was1 ,i think1 done for evidential purposes1 for a curious wart hung from the lower lip1 which would mark the owner among a million4 ,so far as ,i could learn1 however1 no identification had actually been effected4 ,the mouth itself was thick-lipped and coarse1 and also gave an impression of age4 ,to show the thoroughness of ,dr4 ,geley's work1 he had foreseen that the only answer which any critic1 however exacting1 could make to the evidence1 was that the paraffin hand had been brought in the medium's pocket4 ,therefore he had treated with cholesterin the paraffin in his bucket1 and this same cholesterin reappeared in the resulting glove4 ,what can any sceptic have to say to an experiment like that save to ignore it1 and drag us back with wearisome iteration to some real or imaginary scandal of the past8 ,the fact is that the position of the materialists could only be sustained so long as there was a general agreement among all the newspapers to regard this subject as a comic proposition4 ,now that there is a growing tendency towards recognising its overwhelming gravity1 the evidence is getting slowly across to the public1 and the old attitude of negation and derision has become puerile4 ,i can clearly see1 however1 that the materialists will fall back upon their second line of trenches1 which will be to admit the phenomena1 but to put them down to material causes in the unexplored realms of nature with no real connection with human survival4 ,this change of front is now due1 but it will fare no better than the old one4 ,before quitting the subject ,i should have added that these conclusions of ,dr4 ,geley concerning the paraffin moulds taken from ,kluski's materialisation are shared by ,charles ,richet and ,count de ,gramont of the ,institute of ,france1 who took part in the experiments4 ,how absurd are the efforts of those who were not present to contradict the experiences of men like these4 ,i was disappointed to hear from ,dr4 ,geley that the experiments in ,england with the medium ,eva had been largely negative1 though once or twice the ectoplasmic flow was1 as ,i understand1 observed4 ,dr4 ,geley put this comparative failure down to the fantastic precautions taken by the committee1 which had produced a strained and unnatural atmosphere4 ,it seems to me that if a medium is searched1 and has all her clothes changed before entering the seance room1 that is ample1 but when in addition to this you put her head in a net-bag and restrict her in other ways1 you are producing an abnormal self-conscious state of mind which stops that passive mood of receptivity which is essential4 ,professor ,hyslop has left it on record that after a long series of rigid tests with ,mrs4 ,piper he tried one sitting under purely natural conditions1 and received more convincing and evidential results than in all the others put together4 ,surely this should suggest freer methods in our research4 ,i have just had a sitting with ,eva1 whom ,i cannot even say that ,i have seen1 for she was under her cloth cabinet when ,i arrived and still under it when ,i left1 being in trance the whole time4 ,professor ,jules ,courtier of the ,sorbonne and a few other men of science were present4 ,madame ,bisson experiments now in the full light of the afternoon4 ,only the medium is in darkness1 but her two hands protrude through the cloth and are controlled by the sitters4 ,there is a flap in the cloth which can be opened to show anything which forms beneath4 ,after sitting about an hour this flap was opened1 and ,madame ,bisson pointed out to me a streak of ectoplasm upon the outside of the medium's bodice4 ,it was about six inches long and as thick as a finger4 ,i was allowed to touch it1 and felt it shrink and contract under my hand4 ,it is this substance which can1 under good conditions1 be poured out in great quantities and can be built up into forms and shapes1 first flat and finally rounded1 by powers which are beyond our science4 ,we sometimes call it ,psychoplasm in ,england1 ,richet named it ,ectoplasm1 ,geley calls it ,ideoplasm2 but call it what you will1 ,crawford has shown for all time that it is the substance which is at the base of psychic physical phenomena4 ,madame ,bisson1 whose experience after twelve years' work is unique1 has an interesting theory4 ,she disagrees entirely with ,dr4 ,geley's view1 that the shapes are thought forms1 and she resents the name ideoplasm1 since it represents that view4 ,her conclusion is that ,eva acts the part which a detector plays1 when it turns the ,hertzian waves1 which are too short for our observation1 into slower ones which can become audible4 ,thus ,eva breaks up certain currents and renders them visible4 ,according to her1 what we see is never the thing itself but always the reflection of the thing which exists in another plane and is made visible in ours by ,eva's strange material organisation4 ,it was for this reason that the word ,miroir appeared in one of the photographs1 and excited much adverse criticism4 ,one dimly sees a new explanation of mediumship4 ,the light seems a colourless thing until it passes through a prism and suddenly reveals every colour in the world4 ,a picture of ,madame ,bisson's father hung upon the wall1 and ,i at once recognised him as the phantom which appears in the photographs of her famous book1 and which formed the culminating point of ,eva's mediumship4 ,he has a long and rather striking face which was clearly indicated in the ectoplasmic image4 ,only on one occasion was this image so developed that it could speak1 and then only one word4 ,the word was ,esperez4 ,we have just returned1 my wife1 ,denis and ,i1 from a round of the ,aisne battlefields1 paying our respects incidentally to ,bossuet at ,meaux1 ,fenelon at ,chateau ,thierry1 and ,racine at ,la ,ferte ,millon4 ,it is indeed a frightful cicatrix which lies across the brow of ,france--a scar which still gapes in many places as an open wound4 ,i could not have believed that the ruins were still so untouched4 ,the land is mostly under cultivation1 but the houses are mere shells1 and ,i cannot think where the cultivators live4 ,when you drive for sixty miles and see nothing but ruin on either side of the road1 and when you know that the same thing extends from the sea to the ,alps1 and that in places it is thirty miles broad1 it helps one to realise the debt that ,germany owes to her victims4 ,if it had been in the ,versailles terms that all her members of parliament and journalists should be personally conducted1 as we have been1 through a sample section1 their tone would be more reasonable4 ,it has been a wonderful panorama4 ,we followed the route of the thousand taxi-cabs which helped to save ,europe up to the place where ,gallieni's men dismounted and walked straight up against ,klueck's rearguard4 ,we saw ,belleau ,wood1 where the #bnd and #dfth ,american divisions made their fine debut and showed ,ludendorff that they were not the useless soldiers he had so vainly imagined4 ,thence we passed all round that great heavy sack of ,germans which had formed in ,june1 #aiah1 with its tip at ,dormans and ,chateau ,thierry4 ,we noted ,bligny1 sacred to the sacrifices of ,carter ,campbell's #east ,highlanders1 and ,braithwaite's #fbnd ,yorkshire division1 who lost between them seven thousand men in these woods4 ,these ,british episodes seem quite unknown to the ,french1 while the ,americans have very properly laid out fine graveyards with their flag flying1 and placed engraved tablets of granite where they played their part1 so that in time ,i really think that the average ,frenchman will hardly remember that we were in the war at all1 while if you were to tell him that in the critical year we took about as many prisoners and guns as all the other nations put together1 he would stare at you with amazement4 ,well1 what matter6 ,with a man or a nation it is the duty done for its own sake and the sake of its own conscience and self-respect that really counts4 ,all the rest is swank4 ,we slept at ,rheims4 ,we had stayed at the chief hotel1 the ,golden ,lion1 in #aiab1 when we were en route to take part in the ,anglo-,german motor-car competition1 organised by ,prince ,henry4 ,we searched round1 but not one stone of the hotel was standing4 ,out of #ad1jjj houses in the town1 only twenty had entirely escaped4 ,as to the ,cathedral1 either a miracle has been wrought or the ,german gunners have been extraordinary masters of their craft1 for there are acres of absolute ruin up to its very walls1 and yet it stands erect with no very vital damage4 ,the same applies to the venerable church of ,st4 ,remy4 ,on the whole ,i am prepared to think that save in one fit of temper upon ,september #aith1 #aiad1 the guns were never purposely turned upon this venerable building4 ,hitting the proverbial haystack would be a difficult feat compared to getting home on to this monstrous pile which dominates the town4 ,it is against reason to suppose that both here and at ,soissons they could not have left the cathedrals as they left the buildings around them4 ,next day1 we passed down the ,vesle and ,aisne1 seeing the spot where ,french fought his brave but barren action on ,september #acth1 #aiad1 and finally we reached the ,chemin des ,dames--a good name had the war been fought in the knightly spirit of old1 but horribly out of place amid the ferocities with which ,germany took all chivalry from warfare4 ,the huge barren countryside1 swept with rainstorms and curtained in clouds1 looked like some evil landscape out of ,vale ,owen's revelations4 ,it was sown from end to end with shattered trenches1 huge coils of wire and rusted weapons1 including thousands of bombs which are still capable of exploding should you tread upon them too heavily4 ,denis ran wildly about1 like a terrier in a barn1 and returned loaded with all sorts of trophies1 most of which had to be discarded as overweight4 ,he succeeded1 however1 in bringing away a ,prussian helmet and a few other of the more portable of his treasures4 ,we returned by ,soissons1 which interested me greatly1 as ,i had seen it under war conditions in #aiaf4 ,finally we reached ,paris after a really wonderful two days in which1 owing to ,mr4 ,cook's organisation and his guide1 we saw more and understood more1 than in a week if left to ourselves4 ,they run similar excursions to ,verdun and other points4 ,i only wish we had the time to avail ourselves of them4 ,a tragic intermezzo here occurred in our ,paris experience4 ,i suddenly heard that my brother-in-law1 ,e4 ,w4 ,hornung1 the author of ,raffles and many another splendid story1 was dying at ,st4 ,jean de ,luz in the ,pyrenees4 ,i started off at once1 but was only in time to be present at his funeral4 ,our little family group has been thinned down these last two years until we feel like a company under hot fire with half on the ground4 ,we can but close our ranks the tighter4 ,hornung lies within three paces of ,george ,gissing1 an author for whom both of us had an affection4 ,it is good to think that one of his own race and calling keeps him company in his ,pyrennean grave4 ,hornung1 apart from his literary powers1 was one of the wits of our time4 ,i could brighten this dull chronicle if ,i could insert a page of his sayings4 ,like ,charles ,lamb1 he could find humour in his own physical disabilities--disabilities which did not prevent him1 when over fifty1 from volunteering for such service as he could do in ,flanders4 ,when pressed to have a medical examination1 his answer was1 ,my body is like a sausage4 ,the less ,i know of its interior1 the easier will be my mind4 ,it was a characteristic mixture of wit and courage4 ,during our stay in ,paris we went to see the ,anglo-,french ,rugby match at ,coulombes4 ,the ,french have not quite got the sporting spirit1 and there was some tendency to hoot whenever a decision was given for the ,english1 but the play of their team was most excellent1 and ,england only won by the narrow margin of #aj to #f4 ,i can remember the time when ,french ,rugby was the joke of the sporting world4 ,they are certainly a most adaptive people4 ,the tactics of the game have changed considerably since the days when ,i was more familiar with it1 and it has become less dramatic1 since ground is gained more frequently by kicking into touch than by the individual run1 or even by the combined movement4 ,but it is still the king of games4 ,it was like the old lists1 where the pick of these two knightly nations bore themselves so bravely of old1 and it was an object lesson to see ,clement1 the ,french back1 playing on manfully1 with the blood pouring from a gash in the head4 ,marshal ,foch was there1 and ,i have no doubt that he noted the incident with approval4 ,i had a good look at the famous soldier1 who was close behind me4 ,he looks very worn1 and sadly in need of a rest4 ,his face and head are larger than his pictures indicate1 but it is not a face with any marked feature or character4 ,his eyes1 however1 are grey1 and inexorable4 ,his kepi was drawn down1 and ,i could not see the upper part of the head1 but just there lay the ruin of ,germany4 ,it must be a very fine brain1 for in political1 as well as in military matters1 his judgment has always been justified4 ,there is an excellent clairvoyante in ,paris1 ,madame ,blifaud1 and ,i look forward1 at some later date1 to a personal proof of her powers1 though if it fails ,i shall not be so absurd as to imagine that that disproves them4 ,the particular case which came immediately under my notice was that of a mother whose son had been killed from an aeroplane1 in the war4 ,she had no details of his death4 ,on asking ,madame ,b41 the latter replied1 ,yes1 he is here1 and gives me a vision of his fall4 ,as a proof that it is really he1 he depicts the scene1 which was amid songs1 flags and music4 ,as this corresponded with no episode of the war1 the mother was discouraged and incredulous4 ,within a short time1 however1 she received a message from a young officer who had been with her son when the accident occurred4 ,it was on the ,armistice day1 at ,salonica4 ,the young fellow had flown just above the flags1 one of the flags got entangled with his rudder1 and the end was disaster4 ,but bands1 songs and flags all justified the clairvoyante4 ,now1 at last1 our long journey drew to its close4 ,greatly guarded by the high forces which have1 by the goodness of ,providence1 been deputed to help us1 we are back in dear old ,london once more4 ,when we look back at the #cj1jjj miles which we have traversed1 at the complete absence of illness which spared any one of seven a single day in bed1 the excellence of our long voyages1 the freedom from all accidents1 the undisturbed and entirely successful series of lectures1 the financial success won for the cause1 the double escape from shipping strikes1 and1 finally1 the several inexplicable instances of supernormal1 personal happenings1 together with the three-fold revelation of the name of our immediate guide1 we should be stocks and stones if we did not realise that we have been the direct instruments of ,god in a cause upon which ,he has set ,his visible seal4 ,there let it rest4 ,if ,he be with us1 who is against us8 ,to give religion a foundation of rock instead of quicksand1 to remove the legitimate doubts of earnest minds1 to make the invisible forces1 with their moral sanctions1 a real thing1 instead of mere words upon our lips1 and1 incidentally1 to reassure the human race as to the future which awaits it1 and to broaden its appreciation of the possibilities of the present life1 surely no more glorious message was ever heralded to mankind4 ,and it begins visibly to hearken4 ,the human race is on the very eve of a tremendous revolution of thought1 marking a final revulsion from materialism1 and it is part of our glorious and assured philosophy1 that1 though we may not be here to see the final triumph of our labours1 we shall1 none the less1 be as much engaged in the struggle and the victory from the day when we join those who are our comrades in battle upon the further side4 ,printed in ,great ,britain by ,wyman ,sons ,ltd41 ,london1 ,reading and ,fakenham ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle has given us a classic4--,sir ,w4 ,robertson ,nicoll 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,first ,volume of ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle's ,history of the ,war ,,the ,,british ,,campaign in ,,france and ,,flanders #aiad ,with ,maps1 ,plans and ,diagrams4 ,,fourth ,,edition ,after reading every word of this most fascinating book1 the writer of this notice ventures1 as a professional soldier1 to endorse the author's claim1 and even to suggest that ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle has understated the value of a book which will be of enormous help to the student of this wondrous war as a reliable framework for his further investigations4--,colonel ,a4 ,m4 ,murray1 ,c4,b41 in the ,observer4 ,a book which should appeal to every ,briton and should shame those who wish to make of none effect the deeds and sacrifices recounted in its pages4--,professor ,a4 ,f4 ,pollard in the ,daily ,chronicle 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,second ,volume of ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle's ,history of the ,war ,,the ,,british ,,campaign in ,,france and ,,flanders #aiae ,with ,maps1 ,plans and ,diagrams4 ,,second ,,edition ,if any student of the war is in search of a plain statement1 accurate and chronological1 of what took place in these dynamic sequences of onslaughts which have strewn the plain of ,ypres with unnumbered dead1 and which won for the ,canadians1 the ,indians1 and our own ,territorial divisions immortal fame1 let him go to this volume4 ,he will find in it few dramatic episodes1 no unbridled panegyric1 no purple patches4 ,but he will own himself a much enlightened man1 and1 with greater knowledge1 will be filled with much greater pride and much surer confidence4--,daily ,telegraph 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,third ,volume of ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle's ,history of the ,war ,,the ,,british ,,campaign in ,,france and ,,flanders #aiaf ,with ,maps1 ,plans and ,diagrams ,we gave praise1 and it was high1 to the first and second volumes of ',the ,british ,campaign in ,france and ,flanders4' ,we can give the same to the third1 and more1 too4 ,for the whole of this volume is devoted to the preliminaries and the full grapple of the ,battle of the ,somme--a theme far surpassing everything that went before in magnitude and dreadfulness1 but also in inspiration for our own race and in profound human import of every kind4--,observer ,the ,fourth ,volume of ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle's ,history of the ,war ,,the ,,british ,,campaign in ,,france and ,,flanders #aiag ,with ,maps1 ,plans and ,diagrams ,if ,sir ,arthur can complete the remaining two volumes with the same zest and truth as is exhibited here1 it will indeed be a work which every student who fought in ,france in the ,great ,war will be proud to possess on his shelves4--,sunday ,times ,it will find with others of the series a permanent place in all military libraries as a reliable work of reference for future students of the war4--,observer 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,fifth ,volume of ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle's ,history of the ,war ,,the ,,british ,,campaign in ,,france and ,,flanders ,january to ,july1 #aiah ,with ,maps1 ,plans and ,diagrams ,the history shows no abatement in vigour and readableness1 but rather the opposite1 and a final volume describing the great counter-attack of the ,allies1 leading to their final victory1 will bring to a close a series which1 on its own lines1 is unsurpassable4--,scotsman ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle has stuck to his great work with admirable assiduity4444 ,he has produced an accurate and concise record of a campaign the most glorious and the most deadly in all the history of the ,british race1 and a record well qualified to live among the notable books of the language4--,edinburgh ,evening ,dispatch 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,sixth ,volume of ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle's ,history of the ,war ,,the ,,british ,,campaign in ,,france and ,,flanders ,july to ,november1 #aiah ,with ,maps1 ,plans and ,diagrams ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle's concluding volume of the interim history of the ,british ,campaign on the ,west ,front is as good as any of its predecessors4--,morning ,post ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle's ',history of the ,british ,campaign in ,france and ,flanders' is an authoritative work1 which is destined for immortality4444 ,with full confidence in the historian1 with congratulations on a noble task accomplished1 we open the sixth and final volume4--,british ,weekly ,,hodder ,,stoughton ,,ltd41 ,warwick ,square1 ,london1 ,e4,c4#d