,the ,case ,against ,spiritualism ,,by ,,jane ,t4 ,,stoddart ,,hodder ,,and ,,stoughton ,,london ,,new ,,york ,,toronto ,,mcmxix ,contents ,,chapter ,i ,,new ,,votaries ,,of ,,spiritualism #ag ,,chapter ,,ii ,,disturbers ,,of ,,the ,,dead #ca ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,medium #dc ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,medium',s 8,,control0 #eg ,,chapter ,v ,,table ,,phenomena #ga ,,chapter ,,vi ,,automatic ,,writing #he ,,chapter ,,vii ,,is ,,there ,,danger ,,from ,,the ,,other ,,side8 #ii ,,chapter ,,viii ,,spiritualism ,,and ,,christianity #aaa ,,chapter ,,ix ,,quality ,,of ,,the ,,alleged ,,messages #acc ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,churches ,,and ,,the ,s,,ance #adg ,,chapter ,,xi ,,the ,,appeal ,,to ,,science #aei ,preface ,rudyard ,kipling1 with his robust common sense1 has warned intruders who seek to establish a traffic with discarnate beings that they are entering on a dangerous path4 8,oh the road to ,en-dor is the oldest road ,and the craziest road of all4 ,straight it runs to the ,witch's abode1 ,as it did in the days of ,saul4 ,and nothing has changed of the sorrow in store ,for such as go down on the road to ,en-dor60 ,that old road has never been more crowded than it is to-day4 ,the merchants who travel on it appear to ignorant onlookers laden with balm and spicery and myrrh4 ,owing to the propagandist activities of honoured men like ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 ,sir ,w4 ,f4 ,barrett and ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle1 the cult of ,spiritualism has received a new advertisement1 and is proving itself1 in certain quarters1 a rival to ,christianity4 ,its literature is growing rapidly1 and the wish has often been expressed for a brief1 comprehensive1 up-to-date exposition of the arguments on the other side4 ,this book is designed to supply that need4 ,while the writer is well acquainted with the older historical works1 both of ,britain and ,america1 the publications of the ,society for ,psychical ,research1 and the standard ,continental treatises1 these chapters deal mainly with ,spiritualism in the war-period and after4 ,the strongest arguments against 8dabbling0 are to be found1 as will be seen1 in the writings of ,spiritualists themselves4 ,warnings are heard from many pulpits1 though with the exception of ,dr4 ,barnes in his admirable short pamphlet1 8,spiritualism and the ,christian ,faith10 none of our leading preachers seems to have grappled with the subject in detail4 ,the writer may therefore claim to have broken new ground4 8,the ,case ,against ,spiritualism0 is set forth under many aspects1 and it is hoped that the book may prove acceptable to ,christian teachers1 as well as to inquirers in general4 ,chapter ,i ,,new ,,votaries ,,of ,,spiritualism ,expert writers believed twenty years ago that ,spiritualism was declining4 ,the late ,mr4 ,frank ,podmore1 about the time of ,queen ,victoria's ,diamond ,jubilee1 called attention to the disappointing results attained by the ,society for ,psychical ,research4 ,the number of believers1 he said1 had been much larger in the seventies1 and the things they believed much more difficult of acceptance4 ,there was a time1 he thought1 when the number of avowed ,spiritualists in this country and the ,united ,states might fairly have been reckoned by tens of thousands1 but between #ahhb and #ahig 7the first period of the ,society's investigations7 zealous students had been brought up against defeat4 8,no positive results10 he said frankly1 8have been obtained worthy of record40 ,there was a 8cooling-off0 in public interest4 ,sir ,william ,crookes1 though a believer in ,spiritualism1 had seemed to discourage intrusive curiosity in a famous passage4 8,in such an inquiry10 he wrote1 8the intellect demands that the spiritual proof must be absolutely incapable of being explained away2 it must be so strikingly and convincingly true that we cannot1 dare not1 deny it40 ,the truth is that ,spiritualism breaks like waves on the modern world2 and when each successive wave has spent its force there follows a period of lassitude4 ,can we wonder that a tidal wave should have followed the late war8 ,three classes1 at least1 have felt themselves strongly attracted towards psychical studies4 ,i ,there are1 first1 the idle1 curious gazers who under the late ,roman ,empire would have been thronging to the worship of ,isis or ,mithra4 ,sir ,samuel ,dill and ,dr4 ,reaveley ,glover have painted these men and women1 some of whom had great possessions4 ,their successors were found in ,paris under the ,second ,empire1 when society1 for a short time1 was bewitched by the revelations of ,douglas ,home4 ,neither time nor space1 it was believed1 had any existence for him4 ,through his means the spirits of ,st4 ,louis1 ,pascal1 ,rousseau1 and even ancient ,greeks like ,aristides and ,solon1 were consulted1 and if we may trust ,french memoir-writers of the period1 they replied with touching alacrity4 ,pre ,lacordaire1 the foremost preacher of his time1 was almost deceived by the phenomena4 ,he wrote to ,madame ,swetchine in #ahec that he had heard tables talk and made them talk4 8,they have told me some very remarkable things about the past and the present40 8,a poor and vulgar phenomenon10 was his verdict1 yet he did not think it was all imposture4 ,the ,roman ,catholic ,church1 in our own day1 speaks with sharper condemnation4 ,under the ,second ,empire1 about the time of the ,crimean ,war1 table-turning and spirit-rapping were the amusements of every drawing-room4 ,while our great war lasted the need for distraction was felt by those who in normal times are known as 8the pleasure-loving classes40 ,individuals among these classes--hundreds1 nay thousands1 of them--were occupied to the limit of their strength in public service4 ,crowded theatres and music-halls proclaimed their need of respite and excitement4 ,spiritualism had its distractions to offer to the weary rich4 ,,ii ,it has drawn recruits1 in the second place1 from that large body of the middle and working-class population which has no link with any of the organised ,churches4 ,mr4 ,george ,haw1 writing in the ,daily ,news census volume of #aijd1 gave a picture of ,sunday as spent by non-churchgoers in greater ,london4 ,among the artisans 8the day opens with an idle morning1 divided between nap and newspaper4 ,after a late dinner the afternoon sees a saunter1 sometimes with wife and children1 through the streets1 or a walk into ,epping ,forest 444 or by the banks of the ,lea4 ,an early supper and a pipe close the day40 ,that section of the working classes represented by clerks1 shop assistants and warehousemen spent ,sunday1 as ,mr4 ,haw had observed1 in visiting and entertaining4 8,thoughts of taking part in public worship are as far from their minds as thoughts of taking part in public life40 8,games and concerts in their little parlours beguile many a ,sunday night40 ,spiritualist lecturers to-day are teaching such people to 8form home circles0 for the evocation of spirits4 ,,iii ,from all these classes1 whether rich or poor1 is drawn a companionship of the bereaved4 ,it is from them that the new ,spiritualism expects a multitude of recruits1 for their eyes are looking towards the shadows4 ,sunday morning in greater ,london was once 8a time for tending little gardens10 but the boy who used to 8help father0 with his spade and pail may be resting now in a hero's grave by ,somme or ,tigris4 ,perhaps he has no sleeping-place1 even among the undistinguished dead4 ,his body may have been utterly obliterated1 his end may be a subject for mysterious surmise4 ,if the ,churches cannot speak to the mourners words of ,divine consolation1 ,spiritualism will rush in with its false and fatal comfort4 ,shallow writers have told us in recent months that 8the dead are sleeping in their graves1 already half-forgotten40 ,so it seems1 because life's routine proceeds as usual in homes where 8one is not40 ,if ,mr4 ,george ,haw's description of the day of rest in outer ,london could be brought up to date1 we should doubtless hear of nap and newspaper1 country walk and evening concert1 with a cigar as the breadwinner's treat in the after-dinner hour4 ,but the clay cottage of materialism has begun to rock and crumble4 ,every incident of the war is marked and dated according to its bearing on the personal sorrow4 ,nor is it surprising that ignorant persons should brush aside contemptuously vague warnings as to the peril of dabbling in ,spiritualism4 ,there is no more superstitious peasantry in the world than that of ,brittany1 nor any with a darker array of ghostly legends4 ,yet we are told that on ,st4 ,john's ,eve1 when the bonfire is lit and the priests and choir have gone past in long procession with banners and relics1 places are set beside the glowing embers for those whose bodies are in the churchyard1 that they1 too1 may look in at the dancers4 ,in every land which war has visited arms are stretched out towards the young and beautiful who have fallen1 and the cry is heard from mourners' lips1 8,i am determined to take the hazard of the night along with you40 ,,iv ,new inquirers are1 for the most part1 wholly ignorant with regard to the history of ,spiritualism1 which ,mr4 ,waite1 our chief living occultist1 has called 8a masque of anarchy40 ,the most respectable leaders of the movement are only too anxious to break with the ugly1 disreputable past4 ,a well-known authority says in ,light#a3 8,it has been the misfortune of ,spiritualism that many of its public expositions have been conducted in circumstances the reverse of dignified4 ,it has suffered from contact with stupidity and cupidity1 and its enemies have made the most of their numerous opportunities of holding it up to ridicule40 ,just as the ,government of ,ebert and ,scheidemann pleaded with the ,allies3 8,the past is past2 the old bad system is gone for ever2 let us write on this clean slate10 so the newer exponents of ,spiritualism--even men like ,sir ,oliver ,lodge and ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle--seem inclined to pass over1 sub silentio1 all that was guilty and fraudulent in the records of seventy years4 ,such an amnesty could not be granted in public affairs4 ,the framers of the ,peace ,treaty of #aiai were guided in every step they took by a knowledge of the crimes committed by ,germany during the war4 ,the greater her misdeeds1 the sterner were the guarantees required4 8,take up the study of ,spiritualism without prejudice10 says the devotee to the ignorant new-comer4 ,the words of ,mr4 ,robert ,hichens are in place1 though they refer to the testing of individual character3 8,the question is1 ,what is prejudice8 ,the facts of a life are facts1 and cannot leave one wholly uninfluenced for or against the liver of that life4 ,if ,i see a man beating a dog because it has licked his hand1 ,i draw the inference that he is cruel4 ,would you say that ,i am narrow-minded in doing so8 ,if one does not judge men and women by their actions1 by what is one to judge them80 ,as with individuals1 so with movements4 8,it is infinitely to be regretted10 says the ,french ,spiritualist leader1 ,camille ,flammarion1 8that we cannot trust the loyalty of the mediums4 ,they almost all cheat40 ,are we to pass over such a sentence as of trifling importance1 or shall we receive it as a warning against all attempts to pry into the fate of our dead by unlawful and unholy methods8 8,the judgment1 the estimate1 where they are10 wrote ,bishop ,francis ,paget1 8is formed with perfect knowledge1 perfect love2 and our loose guesses1 our hasty impressions1 our blundering words are like voices in the noisy street outside a church40 ,,footnotes3 #a ,may #ajth1 #aiai4 ,chapter ,,ii ,,disturbers ,,of ,,the ,,dead ,modern ,spiritualism has its roots in ,necromancy1 a practice hated in all ages by sober and reverent minds4 ,it was only the worst type of sorcerer1 according to ,mr4 ,waite1 who attempted to communicate with the spirits of departed men and women4 ,medival magic had a by-path leading towards the abyss1 8an abhorrent and detested branch1 belonging exclusively to the domain of black magic40 ,the alchemist was bidden by his rules to pray as well as work4 ,the astrologer was taught that in the last resort there is a law of grace by which the stars are governed1 that 8,christ rules all things1 even the stars40 ,though poisoning alchemists1 like ,alasco1 in 8,kenilworth10 or star-gazers1 like ,galeotti1 in 8,quentin ,durward10 deceived ,courts and peoples with a pretence of superior knowledge1 there was nothing actually odious to the human mind in their professed and ostensible business4 ,necromancy1 as ,sir ,william ,barrett points out1 incurred the reprobation of ,hebrew prophets1 the statesmen and men of science of their day4 ,from ,moses to ,isaiah1 says this writer1 we find them united in warning the people against any attempts to peer into and forecast the future1 or to meddle with psychical phenomena for this or any lower purpose4 8,these practices10 he says1 8were condemned 444 irrespective of any question as to whether the phenomena were genuine or merely the product of trickery and superstition4 ,they were prohibited 444 mainly because they tended to obscure the ,divine idea1 to weaken the supreme faith in1 and reverent worship of1 the ,one ,omnipotent ,being1 whom the nation was set apart to proclaim40 ,sir ,w4 ,f4 ,barrett quotes with approval the words of ,sir ,george ,adam ,smith in his 8,isaiah03 8,augury and divination wearied a people's intellect1 stunted their enterprise1 distorted their conscience4 ,isaiah saw this1 and warned the people3 #8,thy spells and enchantments with which thou hast wearied thyself have led thee astray4' ,and in later years ,juvenal's strong conscience expressed the same sense of the wearisomeness and waste of time of these practices40 ,it is fair to add that ,sir ,william ,barrett is convinced that the perils which beset the ancient world in the pursuit of psychical knowledge do not apply to scientific investigation to-day4 ,enough for our purpose that he lays emphasis on the warnings of ,holy ,scripture against intrusion into unhallowed realms4 ,how shall we explain the deep repugnance of the human mind1 at its best and sanest1 against any attempt to summon back the souls of the departed8 ,i ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle1 in 8,the ,new ,revelation10 admits that the opponents of ,spiritualism are guided in part by that strange instinct which warns men and women to keep off forbidden ground4 ,the man who would violate a grave is naturally regarded with loathing4 ,dickens1 in 8,a ,tale of ,two ,cities10 has drawn such a person in ,tellson's outside porter1 ,jerry ,cruncher4 ,jerry's good wife looks with horror on the night work of the body-snatcher1 and ,mr4 ,lorry says sternly to his employee3 8,you have had an unlawful occupation of an infamous description40 ,with even deeper aversion does the unsophisticated mind turn from those who seek to rend the veil which hangs between this world and the next4 ,,ii ,if the stern voice from ,sinai says 8,thus far and no farther10 a tenderer reproach1 breathed from earliest ages1 warns presumptuous intruders who would disturb the dead4 ,here1 again1 we venture to quote the words of ,mr4 ,waite3 8,there was a very strong and prevailing impression that the dead were at rest1 and that the attempt to disturb that rest was a monstrous profanation40 ,tennyson's lines express the feeling of bereaved hearts1 even where there was no hope of survival1 in lands where ,christianity was unknown3 8,sleep sweetly1 tender heart1 in peace3 ,sleep1 holy spirit1 blessed soul1 ,while the stars burn1 the moons increase1 ,and the great ages onward roll4 8,sleep till the end1 true soul and sweet4 ,nothing comes to thee new or strange4 ,sleep full of rest from head to feet2 ,lie still1 dry dust1 secure of change40 ,many sayings of ,scripture confirm the ,christian's assurance that the faithful dead1 having passed the waves of this troublesome world1 are at rest in their desired haven4 ,newman's words on the calm of ,ascensiontide belong in part not only to the exalted ,saviour1 but to each of ,his brethren now absent from the body3 8,he is in the very abyss of peace1 where there is no voice of tumult or distress1 but a deep stillness--stillness1 that greatest and most awful of all goods which we can fancy--that most perfect of joys1 the utter1 profound1 ineffable tranquillity of the ,divine essence4 ,he has entered into his rest40 ,jesus said3 8,our friend ,lazarus sleepeth2 ,i go that ,i may awake him out of sleep40 ,st4 ,paul wrote3 8,i would not have you ignorant1 brethren1 concerning them that are asleep40 ,the ,church does not interpret these and other passages as teaching that the dead are wrapped in profound unconsciousness1 or that they are wholly unconcerned with dear ones left on earth4 ,new activities may claim their interest1 while old memories remain alive4 8,for the breed of the ,far-going1 ,who are strangers and all brothers1 ,may forget no more than others ,who look seaward with eyes flowing40 ,but the ,new ,testament use of the word 8sleep0 ought at least to warn us against meddling with their sacred rest4 ,,iii ,spiritualist teachers are not without a sense of the impropriety of such attempts1 when pressed on grounds of curiosity alone4 ,sir ,william ,barrett advises that those who have attained the assurance of survival by means of the sance should not pursue the matter further1 but rather learn more of the spiritual world and spiritual communion from the ,christian mystics of all countries4 ,he recommends especially a study of the writings of ,swedenborg4 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle1 unlike ,sir ,w4 ,f4 ,barrett1 regards ,spiritualism as a religion1 but he advises his readers to get away from the phenomenal side1 and learn the 8lofty teaching0 from such books as those of ,stainton ,moses4 ,the cult of the sance1 he says1 may be very much overdone4 8,when once you have convinced yourself of the truth of the phenomena1 the physical sance has done its work1 and the man or woman who spends his or her life in running from sance to sance is in danger of becoming a sensation-hunter40 ,in all such writing there is a note of uneasiness4 ,the sance is not regarded as a 8means of grace0 for the believer in ,spiritualism1 therefore the outsider should avoid these dark and perilous ways4 8,not for nothing10 says the ,rev4 ,cyril ,e4 ,hudson1 8has the ,church throughout her history discouraged the practice of necromancy1 the morbid concern with the dead which must inevitably interfere1 and does in fact interfere1 with the proper discharge of our duties in that plane of existence in which ,god has placed us40#b ,,footnotes3 #b ,nineteenth ,century1 ,may1 #aiai1 p4 #iai4 ,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,medium ,in ordinary trance-mediumship1 at least four distinct entities are involved4 ,there is first the inquirer1 next the medium1 thirdly the medium's alleged 8control0 or controlling spirit1 and1 lastly1 the presumed discarnate being who speaks to the inquirer through the 8control0 and through the medium4 ,i 8,mediumship0 is a word with ugly associations1 as every honest-minded ,spiritualist will admit4 ,it used to be said that the ,psychical ,society found its chief occupation in exposing fraud and trickery4 ,the great ,russian authority1 ,aksakof1 complained bitterly of the frequent transmission of obviously false messages4 ,he wrote of 8the deception which appeared along with the dark sance and materialisations1 and which was confirmed in my experience1 not only from literature1 but also through my personal relations with the most celebrated professional mediums40 ,he would have agreed with ,mrs4 ,sidgwick's words3 8,the chief scandal of ,spiritualism is the encouragement it gives to the immoral trade of fraudulent mediumship40 ,on that point1 inquirers should note1 there is no dispute at all among responsible investigators4 ,in the earlier stages of the movement exposures were so numerous that a theory was evolved to account for them4 ,it was admitted that in many cases the medium cheated1 but it was alleged that this was done unconsciously1 and that the fraud was really perpetrated from the other side4 ,the late ,professor ,de ,morgan wrote of certain phenomena3 8,if these things be spirits1 they show that pretenders1 coxcombs and liars are to be found on the other side of the grave as well as on this40 ,the idea was also elaborated that an uncongenial 8circle0 might induce bad spirits to play tricks with the medium4 8,the cheating medium10 as ,mr4 ,waite puts it1 8was sure of his defence4 ,he was caught red-handed1 but it was the ill-conditioned circle that attracted the #8unprogressed spirits' to tempt him4 ,he carried the baggage of a conjuror on his tours1 but the real infamy rested with the persons who had dared to trespass on the liberty of the subject by ransacking his private effects40 ,kind-hearted men and women would make any excuse rather than admit that a favourite 8psychic0 had been guilty of conscious deception4 ,since the bad side of mediumship is admitted1 it is needless to re-array the historic evidence4 ,let us turn from the past to the present1 and ask what has been the cumulative effect of so many disastrous exposures on the leaders of the ,spiritualist movement in our own day4 ,,ii ,four names stand out on that side as specially authoritative3 ,sir ,w4 ,f4 ,barrett1 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle1 ,mr4 ,j4 ,arthur ,hill1 and ,sir ,oliver ,lodge4 ,three of these men are eminent in the worlds of science and literature1 while the ,spiritualistic writings of ,mr4 ,hill deserve attention for their knowledge1 fairmindedness and sanity4 7#a7 ,sir ,william ,barrett refrains from citing any evidence obtained through paid professional mediums1 and has evidently a low esteem for this class4 ,he welcomes the action of the ,psychical ,society in clearing off 8a number of those detestable professional rogues who prey on the grief and credulity of mankind40#c ,the very word 8medium10 he acknowledges1 is usually associated in the public mind with various degrees of rascality1 and he says emphatically that 8so long as paid mediums and dark sances are encouraged1 and rogues and fools abound1 the evil odour which surrounds the name #8medium' is likely to remain40 ,he also recognises that many so-called communications from the unseen are merely the unconscious revelation of the medium's own thoughts1 or latent memory1 or subliminal self4#d ,even with honest 8psychics0 there is a natural tendency not to disappoint the sitter when a fee is paid1 8and the temptation arises to supplement genuine by spurious phenomena40 ,super-normal gifts1 in the view of our most experienced authority1 are rare and elusive1 and require patience1 knowledge and discrimination on the part of the inquirer4#e ,sir ,william ,barrett dissuades uninstructed persons from resorting to mediums2 and it is clear that he desires the total elimination of the commercial element4 ,we need to guard against self-deception1 he thinks1 even in people whose character is beyond reproach4 7#b7 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle greatly dislikes the commercial element in mediumship4 ,in a letter to ,light#f he pleads for the 8training and segregation of mediums40 ,like ,sir ,william ,barrett1 he condemns the whole system of paying by results4 8,it is only when the professional medium can be guaranteed an annuity which will be independent of results10 he says1 8that we can eliminate the strong temptation to substitute pretended phenomena when the real ones are wanting40 ,he points out that mediumship in its lowest forms is a purely physical gift1 with no relation to morality4 7#c7 ,mr4 ,j4 ,arthur ,hill1 as ,sir ,a4 ,conan ,doyle tells us1#g has been for many years an invalid1 stretched on his back in bed4 ,a strong and athletic young man1 he was suddenly reduced to absolute helplessness by a heart-wrench sustained while cycling up a hill4 ,the volumes he has written under sad physical disabilities are among the most influential now read in ,spiritualist circles1 and their quiet1 unfanatical tone commends them to outsiders4 ,mr4 ,hill1 like the late ,frank ,podmore1 whose place he has partly taken as the historian of the movement1 has a thorough knowledge of the older literature and journalism1 both ,american and ,british4 ,he admits deliberate fraud on the part of professional mediums1 and is sceptical with regard to 8materialisation40 ,it is not unlikely1 in his opinion1 that sitters who await1 in darkness and expectancy1 the appearance of discarnate personalities1 may 8pass into a mental state not quite normal1 and closely analogous to hypnosis40 ,mr4 ,hill thinks it inevitable that doubt should linger in the mind when the financial element enters at all into mediumship1 and he advises that this element should be eliminated as far as possible4 ,he discusses very frankly the evidence obtained from non-professionals4 8,we have subliminal memory to deal with1 and that is more difficult to exclude than ordinary fraud40 ,the best class of ,spiritualist teachers are fully aware of the attitude of caution imposed upon them by the gradual progress of medical investigation into the workings of the unconscious mind4 8,one of the principal difficulties in the way of admitting an element of super-normality--whether telepathy1 clairvoyance or communication from the dead0--remarks ,mr4 ,hill1#h 8is the unknown reach of subliminal memory4444 ,great care is necessary as to what we say to sensitives who are helping us in experimentation1 also close knowledge of their lives1 their reading1 their associations1 in order to estimate the probability or improbability of this or that piece of knowledge ever having reached them through normal channels40 ,he advises inquirers to err on the safe side1 setting aside as non-evidential anything that the sensitive may reasonably be supposed to have ever known4 7#d7 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge regards the medium as 8a delicate piece of apparatus1 wherewith we are making an investigation40 8,the medium is an instrument whose ways and idiosyncrasies must be learnt1 and to an extent humoured1 just as one studies and humours the ways of some much less delicate piece of physical apparatus turned out by a skilled instrument maker40 ,these words of ,sir ,oliver ,lodge raise a serious question4 ,do our investigators care enough about the moral and physical injury which the 8sensitive0 may suffer under the trance condition8 ,sir ,william ,barrett notes that ,d4 ,d4 ,home suffered severely after a long series of sances4 ,according to the testimony of ,sir ,w4 ,crookes1 he lay pale1 speechless and almost fainting on the floor1 8showing what a drain on his vital powers was caused by the evolution of the #8psychic force4'0 ,the ,rev4 ,walter ,wynn1 in 8,rupert ,lives60 says of a medium that it took nearly ten minutes for him to pass under control 8after many strange bodily contortions which are not pleasant to witness1 but are quite natural if we are to assume that a discarnate spirit controls his body40 ,prostration occurred1 as the ,new ,testament records1 when our ,lord cast a spirit out of some poor human frame4 ,the liberated were restored by ,him to normal health and vigour4 ,st4 ,mark's words are in strange contrast to the recurrent trance experiences of modern mediumship4 8,and the spirit cried1 and rent him sore1 and came out of him1 and he was as one dead1 insomuch that many said1 ,he is dead4 ,but ,jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up1 and he arose40 ,would ,he not lift up and restore and revitalise those who at the sance seem to ignorant onlookers to be invaded by some alien personality8 ,,footnotes3 #c 8,on the ,threshold of the ,unseen10 p4 #abd 7#aiah74 #d ibid4 #e 8,on the ,threshold of the ,unseen10 p4 #beg 7#aiah74 #f ,may #ajth1 #aiai4 #g ,in the ,introduction to ,mr4 ,hill's book entitled 8,spiritualism1 its ,history1 ,phenomena1 and ,doctrine0 7,cassell74 #h 8,spiritualism10 pp4 #abg1 #abh4 ,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,medium',s 8,,control0 ,professor ,jacks remarked in a recent address#i that the whole problem of ,spiritualism is largely centred in the 8controls40 ,the 8control0 professes to be the spirit of some departed person1 which has taken possession of the entranced medium1 and which causes the medium to speak or write in an abnormal manner4 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge writes of 8a separate intelligence 444 which some think must be a secondary personality--which indeed certainly is a secondary personality of the medium40#aj ,elsewhere he states very clearly the divergence of view among psychical students with regard to this mysterious entity4 8,this personality10 he says1 8is believed by some to be merely the subliminal self of the entranced person1 brought to the surface1 or liberated and dramatised into a sort of dream existence1 for the time40 ,others think we have here a case of dual or multiple personality1 while a third section believe it to be in reality the separate intelligence it claims to be4#aa ,i ,it is hardly surprising that ,spiritualists should differ among themselves as to the nature of the controls1 for some of these controls are very curious people4 ,let us consider1 for instance1 the group which appears in 8,raymond40 ,one of the most active is 8,moonstone10 who tells inquirers that he was a ,yogi1 who lived as a hermit on earth1 8a good life1 but a selfish one40 ,he now desires to help humanity1 8and so that is why ,i came back to my ,medie1 and try to bear through him the sorrows of the world40 ,another control is 8,redfeather10 who is apparently of ,north ,american ,indian origin1 though this is not distinctly stated4 ,at one point the spirit of the supposed ,raymond says1 8,chap with red feather helping40#ab 8,redfeather0 remarks when first taking command1 8,i come dis little minute to try experiment4 ,if we succeed1 all right2 if we don't1 don't mind4444 ,who could help better than me8444 ,long ago ,i was killed40#ac ,to relieve the tension of a strongly emotional scene which follows1 an old ,irishwoman named ,biddy takes control4 ,she begins3 8,sure it's meself that has come to speak4 ,here's another mother4444 ,i come to help to soothe the nerves of the medium4444 ,i was a washer-woman1 and lived next a church1 and they say cleanliness comes next to godliness6 ,one of my chains is to help mothers40 ,most singular of all the controls in 8,raymond0 is the ,oriental girl 8,feda10 who in her broken language talks of 8,yaymond10 and pronounces three-syllabled words in a careful and drawn-out manner4 ,the controls1 as ,dr4 ,jacks says1 are often remote people1 and he mentions the case of an ,egyptian priest belonging to the time of one of the ,pharaohs4 ,what are we to think of 8,dr4 ,phinuit10 that singular control of ,mrs4 ,piper1 who described himself as a ,french doctor born at ,marseilles about #agij8 ,he gave particulars of his birth1 education1 and life in ,paris1 where1 according to his own account1 he died about #ahfj4 ,enquiries failed to reveal any trace of his existence4 ,he gave no indication of possessing any scientific knowledge of medicine4 ,more surprising still1 his knowledge of ,french appeared to extend only to a few simple phrases1 which might have been familiar to the medium4 ,as ,mr4 ,j4 ,arthur ,hill remarks1 8,the ,french doctor spoke no more ,french than ,mrs4 ,piper herself might be supposed to know40#ad ,how many ,spiritualists believe to-day that ,william ,grocyn1 the teacher of ,erasmus1 acted as a control to ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses8 ,or that the group of ,broad ,church controls--,imperator1 ,rector and the rest--who inculcated their theology through the mediumship of ,mr4 ,moses1 afterwards invaded the personality of ,mrs4 ,piper8 ,,ii ,responsible leaders of the ,spiritualist movement incline to a verdict of ,not ,proven1 while impartial students1 among whom ,mrs4 ,sidgwick is pre-eminent1 have expressed the strongest doubts as to the real nature of the controls4 ,writing of ,mrs4 ,piper's trance phenomena 7which were closely observed by experts7 ,mrs4 ,sidgwick says that the trance 8is probably a state of self-induced hypnosis in which her hypnotic self personates different characters either consciously and deliberately or unconsciously and believing herself to be the person she represents1 and sometimes probably in a state of consciousness intermediate between the two40 ,sir ,william ,barrett also believes that the messages 8often spring from1 and are invariably influenced by1 the medium's own subconscious life40#ae ,he agrees1 on the whole1 with ,mrs4 ,sidgwick1 and he gives examples of absurd communications4 ,thus1 in a sitting with ,mrs4 ,piper1 in #ahii1 the ,jewish lawgiver ,moses purported to communicate1 and prophesied a great war in the near future1 in which ,russia and ,france would be on one side1 ,britain and ,america on the other4 ,germany1 according to 8,moses10 would not take any serious part in the war4#af ,another time 8,sir ,walter ,scott0 announced to ,dr4 ,hodgson that he had visited all the planets and could give information about ,mars4 8,asked if he had seen a planet further away than ,saturn1 the soi-disant novelist answered1 #8,mercury4'0 ,julius ,csar1 ,madame ,guyon and ,george ,eliot were personated1 and ,george ,eliot is reported as saying3 8,i hardly know as there is enough light to communicate10 and 8do not know as ,i have ever seen a haunted house40 ,mr4 ,j4 ,arthur ,hill says3 8,i am not convinced that the regular trance-controls are spirits at all40 ,his views on certain aspects of the problem may be gathered from the following passage3 8,at ,spiritualist meetings a trance-control or inspirational speaker will sometimes hold forth with surprising fluency at incredible length4 ,the secretary of the ,spiritualists' ,national ,union once backed the late ,w4 ,j4 ,colville to talk #8till this time next week without intervals for meals1' yet with a dullness and inanity that would drive any but a very tolerant audience mad4 ,spiritualists certainly have the virtue of patience40#ag ,mr4 ,hill thinks it probable that in many mediums there is a dissociation of consciousness1 and no external spirit-agency at all4 ,he warns ,spiritualist societies against 8encouraging the flow of platitudinous or almost meaningless verbiage which1 whether it comes from a medium's subliminal or from a discarnate spirit1 can hardly be helpful to anybody1 and must be very bad for the minds of most hearers40 ,he admits that in 8at least some cases of trance-control there is no reason to believe the control to be other than a subliminal fraction of the automatist's mind40 ,how can the impartial inquirer hope to discern the truth amid heaps of lies8 ,the cheating medium could be detected and cast out2 the 8controls0 are as irresponsible as the fairies of 8,a ,midsummer ,night's ,dream40 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge's views on the 8controls0 are of extreme interest1 though he is fully committed to the defence of ,spiritualism4 8,the dramatic semblance of the control10 he says1 8is undoubtedly that of a separate person--a person asserted to be permanently existing on the other side1 and to be occupied on that side in much the same functions as the medium is on this40 ,it is true1 he admits1 that in the case of some mediums 8there are evanescent and absurd obtrusions every now and then1 which cannot be seriously regarded4 ,these have to be eliminated1 and for anyone to treat them as real people would be ludicrous40#ah ,the excuse given for their appearance is that the medium may be 8overdone or tired40 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge advises 8sitters10 nevertheless1 to 8humour0 the controls by 8taking them at their face value40 ,with the utmost respect for so great a scientist1 the task of discrimination1 we may safely say1 lies beyond the capacity of ordinary men and women4 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge thinks that 8the more responsible kind of control is a real person10 and he has much to say of 8the serious controls10 but he admits the occurrence of 8mischievous and temporary impersonations40 ,the question may fairly be asked1 ,cannot the fourth personality in that strange group--composed of the inquirer on this side1 the medium1 the medium's control1 and the spirit communicator--speak directly from within the veil8 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 while admitting that an exceptional more direct privilege is occasionally vouchsafed to persons in extreme sorrow1 gives his answer1 on the whole1 in the negative4 ,the normal process 8involves the activity of several people10 and we conclude from his writings that he desires to uphold professional mediumship4 ,,footnotes3 #i ,at ,denison ,house1 ,vauxhall ,bridge ,road1 on ,june #aath1 #aiai4 #aj 8,raymond10 p4 #hf4 #aa ibid41 p4 #ceg4 #ab ibid41 p4 #bce4 #ac ibid41 p4 #aff4 #ad 8,spiritualism10 p4 #gd4 #ae 8,on the ,threshold of the ,unseen10 p4 #cc4 #af ibid41 p4 #bdj4 #ag 8,spiritualism10 p4 #agb4 #ah 8,raymond10 p4 #ceg4 ,chapter ,v ,,table ,,phenomena ,table-turning1 as we meet it in literature1 belongs to the older class of parlour games4 ,sir ,w4 ,f4 ,barrett quotes the testimony of ,delitzsch that it was practised in ,jewish circles in the seventeenth century3 8the table springs up even when laden with many hundred-weight40 ,zebi1 in #afae1 defended the practice as not due to magic1 but to the power of ,god1 8for we sing to the table sacred psalms and songs1 and it can be no devil's work where ,god is remembered40 ,i ,mrs4 ,de ,morgan1 in that curious book1 8,from ,matter to ,spirit10 describes her experience in table-turning circles about the year #ahec4 ,the medium was ,mrs4 ,hayden1 whose sances in ,west ,london were attended by such men as ,professor ,huxley and ,robert ,chambers4 ,mrs4 ,hayden was an educated lady1 the wife of ,w4 ,r4 ,hayden1 editor of the ,star-,spangled ,banner4 ,her rooms were crowded with visitors1 at a minimum fee of half a guinea each1 and her services were in great demand for evening parties and private sittings4 ,according to ,mrs4 ,de ,morgan1 the circle gathered round an old ,pembroke table4 ,the illustrations in the book show a spirit appearing to a man and woman who are seated at a rather large round table4 ,very strange and absurd communications1 as ,mrs4 ,de ,morgan admitted1 were given by table-tipping1 8as1 indeed1 by all methods40 8,i have seen instances10 she writes1 8and been told of others1 in which long incongruous strings of names and titles have been spelt out1 such as ,richard ,cur de ,lion1 ,pythagoras1 ,byron1 ,cheops1 and ,mr4 ,fauntleroy1 the list1 perhaps1 ending with ,t4 ,browne or ,j4 ,smith4 ,the givers of these names seem to delight only in buffoonery and abuse2 and1 perhaps1 after playing absurd and mischievous tricks for days or even weeks1 will seem to come in a body1 giving all their names1 with the information that they are come to say good-bye for ever40 ,phenomena not unlike the 8exuberant0 table activities at ,mariemont1 as described in 8,raymond10 were familiar over half a century ago to the sitters with ,mrs4 ,hayden4 ,mrs4 ,de ,morgan tells of a case in which the watchers were directed by raps to join hands and stand up round the table without touching it4 ,they stood patiently for a quarter of an hour1 and just as one or two of the party talked of sitting down1 the old table 8moved entirely by itself as we surrounded and followed it with our hands joined1 went towards the gentleman out of the circle1 and literally pushed him up to the back of the sofa1 till he called out #8,hold1 enough6'0 ,robert ,chambers1 who was a close examiner of the table phenomena of his day1 formed an opinion which would be accepted1 as we shall show1 by thoughtful writers of our own time who are on other grounds believers in ,spiritualism4 8,i am satisfied10 ,robert ,chambers wrote in ,chambers's ,journal1 8that the phenomena are natural1 but to take them in ,i think we shall have to widen somewhat our ideas of the extent and character of what is natural40 ,in #ahec a committee of ,british medical men held an investigation on table-turning4 ,they decided that the table-motion was due to muscular action1 mostly exercised unconsciously4 ,faraday1 as ,mr4 ,podmore shows in 8,modern ,spiritualism10 was able to prove that the table movements were due to muscular action1 exercised in most cases without the consciousness or volition of the sitters4 ,table-turning1 in the remoter towns and villages of ,europe1 was a favourite drawing-room amusement as late as #ahgf4 ,,ii ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 in his deeply interesting address to the ,dublin section of the ,society for ,psychical ,research1#ai delivered more than ten years ago1 spoke wise words on the physical phenomena of the sance4 8,there is but little doubt in my mind10 he says1 8that such movements do take place2 ,i have had personal experience of them4 ,nevertheless they are not yet really established as facts1 and if they were there would still be a question whether these movements are due to some independent intelligent agency1 or whether1 as is most likely1 they are an extension of the ordinary power of the organism through which they are produced40 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 eleven years ago1 took practically the same view as ,robert ,chambers in #ahec4 8,i can move this tumbler with my hand10 he said1 8but the question remains whether ,i can move the same tumbler at a distance of a couple of feet from my hand without actually touching it4 ,note that there is nothing inconceivable about this4 ,the boundary of an organism1 as of everything else1 is more or less arbitrary2 we know that in a sense a vortex ring exists1 not only where it is seen1 but at some distance also1 and that the influence of every atom extends throughout the visible universe4 ,and so1 perhaps1 on analogous lines1 we may look for some explanation of these curious occurrences which will not take them altogether beyond the reach of more ordinary experience40 ,,iii ,we have given the opinion of scientific men in #ahec and in #aijh with regard to the phenomena of table-turning4 ,spiritualists to-day are much interested in the experiments of a distinguished ,belfast scientist1 ,dr4 ,w4 ,j4 ,crawford1 with the ,goligher family1 whose table experiments have satisfied him that 8the invisible operators0 are 8the spirits of human beings who have passed into the beyond40 ,sir ,william ,barrett1 who has personally watched the ,belfast experiments1 suggests that 8many of the physical manifestations witnessed in a ,spiritualistic sance are the product of human-like1 but not really human1 intelligences4 ,good or bad dmonia they may be2 elementals some have called them1 which aggregate round the medium--drawn from that particular plane of mental and moral development in the unseen which corresponds to the mental and moral plane of the medium40 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 in a recent article1#bj speaks of 8many grades of development0 in the other world1 8some lower than humanity40 ,mr4 ,arthur ,e4 ,waite1 writing more than twenty years ago on ,spiritualistic phenomena1 set forth the theory of the ,kabalists that 8shells and elementals10 the 8low life deeps of the world of souls10 might exercise a baneful influence on humanity4 8,the revelations of the unseen world which have come to us through ,spiritualism10 he says1 8can have come only from the dregs and lees of the unseen1 or1 as ,i should prefer to put it1 from the roots and the rudiments of that house which1 however1 on account of those rudiments1 may not be less the ,house of ,god40 ,scientific students of to-day seem divided between two theories as they examine the table phenomena4 ,these are ascribed 7#a7 to supernormal and little understood powers of the human personality1 or 7#b7 to the intervention of irresponsible and1 it may be1 sub-human intelligences4 ,readers of 8,raymond0 will remember ,sir ,oliver ,lodge's reference to the difficulties of 8table-sittings40 ,various passages show that he himself has been greatly puzzled4 ,accounts of sittings at 8,mariemont10 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge's home1 tell of obstreperous doings on the part of the tables4 ,two got broken1 and 8a stronger and heavier round table with four legs was obtained1 and employed only for this purpose40 ,in one of the sances with 8,feda10 the alleged spirit of ,raymond referred through the 8control0 to table-doings at ,mariemont4 8,other spirits get in1 not bad spirits1 but ones that like to feel they are helping4 ,the peculiar manifestations are not him1 and it only confuses him terribly4 ,part of it was him1 but when the table was careering about it was not him at all4 ,he started it1 but something comes along stronger than himself1 and he loses the control40#ba ,in a later sitting with the same medium and control we find the sentence 7supposed to come from ,raymond71 8,the ,indians have got through their hanky-panky40 ,the reference was understood by his brother to mean 8playing with the table in a way beyond his control40#bb ,mr4 ,j4 ,arthur ,hill has some sensible remarks on the general subject of table phenomena4 8,there seems no particular point10 he says1 8in physical phenomena alone1 except as providing a problem for the physicist and psychical researcher4 ,a table or other object may move in some inexplicable way1 but that is no proof of #8spirits'2 the energy is supplied from physical matter--mainly the medium's and sitters' bodies1 apparently--and it is only through evidential messages conveyed by the phenomena that spirit agency can reasonably be inferred40 ,mr4 ,hill disapproves of 8private circles10 except when held for investigation by qualified persons4 ,table phenomena1 of whatever kind1 afford no proof that discarnate human spirits are seeking to communicate with friends on earth4 ,we close this chapter with the words of ,camille ,flammarion1 the ,french astronomer1 whose name is so highly honoured in ,spiritualistic circles3-- 8,the physical phenomena 444 do not prove the existence of spirits1 and may possibly be explained without them 444 that is1 by unknown forces1 emanating from the experimenters1 and especially from the mediums40 ,,footnotes3 #ai ,fully reported in the ,journal of the ,s4,p4,r4 for ,december1 #aijh4 #bj ,weekly ,dispatch1 ,may #ahth1 #aiai4 #ba 8,raymond10 pp4 #ahb1 #ahc4 #bb ibid41 p4 #bgc1 and see also pp4 #bgf-bgg for table phenomena4 ,chapter ,,vi ,,automatic ,,writing ,the ,society for ,psychical ,research has for many years given close attention to the subject of automatic writing4 ,this has been defined as 8the faculty possessed by certain people of holding a pencil over a sheet of paper and writing coherent and intelligible sentences without any conscious volition40 ,sometimes the medium sits entranced with averted face1 and the circle looks on while 8the moving finger writes40 ,the script1 in most cases1 purports to emanate from a human being who has passed into the ,unseen4 ,i ,,stainton ,,moses ,the most remarkable automatist of the ,victorian period was the ,rev4 ,william ,stainton ,moses 78,m4,a41 ,oxon071 whose 8,spirit ,teachings0 are still widely read1 and whose character was regarded with admiration by men like ,f4 ,w4 ,h4 ,myers and ,sir ,w4 ,f4 ,barrett4 ,mr4 ,moses1 who was a clergyman of the ,church of ,england1 and a master at ,university ,college ,school1 revealed to a curious world the existence of a group of 8spirits10 who concealed their identity1 for the most part1 under such pseudonyms as 8,imperator10 8,rector10 8,mentor10 and 8,doctor40 ,it has often been pointed out that the messages of 8,imperator10 who was a spirit of a highly didactic and clerical turn of mind1 were very much what the curate ,william ,stainton ,moses might have written of his own volition4 ,their main purpose appears to have been the inculcation of ,broad ,church theology4 ,mr4 ,podmore considered that ,stainton ,moses was 8perhaps the most remarkable private medium of the last generation10 but of his trance utterances this critic said3 8,they contain no evidence of supernormal faculty40 ,mr4 ,arthur ,e4 ,waite1 in a passage on automatic script1 refers to 8that dark border-line of mystery where deception and self-deception meet and join hands40 8,it is1 indeed1 open to question10 he says1 8whether under some aspects #8the spirit teachings1' for example1 obtained through the mediumship of the ,rev4 ,stainton ,moses are not1 on the whole1 more hopeless than the quality of the trance address delivered in a back street on a ,saturday night before a circle of mechanics1 for the simple reason that from the normal gifts of the medium we had fair reason to look for better40 ,the revelations conveyed through 8,spirit ,teachings0 suggest to this experienced occultist that 8if the dead have spoken at any time since the beginning of the ,rochester knockings they have said nothing to arrest our attention or to warrant a continued communication40 ,mr4 ,podmore1 in 8,modern ,spiritualism10 mentions that 8,imperator0 and his associates were supposed to represent personages of some importance on earth4 ,their real names were revealed by ,stainton ,moses to one or two friends4 ,after the migration of these 8controls0 to ,mrs4 ,piper1 8they more than once professed1 as a proof of identity1 to give their names1 but their guesses have been incorrect40 ,mr4 ,podmore thought that the clue to the enigma of ,stainton ,moses' life 8must be sought in the annals of morbid psychology40 ,in justice to the medium it should be added that1 while working as a curate in the ,isle of ,man1 he showed remarkable courage and zeal during an outbreak of smallpox1 helping to nurse sick and bury the dead4 ,in the various positions he held as parish clergyman and schoolmaster he was liked and respected by all4 ,the physical phenomena of his mediumship were always said to be secondary2 his own wish was to emphasise the religious teaching he promulgated through automatic writing4 ,spiritualists of to-day reject entirely the notion that the phenomena associated with ,stainton ,moses were produced by fraud1 but as ,mr4 ,hill says1 8,whether they were due to spirits is another question1 not to be finally settled until we know the extent of our subliminal self's hidden powers40 ,,ii ,if doubts are felt by ,spiritualists themselves with regard to the origin of such a standard work as 8,spirit ,teachings10 can we wonder that all but the most credulous reject great masses of ordinary automatic writing and concentrate their attention on a possibly valuable 8residuum08 ,as ,sir ,william ,barrett recognises1 the automatist1 even when absolutely above suspicion1 may unconsciously guide the pencil or the indicator of the 8ouija board40 ,may not the explanation of surprising communications1 when such occur1 be found in 8thought-transference from those who are sitting with the medium1 or telepathy from other living persons who may know some of the facts that are automatically written80#bc ,sir ,william ,barrett asks the question1 though he does not consider that an affirmative answer covers the facts4 ,honest-minded ,spiritualists are groping after a natural explanation of the phenomena4 ,the best of them1 we are sure1 would agree with ,dr4 ,barnes that automatic writing1 taken as a whole1 has no evidential value in favour of the theory that it is possible to communicate with the dead4 ,as the 8table phenomena0 point to dimly realised extensions of man's physical powers1 so the unexplained facts of automatic writing find their probable explanation in thought-transference1 or in that mysterious realm where experts talk of 8the dissociation of the personality40 ,mr4 ,gerald ,balfour1 whose writings on ,psychical ,research deserve the closest and most attentive study1 discussed in the ,hibbert ,journal ten years ago the problem of dissociation1 8whereby an element of the normal self may be supposed to become in a lesser or greater degree divided off from that self1 and to acquire1 for the time being1 a certain measure of independence40 8,it would appear to be with this secondary self 7or selves1 if there be more than one of them7 that we have to reckon in dealing with the facts of automatism rather than with the normal self3 a deduction drawn from the consciousness or unconsciousness of the latter may be altogether inapplicable to the former4 ,how ready these second selves are to act a part1 and how cleverly they often do so1 the experience of hypnotism is there to show40 ,,iii 8,nearly every woman10 writes ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle in 8,the ,new ,revelation10 8is an undeveloped medium4 ,let her try her own powers of automatic writing40 ,doctors have cried out against this dangerous advice given by one of the medical fraternity1 and we have not found it supported by any leading authority in the ranks of ,spiritualism4 ,we are able to state1 on excellent authority1 that the late ,dr4 ,alfred ,russel ,wallace strongly deprecated any similar attempts by amateurs4 ,in private conversation he used to tell of a man who1 having practised automatic writing1 became absolutely incapable of writing the simplest note without his hand being used by other agencies4 ,he was not able to hinder this by his own will1 and in order to effect a cure he was obliged to abstain for years from using a pencil at all4 ,dr4 ,russel ,wallace had a strong belief in the existence and activity of malignant low-grade spirits who seek to gain control over men4 ,sir ,william ,barrett1 in a very grave passage1 discourages 8young persons and those who have little to interest their time and thoughts0 from 8making any experiments in this perplexing region40 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle has never known 8a blasphemous1 an unkind1 or an obscene message0 to be transmitted ostensibly from the other side4 ,sir ,w4 ,f4 ,barrett has been less fortunate in his experience4 8,it not infrequently happens10 writes this great authority1 8as some friends of mine found1 that after some interesting and veridical messages and answers to questions had been given1 mischievous and deceptive communications took place1 interspersed with profane and occasionally obscene language4 ,how far the sitters' subliminal self is responsible for this1 it is difficult to say2 they were naturally disquieted and alarmed1 as the ideas and words were wholly foreign to their thoughts1 and they threw up the whole matter in disgust40#bd ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 in 8,raymond0 7p4 #bbe71 warns his readers against the misapplication of psychic power4 ,his paragraph headed 8,warning0 gleams like a sea-light over sunken rocks4 ,it was with a deep sense of responsibility1 we may be sure1 and with a consciousness of surrounding danger1 that the world-famed scientist wrote these words3 8,self-control is more important than any other form of control1 and whoever possesses the power of receiving communications in any form should see to it that he remains master of the situation4 ,to give up your own judgment and depend solely on adventitious aid is a grave blunder1 and may in the long run have disastrous consequences4 ,moderation and common sense are required in those who try to utilise powers which neither they nor any fully understand1 and a dominating occupation in mundane affairs is a wholesome safeguard40 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle1 we believe1 stands alone among leading ,spiritualistic teachers in his advice that all and sundry should practise planchette-writing4 8,such practices10 as ,dr4 ,barnes remarks1 8do little harm to men and women whose minds are healthy2 but there is a danger that through them persons whose minds are unstable may develop fixed illusions40#be ,,footnotes3 #bc 8,on the ,threshold of the ,unseen10 pp4 #afb1 #afc4 #bd 8,on the ,threshold of the ,unseen10 p4 #cbb4 #be 8,spiritualism and the ,christian ,faith10 p4 #dg4 ,chapter ,,vii ,,is ,,there ,,danger ,,from ,,the ,,other ,,side8 ,canon ,barnes1 in his excellent pamphlet1 8,spiritualism and the ,christian ,faith10 warns the clergy against a line of opposing argument which would commit them to an acceptance of the medival system of demonology4 ,we can confirm the testimony of ,dr4 ,barnes that it is not uncommon to hear in ,christian pulpits an admission that the medium can receive communications from another world1 and to find this admission coupled with the suggestion that these communications are sent by evil spirits4 ,we entirely agree with ,dr4 ,barnes that the worst way of attacking ,spiritualism is to admit its fundamental claim that communication with 8spirits0 can be set up1 and then to assert that the 8spirits0 with whom intercourse is established are evil4 8,such teaching attempts to combat ,spiritualism by a revived belief in demonology40 ,the 8danger from the other side0 is of a different and more subtle nature4 8,no one at the present day10 writes ,mr4 ,arthur ,e4 ,waite1 8would desire to submit that a ,spiritualist who receives at a sance that which1 so far as his knowledge extends1 is satisfactory evidence that he is holding some kind of communication with1 let us suppose1 a departed relative1 is in reality being imposed upon by any satanic intelligence according to the conventional view2 but it remains that he is assuming throughout the good faith of the other side of life1 and that it is incapable of utilising particular means of knowledge in an unscrupulous way40 ,trustworthy teachers of ,spiritualism do not1 in their own investigations1 8assume the good faith of the other side of life40 ,the most serious warnings as to possible dangers to the inquirer come from men of high character and responsible position1 who accept the tenets of ,spiritualism4 ,i ,the ,church has taught in every age that man's soul is engaged in warfare with unseen powers4 ,st4 ,paul's words in ,ephesians vi4 #aa1 #ab1 are impressively rendered by ,dr4 ,moffatt3 8,put on ,god's armour so as to be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil4 ,for we have to struggle not with blood and flesh1 but with the ,angelic ,rulers1 the ,angelic ,authorities1 the potentates of the dark present1 the spirit-forces of evil in the heavenly sphere40 ,there is no stranger1 more disputed1 passage in ,dante's 8,purgatorio0 than that in which the poet represents the evil serpent seeking to gain access to the penitents on the lower slopes of the ,mount4 ,sinless they are1 but they have not reached the terraces of suffering2 they are waiting1 pale and humble1 for permission to move upward at daybreak1 and they sing the compline hymn4 ,guardian angels come at once to the defence of those whose rest in the flowery dell is disturbed by thoughts of the adversary4 ,these angels1 as ,maria ,rossetti says1 are 8green-winged and robed for hope1 golden-haired and radiant-visaged for glory1 with fiery swords against the lurking serpent1 with blunted swords towards the reposing elect1 falcons to watch1 falcons to fly1 moved swifter than seen to move40 ,those penitents of ,dante's 8,dell of ,princes0 would have echoed the words with which ,john ,bunyan closed the first part of the 8,pilgrim's ,progress03 8,i saw that there was a way to hell even from the gates of heaven1 as well as from the city of destruction40 ,would they not1 as the dawn-light guided them upward to ,st4 ,peter's gate1 have warned ,christian souls on earth against any tampering with 8spirit-forces of evil08 8,principalities and powers1 ,mustering their unseen array1 ,wait for thy unguarded hours2 ,watch and pray40 ,,ii ,mental and moral wreckage may be the fate of those who surrender the will in a vain attempt to lift the curtain of unseen realms4 ,it was an ancient belief that evil spirits could not obtain a footing in any house unless the inmate gave them a deliberate invitation to enter4 8,reverend father10 says ,magdalen in 8,the ,abbot10 8hast thou never heard that there are spirits powerful to rend the walls of a castle asunder when once admitted1 which yet cannot enter the house unless they are invited1 nay1 dragged1 over the threshold80 ,we remember how ,coleridge uses the same superstition in the mysterious fragment1 8,christabel03 8,the lady sank1 belike thro' pain4 ,and ,christabel with might and main ,lifted her up1 a weary weight1 ,over the threshold of the gate2 ,then the lady rose again1 ,and moved as she were not in pain40 8,it is prudent10 says ,camille ,flammarion1 8not to give oneself exclusively to occult subjects1 for one might soon lose the independence of mind necessary to form an impartial judgment40 ,,iii ,impressive warnings as to possible dangers from the other side have come from leading spiritualists who have not separated themselves from the ,christian faith4 ,it will not be the fault of ,sir ,william ,barrett if foolish and credulous sance-haunters get into deep waters4 ,in the latest edition of his standard book he reprints1 with slight modification1 an often cited passage which he wrote more than ten years ago4 8,certainly10 he says1 8the ,apostle ,paul1 in the ,epistle to the ,ephesians1 points to a race of spiritual creatures1 not made of flesh and blood1 inhabiting the air around us1 and able injuriously to affect mankind4 ,good as well as mischievous agencies doubtless exist in the unseen2 this1 of course1 is equally true if the phenomena are due to those who have once lived on the earth4 #8,there are as great fools in the spirit world as there ever were in this1' as ,henry ,more said over #bjj years ago4 ,in any case1 granting the existence of a spiritual world1 it is necessary to be on our guard against the invasion of our will by a lower order of intelligence and morality40 ,it is the danger to the will1 fully recognised and acknowledged1 which leads ,sir ,oliver ,lodge and others to press on students of ,spiritualism the need for a primary absorption in worldly affairs4 ,camille ,flammarion1 the chief ,french authority1 urges the same view4 8,there are foods and drinks10 he says1 8which it is most wholesome to take only in small quantities40 ,after a lifetime devoted to the study of mediumship1 this brilliant ,frenchman thought that three principles only were established3 7#a7 ,the soul exists as a real entity independent of the body4 7#b7 ,it is endowed with faculties still unknown to science4 7#c7 ,it is able to act at a distance without the intervention of the senses4 ,,iv ,passing1 then1 from the first part of our subject1 we may summarise as follows3-- 7#a7 ,the past of ,spiritualism is deeply tainted with fraud1 and the present is 8clouded with a doubt40 ,there may have been unconscious cheating1 but there has been much deliberate roguery4 7#b7 ,even where fraud seems to be eliminated1 it is probable that the unexplained phenomena of mediumship will become clear as a wider knowledge is gained of man's physical and mental powers4 8,i hold10 says ,dr4 ,barnes1 8that all the well-attested evidence1 on which the theory of spirit-communication is based1 will ultimately be explained by a fuller knowledge of the interchange of consciousness between living persons40 7#c7 ,we reject the crude theory that mediumistic phenomena are caused by diabolic intervention4 7#d7 ,we believe that mental and moral ruin may result from 8borderland0 studies1 because in these the personality is peculiarly liable to the loss of will-power and self-control4 8,we shall do well to keep the doors of the soul shut until we can open them to ,god40 ,chapter ,,viii ,,spiritualism ,,and ,,christianity ,spiritualism1 a recent writer#bf says1 is more and more proving itself a rival to ,christianity4 ,its votaries cease1 almost invariably1 to be ,christians in any traditional sense of the word4 ,it grips the mind of 8dabblers0 with an extraordinary fascination1 and 8seems to demand a self-surrender as great as that which ,christianity itself involves1 a surrender of the whole personality40 ,we propose to ask in this chapter1 8,what is the attitude of ,spiritualist teachers towards the ,christian faith80 ,an exceptional position1 let us remark at the outset1 is occupied by two of the leaders1 ,sir ,w4 ,f4 ,barrett and ,sir ,oliver ,lodge4 ,the former regards the evidence afforded at the sance as 8a handmaid to faith10 and warns beginners 8against making a religion of ,spiritualism40#bg ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 as we know from his writings1 has a sincere reverence for the ,person of our ,lord4 ,he is convinced that grades of being exist1 not only lower in the scale than man1 but higher also1 grades of every order of magnitude from zero to infinity4 ,among these lofty beings 8is ,one on whom the right instinct of ,christianity has always lavished heartfelt reverence and devotion4 ,those who think that the day of the ,messiah is over are strangely mistaken2 it has hardly begun4444 ,whatever the ,churches may do1 ,i believe that the call of ,christ himself will be heard and attended to1 by a large part of humanity in the near future1 as never yet it has been heard or attended to on earth4444 ,my own time down here is getting short2 it matters little2 but ,i dare not go till ,i have borne this testimony to the grace and truth which emanate from that divine ,being40#bh ,there is something characteristic in the question asked by the bereaved father at an 8automatic0 sance reported in 8,raymond03 8,o4 ,j4 ,l43 ,before you go1 ,raymond1 ,i want to ask a serious question4 ,have you been let to see ,christ80 8,father1 ,i shall see him presently4 ,it is not time yet40 ,intercourse with the departed means for ,sir ,oliver ,lodge 8nothing less than the possibility some day of a glance or a word of approval from the eternal ,christ40 ,i ,a different world opens upon us as we examine the general literature of ,spiritualism4 ,its 8,seven ,principles0 have been set forth as follows3#bi ,i4 ,the ,fatherhood of ,god4 ,,ii4 ,the ,brotherhood of ,man4 ,,iii4 ,continuous ,existence4 ,,iv4 ,communion of ,spirits and ,ministry of ,angels4 ,v4 ,personal ,responsibility4 ,,vi4 ,compensation and ,retribution ,hereafter for good or ill done on earth4 ,,vii4 ,a path of endless progression4 ,the name of our ,lord is not mentioned1 yet these 8principles0 would be words of little meaning but for ,his life on earth1 ,his death1 ,his resurrection1 and ,his glorious reign4 ,it was ,he who taught us to say 8,our ,father40 ,new ideas were poured by ,him into the ,roman world4 8,one is your teacher1 and you are all brothers40#cj 8,the ,king will answer them1 #8,i tell you truly1 in so far as you did it to one of these brothers of mine1 even to the least of them1 you did it to me4'0#ca ,the ,risen ,saviour said on ,easter morning1 8,go to my brothers and tell them1 #8,i am ascending to my ,father and yours1 to my ,god and yours4'0#cb ,though exalted far above all heavens1 8,he is not ashamed to call them brothers40#cc ,his followers believe in the communion of saints4 ,the ministry of angels is not strange to them1 since 8angels came and ministered to ,him40 ,his teaching on responsibility1 compensation and retribution is the highest yet vouchsafed to mankind4 ,if continuous existence is the master-chord of ,spiritualism1 it was ,he who brought life and immortality to light through the ,gospel1 who showed to dying men the path of life4 ,why1 then1 is ,his name omitted from the 8,seven ,principles0 of ,spiritualism8 ,the challenge cannot be put aside4 ,the question goes sounding through the ages to every new discipleship1 8,what think ye of ,christ80 ,,ii ,impatience and annoyance seem to be roused in certain ,spiritualists when the question is put to them4 ,mr4 ,j4 ,arthur ,hill1 in the concluding pages of his best-known volume1#cd refers to the complaint of 8a clerical reviewer of a recent book of mine 444 that ,i nowhere stated my belief regarding ,christ40 8,it seemed a curious objection10 he goes on1 8and it had not occurred to me that anyone would expect ,christology in a book mainly describing psychical investigations40 ,he refers to 8technical theological details on which ,i am incompetent to pronounce10 and adds that 8,spiritualists seem for the most part to be uninterested in the subtleties of the ,trinitarian doctrine4 ,all venerate the person and teaching of ,jesus40 ,the writer expresses his own belief that 8,jesus may have belonged to some order higher than ours40 8,i admit10 he says1 8that ,i have felt this about ,emerson4444 ,consequently1 ,i sympathise with those who1 being rightly humble about their own persons1 but rating others and human possibilities in general too low1 feel the necessity of regarding ,jesus as more than man40 ,it is strange that a writer of ,mr4 ,hill's intelligence should forget that we are living in a ,christian land1 and that ,spiritualism professes to bring new certainties about the future life to those whose hope and anchor on futurity has hitherto rested wholly in the ,christian faith4 ,he goes as far as he possibly can to meet the inquiries of ,christian readers1 but evidently thinks it unfair that they should tease him4 ,that is the surprising thing4 ,take in contrast the language of ,james ,smetham1 when he was studying the ,epistle to the ,hebrews3 8,the great difference of such a subject from all others is that all the interests of ,time and ,eternity are wrapped up in it4 ,the scrutiny of a title-deed of #ajj1jjj a year is nothing to it4 ,how should it be8 ,is there a ,christ8 ,is ,he the heir of all things8 ,was ,he made flesh8 ,did ,he offer the all-perfect sacrifice8 ,did ,he supersede the old order of priests8 ,is ,he the ,mediator of a new and better covenant8 ,what are the terms of that covenant8 ,there are no questions like these4 ,all other interests seem low1 trivial1 momentary40 ,,iii ,two affirmations meet us on the threshold of the ,gospels4 ,one is the assertion of our ,lord's ,divinity1 which ,mr4 ,gladstone called 8the only hope of our poor wayward human race40 8,immanuel1 ,god with us10 has been the conquering cry of ,christian ages4 8,the ,word was made flesh and dwelt among us2 and we beheld ,his glory1 the glory as of the only begotten of the ,father1 full of grace and truth40 ,the other is the proclamation that a ,redeemer had come to ,sion4 8,thou shalt call ,his name ,jesus1 for ,he shall save ,his people from their sins40 ,what is the attitude of ,spiritualism towards these central truths8 ,,iv ,,the ,,divinity ,,of ,,our ,,lord ,we need say little about the controversy on the ,divine ,nature of our ,lord which has broken out in the ranks of ,spiritualism4 ,the difference was proclaimed in a letter to ,light#ce by the ,rev4 ,f4 ,fielding-,ould1 a ,london clergyman1 who is himself a ,spiritualist1 and whose writings are recommended by ,sir ,a4 ,conan ,doyle4 8,no one10 says this clergyman1 8has a right to call himself a ,christian unless he believes in the ,divinity of ,jesus ,christ4 ,he may be a person of estimable character1 and greatly developed spirituality1 but he is not a ,christian40 ,on the truth of our ,lord's ,divinity the ,church is erected4 8,take it away1 and the whole elaborate structure falls into ruins4 ,it is upon that rock that the great vessel of modern ,spiritualism is in imminent danger of being wrecked4444 ,in the ,spiritualist hymn-book the name of ,jesus is deleted--e4g41 #8angels of ,jesus' reads #8angels of wisdom4' ,at their services ,his name is carefully omitted in the prayers1 and the motto of very many is1 #8,every man his own priest and his own saviour4' ,christian ,spiritualists1 who rejoice in many of the revelations of the sance room1 are alarmed4 ,they are quite prepared to allow every man to make his own decision1 but that the movement as a whole should be identified with ,theism1 and that they themselves should be considered as having renounced their faith and hope in ,jesus ,christ is intolerable40 ,mr4 ,fielding-,ould adds that ,spiritualism is 8utterly discredited and condemned0 if it can be shown that 8the communicating spirits are the authors of and responsible for this anti-,christian tendency40 ,his language is that of a man who has been misled through ignorance1 and who has been brought up sharply on the edge of a precipice4 ,there never was a time when the ,church of ,england1 and all the ,christian ,churches of this country1 accepted with firmer conviction the language of the ,te ,deum and of the ,nicene ,creed4 8,thou art the ,king of ,glory1 ,o ,christ4 ,thou art the everlasting ,son of the ,father40 8,i believe in one ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 the only begotten ,son of ,god1 begotten of ,his ,father before all worlds1 ,god of ,god1 ,light of ,light1 ,very ,god of ,very ,god40 ,if mockers within the fold of ,spiritualism cry contemptuously1 8,you are uttering language far beyond the range of mortal understanding10 the ,christian knows that the reality is indeed far beyond his finite apprehension4 ,he looks up and says with ,st4 ,thomas1 8,my ,lord and my ,god40 ,v ,,the ,,saviour ,,from ,,sin ,the witness of the ,christian heart confirms the testimony of the human race in all ages that a ,saviour is needed4 ,it is not only the races influenced by ,hebrew literature who have shared the consciousness of sin4 ,a modern scholar quotes from an ,egyptian hymn to ,amon1 ,lord of ,thebes1 helper of the poor3 8,though the servant be wont to commit sin1 yet is the ,lord wont to be gracious4 ,the ,lord of ,thebes spends not the whole day wroth4 ,if he be wroth for the space of a moment it endureth not--turns to us in graciousness4 ,amon turns with his breath40#cf ,the cry for mercy rises from the oldest literature of ,hinduism4 ,an ancient ,vedic hymn has these words1 8,without thee1 ,o ,varuna1 ,i am not the master even of the twinkling of an eye4 ,do not deliver us unto death1 though we have offended against thy commandments day by day4 ,accept our sacrifices1 forgive our offences4 ,let us speak together again like old friends40#cg ,a saint of ,buddhism1 the noble ,lama from ,tibet1 is represented by ,rudyard ,kipling as a pilgrim seeking for the ,river which washes away sin4 ,as buried civilisations gradually yield up their treasures to the explorer1 the cry is heard without need of sound or language3 8,if ,thou1 ,lord1 shouldest mark iniquities1 ,o ,lord1 who shall stand8 ,but there is forgiveness with ,thee1 that ,thou mayest be feared40 ,how is it that ,spiritualism cannot hear that ,de ,profundis8 ,spiritualism is without a message for the penitent1 for it knows nothing of a ,divine ,redeemer4 ,there is a harshness and shallowness in its conceptions of the future state1 except in so far as these are influenced by ,christianity4 ,general ,drayson said to ,sir ,a4 ,conan ,doyle1 8,you have not got the fundamental truth into your head4 ,that truth is1 that every spirit in the flesh passes over to the next world exactly as it is1 with no change whatever4 ,this world is full of weak or foolish people4 ,so is the next40 ,compare such words with the language of the ,burial ,service4 ,spirits do not always pass away at their best and truest4 ,long illness may have clouded the perceptions1 infirmities of old age may deface the character1 there may come at the last 8fightings and fears within1 without40 ,pre ,gratry tells us that the young priest1 ,henri ,perreyve1 one of the bravest and best of men1 cried twice in his dying hour1 8,j'ai peur0 78,i am afraid071 as if he saw the ,arch-,fear confronting him in visible form4 ,deep knowledge of the human heart lies behind the words of the ,prayer ,book3 8,spare us1 ,lord most holy1 ,o ,god most mighty1 ,o holy and merciful ,saviour1 ,thou most worthy ,judge eternal1 suffer us not1 at our last hour1 for any pains of death1 to fall from ,thee40 ,to the latest moment of life and beyond it the soul has no resting-place except in the ,rock of ,ages4 8,the souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness40 ,the burden of sin drops away1 and the pilgrim1 as he passes over1 may say1 as in the hour of his conversion1 8,he hath given me rest by ,his sorrow and life by ,his death40 ,but ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle thinks that in 8conventional ,christianity0 8too much seemed to be made of ,christ's death40 8,the death of ,christ1 beautiful as it is in the ,gospel narrative10 he says again1 8has seemed to assume an undue importance1 as though it were an isolated phenomenon for a man to die in pursuit of a reform40 8,in my opinion10 he goes on1 8far too much stress has been laid upon ,christ's death1 and far too little upon ,his life4 ,that was where the true grandeur and the true lesson lay40444 8,it was this most wonderful and uncommon life1 and not ,his death1 which is the true centre of the ,christian religion40#ch ,spiritualism1 in a word1 does not wish to face the ,cross4 ,the 8spirit-guides0 talk vaguely of a 8,christ-,spirit10 whose special care is the earth4 ,there is nothing in their report of ,atonement or ,redemption4 ,as ,dr4 ,jowett has pointed out1 the 8,new ,revelation0 has much to say on our ,lord ,jesus ,christ as a 8medium40 ,it says nothing of ,him as ,mediator4 ,it offers fellowship with discarnate human personalities1 but has no longing for fellowship with the ,risen ,lord4 ,the ideas of the 8spirit-guides0 on prayer are set forth by ,sir ,a4 ,conan ,doyle in 8,the ,new ,revelation40 ,the 8spirits0 declare that 8no religion upon earth has any advantage over another1 but that character and refinement are everything4 ,at the same time1 they are also in agreement that all religions which inculcate prayer and an upward glance rather than eyes for ever on the level are good4 ,in this sense1 and in no other--as a help to spiritual life--every form may have a purpose for somebody40#ci ,the cardinal doctrines of the faith are rejected by ,spiritualists4 ,man is not regarded in their creed as 8a sinner saved by grace40 ,many cannot understand1 ,sir ,a4 ,conan ,doyle tells us1 such expressions as 8redemption from sin10 8cleansed by the blood of the ,lamb40 ,but the ,christian says from his heart3 8,grace and life eternal ,in that ,blood ,i find4 ,blest be ,his compassion1 ,infinitely kind40 8,the mystic life leads no one from the life of the ,church40 ,the contrary is true of ,spiritualism4 ,,footnotes3 #bf ,rev4 ,cyril ,e4 ,hudson in ,the ,nineteenth ,century and ,after1 ,may1 #aiai4 #bg 8,on the ,threshold of the ,unseen10 pp4 #be1 #cc1 #cd4 #bh 8,raymond10 p4 #cgf4 #bi ,the pamphlet with the title 8,the ,seven ,principles of ,spiritualism10 by the ,secretary of the ,spiritualists' ,national ,union1 is quoted by ,mr4 ,hill in 8,spiritualism10 p4 #add4 #cj ,st4 ,matt4 xxiii4 #h4 #ca ,st4 ,matt4 xxv4 #dj4 #cb ,st4 ,john xx4 #ag4 #cc ,hebrews ii4 #aa 7,dr4 ,moffatt's translation of each text74 #cd 8,spiritualism3 ,its ,history1 ,phenomena1 and ,doctrine10 pp4 #bef-bfj4 #ce ,july #abth1 #aiai4 ,some of the letters printed in ,light during subsequent weeks are very instructive1 and confirm the view of ,mr4 ,fielding-,ould as to a widespread division in the ranks4 #cf ,professor ,breasted1 8,development of ,religion and ,thought in ,ancient ,egypt10 p4 #ceb4 #cg ,quoted by ,max ,mller4 #ch 8,the ,new ,revelation10 pp4 #gb-gd4 #ci 8,the ,new ,revelation10 p4 #ajj4 ,chapter ,,ix ,,quality ,,of ,,the ,,alleged ,,messages ,when a ,spiritualist tells us that he receives messages from discarnate human beings through the medium and the medium's 8control0 certain questions immediately arise4 8,of what nature are these messages8 ,what have you learned from them8 ,how have they affected your judgment of this world and the next8 ,are they likely to help mankind in its upward progress80 ,i ,a twofold answer reaches us from within the ranks of ,spiritualism4 7#a7 ,at an early stage of the inquiry1 as ,mr4 ,a4 ,e4 ,waite points out1 the belief was accepted that 8life for man on the other side of the screen of material things was1 specifically1 neither better nor worse than our own 444 it was so entirely human1 with all the folly that resides in humanity40 ,spiritualist leaders of to-day would not dispute that point4 8,yes1 of course10 they would say1 8it is always possible that the inquirer may get in touch with #8naughty boys' on the other side4 ,the spirit passes over just as it was on earth4 ,bad influences as well as good are present in every sance40 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle has said plainly3 8,we have1 unhappily1 to deal with absolute cold-blooded lying on the part of wicked or mischievous intelligences4 ,every one who has investigated the matter has1 ,i suppose1 met with examples of wilful deception1 which occasionally are mixed up with good and true communications40 ,aside from wilful deception1 there seems to be a certain mocking malevolence1 where we should least expect it1 on the part of the supposed spirits4 8,we do not want to make it too easy for you0 is a strange utterance from the other side to bereaved parents4#dj ,speaking at ,manchester on ,may #bh1 #aiai1 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle reported a singular experience of his own in ,glasgow a few weeks earlier4 8,i had to address a very large meeting10 he said1 8exactly double the size of this one1 and in the morning ,i went to a sance2 we had a number of wonderful manifestations1 and finally we had a message sent in a direct voice4 ,the message which came to me was3 #8,you are going to have a very good meeting to-night4' ,i said1 #8,thank you4' ,the voice then said1 #8,it won't be quite the same as you are accustomed to2 we have a little surprise for you4' ,i said1 #8,not unpleasant1 ,i hope8' ,they just chuckled at that1 and that was all ,i got40 ,when the lecturer faced his audience everything he had intended to say passed entirely out of his head4 ,preachers and platform orators can tell something of the agony of that experience1 which has not infrequently been the premonitory symptom of a nervous illness4 8,i don't know how long ,i stood2 ,i suppose about a minute1 though it seemed like a week1 and all the time ,i was struggling in the endeavour to find something to say40 ,the lecturer recovered himself1 and all went well2 but is there not here a parallel with the ,celtic superstition that the powers of nature are malicious1 and will do us a bad turn if they can8 ,alexander ,smith writes of 8that sense of an evil will1 and an alienation from man in nature10 which is found in ancient fragments of ,scottish river-lore4 7#b7 ,a cautious attitude might seem advisable under such conditions1 and we are surprised to note a tendency on the part of our newer ,spiritualist teachers to dogmatise on theological matters4 8,spirit ,teachings10 by ,stainton ,moses1 has become a sort of ,bible to the sect4 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge reprints passages from it in 8,raymond40 ,sir ,arthur ,conan ,doyle takes the rubbish received through 8,imperator0 and his fellows with the utmost seriousness1 though the genius which created ,sherlock ,holmes has not otherwise been dulled in psychical studies4 ,sir ,arthur is quick enough to criticise the famous 8cross-correspondence0 analysed by ,mr4 ,gerald ,balfour in 8,the ,ear of ,dionysius40 ,two eminent ,greek scholars1 ,professor ,verrall and ,professor ,butcher1 are supposed to have collaborated to produce a ,greek problem4 8,it may be remarked1 in passing10 says ,sir ,a4 ,conan ,doyle1 8that these and other examples show clearly1 either that the spirits have the use of an excellent reference library1 or else that they have memories which produce something like omniscience4 ,no human memory could possibly carry all the exact quotations which occur in such communications as #8,the ,ear of ,dionysius4'0 ,the ,churches must1 however1 in ,sir ,arthur's view1 accept the tenets of ,spiritualism or perish4 ,,ii ,impartial students of the literature--a growing mass of documentary evidence--are impressed 7#a7 by the triviality of the messages4 ,punsters would seem to carry on their jokes from the other side4 ,a message which was presumed to come to ,mrs4 ,holland from ,myers contained a mysterious allusion to 8a peck of pickled pepper40 ,in the opinion of the best ,s4,p4,r4 critics the words conveyed a punning allusion to ,mrs4 ,piper4 ,is there not something pitiable in the thought that the great writer who gave us 8,st4 ,paul0 and the 8,classical0 and 8,modern0 ,essays should be occupied in the unseen life in trying to transmit to earth punning references to the name of a medium8 ,professor ,william ,james remarked on the extreme triviality of the supposed communications4 8,what real spirit10 he wrote1 8at last able to revisit his wife on this earth1 but would find something better to say than that she had changed the place of his photograph8 ,and yet that is the sort of remark to which the spirits introduced by the mysterious ,phinuit are apt to confine themselves40 ,a woman writer passed away not long ago in early middle life4 ,her mother tried to get in touch through a medium with the departed spirit1 and received a message to the effect that some valuable old lace had been forgotten in the top drawer of a tallboy1 and that it ought to be taken out and washed6 ,in a recent newspaper article by an eminent ,spiritualist1 reference was made to a supposed authentic communication lately received from the other side4 ,it concerned a pair of grey sude shoes and a fountain pen4 ,spiritualists tell us that such 8trivial fond records0 as we find1 for instance1 in 8,raymond10 are of more value as evidence than graver talk of a general kind4 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge says1 for instance1 8,the idea that a departed friend ought to be occupied wholly and entirely with grave matters1 and ought not to remember jokes and fun1 is a gratuitous claim which has to be abandoned4 ,humour does not cease with earth life4 ,why should it80#da ,with the utmost respect1 we reply that ,sir ,oliver misses the point4 ,the solemn platitudes of 8,imperator0 are1 if possible1 even less convincing than the descriptions of life in the unseen world given in 8,raymond10 over which ,mr4 ,wells makes merry in 8,the ,undying ,fire40 ,why is it that the outpourings of ,spiritualism almost invariably1 as ,dr4 ,barnes points out1 8reflect the commonplace thoughts of commonplace minds08 ,if spirits were indeed communicating with men from within the veil1 would not their language bear some trace of the mighty change they have undergone8 ,mr4 ,birrell1 in one of his ,bristol speeches1 raised a question which must occur to every thoughtful inquirer4 8,the records of ,spiritualism10 he said1 8leave me unconvinced4 ,they lack the things of morality1 of grandeur1 of emotion2 in a word1 of religion4 ,they deal with petty things1 mere prolonged egoism1 as if the one thing we want to be assured of is continued existence1 and an endless capacity to exchange platitudes4 ,a revelation of the life beyond the grave ought surely1 if it is to do any good in the world1 to be more stupendous than that--something of really first-class importance4 ,otherwise we are just as well without it40 7#b7 ,among ,spiritualists themselves we hear constant discussion as to the singular failure of the 8spirits0 to give names4 ,dr4 ,l4 ,p4 ,jacks examines this problem in the ,journal of the ,s4,p4,r4 for ,may1 #aiai4db ,he had been 8struck by the fact that a spirit who manifested his former personal appearance with great accuracy1 even to minute details1 was yet apparently unable to manifest his name1 except in an imperfect and doubtful manner40 ,why was his old coat manifested and his name not8 8,our names1 while unessential to our self-consciousness1 do play a prominent part in our sensible experience1 especially with those of us who are cursed with an interminable correspondence1 and one would think that a mind returning to its old tracks1 as ,sir ,oliver ,lodge suggests the spirits do1 would find his name one of the easiest things to pick out40 ,professor ,jacks is disposed to find a solution of the puzzle in telepathy4 8,it is easier10 he says1 8to understand how a telepathist1 having succeeded in reading one part of my mind1 should fail or omit to read another1 than it is to understand how an educated man in the other life should be able to reproduce his coat1 but unable to trace the letters of his own name40 ,the failure of the 8spirits0 to give names is a highly suspicious fact4 ,how is it1 asks ,dr4 ,jacks1 that the 8control0 which reproduces through the medium long messages as given by the communicating spirit1 should fail to 8catch0 the name1 in spite of the effort of all parties to get it through8#dc ,,footnotes3 #dj 8,raymond10 p4 #aba4 #da 8,raymond10 p4 #cdi4 #db ,in an article entitled 8,personal ,appearance of the ,departed10 ,journal of the ,society for ,psychical ,research1 ,may1 #aiai4 #dc ,journal1 ,may1 #aiai1 p4 #bh4 ,chapter ,x ,,the ,,churches ,,and ,,the ,s,,ance ,the late ,dr4 ,amory ,bradford1 one of the most eminent leaders of ,american ,congregationalism1 caused something of a sensation eleven years ago when he urged the students of ,hackney ,college1 ,hampstead1 to occupy themselves with psychical matters4 ,not a few of the younger ,congregational ministers can recall that strange hour in the library when ,dr4 ,bradford seemed to challenge the ,churches with the names of ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 ,sir ,william ,crookes1 and ,dr4 ,russel ,wallace4 8,these learned scientists10 he argued1 8are trying to lift the fringe of the dark veil1 and you young ministers ought to show an equal eagerness40 ,in the ,american ,churches1 he said1 people were asking their pastors3 8,cannot you reveal to us the secret of the world beyond the grave8 ,our scientific men are occupied with psychical research2 what are you ministers doing8 ,ought not every divinity student to have his attention directed early to these occult mysteries which laymen are discussing in the privacy of their own homes80 ,as the audience streamed into the lobbies1 it was admitted that no more surprising address had been delivered of late years in a ,london theological college4 ,when the twilight of the ,june evening enwrapped the departing company1 many must have been wondering1 with ,dr4 ,garvie1 how the students were to find time for such highly-specialised and laborious researches as those conducted by the ,psychical ,society4 ,the ,principals of our theological institutions are level-headed men1 and they did not see their way to provide a dark-room for the sance1 as hotels supply a dark-room for the amateur photographer4 ,the ,churches have rejected the proposal that they should enter into competition with the experts on whom it falls to investigate the phenomena of ,spiritualism4 ,is their refusal based on cowardice8 ,very far from it4 ,sir ,walter ,scott1 in 8,the ,monastery10 has shown us once for all how a great ,christian1 before the dawn of modern science1 met the onset of what seemed to him a supernatural being4 ,when the ,monk ,eustace was challenged by the ,white ,lady in the ,vale of ,glendearg1 he answered in words which ,christian teachers would use to-day1 were a similar demand made upon them3 8,in the name of ,my ,master10 said the astonished monk1 8that name before which all things created tremble1 ,i conjure thee to say what thou art that hauntest me thus4444 ,at the crook of the glen8 ,i could have desired to avoid a second meeting1 but ,i am on the service of the ,church1 and the gates of hell shall not prevail against me40 ,on negative and on positive grounds the ,churches decline to lift the gauntlet thrown down to them by ,spiritualism4 ,i 7#a7 ,they note1 in the first place1 that the challenge comes in language of insult from some of their deadliest foes4 ,that well-known ,spiritualist teacher1 ,professor ,james ,h4 ,hyslop1 ,secretary of the ,american ,society for ,psychical ,research1 denounced the ,church for its 8fatal genius in allying itself with decadent causes40 8,the self-confidence of science10 he wrote1 8is directly proportioned to the despair of religion4 ,the ministry do not know what creed is safe to believe or assert1 and the churches have become social clubs1 and talk about the poor as an excuse for an existence that1 so far as social efficiency is concerned1 can as well be supplied by literature and art40 ,enemies of the ,church1 who view with contempt her action throughout the ,christian ages1 are among the very people who are urging her ministers to become ,spiritualists4 7#b7 ,christian ministers have not the training1 capacity1 or experience requisite for the detection of conjuring tricks1 which may account for the phenomena in a sance4 ,we may quote these propositions formulated by the late ,mr4 ,frank ,podmore in his 8,studies in ,psychical ,research30 7a7 8,the conditions under which the phenomena generally occur--conditions for the most part suggested and continually enforced by the medium--are such as to facilitate fraud and to render its detection difficult4 7b7 8,almost all the phenomena are known to have been produced under similar conditions by mechanical means4 7c7 8,almost every professional medium has been detected in producing results by trickery4 7d7 8,there are cases on record in which private persons1 with no obvious pecuniary or social advantage to secure1 have been detected in trickery4 7e7 8,the conditions of emotional excitement in which investigators have for the most part approached the subject 444 are calculated seriously to interfere with cold and dispassionate observation40 ,the above passage is none the less impressive because it was written more than twenty years ago4 ,the task of examination belongs to those who1 while fully acquainted with the records of the past1 possess the knowledge and trained powers of observation which such investigations require4 ,,ii ,the ,churches have positive duties1 and may not turn aside from their chief business4 7#a7 ,it is the fashion with ,spiritualists to write as if their cult were the only alternative to blank ,materialism1 because they forget that the one sure message about the ,unseen has been committed by our ,lord ,jesus ,christ to ,his servants and friends4 ,the ,churches proclaim that message4 ,christian ministers1 like the ,shepherds of ,bunyan's ,delectable ,mountains1 have in their hands a perspective glass through which the pilgrims may see the gates of the ,celestial ,city4 ,their teaching1 like that of the ,shepherds1 bears the mark of 8other-worldliness10 which thirty years ago was applied as a term of reproach to the organised denominations in this country4 ,the ,churches can say1 in the words of a saintly ,wesleyan minister1 ,william ,arthur1 8,the last tunnel is on the east of the land of ,beulah1 towards the rising of the sun1 and opens in face of the golden gate1 where are the ,shining ,ones4 ,how far off it is ,i cannot tell3 the ,everlasting ,hills are covered with a golden haze4 ,glory be to ,god40#dd ,goethe put the same thought somewhat differently in 8,faust03 8,what a cloud of morning hovers ,o'er the pine-trees' tossing hair6 ,can ,i guess what life it covers8 ,they are spirits young and fair40 8,then said the ,shepherds one to another1 ,let us here show to the pilgrims the gates of the ,celestial ,city1 if they have skill to look through our perspective glass4 ,the pilgrims then lovingly accepted the motion4 ,so they had them to the top of a high hill1 called ,clear1 and gave them their glass to look40 ,the ,church possesses to-day the gift of clairvoyance1 but she exercises it like the ,shepherds on bracing mountain-tops1 not in dark and stifling rooms4 ,her messengers go among the sick1 the dying1 and the bereaved1 speaking of eternal life through ,christ4 7#b7 ,the ,church has never denied that the blessed dead may in ways unknown to us influence the living and lead them upward4 ,st4 ,teresa learned much from the devout monk1 ,st4 ,peter of ,alcntara4 ,at the moment of his death1 according to ,teresa's testimony1 he appeared to her in great glory1 and said he was going to rest4 8,it seems to me10 she added1 8that he consoles me more than when he was here with me40 ,to the mourning heart the ,christian teacher may say in ,st4 ,paul's words3 8,perhaps he therefore departed from thee for a season that thou mightest receive him for ever40 8,have not we too8--,yes1 we have ,answers1 and we know not whence2 ,echoes from beyond the grave1 ,recognised intelligence4 8,such rebounds our inward ear ,catches sometimes from afar2-- ,listen1 ponder1 hold them dear4 ,for of ,god1 of ,god they are40#de ,as ,dr4 ,j4 ,d4 ,jones has written1 8,the dead who are so gloriously alive can hold fellowship with the living who have not yet died4 ,the communion of saints is not to be limited to those who still dwell in this temporal and material world2 it extends to those who have passed to the other side of death4444 ,the only way in which we can combat ,spiritualism is ourselves to rescue this truth about fellowship from the neglect into which it has fallen--to speak and think in a more ,christian way about those who have passed on4444 #8,ye are come to the spirits of just men made perfect4'0 ,,footnotes3 #dd ,in a letter written during his last illness to his friend1 ,dr4 ,j4 ,h4 ,rigg4 #de ,wordsworth4 ,chapter ,,xi ,,the ,,appeal ,,to ,,science ,seventy-eight years have passed since ,nathaniel ,hawthorne warned his future wife1 ,sophia ,peabody1 against 8the so-called #8magnetic' and #8mesmeric' impostures which prepared the way for an unspiritual ,spiritism40#df ,the words of his letter are not obsolete1 though written in #ahda4 8,take no part1 ,i beseech you10 he wrote1 8in these magnetic miracles4 ,i am unwilling that a power should be exercised on you of which we know neither the origin nor consequence1 and the phenomena of which seem rather calculated to bewilder us than to teach us any truths about the present or future state of being4444 ,supposing that the power arises from the transfusion of one spirit into another1 it seems to me that the sacredness of an individual is violated by it2 there would be an intruder into the holy of holies4444 ,without distrusting that the phenomena have really occurred1 ,i think that they are to be accounted for as the result of a material and physical1 not of a spiritual influence4444 ,and what delusion can be more lamentable and mischievous than to mistake the physical and material for the spiritual8 ,what so miserable as to lose the soul's true1 though hidden1 knowledge and consciousness of heaven in the mist of an earth-born vision8444 ,the view which ,i take of this matter is caused by no want of faith in mysteries1 but by a deep reverence of the soul and of the mysteries which it knows within itself1 but never transmits to the earthly eye and ear4 ,keep the imagination sane--that is one of the truest conditions of communion with heaven40 ,science has made great advance since ,hawthorne wondered whether the phenomena of his 8,veiled ,lady0 foreshadowed 8the birth of a new science or the revival of an old humbug40 ,is not the public entitled to some indication of the attitude of science toward ,spiritualism8 ,michael ,faraday summed up his thoughts1 when nearing the end1 on a problem he had closely investigated4 ,answering one who had questioned him about the spirits1 the great scientist wrote3 8,whenever the spirits can counteract gravity or originate motion1 or supply an action due to natural physical force1 or counteract any such action2 whenever they can punch or prick me1 or affect my sense of feeling or any other sense1 or in any other way act on me without my waiting on them2 or working in the light can show me a hand1 either writing or not1 or in any way make themselves visibly manifest to me2 whenever these things are done or anything which a conjuror cannot do better2 or1 rising to higher proofs1 whenever the spirits describe their own nature1 and like honest spirits say what they can do1 or pretending1 as their supporters do1 that they can act on ordinary matter1 whenever they initiate action1 and so make themselves manifest2 whenever by such-like signs they come to me1 and ask my attention to them1 ,i will give it4 ,but until some of these things be done1 ,i have no more time to spare for them or their believers1 or for correspondence about them40#dg ,has the science of our day advanced beyond the standpoint of ,michael ,faraday8 ,in the absence of a united pronouncement1 can we define the attitude of modern science towards ,spiritualism8 ,i ,we are impressed at once1 as we seek to answer these questions1 by the contemptuous indifference of the learned world as a whole4 ,spiritualists ring the changes on a handful of eminent names4 ,how is it that the leaders of the ,psychical ,society have not drawn after them a larger following8 ,canon ,barnes1 himself a ,doctor of ,science1 observes that the most distinguished supporters of ,spiritualism have not themselves received messages which prove the possibility of communication with the dead4 ,the messages have come through others1 for the most part professional mediums4#dh ,dr4 ,barnes recognises that the task of investigation belongs to psychologists1 and he considers it 8significant that practically none of the leading experimental psychologists of the world are prepared to accept the theory of spirit-communication40 8,nor is it accepted10 he goes on1 8by leading medical men1 whose careful study of mental disease and experiments with abnormal mental states1 would permit them to speak with authority4 ,so long as such experts refuse to accept the spiritualistic explanation of the observed phenomena1 it is mere superstition for the mass of men to do so40#di ,ought not the public to know1 through some clear and simple statement1 where the medical profession stands with regard to ,spiritualism8 ,the voice of authority should be heard in difficult times4 ,,ii ,camille ,flammarion1 speaking fifty years ago at the grave of ,allan ,kardec1 the ,french apostle of ,spiritualism1 used language which might almost seem justified in view of modern discoveries4 8,when we compare our small knowledge and the narrow limits of our sphere of perception with the vast mass of that which really exists10 he says1 8we can hardly avoid the conclusion that we do not really know anything1 and that all true knowledge lies in the future40 ,the phenomena of ,spiritualism to the ,french astronomer look like twinkling stars in the ,milky ,way of science4 ,thomas ,hardy1 in 8,two on a ,tower10 dwells on man's sense of infinite littleness as he confronts the stellar universe4 8,i often experience a kind of fear of the sky after sitting in the observing chair a long time10 says ,swithin ,st4 ,cleeve to ,lady ,constantine4 8,and when ,i walk home afterwards ,i also fear it1 for what ,i know is there1 but cannot see1 as one naturally fears the presence of a vast formless something that only reveals a very little of itself40#ej 8,patience and equanimity0 are the watchwords of true science4 ,wordsworth1 in his poem 8,star-,gazers10 notes the bitter disappointment of the crowd which looked through the telescope in ,leicester ,square4 ,fee in hand1 they had come to behold the wonders of the heavenly spaces1 but showman or implement failed to answer their desires4 8,whatever be the cause1 'tis sure that they who pry and pore ,seem to meet with little gain1 seem less happy than before2 ,one after one they take their turn1 nor have ,i one espied ,that doth not slackly go away as if dissatisfied40 ,a similar disappointment awaits the pushing crowd which gazes through the telescope of ,spiritualism4 8,have patience10 say the masters of science1 8we are only on the threshold of knowledge4 ,in a single generation we have added two vast provinces to the human spirit4 ,by wireless telegraphy we have turned the farthest ocean solitudes into man's whispering gallery4 ,in conquering the air we have revolutionised the course of history40 ,can we doubt that from the wonderful works of ,god1 no less than from ,his holy ,word1 new light and truth will yet break forth for humanity8 ,science is prepared for extensions of man's physical and mental powers which will put to shame the phenomena of ,spiritualism4 ,we are living in a transitional epoch1 and faith alone can support the soul as it beats the prison bars1 knowing not how or when the sentence of its liberation may be spoken4 8,i wait1 my soul doth wait1 ,for ,him who on ,his shoulder bears the key2 ,i sit fast bound and yet not desolate1 ,my mighty ,lord is free40#ea 8,o ,key of ,david1 and ,sceptre of the house of ,israel1 ,thou that openest1 and no man shutteth1 and shuttest1 and no man openeth1 come and bring the prisoner out of his prison house40 ,,footnotes3 #df ,introduction to 8,the ,blithedale ,romance10 p4 ,,xix4 7,service ,paton edition74 #dg ,letter of ,november #dth1 #ahfd4 #dh 8,spiritualism and the ,christian ,faith0 7,longmans71 p4 #di4 #di 8,spiritualism and the ,christian ,faith0 7,longmans71 p4 #ef4 #ej 8,two on a ,tower10 ch4 viii4 #ea ,dora ,greenwell4 ,index ,arthur1 ,rev4 ,william1 #aec4 ,balfour1 ,mr4 ,gerald1 #ia1 #acg4 ,barnes1 ,dr41 #ia1 #if1 #ii1 #ajg1 #ada1 #afc4 ,barrett1 ,sir ,w4 ,f41 #cb1 #cc1 #cg1 #ch1 #df1 #dh1 #eb1 #fb1 #ga1 #gg1 #hf1 #ij1 #ic1 #id1 #aje1 #aab4 ,bradford1 ,dr4 ,amory1 #adg4 ,bunyan1 ,john1 #ajc1 #aec4 ,butcher1 ,professor1 #acg4 ,chambers1 ,robert1 #gb1 #gd1 #gf4 ,coleridge1 ,s4 ,t41 #ajd4 ,crawford1 ,dr4 ,w4 ,j41 #gg4 ,crookes1 ,sir ,william1 #ah1 #eb4 ,dante1 #ajb4 ,dickens1 ,charles1 #cd4 ,dill1 ,sir ,samuel1 #ai4 ,doyle1 ,sir ,arthur ,conan1 #be1 #cd1 #ch1 #df1 #dh1 #di1 #ib1 #id1 #ie1 #abj1 #abe1 #abf1 #acd1 #acg1 #ach4 ,faraday1 ,michael1 #ge1 #afa1 #afb4 ,flammarion1 ,camille1 #bg1 #ha1 #ajd1 #ajf1 #afd4 ,glover1 ,dr4 ,reaveley1 #ai4 ,haw1 ,george1 #ba1 #bc4 ,hawthorne1 ,nathaniel1 #aei-afa4 ,hayden1 ,mrs41 #gb4 ,hichens1 ,robert1 #bf4 ,hill1 ,j4 ,arthur1 #df1 #di1 #ej1 #ea1 #fa1 #fd1 #ha1 #hi1 #aad1 #aaf-aah4 ,home1 ,d4 ,d41 #ai1 #eb4 ,hudson1 ,rev4 ,cyril ,e41 #ci1 #aaa4 ,huxley1 ,professor1 #gb4 ,jacks1 ,professor1 #eg1 #fj1 #adb-add4 ,james1 ,william1 #aci4 ,jones1 ,dr4 ,j4 ,d41 #aef4 ,jowett1 ,dr4 ,j4 ,h41 #abg1 #abh4 ,kardec1 ,allan1 #afd4 ,lacordaire1 ,pre1 #ai4 ,lodge1 ,sir ,oliver1 #be1 #df1 #ea1 #eb1 #eg1 #fe-fg1 #ge1 #gf1 #gh-hj1 #id1 #ajf1 #aab1 #aac1 #adj1 #ada4 ,moffatt1 ,dr4 ,james1 #aja1 #aae4 ,morgan1 ,professor ,de1 #de4 ,morgan1 ,mrs4 ,de1 #gb-gd4 ,moses1 ,stainton1 #ch1 #fa1 #hf-hi1 #acg4 ,myers1 ,f4 ,w4 ,h41 #hf1 #ach4 ,newman1 ,j4 ,h41 #cf4 ,ould1 ,rev4 ,f4 ,fielding1 #abj-abb4 ,paget1 ,bishop ,francis1 #bg4 ,perreyve1 ,henri1 #abf4 ,peter1 ,st41 of ,alcntara1 #aee4 ,piper1 ,mrs41 #fj1 #fa-fc1 #hh1 #aci4 ,podmore1 ,frank1 #ag1 #di1 #ge1 #hg1 #hh1 #aea1 #aeb4 ,psychical ,research1 the ,society for1 #ag1 #dc1 #dd1 #dg1 #he1 #adh1 #afc4 ,rossetti1 ,maria1 #ajb4 ,scott1 ,sir ,walter1 #cb1 #ajc1 #adi4 ,sidgwick1 ,mrs41 #dd1 #fb1 #fc4 ,smetham1 ,james1 #aah4 ,smith1 ,alexander1 #acf4 ,smith1 ,sir ,george ,adam1 #cc4 ,swedenborg1 #ch4 ,swetchine1 ,madame1 #ai4 ,tennyson1 ,alfred1 #ce4 ,teresa1 ,st41 #aee4 ,verrall1 ,professor1 #acg4 ,waite1 ,arthur ,e41 #bd1 #ca1 #ce1 #de1 #gh1 #hg1 #ajj1 #acd4 ,wallace1 ,dr4 ,alfred ,russel1 #ic4 ,wells1 ,h4 ,g41 #ada4 ,wordsworth1 ,william1 #aee1 #aff4 ,wynn1 ,rev4 ,walter1 #eb4 ,printed in ,great ,britan by ,wyman ,sons ,ltd41 ,london and ,reading ,transcriber's ,notes ,italic text denoted by underscores4 ,footnotes have been renumbered consecutively and relocated to the end of the related chapters4 ,punctuation and other obvious typographic inaccuracies were silently corrected4 ,archaic and variable spelling has been preserved4 ,variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved4 ,the author's transcription of sources and verse are often inaccurate1 especially regarding capitalization and punctuation4 ,where possible1 any subsequent use of the quoted material should be checked against a primary source4 ,p4 #i3 ,corrected incorrect page reference in ,contents for chapter #c from #cd to #dc4